[PP-NK-F17] On the Trail We Blaze

[Kooh 0]

Kooh gave the brunette half a smirk and a nod and his proposal. "Sounds good." She said alongside a sigh. Despite her normal casual demeanor, a fresh wave of exhaustion was beginning to wash over her. The blonde could only imagine that the other two players were just as tired as she was, but then again she was the one that hadn't experienced this kind of lifestyle until now. The girl mentally shrugged it off, laying herself down on her back and folding her arms behind her head while she stared up at the hut's ceiling. "Well, I dunno about you guys, but I could easily sleep for like twelve hours right now, soo." Kooh left her sentence unfinished as she turned on her side, the back of her white dress facing the other two players.

Leyna let out a tiny chuckle at the blonde's comment, raising an eyebrow at the girl's back before giving a small shake of her head. The woman ran a hand through her short black hair as silence watched over them for a few moments. As emotionally drained as she was, the huntress couldn't will herself to sleep just yet. She pulled her knees close to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs while she looked to be thinking about something. Within minutes, Kooh seemed to already be asleep, her frame rising and falling as her breathing steadied. Leyna glanced over to the brunette, curious as to whether or not he would retire as quickly. If not, the woman would shift her gaze back to the sleeping blonde with a small, sly smile on her face. "You two are...friends?" She questioned in a hushed voice. She put emphasis on the word, prodding the man with her suggestive and curious tone.

Edited July 19, 2017 by Kooh

[Aereth 1]

Aereth chuckled at the reaction of his blonde comrade. He also was tired as f*ck, but his mind was still a little bit in unrest from today's events. He had killed once again. But that alone wasn't the problem. He still felt nothing while killing yet another person. No joy, no sadness, nothing. Sure, he had been pissed at the man for what he was doing, but the moment where he removed the last pixels of Kreeyin's health bar he felt nothing. How crazy was he really? Was he already broken beyond repair? 

Looking over to the now sleeping Kooh, he shook his head and smiled. No. He had done the right thing. Kooh AND Leyna would never had been able to live in peace again. Of the four players that knew about Kooh, two were dead, and the other two were on their way to start a new life. 

The hushed voice of Leyna brought him back to reality, and caused another small but quiet chuckle to emerge from Aereth's mouth. "Does it look that way?" he gave back in an also hushed voice, before quietly getting up to his feet and walking over to Kooh. Gently picking up the sleeping blonde bridal style, he carried her over to a couch, and just as gently as he picked her up, set her down on it.

After that he turned around to face Leyna and gestured to the next room with an asking expression on his face. He wasn't about to sleep for quite some more time, and if Leyna would like to talk some more, they could do so in another room, not to wake up Kooh. If not she could always tell him that she was tired. They were in her house after all...

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Kooh was either a heavy sleeper, or the exhaustion that set in from recent events had a firm grasp on her. Either way, the girl didn't stir when Aereth moved her. Leyna gave the man a small nod when he seemed to be asking her if she wanted to speak elsewhere.

Although the 'house' didn't provide as much space or privacy as most other basic player homes, Leyna and Aereth were able to put some space between themselves and the sleeping girl to speak normally. The huntress sat with her legs crossed again, lacing her fingers together while her chin rested on the bridge they created. "It looks like you are very...protective." She continued, taking a moment to choose the word carefully. "Maybe I am just mistaken." She said with a sly smile, glancing over to where Kooh would be resting. Although she wasn't straightforward about it, Leyna was attempting to tease the man about his relationship with the blonde girl.

She let out a small sigh, closing her eyes. "Perhaps I am silly for thinking about love when the world around us is so quick to destroy it." A small, melancholic smile rested on her features before her eyes opened again. She tilted her head to rest her cheek against the back of her hands. "So what will you do now?" She questioned the brunette.

[Aereth 1]

Aereth chuckled lightly at Leyna. "What if I told you that I met that girl just some days ago? Remember when I told you that I also lost the woman I loved a long time ago? Back then I was too weak to do anything against it. I was just there and had to watch her getting killed. And when I saw her getting harassed by those two idiots, it just felt the same all over again. Only that this time I had the strength to kick their faces in." A bitter smile came to his face as he explained his past to Leyna. "Back then I swore to never let that happen to anyone again if I'm able to prevent it somehow." he paused for a few moments, before continuing. "Do I care about her? For sure. But can heartless monsters even feel anymore? And if you don't know what I'm meaning with that, just make your way down to the Monument of Life and look for my name. Then you'll understand. And if not, just know that Tallas and Kreeyin were not the last a**holes that I will take care of." 

After that Leyna asked what he was going to do from now on. He sighed once more. "That's a good question. After resting, we'll probably just start heading down the floors again. Blondie over there received a temporary orange cursor for burying her fist into Jay's face, so until she gets her green back I'll stick with her to help her down to her home floor. And hopefully until we reach that floor her cursor should be back to green."

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Leyna took on a troubled look for a fleeting moment before she responded. "Heartless monster?" She questioned despite his explanation of the name. The woman closed her eyes as a breath of air left through her nose. "This world is...strange. Some people just try to wait and survive, and some try to make the best of it." While she didn't make it clear, Leyna referred to herself and Valeria's outlook. "Some have taken the road of evil, and some..." she opened her eyes to look back at Aereth, "bring justice in this world without laws. I am sure there are police officers that have taken a life when there is no other option. But I do not think they are heartless." Her lips curled up into a small, wry smile. "Maybe it is not a very good comparison," She admitted. "but there is nobody to protect the people here but ourselves. It is only a shame that some would take advantage of this world as if there is no consequence..." Her expression saddened slightly as her head rolled to one side, her cheek resting against the back of her hands. While it was only her stubbornness keeping her from actually liking the man, Leyna didn't think she wanted Aereth to condemn himself.

"There must be others with the same thoughts as you," she smiled again, this time in more of a playful manner. Her back straightened up while she spoke with an exaggerated tone, "'To protect the innocent and punish the evil,'" Though she meant more to lift the man's spirits than to mock him, she gave a teasing smirk. "Do not give yourself so much credit as being a 'heartless monster'."

When Aereth explained his tentative plan, Leyna's smile lost its playful hint. She stood up from her seat, placing her hands on her hips while she let out a small sigh. "Well, you should get all the rest you can, then. There isn't much furniture, but," The woman pulled up her menus and navigated to her inventory. She selected an item that caused a couple of folded blankets to materialize on the tabletop between them. "I have some extra blankets." Leyna glanced back to the other room where Kooh slept. There wasn't much more to the tiny home than what Aereth had already seen. "Sleep wherever you like, I suppose." She gave a shrug, realizing that she had never had to take in any guests after setting up her small forest house.

[Aereth 1]

The brunette listened closely to everything Leyna said, and he could understand her reasoning. It was the same reasoning which he used at the end of the day to
justify his doing, but still something didn’t feel right about it. He felt no guilt, no regret when he took lives. On the other hand, he also didn’t feel joy or any kind of satisfaction. There was simply nothing. As if he was a machine. He shook his head. “Yeah, maybe you are right…” he didn’t want to think any more of it, since it only resulted in sleepless nights if he spent too much time about thinking who he was and what he was doing in this world. “So, thank you for your words. And I really hope that you can live in peace from now on.” He said as he took one of the spare blankets and sat down on the floor, with his back resting against a wall of the small house. “Thanks, that wall spot seems appealing to me.” He said with a chuckle, before he closed his eyes to slowly drift into a, more or less, peaceful sleep. It has been a long day after all…

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Kooh hadn't stirred when Leyna slipped a crystal into her curled hand. It wasn't until hours later, when the sun had risen and hung over the island floor, that the blonde shifted and the item slipped away. When the object fell to the ground, it began to emit a soft glow and sound poured out from it. Leyna's voice had been stored inside of the recording crystal, and the sound beside her caused Kooh's brow to furrow. She let out a tiny grumble as her sleep was disturbed, almost wanting to ignore the voice.

"Good morning you two. I don't know what you plan to do, but you may rest if you'd like. I do not have extra food, so if you stay around you will want to collect materials from the forest." The woman's voice sounded strangely unsure as it came from the crystal, as if she was giving instructions that she wasn't sure would be followed or not. The sound of Leyna clearing her throat came next, as if solidifying the awkwardness that she had obviously felt. "I will be gone until sundown. You both have permission to enter, but if you are gone and do not come back at night... then I wish you good luck." She seemed to struggle for the right words to say, but after that the crystal's light faded and the item lay inactive on the ground.

Kooh squinted slightly, a fogginess still hanging over her mind. She had only caught pieces from Leyna's message, regarding it as more of a distraction than anything else. Rubbing at her eye with the back of her hand, Kooh let out a yawn while she finally came to her senses. 'Hm? Wait, when did--' Her thoughts were cut short as she realized the piece of furniture beneath her that had served as a bed. Propping herself up on her elbows, the blonde was still a bit disoriented as her head turned to recall the hut that they had used as shelter the night before.

[Aereth 1]

Aereth also didn't notice how Leyna left the building, but the sound of her voice out of the crystal managed to finally wake him up. It took some moments to for his brain to start working properly, but as soon as it got going, he started to focus on the voice message from the crystal. It sounded suspicious to him. Somehow forced. He frowned, and looked over to Kooh. "Hey there. Good morning sunshine. Could you replay that m..." it was then when he finally noticed a very important detail. "Your cursor. It's back to green." he said in a happy tone. To be honest, he was expecting that the cursor would go away in the next couple of days, but he hadn't thought that it would go away after just two days. He was happy that Kooh now was able to travel safely again. But on the other hand he was also somehow sad. Even though they went through so much trouble in that short time, he quite enjoyed the company of the sassy blonde.

Shaking his head, Aereth sorted out his thoughts again, and finished wording his last request. "Could you replay that message for me? Somehow that didn't sound right in my ears..."

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

A familiar voice pulled at Kooh's attention, and she quickly realized that she wasn't alone in the small room. She spotted Aereth, relaxing a bit as the memories came back to her. His next words trailed off, and she could feel his eyes move past her when he mentioned the cursor floating above her head. "Huh?" She breathed out, expression blank as her mind worked to process the meaning of his words. She almost looked up above her before realizing that she wouldn't be able to see the marker without a mirror of some sort. Besides, she didn't need to see her cursor to believe that Aereth was telling the truth. While the haze continued to clear from her mind, a mixture of emotions swirled around, leaving a heavy lump in her stomach. Trying to ignore the feeling, Kooh rolled to her side, still propping herself up on her arm. The blonde took on a small smirk, focusing instead on his next question. "Sure, knock yourself out." She leaned over to retrieve the crystal from the floor. The item activated, and she tossed it over to Aereth. Leyna's voice played back again, identical to the first recording.

"So what's up?" She asked casually, curious as to why the man wanted to hear the message again. "Your danger senses tingling, or did you just want to hear her voice again?" She teased slyly.

[Aereth 1]

Aereth rolled his eyes at the comment but he really couldn't shake off the feeling as if something was off. Her voice sounded... Awkward... "Very funny, Miss ISleepOnTheFloorJustSoTheGoodLookingGuyCanPickMeUpAndPlaceMeOnTheCouch." Aereth countered with a smirk on his own, waiting for her reaction. "But jokes aside. Something in that message sounded awkward, and to be honest, yes my danger sense are tingling. I hope nothing happened to her." Maybe she got blackmailed by some of her ex guild mates? Aereth shook his head and started to form a plan. "Doesn't matter. For now I will bring you back to the safe zone so that you can go home. I will go and see if that girl is OK... I don't want to pull you even deeper into trouble that you've been already. You are free of me for now, my little Sunshine." Aereth said before getting up and reading his battle gear, and checking his weaponry.

"You ready as well?"

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Kooh blinked in surprise at the brunette's quick-worded quip. The gears of her mind were clearly turning as she made sense of how she'd ended up waking on a couch that she didn't remember falling asleep on. The girl averted her gaze with a small scowl as one thing that was nearly impossible to mask--the red hue of a blush--tinted her cheeks. The blonde sat herself up, folding her legs beneath her and placing her chin in her hands as she listened to Aereth continue on with his explanation. She still avoiding looking at him, but her expression quickly returned to normal before she felt another knot forming in her stomach.

'Home', he said. She didn't really have one of those. Maybe she pretended to for a little while when Sey first tried to take her in, but after she had gotten the impression that she was a side project for him. A good-for-nothing from the streets that the white-haired warrior could mold to satisfy his need to 'help others help themselves', or whatever fueled his strange behavior. The thought of going back to Halcyon's Keep nearly made her stomach turn.

But if not Taft, where would she go? There were so few people she encountered more than once, and fewer still that she would care to contact. Itzal was like a more naive, less expectant version of Sey. She hadn't heard anything from or about Adhae or Verus in months. Cygnus was one she felt glad to finally have stopped running into. The passage of time suddenly felt very real, and Kooh couldn't help but feel conflicted. "Mm, yeah." Kooh responded in reflex when she caught the prompting tone in Aereth's voice.

[Aereth 1]

The brunette was satisfied with the slight tint of a blush that formed on Kooh's cheeks as he countered her statement. Unfortunately, her expression turned to a quite uncomfortable one in a matter of moments. Aereth knew from looking at the blonde that she was conflicted for some reason. He just couldn't get behind the reason for it. As perceptive he was at some times, he still was pretty bad in reading females. But thankfully he also was very direct and asked straight away. "Anything troubling you? You should be happier about finally being able to get back home to your own bed."

With that, he had finished his preparations and headed for the door. "I don't know why, but somehow I feel like I need to see if that girl is ok. Her message just sounded so forced. So awkward." he thought and waited for Kooh to exit the house.

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

"Hm?" Kooh hummed lightly after Aereth's question. 'Man, was I being that obvious?' She thought, surprised at herself. Perhaps after their extended time together, the blonde had begun to let her guard down around him. Before she became absorbed in the question of whether or not that was a bad thing, the girl put on a small grin. "Right?" She said in agreement. "And you should be happy to finally be getting me out of your hair." She joked with a convincing chuckle.

'C'mon Luna, it's not the end of the world.' She told herself, pulling her body off of the couch and stretching her arms over her head. A yawn escaped the girl, and she walked over to join the brunette in the start of his next quest. "Yeah yeah, time to go find another girl to save and flirt with." She continued teasing the man despite his earlier retaliation. She left the hut and folded her arms behind her head as she took slow, casual strides before turning at her waist towards Aereth. "So, huge forest, non-descriptive recording, what's your plan exactly?"

[Aereth 1]

Even though Aereth sometimes was pretty blunt, it didn't go unnoticed by the brunette that Kooh was avoiding to answer. But up until now, he knew when to dig deeper for an answer and when to stay silent about it and drop the matter. "To be honest, I could use some days of relaxing. The whole journey had more than enough excitement and tension. But I'm happy that you can go back now and live your life again without the threat of being killed everywhere you walk." Aereth replied with a smile. He had killed he had stolen and he slipped a tiny bit further ahead towards losing his sanity, but he would do it all over again. 

Slowly his left eyebrow started to rise once more, as the woman mentioned that he was about to find another girl to save and flirt with. "Hey, I'm just doing what I'm good at." he countered and gave her a slight slap on her butt as she walked past him out of the hut. He was eager to see if he would receive a fist to the face, a nice blush or maybe even both.

"My plan? Searching around the hut until I find her." It wasn't the fastest course of action, but still, the best he could come up with in that short amount of time.

@Kooh

 

[Kooh 0]

"Hah, yeah." Kooh replied in casual agreement when Aereth had mentioned she wouldn't have to worry about getting killed. 'Isn't that something that everyone has to worry about all the time anyway?' She kept the thought to herself. Her reflection was short-lived when she felt a slight force on her rear as she had cleared the doorway, causing the girl to give a start and spin around to face the impish brunette. Her cheeks were tinted a faint pink while a flustered look rested on her expression. The blonde was about to raise a hand against the man when she stopped herself halfway, closing her eyes and furrowing her brow in irritation as she lowered her arm.

"If you're not careful, you'll have to deal with me all over again." She spun around to continue forward a few steps as she spoke, referring to the thought that her cursor would turn orange again if she were to strike him. The fact that Leyna had given the man a slap of her own the day before without penalty hadn't occurred to her, but she wasn't dwelling on the topic for long. She let out a tiny sigh, calming herself down while she crossed her arms over her chest. "Besides, a woman's jealousy is a dangerous thing." She turned slightly to face Aereth with a small smirk as she waited for the man to lead the way.

[Aereth 1]

Aereth closed his eyes and waited for the impact, as he saw how the blonde started to raise her hand against him. But nothing happened. Opening his eyes again, he saw the faint blush and the raised arm. What followed then were some moments of silence until Kooh lowered her arm again and told him to be careful. With a chuckle, the brunette replied. "Ok ok. I would much rather prefer if you just visit me or write a message. I'm in no need of another adventure like that in the next time." And after her next comment, he just walked past her again and activated his searching skill, to see if Leyna was anywhere around them, but not before cracking a smile and replying. "So that means you would be jealous if I did that to any other girl?" He quite enjoyed messing around with the blonde lately. Hell, this was the only form of entertainment he had on this whole trip....

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Kooh nearly growled at the man. He was sure keen on testing her patience, but for whatever reason she felt obligated to excuse his teasing. Perhaps she enjoyed the banter. She certainly couldn't remember the last time someone was so willing to poke fun at her without the fear of consequence. The blonde simply let out a small sigh as she folded her arms over her chest. "Even if I said yes, I can't imagine it would stop you." She shot back with an indifferent tone. Jealousy was an odd emotion, and she couldn't remember the last time she had felt it burning away at her heart. In fact, her heart was a tricky one itself--her head was typically too busy dictating her actions that it hardly had the time to get a word in edgewise. She liked it that way sometimes. Complicated emotions were distracting and, often times in her experience, not worth the trouble they caused.

While Kooh and Aereth were giving each other a hard time, Leyna had traveled out to the forests' edge. She was crouched in a tall tree, surveying the open areas in front of her with a careful eye, as if she was waiting for something. The woman had left her hut earlier than usual this morning, partly due to the oddity of having house guests, and partly because she was trying to hunt a rather elusive monster. From what little information she had gathered, the huntress had determined that a single black panther stalked the forest at night and again in the early morning. The wildcat was a rare spawn, so it was likely that it dropped some good materials, and maybe even an item. Not having caught sight of the creature yet, Leyna carefully moved between the trees to give herself a good vantage point.

Leyna's base stealth rating: 12

[Aereth 1]

"Hey, to my defence: In case that I'm really doing it, I'm not doing it on purpose, you know?" Aereth gave back with a smirk. "And in case you somehow forgot: That girl isn't into guys. She much rather likes girls... Makes me wonder if you'd be her type..." Aereth rambled while he did his best to find any traces of the huntress with the fiery temperament. 

They walked side by side for a couple of minutes in complete silence, before Aereth decided to break it. "Sooooo. What is my little princess doing after she finally got her clean cursor back. I already have some ideas, but you can never be sure..." Aereth wanted to tease the blonde a little bit more with the start of the sentence, but quickly dropped the teasing tone, as he really wanted to know what Kooh would be doing as soon as she would get back to her home.

@Kooh

ID# 88183 results:
Loot: 3+5

[Kooh 0]

"Ohoho, don't tempt me, now~" Kooh tried her best to keep up with the man's nonchalance and teasing attitude. "She is pretty cute." The pair continued their trek through the forest, and Aereth's next jab at conversation caused her to mentally falter. What was she going to do now? She had been so fixated on this crazy 'adventure' that she had fallen into that it was a bit hard to believe she had any other life to go back to. What was it she wanted from this world? She had managed to live as she pleased thus far, and there was very little that opposed her simple, fleeting wishes. Her gaze had dropped, watching the forest floor in front of her feet as they walked, letting the question hang in the air for a few moments before she would answer.

"Hmm, who knows." She started vaguely, picking her chin up and wearing a casual expression. "Maybe I'll move out. Explore the world, make it mine, yadda yadda. Or maybe I'll go find my favorite spots to nap and live as a degenerate while I contribute nothing to this place. Maybe I'll go back to f*cking with people's feelings for a good laugh." She was rambling, unsure herself how much truth there was to any of her words.

Before the pair had time to dwell on the topic of conversation, a familiar, but hesitant voice called out to them. "Hey, didn't think I would run into you two out here..." Leyna's athletic frame dropped down from the trees off to the side of the players. She didn't look to them for long before averting her gaze, bringing up a hand to the nape of her neck. "I guess you two are heading off then, yes?"

[Aereth 1]

Wow. He didn't expect that. "I would never do that." he said with a smirk, as Kooh told him how she thought that Leyna was pretty cute. "Pictures. Get. Out. Of. My. HEAD." he mentally screamed at the same time.

"Oh really?" he asked in surprise as she said she would move out to make the world hers. But she was quickly to correct herself. Aereth chuckled. "That sounds more like you. But just take care not to overdo it again, I won't be there every time you need a bodyguard." 

Suddenly they got interrupted by Leyna's body dropping to the ground from a tree. "Finally found you." Aereth said with a sigh. "I was just fearing that something happend to you, since that message sounded a little bit... forced?" Aereth replied with a smile. "But yeah, we're heading off. Going back to our normal business. Thank you for letting us stay at your place."

@Teion