Freyd

♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ Freyd faltered as he stood watching Elora's features drop, astute enough to glean that his long game had finally been undone. In fairness to the universe, a fluke seemed the most appropriate means - the romantic fancies of an offbeat elven festival unmaking what force and scheming could never overcome. He'd been too meticulous and controlling of his own illusions for carelessness to suffice on its own. Shoulders slumping, face, and even ears, following the downward spin at dawn's inevitable end, the sun was setting on his masquerade at last. She saw him now, the doubts and inn

"No, I'm not much of a dancer at all." His voice seemed distant when he replied, eyes briming with reflected starlight from the distant festival, where those abilities had just been thoroughly tested. Xena couldn't have known, and he took no offense at the question. Given his reputation for speed and grace as a fighter, it was common for people to assume the same, but it had never been the case. "I'd have embarrassed myself if I'd ever offered, or, worse, embarrassed you." "We're fortunate to have the moonlight," Sewallus offered, pointing toward the broad silver disk slowly making it

Returning from a recent training foray against the Forgotten Time King, Freyd left @Typhoonflame with a few parting words of advice and hearty praise for her courage and discerning insights before pointing her back towards the central plaza. Taking another route, he'd planned on visiting The Knight Shift to check on Ren and drop him off additional supplies when he spotted two familiar faces nearby. "What are you two miscreants doing out here," he began with a wry grin. "Do your moms know what you're up to? Do I need to call the brute squad in to keep you in line? GET OFF MY LAWN!" So

"Actually, I think I got off lucky by managing to avoid any nasty hits. Wushen was a giant elemental dragon who had a lot of effects to counter, but I was working with a good team. All I had to do was dance around like an idiot to keep it from smashing me - and we all know how good I am at being an idiot." It was tough to tell how much of that was self-deprecating humor, but Freyd bore the comment with a smile. Sewallus, meanwhile, who simply fell into line with a nod as Freyd started walking for the village gates, kept his thoughts to himself. Xena was more than good enough at reading peo

"It's a fine start and a noble goal" he offered, mostly concerned that the proper seed had been planted in their newest agent's imagination. Few people questioned what they wanted in this life. Even fewer actually knew. If members of O&I were to be effective, possibly placing their lives on the line for the sake of complete strangers, they had to know themselves first. "I need to make my way to the raid shortly, but can take you as far as Coral on floor 22. The Guild Hall, known as the Cathedral of the Lost, is located in the Forest of Memories nearby. Stick to the paths while tr

Freyd still had no idea what had just happened. He'd reached out and accepted his fate, even felt like he'd touched that light at the end of the tunnel and closed his eyes at finding it out it was a bear-shaped train about to his him at full speed. Whatever. It had felt right, and still did, even if the outcome wasn't expected in the slightest. "Why do you guys insist on poking the bear?" Came his salty reply, as if a joke might assuage their own confusion and misgivings. Weaving low, then sidestepping the same type of swipe that should have just killed him. Had it, actually? Thing

"Tanking for the frontlines," he added, by way of explaining his new getup. "Tried it in my usual pajamas last time around and wasn't sure it was worth tempting fate a second time. This seemed like a better insurance policy." Black gauntlets of some strange metal tapped his breastplate, both surfaces seeming to shift with the light and making it harder for sight, tooth or claw alike to find significant purchase. Freyd had always been a bit of a slippery character. This just made it a bit more overt. "As to my visit, I was really just making the rounds. There's a festival in Ellesm

"A fair response, and completely viable build, but I'd like to challenge you to dig a little deeper. What role do you want to play?" Weaving their way through the settlement's narrow streets seemed to parallel the details on their conversation, winding its way towards a predictable but yet-to-be-determined conclusion. "We're all forced to be warriors in some way. Cardinal directs the tools available to us. But, your answer tells me how you want to deal damage within that system. It doesn't tell me what part you want to play in helping us get out of this death game. Are you aiming to joi

"A what?", Elora asked in confusion. Freyd's favoured wolfish grin bore a more playful mien than the actions that had earned him his local nickname. "Oh... uh... " The boy seemed flustered struggling to reconcile how to explain an elvish term to one of their own. She had the ears, after all. "It means... shadow wolf. Like the one that preys upon the wayward to keep our people safe. Right, Daedhrog?" Freyd mussed the boy's pale green hair playfully, struck by how much his blue eyes and liveliness reminded him of his partner's before sending him along ahead. "You've come t

"Sounds good to me, and I tend to view things here along the same vein." His fingers traced a rusty red line in the rock face as they neared the town's entrance, the oxidized strand of raw iron crumbling at his fingers' passing. "So, what role do you want to play? As O&I's captain, it's my responsibility to assign you tasks and missions, but also to ensure that you're made ready to handle as many different scenarios as Aincrad could possibly throw your way. We work as a team, but often face our challenges separately. To make that work, I need to understand who you are, Kyoto. And, mo

Chuckling lightly at the comment, Freyd's eyes belied admissions he'd long denied himself. "You know... I never really thought of myself that way. But between running the Shark Bait training program, helping walk newbies through so many first lessons, and then these sorts of outing, it may be getting difficult to deny." What had first been rationalized as an investment in the growth and development of Aincrad's most finite resource had become habit, and then its own reward. "Guess I was too too challenging a student - too fiercely independent - to ever see myself in that light. I'm jus

"Maybe it's just me, but I feel like we should be moderately concerned by the completely random appearance of twelve, masked, scantily clad ladies grinding it around a ritual circle in an abandoned amusement park after dark." Foyle smirked, preferring to keep his eyes to the horizon in search of other possible threats. Freyd was left to deal with this one. Jeeves, on the other hand, was more concerned by the elaborate mandala laid out between them on the ground and practically radiating unpleasant fortunes. The trio had made their way from the main festival grounds in the centre of Ron

Brows crossed and confused in partial recognition of a voice calling out his name. Familiar, but buried in the detritus of time, it took him a moment to connect the ancient dots, until he saw the ears. The face followed as confirmation. "Xena?" Genuine surprise paired well with the easing of his features in welcoming recognition. "You're... here?" He was going to say 'alive', but that might have been too crass. Part of him wondered where that consideration came from. Maybe he had changed after all? Old Freyd would have run with it, without hesitation. Xena would know that, and mi

Sensing a shift in the sand beneath their feet, Freyd knew the boss was getting ready to lose it on them both. "It's gonna..." he began, watching Kyoto make his move and stun the slithery fiend. "...or not." A light chuckle as he stepped forward and made a single, clean, cross-wise cut with his katana. The blade left only a tiny line, barely a pixel wide on the mob's skin, before its upper half toppled over lacking the grace and speed it had threatened them with mere moments before. "Nice plan." Beaming at his companion's cleverly timed use of his sword art, he'd effectively

"I've no idea," came his sincere reply, as Freyd helped Elora back to her feet. His eyes remained locked on the back of the other woman's head, as if filing away key details for later reference. Coincidental collisions were too frequent in the world of spycraft for him not to be at least a bit suspicious, even if it turned out to have been nothing more than an accident. "Diwali just wrapped up in Ronburu, but I'm not aware of any other festivals or events, let alone any traditions for this type of thing in Ellesmera." A quick glance confirmed that there was no permanent harm, nothing m

Thread Closing: Xena receives: 966 EXP (Word Count [6903/10*2*0.7]) 1,086 col (Given by Freyd) Freyd receives: 7,245 EXP (Word Count [6903/10*15*0.7]) 0 col (15% P5 Reward [1086]) - given to Xena Note: Closed as RP thread. First Lessons quest was revised since this thread began.

"It sounds like you were fortunate to make it out at all. How badly was Sewallus hurt?" The two men sat on the outskirts of Florenthia, each bracing against a different bough as the white-haired NPC retold a familiar tale about his encounter with the notorious Monkey King. The beast prowled the deeper woods not far from town, occasionally unleashing its spectacular temper on unsuspecting wanderers and locals alike. For all the times Freyd had slain the creature, he'd yet to find a reason for its rage. It just was. And that didn't sit right. "It bruised him up rather badly. Fo

Sliding back to assess the rest of the group's actions, Freyd's booted feet ground against the hard, dry stone as he came to a stop. A flicker of his wrist sent sneaky shadows scampering roundabout into the shadows, circling around for vantage. It was a common tactic, the two of them acting like some sort of wolf pack to pincer a foe, pinching them for an unexpected kill. Ugzeke was mad, which made him slippery. He was also tough as nails and unlikely to go down easy. "Nice hit, Ciela," he whispered, not to undermine Mina's valuable advice. "That was precisely what we needed." Lau

Chaos raged in the wake of the crushing wave that tore apart their companion, each member of the raid tuning to the aftermath in their own way. Despair. Anger. Loss. Frustration. Disbelief. Mild confusion. A tiny figure lost in the melee watched it all occur, her existence bound to the giant lummox she kept around as a convenient litter, in both senses of the word. She dumped on him constantly, and still he bore her around nestled in the warmth under all that heavy armor. So clunky. So clumsy. So bloody loud. Yet… still… he’d actually cared. Even when purporting not to, over

Walking behind her, occasionally looking up to ensure she was still headed the right way, Freyd felt silence was the safest course of action. I've traumatized the poor woman enough for one day. Decided self-assurance belied by the haunting of an inexorable fate, unknown to both, yet pending with tragic imminence. It wasn't far. And, while Aincrad's first floor was purported to be the largest, it never felt like it took very long to get anywhere. Maybe it was just a quirk of the system to help guide new players along, or other floors distorted perception for the sake of effect. Feeli

Side by side, they heaved with everything they had. Resisted by several hundred pounds of metal over reptilian muscles and an implacable will to survive, they had their work cut out. Jomei had already done yeoman's duty by flinging a few others over the edge. Only these remained. Judging by the calls coming from up passage, more were on the way. "Not sure our efforts panned out as we'd hoped, but we might still manage to deal with this lot." A swift, unceremonious kick caught the nearest guard in the cod piece, folding him in half with a sound no man could hear without wincing.

♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ A blinding miasmic darkness melded around Callisto’s misanthropic roar as it sundered reality’s grip on their senses. Figures blurred and twisted while vile corruption wracking the bear’s very spirit, erupting in their direction to unhinge their souls and sanity alike. Freyd watched as his metal clad fingers stretched and distorted to spindle points, leaving contrails of time in their wake, memories of arms and legs alike in several places all at once. And then pain, as the abhorrent source sought to unmake each of them from within, erasing them from creation’s intricate tapest

Ownership transferred to @Elora

ph *** Freyd | HP: 1260/1260 | EN: 158/158 | DMG: 21 | MIT:152 | ACC:4 | F-SPIRIT | EVA:2 | BH:69 | VAMP-D: 69 | FLN: 16 | HLY: 16 | LD:4

"Fire wish granted!" Stepping into closer quarters, Freyd flared the anima of his sword art into a deep azure blaze to match the colour of his eyes. Then all grace left his artful pose as he tripped on a writhing bit of vine detritus and spilled the flame upon himself rather than their foe. Like napalm loosed in the wrong direction, the fire slid along the slick surface of his armor and turned the Whisper into a silent burning torch and effigy, yet it somehow failed to consume him. "What the... oh, who cares why." Dashing forward with a leap, Freyd barreled into Callisto's