[F11 - PP] As the Dust Settles

[Katoka 0]

The floor of Katoka's living room was cold, though she honestly felt cold all over. After what had happened the previous night she had torn nearly her entire house apart before collapsing in a heap and crying herself to sleep. Now she had awoken to sunlight in her eyes and drool on her cheek. Sitting up in confusion she looked around at the mayhem around her. Slowly things started to come back to her.

It was over. They were over. Sam was gone.

Kat felt the urge to cry again but no tears seemed to flow. She was empty.

In so many ways she felt as hollow as a mountain that had been stripped of all its resources and left barren.

After several long minutes she stood up and attempted to wipe the dried drool from her cheek. She then set about picking up and salvaging what she could in terms of furniture. Surprisingly there was not much that had actually broken thanks to Cardinal's immortal object system a lot of her things had survived the rampage. Several dishes and picture frames however were a different story. Kat began flipping and returning large objects to the there general places and disgarding the things that were deemed no longer usable. After a bout an hour her living room and the foyer were now back to their usual standard.

With a huff Katoka sat down on the couch and found herself out of breath, reaching for a throw pillow to clutch close to her chest. The work had been a nice distraction but it seemed to take a lot more out of her than she anticipated. She longed to work on the rest of the house as it would be a much needed distraction, however the thought of it made her feel... drained. She glanced over her shoulder at the kitchen and grimaced, that would take a hell of a lot more time to clean than she had the energy for. The blonde found herself opening her menu and glancing at her friends list, her eyes making sure not to glance too low. She took a moment and tapped on Elora's name, opening up a blank message to stare at.

For roughly twenty minutes she stared, her arms wrapped around her knees as she bored holes into the white message box. Finally she typed something short and hit send.

Spoiler

 

Elora,

Would you be willing to come over? Maybe we can go out to Taft on floor 11 and just walk around? I just need to get away from here and I need a friend. I don't think I'm ok.

Kat

 

Katoka | HP: 780/780 | EN: 112/112 | DMG: 23 | MIT:78 | ACC:5 | EVA:1 | BH:43 | REC: 8 | FLN: 16 | HLY: 16

----

Spoiler

Name: Katoka, The Cerulean Storm True Tier: 6 Level: 33 Paragon Level: 22 HP: 780/780 EN: 112/112
Stats:
Damage: 23
Mitigation: 78
Accuracy: 5
Evasion: 1
Loot Die: 
Stealth Rating: -2
REC: 8
FLN: 16 HLY: 16
Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Muramasa's Legacy | T4/Demonic/Katana | Holy II, Fallen II
Armor/Trinket: 
  - Oni Haori | T4/Demonic/Light Armor | MIT 2, REC 2
Shield/Armor/Trinket:   - Aquamarine | T4 Demonic Trinket | ACC III, EVA I

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Damage R3

Combat Shift:
  - ST Shift

Familiar Skill:
  - Rending Familiar

Custom Skill:
  - 

Skills:
  - Battle Healing R5
  - Energist
  - Katana R5
  - Light Armor R5

Extra Skills:
  - Concentration
  - Forgotten King's Authority
  - Parry
  - Survival

Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:
  - Ferocity
  - Precision
  - Resolve
  - Stamina

Mods:
  - Meticulous
  - Vengeful Riposte

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - Teleportation Crystal x
  - Tincture of Recovery | HP Recovery x

Housing Buffs:
  - Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
  - Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20% (rounded down)
  - Basic Kitchen: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30.
  - Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
  - Attic (Storage): +5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests
  - Slime Farm: +5% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post.

Guild Hall Buffs:
  - Trading Hall: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters and Rank 4 merchants/performers receive +1 crafting/identification attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters and Rank 5 merchants/performers receive +2 crafting/identification attempts per day.
  - Treasury: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:
 - Alchemist[1817exp] R8
Gathering Profession:                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                    

Edited August 6 by Katoka

[Elora 0]

Dreams fizzled into obscurity as the familiar ping unraveled scenes of taupish cliffs and rolling hills. Tired blinks ushered in the furnishings of a new environment and it became clear that she had fallen asleep within the walls of Witherwind Rest. With a sluggish huff, Elora swiped open her menu to blacklist whatever sociable lunatic was messaging her at this hour. Certainly, it was not her responsibility to mute the chime of notifications at the end of every day. 

The highlighted text trailed behind a profile photo that depicted an amorphous blob. So the slimes are soliciting players now., Elora begrudgingly assumed. Successive glances and a skimmed reading revealed the sender to be none other than her best friend, Katoka Samurai. At least, that was the last name Elora had dubbed her with since she'd never bothered to ask for a proper introduction. I won't have to guess for much longer., she reminded herself, Her and Sam are getting marr...huh --

Now that she thought about it, hadn't it been months since the two of them had last made mention of the occasion? She supposed that centerpiece selection and hors devours crafting could take a pretty chunk of time. Unless...

Elora was out the door in an instant.

---

Somewhere between her bedroom and the teleportation gate, she had managed to slap on something to wear. It wasn't until she activated the portal that she realized, Oh shit -- I never actually responded. Hastily, she typed out a reply to Kat's invitation.

To: Katoka

yes lets meet at taft. be there in a few

Send!

Another step had carried her through the plasma and into the heart of a gleaming civilization. Bells clanged out in sharp succession as the city's central cathedral hailed the ass crack of dawn. From this angle, Elora swore that the smooth-cut marble was blown out as bright as the morning sun. She raised her arms to shield her eyes from the blinding rays, stumbling through the latest crowd of gawking onlookers. It was almost nauseating to have her senses assaulted from so many angles.

Blessedly, the harsh strikes blended into distant echoes, until eventually, the tolls returned to a temporary rest. Silence was far from achievable as many murmurs bobbed above the static of rushing fountains. That's much better. I can't imagine a worse alarm clock., thought Elora.

Unsure of what to do with herself, the elven-eared player made way to the nearest bench. At least this way, Katoka should have an easy time finding her.

 

***

Elora | HP: 720/720 | EN: 106/106 | DMG: 21 | MIT: 78 | EVA: 1 | ACC: 5 | BH: 36 | LD: 2 | AA | BLGT: 32 | FLN: 8 | REC: 8 | STK: 40
 

Spoiler

Elora
Level: 32
Paragon Level: 6
HP: 720/720
EN: 106/106

Stats:
Damage: 21
Mitigation: 78
Evasion: 1
Accuracy: 5
Battle Healing: 36
Loot Dice: 2
AA
BLGT: 32
FLN: 8
REC: 8
STK: 40

Equipped Gear: Teleportation Crystal x1

Weapon: Essential Verdigris (T4 Dem Polearm | AA | Blgt | FLN | STK)

Armor: Defense Mechanism | T4 Demonic Light Armor | MIT 2, REC 2

Misc: Emerald | T4 Demonic Trinket | ACC III, EVA I 

---

Custom Skill:


Skills:
Polearm R5
Light Armor R5
Battle Healing R5
Charge
Energist
Searching R3

Active Mods:
Meticulous

Inactive Mods:

Addons:
Stamina
Precision
Focus
Resolve

Active Extra Skills:
Concentration

Inactive Extra Skills:

Battle Ready Inventory: x1 Teleportation Crystal

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

Edited September 23 by Elora

[Katoka 0]

The ping of an incoming message startled Kat out of her stupor. She lethargically tapped the icon and read the message. With a half hearted flick of the wrist she closed the menu and stood, not bothering to stretch as she normally would. Her brain had settled into a fog and she was going through the motions now. Had she not passed by a mirror before heading out the door she wouldn't have even noticed that she was only wearing a large sweater. With a few quick taps she was in her normal clothing and slipped out the front door.

She took a different route to the teleport gate this time, avoiding the one she usually took passed the guild hall. She was sure that she wouldn't run into anyone she was trying to avoid, but it was better to be safe than sorry at this point. An extra ten minutes and several side streets later she was standing on the teleport pad mumbling Taft in a barely audible voice. Normally the bright light from teleporting wasn't a bother, this time she flinched and squinted. After blinking heavily for a several moments the samurai found herself in the bustling castle town of Taft. She couldn't remember if she had been there previously or not, regardless the sight would have normally filled her with a bit of wonder. Now she just put one foot in front of the other in an attempt to keep moving.

Katoka did a double take when she spotted her elven friend sitting on a nearby bench. She had nearly walked by her before coming to a teetering stop. Reflexively she began to rub one of her arms nervously and look down at the ground. She was unable to look her in the eyes as she spoke, "Hey Elora. Thanks for c-coming out here with me..." she flinched ever so slightly at her own words. She hadn't shuddered in a long time so it had surprised her. After a few long moments she managed to look up at her, with dark shadows under her eyes she attempted to smile as she felt her eyes well up with tears that she didn't know she had left in her, "Sam and I broke up."

[Elora 0]

Something was definitely off. If there was one thing Elora knew about Katoka, it was that her body language could be read like an open book. Normally, the small-set woman would be wobbling anxiously from side to side, or at the very least, feigning some sort of optimism as she attempted to conceal an overwhelming worry. Today, she just seemed...deflated. A vacant stare drifted among the crowds of pedestrians until eventually settling on her. She hardly seemed relieved because of it.

"Hey Elora. Thanks for c-coming out here with me...", she started before Elora knew what to say, "Sam and I broke up."

Blinks filled the vacancy of a timely response. Her mind, though quick to deliver witty retorts, sputtered as it searched for something comforting to say. The longer silence stretched on, the more impossible the task began to feel. How would anything she could possibly say or do realistically alleviate the gravity of the situation?

"Wow...that's...", she tried anyway, "Really shitty...What -- what even happened? Are you ok?" Obviously she's not ok! "You -- you wanna go somewhere else to talk about it?" Elora had stood from the bench, carefully guiding Katoka's shoulder with a consoling hand. Maybe somewhere more quiet..., she considered as the samurai seemed to crumple in her grasp. It was hard for Elora to understand why Kat would want to meet on this floor, what with all the people and the loud-ass ch-- Church. Don't tell me --. The muscles of her arm began to constrict with unease, unintentionally pulling Katoka closer and into a shepherding embrace. 

Edited September 15 by Elora

[Katoka 0]

Attempting to hold herself together, Katoka felt the hot tears streaming down her face. "I-I hadn't really thought about coming out in public like this. I had th-thought I cried all the tears out of me already." she let out a half chuckle, half sob. Elora's touch had nearly made her fall into her arms completely, but she only leaned into her for a bit of support. Walking with the elven woman she spotted the looming structure of a church and at the moment that seemed like a fitting place for the two of them to have a quiet conversation.

The samurai nudged her friend in it's direction, having noticed that she had seen it as well. "How fitting, I can tell you about my flop of a wedding in a church." her own joke had hurt, but she didn't know what else to do in this situation. The two approached the looming ornate doors of the cathedral, Kat doing her best to keep it together as to not draw too much attention to them both. Had it been any other situation, the looming structure would have intimidated the blonde woman. She was not the religious type, and buildings like this always seemed more unnecessary than anything.

Kat pushed on the door, finding it to be much lighter than she expected, and let it swing open. The inside of the church was as you would expect, large, willed with row upon row of pews that faced a lectern that faced the entrance, and many ornately crafted glass windows. The rafters were high in the air and the ceilings were higher, it wouldn't have surprised the small woman if there had been a cloud or two inside the building. After a brief moment of being awestruck the two pushed forward, slipping into one of the rear pews and sliding near the middle. As organ music seemed to fill the air seemingly from nowhere Katoka let out a deep sigh before she turned to her green haired friend.

"I guess I should start at the beginning huh?" a small smile touched her lips, but there was no happiness in it. "Sam and I first started having trouble just before the last floor raid, she wasn't exactly thrilled with me joining. She had grown scared over time that she would loose me in the fight." Kat rubbed her arm nervously as she continued. "We had our first fight before the battle and kind of left it at that. Then after the raid we had another disagreement but I had told her that I couldn't just sit back and not do anything. I needed to fight."

Tears started to flow freely again, "I'm gotten stronger Elora. I could barely leave my room when all this first started and now look at me. I'm fighting on the frontlines. I can't just stand by while my friends and the people I care about are putting their own lives on the line!" she let out a few choking sobs before she gathered herself to speak again. "It had seemed like she understood then. So we had decided right then and there that night to go get married. We both left my house and split up since Sam wanted to grab something."

Elora watched as Kat seemed to curl up into herself as she spoke, "She never came. She left me for over a week before she just showed back up at my house like nothing had happened. I was so angry. No message, no nothing, and then you show up and think sorry is just going to cut it?" she slammed her clenched fist down on the wood beneath her and the thud echoed through the large building. "I yelled, I threw things, it was not a pretty sight. I'm ashamed of how I acted in that moment but she had hurt me so much that I didn't know how to act."

"After that we didn't split, even though we should have. We just kind of, existed, in each others presence. I would sneak out and go on quests so I didn't have to tell her where I was going. I had a few close calls recently that I kept from her, something that I should be able to tell the person I love. Last night I had finally had enough and we talked about everything. It boiled down to us moving too fast. Especially when Sam had never really felt love as strongly as she had with me. The damage was already done though and I just couldn't stay knowing that I would always be worried that she might disappear again."

 "Worst of all, when you and Freyd would ask me how we were doing I would just... Lie. To both of you." her voice grew quiet and she sniffled. "I'm so sorry for lying and being a horrible friend to you. I just didn't know what to say."

Her head had started to pound. After all the crying and talking she felt like she had been awake for a week straight. She couldn't look her friend in the eyes, so instead she pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them as she waited for her response.

[Elora 0]

Elora walked alongside her weary friend, flashing a sympathetic smile as she joked at her own expense. It was difficult to know what to do in these moments. For as much as Elora understood emotions, allowed them to flow through her, she struggled with digesting those of others. Perhaps that wasn't it. Emotions were easy to detect and to recognize. Determining a way to channel them was a far greater task.

As the pair entered the grandiose halls of the solitary church, her worries smalled in comparison. Polished marble floors below captured the stray rays of sunbeams refracted in stained glass windows and elaborate golden fixtures. The gentle thrum of heels against its surface did little to disturb the undulating hum of clergymen nearby. With courteous brevity, they shuffled into a long wooden pew.

"I guess I should start at the beginning huh?", her companion began. A resolute recounting of raids past divulged the details of a battle many players had waged in tandem: weighing one's duty to the player base at large with the far more intimate promise of returning home to the ones they loved. It was a plight that had always seemed so simple to Elora. To her, the wants and needs of strangers were expendable. She had no desire to fight for them, to spare them from the trails of being trapped in the tower. I know that must make me a terrible person..., she recognized more deeply. By comparison, people like Freyd and Katoka...they had a iron resolve for just sacrifice, a propensity toward doing 'the right thing'. 

"I've gotten stronger Elora.", Kat explained, "I could barely leave my room when all this first started and now look at me. I'm fighting on the frontlines. I can't just stand by while my friends and the people I care about are putting their own lives on the line!"

Elora's hands closed around her knees, her jaw set into place. What she had just described mirrored her own experiences perfectly. How could they not when the two of them had began their journeys together? So that's the difference, now., thought Elora, We're...not new players anymore. Everyone we knew, everyone we care about...we're fighting the same enemies. The awareness had been already been there, marinading in her own subconscious. Even before she had joined their ranks, Elora had witnessed Freyd making preparations for the Frontliner excursions. Obligations had felt so far off them, like another weekday chore to shrug off. Pangs of longing for simpler days spiderwebbed from her chest as Katoka carried on with their conversation.

Her emotional reactions and secretive behavior were reverential, in a way. At the very least, Elora could understand why they had transpired. Several memories of similar outbursts streamed through her head. Each carried with them the bittersweet taste of pride and regret.  

"Worst of all, when you and Freyd would ask me how we were doing I would just... Lie. To both of you.", she choked, "I'm so sorry for lying and being a horrible friend to you. I just didn't know what to say."

The admission's sting was soon lapsed by a wave of surprise. "You're not a -- that doesn't make you a horrible friend, Kat --", she insisted with a baffled scoff. "You're the best friend I could have ever asked for -- And I, I hate to see you like this...", she trailed off with an avoidant glance. "I didn't know...I'm sorry I didn't know...I want to be the kind of friend that you can trust, even if it's hard."

Fretting blinks failed to dispel the encroaching blur as she attempted to regain her composure. "I don't know how we're supposed to do it -- it's all such horseshit. If we're putting our LIVES on the line, that's too much, but if we're sitting at home -- then we're not doing our part. Which one is it supposed to be? We can't be ruthless warriors and dependable partners."