Mishiro

–Had Andromeda already [Howled]?

Typically, tanks made some sort of ruckus to draw attention. Mishiro tried to find something that resembled said ruckus in their lead's silent figure, but the mesmerizing crimson of her cloak merely traced a hesitant circle around the edge of the action. She delayed her entry, waited for a cue she realized Andromeda wasn't about to give, then shattered the first of her debuff crystals at Mina's encouragement.

If the prism hadn't already disintegrated from the force of her throw, it was immediately crushed beneath the armored heel of her boot. Macabre strains fled from black shards as Mishiro broke past an invisible line drawn around the jötunn. Her fingers traced empty air in the space where a weapon would ordinarily have been held, and for an instant, the girl's snow-white frame was meaningless in the face of their towering opponent.

She felt the faintest sensation through the fabric of her gloves and her lips moved.

“███████–”

Her body was a mere vessel to the numbers.

The system covered for her where she would have staggered, and it was only in the split second before the first slash of [Ordinal Cleave] that the thunder violet glow of her battleaxe pierced through the mist that had been concealing it.

Their circle expanded as Lessa found another cluster of players in the murk.

She followed the woman and her companion, her breath coming out in visible white puffs. She'd zipped up her coat, but she was still drenched and rubbing her hands against her arms could only do so much against the chill settling deep into her bones. In her periphery, another building fell to the storm. The howling wind had blown out its windows, battered its stone walls with stray debris and corrosive rain until all that was left standing was its foundation. Mishiro shivered, the sense of cold foreboding she'd thought she'd extinguished flickered back to life like the second strike of a match. Nimbus was a fortified settlement -- and a safezone. Events never once affected safezones to this degree before. If here wasn't safe, then where would it ever be?

Cardinal had betrayed the old precedent and set in place a new one.

They scattered to climb the fallen debris. Through sheer coincidence, Mishiro chose a path that set her only a small distance from the player who had made the suggestion. She offered her a terse, thankful nod and focused on her climb. At some point, the wreckage leveled out in a way that allowed her to outpace the other, and once she had climbed the next few steps, she cast a glance over her shoulder.

Except the woman hadn't been as lucky. Beneath her feet, the rock crumbled and she fell back with a shout.

Mishiro moved before her thoughts could catch up to her. She grabbed her wrist -- and for one heart-stopping moment, she nearly tumbled down with her. She dug her foot into a recess in the rubble, placed all her faith in the possibility that the action wouldn't dislodge the already-unstable ground beneath her, and tightened her grip. Behind the player, the way back down had been consumed by the flood. "Come on," she urged through gritted teeth. "Up."

She redistributed her balance, and she pulled.

| 179263: LD 9 -- Giving [3] to Jevi.

Where her knees should have knocked against solid ground, she found nothing but the cold bottomless depths. She was sinking, deeper into the water than she would have thought possible, and it took a fraction of a second too long for instinct to take over her disbelief. She kicked her feet to stay above the surface, but the void already had ahold of her and it only sought to take and take and take—

Until someone grabbed her hand and the invisible force vanished.

Mishiro didn't need any further prompting; she immediately returned the woman's vicelike grip and found her footing shortly after. Hauling herself up with the help of her anchor, the girl gave an involuntary shiver as soon as she reached the safety of the higher ground. 

"Th-thanks," she breathed, glancing at the player a second time. 

...Lessa? 

She pulled at the edges of her coat so that it wrapped tighter around herself — the crystal she'd been using as a light earlier was gone, long devoured by the shadows, and her thoughts wandered back to the initial downpour, and the jet black of the rain Claude had gathered in his palm. 

What would happen if a player was lost to the tide?

"It doesn't look too deep, but it's like quicksand." One step back. Reassess. Rarely did she do so out loud, but now she was in the company of other players and the storm left little time for formalities. "And the water only gets deeper the further into the settlement you go, so the teleport plaza is no longer an option. Do either of you have anything left to do here? I'm going for higher ground outside of Nimbus, but I can stay and help — if it's only for a little while longer."

| 178668: LD 9

She stepped out from beneath the awning.

Cardinal's invisible hand had sent a large number of the stage props running in the same direction — the ones who chose to flee, anyway. The girl relit the crystal still in her hand and trudged down that same path. She felt her steps drag; the skies dimmed until she could see no further past the weak bubble of light she'd cast, and as the floodwaters rose, she pressed close to the fronts of the establishments bordering the main street.

Mishiro couldn't pinpoint exactly when she lost the trail. Or whether the flow had simply left a foolish straggler behind, or stagnated, or vanished entirely into the night. But she would have rather taken wading amongst the waves of mass hysteria over being left to face the dark alone. 

Inside the folds of her coat, she traced a finger along the cold silver frame of her pocket watch.

End of the block; no wall left to follow.

The water had risen to her knees. The curb dipped down to the road, and she knew the current would only grow stronger in the middle — but only a meter or so past it, the ground would rise back up and she would be a few more steps closer to the teleport plaza. She spared a single, futile, glance over her shoulder, before she took her hand off the support.

Hardly had she stepped down the curb when the rushing water swept her legs from underneath her.

| 178320: LD 12 -- Received: 10 from @Lessa

An instance—

———?

The flickers of static, the random number-letter matrices layered beneath what would have otherwise been an ordinary system alert, only created more questions than it answered. The patchwork beneath had come undone — somehow, and Mishiro was peering straight into its unraveling.

Another crash. Upstairs, the black storm lashed furiously through the blown window. She could feel the chill at her back. 

You know what to do.

Move.

Her hands flew over her menus as Mishiro nearly stormed out of the empty establishment, opening one tab, then another, and then closing both. She forced the door open and slunk outside to stand beneath the stone awning before the wind slammed it shut behind her. It wasn't any better here. The water was up to her ankles, and panic coursed through the streets. She backed further into the quiet of her small corner and pulled a cap over her hair, only half mindful of the messages flashing at the corner of her vision.

Arabelle: Oh, nowhere important.

She lifted her gaze to the blackened sky. She hadn't lingered long enough to find that the shadows had eventually seeped down the stairs to flood the spot she had been standing on mere moments ago.

Arabelle: Word has it that it's an Aincrad[...]
Arabelle: So why don't you just sit down[...]

Nimbus was a fortress, but only through the benevolence of the system. 

Arabelle: It's a beautiful day for the end[...]

| 177977: LD 15

—and with the world crumbling all around her, the girl returned to their table and set down her little light.

the wind followed.

there was a single mighty surge, a torrent that snapped something somewhere she couldn't see outside the window. she turned her head towards the disturbance, fingers curled loosely over her crystal, and at the first crash that followed, she snatched back her light and spun around. the sounds grew closer with every passing moment, and Mishiro didn't spare a glance over her shoulder until she had crossed the last lines of tables and was one step down the stairs at the far corner of the room. she looked long enough to witness the last of the delicate afternoon peace shatter along with inkstained glass as the broken frame of a canopy pierced through the fragility in the stone structure, and she lingered no more.

a tug at the air before her as she descended saw the appearance of a blank message window. she brushed harmless black shards from her hair, and slid a finger down her list of contacts.

Mishiro: Heading back to F3. I'll be within sight of the teleport gate.

she cleared the last few steps with a small leap, and as soon as her feet touched the ground, a sharp chime alerted her to a notification. it was too fast. especially by the standard of a player actively dealing with the threat. two fingers slid open the menu, and in its artificial white light, the girl's countenance was as pale as bone.

[ Message not sent. Recipient ou̷t̵ ò̶͇̯̟̈f̸͕͈̽—████████████████████

| 177431: LD 3

She slid a finger down the tainted glass.

She felt the tremors that ran along its surface as the killing wind threatened to rip the glass from its frame, and the final remnants of the soft gray afternoon light fled from her shelter. For a moment, her world was complete and total darkness. Then Mishiro struck one of Nimbus's crystals against the edge of the windowsill and held it up, experimentally shining the green light on the farther corners of the floor.

| 177398: LD 13 — received 1 LD from Alkor.

| 177034: LD 8

"Weren't the skies clear just a moment ago...?"

Mishiro lifted her eyes from the page, slipping a bookmark beneath the line she'd stopped at. Across her corner seat, Claude distractedly reached for his coffee, but his gloved hand met only empty space.

"Good morning, Aniki."

"I wasn't sleeping," he said halfheartedly.

She set down an empty mug. "Then surely you would have been more mindful."

Outside, it started to rain. Claude stopped a passing NPC waiter, the only other entity in the little dining area still faithfully making its rounds despite the near emptiness of the second floor, and in the soft drumming of the rain against the window and the even softer murmur of the two's conversation, Mishiro thought of propping her elbow on the table and shutting her eyes like he had a few moments prior. As she returned her book to her inventory, her gaze drifted to the timepiece they'd placed at the center of the table.

It was a cold, mellow afternoon.

And in the place of raindrops, streaks of liquid darkness ran down the window.

She heard his chair slide back against the stone floor. In the time it took for her to snatch her precious masterwork from the table and push past a very confused and frightened NPC, Claude had already crossed the room and rid the window of its lock. He slammed it open to a strong gust of wind and held out a hand to the pouring rain. Mishiro thought she glimpsed a spread of system alerts over the scrawl of red characters that flooded its status screen before he dismissed it and shook the droplets out of his glove.

"It shouldn't have gotten dark this quickly," she told him, realizing her ignorance.

Looking down at the clamor in the streets below, the gray of his eyes were as dim as the stormclouds hanging heavily above. She could just barely hear a sharp intake of breath before the scout vaulted out of the window and landed, precariously balanced, on a narrow stone ledge.

The rain was unrelenting. It battered down on his cloak, shadow black stains over blood red, and without hesitation, Mishiro brought a leg up to follow.

"--Stay here." She was just as quickly stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder and the same wavering smile he wore whenever he had to leave the house for the day. Claude tugged at the edge of his hood. "Alright? I'll check it out, head back as soon as I can. You know what to do if it gets dangerous."

"Be safe." 

Something unpleasant wended its way around her chest as she watched his figure bound over the ledges and disappear beneath a shop's awning. She shut the window and remained standing by it until the rain finally dyed its glass black.

He'd keep her admiration for another day. The girl was, for a few moments longer than might have been appropriate, a little too preoccupied with fussing over her extra soft and cuddly prize to clue in on his wobbly confidence. But it was his casual remark in the end that grounded her. No wonder the crowds were moving about quicker than before: they were all preparing to leave. Her gaze lifted to the sky. 

And it was her own words that sent cracks rippling through the fragile veneer of the present moment.

"The sun's setting." 

Mishiro tried to hold it all together anyway.

"Perhaps it's better for you with less people around?" The girl casually tucked a hand into her coat pocket. A silence had settled over her earlier excitement, the object of it now kept safe and well out of sight in her inventory. "An orange cursor," she paused, mulled over her next words, then settled on the truth, "does seem to attract disdain. It's not at all difficult to detect when it's so obvious. But if you were to ask me, I think it's foolish to pass those judgments without knowing anything at all. Let's walk."

This time, she was two steps ahead of him. She couldn't resist turning her head up to gaze at the lovely colorful hues seeping into the sky. Sunsets were always beautiful in Aincrad, no matter where she watched them from. 

"Are you still there?" She dropped her gaze, fingers clasped together behind her back. "I don't know you at all, but you don't feel like a stranger to me."

Mishiro didn't look over her shoulder. She turned a corner and kept walking.

"Isn't that a little strange?"

If he knew Taft as well as her, he'd know the narrow street led straight to a dead end.

Five players.

She took out a timepiece from the inside pocket of her longcoat, unwrapped the soft velvet she'd folded it into and flipped its lid open. They had a few more minutes left to lose. She held it in her hand for a moment longer, tracing a finger along its rim. The more superstitious sorts would have done it as a silent invocation for luck — but in the moment, her mind was blank, seeking only the comfort of something familiar. 

"DPS. ...Two-handed battleaxe." Mishiro tucked her pocket watch back into its safe place and crossed her arms. Further introductions weren’t needed; her name appeared beneath Mina’s as soon as she accepted the party request. "Has everyone done their research? Let me give a quick rundown. We're facing three bosses—"

"S-spoilers!" a very startled Andromeda squawked.

People who officially haven't done their research:
     1) The very same player who invited her.

“Three bosses,” Mishiro finished, mentally discarding a large chunk of her prepared script. She imagined dusting off her hands, too. “Our instant debuffs are just enough for the job, and each player who has a set in their battle-ready right now has been assigned to a different type. Have one in your hand before we head to each battle, shatter it as soon as we engage. Andromeda should be able to handle the boss’s attacks, but in the case where she’s preoccupied or losing too much HP, the healing crystals she just distributed are targetable.”

The girl unfolded her arms and was the first out of the circle when the wails from the distant vessel began to cut through the air. “Whenever you’re ready…”

Mishiro (LEVEL 15: 38 SP)   | HP: 300/300 | EN: 30/30 | DMG: 16 | ACC: 5   | HM: 2 | FREEZE: 1 | TOXIC VENOM: 8   | SNAKE VENOM | REC.: 1 | LD: 3

Spoiler Tempest T1 Perfect Two-Handed Battle Axe. DAMAGE III "Close your eyes. Let me be the violence in the pouring rain. I'll leave only the cursed lands in ruins, annihilate this final sin... all to reach for your hand once again." | [❄] Eye of Horus Enamel Pin  T1 Perfect Trinket. ACCURACY III While most enamel pins are golden, this one's has been painted in black. A circular and triangular base have been overlaid on each other, encapsulating the Eye of Horus within. The markings where the Egyptian pattern stands out are laced with gold. | [❄] Ebonguard T1 Perfect Heavy Armor. HEAVY MOMENTUM II | RECOVERY I [reference] Black thigh-high boots. Steel covers its exterior and its knee plates bear the twin facades of a dragon. Always polished to perfection; always a little cold to the touch. | [❄] -- | reference [Freeze:] Natural critical attack rolls of 9-10 remove the enemy’s action on their next turn. Frozen opponents lose any evasion properties. Striking a frozen enemy before the effect ends will end Freeze and deal an extra 12 unmitigatable damage. [Must hit to activate the status condition.] [battle-ready inventory:] Spoiler (3) Der Flohwalzer | HYPNOSIS II (INSTANT) | [146521] [152383] [152385] (5) Lacrimosa | HP RECOVERY III | [169941] [169942] [169951] [170250] [170260] (5) Für Elise | HP RECOVERY II (INSTANT) | [156275] [156276] [169947] [170254] [170265] (5) Bird Seed | VITALITY II | [5] [buffs:] Spoiler Liquor of Light   Perfect Potion. DAMAGE III A signature concoction of the Cintamani. The vial seems to glow a warm yellow, filled to the brim with translucent liquid sunshine. It tastes sweet when downed, reminiscent of maple syrup, though its flavour is diluted. Flows as easily as water. | [151935] Precision+ ACCURACY II | [142283-a] Imagine if Azrael Was a Hot Dog PROTEIN II | [1] Cold Shoulder Tier 1 Unique Salve. FREEZE I A small jar of frost, somehow perpetually kept ice cold. Inscribed on its golden lid is a little message. 'Property of Rigel'. | [❄] Viperion  T1 Perfect Salve. TOXIC VENOM A bundle of toxin shaped into a block, wrapped around in a white paper. Instructions are paired with each purchase of this item: "After unveiling the purple paste, immediately apply it to the tip of a weapon, using its packaging to maneuver where best to apply the poison to its best point of contact against foes. Do not be surprised when the substance fades away in colour after a time. Handle with great care." | [151348] Snake Venom ON CRITS: 4 DMG for 10 turns.  | [~] Berry Crumb Bars Perfect Dessert. LOOT DIE III Tart crumbled and held knitted together by jam and cut pieces of berries. Chewy, crumbly, complex. Mild. | [172784] Gold Star Stickers -- [(1) charge used.] +1 DMG, +1 LD or +15MIT for one thread. Stacks on top of other food/alchemical consumable buffs, but does not stack with Scent of the Wild totems. | [❄] [skills:] Spoiler [used sp: 35 | unused sp: 3] 01. Two-Handed Battle Axe -- 4/5 [sword arts:] Spoiler [r1:] [x2] Whirlwind (2 Energy) - A single sweeping attack so powerful that it sends forth a shock wave to hit again. [x2 AoE] Smash (2 Energy + 2 per target hit) - An uppercut aimed at opponents head to send them reeling. [r2:] [x3 AoE] Lumberjack (3 Energy + 2 per target hit) - Three wide sweeping strokes aimed at multiple targets. [x3] Ultimate Breaker (3 Energy) - A pair of uppercuts that finish with a vertical slam to the target's head. [r3:] [x5] Torque Wave (5 Energy) - A sweeping strike that tears into the opponent. [x6] Crimson Blood (6 Energy) - Three sweeping spinning slices keeping the same momentum. [x6 AoE] Trample Act (6 Energy +2 per target hit) - An attack that starts with a shoulder barge, then does two large sweeping attacks. [r4:] [x7] Crescent Avalanche (7 Energy) - An advanced mixture of slices, hilt stabs and thrusts at an opponent. [x8 AoE] Ordinal Cleave (8 Energy +2 per target hit) - A flurry of eight vicious slashes that hits and targets multiple enemies.

Skill(s) Being Dropped: Fishing
Mod(s) Being Dropped: --
SP Refunded: 10 SP
Cost: 10,000 col

| FLOOR THREE. 

Day one of taking over Claude’s patrol.

There was a player who’d set up camp not too far from the southernmost marker.

Anything past the fenced area of their settlement was not ‘their’ territory per se, but Claude had taken to the responsibility of eliminating any nearby mobs that lingered for too long to ensure safe passage and Mishiro had kept careful account of all the possible sorts they could encounter in a small notebook she’d prepared and studied just for this fateful occasion.

…And this scenario was nowhere to be found in her trusty guide.

She pushed past some bushes which would have shrouded the player from her notice had she not specifically been on lookout. Her only confidence in her proceeding actions sourced from the fact that no stranger ever took too kindly to being watched silently from afar. “Good day.” The girl glanced at the player’s setup– a portable oven, tools she could name upon first glance, ingredients organized in a way she would’ve had a word with him for if she were a little more vocal and a little less taken aback by the curious sight of a wandering kitchen. “Are you a travelling merchant? I’d like to place an order.”

1. Mishiro

2. Female.

3. Any gender. Would prefer someone within the same age range because she's baby;;

4.

“I can wait,” she offered.

That was what the small lounge was for. Mishiro settled into one of its plush seats. She quietly flicked through the pages of a novel she’d brought along with her, but the words might as well have floated right off the page. Halfway into the wait, she left the bookmark where it had previously been and snapped the book shut. Gray eyes wandered to the shut door. 

...She shouldn’t have broken it.

When the artisan returned, Mishiro looked up from the jewelry she had been inspecting and hurried over to the counter, taking a small set of [Gold Rings] with her. 

It was pristine. And it matched the time in her HUD.

She flipped it over, feeling the words engraved into the timepiece’s cold silver, and when the girl could finally tear her eyes from the precious object– she traded over her payment. "It looks as if I'd never damaged it at all. Thank you." 

The bell tinkled softly behind her as she descended the steps.

“Good afternoon. I need an item repaired.” She’d taken her cap off before she reached the base of the stairs and, opening her inventory with a wave of her free hand, it vanished into the lazy midday light, replaced by a cloth-wrapped bundle she’d kept dismissed for safekeeping. The back-alley shop’s interior was small, just as she would have expected from what she saw from the outside, and she only had to cross a short distance to reach the counter. “Its durability dropped not too long ago,” the girl explained as she untied the cloth on her palm to reveal a silver timepiece. She placed it on the counter for the artisan to have a closer look. “The crystal’s cracked, and it’s stopped working. I think it has something to do with the internal mechanism.”

Mishiro chose the one that looked the friendliest.

(read: it sat closest to the hatch. it was the first one she saw. it was adorable and fluffy. and as soon as she laid her eyes on the little creature, the rest of the world fell to oblivion and a gentle warmth flooded in to pull together every fragmented piece of her heart. she wanted to pet it.)

"Okay," said the NPC, rising from its seat. "I'll bring him over."

"Thank you."

She watched the birdkeeper closely. Upon throwing open the hatch, it offered its hand to her chosen magpie and let it hop off its perch on its own accord. It fed the bird a couple of birdseeds as reward, then extended its arm to Mishiro, forming a bridge for their feathered friend to cross over.

"Take your time."

The magpie had immediately attempted to snuggle into her cupped hands. Then it pulled back almost as quickly, and fluffed its feathers. Mishiro thought it looked like a shiver. Carefully, she turned her hands to the side, prompting it to move back down to perch on her index finger. When it had stopped where she wanted it to, she recalled the NPC's handling and scratched it lightly on the head.

Perhaps she will.

//summary.

Quote

ANDROMEDA (5 SP)

• 3,400 | col
• 158   | gold stars
• 1     | T3 perfect light armor
•         [166615]
• 2     | T3 perfect consumables 
          [166615-a] [166615-b]
• 1     | T3 rare weapon
          [160767]
• 2     | T3 rare consumables
          [160767-a] [160767-b]

MISHIRO (5 SP)

• 94 | gold stars
• 25 | T3 materials

//no action.

//[x6] Crimson Blood (6 Energy)

//fishing.

//fishing.

An’s fingers curled into her palm.

And she twisted her hand back from the water, sending droplets and the occasional [Gold Star] flying into the air in a wide arc. A large portion ended up running in rivulets down one side of Mishiro’s hair.

Bewilderment took precedence over the tugging at the end of her line. 

What just happened?

“Aah! I’m so sorry!” An shrunk back in guilt as soon as their eyes met. She clapped both hands together. If sending a couple of them flying wasn’t already enough, the remaining stars fell out of her grasp and onto the floor – scattering, like the frantic words that spilled from the girl’s mouth. “Sorry, sorry, I’m… I felt a fish pass under my hand and ah, I thought if I caught it by the tail we could add another material to our count. Geez, I… I guess I shouldn’t’ve been so confident, ahahaha…”

She considered it for a moment. Then An and her tight sheepish smile vanished into the far corner of her eye as she turned and began to wind back the reel.

“It’s alright,” Mishiro said quietly. “I think, after a couple more materials, we can head back to the shore.”

"Like!" An straightened. The sailboat bobbed with her sudden movement. In the waters, the stars were alight with a faint glow. She pumped her fists for no apparent reason. Motivation, perhaps? "That's maybe--"

Mishiro didn't break her contemplative silence.

"--A thousand col and a walk to the shore, all for..." Her voice wavered, "Um, the entire thing to just..."

 She made a vague gesture just out of the corner of Mishiro's eye.

And she gave up -- for no apparent reason.

This new silence was unwelcome. It began mid-sentence; and if Mishiro turned her head slightly in the other's direction, she could just barely catch An startle and immediately twist around to face the lake side. She shouldn't have stopped talking when she did, and Mishiro did not have the discernment crack the code the other had thrown up all around herself. Subtleties would get nowhere with her.

She took a moment to free her hook of its catch and toss it back into the water again.

"I've just been thinking," Mishiro said. "That 'lanterns disappearing when two of them touch' being all there is to it was a bit of a hasty assumption. Don't you think so, too?"

"Ah! Um..." 

Finally, An snapped to attention. "They disappear!" The boat pitched a little to the side at the girl's sudden movement, but unlike prior instances, she didn't appear to notice it. "The lanterns— when two lanterns touch, I mean. They turn to dust. Like poof."

She lightly clapped her hands together in demonstration.

"And I think that's disappointing! What if you were standing by the shore with— with—" and the rhythm she'd regained was interrupted: a faint hue of pink rose to the girl's cheeks and her crimson eyes quickly darted to the side "—a friend or something and you wanted to watch your lanterns sail down the middle? Side-by-side, even the smallest ripple could send them bumping into each other, you know?"

"I'd think..." Another toss. Mishiro's lure was now somewhere deep in the calming waters. "That as long as they know what they're in for, the sentiment should still be there."

She waited.

She turned her head to find the merchant staring at her strangely, surprise palpable in her features for a reason she didn't understand.

"What if they don't."

"I said, assume they do."

"'Oh'?" Mishiro echoed curiously.

And for a while, nothing followed. There was a small splash! as An dipped her hand beneath the water and drew it back to reveal a fistful of [Gold Stars], and the ripples from the disturbance awakened a faint glow from the crystals nearby. Her escort chewed on her lip, counting the stars she'd gathered. "Pretty..." she finally mumbled in a small voice. Then An glanced up, furtively -- as if she just wanted to take a slight peek -- and immediately ducked her head down when their gazes met.

Mishiro withheld comment. Instead, she set down her fishing rod and swung her leg over the seat, bringing her face-to-face with An as she bent down to retrieve her oars. Around their vessel, the waters had begun to calm and the light from the mysterious fragments waned. She dipped one oar into the water, reigniting a cluster of tiny fallen stars, and the other followed shortly after.

She rowed forward, and they sailed out into the liquid cosmos.