[PP-F?] Thicker than Water (Opal)

[Azide 0]

There must have been a downdraft that day, he surmised, as he watched an invisible hand lifted the smattering of leaves which had laid motionless at his feet. It seemed a fair guess to make, considering he was surrounded on all sides by the towering walls of the colosseum. Admittedly, the locale held a very different feel to it without the crowds of spirited spectators that would often arrive in spades for the purpose of observing organized duels and exhibitions. Though he rarely mingled with those nameless players, they seemed to have their favorites when it came to guilds, much like the sporting fans back on the other side. His eyes swept the arena clean, but found no signs of either those fans or anyone else, for that matter. 

The fact that the young lady had not yet arrived was of no real concern- he was certain that she would be here, what with her talk of honor and the like. But what about the man? Azide had been assured that the coming duel would be monitored, so that the skills of both him and his opponent might be properly judged. And yet for all of his rhetoric, the mysterious man was nowhere to be seen.

Both he and his guild were an almost unparalleled enigma, really only known to a select few players who were themselves a rather fleeting site in recent times. Vaguely, he could recall that one RyujinSeaLord had served as the man's right hand for a time, before abandoning the post. Rumor was that Shark, a veteran player he'd encountered in the company of Mari and the other guests of the tenth floor raid meeting, was allied with this man- but the full extent of their relationship was uncertain.

He knew almost nothing of either Heathcliff or the Knights of the Blood, but there was one thing that he did know; not a single broker had been able to recall a time before the latter's founding. Senior to even the famed Azure Brigade, it was an organization which had truly withstood the test of time.

Edited October 16, 2015 by Azide

[Opal 0]

Heavy footsteps walked with a strong thuds against the dull earth beneath her feet. The female in question was Opal, many had known her as a bratty, self centered woman who was as promiscuous as her days were in college in this world. However, due to events that had changed her both mentally and physically is why she was now walking down this path isolated path of solitude or what she had thought was solitude. With her training now coming to an end, and with her Master gone from this world, Opal was alone in the careless wake of SAO. She had expressed interest in returning to the masses with open arms, however, the things she had done...the feelings that were inside, the things that had been done to her. She wanted to stay away from all of society, the noise and the debris of humanity that caused her so much grief and agony. Unfortunately, she could not always have her way with things. After her ordeal with Sensui, after having her wings ripped from her back, she was a woman desperately searching for answers to once more be able to climb that Tower of Babel, to find something within herself that reminded her she was still human. 

Her feet slid across the foundation of the colosseum, her honey eyes were still lifeless, absent of life or care, but there was a flicker of hope deep inside somewhere, something that she had longed to once see again; happiness.  A light dust was kicked into the air as she looked around her, the darkness of her attire echoed her personality and with that the strength and pride of her energy now rested with the blade of the Dragon's Breath in its scarlet saya which stayed by her hip. Dark ebony hair flitted with the small breeze of an oncoming wind then abruptly had stopped. From the ground she looked up at the man who had been here and her opponent as well, a man she knew nothing about nor a name familiar to her.  She was cautious however and did little provoke any aggressive movements, she peered at him from a short distance away and then finally started, "Are you Azide? My name is Opal, if you are not the owner of the name I asked of please leave here now. There shall be no witness or word to be swiftly carried to anyone for what is about to go down today. If you are Azide..." 

The woman rolled her shoulders lightly, a slight pop of the muscles here and there as she straightened her back in place got into a drawing position to ready her blade swiftly, "...then we have business to conclude here." 

[Azide 0]

"A businesswoman, are you?" spoke Azide, with a raise of his brow. He eyed his opponent up and down, somewhat surprised to see that she had paired her katana with a turtleneck sweater. And perhaps it was just the heavily applied make-up, or the midnight hair which framed her face, but this lady carried an almost sullen vibe about her. For someone who carried the moniker of Opal, nothing about her seemed opalescent in the slightest. Everything about her seemed to be wrapped up in the color black, all except for a pair of bright red lips, which stood out amidst all of the darkness. Crimson-colored lips- the color of blood.

His lips curled into a wry smile as he answered with a shrug and a lift of his hands. "First time we've ever met, and you're all ready to have at me with that sword at your hip." A deep breath, followed by a sigh as his hands dropped to press against his hips. With a shake of his head, he sought out her eyes, and found himself gazing into a pair the color of old amber. "But yes, I am Azide. And I can assure you that nobody else is here, with the possible exception of Heathcliff himself, or at the very least someone reporting on his behalf. Hats off to you if you manage to find either of them, however, as I've had no such luck."

This was a player whom he knew absolutely nothing about- all he could glean was that she wielded the infamously versatile katana. However, all of the versatility in the world was not going to win her a one on one duel in which she herself had banned the use of stunning Sword Art. He couldn't imagine that multi-hitting moves would be of any use either, with but a single target for her to hit. No, in an environment like this, it was he who held the upper hand.

Azide raised his hand and swiped across the empty air in front of him, conjuring up the system's virtual interface. With a few more clicks and taps, a new dialogue appeared before his opponent, requesting a half-loss duel. With another swipe of his hands, his own menu was dismissed, and he lowered the hand until his fingers grazed the leather sheath at his own hip. "If it's business you want, then I'm happy to oblige. So let's get down to business, shall we?"

ID: 35629 |  LD: 8 (Higher natural LD gets first move, if latter roll wins, a double post is allowed)

Stats:

Level: 32 | HP: 133 | Energy: 32

Damage: 10 | Paralyze: 1 | Savvy: 1

Mitigation: 0 | Accuracy: 3 | Evasion: 4

Skills:

One-Handed Dagger (R5) | Charge (R2)

Athletics | Precision | Sprint & Acrobatics

Concentration | Survival

Equipment:

Chemikaze: +2 Damage, +1 Paralyze

Heisenberg's Uncertainty: +2 Evasion, +1 Savvy

Schrodinger's Pendant: +2 Accuracy, +1 Evasion

Familiar:

Lucifer: +1 Damage

Edited October 16, 2015 by Azide

[Opal 0]

 

HP: 80 || Energy: 20
Dmg: +5 || Eva: +4 || Acc: +2

Equipment: 
Dragon's Breath [+1 Dmg, +1 Acc]
Swift Eye: [+2 EVA, +1 Acc]
Black Leather Jacket: [+2 Savvy, +1 Eva]

Skill: 
Rnk 1: Charge [+1 Dmg] within RP reasons
Rnk 3: Katana [+3 Dmg] 
Sprint & Acrobatic [+1 Eva]

ID: 35372
LD: 6

Raven hair struck by an upcoming wind when she realized she had been wearing a vanity shirt, would he be thrown off by her casual appearance? This was a duel for a position of power as far as Heathcliff had made note, and yet she had come here wearing this. Striking a few buttons in the inventory, the shirt had dissolved revealing her ample bosom which had been covered by leather straps that were nearly threatened to break from her voluptuous curvy figure. The full length of the outfit had revealed itself to him, she would give no thought that she was here to mess around, "Pleasantries can come later..." 

She had said from a distance that they kept proceeding with the start of the duel. There was no anxious thought now in her mind; she was ready for this, but not ready at the same time. Her mind was starting to jumble up with unnecessary thoughts and trivial matters. Much like Azide had made note of earlier, Heathcliff would be watching either with his eyes or those of a subordinate. In either the case, it would not matter; she needed to clear her mind for this duel.

Taking a full breath, she exhaled slowly allowing the fingers to tighten around the hilt of her blade. The confirmation message being sent to her for a Half-HP Duel had appeared before her. The semi translucent screen was pressed quickly from the woman with her free hand and soon the countdown timer had begun. Ten seconds…it was all she needed. She closed her honey eyes and counted down softly to herself.

With the last seconds counting down to the start of the duel, Opal’s smoky laced eyes blinked and the battle had begun. She whipped her blade out of the scarlet saya and waited with a clear mind as things were about to begin. Her katana, the Dragon’s Breath was a rare weapon; however, she would not let that discourage her. Should she fall from the first blow from Azide’s blade, it would only prove that she needed to work harder to get more power. With the death of Master Myoga, she felt the need to accomplish many things now. One of them being to master this Katana, the second was to become one of the elites; third…she would find balance within herself. Right now she struggled between grieving and anger, but these emotions showed none to her outside appearance. Honey eyes gazed outwards towards Azide, red ruby lips curved slightly, “Let’s begin…”

 

Edited October 17, 2015 by Opal

[Azide 0]

For one reason or another, Opal had felt it necessary to change directly before their engagement- and in his full view, no less. But to be fair, her change of clothing had been tucked underneath that sweater the whole time, although that somehow did little to make the gesture any less revealing. If anything, he could guess that the young lady was at least very comfortable in her own skin, and that was admirable enough. But he was not here today to hand out medals for healthy self esteems.

As was the case with Heathcliff himself, there was little he could claim to know about Opal, other than the fact that she'd expressed a desire for the very same position that he himself had been eyeing. It had come as a shock when he'd received word that some other player also coveted the rank of Vice Commander; as far as he could tell, the post had been abandoned ever since Ryujin had deserted the Knights all of those months back. Since then, both the title and guild had faded back in obscurity, but it had survived all the same.

And here he was now, about to jump in blind against an opponent he knew nothing about. It was unlike him, he thought, to dive headfirst into such a complete enigma. For all he knew, Opal could be the proud grandmaster of nine skills, and he a lowly scourge with but a single grandmastering under his belt. His eyes narrowed on the woman with hair the color of ravens, and eyes so deep that he could probably drop a pebble through their openings and never hear a splash or plop. But if there were somebody out there like that, he was confident that they would have crossed his radar well before today.

The timer hit zero, and he was gone. An instant later, Azide appeared before the lady in black, a gleaming knife entrenched firmly within his grasp. But for all of his initiative, all of his precision, he was too slow; perhaps not absolutely, but for that moment, the humbling fact had been a simple truth. 

ID: 35373 | BD: 5 + 3 (ACC) - 4 (EVA) = 4 (Miss)

Azide | 133/133 HP| 30/32 EN (-2)
Half-Loss Duel ends at 66 HP or less.
Opal | 80/80 HP | 20/20 EN
Half-Loss Duel ends at 40 HP or less.

Edited October 17, 2015 by Azide

[Opal 0]

Opal was nay hesitant when he came closer towards her, was it a faint attack? From the left or right? Her booted feet kicked off the ground sliding to her right with a low rumble of the paved ground as her katana had begun to pulsate with a crimson glow. The Dragon's Breath released this energy as Opal found an opening to counter attack Azide's failed attempt to lance her with his dagger. Shifting her weight and allowing the system to take control she swung her blade across his chest. A heavy amount of dust was kicked into the air from the woman's movement, creating a dirty scene to occur but she continued as her Sword Art had yet finished. Moving and whipping around her blade flashed and struck his shoulder, then his torso in combination adding up to three hits in total. Still pouring out that pulsating crimson glow, the blade shrinked back for a moment before it was lashed out as her wrist acutely moved and sliced his cheek dragging it downwards, reverse flipping over her opponent and coming down to chop starting from his skull down to his lower body. The woman stayed within reach if she needed to, she did not know what sort of tricks this one could muster up and he seemed like an intelligent enough fellow to turn this battle around with just one thrust of his blade into her gut. She would stay defensive and on guard for his reprisal, but spoke no words or showed any signs of giving in.  But there was something else, she would not use any stunning arts on him or on any player unless her life was threatened to that point. She spoke of Bushido, a code of honor she went by while training with Master Myoga and those teachings were engraved on her heart, but for how long would those etched memories and ideals remain in place, only to be eroded and replaced by something bitter and hate filled? 

 

<<Battle Engaged>>

Opals HP: 80/80 [40]
Energy: 15
Sword Art: Wa Shu, -5 Energy, 25 Dmg
Notes: Azide Misses, Savvy Activated: +2 BD on roll

Azide HP: 133/133 [66] [41]

ID: 35374
BD: 8+2 - 4 +2= 8 

Edited October 17, 2015 by Opal

[Azide 0]

Any day where his opponent survived even a single round was a bad day indeed; with exactly zero points invested in mitigation, Azide was about as glassy as cannons could get. He could not afford to let the duel drag on, lest the woman spot further holes in his defenses. Such a scenario would put a swift end to their solemn encounter, and he could not even begin to imagine the disappointment that would arise from such a careless loss. To allow even a single hit more would be throwing away the match in its entirety; he had not shown up here today in order to lose. 

For a moment, he had nearly collapsed- his knees had nearly buckled under the sear and the sting of the girl's blade. Somewhere in his mind, he knew that the sensation was more mental than anything- that the system did not transmit the sensation in earnest. "But that's a stupid thing to point out," he thought, reflecting through gritted teeth. "All sensations are inherently mental by nature..."

Shaking off the phantom twinges, Azide whipped himself around on his heels, refusing to allow his opponent the satisfaction of capitalizing on a cross-up. For all he cared, she could bounce all over and flip to hear heart's content if she desired; the question was: was she capable of doing any of these things more quickly than he could execute a simple turn? They would soon be finding out.

Grounded boots went untethered as the young man sprang forward, leaving behind a wake of scattered dust. A staccato series of thuds clattered across the pavement as he reduced the short distance to nil in a matter of moments. With Opal on the defensive, he raised Chemikaze, so that the knife inherited its usual shade. With a seemingly haphazard swing, a thin line was left trailing across the woman's cheek as the point of the dagger grazed her skin.

To those unfamiliar with the intimacies of the dagger, it might have appeared that his attack had whiffed, with the swing continuing its arc onward and away. But rather than ending there, the quick rotation instead flowed into a pair of spinning kicks, each one placed in anticipation of an inevitable counterattack.

 

35376: Rolling | BD: 7 + 3 (ACC) + 1 (Concentration) - 4 (Evasion) = 7 (Hit)

Shadow Stitch (3x2) (10) = 60 DMG

Azide | 108/133 HP| 25/32 EN (+1)(-6)
Half-Loss Duel ends at 66 HP or less.
Opal | 40/80 HP (-60) | 15/20 EN
Half-Loss Duel ends at 40 HP or less. Duel has ended.

Edited October 17, 2015 by Azide

[Opal 0]

"I yield!" the consecutive kicks to her body and caused her to fall over backwards, unaware of the lethality of the attack until she saw her HP Bar drop down to a quarter. With the dust that was kicked up, the woman held up her hands to block the debris from hitting her face any further and waited for it to settle before declaring Azide the victor for the battle. She didn't think it would end so soon, he must have a lot more power than she did and for her to not recognize it until it was too late. 

She held her hand up signaling defeat, of course now that was out of the way, would Heathcliff show himself...or would there be a different string of events for the two of them. In any case, the woman lifted herself off her feet to her own accord and slashed the air to the side before placing the katana back into its scarlet saya. Smoothing out the tendrils of black hair from her eyes, the woman looked towards Azide, "That was a good battle, Vice Commander. It was an honor to have the duel with you. My name is Opal," the woman offered a smile but did not offer her hand, she had her reasons but those were her own. It might have come off as a bit cold or distant, but at this point and time, physical contact was not something she was interested in.

 

[Azide 0]

The crimson glow died at the end of his blade, and lifted his head as system notification popped up above his head and crowned him as the victor. If that were the only thing hanging over his head, then all would have been fine and dandy- but of course, it was not. Was it really such a clean win? His massive advantage as the initial aggressor had been wasted, and the flub had ended up costing him a hefty fraction of his health. Not only that, but it had been requested beforehand that no stunning Arts were to be used for the duration of their duel; he found himself wondering how things might have turned out had this stipulation not been in place.

Shadows still lingered at the edges of his eyes, but he urged his lips into a conscious smile. "I think you mentioned that not too long ago, actually," he remarked, offering a dry chuckle. He twirled the dagger in-hand once between his fingers before returning the weapon to its sheath. "You had my heart racing there," continued Azide, lifting his eyes from his hip back to the woman before him. "So really, the honor was mine." Instinctively, he extended his hand under the assumption that it would be met with a timely clasp and shake, lifting a brow when no such gesture came.

Deciding to let the faux pas go, he carried his hand up this face and brushed aside rogue strands, as if it had been his intention all along. His gaze drifted left and right, expecting his would-be leader to make a sudden appearance at any moment, but nothing of the sort occurred. "By any chance, did the Commander happen to tip you off as to what would happen upon the duel's conclusion?" 

[Opal 0]

Slender arms hugged her ample bosom, and the woman sighed while the ebony curtain of hair swayed left to right as her head shook in response to his question, "No, he only mentioned he would be monitoring the duel. I had thought he'd be here before the both of us alas, I had circled this place three time in hopes to meet the man before stepping inside the coliseum. When there was no one I could find is when I decided to enter." She had pivoted to the left and her right, still hugging her chest while her honey eyes scanned the area yet there was nothing within the scenery to make note of and no one appeared to be coming towards them.

"I suppose I got lucky..." the woman said relating to an earlier comment about getting his heart racing, "I have only just reached level 21 not too long ago and I have only a handful of ranks in my katana skill. I suppose I got some more work ahead of me if I wanna keep up..." her eyes moved from his body towards the view of the coliseum once more and yet their would be Guild Leader was still a no show. 

"We wait?" the woman asked with a shrug of her shoulders, "Not that I have anywhere to go." It was at this time the young woman had finally dropped her arms to her side only to begin again by raising her right hand and touching the back of her neck while rubbing it gently, "A dagger is an interesting choice for a weapon these days. Mostly common among rogue builds. Is that what you are building towards?" she asked, might as well make small talk while they waited for a message or a person to show themselves. 

[Azide 0]

So, she too had yet to meet the enigmatic man of legend? The news came as no shock to Azide, who himself had only made contact with Heathcliff through a handful of messages, and little more. Strangely enough, the man had never even attended a single raid meeting as far as anybody could remember, and scarcely ever offered himself up to the public eye. Thus, Azide was left without even an adequate mental image with which to associate to the name. He could only guess that this Heathcliff was either fiercely cautious, or an individual who deeply treasured his own privacy. 

At the woman's modest declaration, he shook his head softly, a smile clinging to his lips. "Luck would be if I were to slap someone around a couple times with this thing here," he started, tapping his fingers lightly against the leather sheath, "and end up activating paralysis half a dozen times in a row." Pausing to roll his shoulders, he then clasped his hands together behind his back before pacing back and forth at a leisurely pace. In his mind's eye, flashes of the young lady's brilliance remained sharp and alive. Opal had not only leveraged a nigh-untouchable speed for the purposes of evading his strike, but had also used it in order to capitalize on the miss with a series of cleanly executed slices and slashes.

He stopped, and turned his head to the lady as a hand slid down to press against his hip. "If you're not planning on giving yourself some credit, then I'll be glad to pick up the slack, if only just this once. What you did today was plenty impressive, all things considered." The opposite hand was raised, his slender fingers curled inward as his gaze flocked to the sight for a brief moment, before returning to meet the golden eyes of Opal. "After all, an eleven level deficit is nothing to sneeze at, especially at the point you're at now. So yeah, I'd say  you did pretty well."

Opal expressed that she had nowhere to be at the moment, and he answered with a solemn nod. From the hand on her neck, something about her demeanor struck him as off-balance, although by no stretch could he claim to have known her for any significant length of time. His head gave a slight tilt at her next assertion. "Actually, I used to be a rapier user back in the day. I'd probably still be one today, if I hadn't gotten caught up in a five month hiatus. You could say that the dagger was a natural choice for someone who'd lost confidence in his skills with a rapier- fast, hits hard." He shrugged. "As for this talk of rogues, I'll admit I'm not the most familiar with some of this terminology. I actually wasn't much into gaming before all of this," he said, ending the words with a sigh.

[Opal 0]

Opal's eyes twitched abruptly, a given compliment was not necessarily rare to her, but a compliment to her battle prowess, that was something new and unfamiliar to the woman. She could not help but smile just a tiny bit more from the said compliment, perhaps she was doubting her own abilities as well...or she was just being humble to the player in front of her. In either case, "Thank you for that. I have not had much experience outside of mobs in terms of player combat," her eyes had shifted and downcast as that was a small fib, she had reluctantly had faced off against many opponents that had been after her for awhile, and yet even now they seemed to have gone into hiding. Her next mission was coming up soon and with her Odachi forged from Jevi, Opal could not exact her revenge on those who had wronged her physically and mentally. Using the back of her hand to flip a small lock of hair from her cheek, the young woman had examined Azide's posture as he had taken to a pace. 

As he explained the situation between their gap, eleven levels didn't seem so vast and in between, if that's all there was to that...then perhaps her pace for leveling was not as bad as she had expected it to. She understood that it was difficult to level up, some mobs were just more fierce than others and without mitigation those higher end experience givers would prove to be troublesome. 

"Yes, I was not intending to use any stunning arts in our duel. My Master...he had told me it was dishonorable to use such techniques on other players. To have your freedom taken from you...it's cruel. Unable to move, unable to protect yourself, to allow others to do as they please without so much of a morale line being drawn," the woman scoffed at her own statement. The Kunoichi were used to be devious people, she herself considered herself a shinobi of course, but she leaned heavily on the combative side as of now still only holding a low rank in sneak and hide, which she had hoped would be remedied in the near future. 

"But I don't judge others how they wish to fight one another. I put honor before anything else. If I am faced with a life or death situation however, I can't make any promises of honor. I have to live. I have to survive...no matter the cost." the woman allowed the comment to take brief moment in the air surrounding them. Once more a lick of wind had brought a draft up over her hair causing it to flutter before slowly passing away, "I was a rapier user myself...then two handed sword, and finally the Katana. You seemed very confident with your movements just now, I suppose time could do many things to a person." Clearing her throat, the continued," As far as rogues are concerned, they are more your vagabond types; thieves and ninjas I suppose could be classified as rogues, assassins as well. Those who use the dagger seem to fall under that category as it is a small and easily hidden blade. I don't suppose you are here to assassinate me...That would make this meeting a tad bit awkward." she laughed softly and shook her head, "If you wanted me dead, you would have done so in the duel I guess. Have you tried sending the Commander a private message to see where or what he is up to?" the woman flicked through her message box but it was empty as of now.

[Azide 0]

For a moment, Azide thought he had spotted a sliver of cheer peering out from behind inky curtains, only for it to depart as suddenly as it had come. "Lack of experience in PVP combat is probably the among the most forgivable problems you could have. Seeing as how few and far between orange players are nowadays, not to mention how much tamer they've gotten, duels are more of a spectacle than anything," he answered, giving the lady his attention, despite her averted eyes. By the time she returned the gesture, the old stoicism had long since returned to them.

Her thoughts on the morality of stunning Arts (and presumably, extended also to the use of paralysis-inducing equipment) was a point of contention, as his was a decidedly differing school of thought. Though he remained poker-faced throughout the explanation, he couldn't help but think that the whole idea was a naive one. Their hearts were clearly in the right place- but in the end, duels were about results, and stunning was but a means to that end. It would be wasteful to handicap one's self by not making use of the immobilizing arts. But instead, all he expressed on the issue was a simple, "I see."

To her clarification that she would be willing to toe the line should the need arise, he nodded. "Nobody can fault you for giving priority to survival over honor. Better to be a redeemable bastard than to have 'honorable' engraved on your tombstone," he said, shrugging once more. It was hard to judge a person for what they did when push came to shove; in the end, little was sacred when all that stood between a healthy brain and a fried one was a few pixels on your health bar.

Once more, he looked the woman up and down, before chiming in. "All black, a bit of a stoic, and a katana to boot. From the groups you've just named, I take it you must be a ninja," he remarked, more jokingly than anything. He laughed off her suggestion that he had arrived with the intention of taking her life. "As an alchemist, I'd probably be more likely to slip you a paralysis water than anything," he said, with a shake of his head.

He drew up a window displaying his messages, but so far, nothing new had come up. For the time being, at least. "Still quiet on that front, I'm afraid," he said, raising his hands.

[Opal 0]

A dark thin brow had ascended upwards as Azide gave her a look over naming her to be one of the so called rogue like entities in which she explained just moments ago. The woman had felt his eyes on her and she shifted around looking over herself. Indeed he was quite right in that department, had she been anything less than shinobi, a goth girl would have been the next label, "In practice. Although I do have an arsenal of knowledge to go along with it. Hensojutsu, intonjutsu, shinobi-iri all coincide with how a ninja works with its environment as well as many other skills. Normally ninja use small tools that can be used as weapons, using a Katana would be a ninja acting to be a Samurai perhaps. As for being a stoic...." Opal seemed slightly embarrassed by the fact, "I remember a time when I was much more free spirited, open..." the woman lifted her head, her dull ambers looking lifeless back at Azide, she marveled the look and the luster in his eyes, "That woman died..." she finally said. 

Her gaze focused back on the surrounding as she placed hands upon her hips once more and looked around the area, "I suppose we just wait then. If you don't mind me asking, why did you want to join under Heathcliff's Banner? The Crimson Blades seem a rather popular runner for the front line assault teams, but I have no doubt you are already one of those players?" The woman adjusted herself and gestured over to one of the seating arrangements in the coliseum. "You mind if we sat down...I've had a long journey up to this point without the use of teleports, and after the duel most of the energy had just been released from me." Heavy boots pushed toward a shaded area away from the glaring sun, Opal had found the heat to be hitting her uncomfortably and needed time to recuperate some lost energy. She fanned herself with her small hand attempting to breeze the exposed flesh which was a little more than a sliver of her midriff and the exposed and partially tattooed area of her chest. 

[Azide 0]

Unlike like the apparent majority of Aincrad, Azide knew little of the orient, and most of Opal's musings resultingly flew right over his head. The only tidbit he really knew about ninjas was that he recalled having read about some old television show featuring a bunch of turtles- back in the more primitive days of entertainment. But the fact that Opal was neither green or shelled suggested that his prior knowledge on the topic was not particularly relevant in this discussion, and so he simply grinned and nodded his head.

In the woman's bronzed eyes, he thought he could see in them a sense of longing as they gazed into his own. They seemed to almost be reaching out for him, while the lady herself concurrently retreated within herself even as she spoke. A breeze rustled his hair, offering a temporary refuge from the relentless rays of the sun, but he didn't move. After a bit of consideration, he offered his reply. "No," he spoke, in a low hush. "I don't think that's quite true."

Fortunately enough, Azide had not been the only one feeling the heat at that moment, as Opal followed her next thoughts with a request to take their conversation to the cooler stands of the colosseum. Taking a front-row seat of a shade section, he turned to his now-guildmate, his hands hidden away in the folds of his coat. "It's interesting that you would point to the Crimson Blades as the epitome of a front-line guild. Naturally, I've met the big guy myself, because who hasn't?" He could still recall when the man had asked him to join the upstart organization, which he had declined as tastefully as he could manage. As he would later learn, these offers were not exactly a rare occurrence. 

"Don't get me wrong," he started, "nothing I saw of Mack made me think of him as anything less than a good man, and I'm sure his colleagues are a perfectly upstanding bunch. That said..." he paused, trailing his sights to the vast and barren arena which opposed their own, almost equally empty half. "A fledgling guild with a meteoric rise, with an army of new recruits?" Azide slid a hand from out of his pocket, sweeping aside the brown locks which fallen over his eyes. "That particular story is an uncomfortably familiar one for me, and so I decided that I would rather stake my claim into something that would never die."

[Opal 0]

"Something that would never die?" Opal repeated back to Vice Commander Azide as they had previously sat down in a shaded area of the colosseum. She wondered what he had meant by it, tapping a finger to her crimson lip while pondering the thought, "I think I understand. My membership there was brief. I had only joined because I felt the need to walk in someone else's shoes. A friend of mine, someone I found to be rather closed...passed away in game from a PKer, I had vowed to get revenge for him and in his place, I stepped in to fill the void of the guild. But the more I swung his sword in my hands, the more the burden was carried over my shoulders. Mack is...a good guy, I respect what he does and thinking back on it, I was a bit of a narcissistic bitch about things. I have clarity now, and a drive that I didn't have before. I wish to not dishonor my mentor, Master Myoga, however...somethings just need to be done. So I sought out Heathcliff after a rumor I heard of the guild, I was not expecting such a quick response. And here were are..." Opal laid her hands in her lap, taking in the view with her shady honeyed eyes. 

She had a desire to learn more about her Vice Commander and the Knight of the Blood Oath, he seemed to have more knowledge of the guild than she did and in response to her curiosity, she wanted to know the depths of his knowledge about them or even Commander Heathcliff for that matter. Adjusting herself in her seat, she turned more towards Azide and his lustrous sapphire gaze, she smoothed the ebony locks of hair from her eyes so she could catch a glimpse of those pure blues with her own ambers. It was a good idea to start respecting the man in front of her, and that meant looking him in the eyes when they spoke to one another. 

"So you said, something that would never die. Were you talking about the Knights of the Blood Oath? I have never heard of the name until recently. Mostly I heard the names of the Crimson Blades or the Azure Brigade whispered from people's lips. And more recently I heard of the Velvet Room, but I never head anyone speak of The Blood Oaths. Is there any information you have on them besides just a name?" 

[Azide 0]

Not a word was spoken by the young man dressed in green as Opal shared with him a sliver of her past; it did not seem appropriate to do otherwise, the woman seemed to be coming clean about what could only be described as a turbulent period of her life. Of course, he could have told her that he too had known the pain of losing a member of one's guild- but such actions would only serve to cast the spotlight on himself, when it was she who seemed to be in need of condolences, not he. Besides, he had never really gotten the chance to know Zaryn, who had passed too young and too soon. It would be a slap in the face to all those who had died, as well as those who'd survived them for him to claim that he understood. He would have pitied her, if she hadn't appeared so strong.

As the woman's tale came to a close, with her eyes drifting off and her hands in her lap, Azide sensed that it was time for him to speak. "I'm sorry," he said, the words almost a whisper as his gaze shifted back to Opal. He closed his eyes, bowing his head slightly forward as a breath escape his lungs in a hushed sigh. "I hope," began Azide, his eyes fluttering open, "that this time, it'll be your own shoes you don when we march with the Knights of the Blood." He paused, before allowing his features to soften, as a thin, yet knowing smile stretched across closed lips. "If I am to be your Vice Commander, then it would be to my benefit to see to it that we retained only those who wished to count themselves among our ranks. So should you ever find that your heart does not bleed white and red, then know that I will not remember you as a deserter." 

Opal shifted in her seat and fiddled with her dark hair before meeting his gaze once more, curiosity seemingly lingering in the aftermath of an amber storm. "Unfortunately, there's not much that I can claim to know about either the Knights, nor of their leader," he admitted, shaking his head. "But what I do know, is that they exist now, that they existed in the heyday of my former guild, and that they continued to exist for every moment in between. From what I've gathered, the Knights have always been around, predating even the famous Azure Brigade."

His eyes flickered, as memories rushed to mind, but were left unreflected, expressing themselves only as a faint glimmer in his gaze. "It's the same old story in this world- people build themselves up, they build their guilds up- only for all of their efforts to crumble and rust. I'm sure you've seen guilds come and go, the same with people- from hardened front-liners, to the greenest of recruits. Personally, you could say that I have no interest in investing my my efforts in that anything that will not last."

[Opal 0]

The woman nodded, raven hair pushed away by her fingers as she moved them from one side to over her ear. She smiled towards the Vice Commander, "No need to feel sorry for me. It seems like the people I generally get close to perish rather quickly. So you might wanna stay pretty far away from me before I end up being a cursed friend or something." It was intended to be a joke, but the three lives that have been lost due to her being in close ties with have been the closest bonds she had ever been to anyone. Scooping the air once more and brushing it from her eyes, she lifted a leg one over the other as she sat comfortably staring out into the colosseum. Distant honey eyes looked ever more around, so it seemed Azide had also little information besides the birth of the guild seemed to come with the birth of the game.  

"You are right about that, I haven't been able to catch up on the new guilds since I just came out of training. Being held up with no outside source of news is a bit taxing, I guess I'll get up to speed soon enough once I start walking the streets again and listening in on the humdrum of Starting City. I'll probably take residents back on Floor Seven as it is a place I am most comfortable with, also...I heard some strange news there as well as Urbus of some odd activity going on at night. There is some shady business going on there when I was here last time. Perhaps it's time I settle the score with those vagabonds and clean the streets up. I would offer for you to come, but I don't think you'll be able to sneak around on rooftops like I can."

Opal stood up, rolling her fingers and pressing them to her neck giving her ebony hair a quick flick off her shoulder, which to no prevail swiftly came back down into place, "Vice Commander, we should probably go and get some rest and prepare for our next move. We could be summoned at any moment from Commander Heathcliff, and I am in need of a good night sleep. I would like to appear to him with a fresh mind." Opal swung her body around and saluted by raising a closed hand over her heart and with a shallow bow before releasing the pose and looking back with a smile.

Shifting through her menu the woman flicked her finger towards the Vice Commander and sending him a Friend Request, "I figured since we are both in the same guild now, we should keep in contact with one another," the woman tilted her head lightly, "I'll try not to bother you too much with mass messages."  

[Azide 0]

"Sure, I could probably manage it if I wished- running away at the very sight of you, that is," said Azide, the smile on his own face remaining slight in the face of the morbid discussion. "But then I could hardly call myself a proper Vice Commander. Besides, we're both Knights of the Blood as of today, and you know what they say about blood." He straightened his jacket, eliciting a soft hiss from the verdant snake nestled somewhere within its folds. "Blood runs thicker than any water. So if a thicker skin is necessary for me to stay alive, rather than outright throwing a fellow Knight overboard, I'll gladly step up to the challenge." He hadn't died thus far, and if he did, he could hardly imagine the coroner attributing the cause to something which amounted to nothing more than a string of bad luck.

Opal's talk of questionable nighttime activities, cleaning up the streets, and old scores to settle with vagrants hinted at a life that was distinctly different from his own, unless 'cleaning up the streets' was meant to be taken literally. But somehow, he doubted that jumping from roof to roof was a necessary skill for a bit of late night community service. "Somehow, I think you're right about that one," he answered, scratching at his head. 

Flattening his palms against the stone cold bench, Azide lifted himself from his seated position and dusted himself off once he had risen. The young man returned the woman's bow with a slight bow of his own, before tapping lightly at the virtual panel which had appeared before him. Opal's name flickered into his list of friends a moment later, and he dismissed the screen with a swipe of his empty palm once the entry had been confirmed. "Of course- we wouldn't want to appear before the Commander at anything less than our very best. And as long as you don't spam my inbox with ads, then I'm sure we'll naturally be keeping in touch," he added, with a smile and a shrug of his shoulders.

[Opal 0]

"Ahh, well you don't have to worry about that then. I am a quiet person who likes to keep to herself most of the time." Opal had swiped her hand over the menu and found Vice Commander Azide's name to be hovering in her list, poking the name with a fine digit, she moved him up the priority list so that his messages would never get lost in the sea of the others. Happy with his placement, the female gave a quick wave to dismiss the screen and back to her fellow guildmate. 

Running soft hands through the blanket of ebony once more as if fidgeting out of nervousness, the woman had cleared her throat and bit her bottom lip looking away for a brief moment. It had been too long since she was in the company of others. She spent the last three weeks in complete solitude after the passing of her teacher, she had grieved for many days and it took a toll on her physically and mentally, not to mention the amount of nightmares she seemed to possess day in and day out as those images of her capture, albeit a quite time ago now still linger and haunt her during her needed hours of sleep. And yet, sometimes never bothering to sleep. However, she was working on a way to block those images with her Forbidden Use of Alchemy text which she had found hidden at the Temple. Brushing back the ebony hair once more the woman took to Azide's soft features. Had they met under different a different time, she would have labeled him cute, but that was neither here nor there. For he was now Vice Commander, and she...she was now duty filled with life. She was a Knight of the Blood Oath. The sharpness of the name was caught her attention the most, the symbolic life essence which flows through all people even in this game. 

"Well then Vice Commander, it was a pleasure meeting you and I thank you for the duel. I shall be training extra hard to get that elven level gap to dwindle. I wish to stay on par with you and go above and beyond that call." She had not shook his hands, and was entirely unsure if it was necessary at this point, but she would like to shake his hand, the brief moment of contact to connect the two and solidify their friendship, their bond, and the great prosperity of the guild. So therein with those thoughts, the woman extended her hand to meet his, there for a brief moment as the sun had struck down on them, those honey flares now showed hints of spiraling gold in her irises, the full vibrant and potency of her gaze now lay on him without the dull and stoic look from before. 

OOC: Wanna wrap this up and get this locked? :)