Nari-Lanreth

The hand looking creatures had made a few dashes in attempt to escape, but Nari and Onora had managed to hem them back in, side stepping to stand across from one another and force the creatures to remain within striking distance. The two women had worked without comment, knowing exactly where the other was at all times and moving to intercept anything that had slipped through the reach of either one. Nari had taken her time, letting Onora push the second one towards her before she had considered her approach and attack. "Alright, let me try stunning these things. Should give us a bit of

"Is that...a treasure chest? I've never actually seen one before...I hear they contain good stuff." Onora had slunk along behind Nari as she approached the thing half buried into the ground. Nari's eyes had scanned the area numerous times on her quick approach, but seeing no immediate danger she had considered them safe for the time being. Curiosity winning over her caution, she pulled a key from her inventory and grinned as she placed it into the keyhole of the chest, looking up at Onora with a sudden twinkle in her eye. "They're supposed to...I've never actually had one before, to be

Onora's eyes passed over the field, searching for something that was beyond Nari's comprehension. She saw the blonde's eyes hover over a collection of ponds for a brief moment, before passing on to another group of the Snapdragons. Further out Nari could see the wolf pack that had been eyeing them for a time before moving on, and she wondered if Onora still desired to chase it down. Before she could ask, however, the blonde had begun moving forwards. Content to follow for the time being, Nari stepped after her friend, her eyes glancing about even as she went. "I'm starting to see why you

Silence fell between the two for a time as Nari considered whether to try and comfort Onora. Numerous times she opened her mouth, words coming to the fore only to be pushed down as she realised they sounded condescending, disempowering, or otherwise unhelpful in the moment. She found herself lulled into silence, realising slowly that there was nothing to be said. She was too close to the truth, or her version of it, to argue with what Onora had said. She knew that neither of them would forget those who had come before, nor consider their actions a waste of time; an insult to their lives cut sh

Silence followed Nari's commentary and question for a while. She glanced over at Onora a few times, noticing the troubled, thoughtful expression on the blonde's face. It seemed like Onora was trying to piece together the idea that the world may not have waited for them while they were in here, something Nari was certain that Onora had thought of before, but perhaps not to this depth. When she did eventually speak, the blonde seemed reluctant to say the words that had formed on mind and tongue. "Maybe...maybe with how long it's been, those who were waiting for us outside have given up. Wha

Their thoughts were clearly in alignment on the topic, and Nari found that she had little more to add to the conversation. Onora had always been the more thoughtful of the pair, and as much as Nari could understand and correspond to the thoughts and feelings of her friend, she found herself at a loss for anything meaningful to add to their conversing. Not that Onora seemed to mind; the blonde had a knack for saying exactly what Nari was thinking, so that the knightess didn't need to speak. Is that why we get along so well, because we know what the other is thinking and feeling? Or is that just

"It's getting harder to find those, isn't it? The positives, I mean." There was no distress or despair in Onora's voice, a simple statement of fact that Nari noticed was uncharacteristic for the otherwise positive woman. Her eyes passed over her friend's face, looking for any signs, and seeing nothing but a bland expression. She considered responding, wondering what she could say. She'd long ago thought the same things, that there was no hope for their future, nothing to look forwards to other than a slow death. She wondered if Onora had begun to head down that path, the slow realisation that

Nari let her shield lower slightly as the final pair of Snapdragons exploded into shards, the frosting that had coated them squeezing out the remainder of health. She eyed Onora quietly for a few seconds, considering the offer before nodding slightly. "Alright...next time I head into something that's not too dangerous, I'd love if you'd tag along. But - it's on my say so. If I think it's too much, you'll have to accept that, agreed? Otherwise this won't work." Much to Nari's surprise and content, Onora was quick to agree, giving two quick nods before leaving the discussion alone. She was

The Snapdragons had flashed forwards in an instant, attempting to overwhelm Nari's defences as they rushed towards her. She could see as one of them had peeled off towards Onora's form, and Nari had stabbed outwards with her spear - stabbing directly through the core of the thing and causing it to freeze in place as the ice slowly formed over and around it. Pulling the weapon backwards she had slammed the side of the blade into another of the creatures, watching as it suddenly locked up from the stun that spread over it. Her shield raised in response to the two others that had lunged forwards,

Nari stepped backwards as Onora stepped inwards and released a hard upward slash towards the creature that had become impaled on her shield. The thing seemed to glance backwards in a moment of sudden understanding as the shadow of Onora fell across it, as if realising that it had made a grave mistake. Nari shoved slightly to push the thing directly into the path of Onora's blade, letting the blonde's stroke cut fully through the form of the alien creature, and smiling as the thing shattered into shards. She rolled her shoulders slightly in response, loosening the muscles that had become taunt

She'd been prepared for a fight, her weapon and shield armed and ready at her sides. She'd glanced sideways once, noticing the affirming nod from Freyd. He'd remained quiet during her direct confrontation with the queen and retinue, but she had the overwhelming feeling that he somehow not only approved, but agreed with her decision - as if he'd planned on taking a similar ending to the quest. She doubted he would've taken her exact approach to it, but she'd seen from his nod that he clearly supported her actions - if only by necessity. It was, however, a surprise to Nari's ears when the

As the three creatures exploded into shards, joining their earlier brethren that Nari and Onora had already dealt with, the knightess turned her attention onto the final survivor. The thing showed little in the way of concern over it's current situation - a difference from the previous group that they had faced. Nari didn't waste time on sentiment, however, turning to look at Onora and nodding her head towards the thing. "Last one, then we can tackle those wolves. Should be relatively easy once we have this one down. So long as you're still up for it, that is." Onora returned her grin wi

"Now, I'm no combat master, but don't you want to hit all of them with that attack?" Onora called out from the opposite side of the group of creatures, her own blade cutting slashes into one of the creature's that Nari had stunned, cutting down the health on it even further as it remained frozen in place. Nari couldn't help but grin at the commentary - as much a jest as it was a return for her earlier commentary about the girl's fighting skills. She considered returning the prod in kind, before deciding that it would be much easier to just let it slide and allow Onora to have a victory in this

The creature exploded into a collection of shards as Nari's spear impacted with it, matching the sudden strike of Onora's own outward slash. Between the two blades the alien like creature's health bar depleted itself, and the form shimmered before exploding outwards in the typical death shard manner. Nari threw a quick smile towards Onora, before motioning to a grassy spot a few metres away. The two made their way across the field unhindered as they let their muscles relax for a moment. "I see you've remember almost every thing I taught you. Although that hack and slash towards the end w

Her limbs released slowly, the venom seemingly flowing away in a manner that allowed her to move piece by piece. The moment Nari had felt it begin, she'd opened her eyes and smiled towards Onora - the blonde thankfully noticing the change and backing off to get some respite from her continued, unrelenting assault against the creature's form. As soon as she was able to, Nari had brought her shield up and spear outwards, forcing the creature back and away from her. It had scrambled backwards to avoid the attack, apparently taken by surprise with the sudden movement that had come from the previou

Another of the creatures had exploded into shards following the impalement of Nari's thorns into it's form, and although she felt a bit safer with the defeat of the creature, she could see Onora's concern growing as Nari's form remained frozen in time. The blonde had been hacking away at the alien creatures with a previous fury, but as the blonde's body began to tire, Nari saw the swings become less frequent and far, far less powerful. Clearly someone needs to lay off the snacks and focus more on cardio work. She s[censored]ed internally at the thought before feeling a moment of distaste at th

As the assault struck her again and Nari saw the timer restart, she felt herself frown ever so slightly. A bare shift of her lips as she considered the annoyance of the pair of creatures managing yet another successful strike against her form. She knew that there was little chance of them continuing to get as lucky as they'd gotten thus far, and that it was only a matter of time before her reactive armour kicked in to protect her. With little else to do in the meantime, she focused her attention on watching Onora's movements and strikes, silently critiquing the blonde's form as she lashed out

Nari cocked her head as the first two exploded, her health dipping only slightly in retaliation for the damage she'd carved into the group of things. She felt, suddenly as the effect took over her and locked her body into place. The venom from the last creature's cut had made it's way past her defences and into her body, forcing her to remain in place even as the toxins tore through her body. She felt a single second of concern before noticing how little damage the venom itself was doing, realising that she'd be free and clear of the effect long before it became a concern. "Nari!" Onora,

Her first explosive rush into combat had been a success, and while her own strike had stunned each of the creatures in a nearly perfect manner, Nari had held off following up her assault. Instead, she let Onora rush in and slash her own path through the creatures, smiling in a mixture of happiness and pride as the blonde displayed a more advanced motion with the longsword in her hand. She'd come to Nari a while ago requesting assistance and practice with the blade, and while Nari had been far from the best teacher for the sword that Onora had wielded, she'd taught the blonde nearly everything

"Hey! I can be flexible and unique and different!" Nari's eyes passed over the area, looking for something else to draw her attention away from the wolves she'd spotted just before Onora had spoken. It vexed her that the woman knew exactly what she was going to suggest, before she suggested it. It also vexed her that she knew Onora had already foreseen what was about to occur, because she knew the knightess well enough to figure out her plan of action. "Aha! How about those?" Onora followed the pointed finger, her eyes locking onto the tall, insectoid alien looking things in the distance

Whatever argument may have been voiced next was lost at the sound of Nemo's voice cutting in, his typical happy-go-lucky tone signifying their arrival to the garden. "We're here! I hope you enjoy what you find inside. I've collected a large number of creatures, plants and assorted items that I think will be appealing to everyone!" Nari turned to the NPC, her smile honest. "Thank you for inviting us Nemo, it's always a pleasure to come visit you and your garden of collections...I don't know if you remember our history, but...well, I appreciate your welcoming form in the present. It's...it

Nari poked Onora, the woman having fallen silent once more during their casual pace behind Nemo. They'd fallen back once the NPC had begun to lead them in earnest, putting a single step distance between them and him. He had continued to narrate stories that had long ago been told to both the women, and having no further interest in them they had feigned an awareness to the words, when in actuality they had fallen back to discuss other topics of interest. Most recently had been Nari's prodding of Onora's recent development of a new clothing line in Aincrad's lower levels - an involvement that O

Nemo's greeting had been enthusiastic to say the least. The man had almost leapt at being approached, and Nari had found herself sharing a glance with Onora as the two wondered just how sparing his visits had been as of late. Smiling to herself, and trying to show some interest in the stories that the man had started sharing almost immediately, Nari had fallen in alongside Nemo as he began to lead the two towards his garden. Beside her she'd felt Onora press close, her words lowered so that the NPC would be less likely to hear them, although Nari doubted the man-dragon would care about anythin

"Listen, all I'm saying is that there's no reason to not add chocolate to everything, right? I mean, obviously it's not going to go with somethings, but in general-" "In general it's going to taste disgusting." Onora's voice cut off the argument Nari was making, her voice harsh and almost condescending, but the smile on her face clearly telling Nari that the woman wasn't being entirely serious about the commentary. Nari gave a heavy sigh and groan of frustration, pushing herself off the counter and tossing a marshmallow at the other, the piece dropping far short of the blonde's form and b

So, you did know love?Nari felt herself recoil at the words, her mind repeating them over and over again even as the flow of conversation reached a hiatus, and eventually end. She hadn't expected the revelation, the statement catching her entirely unaware and off guard. She wasn't sure what to make of it, and yet somehow she felt it was important. Perhaps not damning or judgemental in nature, but the way that the other player had stated it left her feeling as if she'd faced some test, some unknown review to determine her place. She wasn't sure whether she had passed, failed, or if it had been