{PP-F9} Put On A Show (Zandra) <<Bandit Camp>>COMPLETE

[Jevi 0]

The Ninth Floor was a completely new sight to the girl. The surrounding mountains being active volcanoes, smoke pouring out from the top just waiting to erupt and spill lava. The ground around these lava giants were barren and destroyed from past eruptions, leaving most of the ground covered in black hardened lava, and a desert of charred sand. The village itself hung like a giant chandelier over the open mouth of a volcano, only the cables came out from the sides rather than the top. You could feel the blistering heat as soon as your body began to materialize into the square of the metal city. The purplette stepped off of the platform housing the warp ring and rubbed the back of her unarmored hand on her forehead, ~"And I thought I liked the heat.." she said to herself.

A couple of days ago, while trying to find a nice place to sit and have lunch on her own, she overheard some players asking the waiter about different quests. Though the NPC did not have a vast knowledge of many of the quests around, he did make mention of a group of bandits causing some trouble to players who tried to hunt out on Floor Nine. Apparently, these bandits were wiping out all of the wildlife and selling the spoils to travelers for a heightened rate. The mission would, obviously, be to stop them. Upon coming to Floor Nine and taking a look at the mission board in the square, Jevi's suspisions were confirmed when she found the quest, <The Bandit Camp.>

After accepting the mission, she thought to herself that she should most likely find some help to complete it. Her armor skill was getting tougher, but she still was not able to do much damage with her Izunami. Thats the trouble with being an aspiring tank, she supposed. Instead, she decided to turn around and lean against the wall next to the board, hoping to find a player looking to do the same mission, or at least someone who would be willing to help her.

Edited April 1, 2016 by Jevi

[Zandra 0]

Zandra let almost made her jaw jump out of joint(google translate, but guess you know what I mean) when she let out a jawn. With sleepy eyes she walked to her window to take a look at the beutiful nature surronding her little hut. She immediatly turned fully awake when she saw the sun had already walked a long way across the sky. How long had she slept? She opened her friend list to check it, thou it seemed everyoe was busy with other stuffs.''Guess thats hows it go when you sleep all day.'' she was thinking that she could as well do some brewing to prepare for the large floor boss figth. But when she looked in her basket with materials, it was empty. She let out a sigh. Maybe I shall go and do that today.

She left her house and headed to town. She had decided to find any low-leveled player and help him or her if they was in need. After all she was getting a pretty high level. And with great power comes great responsibility. Thou she didnt wanted to go down to the beginner floor. Today she would go up instead. There could always be someone looking for help for a hard quest up there. She entered the warp gate and a few moments later she stepped out, five floors above. She streatched her arms and let out a little jawn. Then she walked a bit away from the portal to look after anyone that would be in need of her help.

[Jevi 0]

~"H-Hey could you-" 'Sorry, I'm running late.'
~"I need help with-" 'I can't sorry..'
~"Do you have a part-" 'Yeah, we already have a full party.'
~"Excuse me-" 'No'

Jevi forcefully crossed her arms and huffed. Seemed as though everyone she asked was busy, or did not want to bother with her, and that pissed her off. She walked away from the board, quickly, with her fists clenched. ~"I should've punched that last [censored] head in the face..." she mumbled to herself as she stormed off past the teleporter. If not one person was willing to lend her a helping hand on this quest, then maybe she would just go on her own. Whats the worst that could happen? ... She could die. Thats the worst that could happen. She closed her eyes and growled, knowing she would not be able to do such a thing. Just as she cut off her vision, that was when she bumped into something, or so she thought it was a thing. Due to the heavy armor the girl wore, it felt like she bumped into an object of some sort.. but it was instead a woman. ~"Sorry." Jevi said, taking a couple of steps back, rubbing her bare arm that had hit some part of the other's armor.

[Zandra 0]

She havent walked far until someone bumped into her from behind. When she turned around she herd a voice apologising. She looked at the player the voice belonged to. It was a girl, about the same age as Zandra but sligthly taller. She had yellows eye and long violet hair formed into a horsetail.''Hehe, no need to apologise.'' she looked around at the open plaza that was almost empty.''I guess you was stuck in your own thougths and that can happen anyone.'' she gave the woman a smile and stretched forth her hand for a hand-shake.''My name is Zandra Zvift, but you can call me just Zandra. Its a pleasure to meet you.'' she was here looking for someone lower level then her, and maybe this one was one of them. Thou she wouldnt ask right away if she needed help. First she was gonna find out what kind of person she was. A shadow of sadness appeared on her face when rembering that boya on first floor. Thou the shadow disapeared as fast as it came.

[Jevi 0]

Hm.. friendlier than I expected for someone I just rudely bumped into..I personally probably would've been pretty pissed... Jevi thought to herself, looking at this ebony haired girl with a perplexed expression on her face. ~"Y-Yeah, was just a little frustrated is all" the purplette said with a small smirk and pinched brows. She looked down towards the ground when she saw the woman had extended her hand in greeting to Jevi, also introducing herself as Zandra. Jevi looked back up and took her hand in her own, gently shaking it, ~"Nice to meet you Zandra, I'm Jevi. I gotta say, you're.. definitely a lot kinder than the other people I've seen on this floor so far." she admitted her thoughts to the girl with a sheepish chuckle. Well, Jevi was not the greatest with people to begin with, and if she had it her way, she would probably just have gone through the whole game alone, as she was used to in the real world. However, this was Sword Art Online.. and if she tried to do that, she would most likely die. With that thought in mind, she figured this Zandra was her best bet at the moment to getting this quest done, ~"Say.. I'm looking for someone to help me out with a quest, and you really look like you can handle yourself. Care to join me?" she placed her armored hand on her hip and shifted her weight, the sound of her heavy armor plates bumping into eachother as she did so.

[Zandra 0]

Zandra scratched her neck with her armoured hand. And let out a short laugh.''Ehe... people say so. But I just act in how my feelings tell me and...'' no, she maybe was kind, but she wouldnt go spewing her personality on players she just met. One of the reason why she acts like that, is because she thinks back how it felt when she was completly new in the game and how she had wanted people to act towards her back then, that she wanted to make up by beeing so to the new players today.'' 'Be to others what you want others to be to you' is one of my favourite mottos and I try to live after it.'' that would be good, not to personal but still telling some things about her.''So, you need help with a quest. Im actually here to look for players to help. Which quest are you going to do?''

[Jevi 0]

She felt a wave of relief pass over her when Zandra said she was here for that exact reason, to help other players. She kept the emotion inside though, so she did not make herself seem desperate for help from another, so instead, she merely smirked. ~"Bandit Camp I believe its called," opening up her menu with a flick of her wrist, Jevi searched through her active quests to confirm her guess at the name correct. Once her yellow eyes spotted the name, she nodded and closed the message. ~"Yeah, that one. Well, not only am I not the strongest of people around, but I've also never been up to this Floor before.. so getting lost would be pretty easy for me." she brought her arm across her chest and rubbed at some of the bare skin on her opposite arm, almost sheepishly, ~"So any help.. I would really appreciate it."

[Zandra 0]

It turned out the quest Jevi wanted help with was the bandit camp one.''Of course I'm gonna help you. Im here anyway and as emtioned, thats why Im here.'' thats when she realised that the game had changed her. She havent thougth about it before, but now she realised it. Before when she was talking with someone, she always had to joke or say something what to say, spectacular. Or do something excessive. She also liked her new self.''So Jevi, are you all set or are there something you need to do or need to get before we heads out in the wilderness?''

[Jevi 0]

The purplette shook her head, ~"Nope. I'm ready to head out." This would be her first time, as mentioned to Zandra, venturing out into the wilds of Floor Nine. She had no idea what to expect, aside from the bandits of course. Though, according to the mission's details, the said bandits are looking to be eliminated for clearing hunting grounds for others. With that in mind, their trip towards the bandit stronghold should be uneventful to say in the least. That made Jevi feel a little bit of relief though, since the monsters on this Floor could cause her a lot more trouble than she was used to. She turned her head to look at the raven-haired girl who was accompanying her. Figure I should try and make some small talk.. she's being nice enough to help me after all. She quickly looked the girl up and down to figure out something to talk about, when she settled her eyes upon a whip at her waist. That was new.. she had never met a whip user before. ~"...So you use a whip? I don't think I've ever seen that before."

[Zandra 0]

Zandra walked side by side with Jevi, thinking back when she did it. She had been higher level then Jevi back then so she was able to solo it. Thou it still took quite some time to complete it because of her low damage. At first, the two girls walked silence. After some time Jevi broke the silence by commenting that Zandra used a whip and she havent seen it before."Well, yeah." She said with a shadow to a faint tone of sadness in her voice."Thou I have always been a dagger user in my heart, and still is. But as a support, it didnt realy fit." She turned her face and looked at the sun."When the system allowed us to change weapon skill without any loss in skill points, I took the opportunity. Whip is almost identical to dagger in stats, so I changed to whip." She turned back her eyes to her new, hopefully, friend."What made you decide your choice of weapon?"

[Jevi 0]

The woman nodded in agreement with Zandra's comment about being a dagger user and support at the same time. ~"Yeah that's a good point. Even though the heavy armor would protect you, you probably want to stay as far away from the fight as possible so that you don't take all of the heat. And with the range that a whip has, its perfect for a support like you." So the girl was a support class. From what Jevi knew about the different classes they could build here, as well as in other games, support focused on first aid. She wondered if Zandra's weapon of choice even mattered if she put all her time into building up those healing skills... or did this girl have a hidden strength she didn't know about. Jevi looked down at her own weapon that was shoved into her waistband without any scabbard to hold it. ~"I dunno.. I just felt a connection to the curved sword. I feel like it suits me." she smirked, holding the handle of the ornate purple and black blade in her hands.

[Zandra 0]

Zandra looked sligthly up at the taller girl when she agrred that whip was a better choice then dagger when it came to playing the support role. Even since she had pretty high damage mitigation, it would still be better to be some way further back from the battle when it got intence. As an answer to her question about her choice of weapon, it was pretty simple. She felt it suite her. Zandra nooded.''I know exactly how you feel. Thats the same with me and dagger. But two supports isnt enough for the bigger boss batlles.'' she was silent for awhile. It felt like there was somethnig she had forgot but couldnt put the finger on it. Then she took another look at her party member. When she saw her character name she rembered.''Hey, youre Jevi!'' she knew she had herd the name somewhere, but now she must rember to choose her words right and carfully.

[Jevi 0]

The girl raised a sharp, confused eyebrow at Zandra's sudden realization of her identity. The corner of her mouth twitched and hooked into a smirk, ~"Yeah..? Thats me.. Just process that now?" she said with a chuckle, testing out her sarcastic sense of humor on the girl. Why had Zandra heard her name before? Was she becoming some sort of strange celebrity now? The only people that would have possibly mentioned her would be Shaya or Glory.. but neither had not been around in awhile.. Possibly Opal.. but she did not make too much of a difference in her life. There was only one more person who could have mentioned her name. She kept to herself though to see if it was who she thought it was.

[Zandra 0]

She got her comment confirmed as wall as a smirk from the other woman. She remembered that day at the cafe on floor seven where she met Grave and they talked for awhile. After some time Jevis name come up. And he wanted more then just be her friend. He also sounded on him like it was going in the right direction. Also she had promised him to talk good about him if she would meet Jevi. Then she realised what she had just said and blushed."Oh sry. Nevermind." She paused so it wouldnt seem her comment was the reason of her next subject, thou the pause was to short."So Jevi, us girl to girl, how is it going on the romance side? Dont worry, my lips are sealed."

[Jevi 0]

Zandra bashfully passed over the topic, not wanting to speak anymore on the origins of where she heard her name. Jevi did want to press her a little bit more, just to figure out if her suspicions were correct.. but she figured not. After a moment of silence, Zandra seemed to want to have some heart-to-heart girl talk about how her romantic life is. Jevi scoffed and looked at the girl with her golden eyes, ~"Pretty sudden question if you ask me."  she smirked. She then let out a sigh, ~"Well.. At the moment I'm at a standstill. My.. well.. who I thought of as my girlfriend disappeared from me a couple of months ago. At the moment I..." Through bringing it up and actually speaking it out loud, she realized something she had not before. ~".. I.. kind of like this guy.." She looked up and saw the bandit camp just off in the distance. She slowed her walk a tad so she could finish her conversation with Zandra before proceeding. ~"Er.. w-what about you?"

[Zandra 0]

Jevi said that it was a pretty sudden question. But still she decided to answer it. It turned out she have been together with a girl at first. She thougth she was her girlfriend. Thou there was no reaction from Zandras side about Jevi had a romance with someone off the same sex, almost like she already knew it. But the girl had disapeared. At the moment there was someone else that had her feelings, this time a guy. Zandra listened to her and nooded."I never got the chance but, I think it would have been fun to meet Shay..." to late she realised that Jevi havent told her the girls name. A drip of sweat appeared on her forehead and she got a nervous look on her face."Ehm... nevermi... ehm... About me?" She took a quick brath and got herself together."Im  together with hottest man in Aincrad. At least from my point of view. He is also the most caring person Ive ever met." Her face shined of happiness when thinking about her boyfriend."Maybe I shall introduce you to him some day." 

[Jevi 0]

What Zandra had said had caught Jevi as curious.. very curious. For the moment, she would let the girl finish speaking before she would go start to interrogate Zandra. Bouncing the question back to the girl, Zandra answered Jevi quite confidently, stating she had the most attractive guy in Aincrad to call her boyfriend. ~"Hm. Seems like a pretty bold statement. But I guess congratulations are in order. Jevi wanted to question Zandra on just who she was dating, but at the moment there was something else that bothered her.She stopped in her tracks and crossed her arms, looking at the noirette with a slight glare. ~"Anyway... I don't remember saying her name was Shaya.." she took a couple of cautious steps towards the girl, still with the same angry look on her face. ~"So you had heard of my name.. and you know of my ex girlfriend.. Why do you know these things about me?"

[Zandra 0]

Zandra backed a few steps when the angry girl approached her. More sweat on her forehead. Her brain was thinking fast trying to find away to get out of this situation she had put herself in."Ehm... I herd some players talking about it at an inn." She said, but then that horrible feeling that always appeared when she lied to friends or good people. There was something with this girl. Could she actually be attracted by her? There was people that was into both genders, but she had never thougth she was one of them. No, there was something else. Anyhow she decided to tell her the truth and not sneak around with changing subjects and so."No, I didnt herd it on an inn. It was at a cafe at seven. There I met a guy I have made some material hunting with. His name is Grave. He said there was a girl he liked. But that girl have been together with another girl. Thou now she had disapeared or something. Making it possible for him to get closer to that girl. And her name is Jevi."

[Jevi 0]

Jevi had pretty much backed Zandra into a corner on this one to get the information out of her. She found it surprising that it worked,honestly, being Zandra came off as a much stronger player that Jevi was.. was it that Jevi, or in this case Alex, was a much more threatening person. She could see that her persistence was getting to Zandra, before she eventually spilled. She had heard the name from Grave, who told Zandra all about how he had fallen for her, but she was with Shaya for awhile until her disappearance. Jevi stopped in her step for a moment, sighed and smirked. She then walked past Zandra, placing a hand on her shoulder and tapping her armor, ~"Thats all I needed to know." she said with a chuckle, ~"Not much of a surprise it was Grave with his big mouth to be honest. Anyways.. Looks like the camp is just ahead." She saw the outline of some armored men, whom she believed to be the bandits of the camp. They all wore different things, most likely representing different articles of clothing or weaponry they had stolen. That gave her an idea of just how to sneak into the camp to possibly lessen the numbers a bit. She turned to look at Zandra, ~"Hey.. I have an idea of how to get in there..."

[Zandra 0]

Zandra kept her mouth shut when Jevi said she didnt wanted to hear any more. Probably she didnt wanted to hear all details about when her possible boyfriend, or was he already her boyfriend. Well, it was none of her business, so she let it go away with the wind. Since now they could spot the bandits that was their target in this quest. She looked at her whip that she held in her hand. It had started to become a good friend to her, almost more then the the dagger she used before. She took a quick breath and was just gonna move out when Jevi interrupted her. She said she had a way to get in there.''What? You do? I was going to run straigth in. But it will be more fun with doing some sneaking, or whatever you have in mind. Im right behind you.''