[PP-F2] <<Long Live the Queen>> Princess Slices Up the Queen (Shira)

[Hataki 0]

Hataki found it weird that the very first quest he and Shira completed was from floor three. I’m sure there are easier quests on the first and second floors that we are missing. He decided to explore the second floor that morning with Shira and find an easy quest to do or at least fight some mobs to level up further. But before all that, firstly, he needed to discuss something with Shira. I wonder if she is still angry.

The conversation they had the previous evening, along with Nik, raised several questions. Some questions that Hataki had to answer to himself and some that he needed Shira to answer. He sent her a message asking her to meet him at the south gate of Urbus, the main settlement in the second floor. After that, he headed to the south entrance and waited there, leaning against the nearest wall.

Edited March 26, 2016 by Hataki

[Shira 0]

Dark hair framed Shira's face. It'd been let loose from the usual pigtails, most of the tresses flew behind her in a plume of black. She had let them loose for the day, hoping they'd relieve the tension in her scalp and would, help decrease throb of the headache. It didn't, curing the symptoms rarely helped battling the disease. Following the interaction with a player in the hotel she had parked herself in, it had become apparent how far behind she and Hataki had fallen. Now, Shira was no gamer, but the girl had never been comfortable being a loser. Winning is what drove her and sitting around trying to kill the easiest things one could find, was certainly not the way to go about it in this world. Despite all this, she wasn't sure what was the way to win at this cruel game. With her lack of experience being a severe handicap. She had no choice and so found herself grudgingly trudging to the south gate of a place called Urbus, according to what Hataki had indicated in the message. Upon reaching her destination and laying her eyes on him, she wordlessly went and stood by his side, the frame of her body depicting a rude now what? Her fingers gently traced the hilt of her new Katana, Akachan, in hopes that the shiny blade will see some good action....

[Hataki 0]

As Hataki waited, he tried to frame the questions that he wanted to ask her in his head. He could simply go with, ‘Why were you so rude to me?’ But he had a feeling that would only aggravate her further. He wondered if he said something provocative; as long as he remembered, he only spoke for her safety. Maybe I sounded a bit controlling? But that’s still no reason to behave that way in front of someone whom we just met. With a heavy sigh, he finally decided to just apologize to her in case she thought he was trying to control her and let the matter slide. It wasn’t worth starting a fight over. He will just have to be careful of what he says around her.

Lost in thought, Hataki didn’t notice Shira approaching at all. He noticed her presence only when she was right next to him. “Oh hey-” he started, but noticed her demeanour. He was starting to lose it now. She was still giving him the cold shoulder and he really did not deserve that. “Alright… I’m sorry I said anything about you going out gathering material alone. Here or out there, it is your life and you have the right make your choices. Won’t happen again.” While his apology was sincere, his tone clearly conveyed that he didn’t like the way he was being treated. He assumed a very professional stance and spoke looking away from her. “I heard there a giant wasp appears in this region if you farm the wind wasps long enough. It’s supposed to give some rare potion. So, if you are willing, we could do this together.”

[Shira 0]

Her eyes widened in shock. This was clearly not going well. "Fine maybe I will..." she said mumbling as he completed to deliver a stoic apology. She held her tongue and watched as his stance mimicked cold professionalism. "You don't have to help me if you don't want to, I don't need a..." She eyed him up and down trying to find the most fitting and yet slightly demeaning and derogatory designation. "A bodyguard." He seemed to ignore her and went on about a giant wasp, most of which Shira missed because she had already turned away from him. Akira sighed angrily as she stalked off. In all honesty, she didn't quite know where she would go... However, it wasn't selfishness that made her turn back. It just felt unfinished, this fight, and maybe something else. For some reason, Hataki's smiled was burned in her memory and the more she thought of just walking away and carving her own path, the more it pulled her back. The fiery girl wasn't done with him yet. She walked closer to him. But not apologetically, not by a long stretch.

"Besides, all that is convenient for you to say anyways... you know I have no clue about how to make my way in this game... and yet you deluded me, and now there are people a million levels higher... And we're sitting here being..." In her flustered state she struggled to think of a word. "Insignificant." She said with a huff, having never felt so cast aside, this was not easy. She felt like an insect on the windscreen of life... Or SAO rather. "I hate feeling so insignificant." She concluded, in a softer tone this time, looking away and towards the ground. The dark haired girl let out a long sigh. "I'll help kill this queen bee or whatever." She added still not meeting his eyes, either. 

Edited June 12, 2016 by Shira

[Hataki 0]

Hataki ignored Shira’s attempt to provoke him further by calling him a bodyguard. But the word kept ringing in his head. He still couldn’t understand why she was angry at all, let alone why angry with him. If all this was because he cared to warn her about wandering off alone, then he really wasn’t sure if they should be partying up any further. While he did say he won’t interfere with her adventure decision, he doubted he will be able to keep to that promise.

However, soon, it was revealed it wasn’t what he said that has gotten her into this mood; it was the fact that they were still lower level compared to many in the game. Hataki sighed heavily and shook his head in disbelief at the word ‘insignificant’. “Seriously? People are dying in this stupid game and all you care about is how insignificant you are?” he blurted in exasperation, discarding his cold demeanour. “You are starting to sound like those petty people who extort lower level players for money and items so that they can further advance in the game. Get this right, my dear lady! This game isn’t about significance! It is about survival. One wrong move and we are over. Gone from this world in a burst of colourful pixels and from the real world without a sound. So, if you are the kind of person who is interested in competing with others for level and gear, then we should split. Because all I care about is getting you out of this freaking game alive and I won’t stand beside, watch you risk that every god damn day.” By the end of that, he was practically fuming. “Oh! And by the way, neither of us can kill that bee alone. We need each other. I can live without killing it. So, if you don’t wanna do it with me, you can find someone else.”

[Shira 0]

Shira did prefer fire over icy. Having broken through the cold manner, which he'd worn so briefly and shed with such ease, Shira felt a little better. Now they could get through to each other. Having had guys as friends all through her childhood, she was no stranger to loud heart to hearts. Though Hataki seemed gentler, the girl could only push him so far. The unfortunate thing was, Akira was also oversensitive. Back in the real world, sometimes such arguments would be settled with a Kenjutsu match, in this game, as much as Shira had hoped for otherwise, such a thing maybe dangerous and life threatening. Way to go! Games are supposed to make all this easier, it was supposed to allow me to use fighting techniques I can't in real life... She thought a little woefully as Hataki went on dramatically about the perils in the game.

If there was one thing the girl had considered, it was that this game was dangerous. She had already had a mini break down and gotten over it. Akira had probably missed a dozen important real life events by now, all she wanted was to get out of this place as fast as possible. Some of her motives were selfish, others, not so much. She let him rant on, till she couldn't hear his pathetic reasoning anymore. "Oh I can kill that bee all right... And we're getting it done, together! But first, we have things to sort." She said crossly. Hataki's allegations were so grossly misfounded, she rolled her eyes. Shira was feeling better, not calmer. "God! How can you be so dense?" She asked, the impolite words slipping out of her mouth before she had a chance to stop them, not that she would have even if she had had that chance.

 "If this wasn't a death game, it would have been about competition and, for your information it would've been beneath me to extort things, I would have fought my way up, more... carelessly I guess, I would have been obsessed with it and then let it go for real life matters, I can't at the moment..." She walked up to him, without any regard for his personal space. She tried to hold onto his shoulders and shake some sense into him. "You're missing the point entirely. You do know I was studying to be a doctor right? I'm a savior!" she said, in hopes of making him understand what she meant by significant. "I'm putting those who are not brave enough to fight their way through this game, above my own safety! You on the other hand, are sounding like a selfish coward! Which I know you're not!" she finished, slightly exasperated. 

[Hataki 0]

Hataki gave up on the subject. He realized there was nothing he could say that would make Shira understand his point of view. And to be fair, he couldn’t hope to understand her perspective either. These were two different people, with two different approaches toward the game. Maybe, Shira—being the prodigal gamer she was—could match the beta testers in skill and would have managed to be on the frontlines if not for him. Maybe he did let her down by playing it safe. Nevertheless, Hataki wasn’t willing to change his ways. He believed if there was a chance that someone could die in a fight, then that fight was not worth fighting. Maybe that was a little too idealistic for this world, but that is who Hataki was. He didn’t care if he was going to be known as a coward for that.

His suspicions were only confirmed further by Shira’s careless dismissal of the bee they planned on fighting and how she said she could kill it without any trouble. She didn’t even bother to know the bee’s stats. That kind of confidence scared Hataki. Do all high level players have a similar attitude? Is that how this game should be defeated? he wondered. And then he remembered that more than two thousand people died during the first week of the game. He couldn’t help but believe that it was this kind of attitude that got them killed. This wasn’t even something that Hataki could let her learn through experience. Experiencing this equals death and there is no lesson a person can learn by dying.

While Shira was explaining to him about how she was doing this for other people, Hataki was lost in his own thoughts. He couldn’t control her game, nor could he let her go do something foolish. After much deliberation, he realized there was only one thing he could do in such a situation. They had hit an impasse and one of them had to compromise. And compromising wasn’t anything new to Hataki; he had done it all his life. He decided to play the game according to her terms, but always stay with her to ensure any harm would go through him first before reaching her. “Alright… I get it! I’m sorry… From now on, we focus on levelling up.” He smiled softly and began walking towards the fields. “Now… Let’s go kill that queen bee.”

Edited June 19, 2016 by Hataki

[Shira 0]

The girl could sense she hadn't truly gotten through to Hataki, but for now she had secured her way of doing things and with that she was satisfied. Shira nodded, hoping they could truly focus on getting things done faster and taking more risks now. While she looked around she spoke in an absent minded manner, not quite argumentatively, as though she was just stating facts. "Right in the first week, two thousand odd people died... The longer we stay here, the worse the odds of survival." She said, sealing the deal, hopefully hitting home with her morbid point in an attempt at convincing him entirely of her point of view. She scanned the forest for signs of any bees that she could attack.

Instead, her eyes fell on a shiny mass on the floor a tree, entangled between a thick mass of mossy roots. Shira walked over to the tree, still keeping an eye out for any adversaries. The dark haired girl doubled over and touched the gleaming object in order to harvest her ore. "Don't see anything any bees or hives so far, but I've realized these are always good to have, right?" she said with a soft laugh, eager to lighten the mood now that the two had buried the hatchet. It was her way of saying, 'we're cool now.' "You see anything?" She inquired.

Spoiler

ID# 61863 results: Battle: 5 |  Craft: 3 | Loot: 17 | MOB: 4
+ 1 Mat

 

Edited June 19, 2016 by Shira