Astreya

Astreya gave a small smile toward the violet-haired girl as she approached, nodding before she looked past her to Koga as well, her smile extending to the man as well.  The first question came from Nari, and she turned her eyes back out toward the figure.  They were distant, and Astreya couldn't really make out any details about them, but all the same they seemed to be enjoying themselves.  "Just like, watching whoever that is out there," she noted, even as Nari began to follow to see where she was looking, and soon both of them were looking.  "I don't know, but like... if it's a player we should probably let them know what's going on," she mused quietly.

She glanced back to Koga, noting that he only greeted her- and that the violet woman at her side had received only the briefest and barest of acknowledgements.  Something had definitely happened- she just didn't know what.  Unfortunately, now was not the time to be digging into their shared history.  "So like, the monster is called Absolute Zero.  Apparently from like, what I was able to pick up from that NPC in there," she mused, nodding toward the nearby White Rabbit Tavern, "When the system like, went all dark awhile ago and everything updated...there was a lesser monster or something?  Anyway, after the update, there was totally a way worse one."

She pointed out to where the snowstorm was intensifying, heading toward the lake.  "It's apparently really dangerous.  But like, it only comes out when those snowstorms start... so we should go and make sure that's not like some sorta... extra Quest NPC to like, save or whatever?  Or a player, too.  I totally don't want anyone caught in the crossfire," she spoke, beaming her usual sunny smile toward the both of them, trying to keep the mood uplifted... even with the two of her companions seeming to have a veritable wall of friction between them.  "All I was able to like, dig up elsewise is that it does some area of effect stuff, so like.. we'll need to be careful," she mused, beginning to take advantage of some Buffs she'd brought along with her.  "I like, don't have enough for everyone...sorry.  Hopefully it's like, not as scary as it seems?" she spoke, beginning to head out toward the frozen lake where the oncoming storm continued to approach.

"Nari if you want to like, take point, I'll back you up on tanking.  Koga, just beat its ass, yeah?" she added with a grin.

---

As they drew closer, it was clear that it was a player, and not an NPC, which only made Astreya begin to move more quickly.  "Heyyyy!  There's a monster coming!" she called toward the woman on the lake, unware of her true identity even as a form could be seen within the shadows of the storm, lumbering ever-closer.

--

Astreya uses-
Divinity's Wait | +45 MIT | 178263-1
Immolation Potion | +40 Thorns Damage | General Store
Field Rations | +12% MHP | General Store

Astreya | HP: 828/828 | EN: 106/106 | DMG: 19 | MIT: 167 | EVA: 0 | ACC: 4 | BH: 41 | LD: 1 | Taunt: 1 | Thorns: 40

Astreya had to physically stop herself from facepalming at Astralin's scream of surprise.  This marked the second time she had mentioned something that had been taken way too far and caused some problems for a particular individual.  Interestingly enough, both of them were based around holidays as well.  Last time it had been telling Nari about the body language showed by Koga and Kasumi at the Christmas Party.

This time it was about Morningstar's history.  It had been rather thoughtless and careless of her to mention it- how would she have reacted to something similar being spoken of her?  Something that was about her history that she might not care to relive or remember.  Unfortunately for Morningstar, she had a very good eye for faces- it sort of came with the territory of reading people's expressions and such things- you innately tended to memorize how they looked in general, even if it was something in passing.

There was a not-quite-awkward silence that followed the three as they'd gotten their food and moved out to the gardens to watch the sunset, and Astreya merely looked on, trying her damnedest not to mentally berate herself for it.  She reasoned that her opponent in the arena hadn't been particularly plussed about speaking about his past or the fact that he'd been in movies.  In fact, he had almost encouraged it, offering up a few movies here and there in response- she had assumed he was fine with it.

Apparently she'd made an ass out of herself.

Eventually, as the sun faded into the darkness and the stars began to shine, Morningstar spoke up again, and she nodded toward him.  "Yeah...I think, like, all of us are kind of in that boat, y'know?  Used to be someone, or something," she mused, giving a gentle smile out at to where the sunset had vanished.  She reached out, setting a hand on Astralin's shoulder, turning her gaze more directly to Morningstar.  "Like...sorry.  I didn't realize Astra would like...freak out," she spoke, giving a small grin toward the blonde girl.

"You must've, like, not watched as many movies as I did, huh?" she asked, the grin widening as she tried to add into Morningstar's joke to lighten the mood a little bit again.

Post Action: Foraging
ID: 205440
LD: 10 (Failure!  Are you kidding me!) | +4 EXP
CD: N/A

----

The words spoken were something important, to Nari.  The change in tone and the way they were said convinced Astreya of that even before the full message was made clear.  She... couldn't empathize with it, not in full.  Of course, there were things that even as the two women were close, they didn't know everything about one another.  Several things stayed shrouded in the shadows, unable to be shown.

But as she seemed to finally realize just where the conversation had gone, Nari shifted, reaching over to a nearby flower bush.  The young woman grinned a little as she arched a brow, not entirely sure where this was going up until Nari came forward, sliding the tulip up into her hair.  The words that followed mostly just brought amusement to Astreya's features, rolling her eyes a little bit at the second as the grin widened.  The flower language for tulips was for love, although Astreya herself wasn't entirely sure if the girl meant that, but given the words she'd spoken alongside of presenting the flower, maybe there was more to it.  Or maybe Astreya was reading too much into it.

She knew Nari was trying to spare the darker bits of the conversation, and so she wouldn't go fully back into it, but instead Astreya moved past her, heading toward a small little pond, examining her reflection in the mirror.  "Hmm...like, not bad," she admitted, giving herself a slight once over.  "I think I might, like maybe work some purple into the black and blue wardrobe," she spoke, giving a small grin before she turned back to her friend.

"We'll, like, totally move on, but let me, like, say one thing, too.  Like, we're both going to be on the front lines, right?  And we're both planning to like, tank things.  We'll be in the hot seat.  Let's just like, promise to cover one another, right?  All the way, all the time," she spoke, offering her hands to the other girl.  "We'll like, not leave one another, or anyone else, behind."

The words that came from Nari were ones that Astreya herself had fought with over and over again.  It had taken her years to get the strength and the courage to leave the Town of Beginnings.  Two updates had flown through in that time and each time, she had woken up back in this world after hoping that might be the end.  That it would be all over.  But she was still here, and each time it happened, it strengthened her resolve.

Part of her wondered, as it often did when confronted with things that she felt were too similar or too close to home, if this wasn't just Nari trying to try and make Astreya come to terms with her own weaknesses or her own thoughts.  Of course, Nari did seem to be genuinely upset with this, and the rash of narcissism vanished as soon as it had appeared, the sapphire gaze watching her friend, even as a calm smile rested on her own features.

"I know that.  Like, I've seen the way you've grown, and totally heard the way you talk now.  You've, like, definitely grown past Koga's party," she spoke, giving a small laugh toward the girl.  "But like, has enough changed?  Right now, like, all those people are sitting at home and totally waiting for you to return...but if you don't totally, like, grab this with your own hands, then you're just the people back at the Town of Beginnings," Astreya spoke, the gaze almost unblinking, the smile on her features as static as her posture.

"If that fear is going to, like, keep you from doing what you need to do on the Front, or like... keep you from performing at your best, then maybe you should like... y'know, totally sit and see if you can find where your goals are, y'know?  No one's wrong- everyone's just, like, different in what they want.  And if you, like, wanna spend time with the people you care about, then I'll just work extra hard to, like, make sure you get out too," she spoke, beaming a smile onto her friend.  She was definitely scared of dying... but the horror of being stuck here outweighed that fear, and she'd greet it with a smile.

Astreya could tell that Dustin wasn't really... intending to do this kiss.  He wasn't trying to actually try and be weird.  There hadn't been enough feeling or attempt in what he'd been trying, but that didn't mean that it hadn't been done.  She fixed him with an annoyed look after bringing her gaze back from Freyd, releasing him just in time for Nari to begin to speak.  

The cold, even tone was seemingly odd, to Astreya.  She wasn't used to seeing her violet-haired friend this way, but despite the fact that it was a stark contrast to the usual way the woman presented herself, Astreya wasn't put that much off-guard.  Part of the reason was the instigator to this whole debacle- Freyd.  The man had shown himself to be incredibly silly and fun... and at the same time, cold and distant as the night sky.  So to see Nari go through a similar sort of state almost just made her wonder how similar she was to the man.  But at her threat, Dustin seemed to answer with just as much as much lack of emotion.  

A void staring into a void.  

And then both were gone, Dustin giving a smile and a thumbs-up again, apologizing for his actions while Nari had indicated to Astreya that her issue would be something that they would talk about at a later time.  The raven-haired young woman exhaled slowly as she gave a smile toward them both, even as she took a step back away.  "Okay...we all good?" she asked, even as Nari went on ahead, calling on after them.  Astreya frowned as she looked after her friend, before the sound of a female voice caught her ears. 

She paused, realizing that Freyd was not with them anymore.  Or...was that...?

Confusion was met with confusion at the sudden change in the figure that she knew.  Just when she had thought she'd seen into the shallow end if the inky pool that was Freyd, she realized she was just looking at the misty spray.  This was a whole new bit of concern for her, but all the same... she was pretty sure it was still Freyd under all of that finery.  And curves.  And heels??

Taking a moment to process what was said by Frey(a?), Astreya glanced over to Dustin who seemed to have pulled quite a few sweets out of his inventory, and the girl, despite herself, was nonetheless happy to see such things as they followed along with Nari a bit further, but she merely returned the sticking out of the tongue at being called 'stupid' by Dustin, not entreating it with a response before she glanced back to the figure that had once been Freyd's.

"So, not to like, ruin anything but like... how do you know that?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.  Or maybe he (she?) didn't, and it was just setting the stage, to add in a sense of belief that such is what had occurred.  These rumors were weird enough that it very well might be the case- Astreya herself had no idea.  "Unless there's like... some big hints I'm totally missing?" she asked.

Astreya paused slightly, looking back over to the woman as she spoke.  They were quiet and with a distinct lack of confidence.  They weren't something practiced aloud.  Perhaps considered, but never spoken.  And as Nari continued, the dark-haired woman stood off to the side, her gaze distant, focused on some point off on the horizon as the words fell upon her.  Her jaw clenched for a moment- whether in anger, in disappointment or perhaps even just disbelief, Astreya wasn't even sure herself.  The feeling came on with such a suddenness that she refused to let it see light, clamping her teeth around the discontent, forcing it back into the bowels of her soul.

To Astreya, this world, Aincrad, wasn't real.  It was a game.  They were all trapped in here against their will, and the real world was outside.  The digital environment around them was impeccable, and incredibly detailed, but it was still fake.  The friendships and bonds formed were certainly present...but they would persist into the real world.

The vitriol was harder to swallow than she expected, actually taking a few seconds to do so, but she vocalized a 'hmmmm' aloud as she did so, as if to let Nari know that she was thinking about it, rather than trying not to speak the feelings uncensored.  It was no more than five seconds or so, but to Astreya it felt like minutes were ticking by as she gathered her thoughts to present in a way that conveyed her feelings without being swallowed by the emotion that spawned them.

"So like our other friends, like Bismuth and junk?" Astreya asked, turning on her heel to look to Nari, giving her a small grin.  "Naw, I get it.  Like, cause like... if you or I went and the other didn't and like, something happened...it'd be really sad," she spoke, the grin fading into a more somber expression as she continued.  "And I get that, because like, it's really scary.". She paused then, breathing a small sigh before looking back to Nari.  

"But, and like, this is gonna come out all negative but I don't mean it to... it's like, really kind of selfish, y'know?  Which like, it's good to be," she spoke, following up her statement with a quick flurry of words to avoid any sort of repercussion here.  "But I'm not like, planning on tackling the Front Lines for me.  If you like, head back to the Town of Beginnings and just kinda...look around.  There's like, hundreds of people there, that are all waiting to get out, but they're scared.  They want to go home," the girl spoke, looking to Nari.  "And I don't know that one person's doubts should like, outweigh all of that, y'know?"

The young woman spread her hands.  "But it's not like I'm the only voice, too.  If like, the time with other people here is like, more valuable to you than freeing the people here, I totally can't fault you for that.  Everyone like, has their own priorities, y'know?  But I'll be on the Front Lines," she murmured.

Post Action: Foraging
ID: 205423
LD: 10 (Failure! +4 EXP)
CD: 10 (N/A)

------

The grandeur of the garden almost led Astreya to forget the bits that Nari had asked her a little about her own past- given the chess and such, and then upon responding had dropped it... but not wholly.  Of course, she didn't hold it against the girl.  In the normal flow of conversation, going back and forth, she would have expected it, but Nari was still someone that struggled a bit with the act of conversation, it seemed.  She'd admitted such when they'd first met, and she'd certainly gotten better, but it was still quite jarring, at times, the differences in the way that the two communicated.

Still, on the other side of the little portal, the beauty of it all made Astreya smile, a genuine appreciation for the natural beauty on her face.  It was easy to forget that it was all just digital, here.  But as Nari spoke, the girl blinked, giving her a sunny, genuine smile at the thoughts.  "Why not, like, all three?" she asked with a small grin.  She didn't know if the last one was intended as a joke or not, but sunbathing would probably be the most 'normal' thing she'd done in a long time.

She could feel Nemo's gaze on her as she looked at some of the flowers and other herbs, but as of yet she didn't pick anything, caught off-guard by the sudden question from her friend.  "Yeah!  I still like, need to get everyone out of here, y'know?" she spoke, beaming a smile at her friend.  But as she continued, into the second part, Astreya paused, tilting her head to the side in confusion.  "What do you mean?  What's like, unworthy about it?" she asked.  There was no accusation in her tone- just genuine curiosity.

Astreya had grinned widely at Jomei as he'd greeted her, the woman coming closer to the Irishman with a little hop as she drew closer, her hands folded behind her back.  She was still in her normal attire, but she'd be sure to switch to her armored gear as soon as they were ready to go.  "Yeah!  I think the only one is..." she began, when Oji introduced himself, and she beamed a sunny smile at the older fellow's direction.  "Nice to meet you.  I'm Astreya!" she spoke, nodding as she gave him a small once over.  His gaze moved past her then, and she turned, glancing over her shoulder to see Nari coming closer, and she excitedly lifted a hand in a wave toward the other.  "Heyyy! Nari!" she called, grinning as the other came closer, indicating the issue with her alarm.

"Girl, you're burning the midnight oil too much.  Like, I know you totally wanna get to the front lines but like, you gotta take it easy," the woman spoke, frowning slightly as she lightly chastised her friend, frowning.  "Make sure you like, get more sleep, y'know?" she continued, before glancing back toward the other two in their group.  

"Yeah, same!" she spoke, looking to Jomei.  "I heard it drops a really cool tanking thing so I like, totally want it," she added with a grin.  

Still, she was somewhat curious about this new person she didn't know very well.  Obviously, she'd seen him back at Koga's party, but she hadn't had a chance to introduce herself then.  "If you're, like, a friend of Nari's too, then that's awesome!  Let's, like, all go together and have some fun with it, yeah?" she spoke, bouncing slightly in place with that seemingly endless unspent energy.

Dustin's response gave Astreya a wide grin- she liked that easy-going, heart-on-his-sleeve style.  He didn't really hold anything back, and just was very willing to put his thoughts out there.  She couldn't help but want to comment on it, regarding the fact around ghosts and spirits and undead in general, but it was then that Nari began to stand a little more upright.

Nari seemed to be the one leading the charge, as it were, and began to lead the group out toward the North.  There was something different in her countenance and the way she held herself, but Astreya herself didn't comment on such a thing, merely just giving her friend a small smile as she followed along, moving with her own steady gait.  She also didn't miss the small pause when it came to speaking on when she'd been to this place- and a curiosity rose inside of her.  

Astreya lingered closer as the violet guardian's words continued, and she was about to speak, to offer some thought on the matter and to inquire about this friend of hers.  But the large, almost silly smile that Astreya wore froze as Nari suddenly turned on a heel, addressing them all with a stern countenance.  The girl blinked in response, confusion mixing with indignation, uncertainty, sadness but most of all curiosity at what had happened that had caused this sudden paradigm shift within her.  Or perhaps this was just a new facet of her, like a newly-discovered gemstone that one turned this way and that, discovering new and different parts of it with each look.  

Her mind flickered to Freyd.  Their first meeting, he had been rather cheerful around them and Marv.  The second, he'd started much the same but a hair trigger had turned him into a killer...and then back to something a bit more silly against the Minotaur.  Then had been the tournament where he'd played the goofball.  Perhaps Nari was no different- quiet and shy like a mouse, with slowly gained confidence... only to show her fangs here, briefly.  How genuinely interesting.

All of that went on behind the slightly uncomfortable smile that Astreya wore in the wake of that announcement.  "Hey, Nari, you okay?" she spoke, frowning as she came closer to her friend, even as she could hear the boys talking behind her.  She blinked, casting an incredulous look at Freyd for his suggestion.  She supposed that maybe he was just trying to summon the ghost, but choosing Nari when she was clearly upset at the moment was a touch off-putting.

Being still right next to Nari in wanting to find out what was troubling her friend, she gave a small frown toward Dustin as he approached, and even as he tapped Nari on her shoulder, the raven-haired woman's eyes narrowed at the new individual that was coming forward to try to act on Freyd's words, before a gauntleted hand came forward, her mailed palm pressing against Dustin's face. "Back off," the girl spoke evenly, a slightly icy edge to her normally pleasant tone.  "Don't listen to bad ideas from Freyd," the girl continued, turning her look from Dustin to Freyd, shifting from annoyance to incredulity.

Post Action: Foraging!
ID: 205336
LD: 9 (Failure! | +4 EXP)
CD: N/A

----

"Yeah!  He's like, near the far side of, like, the Town of Beginnings from where mine is but like, I still go and visit him now and then.  You shoulda setup shop on the First Floor too so we totally could've been neighbors!" the girl spoke, beaming one of her sunny smiles over at the blacksmith.

It was then that Nari seemed to pick up on the chess bit and the dark-haired girl gave a teasing little smile over at her friend, about to poke some fun at her for not thinking that Astreya could play chess but Nari immediately let her own words run together, trying to dispel any potential insult before it happened.  "Yeah!  Well, like, I do sports too.  Volleyball setter and like, Cheerleading captain," the girl spoke, beaming a smile over toward Nari.  "But also regional chess champ!  Took third at State but like, that wasn't enough to get to Nationals or whatever," the girl spoke, shaking her head slightly.

"But like, no harm or anything. I get that a lot, if you can, like, believe it," she continued, grinning a little at Nari before they paused just outside of the gates to the garden.  "Yeah!" she agreed, with Nari vanishing first.  Astreya didn't take long to follow up, appearing just beside her in the vast garden, with Nemo just ahead of them.

"Man, this place is so cool," she spoke, excitement on her features as she hopped forward, looking all around.  "I wonder if, like, I'll find some cool stuff this time?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

The messages came in nearly back-to-back to the young woman.  She was at the edge of Snowfrost, having walked out through the edge of of the town toward the great white wilderness beyond.  With some relief, she was glad to note that there were two of the three that she'd sent out that had responded to her.  Nothing from Freyd, but that was fine- he was likely busy with everything going on.  For some reason, the young woman felt more subdued than she normally did- she wasn't sure if it was the cool winter air or if there was some other forces at work.

Quote

To: Nari-Lanreth
From: Astreya
Message: Heyyy!  I'm off at the West side of town.  I already got the quest picked up from the NPC.  There's a lake over this way that's got the storm brewing so the boss has to be close!

With that done, she couldn't help but to find amusement at the short message from Koga.

Quote

To: Koga
From: Astreya
Message: I'm off on the West part of Snowfrost!  I got the quest already, just ready to go kick some monster butt!

The young woman nodded to herself, sending the message off to Koga as well.  

Standing at the edge of town with her back to it, the raven-haired maiden looked off toward the distance toward the oncoming storm.  The monster would be here soon, and they'd need to deal with it to help the townsfolk here.  However, as she looked out over toward it, she realized that here was someone on the ice.  She blinked, tilting her head to the side as he watched, curious what they were doing out there.  Was that another NPC? Maybe someone to rescue as part of the quest as a whole?  

She glanced back over her shoulder for a moment, toward the center of town before her eyes cast back out to the lake, just watching  the figure.  They were small, from how far away Astreya was, but the clear winter sky afforded no obstruction as she merely watched, waiting for he friends to show.

The evening was settling in around her, and the young woman exhaled slowly, enjoying the slight lull in the nonsense that had been going on in her life lately.  Not that she really minded- it allowed her to forget she was stuck in a digital prison- but all the same, it was nice to just get to relax a little bit and wind down on her own.  The woman's gaze was on the chess sets that were in her shop.

She'd spent more time doing this lately than she did actually working on her music, but that was fine.  She didn't really much care.  They were only now getting into the twenty-seventh floor.  They had to break one hundred to get out.

The thought of that made her want to crawl up inside of herself and just...cry.  She hated it here, in this game.  This hell.  She wanted to be out and free and just...back to her normal life.  Whenever she did get out, she wasn't going to touch another game.  Ever.  She'd decided this one time to try one, and look where it had gotten her.  Stuck inside here.  Probably forever.

Her throat constricted and she felt like she was about to cry, to let her inner weakness show for a moment, but at that exact time, a sudden message alert came in.  Her eyes flickered to her HUD, accessing the message before letting her gaze flicker over it.  Nari.  The girl was one of her close friends here...and one of the people that she was able to communicate with and be close to on a regular basis.  She exhaled- she was so tired, and so done, and she just wanted to be out of this place.

She looked over her message with a flat expression on her face, frowning as she reread it a second time, making sure that she didn't miss anything before she sent it over, leaning back as she looked back toward the chess set.  "Check," she spoke quietly, to no one as she moved the bishop, placing the opposing king in danger.  She stood slowly, rubbing at her face.  She supposed she should try to sleep.  It's not like she had any customers besides Nari- no one would mess with this while she was gone.

----

As soon as she popped out of the teleporter, Astreya blinked as she looked around, glancing around for Nari, setting her hand over her eyes to blot out the harsh sun.  It'd been a little while since she'd been here, but all the same, she was interested in this quest.  Supposedly it had a really good item drop for tanks- and that's what she was after.

However as he looked, a familiar face caught her attention first.  "Jomei!  Heyyy!" she called cheerfully, beaming a smile that rivaled the aggressive sun as she hopped forward, even as she belatedly processed what the other man had said as he moved closer to Jomei.  She recalled seeing him at Koga's party, and that the two of them had chatted for a bit.  But the older guy mentioned Nari, and she tilted her head to the side.  "Wait did Nari, like, totally invite you both too?" she asked, unable to help a small grin.

--------

Statblock-

Astreya couldn't help but to be a little pleased to let one friend of hers meet another.  She knew that it wasn't always going to be people being nice to one another and that there might be some issues here and there, but Freyd was someone that had extended his hand when she'd first really needed help early on, even if it had mostly been accidentally through Marv.

Nari was being rather formal and polite, which she assumed was mostly just due to her own discomfort, but she didn't poke any fun at the girl for it- it was just an amusing sort of thing to see.  "What?  A ghost!  Oh man, that's, like, so cool!" she cheered, excited for something like that.  First Fey, now Ghosts?  What was up with this place?

Her gaze flickered over toward Freyd as the man mentioned a ruckus during Baldur's whole thing and she blinked.  She had missed that. She'd known that Nari had lost her fight against the other woman, NIGHT, and from there, she had left.  Astreya had just assumed that she'd been upset about her loss and the girl had been a little... busy with everything following and hadn't had a chance to follow up.  But she didn't ask Nari about it, not right yet.  Maybe later, when they had some time with just the two of them.

Astreya's gaze flickered back to Freyd, feeling his mischievous eyes on her and she gave him a smug little smirk.  She'd get him when he wasn't expecting it.

"Dustin?  Glue?" Astreya asked, tilting her head a little to the side before beaming at the fellow with a sunny smile.  "I'm Astreya!  Or Iris.  Whichever works," the girl spoke, waving a hand in front of her face as if to dispel something unpleasant.  

She gave a small 'hrm' of thought in response to Freyd's supposition, before a confused smile over at Dustin.  "Y'know, like 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' or like, something to that effect.  NPC that's dead but like, too angry to really die, y'know?"  She paused, considering his words for a moment.  "Not sure if like...you can kill something that's already dead..?"

"But anyway, like, let's go!  I'm ready for adventure!" she cheered, taking a few steps outward, before pausing.  "So like, which way's the garden again?"

"Dating a movie star would, like, totally be pretty awesome for at least a couple of weeks," the girl responded with a small grin.  She imagined that all of the other things that came along with that though... would be a huge pain in the neck.  But there could be some serious fifteen minutes of fame involved in that.  "But that's cute- I like that," she added in with a smile at his words, beaming a small smile as she came along with her friend and Star toward the food.

"Thank you again for putting this on!" the girl cheered toward Baldur, giving him a wide, sunny smile. "This is like, the coolest thing I think I've ever done," the girl spoke, clearly meaning within the game, but she wouldn't mind if it was taken another way as well.  The girl grabbed a plate with several bits of food- it had been awhile since she'd had something that wasn't sweets, but all the same she supposed she should try it.  

She also waved cheerily at Jomei, seeing him talk with Baldur, as they went past, just wanting to make sure he knew she was there.

As they made their way out to the gardens and the sunset began, she looked on with a bit of a heavy heart for a moment.  This, as neat as it looked, was just digital.  It wasn't 'real' and that nearly dampened the mood for her until Morningstar asked the question about the two girls.  "Just happened to, like, bump into each other on a Quest.  We recently, like, met back up at a party.  And we need to totally hang out more," she spoke, grinning at the other girl.

Post Action: Foraging
ID: 205248
LD: 9 (Fail! | +3 EXP)
CD: N/A

-----

"Heyyy, nice job!" Astreya called over toward Bismuth as he managed to take out the two remaining ones, leaving her with an amused look on her face.  She wasn't entirely sure that he had been aware of what he was doing- he'd just jumped into help without really realizing what was going on.  That was fine- she didn't much mind that at all.  It was nice to have someone to count on, even if they weren't too sure of themselves in combat.  "Looks like you got all the cool loot though!" she cheered, giving him a wide grin.

She didn't really mind, herself.  It was fine if he did- he was way lower level than she was so anything that he could get might help to get him further along.  "No problem at all!" she agreed, beaming a smile his way, before she glanced over to where Nemo was still standing, and the man seemed to be more than a little...frustrated.

"I'd like to ask that you try not to harm any more of the creatures here."

"Well like...so long as they don't attack first, that's fine," the girl spoke, tilting her head to the side slightly as she looked at the man, unsure if he was serious or not.  He definitely seemed serious, and she wasn't sure why.  He didn't really expect them to just let the monsters keep going to town on them, did he?

Astreya | HP: 720/720 | EN: 65/104 | DMG: 17 | MIT: 122 | EVA: 0 | ACC: 3 | Taunt: 2 | BH: 35
Bismuth | HP: 280/280 | EN: 46/46 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 20 | EVA: 4 | ACC: 1 | LD: 6 | BLD: 24

Craft Roll [1/4] - 205241
CD: 12 (Perfect!) | +9 Exp
LD: 15 (Not Masterpiece)

Craft Roll [2/4] - 205242
CD: 4 (Failure!) | +2 Exp
LD: N/A

Craft Roll [3/4] - 205243
CD: 3 (Failure!) | +2 Exp
LD: N/A

Craft Roll [4/4] - 205244 
CD: 11 (Rare!) | +6 Exp
LD: N/A

The weight of the world- a planet of her own making- rested upon Astreya's shoulders.  She was tired- she wanted to get some time to relax and have some with people and enjoy things but man.  If this party hadn't just drained her of all of that in a hurry.  She took a slow breath, before felt the light pat on her head and blinked, looking down at Nari.  "Huh?" she asked quizzically in response to the girl's words.  

Dammit.  Dammit. 

She'd let the weight of it rest too heavily on her shoulders, and now she had tipped her hand to someone that she just met.  "I'm like, totally fine- I was just trying to like, help you out a bit, let you breathe a little, y'know?" she spoke, beaming a smile at the shorter woman even as Iris released her, taking a slight step backward.  "Well the Blackjack kinda, like, looks like it fell apart," she spoke, nodding to where Gaius was excusing himself from the conversation to go over toward Koga and the others.  "But like, I still need to talk to everyone, you're right!" she cheered.

The woman bounced a little in place, her own excitement starting to push through a bit as she looked around toward those who were here, noting the new person and...NIGHT?  Iris was pretty sure that was the woman's name, from what Koga had said, heading toward the kitchen.  

"But maybe first, we should like, go check on Astralin?  She looks a little...upset," she spoke, glancing toward the blonde girl that had been chatting arguing with Gaius, even as she began to move.  She saw Kasumi start to wear a more genuine expression as her face lit up bright red, even as the aforementioned chef decided that he was going to take a break.  She waved at him as he moved past, sitting down- he looked as exhausted as Astreya felt.

"Astralinnnn!" she called as she hopped over toward the blonde.  "Are you, like, okay?" she asked, cocking her head to the side a little, stuffing down all of her own issues as far deep as they would go.

What she hadn't expected was Bismuth coming in to try and fight as well- that hadn't at all been part of the plan.  Not that she minded, of course, keeping the wolves off of her was a nice thing for him to do as that would lighten the load on what she'd have to fight up against.  She shifted her stance, her sapphire gaze watching as he went for three of them, and her rapid flailing around had missed one, but the other two had gotten hit, taking them down.

"Nice one, Bis!" she called out, even as she turned, putting her gaze back onto the creature that was before her.  There were now only two wolves, and distantly, she could see Nemo watching her with a small frown on his features.  Turned out he didn't much care for her taking out the creatures here.  But hey- they'd attacked first.

The injured wolf hung back, and due to that, Astreya really could only reach the closer one that was healthier.  "Come on you!" she called as she moved again, her blade chilling with frost again as she stepped in, striking it- but the wolf didn't seem to even notice as it lunged toward her, its fangs biting down on her armor, even as the other one watched.  "Almost done, Bis!  Sorry!" she called.

Post Action: AoE-1 vs Moss Wolf 2 | 13 EN

ALLIES-
Astreya | HP: 712/720 | EN: 61/104 | DMG: 17 | MIT: 122 | EVA: 0 | ACC: 3 | Taunt: 2 | BH: 35
Bismuth | HP: 280/280 | EN: 46/46 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 20 | EVA: 4 | ACC: 1 | LD: 6 | BLD: 24

ENEMIES-
Moss Wolf 1 | HP: 0/384 | Damage: 128 | (Restore 10% of damage dealt on MD 9-10) | A6 B0
Moss Wolf 2 | HP: 15/384 | Damage: 128 | (Restore 10% of damage dealt on MD 9-10) | A7 B0
Moss Wolf 3 | HP: 17/384 | Damage: 128 | (Restore 10% of damage dealt on MD 9-10) | A6 B1
Moss Wolf 4 | HP: 0/384 | Damage: 128 | (Restore 10% of damage dealt on MD 9-10) | A6 B0

Man.  What a dick.

The thoughts in Astreya's head didn't make it to her features at all, of course, the young woman not wanting to cause an enemy out of a potential ally.  If nothing else, if she could learn what made him tick a little and played to those bits of personality with him, she could at least keep cordial.  Being a friend with a jerk was better than no friend at all, so far as Astreya was concerned.  At Bismuth's notes though, she nodded.  "Yeah!  Supposedly it'll, like, help with a lot of other Quests too!" she cheered.

Still, she laughed a bit at Corvo's "joke," even with the dark humor that it had, before he went onto show the weapon that he used for killing things.  Despite herself, her eyes widened a little bit from the sheer oversized nature of the weapon, and she couldn't help but to be...curious about it.  Did the weapon hit harder because it was so big?  Was he overcompensating for other things?  Maybe he just thought it looked cool?

She wasn't sure, but she was starting to find a few things to ask and pick at him over.  "Well, like yeah!  With an axe that size you don't need to like, worry about much," the girl spoke, shaking her head.  "The game's engine doesn't like, let you hit harder with a bigger weapon, right?" she asked, playing up the part of the fool, mostly just to hear how he answered the question.

However, Bismuth spoke up then and she beamed a smile to the man.  "It's, like, totally good to hear that you're doing well!  Any time you need help, like, just ask!" she cheered, even as the sands began to pick up again.  "All this stupid sand.  Maybe, like, this won't be any fun," she offered, grinning slightly.

Sandstorm Check:
ID 205018
CD: 9 (No damage!)

The girl hummed to herself, getting herself into the thought and mindspace required.  She closed her eyes, knowing the path through the Town of Beginnings without any hesitation, by this point.  Hell, she even really knew the paths the NPCs took most of the time and so she idly shifted this way and that.  All of the information about the people, real or not, kept stored in her mind as she shifted around the NPCs, not even watching where she was going.  Nari, Freyd... and maybe some others?  She saw the other recipients in the list.  She'd just need to keep in mind exactly what she needed to present for herself.

Stepping into the teleporter, she selected the 27th Floor, and as she did so, the girl's face erupted into smiles as she half-stepped, half-hopped out of it, landing in the main town on the floor.  "Ooooh," she spoke, looking around as she came out, her gaze flickering this way and that.  As she did so, she took in the sights, and the players and NPCs both, in the area.  She noted there were few people here, but of them, two she recognized immediately.  

"Nari~!  Hey~!  Freyd!" she called, beaming a wide smile as she waved overhand at the both of them, moving forward toward Nari first, as Freyd already had someone else near him.  She didn't mind being loud and the center of attention as she drew closer toward the girl.  "Hey, have you met Freyd yet?" she asked, cocking her head to the side, even as she made absolutely no hesitation of (gently) taking the girl by the arm to bring her over toward the fellow.  "He's a really nice guy but kinda weird like Raidou.  Weird in a different way though," she spoke.

Of course, this was the first time she'd actually seen Freyd since the incident back with that early quest.  When he'd killed those two players who'd attacked them.  Of course, all of that concern was kept off of her face as she drew Nari forward.  "Freyyyyd!  This is  the friend I was like, talking about," she spoke, beaming a smile toward him.  "Who's your friend?"

---

CONSUME OFFERED FEASTTTT | ACC 2 Gained

"Yeah!  I've been kinda like, trying to get there too.  Taking some breaks, like, here and there though," she spoke, waving a hand in the air as if to dismiss the thought.  "But like, for the most part it's totally just putting one foot in front of the other, y'know?" she asked, giving a small grin toward the girl, but as she admitted to having made some friends who'd helped her along the way, Astreya beamed.

"That's awesome!  Yeah Koga's got his shop, like, on the first floor too.  So like, I actually see him all the time," the girl spoke, nodding slightly before she mentioned NIGHT.  Astreya knew the name, of course, but the last one was a new one to her, but as Nari spoke it, there was a very different response to the name.  The tone she used was different, and there was a physical reaction as well, and both of those things couldn't help but to make Astreya begin to wonder.

Of course, she didn't want to push things too far...and she was curious if the girl might bring that name up again.  "Awww, thanks to me?  I'm, like, glad I was able to help you!  I like, helped a lot of people back in chess club by like, comparing conversations to it.  Some people just like...I dunno.  Get too caught up in it all," she spoke, shaking her head.

"You and I both are gonna be all like, tanking together on the Front Lines.  I wonder how close they are to like, the new floor?" she asked, curious.  Maybe she should be up there too?

Astreya gave a small nod in response to Nari's words- curious to see just what the changes might be within the questline.  She couldn't help but to wonder what the place would look like, especially given the the fact that things were very likely going to be quite different from when she had seen the first time with Bismuth ,and gave a small hum under her breath as she followed Nari over toward Nemo, who began to give the same sort of pitch that she'd heard the first time.  She glanced to the side, but as her friend noted that she'd recently maxed out her Foraging skill, Astreya turned her gaze onto the girl.

"Whaaaaat?  For real?  Like, mine's still rank three," the girl spoke, frowning slightly.  "But maybe I can, like, get mine maxed  out too!" she cheered in response to the girl's words, before she moved to follow along behind her, folding her hands behind her.  "So like...how have things gone for you?  Like...you've been leveling up so fast lately!  You take many breaks or like..." she continued, letting the question linger on as she was curious if her friend had really just been pushing nonstop... or if she was still taking time for herself.

"Or like, have you made any other friends too?" she asked, curious what Nari had been up to lately.

At the question from Nari, Iris was about to answer, but before she had a chance, the woman continued to just talk in a rapid-fire fashion and that was a little unexpected from the girl, at least as far as Astreya was concerned.  She wasn't really used to Nari starting to open up this much and she made mental notes to adjust how she needed to act around her.  "Nah, I didn't, like, have any idea he was here.  I just like.. kinda just happened to be here looking for some other stuff," she spoke, giving the girl a small grin.  "Just really sorta, like, wandering around, honestly."  

But as the girl looked past her, she turned to see Nemo as well, unable to help but to push a smile out at the NPC.  "Yeah!  Bismuth and I, like, went to check it out once.  After we found it once it totally seemed like I wouldn't run across him again.  So like, you've been there a few times?" she asked, tilting her head toward Nari as she was curious what the girl had been up to.

"Is it totally the same thing every time?  Like, the big garden and everything?  It is like, so cool!" she cheered, pumping her fists in excitement.  The garden had been quite beautiful and while things had been a little...rough near the end, she hoped that Nemo didn't have any hard feelings toward her.  "And there's so many cool things to like, loot there!"

Seeing the orders come in, Astreya couldn't help but to give a hesitant little smile and a laugh, the girl having been taking a break from recording some music to playing a few games of chess with herself.  She often took time for herself to do this to just kind of decompress, playing with a few different games and strategies to keep her mind sharp and focused... so when Nari had come in, the girl hadn't even been working on her music.

"Ah-haha, like, sure!  I'll do what I can!  I can't, like guarantee anything soon but I'll do my very best!" she called.

----
Craft Roll [1/4] - 204709
CD: 6 (Salvage?) | 3 EXP
LD: 14 (Yes!)

Craft Roll [2/4] - 204710
CD: 10 (Uncommon!) | 4 EXP
LD: 1

Craft Roll [3/4] - 204711
CD: 9 (Uncommon!) | 4 EXP
LD: 16

Craft Roll [4/4] - 204712
CD: 3 (Failuuuure) | 2 EXP
LD: 12 (N/A)