Scout

The Last Embers

I'll try my best to get Avery around if I can find him. x3 He put so much effort into helping that I can't imagine he would leave us...

Of Deceptive Intentions

Shar let out an exasperated sigh, but allowed the tigress to walk away. If he'd chosen to continue the argument, when would he find peace? Her ignorance made his blood boil and if she were to remain by his side, he would likely be unable to contain himself. Not a word that she said made any sense; he was almost envious of her ability to fool herself into believing her own fallacy. Had she been a different person, Shar would likely find her very laughable, but she it was almost terrifying that somebody so important could be so blind. He found himself speaking to no other as he looked through the stall, looking up to see Ciscera swiping coins from her boots near a flying fox. The colonel diverted his attention from the stall and took slow strides to the source of the music cutting through the crowd. There was no doubt that this girl had been taken from her home... What would sound like mumbling and unintelligible noise meant solely for rhythm to the passersby would prove to be true lyrics for the wolf. In fact, he knew the song and he felt his stomach drop out as he heard the bat's subtle voice carry them with absolute perfection. His hands hung from the pockets on the stolen officer's jacket on his shoulders, a wistful smile on his face as she played. He wished he could give her coin or safe passage home, but not everybody could be saved... It was a lesson he learned in his earliest days as a part of the rebellion. She sang of home, in the most basic of terms; music was so difficult to translate that to understand the full meaning of the song, one would have to simply speak the tongue lest the meaning be lost.

Shar sighed sadly and fell back into the crowd, away from the musician. He found Ciscera eyeing food once more, but dared not join her; his uniform would likely lead to suspicion of why he was near such a shady figure. So, he began to peruse the selection nearby, picking up various items and turning them over in his hand before placing them back down. He allowed her to pick something out for herself, settling on the idea that she was just likely to be less disciplined than he, having been fed as a spoiled child for several weeks while he was forced to eat next to nothing. It was disgusting how she behaved, but he could resolve himself for the all-business relationship. Finally, she had settled on something to eat and they could leave the food stalls. The flying fox's tune filled the marketplace still - though it was muffled by the sound of bustling pedestrians, Shar had made it a point to keep it within his senses for as long as he could. While he had learned dances from all over the world, nothing could amend the voice he was born with; although he did not have an unpleasant sound, he was far from adequate as far as carrying a tune went. Music could carry him, but there was little he could do to make a pleasant experience in the reverse.

"Are you quite finished spoiling yourself? Because the longer you remain like that, the more likely it is that you'll be spotted," He said quietly.

It was ingenious how sometimes the best places to hide were in plain sight; nobody looked for you where there were other people and so it was rather easy to be overlooked. The wolf had decided to show neither irritation nor any other form of response as he looked stoically ahead. He was simply tired of her by now, and to continue arguing with her would yield no positive result, of that he was sure. However, before she could answer, a man dressed in garb similar to Lykos' approached. It was a lion with a rather conspicuous mane and proud stride... Felines, were any of them unique, or did they all just follow the same archetype? The wolf didn't falter as he looked to the male that had already sized him up and labeled him as non-threatening. He stopped as a hand was risen to tell him to halt, instantly saluting just as he had seen other members of the Riversladian army do. This cub has to be at least ten years younger than me... Shar thought to himself passively with a bit of irritation before letting the thought go as quickly as it had come.

He began to consider himself lucky that he looked like many others of his race. Their eyes were locked for a rather intense several seconds before the lion finally spoke, "At ease... Are you part of my contingent? We're the only ones meant to be in this district and I don't recognize you - most have been tasked on guard duty at the gates and the castle. So why are you here?"

Shar thought for a moment before tilting his head, "My apologies, sir, but I'm not on duty today." Another thought came to the canine as he cleared his throat, "Erm... Excuse me for my ignorance, but why are we so heavily being sent to the castle and gates? Didn't we capture the prisoners yesterday?"

The officer shook his head, "Are you dense? No. That imposter escaped, but keep your voice down, soldier, unless you want to create a real disturbance in the city... I recommend in the future, if you're off-duty, remove the jacket. Pride in your position is fine, but mistakes like that make the military seem arrogant. Move along," He ordered, looking to the hooded figure of Ciscera for a moment. "Wait... Who's this?" The lion asked gruffly, placing a hand on Shar's chest. The wolf looked over and paused for a moment... Who was she?

"Erm... Well, sir, it may be better that you don't ask... After all, my uniform when off-duty was a big enough mistake... We wouldn't want to put the integrity of our military at further stress, right?" The lion looked shocked for a moment, clearly uncomfortable as he shook his head in disgust and took his leave.

"Whores... Don't know how they live with themselves," He grumbled loudly enough for them both to hear as he walked away.

They began walking again and the moment Shar was sure that the feline had gotten far enough away, he brought a hand to his muzzle and held back a small snicker. Again, it was absolutely satisfying to put her into any position that may be humiliating; especially when it was certainly necessary to do so and remain in cover. "Are you ready to fix your problem and show your face again, or would you like to return to the inn and apply for a job?" He asked with clear sarcasm and an almost sing-songy voice. Despite his earlier stoicism, he had no care to recover his composure until he needed to.

The Last Embers

I don't know, LJ, there are a lot of things we could do... Honestly, though - I know that this is going to sound bad, but I don't want new people. /: At least not yet, with how hard we've worked out relationships... What if we set up some way for their characters to have been pulled from the mission in favour of another? I really, really don't want to start from scratch and I don't want knew people. We all worked extremely hard to make the top ten out of tens of character sheets, so to just open for a small trickle of others... they just wouldn't fit in - at least... Maybe I'm just a bad person, I wouldn't give them a warm welcome or interact with them much.

It's not my call, but my vote is to push forward with who we have remaining. As long as Avery is still here too..? O.o

The Flower, Russian and Hunter [ Cont. Em + Scout ]

A small creaking sound came from the chair beneath him as Nero pushed against the rail of his porch, a small breeze sweeping over his most recently purchased abode. He'd found a floor that he would likely call home for the remainder of the game... In his opinion, not a single floor was near as beautiful or calming as this one. The home was no more than a small cabin, but it appeared as a very modern American home might; at least he thought so, based on pictures he'd seen from the distant West. The living room was entirely visible, as the walls were made of glass. However, he would close the large blinds if need-be. In the center of the house was an open courtyard; but the most important feature to him was the environment. As he sat on the porch out back, he knew precisely why, despite being one of the smaller homes available, it was the most expensive on the floor. The back-yard had a slight drop to it, leaving the porch on a stilt-like structure as the yard turned into forest a relatively short distance away. The thirty-seventh floor that he now called home was one of the few floors that was was climate-static; that is, it had a rather predictable weather cycle and no seasons. There was a perpetual fall, the leaves dotting paths and roads while many remained on the trees, colouring them in reds, oranges, and browns. It all reminded him of Yuna, and yet... he felt no sadness here; there was nothing save for an endless nostalgia as he rocked back and forth in the chair, caught in a state between napping and awake.

How long had he been there? A few minutes? An hour? Two? He always lost track of time, and in the past week or so it had already proven a problem more than once. So, he had decided to start setting alarms for himself whenever he knew he had to be somewhere. Today, the Guild had found out that Rose was soon to unlock the forty-first floor and that they had missed another chance at taking the boss fight. In the last fifteen, there had been few victories for them, but they fought on and claimed new items for themselves. Nero heard the alarm that it was time to prepare and meet with Alice as they waited for the inevitable advance of the floor. He rose and swept his left hand through the air, equipping his battle-gear before stretching and shoving his hands into his long coat's pockets. At his hip was a falcata with a dazzling white blade. It was really quite a beautiful blade - and the style was rare, as falcata had a concave blade. All of the moves were quite the same, but many found the hold to be awkward and the appearance strange; for Nero, it was simply unique and formidable, as he had acquired it in one of the few boss battles that their guild had managed to take before Rose arrived.

Within minutes, he had met Alice and the others before they rose to the forty-first floor and waited for... something. Nero looked around with a furrowed brow... Why was it deserted? He leaned against a wall in their tucked-away space and flipped a mithril piece of Col off of his thumb before catching it and repeating the process. Just as Rose's level would rise, so would the number beside his Col in his inventory at an extraordinarily high level. His white jacket was gilded in gold and tailored by, in his opinion, the second greatest tailor in Aincrad and its stats were considerably powerful for being of leather-make. There was but one other person he wished he could have received it from, but that was unlikely to happen, seeing as that red-headed monster had brutally murdered her. After his first night with the other guild members, he had stopped showing emotion. There wasn't anything left to cry for - he became the voice of logic after Jacob was killed; however, Alice and he would sometimes have their moments of reminiscence or bonding when the others weren't around despite giving off an all-business air. Now, he stared at the coin that he repeatedly flipped with something between an absolutely numb expression and one of absolute intensity.

As the tension in the air grew, he finally caught the coin and let it disappear back into his inventory before looking to Alice. He didn't say a word, he was just waiting for whatever was going to happen as he drew his falcata from his hip. The crowd that was relatively nearby was absolutely massive; a sea of red bandannas and blind followers... Those strips of cloth may as well be tied around their eyes if they thought that murdering so many of their comrades was right. At home, Nero had many times where he would wonder if there was a timeline somewhere, in a universe without Rose. A world where that wretched girl had never bought this game; ironically, he refused to think of one where he didn't. He would honestly never trade what he had gained through this place, no matter what it took from him. But... Was a there a world with Yuna still in it? Where he lived on blissfully, taking for granted all he'd been given? How, in this world, did they fare with the boss battles? He liked to think that the players were stunning in this other universe, not relying on any other single person to carry them to victory.

As he snapped from the reverie of introspection, Nero looked to each member of their company, wishing that if something was going to happen, that it would. And then it did...

The Last Embers

Everybody is... :( *falls down* God dammit...

Far From Home

Kimigami's expression twisted to one of pure shock as the argument was turned against her. She stuttered unintelligibly for a moment, "Er..." Then she shook her head, cleared her throat, and locked eyes with Suto. "You're not the only ones trying to get some alone time around here..." When a hand touched her shoulder, the small girl yanked away and looked at the boy behind her furiously, "Keep your hands off me." She met Alphard's gaze next with a scowl, "You all think you're the only ones having a tough time? Get over yourselves," She snapped, but began to walk away nonetheless, sneering. She paused and looked back as she walked down the hall, "Don't know what happened. But good luck dealing with it - I hope releasing a little frustration on a small girl helped," She stated passively before heading for her room again. She could feel her throat tightening as she went, though. Could you be more tactless? She scolded herself, her fists squeezing at her sides as she stepped into her room and slammed the door behind her, falling into the bed once more and squeezing her eyes shut. Nobody could hear her from the outside unless they knocked or had a very rare high listening skill. She began to sob softly, sitting up and pulling her knees into her chest, burying her face against them. Nobody wants you around... Why do you even keep trying in this horrible place..?

---

Fitch stepped forward, bashing the skeletal monster before him with his shield and stunning it. It fell to the ground and he began to maniacally hack at it, crying out as he swore, cursed, and damned the data-based beast into nothingness. He was one of few people who was already out training on the new floor, rather than sleeping or celebrating. Tears streamed down his face; he wanted it back. What he had had only hours ago - the pain was so overwhelming and he refused to believe that he had lost her... No, he was going to get out of here and find her sitting over him, waiting for him to get out... Nobody would actually program the game to kill its players... They all just woke up and those still trapped thought they were dead. He refused to believe it because if it wasn't, he would never see her again... Never hear her beautiful, silky voice... Never kiss those lips... They'd already talked about children someday, as soon as she could convince her parents to give their relationship the blessing she wanted. She wanted to study in America and he would have followed her anywhere... She couldn't be gone.

Shards of the monsters he killed flashed around him as he killed one after another at an astonishing pace. He maintained a good safety margin from the beginning, but even so it was amazing how many he could kill before even pulling out a potion. He dug his heel into the ground and kicked off again after another... and another... until the spawns became faster than he could handle. He had known about packs and swarms of mobs, but they were never uncontrollable or inescapable, especially with his group. He thought he could handle it, but eventually he felt them beginning to overpower him and still he fought. As he sliced one down after another, he began to fall back, stumbling over his own foot and landing on his ass. As he stared up, there was no fear in his eyes... No regret nor hatred... He had finally found it. He sunk his blade into the ground; he could have a potion now if he wanted to... get back on his feet... kill a few, run away, but... He realized that he hadn't come out to train or blow off steam, he just wanted that feeling of nothing back... Peace, bliss, numbness; it could go by so many names, and yet he cared not which. He closed his eyes and he saw nothing but her... Yari in so many isolated memories. He could hear her laugh, see her smile, feel her arms around him... He didn't care if he died, because either he would be reunited with her, or there wouldn't be any more pain. He didn't want to watch his health bar drop, he just wanted to feel that release when it was emptied...

Until the End (Scout and Vena Sera)

Lily continued to pick at her food with a bored expression, her eyebrow quirking at Hanta curiously as he stood against her. "So that's how it is," She mumbled with a shrug, "I really couldn't care less. I just believe that finding the line between refinement and fun is important; not to mention there being a time and place for it," The girl motioned with her hand dismissively before returning to her food. As he spoke with his mouth full, she shook her head with a small laugh, "How foolish..." She muttered.

As the silence became palpable, Komada also fidgeted, looking to Hana with her hands in her lap, rather embarrassed. As nice as it was that Hanta stood up for her, she felt a bit patronized and weak. Was she so small that she couldn't even speak for herself? Had she not cared for LIly's comment, or was she simply too afraid to fight for herself? She stared at her nearly-finished plate of food, suddenly not hungry, before pushing it forward and slowly rising to her feet, "It looks like a lot of the others are heading back out... Maybe we should go," She suggested, rising from her chair and readying herself for more training.

Lily nodded and pushed her dish forward. "Indeed. Come on, Hana, let's go," She said, standing as her chair squeaked against the ground and she also prepared, rows of knives lining her body with a curved sword appearing at her hip.

---

As the training recommenced, the pairs split up again, though Komada was glad she'd made a girl friend in Aincrad so soon. Something had shifted before they went back into the training field as she tore into monsters with more drive and speed than she had before. She tore through one after another with Hanta at her side, no longer aiming just to survive... She wanted to fight - to prove that she wasn't some weak little girl that needed to be protected. During a short break a couple of hours later, the entire group had come to take a break. There were small parties amongst them, but no guilds or anything yet - just this one large mass of players that would likely grow each day as people grew accustomed to the game. She and Hanta took their place beneath a tree and she was silent, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them, lost in thought.

As she tried to find a way to put her thoughts into words, she let out a small sigh. "Onii-chan," She started softly, looking away nervously. "I... I can fight for myself too," She stumbled over her words. "Not to say that I don't appreciate it," The girl pointed out, "But... I won't get far in this world if I have you fighting all of my battles..." There was a silent pause as she bit her lip.

Digital or Real?

I was just checking c: thank you! And good luck. :3

The Last Embers

Yay! ^_^

Resounding Provocation: The Council of Shadows

Adrian stared daggers at Fenris, his voice a growl, "Watch your tongue, whe-" He started before being cut off by Finnegan with a raised hand. Adrian sighed in agitation and they pack moved for the council room, taking their seats as Seraphine began the opening. Adrian looked to Abigail as she sat in the extra chair given to their pack - on account of their current power shift. He gave her a slightly reassuring smile as they began to introduce themselves, starting with Finnegan. Adrian rose and cleared his throat, "I'm Felix Allistor - soon to be named Alpha of the head pack of the Werewolves; tonight, I feel we should address..." He froze... What had Felix wanted to talk about? He clenched his fist, relaxed, and squeezed again, rubbing his temples as though he'd forgotten.

"How embarrassing," He said, trying to buy his time as he shifted his weight from side-to-side, catching Finnegan's death glare from the corner of his eye. "Erm... We should address the disunity experienced between our three races in recent times and not only mobilize against the hunters again, but begin to decide territorial boundaries as our numbers multiply as well as what those boundaries entail." Finally, Adrian had managed to collect himself and organize an answer that Felix might have.

With a slight sigh of relief, he looked to Finnegan, who gave him a passive nod. Cool down... Felix is passionate, but not overworked, he reminded himself calmly, So just speak with feeling... The hardest part should be over. He then looked to Abigail to hear her introduction, a small, prideful smile on his face.