[PP - F4] No Frost in Snowfrost (Hasai)

[Takao 0]

Takao shivered and rubbed his arms. The winter town of Snowfrost, located on the fourth floor of Aincrad, was the most drastic change in temperature Takao had experienced yet. He pulled the fur collar of his coat close to his neck and exhaled a slightly shaken breath, watching the plume of white smoke dissipate before his eyes. A gentle, pleasant snowfall had started since he'd entered the town, and now he was in search for the tavern. It would provide some much needed warmth and respite from the frigid environment he was unfamiliar with. He'd overheard, as is usually the case when he shows up in strange places he wasn't necessarily expecting to, that the fourth floor had a secluded section away from any monsters. People revered the spot for its beauty and tranquility, so with his routine grinding for the day over and done with, he figured it'd be an interesting spot to check out. Unfortunately, he hadn't taken into account how cold the fourth floor was.

 

It took quite a bit of map checking to find the town's Inn, but no complaint could find its way out of his throat as he pressed open the doors and felt the warmth immediately. He approached the first table in sight and sat himself down in an empty chair, too enveloped in the sudden warmth to even check to see if anybody had been occupying the table before he sat down.

 

"Ahh, man... another minute out there and I would'a been frozen solid."

[Hasai 0]

Youno had found herself in the inn on floor 4, drinking a nice cup of hot cocoa. She had looked up, as a stranger walked in, he was wearing a fur coat, and it was close. She watched as he sat down right next to her, he must have decided to just sit in an empty seat. She felt the warm air come back as the door closed, and she just shrugged, she focused back on her drink and her blacksmith studying HUD. She was finding out how to make a wide variety of weapons and shields. She noticed the guy just sitting there, and so she felt herself ask, Want anything to eat or drink? She closed her HUD, and took another sip of her hot cocoa. She thought this floor wasn't cold what so ever, then again... She was used to this type of weather in the real world.

[Takao 0]

Takao let his head rest on the back of the chair. He inhaled a deep breath and his nostrils twitched slightly upon smelling the peculiarly alluring scent of hot chocolate. His eyes slowly opened and his head rolled to the side as a voice shook him out of his thoughts, and he blinked a few times until his mind processed that he'd sat down by somebody. "Oh! Uh, sorry! I didn't realize anybody was sitting here." Takao quickly righted his posture and sat correctly in the chair, his head cocked to the side to look at her. His gloved hand moved and began rubbing the back of his neck, offering her an apologetic smile.

 

His eyes shifted over to the hot chocolate as she offered, and his expression shifted from being apologetic to a warm smile. "Yeah, thanks! One of those would be awesome." He changed his gaze to settle back onto her. "By the way, I'm Takao." 

[Hasai 0]

Youno smiled, No biggie. Hasai, Is the name. Referring to her username, she waved someone over. When a waitress that had been serving her table came over, she asked for one hot cocoa. The girl nodded, and walked to the back, to get the hot cocoa. Youno looked Takao over, and noticed he seemed to be around level 9-11. She leaned back, enjoying her hot cocoa, and looked out the window quickly, the snow had picked up, Is this your first time visiting floor 4? She wondered, if he had in fact been here, she had gone to this floor tons, and she was currently working on exploring floor 8. She had skipped 5 though, however she planned to go back, and complete that one quest, that acquired getting materials for a NPC.

[Takao 0]

Takao hastily accepted the warm drink as it was served to him and took a swallow before glancing back over at Hasai. "Nice t'meet you, Hasai." He said with a warm smile as he set the mug down, but kept his hands loosely wrapped around it. The warmth just felt too good to leave. "Aha, yeah, it is actually. I overheard some people talking about a spot that's all secluded from monsters and stuff. Thought it'd be neat to check out, but I didn't think it'd be this cold." Having come from the town of Armadillo on the fifth floor, he'd very quickly realized how drastically the environments could change. He hadn't exactly been going through the floors in order, not in the slightest in fact, but the change from the other floors to this one was quite drastic. Even so, he couldn't complain too much, the scenery made up for it. "I'm guessin' you spend a lot of time here?"

[Hasai 0]

Youno just shrugged at his question, It is where I sleep when I need it. My shop is also located here, although I need to go material hunting before I can make any more weapons. I like this floor. It isn't very cold, if you are used to it. She gave a wiry smile and sipped another sip of her hot cocoa. She wanted to work, even if she had barely any materials left, but knew she should wait. She watched Takao, as he swallowed sips. She gingerly set her cup down, and stretched her back, she sat in here way to often, Say, ever need help with anything, just give me a PM.

[Takao 0]

Takao flattened his collar down as he listened to her. The warmth from the inn was enough now that he'd gotten away from the snow, and the fur was proving to be just a tad too warm for comfort. "Well, I can see why you like it. It's really beautiful - if you're looking at it from the inside out, I mean." He chuckled lightly and reclined against the back of the chair, tipping it on the back two legs. "It's as cold as Kyoto in the winter." He mused, remembering the various vacations he'd take there in the real world. His mind switched over to the other topic of conversation that had been raised, regarding her craft.

 

"Well, I kinda already promised my patronage to another blacksmith, but I think I might know somebody I can send your way. I don't know about armour, but I know he could use a new weapon. Oh, 'n I do plenty of material hunting too! I don't have a craft yet so I just do it for others. I could help you out there, if you wanted."

[Hasai 0]

Youno's eyes instantly sparked interest, she was instantly hanging to his words, 'I could help you' She shook her mind, she hadn't had to many people present their help to her. Her eyes stopped sparking, and she smiled, Well, thanks! I would love help! Her mind instantly rejected, but she shook it away, then she took another sip of her hot cocoa, before letting out a sigh, then she finished it up, Well, Why are you on floor 4? She asked carefully, as she thought of her reasons here. She looked back at Takao, not at all minding when he said that he was promised to a different blacksmith, Which blacksmith? If you mind my asking.

[Takao 0]

Takao leaned more of his weight against the back of the chair, further balancing it on the rear legs as he idly rocked back in forth with subtle motions. He took another small drink and set the mug down as he glanced toward Hasai. "Well, y'see, I overheard a couple guys talking about... uh... what was it called..? Oh! Starglade, I think. I was curious to see what it looked like." One of his hands was raised and held behind his head as he idly stretched the limb upward. "I'd heard there were a lot of shops up this way too, figured I could check everything out in one go." His gaze toward her turned sidelong as his head shifted forward, though she still held his attention. "I'll stop by your shop when I've got some spare materials. I've gotta work on getting a new weapon and armour, but that shouldn't be too expensive. Oh, 'n her name is Lessa."

[Hasai 0]

Youno smiled widely, Lessa is a nice girl, tell her I say hello, when you stop by! She gave a small stretch, Well, anything you particularly want to do right now, as of this moment? Youno had nothing to do, and was bored. She wanted something to do to pass the time. She opened back up her HUD, and opened her Blacksmith documents, to start studying again, awaiting for Takao's reply to her question, then she spotted an interesting craft recipe, it was for a strange looking shield. She saved it under her important recipes, and looked backup, to take a break.

[Takao 0]

Takao met Youno's wide smile with one of his own upon hearing that she knew Lessa. "Whoa, cool! You know her too?" He sat forward in the chair and let the front legs return to the floor. "I plan on stoppin' by her shop real soon so I'll tell her then!" When she asked if there was anything he wanted to do, he tilted his head. His green eyes watched her poke around in her menu before turning back to her. His attention lazily floated to her health bar, and then to the nearby guild icon. He subconsciously made a mental note of it, doing so being a product of his general attentiveness. "Hm... Well, would you happen to know where that Starglade place is? I'd really like to check it out, and I could use a guide that knows her way around this floor."

[Hasai 0]

Youno's eyes perked up at the mention of Starglade, It is a beautiful place. Of course I know where it is! Youno set the col that the waitress needed on the table, and stood up, How about I show you the way? She started to head towards the door, not being able to wait until she could head to Starglade again, You ready to head there? She realized that since they were talking of one of her favorite places, she was mumbling, and she shut her mouth midsentence, she opened the door, and a cold blast of air hit her face, she didn't mind however and just walked out of the warm inn, and into the frozen storm.

[Takao 0]

Takao watched her stand and quickly finished his drink before following. The brunet flashed her a smile and nodded. "Awesome!" He said as he leapt to his feet, snatching up the sword he'd left leaning on the table in the same motion. "Yep, I'm ready. Let's go!"  He said while simultaneously fastening the scabbard to his back and following her to the door. A lighthearted chuckle escaped behind his breath as he listened to her mumble, he knew full well how easy it was to ramble on about things that excited him. His gaze set on the door as she opened it, and winced as the wave of cold air crashed into his face. He'd forgotten all about the cold already. Takao tugged up his collar around his neck and followed close behind Youno, noting her lack of reaction to the cold. "You really weren't kidding about the cold not bothering you, huh?"

[Hasai 0]

Youno chuckled lightly, Nope I like the cold. She threw her hands behind her, and started to head out of town, she knew where the Starglade was, and she could not wait to show Takao. She watched as a snowflake landed on her nose, and her eyes crossed. She gave a wild grin, before shaking it off her head. Her hair came undone, and she just looked back, and gave Takao a peace sign. She grinned widely before picking up her pins that were laying on the ground, from coming undone. She stashed them in her inventory, before falling back, to walk next to Takao.

[Takao 0]

Takao tucked his hands deep into his pants pockets as he walked, his boots crunching the powdery white snow that had accumulated on the ground with each step. He watched the snowflake fall onto her nose and regarded her peace sign with a warm smile and lighthearted chuckle. His gaze lingered a moment before he turned his attention forward again to watch where they were going. It'd be likely that he would want to return here at some point, so paying attention to where they were going would probably help with that. "You're like my sister in real life then. She loves the cold too, even moved to Alaska for a little while." He spoke up as she fell to walk in line with him, his amiable tone displaying a bit of fondness at the memory.

[Hasai 0]

Youno's eyes widened, she had never been told about anyone's life in the real world before, but her eyes returned to their normal shape as she spoke with consideration, Then we gotta make sure you stay alive to see her again. Her look of determination may have looked scary for whoever was on her bad side, as her eyes flashed, she smiled widely at Takao, before looking back up, We are almost there. She couldn't wait until they got there, it was after all a very beautiful place. She hadn't gone to many times, only once before. She was surprised she still knew where it was.

[Takao 0]

Takao tried to suppress the desire to chuckle but ended up exhaling a lighthearted laugh under his misty breath. It was easy for him to forget that talk of the real world in the game wasn't that common of an occurrence, when Takao himself didn't have much of any problem with it. After the announcement at the start of the game, they'd all been given mirrors that changed their avatar to their real life appearance. For Takao, that meant he wasn't talking to an avatar behind a screen anymore, he was actually connecting with somebody face to face. In his eyes, it was the same as standing on front of them in real life. "Oh, I'm not too worried about that." He admitted as his eyes turned frontward. "This place is amazing, you know? Aincrad I mean. It's the most surreal thing I've ever seen, so I figure I might as well enjoy it for now. I've got no doubts that I'll see her again." His words were spoken calmly and genially as the brunet returned her smile with a warm one of his own. His excitement sparked up when she told him that they were close, and he buried the desire to run ahead.

[Hasai 0]

Youno's eyebrows raised as she noticed his urge, before replying to his question and comments. I know it is amazing, and its good you have no doubts. I was adopted, and so I plan on going back to the man who adopted me. He means so much now, just as if he was my birth dad. He adopted me just a bit ago. She smiled widely, Let's run. She took off at a quick speed, that most people can't match, and let out a laugh, enjoying herself. She skidded to a halt, very quickly as well, right inside of Starglade. Her eyes roamed around, and a smile tugged on her lips as she looked around. She loved it here, it didn't feel as cold as the other places, even though it was just as cold. It was the warmth of the beauty that made it seem warmer.

[Takao 0]

He watched her with interest as she spoke, and as he pried his gaze away to look forward he found himself smiling warmly again. "Just a little bit ago, huh?" His mind wandered for a bit, considering how it was rather unfortunate for something like the death game to happen so soon after her adoption. "Sounds like we've both got plenty to get back to then. We'll just have to enjoy ourselves 'til it's time to work har- Hey, wait up!" He reached out with his hand as he sprinted off and found it hard to stop himself from laughing. He broke out into a sprint behind her, but found himself falling behind to her superior running speed. He pushed himself to try and match her but didn't seem to be capable of keeping up. When she slid to a stop, Takao had a difficult time doing the same, and slipped on the snow. A yelp escaped from his breath as he lost his footing and fell face first with his legs bent at the knee, quickly sliding to a stop. His legs plopped down last and he slowly picked himself up out of the snow. "S...so cold."

[Hasai 0]

Youno smirked, and started to full on laugh as she watched Takao. She smirked, and added Don't you have a blanket? She looked back at Starglade, her eyes drifting as if she were somewhere in her mind. As if she was in a daydream, she quickly got shook out of her thoughts as she turned to help Takao up. Her thoughts were still running amidst, and she smiled, We might as well enjoy ourselves, you are right. She gave a cute ^.^ face, before her mind drifted back to her real world. She wondered what Takao was thinking of.