NIGHT

'a vengeful princess who considered them her sworn enemy?' "stop, stop." night was caught off-guard from that description. if this was cardinal's way of setting up hidden factions and alliances, surely this would've been placed in some quest or another. but she hadn't heard of royalty nor bloodlines with regards to player heritage. and neither was she certain that description would've fit a video game's narrative, either. because they hadn't been creative enough to step out of the 'saviour complex' trope yet. so... that just meant another player, right...? but she wasn't keen on foll

her attention was immediately stolen by nari's cries, notice directed towards the skies. and she'd looked up, unaware of the creature, wariness only growing due to the size of the shadow cast upon their ledge. it was by surprise, then, to find out that ormi was just as pretty as nari had mentioned. albeit, she hadn't expected to have gathered scales off their new encounter, as her partner had mentioned. before the player could respond to her companion's thoughts about decorum, ormi interrupted nari's fangirling with a voice that boomed ethereal. a thunderous sound that shook her eve

no, wait. the last she remembered, the other side of the boat was empty. now, she wasn't sure when the shawl had appeared on her vessel. between the times she'd looked away, too engrossed in getting her hands right upon the handles of the oars, and the habit of watching her destination grow closer and closer by the paddle, there had to be some reason why there was cargo loaded onto a once-empty rowboat. because she wasn't hellbent on being some pirate's delivery player. night stepped out of the vehicle, eyes set upon the stowaway object and her pace rounding towards the matted rag. a

"whatever in the world does that mean...?" night huffed, before following her companion down the tunnel. past the nest was a different entrance towards the small cave, the enclave opening up to a larger ledge that acted as a look-out. angled towards a number of fields, each connected to another, adjacent, square patches of green overlapping each other. surrounded by darker greens of forest clusters, the sight, though lovely to observe, appeared unremarkable as the player searched the scenery for any signs of a notable landmark she could tie to the floor. there were none. part of nig

there was space in the boat for just another person, in case she ever tagged along with someone else. and, given the width of the boat, had a party squeezed in, the players would've made way for four just fine. instead, alone, night simply rowed her way out to sea, away from the pier, gaze looking out towards the horizon. boat rowing was tough work. it almost made her glad that she wasn't the one in charge of the controls for the most part. just think, how much effort would she have to have expended if someone else had gotten in the boat with her? the thought of it alone was already makin

players unknown. and the woman nearly let out a gasp at hearing the flow of unnatural words to her tongue out of nari. she hadn't understood what was said in the slightest. a new friend? it sounded like more. most likely ones the player either made before her time or during when they weren't on good terms. night found herself cautious, eying the entrants. introduced to one -- jomei -- and not the other, though the player wouldn't have blamed her other for not remembering. there were just so many players in aincrad, after all. though she'd wanted query about the message sent out (afte

a boat. "your... uncle's... rowboat." "yeah." night tried not to look disgruntled, looking to the water, noticing the seemingly shoddy rowboat tied to one of the pier's pillars with a rope. a hand placed at the pillar, her dissatisfaction still bled through when her gaze went to the sailor. "so, let me get this straight. you wouldn't stake your life on this expedition, but you'd stake... your uncle's rowboat just in case a stranger would've followed through on your request." "yeah." her eyes shot to the skies, offended. "and what happens if i lose it?" "well

thread summary. [total] + 8978xp | [(333 * 14 * 1) + 3500] * 1.1 + 14246col | (xp * 0.15) + 12500 + 400

because all that mattered at the end of the day was the reward she'd get from cardinal. something about good work for having slain the drakes' mothers, and she wondered for a brief moment if cardinal knew just how dark that prospect sounded, if it knew of the guilt it would leave behind on players who thought upon it too much, sympathized with the drakes a little too hard. and part of her mind went drifting to a poor little boy, now a grown man -- the kind of person who'd sworn to brave only the darkest aspects of humanity, to build a home for the ones wanting shelter out of it, the man who ha

her hold on reality was failing her. only a matter of time no less than ten minutes away from people, and she was already on several trains of thought that she wished to get off from, knowing that she was in light of some npc else. but what else was to be asked of her -- a handover of the fangs in her hands, and it would've been completed, right? night's thoughts were foggy when the foreman offered his hand out as she approached him, something about her job passing through his lips. and she'd wanted to say something to fill in the gaps -- usually, that's what players were meant to do, wer

as quietly as she started out on her journey, her exiting the cave entrance was to as much fanfare. she felt the glow of the floor return to her sights, and night needed to blink twice, maybe more, in order for her gaze to adjust to colours once again. almost like being greeted by the sun in a long while, despite the saturation not being her problem, the exhale she released, light as it was, went to appreciate the fact that she hadn't chosen to bury herself underground in any regard. because the last she could recall of the twenty-first was route zero, and its peculiarities aside, it did seem

so came the way home. and night knew which route to take despite having half the fear that she would get lost -- because part of her knew that she was good with spaces, if not directions, that at least in her memory she could trust to know that she was going the right way. that her mind was good at creating landmarks where there shouldn't be any, good at remembering that the road she came from had at least one disheveled nest that was now tarnished, definitely her fault, and it lingered with a guilt she didn't wish to carry but felt it her responsibility to do so, anyway. passing it, she

she thought upon the irony of finding the players best suited for her -- how, in her local circle of the alphabet mafia, of course they'd both be tanks, affection thrown her way. and she wondered, for a moment, if there was some regret lingering from how she hadn't managed to cherish yuki well enough that remained in how she treated nari -- the thought that she was building upon something lost that she wished she should've chased upon with her other friend only revisited in that shared affection. or was it just her mind playing tricks on her again, for overthinking, considering on her own

then, the darkness would fade, swallowing the sparkles of memorial whole, leaving only the rest of its body to shimmer against the cooler, visible hues of the environment around it. the drake's body broke apart; naturally, of course, as entities in the system were known to do upon being pronounced dead, health hitting zero. and night squatted, half dropping her blade to the ground, eyes only loosening their vivacity once the threat had been eliminated, the weapon uncared for returning to storage before its guard struck the ground. what remained of the matriarch was a handful of teeth

a dash leading into an uppercut, and it was all over. sometimes, her blade would ring true with a light so dazzling it would've looked similar to holy fire. other times, oathkeeper would've bled fire such as these -- similar, but not equal to the way her executioner, its counterpart, would've done. because when the world was shimmered in an unnatural darkness, the gravity pull of an enemy's defeat drawn into the slice of her sword, seemingly tarnished in a black curve in a line following her strike, what was left behind was a tear in reality. for a split moment, even quicker than the blin

she wondered then, too, if there was the possibility of carving out body parts from the creature, the way that other games had done so, if only to gain some sort of benefit from its make. meat from its flesh, perhaps? or armor crafted out of its hide? as an artisan, night barely ever had the thought of dismantlement and disfiguration of a living beast as part of her mind. the part of her that squirmed, a hint of empathetic -- though she knew it was from fear of handling something so visceral and intimate -- put the growing idea to rest, the rest of her body following through on a dodge ro

just her language. goddamn. and night's eyes were carved into slits, considering the proposition. had they only remained at home for the better half of the day, perhaps she would've given the other gesture more thought. the plush tail sat flush upon her palm, the player giving it a trace to its underside just as they started their ascension up the mountain. nothing that wouldn't be felt as more than a tug to its wearer. she only hummed, low, eyes drifting to the environment around them. she had to be over it soon, because the climb would wring exhaustion out of them had the players not be

one down. that meant another to go. and either her movements had been agile enough to have avoided her second opponent's strikes up to their current skirmish, or the drake had decided to be polite and patient, waiting her turn. it was hard to tell, really, but if it was willing to oblige, then perhaps night too was willing to bow her head towards it. not out of respect nor submission, however. shifting into a stance where she held her blade outwards -- unusual as it did feel, as opposed to her natural and default defensive pose, her gaze met the drake's own eyes, purple gemstone gleaming

let woe betide the ones who stood before her, or something to that affect, she guessed. each pulse of the attack against the drake was a darkened hue, a shockwave through the air in a form of a circle, thinning and fading out over time. only darkness echoed in those strikes, as she felt its steel land against something solid. then again, could it really constitute as something akin to steel? most of the weapon, just as before, had folded together into something a brilliant and pure white, and very little else of it spoke of any detail beyond the silhouette of the sword itself. she let he

mm. not good. it could've been done better, had it been to night's liking. the last time she had to attack each entity individually was at cerberus, and even there it was a fatalistic move. nari and herself; they'd almost paid the price dearly for such an attempt against the hound, and it was luck on the side of the two of them that they hadn't managed to bite the dust in the end. this quest... would not be of a similar vein to that. and she'd had terrible luck before, swinging her edge in hopes of it striking something -- the practice of how to wield it here would come into play, with th

cute enough for the player to want to sink her fangs in. though night hadn't said anything, each little movement only drew attention to a different part of her companion. a hand nearly drifted to her other's waist at the gently swish of her tail. it made the world hazy. night wanted to distance herself at the thought. so she let nari go, the moment the fox wanted to scurry up the steps -- the player was slower, glancing to the gawking flocks of witnesses, almost wanting to be defensive about her other's take on wear. she kept quiet, however, more focused on their destination. when night r

moral, immoral -- it was all night left to bear it, after all, at the end of the day. the grey in betweens; those were what made her human. hence without mercy, she raised the new-forged blade in her hand and struck one of her attackers backwards. a lash forward from its companion, and night pushed it away with the flat of her blade, trying to get herself into the open, stake her offense on a better position. a mound was all she could find in the cavern opening the newly destructed nest was found in, and from that nigh slightly-elevated spot, the wyrms were starting to swarm her, one on h

so she jumped backwards. her back almost struck a wall, with the way she was being cornered by the matriarch that had suddenly swooped in from above. and as though one wasn't enough to threaten her conscience, a second one, too, drifted in after its ally. perhaps it was the owner of the nest she'd destroyed before. a witch hunt? maybe. but night wouldn't allow the opponent to question her moralities for that. no. perhaps it wasn't her tale to tell, after all. perhaps night needed to close her eyes for a moment, somnus take over her, and focus only on the fight before her. but she wanted t

<<DHA:2 | The Demon of the Mountains>> the dragon hunter series: forgettable? night hadn't thought so herself, when she raised her head and examined the interface displayed to her. half lounging, half cuddling -- she didn't need any excuses made from nari's end just to get her to tag along. a tilt of her head, right before her partner got up. "you know i'm down for whatever you want to do, right?" and the dishes could be washed later, she supposed, despite a nagging feeling that the player had wanted to tend to them now. the pop of a jacket on -- it was strange how she ha

so it was related to that quest, foggy as the name did sound. and night tilted her head at its mention -- "why not contact a broker for intel? if you don't have one to speak to, i could mention it to someone i know." past that, she looked to the pages within. gleamed what she could from its contents, which didn't seem like very much. so it looked to be a personal issue, especially at the mention about the 'other side'. no wonder so little connected with the player, as she peered, only to have her gaze upon it distracted once hirru had closed it shut. and night considered what the implicat