Kooh

'Tch.' Kooh mentally scoffed. It was painfully clear that she was becoming more of a burden, and she hated it. The girl hadn't realized that Aereth had removed his shirt until he turned and spoke up, catching her attention. She suppressed her slight surprise, focusing instead on his words that brought a scowl to her face. 'No way. She wanted to say, but held her tongue as no alternatives came to mind. She couldn't rightly argue with his plan if she had no counter-argument of her own. Silent and defeated, Kooh opened up her menus once more, pressing a couple of buttons to banish her boots to her inventory as well. As much as she liked them, they were heavy and would only be a nuisance.

Continuing to focus a portion of her attention on steadying her breathing and keeping herself calm, Kooh took a couple of steps to lead herself to the island's edge and crouched down, her chest pressing up against her knees while she balanced on the balls of her feet. The water's surface was only a few feet beneath the land, meaning the girl would be able to safely lower herself down if the handholds were kind to her. She wasn't sure what exactly Aereth had wanted her to do from here, but she was much more partial to this idea. Taking in a breath, Kooh placed her hands firmly against the earth, twisting her body and planting her right foot against the rocky surface leading down to the water. She was careful to climb downward until she soon felt the rolling water brushing against her bare feet and legs. She tensed up when the waves crashed against her knees, partially from the fear and partially from the tingling sensation that Cardinal so loved to make them feel. "It's cold!" She thought aloud, letting out a breath she had been holding before continuing down.

It only took the girl a minute or so to enter the water, though it had felt much longer for her. She held onto the rocky edge of the island to keep herself afloat, resisting the urge to climb back up and pull herself out of the water. She had forced herself in, but reminding herself of the distance they had to cross through the open water nearly had her trembling.

The blonde felt a pang of guilt hit her with Aereth's words. After accepting her fate of tagging along with the man for however long their journey would take, one thing she wanted to avoid was being considered extra baggage. If Kooh wasn't already struggling to keep herself calm, she would have quipped back at the Aereth with a sarcastic retort to distract from her incompetence. Instead, she felt her fingers curl as her hands balled into fists at her sides, jaw tightening slightly as her emotions swirled. "Sorry." She said with forced indifference in her voice.

The girl steadied her breathing, trying to make herself accept that now was the time she needed to overcome the fear she had pushed away for years. 'You're not a little kid at the beach anymore, Luna. That can't happen here.' She reminded herself, taking a couple of steps closer to Aereth and the island's edge. She continued to stare at the waves, a bit calmer now than they were when they had first arrived on the floor in the middle of the night. "I can figure it out, yeah?" It wasn't clear whether she was reassuring herself, or actually asking the brunette if it was possible.

Feeling some semblance of her normal, carefree attitude still inside of her, she willed a comment to escape her as Aereth stretched."I don't know how you can function right now, let alone survive the whole day." A small smirk played on her lips. She assumed the man had just stayed awake through the night, and given that Kooh still felt plenty weary with what sleep she did get, she continued to assume the brunette's mind and body would start feeling the lack of sleep at some point today. Maybe some people could adapt to surviving on less sleep.

As Aereth would walk over to the island's edge, Kooh felt her stomach drop, the playful expression quickly erasing itself from her features. He turned to her, and the girl forced her legs to carry herself forward. The approached the edge of the land, garnet eyes glancing down at the open water and felt her body freeze up. After a long silence, Kooh spoke up in a mumble. "That really is the only way, huh...?" She hadn't expected a response from the brunette; she already knew the answer. Forcing herself to roll her shoulders, she shrugged off her signature hooded cardigan, leaving her in a sandy-colored tank top, light blue jean shorts, and black knee-high combat boots. The greaves that typically rested over her shoes were already unequipped, resting in her inventory since they had arrived on the sixteenth floor.

The blonde player continued staring down at the waves that crashed against the edge of the small island, unable to will herself closer to the water. She had considered opening her mouth to speak, to tell Aereth that she couldn't do it, that even if she knew how to swim she was too scared to tell her body to move properly. The thought of admitting that, however, was more humiliating than letting herself drown.

It was the bright sunlight pressing against Kooh's eyelids that finally caused the girl to open her eyes, squinting as they registered the surrounding area. A light breeze mixed with the unmistakable smell of seawater brushed against her cheeks, and her mind foggily wondered why the rest of her body was so warm in contrast. Sliding her arm underneath herself and propping herself up on her side, Kooh rubbed at her eyes with her free hand and spotted the coat that had been draped across her. The blonde blinked a few times, the tiredness preventing the gears from fully turning in her mind. When the realization of who's coat it was and how it got there finally hit her, she twisted her body to look over at the brunette. He had stationed himself under a tree, and seeing that he was awake had Kooh wondering if he had woken up before her or if he simply hadn't slept all night.

Turning away and sitting herself up, Kooh frowned. She had no idea what time it was, but judging by the sun hanging in the sky, she assumed it was much earlier than she would normally be awake if she had the luxury of sleeping in Halcyon's Keep. The girl ran a hand through her blonde hair before remembering that thankfully, bedhead wasn't a thing in Aincrad. Hey body was surprisingly free of loose bits of grass, dirt, or other nuisances that one would expect from sleeping in a field on an island. Kooh finally got to her feet, still brushing off her clothing out of habit as she held the collar of Aereth's coat slung over her shoulder. Letting out a small sigh, she turned back and walked over to the man before holding the item out to him. "Thanks." She said bluntly, gaze averted to the side while she waited for him to take the coat back.

Kooh picked up her knees, placing the soles of her boots flat on the ground as she leaned forward against her bare legs. She held what remained of her sandwich lazily in front of her while her arms wrapped around her knees. If it weren't for the system's regulation, she probably wouldn't even feel hungry right now. She listened to Aereth's responses, first a bit surprised that she hadn't caused his temper to flare up again. His last words, where he repeated his goal of assuring her safety, had caused her chest to tighten, feelings of guilt and self-doubt beginning to build up inside of her.

Trying her best to push them aside, Kooh couldn't stop a frown from crossing her expression after he had spoken up again. 'A breaking point, huh?' Her thoughts were lined with skepticism. The brunette turned to leave her be, and Kooh wouldn't be trying to stop him. She only mumbled out a small [n]"Maybe so."[/n] in response to his judgement. When they had separated again and the girl was left to her thoughts, she took her time finishing the rest of the sandwich she held. "Tch." After a few long minutes in silence, the blonde let out a small scoff while the empty wrapper in her hand burst and dissipated, registering the item's lost durability. 'Destroying myself...' The words echoed in her mind, first with skepticism and doubt, but as her mind continued to wander she began to consider the accuracy behind his words. With her hands free, Kooh hugged her knees close to her chest. It wasn't long before the mental exhaustion finally caught up with her and she felt herself threatening to drift off. The girl lay down on her side, looking out at the vast ocean before giving in to the temptation of sleep.

Kooh didn't answer the man for a while. Her eyes drifted from the rolling waves to the starry night sky as she seemed to be deep in thought. 'So, what're you doing, Luna?' She asked herself. His question wasn't so prying, and so she could probably get away with another vague or misleading answer and leave it at that. But how long would they be doing this? Was it really the end of the world if there was just one person she didn't lie to? The girl leaned forward, her forearms pressing against each of her knees as her gaze drifted back down to the main island visible in the distance. Finally, after a silence that might have suggested the blonde wasn't going to answer the man, Kooh spoke up.

"Would you believe me if I said it was because I hated you?" She looked over to Aereth, the words leaving her casually while a serious expression rested on her face. "And even though you keep going out of your way to help me, you're nothing more than a killer and I can't help being afraid of you?" Her head turned to face forward again, staring out over the ocean as she went silent. She expected the brunette to snap, assuming her harsh words were enough to push him over the edge and lash out at her. She braced herself for the reaction, if he would give one; even if he were to threaten her, she wouldn't let it faze her this time.

However Aereth responded to her cruel words, Kooh would wait another few moments before opening her mouth to speak again, expression just as blank as she continued to stare out over the sea. "Or, it was because I finally gave up." The corners of her mouth finally shifted as they turned up into a wry smile. "No matter how I tried, I couldn't get you to give up on me. So, since you're apparently more stubborn than I am, I guess I'll take the loss." The girl brought the sandwich to her mouth and took another bite, letting the silence creep over them as she chewed. She brought up her free hand, palm facing up as her shoulders raised in a shrug. "I've been lying to you for most of the day, though, so you're better off not believing a word I say."

Her fingers tensed around the item in her hands when he explained they would have to travel to another island even after crossing the water to the main land mass. She frowned before pulling the paper wrapping down to reveal the sandwich inside, taking a bite of it to give her something else to focus on. 'Ahh, so that's what it is.' Kooh thougth as the brunette began his explanation. A wry smile pulled at her expression as she contemplated his words. She wasn't sure if she should admire his determination and resolve, or scorn him for having such vengeful ideals.

A short, breathy chuckle escaped her before she spoke up herself. "So you would really deal with all that," she referred to the complications she herself had caused over the past day, "just to be a nice guy." Again, she wasn't sure whether to think of him as heroic or foolish. While she was beginning to surmise the cause of the orange cursor above his own head, Kooh tried to pay little mind to his ideology. His quest for vengeance, though noble and respectable on paper, was a concept Kooh was unsure how to feel about. With his explanation, Aereth sounded like some kind of mercenary, hunting down the bad guys and bringing them to justice. Instead of putting some ruffians in jail, however, it was more like putting a sword through a murderer. At least, that was the gist of it as she understood.

Finally choosing to refrain from commenting on the matter, the blonde took another bite of her sandwich. A few moments passed in silence with only the sound of the rolling waves before she would let out a small sigh. "I'll stop, by the way." She continued staring out at the ocean with another neutral expression, adding on to just slightly clarify her vague statement. "Causing trouble."

@Aereth

Kooh's eyes flew open at the sound of Aereth's voice. The girl's head whipped around to spot the brunette taking a seat beside her. After staring at him a moment, the girl turned her head back towards the ocean, picking her hands up from the ground and leaning slightly forward with her arms pressed against her knees. Her expression quickly shifted, the look of surprise from the man's unexpected approach being quickly removed. She resisted the urge to let out a frustrated sigh. 'What, he heard all of that?' She closed her eyes to focus on calming herself. Getting irritated with herself for letting her guard down would surely only serve to make things worse. If might have just been the mental wear of all of the day's events pushing her harder, but Kooh's temper seemed to be getting worse lately.

"We're just gonna swim. To that island way over there?" The girl forced half a smirk on her lips, staring out at the water. A part of her desperately hoped that the man was joking, but another part knew that he was completely serious. Contemplating the plan caused her muscles to tense up again, but she gave a small shake of her head to disperse her thoughts. The blonde opened her eyes again, giving Aereth a sideways glance before her gaze was drawn to the sandwich he was holding out to her. Her bottom lip twitched into a frown before she eventually accepted the item, wordlessly taking the sandwich and holding it in both hands in front of her. She listened patiently to his words, facing forward again with a blank expression. "Actually, yeah." She said simply in response to his question.

@Aereth

As Kooh's feet were planted on the ground, the grass beneath her boots softer than the stone floor of the labyrinth they had been traveling, her legs nearly began to ache. Though the pain wasn't real, it was as if her avatar was telling her that it couldn't stand much longer, and at the mention of sleep she was tempted to curl up right there. Ignoring the whim, the blonde walked across the field, slowly putting distance between herself and the brunette. When she felt she was out of earshot over the light winds and the sound of waves crashing against the side of the land mass, she let out a long, heavy sigh.

Where the labyrinth had let out, they were only paces away from the edge of the island, the border circling around in a generously-sized plain. While Aereth had moved to a nearby tree, the girl walked slowly. She removed a hand from her pocket to pull down her hood before peering over the edge at the waves beating against the earth. Kooh tensed up a moment, adjusting a few inches farther away from the edge as she walked. Before long, she was finally tired enough to stop, crossing her legs as she sat down and stared out over the ocean. "How are we even getting to the next floor?" She mumbled the question to herself, placing her palms on the ground behind her as she leaned back. Her chin tilted up, watching the stars while she allowed herself some time to think. "Why do I always end up making things worse?" Her eyelids fell, taking in a deep breath. "Even if I get back there..." The girl bit her bottom lip while she felt her heart sinking to her stomach. As much as she wanted to treat this like a game, to continue to do whatever she wanted and live a life freely on her own terms, the weight of reality was finally beginning to push down on her. "What do I do?" After all this time, her actions were bringing consequences that she couldn't run away from. After so long in this game--the death game that thousands of other players were forced to live in--the feeling of despair was beginning to wrap itself around her.

@Aereth

The two walked through the shopping district with the noises of other players' and NPCs' chatter to fill the silence between them. The blonde would occasionally pull open her menus to check the coordinates and make sure she hadn't made a wrong turn. After a few long minutes, the pair would find themselves in front of a standard-looking blacksmith shop. Kooh didn't hesitate to push open the door and give the shop a quick glance over for the owner. Her garnet eyes immediately fell upon a middle-aged man repeatedly striking an unfinished blade with an iron hammer. At their entrance, Lyle Tealeaf turned to them and set down his tools. "Ah, are these the potions I ordered? Excellent!" The muscular old man grinned at the players, accepting the package from Sly once he would hand it over to the NPC. "The name's Lyle. If it wasn't obvious, I'm a blacksmith." He introduced himself before continuing on with the scripted quest dialogue. "A couple of adventurers like you look pretty capable. Think you're up for helping an old smithy out?" Lyle placed the package on a wooden table. "There are plenty of boar pups on the north side of town, in the forest. Bring me back three tusks for each of ya and I'll make both of you youngsters a piece of equipment. Deal?" The man let out a hearty laugh as the quest prompt appeared before them.

@Sly

The bottle of water in Kooh's hand vanished as the girl dismissed the item to her inventory. She had determined she either wasn't thirsty somehow, or more likely, didn't have the will to consume anything right now. Her jaw clenched for a moment and relaxed once more at his comment that she didn't deserve to die for what she'd done, half-tempted to let her cynicism voice itself. Once again, she kept herself silent, not eager to get herself into any more verbal scuffles at the moment.

The blonde simply nodded in agreement when Aereth stated he was ready to keep moving. She didn't bother asking any questions, or speaking up at all since Aereth's explanation of a plan. The girl simply slipped her now free hand back into her pocket and followed after the man's lead, a couple of paces short from walking beside him. Kooh, as it seemed had become the norm, had no interest in speaking any more than the bare minimum, so the blonde wouldn't be starting any small talk while they wandered through the twists and turns of the labyrinth. The brunette seemed to know more or less where they were going and which way was the right way, or else he was very good at determining it as they went.

Unable to tell how much time had passed before the pair finally found the dungeon's exit that would deliver them to the sixteenth floor, Kooh didn't have to squint or shield her eyes from the sun as they emerged from the darkness of the labyrinth. Rather than a bright sun hanging overhead, a half moon and dozens of twinkling stars were all that illuminated the area before them. Wild grass met their feet, pushing up against the stone that marked the dungeon floor. Before them, a quiet grassy field lay out with little to no sign of movement. Few trees or shrubs to block their sight, with a visible stretch of ocean in the distance, laying between their land mass and what looked like a main island several times bigger than the one they had found themselves on. Kooh's head turned to either side, surveying their surroundings before she felt her muscles begin to tense up. Though she couldn't be sure that the entirety of the island was visible from their current position, the blonde could spot nothing of interest. No monsters, no players, and no signs of a city. Certainly no path to the next labyrinth to bring them down to the fifteenth floor. Her garnet eyes traveled back to the huge volcanic island off in the distance, jaw growing tight as she began to surmise that they would have to find a way there to press on.

@Aereth

Kooh felt her jaw clench as the threat left the brunette. Once again, she held her tongue. As strong as the urge was to snap right back at the man, to tell him that she never asked for his help and that maybe he should take her repeated attempts to get away from him as a hint, she knew full well that no good would come from it. 'And why do you care?' Again, holding back the urge to voice her own questions. Kooh's bottom lip twitched into another small frown at his exasperation. Wordlessly accepting the bottle he handed to her, Kooh simply held the item while Aereth took some time to rest.

As silence took over them, Kooh was allowed a moment to calm down. 'Fine, you win.' She couldn't seem to force the words to leave her, or find a way to get her point across more politely. It seemed that the brunette also took the reprieve to collect himself, and when the Kooh's eyes drifted back to the man his eyes were locked onto hers. Freezing up for a second, the blonde was unsure how to react. Surely he was still angry with her, but did he think he had gone too far? Releasing the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, Kooh finally tore her gaze away from Aereth's, mumbling a small "Mm... I deserved it."

Kooh wasn't sure why she hadn't heard Aereth's footsteps echoing through the labyrinth's tunnels. Had she been lost in thought? Had she started dozing off? The blonde's head raised suddenly when her username was called out, startled by the man's voice despite his soft tone. She looked up to the brunette standing in the middle of the hallway, a somewhat concerned expression on his face. She couldn't tell if there was another emotion mixed in--annoyance, anger, maybe exhaustion--but his choice of words indicated that the man wasn't pleased with her actions. 'Crap.' Her head was the slightest bit fuzzy as the single word was all that came to the girl's mind. Her expression was blank, save for a bit of lingering surprise to see the man standing before her.

'Now what?' As they had again and again today, her plan had failed. Aereth was either incredibly lucky, or somehow skilled at tracking the girl down. A brief memory surfaced, recalling how the brunette's eyes had glowed during their encounter with the other players, and she quickly decided it must be the latter. At least if it was dumb luck she might have had a chance to continue trying.

So running away wasn't an option anymore. At least, not unless she was willing to risk his patience running out completely. So, what else was there? Was she really out of options? "Yeah...sorry." The girl's voice was quiet as her gaze lowered to the dungeon floor and lingered for a moment. Releasing the grip on her arms, Kooh slid herself out from the crawlspace that had become her hiding spot and got to her feet, brushing her hands against her clothes as if to remove the dirt from them. The girl placed her hands in her pockets while the dark cloak slipped over her shoulders. Though she did her best not to show it, Kooh was defeated.

@Aereth

Kooh's grip on her arms tightened for a moment, squeezing her knees closer to her before relaxing slightly again. She took in a choked breath, akin to one that was trying to fight back tears. 'What good will feeling sorry for yourself do?' She quickly asked herself, pressing her forehead more firmly against her arm. 'There's no changing this mess, just damage control now.' She tried to reassure herself. The blonde picked up her head for a moment, listening again for any sounds other than her soft breathing that would echo through the dungeon. 'I'll just wait it out. She decided, allowing herself to put her head back down and her eyes to close.

Whether Aereth came and wasn't able to find her lost and hidden inside of the labyrinth, or never showed up at all, Kooh decided she would wait. When she'd felt that enough time had passed, she would pick herself up and find her way out of the labyrinth, whether she found herself on the sixteenth floor or back on the seventeenth she didn't really care. She would wait out the orange cursor hovering over her head, and then everything would go back to normal.

@Aereth

Unaware of the scene unfolding back in the forest, Kooh glanced side to side down long hallways on either side of her before continuing on through the labyrinth. From what little she'd seen of the dungeon-like structure, she wasn't sure if the monsters that once lurked its passageways had been permanently defeated, or if she had just gotten lucky so far. The blonde pulled up her hood once more, treading carefully while her footsteps echoed through the dimly-lit corridors. "Good going, Luna."The girl mumbled out scarcely above a whisper. "What's your next brilliant plan, huh?" She continued to scold herself for the colossal mess she'd gotten herself into.

The girl couldn't care less about the orange cursor spinning idly above her head. The thought of the brunette that would likely be following after her at any moment, however, caused a scowl to form on her features. "Tch, idiot." She growled. She still had no idea why Aereth insisted on watching over her. At this point, Kooh was tempted to chalk it up to some naive sense of nobility or honor. Can't just leave the helpless girl to fend for herself, right?

After what might have been ten minutes of wandering through the labyrinth, Kooh still wasn't sure if she was heading in the right direction, let alone the path she had taken to get to where she was. She strained her ears to listen for any sign of players or monsters alike, but was met with a dead silence that hung over the dungeon. She let out a small sigh, legs feeling as weary as her mind. Out of the corner of her eye, the girl spotted a stone staircase, her gaze shifting down to the small empty space beneath it. The girl stoppee and frowned a few long moments before finally making a decision. Carefully slipping past the stone bricks, Kooh ended up sitting on the floor in the crawlspace, wrapping her arms around her knees as she pulled them close to her chest. The black cloak nearly wrapped around the girl completely, and she allowed her forehead to drop down against her forearm, letting out a long, unsteady breath.

Hiding - stealth rating 10+1 (low light conditions) = 11

@Aereth

Kooh blinked in surprise after she heard the sound of Aereth's voice again, this time explaining some sort of plan where she was being sent off on her own. Her brows narrowed slightly, comprehending his instructions with mild, lingering confusion. She stayed silent, but the man didn't wait long enough to force a response out of her before pushing himself off the ground and to his feet in front of the mysterious player in a quick, fluid motion. With the presence directly above her gone, Kooh pulled up her knees and propped herself up on her elbows, regaining her sense of surroundings for a moment.

As if her body was acting without her mind's guidance or permission, the girl flipped over to her hands and knees before picking herself up from the ground. On her feet, the blonde broke out into a run, passing the armed player and making her way down the path they had traveled. "What-- Hey!" The leader yelled as he spotted the girl. Before he could turn or stop Kooh from escaping, a single strike knocked the wind out of the man. He doubled over, Aereth's attacking taking him off guard while he clutched his stomach and stared up at the brunette. "Why you..." The man growled out, reaching for a spear that was sheathed at his back.

Meanwhile, the black cloak that Kooh wore billowed behind her as she ran. The black and white hood of her normal clothing had fallen to her shoulders, and her bare knees and hands were lightly coated with dirt from the forest floor. 'What was that Luna, what the hell was any of that?!' The blonde scolded herself. The massive structure that Aereth had referred to as the labyrinth loomed before her, and Kooh wasted little time in finding the entrance. 'I don't care how long this stupid orange thing lasts, I just want out of this mess!' She allowed her mental complaints, thankful that she was finally alone again. Curious to see if she could keep it that way, the girl gave a glance over her shoulder before disappearing into the sixteenth floor's labyrinth.

@Aereth

The snapping of twigs and crunching of leaves underneath heavy boots was all Kooh had to determine how far away the other players were, causing the blonde's fingers to twitch gently. The whole situation had the girl nervous, and she felt her virtual heart beating faster in her chest. Was she scared? Her feelings were rather jumbled, and she was more uncomfortable than anything else. Interrupting her thoughts, she suddenly felt Aereth's chest pressing down against her. The girl tensed up beneath him, wondering for a moment whether he realized their position. She almost flinched when Aereth spoke up, but the falter in his voice had a small smirk tug at her lips. The blonde had to stop herself from letting out a quip, a teasing flirtatious line already forming in her mind.

"You two, check the beach again." A voice not far in the distance cut through the silence, causing Kooh to keep herself quiet. "And you two, check the side of the forest that leads to the plain. If they're both orange they won't be heading to the town." What must have been their leader began barking orders to the other players. After the shuffling of footsteps that slowly began to fade from earshot, one pair of heavy boots continued through the forest towards the brush Kooh and Aereth were hiding in. 'At least now there's only one...' Kooh thought, as if trying to find some sort of silver lining to practically being hunted down in a forest in the middle of nowhere.

@Aereth

Kooh was about to mentally curse, thinking the man still wasn't letting it go. Had it really been that drastic? Sure, she had exaggerated a bit, but she hadn't thought she was overselling anything. And why was it so out of character for a reserved girl to hit someone? Despite the tone of her previous words not coming off as defensive, her thoughts were certainly were now. She could gamble again and assume that Aereth hadn't actually heard what the dagger wielder had said to her. Maybe she could get away with claiming he said something that would better justify her actions. 'Although I don't see why the things he did said wouldn't warrant a good fist in his face.' She thought rather bitterly.

Just before Kooh, absorbed in her thoughts, could open her mouth to speak, she felt a tight grip on her arm. Startled by the forced motion, her chest tightened before she could let out a shout in protest. As her back hit the forest floor, Kooh winced at the light tingling sensation that seemed to dance across her skin. "Hey, what--" She was about to snap at the brunette when his index finger hovered over his lips to urge her silence. Despite her instinct to raise a fuss anyway, Aereth's distracted nature caused her to hold her tongue, an impatient frown tugging down at the corners of her mouth. His brown eyes began to emit a soft glow, catching the blonde's attention as they scanned the area through the brush. As if she suddenly realized their position and the closeness of the man's face to her own, Kooh quickly averted her gaze. A faint redness began to tinge the skin of her cheeks before she registered Aereth's words. Thankfully, a distraction helped her to regain her composure as a small, "Tch." escaped her a slightly narrowed brow. "Guess they really liked us." The sarcastic comment almost felt like a defense mechanism, a reaction that left her without much thought.

@Aereth

Kooh nearly froze up as the man's question broke the silence. Her step hesitated for a fraction of a second before she continued walking, facing forward with a dull expression. Should she tell him the truth? 'What even is the truth?' She answered herself with another question. 'That I want to seem like a better person than I actually am? So I lie to everyone, including strangers, just because I can?' Kooh's bottom lip twitched into the slightest frown. She would normally try to determine what Aereth would want to hear in response and tell him that. But she was likely going to be stuck with him for a long time, and she already had their first exchange coming back to haunt her. Should she be sarcastic? Friendly? Play it off as a joke? She had very little time to formulate her response, remaining silent for a few paces while the gears in her mind turned.

"Thanks, I guess," She started quietly, keeping her eyes forward while buying herself a couple of extra seconds. She thought back to earlier in the day and all that had transpired in the past couple of hours, trying not to let her frown deepen."Look, I wasn't trying to mess with you." Her tone was neither apologetic nor confrontational. "And when those guys showed up, I just lost my temper." She gave a sidelong glance in the opposite direction from the brunette, as if to avert her gaze from him even further. Despite the fact that she had indeed intended to mess with Aereth when they first met, and despite the fact that striking that other player across the jaw was a calculated decision, Kooh left her explanation at that.

@Aereth

While the pair of players walked through a forest on the seventeenth floor, Kooh remained silent. Hands shoved into her pockets, the blonde was expressionless as they traveled. They had bid Sey farewell--or at least Aereth had--and parted from the white-haired player at least ten minutes ago, though Kooh hadn't offered a word of conversation since their journey officially began. Silently accepting her fate, the girl had decided that arguing against Aereth's plan would have been more effort than it was worth, and depending on how stubborn the man was it may not have even gotten her anywhere.

Garnet eyes occasionally scanned the ground in front of her to avoid tripping over raised tree roots or other obstacles that littered the forest floor. Kooh hadn't seen much of the seventeenth floor--and little to nothing of the floors beneath it to the eleventh. Her mind briefly recalled the brunette's words before and how he had explained it would take several days just to cross a few floors on foot. 'Ridiculous.' She had to hold herself back from displaying a scowl on her face. She only assumed Aereth's opinion of her was unfavorable, and who knows how Sey's mindset might have changed. 'It was stupid to call him out here.' The girl mentally kicked herself. His tone seemed to indicate indifference toward the end of their conversation. Perhaps once time had passed and her cursor returned to green they would return to their normal interactions. Still, she wasn't sure if she liked that thought. Sey had always been a complicated one--someone who was capable of seeing through her but didn't seem to care enough to act upon it. She wasn't sure if she was grateful for his detachment or not.

While the cloak that draped over her shoulders gently swayed with her steps, Kooh gave a quick sideways glance toward the player that walked beside her. The brunette was an odd one, she had determined. After his thorough explanation of what it meant to have an orange cursor--to be marked as a 'criminal'--she was only left to wonder what sort of action had warranted the identical color that hovered over his own head. His willingness to watch over her was even more perplexing. What did the man have to gain by escorting her through several floors? Had he not realized that she had been lying to him since they first met? Did he really think her the least bit trustworthy? Or was she so weak in level that it didn't matter either way?

@Aereth

A small smirk crawled over Kooh's lips. Her eyes opened and glanced toward Sey, unable to hold back a quip this time. "Gee, I'll miss your company." Despite the sarcasm, her tone was one she would have used with the spearman otherwise. The white-haired adventurer that offered to take her in off the streets seemed in stark contrast to the man that stood before her now. Still, she could at least try to retain some semblance of the girl he had seen her as. The blonde uncrossed her arms and brought her hands up beside her with a shrug. "You're not wrong, though," She was about to accept the fact that she'd be residing in another forest for a while when Aereth spoke up again.

The man seemed insistent on getting her back to the eleventh floor, going so far as to tell Sey that he would escort her there. The blonde held her tongue, not really feeling up to an argument given the situation. Still, she grumbled in the back of her mind, wondering both why he cared and felt it necessary that he accompany her. When he had mentioned how long getting to each floor would take, Kooh blinked in disbelief. Again, she stopped herself from complaining aloud, instead letting her thoughts begin to swirl. 'Seriously? How long is someone marked a criminal just for hitting a piece of trash?' The girl's arms folded across each other once more.

'Hm.' Kooh nearly cocked an eyebrow when the white-haired man used the word 'worried'. Perhaps she hadn't been wrong in assuming that her life meant something to the player. Still, she had made a mental note to not always count on that in the future. Aereth seemed relieved once Sey lowered his weapon, and quickly turned his attention to her with more questions. Her expression was neutral, though her arms still rested crossed in front of her as her weight pressed back against the tree. "Floor eleven." She stated simply, tilting her chin up towards Sey. "I ususally crash at a room in his shop." Although, the shop in question was quite certainly in a safe zone, resting in the middle of Taft. Her eyelids fell, and Kooh's chin dipped downward again as one ankle crossed over the other. "But yeah, guess I can't go there."

Her interest was pulled when the brunette mentioned a familiar name. She hadn't seen or spoken to Itzal in quite some time. The blonde stifled a cynical chuckle, idly wondering how the scout would react to the cursor over her head, if he would be so quick to raise his weapon against her.

Kooh held herself back from glaring daggers at Sey. She instead gave the man a sideways glance as she was addressed. The girl thought she had grown immune to the feeling of another person's distrust. She did so much to deserve the dirty, judgemental looks she would get in the past that she had learned how to shrug them off. With the way her blood was beginning to boil, it was clear that casually dealing with the backlash of being a liar was a skill that got rusty after a while. Before she was forced to speak, Aereth offered to explain the situation. Her eyes watched as the brunette dropped his weapon to the ground as a sort of symbol of peace. The blonde, however, wouldn't be bothered to touch her greaves. If either of the men were concerned about her being armed, she didn't know if she could keep herself from laughing.

The girl's bottom lip twitched into a frown as Aereth described the events of scarcely half an hour ago while her arms crossed themselves in front of her torso. His eyes snapped to meet hers when he mentioned her running away, and the blonde averted her gaze as a small "Tch." escaped her. If she wasn't so irritated, Kooh would have had half a mind to offer a sarcastic jest at Aereth's comment on saving her. Instead, she allowed the two men to talk, keeping to herself as if she was waiting for the situation to somehow resolve itself.

@Sey

Kooh wordlessly caught the item that Aereth tossed to her, repressing a glare that threatened to show at his exasperated attitude. She held the item up, recalling the last time she looked in one of these mirrors. Her jet-black hair and violet pupils had shifted back to the familiar golden-blonde and pale amber she was born with. Shortly after, the girl spent what little money she had to change her eye color, rather fond of the slight change even still. She tilted the glass back to change the perspective and show her the crystal hovering above her hood. It was indeed a deep orange--matching that of the one above the brunette. Kooh listened to his explanation with dissatisfaction until something seemed to catch the man's attention.

The blonde spun around, feeling a tinge of relief at the sight of the white-haired player. Her reprieve quickly vanished, however, when her eyes fully took him in. Spear and shield firmly held in either hand, careful steps in her direction, and a cautious gaze in his eyes. Kooh didn't even have to hear his words to realize that his suspicion wasn't exclusive to the brunette behind her. Her chest tightened as a strange feeling washed over her. Before Kooh had the time to form a response Aereth spoke up again, confronting Sey and his unsheathed weapon. The girl straightened up a bit, slipping her hands into the pockets of her shorts. "Well, thanks for showing up, I guess." She remarked with a dull tone. "Never would've guessed you two knew each other, though." She mumbled, thinking aloud.

"Fine, fine, I screwed up, alright?" Kooh spoke up, pulling her right hand from her pocket to wave it lightly through the air in front of her. She spoke with a small, almost defeated sigh and her eyes closed for a brief moment. It was clear now that Aereth didn't have any intention of attacking her, or if he did he was certainly going about it in a foolish way. The girl shifted her weight to one leg. She considered for a moment explaining everything to Sey, but the sting of his suspicion had her instead lean back against the bark of a heavy tree. "So what, I'm just not allowed to do anything for however long?" She frowned. The question was directed more toward Aereth and his previous explanation. Her tone wasn't as harsh as it would have been without her conscious filter, but there was little point in putting on an act in front of Sey. At least, not any more than she normally would.

@Sey

When Aereth hit the ground, Kooh took a small step back, still regarding the man with caution. He spoke up, and Kooh's garnet eyes flickered upwards for a brief moment as if to follow his pointing motion. 'What is he talking about?' Her expression remained wary as her eyes quickly moved back to lock onto the brunette. She listened to his explanations, mulling over his words in her head as he went on. Changed colors? Did that mean it was orange instead of green, like his, or was it some other color? Before seeing the brunette earlier today, she hadn't seen anything above a player's head besides a green crystal, so what was this color-coding system all of a sudden?

'What is this, like a time-out system?' Kooh thought, resisting a scowl from appearing on her face. The thought of not being able to use teleport gates didn't break her heart; she disliked the feeling of teleporting anyway. Being locked out of safe zones sounded pretty inconvenient, though. She didn't mind hanging around outside of town, but how long was this going to last? He made it sound like it wouldn't be permanent, but she then began to question why the man was explaining all of this to her.

'What, you mean like what those guys were already doing?' She held her tongue from voicing the retort to his last statement. Kooh wanted to scoff. What were all these rules about, and why had Aereth bothered to follow her and tell her all this? She obviously still didn't trust the man. With how his blade seemed to be so drawn to other players, it wasn't hard to imagine what he could have done in the past to warrant the orange crystal spinning above his own head. At this point, Kooh was again weighing her options. If Aereth wanted her dead, she wouldn't still be standing. Still, she didn't care for the situation, including the brunette's presence. She wondered for a brief moment if he would continue to follow her if she tried running away from him again. It could be worth a shot that he would grow frustrated enough to just let her be, but there was an equal chance that his loss of patience would just get her into more trouble.

@Sey