___

[7820] 5 - 5 - 7 - 1

[___] 15/15

[Kosan] 33/33

[Avalanche] 45/50

She wasn't sure if he had heard the first, but without a doubt, he had heard the second. They ran out of the cave together to see if they could find the source of the enormous roar and much to their surprise, this fearful creature was to their benefit. She looked at him as he said the name, "That's Avalanche?" Earlier, she was expecting this quest to be a somewhat silly name based off of the name, like some oversized snowman or... Just not this chunk of moving, sculptured ice. Kosan said something about heading back to an inn and she was pleased by the idea of getting out of the cold, "That'd be good, let's go." She rushed ahead, unsheathing her rapier and striking at the feet of the icy giant, chipping off some of its ice and health in the process. There was no way that she could make a fool out of herself in front of him again after the wolves, I'm not that weak...

I had a text copy that I made on my phone with the gaps and the 188 post peak threw me off the first time. Thought I had mathed wrong, but boy oh boy, I'm about to have to overcome that hurdle. Just gotta get to Level 10...

She was deep in sleep, luckily Kosan wouldn't have to deal with any further steamed words after he lifted her hood to find out if she was okay. After some time in the darkness, the same old white room would appear, but it felt different. There was no easy way to explain it other than the fact that it felt like something was off, I wonder if it's because I woke up last time... Before today, she had never woken up. Every day, every night, it was the same dream over and over again. Of course, this one had the same start to it, but the red paint still hadn't began covering the walls. She thought about Kosan, maybe he broke the cycle, this is so strange... She could walk endlessly, nothing but the color of white surrounding her physical appearance. She sat down, waiting for something to happen, but nothing wa- What was that? She stood up and rushed over to where she saw some specks of red from a distance, That's fire... Why is there- She came back to reality, falling forwards and gasping for air, unsure of what to think. The cave was lit from the outside light now that the snowstorm had ended and the fire had long since died out, but a faint echo could still be heard. She stood up and took off the coat, holding it across her arm, as she walked over towards Kosan, "Hey, wake up. Did you hea-" This time, the sound was tremendously loud. It was a roar. By what though? It sent a vibration, followed by the similar echo, into the cave.

He threw him the coat and she was just about to toss it back, but at this rate, it was going to be a game of hot potato. She held onto it for now with the full intention of returning it while he was asleep, though she really wanted to go ahead and give it back to him while he was lying on the cold floor of the cave without anything else to cover up with. She pulled up her hood so he couldn't see her face and peered out from beneath it, keeping an eye on him to make sure that he wouldn't pretend to sleep. Eventually, he did fall asleep and she could tell that it was genuine, considering his breathing became a lot slower than before. She blinked her eyes and yawned, maybe I do need some more sleep... No, I have to watch him. She trusted his instinct about there being no players around and, if they were, there was no way they would survive out there long. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep too, but he wouldn't be able to tell unless he lifted her hood. Otherwise, it would simply appear as if she was ignoring the boy, which was highly probable as is.

She could hear his words, even if it was muttered under his breath as he pushed her. She had to contain her words because he obviously meant good by it, but she was still noticeably upset. He suggested rekindling the fire, though she didn't really agree with the memo, "Sure, fine. Go ahead." She gave him one last shove in the right direction, then retreated back to the spot along the wall on the carpet. He added the kindling, got the fire kicking, then suggested that they take turns sleeping or just both go to sleep since nobody would be nearby. She was quick and straight to the point, "You first, after all that trouble and your health, you need it more than I do." She wouldn't be able to sleep if he was still awake and conscious to make another idiotic decision like that again. She was still cold, especially now that she was without the coat, but she wouldn't accept it back even if he offered it to her, "Go on, relax."

Rewards:

- 4 Skill Points

- Matriarch's Stinger

- 7 Materials

- 940 Col

After she made it back to the safe zone, she'd drop by a few of the player and NPC shops around to see what the average prices were. There were a lot of similar potions and vitamins, but nothing seemed to be within her willing price range. She would just have to save up until Luci had her own shop, perhaps she would offer a discount to a friend. Crossing her fingers, she would draft up a message that she was going to send to Luci, but then she deleted it after reading over it a few times, "I really shouldn't pry, she's probably training." With that, she made her way back to Pins and Needles to use the materials that she had just obtained.

Once outside, she began to think a bit more about some precautions for the next time she went on a quest. "Hmm... Maybe I should see if Luci has her shop set up yet, I think she mentioned she wanted to become an alchemist." That covered the part about the crystal, but she could also use some of her potions to heal, "Perhaps I should go visit a chef too, I've heard they have similar items that allow players to heal and such." She already had the armor and the sword, plus Tyger had her shield on the way. If she carried through, then things would go swimmingly the next time that she ventured out of the safe zone.

She wiped her brow, not because there was a build up of stress, but because she was a little panicked about the door not letting her out. After all, she didn't yet have a crystal nor any other way of instantly escaping a situation such as this, "I really need to pick me up one once I get back to the safe zone..." She climbed down the stairs from the entrance of the second chamber to the first, where the hive members made sure to avoid crossing her path. Perhaps they already knew that she slew the Queen. Maybe this was a pretty common sight for them, though they probably expected her to die.

[7051] 4 - 2 - 10 - 6

[___] 7/13

[Wind Wasp Heir] 25/30

By now, she knew that it was about time to give up and she decided to just sprint directly for the door, no more games and no more fighting. She had avoided the strikes of the Heir pretty well, but by the time she had made it just more than halfway to the door, the stinger struck her in the back. She continued running, unfaltered, until she got to the door and pressed her hand upon it. It opened just wide enough for her to proceed through, leaving the Heir to take the Queen's throne.

[7050] 2 - 5 - 18 - 8

[___] 8/13

[Wind Wasp Heir] 25/30

She ran towards the stairs, hoping to use it as cover while the Heir was recovering from the recent miss, but it knew far better than that. It was a shame that Red hadn't considered it though, It probably won't see me here... She peeked up from the stairs after realizing that her Battle Healing skill wasn't going to give her the field advantage here, only to see the size of the Heir's body increasing... No, wait. It's getting closer! It crashed into the stairway, crumbling away what little footing could take players to the third floor of the hive, causing a fair amount of damage to Red.

[7049] 5 - 11 - 16 - 3

[___] 9/13

[Wind Wasp Heir] 25/30

She charged towards it and struck it three times before it could react, landing enough damage that she would only have to strike it five more times to defeat it. However, if she got lucky, she would be able to take it down in even less amount of hits if she landed a few critical strikes. She jumped out of the way as the Queen started hovering with an expected follow up strike, "Missed me!" She thought that maybe this game had some sort of distraction mechanism in it, similar to the skill she had heard about called 'Howl' which could distract enemies if you were in more than a group of one.

[7048] 1 - 8 - 2 - 10

[___] 8/13

[Wind Wasp Heir] 30/30

She tried her best to fight back, but the Heir kept flying around her and out of her range. The door was still closed and there was quite a distance between her and the- "Oomph!" The Heir crashed into her as she had turned her focus onto the door, knocking her back into a nearby wall. It had already brought her down to nearly half her health, this thing was extremely dangerous, "I've got to take this thing out quick..." She had absolutely no intention of staying in the event that the Heir actually brought her down to half her health, but she figured she'd have a chance since she defeated the Queen so easily.

[7047] 1 - 11 - 10 - 7

[___] 11/13

[Wind Wasp Heir] 30/30

"What in the world..." She saw a multitude of clones of the Queen Wind Wasp, all with the same features and even the same silly crown that rested upon their heads. One began to flutter its wings and charge towards Red, but she noped out of the chamber and all the way back down to the second chamber. Before she could exit the second, the Wind Wasp Heir would crush the stairs that she was climbing down and send her falling to the floor. In just a matter of seconds, this one had already inflicted more damage without a direct hit than the Queen ever did or was seemingly capable of.

She decided to take the spare time to explore the hive while the wind wasps still let her roam around in free reign, which probably wouldn't happen the next time that she was in here. According to the information she had been told about, quests like these where you had to defeat a field boss wasn't a one-time ordeal. Usually, they were repeatable quests and it would completely reset everything the next time you tried it. There wasn't much to see in the first or second chamber so she headed up to the third and final chamber, but what she would find was something far more frightening.

She couldn't help but think that she had either missed something, there was a significant amount of tomfoolery, or there was still more to this quest than just that. Everyone had talked the rumours up, spreaded them, and altered them. Some of them were true, but just a little overexaggerated, much like the size, location, and even the requirements for the Queen. Obviously, someone had been here a time or two and the information just got leaked, "I guess it goes to show that even people that have played games before can fall for stuff like this too, I'm not the only one this time around."

She heard him as he pitifully requested that she didn't leave, but he didn't have any problem leaving without telling Red. She had been more than patient and kind enough not to be upset with him when he did leave, but to go out there and return with a mere two healthpoints left? She was not pleased by any means. She was sitting down just outside the entrance, but she could see her own health go down by two points and she wasn't even in the worst part of the storm. He would soon follow, pleading for her to come in, otherwise they would die. She looked up at him with a cold stare, "You're saying that now? After you march off to your own grave in a snowstorm?" She looked away, lowering her voice to a reasonable level, "What if you didn't return? I wouldn't have known if you were dead, buried, or..." She didn't want to think about the only friend she had actually began to get to know suddenly run out on her, the loneliness would be just as brutal as death. She let out a huff, not wanting to give into his suggestion, but knew that it was for the better. Red stood up and pushed him inside, "I-I can't have you dying on me either."

Red sat up straight, no longer leaning against the stone wall of the cave, as she heard the sound of a wolf's howl echo throughout the safe place. She shifted beneath the coat so that her hand was on her rapier and she could jump up, it sounded like it was really close. A few moments passed and when she saw that it was Kosan, she let out a sigh of relief, but didn't notice that he had been tailed. She froze in place as she saw his health and the wolf lunged for him, but his armor protected him. He slew the wolf and tried to play it cool, but ended up landing on his back in exhaustion. He acted as if he didn't know how long it had actually taken, every second that Red had been left alone in the cave. She stood up, eyes watery as she stood over him, "You idiot." She pulled the coat off her shoulder, crumpled it up, and tossed it at his face. Gulping and trying not to show too much emotion, she walked outside the cave and sat down at the entrance. It was out of sight from the inside, but covered well enough that she would lose health amidst the storm. She was just really cold and upset, I can't believe he'd do something like this...

Red had fallen asleep a few minutes before the fire had completely died out and Kosan had left, but she was awoken by both the sound of his footsteps and the constant gusts of the storm. She didn't want to spook him, but once she was sure he was out of sight, she rolled over and sat up to read the note. It was clear he felt bad for her, he wanted her to sleep well and feel comfortable while she did so, but she was conflicted about this idea. He really shouldn't have gone out there..... What if the snowstorm traps him or the Avalanche gets to him before he returns? This isn't good... She wasn't sure if there was a chance she could pursue him, especially under such intense conditions. Given the circumstances, she knew that it was going to be impossible to go back to sleep. She took the carpet to the edge of one of the walls, then sat with her back against it. She pulled the coat tighter and she began to worry, Please hurry...

[7691] 5 - [4] - 15 - 10

___: 14/15

Ariel: 14/15

Raeyliff: 15/15

Red wasn't entirely sure what it was, but the winds were pretty strong. Perhaps something had gotten her while she was distracted, it seems like Ariel sas dealing with the same problem herself. However, hers was more or less due to the nature of her clothing. I looked at Raeyliff and pretended nothing happened, "I thought I saw a tumbleweed or something. It must have been an illusion." It was entirely possible that they could mimic mirages in this game, wasn't it? After all, this game was nothing short of a well crafted mirage itself. Either way, Red turned back so that she was facing the way they were walking. She pulled the hood of her red cape up, keeping less sand from hitting her face.

Kosan apologized once again, acting as if her history was his fault, "It's alright, I enjoyed my time there. There's nothing to be sorry about." A lot of potential adopters that came by back in the day had a similar reaction, usually with a highly strung expression for whatever reason. It was his turn again and he tried to brush off Red's joke, claiming he wasn't trying to lie. Perhaps he was just underplaying himself or he actually knew someone stronger than himself, but Red couldn't tell which. He talked about he loved spectating the night sky, "It is pretty, especially during an eclipse. I saw one once, have you?" He added the last of the kindling to the fire as he continued, suggesting that Red get some sleep while the storm was fierce. It would pass the time, keep their mind off the cold, and refreshen them up for the remainder of the quest, "Perhaps that's a good idea." She curled up, still wearing Kosan's coat, by the fire. She was a little disappointed he wasn't going to share much about himself, but she understood he might still be on edge about her past.

It was without saying that they were going to be stuck her until the storm passed over, considering how severe it was. She knew the desert could inflict damage over time and she was pretty sure that blizzards would work in a very similar manner, that wasn't too far of a stretch, was it? Game logic had a bunch of similarities between everything, but it happened fairly often that things had a special note or unique trait. Red watched as Kosan lay across one of the rocks before starting his game of truth, not dare, "Well, at least there's one truth, you're a very bad liar." She had saw him overpowering the wolves earlier without a speck of trouble, going to the point of paralyzing two of them so that she could merely land a hit, but at least he was trying to play himself down instead of the other way around. She fiddled her fingers as she began thinking about what particular truth she'd like to admit to, "Umm, well..." There wasn't much that she wanted to talk about in recent years so she decided to talk about her time before then, "I'm an orphan, I guess that might be something of note." It wasn't anything that made her life better or worse, she enjoyed the orphanage, but some people made a big deal out of it back in the day.

Well, I don't know what my average lines are since I do everything from my phone, but I'm still completely willing to join. (:

She took back the coat without hesitation, she was getting really cold. Red could tell that Kosan was cold, but it seemed like he wasn't going to accept the coat whether she liked it or not. "Thank you," she wasn't used to these kinds of temperatures, even in the real world. Where she had been staying, it was always warm or just a little too hot, but never cool... especially this cold. He showed that he took a further understanding that she had a trouble past and knew that she wasn't wanting to talk too much about it. He probably had some rough tracks in his history as well, but at least he wasn't making a fuss about it like Red was. However, he took it upon himself to be there for Red, through thick and then, "I really don't know what to say, other than 'Thank you.' I've never really had anyone to help me out so I really do appreciate everything you've done." She pulled the coat a little tighter around her body, "I don't know what I can do to make it up for you, but I promise I will." Perhaps she could make him something? She looked down, smiling so that he couldn't see her do so. Yeah... I know exactly what I could make him.

She reached up into the air, stretching out her arm, letting out a great big yawn. It nearly knocked off Kosan's coat, but she caught it before it did so, "That reminds me, when did you give me your coat? You must be freezing." She tossed the coat back to him, feeling a little cooler already even through her own hooded cape. She raised one eyebrow, something coming to mind... That's right, I'm a tailor. I could have made us blankets for us in case something like this happened. It was too late now though, she didn't have the tools necessary to do so. She regretted the lack of foresight as a strong gust was pulled into the cave, sending chills up her spine and making her take a seat right in front of the fire. She looked back at Kosan, still seeming a bit bothered by everything that had just gone on, "I don't think I could ever tell anyone though, it might become a burden that they have to carry on their shoulders and I don't want that." Sure, it'd be nice to let everything out, but what good could that do? It's not like it would fix the pain or the nightmares... The only thing it would do is make me remember and hurt someone else in the process... She looked back at him, smiling, hoping he wouldn't try to pry too deep. She needed to take this a step at a time and she already took a few in the past hour.