(PP-F1) Doing whatever (Jevi and Hirru)

[Xion 0]

Xion was sitting on a bench, near his favourite fountain in the town of beginnings, it was a moderately sized one with a nice waterfall-esque feature at it's core. He smiled, looking up at the sky of Aincrad, wispy white clouds were rolling across a seemingly perfect blue sky as the sun provided a nice mild level of heat. " Ahh...If only the real world were like this" He said to himself, Xion was British, and England, to say the least had less than desirable weather most of the time. 

 

He had been hunting almost non-stop the entire time that he had spent in SAO, if he wasn't fighting boars he was fighting other players, and if he wasn't doing that...he was spending time relaxing by this very fountain. He had met many people by this fountain, even players more than twice his level at the time, pretty much all of which had become good friends, so to say the least the fountain held a sort of sentimental value to Xion. 

 

He noticed that the scabbard on his back was causing more than slight discomfort as he laid back, so he simply took it off, resting the blade on his lap. He didn't like storing it in his inventory, then his blade wasn't ready, not in his hands ready to be drawn. 

 

After doing this he sighed once more, closing his eyes and resting, humming a tune merrily. 

[Hirru 0]

Hirru sighed as he walked through the town.  It had been several days since anything that could be anywhere close to a memory came up, and even that was just a small glimpse of tactical know-how.  What did that even mean, anyway?  What was he on the other side?  Who was he..?

 

He slumped himself towards a fountain where a lone person sat on the bench next to it.  Walking past, Hirru stood before the fountain and knelt down.

 

"Maybe some water splashed in my face will help."

 

Hirru then tried to gather some water in his hand, but the water just seemed to float where he picked it up in a somewhat puddle.  It was like the water here seemed to just not want to act like proper water.  Hirru shook his head slightly.  Was there a proper way that water had to work?  Having none of these shenanigans, Hirru stuck his head in directly.

[Jevi 0]

Things were starting to look better for Jevi lately. She was feeling a lot more comfortable in this world than she did in the real one and much better spirits as well. She decided to go on a little stroll that day through The Town of Beginnings, since it was a nice day for it.. Did the weather even change in SAO? She had no idea.. never saw it happen. She looked up towards the blue sky and the white clouds and took a relaxing deep breath. She felt a sort of longing, however, to look at a different sky. Maybe she would eventually take a trip to one of the other floors some time soon. Maybe even then she would see a change of weather.

 

Jevi found herself walking through a small square on the far side of the town, where there sat a fountain with many players in the area relaxing or talking with friends. Jevi walked with her hands gently grabbing onto her cloth belt around her waist, looking at all of the players in the area. Her eyes were drawn to one player as he knelt down before the fountain. She stopped walking and looked at him, wondering what he was doing. Maybe he was praying? She thought about how if SAO was opened worldwide.. all of the different types of people who would enter the game. It got her interested. Suddenly, the boy plunged his face into the water. A bead of sweat dropped from Jevi's cheek.. there went that idea. She continued to walk forward towards that player. 

[Xion 0]

"The water doesn't work like that" Xion said, hearing Hirru dunk his head into the water "It's programmed so that you can interact with it but not drink it....the only drinkable water is in bottles" Xion said, before getting up and selecting a bottle of water from his inventory, placing it on the bench. "You're new around here right? My name's Xion..." He said, before he noticed someone approaching them... a girl. Xion instantly felt an awkward sensation fill him, he had talked to a grand total of zero girls in SAO so far, this was a first. "Hey..." he said awkwardly as she approached 'now don't make a bloody fool of yourself Xion, don't say anything stupid' he thought to himself, as he picked up the scabbard that had been on his lap and was now on the bench and put it on his back. 

[Hirru 0]

Hirru, while having his head underwater, heard the guy on the bench say something about the water.  It was actually coming in clear instead of being garbled.  That made even less sense than the 'feeling' of the water; there was none.  It just felt like he was pushing himself into a thing of gelatin that would move out of the way while he moved into it.  Not touching him in the slightest.

 

Pulling his head out of the water, his hair completely dry except for beads of water that would later shatter when they fell to the ground.  He looked at the guy who just then placed a bottle down and introduced himself.  Hirru wasn't sure why, but he was kinda thirsty though that was only a feeling.  He noticed a long while ago that he didn't really need food or water, but if he didn't, it felt like he would die even though his HP was at full.  Picking up the water bottle, opened it and drank it down.  A cool soothing feeling crept through him and made the feeling of thirst go away.

 

"Thank you!  My name is Hirru.  It's nice to meet you."

 

Hirru greeted the guy sitting down.  He noticed that Xion had noticed someone approaching.  Hirru looked over to find a young woman walking towards them.  Shrugging, he sat down on the edge of the fountain.  Maybe they knew each other, or maybe not.  Seeing that it would be rude to not greet her as well, he did so.

 

"Hello there!"

[Jevi 0]

She listened as the man explained how water worked in this game to the other who had his head shoved into a fountain. When he pulled his head back out, she saw his head was completely dry.. and the man with a slightly surprised look on his face. A smirk formed on Jevi's face, accompanied by a slight scoff as she continued walking. She was not planning on meeting anyone new today, but just as she thought about walking straight past the two, she heard one of the men let an awkward 'hey' pass from his lips. Jevi stopped and looked at him with her yellow eyes. She then turned to the man who had just pulled his face out of a fountain, who seemed a little bit more comfortable with Jevi's appearance. She pushed some of her long purple bangs away from her slightly dark skinned face and took a fewer steps forward towards the players, ~"Hey." Be kind Alex.. you already know people here are better than in the real world... they're not out to get you..

[Xion 0]

Xion could feel beads of sweat forming on his brow '[censored] she said hey back, well that's better than any girl in the real world had responded so' Xion thought to himself as the girl. "Hi...my name's Xion..." he said, trying to sound as comfortable and confident as possible in the situation. "You a new player too?" he asked her, beginning to find his confidence again. Xion then turned to Hirru "And no worries, you should have some water and bread in your inventory anyway, it's in the starter pack that you get" he said, trying his best to smile, although it probably looked a little weird.

 

Xion then  turned his attention back to the girl, staring at her yellow, almost golden eyes as she focused on Hirru, who was obviously more confident than Xion. 'Damnit Xion even the lower level players are better than you with people' 

[Hirru 0]

Hirru nodded to the fact that he should have something along the lines of food in his inventory.  He quickly swiped his right index and thumb down, just like he was shown, and his menu came into play.  Looking in his inventory, he indeed had some water, but the bread was..  Several times in the past few days, he had been getting food from the people who had helped him before.  Now, though, he had to fend for himself, and that meant getting food and water.  Unfortunately, the cheapest thing out there is this bread.  It is always hard as stone.  If possible, you could even kill a boar with it!  Hirru shrugged and pulled one out from storage.  The hard brown loaf materialized in his hands and he grimaced for a second before putting it back.

 

"Eh.. I'm not hungry.."

 

Looking back to the other two, as Xion tried to strike up a conversation.  Hirru didn't mind the company.  Technically, he preferred it, but lately things have been changing.  Ever since the lead group unlocked the 10th floor, there have been less people staying in the town.  He figured it was time for him to set off as well, but ever time he thought about it, the fear of dying came to mind.  Hirru was alone whenever he was out in the field.  He was never able to find the people that he once knew.  

 

Maybe, it was time to start anew.

 

"Hmm.. I wonder."

[Jevi 0]

~"Xion, huh. Im Jevi." she gave the man a slight nod. When he asked if she was a newer player, she thought about it.. Is it really that obvious? Maybe I dont look strong and confident enough in my stance.. gotta work on that.. ~"Well.. I'm less experienced you could say... Don't forget, we all got trapped here at the same time, remember?" she gave the man a shrug. She always found it funny when she heard higher level players refer to lower levels as new players... All of them have been playing from the same start.. unless you were a beta tester of course, but she was pretty sure there were none of those guys around any more. 

 

She looked back to the other man as Xion referred to having food items in their inventory. She brought her hand up to her lips and let out a light chuckle as the other man had a look of disappointment in his face, ~"The bread isn't that bad.. when you get used to it and don't think about the taste at least." She could definitely go for some real food though, rather than eating bread every day... But then she remembered she was still broke. Jevi then heard the man on the ground murmur something, ~"Wonder what?"

[Xion 0]

"Jevi...that's a nice name..." Xion said, before turning to Hirru "I have a friend who owns a shop on this floor, nice Japanese food" he said. "So...what are you two doing here exactly?" he asked, curious to see what they were intending on doing, Xion had literally nothing to do so he decided that whatever they where doing he would tag along. Xion then remembered his first day in SAO, alone, scared, weak, he still was weak when compared to the lead group but he had grown much stronger, heck he had even defeated a few players in the game, not killed them mind you, just defeated them in a duel. 

[Hirru 0]

Hirru looked over to the woman who introduced herself as Jevi and nodded politely.

 

"Nice to meet you."

 

He looked over the two and thought that it was finally time to enlist some help.  Standing up, he acknowledged that a good meal would probably change his spirits a bit.  It would also give him some time to talk to them about his plans.  That would have been the plan, but.. he didn't have much Col.  Lately, the boars in the field haven't been giving much of anything.

 

Shrugging he decided now was better than never.

 

"Well, if you're willing, I've been trying to find some people.  They helped me out when I was first thrown into this world."

 

Hirru began to explain to them.  His slight past with them as they helped him regain his sense of being.  Helping him control not only his body, but his mind.  Hirru wanted to find them and thank them for helping him grow stronger.

 

"I don't remember what exactly they looked like, but I remember their names... there was..."

 

As he started to recall names, a sharp pain shot through his head.  A pained look strolled across his face as he rubbed his temple.   Slowly, the pain withdrew from him and we returned to talking to the two.

 

"Sorry.. it hurts to remember things at times, but I can recognize their names.  I've looked at the Marble Wall to find their names and they are out there.  I just need to find them."

[Jevi 0]

Jevi knew she was not the richest person in SAO at the moment.. pretty poor to be honest. Maybe she had enough to get herself some food, but probably not a full course meal. As she thought of eating, her stomach grumbled.. She quickly crossed her arms and her eyes darted to the side ~"F-Food sounds good right now.." She looked back to Xion, who asked about what she was doing here.

~"Honestly, I was just walking around aimlessly.. looking for something to do." she shrugged her shoulders.

 

She then looked back to the other player as he began to talk about players he wished to find. She stood there listening with her arms crossed. This sounded like a handful, did she really want to go out of her way to help this guy? Players help others all the time.. and then they lose connection. Not the first time its happened. Then his head shot back in pain, to which Jevi's eyes widened, The hell is with this guy...? She sighed, ~"Look, lets go get some food and we can all talk this over.." 

[Xion 0]

Xion listened as Hirru talked about certain players that he wanted to find, before complaining about pain. "Strange...you shouldn't be able to feel pain in this world" He said, slightly concerned and intrigued at the same time. Xion then turned to Jevi as she suggested getting food. He chuckled a little "While that is a great idea, I'm saving my col for something else, food isn't really priority number one for me currently, but if you two really want to..." Xion was aiming to buy some new gear, he had no armour, and while the Impravidor was good for lower level MOBS, anything stronger would still rip him to shreds. 

 

He stared at the girl for a few more seconds, before shaking himself (well shaking his head) 'How to look like an idiot with Xion' he thought to himself. Man he really needed to get this people thing sorted out. 

 

"Anyway what you're asking for is a little much Hirru. You can't just look randomly around the world and find the people that you are looking foor, currently there are 11 open floors in this world, each harder to traverse than the next, and each of them huge. Something like this would need careful planning, you would need to know where to look, when to look there and who you're even looking for, all we have is names and unless we ask every single player their names we're not going to have much luck, and that's assuming they're alive still. It's a thought that I would rather not dwell on but it's a possibility. I'll try to help, but I'm just saying that you may be beating a dead horse with this one" Xion said, he didn't have that many friends on the real world, most of them he had met in SAO, so he didn't know Hirru's pain. But he did know that even one friend can make a difference no matter what world you're in, so that made finding them even more important, a fool's errand in some ways, but important. 

[Hirru 0]

Hirru instantly became embarrassed and shook his head while waving his hands in a gesture usually signaling to 'forget about it'.

"Sorry, I didn't mean for that to come out so bad.  I only need help investigating a clue in the next town over, but that's my business.  I shouldn't have blurt that out to you guys."

He lowered his head and sighed.  'Good job, bonehead!  You probably drove off some more people.' he thought.  It wasn't as if it was an impossible task, but he needed help, and sensei was no longer around town either.  If he needed help, then he would have to enlist some help.  That said, he was doing it all wrong.  He should be requesting for anyone that wants to go on a short round about the town.  Most of the players in the Town of Beginnings would never go out past the boars, let alone to the next town.  These two though, they look like they could stand their ground.

Hirru's thoughts subsided when a feeling of hunger groaned through him.

"Well, I'm up for a light meal, if you guys are?"

Edited August 1, 2015 by Hirru

[Jevi 0]

Jevi was a little puzzled by the man when he brought up a friend who owned a place with great food.. only to deny the request for saving money. With a sigh she shrugged her shoulders and then placed her hands on her hips, ~"Well.. if you aren't interested." She turned her head to Hirru and smirked, ~"Sounds like you're pretty hungry as well Hirru, the two of us can go get something to eat if Xion here wants to save." she gave Hirru a playful wink as she pointed her thumb at Xion.

She then walked forward and stood between the two, looking back at Xion. ~"As crazy as the idea may sound.. Could benefit us all really. Its not like he is asking us to accompany him all the way to Floor Eleven or something insane for players at our level. Plus, im sure we could all even get some hunting in.. maybe even gain another level or two from it, as well as some more Col to make up for the food we are about to eat." she smirked again, now pushing the idea of eating onto the three of them. Her face took a more serious look as she slipped her thumbs into her waistband, ~"Trust me.. Im not fan of helping out random people unless I may get some benefit from it as well, so I know it won't be a waste of time."

[Xion 0]

Xion sighed, giving in "Fine we'll talk it through over lunch... I'm not sure if we'll be able to do it but i'll be damned if we don't try" he said, before checking his friend list "Golden's out so we will have to go somewhere else to eat". The player then turned to Hirru "Is that ok with you?" he asked, before checking on his map to see what restaurants were in the town of beginnings . 

[Hirru 0]

Hirru nodded his head before any more damaging words came out of his mouth.  This would be much better than just blurting out that he needed help.  He wasn't some NPC that started crying about some issue right when you open the door.  Though.. that hasn't really happened to him.  It just kinda got out during a conversation.  

As Xion started to think about what restaurant that they could go to, Hirru pondered on how to ask this.  The clue he got was coming from the raid town, Tolbana.  Something about a fair sized group of people taking care of a pest problem.  He didn't know if it was them, but a name came from them that sounded way too familiar.

"Anywhere is fine.  I don't mind it, unless it is too expensive.  We all have a budget, I think."

Edited August 1, 2015 by Hirru

[Jevi 0]

Jevi looked at Xion with a mischievous smirk, she had a feeling her comment about just going with Hirru would work. After that the man checked his friends list to see if his said 'friend' was around at their restaurant, whom turned out to be Golden.. someone Jevi was familiar with. Sadly, the boy was out and the shop was closed. ~"No matter. I know of a ramen joint not too far from here.. but id rather try something new." she placed her hand on her chin as she looked around the area. 

[Xion 0]

" I really don't mind, anywhere has better food than the stale bread that comes in the starter packs" Xion said, remembering the rocky texture and horrible taste of the bread, almost shivering a little at the thought of having to eat another piece of bread like that.  " and anyway, the only place that I've ever gone to is Golden's shop, so I'm not really well versed when it comes to the locations of restaurants" 

[Hirru 0]

Hirru nodded in agreement.  Though, he quickly found that Xion didn't really know many restaurants around town.  His impatient self soon took over and pointed towards the western district.

"If we're just going to sit here and think, we'll get nowhere fast.  Might as well look around."

Leading the group, if they actually followed, he found himself in front of a rather odd looking shack.  A short curtain hid the inside workings very well, but one could easily see a small table with, what looked like, a small mesh screen sitting over a coal fire.  A sign next to it said: Iggy's Yakiniku.

"This one looks promising!"

He called out to the others as he entered the place.  As he did, a voice called out to them.

"Hello!  If you would, please take a seat, and I will be with you shortly."

Hirru took a seat which was only a stool.  Now, he was able to see that the system for the firepit was quite simple.  A metal cylinder was surrounding a coal stove that gave off fairly strong heat towards the mesh screen.  Pretty genius engineering for a cook, but Hirru wouldn't know that.  He was just hungry.