Azrael

The raincoat clad child finally took Anna’s hand, and Anna smiled at her as she began to hoist her up. The woman began to pull her off the floor boggled by the fact that the slip of a girl weighed far more than she ought to have. “What do you have under that thing? Chainmail?†She asked as she eyed the rather ridiculously adorable raincoat. It had ears and a tail; it could not be explained any other way.  The small girl stood before her. She was tiny, maybe the size of an elementary school student, with big eyes and blue hair. How the girl could have blue hair after the change Anna didn’t know. Maybe she was allowed to color it that way. It really did not matter.

The girl spoke drawing Anna from her observations back to reality. She turned down a meal and instead proposed something else. She wanted Zaz to take care of her. The woman threw her head back and laughed heartily at the sky. Her gaze fell back onto the little person in front of her. Her eyes were watery, and Azazel chucked again as she wiped her face.  

“That was hilarious….†Anna replied smiling. The smile faded away quickly when Zaz realized that the girl was actually serious.

“Listen chibi…†Zaz began to explain, “I…â€

She was at a loss for words. In the real world, she had been a high school teacher, but she never really got involved with her students. She did the work because it was easy for the money. But now, a young person was reaching out to her.

“I …uhhh… I can’t even keep a house plant alive…†she said. 

Hopefully this would be enough to detour the girl from her demand.

The girl lifted her head and looked at Anna rather pitifully. From the looks of things her day just might have been way worse off than her own.

 â€œIt’s not water kid,†Zaz said and pushed the mug toward the girl. “It doesn’t work like it does in the real world,†She began to explain as she took a swig from her own pint, “But it’ll give you a little head change.â€

  In all real circumstances, the woman would never done what she just did, but they weren’t in the real world right now, and the drink would have no effect on the girl anyway. Azazel was merely supplying a device to divert the girl’s mind from whatever seemed to be troubling her.

  “If you want to be on your own… I understand,†she told the girl, “I just thought you might need a distraction.â€

Roleplays:
Threads deleted over time, staff approved: 26 SP total

[PP:F1] Absolute Pin Guild Initiation: Kotori  1 SP
[SP:F1] Better Living Through Alchemy <<Earning a Living Quest>> +1 SP
[SP:F7] Digging a Shallow Grave +1 SP
[PP:FL2] The Bees Knees (Lowe) +1 SP
[PP:F5] Landshark! <<Blood in the Sand>> (Mari) Complete 4 SP
[PP:F1] On a Sunday Afternoon (Dante) COMPLETED +1 SP
[PP-F1] The View at Sunrise (Crozeph) COMPLETED +1 SP
[PP:F1] SHHHHH!!! (XWuZHeAR ) +1 SP
[SP:F1] The Grand Master Tailor's Wish <<Earning a Living Quest>> (ABANDONED!) +1 SP
[PP-F3] A delayed visit [Azazel] +1 SP
[PP:F1] Back In Black - (Teayre, Azazel) +1 SP
S&Z Tournament vs. Jomei (deleted) +1 SP

Zaz’s day took a wrong turn in her questing yet again, thus leaving her far from her usual home at her favorite inn for the evening. Sure, she could have walked back to where she normally spent her nights, but Azazel was just far too tired.  The woman didn’t have to walk far before she found an establishment that fit her needs. The place looked nice enough and there were quite a few people inside which Anna took as a sign that the food and service must have been decent enough.

Plopping herself down at the first empty table she could find, Zaz lay herself against the wooden surface, just taking in all the coolness from it. “I need food….and ale,†she complained rather loudly as she raised her head looking for some sort of server. A young female NPC shouted that she would be with Zaz in just a moment and then scurried off to who knows where. This caused the woman to grumble and lay her head back on the table.

Anna had no idea how long she was like that, and she had no intention of moving. That was until she kept hearing the voice of one very loud, very rambunctious young person who was causing far too big of a raucous for Zaz’s liking. Picking her head up off the table she scanned the room and found the owner of the big mouth. Knitting her eyebrows together and pursing her lips she grumbled at the boy.

“Hey… how about you give us a break over here kid…

 Seriously!â€

Zaz entered her usual place (because she liked routines), at her usual time (just about dusk), ready to order her usual dinner (BEER!). It wouldn’t get her drunk sadly, but it did get her a little bit of a head rush as well as give her something to do to kill time. She had grown accustomed to drinking at this particular establishment mainly because the beer was cheap, the bar keep was cute, and on a good night she could usually find a gentleman or two to buy her a drink. On this particular evening however, the room lacked attractive men of age so tonight she was drinking alone and paying for it all herself…

BUMMER!

Anna took an empty seat at the bar and ordered her ale. She turned about and scanned the room as she waited for her drink. The place was quite dead, not that she minded at all; she quite enjoyed the peace and quiet. But it made her wonder if something more exciting was happening someplace else. Her mug came and Anna chugged it down.

Her eyes wandered again and she spotted a young woman at a table with her head down looking rather worn out.  The girl was no older than her students in the real world. She supposed that’s what drew Anna’s attention to her to begin with. Normally, Anna stayed out of her students business, but this was a different place, and a different world and she couldn’t help but be a little concerned about the girl. She ordered another drink and carried it over to the table where the girl was and set the drink in her field of vision.

“You look like you could use one of these,†Zaz said as she plopped down at the table. 

Azazel smirked as the small figure on the floor crawled away from her extended hand and then proceeded to growl at her. “Awwww…†She laughed, “Come on, I said I was sorry. I wasn’t trying to knock you down on purpose.†Zaz eyed the girl sitting there in the dirt. She was very diminutive in size, wearing a big green raincoat and seemed to be carrying some sort of plush toy in her hand. All in all, the small girl looked sort of adorable sitting there upon the ground.

A shadow went by overhead causing Zaz to look up at the sky. The woman sighed as she realized that it was later than she expected. If she didn’t hurry up and finish this quest soon, she’d be doing the rest of them long after dark. That was something she did not want to do. She looked at the small girl wondering if maybe she knew how to finish this quest. She couldn’t come out and just ask considering she ran the child over, instead she was going to need a plan.

Once more she walked toward the little doll-like girl, “Come on, let me help you up,†she offered her hand once more, “I’ll even buy you something to eat to make up for it. How’s that sound?â€

Maybe plying the girl with food would get her to share any information she might have for Azazel. It was the best plan Anna could think of at the moment.

After Zaz’s run-in with Vashtor at the inn that one particular evening, her outlook on SAO was just a little different. She was determined to make it out. Unfortunately, she had learned the hard way that the boars in the first area were a bit tougher than she expected so that meant leveling the only way she knew how for the moment: repeatable in-town NPC quests.

For the last week, Azazel had made herself busy by running to and fro across town delivering things and finding things that in town and unlocking new and simple quests she could do that didn’t involve her leaving the safety of the town walls. In order to make quick work of those damn boars, she was going to need to level. But running these menial tasks only gave a dismal amount of experience points, but it was all she could do to survive for the moment. Being a very organized woman, Zaz had worked out a system to maximize the number of quests she could. She would start in one area, collecting things along the way and sweep across town where her day would end back at her favorite little inn. Today however, Anna had stumbled upon a quest she had not done before, and it took her to a part of the town she was unfamiliar with. The small parcel she carried had an address on it, but she could not find it for the life of her. She had walked up and down the same area for the better part of an hour trying to find where she needed to go.

Anna walked along staring down at the parcel and then back at the names of the roads and paid attention to little else until she smacked right into something rather hard. Shocked by the surprise of hitting something Zaz immediately looked in front of her and found that she had not run over a what, but a who.

“OH! I’m sorry!†She apologized immediately, “I was looking for this place, and I wasn’t watching where I was going. Are you okay?†Azazel held her hand out to help the small girl before her.

HAIHAIHAIHAIHAI!

I saw you avatar name when I was making my character and it made me laugh. In a good way, I promise!

Anyway, if ever you'd like to RP feel free to hit me up here or on Skype!

A smile crept over Anna’s face as the young man spoke and she remembered why she was here in the first place, she joined SAO to kick ass. Being stuck inside the virtual world didn’t change that. If anything, it made the experience all the better. This time instead of sitting behind the keyboard clicking away, she would be the one actually living the adventure she always wanted. It was like a dream, her dream, and now that she had what she wanted, she had to live it out, and make it back to tell about it.

“I didn’t think of it like that, but you’re right. Thanks!†she repeated with a bit more enthusiasm

.

Anna flagged the barkeep and ordered another of what she was drinking and another drink was set in front of her. “Better drink up while I can,†she raised her mug to Vashtor and then knocked it back.

“Do you think…†Anna began as she set her drink down,†That I could add you to my friends list? You know, in case I have any more questions?†

Anna listened to Vashtor’s words carefully. Her eyes moved between the young man’s face and the bar as she mulled over his words. All things considered, she should have recognized that while she was immersed inside of Sword Art Online, it was still a game. Having been playing games since she was a kid, her mind ought to have put two and two together and recognized that this place would also follow game format. The first level of a game was typically benign. No game maker would make it all that difficult to start up a game; else no one would ever get anywhere. If no one ever got anywhere, players would get tired of struggling, and it players didn’t want to struggle anymore, they’d simply toss the game aside and look for something else to play. No game maker wanted to lose business by players not playing their games. The typically analytical woman let all this inner knowledge go to waste out of fear that despite SAO being a game, the stakes were all too real.

When Anna Vilasquez had bought Sword Art Online, she felt a thrill that she had never gotten before in her real life. It slipped away from her the first day, but now after having heard Vashtor’s words, she felt a renewed excitement and she felt more determined than before to get out of the Town of Beginnings.

“Thank you…†Zaz spoke softly as she finally turned to look over at her now quiet companion. 

Someone slid into the empty seat next to her at the bar. Zaz stole a side glance of the figure beside her as he spoke. “It’s kind of hard not to notice things in a place like this.†She replied casually. Surveying the room around her, it was plain to see that she wasn’t the only one suffering from fears and doubts.

Anna turned to finally get a good look at her momentary companion’s face as he introduced himself. Her eyes quickly scanned over the young man beside her, making her assessments as she always had. He was younger than her to be sure, but older than most she had come across, and his face was not at all unpleasing to look at, nor was the rest of him. The gentle manner in which he spoke to her indicated that he was a warm soul. The corner of her lip turned down slightly  as she thought what a shame it would be when and if he were to meet his end in this strange new world they found themselves in.  

“Azazel…†She finally replied after only a moment’s silence.

It was quiet again for an instant, but then Vashtor spoke to her once more asking her how she was holding up.

 â€œOh you know…†she said with a shrug and leaned against the counter proper her chin up on her hand. “But I think I’m getting out of here tomorrow,†she added as an afterthought. “Things will get bad here eventually, and I don’t plan on dying like a trapped rat.†Glancing down at the bar before her Anna swirled her finger against the bar idly.

“What about you?†She asked in return,†Have you been out there yet? Is it… bad?â€

If he had been outside the walls of the city then Azazel would have to pump him for as much information as she could get. Anything she could get would potentially help her live at least one more day in Aincrad.

Azazel sat there staring into her pint for the greater part of an hour lost in thought. In her real life she had wanted nothing more than to happily live out her days in a realm of fantasy, and now that she was here, she was having some major thoughts about it. While there was an entire world of wonder and adventure waiting out there for her Zaz found herself too afraid to venture out of the comfort of the Town of Beginnings. The threat of death was all too real for her as she had seen what happened to those whose family members tried unplugging them on the first day. Their avatars shattered before her eyes, and none were seen again.  

Even with things as they were Azazel  knew she had to get out of town and soon. So far she had been lucky. Being a decent enough looking girl she was able to find at least one sucker a day to buy her a drink or take pity on her and give her a ration of bread, but that wouldn’t last forever. Soon she would run out of helping hands and then she would have to do things for herself, as she always had before SAO.

With a heavy sigh, Zaz resolved that tomorrow she would indeed head out into the world. “I guess I better drink up then,†she said softly and let out a small chuckle. She tipped back her mug and took a swig of the now lukewater beer. As she set her now empty mug back onto the counter she heard a voice behind her mutter about the rather dismal atmosphere of the place.

 â€œYou could say that again,†she replied rather unenthusiastically.

Hello Rusty and thank you! I will definitely take you up on your offer ^_^ 

YAY PEOPLE!!! HELLOOOOO!!!!! 

Yeah, X, I'm a grownup XD I tried not to let it happen but time didn't stop like I wanted it to so, lame! Your goal is totally awesome. You should so do it!

And Hello Vashtor! Just as soon as I'm approved you can better believe I'll be hunting you down for an RP. I'll have to think long and hard about a guild. I wouldn't want to pick the wrong one XD But thanks for the tip, I appreciate it!

Hi and hello!

I’m  so super excited to have found this site! I am a rabid RP’er and have been playing all types of RPG’s : online forum, tabletop,  and MMORPG (ETC), for a total of 15 years now. That’s a little more than half my life (my age is in my profile for those who do not want to do the math).

I’m a part time student and undecided in my major… I was working to get myself into a nursing or surgical program, but I’m thinking I might switch to education. Aside from school, I’m a mom. I’ve got 2 kids, 13 and 6. When I’m not doing the school or mom thing, I craft. I love making cute things with my hands. I mainly hand sew dolls and other small cute things, but I also do paper craft, clay, and crochet.

I guess that’s all for now. I’m home lots, soooo if ever anyone wants to chat via skype or rp with me, I’m totally game just message me!

Thanks and happy to be here!