[PP-F5-NK] The bandits are coming! (Teion, Aster, Husky)

[Xion 0]

( @Teion @Aster @Husky ) 

 

 

Xion sighed as he stood in a tavern on the fith floor of aincrad, the teen had seen he new quests available and had messaged some players about doing the quest with him. It wasn't that he was too weak to solo it, but more that he hated taking quests on alone, especially if they were easier or more tedious ones. "They should be here soon..." he muttered as he stood in the corner, his armour drawing the eyes of some patrons as they went about getting themselves well and truly drunk. After a few minutes of waiting he decided to order a drink from the bar, a simple cider, nothing too strong as he had to take on the quest soon after. 

[Teion 0]

After making what had become a daily routine of a trip from Fortaleza to Armadillo, Teion found herself approaching a popular tavern. The woman had closed her shop rather early today, but since business was rare anyway, she didn't much care. Pushing the heavy door open, she was met with dim lights hanging over tables, the rowdy sounds of patrons drinking their troubles away, and the strong smell of those and many other drinks permeating the air. The whole scene almost pulled her lips into a frown, but as the eyes that scanned the room fell upon the back of a heavily-armored man standing away from the crowds, Teion moved again to approach the tank.

"This is the place for the quest?" Once she reached the counter, Teion addressed Xion vaguely. She only slightly recognized the man, not recalling his name, but believing he was the one to have sent out a message.

[Aster 0]

"Hm?" Aster mumbled, pushing up at the glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. The girl swiped through her menus, pulling up her messages to see something new from a name she barely recognized. Furrowing her brow, it took some heavy thought before her eyes widened in recollection and a small "Oh!" escaped her lips. Xion, the tank she had encountered in the last two event bosses, and been grouped with in the most recent, was apparently looking for a couple more players to take on a group quest with. Aster frowned, thinking a moment before she pulled up a different user in her messaging interface. 'Hey, would you like to take on a group quest? Meet up at the tavern in Armadillo!' She typed out a brief message before pressing 'Send'. With herself being able to provide practically no damage, the girl called upon Husky to see if he was interested.

It took her roughly ten minutes to reach the designated meeting place, longer than she anticipated, so the girl hurried into the tavern once she'd arrived on the fifth floor. She quickly scanned the room, trying to recall Xion's appearance, when her eyes fell on the back of a violet head of hair. An involuntary grimace displayed on her face, but as her eyes drifted to the man beside her, Aster felt that she had found the right person. With a small sigh, the healer mentally prepared herself before approaching them.

"Xion, right?" Aster waited for the right time to speak up so she didn't interrupt any conversation between the two players.

[Husky 0]

Husky had just finished his daily routine of cleaning up the place and was just about to sat down and enjoy his morning tea when he noticed a notification popping up in his menu. It was a message from Aster. "Seems like she needed help with another quest. Welp, since I got nothing to do." The man shrugged, stood up from his chair and swiftly walked out of his tavern. He left Woofles behind for the day, since the little cub would not stand the dessert's heat. He did prepared a large piece of steak for Woofles to chew on while he was gone, just in case he ever got bored

Making his way toward the fifth floor, Husky darted his eyes around and looking for his friend. "Aster said that she would be waiting for me inside a tavern. That's strange... Why would a girl like her staying in a place like that." Husky wondered, thinking back to the time when he introduced her his place, when she was somewhat reluctant to enter. As the Brunette warrior entered the place, he immediately noticed Aster thanks to her distinctive hair color. Beside her was Teion, the renowned blacksmith in Armodillo, and a man in a full suit of armor that he had yet to recognize or meet. 

[Xion 0]

It didn't take too much waiting for one of the people that Xion had messaged to arrive at the tavern, a girl with brightly coloured hair had made her way to the man and asked he if the tavern was the place for the quest. "Not exactly..." the tank answered as he looked at the girl. "This is where the quest begins, the rest of it takes place in a cave not too far from here..." he told her before another player approached them. this one being another girl but with different coloured hair, who Xion remembered from the event bosses. "Aster is it?" Xion asked with a smile."It's good to see you, I still have to thank you for healing me in the event bosses, not that I was in any real danger, but we need more people like you nowadays. Heck, medics are rarer thank tanks!" the blonde continued with a chuckle before a third player joined their party, one which Xion didn't know. "I assume you're with one of these ladies here? If so, nice to meet you. I'm Xion. But anyway, we have a quest to get to, so if you three don't mind I'll get to talking to this damn NPC" the tank said before walking off to find the NPC associated with the quest.  

[Teion 0]

The corners of Teion's mouth pulled down slightly. Of course she hadn't meant that the whole quest would take place inside the tavern. Chalking it up to her poor choice of words, the woman looked over as they were joined by two other players. She was about to pay them no mind, but her eyes drifted to a red and black arm guard the brunette man was wearing. She studied it for just a moment before she quickly recognized the piece and her eyes flickered up to the man's face. She looked as if she were about to speak, but before any words left her, her attention turned back to Xion. The tank said something about talking to an NPC, which she assumed would mark the start of the quest. Teion gave the blonde man a small nod to let him know she was all set.

[Aster 0]

Aster nodded towards the blonde with a small smile when he recalled her name. She was oddly glad that he remembered her from the boss fights--there always felt like there was so much going on, and a lot of players tended to part ways rather quickly once they were complete. She was excited to be part of a less chaotic group for this quest. Her smile persisted as she graciously accepted his praise for being a support-oriented player. He then referred to a different person, and the orange-haired girl followed his gaze to look over her shoulder at the familiar face that had just entered the tavern. Aster gave Husky a small wave, speaking up to answer Xion's assumption. "Yes, this is Husky. He's helped me out on a few quests before and I'm sure he can help out in damage where I'll be lacking." She looked between the two men as everyone's introductions were drawing to a close.

[Husky 0]

Approaching the three, Husky bowed and greeted the newly met warrior, along with the other two players whom he had spent some time with on quests and other things. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Xion." Husky smiled, as the man leaved and met up with the NPC. The Brunette warrior faintly recalled back to the event boss raid. He had seen a man in that armor suit before, fighting along side with most others. Sat down onto the table, opposite to the two girls. While Husky waited for warrior in full armor return to them, leaning against the chair, the Brunette looked toward the two other players. Teion seemed like she haven't change much, still that same monotonous expression on her face, with occasionally a few smiles, or sighs. Aster with her usual lovely and carefree personality, with her pet scooting around just under her feet. 

"So, what are we getting ourselves involved in today. I suppose we're going to venture out into the dessert once again." Husky leaned forward, rested his hands onto the table. The metal gauntlet he wore created a thud as he set his hand down onto the wooden texture of the table. 

[Xion 0]

(sorry for delays, muse is kinda gone rn)

 

 

After greeting his fellow party members Xion went off to find the NPC which he needed to talk to for the quest. His eyes scanned the tables before spotting the man, he looked distraught and was staring deeply into an ale mug. "That's the man..." he said before walking over to the NPC. "Good sir, what's troubling you?" he asked the NPC as he sat down opposite him, to which the man responded with a scripted. "It all started with a few words..." before telling Xion about everything that had happened, his brother being kidnapped, bandits, and of course, the most important: A col reward for whoever assisted him. Xion accepted the quest before leaving the table and returning to the players that were to help him with the quest. "Ok, quest accepted. Let's not waste any time in getting there. I want this done quickly..." Xion told them before walking purposefully out of the tavern, following the directions on his map. 

[Teion 0]

((I LIIIIIVE))

Teion didn't contribute much to the conversation, letting the other players get acquainted. Wasting little time, the blonde tank took the lead now that their group was assembled, setting across the tavern to find the NPC that would issue the quest. The woman strained to try and listen to the conversation once he'd found the right figure, but the noise in the tavern prevented their words from reaching her ears. Quickly giving up, she simply kept an eye on the armored man and troubled NPC as he appeared to unload some story on the former. Waiting patiently as the other two players in her party exchanged pleasantries, it only took Xion a minute or two to return to the group, only stopping a moment to let them know it was time to head out. Nodding in response, the woman lightly pushed away from the counter she had been leaning against, following behind the tank as they made their way to the quest's first objective.

[Aster 0]

"Ahh, yes," Aster started in response to Husky's assumption. "I haven't heard all the details, but the whole quest takes place on the fifth floor. All I know for certain is that we have to track down a group of bandits. I'm not sure what the NPC wants us to do afterwards, though. And I don't know how many enemies there will be." The girl ended her words with slight irritation at her lack of knowledge. She hadn't been able to secure much information beforehand, but jumped at the chance to take the quest with a strong party.

The orange-haired healer perked up a bit when Xion returned from his chat with the NPC. Bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet, Aster nodded obediently as he led the way out of the tavern, a small smile pulling across her lips. Teion had already started behind the blonde tank, and Aster gave Husky a quick glance and another small nod as she headed out as well.

[Husky 0]

Husky listened closely to the brief information Aster gave him. Turns out, they will have to delved back to the blazing sand again. The brunette warrior hoped that everyone in the group have the Survivor extra skill learned. If not, it would certainly be very inconvenient when the sand start ticking away their health slowly. 

When Xion had returned and inform the whole team of the mission at hand, everyone left the tavern, Husky gave his team a nod, before joining them. He was a little disappointed because of the lack of information given for the quest. Nonetheless, the man quietly followed, wandered into the unknown of the desert sand