Koga

"Hey there, 'Streya," Koga greeted the bubbly woman as she walked into his store. "Well, 'new' gear is my specialty. Well, specifically weapons. And armor. And shields...so as long as its something like that, I got you covered." The girl quickly scribbled out her order on some parchment, before sliding it over to Koga. "Easy enough," he said with a nod, flipping the papers over to check the back, despite them usually being blank. "Huh?" Someone had already scribbled something on the other side. That was strange. "Hmph," Koga grunted with a shrug before turning back towards his forge. An o

It wasn't so much party banter, so much as it was thoughtful discussion. DAY was right, quests thus far hadn't been this easy. Well, at least if you weren't entirely overleveled they weren't. But this sounded like a cakewalk, by far. That alone didn't really sit right with Koga. "No, I don't think so," the swordsman replied to the construct. "Cardinal is probably just slowly ramping up the difficulty on us." That felt like a reasonable assumption to the man. Cardinal had never been one to go easy on the players, not in the long run at least. "My guess, we either get caved in as well, or s

Koga straightened his back and crossed his arms as the...what was this guy? The mayor? A foreman? As the guy stood up from his seat and moved towards the map on the wall behind him, pointing to a particular point marked in red with his forefinger. Koga wanted to scoff. First, at the strange implication that farmers were working in a cave, like miners, but then again, that was kind of how this Floor worked. Then at the comment about foreigners. He'd heard something like that plenty of times. Either at home where some were less than friendly to those who they considered to be elsewhere, or

No sooner had the trio entered the village proper did the chaos of distress reach their ears. 'Right into the thick of it,' the Wolf thought grimly as they scanned the crowd for...something...anything to indicate what their objective was. Because at the end of the day, these ones. They weren't real, as real as their wails seemed. They weren't like the sunny blonde walking aside NIGHT, and they weren't like Gabrandr. It was hard to remember sometimes. NIGHT was the one to find their point of ingress. DAY followed, and Koga as close as he could manage, shoving his way between the tightly pa

Koga started chuckling at what Oji had said. "What? C'mon! You didn't see the big ass warning that said 'Will most likely result in being trapped in a death game with no escape?' It was, like, the biggest feature!" he joked back, trying to make light of their situation. However many years had passed, it still was not the easiest thing to come to terms with, not with all the death that surrounded them That was way Koga's good cheer quickly left at the older man's next question. "They uh...they didn't make it," Koga said solemnly, picking up his drink and taking another sip with closed eyes

At this point, Koga was paying the absolute minimum amount of attention required to ensure no one got gored by one of the cute little guys he was holding before himself. The little pig kicked his feet in the air uselessly, attempting to find some stable earth to gain traction and continue his relentless assault on Koga's ankles. Adorable. NIGHT passed him by at some point, looking about ten times more flustered than one would expect from what should have just been a normal interaction, and made a quiet request to look out for the others. Great more babysitting. "Mm," Koga hummed back with

Koga chuckled a little at the mention of Freyd not taking the competition too seriously. The man had his business side and his humorous one. Both tended to be on the extreme ends on the spectrum, but, somehow the man made it work, as far as Koga could tell. "Yeah, that sounds like him," Koga said with a laugh. "I'm sure you'll get him at some point or another." The three, well, really two girls recounted some of the events of his Christmas party, to which Koga just kinda...sat there and listened. Sorta. His mind automatically began to flashback to Kasumi just appearing at his door. God, h

Koga would have replied to DAY, primarily to ask how she knew any of this, it wasn't in the quest log, but it didn't take a social butterfly to realize that the two women were having some semblance of a private moment. The toying of their hands and fingers with each other and silent looks was enough to tell Koga he was better off just letting them do their thing. He turned back craning his neck to look out at whatever lay beyond the confines of their wagon, even when they passed between the cracks of some mountain or another. As they finally came out from the mountain embrace, NIGHT sudde

Oh, hey. Look, a Baby Boar. Koga stared at the pitiful little creature and wondered how long ago it had been since one of its parents had nearly killed him. Thank God he'd used a healing potion then, or else he would be dead right now. Did he ever get his revenge? Well, yes, technically, he and Noct had wound up killing the stupid thing. And scores of its siblings. But hey, what was one more? Koga started walking closer to the little piece of bacon with legs. Looked like he was at least going to get some dinner tonight. It suddenly looked at him, eyes glowing red with the fury of a s

Somehow, the scene playing out before Koga was only deteriorating, if that were even possible. Koga watched, eyes half-lidded and slack jawed as he tried to understand what strange cosmic event must have occurred to bring him to this moment in time, in this particular place, with these specific people. Well...at least this wasn't the most boring attempt at this god forsaken quest. The man closed his eyes, shut his mouth, and let out a deep exhale as he resigned himself to whatever the hell was going on. The man stood up from his spot in the grass and started to walk. In no direc

"I'm doin' alright, thanks. How have you been?" Koga replied to Nari, apparently not as wound up about their last encounter as she was. Sure he held grudges, but not those kind. He couldn't fault a girl for him not being her type...or even her gender...yeah, not much he could do about that one. "Wait, you beat Freyd?" Koga said, unable to hide the surprise on his face as Astreya stated her victory. That was no mere feat, Koga had seen the man fight before. "Christ, remind me not to piss you off." "Mm, thanks..." he then replied to Nari, his voice voice dipping softly. "Was hoping to

The wagon creaked as the three passengers boarded and took their seats. Before long, they had embarked on their rickety, rocky journey, NIGHT and DAY seated beside each other, with Koga across from the. Ever since they had sat down, NIGHT had refused to let go of her partner's hand. A cocked eye brow as Koga's eyes flicked between the two, and their joined hands. Normally, he wouldn't think twice about such a display of affection, but with NIGHT? You couldn't even touch the woman's shoulder without her jumping out of her skin. The way NIGHT lamely replied to DAY, again pushing the expense

The sound of Bismuth crashing to the ground cut through the momentary silence as Koga noticed that not only had Nari not paid any attention to what just happened, but NIGHT was also ignoring the fact like it was a daily occurrence at this point. "Really?" Koga muttered, full of disappointment and dissatisfaction. "Seriously? Nothing?" Koga sighed and just plopped down on his ass, taking a seat and went back to doing his job as the new players' sentinel. Ungrateful, all of them. Koga watched as NIGHT and Nari had their...exchange, if one could even call it that. The man could hardly unders

"Shifting the blame to an uncaring third party when you knew you could do something about it is like seeing a wave coming at your face, and then not moving and complaining you got wet. It's your own damn fault at that point," Koga said with a shrug of his shoulders. He wasn't a big fan of passing the buck to someone else, and if he could stop others from being hurt and fucked it up, then that was on him. Plain and simple. Koga glanced back at NIGHT again as she complained about being their fall-person should the world burn in the burning fires of an apocalypse, and then addressed the matt

Koga nearly laughed at Jomei's question. "Uh, well...not exactly? I ended up on the floor," he said, whilst chuckling to himself at the slightly awkward memory. "She uh...kinda...kissed me when I wasn't expecting it," he said quickly. "But! Uh! I had been teasing her for a really long time!" he added quickly, not wanting to give the wrong impression, although he got the sudden and distinct feeling he had only made it worse. Seriously, just take a breath dude. Koga took a moment to inhale before replying to the actual point of what Jomei was saying. "Yeah, I think you're right," he sa

Koga was practically staring daggers at Nari. Normally, he would have let such a comment roll off his back like water ona duck, but if it wasn't obvious from their encounter earlier in the day, he had woken up on the wrong-side of the bed this morning. "Thank you, Bis," Koga replied sharply to the man, not bothering to glance at the man, who had somehow gotten himself up into a tree and was now hanging upside down like a monkey. Actually, why was he in the tree to begin with? Whatever, now was not the time to question such matters. Nari proceeded to shove her foot farther down her t

"I mean...it kinda would be," Koga replied. They would be the one finding the potentially world-ending evil after all. They could've said 'no' at any time, presumably. Or done something to prevent it. But if the world did end, that would mean they failed, in which case, they would be responsible. Was there some flaw to his logic he wasn't seeing? At the mention of their mutual friend's name, Koga took a knowing glance over his shoulder at the woman, a knowing and amused grin plastered across his smug face. "Mm, yeah, she seems like she'd make a good fall-person." Was she probably furious

"Most people don't eat sweets for every meal, Blue," Koga pointed out to the girl. "It's unhealthy." Yes Koga was aware he probably just earned himself a solid fifteen minutes of ire from the girl. No, he did not care, he had to prove a point. "I'm always down for some cards!" Koga said, suddenly finding his second wind at the prospect of card games. He'd always loved them, as a kid all the way through college. "Whatever the stakes, I'm in," he said before quickly clearing away some room on the table by moving the food to the counter. Enough chairs were already present for four, so the ot

Koga was a little surprised at first with Bismuth's forwardness, but then again, the man had shown to be nothing thus far. Koga was about to open his mouth to reply, but was quickly cut off by the sound of NIGHT explaining, or rather verbally stumbling her way through an explanation. One step in the wrong direction. Thump! "NIGHT!" Koga was quick to jump down the small berm, sliding to a stop beside the now facedown NIGHT. The man crouched down beside her, arms on his knees as he looked at her, lips drawn in a thin line. Well she was still breathing. "Why am I surprised?" he sai

Koga sighed as he pulled the rag tight around his neck as he walked away from the arenas, feeling a little more down with himself than he cared to admit. The man looked at the broken bokken Alkor had pushed into his chest at the end of their fight. Symbolic in a way, he supposed. Although of what, he wasn't sure. Hell, he didn't even know why he was carrying it. All he knew was that he'd missed his shot. Sure, he got the good fight he'd been looking for, and he'd told himself he was alright with losing, but damn. He didn't realize how disappointed he'd feel now that he couldn't- "Hey Koga

Koga found himself surprised. He'd never taken NIGHT to be the sentimental type. Well, not like he was at least. But as they stared out at the distant fields of flowers, they found themselves reminiscing. "Yeah. I was." It had been how they'd met, in fact. Distant memories now though. The man listened as his friend described the first time she'd completed the quest, and how Yukiro had helped her. He hadn't ever known that little folk tale about the flowers, but it figured that Yukiro would. He'd been better at keeping his ear to the ground than Koga was. "Yeah, I'm worried too..." he sai

k o g a the elder wolf Floor 27, 1:36pm A new floor meant new lands to explore, new settlements, enemies, and, of course, new quests. It was this reason, that had brought the two to the 27th Floor. The quest meant experience, col, items, everything one might need to advance. And of course, the chance to be the first to finish the new quest brought a particular tingle of joy and adventure to the endeavor. The old man in his brown cloak paced back and forth before his long and numerous shelves stuffed full of book excitedly, practically

The sound of the floor slowly awaking drew Koga's eyes to the distant town, unseen behind the forest's dense wall of leaves and branches. But the sounds came through so clearly, one could almost imagine it all with perfect clarity. The farmhands tiredly getting out of their beds, preparing for the day whilst rubbing their eyes free of sleep's sweet embrace. The mother's trying to quietly tend to their morning duties before the children awoke. The player's most content to sleep for a while longer, others, eager for progress. The birds looking for their morning meal, and the creatures of the nig

Koga thought back to that Christmas Eve when he'd foolishly thrown together a last minute, hastily put together celebration for any who were willing to show up. The fact that it somehow hadn't become a total disaster was an accomplishment in and of itself. "Uh, I think she came by a little bit before everyone start leaving, so you mighta' seen her," Koga answered looking up at the sky in thought. The sun had started to breach the horizon, and although the pair could not see the rising sun over the high walls of the Labyrinth, rays of light had begin to fill the sky with soft pastel color. "Red

The two new players were quick to begin their search for materials, Nari had even found one already. Good thing too, as this quest was one of the more time consuming ones, rivalled only by that stupid boulder quest and the search for one's familiar. At least NIGHT and Koga didn't have to do much besides making sure that the two players didn't wander off and get themselves killed. Kinda like babysitting Too bad Koga was a terrible babysitter. The man stood by with his hands in pockets beside NIGHT as the other two went about their business. The man stole a glance at his old friend, a