[F10-PP] A friend of a friend (Jinx, Atzo)

[Atzo 0]

‘It's a long way down’ Atzo thought as he sat on a rooftop in Yomi. The dead air was something wholly different than any of the floors that he had been to. After all there had not been any real reason for him to venture past the first 9 floors. The soft blue bioluminescent glow that enveloped the town was breathtaking. Atzo stood, admiring the lights, draped in the emerald green Kings Cloth, the Broken crown sitting cocked on his head. The ever circling shadows of Deterioration even seemed diminished in the blue light of the plants. ‘I wonder if the rest of the floors above 10 are like this or if this floor is completely unique.’ It wasn't hard to believe that after you past the introductory portion of the game that things got utterly terrifying like this. Atzo felt surreal when basking in the scenery. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before, something only hinted at in fairy tales. 

Atzo finished observing the scenery and climbed down from the building. Making no attempt to be subtle. He smiled to himself, finally understanding what it meant to relax to some extent. Once he reached the stone ground Atzo began to make his way to the town square. Slowly and methodically, watching as the world around him shifted with the different angles he looked. 
 

@Jinx

[Jinx 0]

Jinx hadn't even been to the 10th floor, and honestly, it was super interesting. Ever since the girl had powered up and gotten a series of super-strong armour, the girl had been feeling more and more confident lately. Therefore, even without a weapon in her inventory...The girl had been exploring. Across all the floors that she could, the towns and the people. It was super interesting to see such a wide diversity of floors, from ice to fire and everything inbetween.

The 10th floor was like..a magical cavern. Jinx exited the teleporter and looked around. The girl wasn't wearing armour, in a town, why would she? She had a plain white shirt with a pink jacket, and of course. Her fluffy white familiar was attached to the girls shoulder, looking out with curious eyes as Jinx glanced through her journal. She was making notes on the floors, and now was time to explore!

Jinx looked around first, this floor didn't seem nearly as occupied as the others. But there was one player she could see, and he was...well, sorta ginger? Jinx walked up to him, a passive smile on her face "Heya...A-are you, well...do you know this floor?" The girl, as always, forgot to introduce herself in any capacity and went right into the conversation as the forefront of her brain. Exploring Floor 10. 

[Atzo 0]

Atzo looked around, this floor really was baron of players. It could even be said of the NPC’s. Atzo didn't mind, he enjoyed being alone. He partially mediated as walked around. It was so peaceful here, the silence was almost tranquel. He realized that he would need to get another house now that his vanished under mysterious circumstances’. He wondered if this would be a good floor to buy one on. After all this floor had everything he enjoyed, save for mountains

As he meditated and walked a girl with pink hard and pick eyes approached him, she seemed to be wearing fairly casual clothing which Atzo felt was odd. She didn't particularly seem to be of high level, though that was hard to judge off of clothing alone. ‘She seems a little quiet’ he thought to himself as he gave her a soft smile. “Hello, I am doing well how are you doing? No, my apologies, I am not well versed for this floor at all. However if you would like me to walk with you I would be happy to.” Atzo gave a slight gesture that parted his robes as he did so. “I have been wanting to explore higher now that I can actually do some damage in a fight” Atzo chuckled to himself. “Oh I forgot to introduce myself, I am Atzo. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
 

[Jinx 0]

Jinx tilted her head a little at the boy, Atzo he called himself. He seemed, well..She couldn't place a finger on it, but if she was honest with herself, which she would admit she was bad, he felt...distant. Despite the chuckle, sadness? The girl wasn't sure why she felt those emotions cloud around her when talking to him, yet they lingered nearby. Was this, her empathy getting the better of her again, or her own emotions striking out?

"It's a pleasure to meet you Atzo. I am, i....Fou!" The girls introduced were interupted by her familiar as Fou leapt from her shoulder onto the ground, and started pawing at Azto's feet! Jinx froze for a moment, before kneeling down and picknig up her familiar, holding it in her hands. "I'm sorry, she gets...well, new people interest her and her way of exploring is to use her claws i'm afraid..." She smiled guilty, and her absent-minded slipped over something.

"I've never been to this floor either, so...If you wouldn't mind, we could explore it together? A-and you needn't worry about getting injured. I'll be able to protect you" Jinx glanced at her shoulder, and smiled softly. While she wasn't WEARING any of her equipment, she knew that even at her level, she was rather tough to get past. 

[Atzo 0]

She seemed to be slightly troubled with something. He took note of it, not wanting to pry into her business without permission. Still he felt as though he should keep an eye on her, it might be good to stay with her just in case she got lost. Atzo laughed a bit as the small fluff ball pawed at his feet. “Oh, don’t worry, I have had my share of sharp objects impaling me, a few claws probably wouldn’t even hurt.” He trailed off a bit realizing just how bad that sounded, though he couldn’t really go back on that now. He looked the woman up and down, she said she could protect him. He didn’t doubt her, if anything it was easier to hide your strength in this game. Though he didn’t really need protection. Even if he got into a fight, he could probably take on whatever it was he was going up against. “I would be happy to accompany you, don’t worry about me though, I can handle myself in a fight well enough.” He chuckled and put his hand on the back of his neck. “So, where do you want to go? I will let you lead the way. My only request is that we stop to look at some of the flora here, I would love to gather some to see if their bioluminescence will improve the potency of night vision potions.” Something was gnawing at the back of his mind, something that seemed off that he couldn't quite place his finger on. "Oh and I don't think I caught your name"

 

@Jinx

[Jinx 0]

Jinx frowned at the comment made by Atzo, before glancing at her own familiar and a sly smile came out. Fou did have a tendency to pull out her claws, mostly by accident, but its happened more than once. So instead of questioning it, she simple gave the boy a warm smile. 

At his question of WHERE she wanted to go, she paused. She had no idea what was on the floor,s he'd just come to explore without putting any thought into it other than her recent armour made her much harder to kill. The girl hesiated, before hearing Atzo made a suggestion of his own. 

"I don't...I didn't plan, out where to go. I had thought, there would be more people on this floor. It's rather pretty..." The girl wandered around a few steps, before blinking and focusing on the boy in front of her. Oh, her name! Idiot.

"My name is Al...I mean, Jinx" The girl smiled guiltily "My guild-leader keeps reminding me, i shouldn't use my real name for...some reason. He never fully explained why...o-or, i don't remember why. But, we can go find that flora, i don't mind just following you for a bit"  

[Atzo 0]

Atzo smiled at Jinx. “I agree, though I’ve become a bit of a plant fanatic recently.” He chuckled slightly “I think he says that because most of the players here don’t like to talk about the real world. For the record my real name is Alexander Zevulum. I never really did care who knew, it just ends up being easier to remember usernames in my opinion. If you don’t mind me asking, what guild are you in and who is your guild leader?” Atzo wondered if it would be a name he recognized, perhaps Shield had grown his guild more. Maybe Domarus was closer to his goal of taking over the game. It was crazy how similar he was to Atzo. The old Atzo at least, they had the same goals which made them both good companions and complete adversaries  “I guess we should start making our way to the edge of the safe zone, after all you never find the prettiest flower patches in the city.” He started walking to where he assumed the safe zone boarder would be, making sure he wasn’t leaving Jinx behind as he did.

@Jinx

[Jinx 0]

What Atzo was saying did make sense in its ways, but still didn't. Like, for people to not want to talk about their lives. Were they ashamed of it, or was it just one of those 'unspoken rules' that she'd been told about time and time again. They didn't fully make sense to Alisea, but then again, not a lot did if she was honest with herself. But the boy had been nice enough to introduce himself as his real name soo..

"Well, i'm..Alisea Dariem. I-its nice to meet you Alex" The girl smiled warmly at the boy, following him towards the end of the safe zone, but pausing right before the end of it and accessing her inventory. After all, leaving a safe zone undefended was just an unnecessary risk. So the girl equiped her three pieces of armour, and she smiled as she reviewed her new stats. Now she would be near impossible for monsters to take her out.

Turning back to Atzo, now coated in heavy armour, and gave him a soft nod. "Oh, the guild...We're called...ummm, i forget..." An embarrassed look came across the girls face as she opened up a menu, and quickly found the name she was looking for. "We're called, Guardians of the New Dawn. Oh, and his name is Stryder...O-or at least his in-game is that". She glanced at her shoulder, and after a short whistle, her familiar lept up onto her shoulder, prepared for the adventure ahead of her.     

[Atzo 0]

Pending

[Atzo 0]

Atzo smiled “It is a pleasure to meet you, would you prefer I call you Jinx or Alisea? You can call me either Alex or Atzo whichever you prefer.” She had stopped to check her guild info and put on her battle gear. ‘She seems awfully forgetful; I wonder if she is just nervous. I am a complete stranger, and I’m not wearing the most welcoming clothing now that I think about it.’ He went to keep walking as she had found her guild page. His feet wouldn’t move, his blood ran cold. He was speechless. ‘No way…. No, it can’t be right?’ Quickly Atzo pulled up the guilds page in his menu scrolling to the Guardians of the New Dawn. ‘There it is plain as day. Styder is the guild leader. Perhaps I should take this a little more subtly. Try not to make a big scene out of it.’ Atzo took a deep breath. “Oh Stryder, huh? I used to adventure with him back in the day. I never knew the kid had it in him. I remember when he was still level one. I helped get him on his feet. That was a long time ago now, though.” Atzo took this time to search around for some alchemical ingredients, though they seemed to be too close to the safe zone to find any.

@Jinx

[Jinx 0]

If Jinx had been anyone else, maybe she'd of noticed it. Azto's seeming reaction to the news about her Guild-Leader. But it, like many many things in the world, was completely missed on by the girl. All that really made sense to the girl was his question about her name, and he KNEW her guild-leader. 

"I don't mind what you call me Alex...If i use, your real name, then i would be ok if you used mine. And i'm surprised, that you know my guild-leader. I'll admit, i met him...On the very first day, when we were trapped in here. He is super kind to me, i mean...He lets me stay at his place, he got me my own room a-and everything" The girl smiled a little as she scratched her familiars head lovely, before turning to her 'ally' and noticing he seemded, distanct...? Distracted? She couldn't place a finger on the word.

"Is everything ok Alex?...O-oh! Wait, if you know him, i could...tell him you're ok! U-unless...." The girl looked away, recalling a certain event that occured between her and some 'friends' of her own. "Unless you'd, rather, not. I understand if so, i had some friends who i'm...not talking to for a good reason..."