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[PP-F24] Anything Goes


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   Claude
   --
parapraxis

A rubber ball whizzed from one end of the clearing to another, disappearing into the grove of trees at the other side.  Leaves rustled. A thin branch snapped and fell, disturbing the stillness of the small island. Chasing after its favorite toy was a small brown ferret. It paused as it reached the clearing, beady eyes fixated on where the ball had went, then circled around the open area. Midway through, the ferret descended to the ground but kept to the shadows of the trees, avoiding the watchful gaze of the predators circling above, and raced past a group of bushes to - 

Skid to a stop inches before it could sail off the sudden drop that was the island's edge. The air seemed to distort in front of it - revealing for a split second the visage of a concerned observer's red cloak fluttering in the wind. Unaffected, the small familiar sniffed the air and returned to its search. It scuttled back to the undergrowth, where it found the red ball lodged in its leaves. Triumphantly, clutching its favorite toy in its mouth, the ferret returned to its master with its tail wagging in excitement. The chase was fun, but there was one thing it looked forward to the most when playing fetch.

Claude deactivated his stealth.

"Good boy, Bandit!" The scout stooped down to rub his familiar's head fondly and toss it a treat. As the ferret fully focused its efforts on chomping down its well-earned snack, he raised his head and ran another check on his surroundings. Aside from the bluish hue wrapped around the familiar and the orange markers of the mobs circling overhead, nothing stood out from the muted colors of the environment. Not that he was expecting anything to; he was just about done with this area, halfway through his initial survey of the newest floor which was literally only 24 out of a f*cking 100, get back to your damn job already--

--And he still had one week to go before Leah's deadline, so all in all, he was feeling pretty proud of himself!

Bandit finished its snack and chittered demandingly, snuggling up against his hand - the one that was still holding onto the rubber ball. Claude groaned inwardly. It wasn't out of plain affection. With the ferret mustering its cutest puppy dog face and only a slight hungry glint in its eyes betraying its true intention, he thought it was seriously being unfair! The scout dropped the ball into his inventory, and Bandit immediately stopped snuggling with his hand. "You used to be so nice."  

--But he couldn't cave in even if he wanted to. Playing fetch beside a cliff was not the best idea.

Claude gently scooped up his ferret and placed it on his shoulder, where it immediately moved to nestle in his hood. Sweeping his hair to the side, he stood and reached up to absentmindedly stroke the ferret's head as it let out a yawn. His cloak slightly lifted with that gesture to reveal the black cloth armor and belt bag worn underneath. His hand dropped down to his side as he ran another check on his surroundings. 

Blank.

Next area it is.

 
 
 
Spoiler

Tag: @Clyde

Some good fun. Mishiro will actually not be making much of an appearance in this thread, so I'm fine if she doesn't get any SP from this. Story stuff and playing around with this NPC player is more important, uwu~.

 

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Ah, what a beautiful day? I can’t believe ain’t nothin’ comin’ here ti bother me while I watch the ocean move. The cowboy smiles, looking over the cliff at the ocean. His legs dangle over the edge and his hat rests on a bottle of booze. His poncho sits just far enough back that if he were to lay down it’d make a pillow. Too bad my little brother ain’t here to see this. He’d love this place. He chuckles and puffs on his cigar, his bedraggled hair is swept back by his other hand. It looks like the ending of a movie almost, after the drifter hero had saved the girl and decided it’d be better to leave her be rather than ruin her life by being in it. I’ll see ‘im when I get out. He looks over to follow the shore line, see if there’s anyway to get down to the ground, when suddenly a rodent or critter of some kind comes to a halt just short of the cliff and Clyde reaches down to grab his belt, the knife in the sheath dangling down as he picks it up and puts it on.

”Well I’ll be damned. I’m not alone out here.” He kicks his bare feet up onto the ground beneath him, gabbing his boots and putting them on.

After about a minute of hopping around and throwing on his outfit, the man finally puts his hat on his head. His spurs ring true as he cuts through the shrubbery and sees a man, holding the critter from before and walking away. “Howdy mister? Is that your little long rat there?” He asks, his southern accent making it smooth as all heck.

@Mishiro

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  • 2 weeks later...

It didn't take him long to realize he wasn't the only lone player in the island - which was already unusual in and of itself. His scouting had led him a ways away from Paraneze, where even frontline-leveled players would be found in groups. Whoever that was must be confident in his stats and, most likely by Claude's own negligence, had gone undetected for however long they had been on the island.

And they were coming closer.

Claude stopped and turned to the newly-arrived player. His left hand disappeared under his cloak, coming to a casual rest on his sheath. Green cursor. A knife sheathed at his belt. Cowboy attire(?). And a smooth as heck Southern accent that gave him the impression of a guy who walked straight out of an Old West movie(??). Whether he was the real deal or not, you wouldn't normally expect to see cowboys playing a VRMMO themed around swords.

"Yeah, he's mine." He gave a vague gesture to the ferret that was earlier nestled sleepily in his hood, but now had its paws on his left shoulder and was watching the man with slight curiosity. "Sorry, did he disturb you earlier?"

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  • 1 month later...

The man had apologized and then asked if the critter bothered Clyde, and the cowboy just smiled. “I ain’t that easy to bother sir, just curious about where you got one of them.” A kind cowboy in a VRMMO was a strange sight to see, the cowboy knew that much, but even weirder was a ferret chasing a ball. Especially considering this game has so many deadly monsters. “How you keep that feller from gettin’ hurt while you’re out here huntin’ and stuff? I’m not very high leveled at all, so I generally just avoid the monsters, but you’re bein’ a bit reckless. You must be really strong for you to be so careless. Hell... you missed a whole person.” He laughs, puffing off of his cigar and blowing the smoke upwards.

There was no doubt Clyde was good at finding people out, but he was also quick to judge. This man could be a killer looking for him, but no killer would have such a small nice feller like that ferret of his. Maybe he’s just lookin’ for a spot to unwind. Take a nap like I was. He motions to where he just came from while leaning back on a tree. “If yer wantin’ a view, best spot I found is right over there. A good bottle o’ whiskey and a nice cigar will make it 100% better.” He puts the cigar out on the tree and starts walking back towards his cliff. “Yer welcome to join me in a drink if ya want, but I like my liquor strong.” He chuckles.

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  • 3 months later...

It was only somewhat obvious, but he had his senses trained somewhere else. Somewhere. Somewhere. Everywhere. The larger predators, circling overhead. The sound of the vast sea in the not-so-distant distance. The movements in the grass and the leaves around them. 

The cowboy must really like ferrets.

"Oh! I found this guy in an abandoned caravan." That was the simplest way he could sum it up. He reached up and scratched Bandit's head and it pulled back to sniff at his gloved hand before giving a disappointed snort and retreating back to his hood. The familiar, apparently, hadn't caught a whiff of treats. "That doesn't usually happen though. Normally, they can be found on any floor with farms or forests."

...was he even supposed to having a casual conversation in the highest unlocked floor like this? This was a bit weird, but... fine. He wasn't used to stopping to talk to other players when he was out solo, bit this guy seemed friendly enough.

At least, that impression managed to stick for a few moments.

"I..." Well, that stung. 1.) He just met this guy; and 2.) The cowboy kind of had a point, Claude had somehow completely missed him earlier. "If you're talking about the familiar, he knows how to run and hide himself from danger. Besides--" What was a "not high-leveled player" doing on the highest unlocked floor? Sightseeing? "--You're being a bit reckless yourself. This isn't the safest place to be in if you aren't too confident in your level, you know?"

No comments about his own level.

Also--

It turned out he was literally out sightseeing.

Now Claude barely knew this guy, but he thought he should at least let him have his nice view without the potential danger of being dive-bombed by one of the flying mobs or something.

"I'll take you up on that. But I'm gonna have to ask you to return to the safe zone in a bit."

He made a brief check on his surroundings and followed.

God, Leah was going to kill him. 

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