[PP|F22] <<Night about the Galactic Lake>> Stars and Wishes

[ChaseR 0]

Listening to what Astralin had to say, he couldn't really admit to being caught off guard by the bullying part. It was just human nature, make fun of anything special for a quick laugh- from there on out, it becomes a habit and the same behavior keeps repeating on everything. "Nice to meet you, Libra.", he said with a small smile, trying to break out of the conversation that probably returned bad memories to the blonde. He wasn't really quite sure what to say, both of them were right. Putting aside his contributions to the conversation though, the rogue was certainly not talkative. She must have had her reasons, as she always did for how she acted.

The boy remained silent from there on out. As much as he wanted to, socializing was not his best skill and he felt adding anything else to the conversation would only make it more awkward than the silence already helped it become. As such, he went to go gather more stars closer to Shay once more, scooping up plenty in his hands.

Loot: 61 Stars

Edited August 5, 2020 by ChaseR

[Astralin 0]

Astralin's name reveal didn't seem to get very many reactions, which was fine by her. Krysta said that she saw nothing worth hating about her name, that it was a lovely name, and that her mother had her reasons for giving her that name. Shay was disinterested in the topic, but then again, Astralin had asked ChaseR, and it was ChaseR's choice whether or not that Astralin would reveal her name. ChaseR said that it was nice to meet her, as he called her by her real named and smiled slightly. "Nice to meet you too, Chase." She responded with a smile. There would be silence from then on as everyone returned to searching. Unbeknownst to Astralin, she was about to break the silence. She saw something glistening over at the lakeshore, and believing it was gold stars, she made haste over there to investigate. She saw a single gold star, which was better than none, and she grabbed it...at the exact time that a large fish had tried to do the same. The fish unintentionally engulfed Astralin's hand, freaking her out. "AAAACK!!!" She squirmed and she began moving about her engulfed hand in many directions at high speed, and it persisted for at least a minute before she finally flung the fish off of her hand. She added the star to her inventory, and, disgusted, she ran all the way to the water to get her hand cleaned.

ID# 163373 LD: 1

Astralin's Current Total: 35

Edited August 5, 2020 by Astralin

[Krysta 0]

Silence. There would be silence after Astralin and ChaseR re-exchanged greetings. At least there seemed to be some level of understanding. There didn't seem to be very many of the golden stars remaining in the current vicinity, as Krysta would only find two. She then heard Astralin's voice and looked to see that Astralin had somehow gotten her hand inhaled by a native fish of the lake. Hopefully it didn't have teeth, as this was not the time nor place to be within a combat scenario. Thankfully, Astralin managed to remove the fish from her hand, perhaps Astralin had found gold stars over at the lakeshore, and the fish was drawn to the sparkling light glistening off of the gold stars? Whatever the case, Krysta wouldn't be finding much else here, so it was time to draw nearer to the lakeshore. Hopefully there wouldn't be any more incidents where the fishes of the lake would not attempt to disrupt the golden star gathering any further.

ID# 163382 LD: 2(found 2 gold stars)

Krysta's Current Total: 60

Edited August 5, 2020 by Krysta

[Shay 0]

Shay was ahead of the group while they discussed their own things. While they had probably wished that she was a talkative soul, she would only say something that offended someone by accident. These sort of social situations ruined first impressions for her. In fact, she wasn't really sure how she hadn't scared off Chase when they first met. He seemed like a fairly easily timid boy, like her callous words would be his kryptonite.

Either way, she was still here to collect some stars for the event. She figured that if she left here with at least a total of 100, or close to, then that would be enough to show for. There wasn't much in the sand around them, so she would have to get a little creative. Seeing one of the blonde get her hand nabbed by a fish was enough inspiration for her. She walked into the lake a few feet, folding her kimono into her obi to make sure the silk didn't get wet and reached into the lake pulling out a big clump of stars.

---

Stars: 41+14=55

[ChaseR 0]

Chase approached Shay to watch her enter the lake just slightly, lifting a single hand and holding the greatsword on his back silently as he prepared to attack anything that would decide to jump out of the lake and at the rogue- if anything of course. He didn't make his presence known, but he wanted to protect her just in case anything were to get the jump on her, that was all. In the meantime, he let his head turn here and there in between glances towards the raven woman, squinting his eyes and scanning the little sand there was to find however many stars he could.

Further off by the side, he found a few and scuttled over, quickly picking them up one by one before focusing on keeping Shay safe from any monsters that popped up. "If a fish or whatever sneaks up on her like they did to Libra, I'm making sushi out of it and serving it in the event stands."

Loot: 66 Stars

Edited August 5, 2020 by ChaseR

[Astralin 0]

With the fish removed and her hand cleaned, Astralin returned to gathering gold stars at the lakeshore, as the others had begun. ChaseR decided to play guardian, seeing as he seemed to be waiting for any other fish that might interrupt the players the way it happened to Astralin. Well, at least it should mean no more issues with fish...hopefully. Astralin managed to find seven more Gold Stars, and she began to wonder...if they could ever remain past the event. The Gold Stars definitely seemed to be gatherable in the event only, that was for sure, but if the gold stars that were already gathered could remain? Perhaps they could have other uses if gold stars were still in players' inventories... "I wonder...if these gold stars, if gathered, remain after the event ends, then maybe I could use them as a decoration of sorts..." Astralin thought aloud. "I should gather here at least twice, then."

ID# 163390 LD: 7(found 7 Gold Stars)

Astralin's Current Total: 42

Edited August 5, 2020 by Astralin

[Krysta 0]

Krysta saw how things quickly settled, and how swiftly the players moved to gathering from the lakeshore itself, while ChaseR decided to keep a hand on his weapon in case there were any more piscine issues that transpired. Krysta would come close to the water, and find a cluster of gold stars. She had a fair sum of them now, only twenty two golden stars away from one hundred. This was proceeding at a fairly fast-paced rate. It would not be long before each of the players managed to collect at least one hundred of them. The threshold goal for the players' contributions to the rail was about two thousand, meaning that four hundred would be a fair contribution that would cover most of the matter. Astralin seemed to be thinking out loud, so Krysta did not know whether or not she should add any of her own thoughts. For the time being, she would continue to gather golden stars.

ID# 163393 LD: 18(found 18 Gold Stars)

Krysta's Current Total: 78

Edited August 5, 2020 by Krysta

[Shay 0]

The lake was still where she was standing in, unlike how Astralin experienced. The water proved fruitful at least, it seemed as though there were more stars in the lake than on the shore line. Reaching down, she fished some of the golden tokens out of the sand in the water and moved them into her inventory yet again. They were so easy to find compared to regular materials. She was thankful for that at least.

Noticing that Chase was taking up a defensive posture, she decided to step out of the lake. She had told him to relax and little and here he was trying to watch over her when she was more than capable of doing just about anything he was capable of. "I told you to relax a little. I'm fine, stop worrying so much." She tells him, stepping through the sand, being sure not to step on any shells or stars.

---

Stars: 55+6=61

[ChaseR 0]

He tensed up slightly when he saw her heading his way, nodding and lowering his hand once more, leaving the blade in its sheathe. "I'm sorry, I just... don't want casualties. It's a high floor, and... Sorry.", he dropped the excuses and simply apologised, letting out a sigh. She would probably just summon her katana if it came down to the worst case scenario, and take care of whatever it was on her own. With a glance to the side, Chase could see something shining but he approached it in order to inspect- probably another golden star.

Scratch that, it wasn't just one, it was six. Still not as many as he'd found up to now, but his count was looking incredibly promising. Apparently, these were needed in an event for the Tanabata Celebration or something around those lines. The kids had approached them before, but... He still wasn't sure what they were going to need this many stars for.

Loot: 72 Stars

Edited August 7, 2020 by ChaseR

[Astralin 0]

Astralin would continue her search. Hopefully, she would find an excess, rather than the two she just found. Guess it was time to move to a different spot, it seemed that she'd cleared out where she currently was. She walked three yards(or 2.7432 Meters) to her right, but before she returned to gathering, she was taken in by the sight of the sky and its reflection on the lake...what a beautiful sight it was indeed. She began to imagine what it might be like, if she were actually out on the lake. Chances were, she might have wanted to either enjoy the celestial view that practically surrounded her, or she might try to "Swim among the Stars" for some more hands-on experience. Either one sounded really enjoyable for Astralin. Maybe she might get a chance later tonight... Astralin smiled at this thought. She might just give it a go, either tonight, or tomorrow.

She just wanted to be among the stars in the amazing view, and that would be as close as she could get.

ID# 164539 LD: 2(found 2 Gold Stars)

Astralin's Current Total: 44

Edited August 9, 2020 by Astralin

[Krysta 0]

Shay would tell ChaseR that he did not need to worry, that he should relax instead. ChaseR would apologize as he admitted his concern, seeing that this was a higher floor and he didn't want casualties. "Most of the creatures on this floor are simply critters that do not fight back. Monsters are uncommon in this floor, powerful ones are usually rare. Therefore, it is unlikely that we will encounter any combat of any sort." Krysta said to ChaseR with a smile, as to reassure him. Krysta would resume her search, and find a cluster of seven gold stars. She had eighty five of them now, it would not be long before she was finished with her part of the search at this rate. There were probably many players who were gathering these stars, so it was likely that a hundred would be all she needed to contribute to the rail construction.

ID# 164626 LD: 7(Found 7 Gold Stars)

Krysta's Current Total: 85

Edited August 10, 2020 by Krysta

[Shay 0]

Continuing to search through the lakeside wouldn't really prove much more useful. Either it was because she was just bad at looking for these stars, or they were still somewhat harder to find than she thought, she wasn't really sure. Naturally one would have trouble when mostly random numbers were involved, but her luck must really just be that bad. Shay sighed and took a seat in the sand, jumping the moment she did. She had sat on a singular star without looking. Well, a star is a star. She moved it into her inventory without even looking.

Beyond the sounds of the festival and the voices of her party members, everything was quiet and serene. It reminded her of her days living with her parents. If they were still alive to this day, she wondered what they would think of her right now, and where her life was going.

---

Stars: 61+1=62

[ChaseR 0]

Chased looked over his shoulder at Krysta, giving a slow, hesitant nod. As much as he wanted to keep being wary, she was quite right. "I'll try to cool off.", he sighed out and scratched the back of his head, looking around at the ground although he still remained rather close to Shay- yeah, he was a few feet away but that was about it. He didn't want to leave her too far out of sight, considering the two had been paired up since his starting the leveling process. 

Not that he had any reason, but just in case it came to worst, it'd be better to be safe than sorry. That's the way Chase always thought of everything. The silence was a relaxing change of pace, but adding that they were with two people that were, to them, complete strangers, it heightened the tension a bit. Nobody was speaking any and it felt like the duo had forced the social interaction onto themselves. Considering it wasn't even their strong suit, it got him... riled up, mentally at least, for sure. 

Loot: 89 Stars

Edited August 15, 2020 by ChaseR

[Astralin 0]

The astronomical sight remained in Astralin's vision. While it may have simply been a wondrous sight for others, it was absolutely mesmerizing for Astralin... She took a deep breath, considering the choice. She looked over to her left, and found a nice cluster of gold stars. She collected them as she contemplated the chances of being safe if she was to do it. Like Krysta had said to ChaseR, the chances of an attack happening are very slim, and from what she had heard from others, most of the floor's endemic monsters would not attack players unless attacked by them...

Thus, did she decide she was going to do it. She slowly began stepping towards the waters of the lake, drawn to the idea of being amidst the stars... The others would be fine, they were already in their own conversations, and peacefully gathering, knowing there was no immediate danger to be aware of.

And Astralin would be fine, she had this experience to look forward to; a memory to make. Without further ado, she walked into the waters.

ID# 165352 LD: 17(found 17 Gold Stars)

Astralin's Current Total: 61

Edited August 16, 2020 by Astralin

[Krysta 0]

ChaseR would slowly, hesitantly nod his head. He sighed, and told Krysta that he would try to calm down, as he looked down towards the ground. This player was certainly tense, to the point where calming down had become a daunting task... If it were not for this game bringing death, such mental tolls would not have fallen on the players of Aincrad... Krysta knew she had to do something about it all, but she had to reach higher levels to do so...to a significant degree, at least. She would return to her search, and find a cluster of eight golden stars. Seven more. Seven more until she had attained the minimum amount of golden stars to collect that she had set for herself.

She then noticed something, something that was a little...off. She saw Astralin, walking into the reflective waters of the lake. "Astralin? Wh-what are you...? Perhaps she thought that she would find more stars in the lake, or did she have another reason? Not that Krysta could come up with any other reason yet off the top of her head...

ID# 165353 LD: 8(found 8 Gold Stars)

Krysta's Current Total: 93

Edited August 16, 2020 by Krysta

[Shay 0]

She wouldn't outwardly show it but this was actually relaxing enough for her, even though they were still questing. It was pretty weird that she could relax while also accomplishing quests.

Sitting up from the sand, Shay looked on her fellow party members. They were easily collecting more stars than she was, but she didn't really care that much. The requirement only suggests collecting as many as you can so she would get the same amount of experience no matter how many she collected. But she didn't want to end up getting hardly anything compared to them and make them feel like she had done absolutely nothing.

She stood up, patting the sand off her rear end and looked around for any more stars, only finding a few scattered around the sand. She really wasn't good at this at all. It feels like she was just really bad at these searching things.

---

Stars: 62+6=68

[ChaseR 0]

Chase began to feel as if way too much time had started to pass, leaving them with little left to check out the festival alongside Shay. With an awkward, dry cough, he rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and making a proposal. "... It's getting late. We should probably split up and give the kids the golden stars.", he told all three of his party members, giving Shay a quick glance before turning to look at Krysta and Astralin who appeared preoccupied with... something? He couldn't quite tell from where he stood.

While awaiting a response, his eye caught the glimmer of a few stars laying on the ground, walking over, crouching and picking them up only to dust his leggings and await for their response. He wanted to enjoy the festival at least for a moment, get to relax and spend some more time alongside Shay, who would be much more familiar than he during the celebration. It was some form of Asian culture, and if anything, she was the expert, not him.

Loot: 104 Stars

Edited August 19, 2020 by ChaseR

[Astralin 0]

Astralin would hear only two more things from the other players. Krysta noticed that Astralin was walking into the waters, and ChaseR decided that it was getting late and that the players should return to the festival. Astralin grabbed two stars from the waters of the lake, then turned to look over at the other players. Most likely, they were hoping she would return with them. Whether they knew it or not, she probably wasn't, and would return on her own after making a wondrous memory... She smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine! I'll be back in the festival grounds eventually..." She told them. With that, she quickened her pace through the waters and dove in.

When she resurfaced, she would take in the sight of being surrounded by stars. It was truly a beautiful sight, and she would enjoy it for at least a good while...

ID# 165637 LD: 2(found 2 Gold Stars)

Astralin's Total: 63

Edited August 20, 2020 by Astralin

[Krysta 0]

Krysta looked over to ChaseR, then back to Astralin, who tried to reassure the players, saying she would be fine. "I...I understand. Just...please, do be careful..." Krysta replied. With that, Astralin would enter the lake. If only she understood why Astralin would want to take a swim in the lake at a time like this...but then she remembered.

"Well... It all began when I was fascinated with the sights, then I started learning more about them, and...I kind of learned why my Mother adored them too. Honestly, if my Mother had no love for the stars, constellations and galaxies, I wouldn't have been named after a constellation! ...I guess it kind of grew on me, naturally...like Mother, like Daughter, I suppose."

Astralin has Astrophilia...it all makes sense now. She had grown around one, so it could easily contribute to her becoming one herself. It wasn't that it always happened, but Krysta had a similar development pattern as well. Krysta might not have developed her mother's accent, but she did develop her manner of speech, for one. Despite it all, Krysta indeed developed to be unique, as every human being is, in the end. No matter the similarities, there is always a difference. Krysta would see a cluster of golden stars by her feet, and she would gather them. It was time to return to the festival, and Krysta could only hope that her friend remained safe.

ID# 165638 LD: 18(found 18 Gold stars)

Krysta's Total: 111

Edited August 20, 2020 by Krysta

[Shay 0]

Shay would nod to ChaseR and turn to the other two woman and give them both a slight bow before speaking. "It was wonderful having company while we searched for stars. Thank you for joining us." Shay said quietly as she ushered Chase along, heading back to the fair grounds of the festival.

"They were an odd pair hunh?" She asked him, looking to see how many golden stars she had collected for them. Then she remembered that they were supposed to be finding an article of clothing for the kids. "We didn't see any of the clothing that we were out here to get for that boy did we? Oh well. It's probably completely lost by now."

The night was pretty nice for what it was. A break from everything around her was well deserved. Chase needed it too, so hopefully he was feeling a lot better about himself now.

---

No clothing found.

Total Stars: 68

Spoiler

Rewards:

Stars collected: 111+63+104+68=346 stars
SP: 3 quest; 2 page; 1 bonus
Col: 200 per player