Zahra

"It most certainly is important!" Zahra exclaimed, swimming over to her friend and placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know there are people on the outside that we miss, but while we here, we are still living. We still have our lives and I firmly believe that whether we're stuck in here or in the real world that friends are important to continue living." There wasn't a day that went by where she had not thought about the people she left behind in the real world. Her family. Her friends. Lately those thoughts had also been wondering towards the people she met in the game. Was Epyon okay? What about Crusher? They were her friends too and she would have never made it as far if she had not met any of them. Celes was included on that list. 

If Lady Luck was on her side this hit could end the battle. 

{ID# 4874} {Battle 7} {Craft 9} {Loot 13} {Mod 8} Zahra

And as it turns out she was. Wanting to end the battle as soon as possible she rushed in and stabbed straight through the middle of the monster {Damage 1}. With a sigh of relief there was a last outcry from the Nepent before it's body disappeared into pixels. There battle was over. But the main question was were they finished?

"What do you think Crusher? We good?" Zahra questioned quietly, taking a scan of there surroundings. 

Crusher 9/15

Zahra 9/11
Nepent 0/20

After defeating the first bear Zahra remained quiet as they headed toward the village. In her head she was going over all the times that she had tried to hit it, but missed. Other thoughts that occupied her mind was about the party she was with. They were all very good fighters--there was no doubt about that. There strategy as a team was a little off, but then again they had never worked with each other before, so that made complete sense. Then there was also the fact that it felt like she could trust them all. Even if some of them came off as a little brash. 

Right as they were almost there they ran into two more bears. Before even being able to get in a hit in the bears went down and turned into pixels. That was mainly thanks to the highest leveled member in there party--Arekkusu. Overall Zahra was feeling quite ambivalent about him being here. Shrugging off the feeling, she then heard Crow mention if they wanted to sprint the rest of the way. They were close enough that they might as well. Opening the HUD Zahra placed the spear in her inventory. 

"I say we go for it," Zahra answered, turning to face the town as well, "I mean we are so close..."

"Alchemy." For just a second Zahra eyed the other female curiously. "It fits you." In fact, now that Celes had mentioned alchemy she could see that it was the perfect match for someone who was so intellectual. Swimming ideally around the Egyptian women continued to listen as her friend proceeded to answer the rest of her question. As it turns around Celes was from a military family. Zahra would have never guessed. "Dang, I bet that was rough and exhilarating at the same time. I mean, seeing all those places, but having to move so much to do so." 

By the time Zahra was done eating twilight had begun to set in. 

Figuring that was enough for one day she righted herself, stretched and then started back into town to stay at one of the cheaper Inns. There was one Inn in particular she enjoyed and that was the Bramblewood Inn. The rooms were forest themed and very cozy to stay in. Walking back through the streets of Starter City one would be surprised at the difference between the day time and the night time. There were barely an people out now. The only lights that lit the darkened street were those of bars or street lamps. 

A couple minutes later she wandered into the Bramblewood Inn and got a room. Going up the stairs she turned to the left and found room 205. Once the door was open she saw that this time she had gotten the room that had been decorated with dark browns, whites and blues. This also happened to be on of her favorite rooms due to the fact that it was also decorated with owls. In the real world owls were the creatures that she always enjoyed. 

Pulling up the HUD Zahra selected the back tank top and matching shorts for her bed attire. Settling down Zahra curled up, pulled up the covers up over her head and then selected the journal and quill to write about her day and a tentative plan for the following day. Before she knew it her eyelids were shutting and she fell into a dreamless sleep. 

And...now!

 

 

{ID# 4669} {Battle (5 +1) 6} {Craft 2} {Loot 15} {MOD 9} Zahra

Seeing the opportunity open, Zahra sped forward and then leaped into the air. The tip of the spear slid into the bear's back. As gravity took over the spear ripped down through the pixalated body causing the bear to cry out (DAMAGE 1). As soon as her feet hit the solid ground Zahra prepared a defense stance. Finally lady luck had decided to grace her with a hit. At least not she felt like she was contributing something to the party.  Feeling better about that she smiled slightly and focused back on the battle. 

Bear: 6/15

Sousuke 26/27

Crozeph 15/17

Arekkusu: 41/42

Zahra 11/11

Marisa 15/15

{ID# 4666} {Battle 6(+1)} (Craft 7} {Loot 13} {MOD 4} Zahra

"Crusher!" 

Seeing the plant take her teammate and then slam his body into the ground caused her blood to boil. She needed to get the focus off of Crusher and on to herself. Running around so that she was behind the plant--who was too distracted to notice her--she then ran and leaped. The head of the spear impaled in the dead back of the monster. "Why do you pick on someone who can afford it?" Zahra rhetorically questioned. As gravity took over the spear ripped downward {DAMAGE 1}. Unlike the other times, Zahra didn't back away. This time she stayed close enough so that if the monster wanted to it could reach her. 

Crusher 9/15

Zahra 11/11

Nepent 6/20

"Really?" Zahra questioned, spinning in circles to follow the movement of her friend, "What do you do?" It had never occurred to her that Celes had a profession. Thinking to the different ones Zahra could picture the women as either a performer or even a blacksmith. She herself was interested in the performer profession due to the more acrobatic moves one could do. So many possibilities with a spear."And I know this is rude..,but where did you live in the real world where you could go swimming?" This was also an opportunity to learn more about her friend. After all, if they called each other friends they should know about each others lives and things of that nature, right?  

Finally, after about an hour Zahra could play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the small instrument to the point where it sounded natural. Grinning at her success she placed the instrument to the side and then started to take more notes in the note book. For what could be seen, there was tiny drawings of ocarinas with finger placements and a note beside each picture. Right as she was about make a note about pitches, a low rumbling distracted her.

It was her stomach reminding her that she had not eaten since breakfast that morning. There were times when the would happen. For instance, during exam time when she was so focused on studying that forgot to eat for the entire day. Luckily a good friend had come to check on her, bringing a pizza since she knew Zahra so well. Putting the quil down the women opened her HUD and selected the bread item. After in materialized in her hand she took a bite and happily leaned against the wall. 

Sometimes a small break was needed. 

"Eh, that sounds like no fun," Zahra pouted, not sure how she felt about that fact that the ninth floor being a lava land with hellish monster thrown into the mix. "I've just been kind of sticking to the lower floors right now. Met a couple new people and even found a bear on the first floor. That was the first time I've ever run into one there. I thought it was just boars and wolves...but nope, there was a 6ft foaming mouth grizzly bear." 

Okay, maybe she was exaggerating about the foaming mouth part. 

She had been lucky her party was strong, and for the fact that someone through a monster grenade into the mix. After all, that day her wits had not been about her. She remembers missing more than twice win trying to land a hit on the bear. Shaking her head slightly, Zahra then did a back flip and came back up--face covered with hair. Shaking it out, she sighed in content. Officially the best day ever. 

Seeing an opening Zahra charged forward effectively switching with Crow. 

{ID# 4517} {Battle 4(+1)} {Craft 10} {Loot 20} {MOD 4} Zahra

But luck didn't seem to be in her favor today because once more her attack missed. The frustration was now building like a title wave. Either way she had managed to draw the attention of the bear and that was fine with her. If anything she could distract it while someone else made an attack. In order to make herself a harder target Zahra started to sporadically move. She even made fake attack gestures with her spear to keep it's eyes on her. 

Zahra 11/11

Raging Bear 10/15

Within seconds of putting the spear up the plant attacked her. Deadly vines collided with solid wood leading to a successful block. Now it was her turn. 

{ID# 4514} {Battle 6(+1)} {Craft 10} {Loot 3} {MOD 10} Zahra

The Nepent's vines came up to try and defend against whatever was coming next. Unfortunately for it, that vine didn't work against Zahra's spear. Like a knife slicing through warm butter the spear glided through the defensive wall. After the defensive wall was down Zahra jabbed forward and then ripped up (DAMAGE 1). A wail of a monster in pain tore through the peacefulness of the wooded area. 

Crusher: 13/15 (leveled)
Zahra 11/11

Nepent: 10/20

After getting the sound down, Zahra then started to move her fingers into different patterns. As she continued to remove and replace fingers the pitch of the instrument would vary. The more fingers the lower the noise, the less the higher. For just a while she practiced those notes over and over. Time passed and the sun rose higher into the sky. By the time it was mid-day she was already on practicing a song. 

"Twinkle, Twinkle little star..." Zahra sang. 

After singing that line she tried to match the notes through her voice. Once the first line of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star had been found she moved on to the next one. After finding the second line she then went back and played the first line and then added the second part one--for more practice. Eventually, she would get through the whole song and she would be learning the notes that needed to be learned to make more complicated songs. 

Just as predicted they weren't finished. 

{ID# 4408} {Battle 10 (+1)} {Craft 1} {Loot 18} {MOD 8} Zahra

This time, instead of the little protectors though, it was the actual flower that had come to life. Crusher attacked first and in return had been hit. Seeing her chance Zahra charged in right behind Crusher. As she came up right behind him she used the momentum to hinge around Crusher and then slice the spear deep within the body of the planet (3 Damage). The attack ended with her standing slight ahead of Crusher with the spear in a defensive position. 

Crusher: 13/15 (leveled)
Zahra 11/11

Nepent: 14/20

Once everything appeared to be settled Zahra pivoted and started with Crow toward their destination--but that peace didn't last long.Seconds later Crow said, "...hey Marisa looks like something followed you." and then zipped past her with his weapon drawn. Pivoting the raven haired women saw what Crow was talking about. A very large bear had made it's way out of the bush baring fangs. Funny, Zahra had not heard mention of bears on floor 1. Shrugging, she brought the spear that had been resting across her shoulder into a defensive position preparing for the battle ahead. 

Suddenly, a monster grenade had been throw into the fray. 

The music that came chiming for the grenade had effectively paralyzed the bear. Marisa had taken her chance after Crow to attack. Seeing an open right after Marisa backed away Zahra charged forward. 

{ID# 4407} {Battle 3(+1)}

Much to her dismay the attack missed by a mere centimeter. "Che." Zahra sneered, annoyed with herself. Backing off to make room in order to defend she prepared for whatever was about to happen next. 

Crozeph 15/17

Marisa 15/15

Zahra 11/11

Bear 14/15

Apparently, they had been being followed. 

The first person to notice the was guy with the cigarette, and then directly behind he was Crow. From out the bush that was being targeted popped out a girl with a hat and long blonde hair. Her player mark was green and there was no mark, meaning that they most likely didn't have to worry about her. "Zahra," She greeted, "And we're heading to Horunka Village for Crow to deliver some things."

There was only one hit point left. 

{ID# 4336} {Battle 8} {Craft 4} {Loot 18} {MOD 1} Zahra

Taking this chance Zahra launched forward. The spear rammed through the gut of the monster (DAMAGE 1). With a dying wail the protecter started to disappear into the virtual world. They had defeated their challengers, but that didn't mean that they were done quite yet. "Keep your eyes open. I don't think we're done quite yet."

Crusher: 11/13
Protector #1 0/9
Protector #2 0/9
Zahra 11/11

The place that Zahra had found was nestled right near the cities wall. It was quiet and in the last couple minutes one person had passed by, which meant that she wouldn't be able to embarrass herself by messing up in front of people.

Leaning against the cold wall she then let gravity take over and slide until she was sitting on the ground. It was there that she pulled up her HUD and selected the ocarina. In a flurry of blue pixel the instrument appeared. Gently gripping the instrument Zahra began to turn in over in her hands to inspect it. For such a tiny instrument it was well made. The design was flawless and only accented the ocarina's beauty.

It had exactly four holes. After figuring out how to hold the instrument Zahra then placed her mouth on the mouth piece and gently blew. No noise came out. The next time she tired she blew slightly harder. She continued this process until it made a noise. For a while, she just practiced getting the right amount of air through in order to make noise. Zahra even pulled out her journal and started to make notes. She was determined to get this right. 

"I absolutely love it." Zahra smiled softly, floating on her back in the cooling water showing off the black and gold bikini that had been specifically purchased for this purpose. This is something that everyone needed to do. They needed to relax in the warm sun and forget about their worries. Forget about their next battle and if they'll survive for just a couple minutes. After all, just because they were stuck in this world didn't mean that they couldn't enjoy life. "So, learning anything interesting lately?" 

Plus, a little girl time was always fun. 

Taking a hurried glance at Crusher's HP--just to see where it was--Zahra felt slightly relieved she was saw that it was still mostly full. He was fine. Now, she could focus back on the fight. Pivoting to her right, and bring the spear back, she then swiped it forward in a slicing motion. 

{ID# 4231} {Battle 3 (+1)} {Craft 11} {Loot 9} {MOD 9} Zahra

Unfortunately for her though, she miscalculated the hit. It swing just a tad to high over the protectors head. Bring it lips into a firm line Zahra stepped back slightly and waited to see what kind of attack the protector would launch next. 

Crusher: 11/13

As far as Zahra was concerned, this had just become her favorite floor. With the sweltering heat, dry air and gallons of sand it reminded her of home. The only thing that could make it better would be seeing the gigantic tombs that her mother studied. Finally, after several minutes of meandering, she found what she was searching for. 

The desert Oasis. 

There, already relaxing in the refreshing water, was none other than her short haired friend Celes. Seeing her unsuspecting friend caused an idea to form in her head. Feeling that playful grin decorate her features Zahra unequipped everything, and then started running. Gaining speed she hopped right over Celes head and cannon balled into the water, causing quite a splash. "Hey Celes!" Zahra greeted, coming up for air and moving some hair out of her face. "Fancy meeting you here."

Ever since hearing that there was a desert floor, there was nothing Zahra wanted to do more than visit it. There was just something about the vast open plains of sand that drew her in every time. That, and it reminded her very much about her life outside of Sword Art Online.

With a sense of dread, and excitement, she entered the teleporter and entered in floor 5. Seconds later and everything was spinning. Before she knew it she was stumbling out of the teleporter and on to the hard ground. Strange, wasn't the desert suppose to be made of sand? When the world around her finally stopped spinning Zahra was able to see that it was indeed sand, just hardened.

'The is strangely refreshing.'

Righting herself, she wandered further into the town. This place was absolutely amazing. Then she remembered Celes saying something about swimming in the Oasis. Wondering where this oasis was she headed into the town. After all, a little relaxation was definitely what was needed.

As the walked out of the city Zahra opened her HUD and placed the book back in inventory--that way nothing could happen to it. While the HUD was still up she went ahead and equipped her spear. Better to be safe than sorry. 

And their journey had began. 

It was in that moment she realized that she only new one of her companions names, and that was Crow. "I'm didn't catch your name." Zahra stated, eyeing the only other male in the group. With the serious expression decorating his features there was the feeling that he was not someone Zahra wanted to make angry. Or an accidental enemy out of.  Not that she had made any enemies...at least that she knew of. 

Distracted by Crusher the protector didn't noticed Zahra move so that she was now in it's blind spot. 

Raising the spear head she jammed it forward...

{ID# 4187} {BATTLE 7} {CRAFT 2} {LOOT 5} {MOD 3} Zahra

landing a hit {DAMAGE 1}. 

Perking up at the mention of Horunka Village, Zahra nodded eagerly. She had been meaning to visit there for a while now, but had not really gotten a chance too. According to what she had put in her journal though it was the second city on the first floor of Aincrad that lie northwest to Starter City. Also the place where you could start the quest to get the Anneal Blade. 

"Sounds like fun to me." Zahra stated, kneeling down to help pick up some of the stuff that had been lying harmlessly near her. Once everything was off the ground she then held them out for Crow. She would offer to carry them for him, but there was one main thing stopping her from doing that. He didn't know her. How strange would it be for someone to run you and knock all the stuff you were carrying out of your hands, only for them to turn around and suggest that they carry it for you as repayment. It sounded suspicious. 

Or maybe just her overactive imagination. 

Either way, she was getting to go to Horunka Village with new people. All that chalks up to be a good day in her book.