Katoka

The samurai smiled at Persi as she emerged from behind Freyd's shoulder, when she was suddenly filled with shining star-like lights Katoka gasped. "Beautiful! Does she do that often?" she asked reaching out to scratch her under her chin as well. While continuing to feed Hanami out of the bag the blonde took Freyd's advice and began to look around at the area they were currently in.

It was really a beautiful clearing, with a small pond at one end and a small outcropping of rocks not far from there that seemed to attract many of the insects in the area. Katoka approached the pond and saw a few small fish, as well as frogs and other pond based life. "This is a beautiful home you have Hanami." she said to her new companion, rubbing the spot between her horns. The dragon chirped in response and floated down towards the pond and began to take a drink from it's surface.

When Elora stepped in front of her and looked her in the eyes, Katoka snapped back to attention. Her anger drained and she saw what her outburst had done to Chase. The color drained from her face and she turned from the two, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap like that." She took a deep breath and calmed herself as best as she could, Chase was not the enemy here. She turned back to the blue haired man and bowed deeply, "Chase, I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that from me."

Straightening herself she noticed the sound of leaves rustling and crunching, as several enormous shadows engulfed the party Katoka instinctively gripped her katana again and turned to see several large treants around them.

"Speaking of which, I think that we're here." Elora said.

"Guess it's time to commune with nature." the blonde replied and smiled at the nearest treant.

Determination filled Katoka as she crept over to the dragon's new perch. She kept her eyes on the creature and where she was walking, stepping over branches and rocks in her path. As she took her final step at the base of the tree she held up the beetle for her target to either smell or catch sight of. As she did so the creature's attention snapped to the insect between her fingers. It cocked it's head from side to side like a dog, sniffing at the air before floating down to investigate further.

"Yes, come on little one. Look at this tasty buggy." she said cooing at the dragon as it got closer. It stopped about a foot from her, cautiously sniffing at the air for a moment. It once again floated effortlessly through the air and stopped right at her hand, taking a few more wiffs of the bug she held before it snapped it up in it's mouth.

"Oh!" the samurai exclaimed, startled by the quick motion. While it crunched on the beetle she pulled another from the small bag and held it up, "That's right, eat up."

The dragon finished the first and quickly grabbed the second, a small notification pinged in Katoka's ear and the dragon zoomed over close to her, wrapping itself around her neck to snack more on the insect. A window opened in front of her congratulating her on taming her familiar and prompting her to enter a name. The blonde took a moment to think and typed into the window, 'Hanami', and hit enter. There was another notification sound as the system processed and accepted the name. A small health bar appeared just under hers titled Hanami and Katoka let out a delighted squeal.

Turning to Freyd she called out, "I did it!" and held up her fingers in a sign of victory, giggling like a child. She ran over to the cowled man and hugged him, "Thank you so much for coming along with me. It means a lot. Also say hello to Hanami!" she scratched under the dragon's chin and she purred, closing her eyes in delight.

Katoka grabbed the bag of familiar food and quickly followed the dragon into the field as it eat the large beetle it had caught. Opening the draw strings she pulled out what looked like an iridescent rhinoceros beetle. It looked like something exotic and thankfully it wasn't moving, "Oh gross, this is what you like?"

She crept closer to the creature to get a better look as it rest in the tree above. It had a long body with white down covering the upper half. It had antlers as well sprouting from hit's head with similar cherry blossoms attached to them. She was mesmerized by it's beauty and continued walking forward, stepping on a stick as her head was directed upwards. With a crack the stick snapped under her weight and alerted the dragon to her presence, with a wriggle of it's body it snaked through the air to another tree nearby.

After Freyd rubbed her head Katoka pouted at him, "I'm going to take my time, I was just curious." she nudged him with her elbow. It was nice to have someone as her senior, mentoring and helping out. Despite what she had heard from Chase, Freyd made her feel safe. While he wasn't as open with is feelings, he was still kind, at least to her and Elora.

As the two continued to poke and nudge one another like siblings teasing, they emerged in a clearing surrounded by cherry blossom trees. Katoka stopped and placed her hand on the hooded man's chest to stop him, albeit a bit harder than necessary. She smirked as he stopped abruptly, "This is it, the place where the little ones spawn and hang out."

She pulled the spyglass out and extended it before beginning her search. Looking through the lens she saw various birds and bugs as they went about their business. A white flash caught her attention as it zoomed past to catch a beetle that was flying by. "Aha!" she exclaimed in a hushed tone, "There's my dragon friend."

The samurai returned her sword to it's home on her hip and bowed to her fallen enemies, then picked up the dropped item before turning to her companions. "Man, that was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be." she grinned at Elora, "Nice job finishing the dragon off. I think we're really starting to work well together."

Katoka was feeling good, she felt strong and capable. She was with two friends that had her back. Hell they had sped though these first three dragon quest with no issues at all. At the pace they were working at she was certain they could level up while making the level requirements for the rest of the quest, at least for most of them.

"So, I don't know about you guys but I could use a break here soon. Maybe a quick bath or hot spring dip, my muscles are feeling a bit sore. You want to join me Elora?" the blonde asked as she stretched a bit.

The samurai turned towards Chase, her brows furrowed and her off hand resting on her sword, "I beg your pardon?" her voice was low and devoid of the usual cheer that it usually held, "I've been on quite a few quests with Freyd, Elora as well, and to be completely honest he's been nothing short of a gentlemen." she turned to the elven woman, her expression softening, "At least with me, not sure on your full take Elora."

Katoka took a step forward, the grip on her saya tightening as her thumb rested on on the tsuba as if ready to draw her blade. "I appreciate your concern with our wellbeing but we can handle ourselves. Now you are welcome to accompany us on this quest, but if you continue talking about our friend like that I will not hesitate." she stood completely motionless facing him, leaving the declaration of her hesitation up to his imagination. She knew that if it came down to an actual fight that he would decimate her at her current level, but her blood was boiling and she was not someone that would listen to her friend being talked about as if he was a player killer.

The little girl looked fine overall, a few scraps and dirt smudges, but fine nonetheless. After giving her the once over Katoka turned her attention to Shirayuki as she approached, she seemed not as concerned as the blonde was over he child, but it became obvious to her later that she was probably thinking more matter of factly than she had. She couldn't just dismiss the girl as being a plain NPC, she was too lifelike. The tears in her outfit, her skinned knees, the dried tearmarks on her cheeks.

Once her companion made her way towards the exit of the cave Katoka held the little girl's hand and walked her out, "Don't worry, we'll get you back home soon. Don't worry about her either, she probably just needs a nap." The little girl giggled at her joke and Katoka smiled. The residents here were more than just code, they were alive in their own way.

Katoka gave a sad smile, "I'm glad that Ruler is doing well, and I'm sure Vie will pop up at some point. For now I'll just keep doing what I'm doing you know? I'm happy with being friends with Elora even if that's as far as we get. She's a fun person to be around and I'd like to hang out with her more."

The blonde knew that this had become a deeper conversation than she meant. She had always had a feeling that Freyd wasn't as in touch with his emotions as she was, but now that he had confirmed it she made a mental note to try and not push too far into the felling spectrum. He was a good listener at least and he was making an attempt to console her, though he wasn't as good at it as he thought.

"So," she asked trying to steer the conversation away from her lackluster lover life, "what's life like on the frontlines? Any more exciting than helping us newbies catch up?"

Katoka patted Freyd on the back, "Relationships are an enigma wrapped in a puzzle." she mused, putting on a old man voice and stroking an imaginary beard. She giggled and sighed a bit, "I honestly don't know at this point." she held out her forefinger on one hand as if to begin counting, "I enjoyed hanging out with Ruler a lot, but I think at the time I was pulled in by her strength. She made me feel safe you know? I also haven't seen her in ages." she put up her second finger, "Vie is damn adorable and made my heart do backflips, but we've grown closer as friends now." putting up a third finger her cheeks began to turn a bit pink, "Elora is... spontaneous. She makes me laugh and brings out a goofy side of myself that I didn't know I had. She's strong and we've fought well together so far. But I'm not sure how she feels about..." she gestures to her entire body, "You know, women?"

She groaned and scratched the back of her head, "Emotions are... just so damn complicated you know? I'm sorry if this is an uncomfortable talk for you. I know not everyone has dating on the mind when we're all fighting for our lives here." she turned to him looking a bit pained, as if she felt guilty about how she felt, "But despite all the doom and gloom, don't you think we should try and live as normally as we can?"

After taking another long swig of her drink Katoka heard the ding of a notification. Opening her hud she checked her messages, seeing a reply to her posting she groaned, "I... Forgot to sign my name." she sighed slapping her forehead, "Kat you idiot." She typed out a quick reply:

The blonde sent the message and then double checked her gear, it wouldn't be long now that she would need new armor and a new sword. She was approaching tier 2 at a fast rate after all, she made a mental note to ask her guild mates about what she should focus on next. As for the moment she wondered about Sam, she felt like she had heard the name passed around before but other than a few jokes about fishing she didn't really know much about them.

Katoka stood once again on the second floor nursing a cup of hot coffee. This was beginning to turn into a habit, though it could honestly be a worse one. The blonde had once again been doing research in the guild database on quests she could do, this one she had found out had a unusually high skill point reward for it's floor location. It was perfect for her to set out and take care of at her level. However she had decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to possibly get to know any guild members that she hadn't had the pleasure of spending time with.

With that she had posted a message on the bulletin board in the guild hall simply say that if anyone wanted to join her on questing, to simply show up at her current location and time. Being nervous the samurai had arrived an hour and a half early and was of course the only one present.

"How do I always manage to do this to myself. I make one attempt to move out of my comfort zone and I act like a complete dork." She let out a sigh before blowing on her drink to cool it off. She felt slightly intimidated by some of the other members of Firm Anima, but mainly because they were much higher level than her and she had baily said more than a simple greeting to them in passing.

"Just pull yourself together Kat, they're all good people. If they weren't they wouldn't have let you join." she said aloud trying to console her anxiety.

@Sam

Katoka | HP:440/440 | EN:44/44 | DMG:10 | EVA:1 | ACC:2 | LD:1 | BLD:12 | REC:2

The blonde flushed even more red, a feat she didn't know she had. "Well, Vie and are uh." she fumbled with the right words, their flirting didn't seem to be going much farther than that. Katoka was not very good at the aspects of love, hell she was still getting used to the fact that she was attracted to women. "We're just friends. That's about as far as I think we'll be going. We have eating together several times though, but it's using just a meal between friends."

The samurai looked off into the trees and rubbed one of her arms uncomfortably, "I'm an idiot, I can't just keep throwing myself at these girls. No wonder I'm bad at this." she thought to herself.

"W-What about you Elora?" she said to change the focus, "You and Freyd seem awfully chummy. Anything spicy going on there?"

She was interested in seeing if the green haired woman had any success, and whether or not she had other interests.

Katoka puffed her cheeks up and pouted, "Don't call me Kitkat unless you want me to call you emo hood boy. Kat is fine." she crossed her arms and tuned from him. After a moment of giving him the cold shoulder she lightly punched him in the shoulder and grinned, "Yeah I'm ready. Let's head out on this hunt!"

It surprised Katoka how much she had changed. In the few weeks that she had begun questing and getting stronger she had started to get comfortable, not only with herself, but with her friends and guild mates. She had grown close to them all so quickly that she couldn't see herself as the same person as before. It was an almost scary thought, but comforting at the same time. She was attaining her goal of living a somewhat normal life in this virtual prison.

"So tell me Freyd, do you have a special someone back home or has SAO been fruitful in dating prospects?" she asked, nudging him with her elbow.

The combination of music, crowd, and dancing was sending Katoka back. She began to remember the classes she took in the real world in order to give her a boost in confidence and help with her anxiety. Dance was something that she wasn't the best at in the beginning, but after a few years she was at least moderate at best. Switching to hip hop/breakdancing had been a more recent thing in order to make things more fun for her.

Felling the boost from this ridiculous event happening Katoka assumed a new position, queuing up a much stronger sword art for he dragon. With her hips bopping along she rushed in, weaving in between the two Cultists until she was in front on the dragon. The light of her sword art whipping around as she slashed and cut at the beast added an almost neon effect to the music. Despite the dragon's scales dealing her damage as she attacked, it was minimal compared to the chunk she tore from it's health.

"You're up partner!" she called to Elora, a huge grin splayed across her face.

The blonde snorted, Elora's retort was perfect. After taking a couple of seconds to regain her composure Katoka gestured to the both of them, "Elora, this is Chase. We did a material gathering quest not that long ago. He's a good guy despite his goopy appearance, his familiar is adorable too. Chase, this is Elora. We're in Firm Anima together and just recently began powering through some quests together. She's funny, pretty, and will kick your ass so don't get any ideas." she chided the blue haired man at the end.

"I wasn't here terribly long, but if you want to make it up to me later you can buy me dinner." she gave the elven woman a smug smile, "Now put your sticky helmet back on and lets go hunt some bad elves shall we?" she patted chase on the back roughly, that's what guys did right?

The samurai marched out of the town, hoping the two followed her. "Crap, did I actually say she was pretty out loud? I hope that didn't upset her." she thought as her face turned bright red.

The blonde was grateful to the silent woman for her help in the dark, once the bats had dove at them and missed Katoka called out for the girl to try and get her attention.

"Hello? Little girl we're here to take you back to your mother!" she called, the loud screeching of the bats mixed with her voice seemed to not disturb anymore enemies. She heard the calls and foot falls of a child before too long signaling that her plan had managed to work. She turned to the two bats and drew her katana in a swift motion, "And now for these two."

By the light of her charging sword art Katoka pinpointed the two bats as they swooped back down and attempted to attack Shirayuki, however they managed to catch the full length of her blade instead. As the tow creatures fell to the floor and shattered to pieces the blonde flicked her wrist in a motion to fling the digital blood from her blade and returned it to it's saya.

♫ Dance Off Boss Battle: Start! ♫

"Sorry!" Katoka called out, "I panicked!" she turned her attention to the Mariachi Elf man before her. "You sir, are odd and I hate to do this to you." she once again attacked the elf and cleaved him clean in two, his instrument falling to the ground and shattering along with the halves of his body. Of course this caused the dragon to react, calling out in elvish to summon two more cultists from the woods around them. They too seemed ready for battle, both with weapons and music. Suddenly music seemed to come from all around as the elves prepared themselves. "Aw hell, is it dance off time?"

Katoka sheathed her blade and began to shuffle a but back and forth to the beat before she went down on her hands, spinning her legs around and rolling to her back. The samurai had begun to breakdance as more elves seemed to emerge from the woods to watch, the rest of the crowd didn't seem as hostile while she performed. Once she had returned to her feet she reached over to Elora and tagged her, "Your turn! Make sure you attack the dragon first though or we'll be dancing all damn day!"

She hadn't really noticed Chase until he approached her, and until he had spoken Katoka wasn't sure what the man approaching her wanted. Once she recognized his voice her face contorted as she tried not to laugh, "Chase? What the hell are you wearing?" she tried to drink some of her coffee to stop the laughter bubbling up but after she swallowed she couldn't help it anymore.

"I--I 'm sorry! Pffft, I just--I don't know what I'm seeing here." once she collected herself she finally responded to him. "Yes, me and a friend are starting the Treant quest for the item drop. You interested in tagging along?"

After she finished Elora slid into place next to her out of breath, the blonde giggled and responded, "Yeah I'm fine, ran into an old blueberry that might join us if he isn't busy." she rubbed the green haired woman's back as she caught her breath, "Did you run all the way here?"

Katoka's hand gripped her sword tight as she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She recognized the two humanoids as they stepped out of the woods, their pointed ears and clothing looked exactly like the the people she had seen outside Horunka. She whispered to Freyd as they spoke to Elora, "Wait, these are elves? Do they uh, show up on any other floors besides this one?"

She wasn't sure what to do, they weren't hostile at the moment and seemed to be convinced their companion was one of them. This seemed like a prime moment to strike, taking a deep breath the samurai began to bend her knees ever so slightly until she was in a fighting stance. She launched herself forward like she had done back in the caves with Vie and Hisa. One second she was with the party and the next she was behind the elf with her sword drawn. She didn't feel as fast as she had then, but she still managed land a hit on the male elf.

"Damn." she cursed as she realized her strike wasn't quite what she'd intended, "I really need to practice more." The elf cried out in pain and Katoka saw a dragon emerge from the bushes just ahead of her. It cried out in what she assumed was elven to the two and they readied their weapons, though she was certain they would have drawn their weapons regardless of what the scaly bastard had said.

"Now is the time guys! I might have pissed them off a smidge!"

Katoka laughed at Freyd's message and reopened her notes on the familiar hunt. She had done research back at the guild hall and after looking at many different creatures she had finally settled on one that she thought fit her. She had found out that there was a type of dragon that hid in an area of the forest that held several sakura trees, it had a fairly long body and antlers that had sakura blossoms blooming from it.

After making double checking her notes she decided she should get out her supplies for the hunt. She ate her cookies, played the familiar song, sprayed the pheromones, and pulled out the spyglass. "Jeez, there's so much. Hopefully this will make things easier though, I've heard some horror stories." she shuddered remembering Freyd's tale of Persi. "Please Cardinal, don't screw me over. I'd like this to go as easy as possible." the blonde said looking up to the floor's ceiling.

-------

Katoka consumes Hazelnut Cookie Rounds
           Effect: +2 LD
Katoka activates Familiar Song
           Effect: +2 LD when attempting to find a familiar
Katoka activates Pheromones
           Effect: +1 CD when attempting to tame a familiar
Katoka uses Spy Glass
           Effect: -5 from post count requirements for Dungeons/Familiars

The town of Florenthia was beautiful this time of day. It wasn't quite the hottest time of the day so the air was a comfortably warm, players and NPCs went about their business from the buildings and shops as a short blonde woman stood in the middle of the commotion. She was waiting to see if an old woman passed by like she was told, according to the information she gathered it was about this time of day that she bought food from a stall before moving on to a different area.

Just as she had been told Katoka saw the woman wrapped in a shawl and wearing an elegant dress that stood out in the crowd. "There you are." she said aloud before pushing through the people to meet her. As she approached it seemed like the woman honed in on her intent and turned to face the samurai. "Hello young lady. Would you like to join me for lunch? I have a tale to tell if you're interested."

Katoka sat with the woman as she told her about her younger days taming beasts of the forest. She explained that with the right food and enough determination, that she could also find a familiar of her own to help her. The little blonde nodded and told the woman, "I would love to find my partner, someone that can be there for me." the old woman smiled and a window popped up in from of the samurai. She accepted the quest prompt and the old woman offered her a small pouch, "This my dear is the <<Familiar Food>> you will need. I wish you luck, many have tried and failed to find their other half."

Katoka felt a slight twinge in her heart but shook it off. Thanking the woman she left the bench they had sat down at and made her way to an area near the entrance to town. She opened her game menu end proceeded to send a message to her guild mate that had a harrowing familiar hunt of his own.

"That should get a chuckle from under his goofy hood. Now we wait." she said aloud to herself.

Katoka | HP:440/440 | EN:44/44 | DMG:10 | EVA:1 | ACC:2 | LD:1 | BLD:12 | REC:2

@Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

The blonde blushed slightly, had they really done that well the the trebuchet? "I mean, all I did was cut down some guys and then crawled inside a giant war machine to cut it apart from the inside. No big deal." she waved her hand in front of her dismissing the thought of being any sort of hero this early on.

"What is it you want to accomplish?" This question hit Katoka hard. She missed a step for a moment but quickly regained her pace. What did she want? What was her end goal? Of course everyone wanted to get the hell out of this game but what did she want? Probably the same thing she set out to do when she left the Town of Beginnings for the first time.

"Normalcy." she said in a monotone voice as if she was deep in thought. "I want to live, not rot away like my actual body is. I've already started to get there. I'm fighting, getting stronger. Hell I have a house now. A house!" she gestured wildly in the air. "Next maybe someone to go home to." she said softly.

"As for in the guild? I want to help for once, not be the one being helped. If that means getting out on the frontlines or picking up a profession to craft stuff, I can do whatever." she let out a sigh, "I don't even know what I want to do for a profession. What do we even need? I feel like we have one of everything at this point."

Realizing she had begun to rant she turned a bright pink and pulled her scarf up over her mouth, "I'm sorry, I might have gone off a bit there."

Standing near the entrance of Delilah, the main settlement of the third floor, stood a short blonde samurai woman. She was nursing a cup of coffee while she waited for her friend to arrive so they could partake in a quest in the area. It was early enough that there was still the slight bite of cold in the air, but not so early that no one was up. There were a few players here and there getting an early start to their day and many of the local npc shop keepers getting set up. Katoka stood watch as her drink warmed her hands, keeping an eye out for Elora she took another sip of her drink.

Katsumi wasn't much of a coffee person before getting trapped in SAO, Freyd had brought some on multiple occasions now and she had gotten used to starting the day with it. The brew she had today was sweetened with sugar that the locals harvest from a plant on this floor, it was an interesting flavor that she enjoyed. She made a mental note to try and find some to take home at a later time, "Maybe I should find some sort of coffee maker, or press, or something. Otherwise this is going to become an expensive habit."

Vanity Tag: @Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows

@Elora @ChaseR

Katoka | HP:440/440 | EN:44/44 | DMG:10 | EVA:1 | ACC:2 | LD:1 | BLD:12 | REC:2

Katoka was pleased with the two martial artist's progress. They both managed to deal with their foes without too much intervention from the samurai and they both got their respected gems. The blonde even managed to pull off an attack that she didn't know she had in her, something that she was going to have to look into practicing more at a later date. As the group traveled back to the Town of Beginnings she congratulated the two on their hard work, "You both did really well, you'll be out there on the front lines punching with the best of them before too long." she laughed and beamed at them.

The warmth she felt inside her for her two friends was something she never wanted to leave, and she hoped that the two of them felt the same way. When the party finally returned to the artists her two red headed companions turned in their gems and received packages from Hannah in return. The told them that she needed one last favor in the form of them delivering that package to a fisherman at a nearby lake. This prompted the current quests end awarded the two their rewards.

"Nice job you two! Just one more left and you'll finally be done with the tutorial!" she patted them both on the head affectionately.

Thread Summary

Hisa & Vie:

4 SP (2 Quest + 1 Thread + 1 Event)

1 Tier one ring with +1 Accuracy or, 1 Tier one Amulet with  +1 Evasion

Katoka:

2 SP (1 Thread + 1 Event)

All Receive:

400 Col (133 per player)