Yukiro

"Not too b-bad." 
Tala stuttered. That was the sign that told Yukiro it was time to go. Her response when he asked if she was ready only confirmed it further. 
"Get me out of this hell." She sounded upset. Not that he could blame her. 
Yukiro kneeled down and felt around for her hand. He didn't find her hand first. He wasn't sure what it was he did find, short of the fact that it was Tala. He traced his hand along her arm until he found her hand and took it, helping her to her feet. 
"Of course. Let's go." 
Yukiro pulled her closer than ever and started to lead her out of the cave. It was dark, yes, but he remembered the way just well enough to get them back out. Or so he hoped, at least. But he did know that he would get her out no matter what. If she was scared then it was his job to rescue her. 
"If you think you're starting to panic again, just say so and I'll help. If you'll let me, that is," he offered. Maybe they should link arms? No, she probably wouldn't want to do that. 

@Tala

The party deemed to decide to start heading back. That was fine. It meant he could go eat sooner. And that he'd sleep less. Nothing more.
Koga plowed into him unexpectedly. "Sorry." 
Yukiro shook his head. "It's nothing to worry about." 
"You doin' alright, man? You've been real quiet." 
Ah, so that's what this was about. He should have expected someone to come ask him about his silence, he didn't know why he hadn't. Should he tell Koga honestly..? 
"I'm fine. Just a little hungry. A little thirsty. A little tired. Nothing everyone else isn't," he said vaguely. That should do it. It was enough information to be honest without complaining about his situation. "I'll be fine. I'm sure of that much." 
Naturally that was the moment Yukiro tripped. His foot caught a stray pile of sand and he went down onto his hands and knees. He took a moment to recover from his fatigue and slowly got back up, looking straight toward their destination over the horizon. 
"I... I'll be fine." 

@NIGHT

"I'll take care of it if you don't mind. We have a score to settl- Oof!"
Yukiro heard a loud thump as what he assumed was a cave guardian rammed into her. Alright, that changed things. Yukiro turned and watched Tala activate a sword art and slash at the darkness.
"Stupid bat messing with the wrong person...." 
Yukiro watched carefully where her sword had hit, how much resistance it faced, which direction it went, every small detail to pin down the exact location of the giant bat. And once he determined that he simply stepped forward and swiped his blade up, causing a loud squeal and the sound of a shattering bat. Letting out a breath Yukiro resheathed his sword and stepped next to Tala.
"Are you alright? That blow looked like it might've hurt," he commented, offering his arm for support, "Though now that that's done we can leave. Unless you want to stay here." 
He expected Tala was more eager than he was to leave the dark tunnels. 

@Tala

"No, I haven't really been told anything that's going on with your side of the family for years. Last I had heard was that Toki was born. That was about it." 

Yuki nodded. Why did he have to go and bring that up? Did his parents really not tell Apollo? He had to advert his eyes.

"There... was an accident. A car went wild, I think, I was never told the details. But Toki... Didn't..."

Yukiro looked straight at the ground. Toki had been his youngest brother and, honestly, the kindest and most gifted of all of them. But something happened and there was a traffic accident. Toki was killed. At least, that was what Yuki had been told. After taking a moment to steel himself, Yuki continued. 

"...Toki was killed in a traffic accident. I'm ashamed my parents didn't tell you, and I'm sorry I have to tell you. Please accept my apologies on their behalf."

He finished with a bow, making sure to hide as much of the pain as he could manage. 

@Bahr

"No, not interrupting at all," Koga said, much to Yukiro's relief. He'd really hate to be interrupting some quality sibling time; he now knew how precious it was. 
Tala decided to lead the way. "Come on boys, we are out here to get materials and have fun, right?" 
Yukiro nodded happily. "Right! We'll follow you!" 
"Lead on," Koga agreed, gesturing Tala onward. Yukiro noticed as he was lead by Tala's hand that Koga had grabbed something. A material? So close to town? 
Nah, no way.
Yukiro looked over his shoulder at Koga. He looked a little... Not happy. What could be wrong..?
"Oi, Koga," he called over his shoulder, "I was telling Tala some stories about us. Any that you wanna share? Or am I the only one who seems to remember them?" 
Glancing back at Tala, Yukiro grinned, "And feel free to chime in too. I wanna know more about you and Koga, if I may." 
It was a good idea, he thought. Though maybe they weren't interested. 

@Tala

"Yeah, the one that just tried to hit me is going to die," Tala scoffed.
Yukiro's head whipped around for a moment. "One hit you already?" He turned forward again, muttering, "Good thing you took that potion. Really good thing." 
After that Yukiro got quiet and listened closely for some kind of noise. A small flutter of wings. An unusual gust of air, a slight squeak. And he heard all of these coming from his left. 
Whirling around his sword glowed and passed through the bat's... something. He didn't actually see what he'd cut. But did see it's HP drop to zero and the slight light at it shattered. 
"One of them's gone now. We only need to worry about the last one," Yukiro informed Tala, grabbing a red jewel. They were a party of two, so there should only be two guardians even if he takes a gem for himself. "Do you want me to stand down or lend a hand? I'm less willing to stand down but I will if you ask me to."

@Tala

Tala nodded. "Sure, anyone else coming along? Only asking because I want to know if I have to attempt to share your attention. Also to know if I have enough healing supplies." 
Yukiro went a little red with how she talked about sharing his attention. He didn't know why. 
"Uh, no, not that I know if. I was planning on going alone, at least. But I'd much rather have you along," he said with a grin. But time was wasting. If you hear about something from Fleur it meant that others would be hearing about it soon after, so he had to hurry to the place where he'd find the big white brute. 
Spinning on his heel Yukiro started off towards the town's portal. "We've got to hurry though. I get the feeling that we should, at least." 

Once they got to the teleport center Yukiro paused to equip his 'thick black cloak'. The long, heavy material formed around his shoulders and over his black coat. Without a second thought he took Tala's hand and said "Teleport Snowfrost!"

Then he realized that Tala was not wearing the right kind of outfit for the winter floor. 

@Tala

"Y-yeah I think I am." Yukiro didn't have time to warn Tala before she grabbed one of the gems that were glowing in the cave. She soon stood up. "So, what does this guardian thing usually show up?"
Yukiro drew his sword as one of the giant bats immediately swooped behind her. "What was that..." 
"That would be the 'just bats' I mentioned earlier. Keep in mind I did say they would be very big bats." 
The things that started flapping around fit the description of 'giant bats' well. If you didn't include that they also looked like the devil had created these particular giant bats himself. Yukiro got between the cave guardians and the probably shaking Tala. He didn't really check this time. It was just habit to protect people reinforced by the fact that the person was Tala. 
"Let me absorb as much of the damage as I can. Focus on finding one and hitting it. That's going to be the hard part."

@Tala

"It's okay Yukiro. What are you off in a hurry to do anyways? Must be something big to have you moving without really paying attention to everything." Tala dusted herself off before looking back up at Yukiro. 
Hmmm... Should he beat around the bush or give her a straight answer... What to do today...
Like staring at the menu before ordering the same thing as usual, Yukiro gave her a straight answer.
"I heard about this field boss on floor 4. It's a big thing that apparently gives a bunch of exp. The only catch is that it's on floor 4, so it's a little rough," he said quickly, trying to get all the important information out. When he finally stopped to breath he grinned down at Tala. 
"Wanna join me? Floor 4's a pretty cool place."
Yukiro almost smiled at his own joke, but he was already smiling so he didn't. 
Alright Yukiro, panic's over, calm back down. She's okay, you have to come off of your adrenaline rush. 

@Tala

Tala leaned against Yukiro and found a way to wiggle even closer. Yukiro listened to her breathing. It was slow, unsteady.
"J-just a minor p-panic a-attack," she said, resting her head against Yukiro, her body slowly started to stop shaking. "Th-thank you." 
Yukiro kept holding her. "You're welcome," he said simply. He kept hugging her until he felt her stop shivering. 
"Tala... I..." 
He never found out what he was going to say. Without thinking he just leaned forward and kissed her cheek, giving her one last squeeze before getting up. Hopefully the light was dim enough that she couldn't see how red he had gotten. But he also hoped she could see his smile. "Are you feeling more ready to finish this quest?" 
Yukiro's mind was in a whirl. He'd just kissed her all of a sudden! He just kissed her all of the sudden! He was starting to feel giddy, was that normal? Was he having a panic attack too? Is this what it was like? He couldn't break down in front of Tala!

@Tala

Quote

To: Yukiro
The field boss is on floor 4. It's supposed to be a really big Ice Elemental. I know you've been getting tougher lately, but please bring someone with you for this on. I attached the coordinates. 
From: Fleur

Fleur. It was a nice name, even if it was the name of an info broker who quite frankly was unreliable when it came to anything but her information. But it was still a nice name. 
This was what Yukiro was doing when he realized, a moment to late, that he was running straight towards... Was that Tala!? 
The force of the impact knocked the smaller girl off her feet. Yukiro dove to the ground, barely catching her before he hit the ground. 
"Sorry, are you okay? I didn't mean to run into you like that, sorry," he apologized again, still laying on the road. After gently setting Tala down Yukrio got up and offered Tala a hand up as well. 

@Tala

When Yukiro noticed Tala's hand in the green light of the gems he noticed on thing in particular. It was shaking really bad. Now that he noticed, her whole body was shaking. Was she really that scared? 
Yukiro didn't take the time to think it over. 
Dropping to his knees as slowly as he could he stopped Tala's hand from taking a gemstone. Instead he pulled her into himself, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. He didn't know why he reacted like that. But he hugged her as tightly as he thought he could without breaking her. 
"..."
He didn't know what to say. So he just held her until he did. 
"I'm sorry. You're scared and I don't know how to help. I don't know what to do," he said with a slight sadness in his voice, "So if there is anything I can do, anything at all, please tell me." 
Yukiro let his head rest against Tala. 

@Tala

"Excuse me, sir, I don't mean to be rude, but... How much are you going to eat?" 
The owner of the ramen stand looked at the massively tall customer in utter shock. Several stacks of bowls were piled up on either side of the man and slurping could be heard from his current bowl. No human being was supposed to be able to eat nearly this much. It was unprecedented. Insane. Inhuman. Yet here it was. Picking up the bowl the player gulped down the last of the ramen's broth. 

Yukiro placed the bowl on the shortest stack, making it a total of six bowls in that stack. He thought for a moment. He was about to go on a quest, so he shouldn't eat too much before going out. 
"One more bowl and I'll be on my way," he told the owner of the ramen booth, who stared at Yukiro with both fear and admiration. 
"Right... I'll let you have this one on the house!"
"Thanks!"

Yukiro stretched once he was a good distance away. What a good meal! I'll have to go back there once I'm done this field boss! He started jogging to the town's teleporter, in a particularly good mood. 

@Tala @NIGHT

"Yeah, I'll um, use it now, hopefully." 
Yukiro heard the sounds of the menu being opened and the potion being summoned, then a small pop as she opened the bottle and downed the contents. Then the slight sound of the bottle shattering.
"Okay, the horrible stuff has been taken. Let's find us some gems then shall we." She said, getting even closer to Yukiro, whose face flared up in the dark. 
"R... Right, let's do that." 
Eventually, after what felt like hours of walking alone in the dark with Tala, a slight glow began to appear up ahead. Yukiro was relieved to see that the gems were so close to the entrance, he'd been starting to think they'd be down here for the night. 
Yukiro's body temperature went up just thinking about it.
He walked with Tala to the small pile of gems. 
"Only take one, okay? One each," he said, shifting himself just a touch closer to the girl. 

@Tala

"Nope, no slowing down. Faster we find the stones and kill whatever it is that might attack, the sooner i can get out of this hell."
Fair enough. 
Tala stepped closer to Yukiro, which made his heart flutter a bit. "So, these gems, do they glow or something? Or do I have to crawl around to find one? Because the glowing I can do, the crawling, ha yeah right nope."
Yukiro stifled a chuckle at her words. "They should glow, yes. They may be a little hard to find though. It's like a labyrinth down here," he told her. There should just be a bunch of them all in one spot if he was right. "Hey. You have a potion of safeguard, right? From the first lesson? Use that now. You'll be able to see the menu in the dark, I think."
Yukiro looked away to make sure he wouldn't see her menu. It was apparently considered rude to look at someone else's menu without permission. 
It was a good thing it was dark. It was taking every ounce of willpower and restraint he had not to stutter, he was so nervous being this close to her. And in such a dark place at that--! He wouldn't be surprised if his face started glowing red. 

@Tala

"I think I can, but why are you scared?"
In truth Yukiro wasn't scared. Not even a little bit. But it might be easier for Tala to be scared if she thought he was scared too. 
"Um... Reasons."

Tala squeezed his hand gently and giggled, just a little. "Just don't break your promise and keep me safe please. Don't lose me in there..." 
Yukiro squeezed her hand back. "I wouldn't dream of it." 
"Okay, let's do this." Tala tugged on Yukiro's hand and started to walk toward the cave. Yukiro walked beside her. And soon they were inside the cave. 
It was even darker than Yukiro remembered. But last time he'd gone inside it was night time, so maybe his eyes just weren't adjusted to the low light. 
"Are you alright? Should we slow down?" he asked, just wanting to make sure Tala was feeling as safe as he could make her feel, "You're welcome to get as close as you'd like, I'll be fine." 
By which I mean you can't see how red I am down here. 

@Tala

"I don't know about bad synergy. Possibly just horrid luck. That seems to plague me when I battle anything with any rapier."
An owl suddenly landed on Noctua's shoulder, before Yukiro could think of a response. 
"Yuki, I don't know if I've introduced you two. This is Athena. Athena this is Yuki." 
The owl made an owl sound. Yukiro nodded his head. "Uh, nice to meet you, Athena." 
Should he be introducing Noctua to Yumi? 
Nah, let the sugar glider sleep. 

Noctua laughed and shook her head. "If you're sure. I don't mind the climb up a level you know, especially if it helps you. I can't be the only one getting things down here ya know." She sheathed her rapier and started to walk once more, glancing back to Yukiro. 
"Er, right, okay," Yukiro called, jogging to catch up, "Then you want to head up a floor? Are you sure? Things get a lot stronger up there. I think." 
Brilliant observation Yukiro

@Noctua

Yukiro listened as everyone (well, mainly Azhoda) planned what to do. But he particularly noted when Shior mumbled something about a debt under her breath. He may not always seem like it but Yukiro can have very good hearing at times. But he didn't speak until she had mentioned what she wanted to eat. Then Yukiro piped back up. 
"I'll take anything, but if possible, as much ramen as you can get. I promise I'll pay you back for it," Yukiro promised with a grin. He could really go for some food now. 
Once Nora and An (he was pretty sure that was her name) had left he decided to ask about this player Shior had mentioned. 
"So this guy saved you from a PKer? May I ask about what happened?" He really wanted to know about the player as well. He should also thank him for saving lives, even if it wasn't his own. 

@Azhoda @Andromeda @Nora

"Thank you Yukiro. I've been trying to get better you know. Also been trying to use Graceful Repose more to prove that it isn't actually cursed to make me miss everything." 
Yukiro nodded. "You have been, as far as I can tell. And sometimes a weapon just doesn't feel right. It may be the case with that rapier. It's never good to use something you have bad synergy with." 

"I wonder, does this floor have anything that would benefit you, or would we have to go up to the third floor? I only ask because you looked a little bored just leaning against the tree." She chuckled a bit. Crap, she'd seen that? He hadn't meant for that to happen. 
Ah, well. Too late now. 
"Floor 2 doesn't have much that I can get things from, if I'm being honest. But I'm more than willing to go up there later today," he said. He didn't want to seem bored or unwilling to be helping her, not the other way around. 

@Noctua

Yukiro walked through the forest. Concentration, huh? Not like he could have just focused normally or anything. What a waste of time. He opened his menu. 
Oh, never mind. The fight had gotten him a large amount of Exp, and a little bit of col too. That was a better end to the 'quest' than to just gain the ability to do what people do without the skill. 
He slowly exited the forest and entered back into the town he had been in. At least he hadn't encountered a PKer. That might have been a much worse situation then. Now, what to do? 
Ah, he should eat. He hadn't done that today. Yukiro walked down through the streets on the lookout for a place that looked like it had something good. Eventually he found a nice looking restaurant that he felt he could really get into. But when he noticed a hooded figure in the lineup he changed his mind. No, he'd be avoiding cloaked figures for a while now. 

NET REWARDS

The skill actually turned out to be more disappointingly easy to use than the Gemini made it out to be through all his... unwanted antics. 
"Really, all you have to do is take a moment to concentrate before attacking and it will trigger the skill. That's really all it is. Sorry about all of that I did, it was really just for my own entertainment," the Gemini told Yukiro. 
"No, really? I figured those were the step I needed to take to prepare to learn the skill," Yukiro exclaimed sarcastically. He let out a heavy sigh, "Anyway, thanks for the skill. I guess I'll just be going now." 
The Gemini nodded. "You won't be seeing me again, I think. Though I may be wrong. I have been before. I mean, I am you," the Gemini grinned and picked up the cloak he was wearing before. He flipped it around and onto his body. "Best of luck. Don't get killed out there." 
Yukiro nodded. "I won't. Trust me on that." 

"Damn...good hit," Koga complimented Yukiro, "Almost in the red. We'll be done soon, hopefully." 
Yukiro just nodded, sitting down and watching the others take their turn. NIGHT dealt a good amount of damage with a kick, Noctua doing a little less with her own kick. Koga once again punched the thing, dealing another fair amount o damage. Together they reduced the large stone's HP bit by bit. Ah, right, Yukiro should join in. 
He got up and walked past the others without a single word, twisting back and delivering another shattering punch to the stone's surface. He didn't bother to check the damage this time. Instead he just turned and walked away from the rock once again, though this time he glanced at the others and tried to look a little positive. 
He wasn't sure if he succeeded or not, at least but he had tried. 
He returned to what had become his usual place to sit and sat down. 

@Koga

After a while longer of walking NIGHT pointed out the missing cargo. Everyone started to gather up the bulk of items, including a still quiet Yukiro. After a short while all of the items were gathered up and added to the players' inventories. 

"When we're done, we should find some shelter for the night. Unless you're all up for another stretch of walking in the cold?" NIGHT shouted over the still howling wind. Yukiro did not relish the idea of sleeping in the desert, but he wouldn't oppose it either. Whatever happened, he had to stay quiet and avoid doing anything that would waste energy. That was the punishment or going without food. 
"Walking in the cold would keep us warm, but if we wanted to sit and rest for the night, huddling up would do the trick as well. Warm clothing won't always beat out a desert's coldness."
"Noct's right. We don't wanna sit still during the night out here. We can stop for rest when the sun starts coming up again, before the heats back."
Yukiro stayed crouched down, pulling the sand cloak tighter around his head and body, turning his back to the now chilling wind. They had been right, the desert was getting cold fast. But he wasn't planning on huddling with anyone. 
Still, he just listened, not voicing his opinion. 

@NIGHT

"I'm Apollo, you idiot."

"Huh?"

Yukiro's mind froze. He didn't resist as Bahr pulled his sword away from his chest. Suddenly the man's face, his hair, his voice, everything became familiar.

"Apol--"

He had no time to fully comprehend the situation before he was pulled into a rough hug. "I haven't seen you in years. You aged well, kiddo. Can't believe we both ended up stuck in a place like this."

It was him. It was Apollo. Yukiro's sword slipped out of his hand and clattered loudly against the ground. "...Apollo?"

His mind finally grasped the situation. Everything suddenly clicked into place. Bahr was Apollo. Bahr... Yuki's arms wrapped around his half-brother. 

"I didn't recognize... I'm so sorry, Apollo, I didn't know it was you!" 

His eyes threatened to leak tears, but Yuki held them in. "I never thought I'd see you again. Why... Why are you here? In this game?"

The words were spilling out of his mouth, not bothering to pass through his brain first. 

"...Were you told about Toki?" 

@Bahr

Tala giggled, "Thank you Yukiro." She stepped closer to Yukiro and hugged him.
Yukiro didn't have the time to hug her back, but he enjoyed the gesture while it lasted. 
Soon they reached the cave. Ah, here were some bad memories for Yukiro. Tala stopped short, staring at the cave's entrance. Yukiro stopped and looked down at her. Was she... Ah. She really was nervous. Yukiro squeezed her hand a bit and moved much closer. "I'm a bit scared. Do you think you can help me?" he asked, glancing up and away from the girl. He really hoped that would help her feel better. "U-um, we can keep holding hands, if you want to." 
Aah! I just offered that! I actually offered that! 
He kept looking away to hide his redness. She shouldn't have to worry about him getting flustered; she was scared enough as it was. 
"A-and, if there's, um, anything else I can do to help, I will," he mentioned. 

@Tala