Azrael

Azazel decided that when she got back into town, she would hit up a weapon’s trainer so that she could work on rapier skills, she wasn’t terrible, but she knew she was not using the skill to its potential .else she would have been landing more blows. She also felt that she would need to throw points in her accuracy skill. Between these two things, eventually Anna’s attacks would improve. For now, however, she was just going to have to muddle through and fight to the best of her ability.

 

15258     2015-05-03  18:32:23

 

BD: 3

MD: 9

Once more the pair rushed each other. Anna trust her weapon at the Watacco, but he easily evaded her attack, and instead landed another scratch on Anna’s body, this time the evil little tribble got her right in the neck. Zaz cupped her hand around her injury as she glared at the creature. Something was wrong here, either he was getting faster, or she was starting to get tired. Zaz was not ready to give up; she would defeat the little bugger and collect her prize.

As luck would have it, Anna leveled mid-battle. “YES!†she said, checking out her shiny new number in her level bar. She did not have time to celebrate however as she was mid-battle. The Watacco was not going to let her celebrate things just yet. Readying herself again, Zaz got into position, eyeing the squirrely puffball for any changes in its trajectory. 

 

15257     2015-05-03   18:13:53

 

BD: 3

MD:1

Azazel moved before the animal attacked. Both she and the Watacco failed to make contact, and instead they leapt out of each other’s path. They both whipped about and got ready to square off other yet again.

Azazel: 12/17

Watacco: 6/11

5/20 Cotton

With every passing round, Azazel’s confidence grew and it showed upon her face. A wide smile ran across her slender lips and her eyes shone brightly as she watched the creature intensely trying to read its moves. The Watacco grew wise to her attack pattern and so it switched up its own. It started to zig-zag back and forth as it charged. She watched it carefully as it moved in closer and then once it was within range, she moved to strike.

 

15250     2015-05-03  13:00:22

BD: 6

MD: 8

Her sword tip sliced the Watacco once more and again the speedy creature also landed a blow. For such cute little puffballs, these creatures were rather hearty. She was half hoping they’d be dead with one strike, but she would have no such luck in that department.  The injured creature let out another purr-like growl, and again, Anna could not help but laugh. The sound engineers should have worked on that sound a little more; it was not at all intimidating.

“Right back at you…†Zaz said and grinned at the Watacco.

Azazel: 12/15

Watacco: 6/11

5/20 Cotton

The creature made a small sound, like a purr, but she thought it was supposed to be a growl. Anna laughed, she felt less nervous about fighting something that looked and sounded utterly ridiculous. The animal came running straight for her.  Instead of also running at it, she chose to stand still and ready herself to attack when it was within range. She felt that maybe this would help her out considering she was not nearly as fast as the Watacco was.

 

15248     2015-05-03  11:42:07

 

BD: 9 

MD: 6

Success!

Her sword gashed across the creature’s belly, however, it got another hit on her too, this time scratching her shoulder as it went by. She knew that she wounded the animal far worse than it got her. “That’s right you fluffy little bastard, come and get some more,†she taunted the Watacco. A few more blows like this and the Watacco would be dead and she’d have her cotton!

Azazel: 13/15

Watacco: 8/11

5/20 Cotton

The creature circled around just as quickly as Azazel did. They eyed each other and then moved toward each other again at full speed. The woman wished she had more points to invest in speed skills, but she had very little to earn any.  She was just lucky that she had a couple of them to invest in her sword’s skill. Thrusting her rapier toward the Watacco hoping this time they would collide. 

 

15245     2015-05-03  11:07:27

 

BD: 2

MD:6

She missed! Once more the agile creature contorted itself away from her sword keeping itself from harm. It sailed past Anna gracefully, as it did; she felt something strike against her cheek causing a small cut. The woman was startled. She did not realize that the fluff had thorny protrusions hidden beneath their little head fluffs. “Damn you,†she cursed at the creature as she turned to face it again. 

Azazel: 14/15

Watacco: 11/11

5/20 Cotton

Moving on to the next plant Azazel decided that she was no longer going to care so much if the plant produced nothing. This was obviously how the game was set up. But there had to be an easier way of gathering materials. Surely picking cotton wasn’t the only way she could attain it. Zaz went back into the small community and talked to the local NPC’s. It seemed that her hunch was correct. There was in fact, another way to gather cotton. Apparently, if she were to go up the road that lead out of the opposite end of town, and followed the path around the hill, there would be a field where a creature called “Watacco†lived. These Watacco were the guardians of the cotton fields in the community, and as she had hoped, they dropped cotton. Excitedly, Anna thanked the NPC and then ran down to path to find the cotton producing creatures.

She came around the bend as she was told, and sure enough she found them, or assumed that she had found them. There were a handful of little creatures no bigger than a dog, bouncing about on the hillside. Their bodies were round and yellow, and there were puffy white plume- like protrusions sprouting from the very tops of their heads.  The little monsters reminded her of something out of a child anime series she used to watch growing up. As she moved closer, she realized the mobs were marked green; they would not attack unless provoked.

Zaz pulled out her rapier and approached the closest Watacco. She held her sword in her hand, and pursed her lips together looking at the cute little creature. The lady was feeling a little guilty about what she was going to do to, but it was this, or spend the next week picking cotton. She chose the first option. She charged the bouncing creature, her sword sailed to the right of the animal as it leapt away. These Watacco were fast! The animal charged, but Anna was ready for it, twisting her body to the side, the creature breezed right past her. She was going to have to be faster if she was going to land a blow on the speedy mob.

 

15241     2015-05-03  10:46:22

 

BD: 2

MD: 2

 

Azazel: 15/15

Watacco: 11/11

5/20 Cotton

Anna’s eyes blinked slowly and the woman stretched out giving a big yawn. She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes. A small line of drool crept from the corner of her lip, and there were pieces of grass stuck into her hair. It seemed that she had fallen asleep. “OH HECK!†Zaz shouted and popped up off the ground. Falling asleep in the open was dangerous! She could have been attacked, or looted, or worse, killed! Luckily for her, nothing of the sort happened.

Rubbing off the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand to mop up her drool, she yawned again as she approached the cotton field. The plants that she had cut down before had grown back, and were ready for picking. Clicking on the nearest one, she was pleasantly surprised with a fluff of cotton. She added it to her inventory. Refreshed and ready to go, Azazel got back to work.

 

15239     2015-05-03  10:11:24

 

LD:15

5/20 Cotton

Azazel found herself with some free time on her hands. Dervish had gone off some place, and everyone else she knew seemed to be partied off on different floors. She had thought about going out in the field to do some leveling of her own, but she didn’t really feel like it. She had been on the grind for the better part of two weeks and she needed a break. It was how she found herself strolling around the town of beginnings with nothing to do.

She strolled along the walkway with her thumbed looped into her belt, just aimlessly wandering about. She scanned the road for any familiar faces but there were none. Her attention fell upon a girl who was looking into each shop like she was trying to find something. Zaz crossed the road and walked toward the girl. “Excuse me,†she said as she approached, “Ummm… you look like you’re trying to find something. I know this area pretty well and I’d be happy to help find what you’re looking for.†As it was, Anna was generally not the type to offer assistance to anyone, but she had time to kill and she was in a friendly type mood, which was a terribly rare thing. 

Azazel was relieved that the young man agreed to let her come along. She cracked a wide smile and nodded eagerly as he told her to stay close. He turned around and continued on the path that leads away from the town and its festivities. Azazel looked back at the festival and sighed. She would have really liked to go, but this was far more important. Following Life’s lead, she turned down the road and followed behind.

The third floor was exceptionally pretty. The sun was bright and warm and the sky was a brilliant azure; there was not a cloud in sight. On each side of the road was ever stretching fields; little yellow dandelions dotted the landscape as far as the eye could see. A soft breeze blew kicking up the white plumes of the flowers that had already gone to seed. The little pods danced through the breeze and fluttered about. She causally walked several steps behind the younger man taking it all in. When Life began to speak Anna quickened her pace and walked beside him so that she could hear what he said. He was alerting her as to where they were going and what to expect. She nodded taking in all the information.

 As they walked a little further, the pretty landscape started to change in a very alarming way. It was if there were a visible division from the area which was safe, from the forest they were about to travel; the surrounding grass was brown and dead, as were the trees. Each one was leafless and in varying states of decay. There was also a dense fog that grew the closer they got to the border of the wasteland that was before them.  Anna’s chest tightened as she looked at the deadwood looming before her, and she was afraid. She had meant to go along with Life to make sure nothing happened to him, but she did not think about the fact that bad things could very well happen to her.  And then she began to feel bad. What if SHE were the one to die in this place? Would Life feel guilty for bringing her along even though she insisted? Taking a deep breath as she felt for the rapier that hung at her side, Zaz decided that she wasn’t going to let that happen. She was just going to have to be careful and make it out of this creepy place alive.

Anna was right for not getting excited about finding the previous piece of cotton. This time when her gathering skill failed, she was not surprised that there was no cotton to add to her inventory. The woman looked up at the sky and sighed heavily. She was bored of this, and tired. She had been trying to gather stupid cotton and wanted no more of it! Not now anyway!

Irritated and annoyed, Azazel marched out of the cotton field flipping it off with both hands as walked away. She walked toward a small tree standing in the middle of a grassy patch beside one of the huts and plopped herself down in the grass. She lay on her back staring straight up at the blue sky that peeked through the braches above. Maybe she would take a little break from gather cotton for a moment and rest up. She was tired, and gave 0 fox about her stupid quest. She needed a time out to get centered again.

 

15204     2015-05-02  17:32:19

 

LD: 7

4/20 Cotton

Azazel could not take her emotions being toyed with like this. A plant would drop a cotton and her spirits would soar. This high would then be replaced by the rather soul sucking low of clicking the next twenty plants and getting nothing. And just about the time Anna was ready to fall into despair, and curl up fetal position and die, She would find another cotton, starting the process off all over again! It was very exhausting to be on such an emotional seesaw of gathering cotton.

 

15203     2015-05-02  17:23:07

 

LD: 15

The next plant Anna clicked produced a piece of cotton for her, making the woman less agitated than either extreme. She took the piece of cotton between her fingers and stared at it stone faced. Without a word she added it to her inventory.

4/20 Cotton

The dark haired woman hummed and bounced toward the next plant. Her mood slightly lifted due to finding more pieces of the material she needed to complete her quest. She had three pieces of cotton now, and three was much closer to twenty than two. Clicking the next plant she felt confident that this too would yield crops for her so that she could wrap up her gathering mission much quicker.

 

15202     2015-05-02  17:10:28

 

LD: 7

But of course that would be asking too much, and once more she was left with no cotton. Frustrated, Zaz removed her rapier from her sheath and swung it around slicing up the cotton plants in front of her. Or course no materials dropped and the plants disappeared. It would be quite awhile before they regenerated, so Zaz had managed to lessen her chances of finding cotton by shrinking the number plants she could search.

“Ugh,†she said smacking her forehead. She always managed to make her own problems worse whenever she got like this. Placing her rapier back into its sheath, she calmed down and went back to her tedious chore.

3/20 Cotton

The boy snatched the boy from Zaz’s hands and quickly put it back into her inventory causing her to smile. It seemed that it was important to the boy, so she felt good about chasing him down to bring his possession back to him. He thanked her but she just shook her head. “None necessary... I mean we all have our off days,†she said and shrugged. In the real world, Anna was always dropping and losing things.

The lady looked up at the giant trees standing in front of her and marveled. “This really is something, isn’t it?†she said to herself. Her attention was brought back to the young man standing before her as he asked her why she’d come to the second floor.

“This is probably going to sound stupid, but this is the first time I’ve gotten this far. I figured it was high time I got off the first floor,†she said sheepishly, “I’m glad I decided to come though. This is so beautiful!†She looked up into the sky and smiled as the sun shone brightly overhead and the never ending blue was dotted with large fluffy clouds.

“I take it you come here often then?†She asked curiously. Maybe he would be able to tell her what sort of creatures she would face in the surrounding woods. 

Anna was being punished. That had to be it. This would be her punishment in the afterlife; Sisyphus always had to roll that huge boulder uphill, Tantalus could never eat or drink a thing, and Azazel would be forced to pick cotton that she could never gather. This was to be her eternity…

 Or so she dramatically lamented.

Whenever things did not go her way, Zaz was prone to temper tantrums and wild dramatics. She was quite the little brooder.  She glared at the next plant sourly and clicked it waiting for the expected outcome: nothing.

 

15201     2015-05-02  16:29:07

 

LD: 20

But of course as dumb luck would have it, produced cotton.

“YAY!†She cheered eagerly and gathered the cotton into her inventory, quickly forgetting how upset she was.

Did I forget to mention that Azazel was also prone to bipolar mood swings?

3/20 cotton

Anna was starting to think this Nana NPC was a troll. This had to be the case because apparently picking cotton was IMPOSSIBLE. She had cleared another entire roll and collected a whole lot more of nothing. The lady’s forehead wrinkled and she pursued her lips as she came around the next aisle and clicked on the closest cotton plant.

"If I don’t get some cotton soon, I’m going to burn down this field,†Anna muttered bitterly. Not that she actually would or could; she was just so frustrated that it was all she could say.

 

15200     2015-05-02  16:21:53

 

LD: 3

“AHHH!!!†She screamed and clenched her fists as her harvest failed to produce anything her.

“What the heck is going on here?†she whined.

2/20 Cotton

Seeing pain written so clearly written across the girl’s face broke Anna’s heart. Without a thought, the woman jumped to her feet, circled around the table and enclosed the girl in her arms and hugged her tightly. Zaz could tolerate many things, and care about even less of them, but the one thing she simply could not abide by was the hurt and suffering of young people.

“I’m sorry,†was all that Anna could get out.

More than anyone else, the woman understood the girl’s pain. Zaz’s parents hated each other and when they divorced, she was shuffled between them for most of her childhood. Both her parents were alcoholics; but they dealt with her differently. Her father was physically and emotionally abusive, and her mother never dealt with her at all. It was far easier to deal with neglect over abuse, but none of it was at all good, and shaped the woman as who she was today. Zaz was a broken thing with no clue as to how to fix it.

Anna saw herself being mirrored in the child in front of her. The girl felt no love in her world, and she didn’t deserve that. She pet the girl’s head and signed deeply. If she were a more whole person she could do or say something that could help the girl, but she wasn’t. Instead, more than anything right now, all Anna could do was to give the girl a hug. Maybe some of her warmth would reach her.

 

15190     2015-05-02  11:20:12  

 

BD: 1    

MD: 9

Dervish tried to attack the boar, but instead ended up getting slammed by the animal. Anna felt her stomach clench.  It was obvious he was distracted by their previous argument, but now was not the time to be concerned with such things. “FOCUS!†She scolded him. The man hollered for her to switch places so she could attack, and Anna moved to the front readying her sword for impact.

Zaz closed in on the beast, her weapon drawn. She lunged for the animal, but failed to make any sort of contact with her sword. Instead, the creature charged, knocking Anna off her feet and down into the dirt. What surprised her most wasn’t that she fell; it was that it actually hurt. She gathered her sense quickly and looked up in time to see the boar circle  around back toward them.  Anna got to her feet as quickly as she could and readied herself again. The animal may have gotten the drop on her once, but it would not do so again.

Azazel: 9/13 11/13

Boar: 8/8

**Edited for poor math skills! DON'T JUDGE!

Azazel tiled her head to the side as he spoke to her. It seemed that he would not be attending the festivities, and instead was going to try and communicate with a fallen companion. “I am sorry for your loss,†Anna said as he explained. He continued speaking and told her of a place where he might be able to communicate with his lost friend.

The woman sighed heavily and pressed her lips together.  Her eyebrows knit closely together and she wore a look of concern for the young man. The thing she hated most about Sword Art Online wasn’t that the players were all trapped within a virtual world, it was the pain and suffering that was being inflicted upon the youth that lived within the world. In life, death was imminent, but most of the loss was concentrated toward the end of one’s lifetime, not at the beginning of it. Typically, Anna was not the type to care about the troubles of others, but she simply could not stand to see children in pain. She knew all too well what kind of damage that did to a young person. Her chest ached in response to his distress.

It also concerned her that there was a place to supposedly commune with those who were lost to the game. The notion itself was almost as ridiculous as contacting the dead in the real world. However, it was obvious he needed to seek that truth for himself in order to gain closer and acceptance the death of his friend. It was then that she remembered Dervish’s words. It was dangerous for Life to go alone. What if he died in the process of his quest and no one knew he was gone? Who would mourn him and remember him if he were to lose his life?

After a few moments she raised her head and looked Life in his vivid aqua eyes and smiled. “I do not wish to be an inconvenience, but would it be possible for me to join you? I should very much like to pay my respects for the lives lost to Aincrad. Please?†Zaz simply could not accept the young man going off on his own. The thought was rather distressing to her; if he died, she would feel guilty for letting him go off on his own.

Anna followed after the boy. She tried to call to him, but he was still a ways ahead of her, and he walked rather quickly. He continued along the path until he left town and started heading toward the forest area. She watched as he made a beeline toward the treeline and then stopped at the edge of the wood. Quickening her pace, she made her way over to him to return what he lost.

As she drew closer, she saw the boy was checking his inventory. It seemed that only now he noticed that his book was missing. She could understand his predicament. The second floor was beautiful, there was plenty to distract from the little things.

“Excuse me,†she said as she crossed into the grassy area,†I saw you drop this back in town. I tried to call you, but I guess you must not have heard me.†Anna held the book out to him. 

Anna sat on a bench on the edge of Urbus, looking up at the sky. It was the first time she had come to this floor, and the woman had taken a liking to it. It was very pretty here, and the air seemed so crisp and clear due to the mountainous region. She watched soft fluffy white clouds roll by for a while, with a soft serene smile upon her face. There were not many people in the town today. She figured they must have been off on other floors, doing who knew what. She liked that there was hardly anyone around as she thoroughly enjoyed the quiet.

As she looked around the square that she sat in, someone crossed her field of visions, and without even thinking about it, her eyes followed along as the person walked by. He was a boy, about the age of her students were in the real world and he was carrying something tucked under his arm. As he walked along, something slipped out from under his arm and landed on the floor. He did not seem to notice, and continued walking along. The woman got off the bench and approached the fallen object. Upon reaching it, she saw that the boy had lost a book.

“Strange…†she said to herself and picked it up.

It wasn’t often you found a young person with a book in their hands, not of their own accord anyway. She looked up and scanned the area to find where he had gone off to, and she saw him a bit ahead of him, turning down another path. Zaz followed after him.

Anna watched the boys talk amongst themselves feeling rather out of place at the moment. Dervish was eagerly drinking in all of Life’s knowledge, while X was being his usual self. After realizing that X had completed the grandmother quest earlier by handing the basket to the old woman a couple seats down from her, Anna decided that she ought to do that as well. She slipped away from the group for a moment and carried the basket over to the little old woman.

“Here you go, grandmother,†Zaz said. She knew she didn’t have to talk to the NPC’s but they were programmed to respond, so it was kind of neat.

“Oh thank you kindly dear,†the old woman said and rewarded Azazel with a little XP. That small bump was enough to give her the level she needed to go out into the field.

“YESS!†Zaz cheered to herself and gave a little fist pump.

Happily, she returned to the group just in time for X to ask them if they would like to see him do something.

“Showing off again, X? This isn’t the café, none’s going to pay you for your antics here.†She said as she cracked a smile and laughed.

YAY I like group chats!

Skype: Linaloff

Azazel was pleased with herself. Not only was she on the third floor, but she had come to be a part of something. She had come to enjoy the festivities of the Shadow Festival. In her normal life, she would never take part in something like this because it never lived up to the stuff she saw on television or in animes. Since this was a game however, she thought it would be more ideal than the ones in the real world and decided to come have a look.

She found herself walking on the main path toward Delilah. The sounds of merriment and music were carried on the breeze and so was the smell of delicious things to eat. After having hunted with Dervish a few days ago, she had a few Col to spare, and she hoped she would find a vendor making Takoyaki. Anna hurried down the road, the sounds grew closer and she could see the established community before her. She grinned and picked up her pace, walking with a slight bounce to her step. As she rushed toward the town she caught a glimpse of a familiar form. She turned her head and saw that it was indeed the young man she’d met before, the one in the beautiful blue kimono.

She had run into Life the day she met Dervish. She remembered being struck by him. First he was hard to miss, as he looked so very regal and he had a handsome face. But it was the way he spoke that she remembered. There was sadness in his words and it was written clearly in his expression. As he talked to the others, she had found herself watching him because she found beauty in his demeanor. Her eyes followed him along as he passed by her. She meant to keep walking but instead she turned around and followed him.

“You’re not staying?†She called after him. “I thought everyone came here for the festival.â€

Zaz followed behind Dervish carrying on in her tirade, moving toward the boar that she hadn’t even noticed. He turned around and gave her a look that confused her, and then proceeded to chew her out right back. Anna was surprised and a bit impressed. Normally other people would have dropped it and left things at that, But Dervish was crazy and told her to get past all her own BS.

In that very instant she wanted to hit him, square in his stupid face! But she wouldn’t do that. That would just cause more problems for her and she wanted none of it. She just stood there red in the face, her hand balled up in a fist, squeezing them so hard her knuckles were white.When he finished he turned around and charged the boar.

"You coming or what!?" he shouted at her like déjà- vu.

Drawing her rapier Anna chased behind and followed Dervish’s lead. If she couldn’t take her frustration out on Dervish, she was going to take it out on that damned boar!

"The reason you find me so annoying is because ... Basically ... I just am?"

“YES!†Anna said turning toward him and stomping her foot. “I don’t know how I can be any clearer on that.â€

It was obvious that he didn’t understand what she found so darn annoying, and it became even clearer when he tried to explain it to her. She listened to him waiting impatiently for her turn to speak, but it was getting really hard for her to do so. Anna crossed her arms across her chest defensively, trying her best not to explode as they continued to walk along.

“Look, “ Zaz waved her arms around exasperatedly still avoiding looking at him directly. “I’m not saying to be a jerk… but don’t freaking coddle me either. Yes, I am a female, but that doesn’t mean I can’t handle things. I have been taking care of myself since I was a little girl. I don’t need anyone trying to come to my rescue like I’m some kind of princess or a doll or something! My sex and my size have nothing to do with my ability to get things done!†She stamped her foot for good measure.

The man quieted once again and Zaz hoped he would understand now. It seemed like he did because he spoke again.

"Well I guess we could stop the talking for a bit and kill something?" 

“Yes, let’s do that,†she agreed.

"Oh we forgot!" He said and stopped to open his menu. He introduced himself to her again and sent a party request.

“I remember who you are... “Zaz replied, “ I don’t often forget names or faces.â€She clicked “accept†to his invitation.