Snow

The animal lashed out, pinned between spear and tree. The weight made Snow's arms shake just holding it in place. Her breathing labored and face scrunched, but she felt she could force herself to do more. A haze of blue thrummed from Sif's Needle. The blonde clenched her teeth, the fatigue in her arms caught back onto Cardinal's assist and her spear blazed blue. Her feet began to move forward in slow, strong steps. The tip of her spear edged up the trunk of the tree, wolf impaled. Every centimetre a new notification of <<Immortal Object>> appeared. A small roar bubbled up into the back of her throat and erupted when she could hoist the animal no higher.

In a high, sweeping arc of light, she slammed the monster into the ground with incredible force. The blade of her weapon nearly cleaved the animal in two as it careened into the darkness. Each trunk and stone it struck painted a spray of red polygons. Howls of pain echoed into the canopy and, in the small clearing, stood Snow. The hue of azure faded from her weapon and her arms fell slack from its weight. Locks of blonde cascaded over her face, and her chest lifted and fell with each breath. Her drive and determination danced with the upper echelons of her limits.

But as she rose her head and stared into the darkness, she could see the payoff stained on the trees. Each of them poignantly titled: <<Immortal Object>>

Snow knew she bit off more than she could chew. Her armor weighed heavily in the fine, loose sand. Every movement she tried to make in this desert felt as though she walked in mud. Her chest heaved and spear hung low to the sand. Flyaways of blonde clung to the sweat on her forehead just above the pair of crystalline  blue eyes that remained glued to her opponent. Opposite of her flew a massive serpent with two heads, <<Amphis Serpens>>. Its fangs stretched nearly the length of her forearm and dripped with what she could only assume was venom. Compared to the other monsters of this floor, this stood leagues above them. She knew this named monster had to be a field boss, and she knew she couldn't kill it alone.

The girl hoped that if she could hit it and stun it maybe, just maybe she would have the chance to flee. Between labored breaths, she steeled her mind for a brief moment to concentrate. Her grip tightened on her spear until she could feel the tug of the system start to pull her into the Hellish Twice sword art. It caught and pulled Snow into her attack. Versus humans and legged beasts, the blow swept low for the legs to disable the target. Versus a serpent, the same trick wouldn't apply, and the system instead pulled the tip of her spear across the eyes of both the monster's heads. Large red gashes ruptured across its head, and Snow landed opposite of the creature with her legs firmly planted into the sand.

The beast flailed wildly, unable to see and thusly, unable to attack. Snow saw the opportunity to flee, but the sand proved to be a second combatant she couldn't fight. Her legs pumped and tread until she finally managed to get her greaves above the surface. The butt of her spear afforded leverage to keep her upright and even once finally free, her eyes came to rest on the sandy horizon. If she managed to start running now, a flying, sand-swimming snake would close the gap in no time.

This is it. Snow thought. This is how I die.

The Valkyrie swallowed the lump which formed in her throat. Her teeth clenched, and the grit between them crunched. She turned to the field boss with brows lowered over innocent eyes and snapped her spear to the ready.

"For Daire..." Words slipped past chapped lips low enough for her to hear.

@Lessa, @Alkor

That moment of hesitation afforded the wolf an opportunity to attack. The wolf shook off the blow and leapt straight for Snow. It closed the gap in a shockingly quick amount of time. All the lancer could do was watch as its jaws clamped down on her wrist. The numbness of the damage simulator set in immediately and she lost grip on her spear. 

Snow pounded the wolf in the snout and only felt the pressure of its jaw lock. The girl dropped to her knees and watched the bar in the corner of her HUD drop slowly. Her free hand slid up to the head of her spear and positioned it under the wolf’s neck. It began to release and Snow took advantage of the moment to initiate a repeat of the previous thrust. The blade buried into the wolf, Snow rose and with the momentum charged the wolf against a tree. It slammed against with incredible force, causing the <<Immortal Object>> notification prompt.

Silence filled the air between the two girls. Snow stared into the verdant tint of the tea in her cup. The truth hurt to hear no matter how much Snow tried to push it down beneath the surface. Mari’s words strummed a few chords. Those that she remembered were lost and they those she met kept her at a distance. Distance seemed safe. Everyone was scared, everyone hesitated to trust. Yet, here the blonde sat in a stranger’s home who clearly knew more about loss and death first hand than Snow. All she knew was the lined out names stuck on her friend’s list and on the black slab back in the Town of Beginnings.

”It’s not silly at all...” She broke the air with a solemn affirmation. “I think...”

Snow swirled the contents of her cup. Steam softly billowed from its rim and the two little leaves at the bottom danced around one another delicately.

”I think we need more of that.” Her voice remained soft as thought lost in her own head. “I think it’s more brave to have an open heart here than to pick up a weapon and fight. Everyone is scared and some are scared to talk about it. Most don’t want to listen because, well... they’re too busy trying to deal with their own problems.“

Snow looked up and met a reflection of her own expression In Mari. 

“I don’t think it’s silly at all. Trust is more valuable than any other resource here. It’s scarce and fleeting.” The girl felt a bit of her normalcy return and the mask of positive optimism settle back into her cheeks. She cracked a faint smile and brought her tea to her lips for a sip. 

“That’s why I want to help, too. I want to do my part. I want to be something positive surrounded by all the negative. We have to make the best of a bad thing, you know?”

She took a deep breath; some weight shedded off.

“Like sitting here with a new friend, enjoying some tea in a warm house as the snow comes down outside.”

@Mari

At this moment, Snow couldn’t think of taming such a creature. It clearly wanted her dead and wasn’t about to change its mind for some berries. She cleared her mind and concentrated on dispatching the threat as quickly as possible. Where one was, others likely followed. 

Snow readied her weapon and rooted her stance. The system began to tug at her and Snow pressured forward for the attack. Cardinal activated and her spear moved with a trail of blue in its wake. The tip lashed out, impaled the wolf square in the chest as her body continued its charge. She raised the entire beast into the air and as she came to a halt, the weight slammed it into the ground with tremendous force.

The wolf bounced from the ground and tumbled over itself until a tree trunk stopped it. Snow held firm and watched the beast struggle to recover to its feet. She couldn’t help but feel a twinge of remorse as she considered the current scenario but if her foe was another player’s companion.

Snow pulled up her inventory and put the berries back. This time, she would be quicker to summon them. As she dismissed her menu, something rustled in the bush behind her far larger than a small rodent. Snow’s cerulean gaze drifted to the side toward the source of the noise. A pair of menacing eyes glared back.

Snow pulled Sif’s Needle from her back no sooner the beast leapt from the shadows. Its jaws bit down on the shaft of her spear and knocked the girl to her back. She clenched her teeth and used the momentum to force it over her and away. Her spear twisted to break it from its jaws and flung wide, tip cutting into the meat of its mouth.

Snow raised her legs over her chest and kicked out with enough force to get her body off the ground and tucked into a crouched position. She turned to face her attacker as it too regained its footing and took a low stance.

As Snow sat and enjoyed the pleasant weather, a small chipmunk looking critter hopped up on the trunk beside her. At first, she watched it look around the bark for food or something to use. It took a while before the critter noticed the comparatively massive girl beside it. The thing froze, its little chest fluttering with tiny breaths. 

Snow secretly gestured her wrist to pull up a quick menu and from there, without looking, navigated down the list to the last few items she used. <<Gogi Berries>> were second down on the list and in her palm phased in a handful of the berries. She held out her hand but the critter immediately scampered off at the sight of her hand.

Snow let out a sigh.

”Oh well.” The idea of a small rodent didn’t really fit her idea of an ideal companion but it was worth the try.

Snow searched through the fungus, but nothing particularly stood out to her. Many of them were too small or a subspecies not suitable for alchemy or cooking. She decided this particular outcropping either had already been harvested for the day, was purely cosmetic, or was used as a feeding point for the local fauna. Which, oddly enough, Snow had yet to come across. 

She stood and brushed off her knees. Although the mushrooms proved a moot journey, the area still boasted plenty to look at. Instead of searching its boon, the young lancer tucked her skirt under her and took a seat upon the fallen log. Perched and silent, she admired the calm breeze, and fresh air. A smile cracked on her lips. She knew the system simulated the real world, but its attention to detail always impressed Snow when she took the moments to appreciate it.

“What a beautiful day,” she commented.

Mid travel, Snow found a small outcropping of wild mushrooms growing from a nearby stump. Given her armor wore a bit on her journey, she felt a small break to examine the area for useful ingredients would do her some good. 

“What to we have here,” she mumbled to herself.

Several variations of fungus sprouted from a bed of moss and dark black soil in the shadow of a decaying log. Some sprouts of fungus were long and slender, others broad and flat. Her favorite kind of fungus to see was the dark ribbon fungus. Now, sometimes this was a similar type that was poisonous to eat, the other could be used in hot and sour soup and tasted similar to black cloud fungus. She always loved that part of the soup back home. It gave the broth a little extra crunch.

The third floor reminded Snow of life personified. Deserts didn’t exist. Decay only served to further the cycle of life. Mushrooms grew from the rot, small monsters and insects crawled from the damp soil, grew, and became what the players fought, used, and watched. Snow thought of this as she broke from the path to a dirt trail into the woods. Trees became more dense the further she ventured. Various stages of flora stood straight and tall. From centimeters in diameter to meters, the trunks lead to a dense canopy above. The temperature kept cool in the shadows which in turn kept Snow comfortable in her heavy armor. The sounds of nature engulfed her and the players which stuck close to town could no longer be heard.

Somewhere in these depths, Snow knew danger lurked. The prospect of something else kept her pressing forward. Besides the enemies that sought to snuff out her life, she also knew several usable herbs and ingredients grew in nature’s domain. To keep the trip entertaining, Snow watched for anything that could be useful along the way.

Snow finished her sweet treat and took her tableware to the sink to be cleaned. Thankfully, just placing the dirty dishes in the sink cleaned and stored them without the nuance of physically having to to do the work. Once finished, she pulled up a menu and equipped her equipment for adventure. She didn’t wish to take any chances should something go wrong and equipped the best equipment in her gear list.

The embers in the hearth still crackled as Snow left. The door closed behind her and automatically locked for her. With plenty of time left in the day, Snow took to the cobblestone paths and headed around the lake. To the northwest she would find the church but as she walked, the blonde kept a watchful eye out for any potential critter that may prove as a possible pet. At the same time, she kept her guard up for any stray monster that wanted to pick a fight. Or if at the end of this little quest, something sinister awaited.

The blonde finished the last of her brunch and took a moment of silence to ponder where she might begin. Something drew her to the idea of searching around the old church. She knew she couldn’t enter, or at least no other player had found a way, but the mystery of it surely bore some fruit. Before taking her dishes to be cleaned and stored, Snow opened her inventory and pulled up the fortune cookie she saw earlier. She made it in her restaurant, but the messages inside were always random, an option she liked to include for fun. 

The cookie appeared in her hand, no different from the ones in the real world. She cracked open the almond flavored treat and inside a small piece of paper fell out. On it read, “Your efforts will bare great success today”. Snow smiled and placed half the cookie in her mouth. Perhaps something good would happen today.

From her inventory, Snow summoned the <<Gogi Berries>> the old woman gifted her. To her, they looked like the ruby seeds of a pomegranate. Out of curiosity, she popped on in her mouth and crunched down. Immediately, the her lips puckered and Snow desperately tried to spit out the remnants. The glob of half eaten seed-berry fell to the floor and dashed into vibrant blue dust before vanishing entirely. 

They might prove useful to an alchemist, but the berries served no purpose in anything Snow cooked. Maybe as a glaze? She shoveled another mouthful of savory rice and egg to dull the lingering flavor on her tongue. As the tartness washed away, Snow put the berries into her readied inventory. She resolved herself to see if the old woman had merit to her words or not.

And prayed it wouldn’t lead to some uneven battle. To go out of this world trying to make friends with nature, what a terrible way to go.

She took her meal to a small dining room able to sit several people comfortably, but alone the blonde sat. Fresh flowers shared her company in a vase at the center and the crackle of embers served as her conversation. She slowly worked at her brunch and let her mind drift outside the nearby window to the lake. Swallows danced in the sky and small rodents perched on the low hanging branches to enjoy what small morsel of food they found. Every few minutes, a large fish leapt front he surface of the lake’s calm waters. Rarely, Snow was fortunate enough to see a winged monster or bird of prey [censored] a fish as it jumped.

 As the girl ate, she tried to think of what she valued most in a companion. She wanted something to care for and that hardly narrowed the list. She wished for something that she could hold or pet. She knew she wanted something small, not aggressive. 

Snow arrived at her quaint estate. The small wooden door creaked open its welcome and the familiar scent of earth and ash embraced her. The hearth in her living room smoldered with eerie amber glows and the sound of life outside dulled to an eerie quiet. The girl walked to her ice box and summoned the menus to migrate her morning haul to her storage system.

The silence she found comforting began to feel, empty. She finished emptying her groceries, and while in her menu, she noticed an item from her restaurant. It was a simple fortune cookie and come to think of it, Snow had yet to eat today. She summoned a few basics from the ice box. Leftover rice, scraps of nori, some toasted sesame seeds, an egg, and some smoked meat.

Snow set to work on her afternoon brunch. She first got her range to temp and set a pan. She cracked the egg and covered it so I could cook. The rice, she warmed and set into a bowl perfectly rounded. With a knife, she rolled and slivered the leftover scraps of nori. Lastly, she took a centimeter slab of smoked meat and cut it into thin ribbons. A minute in, Snow removed her eggs, a perfect temp of firm whites and runny yolk.

Gently, she laid the egg atop her steamy rice mound and sprinkled the remaining in ingredients as garnish. The final touch came in the form of a light drizzle of a secret recipe she crafted to resemble soy sauce.

"Is there anything else you needed, miss?" Snow completely forgot about the stand's NPC. She stumbled through some menus to put the <<Gogi Berries"" into her inventory and turned back to the female elf that assisted her prior to interruption.

"I'm so sorry," Snow apologized though doubting such pleasantries truly mattered toward a non-player. She bowed as a force of habit and the elf curtly nodded acceptance. The blonde returned to her grocery shopping, but kept thinking about the possibility of a pet in her home. She imagined, no matter what it was, how happy it would be when she came back home. She thought how she could have something to look forward to going back to. 

After picking up some local veggies and fish from the nearby lake, Snow headed for home. Every noise of a bird, small rodent, or fish caught her attention. From the cobblestone path she watched other players fight boars and wolves in the plains and wondered what kind of pets they would make. Her mind kept thinking of what her ideal companion would be.

"Best of luck deary. It'll be needed, but the journey is worth it. Especially when you get older like me. You'll always have someone by your side." The old lady smiled from what Snow could see and turned away. The blonde looked to her hand filled with they gypsy's gift as the NPC moved on to whatever else she was meant to do.

Snow never had a pet in the real world. She wanted a dog, a cat, maybe a small bird, but her parents devoted their time and money to Snow. When she asked, her parents always spoke kindly but told her maybe one day, or not right now. It was their way of telling her no in a world filled with rejection for the working class. In her hand she held the hope of actually having a pet, but would it really work? Was this one of those quests that ended up with a twist and angry monster awaiting her?

Snow's envisioned this old woman in the prime of her life. She saw some middle aged beauty at the edge of a rocky cliff on the second floor. The sun hung low and painted the sky amber. Her beautiful features remained hidden like they are now by the stark contrast of light to dark. As she stood upon the precipice of danger, the massive shadow of a winged beast breached the scenic views and blackened the horizon with a menacing silhouette. The woman raised her sword skyward and with a mighty roar, the dragon took flight at her command.

"Take these." The old woman shook the hand she clasped. "Try it! See what friends you can make!"

Snow again felt whatever it was the woman placed in her hand. The image of this old gypsy and a dragon hung in her mind. Despite being an NPC, Snow wondered to what degree of truth did it speak. Could a player really tame a dragon?

"Okay," she replied. "Thank you."

The elder nodded several times, hood billowing with each bow. Her grip loosened on Snow's hand to reveal several berries cupped in her palm.

"Well... Now that you mention it..." her voice trailed in reply as her mind wandered.

"You can, my dear! You can!" The old woman grabbed Snow's hand and nearly caused her to drop the basket she carried. The girl instinctual tried to pull away but felt something unusual pressed against her palm.

"The creatures of Aincrad are more than pretty little things to admire!" The old gypsy continued. "They can be your friends! They can be tamed. They can help you."

Snow's chest began to race a little. She felt town between a sense of fear and the ever present kindness to hear the woman out. The places she lived before Aincrad all held the elderly in high regard and taught to respect them -- even those who may have lost their sense of self.

"I-is that so?" Snow stuttered.

"Yes! Oh yes! In my day I made many friends! Birds, wolves, fish, dragons..." the gypsy carried on further but Snow's mind hung on the word, dragon.

The woman approached Snow draped in the rags of a beggar while shopped for vegetables.

"Hello, young lady," The woman's voice was coarse and ragged. The least from flattering a female's voice could be. "Might I recommend the <<Gogi Berries>>?"

The blonde raised a brow and turned to the old wretch. Her initial impression filled her with concern that quickly melted to an empathetic form of pity. She smiled, unable to see the woman's face, but able to visibly discern her twilight age.

"I'm just looking for some ingredients for my kitchen," Snow began, entertaining the NPC should the interaction have repercussions on her fledgling reputation with the locals. "I don't use berries that often in my cooking."

"Not for you, my dear, for the local critters," came the reply on the breath of a soft chuckle. The reply caught the girl's interest.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Have you not wanted to feed and befriend the small animals that visit you on your travels?" The question made Snow think. Generally, she loved to watch the birds and small animals, but they were surely ambient effects of whatever background and scenery surrounded them. Only animals with names could be used for ingredients or combat. 

Near Flora, Snow recently purchased a small home to make her own. She would not forget the hospitality of the Inns on the first floor, but felt she needed a place to her own -- somewhere to reflect and find her center after Aincrad put her resolve to the test. On the third floor, Snow felt most at peace. Here, nature ruled supreme. Nearly all but three months of the year were rich with colorful flowers, enticing aromas, and deep, leafy foliage. Snow loved the earthy and calming smell of the floor. Moreso, she loved how small and quaint the town of Flora was. The cobblestones and mortar structures reminded her of the classic fantasy setting from old stories. She even heard of an abandoned church akin to those long forgotten castles. Rumor had it, no one could enter that church and standing guard, a religious statue unable to be moved or destroyed.

The only downside to the third floor was the NPCs. Many if not all were elvish. The elves and humans had a rich history with both good and bad. This made some of the locals apprehensive of players and slightly Xenophobic. Taking quests and earning reputation was a quick way to open more options for quests and shops. Snow only recently started adventuring on the floor, so her reputation was mediocre at best.

However, while on a run to town to find some trinkets for her home and restock on ingredients for her kitchen, the girl was greeted by an unusual NPC that stood in stark contrast to brightly clothed locals.

Hello Aincrad,

My name is Snow. I've only recently taken up arms to help us get out of here, but quickly learned it takes more than determination. If anyone has some old gear or some materials lying around, I could really use the help. Please message me if you'd like to help me with quests or give me pointers.

Thank you! I hope to pay everyone back in full one day!

~Snow

Items Acquired: