[PP-F15-NK] Witch of the West and the Three Treasures - Tin Man & Scarecrow [QUEST]

[Mack 0]

OOC: Closed now.

Mack emerged from the teleporter in the portal plaza of the town of Kachirho and drew back the snowy hood of the cloak that signified him as the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath. Having been away from things for a time, several floors had been cleared in his absence. Naturally, this meant that there were a great many quests that were in need of being tackled for the various rewards, in terms of experience and otherwise, that they provided. One such quest, apparently, included the banishing of a witch of some sort. Somehow, the ginger giant doubted that the witch in question was @Opal, still it would be a good guild exercise and the Vice Commander had sent a message to all the remaining Knights that they were free to join him up on the 15th Floor, if they were so inclined, and that he would wait for them until either eight in the morning, server time, or until they had a full-party of four, whichever came first.

Coming down the handful of steps that led up to the portal two at a time, the high ranking member of the Knights of the Blood Oath unsheathed his weapon and planted the butt of it on the wooden planks that made up the floor of the tree-top city of Kachirho and waited to see which among the Knights would feel like tackling the quest. If no one showed up, he was confident that he could handle it by himself if need be.

[Anemone 0]

It was the top of the morning! Sun shining! Birds chirping! It was a fantastic and positive day. Anemone had awoken fully refreshed and ready for the day! With a few quick clicks here and there, she had materialized her adventure gear and was ready for an adventurous day, whatever that day may bring. So long as it wasn't too terribly dangerous for the shy girl. Making sure everything was in perfect form, she left the Inn Cottage and began to stroll about the sunshine of the lower floor. There had been something interesting stories told late at night, there was a party of players that hung out at certain inn where Anemone was invited to listen in. Sometimes they told ghost stories or stories from their home from the real world. Although she never participated in telling others about her life, she was happy and enjoyed the time spent while listening to those stories. One incredible evening, she heard a fantastic adventure a party had told reminiscent of a Movie back home. There was something interesting about that tale and Anemone was cautious yet interested. 

Appearing at the portal plaza, the female shrank from the darkness all around her. The massive overgrown trees had cut off a majority of the sunlight exposed to this floor, and the people were dressed a bit like barbarians she had seen in movies with neanderthals. She chewed on her bottom lip as she moved along the rooted bridges of firn and other tough roots. Her bright red eyes scanned the otherwise green location until the brightness of red hair shot out like a flame in the dim light. On the precipice of the safe zone she could make out a rather large and intimidating figure. She wondered if it was one of those Barbarian NPCs that were roaming about. He stood tall like a statue and didn't seem to move. She moved towards the figure and finally at the right angle she noticed who this player was. 

"Ahh! Sir @Mack, good morning to you!" she had said with her small voice, but she spoke up to a level to hope he could hear her. Although the last time she spoke to him, she didn't quite have the nerve or courage to speak up. He is quite intimidating. 

***
Notes: Was given permission from Mack to join him. :D 

[Tomas 0]

One of the first, and most important, tasks to carrying out any objective from the seemingly trivial to the very mission of one's existence, aside from understanding to overall goal was to plan out the necessary action steps. Simply flying off the handle would do no one any good. Tomas fully intended to be the person responsible for freeing the all of the ensnared souls within the digital Aincrad prison and, when there was but his single name on the Monument of Life then, and only then, would Tomas throw himself from the edge of one of the floors. Of course, that day was a long way off yet. He could hardly go around simply knifing players with skills as woefully deficient as his own. That was a sure way to see his own soul released well before its time.

No, what was required for the time being was the gathering of intelligence. Knowledge, of floor layouts and player builds and innumerable other little nuggets, was the currency with which he would purchase the freedom of all the souls here. Well, knowledge and violence towards all those who failed to grasp the divine purpose of his mission. A messy business, but a necessary one. Another, closely related necessary task was to increase his own skills. The monk was pondering these various lessons as he lay on his back in one of the trees that provided both a home and shade on the fifteenth floor of the tower. As the dark fabric of his clothing served to conceal him from those going about their business on the thoroughfares of the street below the sound of voices floated up to the monk where he lay watching and listening. Turning his head to one side, he peered down at the two chatting players beneath him, given the look of the big one and the colors of his garments which marked him as a Knight of the Blood Oath, Tomas was reasonably certain that he might be allowed to tag along on whatever they were going to do. It would be an easy way to power level and, perhaps, gain some other rewards or even charity.

"Quodcumque potest manus tua facere instanter operare quia nec opus ratio nec scientia nec sapientia erunt apud inferos quo tu properas,*" Tomas whispered to himself in a quiet tone, quoting the tenth verse of the ninth chapter of Ecclesiastes from the Latin Vulgate. Rolling to one side, the black clad figure dropped the twenty or so feet to the ground, tumbled forward into a roll over one shoulder and came to a stop in a crouch before rising slowly to his feet and drawing back the hood to reveal a slightly tousled shock of brown hair and a clean shaven face.

"My apologies for dropping in," he said in a low, even tone as he deliberately drew the dark folds of the cloak away from his weapon to reveal the hilt of a clearly inferior rapier for the current floor. "But, you two have the look of people who will be taking on a quest of some sort. If you are willing to take on a particularly silent leech, I should like to tag along. You may call me Tomas."

*Ecclesiastes 9:10 in English from the NKJV Translation, should anyone care for the translation into English: "¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going."

[Miss_Mestophales 0]

Miss Mestophales was sleeping in a tree not too far away from where Tomas actually was. She had seen this figure the other night with Sarial and was somewhat interested in this male. However when he had stopped and stayed stationary, the neko girl had got bored and eventually fell asleep in the branches of a tall tree. She had lost some amount of time between then and now and she slowly started to wake up from her cat nap. Rattling the branch, the woman began to stretch her limbs and yawn while her tail unraveled from behind her. Blinking several times, the woman came to peer around her. It sure was getting later? Or perhaps the sun was rising for the next day? She honestly didn't have a clue about it. But she had wondered where that guy had gone off too. He was now on the ground speaking with a very loud colored red headed giant and a female with very white hair. 

It was peculiar, but he seemed to be wanting to join their party for something. Mestophales clung to the branches and fell down below landing on her feet easily enough from that distance. Using the High Wire in the circus was one of her specialities and having no fear of heights was a great boon. Even in this world it seemed most of her instincts were very much active. Stealthing the players from the low grass, the woman gave a playful growl to alert her presence to the players. The one girl who seemed to have a meek like dispositioned jumped from the playful noise, "Woa there girly. I meant no harm. The name is Miss Mestophales! Hold you applause, it's not necessary." she said with that twinkling smile of hers. Her eyes fell on the massive male and then the more slender looking one, "Ahh, so it's you from the other night. Fancy seeing you here," she said attempting to not give away the fact she was tailing him. Her tail had begun to twitch and sway now as she folded her arms over her chest, "Sounds like you guys are about to go on a fun little trip somewhere. I don't mind coming along if you need a little entertainment." 

[Mack 0]

The barest hint of a scowl crossed Mack's bearded features for an instant at being called 'Sir' again. The towering figure was about to retort that he was not a knight when it occurred to him that such a statement was patently absurd since he was the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath and the word "Knight" was, quite literally, right there in the title of the organization. So, in that sense at least, he was a Knight. "Just Mack will do, Anemone," the axe man said by way of greeting as a round brown fuzzy face poked out from behind one of his legs to regard Anemone, the giver to delicious steak. The bear cub rumbled a greeting and set sail in the direction of Anemone. Where once there had been steak, there could be steak again. Everyone knew that.

Before their conversation could really get going a dark cloaked form dropped down into their midst and, quickly enough, it resolved itself into a person. Apparently, the dark haired man with the beginner's iron rapier was a rather observant person, as he had accurately deduced that Mack, at least, was planning on tackling a quest of some sort. The towering Vice Commander considered the player and his equipment for a moment before speaking. "Your gear is shockingly bad for this floor," the blacksmith rumbled in a blunt tone. He had just swiped his finger in the air to pull up his player menu when another player dropped from the trees above him and emerged from the grass.

"Damned squirrels," the Vice Commander muttered, sparing a grey eyed glance from his menu to regard the scantily clad cat woman in front of him. One ginger eyebrow quirked slightly, more so when he saw the green cursor of a player as opposed to the yellow cursor of a Non-Player Character. "Morning, uh Miss Kitty," the towering man said, shrugging his shoulders and going back to his item inventory to find something suitable for Tomas. "Mack, Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath. I assume you've had all your shots," he remarked in a dry tone, still sorting through items.

[Anemone 0]

"Ahh, yes Si- Mack. I shall try to remember that. But bearing such a noble title as Vice Commander, it only feels right that I should call you something more." She had craned her neck to look up at the player, feeling a bit fragile when another player had appeared before them. And in such a way that it had startled Anemone, not in such a way as the bear cub Chewie would do. She was waiting for that. Giving him a plopping hand on the turf of his head, she rubbed the shaggy coat and tossed away a few delectable bite sized morsels of some beef she had prepared the other day. Hopefully to appease the bear cubs appetite. She smiled with lavender lips as the man had an intense gaze about him which made her extremely uncomfortable. She had decided to keep to herself and moved silently towards the Vice Commander as to not arouse anything from the stranger who introduced himself as Tomas. 

The woman gave a dry gulp as she kept her hands to her belly and twisted her fingers into one another while looking at the ground, she smiled faintly at the new comer and offered her name, "My name is Anemone, it's nice to meet you Tomas." Her voice barely above  a whisper. She had seen Mack fiddling with his menu when he had stated that the male player had crude weaponry on him. The woman felt a tad bit depressed by the comment, she didn't even have equipment that was suitable to be on this floor either, or anything of the sort to help protect her. She was certainly relying a lot on Mack and his damage to see them through this. 

When her eyes met Tomas again, she got a shiver and a chill. Her blood seemingly had run frozen through her hands and feet when he looked back in her direction. There was a feeling of lightheadedness before another- wait. Was that person wearing cat makeup? There was a tail, tiger stripes and cat ears on this particular person. Not to mention the unabashed apparel she was wearing, it wasn't even covering up much of her...body. How shameful for a woman. Anemone could not say much as she simple smiled with these thoughts in her head. 

"It's nice to meet you as well Miss Mestophales," at least she seemed a little less cold and distant than that Tomas guy, but she didn't look like she had much in terms of equipment either. This was going to be a very strange day for the Healer. @Tomas

[Tomas 0]

Tomas started to scowl as the woman who thought she was a cat landed behind him on the ground and made her presence known. But, the monk managed to school his features into a carefully neutral and blank expression. Almost idly, the dark man's delicate fingers moved to the slender crucifix hanging from his neck and wrapped around the cool metal. Twitching the religious symbol in his fingers until it caught the light of the sun, Tomas produced a spot of reflected sunlight from the talisman to appear on the ground and proceeded to send the little flash of light dancing all around Miss Mestophales' feet as the ginger headed man made a comment about both Tomas' own poor gear and the feline woman's appearance as he pulled up his inventory.

"Look at the spot," Tomas commented in a dry tone, pointing with his free hand at the dancing mote of light on the ground. It was no red laser pointer dot, but it was likely the best that could be done within the world of Aincrad. "Shouldn't you catch that spot? It's mocking you," he continued, addressing his remarks to the scantily clad feline-like woman. As Tomas continued to twitch the spot of light reflecting from the crucifix around he inclined his head slightly in the direction of Anemone. The brown haired man would have enjoyed nothing so much as running his rapier through all three of the players there with him, until their health pools were completely depleted, but now was not the time or place. In the first place, the ginger was a high ranking member of one of the more powerful guilds in the game, and in the second place they were all in a safe zone. Now was not the time to begin carrying out his divinely appointed mission.

[Miss_Mestophales 0]

The woman folded her arms at the player known as Tomas, she didn't think he was being very cute in what he was intending to do. Perhaps he forgot the earlier conversation they had that one night where she was still a woman, "I am not a cat you robed Moron. I have paint on my face and skin, and I act like a cat. Does not mean every little thing is gonna catch my attention. But if we are going to fall into such stereotypes, don't you have some little boys to be following around somewhere? Perhaps an orphanage where you should be creeping about?" There was a glint in her eyes, she did not like this fellow the moment she laid eyes upon him. Spouting that nonsense or whatever it was he was speaking the other night. Not to mention they were not so much in a safe zone anymore, those daggers he throws could easily tackle some of her HP if he were intended to do so. 

Flicking her tail in a sort of way, she moved towards the group of players next to the woman who seemed to be cowering behind the big burly guy with red hair. She had met three people to this moment with flaming red hair, it seemed to be a pretty unoriginal concept in these kind of games. Herself she had a more colorful color as well, but it was still somewhat natural...if a light golden honey orange was natural? But her attention was drawn to the pale woman. Slinking towards her and making a move, she opened her eyes wide and playfully growled at the woman. 

"Nice to meet you, Amenome? Anememna?, Emamenom--?"
"Anemone, Miss." the young girl shyly said correcting her name to her.

"That's the one! Oh you are so precious and cute, just wanna gobble you all up!" The woman freshly laid her arms out over the young woman's shoulder and pushed her into her soft slender body as she looked at the larger player, "So let's get this show on the road! I bet we'll be pouncing in no time! We can leave Mr. Child Molester here if you want. I have no qualms with that..." 

@Mack

 

[Mack 0]

As he scrolled through his inventory, looking for gear that would prove suitable for Tomas, Mack spared a single glance up at the feline cosplayer when she noted she was not, in fact, a cat. "She's got ya there," the towering man rumbled, making a vague sort of all encompassing gesture in Miss Mestophales' direction with his free hand as he continued to scroll through items. "If she is a cat then she's the curviest and leggiest cat I've ever seen," the Vice Commander rumbled, tapping one item from his inventory and materializing a rapier with a serpentine motif. "Brings new meaning to the phrase chasing tail."

The ginger headed Vice Commander had just selected another item for Tomas, the Duelist's Gloves, and was scrolling through looking for some kind of decent armor for the fencer when a small terrier came racing up to the group. Instantly, Chewie was on alert. Small yapping creature. Obviously, it was something to be eaten. As soon as the dog came to a stop at Anemone's feet, Chewie pounced. The bear came rumbling around the players and tried to pounce on the dog, missed, and wound up pouncing into the feline-like woman. The cub's eyes narrowed.

The thief.

With a growl, Chewie made a crude one-toed gesture at the cat lady with both paws and then sank his little baby bear teeth into the woman's shin. He couldn't do much damage, since the cub didn't have any kind of additional buffs. But, he made up for the lack of damage with an excess of enthusiasm. Mack eyed his familiar for a second, snagged an armored cape from his inventory for Tomas, and did nothing to stop the bear. "That's weird, what'd you do to him," Mack asked, passing the items over to Tomas.

-Viper's Strike - +3 DMG
-Duelist's Gloves - +3 ACC
-Midnight's Purpose  - +27 Mit.

[Anemone 0]

Anemone could only smile at the weird conversations that were being produced by this company of people. She felt like a third or even a fourth wheel in all of this commotion and her attempt to hide behind Mack had failed as that cat woman gave over to greet her or to even provoke something out of her, "E-eat me up?" She said with a small questionable tone to her voice only just after pointing out of how to pronounce her name. That woman was a weird girl, that was for certain and it did not help the matter when Mack happened to comment that she was a very leggy woman. The woman's dark brows furrowed and looked at the woman in the tiger paint and smiled noticing once again the lack of armor she had on.

Chewie on the other hand had recognized an odd sound. A yipping from a small dog? Blitzing towards the sound, the bear cub was gonna tackle whatever it was, possibly devour the little thing as it started mowing down the grass with its massive legs in a full bear sprint charge. However the yipping terrier smoothly dodged the pouncing bear and ran into the feline woman and did not seem very happy about her being there, going so far as to attack the woman as he noticed who it was.

The meek girl pressed a hand to her forehead, "We sure do have quite the party this time around..." she said more to herself than anyone in particular. Mack was trading off items to Tomas, Chewie was...well...gnawing on the cat woman and Anemone was...just standing about feeling more confused than ever on everything. But among the weirdness of the situation added on a new object. A fluffy looking dog came  bounding towards her. The dog began yipping around and circling Anemone's feet. She immediately hunched over and placed her knees on the ground scooping the puppy up with her hands. 

"Toto..." she said as she read the dog collar. Toto yipped and bounced out of her hands once more into the grass and ran off towards the center of the field. It began barking as to alert the individuals, "I think we should follow him. When we are ready that is, we might be in for a very long journey. Good thing I brought snacks with me." She said with a triumphant smile, although she was more or less talking to herself. Did they even hear what she just said? @Tomas

 

[Tomas 0]

"I have a more refined taste in romantic partners, unfulfilled perhaps, but I find that people are like fine wine and much better with age," Tomas replied in a soft, but carrying tone. "Children are, of course, the gift of our Lord," he continued in the same low and even tone, "and those who fail to safeguard such blessings are a blight upon the fabric of humanity. Theirs is not mine to judge, would that it were for they would suffer a most gruesome fate, for Hell would be a holiday for them. Our Lord may be most merciful and forgiving to such monsters," Tomas mused in a tone tinged with the barest hint of malice. "But, I am not."

When the silver rapier, Viper's Strike, appeared in Mack's overly large hands it became apparent to Tomas that the towering ginger man was about to upgrade Tomas' gear. A step in the right direction, an important step on the path towards completing his divinely appointed mission. Perhaps, the Vice Commander would be among the last to have his soul freed from the digital prison. After all, one did not lightly dispose of potential allies. "A question though, Miss Kitty. I do not recall telling you, or anyone else for that matter, that I belong to Holy Rome in an official capacity. How did you know," Tomas asked as he accepted the equipment from Mack and activated it, paying little heed to Anemone and the dog, for the time being.

Edited March 1, 2017 by Tomas

[Miss_Mestophales 0]

"Mroew!!! I did--grr. Nothing!" Mestophales said while she was wrestling with his familiar. The woman showed her claws and her teeth while hissing at the bear at the same time. She used her legs to get under the belly of the familiar and launched herself away from him while he slid several paces back. The woman stood up and dusted her ass off from the broken blades of grass and dirt that had found themselves entwined in her loincloth. Digging her hand in between her thighs to unscrunch her panties, the woman's feline eyes traveled to the walking, talking, automaton and his voice was absolutely more droning than the last time she had heard it.

"Yuck, do you hear yourself when you speak? Anyways, because you just said you were. I only made an assumption, but you went ahead and showed your hand there, Buddy. The way you talk and dress though, you seem like a religious sort. Sorry, can't really say I am one to jump into that boat. Seriously, does he have to come with us?" She asked pointing one of her long sharp nails at him. Sweeping her sandy colored hair off her shoulder, she noticed Anemone had addressed a small playful dog who was no scampering about trying to get their attention. She had been roughed up by that Bear she had hardly noticed anything else. THe white haired girl was trying to get their attention, Mestophales once more hand her arms around the young woman as she pulled her into her arms, "Hey! Anemenomen-- This sexy Bitch is trying to get our attention, we gotta follow the dog!" 

Anemone blushed hard when the paleness of her face had turned to bright candy red apple color. She attempted to shush the cat girl but was unable to do so with her arm around her shoulder. She looked down with a defeated expression and sighed, smiling softly at the ground. Mestophales smiled and beamed, "Alright. Let's get going, before this girl passes out from embarrassment." @Mack

[Mack 0]

Chewie slid back several paces as the cat woman planted her feet against him and shoved him back. Tumbling backwards, tail over head, a few times the grizzly came to a stop and righted himself before popping up onto his hind feet which put his furry face just about level with Anemone's stomach. Growling, the cub repeated the crude gesture with the middle toes of his front feet, taught to him by Ssendom. Thudding back down onto the ground, Chewie charged down Mestophales again and slammed into her right let. Having learned from the first experience this time the cub slammed into the woman's leg and then wrapped all his paws around her limb before sinking his tiny white fangs into her knee cap.

"What on earth did you do to him," the blacksmith asked, quirking an eyebrow at Mestophales. Now that he was done outfitting Tomas the towering man had his storm grey eyes focused on the cat woman. "Chewie doesn't usually display such naked aggression," he continued, declining to comment further about the feline-esque woman's somewhat lewd actions in reaching under her loin cloth.

As he waited for a response from the cat-like woman Mack noticed two things. First, that Tomas was one of the only people that didn't offer some kind of thanks for the instant gear upgrade that he had just received. Second, he noticed that the snow-haired woman among them was holding a small dog and that her lips were moving. Unfortunately, thanks to the ruckus being raised by Chewie and Anemone's quiet nature, the bearded man had no idea what Anemone had said. The axe man took in a big breath and then boomed in his best impression of a Drill Instructor, "QUIET! Holding up both hands the command even succeeded in getting Chewie to stop making noise, though the cub remained steadfastly attached to Mestophales' leg with his teeth buried in her knee, doing no damage to her health bar at all.

"What was that you said, Anemone?"

[Anemone 0]

Anemone perked up when more of the rambunctious cat vs bear shenanigans had started again, Chewie was really after this woman for some reason and he was very aggressive. She gulped slowly as her words never came out in a louder than a whisper tone. Red eyes shifted to the yipping of Toto as the scene played out, Mack still gearing up the player known as Tomas as they exchanged dialogue and Mestophales dealing with the bear familiar. She placed a hand on her forehead, "Yep, it's gonna be one of those days..." As she was shaking her head there was a loud and abrupt yell from the Vice Commander. Her eyes and body frozen from fear to head to toe as she slowly looked at the Vice Commander. He had quieted everyone down, even the gnawing bear had a startled look. 

Anemone was embarrassed as all eyes were now on her, "Oh...this is fun. Now everyone's attention is on me. So as I was saying," she said speaking up to a more distinct and louder tone so everyone could hear, "This Terrier is called Toto and I think he needs help for something or another. It should start us off the quest. If we follow him, it might lead to more clues. I think we should follow him and put some personal grudges aside for the better outcome of this quest. We might need everyone in the process of this quest to be at there best." Anemone had looked both at Tomas and Mestophales since they had been debating and provoking each other for some time now, not to mention Chewie and his dire hate for the cat-girl as well. The woman flicked her hair off her shoulder and started to move towards the yipping noise of Toto, "We're coming boy, sorry to waste some of your time." @Tomas

[Tomas 0]

As he finished equipping the gear that had been donated to him by the enormous blacksmith, Tomas considered the significant upgrade as he casually allowed the silver studded fabric of the heavy cloak he was now wearing to trail loosely through his fingers for a few seconds. The items were of a superior quality, that much was certain, even if the bonuses that they granted were not quite along the lines of what Tomas was planning to do in terms of build. Bowing his head, slightly, in the direction of the ginger haired man the real world monk offered thanks. "Gratias," he murmured in quiet tone. Before he could return his attention to speaking to the cat woman, the Vice Commander had boomed out a demand for everyone to be quiet and then Anemone had explained what was going on. Resting a gloved hand upon the hilt of his new rapier, Tomas gestured for the others to lead the way and then fell into step with them as the group set off on the quest.

[Miss_Mestophales 0]

The bear was being a nuisance! "Get. Off, Meh leg!!" The woman planted a foot on top of the bear's square face when her barefeet came down on his snout and forehead as she attempted to break free of his grip on her. Then a sudden booming voice echoed out from the Vice Commander, and Mestophales was nearly given half a heart attack, the bear on the other hand remained silent and still as drool dribbled down her shin, "Oh gross, come on...just let go..." the woman was given a defeated look, "I don't taste that good now..." finally with enough force, she was able to pop her leg free of the familiar's jaw and scampered towards Anemone. The bear seemed to enjoy her a lot more so if she remained close to the female then...

The party began to move through the woods, Anemone leading and hopefully not engaging in anything insidious as they were going about their business. A question had been raised by the pale woman towards the cat-girl in the midst of traveling and following Toto, their current quest objective. Mestophales shrugged, "I don't know what I did to piss it off! Wait...I might know..." she gave the bear a look of familiarity, that's right. She remembered she had tussled with a bear in a tent on floor four of a shop while she was looking for a weapon. But they couldn't have been the same one? If that was true then that Ginger over there must be...

"Oh [censored]. I think I stole that guy's spear from the shop." She uttered in a low tone towards the girl. The woman looked at Mestophales with a saddened expression, "I know, I know...I'm only loaning it for the moment anyways. I'll give it back when I find something better. I suppose I should say something to the guy..." Mestophales hung back as she slowed her pace to the male marching in the rear, "So, hey...the other day I was in a tent on floor four and I didn't notice anyone inside besides this bear. He kinda gave me the stink eye when I was admiring the weapons on Display...I might have borrowed a Spear without...paying for it?" her eyes and her tone were that of confusion on the male player, "I'll give it back if you want it, but I had no idea you were the owner of that." she said pointing to the bear. @Mack

[Mack 0]

Chewie found himself abruptly popped free of Mestophales again. The mass of brown fur rolled over a few times before coming to a stop. As he popped back to his feet the cat woman was taking shelter behind the giver of delicious meat based offerings. Well, two could play at the game of allies! Scrambling to his master, Chewie scaled the towering axe man until the cub sat perched on Mack's shoulder. Holding on with three paws, the bear leaned out into space and made a crude gesture with the middle toe of his right front paw in the direction of the feline woman. He also showed her his teeth again. That would teach her a thing or two. The bear didn't care one way, or the other, about the theft of the weapon. She had not fed him, that was just... just... WRONG!

A few moments later she had dropped back to walk next to them. Chewie gathered his legs beneath him and waited for the right time to pounce.

"Oh, is that why he's going berserk," Mack asked, cocking an eyebrow in the feline looking woman's direction. The Vice Commander shrugged his broad shoulders and considered the scantily dressed woman with a slightly cocked eyebrow. "I don't care about the weapon or any other gear," he rumbled after a few seconds. "I usually give things away to low-level players anyway to help them get started. But, they usually feed Chewie in return. Did you not feed the bear?" At those words Chewie propelled himself from his master's shoulder and pounced on Mestophales, showing her the middle toes of both front paws as he flew through the air, just like Ssendom had shown him. Slamming into Mestophales, Chewie wrapped both his front paws around her neck and then opened his mouth wide and growled with his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

ID: 79632
MD: 5 (4+1)

[H:1] Mack 1090/1090 106/106
Anemone
Tomas 80/80 8/8
Mestophales

Flying Monkeys 1-4: 200/200 [50 Mit, 3 EVA, 70 DMG]

While all this was going four Flying Monkeys appeared, soaring over the tree tops. Abruptly, the creatures dove on the group of adventurers, heading for Anemone. Drawing Invictus, Mack stepped forward and shoved Anemone roughly to one side to intercept the mobs. Sweeping the axe in the air in front of him, Mack forced the winged monkeys to back off and abort their attack before they could actually strike anyone in the group. "Do not attack them until I have drawn their hate, they'll kill the two low-levels," the Vice Commander barked, taking charge of the situation now that the combat had commenced.

[Anemone 0]

Anemone had been focused on trailing behind the little dog Toto as it yipped and skipped about. When they fell behind slightly, it would shoot back into the clearing to get their attention once more before running around the group and darting back on towards the path. She found that to be super adorable, she had wanted a pet familiar as well, but without any basic damage skills she would probably never actually get one. There were many unfortunate things that came with being a Support Character and that is almost always relying on your team for help. Once more Mestophales and Chewie were back at it, scuffling around on the ground attempting to one up the other. The quiet woman had decided it best not to make any comments about stealing a weapon from Mack's forge, that was quite irresponsible for her and also to not give Chewie his credit as a Watch Bear? 

With a meek voice, yet audible enough for the catgirl to hear Anemone had given her some advice to which might be a good idea to carry out, "Perhaps if you made a truce with Chewie that you'll bring him yummy food next time, he won't be so...aggressive towards you?" it was a thought at the very least to help pave a path of friendship between the two. Anemone continued to walk and noticed Tomas once more. She had been steering clear of that man and his cold eyes, but perhaps she was just over reacting over the entire situation. She slowed her pace to walk beside him, "Are you by chance open to confessions? I have had some...impure thoughts recently and would like to be cleansed of those if you ever have the time. Oh! But if you are not really a priest or anything, I won't bother you on the subject." Just as she was looking up, she had smiled, "Those look like some interesting looking...oh dear." The flock of Flying Monkeys had come crashing down towards them, but Mack had raised his weapon and slashed at them to move away from the group. Anemone took a moment to gather what needed to be done and she nodded at the others, "Ok...Now then, I just need to focus on keeping their HP up, everything should be fine. We have Mack with us." @Tomas

[Tomas 0]

As the group set off Tomas drew the hood of his new cloak up over his head. While the stat bonus that it offered wasn't really in keeping with the build he wanted it would have been foolish to look the gift horse in the mouth, as they might say. As he slipped the hood over his head, Tomas' face slid into the shadows afforded by the hood and he flexed his fingers in the gloves that covered his hands. Reflexively he knew there was no need to break in the leather, but it was a habit from the real world and necessary or not such habits were difficult to break. The small contingent of players walked in silence for several moments until and Tomas was just starting to wonder what sort of a quest they might be on, quietly contemplating the relative ease with which they were, he assumed, accomplishing the objectives of the quest when Anemone dropped back to walk beside him.

"Not a priest," Tomas said, speaking in a low tone that would not carry to the others. "I am a monk in the real world, though I do have an ordination like a priest and so, technically, I can take confession from you... child," Tomas continued in the same low tone as Anemone confessed to having had some impure thoughts. Before the matter could be more deeply delved into, however, the group found themselves under attack from a group of winged monkeys. "Ah, the Wizard of Oz," he murmured to himself, drawing his rapier but declining to engage the mobs for the time being. Tomas was not suicidal, so far as he was concerned he thought it possible that he was the only hope any of the poor trapped souls of Aincrad had to achieve any kind of freedom. "Perhaps this is not the time, or place, for confession," he remarked dryly.

[Miss_Mestophales 0]

Mestophales hissed as the bear came lunging after her again, "How was I supposed to know that!?" the woman placed both of her hands up in Chewie's mouth, both to not get eaten alive by the thing and not to get slobbered all over. It was a gross feeling having all that warm saliva dripping in between her fingers and palms while the mass of muscle and fur would attempt to pin her down again. With both hands still keeping his mouth away from her face, the woman shoved the bear a  and side stepped away to deflect his attack. 

The cat-woman flicked both of her hands out and swept it across her outfit to clean her hands off. She then glared at the bear and stuck her finger at him, "Listen you! A truce! I know a place where they make the best fish plates. You cut me some slack, and I'll feed that bottomless pit of yours until you get sick and tired of food, alright?" She waved her finger, perhaps if she took him out one evening for fish that would at least shut him up for the remainder of this adventure or at this point, whatever the hell was going on. She swore she saw flying monkeys. Her eyes widened; she did see flying monkeys. "What in the world is going on? This place is becoming more random than I am." 

@Mack