[PP-F24] The Hunt: Act I - Investigation

[Oikawa 1]

How long? How long has it been since I last heard from her... The faint memory of black and white hair nestled into his armor seemed all too familiar as the raven-haired man gazed out from his manor. His eyes closed. His mind reminisced on the times he spent with her., the ice queen. She was more than just a memory to him, yet only just that in the literal sense. It had been months since he had last seen her. Let alone speak to her.

You just had to disappear again huh? Just like last time. You are never around when they need you most... First...Kotori... Now... Ki-

He stopped himself. There was no point in furthering his own pity. Oikawa's eyes blinked open. The crimson orbs scanning the horizon as the sun began to lower behind it. This was no time to loathe. No, he needed answers. Looking down, he swiped up to draft the system menu. From it, he selected a few names and typed out a message. Selecting send, he sighed before dismissing the messenger HUD and returning his gaze to the now darkened window. With a small grin, Oikawa equipped his newly crafted spear, and prodded the window open.

"Let's go find this... Vile"

@Calrex @Baldur @Shield @Beat

Edited January 11, 2019 by Oikawa

[Calrex 0]

Soon after he had finished his quest with Zuekin, Calrex had made his way back to the second floor teleportation plaza, sitting down on a nearby bench, "Guess I can rest for a..."

Before he could let his mind relax suddenly his HUD notified him of a message. With a few familiar swipes after performing it so many times, the bluenette arrived at his inbox to see that Oikawa was the sender of the message, seemingly to request his assistance. "That's definitely not unusual. Maybe he's finally gotten time to get out of the shop. Too bad Teayre's still not wanting to leave the Amethyst Boutique. I'm sure she would be happy to see him as well."

Preventing his mind from getting nostalgic the bluenette gave a quick shake of his head before getting to his feet, "Alright let's get moving."

Entering the destination floor his avatar vanished from the second floor to rematerialize on the twenty-first. Glancing down at his current armament he gave a small smirk before swinging the Grand Skypiercer to the side as both the one-handed spear and shield vanished in a series of lights before reforming as the Grand Gauntlets III around his forearms. In the meantime he refrained from equipping his armor, keeping the Rebellion of Sapphire attached around his neck, "Back to his mansion workshop then."

Putting his gauntlet-covered hands into the jacket pockets of his casual combat clothing the Ultramarine Knight made his way to The Faint's location.

[Shield 0]

This was a curiosity. Sure, Shield and Oikawa had been building a rapport, businessman to businessman. They had even been in the same boss raid meeting. Still, he never would have expected an invitation for an outing out of the blue, and particularly not one that was unrelated to a quest carry. "We may have an interesting day ahead of us, Lilith," he said amusedly to the little serpent that sat draped back and forth in coils on his broad shoulder. The kitchen around them was homey, with a fire crackling in the hearth. The bush viper flicked her tongue benignly at Shield and he shrugged, which lifted her several inches higher. She flicked her tongue again, this time judgingly. "Oh, deal with it," he drawled sarcastically. Rising from his chair, he checked his equipment. Not knowing what would be involved in the outing, he did not quite know what to pack, so he grabbed a few sundries - a spyglass, some food of various buffs, and his searching gear - before drafting his response.

Quote

Oikawa,

I could do with a little adventure. I'll be there.

-Shield

He stepped out the door and went to knocked on the entrance to the building beside him. "Hey, @Beat! You want to go rub elbows with some important players?" He was not sure who else had received the summons. He didn't even know if Oikawa and Beat knew each other by name. Still, he knew that Beat had not gotten out as much as he once had. Whether intentionally or as a result of circumstance, some fresh virtual air might do him some good. "There's adventures to be had!"

[Beat 0]

Beat had been flipping through his menus and doing inventory when the tedious task was disrupted by the sound of his partner summoning him for some sort of adventure. It had quite some time since he had actually gone out for any sort of adventure. He grinned and shook of the sort of mental fog that had developed over the recent weeks as he closed his menu and opened his door, seeing the welcome sight of his old rival. The fresh air of the survival game they were all in served to further clear his mind, though a certain haze still lingered. 

"Sure, the fresh air will do me some good." He said, stepping out and looking at Shield expectantly, "Where to? I can't imagine there is a quest you haven't already done." His curiosity continued to grow as he began flipping through the long list of quests he had yet to do.

[Baldur 0]

When the little chime that accompanied a new message turned out to be from Oikawa, Baldur poked the button to open the message. It was left a little bit cryptic, but if his old friend needed help, then Baldur would be there. They may not have succeeded in keeping the Spectrum Coalition a formalized guild, but they all still viewed themselves a members, though perhaps more informally now. Teayre had been the one to finally drive that forward.

It seemed he wanted to meet at his house, and it took a minute for Baldur to realize he had moved the forge there.

Quickly, Baldur made his way to the teleport plaza, but realized when he got there, he had forgotten the name of the main settlement.

"Man, I'm getting old or rusty or both..." The samurai muttered to himself.

Pulling out his little black info-broker book, Baldur flipped to the entry for the 21st floor, and then looking up the name of the settlement.

"Aha. Teleport- Tomoiko!"

And then he was gone in a flash of light, whisked off to his old friend, accompanied by memories of when they first met on the 7th floor for their first adventure.

[Shield 0]

"To the twenty first floor, to start with," he answered Beat, motioning with his head for them to head out. "We're meeting Oikawa and whoever else decides to show, I suppose. He very briefly attended a boss raid meeting, but you might not know him otherwise." The walk into town was always a hassle, but he was so used to picking his way through the terrain that he didn't even need to pay attention to his feet or where they were walking anymore. "He was vague on the details, but he's a player who has been in and around the front lines since long before we ever started power leveling our way there, so whatever this is is bound to be interesting."

He shaded his eyes, watching as Taft drew nearer and nearer on the horizon. Once they arrived, he made straight for the plaza, teleporting immediately and almost running smack into a familiar wannabe samurai. "Baldur! I didn't know whether I would see you up here or not. Are you headed to meet Oikawa as well?" He hoped that would be the case. Baldur was also far considerably his senior on the front, and having a second long-timer on the excursion was sure to promise interesting happenings.

[Oikawa 1]

Though having only received a formal reply from Shield, Oikawa could only assume his S.C. brethren couldn't be far behind. Closing the window, the noirette swiped through a few menus before stopping as a certain feline materialized into view. The smokey grey cub sprawling his toes as if he had just awakened from a deep slumber. "Alas it has been some time King. Ready for some action?" The childish leopard raised a brow in confusion before executing a yawn and pawing off into the grassy field. Shifting his gaze, Oikawa begin to descend from the middle level of "The Coliseum". Along the horizon, specks bobbled in and out of view and Oikawa wondered if any of them resembled the party he had called for. Shouldn't be too much longer. Though it will be interesting trying to explain the reasoning for the gathering. Perhaps this might've been a bad idea.

[Calrex 0]

"Doesn't seem like it's too much farther from here..."

Calrex wasn't sure if there were others that were already responding to Oikawa's message, but from what he could tell he was one of the first to arrive. Taking his forearms out of his jacket pockets the deep blue hue of his gauntlets shone in the light as the polished metal reflected the digital light. As he continued to look around with his eyes, it seemed that his peregrine falcon companion had already locked onto the target as Roc swooped down from his higher hovering altitude, seemingly becoming a blur as he reached hunting speed before pulling up at the last moment to break the acceleration.

The target that had been locked by the familiar was actually King, the falcon's friend that the bird approached with excitement as he gently touched down on the ground next to the cub. The bluenette was not much further behind as he recognized Roc's behavior, coming to a stop as he recognized the now jet black hair that his fellow former Spectrum Coalition member was now sporting. With a calm wave the Ultramarine Knight walked forward, "Guess I'm the first one here."

[Baldur 0]

Baldur was surprised to see @Shield when he appeared on the 21st floor. And further surprised when Shield and mentioned going to see Oikawa. He turned and smiled to his two future guild mates and gave them a slight bow of respect. "Ohayo, Shield and Beat! I didn't know you guys knew Oikawa. But yes, I'm on my way to meet up with him now. He and I have adventured together for a long time... we met... I think I was level 5. We have quite the history."

Baldur gestured with his head for them to follow as he began to lead them towards his friend's house.

"I am not sure I know what he has planned though. Whatever it is, I help my friends though."

The gaijin samurai smile as they traveled through the caves to try and find the home and forge of Seijiro.

"Oikawa is also the one who has made all of my weapons but one. He is one of the best blacksmiths Aincrad has ever seen, not to speak less of any others like Macradon, but Oikawa was one of the trailblazers, and has been on the frontline for a very, very long time. I'm glad to see him stirring once again."

[Shield 0]

Shield followed after Baldur, listening to the background that the samurai shared with the so-called greatest smith in Aincrad. "Well, it sounds like we're assembling quite a band of professionals. Between the most accomplished merchant and the most accomplished smith, we've got the beginnings of a real trade guild." He gave a little twist of the corner of his mouth. "Do you have any ideas of what this is all about? The message he sent out was vague to say the least. I don't have the depth of background with the man. We've only met face to face a handful of times now."

It was an odd sort of situation. Shield was used to accompanying other players on goose-chases, but those tended to be below level ten looking to grind up and needing a solid support and tank. This was an accomplished player, and it was a blank check, which was also an oddity considering his outings with other players were now typically repeated quests. This was not even likely to be a quest from the sound of things, but an actual game of detective. He checked his gear, but not knowing where they were going, it was impossible to know if he was well equipped for it or not.

[Baldur 0]

"He didn't say much in his message, but if he's asking for help, that means something personal. If he's asked you and Beat along, that means something difficult. If he's asked both of you AND me around, then I'll bet money that Calrex will be there too. Perhaps even Teayre, though she doesn't go out much right now. But you don't assemble a crew like this to go beat some loot mobs. Between the six of us, we could probably take down the next floor boss."

The more the gaijin samurai thought about it, it was an odd situation, but they would have to find him first.

"Come on, I thought I caught the glimpse of Roc flying this way. And if that's true, then they're both just ahead."

Baldur gestured the two to follow him through the crowd until he was that was looking for. The ultramarine was hard to miss, though it seems like Oikawa had spent some time adjusting his avatar as much as SAO would allow. The once very blonde swordsman now seemed to wield a spear and have dark hair.

"Ohayo, @Oikawa, looks like literally crawled out of your forge after all this time. Have you avoided the sun that much, or is that soot darkening your hair?" The wanna-be samurai teased his old friend. "Good too you as well, @Calrex-kun."

[Beat 0]

Beat gave @Baldur an enthusiastic nod and appreciated the greeting in his native tongue. It seemed that the game did not translate the words into English if they were spoken in your native tongue. It was a nice reminder that the outside world was still waiting for them, despite Beat's reluctance to return to reality and all of it's problems. It wasn't that Sword Art Online didn't have it's own issues, but the solutions to those issue seemed simpler somehow. 

"Alright, let's meet this Oikawa." he said with a moderate amount of interest in his voice. 

Beat's falcon, Horus, flew up above, surveying the land from high above, performing his duty as lookout as he often did. With lookout duty taken care of, Beat was free to relax and wonder who Oikawa was, figuring he probably had met him, as Shield had told him, but had simply forgotten the name.