NIGHT

she would be foolish to think that the quest had nothing to do with her venturing into the depths. the last time they went in, they'd only made it so far before the party's personal supplies and morale went out. and she heard of at least another scouting party having gone in without making so much as a dent into her own progress. if she had to do it alone, then by god she would at least try. so this was just the warm up for night. a warm up in a dreadfully chilly place. the only note night took that her pace might've been too slow was from a deliberate soft bump from her follower, a

it wasn't the cold that kept her hooded. after all, her mirror tagging along behind her hadn't kept up with the temperature. rather, there was a hint of fear over bumping into anyone that might've found her familiar. night was keeping a low profile at the moment, and she would be damned to be noticed now, out of all times. her eyes glazed over her messages just as she began tailing a few jogging guards from before. they were spotted once at the gate, while the two were being permitted entry into braso. and night figured they were headed to whoever their leader was, based on how difficu

quest. wagon wheels spun over and over. they crushed gravel and snow, rolling over wood and dirt and stone. they'd halted for only a moment, the silence from their inaction only punctured by muffles and the squeak of a gate opening. then they continued, now accompanied by soft marches, iron boots hitting upon the earth. it was snowing. the sky above the settlement of braso was dark and muted, much unlike the path the wagon's riders took to get here. while the travelers were on the road, the heavens were only a dimming gradient, sun setting and hidden beyond obscuring, puffy layers of

thread closing. NIGHT +3175 xp | 324 * 14 * 0.7 +476 cl | (xp * 0.15) + [Martial Arts] + <TECH-F> Demian +526 xp | (324 * 1 * 0.7) + 300 +400col + [Martial Arts] + <TECH-F>

a bad tattoo, but night wouldn't know what signs would give it away, nor would she be aware of the gaze and intent. instead, simmering at the crack in the boulder, she knew she wasn't going to be outdone. perhaps that was the only sign that the stranger needed to know she was marked. it was unlikely that a fist would deal as much damage as a kick when punching down, yet night tossed her whole weight into it, almost in the same manner that her secondary had. and if there wasn't going to be a crack, by some miracle she was going to will it to happen, fury and might behind the

the boulder that the master was sitting on had to go. unceremoniously, the monk slapped a yellow strip of paper, with red markings upon it, onto the rock. it invoked a sense of understanding into night that it was an enemy – ghastly in nature, to be exact – though it made little sense to have done so as an indication that they should be hostile to it. it wasn't as though the rock was going to attack back. the only one haunted here was herself. so she rolled up her past, her thoughts and her feelings into a ball. felt it in the ball of her feet, just as she reeled

if night knew he was trying to do the same, she would've gotten up and cursed him out, and then really she would've hammered in the foundations of their rivalry from there. but she wasn't privvy to another player's thoughts. so she didn't. in a similar fashion, however, she'd closed her eyes, drunk in the breath of the tides. her body betrayed her mind – even though cardinal wasn't supposed to show it as much, for her heart thundered, and her fingers shook with every gasp. so much of it felt like a stranglehold, despite the lack of obstruction on her concentration.

the master but sat upon a nearby boulder, cross-legged, as he gestured to the players with a finger pointed towards the waterfall. as the other moved, night stalled – she was set on watching the monk instead, a nagging feeling of anxiety in the depths of her stomach. when one of his hands took on a shape, that's when she knew she was ready to stop playing games. thumb to middle finger, the monk's hands were rested upon his knees, and so too did the stranger seem to get into position, unquestioning. awful, and utterly ridiculous. night couldn't meditate, couldn't because she

– until it didn't. night kicked the last of the arms into a lock, the impact resounding with a harsh clatter, punctuated only by a soft click within the dummy. but it was just in time for her blows to fall into beat with her training rival's conclusion, after a shoulder-shove and a dodge had slid the center's axis in alignment with the others. which was an unimpressive time to beat, according to the player, because by the end of her own flow she found herself panting hard. but over her shoulder, the stranger hadn't seemed to exerted as much energy as she did. what the heck was the sh

then the cue was ushered to them, and now night couldn't help but look over at her competitor, sizing the man up through a prolonged stare. they were past losing their breaths – but the other player still looked to the dummy with a hunch in his back, lips pressed in a thin line. was he shooting glances back at her? he shifted his feet apart, a shoulder-width's, fingers curling with their arms thrown back, in preparation for an attack. a forecast, then; past the eyepatch of the stranger she could feel a statement being made, that, unbeknownst to her she was simultaneously echoing back.

– but it didn't matter, because their brief glare-off was interrupted with the shuffling of feet upon dry mountain grass. an npc, the one they were both looking for; master yunxiang. night wasn't that adept at chinese, but she could at least place a translation to the word cloud in that name. xiang's meaning evaded her, however. so too did the briefing of their little challenge. the monk held up three fingers, one for each trial. past accounts of the quest did account for some daoyin; a series of exercises in slow movements that were meant to focus on the circulat

set to the back of the room, night was quiet, huddled with the other nobles, her eyes set to the floor. there was a lot more space below deck than she'd first thought, once she saw the servants collected beside her; they were made to stand rather than kneel, in lieu of the number of attendants. the rabble were trading concerns over hushed whispers, with the occasional bark from one of their captors for them to shut up. it helped that night hadn't made a sound, then -- instead of listening, her attention was focused, wrangling the ropes locking her wrists together. soon, she was able

– and hook, line, sinker; the chef appeared to be agitated with her read of his brow. now came the challenge -- the sounds of shuffled feet, despite their lazy and distress-ridden implication, only grew louder, melting into the cacophony of proper footsteps from brisk walking, before one of them decided to break out into a run. night pushed herself to follow suit, distraught and annoyed at the other's apparent willingness to follow suit. because that didn't feel right. was this the reason why her better half was fond of the man? any usual player would've stopped at brisk wa

unfortunate that the lone nibblet was her only respite between occurrences; what she hadn't expected, however, was the sudden ambush. and from the way her companion reacted, it seemed as though it hadn't been planned for their meeting, either. which was a frustrating reveal. night had pulled open the interface just as the leader of the invaders had been pre-ambling, only to pull her hand away from typing when her shadow had stopped her, and the eyes from their system audience had been too much to bear. the resting palm on the back of her hand quickly shifted into a hard grip, that pulled

night shook her head at the team's concerns. sure, she wasn't particularly worried about damage, but she would've rather forgotten her mistake than realize it by recovering from it herself. her clothes would do much of the healing after some time, and if not, out-of-combat healing would do the trick. nothing in night's arsenal would explain what she saw next, however. "Hey...guys, you may want to take a look at this..." so she did. and night was weary. chess? chess in a random labyrinth? as a puzzle? night did not play chess. as far as she knew, the knights made an L (haha

lounging by the side of the ship didn't exactly seem like much fun to the average attendee. maybe if they were accompanied by a conversationalist, sure -- but the truth was that night was simply waiting for her two acquaintances to leave. she stayed, looking out, occasionally taking glances towards their travels, and when she thought it was clear, she started pulling herself away from the railing. only then did a sigh leave her lips. she sauntered back, slow, trying to scan the deck for any signs of players familiar. wasn't sure when hirru had managed to show up. noticed crow absent of yu

summary. nari | t8 + 4520xp | (450 * 8 * 0.7) + 2000 + 878col | 200 + (4520 * 0.15) + mekem's blessing. night | t14 + 6410xp | (450 * 14 * 0.7) + 2000 + 1161col | 200 + (6410 * 0.15) + mekem's blessing.

night would've objected, but she didn't feel the need to -- or rather, where nari was at head-space wise seemed distant, her thoughts scattered. if anything, it felt like the appropriate thing to do for her to stay quiet as they trekked along. so that's what she did. swallowed down her reassurances for the time being and kept her eyes to the road. what was her best bet to try and support her friend mentally from then on? maybe mio, she figured, watching the nine-tailed creature dogging it's owners footsteps. at some point during the fight, the hood on her cloak must've dropped off. s

well, this was new. "chicken noodle soup has substance?" it had always been on the contrary where she lived, beyond aincrad. though she supposed finding it would've been a rarity first, given that fish was somehow the more accessible option of soup between the two. night did wonder, in following nari, if they were headed towards cordelia's stall, still lost out in the woods somewhere. quiet, and private. similar to the stroll they were taking, just how night preferred her presence on the world. she was attempting to guess where they were headed through the environment, but gave up inciden

so she may have flinched, hearing the shatter upon raising the flat of her blade, but never feeling the impact upon her sword. still, night recovered quickly, letting out a breath as she bounced her sword back into her inventory. she shrugged at hirru's comment -- her energy was mostly in tact, and so long as they didn't run into any other enemy groups for a decent amount of time, it would be topped off once again. if she walked on, it wasn't in remembering she was taking the lead of the scout. neither would she then notice the enemies tagging along behind her. incidentally, it would

her hand fell back to her side. so much for first impressions, it seemed -- but night gave a curt nod to their leaving acquaintances, before sighing and looking to nari. it wasn't as though she was disappointed with the woman -- rather, she was simply trying very hard not to remember that astralin was present for her own sake. still, her friend addressed the stranger either way. and night found herself brushing back part of her locks, hesitant, on the idea of following anyone else around the deck. partially because it sounded like jevi wanted to be alone in the stern, and looking for drin

distracted, the only thing night had picked up was a familiar voice. and she hadn't expected them to cross the deck so quickly, but either way, her voice was quiet, tender, despite it coming with a hint of a growl. "i thought i told you not to--" her sights were slow, head turning, so it surprised her to notice the intended recipient was incorrect. there were two checks to this conclusion: there was no sign of the lapel pin on the-person-who-looked-like-lynn that they'd agreed on to share. just in case a scenario like this ever happened. with a glance towards the stern, she

if she stared dumbfounded at the dragonling, it was in disbelief that they really were just asked to do that. yes, exactly in the manner that nari had whispered to her about -- and to that the woman could also return a tired, "please don't fly into me," before turning to see mekem drift off into the distance. an easy, quick wave to dismiss the completion notice. night opted to survey the area for an exit path, before her attention was stolen by the proposal of free food. but she considered who she was conversing with for a moment. "as long as it doesn't..." --jokes like those w

there was a sleepover? night wasn't aware of it. but neither was it right for her to have joined in the festivities. so she declined the breakfast served when she arrived. picked up one of the training blades, and refused to let go. it wasn't the competition nerves that got to her today. the base of her palm dug into her neck, constant, trying to fight the urge to choke. jumpy, anxious -- a tremble showed even when she stood up from her seat on the floor, pushing herself off the tatami. she near stumbled trying to get to the battlefield. the crowd looked different today, and that was prob

she figured the friend she had been keeping tabs on would approach her first. night nodded as nari closed the gap, though flinched at her posed question of who. the player simmered against the suggestion that she needed to be dragged out of home against her will. "i can dress myself, thank you very much. i am capable of designs -- lest you forget i also run a jeweler's shop..." her fingers ran up the back of her hair at that comment, and night scowled, turning away from nari. "no you don't..." but in a flash, she decided better to correct herself, sighing as she realized the mistake in be