[OP-F4] Snowy Haven (Completed)

[Kotori 0]

Kotori had found a safe-haven. It was a small secluded spot in the forest of snow-covered pines trees and what was so appealing to her was that there was a small spruce bench underneath the covering of two trees. She had grown weary of the noise and concentration of people which plagued all the floors. There was nothing to it, it was a just a spot for players to rest and just so simple. The bench was so appealing combined with Kotori being very exhausted that without any regard whatsoever to the fact that she was outside a safe zone, she laid down on the bench, shut her eyes and slept. Laying her head on the edge of the bench, she began to dream exploring the snowy wonderland without worry of being killed.

[Calrex 0]

"*yawn*...man, I think I've been pushing myself a little too much these past few days..."

 

"Fighting a giant Ice Elemental twice in a row and such would put the wear and tear on me. Even with the Grand Armament it's not like I myself have an unlimited amount of stamina."

 

Calrex made his way back towards the gates of the main settlement of the fourth floor, still clad in his deep sea blue full-body armor, Grand Chariot. A few foggy exhales escaped here and there, but for the most part nothing escaped the cold stoic appearance of the knight, except the occasional blink from the white slats in the helmet that made note where his eyes were. As he made his way he glanced over, topping for a second.

 

"Hm?...is someone...sleeping over there?"

 

"I know that the High Fields of Crossing on the second floor is a safe zone, but I didn't know if there were any on this floor. I wonder if it is actually safe to go taking a nap out here."

 

He quickly checked the players stat from where he was at, surprised for a second when he saw that the person was only Level 1.

 

"On this floor? Ok that would definitely be a dangerous combination. Maybe I should go check and see if she needs a hand."

 

With that he slowly began to make his way towards the player on the bench.

[Kotori 0]

Kotori grew frightened as she heard the sound of crunching snow become louder and louder. Since she was facing the bench when she was sleeping, she knew whoever was walking towards her didn't she was awake. Unfortunately, Kotori didn't know if it was a monster or a player approaching her. With a few flicks of her fingers, she was able to make her dagger appear in hand in case worst came to worst and she had to fight her way out of the forest. Hopefully, this didn't happen and it was just a curious player, but the stories she heard of player killing guilds and such had her very anxious.

[Calrex 0]

As he got into view of the player his eyes scanned as he noticed that she had begun to manipulate her menu, his senses going on alert for a second as he saw her weapon materialize in her hand.

 

"I guess she heard me coming. No surprise there. A person or monster walking up while a player's guard is down would most likely prompt that response. Guess I should probably try and dispel any tension before I continue approaching."

 

He put on a calm face as he gathered his breath. Since he was still some distance away he needed to turn up the volume on his voice in order for the player to hear him, "Hey, are you sure it's alright to be sleeping there? There's monsters about."

 

"That should be enough for now. Depending on her response I'll need to probably give more or less information accordingly."

[Kotori 0]

Kotori gave a light sigh as she heard the voice of a young man. There was nothing to worry about and she wasn't going to get attacked. She rolled over and sat up to face the player, although upon looking, she found that he was still a bit further away. Kotori lifter herself off the bench and approached the man, sheathing her dagger as it was no longer needed. "I'm not dead, am I?"  She remarked, knowing that the person was right. If he hadn't woken her up, she might stayed there until nighttime, which was a dangerous time to roam around. Still, Kotori wasn't going to let him know this and she still didn't know the player's true intentions. "So what's it to you? Do you enjoy sneaking up on people?"

[Calrex 0]

"Enjoy sneaking up on people? Well, that wasn't my intention in the first place. It does seem like she has her guard up though. That's understandable. A calm response seems to be my best choice at the moment."

 

"Nah, not at all. I'd guess if someone trying to pull that kind of trick they would take the Sneak and Hide skill first and foremost."

 

He gave a sigh as he gave a few swipes on his menu, the Grand Chariot armor switching out to his casual combat clothing, the Grand Gauntlets and Grand Blade remaining in their positions. As his avatar flashed in a blue light the face under the helmet came to light, his blue hair now being revealed as he shook his head to get it out of the way.

 

"In any case I just wanted to make sure you didn't get yourself ambushed. There seems to be a lot more PKers out and about these days."

[Zeri 0]

Zeri was walking around the fourth floor with 'Claymore of Amarok' and 'Curiass of Immortality' equipped, just looking for something to do. He was still walking around when something had came to mind, "I really do need to upgrade my weapons and armor sometime soon." Zeri was thinking of he can have his custom made and who would be able to make all of that. Soon after he saw someone familiar but couldn't quite remember his name. He had heard rumors of him going out with some other girl, so Zeri had walked up the guy and said, "Don't you think it's a...bad idea to be hitting on other girls when you already have a girlfriend."

[Kotori 0]

"So there is somebody inside that armor." Kotori sneered as the boy took of his equipment and revealed a face with blue hair covering some of it. It felt a bit awkward to her as the player was letti g his guard down in front of her and he barely even knew her. This though was removed from her though as the boy spoke out about the reasons for approaching and awaking. It was something about now wanting others to ambush her. "Well, um.. I can t-take care of myself, dammit!" Kotori stammered, not believing that this man had such good intentions. Everyone was selfish, and this man obviously wanted something"Who in their right mind would care about some low-leveled girl if it didn't gain them anything." She thought before noticing another player approaching them both. It seemed to be younger fellow, maybe the same age as Kotori herself. Then the player said "Don't you think it's a...bad idea to be hitting on other girls when you already have a girlfriend." Kotori's face began to flush with crimson. Turning to the bluenette, she shouted at him, confused about what he was saying before. "You were hitting on me?!" 

[Calrex 0]

"Don't you think it's a...bad idea to be hitting on other girls when you already have a girlfriend."

 

"You were hitting on me?!"

 

Calrex closed his eyes and gave a sigh as he recognized the voice that called over to him. Zeri, he believed the player's name was. He had only spoken to him briefly during Oikawa's incident where his malicious side had come out, but he was acquainted nonetheless.

 

"Alright, best stay calm once again. Getting shocked will only give the possibility of accidentally confirming their suspicions."

 

As Calrex responded he crossed his arms across his chest. His blue jacket flowed into the Grand Gauntlets, whose metal gave a small clank as his left arm crossed over his right. His Grand Blade remained in its scabbard across the back of his hip, the handle extended out to the right.

 

"Now don't go jumping to conclusions. I wouldn't go betraying my girlfriend like that. Teayre's too important to me to go cheating on her...although I swear I've heard someone the exact same comment when I tried to help out another new player."

 

Even though he spoke calmly, his cheeks flushed for a second as his mind recognized the somewhat bold statement he had just made. With that he turned to meet Zeri, "Hey there, long time no see. I don't believe that introduced myself last time. I'm Calrex."

 

"Actually...speaking of which."

 

"By the way, how did you know I have a girlfriend? I don't think I spoke about her last time we met."

 

With that he looked back over at the player by the bench, putting a hand behind his head as he gave a quick apologetic bow, "Sorry if I caused any confusion. I swear I was just lending a hand, no ulterior motives or anything of the sort."

[XWuZHeAR 0]

Me and Maruchan were walking around in the snowy haven like atmosphere. When suddenly our ears picked up familiar voices. It was Zeri calrex and some girl. I decided this might be bad so I went over to check on it. I stood back and listened after some exchanges of words took place. So as to save the name of the guild I walked over there to comfort the girl.

"Um hey there girl... Calrex is gay so you know how it is..." I told the girl while scratching the back of my head.

Maruchan almost on que walked up and wagged his tail as he barked and panted at the girl. I reached down and patted my familiar on the head.

"Anyways hey I'm X! Your resident heart throb fist fighter!" I said as I let go of a big smile.

Then maruchan barked at me.

"Huh?... Oh! And this is maruchan 'gets more girls than me' my familiar." I said while looking at the pup.

[Kotori 0]

"Friend of yours, I assume?" Kotori asked Calrex, now knowing his name because of the new player who had joined the small group. This new boy seemed a bit too... cocky. The boy was obviously flirting with her and she didn't appreciate it, although she wasn't going to say anything for fear of getting attacked. "Pleased to meet you, Kotori's the name." she said in the friendliest voice she could, although she didn't feel friendly at all. She was enjoying a nice nap on the bench from before and she still was a bit tired. Even then, she needed to keep up appearances. Then she noticed a small dog the size of a puppy. It was most likely husky, or a wolf at the very least, Something was quiet endearing about that cause Kotori to crouch down and pet it. "Aren't you an adorable little doggy? I bet you are. I think may have a treat here." Kotori opened her inventory and materialized a loaf of bread. Holding it in her hand, she offered it to the pet.

[Zeri 0]

"Oh, hehe, I'm sorry about that Calrex and Kotori for the mix-up." Then Calrex asked how did he knew he had a girlfriend. Zeri gave a childish grin and said, "Nope! I'm not telling." Then yet another player showed up, which turned out to be X and his pet maruchan. He walked up to Kotori trying to flirt with her. Zeri had turned to Kotori and said, "Plese excuse the two wannabe Casanova rejects over there." Referring to X and maruchan. "So...what brings everybody here, besides X since it's clear on what he's trying to do."

[Calrex 0]

As Calrex heard a familiar voice, and a very familiar comment he gave a small sigh. It was X, the only person he could think of that actually thought that he and Oikawa were a couple. He had tried to clear up the notion before, but it seemed the thought was stuck in the boy's head. He figured to not use any more brain power on attempting to do so. As the boy and his pet familiar went up and introduced themselves Calrex put his hands in his jacket pockets.

 

"Yeah, you could say that."

 

As he heard Zeri speak for X and Maruchan he gave a joking smirk at the comment.

 

"Well, at the least Zeri seems to have a good head on his shoulders, heh."

 

"Well I was just returning to town after doing some more training out here, although I think I might need to lay off the monster battles for a little bit. Fighting a field boss twice in a row can wear down on a person."

[XWuZHeAR 0]

The girls name turned out to be kotori Asian sounding like most of the people in this game. I looked down and Maruchan began wagging his tail furiously with happiness as he began to slowely nible at the pice of bread the girl gave him. Then I listened and laughed at zeris comment.

"Haha hey Zeri fight me dude haha!" I joked while stretching out my shoulder.

Then I got a better look at kotori; ehhh she was kinda cute and all. Her face isn't a train wreck and she curves where she's suposed to I supose.

"Well me and maruchan where on our way to a gig that I had actually just messaged and cancelled. So obviously I have a ton of time to kill... Maybe with a pretty girl?" I said aloud while looking into the distant snow.

I pulled my hood down as I just now realized I was wearing it up the whole time. Which is unusual because I dont ever where that thing up.

[Teayre 0]

Stretching her legs Teayre had started to walk along the the forest and noticed a wide range of footprints in the snow leading off into a clearing following it she saw a handful of people stood around chatting, not recognising all but one of them. Watching Calrex talked to this girl and the pup wagging his tail, stepping closer she hugs her coat tight around her she caught the end of one of the other boys trying to chat up the new girl. Feeling a sudden lightness on her shoulder she looked ahead and saw that Beleram had taken flight his tawny wings spread wide through the trees letting out a screech as he headed towards Calrex's shoulder landing there trying to nibble his ear gently. Letting out a sigh Teayre carries on steeping forward.

 

"I wonder do you have room for one more in your little gathering? I hope bluey here isn't causing you too much trouble."

 

Nodding at Kotori, Teayre heads over towards Calrex gently hugging him briefly before seeing the dog and rushing over to him.

 

"Awwww, he's so cute! What's his name? Bele come over here you might get another friend besides Kimba and King..."

 

The eagle squawked irritably as his name was shortened, hopping off of Calrex's shoulders and gliding down next to Teayre who had begun to stroke and pet the dog. 

[Kotori 0]

Kotori sighed as the boy asked if she wanted accompany him. It wasn't even subtle was he was trying to do. It didn't matter anyway, she had nothing better to do, and she wasn't going to allowed to go back to resting. "I'll come. " Kotori then ducked as an eagle soared towards Calrex. Looking to where it came from, she saw a slightly smaller girl walk towards the group. The player nodded at her and she did so in return. "Yep, there's enough room." This was not her day, but at the very least, she wasn't with complete idiots.  Kotori materialized her dagger and sheathed, since it most likely that this small group were going to fight. Hopefully she could sneak away while everyone was distracted, although this was almost impossible with X here.

[Calrex 0]

Feeling the familiar touch of a claw on his shoulder Calrex looked over as he saw Beleram, "Oh, hey there. If you're here that means..."

 

Before he could finish speaking he felt Teayre give him a hug from behind, giving a smile as he looked down at her, "Hey I'm not causing trouble, thank you very much." He joking gave his reply as he gave his girlfriend a quick rub on the head before she took off and began to play with Maruchan. With that he looked back over at Kotori, "Well, as Zeri said earlier this is Teayre."

 

He gave a small sigh to himself as he looked around, scanning across the group, "Seems like everyone is doing alright so far, and from what I can tell there's no monsters nearby or hiding behind anything. Of course, the <<Reveal>> skill makes it very difficult for them to sneak up on me."

[Zeri 0]

"You can fight yourself." Zeri had told X. Then Zeri noticed X trying to flirt with Kotori again and he shook his head in annoyance and said to him, "Do you ever know when to stop." Then Zeri took a step back as an eagle came and swooped onto Calrex's shoulder and saw a girl named Teayre came and gave Clarex a hug. Zeri had looked at Teayre for a moment and walked up to Calrex while trying to avoid the eagle and whispered to his ear, "You picked a good one. Make sure you protect her cause it seems that you two have something special." Zeri chuckled as he walk back to where his was when the eagle came and sat on the ground and asked the group, "So, what do you want to do?"

[XWuZHeAR 0]

Kotori seemed to not resist... I mean she didn't exactly seem swooned or eager in anyone but still, confidence booster. Zeri then asked me if I knew when to stop. Easy I simply don't even when I begin. However I didn't answer his question. Then an eagle came and some girl hugged calrex.

"Looks like Oikawas gonna be mad when I tell him anout this... His names Maruchan and I'm X." I told the new girl joining the pack.

"Well... I got a little adventure for all of us if your down, it's a cabin out in the woods on this floor. Rumor has 'strange' things occur at night; but uh...hang on..." I said and then began to pay my pockets looking for something.

"Hey kotori, do you have a band-aid on you?... Because I think I scraped my knee when I fell for you." I told kotori with a smile and a little wink.

[Teayre 0]

"So you're Maruchan eh? Well arn't you cute, what do you think of Beleram here?"

 

The eagle cautiously peeked around from behind Teayre taking a couple of steps closer to the pup cocking his head to one side before hiding behind Teayre again. Letting out a soft giggle she gently ruffled the tawny plumage behind her before standing, stretching her arms up high which still wasn't that far she hears X try to play a very cheesy line on Kotori. Sighing she takes a step closer to X leaning in she gently slaps him round the back of the head.

 

"X... Cheesy lines... They're good but they're so lame... Although I'll give you credit for being yourself try to think up some original stuff. There's also a lovely frozen lake on this floor that's a short way from here isn't there Cal?"

 

Flicking her hair back over her shoulder as she looked over at Calrex a slight tinge of red coming over to her face, a squawk next to her broke her out of the brief reverie that she was in. Seeing that Beleram had joined her on her shoulder she began to absent mindedly fuss him whilst walking next to Kotori. She began to quietly talk to her.

 

"You know you don't need to worry about anything... Calrex... He's too soft for his own good most of the time, whilst Aincrad can be a dangerous place it's worth making one or two allies just in case, heck I even joined a guild to keep him happy. Just take it from someone who's been shunned most of their life, if you can get one or two close friends it'll makes a world of difference to your life." Letting out a small sigh she carries on, "Of course you don't have to believe a word I've said, of course there are PKers around and all sorts but if you look at the crystals above all our heads they're green a Pker's isn't."