Koga

Nari paused, presumably to breath before trying to explain further. Koga simply watched her passively, no emotion showing on his face as she moved about, kicking up a cloud of dust. He had questions to ask, but they could wait a moment while the woman collected herself. The man waited patiently (though the wait was not long). Had he been here under different circumstances, he would have attempted to take in the new sights of this version of Nature's Treasure, a far cry different from the old ones. But no, now was not the time for that. His crimson eyes remained fixed on Nari as she spoke

k o g a the elder wolf By the time NIGHT had made it over to Koga's home, the man was already at work in the kitchen. A pot of rice cooking, the sound of sizzling meat in a pan. Vegetables in another. A salty-sweeet scent wafted up from a pot he was stirring on the stove, the distinct scent of soy sauce mixed with other things filling the air and mingling with the scent of steak. Okami sat himself near Koga, eagerly wagging his tail knowing he too would benefit from the meat being cooked. The sound of his door creaking open drew the man's

"It's a skill like any other," Koga replied, "Just with less ephemeral results. You could always pick it up, I bet, with some practice." Koga took a moment to realize that no, technically she couldn't...not in Aincrad at least, if she wanted to remain a performer. "Er, when we get out, I mean," he amended. 'If.' Okami was quick to warm up to Astreya, the shows of affection from the girl serving like honey, and the wolf was the bee. The wolf drifted closer to the woman, enjoying his pets like he wasn't some bloodthirsty predator. What a goob. Koga could only roll his eyes at the pair.

Koga was a little surprised and horrified that @Astreya had so blatantly announced her intent to ask Alkor on the awarded date, were it possible. He shouldn't have been. But he was. As Nari addressed her opponent, Koga's eyes drifted over to @Alkor, but he didn't need to see the burning stare to know it was already there. He felt it. "Hey, don't blame me," he said to the man, lifting his hands as if they would serve as some kind of barrier between himself and the man's wrath. "I tried to tell her it wasn't a great idea." Most guys would be mad if their friend tried to dissuade a pretty girl fr

To say Nari was animated as they entered the beautiful garden would've been a massive understatement. And not in the 'oh, that girl is so excited, she's so cute' kind of way. It was in the 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' kinda way. Were the anger aimed at him, and had many experiences with Akiara not hardened him already, Koga would've been a little bit afraid of the way Nari marched through the place, arms flailing, ground practically shaking. Koga just followed quietly and listened. It was the comment about disappearing though that finally coaxed some words out from the man. "Y

"Hmph," Koga chuckled. "I've always been jealous of Performers. As much as I love making things, I've always wanted to be able to play an instrument or sing or something. Hell, I can't even dance, I got no rhythm," Koga said with a laugh. The man was better off standing in the middle of a dance floor staring at people than he was making any attempt at a dance. Okami looked up excitedly at Astreya at the mention of belly rubs, tongue lolling out of his mouth, greedy at the prospect of being pampered. Koga rolled his eyes at the canine. He was a ladies-man and he knew it. "A good boy, he is

Nari began to point out that Nemo might not let them in now that Koga had quite literally stated their intentions to wipe him off the face of Aincrad (at least until he respawned), but instead, Nemo just tilted his head and stared at Koga with a confused look on his face, before turning around and leading them towards the garden, Koga following closely behind him. The Wolf looked over his shoulder at Nari as she caught up to him and the NPC before asking a...rather blunt question. Koga looked at her with blatant surprise on his face. Surprise and perhaps a small bit of contempt. "Would yo

The sound of crumbling Graham crackers accompanied a sultry voice as the mansion's door slowly creaked (crumbled?) open. Koga looked at the moving door in surprised, before glancing over at Crozeph, who wore a similar expression on his face. Both players cautiously put a hand on their weapons as the estate's presumable owner made her appearance. A snow-haired woman, scantily clad, surely intended to draw attention to her impressive assets. But most striking were her eyes. Frosty, an icy shade of blue. Her gaze was cold, devoid of emotion, despite the seductive look she gave the two men.

Item Name: Beasts Claws Profession: Blacksmith Rank: 7 Roll ID: 203782 Roll Result: 11 Item Type: Claws Tier: 2 Quality: Perfect Enhancements: Bleed I / Damage II Description: A set of clawed gauntlets capable of inflicting dangerous status effects. Post Link:

That girl who'd ordered the claws before returned. A returning customer. Huh, unusual. Not necessarily because any of Koga's crafts were bad, there was just better loot that could be farmed. Well, best not look a gift horse in the mouth. Koga took the order before stepping into the backroom forge with a yawn. Man, he did not get enough sleep last night. Or at least that's what he told himself when the first two attempts were utter shit. The third and final one, however was just right. Goldilocks. The whole affair took three minutes, and Koga stepped back out and handed the girl her n

Okay, maybe Astreya wasn't as annoying as Koga had initially thought. The man grinned as she continued to appreciate his work. "As long as it serves you well, I'm happy," he said, doing his best to be humble. Although, that stupid grin he was wearing probably gave away his disguise, and the immense amount of pride he felt. "I'm probably gonna do some fishing," Koga admitted as he started to walk towards the Town exit, gesturing for the girl to follow. "Honestly, never been much for either. Don't have the patience. I do like exploring places though. But, I think fishing will be more benefi

Somehow the entire string of words that Nari just said to Koga made both no sense, and all the sense. Suffice it to say, the man had a very confused look on his face as he tried his damnedest to get what few functioning gears he had in his head to make enough revolutions to actually comprehend which Gardner was which. Unfortunately, Nari did not give Koga enough time to actually finish solving his complex mathematical equations before grabbing the man by the wrist and pulling him along. "H-hey!" he cried out in surprise. "Just cause I have no mit, doesn't mean I'm squish," Koga said. True

Koga chuckled lightly at Bismuth's concerns about his strength. "Stronger or not, your HP pool is higher. Believe me, that does wonders." Koga didn't mention the fact he'd almost died to a Boar himself. Not his proudest moment, and not one he was going to share anytime soon. Still, an amusing story, so one day. Although NIGHT and Koga were ahead of the others, he could still clearly hear what was being said behind them. As well as the way Nari's voice raised as she said her final sentence. Had something happened between her and NIGHT on their...whatever it was supposed to be. Koga cast a

k o g a the elder wolf Koga heard a familiar voice call out his name before he felt a heavy hand clasp his shoulder. Looking over at his doppel, aside from the differences in their height and eye color, it was difficult to distinguish between the two. "@Freyd, howzit," he greeted him. "Heh...thanks. Just hope no one's got any hard feelings over...all that..." the events of the raid boss still wore on Koga's mind. Even if they had turned in the sympathizer's favors, the anger he'd baited out of Baldur had stuck with Koga since then. Forgiven, bu

"I'm glad you like it," Koga said with a genuine smile. Some vain part of him took great joy in hearing someone else was happy with his work, especially since most hardly ever said anything about it at all. Actually, all of him was enjoying this. Feel free to praise him more. "Yeah, I'm wrapping up for the day. Was gonna go pick up my gathering profession since I've been putting it off." Koga looked off to the distance for a moment, in the direction of the Town's exit. "Wanna join me? You can give her a test run while I do my thing, if you'd like." To be honest, Koga wasn't normally

It took all of three seconds for Koga to notice that Nari was far more talkative than the first time they'd met. Not unlike the last time they'd met to do the Second Lessons quest. Though Koga made no comment, he wondered what trials and tribulations the older woman might have gone through to trigger the sudden change. "Wait, the Gardner, the thing we're going to go kill, is a player?" Koga asked, recalling the player from the last boss raid. He didn't know much about the guy, aside from the fact he thought very little of NPCs or AI, but the fact he was apparently behind this whole new ve

"You won't here any arguments from me," Koga said with a chuckle. Hypothetical or not, the whole idea was entertaining. They could be the founders and kings of Aincrad's version the UFC. Not that Koga had any idea what he'd do with that kind of money. Probably nothing. He liked killing mobs to much to stop farming. Which, speaking of..."How 'bout I go get us some meat, and you see about getting us some spices? I haven't had English food, and I'm not about to make today the day I do. I've heard its terrible." Seriously...why the hell did the British bother stealing everyone else's spices f

Koga turned his head to look at Bismuth as he approached. The man...looked like he'd seen better days. But he'd made it as well. "Looks like you've been busy as well," Koga said, noting the man's increase in level. Good, they wouldn't have to worry about them getting assblasted by a couple baby boars. Progress. Nari seemed to have wandered off a little, picking up the quest for them, while the other three stood by, silently. NIGHT and Koga were never talkers, but it seemed that Bismuth wasn't one either. Or at least, not in the mornings. Relatable. When Nari arrived though, the man gave t

k o g a the elder wolf Koga listened as the door shut behind Astreya, the bell above it ringing as it closed. The man sighed and turned to look at his familiar, lying on the floor beside the counter. "Alright bud, let's go and get this over with," he said. The wolf looked up at him, obviously no wanting to get up. "Yeah, me neither dude, but the sooner we start, the sooner we'll be done." Okami whined, but stood and Koga began to walk out of his store, equipping his coat and weapon. The man turned and locked the door behind him, but when h

k o g a the elder wolf The teleporter flashed, greeting Koga with the dour scenery of the floor. Floor Nineteen felt like something straight out of a dark fantasy game. Dark, grim, and utterly like you had to constantly look over your shoulder, and sleep with one eye open. Why Nari had asked him to come up here was a mystery to the man. Even still, Koga gave almost no sign of his heightened alertness on this floor, aside from the way his eyes flicked from person to person, dark alcove to dark alcove all the more frequently. He walked along

"It's a good idea," Koga agreed, with a nod. "I'm not much of a mind for business though." That kind of stuff just went right over the man's head. He was good at dealing with the short term. Completing the objective, whatever it was. But long term plans? He couldn't quite think as far ahead, or as many steps ahead, as was required for that. He preferred to take things one step at a time. It was just about then that Oji's stomach began to growl. "Food sounds good to me," Koga said unconcerned with their frequent rests. "Do you have anything to cook with by any chance? I can make decent mea

At first, Koga was both a little surprised and angry at the absent presence of...whatever the fuck his name was. Koga didn't like the guy. Sure, the guy was stressed (well, for an NPC), but he didn't have to be a dismissive dick. And now he couldn't even be bothered to be here when they got back? Koga crossed his arm and leaned into the mayor's desk as they waited, a dour look on his face. Nothing else that they could do for now, he supposed. When what's-his-bucket finally did arrive, he was like...well not a whirlwind...more like a dust devil. Slow, aggravating, ultimately useless.

The sound of the farmers ahead of them served as ample background noise for the party's own conversations. Just enough to distract Koga from the persistent ringing in his ears that seemed to have followed him from the real world, whilst not being distracting in any sense. If anything, it let him focus more on the words being said between players and entity. Which was why Koga shook his head to try and free himself from an imagined buzzing in his head when he heard DAY's request. "Well, yeah," Koga chimed in after NIGHT, "obviously." Sure, he and NIGHT might be close, but they weren't

In a confusing series of events Koga was hardly keeping track of, the man found himself being pulled along by the front of his coat by NIGHT, and then quickly pulled on board a vessel. At the smallest glance Koga had been afforded, he found himself wondering if the blasted thing could even take off. A sail...wing? Sail-wing was practically one bad gust of wind away from being sheared clean off, there were holes in the hull, and half the exterior looked like it had been rusted through entirely. "@NIGHT, you know I'm not picky, especially at a time like this, but-" The woman cut h

The sickly green glow slowing spitting out floating sparks of the same color were the greatest cause of concern at the moment. NIGHT was right, there was no way they could get all twelve back to the town without aggravating their wounds. Koga wasn't a doctor, but he could tell from the pained look on the farmer's faces, moving without some form of support wasn't really an option. He gave a nod and grunt when NIGHT announced she would go get some help. Nothing to do but sit here and wait. Koga passed the time going to each farmer and inspecting what wounds he could. Not that he could do mu