Ghost

Jade continued to walk through the fog, everything was oddly silent still. Not sound, it was like the fog absorbed the noises around her, leaving nothing but the sounds of her footsteps and breathing. The eerie silence made her uncomfortable and paranoid, to the point of thinking she was being followed. She stopped for a minute to decide where she would turn next, noticing something shimmer in the fog. Reflecting the light. “Is that a…?” She approached, it was another platinum flower. She repeated the process to get the material: Crouch, tap, collect, tap, rise. She continued roaming through the fog. She felt uncomfortable with this newfound confidence, it was not normal for her. SHe didn't trust it. She made mistakes of being confident in her "friends" at her high school, for the future of her family, but worst of all, being confident in the doctor's abilities, the doctors that let her mother die.

3/5

The sky was clear and blue, the sun bathing the fictional world in its bright rays of light. The town of new beginnings were as busy as ever. Players and NPC’s alike, running right and left., some calling out to eachother, others silently walking the stone streets. Ghost took a turn off the streets into an alleyway, at the end a park, an Inn next to it. It was here where she was hoping she’d find him. She need help with something, and he was the only friend she actually had. She walked down the parks cobble road, sitting down at the same bench as before, staring into the trees. She started thinking: What if he doesn’t care? What if he just was pretending to be nice? Jade slapped herself out of it. “No, don’t think like that.” Jade waited patiently, looking around curiously. After a short while, her patience began growing thin. She opened her menu, then her social sub-section, then her friends list. Selecting Kimihito:

To: Kimihito

From: Ghost

Subject: I Need Some Help

Description: Hey Kimihito, I need some help with something, I was wondering if you could help me out. I’m at the park, hopefully I’ll see you soon.

 Sincerely, Jade

Tapping the “Send” button she returned to staring off into the trees, watching the trees leaves move elegantly. Almost no one was around.

@Kimihito

Jade was starting to fall back to sleep, then something touched her head. She assumed it was the waiter finally ready to take her order. "It's about time,  I was beginning to worry that you would skip this table." She sat up, across from her was not a waiter. There was someone sitting across from her, her face turned red. "I-I thought you were a w-waiter." Jade said shyly. She looked around, looked like the last few tables were full. "Um... T-There were no tables left, were there." Jade muttered. She let out a sigh. She knew she had to make friends, but the problem was she didn't know how. Here goes nothing. "G-Greetings..." She forced her hand up from her lap and over the table. Nervousness shook her arm as she attempted to still it. Maybe shaking hands isn't such a good idea? Either way, she was already doing it, backing down would be abnormal. "...I-It's nice to meet you."

@Huginn

Early morning sunlight entered the Inn’s windows, cutting through the darkness. The small particles in the air visible in the beams of light. "Mmrrr..." Jade grumbled, throwing a pillow at one of the windows. Jade got upright and groaned as she got to her feet. She quickly went through her morning routine: Shower, Brush, Get Dressed, etc. After this, she has some time on her hands to think about the previous day or the day ahead of her. Then she goes to get some breakfast from one of the restaurants or shops nearby. She reluctantly left the room and went out the front doors of the Inn, heading to the closest source of available food. "Yaaawwnnnn... I woke up... To early..." Jade opened her menu checking the time. "9:34 AM" Jade tilted her head. "Yep, too early." Jade lumbers over to the local cafe and sits down in one of the seats, waiting for a waiter of waitress. It's oddly packed today, almost all the seats and tables are full. Jade realised she was the only one in the resturant at a table with no one else at it. She crossed her arms on the table and placed her head on top. Trying to savor lost sleep, or just the though of staying on bed all day, it's not too late for that, is it?

@Huginn

"Hmm? What's that?" Jade walked forward to view a oddly shaped white flower in the middle of the feild. She crouched down beside it. "Are you a-" Ghost reached out to it, a menu popped up with the item name in front of her. "Platinum Daisy? Why is it called that?" She reached down past the menu to touch it, it was hard as metal. "Wow, thats, new..." Jade tapped the "Collect" button with her right hand and the flower disappeared in a bright light. Jade got back to her feet. "Alright, that's two down, three to go." She began walking around and in a minute found herself back at the dead tree. "Ok, what other materials are there nearby? Maybe I should look for, berries? Those seen simple enough to find, there are bushes everywhere." She walked off into the fog, looking for a bush or previous materials, like the purple moss, or the platinum flower.

2/5

Walking in circles was getting old, fast. And after not finding anything in ten minutes, Jade decided to take a rest. She layed down against a oak tree, its leaves swaying, not making a sounds, adding to the unsettling factor of this place. Jade had an idea, if she were to take a breather, and just not focus on anything for a little bit, maybe she might be able to find a material? It was worth a shot, since their wasn't very many options. She woke up, realising a lot of time has passed since she sat down. She then got off, and went on her way. Looking for Materials, if she could find any, would be a bonus to leaving this place. She continued her leisurely stroll for another three minutes before coming to a stop and looking around. She was in a small grass feild, from what she could tell.

1/5 Materials 

On her way she continued searching for Materials, but none were found. "Hello! Hello! Can someone help me! I'm lost!" Jade shouted into the fog, her hands cupped around her mouth. She lowered her arms and listened, nothing, just silence. Her shoulders dropped in disappointment, she let out a long sigh. She continued to walked aimlessly in the fog, with the objective of searching for Materials and a way out of the fog in mind. She passed the same tree over, and over, and over, and over again. Each time getting more frustrated with herself that she couldn't find some of that moss she saw earlier or a plant that can be fabricated into clothing, or a berry that can be used to make a powerful health potion that can cure the most deadly of poisons. She played video games to get away from the tall world, looks like the real world is getting into here. This is the first time Jade has ever been bored playing a video game.

1/5 Materials 

She found a material so quickly, which made her feel enthusiastic. Along with the fact that she didn't have to manually collect the material. Touching strange discolored fungi, even in a virtual world, would probably lead to a horrible occurrence, which Jade was happy to avoid. "Ok, I just have to keep an eye on my surroundings for anything odd or abnormal. It's not that bad." Jade said, get vision obscured by the fog.  She resumed walking around, searching for anomalies in the environment. She walked for three minutes before she realized, she had been walking in circles the entire time. "Oh, I'll never find five at this rate." Jade said to herself, disappointment in her tone. She began walking back in the direction on the alchemy tent, ready to give up, but she was lost, she couldn't see through the fog. She kept walking for another two minutes and found her way back to the dead mossy tree.

1/5 Materials 

Jade walked away from the tent, thinking about her current situation. She somehow got pulled into this quest. She continued walking around in the woods for something that could be considered a "teir one material". She remember a game she use to have where they were plants you could harvest for materials to make cloth and such, maybe this game had a similar feature? She came to a odd looking tree, it looked like it was dead, but it was upright, a large amount of strangely colored moss grew on the trees bark. "What's this?" She examined it closely. She was about to touch it when a menu popped up. "It's, it's a material?" She said, bewildered by this discovery. "Purple Moss... I guess that's something to look for. Now how do I..." At the bottom of the menu, a "Collect" button stood out with white font and a blue background. She clicked it, the moss flowed for a second, shrinking, then stoped flowing altogether. 
1/5 Materials

It was oddly quiet and foggy, the suns rays still able to reach the ground, leaving a magical sight to those who search. Jade walked the trail in hopes of finding something to do, a voice broke the eerie silence. "Hello Dear, I see you are in need of a profession, may I interest you in Alchemy?" Jade turned to see a old woman, she was smiling sweetly and left the tent Jade completely missed, a small vial of rainbow colored liquid pulsating in the woman's hand. "A-Are, Are you talking to me?" Jade asked. "Now, I know it may seem very sciencey and scary, but I believe you can do it! And I hope you feel the same way." The woman signalled Jade to follow her into the tent, out of curiousity, Jade followed. Inside were a large amount of alchemy devices and vials, the woman moved from shelf to table to shelf, she looked like she knew what she was doing. "Now, I can teach you all about it sweety, but I seem to have ran out of some of my precious materials to give you a how-to on crafting, would you be a dear and run off to get me some? I think all I need is five, and I can help you on your way!" The woman smiled a sweet smile, she seemed to be happy someone wants to follow in on her profession. "Um, ok..." Jade said, finally acknowledging that the woman was an NPC. "...I'll be back in a little while." Jade walked outside, looking for anything that looks like a material. "Is that a... No, it's not..." Jade said to herself, thinking a small white flower was a material. 

0/5 Materials

Earnings: (Col Tracking, Item obtaining, etc)

Col:

Items:

SP:

Materials:

Jade pick up the dagger, lightly running her finger along the blade, it was very sharp.  It was thin, light, and sharp, it's just what she needed. The name “Jessica” etched into the blade running along the spine. She picked it up, gave it a few swings, and placed it in the empty holster on her shoulder. She turned to the shop owner. “Thank you.” She gave a smile before exiting the prestiged blacksmith shop. It lived up to its name. She walked away from the shop, taking the blade back out and examining it. Running her hand along the engraved name.

+ "Jessica"

Early morning sunlight entered the Inn’s windows, cutting through the darkness. The small particles in the air visible in the beams of light. “Ah, no.., It can’t be morning already…” Jade said, throwing a pillow at one of the windows. Jade got upright and groaned as she got to her feet. She quickly went through her morning routine: Shower, Brush, Get Dressed, etc. After this, she has some time on her hands to think about the previous day or the day ahead of her. Then she goes to get some breakfast from one of the restaurants or shops nearby. She reluctantly left the room and went out the front doors of the Inn, heading to the closest source of available food. This place was so comforting the first day, then everything took a turn for the worse. She let out a long sigh. Thats went she saw one of the restaurants workers walk out with a sign. “Wait, what time is it?” She quickly opened her menu to see eleven twenty-nine staring back at her. Her eyes widened. Looking up she began running towards the restaurant. “It's not too late, it's not to-ahHH!” She yelled, running into someone, Jade face planting in the process. She looked up at her still open menu. “11:30”. “It’s too late…” She whimpered, immediately remembering the person she ran into, her face turned bright red, she swiftly got to her knees and faced them. “O-oh! I-I’m so sorry! A-Are you ok?”

@Kyot0

“...and so they had to fight the red players off. But what Quin didn’t expect was to see her long lost friend, previously thought to be dead, with a red icon above her head. That’s when the group started falling apart. Because their strategist, Quin, lost it and started crying, leaving the others to make their own choices. Their tank started getting pummeled and had to be saved by Riot, who charged the red players. The healer didn’t know what to do, so he started trying something different by battling and healing at the same time, he ran out of energy way to quickly and had to fall back, and Quin was in the back on her knees, trying to comprehend why her best friend was with the bad guys. Luckily no one was kill, they all managed to use their teleport crystals to get out.” Jade stopped. “Hey, Enna, there, there aren’t people like that anymore, right?” Jade braced for bad news.

@Ennakai

The player looked a little down, at the same time, contemplating something. She remembered the day she had with her first “friend”. “M-Maybe, I should try it…” Jade whispered to herself. “...try to make another.” Jade got up and walked over to the player’s bench. Every step got heavier, harder to move forward. Each step felt like a lead weight was added to her ankles.  She sat down, shaking, she hadn’t ever done this before. “G-Greetings…” Jade said, her face red, her voice shaking. What was I thinking! This was an awful idea! I’ve already gone this far, I mind as well go through with it.. “...lovely evening, i-isn’t it?” Jade never even looked in the direction of the player, her eyes were locked to the brick road in front of the bench. The trees continued swaying in the wind, the sun kept crawling downward, but yet, to Jade, everything felt still, it felt like this would last forever, in this moment.

@Neopolitan

"You're really ok?" Jade said skeptically. "I-I mean, I did throw a book at you, and made you fall." Jade listened closely to the girl, who introduced herself as Ennkai. "Ok, that seems fine."Jade said, her hand on her chin. "Hello Enna, I'm J- Er, I mean Ghost." She said with a weak smile. 

"Hmm?" Jade said, putting the sandwich back in her inventory. "O-oh!" Jade admired the cover of the book. "I'll be sure to visit." Jade said with a smile, examining the book. 

"Really? I-It was ok? Alright, here it goes..." Jade closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "...If you want me to stop, you might need to, shake me out of it... So... Where do you want me to start?" Jade said, quickly skimming the pages of the book for detail, up untill the leaf she was using as a bookmark, she didn't want to spoil anything for herself.

@Ennakai

Jade, passing a small lake, noticed a small building, upon further investigation, she discovered it was a tailor shop. She looked down at her outfit and observed her arms. She needed a change of apparel. She slowly opened the door, letting out a creak before coming to a complete stop. "Hello? Is anyone here?" She could hear sounds emmiting from the back room. She noticed the order forms on the counter, and filled one out, along with a note for when she would come to pick it up. 

Forms:

@Kyot0

[OOC: How much for the two?]

Jade thinks for a moment. "I want it to do a good amount damage and be easy to hit my target, can you make those modfications?" Jade said, determination in her voice. Looking around the room, she glaces at all the well crafted and detailed armors and armaments. "I wonder how it will come out..." Jade whispers to herself. "Oh, sorry, but can you have then name etched into the blade on one side, if not there, then the handle?" She quickly added.

(Dagger Enhancements: +2 DMG, +2 ACCURACY)

@Macradon

After hearing the girls reaction, Jade felt kinda bad. "N-No, it was m-me. I shouldn't have t-thrown my book..." Jade looked down at the book, which she was holding to her chest like it was protecting her. "I s-shouldn't have reacted the way I did." She looked back up at the girl. 

"Saying... Hi? Yes..." Jades concerned expression changed to releif. "...hi." She continued, she closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "...ok, greetings. I'm Ghost. Y-You?"

"I-I'm still very sorry, I didn't mean to, here, let me make i-it up to you." Jade said, opening her menu and seconds later, materialising a tasty looking sandwich. "H-Here, as an apology." She held out the sandwich with one hand.

She pulls the book away from herself and looks at the book's front cover. "Well, so far it's about a group of friends who are exploring the vast floors of Aincrad. I'm pretty sure it's just lore though. So far there is a total of three people. They went from the first floor to the ninth in just a week, imagine that! They fought off all kinds of challenges like, oh, did I mention the Blue Aces? Its a really cool guild in the plot. Oh I forgot to tell you the characters! There is Riot, he is a shoot first ask questions later kind of guy, Quin, she is the calm collecive smart one, and-"Jade glaces at the girl when she realised something. "Ah!" Jade coils up with the book on her chest and her arms folded around it, her face red. "I-I ... I didn't mean to rant!"

@Ennakai

I took the food when our phone, which I had to share with my sister, went off. There was a new message that read: “We have a surprise for you we're almost home.” Being the kids that we were, we got excited and went to see what the surprise was, so we waited outside, taking guesses until our parents got home. “What if its a bike? Or a horse!” Jess said excitedly, giggling afterward. “What if its a new game for us to play? Or maybe its like, a lot of ice cream?” I responded, also giggling. This went on for around two minutes until our parents got into the driveway. We rushed to greet them. My parents weren’t even out of the car yet before we barraged them with questions. “Hey hey hey, slow down, we will get to it when we get to it, but you have to get dressed first.” My dad said. “Huh?” I looked down, realizing that I’ve been in my pajamas this whole time. “Oh! Right.” I swiftly got dressed and came back out, everyone was already waiting. We got in and began going somewhere.

Jade heard a noise come from what she thought was behind her, she stopped reading, placing a leaf in between the pages as a temporary bookmark, and closed it. She turned around where she was sitting, nothing behind her.  Jade assumed it was nothing, and turned around again, girl with purple hair hung upside down in front of her, herlong purple hair pulled down, touching the top of Jade's knees. "Hey there!" She said. "What you reading there?" The girl continued. Jade was shocked, also startled. "Eek!" She said out of instinct, throwing her book at the girl. "O-oh! I-I'm so s-sorry, you s-scared me!" Jade said nervously. "I-I didn't m-mean to! Are y-you ok?" Jade reached for her book then pulled it back to her chest. "H-How long w-were you up, up t-there?" Jade looked to the girls right, she was to nervous to make eye contact, so she looked to her right. "T-To answer your previous question, I'm reading a s-story, about a group of friends..." Her voice sounded determined.

@Ennakai

The sun's rays shimmered over the trees, the wind soft but present. Causing the leaves to move in a hypnotic pattern as they tried to pull away from the branches. Jade walked down the dirt path leading to her quiet place. She didn't own it, it was just so isolated, that she thought no one would find it. She made a swift ninety degree turn off the path and into the underbrush. She continued this direction for a little while until she came across clearing, it was a small hill with short grass, and a tree at the very top. Jade got out a checkered blanket and laid it down. She sat down on the blanket, her back against the tree and began reading a book. "I wish I had a normal life..." She said outloud, which she tends to do when she thinks she is alone. "...just like the characters." Jade continued, enving the book she was reading. She looked up from the book and let out a long sigh, then resuming reading the book.

@Ennakai

"Um... Hello? I-Is anyone in here?" Jade asked nervously, cautiously looking around. "T-This, This is the Blazing Typhon, right?" The room was filled with heavy armor sets and expertly crafted blades. "This must be it..." She said under her breath. She approached the counter. "Um, I have a Voucher for one free item...? Is it still usable?" She holds up a coupon then places it on the counter. "C-Can I get a Perfect Dagger? Called, um, Jessica..." She looked a embarrassed. "So, can you make it?"

@Macradon

Voucher:

The suns rays dimmed as it descended below the horizon, shattering the colors an creating a orange tint to everything. The moon’s silhouette could be seen through the clouds, almost as if patiently waiting for the sun to fall so it could take its place. Jade admired the moon when she was younger, it was free to do what it wanted without restraint, something she used to yearn for, but now, she felt empty, no, more empty than usual. The walks were barely helping anymore, if anything, given herself time to think only worsened her. She needed something to occupy her, to keep her busy. Jade sat down on one of the nearby benches that littered the streets. She stared blankly at the ground, her eyes glassy and glazed over. “Where was I…” Jade spoke softly to herself. “...just going…” Silence returned like a fog, not a single noise not even in the streets of the the town of new beginnings was heard. Jade took note of this and looked up, seeing almost no one, almost...

@Neopolitan

[OOC: Most of this story is a memory from the real world]

The night sky was filled with glistening lights sparkling in a black void. The moon’s glow provided convenient lighting in the dark. Jade could see her reflection in the water, the coldness in her look made her eyes widen. She could remember the smile on their faces, right before everything changed:

12 Years Ago...

“Imma gonna getch you!” Jess shouted, despite the fact I was sitting right next to her. “No, you won’t!” I shouted in return, frantically moving the joysticks. The glow of the characters battling on the television filled the dark room. My parents weren’t home at the time, and I was alone with my sister, so we ended up playing one of those fighting games to pass the time. “Ah, no fair...” Jess said, a little irritation in her voice. “No, it’s fair, because I won...” I said with a smirk. I remember my seven-year-old self, I was determined, competitive, sportsmanlike, needless to say, that didn’t stay for long. Jess looked irritated. “But I wanted to win!” Jess said, her speech a bit slurred, she then tried out her number one tactic, puppy eyes. “Can we play something else.” Jess stared at me. “Fine, but I’m gonna have some food first, it is getting late.” I flipped on the light switch, the entire room filled with the white glow. I walked into the kitchen, which was one room over. I opened the refrigerator and pulled out a paper bag with a note on it. It read: ‘Hey sweetie, we might be a bit late tonight, I made you dinner, share with your sister! - Love Mom” I remembered how great it was to have food in the fridge, much less food already made for you. My dad changed after the accident, he became a monster. He would have mood swings, in one of his mood swings, he was gonna hurt Jess, so I told him to stop. I had to go to the hospital for breaking my arm after “falling down a flight of stairs”, there are no stairs in our house. It hurt, a lot, but I had to protect Jess.