[PP-F8] Branches (Jomei) Complete

[Helios 0]

Leaning up against a large branch, which assisted holding up Florenthia Village above the dangerous waters beneath it, was Helios, a young, dark haired, curved sword wielder. The player's arms were raised behind his head and his legs were partially crossed, stretched out in a comfy position. Since the boy was fond of relaxing in the branches of trees, he found the eighth floor to be a rather nice place to be. The water below him didn't cause much fear, since he wasn't low enough for anything to attack him, and his balance was good enough to keep him from falling. As a child, the boy climbed trees often, which caused it to come easy for him inside of Sword Art Online. Emerald spheres glanced up towards the blue sky as Helios swished his hand, opening his friends list. Scrolling through it, the young man found a certain ginger haired player who he had not spoken too in some time. "I suppose I'll send him a message." he chuckled. Clicking the send button, the dark haired swordsman yawned. "What a nice day it is. I wonder if he can keep his balance down here. If not, I don't mind climbing back up to the village." he thought out loud, although quiet enough to not be heard by any other players who may have been nearby.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Helios

[Jomei 0]

In a flash of blue light, the green clad player materialized onto the warp pad in the square of Urbus. Stepping off of the platform, Jomei made his way towards the edge of town, where his shop was. He had been thinking lately about how he had been neglecting his craft and not playing music as much, and knowing about how much Zandra loved to hear it made him think he should really return to his shop to write some songs. Half way through his walk, however, he heard the ping of a message being sent to his inbox. Stopping in his tracks, he brought his hand up to tap on the icon and open the message. The man's lips hooked into a smirk when he saw just who the message was from. The man turned on his heels and quickly made his way back towards the teleporter, Floor Eight being his next destination.

Warping onto the Eighth floor, Jomei walked around, looking for his friend Helios whom he had not seen in quite awhile. He continued to look around the town's square for a short while, looking for Helios.. however he caught no sight of him. Did he really get a message from Helios? Was his mind playing tricks on  him? Opening up the message again, he looked it over more carefully. Seems Jomei happened to look right over one part that told him to meet him in the branches of Florenthia. Walking over to the edge of the town, he looked up to see if he had climbed above him, and then down. Soon, he caught glimpse of a familiar looking boy sitting on one of the branches below the city. After finding a way to get down there, Jomei hopped down and climbed across branches to meet him. "So, have you been hanging out in these trees for all this time?" he said with a chuckle, finding his balance on one of the tree's branches. 

[Helios 0]

As he looked to his left, Helios chuckled. Standing on a nearby branch was the ginger haired man in his green outfit. After listening to his question, he turned around, letting his legs hang off the side of the branch. "I suppose that depends on how you define 'all this time'. I don't think I've been here for any more than fifteen minutes. Honestly, I've only been on the eighth floor one other time, it's not really my favorite." he laughed before speaking again. "Where'd you think I was? Not dead, I hope." he said. It had been a while since the two had talked, so he was quite happy to see the man.

Helios was dressed in his black and green starter armor that he hadn't bothered to replace yet. I should really get to doing that. This stupid armor does nothing to help me. he decided. His curved sword, Kanshou, sat on his back. Although it wasn't the best weapon, it did the trick. The boy planned on picking up a new one eventually anyway, so this one was like a temporary blade. "What about you? What have you been doing all this time?"

[Jomei 0]

Jomei smirked and placed his hands into his pockets, shifting his feet so he stood with one foot behind the other. "Well, I haven't heard from you in awhile. Never assumed you were dead though, just missing to be honest. Especially after your name got taken off of the guild roster." He took a couple of steps forward as if walking on a tightrope. He placed one foot in front of the other slowly until he was standing right near Helios. "But its good to see you have come back to the land of the living." He then turned his body and lowered himself so he sat next to him. He was then asked about his whereabouts in between their last meeting and now. Thinking about it, a lot had happened; He had grown strong enough to push the front lines, he had formed a relationship with Zandra, was made the new leader of The Velvet Room. He chuckled, shaking his head, "A lot. Some good some bad. What about you?" 

[Helios 0]

Helios nodded. "Yeah, I asked Lowe to remove me from the roster. I guess I just needed a bit of a break from everything. But, I'm glad to be back" he replied, chuckling. The player listened to his ginger haired friend's answer before smirking. "You know, a bit of sleeping here, some grinding over there. Nothing special whatsoever. I assume you're married and have 6 kids now, right?" he joked, looking ahead of him at the long branch.

"Honestly, I didn't do a whole lot of grinding while I was gone. A bit here and there, but not much. I picked up a new weapon before coming back and only recently ordered a new set of armor." he told the man, looking down at his lame, black and green beginner's armor.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei nodded when he said the reason why he had been removed from VR's list of members. He apparently just needed a break from everything, which he completely understood. Sometimes even he felt like he could have used a break.. even considered going on a hiatus from Velvet when things were not looking very good for him. But the fact that he stayed proved to be quite fruitful for him. He turned to Helios with a smile, "Well.. if you ever consider wanting to join back up. Let me know.Once a member always a member.. at least that's how I feel." Jomei laughed at Helios' response to what he had been up to. "No of course not... only five." he finished with another laugh. "I have been seeing someone however, Zandra." he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I-Its not that we are married or anything though."

Jomei smirked when Helios was honest and mentioned he did not do as much grinding as he had hoped, but was planning on updating his equipment so he would be able to do so without problems. "Good." Jomei said with voice proud of his friend, "I'd hate to see you fall behind and be left sitting on the lower floors." 

[Helios 0]

"I'll consider it. Although being in a guild is a lot more fun than not being in one, I don't think I'll come back quite yet. I'd like to spend a bit more time as a solo player, and maybe I'll come back afterwards. Thank you for the offer though." he smiled, listening to the man speak. "Eh, five is close enough to six." he chuckled, patting Jomei's shoulder lightly. "Sure, you're not married. Yet, anyway." he laughed. Helios' eyes went down to the blue water beneath the two players. It was quite calm and he didn't see any mobs near the top. The occasional splash would be noticed, but nothing huge. I guess everything hangs out lower, unless this it's just that time of the day. the boy thought, looking back up.

"I agree, it wouldn't be too fun if I got stuck on lower floors alone. With everybody else up on Floor Thirteen, I feel like I should be up there helping out. Unfortunately, right now I'm not strong enough. I'll get to that point eventually though." he replied.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei sighed when Helios, for now, turned down his offer to come back to Velvet Room just yet, "Yeah. I understand. Things have been really slow and unproductive with that guild to be honest.. After Carmine disappeared.. Lee and Piera went on a sort of unexpected hiatus as well.. Lowe and I haven't heard from them. Lowe then kicked Clarence out after they broke up.." he laughed, "And then even Lowe left when he was offered a place in Azure." He closed his eyes and placed his hands behind his head, "Honestly.. I would be surprised if the guild lasted much longer anyway. N-Not that I'm trying to guilt you into joining or anything. Just thought I'd get you up to speed with everything." 

He laughed with his friend about his five imaginary children and the mention of marriage made him think about it, "Who knows. Maybe one day.. But I think I'd need the money to buy a house first..rather than living out of my music hall." He nudged Helios in the side with his elbow, "What about you? Any lucky ladies I should know about?" 

[Helios 0]

"No, no, I understand." Helios chuckled. "So, the guilds falling apart? That's a shame, I expected it to go far. I assume you heard about Cal's guild, right? I wonder how that will end up. It seems pretty strong right now." he said before the man began to speak. Helios had never really put a huge thought into marriage or anything like that. It had crossed his mind a few times, but he wasn't sure. "Eh, nope. None that I'm aware of at the moment, anyway. I've thought about it once or twice, but I don't know. Anyway, what's wrong with living in your music hall? It's got instruments, I'd assume. Nothing else you really need!" he laughed.

Looking up for a moment, he chuckled. "Personally, I'm not expert on dating or marriage. I never actually had a girlfriend in the real world and I don't really expect much to change in here."

Edited January 13, 2016 by Helios

[Jomei 0]

"At the moment, yeah.. I'm trying hard to keep it going. Calrex has a guild?" he chuckled. "I thought he was going solo with Teayre ever since Absolute Pin shut down. good for him though." he said with a smirk, happy for his friend. Helios then asked him what was wrong with living in his shop, "Well, its a cozy place and all.. but its meant for shopping. I've been sleeping on the floor or couch since I've opened it, and haven't slept in a bed in months." he said with a laugh. "Its a good thing we can't feel pain, or else I'd have killer back pains." 

Jomei pat his friend on the back when he mentioned his lack of dating experience, "Ah well.. its not like its a necessity. Our main focus here is obviously to finish the game and get out. Finding someone to spend that time with is just an added bonus.. a comfort really that we are lucky to be able to have." Jomei looked down at the water below them, remembering the time he went down there with Takao to find a girl's lost doll. He smirked, running his hand through his hair.. "Have you ever been down there?" 

[Helios 0]

The dark haired man nodded. Jomei was right, spending time with someone special really was only a comfort. Helios agreed with that statement completely. "Yeah. Although, there are probably players out there who have already begun starting a life here. Some have most likely lost hope in ever clearing the game, with all the people who have died and all." the boy replied, looking down to the deep water where his friend had began to stare at.

"No, I haven't. To be honest, I'm not even sure what's down there. Have you checked it out before?" he asked, turning his head to the man. If he was able to handle it, he wouldn't mind exploring the depths of Floor 8 with the ginger haired player.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei sighed, "Yeah. I would not be surprised if there were people giving up hope already. I mean.. what I do here is my life. The friend I make, the relationships I form. They're all real to me. Hopefully it stays that way once we get out of here. As much as being stuck here is pretty much a nightmare.. I don't want to forget the people I met here." After a moment he grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, "Hehe, D-Don't mind me, just rambling on." 

Jomei smirked when Helios mentioned he had never been down to the bottom of Floor Eight, where the trees grow out of the murky river water, home to monsters of different sizes and power. "Aye, been down there once with Takao. A young one dropped a stuffed bear down there and was distraught.. Takao and I went down there to try and find it. Luckily, we did.. but we had to fight a rock golem to get back safely. Had to use a boat and everything." 

[Helios 0]

"Nah, I agree with you. I won't forget anybody I've met since entering the game. Hell, if the friendships I've made in here came through to the real world with me, that would be amazing." Helios chuckled. He then listened to the man speak before chuckling. "Well, that sounds like it was a lot of fun. Anything interesting down there?" the young man questioned, stretching his arms. The player examined the tree, which led down into the deep water beneath the two boys. He was curious to learn what lurked down there, in the murky water below. 

[Jomei 0]

Jomei shrugged his shoulders hen Helios asked if anything of interest lurked in the waters below. "Eh. Just trees.. rocks.. lots of water.. Oh, and the enemies of course.. Although, the only thing I saw when we were down there was the Golem." he placed his hand on his chin in thought, thinking he heard something about an Anaconda.. but that may have just been Takao talking about it. Jomei brought his arms up and placed his hands behind his head, giving Helios a sidelong glance. "Well... we could go down there if you're willing. But I understand if you don't. The view from here is pretty nice.. and the weather is decent as it always is." he said with a laugh. He smiled for a moment before bringing his arms back down to support him sitting on the branch and turned his head to Helios, "So, have you heard from anyone else since you've become more active?" He was curious to know who the man had seen recently, but also wondered if he knew the whereabouts of any of his missing friends. 

[Helios 0]

A chuckle escaped the boy's lips. "If you want to explore down there, then I'll come with you. But you're right, it is quite nice up here." Helios responded. He stopped to think about the ginger haired man's question. The young man had spoken to a good amount of people since he'd returned, however he was unsure about how many of them Jomei knew of. "I spoke to Cal a little while back but other than him it's been mainly acquaintances and people I haven't spoken with since. I met the healer of the Azure Brigade, Shizuka, and an interesting man who goes by the name 'Teselmar'. I also stopped in at Azure's Christmas party that Kiru had put on, but I'm not sure if anyone even noticed me come in." he chuckled. "What about you? Who've you been talking to lately?"

[Jomei 0]

Jomei situated himself into a more relaxed position, swinging one of his legs over the branch so one leg hung down on each side. He then slowly reclined backwards, placing his hands behind his head, "Eh, maybe another time. I'm not too much in the mood to be fighting off baddies." he said with a chuckle, looking up at the rich green canopy above him with bits of sunlight pouring in through the spaces between the leaves. He watched as the leaves moved above him in the breeze, opening up other areas for sun to seep through, and then closing them again as the trees swung back. "Azure had a Christmas party? Huh.. guess I didn't get the memo.. or I forgot about it." he said with a laugh. "Well, mostly Zandra of course. But I've also seen Opal, Lowenthal, and Ssendom every once in awhile.. I'm pretty sure I've seen Cal and Shizuka as well."

[Helios 0]

Helios laughed as well when the ginger haired man said he may have forgotten the Christmas party. "You're probably just getting too old to remember things like that." he replied, crossing his arms over his chest. Looking ahead, the raven haired man noticed a couple of birds flying past the two players. The boy smiled as he listened to Jomei speak. "Oh yeah? How's Lowenthal doing? I haven't seen him in a while." he told the man. It had been a long time since he'd spoken with Lowenthal. They hadn't seen each other much since the big snowball fight on Floor 4, and they never really talked a whole lot there. I wonder what he's been up to, now that he's taking Zel's spot as Commandant.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Helios

[Jomei 0]

Jomei sighed, "Well, I haven't heard from him much since he took his place in Azure.. After the fight with the Klau... however you say it. Christmas boss event." he said with a chuckle. "I mean.. he seemed alright. Just like his old self." he voice sounded happy for his friend,  but also a bit of sadness. Lowenthal was his best friend, and he had not taken to time to see him recently. "I really should send him a message soon to meet up.." He closed his eyes slowly, "I just hope that being in Azure hasn't really changed him much... I'd hate to see anything happen to him." Jomei lifted his body up so he sat regularly rather than laying down, "So, now that you're back, anything you plan on doing? I mean, aside from reconnecting and trying to catch up in level." he laughed. 

[Helios 0]

Helios stopped to think for a moment. The boy hadn't decided what he wanted to do. He had no plan whatsoever and was unsure of where to start. "I guess my only concern right now has been grinding and catching up with the rest of you. I haven't put much thought into anything else." he replied. Part of him just wanted to play like it was any other MMORPG. However, it wasn't the same as the others. The other part of him wanted to live a regular life in SAO, at least, until the final boss was defeated and he was able to escape. "What about you? Any plans for the future?" he chuckled.

[Jomei 0]

"Hm.." Jomei scratched at his chin in thought to Helios' rebuttal of the question he was asked. "Well.. I just want to survive really.. and try and live as much of a normal life as I can. I mean, we are stuck in a video game after all, so why not make the best of it when we can, you know?" His olive green eyes looked down past his legs and at the water far below them, "But.. I also want to live how I would in the real world as well.. spend time with friends, with Zandra. I'm sure we all have the same thoughts about that at least." Jomei looked back up towards the sun above them, before raising to his feet and standing on the large branch. "Well, it seems we've been down here for quite awhile.. What do you say we head back up to the town?"