Nari-Lanreth

Nari watched the encounter play out…just about as she had begun to expect it would. The cat was curious – there was no doubt about that, but Cleo’s tact was…well, missing some tact. She was just about to suggest maybe talking to it, trying to draw it in with soothing words, when she threatened to chase it across the desert sands. “I uh…wouldn’t do that. Threat it, I mean…I’m fairly certain some familiars can actually understand words…or comprehend the meaning behind them. At least, Yuki seems to, sometimes.” Her hand rose to prod Yuki’s nose as she talked, annoying the little fox that was

Nari’s eyes had been drawn by the movement, and as the girl continued prattling about the return to town, and the crystal – she couldn’t help but smile. Raising her right hand, single digit pointed behind the girl, she gave a little giggle. “You may want to uh…look behind you.” She watched as the girl spun, the cat hesitating in its own movements as the action caught its attention. “Careful…you don’t want to scare it away…just, offer it some of the treats that you received. You need to coax it in...” She tried to hold herself as still as possible, not wanting to scare away the creatu

Her shield lowered as the lid popped open and nothing jumped out at them. She watched as Cleo sorted through the chest, quickly tallying what she had found. It was meagre, as finds go – but at least it was something. She cocked her head at the offer, shaking it in response. “Oh, no. The materials are loot are all yours – don’t worry about it at all, a single trip to Nemo’s garden more than replenishes stock for me. But thank you, for the offer. I do appreciate it.” She smiled at Cleo, hoping that her denial didn’t set a bad mood – she simply wanted to ensure the girl gained as much as pos

Nari’s hands continued to trace paths as NIGHT told her tale, Nari’s tongue feeling the pressure from her teeth as she bit down onto it, forcing herself just to listen. To listen, and hear a tale that she’d heard time and again – one that she herself hadn’t let herself become engrained into. She’d avoided others, for this reason among others – the pain of it all, the irony, the hypocrisy. All something she’d never wanted to experience. And yet, here was another who’d confessed to her… The acknowledgement caught Nari by surprise – not because she’d expected it to be denied, but because she

The chest made a small thud as it hit the sand, the girl having tossed it out before she followed – Nari staring with curiosity as she collapsed onto the ground. Nari herself had been far too concerned with escaping the underground tunnels to consider searching for anything of value, let alone clambering up a ladder with a full chest in tow. “Finders folly. I actually have horrible luck with these sorts of things…maybe you should do the honours…” She eyed the treasure chest, wondering what it would contain. She’d heard rumours of the things becoming monsters, rather than rewards. She w

She felt comfort in the pressure on her hand, the constant circles bringing a euphoria of…calmness? She wasn’t sure what to call it, other than enjoyable. She felt the stress of the lack of contact release, the worry disappear. Nothing matter other than the feel of that hand, the thumb and fingers…the warmth that came with it. The area that NIGHT had led her to had an almost historic feeling to it, the very foundations having crumbled with what was likely supposed to be a time worn aesthetic. Her eyes glazed over the area, taking in the pillars, the worn away walls, the obvious signs

The hand pulled away and Nari felt a moment of regret, her fingers reaching, searching for the comfort of connection that had been felt until now. Although the hand moved and reached, her ears continued to listen, taking in the information that the other was willingly giving. “I…don’t know what I would do. Not long ago I don’t know that I would have spared it - I had so much hatred for Cardinal…but now. Now I don’t know. Things are…different.” Nari gave a glance towards NIGHT, before continuing. “That hatred has…changed. I don’t know that it’s gone, but…it’s different.” She lo

‘Cycle and recycle.’ The term was something that others Nari had known would often use to describe what NIGHT had been explaining, the constant flow of ones and zeros. She had a familiarity with it, as much as someone who didn’t excel in coding could be familiar. She listened as NIGHT explained, and it took her a second to catch the oddity at the end. “It…remained? How’s that possible…?” She considered the situation, both NIGHT’s revelations, as well as her own reactions to the thought of the quest. She had questions, and for a brief heartbeat wasn’t sure which to even ask. “You sai

Nari watched as the health bar dropped as Koga’s blade slashed across the giant, taking a large chunk out of the creature. She felt as Koga was impaled by the same frost covered thorns as Nari and Astreya had both been hit by in retribution, barely leaving a dent in his own health bar – but a reminder that no one was entirely safe. And then, suddenly the health bar shifted again – dropping substantially. Her gaze moved to Koga, then Astreya – but neither had moved, and Nari wasn’t familiar with any damage over time attacks that would drain it that heavily. Astreya calling out brought N

She felt the fingers grasp for her hand, intertwining with her own before pulling her forwards. The sudden touch, the warmth, the strength, all of it washed over Nari. She felt her heart beat quickly, before she was nearly swept off her feet – physically, as well as emotionally. Stumbling to keep up, she followed the girl down to the teleporter pad, letting herself be led up onto the platform and smiling at the girl every time her eyes shifted in Nari’s direction. She felt elation at her sudden success. Surprise, yet joy. ‘Perhaps…' She cast the thought aside before it could t

“Harbinger of death? Grim Reaper…? I…guess that’s one aspect of Morrígan, but…no. To my people she’s a defender – the one who rallies others to ensure the safety of others…and, well…she’s also said to be the goddess of fate.” She followed NIGHT out the door, folding her hands in front of her as she began the walk back to the teleporter. “She’s actually seen as a good omen, a blessing, where my family comes from. Not the dark, murderous creature that the media portrays…being named after her earthen name is considered a blessing – a sign of someone who cares about others so much that they’ll def

Nari fidgeted with her food for a moment, debating on whether to bother answering the jab or not. She knew it had been in jest, but something within her had taken it far more personally than anything else. Perhaps it was the history behind it, both hers and the name sakes. Whatever the reasoning, the reply came almost instinctually, the words sounding as if read from a book, or a deep memory. “I’m named after my grandmother, who in turning was named after our people’s representation of foreshadowing death…more commonly known as the goddess Morrígan, to the common world. It…it’s usually

Nari paused at the words – a few milliseconds of silence, before she burst out laughing. The girl had taken the words to heart, she had to give her that. “Yeah…yeah generally that does make a pretty big difference. Something about…actually doing damage. Well done, by the way.” She threw a thumbs up and a smile at Cleo, before glancing up towards the hole, their escape from this underground cavern. Or so she hoped. She was becoming more and more concerned that this would lead them to nowhere again, or worse – another underground tunnel. “How about we go have nappy time above the grou

A quick nod at the notation of the floor, before the topic of the estate came up – a tone of indifference in the mention of it. And yet, Nari couldn’t help but feel as if it were an evasion of the topic at hand, as if it were something that was desired to be passed over – normally something she wouldn’t allow. But today was different, and so she let the topic drop, making a mental note that she’d come back to it later. “Alright. Sixth floor.” She cocked her head suddenly, her mouth shifting into a sly grin as she suddenly realised something. “You know…it’s ironic that you’re afraid to be

She knew the path down to the teleporter, and the same path away from it once she had arrived on the seventeenth floor. The walk itself had been relatively calm, and as she made her way down past the waterway, she found herself staring out towards the horizon in curiosity – a sudden longing for the ocean and lakes she had lived near reaching her heart. She stopped, briefly, to stare out into the horizon – the sun reflecting off the calm waves that lapped at the shores, the lack of any white caps signifying just how smooth and calm the large body of water truly was. Memories came back to

As the first of the two exploded into thousands of shards, Nari shot a quick smile towards Cleo – trying to show the girl her awareness of her skills. It had been a large improvement from their previous battle, and Nari wanted to try and bolster the courage within the girl – something that she herself had once required, not too long ago. The final scorpion seemed to hesitate in its advance for a brief second as its partner exploded – likely trying to figure out if it was able to take advantage of their distraction from the fight, or recalculating possibilities. Nari didn’t truly care what

Her own strikes had done essentially what she was hoping, and just as she saw both scorpions begin to freeze up in place, Cleo went rushing by – slamming an attack of her own into the jewelled scorpion; bringing its health bar to a near empty state. Nari gave a quick nod towards the girl, before turning her attention back towards the targets before them. Neither was completely gone yet, and she knew that the longer this fight went on, the more dangerous it would get. She was determined not to let that happen. Letting her shield drop slightly, she pulled back her spear, taking a moment to

Nari’s hands had frozen midair as NIGHT had begun retelling her story, not wanting to disrupt the occasion with any sort of movement that would break her focus – that would let this little insight slip away. Even as the words died off, her hands remained motionless for a moment, the piece of tamago shaking slightly as the time stretched on. Realising that the story was truly concluded, she popped the piece into her mouth, taking a few moments to finish it before daring to speak. “A reminder of the things we’ve lost…” Her eyes were on the flower as she spoke, a thoughtful expression on her

The fork seemed to call to her as NIGHT held it out, and Nari had already leaned forward when she was given her warning about playfulness and losing food. Delicately – almost exaggerating the movement – she carefully took the proffered dessert, taking a moment to savour the taste before sitting back upright. She folded her hands in her lap again, placing what she hoped was a “innocent good girl” expression on her face. “Aren’t I always good?” She cocked her head, trying to mimic the cuteness she’d seen others do, wondering if it was coming out as ridiculous as it felt for her. She wa

“Yeah…I guess grinding is the way to go…” Her attention was drawn by the food, and her mouth fell open at the sight of it. She hadn’t expected quite this much food, and she suddenly realised she may have overdone it a little bit. Humming softly to herself in content, she picked up the chopsticks located to the side of the table, eyeing the selection before shrugging to herself and grabbing the closest piece that was available – she didn’t recognise it other than to confirm it was sashimi. Almost hesitantly she took a bite of the piece, testing it’s flavour before a soft moan escaped. “Holy shi

“Well… for starters it let’s me spend more time together with you. But also, I’ve been told that it’s an excellent way of hunting down unique item enhancements for armour and weapon upgrades.” She tilted her head to the left, lifting her right hand and holding up two fingers in the shape of a V. “And I think we all know which of those two is far more important…” She wiggled her two fingers in emphasis, before letting the second one drop, leaving just her pointer finger up – and a smile on her face that bespoke her humorous intent once more. She wasn’t sure how far she could push it, bu

She fell silent for a while as she considered a few things, her hand playing with one of the utensils laid out on the table, eyes seeming to have drifted away from the world around her. She wasn’t sure how long she was lost in thought – maybe a few moments at most – but it was long enough that when she did return to the conscious world, it was with a shiver. “I – contrary to your beliefs here – prefer not to scream, if at all possible. Nor do I really like the idea of a Battle horn…Cardinal lets you use skills in anyway that fits, so long as it’s logical, right?” Her eyes were still glaze

“You’re right, it wasn't a very good name. I'll figure out something better…” Her eyes glanced at the notes NIGHT had been taking, the thought of losing the heavy armour causing her nose to wrinkle slightly. “Like I said, hitting things is more secondary…and added bonus. Oh, and I have block. And parry. For what that is worth…I've never really used it though. Parry, that is…maybe I should consider that…” Her eyes darted over the possibilities, trying to conceive… “I think the big thing is I need to really focus more on…well, being a tank. As nice as being able to hit back is, I'm not g

“Combinations. The ability to balance between quest lines and the floor fights – I need something that will give me the balance to do tanking in any aspect.” Her eyes seemed to glaze over slightly as she spoke, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Basic tanking; draw everything towards me and be able to take the hit. Hence the focus on Mitigation…although clearly the attention grabbing needs work. That being said, there’s also the secondary aspect of being able to debuff – mostly in Techs. Although I do have a few songs on order…I’m sure Iris will get those done eventually – she’s been…busy.”

“Canada…Kanata? I guess that’s not really a…well, I guess they don’t teach that in world geo, everywhere. Which tells me you’re not from North America. Can tick that one off the list at least.” She winked at the girl as she pretended to cross off a couple of items in the air, exaggerating the movement ever so slightly. “Right. Ice cream. That…that makes sense. More sense than straight vanilla…far more sense…” She paused, as the waiter came and went, before continuing her line of thought. “Oh? We’re plate sharing? I can more than happily get in on that…” Her broad smile faltered for