[PP-F1] Camping..... AT NIGHT (Vandrin, Kimi, Calcifer, Minako)

[Aquan 0]

"Oh Dear, I'm lost." Aquarian's eyes darted from tree to tree, unsure of which one he studied and which one he just passed. While he is usually very attentive and able when it comes to finding his way, today was definitely an exception to that rule. He blinked and looked around the forest and just decided to sit down. "I wont find my way any easier if I'm running around blindly." He muttered and looked up into the canopy, something his parents taught him to do at a young age.

He tried his best to study which leaves went to what tree, and what tree they could be best depicting from the real world into this virtual reality. He picked up some leaves around him and started to study them. He looked over the plant's vein like structure in the leaf to move nutrients around. He was lost in his own little world for a while.... a long time. By the time he noticed the daylight fading, he was already comparing multiple leaves and trying to see which leaf went to what type of tree. "Oh... It's dark. Oh dear." He muttered and stood up, wiping the dirt off of his butt.

@Minako@Calcifer@Vandrin@Kimi

 

[Calcifer 0]

Meanwhile, just past the deep thickets of the forest and farther towards the looming mountains of the first floor, a young girl with pastel pink hair and a matching set of determined eyes circled in tandem with her opponent--a single boar piglet. With their gazes locked, Calcifer's mouth curled up into a smirk. “You really think you're a match for me? Hmph!" She scoffed and her chest puffed full of confidence. “Stand in my way, young one, and I'm afraid you'll come to regret it." Calcifer taunted her enemy further, her basic straight sword held at the ready in her right hand. Their stand-off lasted a few seconds more, until Calcifer let out a wry chuckle. “So be it... Allow me to make this quick for you. Hyaa!" She rushed forward, slashing across and dealing a single point of damage to the little boar. It squealed out in pain, rearing back and continuing to cry long after Calcifer pulled back and readied for a second strike.

Puffing and gasping for air, Calcifer could be found a minute later scrambling through the forest, tripping over dense roots and scratching her arms and cheeks against prickly bushes. “I--I acknowledge my folly! I concede!!" She yelled and panted. Barreling through the foliage on her trail was a large and very angry mother boar, snorting and squealing with protective malice. “Please ma'am--! Surely we can-- come to an agreement?!" Calcifer's pleas most certainly feel on deaf, unyielding ears as the mother boar trampled. The splitting 'crack' of a pinecone splintering under the weight of her hoof caused the girl to let out a small squeak of fear.

[Minako 0]

Minako wipes the sweat from her brow. She had spent the better part of the day collecting a various amount of sticks, leaves, and other earthly made things. She brushed them into a small corner, stowing them away like a squirrel would nuts in the winter. She patted her hands free of dirt, proud of her small accomplishment. Now, if any other mundane quest appeared that requires her to gather a mundane amount of sticks, berries, or leaves. She was ready. That was until, a woman clad in starting clothing and gear fumbled through the underbrush knocking everything aside in a mad dash to get to someplace.

Minako puffed her cheeks. The girl conceded, then begged for an apology from her. She would receive none. Minako hasn't realized that the girl was running away from something, that is until it connected with her. The mother boar in its rage slammed into the back of Minako's shins sending the brunette to the ground.

Landing squarely on her rear Minako finally was able to receive the full picture of things. She stood up, and instead of brushing her clothes clean of debris she instead opted to swap into her armor. Her pile would be avenged.

She chased after the boar also screaming into the night, possibly frightening the poor adventurer even further with screams that echoed within the dark confines of the woods.

[Kimi 0]

"Hmmph..." Kimi let out a long satisfying groan as she stretched from a midday nap, Noodle doing the same in tandem. Small tears forming as she was waking "Hey there buddy." She said as she lavishly presented her hand to Noodle for head pats. "You get a good nap too?" Noodle responded with a quick nudge at her hand as she started to pick herself up. Fallen leaves rustled and moved like a wave across the cold ground she laid upon, while a gentle breeze brushed the tree branches to and fro making shadows dance above. "We were out for quite a bit." Kimi thought to herself. She stood up and did a full stretch tippy toeing while reaching into the sky before patting away the dust and dirt on her cloths. "Alright then, lets get a move on." She said looking down at Noodle. 

The duo strolled along the beaten path like they have plenty of times before. Both trying to keep a keen eye out for anything that screams "Treasure here!". It was hard being a treasure hunter Kimi often thought to herself. Most times there isn't any around and trying to enjoy the world around you is difficult because she would get distracted. Kimi let out a quick short sigh of discomfort as she mutter to herself in imaginary conversation. In that moment she looked around to see if Noodle is listening to her complaints, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Noodle!?" Kimi called out. "Where'd you go? You better have found some treasure if I find you!" She said. While Kimi was parting nearby bushes she heard some streaking in the distance. "What as that? There's no way Noodle ran off that far?" She thought to herself, it wouldn't be the first time he wondered off far from sight. Kimi rubbed the back of her head and let out a sigh before giving chase to the noise.

[Vandrin 0]

"Dammit Vi.." he cursed to himself as he stood alone in the clearing where they had met on the first floor. After their run in together, she had promised to help Vandrin get off of his feet and get him some better armor to help defend himself. He sucked his teeth, he knew it was too good to be true.. she did come at him as if she was going to kill him after all. The scowl he wore on his face remained as he let out a huff of air through his nostrils, deciding he had waited long enough for her, "Who needs her, I'll get my own damn shit." 

Grabbing the rear end of his spear, Vandrin would pluck the sharp edge from the ground and rest it over his shoulders. Following the path he had taken to get to this point, he began to long trek back to the Town of Beginnings. It was starting to get late anyway, and the last thing he wanted was to get caught out in the open at night. 

The distant shouts of, what he could assume were, two other players could be heard not too far off in the distance. The sudden noise caused Vandrin to swing his spear to the front of him in a ready stance. It didn't seem as though they were nearby..so whatever posed a threat to them did not know of Vandrin's existence. He growled to himself, but what if they were really in danger? Maybe a third hand could get them out of whatever mess they were in. The choice was quick, and with his spear at the ready, the large man began to rush through the bushes and foliage in the direction he heard the others. 

After a moment of running, "Dammit.. where are they?" he had lost track of their location. A shuffle in the bushes behind him shocked him, and he spun with the tip of his spear pointing forward, "Guess I'm in for a fight on my own after all..." He expected a boar, or a wolf.. or even a bear like last time. What he was definitely not expecting.. was a small, shark-like creature with legs to emerge. "...What the?" 

Edited November 7, 2020 by Vandrin

[Aquan 0]

Aquarian could feel himself begin to get nervous about the changing of day to night. He knew that he was bottom of the barrel when it came to level and ability, so being caught out here alone could mean the end of him. That pin prick of fear began to grow in his chest and before long, he was fast walking around the woods, trying to find his way back to town. Did I turn here? No.... I saw a sunflower and went towards that instead.... Wait was there a squirrel around here I was talking to? Of course it's gone, it's a NPC animal.... Was still nice to talk to him though. He quickly lost his way.

Luckily, or maybe unluckily depending on the view point, he ran into some other people. First of which was a young girl plowing through the woods. She seemed very panicked. After her came another woman, looking both panicked and on the hunt for vengeance. "Huh, Ma'ams are you-" The snort of a boar cut him off. "Oh a Sus Scrofa! I haven't seen one of you since I've been here. You're so-" Another snort came from the wild boar, kicking at the dirt, then charging at him. "Oh no." 

Aquarian soon joined the two other women in running, his panicked faces mimicking theirs. His eyes fell upon a man and a strange creature, which made him halt for a moment. "What are you!?" He bent down and looked at the small shark-esque creature. "I knew there would be fantasy creatures but- oh right I'm running. Hello sir." He looked up and waved to the stranger before running again, almost tackling a lady in the process. "So many people. Hi, Hello. There's something chasing me and two other women. Goodbye." He sets off running again.

@Calcifer

[Calcifer 0]

“Ohhh, how long—is she going to chase after me—?” Calcifer muttered to herself in between small gasps of air. Her eyes went wide as a voice began to shout from behind her, and the teen only spared a quick glance over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of the brunette adventurer who was yelling expletives after the both of them. Confused and still concerned for her safety, Calcifer kept running until she passed by a man with pale blonde hair and a naive look on his face. “Ah! Be careful—!” She shouted when he regarded the mother boar with fondness.

The cartoonish chase went on for a while. Long enough for them to pass a couple of other players in the woods. Calcifer felt nearly at her limit, and  swallowed a lump in her throat before she drastically slowed her pace. The heel of her boot dug into the ground to aid her stop and turn her around. The blonde man wouldn’t be far behind her, and she intended to place herself between him and the beast that so adamantly wanted revenge against her for harming her baby. Pulling out her straight sword, Calcifer stood her ground against the charging mother boar. “So be it!” Her chest still bobbed in and outward from her heavy breaths she took. “If we are fated to do battle, I mustn’t drag innocent people into our quarrel. Calcifer the Knight will show you her resolve!” She declared, readying to come to blows.

[Minako 0]

Minako's voice trailed away from expletive's to a more concentrated form of breathing. She never was one to go out and run, nor was she one to be known for an incredibly high endurance and as she has been chasing this boar for some time now, she was feeling the adverse effect of sprinting for so long. Exhaustion had begun to hit her, and she could feel it. There was no pain as the game was kind enough to not simulate that, but the other effects were there. Her muscles began to slow and become tense, her breathing was begging to waiver, and she could feel sweat starting to bead its way down her brow.

Minako quelled her frustration. When would this damn chase come to its head. Her silent frustrations finally answered as the pink haired woman spun around to meet the Boar. Minako firmly planted her feet and dug her blade into the ground. Bits of dirt covered the boar creature but her blade came up short and missed it by quite the large margin. The boar, surprised by the attack from the rear spun around wildly and her tusks managed to nick Minako's semi exposed shin. The blow itself leaving a rather embarrassing red mark showing the damage.

ID: 177500 BD: 3 (Miss) CD: 7 (+2 Energy) MD: 9 (+1 Crit to Minako)
+2 DMG from Heavy Momentum
! Combat Stats !
Level: 6
[0] Minako: 116/120 HP | 12/12 EN | 5 DMG | 18 MIT | 0 ACC | 0 EVA | Recovery: 2| Burn: 1| Blight: 1. | Heavy Momentum: 2

Mother Boar
HP: 10
Dmg: 3

Edited November 19, 2020 by Minako

[Kimi 0]

Kimi chased her ever so elusive familiar around the forest only ever catching a glace of his plump stubby tail before he disappears into another bush. "Noodle~~!" She cried out. "Get back here." While she gave chase the sounds of shrieking from earlier grew louder, and putting two and two together she quickly figured out where her Noodle might be headed. Kimi quickened her pace as little worry came to the back of her mind. She reminisced about her struggles in the earlier levels of this death game and how she had a few close calls. "Someone is probably in trouble." She quickly thought to herself as she narrowed her eyes to try to spot Noodle and whomever is causing the shrieking. 

As Kimi was dashing through the shrubbery and bushes she finally caught up to Noodle. "There you are!" She exclaimed towards Noodle before noticing the man pointing a spear towards her direction. "Uhhh... Hello there." She said glancing back at the spear. Without a moments notice, another person appeared from behind the stranger quickly running past the two. Kimi couldn't quite make out what the person running past her said, but she did take notice of two other women following closely behind. Kimi peered passed the person in front of her trying noticing the two women fighting a boar.

"Excuse me a moment." She said to the spear guy and she sprinted past him with Noodle in tow. As many times before, Kimi charged forward closing the distance between her and the boar. She cocked her arm back, blue swirling energy matching that of Noodles colour, coating her arm like a vortex. "Eat this!" She yelled as she leaped forward planting her fist into the boar, who likewise got planted into the ground leaving a cobweb of cracks on the ground. Kimi let out a self satisfying grin as she one shot the boar "Easy peasy Noodle" She said to Noodle while he shuffled and sniffed around where the boar was moments before.

ID# 177976 results: Battle: 10 | Craft: 6 | Loot: 6 | MOB: 6

| Kimi | Level 33 | HP 660/660 | E 59/66 | 14 DMG | EVA 3 | ACC 3 | LD 2 | MIT 0 |

(Crit + 2) All Might: 240dmg

Mother Boar: dead
HP: -230
Dmg: 3

[Vandrin 0]

Another rustle of the bushes and Vandrin shifted his spear upwards, above the strange shark-god's head. A quick cross step backwards, the man created a little bit more distance between himself and whatever was going to emerge from the shrubbery. A shorter creature, a reddish bob.. and glasses. This wasn't a monster at all, this was another player. She looked young, younger than Vandrin at least, and she seemed not the slightest bit worried about his spear pointed in their direction. Oh.. this must be her familiar, he finally came to realize. 

As he began to lower his spear, a commotion behind him brought him to turn about. Three players had gone rushing by, a large boar somehow in the mix. Honestly, they had gone by too quickly for him to figure out who was chasing who. That didn't stop the redhead behind him from joining in on the fun, however, as she immediately rushed past him. Vandrin stood there alone for a moment, trying to process what the hell just happened. Then with a heavy sigh, and a light jog, he pushed through the foliage after them. 

By the time he had gotten to the group, the boar was nothing but fragments of data falling to the ground like a gently snowfall. The readhead rose to a standing position, leaving a small patch of upturned earth beneath her where, he presumed, the boar once stood. She's strong, no wonder she didn't seem to care that I had my weapon drawn on her.. he thought to himself. "I take it everyone's alright?" he questioned, feeling a bit out of place standing off from them. 

[Aquan 0]

Aquan's running began to slow with him not knowing what to do or where exactly to go. "Could anyone body he-" His plea for help was cut short be a woman coming through the forest and striking the creature down in one hit. "-lp... Okay, that was easy enough." He screeched to a halt and turned to see another woman behind him that seemed to be chasing the boar. He looked at the three woman and one man, waving to them all. "Thank you kind woman for taking care of that boar, I'm not sure what we would have done if you didn't step in and stop it." He paused, looking at the four people in the forest with him. "I'm Aquarian, what are all your names? If you don't mind me asking of course. I know that giving your information to strangers, whether it be a virtual world or the real world, can be a bit worrisome to some people. Now I'm a low level so I can't do much of anything, not sure the rest of you, so I'm not really a threat. I wonder what I would be considered a threat too... Probably not much considering.." His mind slowly began to wander as his words tapered off, his verbal tyrant now being trapped to his mind.

@Calcifer

[Calcifer 0]

Calcifer had steeled her resolve and held her ground. She stared down the oncoming mother boar, teeth grit and sword in hand. And then, it was gone. Calcifer blinked a few times while her brain caught up with everyone around her, and the one named Aquan began to rapidly exchange pleasantries.

'I'm not sure what we would have done if you didn't step in'

Calcifer bit her bottom lip, but said nothing. The blow to her pride was heavy. She spun her blade once and slid it back into the sheath at her left hip. Sliding her heels together with a 'click' of her boots, Calcifer brought her right arm up in front of her torso and turned to the rest of the group, bowing at the waist. “Calcifer, Knight-in-training, at your service." She introduced herself.

She straightened and her eyes pastel-pink eyes moved to the brunette wearing armor with spear in hand. Calcifer took a few steps to close the gap between herself and Minako. “Are you hurt?" She asked. “I apologize for entangling you in my conflict." Her head turned to Aquan briefly to give a nod, "“You as well."

[Minako 0]

Minako saw two more appear after the boar had swiftly been dealt with. She recognized the sword art that was used via her travels with Jevi as a martial arts form. The blonde boy introduced himself as Aquarian, and then began to ramble. The pink haired woman threw an arm to her chest, bowed, and introduced herself as well, giving a rather apt title as well. She apologized to her and Aquarian as well. Minako smiled at the girl, threw her lance onto her back, and repeated the salute. "Minako. No title." She said, holding back a giggle.

She turned to get a better look at the other two. She recognized one of them from the circus a few months back. What was his name again? It began with a 'V' that much she knew. Vance, maybe? She shook her head clear didn't matter. "I think we're all fine, thank you." She said, watching her HP nearly restore itself to full in a short moment. A moment of awkward silence fell upon Minako's lips. She dared not to utter why she was out here in the wilderness this late at night, but that three other players were out here this late rose suspicion. "So, what brings you all out here so late?" Minako asked the group.

[Kimi 0]

As Kimi looked about to see if everyone was alright, the spear wielding man from earlier came by and asked ahead of her. "Yeah I think were good here." She said giving a small nod. Everyone seemed to gather to see if each other were alright when the blond boy caught up and began to introduce himself. Kimi swept her hair away from the front of her glasses giving a small two finger hand salute. "I'm Kimi... Uhh..." Kimi said stalling to think of a title for herself. "food enthusiast and familiar connoisseur." As those words left her lips she let it sit before realizing she ruined her introduction. "I-I mean food CONNOISSEUR and familiar ENTHUSIAST."  She stammered trying to fix the misinterpretation. She gave a aggressive nod to try and shake her embarrassment off.  A girl who introduced herself as Minako spoke up "So, what brings you all out here so late?" Kimi happily shared, "I was taking this little cutie for a walk" she pointed with a nod to her familiar. "His name is Noodle."  Noodle then began to make his rounds to everyone giving them a good sniff and looking for pats.

[Vandrin 0]

The threat had passed, and all of the other players seemed uninjured. "Good" Vandrin said with a nod as he swept his spear behind him to let it rest of his back. The brunette who answered his question looked familiar, though he could not place where he had seen her form before. "I'm Vandrin. I was originally out here to meet a friend, but she never showed. Then I heard one of you scream, so I ran out to make sure everything was alright." As Kimi's familiar Noodle wandered up to Vandrin, the man looked down at it, "Sorry I almost attacked you." He looked back up to Kimi, shrugging his shoulders, "I've never actually met another player with a familiar before.. so I didn't realize he was yours." 

Well, the group had introduced themselves and, at the moment, it seemed as though there were no other wandering monsters to attack them. As the awkward silence grew thicker and thicker, Vandrin shifted his weight, "It's getting dark.. Probably should get back to the town before long."  As he turned and took a few steps in the opposite direction, he realized that the path he was familiar with was long behind him. Shit, he had followed the other group for this far, he had gotten thrown off track. He stood, pondering for a moment before turning around, "Actually.. I think I'll stick with you guys for a bit, if thats alright." 

[Aquan 0]

Aquarian nodded along to what everyone said and made a note to connect the names with faces. He was about to open his mouth to say something, but his eyes fell upon Noodle, Kimi's familiar. Aquarian squatted down and started to give the Shark-Dog some pets. "His name is noodle?!" He looks up at Kimi, his eyes practically full of stars. "I love him, he seems to be a shark-dog hybrid? What floor did you get him on? I do not know much about aquatic floors, but maybe a floor that has an ocean on it's coast? Floor 24 has something similar, but I do not know much about that floor unfortunately." All these words are coming immediately one after another. He paused, his eyes darting over the creature while he continued to give it all of his attention. "What do you feed him? I know dogs and sharks are both carnivorous, but their diets are very different with only a bit of overlap. Can he breathe under water?" He ended his rambling by looking up at Kimi for a moment, cocking his head at her.

Before she could say much he stood up and looked around the area. "It is starting to get dark, Probably 10 minutes before it's dusk. I'm not sure how easily it will be to get to town. Kimi seems to be strong, but covering four individuals with minimal combat training down what seems to be a 30-60 minute walk in the dark is not advantageous....." He trailed off again, his eyes darting across the landscape.

[Calcifer 0]

The shift in available sunlight was becoming apparent, and Calcifer shifted her weight once she noticed it. “I'm sure it can't be that difficult to get back to town from here..." She mumbled the words mainly to herself under her breath. She turned and looked all around, finally trying to get her bearings in the forest after the lengthy encounter with the mother boar. They were surrounded by trees, all right. Calcifer couldn't see any sort of break to a clearing or even the mountain ridges from here.

She frowned. Now this just wouldn't do. As much as she hated to use it, Calcifer waved her hand through the air to pull up her menus and navigated to her map. She hadn't collected a ton of map data for the first floor,  but she had to have enough to figure it out, right? She was just beginning to hover her forefinger, tracing an imaginary path that led from the blank void she was standing in to the Town of Beginnings when the sound of a wolf's howl pierced through the air. She froze, tensing up and pausing her navigation efforts. “Uhh... Do you think the wilderness gets more dangerous at night?" She asked nobody in particular. A snap like a twig breaking in half sounded somewhere within earshot. Leaves began to rustle without the wind to blow them.

[Minako 0]

Minako rubbed the back of her head as she avoided giving the reason as to why she was out here. But now that the danger had subsided she peaked over at the group in the darkness. The moon gave off some lighting, but not enough to break through the canopy of the forest they were in, at least this patch in particularly. "I agree. I think a quick step back into town would be a good idea." Truth be told this was the first time that Minako had been out this late at night. All of her other excursions had been nearly at the crack of dawn and ended well before the sun set. "I'm unsure." Minako said in response to Calcifer's query about nighttime being more dangerous.

A wolf's howl cut across the still air, the sound carrying through the trees and surrounding them. The hair on Minako's neck stood on end as a sudden chill filled the air. She grabbed her weapon and pointed it at the direction where leaves from the underbrush suddenly moved and made noise. She spun around as a loud crackle of a snapping twig got her attention. "I think we may be being stalked here." Minako said, putting up a brave front.