Elora

1. Elora

2. Female

3. She would prefer to go on a date with a male

4. 

Elora's face flushed from a mixture of anger and embarrassment. She silently nodded to Katoka in agreement but evaded making contact with her eyes as she scrambled back from the scene. This is so stupid. It shouldn't be like this. I should have been able to do much more in this battle than just pick off a few soldiers only to cower when it came to facing the boss. She set her jaw as her face adopted a stern expression, her mind churning into an emotional whirlwind. Katoka shouldn't be any stronger than me when we're both just as experienced in combat. It doesn't make sense that it's so much easier for her to handle herself. Moving back to stand beside Chase, she couldn't help but feel herself getting frustrated at his behavior as well. I thought that he was supposed to be so much better than both of us, but he's hardly even doing anything. That last hit should have been enough to kill the king. He must be drawing this out just to make us feel even sh*ttier about how this is playing out. 

@Katoka

Familiar Name: Borris
Description: A rock golem whose body is composed of several small magnetic rocks that can dissemble and reassemble themselves into various shapes. He is most often seen in his upright form (pictured above) or worn as a bracelet around Elora's wrist.

 
Familiar Mastery Skill: Scouting Familiar
Cost: 10 SP
Passive
Effect: +2 LD to searches for dungeons or Labyrinths, and when opening treasure chests.
Description: Your familiar is an expert tracker, aiding in your efforts to search.

Thread Link:

Familiar trained on roll: ID#: 179439

Thread Link:

Familiar found on roll ID# 169253
Familiar tamed on roll ID# 169784

A teleportation crystal? Elora hadn't heard of an item like that before. Then again, she rarely ventured out far enough to ever need one. I'll need to buy some of those from his shop in the future. I'm sure they'd come in handy again. "Alright", she agreed with a smile and a nod before accepting the crystal so that the two of them could be on their way.

-------------------------------------------------------------

   ♪  Refrain: The Treasures of a Dragon  ♪  

Elora lackadaisically kicked open the door to her room at The Humming Bard Inn before shuffling over to, then collapsing on, the edge her bed. "Ugh, what a day", she mumbled with her face pressed against the sheets. After sharing a meal over some drinks, Elora had said her goodbyes to Freyd and retreated upstairs for some much needed rest. It wasn't much later before the pub's resident cyberfolk, or whatever it was they called it, band began their rowdy evening rehearsal. Freyd should count himself lucky that he left when he did. Deconstructing himself from his bracelet shape, Borris reformed into his usual golem-like appearance.

"Wellll", began Elora as she rolled onto her side, "This is my humble abode. Home to aspiring indie artists, drunkards who squat in the hallways, and now you -- our very own rock golem. Feel free to get comfortable, there's some water in that pot over there and uhhh, sleep if you want to -- I guess -- I don't know if that's really your thing or not though" Borris had already taken to scuttling around the premise to inspect different decor as she tried to acquaint him with his new surroundings.

With a sigh, she pried herself from the mattress so that she could sit up and change out of her dirty clothes. It was then that she realized she'd completely forgotten to return her skirt, or rather, Freyd's cloak to him. Sh*t. Now I'm gonna have to figure out when to see him next so I can give it back... She took a few moments to inspect it for any blemishes from yesterday's excursions. Only a few fragments of foliage and other small holes stood out from among its dark surface. Still, it was enough to warrant her making some repairs before she handed it over to him. After all, Freyd seemed like the kind of person who would make an active effort to ensure that his clothing was never winkled or tattered when he made an appearance. I'll have to find some way to clean it. Maybe I could take it to a tailor? Well, whatever, I'll worry about it tomorrow. 

As she opened her menu to stow it away, a familiar item caught her eye -- the copper rose Freyd had given her after their first quest together. Oh,  I guess that I must have it set to sort everything from oldest to newest...? I'll have to figure out how to change that later... Her finger hovered over the icon in a moment of hesitation before selecting to summon the item into her hand. She was surprised to see that the patina on its surface had spread to paint more of the flower's copper petals, though she hadn't even interacted with it since that very day. I can't believe that it's been changing this whole time, without me ever really noticing. Removing her gloves, Elora raised her fingers to touch the object while she slowly sunk back to laying in her bed. Borris clambered up her metal vambraces and came to a rest beside the rose, seemingly inspecting its material to assess whether or not it had metallic properties. "Haha, sorry bud. I don't think you'll be able to stick to this one", she consoled before picking him up and placing him on her pillow as she readjusted to rest her head against it. 

"I really hope that we can start to feel at home here...", wished Elora with a hushed voice. "It's probably going to take awhile longer, but...I feel like some of the pieces are finally starting to come together..." At this, Borris appeared to turn to himself and regard all of the chipped and misshapen pebbles that made up his tiny body. Although Elora had a hard time interpreting his expressions, something about the behavior made her feel that he understood exactly what she meant, and possibly, that he was able to comprehend the concept of wholeness better than she was able to. "Anyways...Goodnight", she said with a gentle pat on his headstone. Still clutching the rose, Elora drifted off into sleep with the comfort of knowing that she was now, at least, just a little bit less alone. 

Seizing the opening that Chase had provided, Elora bolted toward the Elvish King and attacked him before he was prepared to make a defense. She intercepted his blades as they attempted to shield his figure, forcing the shaft of her spear to bear down on one of his swords until it dug the dirt. The tip of her spear then swung forward, only barely gashing his cheek before he used the hilt of his second sword to club her in the side. With the wind being knocked out of her, she withdrew her weapon and folded forward, all but collapsing onto the ground to clutch her stomach. "S-shit, that f*cking hurts" The reckless move had drained her of all her remaining energy, leaving her vulnerable to the the King's retaliation. In a desperate attempt to save the day as a means to redeem her image, Elora had forfeited her safety at the cost of her pride and to the detriment of their party. What was I thinking?! I should have just listened to Katoka and sat on the sidelines for a bit. This probably isn't going to play out well.

Surprised to see Katoka miss her attacks, Elora quickly readied herself for the chance to strike down the remaining enemies. She wasn't confident in her ability to take down three at once, especially since she was feeling winded from her previous set of strikes. Thankfully, Chaser stepped in and removed two of them before she could even step in their direction. That left one solider, who was only seconds away from hurting Katoka as she sat in her vulnerable position.

"Don't worry, I've got you --!", shouted Elora as she rushed in and stabbed the enemy, hefting his body up into the air and over her head before slamming it into the ground. The green-haired woman then used her heel to scrape off the corpse from her spear like it was a burnt marshmallow stuck to a roasting stick. "Nice work!", she shouted to Chase before offering a hand to help Katoka onto her feet "That was a pretty dramatic fall", she remarked with a sympathetic chuckle, "You sure you're alright?"

Elora wasn't sure when would be an appropriate time to contribute to the discussion, so she took after Freyd in silent observation. Engagement?, thought Elora as the topic arose, Oh yeah, people can get married in this game, can't they? Frilly aspirational stuff like weddings weren't normally things that she took to discussing, but seeing as how this may have been her only chance to chime into the conversation, she decided to give it a shot. "You're getting married, huh? Well, that's exciting. Who's the lucky man?", she could hardly get the sentence out without grimacing at the phrasing of her own words. "I guess the nice thing about having an online wedding is that cost probably isn't as big of a concern" Elora didn't know whether or not that was true, she just needed something to follow-up with so that she didn't sound uninterested in Haine's happenings. Still, she resorted to taking another sip of her tea, lest she dig herself into an even deeper grave by continuing the ice-breaker conversation. 

"Haha, very funny", retorted Elora to Freyd with a smirk, "I'll have you know that I winterized my cloak in preparation for this mission, although, not anything else..." Her eyes darted off to the side, regarding Haine as she took another sip of tea. "Hey, nice to see you again. Don't know if you remember me from the Tanabata Festival" I sure hope not "I'm Elora", she added just in case. To be honest, she wouldn't have been able to recall the woman's name if Katoka hadn't brought it up. That wouldn't stop her from pretending she'd remembered it all these weeks. For some reason, she was able to remember Vie --

Wait. Vie. Is that THAT Vie? I'm pretty sure that's the name of the girl the blue-haired guy was asking Katoka about. Elora seemed to zone out as she cupped her tea, eyebrows furrowing and lids narrowing as she underwent a series of mental gymnastics to come to the realization. I mean...I guess I could maybe see that working. They're around the same height and both have...short hair...? 

@Haine

Elora always found herself impressed by how gracefully Katoka seemed to carry herself in battle. Her approach to combat seemed calculated and the swings of her katana intentional. Disappointment at her own inability to perform a successful attack was only made worse in the shadow of her victories. She tried to her best to brush off the feeling by recalling the previous phase of their quest. I've just gotta slow down a little, she tried to reassure herself.

Shifting her focus to the weakest enemies, Elora rushed forward and knocked one off of his feet. He stumbled backwards, impairing the other and giving Elora just enough time to slash them before they had the chance to lift their swords in defense. "Come on, I'm going to be broke if you keep making deals like that!", she teased with a light-hearted tone to try and ease the mood. Just then, more soldiers leapt out from behind the bodies, nearly stabbing her from either side in her distraction. Elora only had a fraction of time to duck beneath their blades as they passed over her, quickly carrying another set of swings at Katoka, who was still standing nearby.

A Val-halla of a Time. [Halloween Special Dungeon]

"You know, for some reason I thought that finding the place by 'just following the river' meant that it was going to be a lot easier than this", remarked Elora with a sigh, "Just how long is this thing?" Katoka and her had gotten word from other members of Firm Anima that a dungeon had appeared on this floor. She couldn't recall many of the details that had provided, other than that the two of them would need to locate a ghost ship to sail them to some place to fight some enemies. Of course, there was also an obligatory warning that they needed to be careful and that they needed to invite others along to aid them in the battles. Elora wasn't sure if Katoka had taken the liberty of tracing the identities of those present at the Battle of Tanabata, but she was too lazy to do the same, so she simply posted an open invitation for anyone who was interested to join if they wanted to. We'll see if anyone turned up. Not long after, they happened upon an inlet that appeared to house several bioluminescent vessels that were tethered to a twisted driftwood dock. "Think this might be the place we're looking for", speculated Elora as she dropped her heavier equipment in anticipation for the rest. "And it doesn't look like anyone else has showed up yet. Are you sure that we really needed to leave two hours earlier than Freyd recommended? Well, whatever. It'll give us some time to have our last meal -- like Vikings before they rowed off to war!"

Elora | HP:530/530 | EN:48/48 | DMG:16 | EVA:5 | ACC:4 | LD 3 | L.M.:2 | KEEN:1

A set of firm knocks resounded on the shop's misshapen wooden door, growing fainter as Elora lost interest in propriety and proceeded to open it without receiving a welcome or the invitation to enter. She waited for it to finish squealing at its hinges before announcing herself, "Hey guys, anyone here? I need to buy some stuff" She figured Freyd's minions, henchmen, interns, friends -- whoever they were -- were probably lounging up in their loft. "Oh yeah, and a friend of mine is coming over too. Have you guys met Katoka yet?", she called up into the shack's drafty rafters before rubbing her cold nose and stuffing her hands back into her pockets. Elora wasn't all that optimistic that they would see Freyd today. He was a busy man nowadays, what with all of his leaderly responsibilities. Still, she couldn't help but feel that he would be proud to see her and Katoka in this moment, preparing to enter their first dungeon together. Oh well, at least that means he won't be obligated to threat us to dinner if it goes well, she chuckled to herself. Elora looked over her shoulder and back toward the entrance to anticipate the arrival of her friend.  I probably should have waited at the gate to walk with her here. 

Vanity Tag: @Katoka

"I don't know, he probably dries it in some obscure artisanal way", replied Elora with a playful scoff, "I bet that instead of using a lint roller he even prefers to pick out any debris in his clothing with a pair of tweezers. To each their own I guess" She took a sip out of her still warm cup of Irish Breakfast tea. At least, that's what she imagined it was. SAO didn't offer much in the way of variety for drinks, as most beverages centered around Japanese culture. So instead, she was only able to purchase a plain black tea during their brief visit to The Cafe de Plateau on their way to the current establishment. There was however, a discernible difference between this tea leaf juice and the glorious breakfast teas she had come to love. It was a distinction that only the most discernible highlanders could detect in their semi-conscious morning states. 

Elora blinked and returned her focus to the present moment. How had her mind gone on such a tangent while they were waiting for their company to arrive? She shifted her gaze away from the steep and back to Katoka, "I agree. This place feels way too freezing compared to the climates of the other floors. I hope this quest doesn't take too long. I hardly feel prepared to handle the cold exposure" 

Elora | HP:480/480 | EN:48/48 | DMG:9 | MIT:8 | EVA:1 | ACC:1 | L.M.:2 | KEEN:1

Now that amends had - sort of - been made, Elora took the initiative to begin their battle in a clearing nearby the Treant civilization, if you could even call it that. Without waiting for the other two to collaborate on a strategy with her, the player rushed into attacking the first few Elven soldiers that she noticed were patrolling the grounds. The first thrust of her spear passed over the shoulder of one as he crouched to inspect a sapling that he suspected was a spy sent to perform recognizance for the Treants. Her failure to eliminate him swiftly gave the guard an opportunity to alert the rest of his battalion, "I need help! There's a traitor trying to kill me!" Normally, Elora would have found it cute that the game pretended the NPCs couldn't distinguish her as a player, but right now, the gimmick just frustrated her more. "Stop trying to make me sympathize with you and just let me kill you already!" 

She took sloppily-coordinated swings at each new enemy that responded to the call, somehow failing to hit all of them in her distraction. "Goddammit, how are these ones so evasive?", she hissed in anger.

"Man, that was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be." Elora nodded and returned the smile. While this battle was more physically-demanding than those previous, she had, much to her surprise, enjoyed dancing beside Katoka as they fought. There was something about the music that helped Elora hone her focus and become truly immersed in the expression of her actions and the intention behind each attack. In the future, I should probably try to be as mindful of my movements as I was today. 

"Yeah, a hot spring sounds amazing", she confirmed to Katoka with a sigh of contentment. 

"Those peasants killed Ghidorah and The Galavants before they could debut at the Humming Bard Inn and get their big break!", proclaimed a lanky elf with an accusatory gesture.

"KILL THEM!!", ordered his equally feisty but far stouter companion.

"Well, uhhhh, it sounds like the Elves are getting pretty angry let's get out of here before they --trytochaseus -- Sh*t, RUN!!", screamed Elora as the three of them began to run away from the hoard of super-fans. 

Thread Summary:

Each player receives:

3 SP (1 page + 1 event + 1 quest)

Katoka gets additional + 1 SP for using Slime Farm

350 col

<Ghidorah’s Opal> [Vanity Quest Item] : 1 of 9

Elora sighed and stepped between the two, briefly meeting Katoka's eyes with her own to communicate that there was no need to cause bloodshed over a petty remark. "Alright, alright, calm down", she began before turning to regard Chaser, "We haven't even started the fight yet, and this definitely isn't a safe way to enter one" Her tone seemed to strike a balance between both reprimanding and placating the players for their words and actions. Perhaps it was a bit harsh, but Elora didn't have any practice with mediating conflict, and there was no reason for p**syfooting around the discussion when their lives were about to be at stake. 

Since the party had come to a standstill, Elora had noticed that the leaves around them were becoming exceptionally noisy, almost as if the wind was combing through them and rattling their stems like jazz hands at a poetry slam. Christ, are we in the middle of a storm of something? The gargantuan shadows that rose up and extended over the grounds surrounding them told her otherwise. "Speaking of which, I think that we're here" 

@Katoka

After a fleeting handshake to seal the deal, Elora followed Freyd's eyes downward to revere her companion, and this moment, in equal importance. "Alright, little guy, I think you've fought hard enough to earn this", she spoke in a compassionate voice as she crouched down and drew closer to his height. Digging through the small sack of feed, she retrieved a few of the familiar-taming pellets and offered them up to Borris in an open palm. "I hope that if there's anything you can teach me, it's how to stand strong in the face of adversity" It was a rather cliche request, almost akin to one that would be read from a fairytale upon a knight's christening. Nevertheless, it was a sincere wish of Elora's, and she hoped that one day, that they'd be able to see it through. "I'll do my best to look after you, even though I'm fairly certain that you're able to handle yourself"

The magnetic rock golem slid into Elora's hand and enveloped the threats, it's headstone grating against another of it's larger pebbles to grind them into a fine powder before they dissolved into nothingness. "Err...so I guess that's how it eats things? I was always wondering about that. I guess it's a relief that he's able to consume anything at all. Just imagine if we'd spent this much time trying to find him only to find out that his behavior adhered to the laws of digestion from the natural world" It was probably wise that she'd stopped herself from delving into the intricacies and intrigue of animal anatomy.

Borris on the other hand, appeared to rattle with excitement upon commiserating their commitments to one another -- though she wasn't necessarily sure on whether or not he had made any promises to help her. Reforming into a chain, he clambered around her wrist, adopting the appearance of a hefty river-stone bracelet. Sh*t, he's actually a lot heavier than I thought. I'm gonna have to get use to the feeling of constantly lifting weights with this hand if I'm ever gonna be able to carry him. 

Elora lowered her arm and clutched her wrist in a way that allowed her to support the familiar. Although the awkward gesture was made out of a physical necessity to divert the strain of his weight, there was a possibly for it to be misinterpreted as a sign of coyness. 

"Thank you, Freyd. For all of this. I don't know that I ever would have been able to capture Borris without your help. I probably would have ended up dead -- or even worse -- with that stupid dragon as a companion!" Her golem clattered to echo his disdain for the creature. "Geez, can you believe the day is already almost over because of our hike back up here?" It definitely wasn't because of her sleeping in. "We should probably start making our way back to the portal. I guess from there we'll go our separate ways?"

Elora hadn't realized that Freyd had witnessed their fight against the trebuchet and its defenders on that calamitous night. After all, she assumed he'd disappeared from Tanabata entirely after running into her during the evening's anticipated festivities. The circumstances of it all seemed ridiculous to look back on now, but still, Elora regarded the act of defeating four of the guardsmen all at once as one of her proudest accomplishments in SAO. There was something special about being able to share that success and so many other small victories with Freyd. A feeling of contentment began to manifest inside of her, his reassurances giving her hope that she could achieve even greater endeavors, if only she had the confidence to pursue them. 

"You've helped me realize what it means... to feel human" She wasn't entirely sure of what to make of that remark, but maybe, he didn't say it with the intention of being understood. Freyd was an illusive individual who scarcely revealed what he was thinking or feeling. Instead, his approach required her to stitch together the clues of his conscience, almost like he was constructing a trail of bread crumbs that she needed follow if she ever wanted to know the truth. Maybe that's just his way of gaging interest, or something. I don't know, seems more complicated to me than it needs to be. Then again, she had no right to make that claim, given the situation they were currently in. 

"I'll keep you human if you keep me humble", she proclaimed without a second thought. Oh wow -- I actually just said that. He's either gonna think it was clever or extremely cheesy. Either way, Elora couldn't help by chuckle in embarrassment at him having to see her like this -- with tears trickling down her flushed face and the smudge of dirt from earlier still strewn beside one eye. She felt inclined to evade his gaze, but was unsure of how to avoid doing so awkwardly, what with his hands still firmly clasped around her shoulders. Thankfully, Borris provided an opportune outlet, as he had stacked himself into a tower of pebbles to try and reach the pouch of treats resting at Elora's hip. It was rather difficult not to be distracted by his presence, as the structure he'd created wavered and tilted dramatically from every little gust of wind that passed between them. "Guess it's time to give this guy some food, huh?", she joked and sniffled through a smile. "What do you think, do we look like a match made in heaven?"

  ♪  Heaven and Hell  ♪  

Elora dug the toe of her boot into the sandy ground as Freyd retorted, arms tightening around herself in an futile attempt to retreat from his words.

"Don't be so quick to judge choices you are not prepared to make yourself." 

The assertion made Elora's heart sink. He's right. Her eyes began to burn as a wave of guilt washed over her, I'm not ready to prioritize helping anyone over helping myself... As Freyd began to walk away from her, Elora could feel her chest tighten and her breathing stagger. She couldn't find the ambition to make herself go after him -- to admit that she was wrong. To admit that she was the broken one.

The truth was that she hadn't been ready to hear the reality of it, especially not from him. Freyd had done so much to help her leave the first floor behind, ensuring that she was safe since the day the two of them had met. And how did she repay him? By calling him selfish and accusing him of having ulterior motives. It wasn't fair of her to threat him that way, even when he insisted that it didn't matter...even if an apology didn't repair the damage that she'd done...

She turned to follow him with an outstretched hand. "Freyd, don't --" Her footing fumbled over a pile of smooth, onyx-colored magnetic stones. That cheeky-- She couldn't be bothered to humor Borris as he circled her feet in search of food. With a gloved hand landing on her friend's shoulder, she managed to regain her balance. "You're right. And I'm sorry...", admitted Elora in a quiet and remorseful voice. Her shaking hand wavered, then settled into a tighter grasp around his shoulder. "It bothers me...that you're willing to do things like this...that you're able to sacrifice your time, your safety, and even your happiness just to make sure that other people don't have to do the same. I don't -- I don't know what I would do...if I gave as much as you and still wasn't appreciated for it...", she took a ragged inhale, indicating that what she was about to say took more courage for her to share, "I feel like my whole life that I tried -- and that it didn't make a difference, because no matter how much I wanted to succeed, no one wanted to help me if I struggled to carry my own weight. No matter what I accomplished, it was never good enough to please the people who expected more from me." By this point, tears were streaming down Elora's cheeks and each sentence was becoming increasingly more difficult for her to utter. "I guess I just -- I'm afraid and I'm angry that I'm expected to owe my help to other people who won't -- who won't appreciate the extra efforts I go through or recognize how far that I've come."

Finally, she released her hand, slowly lowering it until it clasped her opposite forearm. "I don't feel like I'm good enough or strong enough to stand up for other people...and...I'm jealous that you're so much more capable of being a leader than I could ever hope to be..."

"Operations and...what...? That just makes it sound like you're doing shady reconnaissance for them or something? I guess I wouldn't be too surprised. That does seem to fit your whole...", she gestured at him with splayed fingers as she struggled to search for the word, "Get-up" 

"I mean, this outfit is super-comfortable", he began with his explanation. Elora's face seemed to tense at that last part.

"I don't know how you can do it", she said with a sigh and a half-hearted smile. Although the path was widening as they neared the summit, Elora's shoulders slumped, the silhouette of her body being made smaller as she started to close off from the conversation. You should worry about what they think, she concluded in her head. 

Elora spared a fleeting glance over to the emerald cursor that bobbed indifferently above his head. The admission of his manipulative nature and the darker desires it disguised sent an unwelcome chill down her spine. Her hands clasped the edges of her cloak, pulling its fabric in a comfortless embrace around her shoulders as she evaded his eyes to reflect on his remarks.  

"You wouldn't care less what color it was if it didn't impact how people thought of you" The abrasive phrasing of her assertion was probably a bad call if his intention really was to threaten her. Whatever. It's not like I'd stand a chance against him anyway if that's really what this is leading up to. "Besides, if you don't want to be a leader, why are you wasting your time? What's even in it for you?"

A flurry of sadness, fear, and anger began to manifest in Elora's trembling voice. She didn't have the control that she needed to tranquilize her nerves, to suppress her emotions, and to force herself from needlessly escalating a situation. 

"But it's not about that, is it? It's what's in it for other people that matters", she practically hissed through clenched teeth. 

As the two of them were walking, Elora took advantage of their spare time to down one of the elixirs that she was given. It wasn't the tastiest way to top off a backpacker's breakfast, but she wasn't about to complain since the item would increase her odds of befriending Borris. Freyd and her soon made their way through the farming settlement and were beginning their accent up the cliffside, this time sticking to a narrow trail that wound around its slope. 

"You're really starting to sound more like a leader whenever you talk", brought up Elora during one of the pair's lengthy silences, "I know that level-wise you're pretty strong, but where is all the other influence coming from?" The phrasing of the question probably could have been tailored to sound less skeptical and envious of his progress. After all, it was meant as more of a way to learn about his life in this game aside from their interactions with one another than it was to study his scheme for achieving popularity. 

Elora's posture seemed to perk up at the sight of food. She hadn't expected that Freyd would have any on hand, but she sure as hell was thankful that he did. Reaching out, she accepted one of the pastries, leaving the other untouched for him to finish off. "Who's that?", she asked curiously while peering over his shoulder as he typed out and sent an item-request, "Another guild member?"

It wasn't long before a curvy orange-haired women appeared and shared with them tools to aid them in their search. Elora couldn't help but feel embarrassed that it had come to this, but she figured she might as well accept the help. Otherwise there was a chance that they'd spend the entirety of another day looking, only to come up empty-handed. Elora devoured her breakfast and thanked their guild-mate for her assistance before she bid them goodbye. 

"Well...", she began as she stood up and tied her hair into its usual arrangement, "Where do you say we start next. Maybe we could retrace our steps back to where we first found Borris? He probably lives somewhere up that plateau we were previously on"

@Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

So Katoka is...into women? Having grown up in a small town in the Irish countryside, Elora hadn't held any interactions with someone who was queer, at least, not anyone that she knew was attracted to the same sex. The reveal caught her a bit off-guard, and she wasn't confident in her ability to address such an unfamiliar topic with care. Best not to pry about it now. 

Then came a question about Freyd. It felt like it came from out of nowhere. Was Katoka trying to move on from the topic too? "Uh...spicy is not a word I would use to describe it, no", Elora couldn't help but blush in response to what she felt the small samurai was implying, "He's just been...really nice to me is all...I think he likes to help me learn more about the game when he can be there to keep an eye on me. I think my impulsiveness worries him more than he'd like to admit"

"... Be careful of him.", Casher warned, "... He can be... offputting. Don't trust him too much."

"Offputting?" It's not the first word that Elora would have used to describe him. "Why, do you and him have beef or something?" That was something that Elora could see being the case. 

@Katoka

Elora's body seemed accustomed to sleeping in, since the bright light from the morning sun did nothing to rustle her awake. Instead, she just retreated further and further away from it, until eventually, her face was completely buried against Freyd's arm. Drool trickled out of her gaping mouth and her limbs seemed to twitch and spasm randomly while she dreamt. Finally, one such movement occurred with enough force that it caused her head to lurch forward. Elora awoke just in time to prevent her body from falling over.

"Wha--whatdidyou...?", she mumbled in a daze before looking around and realizing she was sitting where she had passed out the previous night. Oh, that's right... She rubbed the side of her head with a gloved hand, smearing dirt across it without even realizing. Noticing that Freyd was still beside her, she asked, "Did we...did you get any sleep...?" She could barely finish speaking before yawning loudly. Leaning against Freyd had somehow undone one of the bows from the front of her hair. The rest of her emerald locks hung in a snarled mess, serving as a reminder of the evening's hectic events. Elora rolled her shoulders, then began to stretch her arms above her head. "Man, what a night. I feel drained", a lengthy growl from her stomach interjected the conversation, "And hungry..."

Elora simply waved to Chase with a smirk, as there was really no reason to elaborate on the introductions Katoka that had made. Elora basked awkwardly in the female player's compliments, which caused a blush to stretch from ear to ear across her face. She began to wonder if it was even possible to make an enemy of Katoka with how welcoming she seemed to be. "Sure, dinner will be on me", agreed Elora. She didn't have all that much money in her inventory, but,  It's the least that I can do for making her wait. 

"Makes sense now.", said Chase as he concluded his statement. Was that meant to be some sort of threat? Was he even originally invited to join us on this quest? I'm pretty sure that we could manage without him. Katoka having a love life was news to her, so Elora remained quiet in hopes that she could gain some insight from the girl's response. 

Elora watched in awe as Katoka flowed through the enemies like water, then struck the dragon with a powerful attack. Fluorescent colors sprayed through the air like dancers twirling their glow sticks at a rave. 

"You're up partner!"

Had she spaced out? Katoka's dancing was captivating to the point that Elora had lost track of time. "Sorry, I wasn't paying enough attention. I'm on it!" The elven chanting grew angrier and more discordant as the ferocity of rattling maracas and shaking tambourines seemed to swell. Their clamoring did nothing but fuel Elora's drive finish the beast. I am a mighty warrior, she thought in a sort of pep-talk to herself. Dashing forward, her weight shuffled between her legs as she hopped from side to side until she neared the dragon. Locking her right leg, she pivoted her hips and and swayed to the rhythm as the rest of her body carried her spear across the length of the dragon's scaly belly. Its point gauged its thick skin from one end to the other until it eventually erupted in flames to mark its defeat. 

"Freyd, would you do the honors?", she asked soon after with a nod toward the pair of elven performers.

@Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows