Floofy

"R-Right! I've started the quest, so we can get right on it! O-Oh, and uhh, by the way call me Sakoda.. I kind of wasn't expecting this game to become... well, you know." Sakoda shrugged, smiling with uncertainty. She figured that this girl was the on the more laid back portion of the player-base trapped here. Well, maybe 'laid back' wasn't quite the right wording, but she didn't seem to be one of those psychopathic player-killers that she had heard rumors about. "Do you know where we need to go? Er, I mean, do you remember? It's probably been a while since you've done this quest, hehe.. I mean, it's alright if you don't remember! I'm not trying to make fun of you or anything!!" It was becoming painfully obvious that Sakoda had no idea how to interact with other people very well. Was this her way of trying to make small talk?

She nodded, listening intently as Domarus explained to her the plans that he had. She knew that she would need to stay focused and keep herself under control, and she could only hope that she would be able to master her own internal demons while learning from Domarus. He could only teach her so much, and many of her improvements would have to come from within her mind and body. All of this sounded stressful and nerve-wracking, and yet she felt oddly calm. Confident, even. If someone were to ask her how she was suddenly so collected, Sakoda wouldn't be able to explain it. She just... was. It was as if she had come to peace with her place in SAO, accepting whatever would come her way. To think that she had only been active for a short while, and already she had changed this much. Sakoda chuckled to herself, imagining if she hadn't taken that initial quest and left the safety of towns. She would probably be sleeping in barns and eating bread and scraps. "OK Domarus, I'm ready."

She nodded, and started eating. She hadn't realized just how hungry she was until Domarus brought up the suggestion of food. Once she had her fill, and recovered from her desert trek, she went to the NPC whom she needed to turn the quest into, and completed it. She truly did feel like she had learned from her experience, and was more willing than ever to learn from Domarus and follow his lead. As she walked behind him, Sakoda spoke up, "Domarus, what do you have planned for me? I mean, like, for training me and stuff... Do you think I'm going to die?" The last question seemed to come out of nowhere, but she needed to know what Domarus envisioned for her in the future, and if he believed he could help her survive. If he expected her to die, she wanted to know for sure. Not everyone would survive this place, and if she were to be one of the fallen.. She had to know what he thought.

Sakoda was in pure stunned silence. The reaction she had received was nowhere near what she had expected. She had no idea how much time passed before she finally spoke. "Y-You aren't...mad?" She asked, finally breaking out of her stun. She thought for sure that she was going to be yelled at, and berated for her poor performance in the quest. Thoughts flooded her mind, as Domarus' reply went against everything she thought she knew about him. She found her eyes fluttering back and forth, between Keres and Domarus, wondering if this was all some kind of trick to further humiliate her. The more time that passed, the more she realized this was no trick. "D-Do I.. accept?" Her gaze went down to the ground as she repeated the question over and over in her mind. Finally, she looked up, tears in her eyes as she gazed at Domarus, and she nodded. "Yes, I do accept."

Sakoda blushed deeply when she remembered her quest. Her blush only continued as she returned to the town with the items from the caravan. Looking up to Domarus, she quickly bowed her head and followed him, accepting the water and towel. She walked down the trap door, her embarrassment dominating the rest of her emotions. She knew, somehow, that Domarus had watched her entire mess of a journey. Rather than taking a seat in a chair, she knelt down on the ground next to the table. She wanted to say something, anything to try and defend herself, but she couldn't find the words. She knew she had, for all intense and purposes, failed her task. As such, she knew that she couldn't say anything. Her fate was up to Domarus to decide for her, and she had accepted it. Sakoda simply kept her head bowed, and awaited judgement. She wanted to start crying, but figured that would only make things worse for her.

she looked up, seeing the bird still flying and sighed with relief, running to catch up with it. "Thank Kayaba it didn't fly too far off.. but where the hell is it going?!" Sakoda thought for sure they would've made it to town, or at least an oasis. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she opened up the menu to check what the in game time was. Upon doing so, she also opened up the floor map. She was beyond grateful that she was alone in the desert now, because she became filled with embarassment. If Domarus found out that she completely forgot about the map literally built into her inventory.... Yea she was going to keep this detail to herself. Sighing, and calming herself down from her embarrassment, she examined the map in further detail, no longer focused on the bird that she had been following.

She continued to follow the 'bird' as it let her towards her true goal. With the beast flying so high in the desert air, it was impossible for her to tell that it was Rhozarth guiding her. The more she watched and followed the flying creature, the more her focus stayed on it, distracting her from her anger and rage towards Domarus. Having been following for so long, Sakoda did not want to lose sight of it and end up even more lost than when she started. At this point, she hadn't even been keeping track of what direction she headed in, even though it hardly mattered. Trying to figure out what direction she was headed in after already being lost wouldn't be very useful. It did occur to her that the Sun rises in the West and sets in the East.... er, wait, no.. did it rise in the East and set in the West? Did SAO's sun even follow the same logic as the real worlds sun? Did each floor have it own kind of 'sun' that followed its own logic? In all of her pondering, Sakoda had stopped watching where she was going and tripped over a rock in the sand, causing her to face-plant. Cursing at herself and how often she found that she was tripping over rocks and other things, she dusted herself off and looked around for her winged guide.

She followed the 'bird', believing it to be leading her to the city. It was too high up in the desert sky for her to be able to tell that it was actually Rhozarth, nor was she able to tell that he was leading her to her actual goal. At least her winged guide was able to distract her thoughts away from her unbridled anger. She had even began to suspect that Keres was somehow involved in this whole mess, although she had no actual proof or reasoning to believe it. She more or less was blaming everyone except herself at this point. Even without any sound logic behind her suspicions, she continued to include Keres in her frustrations, not realizing she was more frequently complimenting her, thinking things like, "I can't believe she would agree to do something like this to me! She's too cute for something so mean!"

So.. Sakoda had finally realized that she was lost, and wondering around aimlessly. However, in her moment of clarity, she noticed a bird flying above her, seemingly random and seemingly trying to lead her somewhere. That, or she was getting desperate. Regardless, she started to follow the bird. Even if she WERE going insane, the bird, assuming it was real and not some illusion from her insanity, would need to land to eat and drink eventually. That meant she could find food and water for herself! If she were really lucky, the bird could lead her back to civilization. She would be able to pummel Domarus into the ground for this stupid desert excursion! Not that she would kill him, maybe.. She was unsure if she could actually kill anyone in this death game. If she could though, Domarus was the closest to being the first on her hit list. Actually, she didn't really have a hit list, but if she did then Domarus would totally be up there!

It had been some time now, and Sakoda had all but forgotten the quest that she had originally set on now. Her mind had completely settled on proving to Domarus and Keres that she was strong. Strong enough to overcome this world, even conquer it if she so desired! Wiping the sweat from her forehead she walked on, steaming in hate and desert heat. As she walked, she openly cursed Domarus for sending her into this stupid desert on this stupid quest, realizing she didn't even remember what the quest was, but not caring enough to worry about it. What she didn't realize is that she was walking in the wrong direction completely, going away from the main hub and away from the quest objective. At some point in her rage, she had lost her directional awareness. Sakoda later would scream at nobody in particular, but blaming Domarus of course, about how far away the quest goal was. She had begun doubting that there was even a quest out here to begin with, and Domarus just wanted to humiliate her further than he already did. "I'll show him! I'll find my way back and beat his smug face into the ground!!"

Face down in the sand, Sakoda finally admitted the truth to herself. She had no idea where she was, and was entirely lost. She cursed loudly, mainly in Domarus' name, blaming him for not giving her clear enough instructions, or not giving her good enough gear, or even just blaming him on her own personal lack of direction. Truthfully, none of it was actually Domarus' fault, but that didn't stop her from blaming him. "I'm going to kill him for this.. It's his fault! He's trying to get me killed! He knew that this place was too extreme, and sent me here with the hopes that I'll fall over dead! I'll show him! He's going to think I've died, then when he's least expecting it I'll jump him and break his neck!!" Sakoda declared all of the things she would do to him, laughing with what was either insanity or evil desire, or even perhaps a mix of the two. Regardless, it was evident that Sakoda was breaking again.

She nodded at first, then kind of titled her head. "Well, it's kind of a spin-off series... Really, it's something to watch after you get involved in the whole Fate universe" she giggled. Not wanting to spoil anything, she left her comment there. "Anyways, where are you leading me? I explore the area a lot, but I never really memorize locations. At least, not very well. I know where a few things are, like stores and stuff, but other than that I'm at a loss." As she spoke, she looked around at their surroundings, trying to take anything in. Truthfully though, she'll probably forget it all by tomorrow. It's not like she tried to forget anything, she just had a short memory span to anything that didn't stick out to her. She was terrible with directions especially...

Sakoda followed behind Hestia, listening and nodding as Hestia confirmed her knowledge of the Japanese language. She hummed to herself, looking at the familiar and trying to think of what anime was nagging at the back of my mind. "I'm... not sure.. just the name sounds familiar to me. I'm sure I've heard it used as a name, though." Furling her brow, she began to become frustrated at her inability to think of the name. She continued behind Hestia, practically staring holes into Kuro as she tried to remember the name of the bloody anime!! a few minutes passed, and Sakoda shouted out, "AHA! THATS RIGHT!" as she remembered the anime. "It's Fate/Kalied Prisma Illya!" She announced, beaming with glee at the fact that she remembered the shows name. Truthfully, she had a hard time remembering a lot about the real world, especially recently...

She blushed, slightly embarrassed at her name. "Please, call me Sakoda. Anyways, thank you for accepting my request for help! Kuro... that means shadow, right?" Her attention turned to the familiar at Hestia's side. "I really like that name! It's really cute! It reminds me of an anime I watched too... Anyways, sorry, lost my train of thought for a second! I just need to slay a few Boar Pups, nothing too hard right?" Sakoda smiled innocently, having faith in her new companions abilities. A tank would be especially helpful to take damage, she remembered. With Hestia's help, surely the quest would be done in no time at all! Brushing her hair back behind her ears, as it had fallen forward when she bowed, Sakoda nodded to indicate that she was ready to go if Hestia was ready.

Sakoda fell back in shock, having come back to reality once @Hestia addressed her. "o-oh! I-Im sorry! I was just uhh... s-say could you help me with a quest?" Sakoda found herself blushing deeply before bowing before Hestia. "My name is Sakoda, miss! Meet to please you! I mean pleased to meet you!!" Sakoda sighed deeply, wondering if she could make herself any more of a fool. Looking up, she noticed how pretty Hestia looked. "Uhh.. you look very pretty," was all that she managed to spit out after a moments hesitation. It was bad enough that she wasn't good with people, but with attractive people, she didnt stand a chance! She could be manipulated to no end if she started to have feelings towards someone that wanted to take advantage of her. Shaking her head of the thoughts, she sighed again. "I'm doing the second quest available to players, and would like your assistance please. Would you be able and willing to help me, and ensure that I complete the quest safely?"

Sighing to herself, she walked out into the city, having just accepted her newest quest. it was simple enough, all she had to do was slay a few boar pups right? Still, something bugged her.. Maybe she should bring someone along to help. Domarus has taken her under his wing, but she didn't want to call him up for such a low leveled quest. As she thought to herself, she walked towards the fields where the boar pups could be located, and on her way noticed a woman with a familiar next to her. Looking at the woman's name, she saw that it was @Hestia. Smiling,m she believed that she had found her partner for the quest. Of course, as quickly as her hopes got up, they dropped again as she began wondering if the woman, or rather Hestia, would even agree to go with her. As far as she knew, Hestia was looking for a newbie player to manipulate like a puppet or something?! Wait, what if there was an item that allowed one player to possess another?! Was that possible? As her panicking thoughts spiraled out of control, she didn't realize that Hestia has taken notice of the girl that she saw named Floofy was staring at her.

Sakoda looked around at her surroundings as she made her way, although to be honest she wasn't really looking at anything. She was still fuming over Domarus and how he humiliated her. She would show him, she just had to! Kicking at the sand in anger, a gust of wind blew passed her. This, of course, caused the sand to blow back into her face, making her spatter and spit. "AAAAGHHH!!!" She screamed in greater frustration. She refused to let this game beat her! She refused to let DOMARUS beat her!! She would show them all! As her rage became determination, she took off running, eager to complete her quest and show Domarus just how competent she really was... and then immediately slipped on the sandy dunes, falling face first into the ground. Mentally sighing to herself, she decided to lay in the sand for a while until she cooled down enough to continue her misadventures. Boldly rushing onward clearly wasn't going to help prove herself..

Sakoda's heart sank as Domarus quickly showed her no intention of gentleness, apology, or any form of kindness. Bowing her head, she muttered quietly, "Yes Domarus sir," before going over to the NPC and accepting the quest. She couldn't believe how easily Domarus made a fool of her. She thought for sure that she finally had an upper hand on him, but he easily turned it around onto her. Even if she had known where his familiar was, she still wouldn't have expected it to attack her without reason. Sighing to herself, she looked out to the desert and started on her journey. This time, she expected Domarus to throw something at her, or to send Rhozarth to attack her again. She figured it would be something cheeky enough for Domarus to do to her. After all, he seemed to enjoy making her a fool. Well, she would show him that she was no fool!

She jumped in shock at Rozarth digging into her, glaring at Domarus. "That wasn't fair! I had no reason to think Rozarth would attack me, and he's your familiar! I shouldn't be worried about your pet, especially when you don't have any motive for attacking me!" She folded her arms after scolding her teacher, confident that if it was something else attacking her that she would've been able to react to it. Unless Domarus was trying to make her believe she couldn't trust him, she didn't have reason to expect attacks from him or anyone he was acquainted with. "That was a dirty thing to do, Domarus," She stated, with a matter-of-fact attitude. "Apologize to me, right now!" She fumed at him angrily, trying to keep herself composed but at the same time feeling like she was unable to hide the fact that the sudden attack had scared her as well.

Sakoda nodded, blushing in embarrassment. In truth, she was just excited to go on another quest. She had been relatively unable to do much in terms of exploring the other floors, and so being able to do so with someone like Domarus watching over her gave her confidence and eagerness. "Yea, sorry Keres. I'm just really looking forward to this. I guess it's got me energized and everything," She explained to her companion, seemingly having obtained some control over her emotions. Whether or not that bit of control would last had yet to be seen, of course. She picked up her pace, as to keep up with Domarus and not fall behind. She glanced back quickly at Keres, noticing how cute she looked in the lighting, before quickly returning her attention to Domarus and where he was leading her. She didn't want Keres to notice her admiration towards her, as she suspected that Keres wanted to manipulate her.

Sakoda followed her master and the maid, having not reacted to the later's flirtatious actions. "What's on floor five?" She would ask out of curiosity. "Some high level secret boss? Some super rare item? Maybe a hidden ability that nobody else has?" The questions flew out, poking and prodding at Domarus for answers. Evidently, her curiosity was leading her to ask questions until she received some form of an answer: even if that answer was to be told to shut up. "I don't think i've been to the fifth floor yet, actually. What's it like there?" Her questions suddenly shifted from what they would be doing to what the state of the fifth floor was. "Is it hot? is it cold? Will I need a blanket?"  She looked over at Keras, wondering if the maid had everything she needed for the trip. "Will Keras be ok? Do we need to get anything for her before we go?" Truthfully, she wasn't trying to be annoying. Actually, she wanted to be prepared, and wanted to know everything about their mission.

Sakoda looked up and glanced over, seeing Domarus standing there. Jumping up, she hurried over to him and bowed. It was more of a greeting than a sign of servitude, so Sakoda thought it would be acceptable. "Hey Domarus! Sorry for being a bit late, I slept in again... but anyways, I'm here!" She grinned with excitement, knowing Domarus had a quest lined up for her to do today, although she hadn't gotten any details about what she would be doing for the quest. Regardless, she was still excited. This meant that she would be making more progress to becoming a competent player, and everything she could do to get better was great news to her. After all, she wanted to become stronger, and right now she trusted that Domarus had the intentions of making her stronger too. To be completely honest though, she had her reservations about his plans overall plans.

She bowed, grinning with excitement "Oh yes sir, Domarus sir!" grabbing her gear, she hurried out the door in excitement. It would appear that this side of her was accepting of her place by Domarus' side, more so than her more insane half. She had full faith that Domarus would be able to turn her into a powerful force indeed, but of course with that strength Sakoda would want to push her limits with him. Only time would tell how loyal she would remain, or if Domarus would have to take drastic measures with her. For now though, she would be loyal to him and do as he says. As she exited the room, she turned to see if Domarus would be following her. However, as she turned around she stumbled over her own feet, falling onto the floor with a thud and blushing with embarassment at her own gracefulness.

Sakoda smiled and nodded in understanding. A moment passed, and an idea popped into her head, making her grin in excitement. "Domarus, one more thing! It's more of a favor if anything, but could you turn me into a legend? I want to be known as a Heroic Spirit. A warrior of legend, like King Arthur or Gilgamesh... Ya that would be so amazing! I want to be mysterious and have the player-base question if I truly exist, or if I'm some kind of AI that the game randomly generates, or if I'm just a myth!" She beamed with excitement. The idea clearly was something that inspired her determination. "Yes, that would be perfect.. A legendary fighter, unknown to the world, but spoken of in whispers and legends..." Her eyes closed as she imagined this outcome. After a minute of her daydreaming, she giggled and looked back to Domarus. "Yes, I've decided! Create a legend out of me! I'll let you figure out the details~."

She frowned in annoyance, thinking she had found her first step in manipulating Domarus. Clearly not, however. She giggled and shrugged, "Oh well, it was worth a shot!" In an instant, her entire attitude did a 180. She went from cocky and demanding to silly and fun with a flash. "Anyways, how ya gonna make me stronger? Just by quests and stuff?" She asked, opening up her menu and looking at her stats. "I think I still have some beginner quests to complete, so I could do those at some point... As for gear, I dunno how to go about getting that." Sakoda closed her menus and returned her attention to Domarus, smiling cheerfully. "Whatever you wanna do, boss!" Sakoda announced cheerfully, saluting Domarus as she did so.