[F1-PP] The World Has Changed!

[Eruda 0]

The words he spoke, his strength was her, sitting there as she felt each word he said. Things that he had never shared with her before...She looks slightly down from Raidou as the last words made her glance back up for only a second, "What do you mea..." as Raidou's lips press against hers. At that very second, the bottled emotions that she stashed away and tossed to the side opened back up. At first, she had not a clue what to think, but she closed her eyes, scooted closer, and let it happen. The softness of his warm lips, it was everything that she wanted for so long, but why now? What had to change to allow Raidou to open like this? Her chest was pounding with emotions that she did not yet understand. The kiss lasted a few minutes before they slowly parted. Eruda gazed into his eyes now as her breath became unsteady..."It's been months...without a word or view of you...I thought you hated me...That I did something wrong to make you leave...What changed..." she says in almost a mumble as she tried to figure out what was going on right now. She crossed her legs as their legs touched but she was too shocked to move. Her First Kiss and it was mind-blowing. Her heart ached for an answer as their faces were still inches from each other.

Eruda | HP:880/880 | EN:76/76 | DMG:3 | MIT:107 | BLD:24 | TAUNT | THRNS:36 | REC:1 | BH:26 | DoT -25%

Spoiler

Eruda
Level: 38
HP: 880/880
EN: 76/76

Stats:
Damage: 3
Mitigation: 107
BH:26
BLD:24
TAUNT
THRNS:36
REC:1

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Unforgiving Edge - Malice T2: (Bleed 2, Taunt)
Armor: Reinforced Plate - Lily T2: Damage Mitigation 3 (+54 Mitigation)
Misc: Stalwart Defender T2: (Thorns 2, Recovery 1)

Skills:
Heavy Armor [Rank 5]
One-Handed Curved Sword [Rank 2]
Fighting Spirit [Obtained]
Howl [Obtained]
Block [Rank 2]
Battle Healing [Rank 3]

Extra Skills:
Concentration

Mods:
Stonewall

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleport Crystal
Ebon Tether - Beauty (+3 Loot Dice)

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by Eruda

[Raidou 1]

Peeling himself away, the very notion of what had happened had yet to sink in. Raidou had no idea what he was doing, or how to proceed after. A quizzical mind at a loss for answers. The air was stagnant, only the soft chirp of a tiny bird enough to leave the place less perfectly still. A break: "I mean..." placing a hand to his mouth in a ball he coughs sharply. "That no matter what has happened, how many strides forward I have taken. It has always been the guild." He twists and picks his glasses off the blanket of his own heart now laid bare in crimson. "It has always been you that I strove to protect. I took those steps without any attempt to make a connection, for fear."

The nomad in red looks to the clear blue above, her gaze and attention were almost too much to bear directly. "Fear not of what would happen to me, but what will happen to me and how it will affect those around me that I get too close to." Doing his best to avoid looking directly at the blonde that wove his heart, the very symbol that had made him

who
     he
          was...

He musters the strength to look her in the eyes, a placid serenity fit in his brow. Was it sorrow painted upon his face? "Simply put, I could not bear the thought of dealing that wound to anyone so I shut them out, I could not bear doing that to you. I could never hate you Eruda, I wouldn't be me without you."

Raidou | HP:1790/1790 | EN:176/176 | DMG:19 | MIT:121 | EVA:4 | ACC:4 | BH:89

Spoiler

Raidou, The Red Wanderer
Level: 88
HP: 1790/1790
EN: 176/176

Stats:
Damage: 19
Mitigation: 121
Evasion: 4
Accuracy: 4
BH:89

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Auric Sol - Corona [T3/Perfect/2HSS]: Damage 3
Armor: Red Wanderer's Robe [T1/Perfect/L.A] +3 Evasion
Misc: Tactician's Gaze - Ogma [T1/Perfect/Trinket]: +3 Accuracy

Skills:
Gatherer [Obtained]
Two Handed Straight Sword [Rank 5]
Extended Mod Limit R3 [Obtained]
Parry [Obtained]
Howl [Obtained]
Battle Healing [Rank 5]
Fighting Spirit [Obtained]
Light Armor [Rank 5]
Searching [Rank 5]
Charge [Rank 5]
Extended Weight Limit [Obtained]

Extra Skills:
Concentration
Familiar Mastery: Protector
Survival

Active Mods:
Finesse Rank 3
Athletics
Sprint and Acrobatics
Detect
Tracking
Ferocity
Bull Rush
Justified Riposte

Inactive Mods:
Vengeful Riposte
Focused Howl
Emergency Recovery
Reveal
Stamina
Precision

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleport Crystal*1
Pillar Fragment [Unique/Nightvision Mod]
Eternal Watch - Tenacity [T3/Perfect/Trinket]: Recovery 2, Accuracy 1
Mass Heal Crystal*5
Incarceration [T1/Perfect/Debuff Song] Double DoT*2
Hypnosis 2 [T1/Rare/Debuff Song/Instant] -2 Accuracy*3
Ebon Star - Vanguard Revenant [T2/Perfect/2HSS]: V.O 2, Taunt
Eye of Midas - Larceny [T1/Perfect/Trinket]: +3 Prosperity
Obtained via Item Stash (Housing)
Obtained via Dimensional Backpack

Housing Buffs:
Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Col Stash: +5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests
Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild:
Tanos Statue: +15 Mitigation for a thread.

 

[Eruda 0]

"It has always been you that I strove to protect."
             I could not bear the thought of dealing that wound to anyone so I shut them out, I could not bear doing that to you."
"I wouldn't be me without you."

Eruda lets the words sink in before saying anything. "You keep saying me, but for the most part, I felt like I was just a guildmate to you. You made me feel like I mattered and that I made a difference for the guild, but not to you so forgive me if the kiss came as a shock to me. My point I guess is that I didn't think I meant that much to you, because you never told me that I did. You just said that you believed in me which meant the world to me made me who I am now but you said that to everyone." She places her hand on Raidou's with a slight sigh, confused as ever right now.

"If this is going to happen, then no more running for either of us. We talk to each other and get through it, mainly because I don't think my heart can take the confusion anymore." She scoots herself to the side of Raidou now removing her hand from his. Sitting right next to him now looking down trying to understand everything. Without looking directly at Raidou she says "I am with you regardless, but I need to know, are you finally going to let me in?" Eruda was nervous but she was okay. From as many times as she had interacted with others, she most certainly did...Find her voice...

Edited December 11, 2020 by Eruda

[Raidou 1]

A twist on the missing white noise that caused a bit of an unsettling feeling in his stomach, the gravity of his feeling here were almost sickening. He knew not how to interpret it, how to deal with it. "Every single body holding a weapon has a purpose. Is important. That much has not changed in the slightest." Raidou quipped opening his menu and drawing out little tidbits he'd been working on to distract himself. A mythril pestle and an empty vial he removed a plant and began to usher it into a powder.

It was easier to speak when his mind was divided.

"Running isn't quite the correct word, simply put I left you behind. In my haste to make a difference, to protect you and all those within the cathedral of the forgotten I spent every morning, every day pushing myself to the brink. I thought that it would save you the trouble of mourning my death, but now I am not quite so sure I die here. Before I was convinced it was inevitable, that it was impossible for me to survive this."

There was that word again, the very same that graced the quest description of FTK.

Impossible, wasn't so absolute.

[Eruda 0]

"I know what my role is now and I fight with it every day knowing that something can go horribly wrong at any giving time. Me being in the front end protecting the ones that I care about, I have excepted that one day, I may not be here anymore. We can try controlling what will happen but sometimes it's just fate and will happen regardless." Eruda watches him pull out his crafting equipment and smiles. "Every day that we are in this game is dangerous for everyone at any given time but there is one thing that Haine taught me." She readjusts where she sat now in front of Raidou. Tilting her head slightly, to look at his face as he works. "She told me that if I keep just fighting, it will one day consume me. To enjoy the life I am given and make every day worth living to the fullest." Eruda reaches out and touches his arm softly with sincerity in her eyes now saying, "If death came to you, yes I would have mourned you but I would be more angry and full of regret that I never got to know the one person that I actually had feelings for." Pulling her hand back she places both on her knees. "Raidou do you feel like we could do this, enjoy our life together while still protecting everyone we care about?" Her chest started to pound as a knot forms in her stomach. She didn't know what each day would bring, but she knew that she wanted to spend them with the man in red. She had not the first clue to what she felt for him just that she knew she liked him.

Edited December 12, 2020 by Eruda

[Raidou 1]

"Fate doesn't exist, I have built a world around me proving that fact." A twist of the rubbing metal before transferred into a vial, removing a small leather-bound collection of tools in a wrap. A dropper removed in a small bottle filled with a grey liquid that's thick like syrup, a single drop causes it to flash and begin to fill with liquid. "Now to settle." Raidou quips as he scratches one more note to a small book in the same small satchel. Lifting the potion in his grasp as it twists color and shade with a slight luminescent glow. "A potion just like this one changes everything and it takes but one moment to produce. Every day is important and although I can grow no longer I can still continue to bring about change. Do not be fooled into thinking that something is just bound to happen. Change how it works, rig the odds, and control them." Raidou quipped carefully in regards to her statement with the potion as the catalyst for teaching.

"I can promise nothing but to try, This is new to me. Relaxing is something I forgot how to do long ago."

 

[Eruda 0]

"Fair enough, making mistakes and changing the outcome for better results." This actually made some sense to her. She had to change her outlook on people and make herself realize that not everyone was bad. Taking a deep breath with a very small smile to his last statement. " I can relate to that. I am not sure I know how to relax... There was never a moment that I had to myself. It's just the same here..." He said he would try and that was good enough for her. She would try as well, hopefully, it would all work out in the end. "What did you do back home to relax?" Maybe a simple conversation getting to know one other was something they could both manage to do, at least for now. She thought about the kiss now as she looks down at her hands against her knees. Her face turned a bit red as she could feel the heat build within her. 

Edited December 12, 2020 by Eruda

[Raidou 1]

Removing the lenses from his face he folds the earpieces in toward the bridge, and a flash of light removes them from visibility. Standing up from the red tapestry beneath them, his heart worn with time and the passage of months. It had seen the ages, sand and blood, stone and ichor. He'd reach down to her hand, latching to her and lifting her to her feet. "Then we will figure it out. I vaguely remember reading on the regular." His voice seemed off-kilter, and subtly it was odd. What had changed was unknown, and to those, without the insight to pick up on it, it would flow past without intervention.

Reaching down and ripping his robe from the sentiment and flutter around his shoulders, he takes her hand in his. It was all the anchor he needed, which was why he placed his lenses away. The first step with her hand in his own, he steps back in time figuratively. Through the heavy canopy, his eyes take to the map as he leads her back through the wakes. Through the tiny ripples that echoed and pushed them apart.

A rub of his palm against a large oak tree as he shifts through the density "Just a little more." he looks back over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't dragging her too harshly. Without a word he shifts her in front of him, softly pushing her against a particular tree.

[Eruda 0]

Raidou lifts her easily, catching her footing quickly as their hands interlocked. Very curious as to why he removed his frames. Words said as she thinks for just a brief moment, -He vaguely remembers reading...-, does that mean that he had forgotten. "Wait where are w..." The thoughts pass the moment he starts to almost run with her through the trees. It started to become a blast to the past as they quickly walk past where Eruda remembers tripping over her dress with that long ribbon. Glancing down at their hands now, she grips Raidou's hand a bit tighter now not wanted to repeat that fall but keeps up with his speed. She starts to remember how she had felt at that time, running behind him, following him on the quest that they took what seemed like forever ago.

As they travel through the trees everything becomes so familiar now. The trees were just as she remembers, Raidou on the other hand, was not. Something was different about him but she couldn't understand how or why. She becomes a bit flustered now, knowing that the change was there because she had, she was different as well. Raidou was not that shy man she knew back in the day. Just like that, Raidou moves her quickly out of the way, like that one day before, pinning her against the tree. Her chest starts to pound as she could feel the warmth of his breath on her face. The view was the same from behind him as Eruda glances out just for a moment, the boulder to the right, the patch of 4 oddly shaped bushes to the left. 

Her face becomes red as she says "I thought you might have forgotten," she tries to keep her breath even as they stood so close. She keeps her hand in his but moves her other to his chest where his heart would be placed. "That day, this moment was when I knew I had those feeling for you, something that I had never felt before." She was calm, relaxed, and thinking of nothing else but him as she gazed into his amber-colored eyes. "What did that day mean for you, if anything?" She wanted to know because what she felt was more than she ever thought she could feel. Her heartbeat in unison with his beneath her hand. 

[Raidou 1]

A tinge of a smile, one he hardly ever wore. "You'll find I never forget anything that matters." Raidou remarks to her as he catches the subtle sway in her breath, an outstretched hand placed to that same solid oak. Leagues ago an assortment of nepents assailed them both, he was poisoned but was still getting his legs as a tank. He managed to hold them back that day, and it was here he failed. Confused beyond belief, unable to process what it was he was feeling as he looked at her so closely. Dragging his hand down the tree as he felt the roughness beneath his hand, allowing the smell to bleed off a bit more. Without a word in a reply to what she had to ask, it was clear she was nervous.

"No thinking, no questioning. I wear those lenses to bind me to reality, to remind me where everyone belongs. I don't need them here, they do nothing for me physically. But I wore them outside this place, and when I am with you I don't think I need them. My thoughts swell with this white noise of all the things I want to experience with you, outside this place."

Being rather bold and sliding his hand down to the top of her head, running a soft finger through her blonde hair. It felt soft, thin and beneath it, he could feel the warmth of her scalp. She was real enough. With a glance down and a soft-spoken word, Raidou aims to quiet Elda's blabbering with the same phrase that echoed the past that had been taken from them. "Come on, let's go back to town and we can get something to eat." He pauses intentionally, the words a total mirror from what was ages ago... letting the nostalgia mix before allowing the sentence to finish "and this time let's finish it. This is us trying this again, and doing it right. Starting over right where we left off if you'll allow me to."

[Eruda 0]

Seeing a small smile creep onto his face as his next words make her smile. She mattered...she mattered to him. She couldn't help but remember the rest of that day that happened so long ago. Watching him fight even back then so angelic like. Knowing exactly what he was doing at each given moment. Becoming furious when he saw she was hurt and thought it was the fowl creatures that did it. Eruda losing her mind when he got poisoned by them. They became so fueled by each other, it's why Eruda became a tank. In hopes that one day she could fight alongside him at the same level of intensity. To Eruda it just felt right.

Eruda's emotions became so much more with the next words that were said. -To bind him to reality,- him not needing them while with her. She melted inside just a bit hearing this. Did this mean she acted as an anchor or something for him to know the difference between the two worlds? She often found herself thinking if this was a dream or not herself. The feelings she felt keeps her from knowing the difference. Rage, sorrow, love...the staying alive part and the players here were very much real. This is what Eruda focused on most of the time when her mind strips back to those thoughts. Raidou added a huge part in this and it makes her more determined to get out of this game, to find him in the real world amongst all the jerks out there would mean everything to her. This is what kept her going, this is what kept her sain in this hell.

It came as an, even more, surprise that he was ready to experience everything with her. -I would love nothing more,- she thought to herself. Her mind stuck to the last few words though. -Outside this place,- That could mean many things. Outside this game, outside this forest. It made her realize that this person she had become and was becoming from Kasumi's words, would indeed follow her out of this game not if they got out but when.

She opened her mouth slightly to say something but then she felt something. Raidou warmth gently against her head. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath just letting it all sink in. Her face became flustered but this was more than she could have ever hoped for. This was really happening! Before Raidou and her were so scared to make any type of movement toward each other but now... It almost felt natural, like Raidou said no thinking. Fluttering her eyes open as he starts to say the next few words, she recognized them instantly but again, they were different but the same.

She could not help but let out a small chuckle knowing what -this time- was comparing to, both times... Her hand on his chest moves to his face, her fingertips brush against his cheek slightly. It was smooth, she smiles saying in a shyish voice, "I'll allow it, but your next dance is with me..." she blushes just a bit and she had a feeling that she knew where they were heading. A complete re-due sounded nice coming from him but this time it was going to be different. She had a good feeling about this time, hell this moment. As much as she didn't want to leave this... she hoped that this...would continue because she was rather enjoying herself, being this close, Eruda could only hope that Raidou was too cause god only knows he deserved it. Tilting her head slightly with a soft smile, "Shall we?"

Meanwhile...

Raserei wakes up from her nap with a yawn. Glancing around she realized that her master and the man that fed her was gone... A small whine was given as she starts looking around nervously now. Deciding now to run back to her master's shop she scatches at the door. Freya opened the door just seconds later and searches the outside. "Where did Eruda head of too and without you..." The fire wolf gives another small whine to Freya and she just chuckles. "Come in, she will be back soon enough. I will make us some food." The wolf pup puts her head down and walks into the shop, Freya closes the door and Raserei turns toward the door and sits...Staring...

Edited December 20, 2020 by Eruda

[Raidou 1]

Keeping that chain that linked them, his own dormant hand that ran down the length of her bright blonde do. Down the length of a few strands, it finds her shoulder, and gingerly it gleans outside the birth of her arm and clutches to her hand. "Thank you for becoming real again." Raidou offers humbly to the girl as he begins to take the lead, leaving behind a past to a new present.

Through the medicine of the forest, past the winding paths that lead in a tear of tan through the lush green. Back to the beginning through a different lens. "It's time that I showed you my world, and shared it with you." Raidou quipped with her stuck to his heels like a shadow. As he breaches the walls of the starting city, with a myriad of eyes played upon the bright red robe upon his shoulders, a bit of an itch on his skin as was normal for him. The nomad pushes it from the confines of his mind, exploiting the warmth of that tank's hand within his clutches as an anchor as he would with his glasses.

Slowing to a walk with their hands linked in unison, he would not let go of that grip for the length of their journey. Finding that little restaurant and walking through the threshold, an NPC in brunette hair smiles as she recognizes them both and asks of him "A table for two?" A pause as Raidou looks at her, and with a smile, he answers "No, not at first." dropping a sack of col into her grip as he extends it to her. "Perhaps later, but first." He ushers past the waitress to where he shared that waltz with Simmone and twisting Eruda around to mirror it. "This is first isn't it?"

To the soft rhythm as they sway, Raidou begins to speak?

"A gentle lily that blows softly in a breeze, who's fickle petals do escape one's senses. How does one capture it forever? Is such a possibility? Allow me this parade, Let the world fall to pieces around me and become only this scent. Oh gentle lily, do you wound me or simply show me my scars and give them to me to see?" Placing a hand to her cheek as if that link was tethered to his soul. 

[Eruda 0]

"Thank you for becoming real again."

Hearing these words she stays silent with a blush forming against her face. Her lips merged together as their hands interlinked with one another. Traveling through the forest that she had been in time and time before, but this feeling was different. It felt real this time, the warmth of his hand in hers. It couldn't possibly be a dream. Each step between them in unison with another as her chest pounds for the moments she always hoped to fulfill with the new memories of them together. Let the past fall behind but let the feeling grow more in the suspense of what would come next to be true.

"It's time that I showed you my world, and shared it with you."

She wanted nothing more than this, to share a world with the man in red. The one that stole her heart from the very beginning. At first, she didn't know what that had meant, but the more this continued it became clearer. The stares that others gave them as they walked through town meant nothing to Eruda now, she would not let something so small bring her away from something so special. They never let one another go, the grip of their hands only got tighter as they came upon the place where they found themselves time and time again. 

Walking into the confines, they are approached. Raidou answers her with a smile and Eruda couldn't help but blush at the response given as she looks at the dance floor where she saw the magic happen of Raidou's feet. She glances around seeing a couple in the corner laughing and giggling sitting very close to one another. Another bigger dude in the opposite corning yelling at a female but then she points to something on his face and they start laughing. Another table with two young ladies, and another, some female sitting alone. Long black hair, turned away from them. 

At that very second Raidou walks with Eruda and gives her a twirl and starts to move to the music with her in his arms now. Her heart skipped a beat as it was so sudden and she found herself gazing into his eyes now. His movements were easy enough to mimic as this was her first time ever dancing. Listening to his soft words with so much meaning placed within them. They were poetic as every word slide with the next. Was she the lily, she thinks as his hand places upon her cheek. Taking a deep slow breath feeling his warmth and the burning urge within her rising. "I wish nothing but happiness for you and me. If we have to open the wounds to get past them..." She remembers something she saw in a movie once and mimics the movement, sliding them in a half-circle in a twirl in unison, "Then we will deal with it all, together..." she says softly not taking her eyes away from his. She pushes her cheek against his hand softly.

As they swayed together, it was then she realized she forgot..."I forgot about Raserei..." she says with a small chuckle. "Thank you for this...I really needed it..." she says softly. The music ends and began another. She recognized it...It was what was playing the first time they entered this building. She sets her hand now on his that was still on her face, she couldn't take her eyes away from his, "Let's make the most of what we got."  

[Raidou 1]

The song ends and with it a slight reluctance to stop, the NPC waitress still both confused as she was awestricken by the delivery. Raidou releases Eruda and ushers himself to her stead, and with a short cough. "Oh...oh um right!" she comments rather quickly, her face a bit red as she realized she was staring not unlike a human would. As it turned out even NPC were keen to this flight of fancy of romance.

Avoiding Raidou's gaze she stammers before choking out "right this way." and leading the players in question toward the back of the building, soft candlelight played about the place. To a rounded table in white linen, two chairs, and two placements upon mats in bright red. This was an obvious fine establishment and a bit more on the classier sort. Raidou couldn't shake the feeling of being beside this rabble. He was not one for fine dining. Better thoughts, correct thoughts would tell him to do otherwise.

But now was not a day for thinking.

Taking the seat and allowing his uncomfortability to wash away like the very falls to which this was a possibility, he would reach up toward the still stricken NPC and pluck the menu from her hand. Scents of well-prepared meals cling to the fibers of his nose, and with it a slight rumble in his stomach. Lifting open the menu and ushering Eruda to join him, his attentions divert from its contents to the NPC. "You know, it doesn't have to be so difficult." Raidou mutters as an honest reflection. "Turns out all you need to do is let go a bit. I am sure you'll find that out soon enough. I will have Miso soup with a sharp green tea, unsweetened, and if you could leave some leaves within it. I would like to see my fortunes."

[Eruda 0]

Watching the NPC's reaction to everything, she tried to hide a chuckle. She had no idea that they could have any other emotion that almost robotic. Sitting in the chair across from Raidou now the NPC still seems absent-minded, blank stares at them both... Eruda takes a menu into her hands and covers her face slightly to giggle a bit. Clearing her throat she glances at the menu. "Chicken soup with some cornbread, please. Make the green tea order 2 of the same if you would," she says placing the menu on the table now. She looks to the NPC as she just stands there for a moment before she shrugs her head and eyes to the right to tell her to leave and place the order. "OH umm...Yes coming right up." She scrambles herself away to the kitchen now tripping slightly over a chair on the way...

Eruda chuckles a bit as she looks to Raidou now. The dance was everything that she had imagined it to be...nothing but perfection. "I want to know you better, and assuming you might want the same from me, I will ask a question and then you ask me. Anything you want." Sitting slightly back in her chair she thinks for a moment. She becomes a bit flustered but she would do everything in her power to see this through this time. After a few moments of thinking a question, rather simple comes to mind. "Who were you outside this world..." Hoping it wasn't too personal she waits calmly giving him her full attention now.

[Raidou 1]

A soft exhale as the attendee wanders off to fulfill the order she was given, still a bit stricken and overtly nervous. "Fair enough, I suppose now is as good as a time as any. I am not the creative sort you'll see." Raidou quipped as he removed his robe and took out a pair of glasses, needing them for the recollection if this was the route she wished. It was difficult to be himself after all. Rubbing the lenses with a small bit of white fabric, removed alongside them. He recalled for her to understand.

"Kuzunoha, Raidou. Of the Mugen Tenshin clan. Heir to head of household." He dropped his birth name for her to consume, it means little to nothing here. The very same that it meant very little to him. "That is who I am, and who I wish not to be. A pompous ass that sits upon a throne and demands respect they have not earned." Raidou offered rather coldly, a direct insight into his father and the man he did not want to become. Memories of conflict, combat, and failure. The smell of sweat and fighting, the sounds of crying and screams of pain. A young child with amber eyes watching another man's arm be broken. A decision being made moments later by a child, a child who would favor defense over offense. "So Eruda, if I may reflect the same. Who are you outside this prison?" the question reciprocated with a softness on the tone of his voice, as his lenses are placed back on his brow.

Seconds later the woman ushers back with orders in tow, dumping them on the table before them albeit still too hot for consumption. It smelled divine, and with it, a tint of his own past laden within the scents. It was leagues away from constant cookies or simple loaves of bread, meant more for ease and sustainability. This was a celebration, but within it, he could not help but feel mixed. A memory of his kin, his only mother who shared this with him. His reluctance for sweets came from her after all.

[Eruda 0]

So Kuzunoha Raidou was his real name. He places the glasses back on his face. The question must have triggered a troubling past for him to do so. Is that why he came here in the first place, so he didn't need to take the Heir that was rightfully his. Mugen Tenshin clan, what was this. She had not the first clue what any of this was, but she could tell slightly by the words given that he wanted nothing to do with it. The question was bounced back to her and she could feel the burning rage within her as she thought about it. She closes her eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath to calm herself.

"I am Elda Maruri... I think...It's complicated..." She had no clue if her mother changed their last names after stealing them from Griswold. "I was a nobody that everyone hated because I didn't talk..., the shy girl in the dark corner..." She knew how this sounded but it was true. No one was there to help her gain a grasp on the world. "A maid to the woman that birthed us," she had a rough life but she was getting over it. She was not that person any longer and she refused to go back to the way things were. "That is why I was trying so hard here so that that person wouldn't reflect on what I am now."

She takes a spoon next to her bowl as she barely recalled the food being placed already. It was still a bit too warm so she places the spoon back down. "Was there anyone back home that you truly cared about?" She had no one but her sister but from previous conversations, Raidou already knew that. She glanced down at her tea, curious as to why the leaves made a broken-up shape that looked like a shield to her...

[Raidou 1]

Drinking the green tea carefully and leaving just a bit of the tea along the bottom of the white cup, he begins to do what he had only read about. He wasn't one for fate, one to believe in such flights of fancy. Even still it seemed as though the stars themselves had taken an intervention in his affairs as of late, and although he was skeptical he'd do this as a tribute if nothing else. Pouring the cup off into the platter, that last bit of tea oozes out onto the saucer it was placed upon.

"My mother, and Kasumi. They were there for me. Fed me when I closed myself off from the world. Pushed me to succeed, and held faith in me to what I was aiming to do." 

Faith, a word that meant little to him but leagues to them. A faint memory catches in his head as it's recalled. "You'll aspire to great things my little bolt of lightning, never stop trying to change the world. If you don't like how things are." A soft kiss on his forehead as a 7-year-old boy, from a woman with soft orange hair. "Then make it, the world is how you perceive it. I believe in you Raidou." and with tears that fade, a soft embrace to match.

Another flickering memory that lingered in sweet nostalgia, for a nomad that forgot nothing and held everything as a lesson. A girl younger than he who sees his actions with curiosity. Orange hair like the first, however, this one was more vibrant and held more of its youth. "I can't believe you did that Raidou! After all that, You fought back? Weren't you scared of what your dad would do?" A look to her as a 10-year-old boy. "I cannot be afraid of doing what's right Kasumi, my dad is a monster for what he does to these people. I will never forgive him for this. I have seen the difference, he has made this style into something for demons, not humans. It was meant to protect people. I will not be a brute. He cannot make me."

"I am sorry that you had to deal with what you have Eruda. I know what it's like to feel unwanted, and out of place."

Out of place, another phrase that tugged on his heartstrings as they forced dark recollections to the surface. "Aren't you just a freak? What are you looking at?" A woman in bright red hair lords over him at a desk, the uncomfortable feeling drags him beneath its waves. As he looks to black silhouettes with large red smiles, their faces he had long forgotten but their laughter was still so sharp. "Your just a joke, can't even stand up for yourself. Quick recite poetry, it will solve all your problems." Raidou looks up to her with glasses and attempts to speak but the words won't come out. Lost to the wind before a fist causes his world to turn black, the sounds of a clattering pair of lenses broken fall to the floor as the world fades away.

[Eruda 0]

Listening to Raidou speak about his past, they had loneliness in common. "Kasumi is a very lovely person. I rather enjoy her company." She watches Raidou dump the remainder of tea on the saucer as tiny leaves do their thing. Taking a sip of hers she was very curious about what he was doing. Smiling a bit she takes a bite of her bread. She notices that Raidou has a similar look that Freya did when she goes into her thoughts. Wondering if he was okay she starts to open her mouth but then she starts to hear Raidou speak again so she closes her mouth listening. She was taken back just a little by what he said next. 

"Honestly...It's fine. I learned to survive out there, to do what I had to keep my head on straight. Freya sorta left me at the halfway point, so I had no one to give that push." The last words in the same phrase bothered her a bit. He too felt out of place in the real world, felt unwanted. "It sounds to me like this game did good for both of us. Ironic that we couldn't be these people in our own world." She gives a small chuckle at this. Eruda wasn't going to push him to talk about his past, but if he did then she would listen.

It hit her now realizing that Raidou also has a very troubling past. She was sorry as well but she didn't want to say anything that sounded like a repeat. Giving a small sigh, it was then that she thought of something. "Raidou, you told me once that you were only one call away and at that time I said nothing." She scoots closer to the table and moves her bowl off to the side. It was a small table so the reach wasn't far but she places her hand on his lower arm and gives it a small squeeze for comfort. "When times get dark, when you feel like no one cares, and that life is hopeless, there will always be one person you can count on. If you need anything even if it's just to talk, call me and I will always be right there by your side." She sat there with her hand on his arm still. If he went through even an ounce of what she went through, then there was no chance in hell that she would ever let him feel that way ever again. 

[Raidou 1]

Allowing the girl to clutch his arm as he reaches for the teacup. It had enough time to settle. It was time to see what it said. Lifting the inverted cup where it sat, he turns it over in his left hand. He speaks simply "Please tell me what I cannot see." Raidou asks of it before he looks into the small piece of pure white porcelain. Looking deeply into the cup, he recalls what he had read in regards to tasseography. Handing the cup to Eruda "Be my eyes for when I cannot see."

Without a word, it is passed into hers with both hands.

"Looks like a candle near the rim." Eruda fidgets for a moment, unsure if she was doing it right. He places his hand on hers, in an attempt to get her to relax. She had no reason to be this nervous about it. "Do not think about it, let it come naturally." He pauses for a moment as he recalls what it means. "That is fitting." Raidou remarks, it was saying that he had been enlightened by recent events.

"It also looks like an angel on this side, near the rim." Raidou nods and peels off his glasses, cleaning them before replacing them on his brow. "Go on." Raidou offers her again hoping to allow her to be his seer. The angel meaning good news in regards to love. He assumed as much, and need not fortune to tell him so. Raidou was still listening for all that she could find. "Here's what looks like a dagger and a knife." the blonde tank attempts to show him the cup, to get some confirmation. "I believe you." He remarks keeping it out of view. "The dagger means assistance from friends, the knife means death from hatred." and in that description, he could find no more accurate a statement.

"I see a heart in a ring on the bottom, right in the middle."

Well, that was unexpected...

Thread Complete:
Eruda
2*SP (1 Thread Length, 1 Event Bonus)
Raidou
2*SP (1 Thread Length, 1 Event Bonus)
Simmone (Guild Treasurer)
400*Col