[PP-F11] Mewls & Mistletoe

[Telrenya 0]

Despite how comfortable and close she had grown to the Irishman, Jomei's shy suggestion caused a bright pink tint to appear on her cheeks as well. Still, she smiled with her own shyness. "Well, I...really like this." She said in a small voice, breaking eye contact every couple of seconds before her chocolate brown eyes would find their way back to his olive green. "So...um, maybe... I think that would be really nice, too." She managed to get the full thought out as her cheeks burned bright red.

The girl turned onto her side, pulling her knees up just a bit and letting her hands lay in front of her on top of the sheets in between the two players. Now fully facing him, she watched Jomei's face with a curious expression while he went into more detail about his schooling and aspirations. Her eyes widened a bit, and she replied with enthusiasm. "That's really impressive! I always did pretty well in school, but I can't imagine trying to teach math." She chuckled. Jomei asked what it was she went on to study, and Telrenya turned her face an inch towards the soft blue sheets to press her cheek into them. Her eyes shifted to the side and she spoke with a hint of embarrassment. "Ahh... Well, I couldn't decide on a major for a long time. I'm still undeclared at the college I went to. But I ended up at an art school. I really liked painting and drawing, so I thought maybe I could make something out of it." She let out a shy chuckle. "I thought about taking violin more seriously, but I didn't want to make a job out of it." Telrenya lifted her shoulder in a small shrug, taking on another smile as she continued her thoughts. "But, I'm kind of excited. I want to remember all of the incredible sights here. So, when we get out of here... I can try painting them."

[Jomei 0]

After asking the blonde about her own field of study, the man shifted his own body, turning onto his side and propping his head up on his hand. Jomei looked across at Telrenya as she stared into the blue sheets shyly. Telrenya ended up not having decided on a major yet, and was still undecided about what she wanted to study. Olive eyes widened in excitement when the girl mentioned that she had a fondness to art.. especially painting and drawing. The smile he wore on his face stretched wider, before his eye lids fell into a hooded gaze. His free hand, which rested at his side for now, made its way along the sheet until it met Telrenya's palm that laid face up. He continued to listen to Tel's story as his fingers loosely laced between hers, the heels of their hands pressing together gently. "Its no matter if you were undecided.. I think when I was your age, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do either." The man chuckled, leaning forward slightly towards her, "So a beautiful, kind musician and artist? What did I do to get so lucky." he said with a playful laugh, leaning the rest of the way forward as to place a gently kiss on her cheek. As he returned his head back to his hand, he let his arm lay flat, his head along with it so it would rest on the sheets as well. "I'd love to see you draw or paint something someday.." he said with a soft smile. 

Jomei's head rose from the bed, "Oh that reminds me." he turned his body and sat up. Placing his hands on his knees, the man pushed himself up to a standing position, before stepping over to his desk. In the middle of the wooden surface was a recording crystal, which was usually pretty common for their home. Jomei turned his head to Tel, picking the crystal up in his hands. "Its a new song that I recorded.. You really inspired me, so I.. decided to mainly use the violin, with a little bit of piano for the rhythm" he ended with a small chuckle. Tapping on the center of the object, it began to float in his palm, an orange light coming to life in the center of the crystal. From it, the sound of a soft, soothing waltz began to fill the room. Jomei closed his eyes and smiled, "I don't take pride in many of my pieces.. but I think this one really turned out well." 

After the music continued to play for a moment, his eyes opened and focused back on the blonde on the opposite side of the room, still on his bed. With a smirk forming on his face, he slowly walked over to the woman, before reaching out an arm towards her, gesturing for her hand. Once her hand was placed in his own, he pulled Telrenya up to a standing position, until her body pressed into his. The hand that had pulled Telrenya up shifted to his palm pressed into hers, his fingers lacing with hers yet again. His other arm wrapped itself around her waist, his palm gently pressing into the curve of her lower back. "I'm not very good at this, so don't laugh at me too much." he said with a chuckle, as he began to slowly dance with Telrenya to the soft melody that filled the room. 

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya took on a deepened blush at Jomei's sweet words before she felt a kiss placed upon her cheek. Still, she smiled warmly and returned his hold on her hand, squeezing softly. She had manged to forget about the dangerous world around them--the stats and levels, the monsters and fighting, the projections and replications of everything she saw and felt. She thought back to what Jomei had said minutes ago about the two of them living together in the real world, and she couldn't help once more wishing for that to be a reality someday. She closed her eyes for a moment or two with a smile resting on her lips that only grew warmer when she heard him express an interest to see her art someday.

"Hmm~?" A soft, curious hum rolled from her throat when the Irishman perked up. She only opened her chocolate eyes again when she felt his hand slip away from hers and she watched as he moved the short distance to the desk. She propped herself up on her elbow, sliding her arms closer to her chest while she eyed the recording crystal he presented. Telrenya let out half a chuckle, but her eyes showed an eagerness to listen to the musical creation.

With a blink of surprise, she took the hand that Jomei offered to pull her to her feet. He brought her in close, and then his next movements made his intentions all too clear. Telrenya froze up for a moment, her cheeks taking on another pink hue. "A-ah, I've--I mean, I've...never really done this before, so..." Her voice dropped to a shy mumble with her admittance while she stared at Jomei's chest directly in front of her. Despite her hesitation and uncertainty, the two moved slowly as they danced, swaying and circling in the space of their bedroom.

[Jomei 0]

The ginger tried to make sense of Telrenya's shy mumbles, yet he could only respond with a small laugh. "Well.. the only experience I have is from high school dances." the man said, slightly embarrassed from his own lack of skill in the field, "So at least that makes two of us..but" The man felt his cheeks heat up, the red tint that formed making his own nerves apparent, "I don't know.. its just something I wanted to try with you."  adding another small laugh. "Just.. follow my lead." the man said with a soft voice and a hooded gaze, "...and hopefully I don't trip you." a smirk pulling at the corner of his lips. As he spoke with Telrenya, he slowly began to move his feet along the floor, hoping that the girl would follow his movements with each step. Despite not being the best at dancing himself, Jomei tried his best to teach Telrenya any of the moves he knew. Of course, the shyness of the two, and the clumsiness of Jomei would lead to multiple mishaps and near falls, only resulting in laughter shared by the two. As the song began to come to a close in the last few measures, Jomei smiled at Telrenya, who seemed to be somewhat getting the moves down.. despite Jomei mostly making it up as he went along. As long as the two were having fun, it did not matter if their moves were correct or not. 

Once the song came to a close, Jomei released his hand that held Telrenya's and lowered it to her hip, matching his other arm and wrapping it around her waist in a loose embrace. "Thank you for the dance, Estelle.. That was a lot of fun." he said with a small laugh before separating from the woman. Jomei's head turned to the side, where he saw both Adere and Willow looking at the two with eyes that he suspected had been watching them for their entire dance. Blushing a bit from that thought, the man broke eye contact with the familiars and walked over to his balcony, looking out the screen door to the streets of Taft for a moment before turning around to look at Tel. "Hey, lets go on an adventure.. Just you and me. Lets go find something to explore." His lips pulled into a grin, "You said you wanted to see one of the exciting places I've been to... Well then lets find something new together." Jomei crossed his arms and shifted his weight, his face taking on a sly, smug look, "I mean.. unless you just want to sit around in our pajamas and be lazy all day."

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya held an affectionate smile throughout the length of their dance, only slightly faltering when she concentrated particularly carefully so as not to miss the next step, or during the fleeting moments of surprise when they would nearly trip over each other. She blushed, and giggled, and once she felt as though she was getting the hang of it she hummed along to a few measures when she caught the familiarity of a repeated verse.

Her smile only brightened when the song came to an end. "Of course, thank you... It was great. I'd...like to do that again sometime." She let out a tiny chuckle before they parted. She hummed a short response when Jomei spoke up again, keeping her attention on him until their eyes met again. She blinked in surprise at his suggestion, but it was only a quick moment before they began to practically sparkle with excitement. "Yes... Definitely, let's go!" The girl was ecstatic with the idea, only stopping when she saw the teasing look that took over his face. She laughed, bringing a hand to her mouth as she took a few steps to close the distance between them. Dropping her hand to rest on Jomei's arm as she raised herself up to the balls of her bare feet, she gave the man a quick kiss on the lips before lowering back down and turning her attention to the brightly-lit city before them. "We can do that any day, right?" She took on a small smirk of her own. "Today looks like a good day for getting into trouble."

[Jomei 0]

The ginger watched as Telrenya laughed at his joke while taking a couple of slow steps towards the man. As she came to a stop in front of him, Jomei let his arms lower to his sides, smiling down at the blonde as she looked up at him. Her own hand lowered from in front of her mouth as her laugh subsided, her fingers gently brushing against Jomei's shoulder until they laid in place upon his bicep. Telrenya then rose onto the balls of her feet, his soft lips pressing against Jomei's for a short moment before lowering herself back to the ground and stepping to Jomei's side to look out of the window to the streets of Taft below. Jomei watched as a smirk pulled at the corner of Telrenya's lips, a facial expression that he did not see on her face very often.. if ever. Jomei's cheeks burned with the red blush they took on, as he felt his heart flutter in his chest at her words of getting into trouble. This clearly was not the same Telrenya he had met in Urbus, scared to go and fight the Wasp Queen. No, she had grown and matured into the young woman that stood beside him now-- a young woman who he was truly in love with. 

Turning around, Jomei moved himself so he stood behind Telrenya. His arms slipped past her sides and loosely wrapped around her hips. With his chest pressed into her back, his head rested just upon her shoulder, next to her neck. "Well then.." the man said through a chuckle, "..Lets go get into some trouble then." he added in a soft whisper, before planting a quick kiss on the side of the blonde's neck. After separating from Telrenya, Jomei took a couple of steps back and placed a hand on his chin in though. "Just leaves the question.. which floor should we check out..?" He thought for a moment of all the floors he had been to, and those he had not. Many of the higher intermediate floors, save for Floor Twenty One, he had not been to.. so then which. Picking one out at random, Jomei smiled. "Alright, I think I have an idea, have you ever been to Floor Nineteen? I hear its filled with ruined cities the size of the Town of Beginnings.. and some pretty interesting places to check out." As Jomei spoke with Telrenya about everything he knew about the floor, he swiped his hand upwards to open his inventory. His black shirt disappeared in a flash of white light, leaving the man's upper torso bare, save for the Celtic pendant around his neck. "I've never actually been there myself.. so it'll be exciting to explore a new floor with you for the first time." 

With a couple more selections from his inventory, a sleeveless, black shirt with a high neck appeared on his body, followed by a long green trench coat with a short, darker cape attached at the lower shoulders, the tail of the coat falling towards the ground as his cloak usually would. His pants too were replaced with a pair of brown pants, and tall boots covered by spats appeared on his feet. Lastly, sheets of thin armor covered his chest and shoulder, with Oathkeeper falling into place on his side. 

[Telrenya 0]

It was as if her own heart skipped a beat when she heard the man whisper next to her ear. Her cheeks burned and she felt another rush of excitement even after he had pulled away. She turned around to face him while he presented a question, and she found herself running through a mental list of all the floors she had visited herself before he offered up a suggestion. "Nineteen..." She echoed, trying to recall the highest floor she had seen thus far. She had been to the twenty-first with the intent to visit the hot springs some time ago, but other than that she couldn't remember going any higher than their home floor of eleven.

She shook her head, "No, I don't think so. That sounds like fun, though." She smiled widely in agreement. Her eyes turned up to the Irishman with a semi-transparent menu hovering in front of him. As he spoke, the casual clothing he had slept in disappeared and was replaced with his battle attire. A new, faint tint of pink touched Telrenya's cheeks when she caught herself staring, and she made quick movements to open up her own menus and follow suit. With a few taps, the sleeveless white-and-maroon nightgown she wore disappeared to leave her in a set of simple white underwear before she panned over to her inventory to select the outfit that Ruby had gifted to her on Christmas Eve. Pieces of the uniform-esque clothing appeared on her avatar before a final tap summoned Celestial Dawn in its scabbard at her left hip. With the embarrassment fading from her cheeks, Telrenya closed her menus with a swipe of her hand. Willow made their way over to the girl, once again hovering above her right shoulder. She flashed the man across from her a grin, "Ready when you are."

[Jomei 0]

A smile formed on his face when Telrenya agreed that the idea of exploring Floor Nineteen sounded fun. "It's a date then." As the man began removing his casual wear, leaving him in nothing but a pair of grey underwear, his eyes trailed upwards to Telrenya.. who still stood there in her own pajamas, eyes fixated on Jomei's body as he changed. The man stopped for a moment before chuckling, "Distracted?" Jomei said playfully to the woman, shining her a quick wink before continuing on with the rest of his attire. Through the opaque menu in front of him, the lights of Telrenya's own casual wear disappearing caught his attention. As his eyes picked up yet again, his cheeks burned when he saw the blonde standing there in a simple set of underwear. "Oh my-" Jomei started to say under his breath before catching himself, throwing his palm over his mouth. "I-Im sorry.." he said with a nervous laugh before returning his view down to his own menus to finish equipping the rest of his gear, the image of Telrenya in such little clothing burned into his mind.

"Alright, lets get going then." Jomei said with a smile, the blush on his cheeks finally having faded. As he turned to face the doorway, leading down to the main hallway of their house. It was not far from the couple's house on the Eastern part of Taft to the town's center, where the teleporter was housed on its stone platform. Stepping up onto the platform so he stood just in front of the ring, Jomei held out his hand to Telrenya with a smile. Once her hand was in his, he spoke up "Warp, Floor Nineteen." 

Jomei's eyes opened as a crisp autumn-like breeze passed by him, tousling his hair. The couple were now standing on a new floor, in the center of a town known as Ralberg. The architecture of the floor was not extravagant, yet still seemed rich. The houses were all spread out, rather than lined up next to each other as they were in taft. Large gardens with fountains in the center added to the feeling of the wealthy living here. "This place is amazing." Jomei said, turning to look at Tel at his side. As the two began to walk towards the town, Jomei's attention was brought to a large tower far off in the distance. "Want to go check that out?" Jomei said, pointing towards the landmark known as The Last Tower.

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya's heart practically skipped a beat at the sight of the playful wink that he shot at her, hurrying to turn her attention to her own menus. Jomei's following reaction, however, had her cast a glance back up to him in time to catch his blushing face. The girl's lips pursed slightly, wishing she had been able to come up with a teasing response of her own before she settled on the small giggle that slipped out of her with the situation reversed.

After the couple had made their way from their Taft home to the teleport gate and appeared hand-in-hand in the main settlement of the nineteenth floor, Telrenya eyes were quick to take in her surroundings. The vast blue sky stretched high above them, and in the distance she could swear the mountain ranges she spotted in the distance were the tallest she had seen in all of Aincrad thus far. She took in the feel of the city, from its unique architecture to the few NPCs they could see wandering near the teleport plaza. "Mmm, it really is." She breathed in agreement as she heard Jomei make note of the impressive town.

Telrenya followed Jomei's direction towards an old watchtower well outside of the safe zone and far off in the distance. She nodded with a wide smile, "Yeah! I bet the view is amazing." She said with a soft chuckle. As the couple made their way out of the city and began what looked like a sizable trek to their destination, Telrenya was determined to make the most of their day out. Her eyes sparkled at the sight of the colorful leaves that littered the ground and clung to the trees they passed by, and her cheeks glowed with the soft autumn breeze that brushed over them. Her fingers still entwined with Jomei's, she gave the Irishman's hand a small squeeze. "You picked the perfect floor, darling." A tiny, shy giggle escaped her as the term of endearment seemed to slip out. Even so, she continued her thought with a slight tease, "Are you sure you haven't been here before?"

[Jomei 0]

Jomei's lips parted, bearing a toothy grin as he turned to look at Telrenya, squeezing the blonde's hand in return, "Nope never. Guess I just got lucky" the man said with a small chuckle, sidestepping towards Telrenya so he could plant a quick kiss on the girl's already rosy cheek. With the tower still a bit of a ways off, Jomei took a couple of hurried steps in front of Telrenya, pulling her along behind him as he picked up into a small, playful jog. Just ahead of them, Jomei noticed that there was a long, old looking bridge that, not only looked old and worn, but had no sort of supports along the bottom. As the two neared the cliff that the bridge was suspended over, Jomei's eyes caught a glimpse of the ravine that separated them and the tower on the other side. "E-Estelle look!" Jomei said, pointing down to what was a grassy marshland, an environment that was much different that the normal layout of the Nineteenth Floor. "I'm pretty sure this is a break in the Floor, and thats the Eighteenth Floor down there." Jomei spoke out in complete awe. "I had no idea that something like this existed." 

The man turned back to the long bridge that stretched across the ravine. His brows narrowed in concern, searching to see if there was another way to possibly cross over to the tower without using this bridge. To his dismay, it seemed to be the only viable solution. Turning his head to Telrenya, Jomei gripped her hand tightly before offering a small nod, and slowly stepping out onto the bridge. Because of the stone structure, the old bridge did not sway in the wind or move as a traditional rope bridge would have, making it much easier to traverse. However, the lack of supports still worried Jomei a bit. Watching his step as to not trip while traversing the bridge, Jomei would look over the edge down at the floor below, still in amazement that a piece of Aincrad had actually eroded as such. "This floor really is amazing." Jomei said under his breath. 

Before long, the couple set foot on solid ground yet again on the opposite side of the ravine. The tall tower was much more in view, as well as the small village that surrounded it. The thatched roof cottages that occupied the village differed greatly from the ornate looking villas in Ralberg, housing ranchers and traders rather than rich folk. In the center of the town stood the tall watchtower, which was only about half of what it once was. The tower, for the most part, was left in ruins, the top half of the tower having collapsed and was left crumbled at the base of the ruined structure. However, the door was still accessible for any players that wished to climb the stairs. "Want to head up?" Jomei said, turning to look at Telrenya with a smirk. 

[Telrenya 0]

"Hm?" Telrenya hummed after a small giggle had escaped her. The urgency in Jomei's voice had her hurrying to follow the direction of his extended finger to the edge of the massive ravine. Her chocolate eyes dropped to what the Irishman explained was the floor below them in the scheme of the floating castle, and they widened as they took in the sight of the marsh so far below. The sheer height had her grip on Jomei's hand instinctively grow a big tighter, but she was still left stunned by the rarity. "That's...seriously amazing." She breathed out.

A few minutes and an apprehensive bridge-crossing later, the couple approached a small village and grew even closer to their destination. "Of course! I'll bet the view is incredible." Telrenya's smile stretched with the ginger's prompting, and it was her turn to pull Jomei along as she quickened her pace.

The climb up the old watchtower was as long as they could expect given its impressive height. While the winding staircase was old and worn, it wasn't nearly as ruined as the the outside of the structure and they were able to traverse it with relative ease. Two two reached the top--or at least, what served as the new top of the watchtower with its original peak decaying beside its base. As their avatars met the open air, one of Telrenya's hands found the stone of the wall-turned-ledge that stood beside the last intact section of curved steps while the other held onto Jomei's hand just as tightly as when they had crossed the bridge. Despite the lingering apprehension, Telrenya's breath was quick to leave her as she looked out over the impressive view of the floor. "Oh my-... Just imagine what it might have looked like if this tower was in one piece." She tried to recover from the breathtaking sight in order to chuckle lightly at the thought.

[Jomei 0]

Telrenya's excitement about climbing to the top of the ruined tower caused a light pink color to form on Jomei's cheeks, his own smile widening before he felt the girl's grip on his hand tighten. Moments later, Jomei was being pulled along towards the iron door at the base of the watchtower, which opened with a simple push on the cold metal center. Most of the interior was surprisingly still in one piece, at least the stairs were. Some of the walls on the way up seemed to have been pushed out, giving a taste of the view the tower would give at the very top, as well as letting sunlight flow in through the openings. Olive eyes trailed to the side of Telrenya's smiling face, her own chocolate brown eyes fixated on the path in front of her. Every time the girl would pass through a ray of sunlight that seeped through a small window or crack in the wall, her eyes and face seemed to brighten. Would.. this be a good place to do it..? Jomei thought to himself as the couple finally reached the top of the ruined tower. 

Despite the watch tower not being the full height that it had once been, the ruined portion that Telrenya and Jomei stood upon still allowed a perfect view of the entire floor. The Irishman returned the tight hold on Tel's hand as she gripped him tightly, moving his body closer to stand beside her. "I'm sure it was even more incredible.." Jomei said in a soft voice. The scenic overlook the tower provided allowed Jomei to see everything the floor had to offer, including the large amount of ruins that scattered the city. At the base of the towering labyrinth which contained the dungeon leading to the boss fight, sat the remains of a city that looked to be the size of the Town of Beginnings on the First Floor. "Woah.. " Jomei said softly as he let out a breath of amazement, "Well.. we came up here for some adventure. Want to go explore that ruined city next?" 

[Telrenya 0]

"Hmm~" Another soft, contended hum sounded from the girl's throat as she stared out over the entirety of the floor, feeling Jomei's presence immediately beside her as she continued to hold onto his hand. The breeze that rolled through the skies lightly ruffled her blonde curls, and their ends slid across her shoulders as she turned to face the Irishman once his attention was drawn by a particular area.

She followed his gaze, easily spotting what she could only describe as the remnants of a large city in the distance. Some of the tallest buildings were noticeably fallen or eroded enough to see from the peak of the watchtower, though Telrenya had no way of telling if the area was at all populated. The thought urged her to voice her curiosity. "Ooh, that's perfect! It looks big enough to get lost in. I wonder if we'll find any NPCs still living there. Or players. Or maybe monsters?" She laughed as her string of thoughts came to an end.

[Jomei 0]

Telrenya seemed to share a similar excitement with Jomei when it came to exploring the ruined city. The thought of what dwelled upon the decrepit city walls cause a smile to break from Jomei's parted lips. Turning his head to face Telrenya, Jomei nudged her arm with his elbow. "Heh, you know as well as I do that there's definitely some monsters over there." Jomei only wondered just what lurked in the ruins, drawing out his excitement and lust for adventure even more. Taking Telrenya's hand, Jomei walked backwards towards the stairs that would lead the two back down to the Floor's surface. "Let's go get lost then." 

With the ruined watch tower now behind them, Jomei and Telrenya made their way towards the outer wall of the ruined city. As the soles of Jomei's boots pressed against the flat, grassy surface, his chin rose to look at the height of the wall in front of them. The archway into the city was without a gate, the pieces of what remained of the large doorway were scattered about the ground in front of the wall. The entryway itself was slightly obscured by pieces of the wall above that had crashed to the ground, yet the space left between the fallen pieces of stone were large enough for the couple to move through easily. 

The abandoned city that hid behind the tall stone barrier very closely resembled the First Floor's main settlement, though the architecture itself aged the ruins by a few more centuries. The bases of most of the stone buildings remained intact, though the upper levels or singular walls had given away due to time and erosion. Various stones that were laid out for the road they walked upon were shattered or overturned, allowing for grass and other greenery to poke through. Even some of the stone buildings were littered with moss and vines."It's even more amazing up close.." Jomei's voice spoke out in nearly a whisper, yet the lack of any other ambient noise caused it to echo against the walls around them. 

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya felt her heart aflutter in her chest as Jomei faced her, his face lit up with a grin of excitement as he began to lead them back down the watchtower's staircase. She felt a light burn on her cheeks, unaware of the captivated smile that had settled on her own features all the while she followed behind the Irishman.

They worked their way to the ruined city without interruption, allowing them all the time in the world to take in the sights of the crumbling stone and overgrowth as nature seemed to be very slowly reclaiming parts of the long-fallen city. Wide chocolate-brown eyes ran over the tallest of the walls and columns that hadn't yet given into nature's toll. When she would pass closely enough, the girl studied even more closely, curiously searching and prodding for anything of interest, be it materials or pieces of lore or even some kind of switch that would open up a secret passage.

"Oh!" Her voice easily carried the excitement and interest that coursed through her when she perked to attention. Her gaze had carried down a narrow path on their side, and the couple would have passed it by if Telrenya's eye hadn't been caught. She pulled lightly at the hand she still held onto so as to redirect their path. It was only a matter of seconds before they were met with a dead-end at the end of the narrow street, or what once was. Telrenya frowned. "I could've sworn I saw something move down this way..." Her lips pursed into a tiny pout while her head turned to search a bit longer for anything of interest.

ID#: 95929 | LD: 4 - no treasure, rip

Edited February 14, 2018 by Telrenya

[Jomei 0]

Telrenya's tiny exclamation caught Jomei's attention, and he soon found his path being redirected down an alleyway between two of the ruined buildings. The ginger kept his eyes peeled for whatever it was that Telrenya saw, as well as any other points of interest that could prove this journey to be worth more than just the pretty sights and exciting adventure. In the end, it seemed the girl's pretty eyes had tricked her, as the path she led him down met a solid wall. Jomei shone Tel a quick smile when he saw the pout on the girl's face for being deceived, and bringing a hand up, he gently pat the girl on the head. "No worries love, let's keep looking." The singular path led the two back to the broken stone streets, and the couple continued their exploration. 

Jomei's brows furrowed as he continued to study the strange architecture of the buildings. It seemed as though the deeper the two moved into the city, the older the buildings seemed, both in the way they had been built and how much over come with overgrowth they were. The buildings seemed a bit thicker though, so more of the larger structures held together, rather than the earlier they had seen upon entering the city in the first place. "This place is really strange.." 

Now it was Jomei's eyes that caught a glimpse of something.. though this time it was motion. Quickly turning in the direction he spotted something, he too saw nothing. He stared off into the distance for a long moment before turning his head to face Telrenya again. However, as he did so, he saw something dark moving again, this time much more apparent. Through the dark doorways of one of the buildings stepped a human-like figure. At first glance, Jomei thought it to be a lost player. "Hello?" he called out, "Are you lost?" From its dark face shone two bright white eyes, staring directly at the two players. With a couple of more steps forward, the entity revealed to have skin as dark as shadow, and was far from human. Its body seemed to be a fusion of organic and inorganic parts including stone, fur, and architectural elements, some of which are weathered or fractured.

Jomei tore his rapier from its scabbard and held it forward, "I don't like the look that thing is giving us.." 

[Telrenya 0]

Another idle hum escaped her as they continued deeper into the ruined city. "Really makes you wonder," She filled the silence as her fingertips reached out and drew across a large piece of moss-covered stone that made up what looked like an old restaurant of some kind, judging by the style and number of decaying tables and chairs could be seen scattered throughout the space past the cloudy windowpanes. "If this place was designed like this from the beginning, or it's supposed to be part of some kind of event, or maybe it was a huge town that never got finished so they left it unpopulated." She chuckled as the theories flowed from her.

She was about to start entering the buildings themselves in search of anything of interest. There had to be some secret to these ruins worth discovering, and the burning desire for adventure inside of her was far from going out. Jomei's movements grew more careful to catch her attention, and she turned back towards the Irishman with curioues eyes. They were quick to land on the figure that he had spotted, however, nearly causing the girl to jump at the unexpected presence that felt as though it were staring straight at them.

Telrenya grew uneasy with the short, staggered steps that the creature took towards them. When Jomei unsheathed his rapier the blonde's hand naturally worked to do the same, pulling Celestial Dawn free. The figure stopped, pausing a moment as it continued to stare with the same expressionless face. Its head tilted to the side until the side of an ivory antler that protruded from its skull collided with the moss-covered wall directly beside it with a small tap to cut through the silence. It paused again, then picked up a hand half-covered with vines to reach across its body. It grasped at the handle of a wooden blade at its hip, pulling the weapon forward and pointing its obsidian edge at the couple.

The sound of shifting stone behind her caused Telrenya to spin around. Her back pressed lightly against Jomei's as the tip of her rapier trained on the direction of another, nearly-identical creature as it climbed out from behind a pile of fallen rubble sitting beside a run-down smithy. She kept her eyes on the slowly-moving creature, tilting her chin to the side as she spoke in a hushed voice to the man at her back. "Should we try to fight them? Or... How many friends do you think they've got?" She asked with a tiny, nervous chuckle.

[Jomei 0]

The humanoid creature that approached from in front of the two drew a weapon from its side, pointing the edge of the weapon forward at Jomei and Telrenya. From behind the two, the tapping of staggering footsteps from behind them started Telrenya, the girl spinning around to face the enemy that now approached them from behind. "I'm not sure how strong these guys are.. but if theres only two of them, I think its safe to say we can hold our ground." Glaring at the ginger with lifeless, white eyes, it let out a loud groan that sounded as if it echoed from the other side of an empty tunnel. The creature rushed forward at Jomei, the razor sharp edges of the wooden blade scraping against the cobblestone road. 

Dropping his own rapier to his side, Jomei advanced forward to meet the humanoid, raising his blade up in a slanted roof guard above his head to stop the wooden blade from crashing atop him. Jomei used the angle of his block to slide his attacker's blade off of him, retaliating by stepping forward again and bashing the pommel of his sword into the stone-like face of the creature. A low grumble sounded out from somewhere within its body as a vine covered hand reached up to its wounded face. The Emerald Duelist took the opportunity to rush forward yet again, leaving a deep red gash across the creature's chest with a downward cut. Dismissing the blade in its dominant hand, the Forgotten curled its fingers into a tight fist and swung at the ginger, leaving Jomei to just barely drop to a knee and duck under the attack. With its legs now wide open, Jomei cut straight across at its ankles, knocking it down to his current level. Springing to his feet one last time, Jomei spun his blade in his hand so he held it in a reverse grip, and with his opposite palm pressing into the base of the pommel, Jomei thrust his sword downwards into the back of his enemy, its body shattering like glass upon impact.

That wasn't too bad.. Jomei thought to himself, before the realization of the monster's apparent level hit him. Jomei was able to handle it easily because of his own heightened level, where Telrenya on the other hand was much less experienced. The man quickly spun around to make sure that Telrenya was okay with her own monster, "Estelle!" he shouted, before realizing the girl was fine. 

[Telrenya 0]

Just as the solid support of Jomei's back against hers disappeared with his advance, Telrenya filled her lungs with air and did the same. As she broke out into a run, she pulled the hilt of her rapier in close to her side, leaning in with her right shoulder as she shot the blade forward towards the chest of the humanoid creature. The Forgotten had reached for an identical wood-and-obsidian blade at its waist, pulling the weapon free just in time to deflect the woman's attack. She didn't let up in her assault, recovering from the clash by running a diagonal slash back down across its body that caused her opponent to let out a shriek of pain.

The monster was far from defeated, retaliating with a quick side-swipe of its straight sword. The reflexes she had been working to train over the past weeks kicked in, allowing Telrenya to drop her frame to a low crouch and duck beneath the attack. A hint of a confident smirk pulled at her lips as she spotted an opening. She extended her right leg to the side before immediately sweeping her feet in front of her to catch the Forgotten's ankles and knock the creature to the floor. As the monster's should hit the stone floor with a heavy 'thud', Telrenya shot back up to her feet with rapier in hand, holding the tip of her blade to the monster's neck as her chest rose and fell with quickened breaths. A victorious grin infected her, overwhelmed by the thrill of using the same technique that had bested her in a friendly duel with the ambitious Neo.

Distracted from the reality of the fight in front of her, the tip of Celestial Dawn was shoved away from where it hovered over the creature, and its arm opposite her swiftly shot forward to grab at her wrist. Telrenya's eyes widened as the monster yanked her forward with a vine-covered hand, and a second later the woman's avatar was marked with a couple of jagged, pixelated gashes. She winced in discomfort when the obsidian teeth of the Forgotten's serrated blade sliced at her through the soft blue glow of Willow's protection, and she reacted by quickly wrenching her right arm free again. With the monster still laying prone in front of her, Telrenya unleashed a string of stabs and slashes, her blade dancing through the creature's grey, stone-fused flesh.

A small sigh of relief escaped her as the monster shattered into pixels at the end of her barrage of strikes, and the sound of Jomei calling her name behind her had the girl turn over her shoulder. "Ahh, I'm okay!" She replied with a smile. As if to prove her wrong, however, the feeling of rigid fingers wrapping around her ankle caused her expression to dim with the chill that ran down her spine. Her chin dropped to see a similar vine-covered hand grasping at her ankle, eliciting a short scream from the girl while she turned and tried to escape from the monster that had crawled from a nearby pile of rubble. Though she freed herself, she lost her balance in the process and stumbled backwards before landing on the back of her skirt against the concrete floor of the ruined city. Along with the lifeless eyes of the creature that dragged itself along the ground towards her, Telrenya's own orbs darted between several more sets that had made themselves visible.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei was a bit shocked to see that Telrenya had dealt with the strange creature just as swiftly as he had, with only a small handful of bright red scrapes on her body to show that she was damaged. Above all, however, he was just relieved that she was fine. "Good." he said with a small sigh, before the blonde's shrill shriek pierced the silence of the ruins. At her feet, another Forgotten had crawled out from under a fallen wall, its dark, stony fingers wrapped around her ankle. Olive eyes went wide as he rushed forward to Telrenya's side, the girl breaking free of the creature's grasp and falling to the floor. He dropped to a knee, placing a hand at the top of her back and shooting her a quick glance before her frightened gaze turned Jomei's attention forward yet again. It seemed the crawling Forgotten was not the only one who was attracted to the sound of their battle, as several other similar mobs slowly began to creep out from the shadows. 

"Dammit.." Jomei cursed under his breath before raising back up to his feet and standing in front of Telrenya. His eyes darted from mob to mob, waiting to see which of them would make the first move and charge at him. Once his target had approached, Jomei quickly parried the attack and rushed his blade through its chest. With one of the Forgotten skewered onto his sword, he whipped his arm so the creature slid off of Oathkeeper and crashed into another of the Forgotten, both falling to the ground. Reacting as quickly as he could, Jomei partially turned to meet another two monsters, each of their obsidian tipped blades cutting down at Jomei at the same time. The man horizontally pushed his rapier forward, placing a palm on the dull side of the blade to add another layer of force behind his defense. As a third monster rushed at Jomei's side, the ginger quickly put all of his body weight behind his block, pushing the two Forgotten off of him, though he still took the full front of the flanking creature's blade as it cut down the length of his back.

Letting out a grunt from the discomfort of the attack, Jomei threw a kick to his side to knock the monster back again, only to be met with another blade colliding with the armor on his shoulder. With the grip on his sword tightening, the ginger swiped horizontally across the two Forgotten that stood in front of him, not killing them, but knocking them onto their backs. Jomei took a quick look at his health bar, he was still fine and far from death.. but if they gained any more of an advantage on him, his safety--as well as Telrenya's-- would definitely change. "Estelle, get out of here. I'll hold them off." Jomei said through a grunt as he blocked another wooden sword from the first Forgotten he had knocked back.