Pollux

Boing. 厌倦你浪潮般涨落地爱我 当作莫名靠岸惶惑地来过 再说了从未幻想过你爱我 天马行空都埋没

[You retraced a familiar path. From sound and pressures of air, you carefully gauged the distances between yourself and the bodies of the surrounding crowd, giving all moving figures a wide berth. You thought you were actively hallucinating on top of your weariness and the fine radioactive slurry your senses had melted into -- but in front of you, approximately three steps to the right, had been a genuine flower bomber. You considered terrorism a passing disinterest, and much more amiably, you offered your contribution to the station. Hiten's booming voice came half a person's h

[Ever since your cohorts drank the event dry of its novelties, your leader had reined them all back in and redistributed their regular tasks, albeit with double the off-hours so nobody could in good conscience make fun of him for showing favoritism toward his wife. You made yourself scarce to escape any straying ire and between your own work you made a lazy routine of checking the cumulative progress on the only goal you could not accomplish by yourself. You forgot to knock on wood, as the superstitious type would say. Forty-eight hours before closing, the lines on the tally had not moved

(Received.) [You racked up two counts of impersonation in a single day. In my defense, Your Honor, you pleaded against an imaginary court, I was just being a silly goose.] Yue Hua did, too.

She was starting to suspect that she was snatching materials from right under this boy's nose. But she had checked every time, just to uphold ordinary player etiquette, and they seemed to be looking in different directions. Yue Hua thought for a second. "Have you ever strained your eyes trying to read something from a considerable distance? Let's say a sign from across a street. Try applying that to yourself right now. Try not to squint -- it narrows your peripheries; for a <<Search>>, that's counterproductive, and you don't want to get into the habit of crippling your sight o

"Heh. I can see that." Yue Hua wasn't going to rag on him any further. As it was, quarreling with an unusually limited range of movement thanks to her tail, Dexter had less success looking for Zackariah's materials. An apt consequence, she had decided. "At fighting? I won a solid half of the duels I attended back then," she shared proudly. "So if one considers that a decent sample size, I could say I am better than about fifty percent of the player base. Though right now -- I am suffering a bit of a setback... so it may be a while before I step back into the ring. "Don't worry.

This time, Yue Hua’s nacreous eyes were free to slide over to Firefly’s notebook. She had written there the coordinates. What a cute, meticulous person; Yue Hua couldn’t compare. But... the paper was white from top to bottom. What? How come she was still flipping through empty pages with purpose? A privacy setting? A nervous habit? Then she saw Firefly’s hand glide along blank pages. Yue Hua had looked away by the time Firefly turned over the coordinates. “I’ve been to this side of town,” she said, pleased with her own realization. The painted hand she held over her own map made aiml

Pallankuli ended, or was put on pause, or all guild members present at the time exhausted all available moves -- (i.e. things happened and Yue Hua was there for it) -- and there was no conclusive winner. She had thought it was quite fun regardless. Perhaps she could pick up some board games somewhere for a more proper bout; hadn't a few of them said before that the guild hall was in desperate need of decoration? Yue Hua bid her companions goodbye and went off to sample the food. She had neglected the group chat since her first series of messages, so between mouthfuls of curry, she took th

厌倦你浪潮般涨落地爱我 当作莫名靠岸惶惑地来过 再说了从未幻想过你爱我 天马行空都埋没 A busy transport hub beside Ronbaru's gates. Wagons of all sizes rolled in and out, ferrying people and goods throughout the city and beyond, and the place was abuzz with noise. Yue Hua mulled over the scene, then she headed straight for the first NPC who seemed to be possessed of some official capacity. "Hello," she intoned. "One round trip around Floor 27 for me and my companions." The NPC, whom Cardinal had, to their great consternation, locked into attending to a player's

"Hehe." Yue Hua's tail flicked, pleased, as Wulfrin took her side and Firefly helpfully popped up to assist Morningstar. It was turning into quite the party and she was happy to be surrounded by her cohorts. "Right on time you are." She let the two newcomers take their shot. A soft, understanding hum went Wulfrin's way once he concluded his move, and her watch over the pallankuli board took on brighter intensity when her original opponent took his turn. Twice in a row. "Mmh. I see," Yue Hua said mildly, but her iridescent eyes were sharp with focus. She glanced at the system window on her

Across from her was Morningstar, the first to arrive at her message, mulling over his first move. Living up to their name as rumor chasers, they were. Yue Hua almost smiled. But she looked pleasant enough without it, or so she was always told, so it didn't quite matter in the end. Her eyes were drawn from the board at Wulfrin's approach and she raised a hand in greeting. In the meantime, Morningstar selected his cup. Stones gently plinked down like raindrops across their rows. "Hello, Wulfrin. It's called pallankuli and -- you haven't played nor heard of mancala, have you?" Recognition wo

厌倦你浪潮般涨落地爱我 当作莫名靠岸惶惑地来过 再说了从未幻想过你爱我 天马行空都埋没 TRACKERS ALLIANCE GROUP CHAT KAL: hello, everyone! i stumbled across smth that might be of interest to us. KAL: [--attached image: a bird's eye shot of the festivities in ronbaru's central plaza, taken from the third floor of a nearby building. the city is, unusually, awash in light.] KAL: looks like a big deal. the entire area's changed overnight. KAL: if anyone wants to check it out, i'll be here for a while. we can walk around together. KAL: [--attached image: a pallankuli

He seemed inclined to agree. Yue Hua rose first, stretching her arms over her head. “Thanks for the free food, Zackariah,” the woman passed on as she ambled over to the door. “‘Twas good. Five out of five stars. Perfect for that seniors’ potluck.” Since no one here, not even the NPCs, minded their health, apparently. She wasn’t about to rain on their fun by testing it. Then she felt a hand take hers and her head snapped in her new friend’s direction. “Whoa. Hey.” Her eyes were wide and she was momentarily torn between ripping her hand out of the completely uncalled for contact and fixatin

Slowly and ominously, the door creaked open to a terrified woman who immediately fretted and apologized. Then she sank into a seat near Yue Hua, stumbling once over her introduction. So cute. Yue Hua wanted to pinch her cheeks. She decided she was going to call her Firefly. Two more recruits soon joined them: a distant (literally) woman who owned a business that one could apparently recognize by name, and a woman with a heavy accent, toting along a tin of croissants. Yue Hua would never say no to food. "My thanks to this 'Ciela' person. And to you for bringing it, of course," she sai

The trials and tribulations of having a mortal body: one had to maintain a healthy diet lest they die young. Such concerns were beyond them in this world. Yue Hua nodded solemnly, unaware of the surrounding context. He was, too. He had taken off his glasses to reveal the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen and the full intensity of them turned onto her when he caught her name. “Yue Hua?” Yes. “Your eyes are jewels.” Wait, no. “Yes.” “Yue Hua,” he said, thoughtful. “Yue Hua… Yue Hua…” Thump. Thump. Thump. Went the woman’s feathered tail against the floor of the