[PP-F1] Two's a Party (Completed)

[Birdie 0]

"Thank you!" Birdie called out to the shop keep, backing away from the door before parting with a wave. The day started like any other; she woke up in the attic of her workshop, showered and readied herself for the day ahead, and walked to her favourite café for the most important meal of the day. With that out of the way, she brought her menu up and navigated to the friend list, highlighting the name of a fellow scout she'd met the day before. 'Let's see if he remembered about our meetup,' she thought to herself, typing into the virtual keyboard as she made way for the edge of town.

Quote

To: Aerath

Hey,

Yesterday was fun! You still okay to meet up today? Remember, look for the forest just outside of the city's North exit, I'm there in about 5 minutes.

- Birdie

"Aaand, done!" She sent the message without hesitation and closed down the menu, watching as the city's exit approached in the distance. "Let's see how this goes- with any luck, we can gather all the wood we need for the quest."

Minutes passed as Birdie approached the edge of the forest. She found a nearby fence and sat on top of it, allowing her to scout the area whilst being easily recognisable to anyone who passed by.

@Aereth

Edited November 6, 2016 by Birdie

[Aereth 1]

Also to Aereth this was no special day. He woke up early in the guest room of Itzal's shop and quickly got out in order to get his breakfast. After he bought and ate a sandwich, yet again, he went out of <<Starting City>> to get his daily workout in. He loved to to workout in the early morning. It was so quiet, and the rising sun was the best background in Aereth's mind. After a good hour, he decided to go back to Itzal's shop to take a shower.

Just as he finished his shower, a message from his to be partner Birdie popped up in front of him. He read it carefully, and opened is virtual keyboard to answer her.

Spoiler

To: Birdie

Yeah, it really was. I quite enjoyed the time. Of course, just like we said. ^^ I'll be there in a minute.

-Aereth

He pushed the send button and opened his inventory. He put on his gear and headed for the door. 

Some minutes later he reached the meeting point at the edge of the forest at the North exit. It didn't take him long to spot his blue haired comrade sitting on a fence, so he rushed to her. As he finally reached her he said: "Hi Birdie. Nice to see you made it. How's your night and morning been?" offering his hand in order to help her down the fence.

@Birdie

[Birdie 0]

"Nothing I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance~" Birdie hummed nonchalantly, her legs swaying back and forth as she waited for her friend. Some time later, as a flock of birds flew by in the sky, she spotted the messy hair of an approaching player. She waved him over with a smile, "Hey Aereth!"

Taking his hand, she lowered herself to the floor and bowed in polite thanks. "Really great, some idiots were being loud in the streets last night though. Some people are just jerks.." She expelled a sigh, shaking her head a little in disgust. Her expression brightened as she looked to Aereth. "Anything new with you?" she asked, questioning him back with a smile.

Between talking, she went into her inventory and sorted out her gear for the occasion. She summoned the Blessed Pendant of Discovery and Dreamcatcher to boost her gathering abilities, and equipped her rapier as an added layer of safety. 

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

After Aereth helped Birdie down, she told him how some idiots at the streets have been loud tonight which made Aereth frown. He hated it when people were ruthless. Especially at night. Sleep was important even here inside of sword art online. "Some people are just jerks." But as Birdies expression got brighter again he had to smile at her. To the question if there was anything new with Aereth he shook his head and answered: "Nothing out of the ordinary. Just my breakfast an morning workout. And my night was quiet, fortunately." 

She then equipped some of the things in her inventory as well as her rapier. "I have to work even harder if I ever want to catch up with her and the rest of the guild. "Continue gathering materials for the event quest, I assume? Or do you want to do anything else?"

@Birdie

[Birdie 0]

"That's the plan!" Birdie swiped the menu away with a flick and looked to Aereth. "We're still kinda low on the bundles of wood, and we haven't really made a great start on the animal fat either. Tob- uh- Arc wants to make one of the bigger boats, but I have my doubts we'll get enough materials together for a ship that size." Turning to the forest, her eyes briefly scouted the thick brush for any sign of materials. "Not that us scouts will struggle with finding the quest items though."

As if on cue, Birdie spotted a neat bundle of sticks and logs beside a nearby tree. "Hey, look!" Her feet pushed off the ground as she broke into a short run, slowing down once she reached the site. "Alright, two down.. a bunch more to go." She knelt down and picked the items up, storing them into her inventory. 'Figures that my luck surges in front of another scout,' she thought, a joyous smile smacking her lips. "So, I forgot to ask, how was your initiation? You did it with Morgenstern right?"

LD: 19+5=24 <<Gained 2 Noble Wood and 4 Materials>>

Birdie's Loot:

2 Noble Wood
4 Materials

@Aereth

Edited October 25, 2016 by Birdie

[Aereth 1]

"Perfect, then let's go." he said to his blueharied comrade. Then she explained to him that her friend, named Tobias as Aereth assumed due to Birdies slip while talking, was planning to build a bigger boat, and  that she had her doubts that they'll get all the required materials for a ship that size. He decided to ignore the Birdies little slip and answered: "Yeah you are right, we are scouts after all." he said smiling at her. "At least she is a scout, I have to learn a whole lot until I reach her level."

Then it seemed like Birdie spotted something beside a nearby tree and told Aereth to look over there as she started to run to the spot she mentioned before. "That's awesome, you have good eyes." he stated with a smile. As he finished his sentence he spotted something black and shiny behind the tree. He picked it up and stored it into his inventory. "Didn't find any wood but, a little ore for crafting, I assume."

As the two of them got back on the way, Birdie asked Aereth about his initiation. "Itzal did the initiation with me. He asked me several questions and then he let me fight a boar on my own." he paused a little bit. "It was a hard fight since I told Itzal not to interfere, unless my life was in real danger. I landed a few good hits at the boar, and was almost able to defeat it, I had it down in the low red health," he paused another time and he frowned a little bit. "Then it landed several hard hits and almost killed me if Itzal didn't step to save me... But I'm very thankful that he didn't interfere before. On this day I was somehow able to know where my limits were." On this day he got to know how weak he really was. Doing his best to replace his frown with a smile he asked his comrade. "How was your initiation and who did it with you?"

Spoiler

 

ID# 69973 results:

 Loot: 15

Materials: 0+1=1

 

@Birdie

Edited October 25, 2016 by Aereth

[Birdie 0]

Birdie's smile gradually depressed into a partial frown, followed by a grin as his story ended on a high note. "Reminds me of the first time I fought a boar. Glad to hear you beat it up a little before Itzal had to step in, the buddy system is important in this game." Birdie's eyes flicked between the edge of the forest and her friend Aereth. She started along a thin mud trail that would lead them onto a wider path into the trees.

"My initiation?" she repeated. "Hmm.. well, I learned quite a lot from it. First I met up with Morgenstern in the town square, and then he took me out to the fields outside town to gather some items." Her eyebrows lowered as she held her head low. "We only found one material, the rain made it hard to see in the dark." The bluenette let loose a sigh, shaking it off with a smile. "Anyway, after that disappointing search we went over to this 'undead plains' place that had Skeletons and all sorts- we only fought one enemy before heading back to town."

Hidden beneath a pile of leaves, Birdie stopped by the side of the road to uncover a small pile of wood and sticks. Keeping the conversation flowing, she stored the items mid-sentence and inspected her inventory briefly. "It was a pretty fun experience overall, I learned a lot about the guild anyway." Satisfied with the find, she got up on her feet and turned to Aereth, "You had your initiation with Itzal- I guess that means he asked you to become his apprentice?" Birdie stood still for a moment, her arms folding as she thought. "Would that make us both his apprentices, then?' "What'd you say?"

ID# 69978
LD: 18+5=23 <<Gained 2 Noble wood and 4 Materials>>

Birdie's Loot:

4 Noble Wood
8 Materials

@Aereth

Edited October 25, 2016 by Birdie

[Aereth 1]

Aereth had to agree fully with her statement about the buddy system inside of Sword Art Online. "Yeah I agree with you completely. Even at Floor one it's so easy to get killed by a simple low leveled monster, it's ridiculous."

Then she talked about her own initiation and how she had to gather materials in the dark and fight a creepy skeleton. "Yeah, I forgot to mention that I also had to find some materials in the initiation process. And skeletons? At night? Freaking creepy if you ask me." He said to his new female friend while laughing wholeheartedly.

 

As Birdie picked up another bunch of materials she told Aereth that she learned quite a lot from her initiation. "Looks like over there is one more quest item." He said and jumped on a nearby branch of a tree to collect one more <<Noble Wood>>

She then asked if Aereth was also going to be an apprentice of Itzal and he started to smile. "Yes, it looks like I'm going to... You know, he was the first player and friend I met in here, and I've got the feeling that I'm able to learn so much from him. You also have to know, that I want to support the frontliners clearing this goddamned game. This madness has to end.. We all need to get out of here."  he said while looking at the ground. "Itzal told me a little bit about you, and I hope we can become good scouting partners, and more important, good friends." He said while he gave a warm smile to Birdie.

Spoiler

 

ID# 69983 results:

 Loot: 18

Materials: 1

Quest Items: 1 Noble Wood

 

@Birdie

Edited October 25, 2016 by Aereth

[Birdie 0]

Subsequently after Aereth mentioned becoming good friends, Birdie couldn't stifle the smile that appeared on her cheeks. "I look forward to getting to know you too. More importantly, if we're both under Itzal's wing as his pupils, doesn't that make us rivals in some way?" A light-hearted smirk surfaced. "I'm not very competitive so don't worry about it being a race or anything, but I hope we can compare each other's progress once we our scout training starts for realsies." She continued, shifting her eyes to the path ahead. "And don't worry, with the guild behind your back, you'll catch up to me in no time."

Birdie surveyed a small stretch of brush up ahead, squinting to try and catch something within the bush. No such luck. Pushing past her failure to find any items, she continued on.

"What motivates you to be a scout?" A basic question- the simplest one she could've asked in fact- but she felt it appropriate to ask.

ID# 69984
LD: 6+5=11 <<No loot>>

Birdie's Loot:

4 Noble Wood
8 Materials

@Aereth

Edited October 25, 2016 by Birdie

[Aereth 1]

The smile on Birdies face made Aereth happy. "Yeah, I'm sure we will have a good time together. And about the rivalry: Bring. It. On." he managed to hold his serious expression for about five seconds before he bursting out in laughter. "Haha. Jokes aside. A little bit of rivalry never hurts, and it also can be a lot of fun. My main object though is not to surpass you. But I think a little bit of rivalry can help us push harder together. And I'm very greatful, that I have a much more experianced partner which I can ask some things I don't know or fully understand right now. I will be working my ass of in order to get stronger and better. For you, me, the guild, every one trapped in this goddamned game." he said to her while he looked her directly in the eyes, then he looked into the skies. "And in order to keep a promise..." 

"I guess Itzal made a good job to show me the benefits of being a scout. The better loot, finding sub dungeons and bosses. And also the option to go all out damage after completing the scout build to become a so to say scout DPS hybrid in order to also participate and being useful in boss fights." Aereth answered Birdies question about his motives to become a scout. "How about you? What were your motives?"

Spoiler

 

ID# 69985 results:

 Loot: 1 Doesn't look good for me. 

Materials: 1

Quest Items: 1 Noble Wood

 

@Birdie

Edited October 25, 2016 by Aereth

[Birdie 0]

Birdie beamed as Aereth confirmed he was up to the rivalry, albeit knowing she wouldn't go too hard on him until the breach between their stats had closed. "Well hey, any time you need scouting tips, I'll be here to help. Not that I know anything more than you do, Itzal's taught me everything I know so far." She just about understood what a player needs to look out for when gathering; things that are out of place, odd-looking formations, or even just a sense that some loot is sitting nearby.

The bluenette glanced to Aereth as he explained his motives for becoming a scout, and felt her grin widen as the question reflected back to her. "Mine are similar to yours, I wanted to be able to gather materials and loot in combat with a higher level of certainty, and the ability to transition into a DPS-Scout hybrid sounds really attractive. Other than that, I want to learn more about the game before getting involved in combat. Inexperience wont be the death of me- I hope, anyway." She loosed as big a smile as she could, and looked away from Aereth.

"So, what kinda things did Itzal talk about? Gathering and finding loot are the most obvious jobs for a scout, did he tell you about the other stuff scouts do?" She could only remember agility skills being a part of the training Itzal intended to give them, and looked to Aereth curiously in case he had anything to add.

ID# 70000 (woohoo!)
LD: 4+5=9 (oh well. v.v)

Birdie's Loot:

4 Noble Wood
8 Materials

Edited October 26, 2016 by Birdie

[Aereth 1]

"Thanks. It's really awesome to have a teacher AND a partner who I can ask for tips. For me it's the same. Itzal fetched me up in the starting city and taught me almost everything I know about the game. Funny side fact: My first fight was actually with Jonathan. We met randomly at floor one and he decided to help me slay my first boar." he laughed.

Aereth felt his smile widen at the same rate than hers before, as he got to know why she wanted to become a scouting unit. "Yeah, good scouts are so useful for guilds, shops and even the frontliners. I just hope to catch up to you rather quickly, so that I don't drag your growth down too much." From the last sentence, it seemed that Birdie didn't like fighting very much, for obvious reasons though. Aereth somehow enjoyed fighting the mobs, and leveling his one handed sword skill.

"So he basically told me the usual stuff, and in addition it seems that he wants to teach us some neat parcouring skills. Wich I would totally love to learn. Itzal is so freaking fast. And if you pair that with parcouring... I don't even know what to say. He gets from point A to point B so f***ing fast, it's unbelievable." he stated in awe. "We also talked about getting the Material Arts skill in some time. Itzal needs it for his strongest sword art, and I find the idea of unarmed combat very nice. As you can tell, I aim for an very high speed build, and if I don't have to wear a heavy sword for combat, this means that I can move even faster, without the loss of combat power." he said smiling at her.

Spoiler

 

ID# 70002 results:

 Loot: 9 (my luck isn't any better^^)

Materials: 1

Quest Items: 1 Noble Wood

 

@Birdie

Edited October 26, 2016 by Aereth

[Birdie 0]

She looked to Aereth as he mentioned dragging her down, her head shaking gently in disagreement. "Not at all. Helping you out helps me out too, you know- the quicker we're on equal ground, the better quality our training together will be." Birdie wouldn't hold her gaze for much longer, as something just off to the side of the path caught her attention.

Realising it to be nothing more than an oddly-shaped tree, she dismissed the anomaly and focused on the conversation at hand. She listened to his words, each spoken with awe as he talked about their mentor-to-be, and about how he intended to grow as a player. "He's the fastest player I've met in this game, the guy climbs from tree to tree faster than I can run." A slim smile curved her lips remembering the race, and she looked to Aereth to continue. "Now you're thinking like a scout! Getting that close to monsters to hit them though... sounds terrifying to me." Birdie noticed that he didn't share the same opinion of combat as her. Knowing that brave souls still roamed the world- training to beat SAO and end Kayaba's reign of terror- she drew comfort from the thought that he'd grow into a strong fighter..

"Looking forward to you running circles around monsters with that skill, though! I wish I was as brave as you, or Arc, or anybody that's a confident fighter...  my style is to find the safest time to strike and back out before I take a hit, saving my own butt first. I swear it'll get somebody hurt some day.." She expelled a huff, "Anyways, are you planning to do the quest soon? If you need another set of hands, I'd love to come along."

ID# 70017
LD: 1+5=6

Birdie's Loot:

4 Noble Wood
8 Materials

@Aereth

Edited October 26, 2016 by Birdie

[Aereth 1]

"Well, then I'm happy to hear that." He answered her as she said that she didn't thinks that Aereth drags her down. She then looked at a odd looking tree, maybe in hope to find some materials, but unfortunately, there wasn't anything.

After hearing Birdies description of Itzal's way of moving Aereth couldn't hold back a loud chuckle. "Yes, he's like the flash and spider man combined in one person." What Birdie then said about the monsters, confirmed what Aereth had assumed before. She doesn't like combat at all. But that was fine. She had a guild that had her back. So she didn't need to go into combat ever alone. "Yeah I know what you mean... Even these boars are mega scary if you meet them alone, but... I think I will need every combat experience I can get, if I want to join the frontlines one day." he said to Birdie. 

Now Aereth also look out for some materials that could be hiding anywhere around them. But it seemed like the close area around them was farmed empty.

After that she said how she was looking forward to see him running circles around monsters with the materials arts skill, which made Aereth smile again. "Don't worry. You are at least equally as brave as your friends. You also go outside and do your job while risking your life when you look for materials. You can be proud to be a scout. And as a scout you don't have to fight at all if you don't want to. And also do not worry about getting your comrades hurt. I belief that they all are able to hold their ground against that stupid monsters." he tried to assure her as he looked deep in her eyes with a smile. "And about the quest, I didn't think about it when I am going to do it, but I'd surely enjoy some company and another set of hands there."

Spoiler

 

ID# 70029 results:

 Loot: 7 (not getting better xD)

Materials: 1

Quest Items: 1 Noble Wood

 

@Birdie

Edited October 27, 2016 by Aereth

[Birdie 0]

Her eyes showed surprise as he mentioned joining the Frontlines- in hindsight, it was obvious that his end goal was to end up there. "You too, huh? The boars are just the first step, then. There's a lot of ground to cover before reaching the floor bosses I bet. Deep down, I think I wanna join the elite fighters too.. that just means getting over my ill-feeling towards combat. I'm sure that we'll see each other out in the Frontlines later on!"

A quick scan of the area revealed no obvious materials or quest items lying around, eliciting a huff from the bluenette. 'It's possible somebody's already ransacked this area. If that's the case, it's pointless walking the same path..'

As the girl waited for a fork in the road, her grin grew wider when Aereth spoke words of encouragement, convincing the girl to believe she wasn't quite as worthless as she thought. "Y-yeah, you're right. God- I just.. I don't want to be the one who causes an injury, or worse, a fatality. But at the same time, I do wanna get out and fight for what's right..." She shrugged, ".. I dunno. It's something to figure out later on, I guess."

"Cool! I haven't actually done that quest before, but I mean, it's hitting a rock. How hard could it be?" A quiet giggle escaped her lips, and she brought her eyes back to the path. A four-way junction appeared ahead, as if two separate paths had crossed right through each other.

"Hmm.. which way should we go?" She glanced left and right and then up ahead, spotting no obvious differences between each direction. 'They all look the same.. ugh.'

ID# 70030
LD: 7+5=12

Birdie's Loot:

4 Noble Wood
8 Materials

@Aereth

Edited October 27, 2016 by Birdie

[Aereth 1]

Aereth had to smile at Birdie's reaction as he told her he wanted to join the frontlines. "Yeah the first step on a very bumpy and f***ed up road. But I'm willing to take it on, and come out on top of. And again, don't worry too much. The ill-feelings will go away as we grow stronger together." he said in a warm but a little bit serious voice. He had to think at the past before he met Itzal. At times where he was desperate. He suffered, but it made him stronger, helped him finding the resolve to train harder every day.

Seeing Birdie smile made him happy again. "Don't be so hard on you. Everything will be fine." again offering her an encouraging smile.

"Yes, the task alone seems not to be so hard, but you can't use your weapon, so you do almost no damage at all, which means it takes a while to get through that stupid rock. But having you with me, would not only double the speed, but I would also really enjoy some company while literally beating the s*it out of this rock."

As they came to the four-way junction, Birdie asked which way they should take and Aereth started scanning the area for anything usable. On the right part, near a tree he indeed found an item they needed for their quest. He picked it up and stored it away. "Let's take this one since I already found some <<Noble Wood>> here." he said to his partner. 

Spoiler

 

 ID# 70101 results:

 Battle: 4

 Loot: 19 yaaay.

Materials: 1

Quest Items: 1 + 1 = 2 Noble Wood

 

@Birdie

Edited October 28, 2016 by Aereth

[Birdie 0]

"Punching a rock? You know, for a game that we're supposed to treat super seriously, Kayaba added in some pretty kookie quests. Count me in though," she affirmed with a nod, and turned to face the road ahead. Off to the side, a conspicuous pile of leaves didn't seem to fit in with the surrounding forest, and she sought to uncover the anomaly. Sure enough, a set of materials and wood bundles lied within. She scooped them into her inventory right away.

Aereth chose a direction and the bluenette gladly followed, pacing herself just a few steps behind the man as he took lead. "Awesome, looks like we'll easily gather enough quest items by the end of this!" She sent a smile his way, though something occurred her in the ensuing moments. "Hey um.. I was wondering, do you think we should try and gather some Animal Fat while we're out here? Yesterday's hunt didn't yield as many as I thought it would, and the quest is due in about two or so weeks. We've collected quite a lot of wood as it is- does that sound okay to you?" The change of plans was sudden, and she'd understand wholeheartedly if he didn't want to. Though, the bundles of wood seemed to be far more abundant than Fat. "We can loot mobs we find for materials too, and we only kill the weaklings."

ID# 70103
LD: 13+5=18 <<Gained 2 Noble Wood and 4 Materials>>

Birdie's Loot:

6 Noble Wood
12 Materials

 

Edited October 29, 2016 by Birdie

[Aereth 1]

"You're right with that. This quest is just like some brainless button smashing game. The only thing you need to complete this quest is determination. Perfect. I'll send you a message when I prepared everything."

Aereth noticed how Birdie was walking a few steps behind him, so he slowed his pace down a little bit as he answered. "Yeah, if we can keep up the speed of finding those items, we will soon have the amount we need." he smiled to her. Then she suggested to gather some animal fat from weak mobs. "Yes no problem for me. I also wanted to try the new sword I got from the guild treasury, so this is fine with me. And I think that the weaker mobs should be no problem for us, since we can fight together and support each other." She was completely right. They needed to gather a whole lot of animal fat in order to build their 5-seater in time, so slaying floor standard mobs would be the fastest way to get the required fat.

ID# 70107 results:

 Loot: 14

@Birdie

Edited October 29, 2016 by Aereth

[Birdie 0]

She expelled a thankful sigh, her lips curling into a smile as Aereth agreed to the plan. "Awesome! It works out way faster this way, I'm glad you're on-board." She caught up to him soon after and matched his pace, keeping an eye out for materials as they continued along the path. It was in Birdie's best interest to switch out gear to something more combat-appropriate, and as the girl's inventory window hovered in front of her, she switched out the Dreamcatcher for her Ring of Accuracy.

Ahead, the trees begin to thin out, concentrating the sun's rays through small gaps in the leaves. Birdie raised a hand above her eyes to shield them from the light and, as the two scouts passed through the clearing, the sound of flowing water from a nearby river trickled into their ears. Up ahead, a wooden bridge acted as passage for those that wished to the cross the water, and beyond it lied what looked to be an abandoned farmyard with a selection of feral farm animals roaming the grounds. Birdie scanned the area with her eyes, an eyebrow arching at the sudden presence of weak mobs. "Well, that's convenient. It looks like they're pretty weak, too.. level 2 at best. Ever thought a crazy chicken before?" A faint grin grew on her face, and she began to walk along the riverside.

Edited October 29, 2016 by Birdie

[Aereth 1]

"No problem. Since I've got some more HP, I really started to like fighting the lower leveled mobs." He answered her with a smile. Then she changed her rings and and readied herself for the combat that was yet to come. Aereth also opened his inventory and equipped his new black leather coat alongside his Sword of Legion.

After some walking in comfortable silence, the trees began to thin out, and a small clearing came into sight. "It's amazing how real everything looks inside here. To imagine that all of this is virtual seems so unreal..." Aereth stated as he gazed over the wooden bride to the abandoned farmyard. Then Birdie asked him if he ever fought a crazy chicken before which made Aereth laugh loudly. "Haha, have you ever fought a chicken in The Legend of Zelda? Because the chickens inside this game are pretty f***ed up."

He opened his menu once again and checked if all of the equipment he needed was equipped.

@Birdie

OOC: Do you want to play the mobs or should I?

Edited October 30, 2016 by Aereth