Nari-Lanreth

Nari smiled softly as Jomei turned towards Hirru, watching as the ginger seemed to become flustered over the gifts being given out. For her own part, she felt touched that the green-covered individual would think so highly of her as to find her a piece that fit her styling perfectly. She nodded towards Hirru, before letting her words rolling out quietly. "Thank you Hirru...this is wonderful, and overly considerate of you. I will admit, you beat me to the punch on this, but...if we're doing the exchange now..." She opened up her menu, before pulling forth three items - items that she had m

"I do believe we met...at the tournament last year. I think?" Nari squinted at Lessa, trying to place the blonde, trying to remember exactly where they had met previously. She knew that she had run into Lessa more frequently as well, although it was more in passing than through actual combined work. "Aside from that, we've seen each other once or twice...but it's good to see you again Lessa." She flashed a wide grin at the blonde, before turning on Jomei. She hadn't expected him to be here, much less bring someone along with him. Or at least, it appeared her had brought someone with him.

Nari had been nodding along with what Jomei had stated, her smile slowly shifting to a frown, before he mentioned his ex. Almost immediately, her eyes focused on the ginger, a sly smile crossing his face. Nagging questions left her lips, almost immediately overturned as she realised that it was neither the time nor the place. "Your ex? As in...still living, ex? As in you got dumped? As in...we'll circle back to this post-sailor-found-situation." Before she could get anything further out, Jomei was leading the way towards the docks. Nari had to admit that she was once more impressed with h

Nari shifted in place as a dinging caught her attention, the message notification showing up only a split second after the alert had sounded. Curious as to who was trying to reach her, Nari quickly opened the message, glancing at the name before smiling to herself. The message itself was small and brief, but she could almost feel the tone of worry behind it as she read it over, the sender clearly concerned over the silence that had been spreading throughout the day. Nari read it twice, feeling the warmth touch her cheeks as she considered her friend's concerns. To: Nari-

Silence followed her final thoughts for a while, the two more than happy to simply sit and enjoy the warm of the sunshine for the time being. She let her thoughts drift away, her concerns with them, for the time being. There was no point in worrying about what couldn't be changed. No point in considering the impacts of that which was changing, which she had no control over. For now, all that she could do would be to enjoy every single second that she was still alive. Precious moments like this one, where she wasn't fighting for her life in the imminent moment of danger. Where she could simply.

The open field had grown quiet after the wasp had disappeared, shattered in thousands of shards that eventually simply dispersed on the winds. Nari gave one final glance at the open spot, before moving towards a nearby collection of rocks - each one half her height - before settling down against them. She could feel the heat against her back, the rocks heated by the midday sun having beat down on them for hours already. The sensation passed through her body, feeling so familiar to her in many ways. She knew it was all fake, knew it was nothing more than electrons being sent to her brain to res

The thought disturbed Nari down to her core. She didn't like giving any credit to Cardinal - much less acknowledging that it wasn't their enemy here, and that perhaps it had even done something more than simply coexisting with them. She didn't enjoy the thought that she could, logically, acknowledge that it had done nothing wrong - not to say that it had done anything right, either. In fact, if Nari was being honest, Cardinal had done nothing but act fairly, exactly as it had been programmed to do. She swung out with the scythe in anger, activating the sword art and slicing the wasp into

They're always there for us. To help us. To protect us. To comfort us. The thought rattled around in Nari's head as she dodged to the side of the wasp, avoiding another attempt to impale her with the stinger. She considered the idea, that the small creatures that they called companions were so helpful. As if in defiance and contrast of Cardinal's main programming, it's main purpose in this world. A purpose which, as Nari considered it, she may have been misunderstanding. She'd always considered the fact that Cardinal had been trying to kill them, trying to end the entire player base as quickly

Her distracted thoughts had cost her, the point of the wasp's stinger slamming into her shoulder and forcing her to spin away in order to avoid anything more major. The damage was minimal - a mere blip in her health bar that would slowly rise once more as if nothing had occurred. Still, it frustrated Nari that she had lost her focus for long enough to let the creature slip passed her defences. Complacency killed, in this world, and she couldn't afford to let it consume her at any point - even if the foe she was facing appeared to be nothing more than a mere pest. She needed to remain in the fi

The wasp froze in place the second that Nari's scythe had slashed across its body, the entire form hovering even as the wings upon its back came to a sudden halt. In any other place, the entire image would've been surreal and outright odd. In the world of Aincrad, however, Nari had become used to the odder pieces that occurred. Things that didn't quite make sense with the world beyond, and yet occurred regardless. Things that, like the NPCs and other creatures, were becoming more and more common to Nari each and every single day. As she stepped back away from the wasp, Nari considered t

It hadn't taken anywhere near as long as Nari had expected to find her target. In fact, the large wasp had almost seemed to be waiting out in the open, as if knowing that someone would come looking for it, sooner or later. The thing seemed to hover in the air, waiting for Nari to approach. She could have sworn that there was an almost taunting look to it - as if the expressionless creature was daring her to try and test herself against it. As if it thought itself invincible in some manner or form. Nari paused, not out of fear or concern - she had faced far greater dangers before, and would fac

Skill(s) Being Dropped: Fighting Spirit Mod(s)/Addon(s)/Shift(s) Being Dropped: N/A SP Refunded: 10 Cost: 10,000

Leaving the city behind, Nari had found refuge in the relative calm and quiet exterior of the world. The wind blowing across valleys, the narrow areas in some places only accenting the strength of it to a harsher degree. It was still preferable to the large crowds, something that Nari still preferred to avoid given the chance. Mio at yipped at her side, bringing her attention back to the present. She'd begun to drift off, ever so slightly - both mentally, and physically. Glancing down at the fox, she shook her head. The soft smile on her face spoke more than any words could, but still s

The thoughts drove her to finish the fight, not wanting to be alongside this creature any longer than she had to be. Nari pushed forward, driving her scythe into its side before wrenching it back out. She twirled around, letting her blade gain momentum as it went, before bringing it into a downward slice. She only noticed the creature's fallen form as the head bounced off the floor twice, before the entire thing exploded into shards before her - leaving herself and Mio standing in the quiet of the hallway, alone once more. She paused, breathing heavily as she waited for something, anythi

The creature had begun to falter with each step, seemingly losing energy and the will to fight as Nari slowly tore away at its outer core. It continued to roll towards her, every few seconds. Continued to try to assault her, to take her down with it. Were this anything but Aincrad, Nari almost would've felt a moment of empathy with the creature. Even in its dying moments, it wasn't willing to give up, to give in to the fate that it must know it now faced. Instead, it chose to fight on. To continue forwards. Just like you did. She shook the thought from her mind, twisting around and peeli

Nari could feel the desperation in the drake's actions as it became more erratic. It soared through the air, leaping and using its newly unfurled wings to glide on the air towards her again and again, regardless of what Nari did in response. The first couple she dodged around, taking care not to get within the range of its claws or teeth. As the seconds passed, however, Nari found the creature lagging ever so slightly. She began to parry it with her weapon's haft, turning away strikes that barely had any power behind them. Curiously, she took a step towards it, slowly forcing it back on t

The creature slowly came out of its stunned stance, growling as it did so. Nari was careful to keep her distance, knowing that it would be most dangerous as it flapped around after being locked in place. She eyed the creature, watching as it watched her in turn - the two refusing to break eye contact as they waited for the other to rush forward. Her patience paid off, as the creature seemed to lose what little patience it had, soaring through the air towards her in a straight arc. Nari side stepped, bringing her scythe up and around and slamming the haft against the creatures side. With

Nari found herself walking the length of the ship as she waited for the celebration to start in earnest. A few players that she had recognised - through small interactions, well beyond her normal group of socialisation - had boarded. They returned the small waves and smiles that she had passed their way, seemingly content just to acknowledge one another, before moving on. Something Nari was thankful for, at least. Her eyes passed over the new arrivals as she made her way back towards the main entryway to the ship, scanning for anyone more familiar than those she had already seen. Faces pa

Her feint worked, as the creatures rushed forwards together. Nari waited, her scythe spinning before her in a defensive manner. The first creature to reach her deflected off the weapon, an otherwise dangerous blow glancing slightly to the side and downwards - Mio's form lashing out and further deflecting it. Nari didn't pay attention as her own health bar dropped slightly in response, her attention on the weaker of the two. It took only a split second longer to reach her, but it was enough. Nari forced her entire body into a spin, bringing the scythe around in a sharp arc and slamming th

A brief pause as she considered rushing the near-dead creature, the low sitting health bar more than tempting her. Her mind raced as it considered the possibility all within a single breath, before deciding that it wasn't worth the danger. She wasn't sure entirely what these things could do - and considering the beating they had already given her, Nari didn't feel like testing fate, just to find out that they had some sort of regenerative ability. Careful. Calm. Remember, it's not about rushing in...sometimes being careful is more than appropriate. She nodded at the voice in her head, b

Nari gave a quick glance at the individual approaching her, realising quickly that it was someone she didn't recognise, but was in fact another player. She placed a small smile on her face, hoping to appear welcoming - at least as welcoming as she could appear, all things considered. The question about the sailor caused her right eyebrow to raise ever so slightly in response, but before she could answer another voice had called out. "Hey Jomei! Uh...no, no we're just meeting for the first time...you two know each other?" Her gaze passed back and forth between the ginger and the newcomer,

The giant dragon disappeared in a flash of sparks and rainbow coloured shards, leaving the group of two and extras standing in the cold. Nari let her scythe fall to her side, throwing a side glance at NIGHT before shaking her head. "I barely even got to scratch it..." Her complaint came with no tone of actual concern. She was more relieved just to be done with the quest, and moving on and away. They spent a few moments listening as Mekem gave his final speech, thanking them for their hard work before leaving the two behind. Leaning close to NIGHT, Nari whispered at the other girl her thou

The drake had recoiled at Nari's movements, keeping itself out of her reach. Nari decided to test the creature, taking another step towards it and watching as it backed off, ever so slightly. Something about the way it moved worried her - she'd yet to come across creatures that retreated from a fight, even momentarily, in Aincrad. The fact that this one had begun to do so, was extremely out of place. Something that she wasn't about to just trust blindly. A quick look to her left confirmed her worries - the other creature had begun to slide towards her, clearly hoping to catch her unaware

The scythe slammed into the side of the drake, not harming it but forcing the creature back and away from her - giving her the space she needed to right herself. She could hear the sounds of the other creature's claws on the tunnel floor as it charged her, letting her duck beneath the creature's attempt to launch itself into Nari's space. She let herself fall forward, rolling as her shoulder hit the floor and popping up a few steps away - placing her back against the wall in order to stop any chance of the creatures getting behind her, at least for the moment. A quick exhale of breath, a

The drakes recovered far more quickly than Nari could have expected, giving how hard she had been striking the creatures. Almost as quickly as they had gone down, they were back on their feet - the two of them rushing towards her almost simultaneously in an attempt to overwhelm her defences and force her to back down. She kept her footing as they came at her - each one from another side, trying desperately to push them back even as they tore through the meagre blockage that the weapon created. "Holy shit!" Nari cursed as the creatures slammed into her, their claws and teeth tearing into