Lessa

ID# 181483 results: Loot: 17

Though she had visited the place numerous times, the site of the Flat caught Lessa by surprise. The grass rolled out before her, a long, dark carpet that disappeared into the strip of deciduous trees. How long would it take her to cross the field, now that she had room to move? Were she to urge the mare into a gallop, she could likely clear it in a matter of minutes, and then- Her trail of thought fell apart as she noticed the shift in energy. The mass of people had begun to slow, with both players and NPCs pausing to rest. “We can’t stop now,” the blonde murmured, though the storm tore the words from her lips the moment she did so. The shadows might sneak up on the unsuspecting people, and pull them back from the edges of the Flat. She needed to check it out, just once, or she might never forgive herself. Fortunately for the young man in question, Lessa steered her horse back toward the entrance to the Flat. The moment she saw the black goo rising up his leg, she propelled herself off the mare, and literally hit the ground running. “Hold on, I’ve got you!” she bellowed, grabbing his rain-slicked hand and dragging him from the muck. ID# 181441 Roll: 20 Giving 2 to Aquan New Value: 18

"They're broke, so you can ride 'em, if you want." It was as if the old man had read her mind. Lessa had already been considering the logistics, studying the panicked animals in each flash of lightning overhead. When he gave his nod of approval, she eased one of the leads from his hand. "I'll take good care of her," she assured Dax, pausing long enough to pat the grief-stricken farmer on the shoulder before turning to his horse. The mare's nostrils flared madly, testing the air, and apparently not liking what he found there. "You," Lessa began, "are a big, big girl." Numb fingers hastily tied the rope's end to the opposite side of the halter. Then she took a step back to admire her work, and wonder just how she could mount such a massive horse. Getting on had never been a problem at home, but the Clydesdale was much larger than her little buckskin back home. Here's to hoping I can make this work. With a few long strides, Lessa got a running start. As she drew up alongside the mare, she reached out for the withers, and a fistful of mane. Then, pushing off with as much force as she could muster, she exploded upward, and swung a leg over the horse's back. Instinctively, her legs squeezed, anchoring her before she could go scooting off the other side. Surely, the game's mechanics had aided her in that particular move, but she wasn't going to dwell on it. Instead, she urged the horse forward, unaware of the black waves lapping at her mount's hooves.

((OOC: Going with Koga, so joining Andrey's group. Will edit this in later.))

Her blue eyes widened at his question, and she regarded him with a surprised amusement. "So forward," she commented back. Then, remembering who it was she was talking to, the woman cast him a quick smile. "I'm teasing. But it's been a very, very long time since someone asked me my level. I figure, at this point, it's probably on the same level as asking a person's age." Her own statement gave her pause, and after a second's hesitation, Lessa laughed softly. "Not that giving you my age would be easy or anything. I have no idea how we're actually aging in this damn castle." "Anyway." With a flick of her wrist, she swatted away the distracting line of thought. "I'm teetering on the edge of level sixty. I'd like to get there in the next couple of weeks, but who knows how that's going to play out. It's snowing where I live now, and that usually makes me want to stay in bed all day. How about you? What level?" Before Chase had the opportunity, to answer, the blonde spoke again. "Hey, do you want anything to eat? I'm probably going to order something."

"This place is so sad." Lessa's voice came in little more than a breathy whisper, blue eyes draped by drooping eyelids. What was it about cemeteries that always evoked an emotional reaction from her? Alyssa had experienced something very similar when visiting her great uncle's final resting place. Hell, she felt that way when she spent too long looking at a graveyard through a car window. They were just dead people, right? Bodies bereft of a spirit. The only sadness came from the living, who likely left tears along with the flowers over the gravesite. So cemeteries, as an entity, shouldn't have so much energy trapped within them. Literally, in this case, came a sudden thought. Lessa's gaze swung toward the ghost, who hovered only a few feet away. As her eyes skimmed across the nearest grave markers, her stomach lurched into her throat. "Oh my god," came out on a gargled murmur, and as her legs went to jelly, Lessa thought she might fall to her knees. Only when she took a second look, and the nondescript name became clearer, was she able to take another breath. Not what I thought it said, her logical mind rationalized, though her heart continued to gallop like a spooked horse. A sudden, impossible urge to be closer to Jomei swamped her, and like a magnet, she allowed herself to be pulled toward him. Just as she neared her favorite Irishman, he tumbled out of sight. Her already racing heart stuttered, and Lessa fought the instinct to dive after him. "Hey, hey, hey," she muttered frantically as she teetered on the edge. As he tried to right himself in the bottom of the pit, she managed, "Are you okay?"

Suddenly, Lessa's companion turned, and took off at a brisk lope into the woods. Puzzled, all Lessa could do was stare after her. "What in the world?" she finally managed, voice a breathy whisper over the chirping of birds and rush of the nearby river. Did she suddenly remember something she had to do? Did she get scared and flee? Did she have to go to the bathroom? What an odd person. "Guess I'm going to get them all," Lessa muttered through gritted teeth, hefting Hell Rose to eye level as the pair of wolves circled. Twin snarls rolled from their bared teeth, and their ears lay laced to their skulls. "You guys look pretty vicious," the woman stated, shaking back her blonde hair. Then she rolled her shoulders beneath her heavy armor. "Good thing I can handle vicious." As her most prized possession in Aincrad burst into pink light, she lunged.

As the other wolf shifted to the defensive, Riker simply regarded him with the faintest interest. His floppy ears pivoted forward, nostrils flaring as he collected the strangers' scent. Then, he padded forward, shoving that nose into the other familiar's personal space. "Dude," Lessa muttered out the corner of her mouth. Then blowing out a hard breath, she turned back to the other player. "No worries," she echoed, a smile unfurling like flower petals across her chapped lips. "Seriously, I'm in no hurry. Actually just doing some hunting myself. But I don't spend any time on this floor, so by hunting, I kind of mean more aimless wandering." Finally, the other wolf appeared to let down his guard, joining Riker in that odd "getting to know you" dog routine. I hope there's no butt sniffing. "It's nice to see Riker interacting with another familiar," she admitted. "He's kind of a moody... well, lone wolf." Laughing softly at her own awful joke, Lessa grasped Koga's hand. "Lessa," she answered. "It's nice to meet you, Koga."

Lessa's scream joined that of the horse's as it plunged into the dark. Terror gripped her, it's cold fingers like a vice around her thundering heart as she fought to draw breath. It wasn't as if Lessa hadn't seen loss before. The past hour had been riddled with it, and she had watched numerous entities succumb to the storm. Yet something about watching the horse disappear, the darkness rising to meet it, then consume it, simply broke her. Suddenly weak, her knees buckled, and Lessa splashed down into the mud and the muck. Wet earth oozed into the cracks in her armor, and the incessant rain continued to batter her. The storm had found her weakest points, exploited her most extreme vulnerabilities. Much as the game did now. Get up, a small voice wailed from somewhere in the distant reaches of her mind. But she couldn't. Panicked NPCs bumped into her as they passed, too consumed by their own programming to notice the pathetic player trembling at their feet.

Like the gash left behind by a sword strike, only the tiniest sliver of crimson remained. He's almost dead, Lessa thought to herself. How long had it been since she had worked herself to the bone like this? Even when she and Bahr had faced off against the Lich King, and she had brushed alongside death itself, her energy levels had remained high. She would need to work on managing the numbers moving forward, especially if she hoped to join the frontlines in the next decade. At least Jomei was there to finish off the horned abomination. Lowering her weapon on a hard exhale, Lessa rolled her shoulders, waited for the menu to populate with her combat rewards. A rookie mistake. As Jomei tumbled, much in the same way that she had, the blonde thrust a gauntleted hand toward him. "Jomei!" she cried, watching one of her oldest friends nearly lose his footing. Relief swept over her, but dread came close on it's heels, as he righted himself. If Jomei wasn't going to kill War, then... "Put an end to it," she muttered, echoing their NPC companion as she lifted Arcturus a final time. The air exploded from her lungs in a whoosh as she burst forward, jabbing her Claymore into War's midsection even as the sword lit with her sword art. The golden light reflected of the bits of data that rained down around her.

When the priest stopped talking mid-sentence, Lessa shifted on her pew to look at him. Had the NPC glitched or something? The movement wasn't especially easy, as she'd already kicked back, and propped her heels up on the seat-back in front of her. Fingers interlaced and draped lazily across her midsection, she nearly lost her balance trying to catch a glimpse. By the time she did, the man was already glowing an ominous red. What the...? The horned demon that burst into existence did send Lessa tumbling off the bench. In a tangle of arms and legs, the blonde thudded to the floor, groaning as she trapped herself between the pews. It took a little longer than she was proud of to find her feet again, but she did so just in time to catch Jomei's explosive attack. Guess that's my cue, she thought. Momentarily, she considered leaping over the benches to get to the action, but tripping in the process was a very real possibility. Better to exit the row by the usual way. As the blonde lunged into the center aisle, heaving Arcturus back up into a ready position, exhaustion tightened its hold on her already trembling muscles. Crap. She would have to make this quick.

With a quick laugh, Lessa shook her head. "I'm hardly going to judge you for being sentimental," she countered, "even if only a bit so. I am a lot sentimental." The woman paused to scan their surroundings. Despite the beast's death, and Raidou's quick work dousing the flames, the forest still glowed red-orange with dying embers. The stink of scorched earth hung heavy in the air, and the lack of wildlife gave Lessa the creeps. But it couldn't stay this way, could it? "It'll bounce back," she stated plainly, clearly trying to persuade herself as well as her companion. "I mean, assuming the boss doesn't respawn here, I guess. Fires like this happen all the time, and the environment finds a way to overcome it." Slanting him a small smile, she added, "Nature's pretty amazing, even in a game like this." At his second question, the woman couldn't help but laugh again. "Floor six?" she asked him. "Nah, this one isn't too much of a challenge. But I'm not nearly where I'd like to be, level-wise. I've got a long way to go before I catch up with my friends." Motioning to Raidou, she added, "I didn't get the chance to see much from you, but knowing my luck, even you're a higher level than I am."

Gulping in long breaths of the musty air, Lessa drifted a few paces off to hide just how worn she really was. How was it possible that her companions hardly seemed fazed, yet she felt she had just run a marathon? Were they truly so many levels ahead of her, or were they simply that much better at watching their energy levels? I've got a long ways to go before I reach the Frontlines, came a distant thought, even as she strode back toward the group. "Good thinking with the beam," she commented, motioning toward their only defense. It was certainly better than nothing, even if she didn't expect it to hold against a zombie swarm. "I, uh, didn't bring anything to help with energy regen. My bad - it's been a while since I took any quests that required it. I'll be better prepared next time." Not that it actually mattered, and nothing she said would help them in the moment. But the urge to explain herself still weighed heavy. Shifting now to face Jomei, she gave her ginger friend a warm smile. "I appreciate it," she admitted, and meant it. Tipping her head back to follow his owl's flight, Lessa let the smile go a bit sheepish at the edges. "I swear, I don't know when you got so much stronger than me. I guess it's like I've been standing still lately. But I'm definitely glad to have you along on this." As her gaze danced across the rest of the party, she added, "Same goes for all of you." Finally, her blue eyes, clouded with exhaustion, settled on the priest. Even as she dropped into one of the rickety pews, leaned against it's well-worn back, she addressed Miraak. "Do you know anything about this church?"

There was a sound that she knew very well. The chorus of panicked cries immediately tore Lessa's gaze. As the team of Clydesdales reared up, front legs lashing out like a boxer's jab, lightning burst in the sky behind them. The eerie backlighting cut demonic shapes against the storm, and as the enormous equines came crashing down, the whites of their rolling eyes stood out in impossibly stark contrast. She knew what came next - spooked horses never simply stood still. At the same time that Lessa lunged forward, so too did the horses, the roll of their hooves on the slick earth mimicking the roll of the thunder. Together, she and the horses tore across the small space, barreling through both NPCs and players who dove out of the way. What are you going to do? she asked herself, even as the collision point neared. You know better than to throw yourself in front of a frantic horse, especially one that's easily nineteen hands tall. But she also knew that standing idly by and watching half a dozen horses fall to their deaths was not something she could do. Leaning into the curtain of rain, the Guardian prayed for just a little more speed. When her body obliged, and she reached the ledge before the horse's did, Lessa allowed instinct to take over. Throwing her hands up in the air, and waving them like a fan at a rock concert, she bellowed above the storm. "Back! Back! Get back!"

"Of course," Lessa answered slowly, not entirely sure what it was that Raidou planned to do. The quest was completed, was it not? Was there more to it? But the man seemed agitated somehow, and strangely somber as he knelt to the ground, troubled the soil with his fingertips. Guess he just needs a minute. With a quick 'come here' flick of her finger, Lessa motioned for Riker to join her. Together, the pair picked their way through the still-burning brush. Once they were a short distance away, the blonde turned back, studied Raidou's actions. "It was a pleasure working with you, Lessa." The finality in the statement caused the woman to pause, and when Raidou drew his blade again, her hand sprung to her own. At her side, Riker's hackles rose, a low rumble of warning emanating from him. Was their new acquaintance about to turn on them? That was a pretty shocking plot twist. But when his blade plunged into the earth, and a wave of dirt smothered the nearby flames, Lessa exhaled on a hard whoosh. "Aincrad is making me seriously paranoid," she muttered to Riker, before taking a few steps closer to Raidou. "That was a good idea," she commented, though part of her wondered if the flames would reappear with a quest reset.