[F4 - Event] Dance of the Crossed Paths

[Khrysaor 0]

Khrysaorhad listened to the shock in @Soredell's voice as he described how difficult it would be Hydra to win. He gave a small chuckle and said, "Yea, I would think its a pretty uneven match up, with Hydra having not much of a chance. His only chance to win is if a miracle happens, which in and of itself is quite difficult." Then Khrysaor had a thoughtful expression on his face as a thought ran through his mind. He continued and said, "Unless, if their duel is a first strike-first blood duel, in which whoever gets the first cut on their opponent wins. In that case I guess Hydra has a little better chance, but by not too much, since Mack would still have the greater experience on his side."

After, he was done talking, he looked around to see if any of the players he was talking to earlier were coming. It had been sometime and he could not see them anywhere, and he started thinking, 'I guess @Damien and @Kooh may nt one to come after all.' With that thought Khrysaor shrugged his shoulders and went back to watching Mack and Hydra get ready for their duel.

[Domarus 0]

Aereth began to talk to Domarus after he had greeted Hakai.  He turned to the player and nodded with a grin.  He chuckled at his mention of Keres.
     "Heh heh.  No.  Keres has been informed to not play her little games.  With these guards around I want to avoid a scene at all possible.  While her games are just for fun and tease, some players can go overboard in their reaction.  That's the attention I don't want to draw to ourselves.  So she's behaving herself today."  He took a drink of whiskey and placed it down before turning to Hakai.  The woman hadn't spoken yet and it was possible that Aereth's appearance would hinder her from speaking some more.  He needed to find a way to indicate that Aereth was someone she could trust.  Domarus almost had Aereth ripe for his taking.  He wondered if the fact that Aereth was now a pker would make her like him or wary of him.  There was only one way to find out.  
     "Aereth this is Hakai.  Hakai this is Aereth.  He and I are pretty good friends.  Aereth, Hakai and I met briefly once before."  The two were introduced.  Now all that was left was to see how things unfolded.  Domarus was quite interested in how it would turn out.  Meanwhile Keres saw a new group talking and decided to walk over, not interrupting but appearing to have interest in the conversation.  Essentially she was eavesdropping by being social, a perfect disguise.  It seemed none of these people knew her, and she doubted they would after she switched to her maid's outfit after this dance was over.

Spoiler

@Aereth@Hakai@Soredell@Shield@Beat@Ariel - The Crowned Lion@Zandra

 

Edited February 9, 2017 by Domarus

[Hakai 0]

Hakai looked over at Domarus as he addressed her by name. She didn't recall his name or ever meeting him before, but they must have at one point or another. She gave him a smile. "Well, all events have a payout." She explained, turning to face him and the other man with him to give them her full attention. She was certainly intrigued by the other mans orange cursor, but that in itself wasnt actually anything too special and she didn't fancy hearing yet another typical story about how he had lost control. "Nice to meet you Aereth." She said, keeping her voice even. A friend of Domarus? She thought to herself, his name popping up in her head at the mention of Keres. What an interesting relationship, almost like the one she was working towards with Rin. She smirked before addressing them both. "A brief meeting, but one that I would call productive." She stated, giving Aereth a little smile. 

@Aereth @Domarus

Edited February 9, 2017 by Hakai

[Damien 0]

After the group began to head down to the dueling area of the castle, Damien took the chance to grab a breath for a little bit before following. Whew, what did I do to get myself caught up in this? Oh well, might as well go now. Damien took a final drink of water, grabbed another plastic cup (that was, once again, filled with water) and headed to the dueling area, or rather the Hallway of Might. As he walked down the stairs and headed to this hallway, Damien saw several statues of angels as he walked, some carrying bows and arrows. Damien wondered why the game had no inclusion of bows and arrows, but he figured there was an obvious answer somewhere but he just wasn't catching on to it. Damien finally made it to the dueling area, where he saw a few spectators and @Hydra @Mack preparing to fight. Looking up to @Hydra, Damien gave him some 'words of advice'. "I would tell you good luck, but I know you don't need it. Go get it." Turning over to @Khrysaor and @Soredell, Damien apologized for being so late. "Sorry, I was taking a quick drink before heading down here." Damein held up his water to the two, taking a sip out of it. "Let's go Hydra, you got this." 

[Khrysaor 0]

After, a few minutes of nothing happening, but a staring contest between the two combatants, Khrysaor started to fidget wishing for something to happen already. He started to anxious, even though he was just a mere spectator. After waiting for a while, Khrysaor noticed @Damien coming down from the main hall, and greeted, and cheered for Hydra to go for the win. He waved his hand up in the air to Damien and said, "Yo, didn't think you were going to make it. You know, I think you got the right idea, getting some water, I am pretty thirsty as well. Since, it looks like it might take some more time for the duel to start I think I will get myself a drink, too." Then, Khrysaor turned towards @Soredell and asked, "Did you want anything? I could get you something, when I get myself a drink, if you want?" As he waited for Soredell's answer, he turned towards @Hydra and cheered, "You can do this pal. Beat him and take home the win!"

[Damien 0]

Another reason to leave the slightly crowded area to head back to the food/drink area. Damien was definitely down with that. "Heh, I'll go with yah. Probably gonna have to get more water in a minute or two anyways. " Damien smiled at him with a slight laugh. The player @Khrysaor had asked @Soredell if he wanted a drink from the area, as to know if he should grab something for not only himself but @Soredell as well. These guys seem nice, not just the typical random people you meet in a crowd. These people are genuinly nice people. Damien took another sip from his water, looking up at @Hydra. "Go get em. " Damien looked at @Mack. Of course, he looks like a very strong player, and from what I overheard @Khrysaor saying, he appears to be a front-liner. This will be a difficult battle, but I know Hydra can do it. No matter what type of duel it is. This game won't beat the feared concentrated power of will. 

Edited February 9, 2017 by Damien

[Macradon 0]

 

Somehow, in the midst of the crowded room, he was spotted. He wasn’t even that outstanding in the crowd, he wasn’t the only one being different, but somehow, he was different enough to catch the concentration from another player, a player he did not know. Macradon didn’t really think much of him, just trying to see if he had any hostile intention, Macradon had his sword out already, so any duel would be kindly met. As the man got close while Macradon danced with the Sword of the Ancients, he would let it go of his sturdy grip, letting it fall heavily down into the ballroom floor as the slab of steel would make a big audible clunk as it hit the floor. Macradon would begin to look over at the man who had begun the approach. With a slight nod and a smug smirk, Macradon asked jokingly “Do you want a dance with the fine lady?”. 

@Takeshi

[Anemone 0]

Anemone's eyes flashed when the person came up to her suddenly like that. Did he not notice the Gentlemen beside her? Or perhaps he was more confident than he was willing to risk that all with all that suave. Beyond that though, did she really look pathetic? It was true, she didn't seem to be enjoying herself as much as she wanted. To feel like a Princess but instead she was just standing around with this gorgeous dress on and without a proper date. She looked to Seul and smiled, "I rather not...just stand around all night." She said quietly to the casually dressed male, "But I'll save you a dance later if you ever chose to ask me." She said lightly taking the other man's hand. 

She gave him a curtsey with a smile on her face, that feeling of Princess like flowed through her, she needed confidence more than anything. Although she was a klutz in real life, she had exceptional dancing skills. It was the one thing she could do and perform flawlessly, "My name is Anemone. It is a pleasure to meet you and I would love to dance." She shifted her hand over his, that warm touch it was so enticing and real. He was a handsome individual as well. With her dressing flowing like a flower in the breeze as she walked, she smiled up at the stranger. Wow! Was she taking a huge step, not only did she feel epically nervous, she was leaving behind the guy that had asked her to the event. Growing up much? Perhaps not so much, but she wanted to feel alive during this event and Seul was lacking some decorum in the department of treating her how she wished to be treated. Perhaps it was too much to ask of him, besides, they weren't dating or anything and this. This was just a harmless dance, "After you," she giggled lightly to the dressed individual. @Vargas

[Vargas 0]

Vargas felt like he'd messed up when she looked to the guy beside her telling him she'd save him a dance. They must've come together, Vargas thought. Nevertheless she took his hand, accepting the offer. "My name is Vargas. It's lovely to meet you too."

He guided her out to the dance floor where there was plenty of room to start and join. He gave a slight bow to her since he hadn't wanted to cause an issue in front of the other male. The last thing he needed was to cause a ruckus and get hauled out. He placed his left hand on her waist and clasped her left with his right at about shoulder height. "Sorry if I stepped out of place back there. It didn't look like you were actually together." he apologized with a look of concern as he slowly began spinning her around. His feet followed the rhythm of them music with a basic waltz. Step, together, step, together. As he did he also turned them causing her dress to flow to the side some as they danced into the crowd. "I take it he isn't one for dancing? He didn't seem dressed for it at least." Vargas remarked as he soon add in a slight bend to his knees in between steps, causing their dancing to feel like they were slowly swinging across the floor.

@Anemone

Edited February 9, 2017 by Vargas

[Soredell 0]

Soredell looks over to both @Damien and @Khrysaor, the latter offering him a drink. He briefly considers the offer, before coming to a decision, indicated by him shaking his head. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm fine for now. If I need to I'll get it myself when the fight is finished. He says, turning his attention back to the duel. By the looks of it, the duel between these two was about to commence at any minute.

He turns to @Damien, with a nervous yet fierce look in his eyes, considering that was the only part of his face you can see due to the scarf. "That orange player, @Hydra was it? How did he get orange status? Did he... You know, kill another player?" He asks nervously. His next answer would be the deciding factor in a lot of things for Soredell. He'd heard about orange players, thieves and killers of Sword Art Online. It was ok if they killed someone in defense of themselves or someone else, but cold blooded murder, that was the worst...

Edited February 10, 2017 by Soredell

[Yua 0]

Yua stood there before Hikoru, a fist clenching as she thought about the day that his cursor swapped to orange from green. "I should be the one protecting her from the horrible people in this world not some stranger we just met," she hung her head down still annoyed with the predicament. As she saw him move to the front of her she was no longer looking toward the ballroom floor and instead at his stomach that had replaced her field of vision. She peeked up to see the worry on his face as she now turned, "What the heck do you even care about me and my sister. It's not like you know me either, idiot." A grumble and shift of her body would attempt to hide her embarrassing failure she didn't like talking about how she wasn't able to protect the one person she cared about more than the entire world. Family was everything particularly in this life, when you had so little of it left from the real world. She only imagined that when the woke up their parents would cling to them and never let them go after the long hiatus they took in their lives.

"Well good for you then mister superiority complex!" She shouted toward the man who was just standing around a castle worried that people might not be able to defend themselves."I'm sure you aren't needed look around their are plenty of guards and players who could have kept watch of the rest of us who were enjoying. Besides the fact we weren't allowed to wear armor might as well make this a safe zone. Why would he set up a death trap after shattering our lives anyways."

[Sey 0]

"Of course. I'm just glad that you're happy doing this." he would reply in turn to her with a smile that was raised a bit further from his usual smile. While he was usually calm and collected, his smile at the current moment was a little more enhanced. Nothing to show just regular emotion, but genuine enjoyment. "Are you serious? This is really cool. I think I am getting the hang of this." It was true, he was feeling the movement a little more naturally in the dance. No longer did the lady have to lead the dance, that was far too much to ask of one. So he would attempt to not just match her pace, but to lead alongside with it as well. His steps light as he kept as much grace as he could, trying to guide her along instead of forcing her. "This is actually a lot more fun than I expected it to be. So how did you learn to dance in the first place, if I may ask of that M'lady?" Always so formal, how fitting.

@Hidden

[Row 0]

 

Had the two familiars not appear out of nowhere, Row would be able to take a more active role with interacting with this new girl. Her attention remained split though, taking only small bits of the woman and Dom's conversation. It did not take long for the most important information to bubble up. Her name was Keres. Row did not know why she cared. Pointless bouts like these were bad business. Still, she could not help but not like the girl. Row wanted to sigh, disappointed in herself for being jealous but it would be for not as Dom started to give her the attention she deserve. "Y...Yes!" Row responded to Dom offer. Her face became fluster as well, matching her date's. She quickly finished her drink and grabbed his arm. She allowed him to take her to the dance floor. When Keres turned around, Row stuck out her tongue in an effort to rub her victory in. Turning back to Dom, she returned to her delighted bubbly smiling self. "Dance, Dance, Dance. Have you ever dance before? All I know is that one old American song."

@Dominion
@Domarus
 

[Hydra 0]

"What am I doing?" The thought whirled around Hydra's mind, everything seemed to be moving so quickly. His arm was steady, even the pupils of his eyes had seemed to shrink to the point that they were only concentrating on one thing only, his opponent that stood before him. "No..." 'Stood' wasn't the right word. 'Towered' was far more appropriate. The brunette suddenly heard the sound of the voice coming from the sidelines, it seemed like a small audience of his friends had gathered. "Oh that's right, I was supposed to be watching as well." He pondered to himself as though he were in a distant realm. For a moment he stood in silence, but the sound of Mack's voice quickly turned his attention back to the duel at hand. Hydra gave a silent nod to his opponent, he knew it was next to no chance he could win, but even landing a hit on his opponent would give him some satisfaction.

Slowly he retracted his spear tucking it into his body and moved into a crouched position, his right leg stretching far to the back and his left bent at the knee. It seemed Mack was also ready, however, something seemed off "No weapon?" Hydra couldn't deny that he wasn't surprised. Was Mack taunting him, no, he seemed more honorable as to do something like that even with the significant power difference? Turning back towards his friends he smiled and gave a slight nod, he knew they'd probably be thinking what on earth he was doing, the spearman didn't really know himself. And then taking in one last deep breath Hydra prepared his <charge> stance. If his opponent wouldn't strike first, then he would and what better time to do it when they were vulnerable and out in the open. 

ID# 77019 results:

Loot: 13 @Mack

Edited February 9, 2017 by Hydra

[Yua 0]

Yua then looked up from her place seeing as the entire crowd had split off into it's own smaller units, perhaps this was just they way it was suppose to be. "I apologize, but the last few days haven't really been easy on me or my sister." She sighed now glancing back up toward @Hikoru, "Lets just say life and death in this game have been a constant reminder to the two of us. We need to focus on getting stronger instead of dancing about and forgetting the issues that have put us behind." As she spoke though she searched round rather lost on what happened to Yui only to see that she and her dance partner had made their way over toward the drinks. "Oh dear, this really can't end well." Yua groaned as she hung her head nervous that her sister wasn't going to be capable of holding her liquor at all. This either ended with her passing out and Yua carrying her back to Aereth's shop or she would be twirling about the room having the time of her life. I just hope he stops her after one.

Edited February 9, 2017 by Yua

[Yui 0]

Yui stuttered out a hesitant laugh as she realized it wasn't the best form of joke wasn't as well structured as she would have hoped. "I didn't really think that all the way through now did I woops. Anyway a dance would be magnificent mister Aereth." Usually she was quite bad with names of random people she had met on their journeys but he was a special exception not everyone stalk them into the woods and kill of the crazy people who sought their prize of an orange cursor. Her petite hand gripped his as firmly as she could as she walked out onto the dance floor, humming with the melody they were to dance with. In the real world she had often practiced dancing with her sister. Both of them took lessons to an extent the rest they would normally make up on the fly. A waltz however, that was a dance she hadn't managed to take the time to practice. "I'm going to follow you lead on this one, to be honest this is one of those ones that I never did practice. I know Yua did, but she gets obsessed with whatever we are working on even this game. Let's both grind off that rust together on the dance floor shall we." As she pushed in against him she smiled closing her eyes forgetting that Yua could have seen this entire display. "One, two, three," she now began to sing it softly to both of them as she too was attempting to keep rhythm.

"I can't believe to be honest that Yua's head is popping off her shoulders," As she glanced about toward the end of the song she smiled. "They always end to quickly I suppose she must be having fun with that other guy we met a few days ago. As for the dance it was perfect I always wanted a different partner." She giggled now wandering over with him toward the drinks as she spotted them. She peaked out behind him before waving toward @Hakais and Domarus. "Hello, who are you tow?" A bright and cheerful smile worn over her face as she now reached out to grab an alcoholic beverage.

@Aereth, @Domarus

Edited February 9, 2017 by Yui

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

It seems that her comments more or less had the desired intention, on one of them at least... as Shield seemed to be unfazed. 'Too bad' though the blonde as she felt herself blush a bit as Zandra's lips came in contact with her cheek, despite the obvious height difference. She too, tried to maintain a straight face but the light pinkness on her cheeks gave her away too easily. She tried to distract herself by focusing on @Beat's question: 

"I have to agree with Zandra, its pretty nice to be here and loosen up a bit. Especially since I have the opportunity to display the fruit from my dance lessons." said the blonde with some pride in her tone. She would shift her gaze from one man to another and finally continue, slightly changing th subject.

"I see you two are here unaccompanied, if my date will allow it... how about I steal you for a dance?" she said to the more younger one of the two, while putting on a sweet smile. "I think @Shield won't get overruned by familiars as he'll be in Zandra's company to 'protect' him for a few minutes." she said with a light chuckle, while looking at @Zandra, hoping for some kind of approving words of gesture for her little selfish request. In the same time awaiting for Beat's reply.

[Domarus 0]

Events have payment he thought to himself.  Interesting.  He'd keep that in mind...  And make sure to hit every event in that case.  How that payment would be given Domarus would find out afterwards.  The woman greeted Aereth rather bored like.  She seemed to have little interest in him.  However at the mention that he was Domarus' friend he spotted a hint of curiosity in her eyes.  So it was Domarus she wanted to learn about.  That was fine by him.  The more she looked, and the closer she looked, the more and closer he could observe the other player.  Information was vital to any of Domarus' plans.  When she mentioned their meeting it seemed that she did remember, at least somewhat.  Either way something had sparked.  He was going to speak again when a girl walked up to him and addressed him.  He also noticed that the girl was reaching for an alcoholic drink.  She didn't seem the appropriate age, but Domarus honestly could care less.  If the girl wanted to risk getting drunk that was up to her.  Domarus had a high resistance to it so he had nothing to worry about.  If he recalled, the last time he was drunk was when he was sixteen, and that was after much alcoholic drinks and foods.
     "Aha, my name is Domarus, nice to meet you two.  I think I saw you two talking with Aereth recently am I correct?"  He turned to Hakai, moving in just slightly so he could speak to her without others hearing.  
     "If you wish we can speak later, where players won't be able to interrupt us.  It's all up to you my dear."  With that he returned his attention to the majority.  Meanwhile, Keres noticed that the conversation didn't seem to be getting them anywhere.  She turned around and noticed Row beginning to dance with Dominion and stuck her tongue out to Keres.  Huh, she thought.  Suddenly she was beginning to like this player...  At least a tiny bit.  She winked and gave a thumbs up when @Rowsaw her again.

Spoiler

@Aereth @Hakai @Yui~ Keres and Domarus are on opposite ends of the room:  Domarus with the alcohol and Keres at the dueling station

 

Edited February 9, 2017 by Domarus

[Mack 0]

OOC: Looks like the first attack is yours, @Hydra, I rolled a LD 4 a few posts ago. Also remember that the only item equips we're allowed to have are weapons. No armor, no shields, no nothing else :)

Chewie gulped down the offered food from @Shield, every single bit of it that was offered. Then the purple winged flying lizard chicken thing came back with a tray of fish. A tray of fish that it had taken off the table. Taken off the table that Chewie had been forbidden to climb. The bear pondered this for a moment. On the one paw, he had been forbidden from climbing the food table and the winged flying lizard chicken had brought food from the food table. On the other paw, Chewie had not climbed the table and made a scene to get the food. That meant it wasn't Chewie's fault that the food was on the floor. That meant he could eat it without breaking the rules. The bear leaned out and snatched up one of the fish as a very strange looking creature appeared from behind the back of the used to be a non-food giving betrayer who was now a food giving friend.

What kind of creature was this? It didn't look like chicken. Or beef. Or pork. Or fish. But, it had flappers like a fish. But a beak like a bird. And a shell like a turtle. Clearly, it was a shelled fish bird turtle. Turtles were not good to eat, everybody knew that. It was too much work to get through the shell and, besides that, Chewie saw the way it snapped at food. This shelled fish bird turtle would bite. The grizzly devoured his share of the food table bounty provided by the purple winged flying lizard chicken as Shield wandered off leaving Chewie and the purple winged flying lizard chicken alone with the, clearly, ill-tempered shelled fish bird turtle. Chewie eyed the shelled creature for a moment with chocolate eyes. It couldn't possibly be that quick, he had seen it move, and it was big enough to ride on. Scampering in a circle around @Shield's familiar, where it could get at him with the bitey end, Chewie quickly scaled his way onto the turtle's shell and then plopped down to sit on the snapping turtle's back, far away from the bitey end.

Making an imperial gesture with one paw, the bear thumped on the turtle's shell to mush it out onto the dance floor. If @Itzal's familiar wanted to tag along there was more than enough room on the ill-tempered shelled fish bird turtle's back for it to ride too.

Meanwhile, in the dueling area Mack stood like a sentinel and waited for @Hydra to ready himself. The hulking Vice Commander also didn't fail to notice the growing crowd of onlookers. Many of whom seemed to be on Hydra's side of the equation as fans, of course everyone liked an underdog. One corner of the soldier's mouth quirked up ever so slightly. If that was the case there might be a way to turn this little duel to his advantage. "Hydra, it looks like you've got quite the fan club here, still let's make this interesting... a little bet. If you win, I'll give you fifty tier one crafting materials but, if you lose, then you join the Knights of the Blood Oath. I'll even let you have the first attack as part of the bargain," the ginger giant boomed over the distance that separated them.

[Hydra 0]

"Tschk." Hydra gritted his teeth together at the sound of the proposal. The materials sounded tempting but to lose would mean joining a guild. Hydra had thought about it before, he had very nearly put himself forward, and now to be offered it on a silver platter, it was arguably a win-win situation whichever way this fight went. Yet the spearman still had his own dreams and goals, "The Crescent Moon." He mumbled under his breath before throwing a quick glance towards Damien. "Hmm." Turning back to face Mack he waited for a moment in silence, before a wry smile shadowed his lips, he then spoke. "I can't promise I will join, however, at the very least I will pledge my allegiance to the Knights of The Blood Oath. Whenever you require my service, I will be there." Hydra couldn't say much more than that, perhaps if the restoration of the guild truly did fail, then he would show up. However, things were beginning to move into action now. "Just a little more time..." That was the last thought that crossed Hydra's mind before Mack had the chance to respond he took his moment to strike.

With the power of charge behind his swing, the spearman rushed forward like a stag charging its target. He didn't know how his opponent would react, after all, this was an entirely new situation for Hydra. In any case, he brought his spear up high and leaped into the air. For a few brief seconds, Hydra felt as though his perception of time slowed. He saw his spear move towards his target, but still, it wasn't enough the spear was going to miss. "He reacted in time?!" Hydra thought shocked, "No!" Letting out half a growl half a battle cry, the effect of the concentration skill surrounded Hydra and he brought around his spear sending four hefty strikes deep into Mack's chest. The damage wasn't the greatest, but the more time the brunette could buy. The better the chance he stood.

ID# 77021 results:

 Battle: 5+1 (hit)

<concentration activated>

<R2 charge activated>

SA: Dragonfly Cutter Stun (4x2) = 14 ((1 base + 5 rank + 6 weapon +2 charge)) x 8 = 112 DMG to Mack

_____

Hydra: 715/715 | 59/70 Energy | 12 Damage

(1 Piece of equipment: Water Serpent's Fang T2 +6 DMG)

@Mack: 908/1020 (-112 Health) + Stun