[F1-PP] New Talent (Adhaerere, Itzal, Kooh, Verus)

[trenttrent20 0]

The small party of three had been walking about the plains of floor one for what felt to be hours, looking for some solid mobs to mow down. They had been on a killing streak recently, deleting whatever they could find to try and advance level by level. Skill points were very valuable in Verus's mind; he had amassed only fourteen in the first few days. A pretty solid number, but he had planned to be slightly farther in the game from where he was currently. He was wanting to be around level eight or so by his first couple of days into the game, but understood that things would get tougher and tougher as they went on. 

The trail they had been walking had seemingly been going on for a while. The walls of the Town of Beginnings were seen in the distance, and they had started to come upon an area with a good amount of trees. It was strange seeing this many after having only seen acres and acres of plains, but he treated it as a pleasant sight. The trees themselves were pretty short, but clustered in a way to give off a slight dark feel. He halted his short walking pace to stop and stare at them, trying to get an eye for the area. Boar and wolves seemed to only inhabit the area as far as he knew, and he was slightly longing for something else. The thought of fighting and killing a goblin shot through his mind and he immediately grinned, tightening his hand into a fist and pointing it outwards. 

"Onwards!" Verus belted, looking back and forth between his two traveling partners, only to see their blank stares. "I mean...look a forest."

[Adhaerere 0]

 Adhae had been happy with walking through the barren lands, always having been a fan of doing things such as this. She enjoyed good scenery, and a place like this would sure give a good sunset. The party hadn't seen her chestpiece, Luster, when it reflected the sun's dying rays yet. She honestly couldn't wait for that to happen, because, of course, she hadn't seen it yet either. This is mind, she kept up with the two party members, making sure she walked level with them both and neither fell behind. She would feel horrible if she walked fast enough to lose them. 

 Ah, their new party member. Itzal. She didn't know his real name, or anything about him really. Verus had been the one to find the newbie and bring him up a few levels. She figured she would need to quiz the boy in the future about his life, assuming she could prove to him that she was a nice enough person to open up to. And there's no better way to earn a person's trust than saving their life, right? At least, that's what she thought this guy would take as trustworthiness. Based on his question about her fighting style before, she assumed he was interested in fighting. She hadn't met many others who were interested in the mechanics of the game (granted, she'd met about four people in this world so far). Maybe it would be good to keep him around; if he explored the fighting techniques enough, maybe he would discover something new, and they could all benefit from it. That sounded nice to her. As she explored this thought further, her willingness to help the newcomer in his adventures increased, and she looked forward to fighting more mobs with him. Then she could see how much of a fighter he really was.

 Verus' exclamation disturbed her from her thought. She turned her head to look at him, and was silent for a full few seconds. Eventually, she brought her hand up to cover her face, and sighed. "What will we do with you," she murmured into her palms. Though, this was just a show to make him feel bad. She was laughing inwardly. Eventually, she looked up at what he pointed out. "Yep, that is certainly a forest." She sighed and started walking towards it, unafraid of the darkness.

[Kooh 0]

Light, steady breaths flowed in and out of Kooh, her chest moving up and down with the rhythm. The girl had sat, after finding the sturdiest branch she could amongst all the trees of the forest, with her back against the trunk and her legs extended along the branch, crossed at the ankles. Her arms crossed as well, over her slow-moving chest. Her head was tilted forward with her hood up and golden blonde hair spilling over her shoulders. Her expression was peaceful, and her eyes were closed. The girl was asleep.

After spending most of the morning walking around and exploring the first floor outside of the city, Kooh had decided on a nap. But she couldn't just lay down in the grass and sleep, of course not. So she found the best tree, climbed up it, and made herself comfortable.

[Itzal 0]

Itzal grinned when he saw the forest.  The trees were close together, creating a dense and dark scene.  In real life he would climb trees in the forest to escape the bullies from school, and hand to jump from tree to tree whenever they threw stuff at him.  That along with the hope of being a stealthy unite in the future gave him hope that there were areas like these.  He quickened his pace and patted Verus' back.

"I'm gonna scout ahead," he told him and rushed up to the first tree, climbing it with surprising speed.  It was Itzal's turn to try impressing the others he thought.  When he reached the solid branches, he leapt to the next tree, then once he got a good idea of the sturdiness, he worked on his footwork and soon was able to jump from tree to tree with little or no sound.  He knew that unless he worked on his stealth skill he'd be found easily by a player of course, but that would come in time.  He kept his eyes peeled for anything out in the forest.

Id# 62261

Ld (that's the die I use when searching correct?):  11

Kooh:  11 stealth (10 base +1 object concealment)

Itzal hesitated when he spotted something.  It wasn't on the ground, and it didn't look like a mob.  He jumped a few trees and saw a girl sleeping in a tree.  He realized how dangerous this action was.  Not only could a monster attack her, but pkers would find this as the perfect opportunity.  He made his way back until he saw his two friends within range and called out.

"Hey guys you better see this!"

<Ps if I screwed up the search technique or if what I wrote is too over the top please message me and I'll fix it asap>

[trenttrent20 0]

As Itzal sprinted ahead of him, Verus tried to understand what he said moments before. His words were too soft and too fast for him to understand, but he could pick out one word in particular, and figured out he went to scout ahead. "Ohhhh." His back had become stiff from standing still too long, and a sense of impatience had overtaken him. With one flood motion he twisted his back, letting a symphony of popping sounds ring. He grunted with joy and let out an over-exemplified sigh. Popping his bones was one of his favorite things to do; the sound was just so satisfying. He raised his arms up and he placed his arms behind his head. It was becoming a common position for them to stay, as Verus thought it was pretty comfortable. The beginner clothing he wore raised up just slightly, indicating that it may have been just slightly too small for him. He was definitely in need of a new outfit.
 

His eyes were fixed on Itzal as he assess the tree before scaling it. It was a strange sight to see from a ways away; a small figure seemingly scaling a smallish tree. It filled Verus with joy and he smiled slightly, repositioning his feet. He wasn't sure why he was happy but it just filled him up. Maybe it was the trees, or the sun, hell he didn't really know. He was in a good mood.

Adhaerere had also kept quiet for most of the time, and seemed to be watching as well. He put his hands down and nudged her with his elbow. He hit the side of her cuirass and slowly sealed his arm back in. He had forgotten she had armor and was expecting to elbow into the flesh that is human skin. That was something he was going to have to get used to it."Think uh, think we should go after him?" His words stumbled out of his mouth as he continued to watch the other boy jump from tree to tree. It was a weird sight, but it didn't really phase Verus. Itzal then called out something about finding something and Verus waved at him, slightly confused on what he was yelling. "Lead the way miss." 

[Adhaerere 0]

 As Verus did his whole stretching thing, Adhae cringed. "Do you have to do that so often? It's gross. You'll just collapse one day because you broke all your bones in half with all that cracking." She crossed her arms over her chest and raised her shoulders, as if she were disgusted by the very thought. Which she was. Then, as he raised his arms up in that now-familiar hand position, she reached out and poked his exposed belly. She giggled and danced away as gracefully as a really tall girl with several pounds of heavy armour weighing her down could be. 

 Adhae listened to Itzal's comment and noticed that he had directed it mostly at Verus. So they had built up a bond in their travels together; it would be good for her to keep that in mind. The newcomer would look to Verus for leadership. Adhae knew he wasn't an inadequate leader, but he was still young, and young people tended to make rash decisions. Definitely something to keep in mind. Even though the statement had been directed at Verus, Adhae nodded in confirmation. "Don't get lost. We wouldn't want to split the party." From all the tabletop RPG games she'd played in the real world, she knew that was a horrible idea. They hadn't fought any mobs here on Floor 3 yet, but they were bound to have better stats, and she guessed that most of them would be hell for one person to take on. She shuddered inwardly as she thought about it, but kept walking forwards. 

 She watched their new party member as he scaled the tree and jumped to one from the other. She shook her head slightly. "Now we have a wall, a wasp," that was what she had decided to refer to Verus as, because of his quickness with his 'stinging' rapier, "and a monkey in our party. We'll beat all the bosses with one hand tied behind our backs." She laughed at the thought, and continued on behind their resident ape. She pulled Verus with her by the arm, making sure to walk slowly as to give Itzal a good lead on them. 

 Once he had shouted back at them, Adhae looked at Verus, then back at Itzal. She hadn't heard what he said either, but figured it was important. She walked quickly until she was underneath his tree. She cupped her hands to her mouth, and shouted, "WHAT?" as loud as she could, even though she knew it was overkill and Itzal would have heard her even if she was talking regularly.

[Kooh 0]

Dark blonde eyebrows twitched lightly as several voices rang out throughout the forest. "Mmh...?" A mumble escaped Kooh's lips as her eyes fluttered open. They quickly squinted at the bright rays of sun that peeked in through the trees overhead. Lazily unfolding her arms to bring a hand up over her face, the girl glanced around while her vision began to clear. 'Ah, right.' She thought, still hazy from the lingering sleep.

Bringing the morning's events to mind, Kooh brought both arms over her head in an exaggerated stretch. She swung her legs over the side of her tree branch bed, letting her feet dangle above the forest floor far beneath her. It was still daylight, so she hadn't slept the day away. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Remembering the fact that she'd been disturbed from her peaceful catnap, the girl's face took on an annoyed expression, lazily scanning the ground beneath her for the source of the noise.

[Itzal 0]

Itzal cringed when Adhae's yell echoed through the forest.  What was the point of scouting if you were just going to let the whole world know you were there?  He decided to talk to her about it later and instead turned to see the girl stirring.  He decided to make a move to greet the girl.  He didn't want her thinking she was in danger, or if she was shy, to just run off.  He made his way silently through the branches but hesitated right before he emerged.  He never was good at meeting girls by himself.  Then again, he had to face his fear at some point.  He took a deep breath and climbed down to her level, careful to make a little, but no too much noise, so as to inform her of his approach.  When she looked up at him he grinned apologetically.

"Sorry to wake you.  I was scouting the forest when I spotted you."  He cocked his head.  "Sleep in trees often?"

[trenttrent20 0]

"Bone popping is a lifestyle. Just wait, I'll start to rub off on you and you'll be doing it before you know it." Verus poked fun at his partner before being dragged along behind her. It was now somewhat normal to be pulled and tugged on, and he usually thought nothing of it. This time it was to investigate a new member's discoveries, and he was genuinely curious. Maybe he'd found a scroll, or a hidden bag of Col; the possibilities were endless. 

As the two approached the beckoning Itzal, they started to see him slumped over something in a tree. Verus positioned himself just underneath his other party member and looked skyward. "Oi! What did you find? Is it worth any money?" He tried to determine what he was looking at but the rays of sun that shone through the canopy distorted his view, causing him to continuously try and reposition them to the perfect spot. 

[Adhaerere 0]

  Adhae had some trouble following Itzal through the leaves, but saw him re-appear some ways away. She followed him, still curious about what he'd found. He still hadn't explained. As she was closer to their monkey now, she could hear what he said faintly. What? Who was he talking to? She put her hand up to shield it from the sunlight, squinting to get a better look at whatever it was he was talking to.

 She saw something moving, and shifted her view to pick it out.. Yes, there it was. A black, flat object, with a longer black object attached to it. The bottom of it was foot-shaped.. It must be a foot!

 As she looked further up, she found the rest of the body. Legs, hips, torso, it was all there. The leaves partially covered the head of the person, but from what she could see, it was female. Interesting. Maybe she'd make a new friend. As she thought about this, she shouted up at the two people in the tree. "Hey, come down! I can't climb trees in this armour," she said, while clinking a few of the plates together. She pouted and crossed her arms, waiting for the two of them to comply. If they didn't, she'd unequip the armour and go up there herself. She shuddered when she thought about the last time she'd tried that. She cast a side glance at Verus as she thought of this, a smile creeping over her stuck out bottom lip. 

[Kooh 0]

Before Kooh's ruby eyes could spot any movement below, a small rustling sound caught her attention. Just as she snapped her head in the direction of the noise to find out what caused it, her gaze fell upon an unfamiliar, grinning face. She quickly stifled a sneer at his words, instead wearing what looked like an embarrassed shyness. She couldn't help herself. This was too perfect. "Ah, did...you see it?" She asked in a small voice, quickly looking away to avoid his gaze. "My sleeping face..." Just  as she brought her hands up to her cheeks, the shuffling and voices from two other players broke her concentration. She peered below to the forest floor, giving no further thought to the person hanging around in the trees beside her. 'Worth any money?' A phrase caught her attention as it traveled to her ears.

A devilish smirk passed over her features for only a moment. The girl scooted herself to the side before gripping firmly onto a handhold in the thick branch. She let herself slide off of her perch, catching herself in a small swing and then letting go to land on the ground in a somewhat smooth motion. She ended up facing away from the two strangers, but quickly turned on her heel. With two strides, Kooh positioned herself close to the blonde man, leaning in and tilting her chin upwards to look at his face. "Well, that depends on what it is you're after." She said in a sweet, mischievous tone.

Edited June 28, 2016 by Kooh

[Itzal 0]

Itzal shook his head when he heard Verus.  He couldn't believe the guy.  When Adhae called at them he was reminded to talk to her about the meaning of 'stealth'.  He leapt to the ground and sighed as he approached the new girl.  He couldn't believe how things were starting off for him.  A hasty tank and a dim-witted speedster.  What now?

"Miss," he began "That's Verus.  I don't know much about him yet but I do know he doesn't tend to think much.  More talk than anything."  He nodded to Adhae.  "That's Adhae.  She's a tank, and a pretty good one might I add, though she seemed to miss the intention of scouting."  He placed a hand behind his back and bowed ever so slightly, as he usually did when greeting with respect.  "I'm Itzal, and," he hesitated, his face turning slightly pink.  "no I just had a glimpse of you before deciding to greet you."  Now he noticed her choice of weapons and realized he had never encountered it before.  He wondered how one would fight against such a weapon.  "And you are?"

Edited June 28, 2016 by Itzal

[trenttrent20 0]

"I'm looking for maybe uh...thirty co-no wait, forty col. Recently misplaced it too, you wouldn't have happened to pick any up right?" Verus looked down at the hooded girl, watching as she bounced back and forth on her toes. She was energetic as can be, and seemingly quite nimble. He would never have been able to get up into one of those trees, let alone swing from one and land perfectly on the ground. All he could picture was him breaking a leg bone or two, or falling straight on his face. At mention of his name, he nodded, giving a small smile to the newcomer. "Pleasure to meet ya ma'am." 

Verus was disappointed it wasn't any loot. He was a money grabber and had suspected Itzal had come across some sort of jackpot hidden in a tree. He had always kept his hopes high and his dreams higher, making the times when he was let down now seem as bad as they were. However this girl here could be beneficial in the long run maybe, hell he didn't know. He was still in awe from the height at which she and Itzal leapt to the ground, with it showing on his face. His elbow met the side of Adhaerere's armor once again, nudging at her as he's done so many times before. "Give ya ten col to go swing from that branch...."

[Adhaerere 0]

 Adhae watched in awe as the girl nimbly leapt down from the tree. Sometimes, she wished it was possible for her to do that. But she just didn't have the body type, or the skill. She shrugged off the thought as the girl came closer to them, and she could get a better look at their new company. 

 She didn't seem to be anything special, just a girl who could climb trees. Adhae couldn't pick out any weapon on her, she must keep it unequiped or just hidden. As the girl walked up to Verus, she turned her head to watch her. However, Itzal's comments caught her attention. "...doesn't tend to think much." This sent her doubled over laughing. Then, as he commented about her lack of awareness of scouting. It wasn't enough to stop her laughing, but it did make her lean up and wipe the moisture from her eyes. "Hey, I know ALL about what scouting is supposed to do. And if you can show me a situation where being loud in a forest would be bad, then I'd listen to more of what you had to say," she pointed out, not laughing anymore and standing straight again. She spread out her arms, indicating the forest around them in a broad sweeping gesture. "What can hurt us out here?" 

 Then as the new girl came up to Verus, Adhae scoffed at her. "He's looking for nothing, that head of his is only filled with air and dreams of free junk. Don't worry, dear," she said as she made to pat the new girl's shoulder. 

[Kooh 0]

Kooh fought hard against the sour expression that threatened to take over her features. She leaned back from the blonde man introduced as Verus and stood up straight, slipping her hands in her pockets with her shoulders raised. His disinterest bothered her, but moreso his obliviousness threatened to pull her lips into a frown. Keeping herself aloof, the man from the trees was beside her now, speaking and giving everyone's name as Kooh half-listened to his words. He hesitated a moment, which caught her interest and caused her to turn her head towards him. A smirk crawled across her lips as she spotted the pink on his cheeks with his answer. He had asked her name, and right as she was mulling over the thought of giving it to them, the blonde felt something push down against her shoulder.

Kooh looked over to Adhae, offering her words of reassurance, but Kooh simply brought a hand in front of her, giving it a small wave back and forth. "Hey, figures. You'd better get your head out of the clouds if you have any hope of getting a girlfriend, though." Kooh addressed Verus again with a teasing attitude. Her hand retreated to the safety of her pocket once more, turning on her heel again as she distanced herself with a couple of lazy strides. She turned her back to the base of the tree she'd swung down from, leaning back into it and giving their three-man team a sideways glance. "Anyway, you look like an interesting bunch. What brings you three to a place like this?" She asked casually.

[Itzal 0]

Itzal lowered his shoulders.  So Adhae didn't understand either.  He was the only one in the group who knew.  He wondered if he should tell them all, but he doubted they'd believe him.  They'd probably think he was crazy.  His spirits were lifted a little when he noticed Verus' look of awe on his face.  After he greeted the girl, he saw her smirk and the pink on his face grew more reddish.  This was getting a bit uncomfortable for Itzal.  He was NEVER good with girls who didn't act tough like Adhae.  And now, in the game, where he should feel safe and secure he felt the total opposite.  When she asked a question to the group he decided to let Verus or Adhae answer, afraid he was going to stutter at any moment.

[trenttrent20 0]

"Girlfriend? Oh i've already made the best friend a guy could have! This girl right here saved me from a vicious fight I got into at a pub once. Oh boy is it a doozy of a story." His voice was pure and just, responding to the girl quickly and happily. The thought of dating completely flew past his head, having misunderstood the new girl's question. The sun had begun to shine through one of the many clouds at just an angle to where it hit Verus's eyes, causing him to bring his hands up to block out the rays. It mildly discomforted Verus, causing him to fidget and move around every few seconds trying the dodge the sun's attacks on him. He was not amused. 

"Us? Oh we're just traveling. Looking for some mob's to kill and all. Isn't that what you're doing miss...?" Verus paused shortly after, recalling back to what Itzal had asked earlier. They didn't know her name. "Miss something right? What's you're name shorty?" After finding a spot with adequate cloud cover, Verus lifted his arms and placed his hands behind his head, relaxing himself as the others started to talk.

[Adhaerere 0]

 Adhae snorted with laughter as the newcomer talked about Verus' chances with a girl. It was all too true; once she'd recovered from her giggling fit, she shot a pointed glance at Verus. "It'd do you well to listen to her. You can't be alone forever, squirt." She moved over to poke him in the ribs, and flash a smile at the newcomer. She'd play along with the teasing of Verus because it was one of her favourite pastimes. Then, she caught out of the corner of her eye... A redness in Itzal's cheeks. Her grin widened, and she shot a comment at him too. "You would too! Geez, I've collected a bunch of dweebs." She made a show of shaking her head sadly, tut-tutting underneath her breath. 

 "Yeah, what're you doing here? Just sitting in a tree in a monster-infested forest for the kicks?" She waited patiently for her to respond, to her own question and Verus' about the new girl's name. She was curious about what it might be... Was she a Jackie? A Madeline? Or maybe something more exotic, like.. Adhae had no idea, but it was fun to try to guess in her head. 

[Kooh 0]

Her vision shifted back in front of her, staring past the trees and foliage littering the ground ahead. "Kooh." She said simply after a moment of silence. She couldn't ignore their question a second time, and it's not like she had anything to lose by giving them her username. The girl gave up on teasing the blonde-haired man; her efforts would be wasted right now. She'd have to try again later. There had to be something that would leave him flustered. Her lips pulled up into a small smile at the thought, and she turned her head to give the trio a sweeping glance to spot Itzal still blushing. It seemed like he was avoiding her gaze. 'And that one's too easy.' She thought, suppressing a chuckle.

At the question echoed by the tall armored woman, Kooh gave her an almost blank stare before turning her head in an obvious way to look around them. Turning her attention back to Adhae, the blonde smiled again. "I don't see any monsters around." She said in a playful tone. Kooh pushed back on the heavy tree behind her, taking a couple of short strides away from it. She turned to face them all, smile still present on her face, though her eyes scanned each of them before she spoke. "Hey, let me join your team thing." She said plainly.

[Itzal 0]

Now that the subject had changed, Itzal could feel his body's tenseness unwinding.  It wasn't normally this bad but Kooh seemed to be an expert at this sort of thing.  He agreed with Kooh in the sense that it was the total opposite of monster infested.  The entire time he moved through the forest scouting, and even now he hadn't spotted one mob.  He noticed that Verus was completely oblivious towards the girls teasing.  He decided he'd rather be shy than be completely ignorant.  Deciding to ignore Adhae's comment, he heard Kooh's question and was surprised, and impressed, at her bluntness.  She didn't sugar cover, sneak it in the conversation slowly, or try persuading them.  She just up and asked.  He liked that.  He smiled as he turned to look at her again.

"Join us eh?"  He observed her a second time.  Yeah she was pretty, but he wasn't really focused on that.  Despite Verus' comment about being a 'shorty' she seemed to be a little above average height.  Itzal seemed to be the only short one.  He was fine with that though.  Her weapons still drew his curiosity.  That plus the fact that she seemed to be a good climber too made him start thinking over multiple tactics and strategies with her involved.  She could be a good ally.  Itzal shrugged.

"I don't see why not."  He smiled and glanced at his two comrades.  "Anyone object?"