Koga

"I appreciate the effort to grow," Koga's voice said, coming from the darkness as if it were the cavern itself speaking, his voice reverberating off the walls, all encompassing. It was only the appearance of the glowing red eyes beside Justice that would indicate the Koga had moved. "Advocate it, even. As I do with taking control of one's own fate." The boy would feel a hand gently pushing on his back, guiding him further into the tunnel. "But to what effect?" People tried to change and grow all the time. Perhaps as many that were content with doing nothing and blaming those around them.

k o g a the elder wolf Koga set aside his pencil as a notification pinged into existence in his HUD, the distinctive dinging sound something only he could hear, even if others had been present in his home. Where Yukiro and Tala were, he didn't know. He hardly ever did these days. Not that the man minded terribly, he enjoyed his solitude for the most part. Opening the message, the man gave it a quick read. From Astreya. Help with killing some thing or another. Something that Koga didn't think he had killed before, actually. Koga looked over

Thankfully, Koga missed the rag flying across the room and landing squarely on Gaius' face, although that was most certainly the least concerning thing that had happened tonight. What Koga could not miss, on the other hand, was the towering figure of @Gaius slamming his hand onto Koga's back, forcing the smaller man to stumbled forward a step, almost colliding with @Kasumi in the process. Koga chuckled sheepishly as he heard Gaius' words, an uncomfortable warmth suddenly rising in his ears. "Heh, yeah," the man affirmed with a small nod. He knew exactly what Gaius was trying to do. But he

k o g a the elder wolf If the crickets were awake, they'd be chirping away right now. Koga's was shop was dead, the quiet being filled only with the occasional sounds of a passerby outside. The scattered chatter would cause Okami's ears to perk up for just a moment as he napped on the floor, before they fell back down as the townsfolk moved on. Koga, for his part, was in the back of his shop, flinging discarded knives at a log of wood. Thunk. Each one span end over end, until it inevitably buried its point deep into the wood's bo

The pair entered the cave together, swallowed in the darkness. Koga's eyes flickering before illuminating with a soft crimson glow, his world suddenly devoid of color, but able to peer into the long dark corridor of the cavern. Unlike this kid, who couldn't see the taut frown that had spread across Koga's face. The Wolf wasn't usually one to judge other people, let alone the thing that drove them to risk their lives. But this one? Koga would cross his arms and hold back a moment as one of the cave's bats would swoop down. Justice actually responded a mite quicker than Koga had expected, l

"No problem," Koga responded with a nod as the town began to come into view, it's tall, beige walls standing in contrast against the blue sky and green grass. Koga refrained from making a joke about older people and technology. That'd be him one day, probably. Who knew. Koga allowed the man to lead him to the Gypsy, who thankfully hadn't seemed to change too much in the aftermath of the Shadow. Somethings were still sacred, he guessed. Koga gave a small wave to the NPC, feeling some level of kinship, no matter how artificial she was, before Oji finished his business with the woman and the

Koga started chuckling at the mention of it only taking a day. "Dude, you're telling me. As soon as I saw that little guy, I almost had a heart attack. Blood pressure: through the roof. Couldn't tell if it was anxiety or hopefulness," he said, a smile on his lips. The gentleman earned himself another laugh at the request for help with the friend screen. "Yeah, sure," Koga said, gesturing in the air to bring up his menu, figuring it would be better to show the man how to do it, and then have him send the request, as opposed to having him ask every poor player he met how to do it. "Just cli

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Koga nodded and lifted his saucer of sake as if in toast. "And memories are the important things," he said with a slight grin before finishing off the pseudo-alcohol and allowing Oji to return the dish to his inventory. The man stood up as the older gentleman indicated it was time to go. "Sounds good to me. Okami, c'mon, let's go." The wolf almost immediately quit his playing and began to follow behind Koga as Soup scampered up his back to perch himself on Okami's back for a leisurely ride back. Not that the wolf seemed to mind too much. "Well, I'd call this day a success," Koga muse

Koga chuckled as Okami playfully nipped at Soup, before beginning to chase the thing around the small clearing, back and forth. Though the wolf was certainly faster, he seemed happy to let Soup remain just out of his reach as he chased him around in a circle. "Uh, a little bit of both," Koga replied, taking a sip of his sake, watching as the campsite dissolved away into Oji's inventory. Perks of being trapped in a deadly video game. There really was a silver lining to everything. "Kurokami, also referred to simply as Okami, is a Shinto deity. A dragon that presides over the rain and snow.

House Name: Respite Location: Floor 11, Taft Description: While nowhere near opulent, Koga's house is, by the very least, comfortable. A mixture of brick and plaster, although it appears a bit more modern than anything you'd typically find on Floor 11, it doesn't stick out. Enclosed by brick walls, it is not unlikely to see smoke coming from the back of house, where the forge sits. The interior is similarly designed. Although it does appear more contemporary than the rest of Aincrad, it does not feel entirely out of place. The first floor contains the living room, dining room, and kitchen

As Koga strode back up to the Fisherman, he held out the glittery fish with pride. "This is what you're looking for, right?" he asked, even as the Fisherman's jaw practically hit the floor. "My God! I don't think I've ever seen anyone return so quickly! How'd you do it!?" Koga gave a sheepish chuckle in response, "Just used the bait you gave me and cast a line, nothin' to it." Well, that, and whole lotta Luck buffs. But, whatever got the job done. "Well, I did promise you a reward, here, hand me over that beauty and the bait I gave you." Koga did just as the Fisherman asked, conjuring u

Koga gratefully took the two bowls of soup from Oji, setting one down in front of Okami who began to eagerly lap up the tasty food, creating quite the mess in the process. Koga for his part, was much cleaner as he brought the spoon to his lips tasting the broth. "Damn, this is pretty good," the man commented before taking in another mouthful. Koga had to suppress his laugh so he didn't spew food into Oji's face as the older man came up with ideas for a name for the ferret-bear. "Soup? No man, that's the one," he said, after finally managing to swallow the mouthful of soup. That seemed the

As soon as Koga saw the creature's cursor switch to the familiar blue of a furry friend, Koga opened his mouth and loudly sucked in air as if it was the first time he'd ever heard what breathing was. "Oh thank fucking god," the man gasped as he gratefully breathed in the crisp clean air of Aincrad. Never before had it tasted so good. "I thought I was gonna pass out," he said with a chuckle before looking at the new pair of friends with a soft smile. "I think this means we celebrate!" The man took a sip of his sake as Okami got up to go sniff at the curious creature, unfamiliar as it was t

Koga rolled his eyes and stole a glance over at NIGHT, feigning annoyance at her joke. "You blame me for everything," he replied with thick sarcasm before readying his blade. "You take the left, I'll take the - NIGHT?" Koga looked at the spot where she had just been only to find it completely devoid of player. The man span a small circle in bewilderment, trying to figure out where she'd gone. "Fucking stealth players." "RRRAAAAGH!" The battle cry was the only warning Koga had, just enough to move his body out of the way of a downward strike, before quickly slashing at the attacker's

NPCs poured out of the burning hut, and one by one unceremoniously dumped whatever they were holding on the ground, while two or three others did their best to sort through it all, separating whatever could still be salvaged from what could not, categorizing taking inventory. It seemed so little. Koga threw one last bucket of water onto the fire as it died down. Though it still burned in some places, it seemed like it was running out of fuel, slowly receding until it would eventually die. The swords mans lowered himself to the ground, panting slightly as he wiped sweat from his brow,

Surprisingly, the NPC witch seemed to buy into Koga's little bluff. Thankfully. The Wolf wasn't quite keen on being turned into a frog or something today. He quite liked being human. Opposable thumbs were nice. The man continued to listen, one hand still on his katana, as the witch explained that she'd built the estate with her daughters, drawing out a comment from Cro that Koga should marry one. Koga made a face, as if considering the possibility. Potentially hot magical wife, endless sweets for Cro, ever present threat of death by snu snu. Or become tonight's dinner. Well Koga knew

Oji gently inched closer to the creature as it poked its head out of the bush. Was it drawn in by the scent of the cooking meal like Oji said? Koga didn't know. All he knew was that if this kept up for much longer, he was going to pass out. Assuming he could pass out. Cardinal was finnicky about what real life occurrences translated into the game, but frankly, Koga wasn't keen on finding out. The sable hissed at the older gentlemen, and if Koga could gasp or draw a sharp breath he would. Instead he forced every muscle in his body to tense instead, taking the involuntary movement and conta

No sooner had Oji noticed the sable did Koga practically started holding his breath, suppressing every movement of his breath as much as he could. His eyes were wide as he stared at the black-furred creature. Ferret-bear indeed the thing, looked like some strange but cute conglomeration of animals. Not quite Frankenstein-esque, but easy enough to identify individual parts. The torso and legs of a bear, the tail, long neck and head of a ferret. It seemed like it shouldn't exist, too perfectly cobbled together, and yet here it was. Koga's eyes began to dry, his lungs begged for air, b

Though Astreya may have faltered, she did not skip a single beat in covering it up. Perhaps it was just the fact that Koga was willing to take people at face value until given a reason otherwise, or that he chose not to pry too deeply from sheer curiosity, or maybe he just believed that people were more than their appearances and found nothing strange in Astreya's knowledge, but the man did not notice a single crack in the carefully crafted mask that Astreya had donned. A wry grin appeared on his face as the man slowly shook his head, bemused with Astreya's evaluation of him. "Well, you'r

Nothing that Koga could hear made any sense to the man. Almost nothing was discernable. It all simply mixed together in a cacophony of sound, a discordant orchestra. The deep rumble of the roaring flames and air-splitting cracks of burning wood served as the drums and cymbals, and the shouting, each it's own string. The music of chaos filled the air tonight. "More water! We need more water!" "You there, move anyone not able to help back! Make room!" "We need medicine here! We have wounded!" All Koga could do here was fulfill the task he'd assigned himself. Getting this damn

They'd been swift to eliminate the quest targets. So much so that Koga wondered what the point of him and NIGHT being present even was. Yes, they'd planned to all go out again for this, but neither of the Frontliners would have been particularly dismayed at the fact that they had done it without them. Still, at least it meant they could go back and wrap up quickly. Koga looked over at NIGHT as she spoke, a small quiver hiding within her unusually quiet voice. Like the beat of a butterfly's wings on some distant continent, warning of a hurricane in the distant future, in a distant lan

Koga handed Oji the pieces of meat before peering into the bubbling pot and taking a sniff. It was looking good, smelling even better. So much so, that Koga's stomach rumbled loudly as he inhaled. "Man, I can't wait," he said with a greedy grin before taking the sashimi and a saucer. "Oh, thanks," the man said with gratitude before finding a seat on the ground, cross-legged. The man took a sip of the offered sake, and found himself a little surprised by how smooth it was. "Mmm, that's good," he commented before looking up at Oji. "I take it you enjoy cooking?" he inquired before trying a

"We could always just try pushing him up the stairs, squeeze him through?" Koga suggested, scratching the back of his head as he stared at the big blob of living goo in the middle of his kitchen. If they popped the water balloon that was Fraz while getting him up the stairs though, Koga couldn't imagine Blue being too happy about it. NIGHT then suggested trying to get Fraz into the backyard, which wasn't idea were it not for the fact it had the same issue the last one did. "@NIGHT, if Fraz can't fit through the front door, he's not gonna fit through the back either..." The strange gi

Koga gave a wry smile in reponse to Astreya's teasing. His first assessment of her had been wrong. Yes, she was a little too loud sometimes for his tastes, but that was okay. She was pleasant to be around, and she had a good sense of humor, and that was good enough for Koga. The man listened to her reasoning with curious interest. The more she explained it, the more it made sense. Talkative, though she was, she took genuine interest in the people she spoke too, unlike many others Koga had met. It was an interest that bled into every aspect of her life, it seemed, including her choice of p