[PP-F4] Warm Blooded (Baldur)

[Vayrin 0]

Well, one thing Vayrin had concluded was that the extra skill she had picked up was indeed helpful, especially on a floor such as the fourth. The girl walked outside of the tavern, squeezing past a few players trying to make their way inside. She quickly pulled up her hood, and pulled over her scarf. The girl got her weapon ready on her back as she set out for the entry way dividing Snowfrost from the rest of the floor. It was rare that Vayrin came here these days. It could've been the cold, as any sane person would be equally annoyed with it. Although, events had taken place on this floor that Vayrin couldn't forget, and the memory only grew stronger with each visit. Although, it still provided a good hunting ground for a player such as her, so she set aside her past experiences for the sake of progressing. After all, people were waiting for her.

[Baldur 0]

The fourth floor was probably Baldur's favorite. He had always had an attachment to the winter season in the real world, and it was doubly appropriate for his name. The norse god of light. Baldr was supposedly the god of music too, but even with a skill system in this game Baldur thought he would probably have found a way to be the worst musician in the virtual world as well. Still, Baldur had a certain connection to the floor, and he would often find himself standing out in snow, facing the sky and letting the snow fall all around him. It was one of these times that he heard the crunch of the snow under oncoming feet. Turning, he noticed a young, pretty girl with vibrant purple hair and the most miserable look on her face bundled up against the snow while Baldur stood there with a smile on his face and snow piling up in his dark, messy hair. The blue haori he wore was fitting against a backdrop of snow and the white flame design rising up from the hem matched the color of the snow, but the rest of the colors he wore were warm oranges and reds, the colors of sunset.

"Kon'nichiwa." He greeted her, hoping to not look crazy, "I'm really not that crazy, I just love the snow." His lip curled slightly as if at some kind of joke. Doesn't everyone whose crazy say they're not? He thought to himself.

"I'm known as Baldur." He turned to face her now, revealing the futuristic looking red and black saya at his hip. He raised his right hand and bowed to her in a very japanese manner despite having the obvious face of an American.

"You don't look like you enjoy the snow much at all."

[Vayrin 0]

As Vayrin continued to walk through the snow, her eyes seemed hazy as she stared blankly in front of her, not even noticing another player before they spoke. She stopped for a moment and turned in their direction. "Hm?" She simply replied. Her eyes scanned the new encounter for a minute, assessing the player. He seemed to be significantly older then herself, but he seemed friendly based on his entrance.

"Oh, Uhh, Hi." Vayrin said flatly, not exactly knowing how to continue after the unusual greeting from the player who apparently had to make sure the girl didn't think him crazy for enjoying the snow.

"Not liking snow? Heh, no it's not that." She said with a slight smile looking at the white substance around her feet. "Just I've seen too much of it." She replied truthfully. She only now realized he assessed this based on her previous expression. One that usually made the girl looked either pissed off, or just really annoyed. In truth that was just her face, and most of the time she didn't even notice it.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Vayrin

[Baldur 0]

Baldur turned to look back out over the snow covered floor, his hands hand behind his back as the white flakes slowly floated down. He had been standing there for a long time... maybe an hour? Having a skill that kept him from taking damage due to extreme temperatures was a nice trick to have; in the real world he had always been unnaturally warm and would be comfortable in temperatures people thought was far too cold to not have a coat. He would have been freezing in this situation in the real world; but here in the unnatural beauty of Aincrad, he could feel cold and not be bothered by it.

"I don't know that I could see too much of it." He raised one of his gloves hands to catch a particularly large flake. "There's something about untouched snowy fields that makes me think things are being reset."

Abandoning his introspective monologue, Baldur turned back to the girl. "Not to say that I wouldn't mind a sunny beach floor, but all these caves and graveyards lately has worn on me. I needed something..." He gestured to the settlement behind Vayrin. The lights of the village glowed in the darkness as the snow gently fell and covered the world in a white blanket. "Something magical... something... beautiful. Peaceful even."

His blue eyes seemed to refocus on her. "What is it that brings you to the 4th floor?"

[Vayrin 0]

The girl listened as the man elaborated on his love for the snow. Apparently, he saw something "magical" about it like many do. Although, Vayrin couldn't say she had the same feeling. In her home, she saw it almost everyday. The effect had worn off her for a long time. She no longer cared about it.

Vayrin raised an eyebrow when the man refocused his attention back on her, and questioned her reasoning for being there. "I'm just hunting. I have a shop to keep up and running." She said with a slight smile. As a tailor, it was important she kept getting the right materials. And the wolves on this floor provided just that. She remembered when her and an unknown player had been surrounded during the middle of a snowstorm, and were forced to fight their way out. That's when she discovered how good the Frost Wolf's fur was for her job. She shook the memory though and looked back up at the man.

"And you?"

[Baldur 0]

"I have just been wandering." He appraised the girl. She seemed a little low to be hunting on this floor, but then he had no idea what her true level or gear were. Being unassuming was certainly a valuable skill. Players that walked around like peacocks tended to be the least dangerous.

"Hunting, eh? What kind of shop do you run? I suppose I am in desperate need of materials as well. Would you like some company? It' usually safer and faster to hunt in a group."

Baldur stepped up to her and offered his hand to her as a symbol of his offer to group with her.

[Vayrin 0]

"Oh, I uhh. I'm a tailor. I have a shop down on the second floor." Vayrin said smiling a little nervously while producing some subtle advertisement. Vayrin stood silent for a moment after the man offered to tag along. She observed him more closely, judging weather he was trustworthy or not. He seemed nice enough, and his marker was green so that helped. After all, he was right. It was safer to hunt in groups after all, since the fourth floor was bordering on dangerous for a player like Vayrin.

"Well, if you want." Vayrin said. "I'm heading to the ice caves to take on some wolves, maybe hit a few golems." Vayrin said smirking slightly as her memory wandered back to her adventure that took place during the Essence of Steel quest.

[Baldur 0]

"A tailor, eh?" Baldur looked down at his own garb. It was a full set of tier 1 perfect gear that was mostly suited for small group encounters and soloing, since that's what he had been doing for the past year. In that time Baldur had yet to decide if he wanted to go with a heavy or light armor type.

"I might have to come by and check out your store for something other than this... " He plucked at the sunset colored fabric, "It's only meant to keep me alive when I'm off on my own, and isn't the most suitable for when I'm not the focus of attention." He patted his katana as if to suggest that he was an attacker, and not a tank. He could wield the sword in one hand, but to get the full effect of it's power you needed two. "Though given our situation, I'll try to take point." He turned to walk away, but then realized he had no idea where it was she had wanted to go.

"Though uh... you might need to lead the way." He gestured for her to take the lead while he offered a humbled smile.