[F1, PP, Earning A Living] The Beginning Of Glory!

[Elouviana Zashira 0]

It all started, with a deep - for a woman - laugh. She was stood out in the center of the Town Of Beginnings, and looked about before letting out the laugh. Most people were doing their jobs or trying not to die so didn't really pay much attention to her, but that didn't really bother her. She was here to gather people who would join her on her quest to glory, riches, and being the world's greatest blacksmith. Sure, she wasn't really interested in the game beforehand and was just trying it out, but now she was stuck here she might as well get stuck in.

"Who among you wishes to start their journey to become, the greatest blacksmiths in the world? Or, whatever this is. The...tower? It looked kind of towery, but to say the tower would be really strange. Second point, can we agree to say In The World?" she asked the crowd.

Edited April 4, 2019 by Elouviana Zashira

[Pinball 1]

Worn leather boots strode over the smoothly paved roads of the Town of Beginnings. He didn't belong here, and that much was obvious - but most people steered clear of him because of his cursor, and the guards on the 1st Floor were notoriously easy to avoid, which made it a lot easier. Sure, if he was seen, he would be attacked on sight and ultimately driven from the settlement... but sometimes he just wanted to go grocery shopping. He paused, fingertips brushing against the building to his side. 

It might have been a strange sight, if he was spotted at all. Most players wore shiny, spiky armor or cool dusted leathers. Pinball wore neither. He wore a bracelet that hung low on his wrist: a glittering sword made of crystal. That was literally the only shiny thing he owned. Next to the sword on his waist there was a cracked and dusty glass jar hanging from his belt, holding a swirling mass of pitch black fog. There were vials and pouches to the other side. His shirt was lazily half-tucked into his pants, and the sleeves of his black coat were rolled up, unashamedly revealing a build on the lankier side. He kind of looked like the kid that got stuck with helping the janitor after lunch - except he had the mark of a criminal locked in a slow, perpetual spin over his head. Tired blue eyes and a disheveled head of black hair glazed over the plaza, eventually locking onto the woman in the center. He stood still, watching. Waiting? Maybe. 

He didn't really know.

Stealth: ID#113986 LD: 13+5= 18
Stealth Rating: 18

Edited April 3, 2019 by Pinball

[Mishiro 0]

Perhaps the world had already forgotten. But three years since the day the skies turned red, the central plaza had turned into a bright, beautiful place, almost devoid of that moment's reminder. People smiled and laughed, and passed by it without a single thought. Arabelle liked frequenting the area to find new friends. Roman often gathered his guild members there before heading to a dungeon or whatever excursion their guild leader had organized. 

...she didn't know what was so different about her. But that moment would always resurface, in brief flashes of memory. The red figure. Their cries. Their despair. The moment that altered the course of their lives, for an indefinite amount of time. 

Materializing at the teleport gate, Mishiro drew in a sharp breath. With her heavy black iron armor and gauntlets, she was dressed like a warrior. But was she? The girl immediately focused on the exit and everything surrounding it: the people around her, the stone pavement and high walls of the plaza, the memories it held - the moment she took her first step, a memory she still treasured deeply - everything was reduced to a blur. It was like tunnel vision. The constant need to use the only teleport gate in the central - the only inexpensive way of getting around - demanded her to adapt. In some way.

On this particular day, there was a woman standing in the center, laughing a loud, boisterous laugh that drew the attention of many. Mishiro turned her head as she passed by, only registering her words for a slight moment, and went on her way.

To become...the greatest blacksmiths? 

[ooc: IC reasons demand me to bring Mishiro out of the central plaza. Meet her in some intersection maybe a few hundred meters away. ;3]

[Huginn 0]

Shiro had been watching the crowds of people swim by like schools of fish. They looked so meaningless from where he stood. They all had lives, goals, dreams, but to Shiro, they were just blobs without faces. Like extras in an anime, he just ignored them. Every now and then one would say something that sounded like his sister’s name, but nothing more than noise. That’s when he heard a girl shouting in the distance. He got up to move towards where he heard the voice when suddenly a new person appeared, this one not faceless or passing by like a bug in the breeze. This one was one that was rather important to him. Of course, him being the antisocial idiot he wanted to ignore the urge to talk to her and hide for the rest of his life, but Felli had different plans. Felli had already floated over to the girl and started dancing around her by the time he was trying to get away. So he was officially trapped. Great, might as well speak to the crazy blacksmith lady as well. He scoffs as he appears next to Mishiro, “Sorry about Felli, she can be so annoying.” He chuckles, hoping she won’t mind.

@Mishiro

[Elouviana Zashira 0]

Suddenly, people! This was exactly what she wanted. Although in all honesty there was only one person who actually came up to her and that person was because their familiar came to Elou first. So the familiar got pats, and then she saw one woman look at her for a brief moment, and that moment was all it took for Elou to pounce. Rushing over to grab her hand and pull her back, Elou broadly grinned at the owner of the familiar. 
"Hello people! It is good that you have all gathered here today. This day marks the the beginning of our path to become the greatest blacksmiths" Elou then, paused and frowned, her gaze glancing about. 

Maybe it was intuition, maybe it was the game system, maybe it was the burrito she had eaten earlier. But she felt something was about. Still, there was nothing she could see, so she shrugged.
"To the Blacksmith man!"

(Stealth spotting 114035: LD 11+1. Fail)

Edited April 4, 2019 by Elouviana Zashira

[Pinball 1]

Pinball watched for a moment, vaguely interested in her little show. It was pretty often that newcomers - because there still were newcomers popping up left and right, every day - would shout and run around the Town of Beginnings, looking for things to do and for people to do them with. It wasn't a strange thing to see, but it was always interesting to see people before they were corrupted.

And then the unthinkable happened~! 

Two people appeared. One he didn't know: a cutesy looking black-haired boy with some kind of Will-o-Wisp familiar. How quaint. But the sight of the other girl with them (not the wannabe blacksmith chick-) caused such an immediate, indescribable welling of emotion that it felt like something had grabbed him by the throat. Constricting. Choking. It was hard to breath, and he started to shake. Pinball stepped back into the alley, bringing his hands to his head. What was this? Why was she here? He thought she hated this place? That she couldn't bring herself to look at it? Thank God Claude wasn't with her.

Pinball focused on his breathing. And then, he ran further back, away from the plaza, stripping as he went. He took off his coat and his belt, with all its vials and his jar and his sword. As he ran he materialized a leather satchel, and he shoved all of it inside. He rebucked his sword to his side, and donned the Cloak of the Harbingers; an ancient, disbanded guild with an emblem probably unrecognizable to those who didn't already know about it. And in his hand was the Kitsune Mask he had worn to the Masquerade Ball so long ago. He pushed it on, and flipped up the hood of his cloak. 

Pinball started to run back, hopped onto the roof of a building in a surprisingly acrobatic display, and tried his best to get a bird's-eye view, searching for where they were. Zomekko, his shadowy familiar, swirled around him as a foggy mist, black flame obscuring Pinball's form before dwindling to the size of a grape - and then disappearing completely - taking Pinball's avatar with it. The cloaked and masked teenager disappeared in a burst of shadow. 

Was that them over there? 

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Stealth: ID#114110 LD: 18+5= 23 
Stealth Rating: 23 

Edited April 5, 2019 by Pinball

[Mishiro 0]

--And someone pulled her back. Mishiro caught herself before she could slip on the smooth pavement and whirled around. An unfamiliar woman held her by the wrist. Her dulled mind could only register the term 'blacksmithing' as the unusually aggressive person spoke. The loud woman from earlier...? She didn't care. The sights and sounds of the floor's central plaza flooded her senses and chasing after it, demanding to be remembered

 

--andfromtheredskies,afigureroseanddeclaredtheirfatewithhandsstretchedoutinamockingimitationofthegestureofabenevolentruler.rejoicethisisyourdamnedsalvationfromthemediocrityofyourordinarylives.andwhereversheturnedtherewasnothingbutthefacesofstrangersandtheircriesofdespair.hewasnowheretobefoundandinthosemomentsshewasutterlycompletelyabsolutely. aloneinacruelworld.

--

 

Blood pounded in her ears and an all-too-familiar feeling gripped her chest. She had to go. The woman holding Mishiro could feel her hand shaking uncontrollably before she twisted her wrist and wrenched herself free from the grip. A small sliver of rationality that still remained served to ground her to where she currently was, and she quickly bowed to the woman. "I'm sorry," she managed, through the tightness in her chest. Her nails dug into the white fabric of Roman's coat. "I'll - I'll help...but meet me there."

 

She barely acknowledged the little blue flame that danced comfortingly around her, or the familiar voice that followed. 

 

Mishiro turned and fled. 

 

She reached the blacksmith shop and ducked into an alley. Her iron-covered hands grabbed at both sides of her head, dragging down long locks of black hair, as she slid down against the wall. She regulated her breathing, stared intently at the stone wall in front of her, and when her hands stopped shaking, she brought down her menu.

 

Quote

To: Claude

Talk to me.

[ooc: edgy flashback. edgy reaction. claude is my npc, but he won't be making an appearance, so don't worry about him. by the blacksmith rn, for real this time. also, why is pin only lucky with the dice when we don't need it? :c]

Edited April 6, 2019 by Mishiro

[Huginn 0]

And just like that, Shiro was alone with a woman. The only person he didn’t hate had disappeared even faster than she got here, and now Shiro was trapped. It didn’t help that this girl was so energetic, more so than he remembers his sister ever being. The boy begins to think, I’ve already broken the silence, but that doesn’t mean I was talking to her necessarily. He looks dead serious, makes eye contact, and squints. Then he opens his mouth, a pained look on his face. “Who are you?” The question forced out and obviously so. He turns to walk towards the blacksmith shop, hoping that she’d say her name and just shut up, but it doesn’t take a genius to know he’s not that lucky. The next best thing would be for her to talk the whole time so he didn’t have to. That’s also unlikely. Conversations have to be two sided, or else they’re pointless. Plus, the loud people like other loud people, that’s the problem. The flock together. He waves Felli back over to him and pulls his hood up over his messy mop of a head. The familiar follows him, looking disappointed in the boy for not making new friends.

[Elouviana Zashira 0]

She was...hurting. Elou could feel her tremble, see her panic, see her pain. This, was really not good. It was, anti the good. Elou couldn't just stick around and let her be like this without trying to help, so she just sort of sent a party invite to the other guy so he could answer his question and follow her, and then took off to the blacksmith after the other girl. Which, didn't take her long because Elou had a frantic energy that sped her along on her journey. The other guy was all but forgotten as the intense focus of Elouviana The Cat, was on the other woman who had sprinted away from the centre of town.

"Hey. Do you want to talk with me about, your things? I won't say I will be able to help but I will certainly lend all effort I can towards that fact if you want"

 

@Huginn @Mishiro @Pinball

[Pinball 1]

Finn's legs moved without him even thinking about it. Low and quick, masked and cloaked, he hopped from rooftop to rooftop, running alongside the girl trying to put as much distance as she could between her and the past. The poignant ache in his chest was reduced to a dull, throbbing lump in his neck. He was nervous, but the apprehension faded away beneath the facade of safety that came with wearing a mask and with the assumed responsibility to support someone he used to care about. 

When he saw her finally come to a stop in the alley, he did too. She opened her messenger, and he slipped down from the building, still stealthed. He sat directly across from her, leaning comfortably into the stone wall behind him. There was some room between them, but when her interface dropped there would be nowhere for him to hide, and, consequently, he would be revealed. He waited for that moment. 

He could see her hurt, and it hurt him. It hurt him more than anyone could ever know. It hurt him back then and it hurt him now. He had no right to be here, to be talking to her. He had split them up for a reason. But here they were, face to mask -  with Pinball hiding behind the persona of a man that didn't exist. What right did he have to speak with her like this; like he knew her? But even still, he couldn't bear to see her like that. Not now. 

Not again. So what were the words that Pinball had always wanted to hear?

"Hey." This was weird. He shouldn't be here. Again, what right did he have? But he kept talking. "I know what it's like to uh, feel like you're being chased by something. Or somethin'." He folded his hands across his lap, leaning forward. "But running from it isn't gonna help." Literally, in her case. His voice got a bit quiet then, "It'll get worse. Trust me, I know. Ya can't make the mistakes I did. It'll be... so much worse." He leaned back into the wall, casting his gaze away from her (probably confused) face. "But you've got friends to help you through it. Even if it seems like you've only got the one. Trust in people, take baby steps, and you'll be alright. You deserve a happier reality than the one ya got. And I feel like others think so too." 

"So take it easy. You should smile some more, okay?" 

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"And here's a friend now~!" Pinball shot up from his seat with a flamboyant twirl of the hands and a quick, steady stride in the direction of Elouviana. He struck his hand out in greeting."Why, hello! The name's Ares, miss~! Broker, poet, outlaw philanthropist, playboy pastor." Finn spoke and moved with an insatiable excitedness, eating up anything the girls had to offer at that introduction - a persona in stark contrast of the mood he had set when he was alone with Mishiro. If that left her confused or hating him or outright denying the authenticity of what he said, he'd understand. Pinball had said what he meant, and meant what he said. He couldn't be there for her anymore, so that was enough for him. "But my, look at the time! I've got a meeting with Calrex in an hour. Good luck with your quest! Bon voyage!" And having said what he came to, he pushed for the exit. His orange cursor prevented him for staying in one place for too long, anyway. 

Pinball's deadpan expression was hiddden behind the painted red smile of the indifferent kitsune. 

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((OOC: Sorry for the late response!! I was busy for a while, but this should be enough edge to match Mishiro's~
If Pinball isn't grabbed or kept with the others, he'll duck behind the first building he sees and go back to lurking. I'm not gonna ditch you guys so soon, but I'll help you along with the post count uwu! Sorry for getting your thread off track for a moment there 3:)) 

[Mishiro 0]

There was a stranger seated across her. Mishiro drew back, sitting straight against the wall. She pulled her legs close to her chest and regarded them, her neutral expression only betraying a slight hint of wariness. The alley was narrow. They were close. If someone were to pass by, they would have to step over their feet. She didn't realize someone else had been here with her, close enough to witness the second half of that event. It was... mortifying. Something so unsightly, that she tried her best to keep to herself, that only two people have seen so far-- She wanted to stand up and leave. They were strangers. It wouldn't take them that long to forget.

 

"Hey."

 

But she didn't.

 

Morbid curiosity and the strings of fate worked in tandem to make her stay.

 

When he spoke, his distorted voice called her attention with a simple greeting. Mishiro remained silent. Listening. Watching. Dressed in a cloak that concealed his features, the stranger almost seemed to blend into the wall behind him. The unwavering smile of his kitsune mask looked back at her equally steady gray gaze and she could only wonder who was behind it. When he continued speaking, it was almost like he knew, more than just the surface-level. "How did you know?" the girl whispered to the masked not-quite stranger. An orange cursor floated above his head, though it had little to no bearing on her perception of him. It was more curious, how he spoke to her like an old friend. He may just have been guessing. But he talked to her with the self-assuredness and the soothing gentleness of someone who knew her well.

 

Stop running from your problems. That was the same thing Roman always said to her. Until even she could tell he didn't believe in his own words.

 

You deserve something better.

 

[So do you.] 

 

"You should smile some more, okay?"

 

A bell rang in her mind. Her heart skipped a beat. The girl faced the boy in the smiling kitsune mask. Then he looked away. He rose to his feet, and she raised her head, her lips parted as if to say something, but the words didn't come to mind.

 

The loud woman from earlier arrived, calling after her in concern. Huginn was there too, standing quietly with his wispy familiar. Mishiro rose to her feet and the stranger walked away from her, standing between her and the two. He was tall, and as he introduced himself, he waved his hands about flamboyantly. "--name's Ares, miss~! Broker, poet, outlaw philanthropist, playboy pastor."

 

 --"I'm pretty tall too." He jabbed a thumb at his chest and ran a hand through his hair, giving his best "Sexiest Man Alive" Magazine smolder. She looked at him cluelessly, but felt the strong urge to laugh at his ridiculous expression. "And it wouldn't be the first time I dyed this..." --

 

"--But my, look at the time, I got a meeting with..."

 

When Ares made for the exit, Mishiro felt the strong urge to make him stay. [Stay. And listen. If you don't believe in yourself, then believe in what I have to say.] She strode forward. [You deserve to live.] And she reached out to gently tug on the edge of his--

 

--Ding! The sharp sound of a received message cut through the air and brought her back to her senses. The girl dropped her hand and for a few moments, looked... lost. No, it couldn't be possible. Just because she didn't know Ares's face, didn't mean she could impose whatever image she wanted on him. Mishiro summoned her interface and checked her messages. It was a reply from Roman. The corners of her lips pulled up to a small smile as she read through the contents of the message. Quickly, she typed out a response and pressed 'Send.'

 

She would look up to see that the sudden sound had drawn the attention of all three. Now that Ares had said his piece, she was now free to speak without interrupting. Mishiro addressed Elou's question. "It's fine now, but thank you. Ares here talked to me, and the help was very much appreciated..." 

 

Mishiro turned to the masked stranger. 

 

"My name's Mishiro, written with the Japanese characters for 'white' and 'depth.' Thank you for earlier." 

 

She held her hand out and offered him a small, but sincere smile.

 

[ooc: elou, pls grab pinball. i'll love you forever if you do. and right, let's get this thread back on track~]

[Huginn 0]

Shiro watched the end of the scene unfold, the masked man turn to walk away. Why should I care who you are? It’s not like I’ll ever see you again... The loud girl was dealing with Mishiro, but then the girl Huginn had learned to tolerate moved, like she was going to stop the kitsune freak. He wanted to ignore it and just let the guy go, but it was obvious Mishiro wanted to talk more, so Huginn walked past Mishiro and Elou, being careful not to bump them as best he could, though a little bump was considered collateral damage compared to the headache he was about to give himself with this top notch stupid move from the genius in black. His familiar cuts off the man in the cloak as Shiro sighs and grabs his shoulder. “I don’t care who you are, but be nice to her and you can come along.” His words come with a bite, but they remain quiet enough that Mishiro and Elou can’t hear him. “Or kill me and run away, it’s your call. But I’d suggest you pick fast.” His emotionless face shifts back to The two girls, he had already decided to come along. I knew today was gonna be hell. I should’ve just gone to the 2nd floor and stayed in bed this morning. His attitude wasn’t that of someone who wanted to act tough, but more so of someone who wanted to help someone else. It was a genuine moment of kindness and if not taken advantage of, more like it would likely never come.

[OOC: don’t worry about it Elou, I stopped him for ya.]

@Elouviana Zashira

[Elouviana Zashira 0]

Running to catch up, she really needed to work on her agility or something because some other guy caught up and had an entire conversation with her before she even arrived! What was this ****?! It was like the game was just provoking her now! Elou arrived and was told not to worry because everything was fine now and she vibrated with barely restrained energy. Unlike the other man, Elou's activity was no act, and her very being was one of undiluted passion, and a terrifying focus on the goal ahead of her. 

First, she reached out and grabbed the man trying to leave by the collar, and then turned to him with a thunderous expression. 
"You steal my thing and then just try to run away like some sort of trickster? No, no. You are staying, Mr I'm so good I have to butt in on other people's stuff while still being an orange cursor'd git!" Clearly, Elou was less  than impressed with him stealing her attempts to help the woman. Elou was, a very possessive woman after all. "I am Elou. Written with...english characters for El, and Ou" Elou was very clearly unaware of cartography, and just stumbled through her attempts to introduce herself.

"And now all this is done, we go to the Blacksmith!" There was the shouting, right on cue. Still holding the trying to run man, she turned to head in the direction, of the blacksmith

 

@Huginn @Mishiro @Pinball

[Pinball 1]

"Hmm..?"

He didn't get far before he was stopped by one of Mishiro's companions. At first, he felt a brief, hot flash of anger. But just as quickly as it had come, it subsided, leaving him only just a little bit peeved. Who was this guy, talking like he knew what was best for her? He had never seen him in his life. He felt something boiling in his chest; an undescribable emotion flowing throughout his being, all the way to the very tips of his fingers. 

Jealousy. Indifference! 

Good for her, finding people she could talk to. That was what he had just told her, right? That she should rely on the people who cared about her. And if this midget guy was the type of person she wanted to hang out with, who was he to judge? Even if he was a cocky s***. All Pinball wanted was the best for her - she deserved it. She really did. After all he had put her through? All others had put her through? She deserved all the happiness in the world. He just didn't know she was into femboys.

He was a good actor, but Mishiro's introduction caused him to falter - if only momentarily. "Nice to meet you," he finally replied. The words lazily fell off his tongue, quiet and tense. For a second, he was drawing blanks. It felt way too fake for him to be comfortable. Artificial. Cheap. What would she think if he knew? He was being cowardly - a hypocrite who couldn't follow his own advice. Do something. Pinball nodded, shoving Huginn a little too roughly into the wall. If strength paramaters were a thing, that would make Pinball deceptively strong. He happily continued. "Well, I'd be happy to join you all-!"

In about the same time it took for him to process Lover Boy's words, he was grabbed again - much more aggressively, this time. Another flash of rage that he forced down his throat. I could kill her on accident. But the show must go on! For whatever reason, Pinball was an exemplary actor. "Why, quite the aggressive way to thank me~!" He tried laughing it off, with only the slightest break in chuckles betraying the act. As he was dragged out of the alley and into the street, he clicked his tongue, flicking his fingers in the air, continuing to act under the playful guise of Ares. "You know, you're in luck! I've already got a profession, but I used to know a Blacksmith!" Then, quieter, "And you're going the wrong way, love. Take a right here." 

Edited April 9, 2019 by Pinball

[Mishiro 0]

There was a brief, but noticeable pause after her introduction. Mishiro held her extended hand steady. The unwavering smile of the kitsune looked back at her; though whatever expression Ares really wore behind the mask was impossible to tell, or if he was even looking at her in the first place. She drew her hand back and tugged on the cuffs of Roman's coat. 

 

When he spoke again, he responded in the same quiet tone he had used when they were alone earlier. It was a pretty, soft thing to listen to, and it somehow made the cheerful, higher-pitched voice sound artificial. She offered him a quiet nod and turned to her two quest companions.

 

The first strode forward with a purpose. The small blue wisp left his side and danced in front of the cloaked player as he tried to leave. Huginn passed her, his hand coming to a rest on the masked player's shoulder, and said something she couldn't hear. Watching them left her with a small feeling of apprehension that only grew stronger as the boy looked back at her. Mishiro trailed after him and asked -

 

Her steps quickened and she firmly placed herself between the two. She never heard what they spoke about. But even with the kitsune stepping away and happily declaring he was going to join them, Mishiro thought she picked up the slightest bit of tension. A hand covered with an iron gauntlet pressed against the wall and kept Huginn from advancing further. The loud woman, though, skipped right past her. "I saw that. What happened?"

 

She trusted her friend. But she was never the type who was quick to judge.

 

They would both hear a burst of almost frantic laughter as the masked player was promptly dragged out of the alley by an angry, loud catwoman. Mishiro lowered her hand and exchanged a glance with Huginn. For just a moment, their thoughts were almost completely in sync: troublesome. The girl dusted off her coat and followed after Elou and Ares. She didn't understand what the woman was angry about, so she refrained from commenting. Either way, they didn't really seem to be mad at each other, perhaps they even looked like they were having some fun. Falling into step with Huginn once he caught up, Mishiro quietly reached out for the cute, blue wisp floating around him.

 

And the party of three became a full party of four.

[Huginn 0]

And just like that, the moment was gone. Huginn’s common sense came flooding back like a dam had been broken. Mishiro’s arm was in front of him when he realized what he was doing. What is she doing? Is she trying to stop me? He just stares at her arm, her question tickles his ear as he looks entranced. He wasn’t. He was moreso thinking of what to say. “I’m sorry, won’t happen again.” He went to turn and heard the cat lady yell, of course. He looked at Mishiro, not concerned, not intimidation, this was a face he had worn since he knew what it meant. Annoyance. Of course she would try to convince him to come along. But if I were him I’d just leave and not come back. Not because I threatened him, but because the lady... wait... is he loud too? His face looks pained for a moment as he begins to feel the weight of his decision. I need to get my emotions in check. He turns and walks, following the party. His feet tread slowly as he stays a meter or two behind the rest, Felli trying to distract him from what just happened. 

Then the girl, the cool one, dropped back and started playing with Felli. “Careful, she bites...” he chuckles. He hadn’t done that in a long time, forgot how it felt.

@Elouviana Zashira