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

[Kooh 0]

When Aereth's equipment materialized and the sheathe of his sword appeared behind him, Leyna's dagger raised up in between them once again. She still couldn't be sure of his intentions, and depending on how desperate the man was, she had no idea of how strong he was. For all she knew, that blade on his back could turn her into pixels with a single slice. Her expression shifted with almost every new piece of information he gave her, and she seemed to have a habit of muttering her thoughts aloud under her breath. "They brought Avi along?" She had an almost pained expression when she mumbled the name. When he tried convincing her to help him in some way, she looked troubled, but deep in thought while the gears of her mind continued working.

It was the last thing he said. An in-game item. The woman's shoulders raised a few centimeters as her lungs filled with air, a look of outrage on her face. "Vai tomar no cu--" She growled under her breath before stopping herself. She glared daggers at the man for a few good moments until she finally broke her gaze and went back to pacing across the small room. And once again, she went back to mumbling to herself. "If it's Kreeyin, Jay, and Avi... and you're someone who could beat Tallas... You said what, that you think you can talk him into turning against them?" She looked over and spoke up with her last sentence, referring to him with skepticism as a scoff escaped her. Without waiting for a reply, she went back to pacing. "No, if Avi just stays out of it, and there's only two to worry about... No..." She stopped moving and was silent for a bit before she let out a sigh. "I'm sorry." She faced him again, another pained look on her face. "I know you want to take them down, but... I can't help you do it."

Kreeyin's fist flew through the air, delivering a controlled strike to Jay's abdomen. The boy had the wind knocked out of him, not expecting the blow himself. Kooh blinked in surprise as she felt her back bump against the cave wall, the impact nudging her slightly backwards. 'Ah.' The familiar sound of an item shattering reached her ears, and the cardigan that she had gripped so tightly turned to pixels through her fingers. The girl held her breath, realizing in a fraction of a second that now was when she needed to move. Before Kreeyin had the time to move Jay out from in between them, Kooh raised her right leg, planting her boot firmly in the middle of the boy's back. She pushed up against the cave wall, putting out all the force she could muster as she shoved the player forward, causing him to collide roughly with his leader.

A stumble was all she needed. Kooh bolted towards the cave entrance as quickly as her avatar would move. Kreeyin was caught off balance as the weight of the stunned boy was thrust upon him, quickly grabbing Jay by the shoulders and shoving him aside. As if his expression wasn't already permanently sour, a particularly annoyed scowl was set across his sharp features. The man moved quickly to try and cut her off, running towards the mouth of the cave and pulling back his arm, swinging recklessly at the girl the moment he was within range. If Kooh had been just a little bit faster, she might have been able to avoid his attack. Instead, his knuckles connected with the small of her back, the spikes protruding from his gauntlets sinking into her avatar. Even if the girl hadn't faltered from the shock, the blow was strong enough to knock her forward. Kooh just barely managed to pull her arms up to brace herself, but still collided with the ground at her side, the momentum causing her body to briefly roll along the island floor before coming to a stop.

'Ugh...' To say Kooh felt disoriented was an understatement, but the sound of heavy boots against the ground growing closer caused the panic to set in. The girl blinked a few times, spotting Kreeyin closing in from behind her. She grit her teeth, clenching her fist and hurling a handful of dirt and sand towards the man's face before pushing herself to her feet. Buying herself a couple of precious seconds, Kooh's heart pounded in her chest, running as fast and as far away as her legs would carry her.

[Aereth 1]

"Yes and that boy doesn't agree with what his guild mates are doing. So there might be a chance in talking him to stay out of the trouble. He doesn't deserve to die." Aereth replied, and noticed how furious the woman reacted once he mentioned that this pendant just was some kind of in game item. Aereth still kept his cool, and tried to listen to everything the woman gave out, nodding when she mentioned how he was strong enough to take care of Tallas and giving a short. "At least I think I can. Like I said, he's a good boy on the wrong path." to answer the question if he really thought that he could talk some sense into that boy. 

When she still refused to help him, or even just to borrow him the pendant, a frown worked itself over Aereth's face. He didn't want to let it come to this, but if there really was nothing he could say to convince the female to help him, he would have to proceed with his other plan. "If this is really your last answer, then I'm very sorry for what I'm about to do now." he said, pushing himself away from the wall he was leaning against. Flames white flames ignited on his armor and the distance between the two of them was closed in the blink of an eye, with Aereth's fist buried deep inside the stomach of Leyna. Even if nobody would believe him, the attack did hurt him even more than her. How deep had he sunken... He was attacking an innocent player with all of his might just for a chance to rescue his comrade. It hurt. It hurt so much he was barely able to focus on what he was doing, but he needed to proceed.

He pushed forward and slammed the woman into a nearby wall, before speaking up once more. "I told you that I need this pendant. And I will get it one way or the other... I will give it back as soon as I'm done with those idiots." he said and waited for the woman to take defensive stance. After that he lowered his center of gravity and placed his body into the bastardized Muay Tai stance a fellow material artist had shown him. 

Both of them charged at each other, with Aereth in an aggressive offense and Leyna trying to dodge or bock each punch or kick Aereth was throwing at her. The female even started to get in furious counter attacks when she noticed an opening in Aereth's offense, as well as throwing occasional insults, in what Aereth thought was Spanish or something similar, at his head.

Unfortunately for her, the difference in skill and level was too big, and she quickly found herself first in the yellow, then in the red zone, while she only managed to chip away at Aereth's health enough to also put him back into the red zone. 

It was then when Aereth noticed a slight opening in her offense. No not an opening. But something his second weapon skill could easily penetrate. With his material arts skill he wouldn't get though her guard this time but... The sound of unsheathing a blade was heard and Aereth quickly activated a stun sword art. The short blade found an easy way through the defense Leyna had put up, and connected swiftly with her body. 

Using the short moment where Leyna would be stunned, Aereth fetched a rope he always carried on one of his battle ready slots, before grabbing the woman by her left hand with his other free hand, and pushed her hard to the ground, where he restricted her movements with the help of his knee.

There they were. Aereth was still holding an iron grip at the left arm of Leyna while his knee was buried into her spine. Quickly beginning to tie up her hands, Aereth let out a small "This is over..." At this point the pain inside of him was almost impossible to bear anymore, he still continued. 

When he then was finished with tying up the woman, he picked her up and sat her down on a chair, where he continued to tie her up until she was completely unable to move anymore. "You can't even imagine how much it pained me to do this, but some things need to be done. I need to rescue her, I just cannot fail." he said and slowly started to remove the pendant from her neck. Noticing how the woman got angrier and angrier with every second while he removed her pendant, he looked at her one more time with a pained and sorry expression. After storing away the item, Aereth's hand went under his armor where he slowly pulled an out an item as well. It was nothing as fancy as that emerald pendant. It was a pendant as well, but something very different. It was a necklace with two silver ballet shoes on it. "I know you won't forgive me for what I just did to you, but I beg you to put your trust in me." With that he put the necklace with the two ballet shoes around her neck and explained. "For taking something important from you, I will give you something important from me." Aereth sighed deeply. "You know, this is the last piece that reminds me of the woman I loved more than everything else in the world, but lost inside of this hell. See this as your insurance that I'll come back and bring your pendant back to you in once piece.." He locked eyes one more time with the woman, the pained expression of guilt and shame still visible in his facial features. "I promise you to bring it back..." With that he left the house and closed the door again, so that nobody else could enter. Thankfully she wouldn't be able to change the security settings of her house while being tied to a chair, so he could just enter again when he would bring the pendant back... 

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Despite Leyna's pride in her speed, even she couldn't react to Aereth's movements. The wind was suddenly knocked out of her as his fist collided with her abdomen. Her spine slammed against the wall, and the woman grit her teeth while the brunette spoke. Their battle was heated and desperate, both players fighting to protect something precious to them. As the fight dragged on, however, the difference in their level and stats became incredibly clear. Leyna was barely ever able to go on the offensive, and her defense had enough holes to allow Aereth to chip away at her health bar.

The tingling sensation almost felt as though it was spreading through her entire body. Why couldn't she move? Why was it so hard to tilt her chin down look at the blade that Aereth quickly removed from her torso? He grabbed her. She felt her body being forced to the ground, her jaw clenching while she fell even further into her rage. When Aereth's hands moved to undo the clasp at the nape of her neck, and when she felt the familiar weight of the gemstone disappear, the tears began to form at the corners of Leyna's eyes. "Give her back!!" She screamed. The woman struggled the moment her limbs listened to her again, only to find that her restraints kept her firmly in place. She only barely listened to the words coming from the brunette now, feelings of despair threatening to wash over her. "Não posso perder ela..." The words left her lips in a whisper. She flinched when she felt another item take its place around her neck, as if she was caught unaware by Aereth's continued movements. She clenched her jaw tightly after his sentiment and vow had been spoken, pain and lingering rage equally visible in her own expression. She didn't say another word, simply letting her head hang with the weight of her emotions once the door had closed behind him.

[Aereth 1]

His heart would have broken the moment when the woman started to cry, but unfortunately it had already scattered may days ago. He didn't even turn around anymore before he left the house and closed the door. He was feeling like a piece of sh*t. He tricked an innocent player into letting him into her house, attacked her mercilessly and robbed her of the most precious thing she owned. And telling her and himself that he would bring that item back as soon as he would be done with killing those assholes, didn't do anything to calm him down. He was furious. Furious on that idiot that ordered him to kill Leyna. Furious at himself that he didn't take enough care when exiting the inn. Furious at what he had to do to Leyna. Somebody would have to pay at the end of that day, it just wasn't decided yet who....

Reaching the hiding spot of Avi, Aereth simply opened his menu, showed the item to the player and shot an angry look, filled with rage and disappointment at the boy, before typing a small message to Kooh that he was done with getting hold of the desired item. "And... What do you say? Are you willing to put your trust into me, so that I can get you and your brother out of that mess, or are you just going to continue to watch how innocent players meet their end in here?" he asked the boy, referring to a killed Leyna. He didn't have to know that she survived. "She didn't deserve to die... Her blood is on your and your guildmates hands as much as it is on my own..." Now he was just plainly manipulating the boy as hard as he could. Lies and deception were tools Aereth choose to use many many days ago. And if they got him what he needed...

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

When Aereth's footsteps were audible and growing closer, Avi gave a small start as he was roused from his thoughts. He turned to face the brunette, still holding his two-handed spear close to his chest. The boy flinched when his eyes met Aereth's, taking in his deathly expression. Shifting his gaze when he held up the emerald pendant, the boy's blue eyes went wide while he stared at the item. Of course, should he really be so surprised? The man was told to kill Leyna in order to save his friend, so there weren't exactly many alternatives. Knowing the Brazilian woman, she must have put up quite a fight to defend that item...

Shaking his head before he lost track of himself, Avi hesitantly held out a hand towards the item, nervously looking over to Aereth as he did so. "M-may I?" He asked. If the brunette would allow him, Avi would pull up the item's stat box and inspect it for a moment. His face would go a shade paler as he spotted the name of the player who had crafted the item, his head forcing a small nod as he would quickly give it back to Aereth. He didn't say a word, but he would have confirmed that the item was the real deal. The blonde swallowed hard when Aereth asked him for his decision, taking a seat back on the island floor. His weapon lay across his lap while he waited for a message to appear in front of him that would guide them through the rest of the plan.

"I get it if you pity me, but uhh... You would really help Jay, too? He was mean to your uhh...friend." His nervous speech pattern quickly surfaced. The boy's gaze had drifted down to his hands as they rested over the handle of his weapon. "I uhh...don't know if I can trust you. N-no offense." He added on the last bit quickly. "I don't think you're a bad person. Your friend is probably good, too... My bro uhh, I think he deserved that punch." He said in reference to their first meeting with Kooh. If Aereth was asking Avi to trust him, wasn't it only right to tell him everything? Maybe if he knew about what happened to them, he could forgive them, most importantly forgive Jay. Heaving a small sigh at the absence of a reply from one of his guildmates, he continued to speak. "The truth is... That guild 'saved' us." The word left him with disdain. "Jay and I have stuck together since we got here. About six months ago, we were on the ninth floor trying to do some quests, and we uhh...got in trouble. We would have both died to all those monsters, but Tallas and some of his lackeys showed up and killed 'em all. He said that we owed him our lives, and uhh... Well, you can guess the rest." He seemed understandably uncomfortable with the subject, taking another deep breath while he paused to gather his thoughts. "I think my bro is just trying to protect me. Nobody else in the guild wants to keep me in, but he forced himself to make up for it. He's...he's keeping me safe by being a bad guy." The thought of how his brother had changed in the time since they had been forced to join this murderous guild caused a knot to form in Avi's stomach. He thought--no, he prayed--that deep down, Jay was still a good person. That despite the terrible things he's had to do to ensure their survival, there was still hope for him as well.

If her lungs hadn't been comprised of data and pixels, they would likely feel as though they were on fire. Small droplets of water had begun to fall from the virtual sky as rain threatened to pick up with each passing minute. Kooh had managed to put a small distance between herself and the man that continued to chase after her. 'Okay, part one down, I didn't have a part two.' She tried to keep her thoughts together while also coming up with a way to either stop her pursuer or lose him completely. Fighting was out of the question. She didn't have any skills that affected her movement, so outrunning him wasn't an option either. What else could she do?

She almost didn't hear the sound of a notification ringing in her ears. Her first instinct was to ignore the message that she had just received, until she realized who it would be from. 'Sorry Aer, don't scold me too bad.' The thought managed to bring a small smile to her face. By the time she reached the edge of the forest, the rain had grown heavy, and her boots left imprints in the dirt that was slowly turning to mud. Suddenly, it felt as though the earth had been pulled out from under her. Kooh let out a scream as the feeling of falling washed over her, and everything went dark.

"Ugh..." The blonde groaned as her eyes flickered open. The area around her was dimly lit by a turquoise glow. She traced the source back to nearby walls, squinting slightly to determine that there must be some sort of fluorescent rock scattered about. The palms of her hands could feel a soft sand beneath them while she pushed herself up. After getting a good look at her surroundings, she seemed to be in some kind of underground cave. A pool of clear water stretched out nearby, the wall above it revealed an opening that led only to darkness. As she sat up in the sand, a quick survey of herself revealed a variety of red gashes and marks decorating her skin and clothes. A glance up to her stats showed she was well under half her total health, though not quite left in the red zone. "Did I fall down here?" She mumbled, grimacing at what she could see of her own unpleasant appearance. Memories came back to her, and she motioned in front of her to open her menus. She replied to Aereth's message, simply sending him the coordinates that the game indicated to be her current location.

[Aereth 1]

Only nodding, but still keeping his cold gaze on the player in front of him, Aereth handed the item over to the player and waited until he would be done with confirming that the item indeed was the real one. After that he simply kept silent and listened to everything Avi was telling him. "If there is still hope in him I would save him as well, but that depends more on his actions. And if he really just plays the bad guy in order to protect his little brother, he's not a bad person, you are right. But I can't shake off that feeling that deep inside, he is enjoying what he's doing. Power corrupts, boy... If he chooses to attack either me or Kooh or if he tries to hinder our escape, I will also go for his death. Listen, I can understand you and your brother's reasoning, but my top priority is to get my partner out of there alive." he said in a cold tone. Aereth already had a plan in mind how he would be able to get Kooh out of there alive. But he needed Avi's help to pull it off. "So how is your answer? Will you follow my lead into your and your brothers possible freedom, or do you wish to stay with an already dead man?" he said referring to Kreeyin. That guy would find a cruel end. Aereth was going to have some fun with him today...

Just then a message from Kooh with only some coordinates popped up in front of him, and he gestured to Avi that it was time to get moving.

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Avi felt himself swallow again when Aereth explained that he thought Jay didn't really have as good intentions as they hoped. "Just...let me try to handle him. He uhh... I think I can stop him if Kreeyin tells him to do something bad." He mumbled, unsure of how to envision what might happen or mentally prepare himself for it. He really felt like he was going in blind, putting his trust in a near-stranger. It was crazy, but maybe this time he could be the one to help his brother stand up for himself. The boy gave a nod, pushing himself up to his feet as he looked to Aereth with resolve in his eyes. "But yeah. I'll do it."

Kooh fell backwards, arms spread out to her sides as she flopped onto the sand. It felt as though she had lost consciousness, but for how long she couldn't tell. Either way, she couldn't hear anything that indicated she was being followed, which meant that she could take some time to just breathe. Her chest bobbed up and down, realizing that she was still breathing a bit heavy, unable to let herself fully relax just yet. There was a slight tingling feeling all over her body from the various small cuts, the sensation more concentrated along her arm and on her back where the two players had struck her directly. Her shoulders shifted uncomfortably; she hated this game's weird substitute for feeling pain. 'Should I send another message? Explain everything?' She thought, unsure of what to do. The bluish glow in the cave poured over her cheeks and reflected against her garnet eyes while her gaze wandered from one small light source to another.

[Aereth 1]

At least a small victory came in Avi finally wanting to cooperate with Aereth. "Good then I trust you." No he didn't. He still needed to keep an eye on the boy, in case he would falter again when meeting his brother and Kreeyin. It could easily turn a two on two situation into a three on one battle, he most definitely didn't want to fight. "She sent me the coordinates of the meeting spot, let's get moving. I plan on trading the necklace for her freedom, but I won't take it out until he leaves her go. This is where you will come into play. I'm assuming that your brother will be the one holding her, so you need to convince him quickly enough for me to attack Kreeyin when he shows some openings. Understood?" he asked, but sounded more like a superior ordering around his minions. "Then let's go."

A couple of minutes passed and they finally made it to the coordinates Kooh sent Aereth in her last message. The only thing he saw however was a small hole in the ground. Which most probably lead to some sorts of cave. "Did they tell you anything about that meeting spot? Cause something just doesn't seem right here..." he asked Avi before looking at the map data once more. "God f*cking damn it. Change of plans. You stay here, and I'll inspect this cave real quick. Message me in case we are just the first to arrive and the others are coming later. I'll look inside for them and message you in case they really are inside this cave." With that, he turned and jumped into the hole. 

He landed on the very same spot Kooh came crashing down when she sent him the message. Everything was still wet, and water kept dripping down from the still heavy rain of the hole Aereth entered the cave. He lit up his unique armor and started to follow the path of the underground cave. 'I'm in the cave, where are you guys?' were all he typed before he pressed the send button. Just then he heard the familiar sound of an incoming notification not far away from him. "Kooh? It's me. Where are the others?" he shouted, and started to rush over to the source of the sound.

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

"Mm?" Kooh mumbled to herself after her interface indicated that she'd received a new message. Before she had the chance to pull up her menus and inspect its contents, however, a familiar voice echoed along the walls. The blonde willed herself to sit up, propping her body up as she leaned back on her arms. Looking towards the sound of the voice calling out her name, she easily spotted the fiery glow of Aereth's armor. His other features became visible under the glow of the cave walls as he hurried over. Kooh simply grinned and raised a hand to give the man a small salute with two of her fingers. "Yo." She greeted him casually. The girl pulled her feet in towards her to sit cross-legged, leaning forward now and resting her arms against her knees. "Sorry, I misbehaved." She teased slightly before taking on a small, defeated expression. "I was hoping to let you know I was alright before you did...whatever it was," She had paused to find the right words, averting her gaze when she did so. "but I guess I was late. My bad." The girl's hand absently ran across her other arm, gliding over the red gashes that decorated her skin. Kooh shifted uncomfortably while she waited for Aereth's direction, lecture, or whatever it was he had in mind. She looked like a mess--wet from the rain, and scarred from the fall and the scuffle during her escape. For someone normally so meticulous about her appearance, the past hour had proved particularly hellish.

Meanwhile, at the cave's entrance--if it could be called that--Avi stood, spear in hand, with nerves at an all-time high. He scanned the area around him, feeling the now light rain overhead splashing on his head and shoulders when the droplets found their way in between the trees. The boy had of course denied knowledge of Kreeyin's plan or the place he and Jay had taken Kooh when Aereth had asked him about it. Something about all this really had the blonde on edge, though. Why had Aereth received a set of coordinates when the original plan was for him to get them? A knot had formed in the pit of his stomach that told him things were about to get far uglier than they already were.

Edited July 5, 2017 by Kooh

[Aereth 1]

When he heard a casual 'Yo' from his female companion, it felt like a weight was lifted from his mind. Aereth already assumed the worst. Something like an ambush with Kooh already dead, or the likes... After the woman confessed that she had successfully attempted to flee, Aereth let out a low sigh, and playfully put a fist on the head of the blonde, before pulling her up in a quick hug. "Needless to say that this action was stupid and risky, but after all it worked, right. And who am I if I blame you for a successful escape. I was worried girl." he said before letting go of her. "But don't worry I got everything. You just scrambled up my plans. But with you free that puts me in a much better position than before anyways. Here take this." Aereth said, and fetched the emerald pendant from his inventory. "Protect this item as good as you can. You need to give it back to the woman it belongs. I promised it when I took it. These bastards wanted me to kill that woman and bring that pendant to confirm the kill. Scum... I'll tell you the whole story later, but you need to head over to her house and give it back." he then quickly sent the coordinates over to her before writing a message to Avi, saying that he hadn't found her inside of the cave and that he should send his pals another message saying that they should head over to the forest  besides the cave entrance with Kooh. "Oh, and please also take the item I left her as an insurance for my return back. It's very important to me." It was almost perfect. Only Aereth knew where Kooh would be and thus didn't have to rely on Avi keeping his end of the bargain. "You'll wait until I led the boy away from the entrance, and then you'll run. Sh*t.... I just remembered something. You won't be able to enter the house... F*ck... So you need to hide somewhere in the close area of the house until I come back... I don't like that idea, but that's what we have to work with... You think you can do that?"

With that the two parted and Aereth made his way back out of the cave and asked. "Did you send them the message? I wasn't able to find her down there, and I don't like where this is going." when the boy would answer the question they would start heading into the forest next to the cave entrance.

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Kooh flinched when the brunette's fist tapped against her head, about to let out a small chuckle in response when his next actions caught her off guard. Although the physical contact was brief, it was foreign. A most unexpected feeling of relief washed over her, as if Kooh suddenly realized that they had been in real danger and that now both of them were safe all at once. Aereth had pulled away, letting her know that he was worried. The man's words caused a knot to form in her chest, though she did her best to brush off the feeling. Before she could formulate a response, Aereth held out an item to her. Letting the gemstone land in her palm, Kooh tilted her head at the emerald necklace and listened to Aereth's explanation. The blonde flashed the brunette a grin after she finally understood what had happened. "Aww, look at you, finding loopholes." She teased slightly. Behind her smirk, another feeling of relief eased her conscious. One of the main reasons she had wanted to get away was because she was sure that whatever job they were making him do wasn't going to be on the 'right' side of any moral compass. Although she still didn't know much about the guy, she felt like Aereth deserved a break from all this.

"Mm," She nodded an understanding at his instruction, and quick correction to their plan. The girl opened her inventory, deciding to keep the necklace safer there than resting in her palm the whole way there. Aereth had turned his back to head back to the surface, and Kooh pushed herself up to her feet as he did so. Before he was out of earshot, the girl spoke up one last time. "Hey Aereth? Be careful." She said with a small smile.

When the brunette had climbed back out from the cave's entrance--although a more appropriate term would have been a pit fall--Avi shook his head to indicate that he hadn't heard from the other two players. His worried expression didn't falter, but the blonde boy followed wordlessly after Aereth as he led the way through the forest.

[Aereth 1]

He chuckled when Kooh made the comment about him finding loopholes. "As if I'd let those idiots order me around. Once you grab a tigers tail, make sure to never let go of it again or you might find yourself ripped apart. And that's exactly what they did when they let you escape. Letting go of the tail." Turning around as Kooh called out to him once more, Aereth put on his happy go lucky smile once again and nodded once, before leaving the cave. 

When they finally were deep enough into the forest, Aereth turned to Avi once more. "Here's the plan. I'll show them the item as soon as they show up and when I see an opening, I'll go directly after Kreeyin. I need you to keep your brother out of combat, so that my friend is able to flee without problems. After that you two will make your escapes through the teleport gates of this floor. And until I'm done with the rest of your guilds, you will need to change your appearance and stay low. I will help you. But also know what happens when your brother chooses to fight for Kreeyin..." Aereth said in a low tone, after he broke down his general plan of action. Best case scenario: He would fight Kreeyin and kill him. Worst case scenario: He would find himself in a three on one gangbang... 

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Avi nodded, feeling a lump in his throat that he tried to swallow as they continued through the loose forest. The boy tried to go through the scenario in his head, over and over again: when he could get close to Jay without the threat of Kreeyin suspecting his betrayal, he would hold on to his brother and keep him from fighting while trying to tell him of their plan. Jay was stronger than him, he knew... But Avi decided it was his turn to try and protect both of them now, no matter what it took.

They hadn't walked far when another set of footsteps could be heard in the distance. The boy tensed, but held his ground as he followed Aereth's lead. Kreeyin and Jay soon appeared before them, neither looking in any better spirits than their last meeting. Avi's eyes darted between the two men--Kreeyin looked even more irritated than his regular expression would display, while Jay simply looked defeated. His dark eyes were pointed towards the ground, even when they came to a stop in front of Aereth and Avi.

Meanwhile, Kooh had taken her time in resting a bit longer after Aereth disappeared. She felt gross, and by extension, annoyed. The blonde couldn't wait until she could get back to a comfortable place to change clothes and return her health to full in order to remove the unsightly damage scars that littered her body. With a small sigh, Kooh picked herself up off the cave floor and willed herself back to the narrow tunnel which served as the entrance and exit. Once she had reached the surface, the girl let out a small groan and looked up to the sky. It was still overcast, but the rain had died down significantly. "How long has it been?" She mumbled, giving a shake of her head shortly after and stretching her arms over her head.

It had taken a bit of time to reach the coordinates that Aereth had sent her. She had to take a couple of detours to avoid monsters in her path, but eventually she spotted the small forest hut. She cocked an eyebrow, but moved herself forward, paying little heed to Aereth's instruction to keep herself hidden. The blonde approached the tiny building, giving a look around. She had considered just trying the door, but before she did so a small window at the side of the hut caught her attention. "Hm?" She looked inside, getting a clear view of a dark-haired woman sitting limp in a chair. Her limbs were tied down, causing Kooh to blink in surprise. 'Damn Aereth, was this you?' She thought. The girl placed her elbows at the bottom of the window, resting her chin in her hands. "Hey, did a guy with brown hair come by here and take a necklace from you recently?" She called out. At the sound of her voice, Leyna's head perked up and turned to face the blonde. Beaded tears lingered at the corners of her eyes while she stared back at the girl without offering a word in reply. Kooh frowned, using a hand to open up her menus. "Jeez... Here, this look familiar?" She materialized the pendant from her inventory and held the item up beside her. Leyna was quick to react, struggling against her bindings as the life came back to her eyes. "Give it back! Give her back to me right now!" The woman growled.

Kooh's frown simply deepened. "Hey, calm down. Sorry, but uhh... I kind of can't." She said flatly, curling her other fist and lightly banging the side of it into the window. Though there wasn't any indication of glass or a solid object in between them, the game registered the space as impassable, simply displaying a purple "Immortal Object" notification after her strikes. "That uhh...guy said I couldn't get in, but he wanted me to hang around here until he could come back and let you go." She summed up the details, her words only seeming to frustrate Leyna.

[Aereth 1]

When not long after they entered the forest, Kreeyin and Jay appeared, Aereth smiled inwardly. "They really didn't manage to find Kooh in the meantime. That was just pure luck on our side though, since the whole story could have ended much much worse..." Outwardly only his stone cold and determined gaze were the only things visible on his expression. "I've got what you wanted. That boy can confirm it. So, I'm going to say this only once. Where. Is. She?" with every word his gaze turned colder and he started radiating the very same dangerous aura he had when he had to part ways with Kooh for the first time.

With that Aereth would wait until Kreeyin would make only one little mistake. And as soon as turned his attention away from the brunette for even one single moment. Aereth would move in for an attack, drawing his blade and the furious battle was started. "Avi!" he shouted, yanking his head over to Jay to signal him to take care of his brother.

About fifteen minutes later, Kreeyin was finally defeated. Aereth took his time with that battle. In the process of the fight, the sadistic player had lost some 'unnecessary' body parts and was now lying on the floor after Aereth had swept was his feet with a low kick. "This is over. And now you're gonna pay. Go and follow your leader..." with that he buried his blade directly between the eyes of the man, which finally ended his torture and sent him to all the other players he had already ended...

"You two head to the safe zone. Now. Change the looks of your avatars, and stay low until everything settles down again. I promised Avi to help you if you needed some, and I'm a man of my word." he said to the two brothers and turned around to sprint towards the home of Leyna.

Some time later Aereth finally arrived and found Kooh on the outside of the house talking to Leyna through the window. He sighed. "You aren't going to follow my orders for once, am I right?" he asked the blonde before shooting her a smile. "It's done. We're safe.... For now at least." With that he opened the door to the house and walked over to Leyna. His body was littered with red marks that emitted a low red glow, and he had a guilty expression on his face. "Sorry for what I did, and sorry it took so long. Now you can have it back. But only if you also give back what I left with you..." he said while cutting the ropes that kept her tied to the chair.

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Kreeyin glared right back at the brunette, clearly not interested in Aereth's demands. "That girl of yours is the stupidest hostage I've ever seen." He spat. "But you're really going to tell me she hasn't said a word to you? I made sure to keep her pretty arms and legs attached that whole time." The corners of his mouth curled up as the words left him. "Still, this is embarrassing," He said sarcastically, crossing his arms over his chest while shifting his weight to the side. He closed his eyes with a smirk. "Here you've done a good little job for me, and--" Aereth hadn't waited for him to finish his sentence. The man let out a grunt when his sword sliced through his body. Jay, who had looked dead on his feet until now, jumped at the sudden attack before he felt a weight yanking his arm backwards. His head turned to see his younger brother pulling him away from the fight, taking a moment to register the action before he began to resist.

"What're you doing?!" The dagger-wielder hissed. Avi simply latched onto the man's arm, refusing to loosen his grip. "Brother, this is our chance!" Avi urged, using all of his strength to drag him back. "He can win! We can go to the city, we'll be safe!" The brothers continued to argue in hushed voices, the battle raging beside them all the while. "Av, you know what will happen if we run!" Jay seemed more insistent on talking his brother out of any plans he deemed too risky rather than joining the fray between Aereth and Kreeyin. "I don't care! I don't care if I have to run for a thousand years, anything is better than what we're doing here!" The blonde boy exclaimed. Jay froze, staring back at Avi's desperate eyes.

The pair had hidden themselves until the battle was finally over. Aereth, victorious after Kreeyin's form had shattered and disappeared completely, addressed them only briefly with a set of instructions. The brothers stared back at him, Avi shocked by the realization that Kreeyin truly was dead, and Jay stunned that the man's blade wasn't coming for him next. "I--" By the time he had regained his composure and opened his mouth to speak, Aereth was already disappearing through the foliage. Gritting his teeth, Jay simply let out a scoff as his gaze drifted to the ground and his fists clenched at his sides. 'I...can't thank you enough. And I'm so sorry.' Jay filled his lungs with air, fighting back the emotions clumping up in his chest while he tugged at Avi's sleeve to pull the boy along in the direction of the city.

"You called him a what?!" Kooh practically snorted with laughter. "I need you to teach me some of that." Leyna simply let out a small chuckle in response. The two seemed to be on friendly-enough terms, given the circumstances. After a few moments, Kooh let out a tiny sigh. "But...please don't be too hard on him. I know he seemed like a huge *sshole, but..." Kooh averted her gaze, feeling uncomfortable while she struggled for words. It was so natural for her to know what to say, that she frowned when she had trailed off. "That idiot keeps risking his life for me, so y'know... He's really not so bad." She mumbled out, earning a long stare from Leyna's emerald green eyes.

Just then, the brunette's voice reached her ears, causing Kooh to snap to attention as she looked over to him. He looked as messy as the rest of them, littered in red gashes, but his smile caused an impish grin to take over Kooh features. "Nahh, that's no fun." She joked back. The blonde followed him as he opened the door that gave them both access to the small hut, stepping inside behind him while he moved ahead to free the woman from her restraints. Leyna stood once she was free, not offering a word as she rubbed at her wrists, looking back at Aereth while he offered to trade their items back. With a quick motion, the woman brought up her arm and the clear sound of a slap rang out. Although the strike wasn't nearly as hard as Leyna was capable of, Aereth would be left with a solid red handprint across his cheek. The woman wore a frown, wordlessly moving past the brunette and coming to a stop in front of Kooh. She held out her hand impatiently, the blonde taking half a second before realizing what it was that she wanted. She handed over the pendant without a fuss, and Leyna quickly fastened the item around her neck, removing the necklace that had temporarily taken its place. She turned, extending her arm as she held the charm out for Aereth to take back. "I don't like you. You stole my Valeria away from me." She started angrily, shooting the man a short glare. Her gaze quickly softened, however, as she added, "But I forgive you."

[Aereth 1]

"As expected." Aereth replied to the blonde with a chuckle, before they entered and before Aereth started to free Leyna. Now Aereth only stood there and waited for Leyna to take back the item he had taken from her some hours ago. But when the hand of the woman hit his face, hard enough to leave some red marks on his face, but not hard enough to actually do much damage to him, he was kinda hit of guard. 'I should have expected as much...' he thought, and waited for her to also give back his own pendant to him. 

When he finally caught sight of the necklace with the two silver ballet shoes on it, a small smile flashed over Aereth's face, before his usual rather stoic and cold features took over again. He simply took the item and fixed it around his neck before un-equipping his battle gear, and sinking to the ground. He was glad that the woman was able to forgive him for what he did, and felt like he needed to tell her some things. "Avi and Jay are on their way to the safe zone, and are most probably leaving the floor as we are talking. That Avi was a good boy. Cared for his brother...." he sighed. "And Kreeyin is nothing more than another crossed out name on the monument of life now." God was he tired. He had been running fighting and thinking the whole day, and to say he was spent was an understatement...

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Leyna shifted her weight, placing a hand on her hip while she watched Aereth sink to the floor. The woman frowned, listening to his explanation of what happened before a puff of air left through her nose in a half-chuckle. "So you took out both Tallas and Kreeyin? I might just be able to sleep normally tonight." She turned, walking over to the simple sleeping area in a corner of the small hut. The woman sat down, facing the pair and crossing her legs beneath her, arms folded over her chest. "Thank you." The words left her almost bitterly, a hint of her stubborn attitude showing while she looked Aereth in the eyes. After a few seconds she broke away her gaze and continued. "You're right, Avi can't hurt a fly. I never knew what those kids' story was, but I'm glad they have a chance now, too." She uncrossed her arms, letting her forearms rest on her knees while she leaned forward slightly, giving Aereth and Kooh some insight of her own. "Tallas and Kreeyin were the head and fist of that disgusting guild." She spat with a clear contempt for the late players. "Without them, and with two less lackeys to push around, who knows... They might just disband." A half-smirk rested on her features as her gaze drifted up to Kooh for a moment before shifting back to Aereth. "So I know you were forced into it, but thank you. I bet you saved a lot more people from a fate like mine, or those brothers, or her." Emerald eyes flickered back to Kooh, the blonde giving a blank stare in response. Placing her chin in her palm, Leyna let out a tiny sigh, looking the pair over once more. "You two can rest here for a bit, I could spare a healing potion if you'd like." She reached into a pouch at her belt with her free hand, pulling out two small glass bottles filled with a crimson liquid that she would hand over to either player should they accept.

Kooh would accept the item, having listened in silence to the exchange ever since Leyna was freed. The blonde frowned at the vial in her hand, but willed herself to drink the odd fluid. Her garnet eyes flickered up to her user interface, seeing her health bar gradually refilling. The red gashes began to vanish, and even the dirt on her white clothing faded away. Grateful for her normal appearance returning, Kooh took a seat on the ground as well, looking over to Aereth as if to wordlessly ask what they should do now. Her hand reached up to her shoulder as if to grab hold of something that wasn't there. Realizing that her hood was missing, she recalled the exchange that had resulted in the clothing's destruction. A small frowned worked itself on her lips at the realization.

[Aereth 1]

"Like I said before, I'm still sorry for the damage I did to you as well as for the SM stuff with the chair... But it was necessary to safe that little princess." he added a small chuckle at the princess comment, before turning back to face Leyna. "But yeah, they're gone now, but that Kreeyin dude sure put up a fight. Avi told me that there are still other players in that guild, but those two idiots were the leaders, so we'll see if I have to come back to this floor some day..." he said. 

"Oh, you didn't know their story? Avi and Jay got saved by Kreeyin and Tallas from some NPCs, and in return had to work for them in order to 'repay their debt'." he explained with quite some pity in his voice. Avi was still so young, but had to see much of the disgustingly dark side of the world they were living in right now. He then shook his head before speaking once more. "Don't thank me. You're a good woman, and didn't deserve being beaten up like that by me. But there was one thing I want to ask you. I mean you don't have to answer if you don't want to..." he said before thankfully grabbing the healing potion. "Why is that pendant so special to you? I have already an idea, but I'm curious."

Looking over to Kooh, he saw how she wanted to pull her hood over her head like she always did, but unfortunately the part of her clothing got ripped off, probably during her escape. "As soon as you got your cursor back to green, visit me on the fourth floor. I'm a half decent tailor, and can make you a new one." he said referring to the damaged piece of clothing she currently wore. "Oh, and I think I haven't done this yet." he said and sent a friend request over to the blonde.

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Leyna listened patiently to Aereth's explanation regarding the brothers. When he was done, she let out another small sigh through her nose. "I knew those kids didn't want to be there." She muttered with a shake of her head. She blinked when Aereth inquired about the emerald pendant around her neck, giving a low chuckle when he expressed his curiosity over the item. She looked to the ground as her hand moved up to glide her fingers over the gem's surface. "As you can imagine, I lost someone too." She started. "I wasn't so lucky to know her in the real world. But I wanted to more than anything. She was beautiful...the kindest soul I will ever meet." Her voice carried an unmistakable care among the sadness. "She made this item for me." Her fingers idly traced around the edges of the pendant. "Even if someone could make one that looked just like it, it wouldn't be hers. It wouldn't have Valeria's name." A bittersweet smile formed as she lowered her hand.

Kooh listened to the story, continuing to keep quiet until eventually Aereth addressed her directly. She blinked in surprised, not expecting the man to notice her missing hood. She offered a small smirk. "Is that right? Maybe when this is all over I can have you make me some new outfits." The corners of her lips curled upwards, already a bit excited at the idea. When the notification triggered and a prompt displayed in front of her with Aereth's friend request, Kooh chuckled. "Aww, at least after all this I've got a friend." She teased, pressing the small blue circle to accept. The dialogue box disappeared at her touch, and Kooh placed her palms on the ground behind her to allow her to lean back. "So Boss, now that we're not actively being hunted anymore, what's the plan?"

[Aereth 1]

"Yeah, simply at the wrong place in the wrong time." He said with a chuckle looking over to @Kooh. It was pretty much the same with their first and second encounter with that guild. If they just had gotten up thirty minutes earlier they could have left the inn without any trouble. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts again, Aereth turned back to Leyna and listened to her story.

"Yeah that was pretty much what I was expecting." 'Even though that I didn't expect it to be a gal, but who cares...' he added mentally before continuing. "This game took important persons from both you and me as well as countless others... And still there are players like Tallas, Kreeyin and even more bad persons who still torture and kill other player for fun. Simply disgusting...." he spat, voice full of disgust and hatred. And thus he was walking his dark path. Gathering information about the scum of Aincrad, and making his hands dirty for the players that couldn't help themselves. 

Aereth chuckled at Kooh's reply to his offer for making her a new set of clothing. "Best 'active' tailor in Aincrad here." he said in a playful manner with much pride in his voice, before he burst into laughter. Yeah he was wired like that. "For now I'd just like to drown myself in beer and pass out in a bed, but I got a feeling that this is not gonna happen. So just resting, and heading back out tomorrow?" he asked the blonde as if asking for her approval.