[F1-PP] To Aincrad and Back (Shinsou, Lessa)

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris 0]

Shinsou, stopped under the dripping awning at the front of the game’s shop, shook his head silently as he took stock of his situation.

It hadn’t been all that long since that bastard Akihiko Kayaba had bled from the sky that fateful day, November 6^th 2022, to deliver his chilling manifesto; beat the game, or remain trapped here for as long as your real-world body can sustain your life. Assuming you don’t die in the game, that is, which meant erasure in the real world.

The virtual night was as black as an inkwell. Oppressively low clouds had rolled over the towering form of Aincrad as soon as the sun had touched the horizon, ending the day before its full time had been spent. Now those clouds were emptying out all over the city, flooding the streets with sudden ponds and streams that swelled and splashed up the pants of the few foolish enough to be on the streets. There were no moon or stars tonight, only rolling clouds and sheets of water filling the sky. Wind slapped the rain up against his face every now and again, making useless his attire.

"Well," Shinsou said, turning to the shaved bald, almost adolescent level one player who shivered beside him. "No point hanging about here. Time to start thinking about how we get up those floors." The monk looking character, peering up at Shinsou through the darkness, frowned and shook his head.

"Even those first floors are difficult for a single level one player," the monk piped. "I recommend finding a party with stronger players. That’s what I’m going to do."

The bald guy’s right, Shinsou admitted, I’m going to be almost a complete nonentity in the eyes of many here. My best bet is to look around and group up. It’s just difficult when the game seems to have brought all of the cockroaches out of the woodwork. It’s hard enough to relate to the few people I can still call my friends, let alone those who are using this shitstorm to further their own agenda.

"Probably the best idea, sure." he muttered to himself. “Just be careful who you team with. There are plenty of people out there looking to take advantage.”

With that, the bald headed man, his iron longsword sheathed by his side, nodded his appreciation and turned.

“Good luck to both of us, Shinsou Vaan Osiris. Try to keep your name from being crossed off the monument, yeah?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 6, 2017 by Shinsou Vaan Osiris

[Lessa 1]

Rain got a bad rep.

To so many, it represented something dark and somber. Occasionally, Lessa even fell into that trap, especially if she had a sad or mad that she hoped to hang onto. But she spent the majority of her time loving the rain, and even hoping for it whenever the sky clouded. Rather than sapping the life from her body, the rain rejuvenated her spirit, even if she could only hear it's rolling drum on the roof. When she had the opportunity, the blonde was happy to rush into the street and savor in the feel of it on her skin. It was like being cleansed, over and over, of the grime the game left on her. Even though she no longer fought on the front lines, she needed that cleansing more often than she could explain. Even day to day life, interacting with the lowest level players on the lowest level floors, left her feeling heavier than the armor she wore.

It was for that reason that she stood outside of the awning's reach, her arms spread, her face tilted to the heavens. She looked a bit like a woman in prayer, and in a sense, she was. Blessed by the rain that pelted her metal breastplate with hard plinks, and thankful for the way that it grounded her, Lessa closed her blue eyes and smiled up at the storm clouds. If she knew that anyone was watching her, she gave no indication, and paid them no mind. The ex-front liner, ex-guild leader, ex-best friend was far past worrying about how others saw her.

Thunder rumbled, a low, satisfying sound that followed on the tail of forked lightening. Lessa let out a sigh of her own, wondering just how long she had before the clouds emptied, and retreated back behind the mountains. Finally, when the feel of one set of eyes grew too heavy to manage, she turned her head toward toward a man watching her from a nearby shop. "What?" she called out to him, her blue eyes flashing devilishly. Rain had a habit of bringing out the best in her. "You've never seen a wet woman before?"

Edited October 8, 2017 by Lessa

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris 0]

The town of beginnings was nearly silent; only the ambient noise of steadily beating rain washing over the girl's words. Shinsou felt his shoulders sag as the rain pulled down at his clothes, adding heft to his somewhat slight frame. Two bright eyes of blue swivelled lazily towards him. Behind, two players marched steadily, quietly, past them, eyes using the lights of the town to seek deepened puddles and potential footfalls.

"Plenty of times," The blonde man said, writhing a hand through his soaking strands, "Mostly out in Manchester bars. I'd stand and watch them all out there smoking or waiting for cabs, but none of them carried an arsenal or were armored like sherman tanks, to be fair. Probably because they weren't stuck in a situation like we're stuck in."

Back in the world, he always found rain was cleansing; it would wash the beer off his breath and dirt and salt from his skin. Here, it just reminded him that they were all at the mercy of something much more powerful than humanity.

The woman listened, or half listened. He imagined she wouldn't have the patience to stand Shinsou's prattling for too much longer. “One thing this world and our world have in common; you only get so wet, though, and then the rain can no longer burden you.” A smile spread across his face as the metaphor rung through to him.

"I'm Shinsou Vaan Osiris. To be honest, i'm still trying to work out who to trust here."
 

Edited October 10, 2017 by Shinsou Vaan Osiris

[Lessa 1]

A ghost of a smile passed her lips, and she gave a low hum of thought. "Well," she answered him finally, "you'll probably be working that one out for a long, long time. At least, that's been the case for me."

Only then did she finally turn fully, facing him, and rising to her full height. This Shinsou Vaan Osiris was still a few inches taller though, and she lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the rain as she gazed up at him. "My name is Lessa," she told him. Everything around them shimmered in the light cast by the streetlamps, bathing the pair in a warm glow that the girl found somewhat magical. 

A small silence fell between them, and then, "William Tecumseh Sherman was one hell of a pessimist." Her shoulders rose and fell as she loosed a small shrug beneath her heavy armor. "He had a mental breakdown, and was suicidal for a bit." She paused to rake her fingers through her mop of blonde hair, shoving damp tendrils back from her flushed face. Then she went back to shading her eyes, smirked, and added, "It's somehow fitting that you compare me to a tank named after him. Gotta say though, he was also one hell of a general. So I'll just be flattered."

Edited October 13, 2017 by Lessa

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris 0]

To the best of Shinsou's reckoning, Lessa was a student of history. He himself held an acute interest in the industrials and mechanics of both world wars, as well as a working interest in the Napoleonic wars, so her response was not lost on him in the slightest and actually served to cheer him up. Finally, there was someone with something in common with him.

“Right you are, Lessa,” Shinsou replied, “Napoleon Bonaparte once said that he never picked his generals just for being good; he wanted them more so if they were lucky. More relevant here in SAO is his other philosophy; “God is not on the side of the biggest battalions, but the best shots”. That’s why I’m here.”

As he spoke, he regarded more of the blonde in front of him. Everything about her seemed to stand out; bright blue eyes in contrast to everybody else's, and her armor, which was actually quite nice, was stylish. It seemed also indicative of someone who fit Bonaparte’s mantra well; “lucky, and the best shot”. In this world, you had to be to get your hands on anything that good. She wore it all like a boss tier monster, and carried a weapon by her side the size of a something a boss tier monster would carry. Shinsou could tell she was of the higher echelons of SAO and she didn’t do much to pass herself off as anything less. Lessa was only one of thirty or so players he had seen, let alone spoken to, with such high quality items, and Shinsou was willing to bet there was more than what he was seeing.

"In any case, it’s nice to meet you," Shinsou rumbled on as he took a perch against the wood of the shop. "Sadly, our time together may be short, as I’m worried about that monstrosity.” A lone finger pointed towards Aincrad. “Do you know anyone who may be able to help me out? I was told to party up but something tells me that's not how this is going to play out in the long term, being level one. It’s… a rather unattractive investment opportunity for those wanting to live through this."

He scratched at his nose as he spoke. He was, for all the savagery attributed to Mancunians and Englishmen alike, a gentleman of some kind. Well spoken, well dressed, very calm, at least as calculating.