NIGHT

'worthy'. so cardinal got to decide who lived and who died now, was it? by nature of selection, it made sense who got to the target first would reap the benefits of having taken out their mark. but that thought couldn't even sour on the flat of night's tongue. tasted like a corpse. an object already slain, yet her blade hadn't moved at all. and infinitesimally, night found her pile of questions growing, an anger festering, reasons left unchecked and unverified. she hadn't got through her fie once the construct shot out the door. hadn't gone through the concept of 'everything'; nor th

"So they're behind this section of the cave?" NIGHT knocked on the rock wall with the curl of her fingers. Not that it was easy to see without what advantage Koga seemed to have -- she knew the man had slid down, and tried to avoid where he could've been besides. If anything was guiding her through the void, it was the sheer shine of her doppel's eyes -- a light in the darkness that, when the player felt a finger curl around her index once more, she knew wouldn't leave her for naught. "Quieter," DAY had replied, though a nod of her head seemed to convey another message. Huddling close to

NIGHT hadn't expected her strike to land cleanly, but the blow was welcome -- the last launch whilst the man was midst faltering had won her the match. As she withdrew, recovering from her speedy pace, she watched as Macradon drop his blade before picking it back up. “Well fought, I very much enjoyed this.” Though she'd kept silence as she usually did in combat, a final exhale broke it, the woman shrugging off the tension from the fight. "The same can be said for you," she said. In her ear, NIGHT could still hear the sound of wind as the man's swings drew closer to her form, and she

NIGHT wondered if her luck was always going to be this bad, trying to get to know players of the same gender, just as Nari turned around, startled, before picking up the paces towards Bismuth. And the fright on the woman's face had told NIGHT of a misunderstanding -- the way the other had taken down the street suddenly had her feeling lightheaded, a slight pounding working at her temples. What exactly was she doing wrong? And she swore half of her actions had been to assuage a fear of some kind, but every time she tried-- She huffed, eyes downcast, index and thumb working to soothe h

A query that made her hair stand on end. NIGHT's head immediately whipped towards Nari's the moment she'd heard about death, and there was something akin to fear in her eyes. The flower in her hand vanished in a flash, for better or worse, and the player shook her head, wordless as to the question posed. “Or…is this the end, and we just…part ways here…?” Any player taking the quest would've long forgotten about the money, the woman mused, though why was not the newbies' concern. Tunnel visioning on material collection had that effect on people, after all. But as Bismuth lead the char

One large swing followed her, like a prey, hunted. She let the blow run its course, ducking as low as she could without losing her balance, and in what was almost a push from the strike that caught her back, NIGHT forced herself forward with an added jolt of energy, shooting past Macradon's view to his blind spot. She wouldn't lie -- she felt the attack there, as heavy as it may have been for a practice shot -- but movement without restrictions meant bearing the burden of a careless mistake. The man was smart -- NIGHT hadn't needed to think twice to deduce that -- a veteran that's made it

Reminiscence. A startle. And then, nothing. Just fingers desperately grasping, grasping at what didn't seem to be there any more. NIGHT let out an exhale, considering. Convenience of the question, she supposed, but wondered just as much about the woman's home life at the mention of a lake and animals. Someone rich? As if the player was capable of fathoming the thought. She paid careful attention to her steps, watching Nari search through the grass. Given any other day, perhaps this would've been a scenic adventure, though odd. Koga having the time of his life with a tiny pet; ambien

(Maybe it was just random. Maybe it was pure, sheer luck.) NIGHT's steps got quieter once she drew close. They were still where she'd left them, it seemed -- how long does it take one to complete a beginner quest, exactly? She couldn't remember, memory fading sense of time after all. And the woman stayed quiet, watched as Bismuth fell back onto grass and looked up at the vast, blue abyss. An adequate distraction from the problem, and subsequent substitute for asking the questions. NIGHT positioned herself by the shade of the tree, leaning close to the trunk, the corner of her scalp s

Seeing the crowd of people at the cavern's entrance answered one of NIGHT's many questions regarding the riot near Dagan's Town Square. After all, if there were idle hands working to protest, surely there would be enough to help the victims, too. The player nodded to Koga's confrontation with the farmers, before examining the families scooping up boulder after boulder. "That's odd." "Hm?" DAY's gaze was fixated on another point of the cavern instead. She gestured towards it, locking NIGHT's pinky as a call for the player's attention. She obliged. "I think there's another pa

A walk did sound nice. Especially around a plot of land as grand as Baldur's -- the last time she'd been here, NIGHT had been confined to several meeting rooms. Also, the haori tradition on this island. On the other hand, she didn't want to get lost on the isle. NIGHT shook her head at Star's offer, releasing an exhale. "My round's starting soon. I'd give it a moment before leaving the vicinity. I heard it's against another veteran, so I'm not looking forward to it." She needed time to steel her nerves than maintain a steady adrenaline train. The player nodded towards one of the exit

One strike -- the first. She hadn't really thought much into adapting to the new weapon, but the quick success caught her by surprise. In other words, it came immediately as a distraction. A quick draw of her blade to put Macradon with the back of her hilt quickly became a position of vulnerability, the instinctual counter from the other player pushing the woman backwards, and NIGHT struggled to stop herself, lighter without the weight of her weapon. Her resettled gaze on the man's figure came with three realizations: Being quicker meant her strikes were going in faster,

Running away didn't seem like such a nice idea, after a while. It helped get the adrenaline out of her system, yes, but the more she considered the other party, the better option, she concluded, was to stay and at least have explained her thought processes rather than take off in a hurry. So the walk back was in hesitance, in apologetic regret, the woman rehearsing in her head what to say. Rehearsing her footwork more than the thoughts she'd wanted to retell, thinking twice about her actions before overriding them with a sense of guilt. NIGHT took a longer route on the way back to th

"So this quest chain takes us around the floor, right?" They headed northwest, just as Koga had gestured off to. And the trek towards it was contemplative; somehow, the party had been shunned to silence after the interaction with the scripted man. NIGHT wasn't the type to say much after requests like those -- what was more common to the woman was quipping something to the construct, if she was present, once they'd left the vicinity of said personnel. Say something about them she disliked, or other. This seemed pretty normal fare and reasonable, by far. With company present, a ti

('Ey?' Where'd that accent come from?) Tiberius scoffed and rolled his eyes. "As if any of us has time to play as fools like that." His thumb fumbled with his index, rubbing the two together -- dry skin. The man was in contemplation. "But we're not above refusing an offer of help," he decided, after a beat of silence. A hand to the hood upon his head, and he stood up to rise. Upon the wall was a map, hatched with gridlines, and the informant tapped at a location on it, northwest of a large red pin near its center. "There was an operation to expand our territory here -- reaping crops

"And I thought you'd wanted to pick up the quest," NIGHT returned, slipping down onto coarse dirt. So much for preparations. The player did expect Koga to get the details down, but if they had to rely on supporting systems, that took out half the adventure. Her pinky was still tight upon her dopple's, the moment she looked out towards the village in search for their next objective. And what drew her attention wasn't the appearance of something gone awry, but the sounds of it coming from the Town Hall. A quick point of the building to her party members was enough in NIGHT's opinion, and s

Tight-lipped. Upset. Lost. She kept staring at her friends list from a distance away, pacing around the trees, an obligation pounding at her throat. The woman's entry was new, fresh; when NIGHT considered the offer earlier, she had many reasons not to say no. (Neither, she did realize, there was a reason to say yes, either.) It must've been the difference in levels, surely. Must've been the shock of meeting someone else that was similar enough to her. Must've been the trauma of Aincrad, collapsing all at once upon themselves. Cardinal could make a fool out of anyone, of course,

If there had been silence in the space where there should've been an answer, it was in part from the entity waiting for a response from her player instead. NIGHT seem to have paid Koga's words no attention, and that left DAY looking towards the woman before returning her sights to their friend. "That should belong to the man that handed you the quest, shouldn't it? If there was someone else to report to at the end of the journey, we should be able to identify them in Dagan." "We're looking to rescue some farmers that got trapped somewhere, aren't we? No doubt resolving it would require a

"Of course." A new contact in her list was nothing to shy from, and a request to be sent was quick as a shortcut on her fingers. Though the woman attempted to keep her cool standing still, the fumbling of her sleeve gave away an underlying nervousness, an uncertainty still of how to continue from here. "Um... I-It was just abrupt, that's all. Just..." Her gaze fell over to Bismuth, still lain down on the grass as though the man had passed out. "I just need some time to think about it. That's... That's all." NIGHT's breathing hadn't steadied, and neither did her attention remain

what was initially a solid, powerful look began to lose its luster, the moment night had heard of the words 'together'. a retreat of the corner of her lips, narrowed eyes blinked shut and opened wide, and cheekbones held stiff loosened. there was a gust of wind somewhere to ruffle her hair further. this expression was more commonly known as confusion. "--huh?" so if night stared back at the woman mouth agape, silent for a moment, may the heavens above forgive her for her pause, her emptiness. and night stood there, speechless, lost and confused -- because never once in a day had

a simple handshake seemed like enough. nothing seemed like it could go wrong with a gesture as such. but the moment the grip on her hand tightened, and night felt a slight tug towards the other woman, she almost froze up in confusion. *anything but fine.* in what manner-- and why? everyone had their problems here in aincrad. night had them too. several years after getting trapped in their setting would do that to any player. but there was the hand-holding, and the eye-staring, and the pressure stuck in their throats. something they'd wanted to say to each other. they'd neve