[PP-F2] Winds of Plague (complete)

[9Lives 0]

the busy streets of Ubrus were filled with players who were trying to settle into new homes. as the front line pushed ahead level by level so the shop keepers needed to move ahead to outfit the fighters. despite its frantic nature it was far less crowded than the starter city of the first floor. those who wanted to survive without leveling or adventuring were taking root in the starter city and its decaying nature 9Lives could no longer stand to be around. 9lives found a suitable skill shop he watched over form the roof tops where he could craft in peace. like a stray 9 Lives didn't have a home but could always be found near a crafting station.

[Nikki Styx 0]

It was strange to wander the streets of a new city, But Nikki was happy to do so after having spent the first odd month or so stuck around floor 1. Today was an exciting adventure for her, visit floor 2 and explore it. She had been looking foreword to this for sometime, but had never had the time or resources to actually make the trip, but now here she was and it was everything she had hoped for. There seemed to be more life here. More adventurers trying to get through the game, real people trying to live real lives. It was sad to say that many of the people on the lower floor had given up and simply become part of the town, but this place was so different.

She continued to walk along a bit further, making sure to keep her hood drawn high. She had managed to draw some unwanted attention from some fanboys earlier and she wished to avoid them from now on. Her half cloak had recently been dyed a dark blue color to match her overall theme, or at least the theme she had chosen for herself. She had also updated her clothing for this particular trip, having bought herself a new outfit to replace the old one she had worn since the beginning of the game. Now se wore a black dress with with a dark blue underlining and a white lacing along the bottom of the front. The front itself was very short coming barely halfway down her thigh, while the back drapped down almost to her feet. She also wore blue leggings and sleeves to match the blue trim. Nikki had topped it all off with a simple pair of black shoes and gloves. All in all the outfit was easy to move in and gave her her own unique style.

Nearby she noticed a crafting station, one very similar to the one she had met her new guild mates at. Suddenly Nikki's thoughts drifted back to one individual she had met then. He had been the person actually crafting at the time, They called him Nine. He hadn't said to much, but the impression she had was that he was someone who she may have known, though from where she couldn't remember. Such a thing was always possible in a massive online world like this, though it did seem highly unlikely. She continued to think on this for a moment, not fully aware that she had actually stopped moving all together while she stared at the work bench.

It was weird but Nikki had a sudden wonder as to what Nine was up to right now.

[9Lives 0]

as he existed the shop, 9Lives looked oddly at the girl in the street. she was new to the guild and he didn't know much about her. 9lives distanced himself form most people, even in his own guild. he only socialized with Saix because of his past experience and even then he didn't usually say much. she seemed to be in a daze like daydreaming or possible deep in thought but her eyes fixated on him. 9lives continued to step out of the building till he reach the street. without a word he lept up to the roof top and waked up to the top of the pitch where he liked to spend his time.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Suddenly as if out of nowhere Nine emerged from a nearby shop. Nikki was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the very person she had been thinking of, but smiled none the less. "Speak of the devil..." she thought pleasantly to herself. He had lept up onto a nearby roof, a feat of difficulty for most player. She was lucky however having had her Acrobatics skill would allow her to follow him. She took a couple of quick dash's to build up momentum, and then she bounced from wall, to awning, to veranda, to roof. In her eyes it was much more stylish to get a few quick leaps as a pose to one solid bound.

She had wanted to see what her guild mate was up too today, see if she could help him with anything. That's what people were supposed to do, help each other. She made to follow him, catching sight of his name and stopped for a second. It was his name that seemed familiar, she had seen a gamer tag like that once or twice before. "Nine.. wait up a sec." she called after him.

[9Lives 0]

9Lives keen hearing discerned the sound of activity below, irregular form the walking of day to day life, even further differentiated by the sound of someone acrobatically making a display of their ascent. he didn't care for gallantry as drew in attention and made a hell of a lot of racket, qualities didn't he aspire for. still he walked up the roof to the peak already aware of the person approaching from behind. In town he need not fear ambush so until he needed to know who was following him, he didn't care. this however didn't last long as a voice called out to him. He didn't reply but stopped in stride to wait for her to catch up.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki let out a sigh as Nine stopped. She hadnt wanted to chase him all around today, but sadly had nothing better to do herself. She caught up quickly, stopping at his side and smiling in as nice a way as she could. "You really are agile" She praised while taking a quick look around. The view from up here was much better than she had anticipated. The small chase had pushed the thoughts of who he might be from her mind, so rather than ask about that she found a more suitable question. "What are your plans today? Anything I can help with?" She desperatly wanted to provide assistance and not be thought of as a freeloader in the guild.

[9Lives 0]

9Lives waited for Nikki to catch up to him on the roof top. he wasn't much for small talk and today was troubling. his grip on reality was wavering and he didn't want it on display. i had found that in times like this, remaining emotionless and occupying his mind was the key to appearing stable. "Leveling, in the foot hills. " he said keeping his face form view. his eyes were widened and his breath deep and slow a he struggled to deal with his reality fragmenting. he knew this girl was too nosy for her own good and she'd figure out something was wrong. he just needed to be active and shut out the distortions and everything would be fine.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki couldn't help but get the feeling something was wrong. Normally she had been very good at identifying problems other players may be having, Not that there were a lot, But Nine seemed to be having some sort of difficulty. She couldn't see his face, though she could hear his breathing. Usually when another player did some feat of skill or agility like leaping onto a roof they would breath faster, which she thought was silly considering, that they weren't actually breathing in the game. Instead his breaths were deep and drawn out, like he was trying to keep his head on, or was really lost in thought. He had wanted to do some leveling, and Nikki wondered if he would be OK to do so alone. If anything she could keep him company, and make sure he was alright.

"Ya know I was just heading out to do the same thing." She lied with a cheery smile. "I guess I might as well tag along considering I dont rightly know the way."

[9Lives 0]

how convenient that she was just planning to go out to level herself before running into him. "Imagine that..." he said realizing all to well that there was no shaking this girl. the thought of relieving why he wanted to be alone was mortifying. thus he had no reason to deny her request to join him. reluctantly he pointed to the west entrance of town. "this way" he said before leaping off the building and taking off across the lower rooftops.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki smiled back at him "then lets go..." She stopped mid sentence as Nine had already taken off. She shook her head while still smiling and made to follow him. He had slipped down onto the lower roofs, but she would stay up on the higher peaks, keep him close. As she ran she was impressed by his cat like reflexes, and then like a tone of bricks it hit her. His name was 9Lives... Like a cat... She had played against a Player with that same gamer tag several times. He had been very skilled no matter what the game. Could this be the same one? It seemed impossible but still... "I KNOW YOU..." She shouted after him.

[Nikki Styx 0]

((OOC: Browser buggered up and I accidentally made 2 posts... Sorry))

[9Lives 0]

the malevolent construct of expectation and discontent uttered seamlessly by so many in three simple words he wished he would never hear. i know you. perseverance be damned. he hated the popularity of his moniker and yet nothing else seemed to fit for a name. most who recognized him, feared the stone he stood on but this type of genre was not in his typical market. it had got him this far into the game without being targeted but if this girl could figure out who he was then others would eventually as well. he couldn't handle this right now. his mind was racing and he needed to bury himself in combat to clear away the mental static, directionless aggression, and manic frustration. as much as he wished he could ignore this and put it behind him, he couldn't risk her literally shouting to the city from the rooftops who he was to the players below. "This is not the time for assumptions" he called back to her as he dropped down onto the city wall and flipped over to land on the ground.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki frowned but took off after Nine again. She was certain that she knew him, but he seemed to want nothing to do with it. She wasn't going to let this go however, instead she would bring it up again when he couldn't run away. She lept up, landing lightly on the nearby wall, and dropped down with ease. Her landing was soft and smooth, but caused her hair to fall free of her hood. Rather than tuck it in again she lowered her and pulled up her player menu's. Cycling through them she quickly came to the one she wanted and clicked it, sending a party invite to Nine. "This will help us stay together better, and make it easier to help each other." She didn't take her eyes off of him, He was a gifted player, and she was waiting for the chance to prove who he was.

[9Lives 0]

9Lives hit the ground running litterraly. He needed to keep the pace up to keep in mind occupied. The menu poped up infront of him asking for a party invite. His first instinct was to hit decline as he had so often but he knew it would only increase her inquiry as to his condition. He hit accept. He only stopped once he reached the foothills and the city was in the distance. This is where they would find their prey.

[Nikki Styx 0]

The party invite was accepted and Nikki watched as Nine's name and health popped up under her own. Now she could keep a better eye on him, and track him if he tried to run from her. He had kept going after clearing the wall, so Nikki had to activate her sprint in order to catch up. She was happy to be in a party with someone who was at least as quick as she was, it drove her nuts having to walk everywhere. Nine had stopped at the base of the foothills. The city itself had become a distant object on their horizon. Not many players would have been out here yet so their would still be lots of things to hunt. "All right... what are we looking for?" she asked assuminghe had a specific prey in mind.

[9Lives 0]

9Lives pointed into the fields. "Wasps. paralyzing attacks." he said plainly. it would be tricky pulling the wasps one by one and should they get swarmed it would not be good. The Wasps attacks had the ability to paralyze the target for a round making them wide open for continual assault. " Intell suggest the monsters week point in the stomach. tread carefully for as many as we see, there are likely three times as many in hiding waiting to ambush." the tension outweighed the emotional distress and he already felt more centered. he knew that once the battle started his mind would come to clarity as it always did. There was no time like the present. He scanned quickly finding the nearest target and threw a <>.

Battle die:4

the blade missed the target but served its job as the <> turned spotting the two and began flying towards the pair.

9Lives 13/13

Nikki 17/17

Wind Wasp 4/4

[Nikki Styx 0]

((OOC:Going to try new battle and skill system then.))

Nikki saw the wasp coming in and prepared to block it with her shield. She knew it was a low level creature with little to do in the way of Damage, so she had no problem getting in its way right out of the gate. She crouched down for a second preparing herself for the impact, and then in a flash burst foreword Blocking the wasp with her shield.

A loud clang echoed out as the wasp bounced off the shield, failing to do any damage to Nikki. Without missing a beat she yelled out at Nine "SWITCH!" As she moved back allowing her partner to attack. If they fought like this, she could absorb the attacks, and he could keep fighting.

[9Lives 0]

The loud clang on Nikkis shield signalled his preporation. He pulled his blade up resting it on his shoulder charging for his attack. He blade shimmed and began to glow golden. Instantly the call for switch cried out from her companion and he activated <>

Battle die:9

Critical!

8 damage

In a bright flash he darted past Nikki thrusting into the wasp and tearing through. The attack made the all to familiar sound of critcal bringing a smile to his face as he stopped on the other side of the monster. He didnt bother to take defensive posture. The creature erupted into polygons raining down like a wave hitting from behind as he looked into the field for the next target.

9Lives 13/13

Nikki 17/17

Wind Wasp 0/4

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki fell back immediately allowing Nine to move in for the kill. The wasp itself stood no chance as her companion cut clean through it. This had been a perfect fight, though small and hardly a threat for either of them, it had been exactly the way they needed to work together. It would seem that them working together served more of a purpose than just her watching out for him. It would also give them the valuable team and tactic experience that they would need as a guild. Nikki looked towards Nine with a smile. "That was very well done. We keep this up and even the biggest bosses wont stand a chance." She boasted knowing full well that bosses took large coordinated groups. She began looking round again for more wasps, after all where there was one there were usually more.

Not far off the dull Hum of wings could be heard. Nearby there were a few more wasps buzzing around. While Nikki couldn't see them she could hear them. She took a quick second to look above her as she had learned previously that they like to strike from above, but there were none to be seen.

[9Lives 0]

The exhilaration and adrenaline flooded is brain drawing his mind into clarity. "Perceptive" he said back to her. "this is the design that the guild was designed for." a slow smile formed on his face, barely noticeable to anyone who didn't know 9Lives but it was there none the less. He wanted more. more stakes, more threat, more power. He took off into the grass to stir up another enemy. one wasp raised out of the grass in front of him yet he could hear one to the side no doubt preparing to ambush him. sure enough the second wasp flew up and launched forward with <>. 9Lives Activated <> slashing outwards at the oncoming wasp's mouth.

Battle Die 10

Parry redirected damage : 1

weapon skill : 3

Critical! x2

Wasp 1 damage: 8

The slash hit with a flash of two colored changed attacks meeting. the Wasp was cleanly sliced through shattering to his attack. He threw his hood back letting his short black hair shine in the light while laughing. The Second wasp triggered by the death of the near by mob bean making its way towards 9Lives. He turned to face it with anticipation.

9Lives: 13/13

Nikki: 17/17

Wasp 1: 0/4

Wasp 2: 4/4