[PP-F5] Dungeon Divers (Helios, Ratatosk, Takao, Ronin)

[Allania 0]

Allania was sat on a bench, near the teleporter in the main settlement of Armadillo on the fifth floor, waiting. She had put an ad in a tavern down on the first floor, one oft time frequented by players. It was now time to see who turned up to go for a romp in the desert, to search for a sub-dungeon. She did not know how many had responded or what level they were, but as she had written in the ad, all were welcome.

Allania sat there, looking up at the sky. It was as bright a day as ever, the Sun hung in the air, shedding its brilliant light on all that sat beneath it. The Sun had not yet reached its peak, though was most of the way there, slowly trudging through the empty blue sky. There was a gentle breeze in the Town, so out in the desert it would be a little more prolific, but nothing that should cause injury. By her side, sat on the floor was her little familiar, Blaze the Boar, she had decided that it was best if he accompanied her, afterall he could heal her if she were to take a lot of damage, better than any of the potions she had with her.

[Ronin 0]

The hungover... well, still drunk swordsman stumbled outta' the tavern, cursing obscenities and waving his gloved hands in a dismissive manner.  Well, perhaps he had been thrown out by the NPC running the joint, or just ejected by some sorta' system programming that had had enough of his drunken shenanigans.  After all, it was a new day now and he had been there all night long.

Ronin couldn't help it, as he staggered out into the street on wobbly legs.  He had reunited with Jambi and there was cause for celebration.   So celebrate he had and drunk as hell he was.  He burped and a sour expression coated his lips as he fought back the sudden rush of stomach bile.  "Uck... I need... sum' coffee 'er sumfin'..." he mumbled, lighting up a cigarette and slapping his hand against his face.

While he had seen a flyer about some sorta' dungeon diving action inside the tavern the night before, his memory was a bit... diluted now, and it would take him a couple cups o' joe to get the gears turnin' proper again.  "Now'a den'  where'n da' hell's tha' tellapor' pad?!"

(OOC: Ronin is drunk on the 1st floor, but will eventually make his way to the teleport pad and the 5th floor)

[Takao 0]

Every so often, Takao found himself wandering around the first floor. Seldom were the excursions onto the lower floors anything more than a break from his usual routine, and even more seldom were they fruitful in that endeavour. More often than not, he found himself partying with players for quests; he did quite enjoy the work, however. In his last venture through the first floor, he'd located an advertisement seeking accompanyment on a hunt for a sub-dungeon. They were quickly becoming the go-to way for players to level up, and Takao himself had exploited them quite a bit.

The ad gave him the location of their rendezvous point: the warp gate of the fifth floor. Despite his ever growing loathing of the desert themed tier of Aincrad, progress was still progress, and what was progress if not achieved in the face of adversity? Only adversity in this scenario was his unwillingness to trudge through a desert hellscape. A bright flash of distorted light later, and Takao stepped through the warp gate and onto the platform of the fifth floor, his dragon-like familiar mounted on his shoulders as it typically was. A brief glance around the area had alerted him to the presence of a blonde girl sitting on a bench, whom he then approached.

"Hey," He greeted with a warm smile. "Are you the one who put the ad out for the dungeon hunt?"

[Ratatosk 0]

Ventus walked up to the bulletin board and picked out a paper called "Dungeon Divers." He read it closely with his green eyes and walked to the rendezvous point. "Hey guys! What's up?" Anybody would be able to tell the difference in Ratatosk, first of all his eyes weren't red, and his voice was much softer. It would take an idiot not to recognize the change. "I heard we're doing a little bit of dungeon diving, do you guys have enough space for me to join in? Not that I want to be a burden... Just that I well... Wanted to go on a little adventure."

[Helios 0]

A dungeon, hey? Helios thought as he read over the sheet of paper on the bulletin board. A grin formed on his face as he thought of the experience he could obtain from this opportunity. He'd never taken a dungeon before, so he wasn't completely sure what he was getting himself into. "What's the worst that could happen?" he chuckled, knowing well that it could easily mean the death of him. Stepping away from the board, the male turned his head. The heat of the fifth floor was killing him. Not literally, of course, but it was nearly unbearable to stand in. He despised the desert floor and always questioned why it was implemented into the game. The only reason he traveled there was because he was intrigued by the dungeon raid. As he began to walk, he looked around in attempt to find the rendezvous point that was spoken of on the paper. He actually had no idea where it was exactly, but he had a vague idea. Eventually, he discovered a small group of players who all seemed to be around his level, other than one who seemed to stand out more than the rest. Looking above the higher-leveled player's head, he read the name "Takao". Part of him recognized the name, however he couldn't be sure. They had definitely never met in the past. "Yo. Are you guys here for the dungeon raid?"

[Allania 0]

A lot of people all seemed to turn up at roughly the same time. The first however was a brunette with green eyes, one that greeted her warmly and asked if the ad was her's, "yep" she responded, a broad smile on her face, looking up at the player. Before she had much time to talk further another two players quickly appeared, one that she recognised as Ratatosk, though something was off about him. What that was Allania was unsure, so for now she just filed it away in her mind to bring up later.

"More than enough space" she said to Ratatosk, he seemed somewhat unsure of himself, yet it was an improvement compared to how he used to just run away from anyone that was female. "And yep, we're the group planning on going for a dungeon. " she said brightly to the group, before considering what to do next "I'm not too sure if anyone else will be arriving, so maybe we should wait just a little while longer to see if another player does turn up for this. What do you all think?" she asked, posing the question to all those in the group.

[Ronin 0]

Ronin had finally managed to find his way to the teleport pad on the first floor and had even done well enough to bark some half-coherent, hardly-audible spew that resulted in his teleportation to the fifth floor.  Once he arrived there, he stumbled wearily around, his body contorting and his limbs flailing in rather strange ways and at odd intervals.  His lips were pursed around his lit cigarette and as the nicotine flooded his brain,  it was the only thing to really straighten him out.  He did his best to cinch up his britches and straighten up his posture as he spotted a little gatherin' of players and moseyed  on over to 'em. 

"Goo- *hicc* ...'ood Mornin'!  'Err..." he shot a glance toward the sun up in the sky.  "...abtternoon?!  'Dis dungeon dive'r party?!"  he managed to say, trying to keep to nouns and avoid adding too much other garble in.  As he eyeballed them and smoked at his cigarette, he wobbled a bit and swayed side to side.  Surely after a little coffee and some time spent traveling, he would straighten up... right?

Edited April 14, 2016 by Ronin

[Takao 0]

"I don't mind waiting for a bit," Takao responded, his words followed just seconds later by the drunken slurring of their late arrival. "Or a few seconds, evidently." His eyebrow was raised in curiousity, yet he abstained from answering his inquiry; it wasn't his party to answer for. Instead, he diverted his attention to Ratatosk, whom seemed off in some way. Noting the finer points of a person had once been an innate behavioural tick of his, but the past few weeks were beginning to suggest otherwise. His mind, much like it was at present, had been elsewhere. Even so, Takao still regarded him with an acknowledging nod of his head and accompanying wave. "So there's five of us, huh." Takao muttered aloud, his words not intended for any particular ears. "Should be pretty easy to knock this thing out then."

Jade eyes settled back onto Ronin to examine his features. The stench of alcohol lingered in the air, undoubtedly explaining the garbled words and swaying posture. It was accompanied by the fetid smoke of cigarettes, a foul odor that Takao detested. It certainly wasn't complimenting the former. His expression evened out and dulled down into what was becoming his new default countenance; it seemed entirely irresponsible and unnecessarily risky for him to accompany them on their jaunt into the desert, but it wasn't his call to make.

[Ronin 0]

Despite being a little drunk still, Ronin had this strange sense that he was the only one truly serious about getting this [censored] going.  He grumbled and wobbled a bit, before finding his footing and deciding to pop a squat on the ground.  As he landed, a plume of tobacco smoke rose up into the air.  Looking through it and his foggy eyes, he spotted what he thought to be a familiar face.  "Taco!" he cried out of no where, his expression turning to one of pure jubilation as he spotted Takao.  He had met the guy once before on some rock-punchin' quest and wouldn't ya' know it... here he was again!  "How *hicc* how's it hangin' mannnn???"

While he was genuinely glad to see a familiar face, assuming it was indeed the Taco-man; Ronin was growing incredibly impatient.  If the wheels on this bus didn't start turning soon, he was outta' here...

[Helios 0]

"I don't mind waiting at all. It's your party, of course. I say you make the decision." Helios stated. The dark-haired man examined the rest of the players. The host was a blonde-haired woman who seemed to be a few years older than him, as well as a few levels higher. Then there was a man who seemed to be drunk. Helios looked above his head and read his name. It was "Ronin" and he was also a higher level than the noirette was. Actually, it looked like they all were. The man with the emerald eyes, Takao, was much higher than the rest of the group, however. In fact, he was one of the highest leveled players Helios had met before. "Anyway," He started with a smile, "I'm Helios. Pleasure to meet you all."

[Ronin 0]

"Helios.... don't I know yew' from somewheres?!" wondered Ronin aloud, staggering toward the man.  He wobbled with every step he took, his knees buckling and his hips swaying to and fro.  His back seemed to bend and his torso flopped as though he had no real spine supporting him or allowing him to stand upright.  He looked like one giant weeble-wobble toy and his expressions were nothing short of mad.  He bit at his lip, chewing it with a look of great determination, like he was doing everything in his power to focus on his balance and try not to face plant into the ground below.  "Yeah... I've seen yew summwheree beefore..." the smoker decided, eyeballing Helios through his intoxicated spheres.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Ronin