[PP/NK - F8] Dogs of War (Hikoru)

[Takao 0]

The eighth floor had fallen silent in the early evening. A light rainstorm had cleansed the air, allowing it to adopt a crisp feeling of freshness. Takao particularly enjoyed the calm that followed a good downpour, and found that it made for excellent dungeon hunting conditions. Monster spawns were low as the animals of the forest retreated to shelter, as was their programmed nature to do so. Players were seldom crossed in the thick woodlands as well, which made his single-handed dungoneering excursion that much more pleasant.

Having long since strayed from the usual path through the floor, Takao found himself waist-deep in foliage. He waded through the underbrush with his sword in hand, green eyes carefully scanning his similarly hued surroundings in simultaneous search for threats and wonders. The blade in his grasp was used to clear the brush as he moved forward, carving a path through the forest themed floor in the random direction he'd chosen to search in. He was well versed in the art of locating dungeons, and knew that their locations were entirely random, so using any semblance of deductive reasoning to locate them was just as effective as arbitrary searching, only with more effort.

"Almost makes me wish I'd chosen the fifth floor," Takao thought out loud as his boot sank into a splotch of mud. "...Isn't as bad as that heat though, 'spose." His breath escaped in a huff and he continued onward, remaining vigilant to his surroundings.

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru breathed as he continued his way through the 8th floor, training in his art of the Shadows to one day become the stealthiest player in Aincrad. These trees were perfect to practice in. He breathed and hopped from branch to branch, enjoying the feeling of the shadows, feeling as though he were one himself, becoming just a shadow on the ground and in the trees. He looked around, and noticed a certain player strolling, complaining about the mud and such from the 8th Floor. He just snickered in the trees, but was curious as to why he was here, on this floor. He watched the player carefully, making sure to stay within the shadows and above his field of vision as well as he could. He didn't have plans to kill this player, no, he was more curious as what he was doing in this area. 

"Hm...." He said, rubbing his chin slowly, trying to see if there were any players nearby, but he could see none. It was curious. Maybe he was just on this floor, searching for materials, and a possible sub-dungeon, or planning on meeting someone to plan a murder. He couldn't know, unless he observed to his best ability. He breathed silently and continued to watch to see what the player had in store.

In Stealth. Roll a LD of 14+ to be found

[Takao 0]

The ambiance of the forest was good for a few things. For one, it was calming. Whenever he felt like he needed to clear his head, all it took was a walk through the wilderness of a floor, particularly woodland-themed. Another advantage was that unnatural sounds, such as the noise of somebody stomping around on the branches overhead. Takao's walk slowed to a halt and his ear twitched, and then his head turned. His gaze rose skyward and quickly scanned the canopy, green eyes shifting to a more silver hue with the activation of his «Reveal» skill. He was able to see through the foliage with ease, and his gaze locked onto the figure of whoever had opted to watch him.

"If you're tryna' ambush me, you already failed." Takao called out as he turned and faced himself in Hikoru's direction, the sword in his hands swung upward and rested upon his shoulder. "Why don't you come on out?" He shouted again. The rough fabric of his glove tightened around the handle of his sword, causing the leather to creak and whine. His eyes narrowed and he watched carefully, fully expecting to receive no response.

- -

ID: 61775
LD: 31 (Revealed)
(20(LD) + 5(S&D) + 3(HoM) + 3(Detect))

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru stopped as the player saw him coming from a mile away. He breathed and jumped down in front of the player, rising to his feet with his hands in the air, showing he meant no harm. His Dagger was sheathed and out of sight, so he didn't look like he meant any danger, and he gave a nod to the player, backing away a bit in case he was too close.

"Hello Takao, I believe you remember me from a few raids and the recent event. I didn't come with any intent to harm. I was merely walking around the area and found you." He said quietly and calmly, unflinching towards the player as he held no fear for this moment, or for any moment incoming. He breathed and lowered his hands slowly, putting them into his pockets "To put it simply, I was curious at what you were doing here, so I decided to follow you for a bit and find out. Apologies if that sounds a bit weird, stalk-ish even. But I want to know about the other players in this game, and seeing you here I saw my chance to learn about you...." He just breathed and nodded "If you want me to leave, I have no problem with it, but I just wanted to see what kind of player, and person, that you are." He said with a small laugh.

[Takao 0]

Takao watched Hikoru's movements carefully after he showed himself. Hands in the air, unarmed and his weapon out of sight, and generally exuding a nonviolent aura. It didn't exactly sate his curiousity regarding his motives, but to some extent it eased the strain of the situation. Takao's arm lost its tension and the tip of his sword faltered earthward, though it was still held with a firm grip and crossed in front of his body, a subtle demonstration that his body language was still closed off and understandably so. Had he failed to have noticed Hikoru, then he could only imagine how long he would've been followed. Takao wasn't a very secretive person by nature, yet the thought of being followed was an unpleasant one indeed.

"Y'could've just like... asked or something instead of creepin' around, y'know? It's kinda weird to follow somebody around like that. 'Specially with all the stuff that's been going on lately." Takao said, his tone not presenting any hostility nor did it hold accusatory undertones, even though his head was tilted to the side and his eyes were narrowed ever so slightly. Stealth had been the killer of a prominent member of the front lines, and by nature it wasn't exactly a trustworthy skill.

"I figured you would've known I'd at least try to reveal you, 'cause that's kind of what I'm known for, I guess." He shrugged and let his gaze wander from one side of the forest to the next. He wasn't looking for anything in particular, just glancing idly. "But uh... I was on my way to look for a dungeon. You're welcome t'come along if you want."

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru listened to the player and gave him a slight nod. He sighed and just shrugged his shoulders. He agreed that his way of finding a player, especially a LD bases player, but his title was Master of Shadows. He had to try and live up to his title. He sighed and came over to the player and shrugged again, a small chuckle escaping his lips 

"I don't mind tagging along. It's a good chance for SP, and I wanna try and get as close to Tier 3 as I can before we make it to floor 21 and unlock it..." he said with a small sigh. He needed about 70 or more SP to get there, and he knew that would be extremely difficult. He had almost all the Quests done, and the ones he had left didn't give that much SP. He knew Sub-Dungeons were the only way to get more SP at a decent level, and he hoped this Sub-Dungeon would get home a good amount of SP

[Takao 0]

"Cool." Takao replied simply and in his now-typical monotone. Without so much as a second word he turned and continued on in the direction he'd been heading for prior to the interruption of Hikoru's discovery, silver-hued eyes locked on the particular direction. Aided by the omnipresent compass on his HUD, he kept himself headed the right way with relative ease, trudging through the jungle biome one hard step at a time.

"So, y'follow people 'n watch 'em like that a lot?" Takao called out, stealing a brief glance back at Hikoru. "Some folks 'prolly won't take too kindly t' that. Might even mistake you for Opal." He remarked dryly before looking forward once more, hopping up onto a fallen tree and dropping back down on the other side without missing a beat in his step. It didn't appear to be the smartest of ideas to have his back to the sneaky suspicious character, but he didn't exactly identify Hikoru as a threat either.

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru nodded and followed quietly behind the player, as he seemed to know where he was going. He followed quietly and listened as Takao asked why he snuck around, and if he did it to everyone. Hikoru just gave a small chuckle and sighed, ignoring the fact that the player had brought up Opal, a player who which he didn't want to speak of. He just sighed and unsheathed his dagger

"Well, you know, when you have a Unique Skill that is all about sneaking and hiding, then attacking out of the shadows, You don't have much choice but to try and make that as useable as much as you can..." He said with a small sigh. He didn't want to at times, but he needed to truly become the Master of Shadows he had to get used to using the shadows to his advantage. He chuckled "Although, players like you make it seem very easy to find me... It can get irritating at times." He said with a small chuckle. He just sighed and followed quietly the rest of the way, wondering where they would appear today