[PP-F1] Night Training (Mayuri) - COMPLETED

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus was at his usual training spot near the Town of Beginnings. The cold night air was invigorating and gave him even more energy than training during the day did. The darkness also made him feel more secluded. He could focus on his training and not be distracted by his surroundings. His training had been much more subdued lately. Normally, he would work on fast, furious sword strikes and quick dodging, but since he had been in his first battles, he knew now that he should have been focusing on strength rather than speed. He could see himself mowing down mobs eventually, cutting bloody swaths through enemy lines, but he had to focus his attention in the right area. As usual, he was engrossed in his training, not letting anything distract him. He tried his best to stay aware though. One thing about night training was that it hightened his awareness since he was constantly keeping his ears open to hear anything-- or anyone for that matter-- sneaking up on him.

Edited July 23, 2016 by Cygnus

[Mayuri 0]

Mayuri couldn’t sleep. She lay there in the dark staring up at the ceiling with only her thoughts to keep her occupied. He hadn’t returned, not for two nights now, and she was hurt but tried not to take it personally. He was lost and he needed to work things out, and she was going to give him the space and time he needed to do so. Instead of throw herself a pity party however, Shay decided she’d go out and get some air. Hopefully the cool night sky would bring her some peace and she could sleep once more. It seemed to the girl that walking did indeed help, but her feelings would muddle every time she stopped to rest, so she continued on. When she’d walked one way and then the other across floor two, she decided she needed a much larger space to roam, and so she found herself one floor one.

As she stepped out from the blue light of the teleport system, the church bells in the town of beginning began to sound. Twelve chimes came from the bell tower in the distance, and Shay sighed heavily. She placed her tiny hand over her heart, and closed her eyes. The weight of it throbbing inside her small form was unbearable and so she continued to move in order to ignore her own pain.

Sometime later she found herself walking out in the fields far beyond the safety of the walls of the beginning city. The winds blew softly, rustling the tall grass surrounding her. She stared up at the night sky, her teal eyes observing the cosmos above. All was silent, or seemingly so, until she heard the sounds of combat close by and thought to go investigate.  Shay came upon someone practicing his sword arts under the starry skies. His movements were much different than hers of Life's, and so she stood there in the dark, trying to figure out which kind weapon he carried.

Edited June 29, 2016 by Mayuri

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus roared one final time, bringing his sword down on the ground, but stopping just short of hitting the actual ground. He wiped the sweat off his brow, but he heard someone or something approach, so he quickly turned towards the source of the noise, his blade raised defensively. He saw the silhouette of a person there, so he lowered his guard just a bit. Not completely though. It could be a PKer. Not many others were out this late. "Good evening." He said finally. Not in a friendly tone however, but one that was dripping with suspicion. "What are you doing out so late? Most everyone else is asleep." He squinted his eyes, trying to see who it was. Maybe he would recognize them.

[Mayuri 0]

Mai did not have long to watch as her presence was quickly noticed by the other player who spun around to face her. She was greeted coolly and questioned as to why she was present at such an odd hour. “I’m sorry,” she apologized quickly, “It wasn’t my intention to frighten you. I was surprised to see anyone else out here as well. It seems that I’m not the only one who could not sleep this evening.”  she said wondering if it might have been foolish of her to approach a layer she did not know. It was hard to tell who was friend or foe lately, and Life always warned her to ere on the side of caution.

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus eyed the girl suspiciously before slowly lowering his blade. "I am sorry. You just startled me." Cygnus sheathed his sword and approached the girl. Luckily it was dark, so she couldn't see his cheeks turn pink with embarrassment. He got a little too paranoid when it came to training at night. He put his hand out for a friendly greeting. "Let's start over. I am called Cygnus, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He thought he recognized this girls voice. She may have been one of the ones he met near the fountain. "I apologize for responding so hostilely." He chuckled nervously, hoping that she wasn't angry at him. 

[Mayuri 0]

The man’s tone changed and he offered her an apology. “That’s unnecessary, really.” She said weakly and smiled. The man put his weapon up, and approached Shay offering his hand. “Mayuri,” the dark haired girl said as she shook the hand that was offered to her. “It’s very nice to meet you as well.” She added in quickly. “I suppose in a place like this it’s easy to act with hostility. You know, act first and ask questions later. But what is your weapon?” she asked him curiously, “I’m not familiar with your tequeniques.” To be fair, there weren’t many she knew.

Edited June 30, 2016 by Mayuri

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus nodded in response to Mayuri giving him her name. "A pleasure." He said. When Mayuri asked about his weapon, he looked over his shoulder at it. "My weapon? Oh, right. I guess it must be hard to see it in the dark." He drew his greatsword from its sheath slowly, just in case him drawing it quickly would startle her. Once it was finally out of its sheath, Cygnus rested the blade on his hand as he held it out to her. "It's a greatsword. I tend to gravitate towards the heavier stuff." He smiled with pride when she mentioned she didn't recognize any of his techniques. "I work hard to come up with my own." His smile grew. "If everything here is programmed, it stands to reason that my moves could be predicted if I lean too heavily on the AI. But if I come up with my own techniques, no one can predict those." He took the hand holding the blade of his sword and tapped on his head with his index finger. "Fight smarter, live longer. That's my motto." 

Edited July 1, 2016 by Cygnus

[Mayuri 0]

Shay’s inquiry was met with swift response as the man produced his weapon for her to view. Being in closer range, she found that his sword was gigantic; her hwando was a mere toothpink, and her falchion a kitchen knife in comparison. She giggled as he explained that he gravitated toward heavier weaponry. “Obviously,” she grinned. Cygnus also told her that he had been working on his own techniques so that his movements would not be readable during a fight, and Shay pursed her lips together. She wasn’t sure if the game mechanics worked in such a way that he could do so, but she didn’t understand a lot about video games as SAO was the first she’d ever played.

“Do you often train at such an odd hour? Don’t you feel exposed out here in the dark?” she continued her questioning.

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus sheathed his sword when Mayrui appeared to be finished examining it and chuckled when she brought up the odd hour he was training and whether or not he felt exposed. "Sometimes. But it seems i'm more alert at night.  A mob might be able to sneak up on me though, or a player with dark intentions. But I just try to stay alert and trust in my instincts. I suppose it is a good thing that you aren't here to kill me. You look... capable." He said, chuckling nervously. He didn't exactly know for a fact that she wasn't here to kill him. He wouldn't let his guard down completely yet. Nighttime really made him paranoid. If she did indeed turn out to just be a friendly player, he would have to apologize to her for these suspicions. 

[Mayuri 0]

“Me?”  Shay squeaked in surprise.

Someone thought she looked like a capable player, more so one of committing murder?  Her heart plummeted straight into her stomach. The girl wanted nothing more than to help people, even keep them safe from death, so the fact she was under the suspicion of being capable of causing harm to another hurt the girl to her very core. If there’d been lighter out, perhaps Cygnus might have seen the forlorn expression she wore upon her sweet face. She thought to admit she was not high in level, nor did she have any skill in her weapon, but saying stuff like that was dangerous, especially to a complete stranger.

“I…”  She started and then paused thinking how best to continue, “I suppose it does seem suspicious that I’m out here. I needed a walk, and I ran out of floor on the second, so I came down here hoping I could clear my head. I promise I mean you know harm. As you can see, I don’t have my weapon in hand.” She said holding out both her tiny delicate hands.

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus almost squeaked himself. Was it that obvious that he was suspicious of her? As he looked over what little he could see of her, he came to the conclusion that this girl wasn't a PKer. She didn't seem the type. She wasn't... malicious. She lacked the orange cursor as well, but that didn't mean much. Her PKer status might have worn off. He waved away the suspicions. What she said was likely true. He was just being a suspicious jerk... he hoped. With a heavy sigh, he bowed to her deeply and apologetically. "My apologies, miss. I think you can understand why i'm so careful. It was just strange. I've never met another player out here this late. I apologize if I offended you. No offense was intended." He would stay bowed until she accepted his apology if she intended to.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Cygnus

[Mayuri 0]

Cygnus quickly picked up on her distress which was likely a reaction to the fact that Shay didn’t hide her emotions well. She felt silly. It was stupid of her to be so easily readable; she knew it’d get her into trouble as she could hide nothing from no one.

“You’re okay…” she said and smiled weakly, “Really, no apologies needed. I understand that the situation is a bit unusual. If you’d like to continue your training I shall leave you in peace.” She turned and took a step before turning back about. “Thanks for not attacking me with any of those spin things you were doing. I’m sure that would’ve stung quite a bit.” She laughed.

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus straightened his posture once Mayuri accepted his apology. "Again, i'm sorry." He would mutter the apology one last time. Cygnus felt bad as she turned to leave, however. When she thanked him for not attacking her, he chuckled and averted his gaze, embarassment setting in. "You are welcome. I wouldn't have attacked you, really. Not unless you... went after me first. I wouldn't kill someone who is unarmed and can't defend themselves. There is no honor in that." He paused for a second, debating whether or not he should invite this girl to sit with him for a while. Eventually, his desire to not let their first interaction end right after he was a paranoid asshole won out. "Hey, I mean, you don't have to leave yet. I've been out here for a while, so I was just wrapping up."

[Mayuri 0]

Shay let out another chuckle as she was again apologized to. This man was rather silly, but she found it nice that he really hadn’t meant anything by what he’d said, nor would he have attacked her as she was unarmed. “Good to know.” She added and began to walk off once more. She heard him call out to her after a few steps and she paused.  He asked her to stay and Shay thought about it for a moment. It wasn’t like she needed to be anywhere at the moment. “Okay…” she agreed. “But what if we were head to town so that we’re not so vulnerable out in the open?  I’d hate for us to be ambushed by other nefarious characters who might actually harm either of us.”

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus nodded to Mayuri as she suggested they go back to town just in case someone actually malicious came by and tried to harm them. "Yes, town sounds good right about now. I'm far past ready to lower my guard." He chuckled and walked over to where Mayuri had stopped. "Well then, shall we?" He didn't wait for a response, walking casually back towards town. He would look back to make sure Mayuri was following, however. After they had been walking for a couple minutes, Cygnus decided to strike up a conversation. "So, you said you needed a walk? Is there something on your mind?" He hoped the question wasn't too personal. He had only just met thsi girl after all.

[Mayuri 0]

Cygnus chuckled causing Shay to ease up even more; laughter was always the best medicine for tense situations. Her suggestion was met with agreement and he began to walk ahead and the pink kimono clad girl scampered along to catch up. She walked along beside him quietly as she studied the stars above her far more than she’d actually paid attention to the path ahead of her. Shay was always the kind of girl to have her head in the clouds far more than she had them on what she was supposed to focus on.

The silence between them was broken when she was asked about why she needed a walk. He apologized if it was a personal subject, and the girl just nodded her dark locked head. “There is…” she replied, “But it’s not anything that can be helped, so I just have to wait and see how things work out, you know?” She knew her words were vague, but she hoped he could kinf of understand what she meant. Sometimes all one could do was watch and wait to see where the pieces fell before one could react to anything. “Thank you though… for asking about it. It was nice ,” She wasn’t sure if he was showing her genuine concern or if he was trying to make conversation, but him checking on her was nice either way.

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus flashed Mayuri a smile after she spoke. "I've been in a few situations like that myself. I hope it works out better for you than it did for me. Just keep your chin up. Most situations can have mental solutions." He noticed that Mayuri's answer was vague, but he didn't probe any further. If she was being vague, she probably didn't want to go into any further detail. Not much time passed before they entered the gate into town. Cygnus visibly relaxed. They were in a safe zone now, so they wouldn't be ambushed here. "So, you want to grab a late drink? Or just walk around the town?" He asked casually. It was a nice night out, so either one worked for him. 

[Mayuri 0]

Shay was glad she wasn’t pressed any further for information. The last thing she wanted was to spread her relationship drama about. She wasn’t the sort to sit there and cry to others about personal problems, boy troubles included. They reached town after a short and Mayuri felt glad to be back within a safe zone. She was offered choice of activity and Shay just shrugged, “Either sounds lovely about now.” She paused and smiled, “I suppose that’s not entirely helpful is it?” She looked about trying to assess what was around them, “I have been walking for quite some time… perhaps now would be a good time for something to drink.” She said decidedly.

[Cygnus 0]

"Wonderful. I know just the place." Cygnus changed their course to the square with the fountain he had fallen into what seemed like eons ago. "There's a little cafe that I discovered after..." He paused, not wanting to divulge the embarrassing fountain incident. That was not one of his most graceful moments. "...after... forget it. Anyway, I discovered this cafe when I first came here. They've got good coffee." He smiled. "Coffee in the middle of the night. That would be strange in the real world. I guess the coffee isn't actually caffeinated, so we won't have to worry about it keeping us awake." The cafe wasn't that far from where they entered town, so they made it there in no time at all. "Well, here we are. The Starlight Cafe."

[Mayuri 0]

The raven-haired girl let the young man take the lead and soon found herself in a the Starlight Café. She had not gone to the establishment before, so she was unfamiliar with it. In her earlier days, she spent most of her time in other places with her cousin until his fall, after that she found herself entirely in the fields, only coming in to sleep until she’d earned her own profession which came with a shop.

The café was brightly lit, and there were still a number of patrons, but it was relatively quiet otherwise. She entered the café and chose seating by the window so she could continue to admire the night sky. The light of the town affected her view of the stars, but it was still a pretty view nonetheless. A pretty waitress came round and asked for their order, “Just ice water with lemon, please,” Shay asked politely of the girl. The weather was too warm for tea, and she did not drink coffee.  The waitress then took Cygnus’s and walked away.

“So…” Mai said after a few moments of silence. Despite being a friendly girl, Shay was often a quite one and wasn’t very good with making small talk.