Lessa

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 con

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 mimic

Her hands shook so violently that Lessa struggled to summon her HUD. When it finally appeared, the jingle of chimes lost to the roar of the storm, she immediately tabbed to her friends list. Alkor. There he was. He wasn't dead. As her gaze tracked a bit lower on the list, she caught two names, one right after the other. Bahr. Baldur. Both still on the list, both still alive. Despite the adrenaline coursing through her, fueling her pistoning heart, there was comfort in knowing the most important people in her life were safe. That single shred of hope was enough to pull Lessa back toward c

Trembling like the last leaf on a December tree, Lessa found her feet. "What was that?" she choked out. "It definitely wasn't normal water. I felt like I-" The words died on her lips when the woman turned to her companion, and found nothing but empty space. "Alkor?" she asked dumbly. "Alkor?" The second time she spoke his name, her voice cracked on it. Desperation corrupted her more completely than the shadowed water ever could have. Her blue eyes widened, rolling like a spooked horse's as she wheeled first left, then right. "Alkor!" Had he been carved off from the group in the chaos? Or

She hadn’t been paying attention. So consumed by the world around her - the endless sheets of rain, the newly arrived players, the shouts of NPCs - Lessa had not noticed her close proximity to the rapidly rising water. How could she have missed it? But before the woman could comprehend, the blackness splashed across her boots, crawled up her pant legs. The sensation tore a scream from her, but Lessa only distantly heard it. As soon as the shadow began to corrupt her, her mind was filled with nothing but bone-chilling cold and staggering, suffocating silence. Lessa gasped for breath,

"You're welcome," Lessa answered, releasing the other player's hand once her safety was assured. At least, for the time being. Attempting to shove that thought from her mind, the Guardian flashed Mishiro the best smile she could muster. "I honestly don't know what else needs doing. I have no idea what's happening. I have to think it's some random event, but I've never seen anything so wide-spread." The half-smile slid away like the mud beneath her boots as she scanned their surroundings. "Obviously, I can't know for sure, but I think this might actually be floor-wide." Though she looked

"No way," Lessa muttered through a broad, face-splitting grin. "I can't believe I actually found it." Rumors of a moving shop had surfaced on numerous occasions, but Lessa had never had any luck tracking the location down. It appeared her luck was changing, as she shoved back the thick, prickly branches of a bush, and stepped forward. The pop-up kitchen looked about how she had expected - a cookfire, surrounded by a scattering of different cooking devices and utensils. It was so quaint! While she was here, she might as well make a purchase. "Uh, hey," Lessa called out. "I'm sorry to

"Oh," Lessa breathed, glancing around the shop as she slipped inside. Not at all what I was expecting. While most shopkeepers preferred dark, rich colors, this place burst with color, light, and life. The shades of orange were bright and cheery, and a welcome relief from the falling darkness outside. The sun had already set at her back, as Lessa had lost all track of time window-shopping for Christmas gifts. When she finally realized how empty her inventory had grown, many of the shops she frequented had already closed. After a quick jog down the darkening streets, she had come across a shop t

"OVER HERE! CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN AND GET TO HIGHER GROUND!" The call was nearly lost to the chaos, but fortunately, it managed to reach Lessa. Turning away from Alkor, the blonde squinted through the rain, attempting to locate the source. "You heard that, right?" she asked her companion. She swiped the back of her hand across her eyes, attempting to clear them of the inky liquid, but her hand was just as wet. So she huffed out a hard breath, sending little water droplets scattering from lips. "Sounds like people are starting to group up. That combined effort is a really good idea right now.

With both hands, Lessa shoved her wet mop of hair back from her face. The relentless sheets of rain hardly gave her time to breathe, and each inhale brought water into her nostrils. She coughed once, shook her head in a slightly dog-like fashion, then turned some of her attention back to Alkor - the rest was split between the darkening sky, and the shouts from nearby players. His action plan only registered on a surface level, but she nodded along anyway. It wasn't until he mentioned the Frontliners that she whipped back to him. "What?" she shot back instinctively. Then, when his comment

When that familiar voice called out her name, Lessa visibly relaxed. Despite the hellacious thunderstorm wreaking havoc around her, the woman exhaled her held breath like a balloon expelling air. At least there was one friend that she didn't have to worry about for the time being. "Hey, yeah," she called out, jogging over to meet him. "I'm fine." Her leather boots made unpleasant sploosh noises as she moved, but the sound simply could not compete with the roaring wind and sheets of rain. Lifting her own voice to be heard over the din, Lessa replied, "No, I have no idea. I've never seen ra

For the millionth time, Lessa checked her messages. It was silly, of course - Bahr would never message her in the heat of battle, and there was no way that the boss was defeated yet. But anxiety still crawled across her skin like tiny bugs, and was only slightly calmed by seeing his name. As long as he still rode near the top of her friend's list, he was still alive. And that was something. The blonde drew in a long, slow breath, visualizing a cart riding up a rollercoaster's hill. She held the air for a second, imagining herself hanging over the edge, before she slowly exhaled. As the ca

"I'm not choosing to do this alone." The words exploded from her like water through a burst dam. Once they hung in the air, mingling with the steam of her warm breath, the embarrassment bloomed across her cheeks. Had she been thinking more clearly, she never would have admitted as much out loud. But it was the truth, wasn't it? With one hand rubbing at the back of her neck, Lessa fought to keep her gaze leveled on Baldur. "I mean, it would be nice to have more of a community here. I wish I had more people to talk to, more people to lean on. But I don't have that right now. Outside, I had no pr

Item Name: Railroad Track Profession: Blacksmith Rank: Six Quantity: 8 Consumable Used: Crafter's Respite (ID: 159184) acquired here. Craft IDs: 159811, 159813, 159814, 159815, 159819, 159821, 159822, 159824 Post Links: http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/4366-wild-rose-forge/?page=6&tab=comments#comment-617355

Rank 6 Lessa used Crafter's Respite (ID: 159184) acquired here. Craft Attempts: ID CD LD T3 Mats Lost EXP Gained Result 159811 7 19 1 3 Uncommon 159812 4 1 1 2 Salvage 159813 12 10 1 8 Perfect 159814 11 9 1

"What am I even doing?" Muttering to herself, Lessa closed the distance between herself and Raidou's storefront. She was not the type to jump head-first into an event like this, and she could hardly call herself a blacksmith. Yet here she was, gathering the necessary items to crank out a metric butt-ton of items. Why? Because some kids wanted to build a railroad. Lessa never could say no to kids. Before she was even through the door, the woman was calling out a hesitant, "Uh, hi!" But as she surveyed the shop, the Guardian realized it stood empty. Was he in the back? Or out for the moment

"Oh, alright. That makes sense. I guess I didn't realize that you were planning on leaving the tenth floor. Not that I blame you, obviously." She turned, mimicked his motions on another unsuspecting shrubbery. "You'll definitely get more sleep here, unless the banshee has a tropical sister. That would really suck." She beamed a grin at him. "It's a good place. You're right on the water, and the beach is beautiful. I bet you're going to get some amazing sunsets here, too. And palmtrees!" She motioned to the nearest one with a quick nod of her head. "They're nice!" The fact was, Lessa

Her first instinct was to argue with him, insist that wasn't what she meant, and that it was his jacket that was hot. Then she caught herself. He wasn't wrong. On that thought, Lessa snagged a quick, appreciative look at Bahr's handsome face. Nope, he definitely wasn't wrong. Briefly, she wondered if she aught to go back to pouting, but his sudden brainstorm saved her the trouble. In a matter of seconds, he'd snagged her hand, whisked her away to... somewhere else hot. And somewhere else sandy. Why, she nearly whined, but again, stopped herself. Wait, had she heard him correctly? His isla

Jaw slack, eyes wide, Lessa stared at the pixels as they rained down upon her boyfriend. Her greedy, mob-hogging, boyfriend. "Woooooooooow," she drawled, lingering on the vowel sound for entirely too long. "You just killed it, all by yourself. In one go. Totally annihilated it." She strode up to him, slinging her heavy sword onto her back, as it appeared she wouldn't be needing it. Slowing to a halt beside the tall swordsman, she studied the sand where the beast had stood. "It is super dead. This was the only thing I had planned for the whole day." Finally, she whipped around to glower up

“Beer tasted like ass in the real world,” Lessa pointed out. “I have a feeling it won’t taste any better inside SAO, and without the getting drunk element, why even bother with it?” As the statement made her sound like something of an alcoholic out of game, she scrunched up her face, stated, “I’d much rather have an ice cold pop any day of the week.” She was left with mixed emotions when the man finally drew away from her. On one hand, she was disappointed to lose that physical link to him. On the other, the blessed breeze cooled the spaces gone toasty with their body heat. Minimally cool

"So hot," she echoed, rolling her eyes so hard it was a wonder they didn't pop out of her head. Though she gave him a quick squeeze, she also made a sharp tsk sound. "How can you make puns at a time like this? I'm absolutely roasting. I'd be walking around in my underwear if I actually thought it would help. When it's a gazillion degrees out, I don't think it actually matters." NPCs milled about, apparently unfazed by the unlivable conditions. How did they survive? How did they not simply catch fire? And what a cruel world, requiring that those poor individuals be trapped on the god forsaken f

The door closed behind Lessa with a slight thunk, and she turned a slow circle to examine the shop. "This is really nice," she murmured, taking in the mats and rice paper doors. Everything appeared so ornate, and made Lessa wished she'd visited Asia before donning the Nerve Gear. Maybe once we've busted out of here. Beaming a smile at the two NPCs, Lessa approached the front counter. "Hey there," she greeted with a quick wave of her hand. "I'm here to- Oh!" Spotting Bahr and Oscar standing there, Lessa's statement turned into a bubbling laugh. "Fancy seeing you two here. I guess great min

Approved!

Turning to toss her mop of hair over her shoulder, Lessa caught the blinding, shifting light on the horizon. The unmistakable red glow told her all she needed to know, though for a moment, she wondered if the sight was a mirage. Only when he’d approached, and she caught the faint lines of annoyance, did she knew he was her Bahr. Who else shares her complete and utter hatred for the fifth floor? Without even thinking, she leaned into him as his arm came around her waist. Then she winced, hissing sharply through her teeth, as his molten hot jacket scalded her bare skin. At least the kiss he