[F1-SP] Rising Sun

[Ratatosk 0]

The rising sun provided light for the entire first floor, and it was also the name of a small guild in Aincrad. Ratatosk was enjoying his day until he met a group of some armored samurai wielding katanas. "What the, Rising Sun? Is that a strictly Japanese samurai style guild or something?" He saw their flag, a very unoriginal sun rising in the background of red and white. "Seriously? This can't get worse can it..."

[Ratatosk 0]

Their katanas were longer than his extension cord, "What the? That blade is larger than... Holy crap!" The Rising Sun guild was small, and probably a guild filled with tier one players. They probably weren't even official yet because of their low members. A guild representative looked at him, "You look tough, can I see your stats?" Ratatosk didn't see any danger in doing it, "Sure, why not." He showed them his stats, level twelve, seven damage, rank three straight sword. They were surprised, "Wow, that's pretty good for a solo player like you."

[Ratatosk 0]

Ratatosk knew something was up when they knew he was a solo player, "Wait, his do you know I'm a solo player? You guys have some samurai telepathy or something?" They laughed a bit and patted him on the back. "No silly, we saw you doing that quest alone the other day, and when someone asked you if you needed some help you denief them. And also, you obliterated those monsters!" Ratatosk took their words as flattery, were they really trying to get there? "You guys probably have better stats than me, don't think I'm good or anything."

[Ratatosk 0]

They exchanged stats and I formation about the front lines, Ratatosk wanted to know as much as possible about the highest floors and they wanted to know how to gain experience, it was an equal trade. "So you guys are all level nine? Seriously, I thought you'd guys be stronger being a guild and all." The guy to the far left responded, "We have strength in numbers!" But not only were they strong in numbers, but also in equipment. If they went on an all out battle against Ratatosk, he'd die. "Yeah, I guess that is why you guys are strong."

Edited March 31, 2016 by Ratatosk

[Ratatosk 0]

With the new information he gained about the front lines, he'd be sure to make it up there. "Hey, do you guys kno-" His head was immobilized for a few seconds as his eye color changes. "Huh? We're you guys saying something." The blonde's voice sounded much softer and girlier than before, the samurais responded by staring in shock. "What? How did you forget so easily?" Ventus (Ratatosk) couldn't remember much, only bits and pieces of the current event. "Weren't we talking about the front lines?"

[Ratatosk 0]

The Samurai nodded, they thought of Ratatosk as strange, but a good person to know. "So how about joining our guild? We won't require you to wear the samurai getup though, your current outfit suits you better." Ventus (Ratatosk) declined their offer, seriously? This was the second time someone invited him to something, and he didn't want to do that. "Sorry guys, but I'm a solo player."

[Ratatosk 0]

Ventus left the building quickly to have some alone time. "Man, everyone is inviting me to join their groups... Why does it always have to be me!" A couple of people stared at him when he shouted, "Oh crap... I shouldn't have said that out loud, sorry..." The forests would be a good location to relax so he set out for that area. "The green plants here make everything so old, and nature like. Reminds me a bit of the color of my eyes." However, the forest greens were a darker shade.

[Ratatosk 0]

Ratatosk (Ventus) took a quick glance around the forest for Nepents. "Right, it's not like the other day, but then again, I wasn't in control. Damn Ratatosk! You could've told me the Nepents' attack patterns..." He let out a sigh and found a nearby tree branch suitable as a bench in the air. "This nature walk sure is depressing, at least there's no monsters." Only a few people passed by the forests to go Nepent hunting, besides that this area was completely secluded. 

[Ratatosk 0]

"There's something about this place that makes it really calming, I wonder what it is. Maybe it's that small little pond over there, or the beautiful bird songs?" Ventus (Ratatosk) wasn't sure of it himself, but his brain told him it was a relaxing place. The peace was interrupted when the Rising Sun guild arrived at the forests, "Hey, what's up Ratatosk, are you here to train too?" Ventus was taken by surprise, how the hell did those guys find him? "No, it's just my nature walk. But what kind of monsters are you guys going to fight, I might join in."

[Ratatosk 0]

The samurai unsheathed their katanas and pointed West, "On that side of the floor, there should be a good question that we can do. According to our scout, it gives a load of experience, you are welcome to join too if you'd like." Ratatosk shook his head, "Sorry, but I'm not really in the mood for doing a quest right now. Just come back and show me your levels, that's fine with me." They nodded and left to the west, "C'ya later, catch up with you in a bit. Good luck on your nature walk." Ventus didn't know, but it seemed Aincrad was becoming a more hospitable place, or it was the exact opposite. Not many players were on the upper floors, only a few front liners.

[Ratatosk 0]

"Maybe being a front liner isn't all so bad, sure they could die on boss raids, but they're fighting for everyone to get out of this game. That's right... Fighting to beat the game..." A thought appeared in his mind, how long would it take him to reach the front lines, or even join a guild? "Shouldn't be too long, I can only stay a solo player for a little while longer, then I'll have to rely on other people and myself." But how much would he change when he has that power? Many people become arrogant when they become stronger than others, so would he be the same?

[Ratatosk 0]

Ventus slammed his fist onto the branch, "No! I'm not going to lose to arrogance!" He took a deep breathe and put his hands on his lap, consulting himself. "I'm not like that, kindness is not a weakness." What he just said seemed very familiar, as if he heard it before. "I think I heard somebody say that before, I just don't know who. Maybe it was Ratatosk? Or was it a guy I met, hmmm..." Confusion was one of his best qualities next to kindness. "Man, I wonder when those guys will come back, I'm starting to feel a bit lonely."

[Ratatosk 0]

"Maybe the quest takes a bit of time? Nah, they should be able to finish the quest in four hours." Four hours passed by, Ventus had to sit there for that long just to wait and see if they'd come back. "I think they were doing a hard quest, that's probably why it's taking them so long." Two minutes passed by, then the samurai came back. "Hey, what's up Ratatosk? We just leveled up two times by doing that quest, it's called Blood In The Sand, although you shouldn't really solo it." They seemed serious when they told him to not solo it. Ventus smiled and got off the branch, "Glad you guys are back, maybe I can do it with you guys, or someone else. I'm fine with either of them."

[Ratatosk 0]

Ventus stared at the ground for a couple of seconds then looked back at the Rising Sun guild, their samurai outfits were getting a little old. "Let's get back to town. Anyways, how was the quest like?" They all walked together back to the Town of Beginnings slowly, the samurai were a rowdy and loud bunch, but it made him feel at peace. "Oh the quest? That thing was fun, fighting a shark! But, it wasn't on the first floor, it was on the desert one I think." The night was still young, but the crescent moon almost made him want to howl. "So, Ratatosk. I know you've declined before, but how about joining our guild?"

[Ratatosk 0]

"Things always seemed a bit chaotic here... But then I realized that Aincrad is sort of like a community." The samurai smiled and elbowed him in a friendly way, "Yup, it sure is! There's the Rising Sun guild on the first floor, and some others. There's been a recent boom in guilds though, it's like players are finally getting smarter and sticking in groups. You could probably say you're solo, but eventually we all need to stick together in groups y'know." Ventus nodded, "Yeah, I guess so." Within a minute, they arrived at the front gates of the Town of Beginnings. "Before you deny our invitation to the guild, you should see our headquarters first!"

[Ratatosk 0]

Ratatosk saw the gates and knew what was about to happen. One of the samurai put his arm around his head and said, "So do you want to see our guild hall? It took us a long time, and costed a lot of col to make it, it's pretty cool." Ventus nodded, and they headed off to the west side of the Town of Beginnings. It didn't take long, but now they were at their guild hall, a medium sized dojo style building. "Wow, that's amazing, how did you guys make it?" The samurai laughed and gave him a pat on the back, "With lots of sweat and blood."

[Ratatosk 0]

That wasn't the answer he expected, but it was good enough to satisfy him. "So this is a samurai style guild right? I can't really use katanas since I don't have a rank in one handed curved swords, I'm more of an all rounder guy." The samurai looked at him with a bit of shock, but then smiled again, "You don't need to have a katana to be a samurai, of course there aren't bows here either. You just have to live the code of bushido, whatever the hell that means." Ventus's eyes widened, "You mean you guys aren't Japanese?" They shook their heads, "No, we are but we don't know much about the history of samurais. We just know that they had cool katanas and were warriors."

[Ratatosk 0]

"Hey Ratatosk, you haven't even seen our leader yet, he's a real samurai!" Ventus looked at them in shock, "A real samurai? I thought they were all gone." The samurai stared at him intensely, "They're not, that is why we're learning the way of the samurai through him. The Rising Sun is Japan, the katana are the blades that defend it." He was surprised they were actually learning this sort of stuff, but it all seemed too fake to him. "I guess I'll leave then, I'm not really interested in becoming a samurai." With that he walked away from the group with a little wave, "Hope I see you guys later."

[Ratatosk 0]

Ratatosk wondered what it was like to be a samurai, but eventually those thoughts disappeared. "Hey Ventus! I'm taking control again, get outta here!" His eyes turned red once more as he took over again. "Right! Now what the hell should I think about? Maybe the samurai are a good topic, nah, way too old. I remember watching that one movie called The Last Samurai, it was pretty old and outdated. I know how it really ended, the last samurai put down his katana, and picked up a gun." He chuckled, "Yup, he picked up a gun and went shooting people in war. That was how it ended."

 

Edited April 1, 2016 by Ratatosk

[Ratatosk 0]

"How long does it take for us to beat this game? I know that we're still alive in the real world because if we die there, we also die here. We must be hooked up on life support, fed through tubes as well as getting our oxygen, and water from them. But how long does it take for us to actually die? I mean, I don't think it's possible to die if we are being fed, but what if Kayaba decides to kill everyone when the game is done?" Ratatosk thought about that for a few moments, but went back to walking. "Right, I gotta go see if that quest is up and available."