Kirbs

Kirbs lifted her head off of the counter tiredly as she heard a notification bell ring. How long was she sleeping? When did she even start sleeping? Below her arms were a messy stacks of papers filled with plans and doodles... and drool. Gah, she hated doing that. She lifted herself up and wiped her mouth. Opening her menu, she quirked a brow up when she realized it was a text message. Who could possibly want to message her right now? She opened up the message and scanned its contents. Gathering? She sighed, drumming her fingers against the table. She should be training... but she was running low on materials, so a few hours off couldn't be so hard, right?

She lifted herself off of the stool and looked tiredly at her familiar. "You stay. I'll be back by the end of the day," she mumbled, already starting to leave the shop. What was her fighter familiar going to do to really help on a gathering quest, anyway?

Once arriving on the first floor, she had quickly made her way to the garden to greet Kityuisa. "Hey. I've been seeing you a lot lately, huh?" She gave her brief chuckle as she said that.

She let out small, heavy breaths as her shoulders finally sagged down. "I don't want to lose you guys, too," she whispered, her voice cracking. She wouldn't know what to do with herself if she had lost another person close to her. She didn't even want to think about it. As much as she wanted to linger in the presence of these two for just a few minutes longer, she knew she had to finish this quest. She needed to get stronger. For Bell. For her sanity. For her well-being, and for everyone she bloody knew!

"No," she demanded, shaking her head. "We've already wasted enough time doing whatever this is," she gestured to herself. "Let's just go, I can't lost any more time," she said, pushing past the two. Even if she had to do this quest by herself, she was going to get it finished.

She didn't want their pity. It was a horrible feeling-- to be pitied by your own damn friends.

"It's okay," she sniffed, sobering up. "It was partially my fault, anyway," she laughed humorously, narrowing her eyes at the ground. "I should've called Hestia the moment I saw that filthy bastard, but I keep letting him off the hook," the redhead seethed, clutching her fists together. 

Right, it was her fault Bell was dead.

Her head whipped up to Bahr and widened her eyes. "No, no, no," she said quickly, walking away from his hands as she let out heavy breaths. "You guys are not going to get anywhere near him!" She screamed, surprising both her and Scarfy-- to which she totally forgot was there, sorry Scarfy! "He let you off the hook the first time," she looked at the both of them with eyes as wide as saucers. "Who knows what he's going to do the next time you see him!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

"No, I am not going to be okay! I can't ever just be okay when I know that my best friend's killer is out there!" She pointed her hand out to the endless land. 

The waiter had finally arrived with their drinks, and she couldn't be anymore glad. Kirbs anxiously took her green tea and took a large gulp out of it, nearly gagging from the taste. It was disgusting. Maybe if she actually liked tea, she could down it. She pushed her tea away and sighed, returning her gaze back on Kityuisa, she shook her head with a sad smile. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that's a tale for another say," she gave her a reassuring nod and stood up.

She held out her arm to her familiar-- to which he slithered up pretty quickly and then gave her another nod. "I think it's my cue to leave. I'll see you later, okay?" The redhead waved at her one last time before leaving the table. She was honestly ready to tell Kityuisa-- but the real problem was if she was ready to hear it.

SUMMARY: 

Kirbs:

1. [Sand Armor Potion] This incredibly potent alchemical salve can be applied to a piece of armor, increasing damage mitigation/resistance by one point for one battle. (MIT +27)
2. [4 Skill Points]
3. 200 Col

Kityuisa:

1. [Sand Armor Potion] This incredibly potent alchemical salve can be applied to a piece of armor, increasing damage mitigation/resistance by one point for one battle. (MIT +27)
2. [4 Skill Points]
3. 200 Col

Kirbs widened her eyes at his sudden expression before looking down at her feet again. It felt like there was a large knot in her throat and it seemed like it was impossible to get down.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, fiddling her fingers in front of her as she kept the forming tears in her eyes down. She didn't want to act like this, but she couldn't help it! She wished she could be like the old her. In fact, she'd do anything to be her from less than a month again. 

"I really don't want to be like this," she exclaimed, looking up at both of them. She didn't know how to break the news to them at all, she was never really good at that. "Some stuff just happened-- and-- and, uhm--"

Well, it was better to rip the bandage right off than to do it slowly, right?

"My best friend was murdered... by Pinball."

Kirbs blinked.

She was doing the tutorial quest? She was helping people with the tutorial quest, again? She's helped so many people with this quest, that it actually made her upset that she had wasted so much time helping random people with such a boring quest. She wasn't even going to be helping with anything! She was practically being their damn bodyguard! Her eye twitched as she internally face-palmed herself. Did she really need to tag along for this? Alec can protect them just fine if they needed a bodyguard! She sighed, rolling her head around before mumbling in defeat. Well, it was too late to back out now. 

"It was just a couple of dogs," she mumbled, casting her eyes toward the ground. That memory was still sort of blurry, but she knew it was thrilling when she did it. That day felt so long ago. It was before everything happened. 

Kirbs brightened up as another familiar face returned to her shop. "Ah, I see..." she trailed off. "Well, I'll get back to you when I can. These days aren't looking so good for me," she laughed dryly as she patted Willow on the head. "Alright, see you later, Kityuisa!" She waved at the girl as she left the shop and sighed. She had just gotten all of her orders done, and now she had to do another one? When was she going to get a bloody vacation around here?! She was really in dire need of one, so when was she going to get one?

Day 35:

Kirbs wasn’t sure if she should be boiling with rage or be sighing from relief. “No... Pinball?” She muttered lowly, averting her eyes to the weapon in her hand. Perhaps she would get the chance another day. He can’t evade her forever.

”Kityuisa?” The girl mumbled, relaxing her stance. She could be affiliated with that murderer now that she thought about it. She seemed even friendly last time they were all together. They had met up another time before this, and she definitely knew something was off with the redhead.

Who could she even trust anymore?

“Yeah... good plan,” Kirbs said, both her voice and eyes distant. What did he say, again?

Kirbs furrowed her brows in thought and didn’t realize that an unfamiliar person had walked up to them. Her grip on her spear tightened as she turned to look at the player but immediately softened when she realized that it was Kityuisa— with a completely new change in hair color, it seemed.

The redhead nodded in greeting, although, not missing the change in her voice. Seems like something was on her mind as well. Whatever it was, she had too much on her plate to genuinely care. It’s not her problem, anyway.

”Yeah, all of our hair is weird,” she commented, not missing the beat to add her unusually red hair to the list. It did give her a fair bit of teasing in the real world but she never really minded. Now it just reminds her of Bell.

Why does everything remind her of him? He’s dead, so get out of her damn head!

Kirbs followed after him, the usual skip in her step was long gone and now it was just quick strides. They shouldn’t be wasting time talking about hair. Every second wasted is a second she could’ve been using to get stronger.

@Kityuisa @Bahr

Kirbs had just let out one of her less energy wasteful attacks, and thank God that she hit it. The other girl was right, her energy was dropping like flies. Maybe if she just used her lower sword art skills for a bit, she would be able to get enough energy for a while. They were doing good so far, and it seemed like the other party was handling themselves pretty well, too. But damn, how many of these things were there? They've killed a couple, but how many more are left? This wouldn't go on forever, right? It had to stop at some point! She was sure-- judging by the damage they were doing to Mace-- that she could survive a good while, but what about the others? Kityuisa and Bahr might take some nasty damage if they were to be focused.

Kirbs stifled a laugh as she watched Bahr fall on to his face. "Don't worry," she drawled, grinning. "It happens to the best of us... and you."

Two years?

Kirbs slowly blinked as she shifted her gaze over to her fidgeting hands. Two years without Bell. She had him for less than a week and then he's gone from her life... except this time, he isn't going to make a magical appearance again. He's gone. Forever.

Kirbs lifted her head to the question again. What is it with people and asking her some damn questions? "O-oh," she stuttered, looking back and forth between Drayna and Alec. Alec can protect them just fine... did she really need to come? "I- uhm," she sweat dropped and cleared her throat. "Alright, I can go... I suppose," she said in almost a defeated tone. Where else was she supposed to go? Scarfy let out another growl of protest-- because of course, such a familiar like him doesn't want to hang around on the first floor aiding some newbies who ever left the damn town. 

"I said stop it!" She snapped, glaring at her familiar again. Scarfy recoiled before letting out a low hiss of defeat and sinking down again. Hoo-wee, she's snapped at him before but never like that! It felt kind of good, she had to admit. It felt so weird having power to a literal creature that could strangle you in two seconds!

Kirbs mumbled to herself tiredly as she  paced around in her shop, a stack of papers filled with messed of words and scribbles were on her counter. "Maybe if I can meet some new people on the front-lines, I would be able to kill him," she muttered, scratching her chin as her pace increased. She was surprised that her pacing hasn't left a mark on the floor yet, honestly. The sound of a message made the jittery girl jump up and snap out of her trance-like state.

Bahr?

When was the last time she had even seen him? Some time must have passed, surely. He must've caught up with her in levels, if not already surpassed her. She growled under her breath. She was so stupid! She she be gaining some levels, too! Not reminiscing about her past in her battered down shop!

Her once so full of life eyes scanned over the message and she nearly scowled. The hatchling quest... yes, she remembered the last one she did. Pinball was there. She hissed a few curses under her breath as she began to pace around again.

He wouldn't have invited Pinball, right? She thought, narrowing her eyes at her walking feet. They both look like they were on semi-good terms last time. This could be my chance! I may not be able to kill the damn bastard, but I'll sure as go down trying.

She quickly equipped her weapon and armor, readying herself up. She held out her arm to Scarfy-- who was firmly placed on the counter with a confused look. "This could be our chance," she whispered, and to which Scarfy perked his ears up to. Not wasting much time, he slithered up her arm and wrapped himself around her neck.

Before they knew it, she had already dashed out of her shop and towards the teleport gate.

It wasn't long before she had met up with Bahr, and he didn't look any less younger or older-- he looked exactly the same. She looked around warily and then looked back at him. "Did you invite anyone else to this?"

Kirbs shuffled around uncomfortably on the wooden bench as she looked through the quest information. She wasn't sure if she could do this one by herself. Who could she call up to help her? Someone who wouldn't die in the battlefield? She bit her lip as she scrolled through the very few friends she had. Sey was probably planning his wedding. Kityuisa and Bahr might not be enough for this quest... Perhaps Dustin? She hasn't seen him in a while... before the accident, too. She gulped down the small knot in her throat as she typed a quick message for him.

He should be strong enough to kill it, but not die from it, at least, that's all she really needs for this. She let out a stressful sigh as she placed her hands in her lap.

Now, she had to play the waiting game.

"Nintendo stuff," she chuckled, reminiscing about the lost memories she had. "Mario, Zelda, Kirby, Pokémon, stuff like that," she said, smiling to herself as she listed some of the games she literally grew up with. "I wasn't a very... grown up gamer, per say."

Kirbs nodded, agreeing with her choices of likes, especially that Legend of Zelda one. Kityuisa gave her a few bird sort of vibe, and that's totally okay-- in fact, Kirbs wished she could be more like her sometimes, because right now, she felt she had the whole weight of the world on her shoulders.

"Losing the people you cared for, huh," the redhead echoed, blinking at her heads with a blank expression. She supposed that she could add that to the list of dislikes as well... She's only lost person she's cared for her in her life, and hit stung like a bloody female dog. She was going to get revenge, though. 

She needed to.

Another name to remember. Athena. Wasn't that the same name of the goddess she saw in her Olympus quest? 

Kirbs shrugged her shoulders at Athena's question, not too sure of the answer herself. "I needed air," she said plainly. God knows how long she's been in that dinky shop of hers. 

Kirbs blinked as she looked down at the little bear cub. It hasn't been long but she did miss the cute little face of Humphrey. She crouch down and patted his head with a small smile. "Hey, there, bud. Been a bit, huh?" She murmured lowly. Her own familiar let out a low hiss at the bear cub and she had to silence him with another glare. Scarfy just didn't know how to behave with other familiars, she guessed. She wasn't even sure if he would get along with his own damn species. "Stop it," she muttered lightly, shooting another glare at her familiar before standing back up again.

The redhead let out a small huff as she watched Drayna scurry back to the safe zone in a frenzy. If she acted like that all the time, how was she going to survive out there? 

The girl's mind went blank for a few seconds as she stared out the gate of the town. She remembered first leaving the Town of Beginnings... and let's just say her reaction was just a tad bit different from Drayna's. Her train of thought was lost when she heard her name. "Huh?" She asked, blinking at Alec-- who she assumed was talking to her. "Oh, yeah," she hummed, nodding her head. 

I hate tea.

"Yeah, I think it's pretty good," she mumbled, forcing a small smile, "I am a true English at heart, right?" She joked dryly. 

Kirbs drummed her fingers against the table as she thought about it. "I suppose I used to game a lot before this," she finally blurt out, trying not to cringe at the memories from two years ago. "I really liked food, too," she added, laughing again. 

When was the last time I ate?

"... And for what I dislike?" Tea. "I don't know," she mumbled, furrowing her thin brows. That's become a regular occurrence, now that she thinks about it-- furrowing her brows, that is. "Just common dislikes, I guess," she shrugged. That was a lie. She disliked many things. Maybe she should add Pinball to the list. She doesn't even dislike him. She hates him.

"What about you?" She finally asked, placing her elbows on the table as she intertwined her hands together in just below her face. "What do you like and dislike?"

"Alright."

Kirbs slowly sat down at the table and stared at her entangled fingers. Scarfy had loosened himself around her body and rested his body down on the seat next to her, resting his head on the seat tiredly. Honestly, she could relate. 

"I'm not really sure if what Scarfy eats is served in here," she murmured, furrowing her brows as she thought about what he really ate. Meat. Raw meat. Sometimes she would give him the occasional small rodent when she went hunting, too. Maybe some fish wouldn't hurt his diet? "I'll just have a fish like her cat and a green tea," she told the waiter, surprising both herself and Scarfy. His head lifted to meet her eyes and she sensed confusion. Of course, he knows that she doesn't like tea, but it couldn't hurt, right? Bell used to like tea, so maybe she could drink some for his sake.

Kirbs eyes shifted to another unfamiliar player. Oh, God, she did not sign up for this doo doo. It was too late to go back on introductions so just silently wept inside as she continued to blink tiredly at the group of players. "Everything is fine... I hope," she mumbled. Everything was not fine. Not friggin' fine at all. Everything was bloody wrong.

It's not bloody fine when you're stuck in a damn video game with thousands of other damn teenagers.

Her thoughts snapped when the girl introduced herself. "Drayna," she murmured, testing the name out on her own tongue. She nodded to herself as she finally got that down in her mind. Just another name she might have to look for in the Monument of Life in another two months. That's bloody brilliant! 

She looked up at Alec and forced a small smile on her face, although her eyes didn't quite match it. "I'm doing... well," she bit out, looking down at her feet once more. He didn't seem to change, that's good. He was capable of defending himself. She trusted tanks with staying alive more than DPS players, just simply because they're... y'know, tanks. 

@Athena@Alec@DraynaRue

Kirbs tapped her chin a few times before nodding. "Alright, I think I should know the way!" She held up her hand and spun around a few times. Once she was a dizzy mess, she wobbly pointed in a direction. "That's... south!" She piped, holding her head with her other hand. "I'm sure of it!" She declared, already starting to walk in the given direction. 

Forgetting about her own familiar, Kirbs turned to Scarfy and offered him a sheepish smile. He should feel fine, so why should she be worried? If his home floor was the blazing desert, he should be able to go through the floor full of hot magma and volcanoes. Only a glare and a silent hiss was returned to her from the Nguruvilu and that made her squint at the scarf like creature. Okay, mister! Have your own way! She didn't need to interact with her so called, 'companion'.

She shrugged her shoulders and offered him a sheepish grin. "Yeah, I'm a little bit pooped for today," she sulked. A giant ice elemental and a giant pine cone? Yeah, that was enough to get the redhead pooped out. "Plus, I'm really hungry!" She added, rubbing her stomach as she sulked even more. She was absolutely famished-- yes, she was using big kid words now!

"Sorry for not doing much to that pine cone back there. I'll totally make it up to you one day," she insisted, looking up at him with another sheepish smile. 

"So!" She piped, switching to another completely different subject. "Have you been around Kityuisa lately? I plan on doing some quests with her soon! She's pretty fun to hang around, y'know! Plus, I kind of met both of you two around the same time, and we should have a little squad meet up one day!" She cooed, clapping her hands together.

Kirbs let out a small and genuine smile as she clapped her hands together. "Yay," she said plainly before putting away her spear. Kirbs thought for a moment, her head turning towards the sky, too. Perhaps she had enough time. She wanted to level up more, but she supposed that she squeeze in a few hours with her friend. She looked down and nodded her head. "I think I can spare the rest of the day," the redhead murmured, shrugging. Even though she still had the adrenaline from the fight, she didn't particularly felt like fighting too much at the moment. 

"We can head to a cafe or something?" She asked, shrugging her shoulders again. She felt safer inside the safe-zone. Even though most of this floor's mobs were not match for her, she still felt worried that they could be ambushed by a hoard of venomous snakes or something. It was a risk she wasn't willing to take. "It's safer there," she added, scanning Kityuisa's face for an answer.

Kirbs nodded her head at her request and dashed forward again. She got ready to use her sword art again, feeling the sheer power in her hands was such an exhilarating feeling. Just as she was about to her the shark, it regained its mobility again— the full effects of her paralyzing attack wearing off. The shark narrowly dodged her blade and swung its head back to deliver a blow to her. Kirbs let her eyes widen for a second before scrunching her brows together in sheer determination. The redhead twisted her body around, also narrowly avoiding the shark’s lethal bite.

Her feet skidded on the sand as she kept back to her previous position next to Kityuisa. “Damn it,” she muttered under her breath. “Do you think you can kill it?” She asked, turning her head over to the pinked-haired girl.

ID: 119488

BD: 1, Fail

MD: 6-1=5, Miss!

Kirbs let out a small hiss at the other player. “Giant ice giants? I can get. Giant tiger on fire? I can get. But I can imagine a bloody frekin’ giant pine cone? Okay?!” She looked up at im and frowned. 

“I’m not going to be able to kill it,” she declared, getting ready to attack it anyway. She had this gut feeling. And it wasn’t a good one. She ran towards the pine cone with a valiant war cry before turning around completely. She ran back to Bahr with a sheepish grin. “Yeah. I’m definitely not doing that.” She looked at its HP bar and shrugged. “I’m pretty sure you are going to be able to kill it if you actually hit, though. So... good luck!” She gave him a thumbs up as she scrambled behind him again. She was a girl with few fears, but a giant pine cone just made it on to her very, very small list.

ID: 119485

BD: 2, Fail

She nodded, lacing her hands around her spear as she listened to Kityuisa listen. It was nice hearing about how people were improving. It kind of motivated her just a little bit. A little bit.

Her jumped slightly as the pinkette questioned her. She scratched the side of her face and averted her eyes to her feet as she cleared her throat. “Nothing really new. Just some... stuff,” she said meekly, failing to gulp down the large knot in her throat. It hurt her that she couldn’t explain to her friend about her current... situation, but it hurt her even more to even thinking about it, much less talk about it. She didn’t want for Pinball to make any more enemies. Who knows what he could do to someone as low leveled as Kityuisa?

Her train go thought was interrupted when there was brief movement in the sand from the corner of her eye. She nodded at her party-mate and let out a small and happy huff as she watched a twinkle appear in her eyes. It made her happy that a person was so excited and ready to kill something— damn, she really needed to get that checked.

Kirbs let out a soft sigh of relief as the shark didn’t target the girl right away. She was safe.

”Alright!”

She charges up her sword art and darted forward just as the shark appeared up and out of the ground again. She swung her spear at the shark as she unleashed one of her most powerful sword arts. Aftershock’s blade dig into the shark, releasing sparks and bolts of electricity into its rough skin. The shark stiffened as it was immediately paralyzed by her spear and Kirbs let out a small smirk of satisfaction. Using the last amount of time she had, she thrust the shark into the air and delivered one last kick, which sent it flying back into the sand— still paralyzed. 

Kirbs stiffened as she heard an ear piercing scream echo through the air. She’s been on floor one long enough to know what kind of screams can be heard there— and that my friend, was the scream of a mental breakdown. She whipped around and saw another girl not too far away— and it looked like she was the one in charge of the wailing.

As much as she wanted to comfort the unknown player... did she really want to make more friends? Her eyes averted to her feet as she let out an inaudible sigh. She liked hanging out with... people? But did she really want to meet more people? It’s just more people to mourn when the time comes again.

Her eyes perked when she saw a familiar player walk up to the girl.

Alec?

She smiles briefly as she remembered what the two had gone through. Ah, good times. Well, it won’t hurt to let out some stress. She couldn’t even the last time she actually relaxed— or even sleep. Too many thoughts were in her head at night.

The redhead shuddered as all of her flaws came rushing back to her. It seemed like social awkwardness never really went away, almost like some kind damn mental illness or something.

Swallowing her anxiety, she approached the two and gave a meek wave, trying her best not to let her complete change of personality through. “H-hey Alec. Been a while, right?” She then turned to the other girl and offered a brief smile before her expression turning blank again. “My name is Kirbs by the way.” 

@Alec @DraynaRue

"Really?" Her eyes gleamed, reaching her hand out to pet the small bear. He was so fluffy! God, she felt like a little kid all over again! "He's so adorable," she commented, grinning. 

"Oh, it was from this game called Kirby," she started, retracting her hand as she looked up at Alec with a sheepish smile. "So a Scarfy was pretty much one of the enemies in the game, and they look so innocent at first, but then once you damage them, they turn all gross and try to kill you..." she trailed off, biting her lip. "Yeah, that's a pretty accurate summary of my familiar as well. Except he doesn't look that too innocent."

She shrugged, her face turning blank. "I honestly don't know that much. I just know that we hafta' kill a couple dogs and then this mini-boss kind of thing which has three heads. That's all the information I could find, anyway." She tapped on her imaginary watch on her wrist and looked back up at him. "Speaking of that, we should probably go right now. It'll take a while to get there."