Katoka

"Don't focus too much on me, you won't be able to fight the boss if you're too distracted." she smiled and hugged Sam tightly. She laid down with her and held her close, "We can stay here as long as you need." Kat kissed her forehead softly and patted her head as she cried. She was worried, but she wanted Sam to feel at ease so that she could focus on the fight at hand. Katoka did something she hadn't done since she was back home comforting her little sister, she began to hum a song. Softly and calmly she hummed a tune that her mother had used to comfort her, and that she in turn used to calm

Katoka was shocked at first. The thought of the front lines, the danger, the strength of the bosses, it scared her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, holding tight onto Sam's hand before responding. "Honey, I'm not mad if that's what you think. I'm... Scared. For you." she looked into her watery eyes and smiled softly, "It was going to happen eventually. I know how strong you are. It's selfish of me to want you to stay away." Kat shifted herself on the bed so that she was cross legged and facing Sam batter, "Please, just promise me that you'll be safe. Because if something happe

Kat jumped at her companion's sudden appearance. She turned to see the ragged figure as he walked around and sat across from her, a smirk on his face. "On of these days Freyd." she mimed punching her fist into her empty hand, she was grinning the entire time. "If it wasn't for Cardinal and this damn update we wouldn't have to repeat this quest for a damn skill." she fussed as she took another sip of her drink. "I appreciate you coming though, should be a breeze like last time." Hiding a guilty face behind her mug she pretended to sip her drink again before she answered, "Sam and I ha

Katoka had spent most of the day inside Firm Anima's halls doing research, as she liked to do, on various quests. With things being so different since Cardinal updated things she was cross referencing and even updating a few of the logs the guild had. She realized that it was dark out and cursed under her breath, she was trying to be better about getting sleep but when she was focused she tended to loose track of time. After a few minutes of returning books and maps to their places she saved her notes in her hud and collected her things. The blonde waved and said her goodbyes to anyone she pas

Sitting inside the warm confines of the White Rabbit Tavern, Katoka took a sip of her coffee in the hopes that it would stave off the cold on the fourth floor. Looking irritated she once again opened her hud to check her messages. After learning that you could now receive an extra skill from a quest she had already done made her a bit annoyed. "Stupid Cardinal, making me have to come down here to this damn icebox of a level again." she pouted and took another sip of her drink. She had sent an invitation to Freyd again, might as well have him tag along like last time. They worked well together

Katoka smiled sadly, thinking about home. Elora bringing up the outside was not something everyone trapped inside the game did often. "It's fine, sometimes it's good to think about what you've left behind. I was in my final year of high school, I guess now I'm way past that point." She laughed and bumped her shoulder against Elora's. "I miss my family. My mom, my dad, my little sister. You remind me a lot of her actually." She felt a surge of emotion that she hadn't thought about in a long time. Katoka wrapped her arm around Elora's and rested her head on her shoulder; the comfort of her warmt

Katoka chuckled and patted the little rock golem, "I'm glad he's alright. Hanami is back home, I passed her on the way out." She walked alongside Elora and just walked aimlessly through the city. "I don't know if going over to that spot right now would be the best idea, especially since we don't know what else is different. I do know of a good restaurant around here that has a decent variety on their menu." With a swipe of her hand, the samurai opened her game menu and located the map. She scrolled around until she found the spot and marked it with a pin. "Well it's good to know that at l

Kat took the sandwich from Sam and took a big bite. She closed her eyes so she could ponder the question she had asked. She already knew the answer, but she wanted to tease her love a bit before she answered. After she finished chewing she swallowed the food and turned to Sam, "Mmmm, yeah I think I'm ready." The blonde grinned and playfully bumped her hip against the brunette, "Of course I'm ready dummy. But the real question is, are you ready to spend the rest of your life with a boring little blonde?" Leaning over she took a bite of Sam's sandwich before dropping her own on her plate an

Katoka held Sam in her arms and placed her forehead against hers, closing her eyes for a while. She couldn't even remember what it was like to be without her. She didn't want to remember. Opening her eyes again she turned to see Lium was now gone. She smiled softly and almost felt a bit bad for him. She knew that he loved Sam, he could see it in his eyes. The pain of not being able to be with the one you love was easy to hide behind a mask, but it was also hard to hide from people that knew where to look. Kat knew that she'd see him again, and she had a feeling that they would fight for Sam's

Katoka watched Lium closely, she had dealt with people in her past that could lie like the best of them. She could usually tell if something was off, but Sam's friend seemed genuine. She smiled and took a sip of her tea so she could properly think of something to say. After a beat she responded, "I know she thinks very highly if you, so I wouldn't do anything to keep her away." Turning to Sam she continued, "You don't have to ask permission to have friends. You're not my property, I won't treat you like an object. We are partners in this together." Looking back to Lium she took another sip of

Standing up Katoka brushed herself off despite not really being dirty, "Freyd hasn't messaged you yet?" she asked, though now that she saw the look on Elora's face after say that she regretted it. "I'm sure he has his reasons, you know how he is." she shrugged a bit in an attempt to lighten the mood, "The fact that he's showing up online means he's at least ok. Unless we need to go beat him up." she pressed her fist against Elora's arm playfully. "For now let's just... Walk. Maybe find something to eat along the way? I'm stating to get a small bit of my appetite back." she held out her ha

Katoka was surprised by the new person that had entered her home, but she quickly composed herself and gave him a sweet smile as he sat down. As he introduced himself she arched a brow at his mention of having eyes for Sam. She did reach out and grip his hand to shake it, though she did it a bit more firmly than needed, "As long as your eyes and hands remain where they are then I don't think we'll have any issue Lium. It's a pleasure to meet you nonetheless. I'm Katoka, Sam's soon to be wife." She let go of his hand and turned back to Sam, "And I'm not mad at you love, just send me a mess

Katoka sat, sipping on a cup of tea that had gone lukewarm long ago while reading a book she had picked up recently. She hadn't had a whole lot of time to really dive into it like she had wanted, what with the wedding planning, game devastating storm of shadows, and the build up of dishes in her sink. Thankfully she had tackled the one that she despised the most that morning and was treating herself to a much needed rest for the time being. The breeze was cool and the day was just the right temperature to really enjoy the outside without getting too hot or cold. The blonde turned the page and

"I fought because I was furious. I was angry at myself for not being strong enough to help you and for this damn game for doing that to us." Katoka released Elora and placed her hands on her cheeks, smooshing them together to make her lips stick out in a funny way. "We're fine now. We survived whatever this was. Reset, or purge, or whatever it was the system did. Now let's just. Be happy for a bit ok?" She let her face go and scooted next to the elven woman, placing her back against the bed. There arms were lightly touching, just enough for the other to know they were both there without having

"I fought," she managed to choke out through the sobs, "I got so angry. I fought and I killed and the rage that filled me was terrifying. But when I lost you I couldn't stop." She pulled back so that she could get a better look at Elora. There wasn't a mark on her. No scratches, no dirt, she wasn't wet from the rain like she had last seen her. "In the end I was fighting back to back with Setsuna from the guild, we... We went down together." Kat felt a shiver run up her spine. Taking Elora's face in both of her hands and gave her a tear filled smile, "We don't have to figure out what we wa

Katoka watched as the door to Elora's room fell inwards and crumpled to the floor. She blinked a few times, very confused at how weak the hinges must have been to come loose from her light knocking. Her gaze drifted to the form of her green haired friend, holding out what seemed to be a metal flower in front of her. "kat..." She managed to croak. Katoka stepped slowly into the room, after crossing the threshold she covered the remaining to distance to Elora in two bounding steps. The samurai wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close into a tight embrace that would probably have

Raw, bone chilling cold was the last thing Katoka remembered before she let herself succumb to her vantablack prison. With a gasp of breath the samurai bolted upward from her bed in her home. She was coated in a cold sweat and sucking in rapid lungfuls of air as her eyes darted around rapidly. Had it all be a horrible dream? For her to be in bed now it must have been. An alert sounded from her hud and a window popped up in front of her. As she read the word on the window she felt her blood run cold. System Update Complete. Welcome to 3.0. Please take the time to consult the update no

Current Level: 37 Current SP: 130 Link to SP Tracking: [link] Item Upgrades: 2.6 | PRE-CONVERSION 3.0 | UPGRADED ITEM #1 Item Name: Item ID: 170449 Item Tier: 2 Item Type: Katana Item Rarity: Perfect Item Enhancements: Damage II // Bleed Description: An exquisitely crafted katana smithed from crusite to be agile and deadly. It's edge honed so sharp it could cut enemies in twain with little effort. When the light hits the metal of the blade just right, it seems to almost glow. The Ts

As Jevi was consumed by the darkness Katoka felt herself snap back into focus for a moment. Her anger was still there, but now her tunnel vision had broken. She cut and slashed at the new tendrils of darkness that lashed out at her. Beasts crawled from the rising tide and she dropped them one by one. A crackle of electricity rippled down her arm and leapt from her katana as she drove it into the chest of a hulking bear. "I can't let them die for nothing." she gritted her teeth. More power crackled through her, snapping to life with every strike and thrust. "I won't go down without a

"Ar-are you alright?" stammered a man to Katoka as she strode past him. She stopped and turned, the fear in his eyes barely registering to her. She didn't answer. Instead she continued walking, passing NPCs and the few remaining players as one real path to some semblance of safety was revealed. The cries of those around her were muffled, almost like she had cotton in her ears. They were all distractions now, the only thing that mattered was finding the thing that did this to Elora. Her fury rolled off her in waves, like a campfire that had grown too large to control. From the shadows arou

With a shaky hand, the small samurai reached out and gripped her katana. Lifting it felt like trying to pick up a steel girder, but her muscles strained and her bicep bulged, half dragging it around in the mid until she managed to return it to it's saya. Her hair hung limply around her face as she stared at the ground, her chest heavy as she attempted to catch her breath. Despite the pain in her limbs from the constant running and motion from the past few hours, she felt numb. Katoka knew the pain was there, she felt it in a way, but a cold numbness had wrapped her body in a cocoon

Attempting to steer the horse that both her and Elora were mounted on bare back was proving to be difficult, the lack of reins and a proper saddle definitely not helping. Feeling the arms of her friend wrapped around her, Katoka leaned into the beast and attempted to spur it into motion when it happened. Time seemed to slip into slow motion for a moment and the samurai wasn't sure what was really going on. How long had they been running? It seemed like it had been hours, but surely it hadn't actually been that long. Could it? Kat felt her eyes begin to squint slowly and a bolt of lighting

The sky above the samurai boomed, lighting forked and crawled and continued to send shivers down her spine that the cold never could. Everything about this storm was disturbing to it's core. Katoka's attention snapped back into focus as her elven eared companion sprinted off to help someone, she hesitated to chase after but let her go. As long as she was within her eye sight then she could be there faster than the lightning could strike. Her focus turned the horses, bucking and scared for their own lives. An almost white mare reared up near the blonde, fear in it's digital eyes. Kat stepp

Katoka kept her katana ready, quickly surveying the people in the group around her. She was beginning to feel the exhaustion in her bones now. She was wet, cold, and had been on the move for cardinal only knew how long, not to mention how many times her body had been pumped full of simulated adrenaline. She was surprised she was able to keep her blade as steady as it was. "We need to move up the mountain as far as possible, the path Elora and I just came from is out. A mudslide block us off from out original group. Let's head this way." she said aloud to everyone, pointing to the path opp

Katoka was going to retort but she knew that Elora wouldn't change her mind. Instead she let the moment wash over her like the disgusting ichor around them. She could hear the sounds of the wildlife around them, also attempting tp flee like the rest of them. What was even happening? Would Cardinal really wipe out not only it's entire player base, but it's NPCs and wildlife too? What even was this storm? Elora's last reassuring squeeze gave Kat a bit of confidence. A flash of lightening illuminated the sky as she drew her katana, large tentacles of inky darkness reaching from the sky above