NIGHT

oh, she definitely hadn't been expecting koga to buy into the good ol' give-it-a-try. because, from the onset, night hadn't been ready to break out into song in the first place. "i'm not a choir kid," she objected with the fold of her arms -- not that she knew of the names of the artists being thrown about in the first place. and though 'over the rainbow' sounded like a familiar song title, neither was she certain she could recall the melody nor the lyrics. the player merely shook her head, only stopping when ghost's playing caught her attention instead. "hey, aren't those the opening bar

night made sure chase kept pace with her the entire jog through. down a couple of streets, turn a corner once they'd made it to the teleporter plaza and out into another road, a smaller path. the player only skipped ahead once she was certain her friend had clear view of where she was going, and when she could see the merchant in stock. the trade of col was easily the quickest part about their journey for the blades. she decided it was best they stopped to allow chase to catch his breath. a quick summon of the weapons she'd purchased -- light and flexibly, with a decent durability f

night squinted at the distance, the same direction she was sure nari had looked towards and found a threat of some kind. but she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary -- just darkness that blanketed the necropolis, similar to the sight they'd caught before. she remained wordless, even as she felt the soil beneath them shifting. dared she try striking at the absent space? it wouldn't make sense to do so, but she trusted the words of her companion, even as their target (was it their target?) only seemed to appear to one of them. from behind, then, she rushed forth, gaze still searching

"i'm pretty sure it didn't." one lunge forth, and she'd batted the two revenants without fail; one completely by accident, and yet was caught by the tail end of her swipe. another chime of the bell in her hands, and the player jumped back, in time and tempo to the flow of battle she was so familiar from cardinal's puppeteering. orange? her health hadn't even reached fifty percent. her gaze was fixed on the red cloak with the lowest health. for that moment, she responded to koga, "if you can take aggro from me, sure." though she only raised it after a beat. hadn't she brushed past an

the tattoo hadn't meant anything to the players, but it clearly did to president brienne. her question came after a hum. "so did you happen to recognize him? ...or, at least, what remained of him." the bodyguard snorted and shook his head. at the players' confused stares, it was their host who responded, her aid pacing over to her side. "apologies. my ward here comes from braso -- the mark of a sword and shield being one of the signifiers that one might be from that region. though i suppose you might already be familiar with their culture...?" she turned to night as her voice tr

she did wonder what exactly had been stolen. from the looks and sounds of it, dazia was having a difficult time ferrying each crate over to the dinghy -- and a part of night had wondered if multiple trips might've been needed with the vessel to complete the quest. after all, they'd just culled a multitude of pirates in opposition to a handful of players, and granted the vessel for the former was likely to be larger than what the latter had been issued... it was the crumbling ceiling, that stray plank that had caught her attention, the woman picking up only a handful of items to carry outs

small talk forgone for silence. the equipment traded through the window (iris' request, when the appraiser herself was for once and finally behind her desk) was greeted with quiet pings and flicks of opening windows, pressed buttons. as soon as the last items vanish from her inventory, night's gaze fell to the glass table. upon the fluffy decor were a few pieces of gear, style unrecognizable. other clients. who to be recognizable, of note? perhaps if it had been anyone she knew, it was reason enough to visit the broker for some information. nonetheless, a quick hum and a nod after iris' d

"what in the world are you talking about?" night had wanted to say, listening to the almost baby-talk definitions of trying to deal damage against an opponent. what came out of her instead was a chuff and a grin. and ghosts? at the sound of it, her smile fell away into disbelief, the player shaking her head. "too many," she responded. between the banshee hunts, the rumor on the twenty-seventh, the woman knew of more than enough hauntings for the rest of her life. eyes watched the chains be shattered upon impact. and despite her ready approach to reach for the handles, the door creaked ope

night's gaze turned onto their would-be performers for the evening and shrugged. as much as she'd wanted to speak about the ghost on the other side of the floor, it seemed as though nari's suggestion about luring their mark out had already struck a chord with the party. the woman shrugged, stepping backwards and offering the floor to her partner with a slight grin. "well, if you two are keen on giving it a shot." she then turned over to koga with the same smile. "so are you joining in too? percussion?" a jest. she'd not known her friend to be musical ever since she'd known him. instead, t

"wouldn't that be more obvious?" after all, the more nooks and crannies they went looking into in a creepy large building, the greater the fear instilled into the adventurers. and if she'd been the first to venture here and investigate if there was the presence of a king here, she would've chalked it up to the atmosphere itself, given enough time and dead ends. night lead them through an open window into a hallway. a quick reference to their map, and the stairs were quickly found. she placed a hand on her other's back once nari had started to cough, a pained expression as she looked to t

"sounds pretty straightforward to me," day commented, gaze bouncing between the two players. she held out a hand, fingers raised as she listed off what she perceived. "you two can go for a run, then come back here for some sword art practice afterwards. oh, and leave me to gorge on all of your berries on my own." night shrugged, partially wincing at the vanishing of her breakfast. "that's... fine by me." the player walked towards the front door, rolling her head around her neck for a moment. when chase fell into step behind behind her, she pulled open the door, a warm sunlight pourin

she laughed at yuki's chitter just the same. "you're not fooling anyone," night returned, leaning into the embrace. she hummed, too, at the notion of having attention drawn to them. "sure." because as they walked into the main settlement, commentary proven apparent, so too did the player wonder if there had been any rumors about the fox-girl wandering through the floor just yet. and knowing she'd hear it from bistro at some point made her want to giggle, too. through the teleporter and onto the twenty-first. cavernous as the floor was, it was through a set of winding and obscure tunnels t

"koga?" night recognized the voice of her friend as she was starting to turn away as ordered. the bandit wheeled around, shocked at the appearance of yet another player in his midst. and just as day and whirled around, almost in time to slam her palm into the woman's gaze -- -- she hadn't meant to look. neither did she get to see. there was the thunderous breaking of wood. the crack. the heavy slam of something slammed against the wall. then the shimmer of a familiar sound, cardinal's relinquish of a figure in their midst, and all night could've seen was darkness. she hadn'

the menu twirled on the spot if only so night could get a better look at the feedback gifted to her. "it looks more like a test of endurance. but with enough damage, we might be able to end it pretty quickly." though she wasn't exactly sure the limitations on orion's new skills. with the king stated to be a target of immense health, it was possible they'd find time to research how in depth the skills potentially went. then, at least, she could move on to documenting the rest of them. "i won't underestimate him," night added, tone in a whisper, as she rose from the couch. echoes of a

despite the fact that, as rotting corpses, their ability to retaliate against able-bodied living creatures should've been worse off, the fallen red cloaks had seemed to maintain gumption in their assault, leaping out towards the players at a threatening speed. with two slashes, night tore down one of the revenants, the second target with but a sliver of health still present. she recoiled, noticing her apparent misjudgement -- and oathkeeper's rings were but dulled out with each strike against their corrupted bodies. two clawed strikes back meant night was down to half health. not that it

<<Betrayal of the King>> 'kingslayer.' echoes of a feigned title had reached night's inbox. it wasn't the interest for its namesake that seemed intriguing -- rather, it was the quest that bistro had mused upon as its direct relation, the same way night's own work had tied her into half-baked errands from the broker herself. the message had caught her whilst she was lazing together with her better half, and the player struggled to find the will to pull herself up from soft pillowy thighs. a hand was placed behind herself, upon the couch, steadying her slight rise. "interes

so to the study they went. when the duo had emerged from the greenhouse, it appeared as though their immediate threats had vanished. no traces of their appearance had been left -- hell, if anything, night was thankful the recording had already been halted the moment they were completed with their tasks. down the stairs they went, the player keeping a grimace on despite day's apparent ignorance to the matter, and they were upon the first floor once more. the study was a small walk away. still, there remained the concern of being caught by patrols or scouts from the terrorist group. ro

"less likely," night responded, pulling oathkeeper from the air with a wave of her hand. she'd jumped back moments before in preparation for what strange noise -- and emergence -- had appeared beneath koga's feet. and though the scene had been striking, so too was the player's attention on the question more so than the gore of the quarry ahead. "sorry to the red cloaks, but not only are we different, if there were signs of a zombie virus amongst the player population, we'd be told off about it by now." she gave a glance to koga, tilting her head. "and how many floors past this one has it

she didn't even bring up anything related to swords, and yet his mind had defaulted towards it. the state of the game they were in, perhaps? at the thought of chase's blade proper, night shook her head. stone, wasn't it? that wouldn't be very comfortable to wield for practice, nor when he was in a weakened state. "i was originally thinking about a run," she tried to clarify, "though if it's to swords, then i'm sure the standard-issued blade would be fine; the beginner weapons? or i could run out and fetch some practice sticks if you'd prefer." it was probably for the best, night decided,

huh? the more night listened to nari speak, the further she did believe it sounded like the cave at braso. and she hadn't been in there either -- or had she, and just forgotten it? -- but still she was reluctant to believe a 'ghost' would trek half the floor just to end up in some garden otherwise. and despite the warnings about the cave, everyone seemed... ready to enter it. the player only found her fingers rubbing the bridge of her nose. they just got to the garden, and now they were heading off again? was every day on this floor meant for road trips, or something? okay, maybe sh

really? was this man more worried about the state of his low quality shack than his own life? the same way dazia had wanted to scoff, so too did night wish to roll her eyes. except, the mess she'd made was more important for a conducive fight. she'd expected the plunge her way, definitely, and yet hadn't expected to take another hit. now growling, reckless, and with a leniency to roam, night darted back to a spot where she was certain to avoid the pirate's next attack. not that it mattered, but having room in her vicinity also allowed her a charge forth to his location. one swing, a

no, the better question for night upon watching nari crouch and pick at the dust was -- why would you taste that? the player pulled a scrunched expression and shriveled up in response. from the corner of her vision, koga's shift stole her attention for a brief moment, giving her more food for thought. it was true that this floor was full of caverns, and hence it wouldn't make sense for any one of them to be noted as the cave unless it was regarded as incredibly important. the only outlier she could remember was from braso, which was on the other side of the floor, so... night sighed,

a specific dungeon and boss, with an inherent motive. almost disturbing imagery. night perished the thought the moment it gave her shivers, turning back on the conversation in earnest. how hirru had avoided talking about his past still seemed odd, mostly in part due to their statuses as players on the front. usually, one would begin talking about it at length when prompted. tight lips? if anything, it earned her admiration for the man, being able to be silent about it. in a way, it was contradictory, how she was trying to claw at something private, yet understanding it should remain that

it was in shifting out of the way that she found herself caught at the other end of the pirate's blade. and night stumbled backwards, swearing there was still space to move -- yet for some reason all her back could feel were tables that had failed to be knocked over from their earlier brawl: the clatter of mugs, playing cards and trashy weapons all causing more disarray than the players ever needed to face. she hissed, arm brushing over everything else she'd knocked over, trying to shove them all aside. it wouldn't matter the moment she landed a strike on the quartermaster. but, as chaos

night followed hirru through the threshold, knowing not to switch off oathkeeper at his behest. the scenery around her weaved itself from flat ground into a hilled forest. as the man paused to take in the view, so too did the player, eyes drifting from the sides of their makeshift room to take note of the tiny rolling cones that raced to the lands behind them. fuzzy colours at the edges of her periphery -- almost like sprites, if she'd focused. and it took the woman much longer a moment to come to the same conclusion as her companions; when asked, she merely replied with a distracted, "h