[F7 - PP] <<Feeding Your Enemy>> "A Rocky Relationship"

[Elora 0]

Elora was starting to grow impatient at the dragon paying no mind to her. She thought for certain that discovering the creature and chasing it down would be more difficult than simply taming it. Don't be ridiculous, everyone around my level has a familiar already, so it can't be that hard to befriend one. Although, if the treats she was carrying weren't convincing to the wyvern, then she didn't know what else would be. I guess it's worth a shot to be more assertive. 

"Here, eat this!", she offered a little too enthusiastically. With a flick of her wrist, the delectable morsel hurled toward the beast, colliding with its snout. 

It immediately screeched at Elora and spat fireballs in her direction. "EEEK!", she shrieked in alarm and retreated back to the base of the banks. "This isn't working! What am I doing wrong?", she called up to Freyd with a frustrated voice. Surely he would be able to give her some advice. That, or he would resort to his tactic of encouraging her to figure out the answer herself. She hoped that this time it wouldn't be the latter. 

 

Spoiler

ID#: 165543 CD3 Failed to Tame Familiar (Attempt 2/4)

Edited August 20, 2020 by Elora

[Freyd 0]

"Dragons are often depicted as proud creatures," Freyd offered, thinking that Elora could be equally stubborn in her own way.  Maybe they were a better pairing than he had originally considered?  "Maybe you need to show it who's the alpha?  Try wrestling it to the ground and force feeding it, but... uh... you may want this, just in case."  He tossed her spear back to her.  The bizarre stone  clinging to the spearhead fell loose as she caught the shaft, thumping and bouncing off the ground and then clattering with a splash into the edge of a small bubbling stream.  It was now difficult to spot among the other pebbles beneath the surface of the fast-flowing water.

Despite thinking that this wasn't going to end well, Freyd settled himself onto the river bank.  Summoning a half-finished smoked meat sandwich, he lifted one knee and braced his back against a large tree root behind him in preparation to watch the show.  

[Elora 0]

"Great idea!", praised Elora. It seemed that the advice met the expectation of what she wanted to hear. Catching the spear in the air, Elora quickly spun and rushed back toward the dragon, "Accept my generosity!!!", she shouted as if it was a battlecry. The dragon flicked its tongue and stretched out its wings as an intimidation tactic. It leaped into the air, forcing Elora to reassess her approach. As it unleashed a concentrated flamethrower, she let her feet give way beneath her, allowing her to pass beneath the pyre and emerge behind the beast. Frantically, she threw more food toward it, hoping that by some slime chance, a little would fall into its maws as it turned to face her. 

Suddenly, a gleam of sunlight caught a projectile soaring through the air beside them. Elora blinked and watched as the pellet struck directly between the eyes of the dragon. It wailed in pain and plummeted toward the ground. Now's my chance!, thought Elora before taking off in a sprint.

Accept -- where was her traction? The ground felt like it was made of...marbles...

This time her feet flew forward and out from under her. Elora slammed onto her back, the force of the impact knocking the wind out of her lungs. She laid there gasping in a daze until, blessedly, she was finally able to catch her breath and see what the hell had just happened. After groggily shifting onto her side and propping up her body with an elbow, Elora noticed a formation of rocks rolling toward her future familiar. No way --

The completely smooth stones looked like pool balls that had just been set up to be split with a weapon like her own. Even though it had reassembled into a new shape, the monster was undeniably the same one that she'd seen before That f*cking rock golem is back. 

 

Spoiler

ID#: 165639 CD6 Failed to Tame Familiar (Attempt 3/4)

Edited August 20, 2020 by Elora

[Freyd 0]

Freyd bit his mental lips, hard.  Outwardly, nothing much changed.  He was still sitting placidly on the bank of the stream watching this bizarre show unfold.  

"Interesting approach, but I think this little stream guardian has other plans for your pet."  Was the creature attacking the dragon, or protecting Elora?  It truly was hard to tell.  It was a remarkably versatile and well-animated little thing, shifting and altering its form as required to suit its goals.  The dragon squawked in protest, which made it sound more like a crabby parrot than a fearsome drake.  

Hopping down into the water, Freyd fished out another stone very similar to those that comprised the elemental and chucked it directly between the two of them.  It was intended as an experiment.  He wanted to know whether some deeper relationship existed between the two creatures.  Were they predator and prey, or was there something else at play?

[Elora 0]

Elora wasn't sure whether or not Freyd had said 'stream' guardian or 'steam' guardian, leaving her to guess which creature he was referring to. She sat up and planted her hands in the gap between her criss-crossed legs in an especially pouty posture. "I don't know, but I think I'm just going to watch them for a bit. Maybe I can come up with a solution to catch it in the time being" Her fervent gaze confirmed that she continued to hold interest in taming the beast. She wasn't ready to give up yet. 

As she watched the conglomerate of rocks advance toward its opponent, she noticed something peculiar. A nearby stone, possibly one that the creature had hurled toward the dragon, quickly swiveled and was sucked into the golem's trajectory. Wha -- Does it just control the earth or something? Elora hoped that Freyd had witnessed the anomaly so that she didn't sound crazy trying to explain it to him. 

Unfortunately, it seemed that he had been distracted with fishing in the stream. He's not going to catch anything doing it like that, she thought with furrowed brows. Just then, the player tossed a similar stone between the creatures. Is that supposed to be some sort of test?

The rock golem paused for a moment to regard the object, almost as if it was trying to sense some sort of connection between them. The wyvern, on the other hand, lunged toward the stone like it was ecstatic to collect it. In response, the golem undertook its previous standing-shape and scuttled over to defend the item. It swung furiously with its tiny pebblit arms, actually managing to land a couple of blows on the dragon's muzzle. 

"Seems like they don't like each other very much", commented Elora unhelpfully. 

A few moments later, the lizard bit down on one of the golem's implied 'joints'. It quickly rattled and fell apart, the scattering of its stones rendering it disoriented and unable to continue fighting. Elora felt her chest constrict at witnessing the brawl. It was almost like she felt sorry for the thing. It's just a rock. It's not like it can feel anything. Further processing this logic made it seem flawed to her. After all, nothing crafted by this reality could really think or feel, and if that was the case, was the golem really that much different from the dragon?

 

Spoiler

ID#: 165760 CD8 Failed to Tame Familiar (Attempt 4/4)

Elora uses the Spyglass

Spyglass:
Item Type: Consumable [3 Charges]
Effect: Use to reduce the number of posts required to search for a dungeon or familiar by 5 posts. Effect lasts for one thread. Item is destroyed once all charges have been used.

Edited August 22, 2020 by Elora

[Freyd 0]

Freyd had spent weeks pondering the possibility of self-awareness among NPCs and mobs in the game.  For someone who so easily suppressed or avoided his own emotions, he had become keenly aware of the possibility of their emergence in the digital creatures.   Watching the little stone elemental, golem... whatever the heck it was, struck a cord within him.  The thing had guts and gusto in spades. 

"Yeah.  They sure don't," Freyd replied in an equally obvious tone.  "But I like the moxy on little Magneto over there a lot more than that stupid, hangry dragon.  Are you sure that you're after the right thing?  The little guy's got a serious pair of stones on him to go face to face with a dragon."  He knew what he'd said and couldn't fully conceal the grin spreading across his face.  Freyd suddenly tripped and stumbled over something in the shallow water, distracting him momentarily.  Finding nothing as he looked down, he resumed his inspection of the dueling creatures.

"Try giving mini-thing some of those snacks, and see what happens."

Spoiler

LD 15+ Required.  No chest found.

 

Edited August 23, 2020 by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

[Elora 0]

Elora pressed her tongue to the inside of her cheek in a failed attempt to stifle the smirk which followed his innuendo.  She didn't want to humor how effortless it was for him make the implication.

"The dragon's not stupid! He's done a really good job with finding rocks -- or doing whatever it is that he's trying to do!", she insisted upon feeling an instinct to defend its intelligence, "I mean, it might not look the brightest unless its on fire, but I'm sure that it has it's reasons for being a little...oblivious!" Maybe it wouldn't make the perfect familiar for her, but that was no reason for him to put it down. Elora was sure that the creature had many redeeming qualities that could be revealed, if only it gave her the chance to see them. After all, that was what Freyd had insisted about her, that she wasn't incapable, just inexperienced. A blush crept across her face as she realized the double entendre that had emerged in her own train of thinking. She face-palmed and wallowed in her disappointment for a moment before rising to her feet and fetching another handful of treats.

The nearby squabble broke out into an even louder commotion as the winged lizard screeched and skittered across the ground like it was about to take of with the pebbles in its mouth. "Nonono! Freyd -- stop it!", called out Elora as she rushed to hold down the beast. It was already too late. By the time she had even taken two steps forward, the monster had already lurched into the air, swerving sloppily in the winds as it tried to compensate for the extra resistance.

[Freyd 0]

Freyd made that face that he usually made when Elora said something that didn't make any sense.

"You just praised the dragon for doing whatever it's doing so well without having a clue what it's doing.  Plus, you're saying it would be a good companion because it's oblivious."  His brow furrowed further as he shook his head, as if it might somehow shake the illogical assumptions loose.  He stopped the moment he realized the irony and placed his face in his open hand, groaning instead.  Please don't let this be infectious.

"Nonono! Freyd -- stop it!"

"Stop what: the dragon from eating the golem, or the golem from force-feeding itself to the dragon?!"  He watched her run pointlessly after the creature as it flew off, completely confused regarding what she was actually trying to accomplish.  "You have a spear, take the bloody thing out of the air!"  What was he supposed to do, sneak at it?  Maybe a disinformation campaign would be more effective.  His mind's eye already imagined pamphlets being theft in the thing's nest, touting the benefit's of the familiar's life: a steady supply of snack, dental, shoulder perch privileges.  The potential... no.  No, that was just getting silly, and things were already silly enough.

Edited August 24, 2020 by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

[Elora 0]

"I'm not just gonna harpoon it!", she yelled as she scrambled to think of any other tactic that could work. Dragon...fire....water...WATER! Without hesitation, Elora dashed over to the river and wobbled as she hunched forward in a clumsily attempt to remove one of her boots. Yanking off the leather object, she immediately dunked it beneath the current until it flooded with water. It scraped the bottom of the riverbed, causing a handful of shells and pebbles to follow suit. With two hands cupping the sole of the shoe, she half ran half swam through the water until she was once again bolting across the beach. Stopping only a handful of feet away from the fleeing dragon, she heaved the containment of water underneath and into it.

The wyvern's scales seared and crackled loudly as clouds of steam billowed off from them. It coiled and opened its maw to unleash a screech; only a dull hacking sound was emitted. Frantically flapping its wings, the lizard dove toward the ground and landed rather roughly. "Oh no! Did I kill it?! I can't kill it!" After a few more convulsions traveled through its throat, it finally pried open its mouth, causing the rocks to come rolling out.

"Wait...does that mean the water didn't do anything...?" Elora must have looked ridiculous, standing there half-shoed with her clothing wet up to her chest. 

[Freyd 0]

Unable to decide whether to roll his eyes or just stare agog at the sight before him, Freyd decided to do neither.  taking a running start, he leapt high over the river, catching and clambering along a series of overhanging branches from the heavy tree cover.  Landing with a clatter, he nearly lost his footing and twisted an ankle in the loose stones that marked most of the far bank.  It was time to take a more direct approach, and giving a fire-breathing dragon mouth-to-mouth was completely out of the question - so he tried the Heimlich instead.  Clutching the spluttering dragon in a great bear hug, he heaved on its chest with all his might.  A few more stones popped out, but the dragon had by that point decided that Freyd was the greater nuisance.  He'd neglected to consider the full length and flexibility of its neck.  The beast bit him on the arm, hard.

"Oww!  Dammit!  Quit it!  I'm trying to help you, you useless reptile!"  His recommendation that Elora wrestle the thing had literally come back to bite him.  Blasted irony.

"Fine!  That's how you want it?  Two can play that game."  Grabbing the wyrmling by its muscled shoulders where its wings joined its torso, he started shaking it up and down like a giant salt dispenser.  Its eyes bulged and boggled as it struggled to understand what was happening, especially as Fre'yd's grip slipped and he found himself banging its head off the ground.  More stones fell from its maw, along with a good gout of vomitous fire that soon set Freyd's boot on fire.

"Elora!  Get over here and..."  Freyd paused, dumbfounded, as he looked up and took in her appearance for the first time, not quite sure what to do, despite an urgent burning sensation from below.

Edited August 25, 2020 by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

[Elora 0]

"Your foot -- I mean -- YOUR BOOT! IT'S ON FIRE!", screamed Elora as she frantically waved her hands to warn him. Luckily, it felt like there was still a little water remaining in her own shoe that she carried. She dashed over to Freyd and dumped its contents onto his foot. Only about a cupful of water splashed out proceeding a sleuth of shells and stones. The majority of them were small, with the exception of a larger black rock which landed with more heft. Interestingly enough, it looked just like the one that Elora had previously decided to kick down the forested path. Had it somehow been the catalyst of this catastrophic mess?

The kindling fashioned from Freyd's clothing was all but extinguished when the dragon suddenly roared and unleashed another flamethrower toward them. "Watch out--!", she warned before stepping between him and the monster. The flames swirled forward and quickly engulfed her, appearing to burn the lower half of her body. Once their fiery fingers retracted, Elora could be seen standing with only a few scarlet blisters covering her legs. For the most part, the water covering her skin and clothing had managed to protect her from the heat of the blast.

"F*CK YOU!", shouted Elora as she summoned her spear and whacked it squarely onto its side. Her anger seemed to be in greater response to the perceived betrayal than from the injuries she had sustained from its retaliation.

[Freyd 0]

"Sooooo.... maybe not the dragon?"

Opening up his UI, Freyd scrolled through an exhaustive list of useless items he had collected and identified.  He really needed to purge some of this junk, but who has the time?  At least it was all organized according to his 'system' - which no one else could likely understand.  Finding what he sought, he summoned a plain grey cloak to hand and held it up between himself and Elora.

"Here.  You might want to make a skirt out of this."  His eyes directed her gaze downward to an area he had since blocked off from his own line of sight with the cloak.  "It was part of my starting gear."  Dunking his still-smoldering boot into the river, just to ensure it was out, he had also turned to give her some privacy.

"Should we go back so searching?  This spot seems to be a bit of a bust."

[Elora 0]

What is he talking about...?, thought Elora as her eyes lowered to evaluate her injuries. Her face was quickly engulfed by a furious blush. She snatched the robe from Freyd and immediately determined to tie it into a gown around her hips. "Are you...um...gonna need it back?"

"Should we go back so searching?  This spot seems to be a bit of a bust."

She was grateful for the excuse he was giving her to change the conversation. "Uhh, yeah...it does...Let's maybe try somewhere...I don't know, near a valley or something", she would need to propose something more helpful than that, "How about a cavern? There are probably plenty scattered throughout these mountains." Elora sighed and picked up the large rock that she had meant to take with her as a memento for their escapade. While her gaze was directed downwards, she noticed the golem begin to reform into its usual shape. Come to think of it, the stone that had traveled alongside them seemed to possess striking similarity to the ones that formed the creature's body. She looked toward Freyd, and, with a quizzical expression, held it at a distance between them. "Do you think that...?", she was sure that he was now stitching together the clues of their encounters, if he hadn't already done so in her presence.

[Freyd 0]

"It does have some sentimental value," he replied, indicating the cloak.  "But do whatever you need.  It's just a thing."  Decency had little input in his actions.  In Freyd's mind, it just wasn't practical to walk around half-naked, unless you're deliberately trying to distract people.  The irony the his brain had completely failed to ogle the distraction went right over his head.  He just didn't think that way.

Instead, Freyd was thinking that he was really here in a supportive capacity, so it made little difference to him which site they chose.  Freyd's bigger concern was that Elora might waffle when it came to making a decision.  Still, this is the sort of thing friends were meant to do, right?  He'd read a blog about such things once.

"If we go to the valley, we might also find some caves.  We might as well improve our odds."  he looked down, following her gaze and feeling the little rock golem clatter by his ankles.

"Yeah.  I do.  He seems eager to follow.  Let's go use him as bait!"  He might have interpreted that last bit wrong.

Edited August 27, 2020 by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

[Elora 0]

"Don't worry then, I'll wash it before -- oh, wait, I guess that doesn't matter here, does it?" Elora wouldn't be able to reciprocate the kindness by ensuring that the garment was clean upon its return to him. It was a simple gesture that the system had done her the courtesy of bypassing. Why was it then that she felt she was being robbed of an experience that they could have shared together? It felt...backwards...

"Bait...?", Elora hadn't thought of that amid her contemplations, "Good idea! Do you think anything other than a dragon would want to eat him though?" She promptly pocketed the stone, returning her spear to her inventory along with it. "I don't know why that thing was even interested in eating him in the first place. Maybe it was trying to build a nest with his rocks or something"

She took the initiative in leading them down a trail that twisted around the rugged terrain. As they hiked, a distant rumbling sound caught her attention. Could there be a storm setting in? Elora hadn't put much thought or notice into whether or not the game generated weather patterns or even if it spawned atmospheric anomalies. 

It was soon revealed that multiple tiers of gargantuan waterfalls that cascaded from the cliff-sides and into the lowlands were the true creation of the sound. Somehow they put the scale of this world into perspective even more than the mountaintops. 

"How do you figure we make our way down these?", she inquired to Freyd for advice. 

 

 

 

Spoiler

ID#: 166209 LD10 (Failed to Find a Familiar)

Edited August 31, 2020 by Elora

[Freyd 0]

"Ummm... I'm pretty sure that things in Aincrad eat whatever they want.  Real word biology and the laws of nature are pretty much suspended in here.  I doubt if there's even any kind of a proper food chain."

He stopped to glance at the waterfalls.

"How do you figure we make our way down these?"

He turned and looked at her, puzzling in her makeshift skit. 

"We're not in the real world, remember?  We get down like this."

Taking a step off the edge, he plummeted to the first projecting outcrop of rock, landing like a cat on his hands and feet, then springing across to another rock, then another, pausing at last to see if she was following and calling back up to her.

"You're a lot stronger and hardier here, and more agile.  Trust in yourself.  You'll be fine!"

He watched her, knowing she had the capacity, but wondering whether she had the will to trust herself with that power. 

You can do this, Elora.

[Elora 0]

  ♪  Down The Waterfalls  ♪  

"AH--!", Elora gasped and extended her arm to reach after the red-eyed player as he fell into the gorge. She looked after him and was relieved to see that he'd landed on a pillar of stone jutting out from the watery curtains. Do we not have to worry about taking fall damage here, then?, she wondered as she marveled at him effortlessly leaping from rock to rock.

"You're a lot stronger and hardier here, and more agile.  Trust in yourself.  You'll be fine!"

Elora hesitated to follow him as she imagined herself gruesomely botching each and every landing until she eventually splatted onto the bottom like an egg being thrown into a wall. With a slight tap to her foot, Elora looked down and noticed that the rock golem who'd continued to follow them was now bracing its arms against her heel. They wobbled uneasily as it struggled to manifest the strength it needed to shove her forward. "Are you trying to get me to fall off?", she chuckled at its futile attempt, "You won't be doing that anytime soon. How are you planning to get down, anyway?" The creature stopped and shifted its stones into the shape of a dense ball.

It then rolled forward, and correspondingly, plummeted off of the edge and disappeared into the mist. 

"Christ", she huffed at the thing's implied sense of sarcasm, and its bravery. Guess that means it's my turn. 

The green-haired player took a running start, then leaped onto an outcropping that was situated roughly fifteen feet below her. The firm and successful landing shot a wave of adrenaline throughout her body, causing her to quickly jump to her feet before bounding to the next one.

Edited September 1, 2020 by Elora

[Freyd 0]

Watching Elora leap down to follow him was gratifying on several counts.  First, it showed a level of trust that had previously proven elusive.  Second, it showed considerable improvement in her level of confidence.  Third, he'd forgotten how much that cloak billowed in the wind.

I probably should have thought of that before taking this way down.  Oh well.  

When he first saw the clatter of stones at her side, he assumed that some stones had broken loose as she navigated the cliff face.  Their reassembly into the same little rock creature that had followed them before was surprising.  "Hey, he's a resilient little guy, isn't he?"  Without another word or thought, to Elora's dismay, Freyd hoofed the little rocky ball off the next cliff and watched it go sailing downward, disappearing into the mists below with a tiny puff of cloud.

"What?  He was throwing off the angle of your jumps."

 

[Elora 0]

Elora enjoyed soaring through the vaporous air as the fabric of her skirt rippled in a trail behind her. She felt like some sort of princess that was on the run from captors, or an overbearing suitor. Maybe I should wear dresses more often, she found herself wishing with surprise. It wasn't usually Elora's disposition to be concerned with trivial things like using clothing or makeup to enhance her appearance, but for some reason, this change had made her happy. 

She continued to hop down the cliffside until she reached the platform that Freyd had been waiting on. All the while, the golem had skipped and ricocheted across pools of water and stoney faces to descend before her. After she witnessed Freyd punting the pebblit, she commented, "Well, I think that could only help him get to the bottom faster. He should be just fine...as long as he doesn't shatter..." Suddenly, her head jerked as something behind Freyd appeared to command her attention. "HOLY SH*T!", she exclaimed loudly and pointed with a gloved hand. As soon as Freyd moved to respond to the outburst, she lounged onto the next outcropping. "HAHA! I'm going to beat you to the bottom!!", she yelled back to him just as loudly. The further they got to the valley below, the more Elora could make out the details of a small village surrounded by streams and the steppes. 

 

 

Spoiler

Who will win the race? 

ID#: 167060 BD3 

awh shet

Edited September 1, 2020 by Elora

[Freyd 0]

Sword suddenly in hand, Freyd turned to face whatever threat Elora had spotted, only to hear her giggling laughter as she bounded down the cliff-side.  His brow fell flat against his eyes as he realized what had just occurred.  At least she was embracing the possibility.  That alone beat his expectations.  Just a few weeks ago she would have blown up in a huff at being challenged with almost anything.  Now she wanted to race face-first down the side of a waterfall.

"Seems like improvement to me," Freyd said to himself, shrugging as he walked off another cliff's edge.

His analytical mind had already mapped out the optimal route, but Elora's little trick had bought her a head start.  Skipping and hopping from steppe to steppe, he closed the distance, watching her glance behind at him as he chased her.  Was that what she really wanted?  Honestly, he was more surprised that the thought even occurred to him than at the possibility.

Both competitors came skidding to a stop at the same time on one of the last and wider terraces overlooking a small and humble village below.  Freyd watched her and she stood proudly beside him, admiring the change in her demeanor, and glad for her to have found the confidence that came with it.

 

Spoiler

Same score as Elora.  Tied.

 

Edited September 2, 2020 by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows