[PP - F5] - Cargo? <<The Traveler>>

[Caspar 0]

Sending an invite for Ronin to meet him on Floor five, Caspar teleported there as he instantly felt the burning heat all around him. Sand was everywhere and hot sun beat down on top of his like a drum. He was only there for thirty seconds and he was already starting to feel himself sweat. The wind was blowing around sure, but it did very little to cool him off. If anything it was like standing in a frying pan and then being shot in the face with a blow dryer. Shaking it off, Caspar then look all around him as he surveyed the area and saw more and more sand. "I have a feeling this quest is gonna suck..." Caspar thought to himself as he waited for his friend to show. 

[Ronin 0]

An invite popped up in Ronin's notifications and the swordsman arched an eyebrow in wonder.  "Hm... what's this?" he wondered, swiping his hand and accessing the menu.  As he eyeballed the invite, he saw that Caspar wanted him to meet up on the fifth floor.  He inhaled sharply, preparing to head off and meet up with his comrade.  He thought about the fifth floor and remembered the quest he had done up there, traveling out into the desert and looking for precious cargo.  Perhaps that was what Caspar had in mind today and maybe he wanted a little help searching.  "Alright then.. let's see what happens..." he said, stepping onto the teleport platform and heading to the fifth floor.

[Caspar 0]

Standing in place so that he wouldn't get lost wandering around in the sand swept level, Caspar waited for this friend to arrive. As soon as he saw his friend arrive, Caspar placed his hand in front of his face to help cover and protect his eyes from the incoming sand that swept so quickly around him. "Hey!" Caspar shouted to his friend, hoping his voice would be heard over the hard blowing wind. Walking up to this friend, Caspar then nodded to him. "Alright, screw this floor, lets tackle this Traveler Quest real quick and go, this heat is annoying as hell." Caspar said to his friend. 

[Ronin 0]

Ronin appeared in a whisp of bright light and other little particle effects.  He stepped forth from the teleport platform and immediately spotted Caspar.  "Eyo..." he said, moving up to join his comrade.  "So... what's the plan stan?" he asked, looking out toward all the sand blowing through the area.  He moved his hand and accessed his inventory, equipping the bandana he had gotten from Jambi and tying it around his lower face to use as a little makeshift mask and keep some of the sand outta his mouth and nose.  "The Traveler Quest... oh yeah, I remember that one... Ok, let's look for the NPC that gives it out, come on, I think it's down this way," he said, waving his hand and heading down the street to where he remembered running into the woman before.

[Caspar 0]

Ronin had the right idea with the bandanna, however, Caspar didn't have anything like that to protect his face. Forcing himself to tough it out, Caspar nodded as he then followed his comrade down the street to find the NPC. As the two walked down the street, Caspar noticed there was little to no one around on this floor which meant they would not have to worry about other players. Liking what he saw, Caspar kept his eyes out for any sign of the NPC that would be used to access the quest. Even though they were walking down the street, they still got hot by random out bursts of sand that the wind carried with it. After a few minutes of walking, Caspar tapped Ronin on the shoulder as he pointed to what he thought was the NPC... 

[Ronin 0]

Ronin looked over when he felt the tap on his shoulder.  "Eh?" he grumbled, before looking ahead and spotting an incoming figure.  His hand moved instinctively toward the handle of his little shank and he prepared himself to strike out in the event they were under attack.  Fortunately, such was not the case.  "Oh yeah... looks like that's her..." he said, released the grip on his shiv and relaxing a bit.  "Go and talk to her, she'll ask you to find her lost cargo in the desert, then we can get rollin with this quest and get you a new skill!"

[Caspar 0]

Nodding in acknowledgement, Caspar then made his way over to the NPC as he looked her up and down. She seemed to have a smile on her face indicating she didn't mind this horrible environment. Then again, who cares, she was an NPC, not even real like the rest of the players here. As he approached her she then turned her attention to the black clothed man. "OH! Thank goodness someone came around here! You have no idea how long I have been waiting for someone to show up!" She said as formed a terrified look on her face. "Can you please help me? You see I lost my precious cargo in the desert and I need to get it back! Will you help me!?" The NPC asked as she then placed her hands together starring up at Caspar. "Whatever..." Caspar relied. Then as soon as he did a menu popped up for him to accept the quest. Reaching up and clicking the accept button, Caspar then walked away from the NPC as he simply ignored her next couple of words. Whistling to Ronin to get his attention, he then motioned with his head the direction they should go in... 

[Ronin 0]

Hearing the whistle form his comrade, Ronin perked up and skipped to his lo to go and join Caspar in their adventure out into the hot sands.  "[censored]... I shoulda' learned by now... I did this quest once before but still haven't gotten any summer or hot weather clothing from the shop yet.  I guess I never thought I'd be back out here strolling through these hot sands again.  One thing that helped me last time was stripping down to nothing but my boots and my chones.  Helped to keep me a lot cooler, though I was always wondering if this game has a sunburn feature or not..."  Ronin went off, rambling something about a sunburn, meanwhile accessing his menu and unequipping all of his gear except for his bright red undies, his orange bandana around his face and his weathered boots.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Ronin

[Caspar 0]

As Caspar and Ronin continued to walk through the hot desert, he noticed Ronin was un equipping most of his armor and clothing. It wasn't a bad idea, but it was definitely hot out here and wearing a black jacket wasn't helping. Accessing his menu as well, Caspar went to his inventory as he unequipped his black leather jacket, white under shirt, and his black gloves. It felt a little better but who knows how much better it would be the further out they get. Trying his best to keep his mind off the blazing heat, Caspar turned his attention to the task at hand, which was finding that cargo out here in the open desert. 

[Ronin 0]

"Yeah, that's the spirit, just gotta' embrace the environmental parameters of this hot desert, you know?"  Ronin was speaking like a true gamer, talking about their current surroundings as though they were just a simple game mechanic and not their real surroundings at all.  While this was admittedly the actual case, due to their current circumstances of being locked inside this game and having a very real possibility of dying, it was kind of an asinine statement.  Regardless, it helped the swordsman to keep his mind off the severity of it all and look at it as much as he could, like a simple video game.  "Now then.. where the hell did I find that cargo last time?" he wondered, trying to help his comrade out a little with this quest.

[Caspar 0]

As the two continued to walk for what seemed like hours on end, Caspar then saw a large sand dune that was taller than all the other one around. "Hey, I say we get to the top of that dune and see if we can spot it from up there." Caspar suggested as the wind started to pick up harshly again. Opening up his menu, he then selected his white under shirt as it then instantly formed in his hand. Taking it by both ends, Caspar then tied it around the bottom part of his face as he used it like a mask as well. One thing was for sure, and that was that the wind and elements of the game were a lot meaner out in the open than next to a small town.

 

As Caspar eventually got to the top of the sand dune from crossing the heated sand, he then looked around in all directions for anything that stuck out of the ordinary. Slowly scanning the horizon and sand filled fields, he then spotted something glimmering from afar!

[Ronin 0]

Ronin agreed and followed Caspar to the top of the sand dune.  He had no real idea of where he had found the cargo last time, since this giant [censored] hole of a desert all just looked the same to him.  He itched his ass as he stood at the top of the dune with his comrade, before trying to swallow and realizing how dry his throat had become.  "[censored] me..." he sighed, before grabbing two bottles of water from his inventory.  As the bottles of clear liquid appeared in each of his hands, he extended one toward his friend.  "Ey man... grab somma' this good ole' H2O!"

[Caspar 0]

Taking the H20 from his friend, Caspar unscrewed the top of the bottle as he then put up against his lips. With a couple of quick chugs of water, Caspar was ready to make his way down the sand dune and towards that glimmer he spotted. "Alright, lets go" Caspar said as he then unequipped the bottle of water. Jumping up and sliding down the side of the sand dune, Caspar made it to the bottom in no time as he then stood up and started to walk towards the object that the sun was reflecting off of. Placing his hand above his eyes, Caspar then tried to block out the bright rays as he attempted to make out what it was. After taking a few steps closer he then saw what appeared to be, to his best guess, her precious cargo half buried. Turning his head up towards Ronin he then yelled to his friend. "Is this what you found last time!?" He yelled, pointing to what he had just found. 

[Ronin 0]

"Hmmm..." hummed the smoker, looking toward Caspar and the [censored] he had found half buried in the sand.  "...I dunno' doesn't quite look right," he answered, though he was too far away still to really be heard.  As he finally caught up to Caspar, Ronin crouched down and took a closer look at the stuff buried under the sand, swiping his hand over it and bringing up a small inspection menu.  "Ah... this looks like something else," he said, knowing it would be bad news for Caspar and their hopes of knocking this quest out fast.  "But wait... we might be able to use this!" he exclaimed, pressing a confirmation button and causing the buried object to emerge from the sand.  "Ohhh fuuuckkk yeaaaahhhh," moaned the smoker, his eyes widening in excitement as their new dune buggy was uncovered.

[Caspar 0]

Helping his friend uncover their new discovery, Caspar got on his knees as he helped dig it out of the hot sand. After sifting through the sand and getting the majority of it free, Caspar then pulled the rest of it up and out of its sandy grave the best he could. After he did, he then inspected it over and from he could tell it seemed to be in working order. The only thing he needed to find out was if it could run. Looking over at his fellow swordsman, Caspar readjusted he white shirt around the bottom part of his face. "You know how to drive one of these things?" He asked, hoping he did. 

[Ronin 0]

"Know how to drive one?!" laughed Ronin, brushing the question off with great humor.  "[censored] man!  I was born with gasoline in my veins and grease on my hands!" he blurted back, kicking the tires of the dune buggy before moving around the motor.  He eyeballed it, pursing his lips and rubbing at his bandana covered chin a little bit.  "Aayep, looks like she's all ready to rock, let's see what this baby can do."  Ronin then turned a little gas lever to the ON position, and pumped a primer button several times before he gripped hold of a tethered handle and ripped back on it with all his might.  The motor immediately sputtered and fired right up, revving loudly as the vehicle idled.  "OHHH YEAAHHH!" cried the blacksmith, excited over their latest discovery.  "This'll help us find that damn cargo waaaayyy faster!" he cried, before racing around and hoping into the driver's seat.  Flexing his right boot on the gas pedal several times, the engine revved and the exhaust roared loudly.  "Hop in!"

[Caspar 0]

Glad to see the dune buggy was running, Caspar didn't waste any time jumping aboard and got into the passenger seat. Holding on to the bars above his head, Caspar let his friend take control of the buggy. "Does anything around here look familar to you!?" Caspar said loudly trying to be heard over the loud motor. As the heat continued to blast on top of them, Caspar kept his eyes out on the next thing that caught his eye. So far he had been lucky, he had only hoped his luck would pay off when it came time to battle. Last battle he and Ronin were in, the only thing he hit was air. "Lets see whats behind those two sand Dunes to our left!" Caspar said as he pointed it out to the driver. 

[Ronin 0]

"Nah, i don't recognize [censored] about this desert other than all the sand everywhere.  I musta been outta' it when I was wandering around out here.  All I remember is that it took forever and I sure as hell didn't have this sweet ass dune buggy when I was out here doing this quest!"  Ronin floored it, mobbing the dune buggy around through the sand.  On several occasions, he ripped the wheel hard to the right and then immediately back to the left, causing the back end to fishtail and drift around over the surface of the sand.  The giant knobby tired helped to keep traction in the sand and keep them moving and Ronin was grinning ear to ear as he steering the high speed monster through the desert. 

"Right!" he cried, following his comrade's instruction and turning toward the sand dunes.  As he stomped on the gas, the front of the  dune buggy nearly lifted up into a wheelie.  "WAAAHOOO!!!!" cried the blacksmith, looking over to see if his friend was enjoying the ride.  At this point, he could really care less about any quest, having plenty of fun just driving around like a wild man in the dune buggy.  He knew however that he had to stay at least a little focused.   After all, Caspar needed to get this quest finished and get himself a new skill!

Racing the dune buggy straight up one of the two sand dunes, he didn't bother to slow down as they quickly approached the top.  Flooring it, he narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth as they hit the peak of the dune and launched airborne, sailing through the air and landing into the transition of the second dune.  "YEAAAHHH!!!" he cried out, having successfully jumped the gap between the two dunes.  "Didja' see anything?!" cried Ronin, wondering if Caspar had spotted his cargo wild they were in mid air.

[Caspar 0]

Enjoying the ride, Caspar couldn't help but crack a smile. as the two of them raced around the desert. As they landed on the sandy surface again, Caspar looked around for his lost item he was supposed to find. "No, nothing yet!" Caspar said as he then looked out into the open desert to his right. "If she really lost her prize possession, I wish she would have given us some kind of clue." Caspar said as his eyes continued to scan the entire desert. Looking around at the scorching Earth, Caspar had no choice but to tell his friend to continue straight, hopefully something will pop up then... 

[Ronin 0]

The front right tire of the dune buggy suddenly rammed into something buried beneath the sand.  The vehicle bucked and rocked, before rolling and dumping both occupants out onto the hot sand.  "Ah [censored]!" cried the swordsman as he was spilled out onto his head.  He lay there for several moments before trying to get up.  "[censored] man.. what the hell was that?" he wondered aloud, before moving back toward the rolled dune buggy and scanning the ground for whatever they had run over.  As he looked, he spotted something buried beneath the sand and called over to Caspar.  "Hey man, you might wanna' try searching here and see if you find that cargo, looks like there's something under the sand here..."