Raeze

Her head jolted up as she heard a familiar voice calling her name. She put the guide away and stood from her hiding spot against the wall. She saw her friend and headed toward him. "Hey Stryder!" She called, waving with a bright smile. She hadn't known that he got her message, seeing as he hadn't responded, but he showed up rather quickly. That made her happy. Hoping she didn't pull him from anything important.

When she reached him she spoke again. "How have you been?" She asked politely. She hadn't seen him since she randomly showed up at his shop. "Ive finally gained a few levels!" She grinned. "This frantic mother NPC caught my attention so I accepted the quest to go look for her missing child. I was hoping you would help me in case I got into a sticky situation." She explained further, why she messaged him. "I didn't put it in the message, afraid that it might sound rude. But I was also hoping you'd bring the items I commissioned to help me out a little further." Her smile turned sheepish, hoping she didn't sound greedy.

While talking, she quickly sent off a party invite to him. @Stryder

Raeze looked around for a moment waiting for the quest window to pop up in front of her, however it proceeded to do the exact opposite. She shifted her deep blue eyes toward Winik with a confused look on her face. Then, she remembered that Zakariah had made her grab a parcel too because the quest specifically stated that each member had to complete their own part of the quest.

'Oh I'm so dumb.' She chastised herself. With a swipe of her left hand, she opened her menu and got into her inventory. She tapped on the parcel icon, causing it to pop into existence in front of her. "I also have a parcel from the kind Zakariah." She smiled to the worn man.

"Thank you for your help children. You have done great." His crooked smile grew.

Finally the quest completed icon popped up in front of each of the players. Raeze excitedly high fived Winik. "How great was that?! What's the next quest? I'm ready!" She hopped around swinging her arms.

Raeze excitedly clapped when her friend successfully completed this part of the quest. The quest window popped up showing them their current rewards. So she quickly took the parcel and headed out of the old alchemy shop. She danced around Winik as he exited the shop as well. "Look how well our first quest together has gone! Can you imagine how well all the others might go?" She couldn't help but be excited.

The pair walked across the small courtyard and made their way to Lyle Tealeaf's Blacksmith shop. The walked in through the front door and was immediately hit with a wall of heat emanating from the back of the shop. An old man, much like Zakariah was standing at the front counter, appeared to be taking a small break from the heat. He wiped his soot covered face off with a handkerchief.

"Welcome, how may I help you?" He held a crooked smile.

Raeze smiled apologetically.  She really didn't know how to help him. She went to help Zakariah grab more items for Winik. The older man smiled and spoke softly. "Everything will work out young man. But I do have to ask you to not destroy my dear shop." He chuckled lightly, and proceeded to pat Winik's shoulder. He then moved to grab a few more empty clear bottles. He set up a new mortar and pestle in front of Winik and then grabbed some herbs to work along side the tall young man.

Raeze continued her rounds around the shop. She really wanted to do this, but she wouldn't mention it to Winik until after this quest. He was becoming very irritable. A small smile crept onto her face as a memory popped into her head.

His mom had asked them to make pyramids of a new cereal that she was requested to promote. She had this huge whole pamphlet explaining what stores had to do in order to advertise it. And Raeze had gotten her pyramid done relatively easy, then again she was on an end cap that was going into the dry breakfast item isle. Winik was tasked with making a much larger pyramid right inside the doors. Every time the customers activated the automatic sliding doors, a few boxes would move and topple part of his pyramid and he would have to start all over. @Winik

Raeze listened to him mumble to himself. She didn't quite understand the terminology but she felt his frustration. She wished she could help him more, but this quest required that he do his alone. She remained not far from him however, trying to lend strong moral support while staying quiet.

She watched the old shop keep step up beside him and demonstrate a different techniques to use when breaking down items. He tempered with the flame on the mini cauldron he had set up beside Winik. She had full and complete faith in her companion.

She soon got distracted by some of the old man's wares and began to wander about his shop. She inspected his various jars and vials, most of them individually different. She poked at the jar from earlier that housed many boars eyeballs. A few moved with force, rolling around in the liquid. She scrunched up her nose and moved to his other various items.

She stopped once more, a large jar housing 3 bioluminescent mushrooms. In her awe, she began to plan things she might be able to make. Some fun ideas and others definitely more serious.

"I may be an old crone, but atleast I'm successful." She stuck her tongue out and pulled at one of her eyes. She hoped it hadn't really sounded mean, she meant to just be teasing. But she was worried so she softened her tone and stepped up beside her childhood friend.

"It's okay. You'll definitely get this. Its kind of like cooking. You gotta listen to it. Hear it speak to you." She pulled out another mat from a basket beside them and handed it to Winik.

She realized that she might have found her profession. She felt the connection in her soul. This was something she felt would help the entire world of SAO, also it would benefit her and him in their endeavors. She smiled at the thought. She could open up a cute little shop and sell lovingly crafted potions. She stepped away from him to give the space she felt he might need. Meanwhile, she continued to daydream about her growing life in this world.

'Why did I allow myself to take this long? I have missed so much.' She chastised herself.

Raeze giggled at his soot covered face and smoldering blue ponytail. "Come on Winik! You can do it. It just takes practice is all." Her grin spread further.

She proceeded to pull some items toward her. She kept her small area very neat. She placed her empty bottle to her upper left, her ingredients on her right, with her mortar and pestle in front of her. She laid some dried thyme and rosemary into the small bowl and began grinding in a circular motion.

To her great surprise, the items powdered quickly and easily. A small smile spread across her face. Not to boast to Winik, she didn't even know if he was watching her, but simply because she was happy she didn't fail at this.

She followed onto the next step by adding the powdered items and a clear liquid into a small cauldron that hang over a very small flame. She gratefully accepted a small ladle that Zakariah held out for her and began to stir the ingredients together. As the mixture heated up, it began to turn red. Upon hitting boiling, she swiftly pulled it from the head and set the cauldron on a trivet to cool.

Once cooled, Raeze ladled the translucent red mixture into the square bottle she had chosen. She quickly stoppered it and placed it in front of the shop owner.

He bent down to inspect the item. A soft small smile grew, "The mixture is supposed to be thicker and not see through, however I would say this is a successful potion. Good job, my dear." The old man took the potion and set it up on his shelf.

[ID: 87304 CD: 4 (Success!)]

Raeze allowed him to help her up once more. Reminding her of their childhood, something he had to do almost constantly. She smiled as she was flooded with memories, always ending with him laughing at her and picking her off the ground. She then shook her head as he proceeded to show his mightiness, by hacking at anything that might be in her way.

The pair continued this way until they were out of the forest. Where she joined by his side, the pair entered the town and made their way back to the old man.

Raeze initiated conversation with the old man upon entering his shop. "Hello Zakariah! We have returned with the 5 materials that you asked us to get!" Raeze smiled at the older man.

"That is wonderful, my dear. I do hope you fared well and didn't find too much trouble." The white, haired man smiled kindly. "I was wondering if you might help me further. I could teach you how to work some crafting, and you would help me stock my shop some?" He explained the next step in the quest.

Raeze smiled a little nervously. "We would be delighted to help you, wouldn't we Winik?" She turned to the former blonde, catching him poking at a jar of pickled boar eyes.

She nodded her head at him, accepting that he had in fact 'beat her'. She didn't mind the 'competition', she like that it seemed to make him happy. She reached her hand out and grabbed his. "Thank you." She smiled. Once they released each others hands, she brushed any dirt and sand off her butt and moved forward. She swiped her hand down, bringing up her menu. She brought up her mini map to see how to get back to town. She mentally plotted her way and then closed out.

"I should be able to find my last item on the way back. If we follow out this trail here," She pointed at a trampled and worn foot path to their left. "It should meet up with a bigger trail a little ways out." She smiled toward her friend. 

She went first down the foot path, seeing as it really was only big enough to walk one in front of the other. The trees and overgrowth seemed eager to overtake it. But didn't, and left just barely enough room. As she walked, she kept her gaze downward most of the time to ensure tripping stayed to a minimum.

However, she decided the trail was even enough to walk safely, she decided to bring her gaze up. Upon doing so, she was met with a very ripe, juicy raspberry. She happily picked it, resisting the urge to pop it in her mouth. She turned and grinned triumphantly at Winik, then allowed the item to go into storage. Moments later, her foot caught a large root resulting in her finding herself on her butt.

[ID: 87302 LD: 19 (+1Mat) Total: 5Mats] @Winik

She looked over at him. She remembered how sickly his mom was getting when her mom worked at the store. "You're taking over the store? I thought you wanted to be a chef." She furrowed her brow in concern. But she knew what he meant. Her dad never would have allowed her to change her hair color like this, one of the reasons she had done it. "Ill make the store the only one I shop at if I have to." She smiled at the idea, "Cant have you going out of business on me. Though mom and dad probably wont allow me out of their sight either." She didn't have the heart to add the last thing she thought. 'That is, IF I ever make it home.'

"Maybe I can ask your mom to allow me to work part time. Just to help out so you guys aren't so swamped." Her smile quickly returned and she continued digging her toes through the soft sand in the shallow of the stream.

A bright smile emerged  as she brought another shell from the stream. She proceeded to clean the sand from it and allowed it to pixelate into her inventory.

[ID: 87300 LD: 17 (+1Mat) Total: 4 Mats] @Winik

She sighed, allowing her shoulders to droop. She had missed him to, but things were so different now. They were trying to stay alive in a game where nothing was safe. That scared her terribly.  "I know Tama..." She stopped herself short. "I'm sorry, Winik." She enunciated his player name. It was still rather weird to her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get mad."

It was funny, him getting frustrated and knotting his hands in his hair. She remembered him doing it IRL, but now he had such long blue hair. It seemed so comical. But she could see the boy she remembered.

'Such a lifetime ago, it seems.' Her heart ached a little.

A giggle passed her lips. "Is it weird now that you have such long hair?" She gestured at his blue ponytail that snaked through the wet grass. 'Even though he looks so different, he is still exactly the same.' She smiled down at him.

While swishing her legs through the shallow slow moving water at the edge of the stream, she felt something come up from the sand.

She reached into the water, upon pulling her hand back out she had a small item covered in sand. She quickly adjusted where she was on her knees and shins. She leaned into the water to brush the sand away. This revealed a small shell, which shined with an opalescent quality. Smiling she allowed the beautiful shell to pixelate into her inventory.

[ID: 87282 LD: 20 (+1MAT) Total: 3 MATS] @Winik

Raeze listened to the frantic NPC mother. She felt so strongly about helping, because it made her think of her own mother. She quickly hit the accept button for the quest. Taking no time at all she messaged a very helpful friend.

After hitting the send button, she headed to the edge of the town to wait for her friend. She knew he had finished the items that she commissioned from him. Excited for him to bring those, hoping he would. And excited to hopefully be able to actually help with an enemy this time. She had gained a few levels since he last saw her. With that, slightly higher stats. However, she hoped he would come because she knew she couldn't do this quest alone. She was slightly lower than the recommended level, but she knew, that if Stryder joined her, his level would easily balance things out.

While she waited she rested along the inner wall and chose to read the guide on floor 2.

@Stryder

She nodded toward him, "That is true, however, when playing with peoples' lives. Over caution, may sometimes be a good thing." She giggled lightly. "As for me, I tend to be over cautious. Most of the time on accident."  She smiled to the two.

Then changing the subject slightly. "I think we have found most of what we will out here. We are still pretty close to town, so I understand if the pickings are thin." She stood and brushed her trousers off. She swiped the air with her left hand and brought up her menu. She tapped a few things and her gloves returned to her inventory. She stretched out her short limbs and walked closer to Domarus.

"Would you like to continue in a different area? Or would you like to call it a day?" She played with her ponytail, slightly nervous. She didn't want him to think she was trying to get rid of him. She had just begun to notice how neither of them were getting very good results.

However, she was soon distracted by a small object behind Domarus. As she moved around him, her leg caught a small hole, causing her body to wobble. Luckily she caught herself before she actually fell. Once she reached the object she bent to pick it up. It was a small purple flower, something that might be useful since she was thinking of becoming an alchemist.

[ID: 87281 LD: 19 (+1Mat) Total:13 Mats] @Domarus

A sighed passed her lips, "Yeah, I didn't think so. It was worth a shot looking into though." She didn't think the stealth skill would help, but she couldn't help but hope. In response to Domarus' question she shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno really, I mean I like to plan ahead. It helps me remain calm when something changes suddenly. And this game has taught me a lot about gaining as much knowledge as possible before setting anything in stone." She tiled her head a bit, in thought. "I also like to try to account for multiple possibilities to something. But you can never account for everything, no matter how hard you try or how smart you are." She explains. This was something she had learned from her father working as a surgeon, things changed all the time and nothing was set in stone.

She shrugged again, chuckling. "I've never thought about it much. Its just something I do." She smiled and returned to her root searching. She consequently turned up empty handed, another sigh escaping her lips.

[ID:87085 LD: 11 (+0Mats) Total:12 Mats] @Domarus

Winik had picked her up and ran so quickly, she barely had time to even yelp. She did have time to punch his back as he raced past multiple mods, which scared her. She never knew if they would catch the attention of any of them.

Next thing she knew, she was submerged momentarily in a small stream. The pair broke the surface, Raeze sputtering and Winik grinning from ear to ear. A breeze blew through the trees, causing Raeze to shudder. But she beat on Winik's back until he put her down. "Why would you do that!" She yelled. He was being so infuriating, which he was most of the time, but it seemed as though maybe he was pushing her away slightly. Or the game had changed him, then again, she knew it had changed her so it wouldn't be that surprising.

"We aren't here to play around, Winik!" She crossed her arms under the water, now noticing how deep it was, the water reaching her shoulders. This only soured her mood, she couldn't play safely in the water because she was so short and any stronger current might just take her away. She struggled her way to the bank of the river.

She hoisted her small frame out of the water, then turned to sit on the bank with her legs hanging in. She felt something in the mud beside her, so she searched around with her waterlogged leather gloves and pulled out a hardened clump of dirt, which crumbled with some pressure.

[ID: 87084 LD: 2 (+0Mats) Total: 2Mats]

Raeze balked, "Winik! I didn't think about it might hit you! I'm so sorry!" She had turned around, beginning to panic her eyes wide. When he teased her, she nervously smiled, "I really am sorry!"

He teased her more when he had one more than her. She didn't care that he might get them faster than her. She was mainly just happy to have him back in her life. She missed his playful banter and teasing. 

She moved to another tree in search of more items. Her gloved hands moved around for a few seconds then pulled out a small bundle of dirt. As she brushed the item free of the dirt, it revealed to be a petite white mushroom. With a squeal, she hopped up, allowing the item to go into storage.

"Two/two, I think we're even." With a wink and a hair flick, she moved to another spot to search, leaving her back toward him.

[ID: 86931 LD: 16 (+1MAT) Total: 2MATs] @Winik

Her deep blue eyes narrowed at his tall frame, then she turned to scrub the dirt from her small nose. When she turned back toward her childhood friend, she hoped the redness in her face had subsided. With a huff she growled at him, "Glad I could offer some amusement."  She stalked off in search of her second item, the first one having went straight to her inventory. She forgot how infuriating he was, but she missed it. More than she realized to be totally honest. She was extremely glad to have some sense of normalcy brought back to her daily life.

She sighed and groaned as her new searching spot didn't produce anything worthwhile. She found a small rusted bent piece of metal. Which she threw behind her, not paying attention to the direction it flew.  She flopped onto her back with another heavy sigh. She was beginning to hate looking for materials because the RNG gods hated her most of the time. However, this helped her in mapping out ideas for later in the game.

[ID:86729 LD: 2 (+0MATS) Total: 1] @Winik

Raeze looked down toward the ground. She knew he was right, but she wished she didn't have to admit it. "I know. I think I got a little too excited. I'd love to get some gear." She smiled brightly once again nodding at Stryder. She swiped her left hand downward bringing up her menu. She tapped around a bit before a small window popped up in front of him. "You don't have to accept but I think you're a good friend." She sent the friend request, partially because she realized that she hadn't actually obtained any friends in her list since starting the game. It also reminded her, she needed to send a request to another person later. "You can message me whenever you're available to teach me." She nodded with a smile. "I look forward to seeing you again, maybe I'll have gained another level." She grinned with a spark in her eye.

Raeze jumped at his frustrated yell, then began to laugh. "Lets hope I have better luck, even though I have commissioned a few items, I don't have any yet." She swiped her left hand down to bring up her menu and donned her plain leather gloves. She was glad to know that she wouldn't receive any odd looks for once. Winik knew all about her slight, germ problems.

She moved to a lone tree not far away from the outer wall and began to dig around its roots. After a few moments a delighted squeal was heard crossing the field. Then Raeze popped up, holding a root looking item. "WINIK!" She bounced around happily until her foot caught a small dip in the ground and she dropped to the ground.

She popped back up as quickly as possible, her face beet red and eyes downcast. She now held the root looking item at her side.

[ID: 86722 LD: 20 (+1MAT) Total: 1] @Winik

Raeze stopped short when two windows popped up in quick succession in front of her. She remembered Stryder inviting her into a party during their quest. She knew he would eventually party up with her. He had always been that way. Another reason he took so much heat for her when she would make messes in the store. She decided to ignore the 'princess' comment and replied, "I don't think a two person guild is really conducive, or allowed." A small giggle escaped her. As she was talking she pressed the blue accept circle on both windows, clearing them from her vision. A guild would be nice though. It would give her better access to helping keep him alive. She refused to entertain those thoughts, he wasn't allowed to die. "I'd gladly have a guild with you, but I think we need a few more friends." She smiled before continuing out of the outer gates of the town, reaching the maker on her minimap. @Winik

She raised her eyebrows and with that her eyes widened. She wouldn't use the same terminology as him, but she knew the kind that he was talking about. "Its Raeze. Now stop calling me 'flower petal'." She glared in his direction as she continued walking while following her minimap. "Any way, the rewards for this quest are pretty lucrative, would you like to do the others that follow it once we are done? They all reward extra SP." She explained, never turning back to look at him.

She might have been a little peeved at him but she couldn't be happier that she had finally caught back up with him. She really had missed his irritatingly nice personality, not to mention his dorky disposition. He genuinely didn't care what others thought about him, he just cared that he kept up with his own personal values. One of the reasons that he took the 'abuse' so to speak from his mother when she caused havoc at Tamaki's mom's store. She honestly hoped that she would survive this to be able to return home and hug both of their moms. This just made her resolve even stronger. @Winik

Raeze jumped a little as the window popped up in front of her, She read the Quest name and shakily tapped the accept circle. "Its an instant reaction you turd! And it hurt, I don't care what you say, getting your head knocked into a shelf hurts." She glared at him. Instead of retorting further, Raeze decided to swipe down to open her menu and went to her quest log to read the information of the quest. Along with the quest info being added a small marker popped up on her minimap for the pair to go to the fields just outside of the town.

With a huff, she hopped up to grab his collar and proceeded to drag him out of the shop. "Lets go get this quest dealt with Winik! I need some stuff so I can level up, and apparently so do you!" She laughed as he soon began to follow without her needing to drag him along. @Winik

Raeze nodded, her deep blue eyes sparkling with excitement. When she pulled the silk thread out from behind her back she watched his expression closely. "I feel like this is something perfect for a tailor. What do you think?" She questioned, pulling up a trade window selecting the MAT and choosing Stryder's name in the recipient list.

She looked at him some seriousness showing now. "Of course! I really need to learn the ins and outs of fighting. And I believe you'd be a great teacher." She smiled. She was excited to have someone who would teach her how to fight. That was one crucial thing to surviving in this death game. One needed to know how to fight. She already knew the technicalities to it. She's read that part of the manuals over and over. However, actually doing was different than just reading the technicalities. "Do you plan to talk to me about how, or are you going to show me?" She asked sincerely wanting to know. @Stryder

Raeze's head smacked into a higher shelf covered in empty jars, a groan emitting from her. "Winik, could you put me down now please?" She groaned once more, reaching for her head. It was spinning slightly so she couldn't hear much from the males. 'Great he's really gonna see how useless you are. He's gonna think that you never should've gotten the game in the first place.'

She assumed that he didn't hear her, because his shoulder was still firmly placed into her gut. However, without him moving, she took her chance to squirm out of his now loosened grip. She fell awkwardly to the ground, landing on her shoulder and elbow. When she scrambled up, she saw and older man smiling at the pair. He didn't seem phased in the slightest that Winik had damaged part of his shop, or that she had been hurt. "Hey! You're going to start a quest right after you about knock me out!" She put her hands on her cocked hips and glared at her childhood friend. @Winik

A gasp escaped her lips before she even truly knew what was happening. "Tamaki PUT ME DOWN!" She bumped into his back while his shoulder dug into her gut. She proceeded to beat on his back, which seemed to not eve phase him in the slightest. 'Winik? Where did he even begin to think of that?' She grumbled to herself as she crossed her arms and decided to pout until he put her down. She watched people look around confused as they passed in kind of a blue blur. Many players had to jump out of the way, but he was sure to never actually hit someone, even though he got pretty close a few times.

The scenery changed a bit as they neared the palace. She tried to watch her own minimap to see where they were going but nothing looked familiar out this way. So, instead of staring confused at the map, she decided to watch her actual surroundings. "Will you atleast tell me where were going please! I may be a level 3 but I don't have anything but starter gear!" She called to him. @Winik