Arabelle

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.

The woman with silvery hair - Kat - and the other woman in dark clothing had quite the cute contrasting personalities. The former was serious and very focused on the task at hand, while the latter gave off the impression of a very cheerful, lively person. And she was fine with either of them... until "Kat" walked off without allowing the team any time for introductions. The sprightly woman followed happily, leaving Arabelle to linger behind with the tall, armored man who she assumed was the other guy in the party.

Wow, rude. Not even Mishiro had it that bad. Didn't she know the importance of having a sense of unity? 

"The guy from the bar, right?" Arabelle had a mischievous little smile as she looked up at the armored guy she recognized as Edgy McEdgeFace from that bar fight in the New Years. It was difficult to forget a colorful character like him, and his distinct horned helmet. "Wasn't expecting to find you here."

The small purple-haired girl didn't give any further comment as she ran to catch up. She joined the party and had a decent guess at their names. It seems that Kat really knew where she was going - Arabelle had been planning to helpfully point them to the coordinates she knew of if they deviated from the path - and after a few warning caws from Symphony's raven, the boss arrived. It was cute, bouncy, and floofy. The little clouds surrounding it almost made it seem like it was floating off the ground. She - very inappropriately for the situation - wanted to drop her scythe and hug it. And bring it home as a familiar. But she quickly snapped out of that line of thought and followed after Symphony.

"Gals don't appreciate men who cut off their words either," she commented with a smirk. "Really, why leave us hanging?"

She stayed back a bit to get a hold of the situation and listened to Symphony's and Katagawa's words. Don't aim at the floof. The stiff lady tanks. Easy enough. Arabelle followed Katagawa's stun attack with a quick slash of her scythe. Its blade glowed a bright green as she activated her strongest Sword Art... and promptly faltered as the system began to guide her body through motions she's never attempted before. Every movement seemed to guide her away from her designated target, and she quickly found herself growing disoriented.

Not good. 

The small purple-haired girl interrupted the sequence and paused a small distance away to regain her composition.

--Arabelle had a brighter smile than usual when she pulled back. She backed away, quickly turned around and stepped out of the alley and into the town with a wave. They called out after her. "Stay safe. I'll see you later!" "Yeah, later. Don't be late." She resisted the temptation to turn back and didn't stop walking, even as she pulled up her menus and scrolled all the way down to where her battle attire was stored. Her form briefly shimmered white as her casual clothes were replaced by a black military-like uniform with green details along the cuffs of her long sleeves and the folds of her short skirt. With her small height and the rigid appearance of her armor, she must have looked like a young teenage girl playing soldier. Except - she maybe wasn't. She manifested a scythe that was much, much larger than her, and players had to move out of the way as she easily twirled it between her fingers. With her other hand, she pulled out a vial from her inventory and doused her weapon with its contents. She then placed it at the scythe sheath on her back.

Almost as an afterthought, she turned around to the players she had disrupted and gave a cute smile. "Sorry~!"

The scythe-wielder reached the town gates and her ears perked up at the sound of someone discussing a "boss." The Easter boss. That seemed to be the only talk these days; her best friend had gone out on a quest with her usual party (minus Arabelle) just a few days ago. She chose not to accompany them not because of a conflict, but moreso 'cause she simply wanted a change. Some change. It was boring hanging out with the same people and the annoying Other Girl all the time. Arabelle wanted to get out and meet new people like she always did before she joined the guild.

She approached the most interesting pair just as a white-haired woman passed them.

"Well~, she has a point. That thing's not gonna be around for long, you know?" Arabelle gave the two of them a friendly smile. "You guys need another member? I'm looking for a party to take it with."

Arabelle entered the shop and gave a dismissive wave at whatever apology or excuse the pretty shopowner had for her. "It's fine. You probably just ran out of mats, right? Well... I still won't be paying 'til the order's done." She browsed the rest of the trinkets they had in stock with a smile though compared to her usual this one was completely, absolutely, obviously - fake. "I did just that with another artisan. I don't know what happened to them, but next thing I know, their shop was closed. No refunds, either. Well - " The small, purple-haired girl found an item that somewhat fit into her current build and allowed it to dangle from her fingers. She traded over her Col. "I hope you understand~!" The same way I'm being understanding with you for months now.

"Contact me when that item's done. See you~."

"I am so sorry! I was planning to pick up all of my orders from this smithy and some other shop on the same day, but the other shop hasn't even finished my order yet, so I just forgot." The small purple-haired girl clapped her gloved hands together in an apologetic gesture and gave a cute smile. Arabelle quickly brought up her trade window and sent the long-due payment over, and once the transaction was done, she took a few steps back from the counter to admire her new scythe. It was just as pretty as her last one, and just as easy to wield, too. "Lovely as always. Well, you've got the Easter boss to thank for reminding me. You're taking it too, right? Good luck on your quest~."

--And trailing after him was a woman dressed in red. She folded her hands behind her back and remained silent, scrutinizing the very few weapons on display. Her unblinking, pupilless red gaze was turned to a large battle axe leaned against the wall, and to both men present, she was just another customer browsing through the selection. Her senses were sharpened. Focused on the man behind her. Listening. When he left, she turned to the shopkeeper and offered him a smile. "Fione will take this one." She was a dainty-looking woman, with a pretty face framed by violet hair that fell past her elbows, but she picked up the large axe with no difficulties. "Quite the smart move, setting your prices this low. It's more accessible to the players who don't have the money for the weapons other shops sell, and you at least get some money back from what is otherwise considered a failed craft."

As she spoke, she glanced over the price list. Six mats would be... one rare weapon.

Curious. How curious.

She didn't open a trade window, instead manifested her Col as a bag of coins and firmly placed it on the counter.

"This is a nice shop. Keep it open."

She placed her new weapon in her inventory and strolled out of the shop.

Despite his assurances, Pinball did not get it. Lovely. Arabelle picked up the steady flapping of wings from behind her and the unmistakable whoosh as that one last annoying quest mob glided through the air once more, heading straight for the only person who had managed to hit it so far.

This would forever be known as the day best girl Arabelle outperformed an experienced frontliner(?) in combat!

Hey, DMG stats don't count, she at least hit it when she wanted to. But she didn't have the time to gloat. Another round of 'oh sh*t's ran through her head, and the small purple-haired girl pushed forward in a sudden burst of speed. 

It still wasn't fast enough. The Giant Bat caught up to her and swooped down. A numb sensation spread from her shoulder to her back as the mob's fangs dug into her. It grabbed at her with its talons, tried to keep her still as it tried to bite down deeper, but Arabelle wasn't having it. "Get... OFF!" She slammed the blunt end of her scythe against the ground and spun, pushing - slamming her back (along with the poor bat) against the wall. It screeched in complaint, its claws loosened, and she pried herself from its grip.

Arabelle paused to smooth down her skirt and give a meaningful glance at her teammate. HP dangerously close to the yellow zone (which wasn't much, considering her level), and low energy. The small purple-haired girl turned around and kept running.

Deeper into the darkness of the cave.

Nearly killed someone. Then the guy he was inspired by threatened everyone(?) and went poof. Okay. Lovely. Somehow, she couldn't picture someone as nice as Stryder going through that, but then again, that applied to most people. They hide their problems behind smiles and you'd just be surprised by what you find when you get past the surface. Anyway! This was not a conversation to be had in the middle of a date, though Arabelle did ask for it. She was certain she wouldn't pry any further at this moment. That was just one dumb way to kill the mood.

"Mine?" Arabelle followed her date to a table by the window. He pulled out a chair for her, like the charming gentleman he was♡ and seated himself across her. "Hmm..." The small purple-haired girl swung her legs and stalled. She reached for the menu at the center of the table and aimlessly flipped through the pages. They had a surprisingly wide and equally intimidating selection of dishes. What was this stuff? She didn't even know what half of these names meant! "Oooh, they have the best-selling ones at the front!" The excitement was evident in her tone as she lowered her menu and indicated the section with a gloved finger. "How about the one for two. You know~ the one labeled the 'Couple's Special.' I mean, unless you have any better ideas?"

But, it was rude to leave him hanging. Really. Really. Rude. If he answered her first question, she should answer his, too.

"About that guy, I haven't seen him in two years." Arabelle propped her elbows on the table and held her usual smile. "But, he's probably still alive! ...I think. He's not the type to fight in a losing battle." 

For a girl who was talking about an ex(-friend?), she was surprisingly nonchalant.

"But anyway..." Arabelle pushed the menu back to the center of the table, like she was physically pushing the issue away from her. The small purple-haired girl thought for a moment. "Let's focus on the present. What do you do aside from leveling?"