NIGHT

The weight of a life on her shoulders. It was a few, once -- the friends that she'd made along the journey to a different tier. Then it compounded. Somehow, she felt like she'd become Atlas reincarnated, without noticing how she got to this point. Heavy. Heavy was her sigh and her footsteps and her burden. Heavy was her figure as she shuffled past Nari, hands tucked into her pockets. Heavy were the words stuck, trapped on her tongue, with no escape, no release for what she was forced to feel. She swallowed it whole. NIGHT took a deep breath before turning to the other woma

It didn't matter. The strike came down heavy on Sewallus, and like the monument of strength he was, the man endured the weight of the blow. Distance closed enough that the construct could deliver a blow against Wu Kong. Nary a scratch, but enough of a diversion. NIGHT's sunder came in across the beast's torso. Colours muddied and washed, the beast look like it was made from ink, and faded away just as so. A scatter, a flare of colours and crystals, and the thing was quickly vanquished. From her leap, the player found her two feet flat upon the ground. Solemn. Distracted. Light f

when reds faded to blue, that's when she registered the gravity of the situation. watched the shell of what was left of 'forever' slump to the ground, as full force shattered the other crystal in her hand, half conscious. rushed steps over to the gemini's side. enough to peer into the darkness, just to catch the last traces of fading light from the world. nothing else. looking over her shoulder back to false melody's crumpled form was the last thing night had wanted to wish for in this scenario. yet, worst dreams were made a reality where she stood, and a part of her wondered just the sam

Still thinking. Still lost. Still-- As NIGHT eyes searched the environment for answers, she barely heard the order for an ancient technique. The command barely even registered in her brain, the player still festering, lamenting. Even in speech, was she still being left behind now? Dark pupils met Nari's figure. Sharp teeth bared. "You hadn't answered me yet." It was only when the Monkey King started to shift out of its paused position that the woman realized the gravity of their situation. Sure, they were in the midst of a fight, but with the target once slain before, it wa

Man. A part of her wanted to wonder why Koga had to be right to incite ire into some stranger they were never going to cross paths with again. Ten thousand feet up in the air -- and more -- and they were just subjected to alert by a couple too-many soldiers that needed to defend it from intruders. NIGHT sighed as she looked onwards in the direction they were supposed to head out from. "For the record," she complained, giving her friend a side eye out of jest, "I'm blaming you for this." Before she could hear his objections, the woman was already off towards the gaps in between the cr

NIGHT said nothing in return to her query. Only shot Nari a glance, before looking upwards, knowing that the threat they were to face would be bigger than them. And the rest of the time between Wu Kong's appearance felt transitory. Almost as though incited by treason, Sewallus would begin by unsheathing his weapon -- a two-handed battle axe -- and examine his surroundings on guard. NIGHT thought nothing of the theatrics Cardinal had in play. Heightened senses would tell her their threat was coming in from above. So from on high it did arrive. A giant leap, the Monkey King dropping do

"..." Silence from the woman as they kept walking. NIGHT listened, as she always did, eyes still cast to the dirt as they weaved between different paths through the forest. She considered those words in her quiet, shuffling along. It wasn't fair to her that she should be lectured over something mentioned off-handedly when she was certain they were out to achieve some other goal. If she'd wanted a sermon, she might've signed up for one via the proper channels. To pretend as a coping mechanism was still dangerous, maybe even more so, than having one's head on the line. She didn't like

A coping mechanism? NIGHT stiffened at the idea. Almost brought the taste of vile to her mouth at the thought. After all, she'd heard and seen what had actually been said and done on the front. To make a speech in light of 'playing hero' while trying to assert their presence over everyone else, claiming that the matter of life and death wasn't a light subject? That had to be some irony at its finest. Her eyes only narrowed once Nari had pushed past her, still ruminating on the idea. From someone who hadn't been in that setting before, she could only assume naivety at best. So she dro

So she didn't need to think twice about where to get the herbs. In fact, in some sort of miracle, one of the alchemists noticed her presence at the last moment. Immediately, the Ushiame was shoved into her hands -- heaps upon heaps of leaves, alongside a barked order: "You! Help us get this batch outside. Quickly!" Stunned. But she was made to move in haste. "Please -- that's the most of what we could save," the villager mentioned, and NIGHT could see the edges burnt out at a glance, what remaining remnants saved from the scorch, the burn. In her slow backpedal, she watched as the rest of

'To pick whom to fight alongside'... NIGHT pondered on that for a moment. Wondered if it was meant in a realistic manner or a selfish one. She didn't speak of it as they continued to move; rather, she kept her eyes on the guard house, once she was certain Nari was satisfied with her answer. “You say they tend to talk a lot, as if it’s a bad thing. But maybe the reason they fight so well is because they talk so much." In her haze, she began to interject. "Like what, shonen protagonists?" A snort, voice half altered, and a clenched fist raised shaking to her chest. "'My friends ar

The onus on her, but not in the way she thought she'd hear it. NIGHT paused, if only for a moment, before picking up her pace. "If you say so. Then wait here." She left Nari for a beat on the front steps of Remington's home. A quick chat -- NIGHT had little patience to play antics with a man who thought better of himself than the world, and she'd already had experience cutting to the chase with these people -- and she was out the door in a shuffle with a bounty notice in her hands. "Says to find Sewallus." At least the guard house was easier to spot in the outpost. Still, it was a walk, a

"Got it." In their walk over to Remington's position, she looked over her companion. To join the front lines -- that sort of answer was old, by now. Anyone could claim to want to accomplish such a thing. The effort was what made the difference. NIGHT only needed to think of Yuki, and it was enough. "You don't have to do it alone," she commented, with her eyes set on the road ahead. "Getting ready, I mean. It's not easy for anyone to be on their own. Likewise, though I don't know you that well yet, I wouldn't want you vanishing on me either." "... Likewise, I did give you my word

GRIMM REAPER | Approved. Total EXP: 44400 Total SP: 160 Current Level: 32 Paragon Level: 1 Notes: n/a

Did she hear that right? A challenge? NIGHT turned to Nari, studying her with immense curiosity. Define 'challenge' too -- because dealing with people was already a feat in itself, she believed. "Are you alright?" was the first thing she'd decided to ask, before pulling open her messages at her companion's notice. NPCs being involved with a hunt were peculiar. "I didn't have to meet anyone when I was looking for Wu Kong," she stated. "Give me a moment." Her back was turned on Nari for a minute. Information exchanged through chat -- some rando Remington had his own place somewher

"That's how it's going to be like these days." And almost to intercept her route, there seemed to be a village that wasn't present before, on their way towards the Monkey King. A quick reference to her map told her that they were in Florenthia, though as to its purpose, NIGHT couldn't tell. Still, she continued onwards, turning to Nari for a moment. The Cerberus quest was 'simple'? Either it had changed drastically since she'd completed it, or the tank had more potential than she did. Likely a good thing, as long as NIGHT wasn't staring down the other end of that glaive. "I'd co

“I…I was out of control. During the tournament. I wasn’t…I broke the rules, the very essence of the tournament. I wasn’t just trying to win. I was trying to…to kill.” NIGHT stopped. There was only heaviness on her lips, her jaw, her tongue. Because-- "--I know." And she listened, still, like the shrubbery in the forest, only gently persuaded to move by the wind. Hunched over, empty, her eyes only had the earth to keep them occupied. "There was a part of me I regretted…hated…and you…you saw that part. And I wanted to destroy it.” The woman had to wonder if she was the

to pick herself up from the dirt. to attempt and re-summon her one remaining tidbit of light, that blade -- and then some, as she pulled out a glowing orb and crushed it in between her fingers. imugi's inspiration; the shatter was nothing more than familiar -- that trickle of stardust almost an insulting mimicry of a loss of life, if her strike had made it through to its victim. night hadn't intended on murder, no, and despite her injuries nor the state of her cursor, there was a smile; almost mockery on her face. she'd separated them, at least. wasn't that what they'd wanted? at lea

“I…wanted to talk about the tournament. What happened there. What I did.” "..." NIGHT wouldn't forget so easily. In the silence that passed between them, she shifted deeper into her tracksuit, almost hoping that it would swallow her up. “I made a promise to someone…that I would fix what I had done. I don’t know if I can fix it…but, I want to try. To try and be better, to make things better. To…be better.” Eyes searched Nari's figure for signs of an answer. Curious, but not discriminatory. Hesitation, but not reluctance. When enough time passed for her to decide on an a

Cerberus? It had been a while since she'd hunted that boss. The last time she was there, it had been with Koga; the two day trek was nothing she'd wanted to manage alone, hence she staved it off for her friend when she could manage it. Likewise, the first entrance to that dog's lair was on her own. NIGHT remembered what she'd muttered to Koga after the culling of the baby boars, and all at once that realization struck her hard. Instantly, she folded her arms. It wasn't Nari's fault that NIGHT had her own issues. "Sure," she mentioned, before motioning towards the direction

Western gate -- that was where NIGHT moved herself towards, then, trying to ignore the biting feeling in her pit that now felt the pierce of a weapon far greater than a dagger nor sword. To ignore the parts of her mind that rationalized her hiding better than to stay and fight. A glaive's reach could easily best her great sword; that was just the reality of their weapon types, and she had to accept it. And though she'd expected to see Nari in the combat gear last remembered, what she hadn't expected was the anxiety stored in the woman's frame, reading body language from even a distance a

“Um. Do you guys need help?” NIGHT was about to say yes. What NIGHT didn't know was that the option was about to be decided for her. In its neglect, the slime familiar had decided to forgo regular restrictions related to known understandings in Aincrad and shot its containment towards the sink. Had the player any strain of sanity left, she would've wondered why it took so long for the creature to have performed such an action, and why its owner was just so bad at looking after the one she had tamed. For the record, she did, in fact, think of this. But just as much as she had sa

She couldn't remember a thing about the eighth. Part of it was Aincrad to blame -- somehow, Cardinal's wild magicks kept it shifting, ever changing, despite the consistency of life its residents had been provided once upon a time. Then there was the fact that she couldn't ever remember each individual quest she was sent out to do, only the people she'd met and kept in contact with remained. The people that were the memories, the essence of the places she'd visited, the monsters she'd slain. There were no memories that stuck with her on the eighth. And as the light faded from NIGHT's

It must've been in the afternoon when NIGHT had received it, some time past lunch. Listless in Bistro's shop, going over the potential rumor threads that some novice journalist or another had strung up. To her side was a sheet of paper that had each possibility etched upon it copied over, listed, some crossed out with mind maps and some blatantly proven untrue. Black coffee was never her thing, but still it felt wrong to turn down her informant's specialty while over at her stall. Anything to take her mind off recent events. Not that her broker minded the company. Rearranging shelves coul

Good question. NIGHT too was wondering what the people inside were doing, because wandering back into a burning building was definitely not what she'd expected from their behavior. So she had half a mind to watch for what was to occur -- but the other part of her willed in favour of movement. Within, it was chaotic -- the noise almost parallel to the echoes of the rabble in a raid boss arena. Nothing she could discern. Though to her benefit, her tracksuit was practically made for storage of tiny items; herbs, vials or otherwise. As she collected what little she could still left on the nea