{F8-PP} Gone Fishing (Ruby)

[Jevi 0]

Donned in her heavy armor and with the stained glass blade of Izunami attached to her hip, the brunette set forth from Florenthia into the wilds of Floor Eight. The woman was continuing her search for new raw materials that she could make weapons out of, and now that she had been leveling up a bit more, she felt more confident to explore some of the higher regions of Aincrad. Soon enough, she would be exploring high enough Floors to discover other tiered materials, and start making even more powerful wares. After the near death experience she almost had only on Floor Four, however, she decided it best to stick to lower floors as such. With a flick of her wrist, the girl opened up her small menu box so she could check her inbox for messages. Still no reply from Grave after sending him multiple messages about being out and about. She frowned, for he had not even tried to message her back at all in the meantime.. though she had done the same and disappeared for a bit when her depression got to her.. so she only deserved it. 

Most of the floor outside of the towns looked the same, vast forests with tall trees, sometimes the occasional shallow stream slicing through the land. Jevi had thought that exploring a land not covered in a blanket of snow would make finding materials easier. It only proved to be more stressful, knowing that there were a lot more monsters up here that could easily kill her. With a heavy sigh, she continued on the path, looking for any sort of ore she could use. Her journey down the path lead her to a clearing that circled a lake. On the opposite side, she spotted a small shop with a dock leading out over the water. Yellow eyes squinted, trying to see just what was over there, but it seemed as though she saw a blonde haired woman fishing on the opposite side. No one she recognized, however, so Jevi continued her search around the lake's shore. 

@Ruby

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had sat down on the grass by the lake looking out placing her hand on her cheek, she had worn her typical attire for this trip however with less articles of clothing and just kept it simple. She had puffed out her cheek as she had thought of the recent events that had happened... the mansion, the kidnapping, and the encounter with the "hero" of aincrad. It was a lot to take in, and majority of it she had just blamed herself despite what Jomei, Telrenya, and Spencer are telling her. She had looked down deep int thought until she had gotted a sharp tug on her fishing pole, Ruby had stood up and began to reel in the bobber and pulled her prizes out from the lake. Looks like she had caught 3 fish all at one time, she had smiled faintly, at least she could be happy with good results. 

-----

ID: 89462 - CD: 10

Loot: 3 T1 Materials

[Jevi 0]

The surrounding area was mostly silent, aside from the ambient sound of distant wildlife and bugs buzzing around her. Her eyes scanned the shallow part of the lake along the grass, trying to look for any sort of shimmer for metal. ~"This shits pointless." she said to herself, pouting out her lip as she stopped and took a moment to herself, ~"Maybe if I just opened up shop, people would come in and give me the materials to make their weapons." Her brunette bob nodded, agreeing with herself that this would be the best course of action to get the most buck for her time. The lack of noise was then broken by the struggling sound of the fisher-woman's line being tugged by something, a fish most likely. Jevi took a moment to watch the woman,  who was scantly clad, raise to her feet on the dock before yanking three fish all at the same time out of the water. The brunette, with arms crossed under her breastplate, nodded with a smirk, finding the whole ordeal of fishing to be quite impressive. That was an activity she never had the chance to partake in while living in the real world. She shook her head before the thoughts of her lack of father came to her. 

A loud roar from behind Jevi caused the woman to spin around on her heels. Her yellow eyes went wide as she looked up at the beast, towering just slightly taller than her. It seemed as though the smell of fish from across the lake had attracted this large furry beast from its home in the woods, looking for something to feast on. Before Jevi even had a chance to rip her curved sword from its holster on her back, the bear dropped forward, its humongous front paws crashing into Jevi's shoulder pauldrons. The attack did not do too much damage, however it knocked her off of her balance, causing her to stumble backwards. The lack of ground under her boot after two steps caused the woman to tumble backwards, armor and all, into the lake. She found out very quickly that the lake was not shallow, as she sank down a couple of feet, the weight of her armor keeping her from pulling herself up easily. 

@Ruby

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had looked forward as she had heard a roar, and in the distance she had seen a figure fall into the lake wearing Heavy Armor, "Ah Sh*t." she had said out as she had dropped her fishing pole after placing her prizes into inventory and she had dashed her way over to where the figure  had fell, thankfully the monster had lost interest after the figure had fallen into the lake, she looked down she knew she wasn't wearing the right clothing for a occasion like this however she dived into the lake trying to find this person. Eventually she had found a womans face, she didn't think too much about it however she went out and grabbed her arm and tried to bring her up out of the lake. Eventually she had gotten the woman out of the lake despite how hard it was and she looked down on her clothing or what little she wore at the moment and she felt her clothing wrapping on details of her body making it seem like shes wearing skin tight clothing. She had shook her head and looked back down to the woman sitting down next to her "You alright? Look's like a monster from around here tried to attack you. However if you are in need of help, I know how to give mouth to mouth~" she winked and let out a chuckle. "I'm Ruby, figured you would want to know the name of someone that saved you." she had exclaimed out.

@Jevi

[Jevi 0]

Everything went dark and silent as the bronze skinned woman sank to the bottom of the lake, her back eventually connecting with the floor. She held her breath for as long as she could before she saw her health slowly start to trickle down. Moments later, she heard the muffled sound of a splash, and a silhouette with hair floating out in all directions was swimming towards her. The supposed woman grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the lake. As her head emerged from the water, she took in a gasp of breath, swallowing some of the water along the way. With the help of the other player, she had made it to shore safely. Jevi rolled onto her back, coughing up some of the water that poured down her chin and cheeks as it expelled from her throat. Her yellow eyes opened back up to see the woman from across the lake who was  fishing, sitting next to her. She offered to give Jevi mouth to mouth if she needed it, with another few coughs, the brunette sat up and wiped her chin with her un-armored hand. ~"I should be fine.. cough... thank you though." The blonde introduced herself as, her hero, Ruby. Jevi smirked, sitting up and leaning her body forward to get a few more deep breaths in, to make sure she did not have waterlogged lungs. ~"Jevi.. I.. definitely owe.. you one." she said with a pathetic chuckle. Lifting a shaky hand up, Jevi opened up her inventory and unequipped her Desert Hawke Armor, replacing it with her sleeveless blue town clothes. Now feeling less weighed down, and mostly dryer, she brought her hands up to push her wet hair out of her face, ~"Damn.. I thought I was done for.. Done in by drowning.. would have been a shitty way to go." 

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had smiled, she didn't blush or felt angry or shy after Ruby's comment, shes already earned a few points in Ruby's book. Eventually she had learned that her name is Jevi, Ruby had smiled and said out to her as she is taking her armor off to something more comfortable and less wet "We'll Jevi its nice to meet you, and might I say out of the catches I have caught today, you might be the catch of the day if you asked me." she had chuckled, and listened to Jevi said how it would be a pretty bad way to go, she had let out another chuckle and said "Well I don't suppose anyone who's sanity is in tact would want to drown. Cant say the same for me though.." she had let out a somewhat nervous chuckle looking out towards the lake and then back to Jevi "Say, what brings you out here anyways? Its a long ways away from the main settlement, and my store doesn't really have any form of inventory in it." she questioned her wondering why her whereabouts would be here of all places.

@Jevi

[Jevi 0]

The woman wrang out her brunette hair, the droplets of water raining onto the grass around her body. Holding her hair in a tight fist behind her head, Jevi took a thicker, cloth band off of her wrist and used it to keep her hair in a tighter pony tail. As Jevi situated the wet mess on top of her head, Ruby referred to her as the catch of the day. The woman soon caught on to her blonde counterpart’s subtle, yeat at the same time rather blunt, flirting. Jevi smirked, about to inform the woman about her current relations with Grave. However, before the thoughts turned into spoken word, her eyes caught a quick glimpse of her savior’s attire, or more appropriately, lack of. Taking in a quick breath through her nostrils, she replied to the blonde. ~“I can assure you, I don’t taste as good as the fish you probably catch.” she laughed.

 

Ruby went on to ask why Jevi had been hanging around the area on her own, ~”Just looking for materials to craft weapons and armor with.. I haven’t been at it for awhile, so I didn’t even realize that I was running low when I decided to open up again.” She shook her head in disgust, ~”But of course, just like every other floor, I have no luck.. and can’t find a damn thing.” She pulled her extended legs slightly closer to her chest, leaning back on the palms of her hands and turning her head to look at Ruby, ~”I should ask you though.. why the hell’d you put your shop way out here away from Florenthia?” Jevi decided to ask Ruby a question, trying to pry into the flirtatious mind of the blonde who saved her.

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had shrugged, and said to her "Pretty sure you could, not a huge fan of fish really. I don't like that many fish." she had looked forward in the lake and moved her top a little bit as it had just been getting uncomfortable and tighter from the water. Jevi had went on about how she was exploring around here to find some materials, Ruby had smiled, while Ruby could make a good amount of money through making potions, right now she just had been not very motivated to do so. She had opened her inventory had had sent a trade request of 40 T1 Materials for nothing in return "Here. I've had quite of few materials laying around. Maybe ill stop by your store afterwards." she had looked from Jevi to smile back out to the lake after she had asked why she was so far away from the main settlement and set up shop out here, she had sighed and said "I just want to be more alone nowadays, a lot of things have happened and... I just wanna be alone. Even though it only makes me more depressed."

@Jevi

[Jevi 0]

When Ruby made a comment that she believed Jevi would taste better than most of the fish she would catch here, she turned most of her body to look at her with a cocked brow. ~"Living out in the forest on your own and you make a comment like that? You sure you're not some cannibal?." she huffed a single chuckle after making her small joke to the blonde woman. As she joked with the woman, she began to adjust her top again, which seemed to hug her chest when soaked with water from the lake. Trying not to make any sort of expression, the woman turned her head away. Stop it Alex.. thats not you anymore.. She thought to herself as she shut her eyes for a moment, her head facing towards the lake and not visible to Ruby. Once she assumed the woman was finished fixing herself, she turned her head back to see Ruby had her menu open up in front of her. Merely moments later, a smaller box swung around and sat in front of Jevi. The message said that Ruby wanted to send her some materials for her shop, 40 of them. Her golden eyes went wide before she looked up at Ruby. ~"W-Wait what are you doing. I can't accept this." Though the small smile she shone to Jevi convinced her otherwise to argue. ~"Thanks.. If you ever need any armor or weapons, I'll make you something." she smirked at the woman. After her comment about asking why her shop was located all the way out in the isolated forest, she mentioned that she preferred to be alone for certain reasons. Jevi chuckled and nodded her head, pulling her knees closer into her chest and keeping her arms wrapped about them. ~"Yeah.. I know how you feel. Sometimes, my depression and anxiety kick in, and all I want is to be alone. Usually I just hold myself up in my shop too and just try and let it pass. But just sitting there alone makes it so much worse." Her eyes drifted towards her knees, rather than straight outwards, ~"Though.. recently that doesn't matter too much. Everyone I was friends with just pretty much disappeared on me.. even Grave." 

+40 T1 Materials

[Ruby 0]

"Well, of course you can take these Jevi. I don't need em. You'll use them up before I ever would." she had offered them with a smile, however eventually Jevi had pressed the accept button and had taken the materials thanking her and confirming that she would make her something "Awh, no need to thank me. I'm just your average girl that tries to help others. I have some T2 materials if you want those as well?" she had offered with a chuckle. Eventually she had started her own spheal about her own depression and her own anxiety followed up with that her friends and someone by the name of Grave have just up and left her, Ruby had said out while looking out in the distance "Mine is much more different, however you never know. I've never had people just up and leave me, but I have had people up and force me to give them stuff or my life. I used to be in a group of people where they had helped me begin growing in levels and even items, and eventually they had just felt obligated to demand something from me... well the first thing was a no go on ANY level, then they wanted all my stuff back or they would have killed me." she looked down, "Theres more to my depression, don't know if you really want to listen. But... if you don't mind me asking, who's this Grave person you specifically pointed out?" she looked back to Jevi with a concerned look.

@Jevi

[Jevi 0]

The brunette listened as Ruby told her about the reasoning behind her depression. A tragic story about the group that helped her wanting her to pay up for everything they did for her, eventually forcing the poor girl to give up all the items she had acquired over the time the game started. She raised an open palm to her mouth, her eyebrows showing concern for her. She really had been through a lot, and had reason to be depressed.. The worst part being that there was even more. The girl brought her hand down from her face and placed it in her lap. ~"I'm sorry to hear that you went through that. There really are a lot of assholes here, aren't they." She closed her eyes and lowered her head once again, letting out a sad sigh, ~"I know how it feels though... How it feels to be given something, and then expect payment in return.." her voice lowered, ~"Only I didn't get the second option.. to give up my items, and it was no game." 

She picked her head back up and turned to Ruby ~"Oh, Grave? He's my ..boyfriend.." Jevi could not help but hesitate when calling Grave her boyfriend. Where was their relationship going at the moment, was he too busy with the front lines to contact her? ~"Well.. I haven't heard from him in a long time.. Perks of dating someone on the front lines." she said with a sad chuckle, and sarcastic tone.  ~"I know we only just met, but if you need someone to talk to, I'm here." Normally Jevi would open to someone this easily. Trust went a long way for Jevi, after everything she went through in the real world. However, she knew how Ruby felt.. and could tell that the two women were on in the same. 

@Ruby

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had offered a small smile looking towards Jevi after her statement before looking back out in the distance "Assholes are one word, lonely psychopaths are another in my opinion." she had given a slight chuckle. Eventually word had come out from Jevi, appearently she had gone through the same thing and eventually about her boyfriend out on the front lines just up and leaving her for a bit, Ruby had scooted over in the grass and gave Jevi a hug after saying that she is here for her. Eventually after a second she had let go and sat back straight bringing her knees forward and hugged her knees placing her head on her arms "I'm sorry Jevi. How long has he been gone? I can only imagine how lonely you can get at times." she had thought to herself for a bit, roughly it had been... one to two years so far being in this game? It had seemed like it was longer and she had lost track of where she is in time. Matter of fact she can't remember the last time she had a relationship either, she's had... quite a lonely life. She had looked down in sadness from that fact.

@Jevi

[Jevi 0]

The brunette scoffed, ~"Couldn't have said it better myself. Jevi smirked at Ruby, not only because she agreed with what she said, but because she appreciated the woman not mentioning any more on the topic of what happened to her. It was a subject that she was shocked she had even brought up to the blonde, however she felt comfortable speaking with her. Ruby scooted over in the grass to get closer to Jevi, slightly causing the brunette to flinch, until she realized that Ruby was simply giving her a hug for telling her that she would listen to her if need be. ~"O-Oh." Jevi sounded surprised at the sudden embrace from Ruby. After separating, Ruby took a more comfortable position, apologizing for Grave's absence and asking how long its been. Jevi shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, ~"I.. couldn't even tell you. You lost track of time here, really." she let out a heavy sigh, ~"Couple months I'd say." the sounded half of her sentence sounded more pissed off than upset. ~"The asshole could at least let me know he's alive from time to time, rather than leaving me down here on my own worried as [censored]!"  The girl dropped her hands to the side, the side of her hand hitting a baseball sized rock. Gritting her teeth, Jevi took it in her hands and chucked it into the lake, creating a large splash as it did so. After expelling some of her anger, she took in a long deep breath through her nostrils before exhaling, calming herself down. 

[Ruby 0]

"Amen." Ruby had thought to herself after Jevi mentioning how time can easily be lost, however the next few words she was entirely not expecting it to be a few months, this had made Ruby a little upset, she doesn't care that if you are a frontliner or not you just dont talk to your significant other for months or not come up to see her, even in the real world you don't just do that sort of thing: some people would even consider their relationship to just be over at that point. Jevi had threw the rock and she understood why, its very frustrating. Ruby had looked down and over to the lake and said "I kind of understand how you feel Jevi. Since this game started and even a while before the game had started I have been single, so I just cant help but feel like I am doing something wrong or I am just not attractive. And yeah I have had a lot of males get attracted to me, however..." she had looked out kind of embarrassed, nowadays she just kind of feels embarrassed to be lesbian and said "... I prefer Females." she took a moment to breathe and said "However in this world, no one should get in a relationship and just not show up for a date or just to visit or even message you for months. I don't care if you are in the frontlines or not, you just don't do that sort of thing to your significant other. Even in the real world, I had a girlfriend like that and I just assumed the relationship was over. Turns out it was." she said in a disappointed tone.

@Jevi

[Jevi 0]

~"So am I" Jevi said with a laugh, regarding her similarity to Ruby's sexual orientation. ~"Well.. I'm bi. And I won't lie to you, you are attractive. Just maybe haven't found the right person yet."  She smirked, being a bit more open about the fact she swung both ways, rather than Ruby who just swung one. The woman let out another sigh when Ruby had pretty much defended her point, mentioning that if the blonde were in her shoes, she would have left Grave a long time ago. Jevi looked straight out over the lake for a moment, solemn eyes under his furrowed brows. The brunette wondered if Ruby was right.. was it worth it to keep waiting on Grave like this. ~"I.. don't know.." Jevi said as she exhaled the breath she held in. ~"You're right, no denying that. It's just.. He's been there for me for a long time. He treated me a way no one else did, and brought out a side of me that I thought was long lost.. I owe him a lot." she looked down at her lap, ~"I want to try to see if I can talk to him about it.. If he will listen."

Jevi shook her head and sat up straight, letting her legs fall to the ground as the crossed them, sitting Indian style. ~"That isn't my focus right now though.. I'm trying to get stronger so I can actually become someone. Whether I have a boyfriend or girlfriend or whatever shouldn't by my first thought.. Surviving should be."

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had looked over confused for a moment, she had thought she had heard Jevi said she has a boyfriend, however it was later confirmed that she was bisexual and had said out to her that she might have just not found the right person yet. Ruby had gotten a little upset and looked down towards the lake and said out "Well... just recently I just had been feeling like I wont be able to really. Just when I believe I have found a perfect one, it just gets shattered with a harsh reality or... they just aren't interested or they have their own relationships." she shook her head "Sometimes its kind of hard of to think that I am attractive or desirable to anyone." however after a moment it had seemed that Jevi had agree'd with Ruby on her statements went on on how he was bringing out the side of her that she had thought she lost, and she had only felt a little more upset that he had been away from her... she honestly didn't know what to say really upon that note. After Jevi's next statement she had reached back into her inventory for her fishing rod and sent the bobber out in the lake and she had said out "Growing stronger isn't much of a blessing as you think it is Jevi. Without friends or a loved one you kind of find it hard to really have the motivation to grow stronger. Sometimes for me its hard to even get out of bed knowing I could die, and I would die alone."

@Jevi

[Jevi 0]

Jevi sighed again, ~"Guess you have a point.." the woman chuckled, her fingers finding one of the bunches of hair that hung down in front of her ears, held together by a tight tube-like hair tie. She gently ran her middle and index fingers through the strands of brown hair. ~"Being alone is just.. something that come naturally to me.. I have been for pretty much my whole life. Even before this whole game started.." She looked over at Ruby, forcing a small, embarrassed smile, ~"Sorry.. I shouldn't be pouring out my life story to you." she chuckled. The woman tried to take the focus off of Jevi's own life, turning her body to face more towards Ruby as she spoke, ~"Come on, don't say that. You seem like a pretty awesome chick." she smirked, this time genuine. ~"I learned with Grave that.. stuff like this takes time, and if you're just negative about it, it'll never come." she let out a small giggle, pushing one of the small bunches of hair over her ear. ~"In fact.. when I first met him.. he was just this cocky.. flirty.. guy who just got on my nerves. Eventually, I learned to like him." Jevi placed one of her hands on Ruby's knee, ~"I'm sure you've got someone like that in your life that you'll come to find you like.. And for the record, you're a lot prettier than I am. So you have no problems there."

[Ruby 0]

"I feel ya Jevi, I've been alone most of my life however it does suck to be lonely all the time. But at least you can progress on yourself on your own time I guess?" she tried to make something good out it, however she just cant really think of anything. Ruby had looked to Jevi with a smile and said "I would be if I weren't so depressed. Got a lot on my plate I haven't told you about. Kind of lost myself as you can tell. I'm the one basically almost naked fishing." she had let out a chuckle. After a moment, Ruby had caught onto something, Ruby had stood up and reeled in her prize, it was a tough one. But eventually it came out of the water and into the air. And what stood in front of Ruby and Jevi was a shark man that pulled out a curved sword. Ruby had fell to the ground and blinked twice "Well... I wasn't expecting that."

@Jevi

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ID: 89503 - CD: 2

Ruby - HP: 900/900 - EN: 90/90
Jevi - HP: ???/??? - EN: ??/??
Shark Soldier - HP: 450/450 - DMG: 135

[Jevi 0]

Jevi opened her mouth to speak, but her train of thought was lost when she noticed the line of Ruby's fishing pole was pulled tight, the tip of the rod being pulled towards the water. The blonde woman rose to her feet, struggling to reel in the large fish, or whatever the hell it was she caught. With one large tug, Ruby's catch had flown out of the water and into the air, the sudden lack of resistance of Ruby's end knocked her to the floor. Jevi turned towards Ruby to help her to her feet, until she heard the sound of a blade being brandished behind her. Looking over her shoulder, the brunette saw that Ruby's fish, was standing on two human like legs, holding a curved sword in its hand, and a streamlined head like a shark. ~"What the hell?" Jevi called out, taking a large step backwards. ~"[censored]! I don't even have my armor on." 

Frantically, Jevi swiped her hand up to open her menus, her eyes darting between them and the aquatic monster, hoping it would not attack her before she was properly defended. Scrolling quickly through her inventory, Jevi's casual clothes were replaced with a suit of gritty steel armor and furs, a large clawed gauntlet on one arm. Some of the armor plated looked as if they were once painted red and white the colors of the Knights of the Blood Oath, though most of it scratched off, leaving only chips of the paint remaining. In her hand without the gauntlet, appeared her own curved blade, black around the edges, with the center looking as though it were made of stained glass. She looked over at Ruby, who was still getting up to her feet. ~"I'll see what I can do to hold it back while you equip your armor and weapons!"

-----

Ruby - HP: 900/900 - EN: 90/90
Jevi - HP:  380/380 - EN: 38/38
Shark Soldier - HP: 450/450 - DMG: 135

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had looked to Jevi and said "It's not my fault! I didn't know I was going to real up a literal monster!" she had tried to try to tell Jevi that it wasn't her fault at all. "You have my apologies though..."  she had said with a somewhat depressed look however, there was nothing she can really do about it. Ruby had stood strong as this was now a matter of protecting Jevi as well, Jevi had yelled out that she'll hold it off as she gets prepared for the battle. Ruby had smirked and said back to Jevi "No need." as she had moved forward with both her hands glowing in power as she had tried to strike against it, however the Shark Solider had evaded it however she had barely missed. The shark solider had tried to strike back however Ruby had easily maneuvered out of the way using what little evasion she has.

@Jevi

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ID: 89507 - BD: 2+3=5 - MD: 3
Sword Art Used: Failure

Ruby - HP: 900/900 - EN: 88/90
Jevi - HP: 380/380 - EN: 38/38
Shark Soldier - HP: 450/450 - DMG: 135