[SP - F6] A furry companion <<Feeding the Enemy>>(Completed)

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Ariel found herself again at the 6^th floor, stepping out of the teleportation gate she takes a look around her. The same green and yellow jungle themed village filled with NPC girls, Amazon, greeted her with high temperatures and exaggerated humidity. Today she wasn't here with a specific objective, it seemed she had taken a liking walking around this village after her work is done. She now often comes by to have a drink at the local tavern, where she was heading right now, as usual.

 

((For this topic Ariel unequipped her Lion's Protection  and Lion's Fangs

  swaping them for the Lucky charm and Lucky gloves from her shop .

 

Stats for this topic:

Basic DMG: 6

Damage Mit: 2

Accuracy: 1

Evasion: 0

+2 loot dice

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

The sun was still up making it unbearable to walk even after taking refuge in the shade of nearby buildings. As she walked near alleyway she thought she could hear a someone whistling a sad tune. She looked around her but couldn't detect the source of the sound. Closing her eyes she sharpened her hearing sense and concentrated, enough to determine that the sound was coming from the alleyway.

"Guess dad's training can be applied even in this kind of situation. Even he originally thought me this to listen around myself for possible 'tails' or ambush. At the time I was like: 'Pff ambush? seriously father, is that term even usable in this time and age?' now look at me, using the very skill I mocked him for. I'll make sure to properly apologize to him, WHEN i get out of here."

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

She entered the alleyway while monologuing, carefully examining the corners. It's true that she couldn't get hurt in the village but that doesn't mean some may try to ambush and surround her not letting her leave until she paid them. She heard of this kind of cheap tactics used by some, the Aincrad equivalent of mugging. At least here the victim would escape unharmed in the end, but still it was a horrible way to abuse a game bug with the "Proximity Alert" and the "Ethics Code". She cautiously advanced further into the alleyways shadows paying close attention to all her surroundings, in the situation will demand it she would try to use close combat to brake free. "That Martial Arts extra skill would prove handy in this kind of situation. 

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Then she discovered the source of the whistle as a old woman..probably a gypsy greeted her, stepping out of the shadows.Ariel immediately relaxed as she saw the weak frame of the woman, she felt kind of embarrassed about the thoughts she had earlier and spoke:

"Are you alright? I heard some sounds coming from here and curiosity took over. That was a beautiful song you whistled before, does it have a name?"

The gypsy tried to straighten up but couldn't manage it so Ariel lowered herself putting her left knee on the ground, now she could be able to see her features better. On the woman's face she could observe a gentle smile and aged features that still remained from the time she was younger and probably beautiful.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

As Ariel stared at the woman's face, the gypsy let out a caught while doing a small hand gesture, trying to catch Ariel's attention. At that moment she regained her senses and back off a little saying: "Sorry for staring...Do you need help with something? oh I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Ariel , nice to meet you ma'am."To that the woman simply noded and spoke in a barely audible voice:

"No problem dear, mind taking me at the tavern over there? if I stay any more in this heat I think imma pass out." to that Ariel replied with a simple:

"Let me handle it, hold tight."

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

And without awaiting her response Ariel gently picked the old woman up and started walking towards the pointed tavern. Ariel took the chance to ask the woman something: "By the way oba-chan, what were you doing in a dark alley like that, all by yourself?" The old lady made a smile while being carried by Ariel:"Geez I guess this is how knights in shiny armor that save princesses fell" thought Ariel before hearing the woman speak again.

"I wanted to go for a stroll, stretch my old bones a little. The witch doctor says its very important to do some exercise once in a while, I went to the shade when it started getting hot on the streets and after a while got bored and started whistling to pass time. Then you appeared out of nowhere."

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Ariel was happy to see the woman in a chatty mood, as she finished talking they entered the targeted tavern. Ariel went by the counter and asked the bartender for a glass of water. Then she made sure to let the woman down and have her rest at a table near, she went and got the glass ordering a green lemon ice tea for herself. She decided to seize the opportunity and chat a little more in the shade. She took a look around, no other player nearby ..as she suspected, she let out a sigh of relief while returning with the drinks. She put the water in front of the woman and then started talking:

"Are you feeling better now? You still didn't tell me the name of that song you were whistling earlier." The woman ignored the dull glass and showed Ariel a somehow upset voice, upset as in a child who didn't get what he wanted:

"The song it's called 'The Lone Shepherd' its usually sang at a blowing instrument like this" she began waving her hands shaping the invisible form of a pan-flute. 

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Ariel was happy to see the old woman regained some energy, "The lonely shepherd huh? now that I hear the name I recognize the song. They programed even that in here huh?" thought Ariel, unconsciously praising Kayaba once again for his work. Then the gypsy woman seeing that Ariel got distracted waved her hand again to get her attention then asking: "Are you listening to me?"

"Yeah sure..just thinking about...something, nevermind. It's good to see you're feeling well now, would you like something else to drink?..I see the water doesn't suit you well." said Ariel trying to suppress a chuckle, "For a old woman she is pretty spirited isn't she".

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

After a few drinks, the old lady surprisingly ordered some old wine that she knew the owner of the tavern kept stashed. They talked about all kind of things, but one particular discussion piqued Ariel's interest when the old lady said: "I'm surprised you don't have a familiar yet, you look like you've played this game for a while." At that Ariel instantly reacted asking: "Familiar what is that? I thought this world didn't have magic in it? did you get drunk already oba-chan? you had only one glass of wine." To that the gypsy woman let out a smirk while saying:"What? don't tell me miss warrior doesn't know about familiars, a few years ago almost everybody had one. It's not a magical creature silly, it's a tamed wild beast about this tall." she then tried to measure something smaller than a large dog. If you can find a wild beast about that size and you feed it something to eat, it may become tamed and accompany you on adventures, and sometimes even help you." then the gypsy woman resumed drinking from her wine glass.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

"Something to eat like what ..meat bread? water?" insisted Ariel while letting the wine glass on the table. The gypsy then looked at her with a smuck face saying: "Who knows? maybe so, maybe not." With that Ariel figured that the old woman was playing with her and decided not to give in by saying:

"On a second thought, don't tell me. I useless thing like that would only slow me down." she then grabbed the wine glass with her right hand and took a sip, keeping one eye on the woman. 

"Okay okay I'll tell you, geez you're no fun to tease. Think of it as my reward to you for helping me, you see the thing is that they can eat what you give them..but be careful, if you present them with a item they don't like they will seriously wound you. So if you're going to get one I suggest you take a piece of meat from this tavern to have something to work with. I'm sure the owner will sell some to you if you ask nicely."

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

The old woman then looked towards the bartender/owner, he showed a smile while saying:

"I have no problem with that..as long as you properly pay for it. I can get you a fresh piece of meat, just got the resupplied this noon with some S-grade boar meat." He then finishes polishing the wine glass he had in his hands and goes to through a door, probably to the storage area. When he returns he puts a big chunk of meat on the counter. Ariel curiously gets up and draws closer to it asking: "And how much do you plan on asking for it oji-san?" The owner shows a smile while saying

"Normally this would cost around 100 col if its properly prepared but since is still in this raw form. I'll cut it in into pieces for you, if you're willing to pay 94 col. It isn't much of a discount but that amount will help me reach a round number in today's sales:D"

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Ariel opens her inventory and takes a look at the col counter..94, Seriously? is this NPC hacking my inventory or something? she thought before she materialized the rest of her remaining col into a coin pouch and handed over to the bartender. "I really appreciate you help:D make those slices a little bigger, I won't go for a tiny familiar, I want to tame something worth wasting my time.

 

The bartender accepted the money and started chopping the large piece of meat as instructed. When he finished he put the meat slices into something that looked like a tupperware and handed it to Ariel. Upon closer inspection the item had the name "meat slices" with 20 pieces in it. She then added that to her inventory and noded at the bartender and went back to her table where the old woman was finishing a glass of wine.ç

 

+ Item: 20X "Meat Slices"

 

-94 col

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Ariel finished her drink and then addressed the old gypsy woman.

"Ma'am I don't usually drink, more out of habit than something else. But I enjoyed the time I spend with you today and hope to see you again soon" then she made a slight bow.

"I enjoyed it as well Ariel, I hope you use wisely the informations I just gave and find yourself a worthy companion." 

Ariel then turns around and heads towards the exit waving goodbye to the bartender. Once outside she takes a deep breath, the sun was about to set so she didn't have much time maybe a couple of hours of sunlight. "Well I better get to searching then." 

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Ariel heads towards the jungle in a attempt to find herself a familiar, she didn't knew what kind of familiar she wanted so this place was as good as any. After a few minutes she sees a small snake, slithering peacefully on the ground 

"Might as well try with this fella to see if that old woman said the truth.." and tries to follow it but it disappears from her sight.

"Geez, I don't want a familiar that ignores me.." she murmurs while looking around, She sees a long vine that was about 2,5 meters long and  and faintly glowing.

"That looks like a good material to me." and approaches it...

 

ID: 8566 LD: 6 (4+2 from the items - no material)

 

but the second she touches it she can hear a hiss coming from above, and the vine starts moving by itself. When she looked up, a huge snake appeared in her line of sight. She took a couple of steps back and unsheathed her rapier. The snake drops on the ground and raises half of its giant body midair, apparently mad at Ariel for disturbing it. Ariel didn't wait for it to make a move, she dashed at it and stabbed it in the abdomen.

 

ID: 8567 BD: 7 (6 + 1 acc)  MD: 4

 

Ariel: 22/22

Snake: 6/12 (does 3 dmg)

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

The snake hissed furiously and attacked her striking for her forearm. Ariel instinctively raised her hand to block with her vambrace...but has forgotten that now that place was completely exposed. The snake bit her left forearm and Ariel tried to pounch it off but it struggled and dodged her every attempt. The snake let go after a few seconds, retreating a few meters, leaving a large bite mark on her forearm. The pain when it bit her was greatly but she received it without letting out a sound, she gritted her teeth as hard as she could. After the snake let go Ariel pointed her rapier towards it, releasing a large amount of killing intent.

 

 

ID:8568  BD:4 MD:10

Ariel: 19/22

Snake: 6/12

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Ariel didn't say anything just yet, she entered a charging stance and started running towards it. Her eyes were red from the rage that surged through her whole body. The snake tried to evade her but she was now too focused, too precise, she hit it directly in the head, the tip of her blade went through its head and exited on the other side. The next moment the snake exploded into millions of polygons only letting behind a single item. She pick up the item and starts examining, a large skin that felt good the touch but was extremely elastic. She put it in her inventory and continued her way through the jungle.

 

 

ID: 8580  BD:10  MD:1 LD: 10 (natural 8 + 2 from items)

Ariel: 19/22

Snake: -2/12

Loot: 1 Material

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

While walking through the dense jungle she reaches a clearing, looking around her all seemed the same.

"Don't tell me I got lost here" she then summons her HUD map to check her position. She caught something moving with the corner of her eye. She enters a defensive stance while turning around to to meet the potential threat.

 

But sees a small figure entering the clearing. It was a lion cub, more specifically a white fur lion cub. She let her guard down, charmed by the small creature and slowly started walking towards it. The cub stopped its advancements once she saw Ariel and was ready to run. She then stopped moving, only making a couple of hand sign's and taking from her inventory the tupperware with 20 slice meat. When Ariel summoned the item she immediately open the tupperware, the cub was about to run away when she sniffed twice... then 3 more times.

"Well what do you know oba-san was right" she thought seeing the cubs reaction."To hell with it, I'm gonna feed it all 20 slices to be sure." she then slowly placed the item on the ground and backed away 2 steps without making too much sound or unnecessary movement.

 

Seeing Ariel back away, the cub cautiously approached the origin of the smell, the open tupperware that contained the meat. As it reached it, the cub took one quick glance at Ariel then began loudly eating the meat, sometimes stopping  to check Ariel's actions.

"Holly censored it's actually working" Ariel wanted to shout but suppressed her excitement with all she had. When the cub had eaten about half of the content Ariel decided to step closer. The cub appeared not to mind her anymore and was concentrated on its meal. In its rush a slice of meat fell on the ground. Ariel picked it up and and wanted to feed it to the cub. Seeing Ariel extend her hand towards the cub, it jumped back a step and started hissing at her. But when it saw the meat piece it slowly started approaching her. Ariel didn't move a muscle, she knew one wrong move and it would be all over.

 

The cub approached the hand that hold the meat piece and sniffed it twice..then 3 times, before it started to munch on it. Ariel couldn't resist much and with her free hand patted the white lion cub on its head while it was eating from her hand. It didn't even flinch when she touched it. In fact it started purring like a normal cat.

 

ID: 8581  LD: 22 (20+2 from items - familiar acquired)

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Now was Ariel's turn to be scared, as her Ailurophobia kicked in the moment she heard the cub purring. She dropped the meat that was still being eaten and took 2 steps back. Her breathing became irregular, and she started sweating all over: "Why...its not a cat..It's censored lion cub!!! worst timing ever to kick in. Dammit." She was now holding her head between her her arms and was sitting on the ground in a cowered position, trying to regulate her breathing.

 

The lion cub noticed her distress and approached her, brushing its face against her wounded forearm, apparently it was worried about her. Ariel became even more distressed, for most people that would be a heavenly feeling. But not for Ariel, she didn't noticed when she patted it on the head, but now she felt like screaming from the bottom of her lungs.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

She mustered all the strength she could to say something with a voice so faint, it was more like a small whisper...."please stop..leave me alone..please..." She could feel her eye get all teary, and soon enough small strains of tears flowed from her eyes. She didn't care anymore if somebody saw her..or if a mob attacked her..she just wanted it to stop brushing its fur against her, and now reaching the last drop of her strength she starts weeping. Good thing she was in the middle of the jungle.

 

The cub, instinctively backed away a couple of steps and while just stood there, watching her. Ariel notices the fuzzy feeling faded and opened her eyes to see if it was leaving. In that moment the cub started roaring with all its might, like trying to prove to her that it wasn't a cat..it was more ferocious and savage than that. Its roar send the birds in the nearby trees flying away, it kept roaring until Ariel's weeping transformed into sobbing .  

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

When she calmed down Ariel finally realized the situation she was in... sobbing alone in the jungle with about a hour before it gets dark, on top of that there was a lion cub in front of her that observed her moves."Wait..why is it still here? it ate the food, why isn't it going away?" all those questions rushed at once through her head. She decided to voice them, knowing perfectly well that the lion cub couldn't possibly understand her. "Hey don't you have a mommy and daddy? You had your meal..I don't have more..that was all. Why are you staying here?" her voice began to crack as she next asked a irrational question " Do you enjoy bullying me?" She felt her eyes getting watery again, but in that moment the cub let out another roar. While the other ones seemed directed to their surroundings, trying to scare any possible witnesses. This one was directed to her, Ariel didn't figure out, on the spot, why it was acting so strange, apparently forgetting what the old gypsy told her. But as it roared..the tears that she felt piling up, never got to fell down her cheek.