Arabelle

And all of a sudden, the boy dropped his act. Smart of him if he was already kind of failing at it - with Arabelle being able to detect it almost immediately - but she thought she was a bit disappointed. Would he have kept going, in which case, it would have been a great amusement; or would he have realized he might be doing something wrong and adapted? He quickly salvaged it by showing her his truer side though.

And wasn't it the loveliest thing. 

He leaned forward and Arabelle was the only one to hear his next words. She thought she liked his eyes now that she had a closer look at them - they were red, a unique and very beautiful red. Any other girl would melt.

But she was used to this. 

The small purple-haired girl simply brought a gloved hand to her lips and treated him to a coy smile. "Aren't you charming? Though... in that regard, we need to find something else to give him."

It just kind of failed in one aspect.

They started to walk and Arabelle kept her pace beside him with her hands tucked behind her back. She hummed rather thoughtfully at his explanation. His little act - along with his failure to do it properly - did succeed in distinguishing him from the rest, though - "Mhm, I understand. You could have started with that though," she teased, referring to his little flirt earlier. The small purple-haired girl accentuated her next words with a wave of her index finger - the same way her scary professors used to do with their pointer.  "Girls like confidence! Sincerity! Show them what you can offer, and they'd be willing to give you a listen."

Once the town exit came into view, she materialized her scythe and sheathed it at her back. "I took it myself, yeah. It's the area right by the nearest <<Garden>>. Not in the <<Garden>> area itself - materials gathered with the Nature's Treasure buff don't count - but directly outside. The buff isn't present, but materials still do tend to spawn a lot more around there." 

--Arabelle did not care to inform him that she actually got that info from Claude.

"Here you go. For safety. You won't always be in my field of vision, and this way, I would be informed immediately of any changes to your HP," she quickly explained as she sent him a party request. Then she turned and beckoned him forward with a smile. "I'll lead the way. Follow me."
 

"Mhm. I know a few people who just got used to it though," Arabelle related with a slight shrug of her shoulders. She still didn't entirely prefer the way he talked - he sounded like a meaner version of her best friend - but he was better than nothing, and she was partways glad this conversation wasn't utterly one-sided. "But, it's really just preference. You do you. 

"But, but, hey. You know that fighting move they use in movies? A character aims for their opponent's glasses and... jab!" The small purple-haired girl imitated that same gesture. Not at him though. Heck, no. She wasn't about to be seen as a trigger-happy lunatic. She turned her head in his direction and smiled innocently, tucking her hands behind her back once again. "Kidding. Like I said, you do you. If you eliminate everything that you think would get in your way, you might actually be left with nothing."

It didn't take them long to get to the area she indicated though midway, Arabelle felt a bit impatient. She chanced a quick search for materials, her ashen eyes turning a bright red as she assessed the area around her with <<Detection>>. Blank. Disappointed, she deactivated her <<Detection>>.

He told her his name: Roulette. 

"Does it have something to do with gambling?" Was the first thing that came to her mind. It was a bit of an unusual name. It didn't sound like anything one would normally address a person by. When he commented on her knowledge on the game though, she waved her hand dismissively with a small smirk. "Well... you can only remain ignorant on some of the more important stuff for so long, you know? This thing's been going on for three years. Get with the system, sugar~."

A toddler.

Arabelle's impression of 'a slightly rude guy' immediately went to 'big, cocky, dumb-dumb who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.' But he only just met her, and she was feeling nice enough to let it pass. "Ara, ara? Were you feeling conscious? I was. Don't feel special though, it wasn't just you." The small purple-haired girl fell into pace with him, but she had a rather childish skip to her step. "It's not every day you see a guy in glasses. Those things really aren't a trend now that everyone has 20/20 vision, you know?"

He mentioned gathering. Arabelle knew at least two quests that required gathering in Floor 1, and indeed, both were very exciting. She took the beginner quest with some cute boy with confidence and relationship issues, and the quest to unlock her crafting skill with some cute boy with confidence and relationship issues.

They were two different people, promise.

"Mhm. The one with the old NPC who wouldn't stop quoting dead people, right?" She was never gonna live that one down. Walking beside him, she considered her options. Arabelle had gone out to gather materials for her shop. She could do it without company, or she could do it with some unfriendly but might prove to be quite interesting company. Plus, maybe he was just as much of a tsundere as Huginn. It wasn't much of a debate. "Then, follow me. I know the best place to gather materials. Doesn't have mobs either. Whether or not you fail thrice in a row would be completely up to you though."

Arabelle was feeling a bit helpful today.

"Ever been to the <<Garden>>? The one with the <<Nature's Treasure>> buff. The area I'm talking about is right beside it. The lesson quest doesn't count materials gathered in the <<Garden>>, but the area right outside it though... Well, either due to the over-abundance of materials or just some pre-set parameters, materials tend to spawn more in the area directly outside it as compared to--"

Who was she kidding. She was not a Claude.

"Something like that. I'll lead the way." Having cut her exposition dump in half, Arabelle tucked her hands behind her back and smiled innocently. "What's your name?"

Arabelle wasn't busy today either. 

Claude was off doing his scout things. The guild didn't have anything going on, as they always did. And while she had to admit she felt like having some of them around, she wasn't interested in contacting any of her friends. 

She could only take so much of her best friend's cold rejections! And she hadn't reinstated her 100% friend discount either!

Arabelle huffed. Well, if Mishiro didn't want her around, then she wasn't going to seek her out either. Plain and simple! Still, in her boredom, the small purple-haired girl found herself wandering about the streets of the Starting City. A rare, quiet walk. She was trying to figure out what her best friend liked so much about walking.

Half an hour later, Arabelle still didn't get it. 

If she wanted to people-watch, she could do it atop a roof. If she wanted to find some lucky player to help, she could do it at one of the player bulletin boards by the town gate. If she wanted to appreciate the scenery, she could do it outside town in some place she hadn't seen a thousand times already.

Well, let boring people like boring things.

Arabelle paused at an intersection, considering the rest of her plans for the day. It wasn't long before an easy answer quickly presented itself though, and it was in the form of a boy gingerly tapping her on the shoulder. The boy quickly averted his red eyes when she turned around to regard him curiously. Quest help. He must be rather inexperienced if he didn't already know there was a player bulletin on the other side of town which yielded much better results than approaching a random cute girl on the street. But, she would overlook it! He was cute.

What was with that cutesy shy kid act though? He was stumbling over his words, but it didn't seem to fit his voice. It was more suited to a different sort of tone, a more confident one.

But Arabelle was interested in whatever he was planning to do with his little act, so she kept quiet.

"I'm Arabelle, nice to meet you!" The small purple-haired girl gave him a friendly smile and extended her gloved hand. "You're in luck, sugar. I was juust planning to head out. I'll join you. Which one're you taking? Does it happen to be the boring one with that old NPC guy who wouldn't stop quoting dead people down the street?"
 

Someone had approached her already. Of course they would. Arabelle had been impressed by her little feat herself! It hadn't been the first time she leaped past the town wall, but her perfect landing at the end deserved bonus points.

"Mm...?" The small purple-haired girl turned her head to the source of the voice. Standing in front of her was the orange-haired guy with glasses from earlier. He was tall, and kind of a looker now that she had a better look. Arabelle casually sheathed her scythe at her back and smiled. "Oh, so you were looking at me earlier," she hummed with a light teasing tone to her voice. As much of a tease it was, it implied she had been watching him, too. She noted his rather unfriendly demeanor, but there had to be some reason he approached her. People don't start conversations for absolutely no reason. It was a common rule! "Arabelle. I find that going through the rooftops is much easier than shouldering your way through a crowd. Not everyone can do it though... you'd have to be light and you have to jump pretty high!"

Then, he started to walk away. In the middle of a conversation. Ruuude. But now that he had caught her interest, she decided to tag along and kept a small distance between them. 

Arabelle would take anything to relieve herself from the monotony of this day.

"Well, same here. I'm heading out to grab some materials from the lower-leveled area nearby. What about you?"

The small purple-haired girl tilted her head rather curiously at her friend's response. A quick read through its contents reminded her that Froppy had been a part of the Guardians, but had left sometime after Arabelle came in for some reason - and she was already inactive beforehand. Now it most likely wasn't her business, but she still made it part of her objectives to learn the reason why.

She whistled to herself as she walked. Arabelle was curious, that's why!

Stepping away from Floor 21's teleport gate, she looked around and saw the familiar dark-haired girl with her distinctive lolling tongue seated on a bench. Her friend, whom she invited, somehow got there before her. Whoops? Arabelle wasn't the most considerate, but she at least knew how boring it was to be made to wait.

"'Afternoon!" Arabelle greeted brightly. Dressed in an outfit that wasn't as stylish as her usual (they were going to take it off, anyway) the small purple-haired girl accompanied her words with a small wave of her hand and a smile. Froppy was one of the people she had lots of fun with, so she made sure to express her happiness at seeing an old friend clearly. Arabelle tucked her hands behind her back. "Glad you accepted the invite. I really think we should've done this sooner. Shall we get going? Hotsprings are right over there." She indicated the direction with a wave of her hand, though considering how popular the location was, the froglike girl probably knew as much already. Either way, she wasted no time and started walking, motioning the girl to follow. "So how have you been?"

Her gaze lingered on a player with vibrant orange hair. It was really his unusual hair color that drew her attention to him, but when she found him looking up at her, she found herself returning his bored stare with an equally disinterested one of her own.

A staring contest.

Then, he looked away. So did Arabelle. She whistled to a newer pop song this time as she watched the other players passing by. He was certainly an odd person - not just because of his hair. Unusual hair colors were a normal thing at this point. Arabelle had purple hair, Claude had pink, and she was sure even Leah's pretty, pretty red hair wasn't natural. No - it was his glasses. Glasses were unnecessary and inconvenient with how quickly they fogged up, and she didn't know why players still chose to wear them as a design choice.

The NPCs were there again, and they were louder and much more persistent this time.

"Alright, fiiiine." 

Arabelle rose from her seat and dusted off her short skirt. She dematerialized her scythe and leaped off the NPC settlement's roof... and onto the next. But she didn't stop there. She kept running, clearing a wider jump with a running start and barely pausing to recover as she landed. A small purple-haired girl's laughter could be heard by the players passing by the streets underneath as she roof-hopped her way to the edge of the Town of Beginnings. She was now approaching the town wall at record speed.

But she didn't stop. Arabelle skipped into a half-crouch position and launched herself high up into the air.

She flipped over midair and landed atop the town wall, extending her arms to regain her balance. The small purple-haired girl turned back to look at the town beneath her, the red ribbon in her hair threatening to come undone in the strong wind, and she smirked. Arabelle dropped down to the ground at the other side of the wall - outside the safe zone, where a certain player with orange hair might be - and resummoned her scythe.

That was fun.

"Right?" Arabelle didn't contest that. Her mind seemed to have latched onto something else, red eyes fixated on something in the distance. Without saying another word, she went ahead. She kept walking until Huginn's sight of her would be obscured by the forest's low-hanging branches and undergrowth. Bending down to examine a bush, she lifted a stem by its leaf only to drop it back down in dismay. No material, though she could have sworn she caught sight of that telltale yellow glow earlier!

This was starting to get boring.

She turned around and went back to her quest companion.

"Hey. Didn't expect to see you here." Arabelle hid her hands behind her back and slowly circled around him with a cute, friendly smile. "It's been a while, how have you been?" The small purple-haired girl stopped in front of him and waved her index finger in the air, mimicking how her scary professors did with a stick. "Don't use that exact script though. That was just to give you an idea, but you've got to change it up according to the situation. Even Shiro-chan would notice if you make a mistake like that. Improvise, adapt, overcome!"

Then she pressed her finger to her lips, thinking. "Then, when you've got a conversation going, bring up something you both like talking about if you think the current thread's dying down. Or something. You'll know when you get that feeling, but you won't get that feeling with me, cause I'm a natural!" Arabelle took a few steps back with a smug smile. She paused for a moment to recall their previous conversation, searching for something they both liked talking about that was not Mishiro. "For example! We were talking about music earlier, right? Have you ever listened to Clair de Lune? It's kind of a mainstream classical piece, but it's one of my favorites! What do you think about it?"

Arabelle allowed the boy some time to process her advice and resumed her search for materials. Huginn's wispy familiar was dancing circles above her head, leaving a trail of light that looked like a halo. The small purple-haired girl giggled to herself. An angel? Was that its way of saying 'thank you?' 

She liked the thought of being seen as a pure, innocent angel so she really didn't care either way.

"Lastly, stop overthinking this, dummy. Or are you just making excuses? It's natural to feel nervous around the person you like, but you're not going to progress in any way if you don't get past that." Gently, she nudged the wispy familiar back to Huginn and idly tugged on a leaf attached to a low-hanging branch. "You want to get closer to her, right? You want to spend more time with her."

Arabelle released the branch and turned to him with a smirk.

"Touch her, even." 

Explosion in 3... 2...

She turned away and continued.

"That won't work if you can't talk to her at all. Besides, when you start talking to her more, don't you think she'll just assume you're putting in more effort for her? It might even be what ends up drawing her to you. Well, you won't know until you try."

She allowed that last bit of advice to settle in him before she clapped her hands together and smiled.

"Right! We've got one more material to go 'til this boring quest is over. Come on, Huginn! You can do it! Go, go, go!"

The boredom got to her sometimes.

Seated atop a random NPC settlement's roof (and much to the dismay of the AI occupants who had took to the balcony to shoo her off like an annoying stray cat only to be overridden by their coded routines and leave after a few minutes), Arabelle whistled to the tune of an old pop song and swung her legs in a rather childish fashion. She watched players come and go. The main road leading to the west town exit saw the most activity at noon. Players waited for their party members or just formed them right on the spot. Her keen ears caught bits of conversations. Quests, dungeons, changes in the floor structure, occurrences, rumors.

Information exchanges.

A few passed curious glances at the small purple-haired girl seated atop a settlement, dressed in a full set of light armor with a scythe larger than her person at her lap. Then her ashen gaze met theirs and they shook their heads to themselves and continued on their business.

Kids these days, they must have thought. But she wasn't a kid.

Arabelle smiled to herself and propped her chin on her palm. People watching.

What a miserable upbringing he must have had. Poor, compassionate Arabelle's heart almost ached for what someone as good-looking as him could have been. Her mother would've had a few choice words with his, and perhaps educated these dullards on the grace of following the virtues God had set out for man. And faking a perfectly happy family life while she was at it! But, Arabelle supposed that was just a part of life. Not everyone would have a pure and elegant upbringing like her. 

Prometheus seemed to lose interest in the conversation - at least, he wasn't trying to provoke her as he did earlier, did he figure out his opinion didn't matter to her after all? - and he had turned to the little event mob. That was fine. Arabelle didn't say anything else. She had only responded to his trifling insults in turn, but when there were no attempts being made on her good name, she was gracious enough to at least stop pushing the conversation any further.

Plus, they had an annoying Easter bunny to kill. God, she was starting to hate bunnies.

Both growing tired of the slowly progressing fight, the two attacked with a renewed vigor. Prometheus dealt an impressive 1 DMG, Katagawa performed slightly better with a 3. Arabelle stood from her tree stump, dusting off her skirt. Right after the bunny landed a hit on Katagawa, the small purple-haired girl appeared behind it and swung her scythe in a wide arc. The Easter bunny recovered quickly enough to jump in the air and dodge hers.

Miffed, the scythe-wielder fell back and looked up at her EN.

Back to waiting.

Arabelle turned to the guy, now casually bringing out a cigarette for a smoke after his attack missed - in the middle of combat. Seriously, just how careless can you get? (Though to his credit, he must've known he didn't have the highest Hate value in the team). "People who can't land hits shouldn't complain!" the small purple-haired girl said brightly. She informatively pointed upwards at where she estimated Prometheus's HP and EN values were located - and underneath it, the rest of the team's - to show that her EN bar was empty. "Besides, I'm all out. I drained all my energy with that last attack. Do your best, everyone!"

Guess she wouldn't be getting the last hit bonus for this mob either. She wasn't too concerned; she didn't want the item anyway, but it would've sold for a good price.

Her ears picked up Furry's loud shrieks and Symphony's shouts - rendered incomprehensible by the former. For a second, she thought the DPS had managed to score a hit and was shouting in celebration. Instead, as she turned, she was met with the fluffy mob's angry charge. Arabelle exclaimed in surprise and scrambled to defend with her scythe, but she reacted a bit too late.

The Easter Bunny's assault hit her square on the chest and sent her flying back until she slammed into a tree. Dazed, she spent a moment to recover her bearings and struck her scythe against the ground, using it as support as she slowly stood back up. A glance at her HP bar showed that it had dropped considerably, but not too much to be concerned with.

This felt familiar. She hoped to god they wouldn't ditch her like that yellow-haired ditz.

Arabelle backed away, placing more distance from the fight. She sat down on a tree stump and crossed her legs. She still held her scythe in one hand in case she needed to bring it up to defend later. "I'm regenerating," were the only words she gave in explanation. She propped an elbow on her knee and smiled. "Defend me with your lives, okay?"

Arabelle didn't know why the boy was even calling out to her. Go see if she could find the kid...? That was exactly what she'd been trying to do since she ran out of energy, dishing out attacks against that oversized rat. She was even going down the right - oh. The NPC kid's annoying cries were gone, unable to be picked up by her keen ears, and somehow... the cave was dark, but it felt familiar? Blame her lack of directional ability. The small purple-haired girl internally cursed and turned around, heading back down the right direction.

And found herself looking straight up at the large creature that almost blended into the darkness of the cave. As it swooped down at her once again with a bloodthirsty screech, she only had enough time to bring her scythe up to defend - and at the same time, a bright purple streaked through the air behind it and clipped through its wings. The annoying, and now very dead bat fell to the ground and so did its attacker.

Finally! She let herself relax - a bit, and with that save, Pinball was almost forgiven for failing to land his hits at the very start of the battle! She sheathed her scythe and approached the boy. He should be glad he was cute.

"That was wonderful. I'm not being sarcastic, but that last hit really was. Here." She reached down and helped him up with a smile. No sassy comments. Physical contact, but no flirting otherwise. Just. Pure. Praise. Arabelle, are you okay? "But~! We're not done yet. I know where the NPC is, so yes, all that running around earlier wasn't absolutely pointless! Let's go."

The small purple-haired girl let go of his hand and went back down the right direction this time. It wasn't long after when she heard the kid's crying again - did that thing never stop? Whatever - to which she looked over her shoulder with a small, teasing smile.

"You gonna be doing something after this?"

Oh, there it was.

"Maybe a month or so," she said with a smile. It had been a long time - by Arabelle standards - since she last saw her second-favorite guildmate, so she was not at all disappointed that he didn't whip out a sugary treat as soon as he arrived. For now, his presence was enough. Arabelle stopped swinging her legs. "My, my. Did you miss my company, Dustin? I'm busy right now, but the two of us can always take a quest later if you want." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and crossed her legs, giving the boy a smirk. When she spoke again, her voice was sweet and her words held a thinly-veiled challenge. "One month or so was enough for a level boost. What do you say?"

She didn't miss Mishiro's apprehension when the quiet girl took notice of her new teammate. Arabelle looked over to her and mouthed the words "all good?", which Mishiro then failed to take notice of. Miffed, the small purple-haired girl turned her head forward to wink at Claude who seemed to be content with silently waiting for the rest of the team. - What are you looking at? It better be me. - She watched Mishiro shake Dustin's hand at the corner of her vision. She didn't see anything particularly out of place, just stiff, old Shiro-chan. Maybe it was just some anxiety at getting dumped in an entirely new team. But - the cutest, and most considerate Arabelle had thought of everything! - that was the exact reason why she asked the Other Girl to tag along. She didn't invite her because she was a good tank or anything. Oh, god, no. She had the numbers, Arabelle would admit. But she would rather have done with a team where its main tank was not prone to suffering a mental breakdown in the middle of combat. Rather, she knew the two were friends (ew) and having someone familiar would get the quiet girl settled in easy.

"Dustin's my guildmate, if you don't already know. Hey, Dustin! Shiro-chan wants to ask, are you single?" 

Arabelle braced herself for an incoming punch. Or maybe just an exasperated look. She thought it would be a good way to get a reaction from the otherwise stoic girl. 

"My name is Claude. I won't be coming along, but it's nice to meet you."

She looked in Mace's direction. The odd, bipolar tank was the only person he didn't know, hence the introduction. Still not moving from the bench, Arabelle raised her hand and waved. She spoke up after Mishiro finished her introduction. "Welcome to the party, Mace! We've got Dustin, Shiro-chan, and you. One more left." She dropped her hand and smiled. This one, she did invite because she believed Mace was a good tank. Her fingers curled around the edge of her bench and, under her breath: "Of course she's the last to arrive."

Claude approached and it was only at that point when Arabelle picked up on the conversation between the replacement DPS and the scout. She could practically feel Mishiro's stare burning into her and the thinly-veiled suspicion in Claude's smile. There had been talk of Mishiro's equipment - Arabelle had thought it was strange she wasn't wearing her gloves toda--

Oh. 

"Ahahahaha..."

"So you don't have it."

He was still giving that obviously forced smile but - oh, god, that flat, disappointed, condescending tone! Her nervous laugh turned into a giggle.

"Your third-floor shop, right?" Claude sighed. He was already bringing out a Teleport Crystal from his inventory. "Out of all the things you had to forget... Sorry if this would hold the rest of you back by a few, but - "

"Hold on. It's not there either." Arabelle's hand went to the back of her neck and she had a sheepish smile as she brought up her menus with her free hand. "Someone else borrowed it from me and they haven't given it back yet. Ah, don't worry though, they're definitely going to return it!" Her gloved hand clenched to a fist and a fire burned in her ashen eyes as she grinned. "I made them swear on their life." 

"I get the feeling you just scared them away for good! Besides, why are you passing around Shiro's equipment, of all things?"

"I know! But up 'til now, Shiro-chan wasn't even interested in leveling and you said her equipment was lying around unused in your inventory, so I fiiigured..." Arabelle shrugged. She continued scrolling down her inventory, and the holographic windows bobbed up to follow her movement as she suddenly stood. The small, purple-haired girl clapped her hands together in an apologetic gesture. "Alright. I am so sorry, but they really needed it! I promise I'll inform you both next time, but really, I wasn't expecting them to take that long with Shiro's equipment!" She lowered her hands and behind the semi-transparent windows, she tilted her head and smiled. "I'm sorry again. Please accept my apology! I'll make it up to you later! Let's see..."

"It's fine! One apology is enough!!" She found the way he turned red and very consciously averted his gaze cute. (Claude always found it difficult to stay mad when she showed that unexpected side of her). It took him only a moment to recover, to which he crossed his arms, and looked back at her. "So, what will you do now?"

No suggestions. It almost felt like a challenge.

What would she do?

"Alright~! Even with half the DPS, my calculations say no one's going to die!" She could practically hear Claude internally face-palming. From her inventory, Arabelle pulled out an axe that would be very familiar to Dustin. A pure black two-handed battleaxe - not as large as her scythe but still certainly quite large - with red lines running along its blade in a spiderweb motif. It emitted a strange black smoke when she swung it around. She weighed it on her hand and handed it to Mishiro. "I'm serious. With Dustin's DPS still on the table, it should only take less than five rounds. And, you can't exactly back out after going all this way now, can you? So, here. Even without the weapon skill, you can still inflict damage with Bleed, and the two tanks would keep the Hate off of you. For now, just use this, okay?" 

The Other Girl stumbled over her words as she announced her appearance.

"Don't worry. You didn't miss that much." Arabelle turned her head and stared. She took note of the change in the Other Girl's appearance. Claude addressed the Other Girl and on his shoulder, the ferret recognized the shielder and chittered happily. It left its master, scampering down his arm to hop onto the Other Girl's head. 

What was this?

"But we are heading out a bit later than expected. Come on, everyone! I'll lead you halfway to the quest area. We'll talk as we go there."

"Yeah, let's go~!"

Arabelle left Mishiro's side and took Claude's hand as he started them off to the coordinates.

She missed her first attack. One reapplied Bleed. One Paralyze. Their supposed tank failed to gather Hate. And the mob's HP had barely gone down. It was only the first round and already, Arabelle could tell this was not going well. Maybe she should've pestered that slow artisan for that ACC item some more. The small purple-haired girl hoisted up her scythe and attempted the same spinning slash motions that composed the strongest Sword Art in her arsenal. The first swing passed cleanly through the odd creature's pelt, slicing through it like butter - it didn't. 

It passed cleanly through the fluffy cloud-like thing without doing any damage. She remembered what Symphony said earlier and realized she was placing too much distance. F*ck. "Sorry! Next attack, I swear!" Arabelle backed away and readjusted her grip on her new scythe. She watched the HP values on the upper-left side of her vision and was somewhat glad to see they were all still full. It wouldn't stay that way for long though.