[PP-F05] <<The Traveller>> Survivng more than the Weather.

[Alinta 0]

The woman wasn't fond of this floor. She wore a loose fitted white shirt, and tight denim short-shorts. Rarely ever dressed quite appropriately for the occasion. Alinta preferred to look a certain way. That way was not like some cliche' game character. The woman may love to write about fantasy... but she did not enjoy living it. The woman sat cross legged beneath a large cloth canopy in the city of Fortaleza - the main settlement of the fifth floor. Every so often she'd shoot a glare at a passerby.

She had been trying to slowly...slowly explore the other cities, the least she could do. But Alinta hit a bit of a road bump. She was told by a passerby in Taft that she'd need the Survival Skill if she wanted to be safe against the elements. It didn't take long for her to find the details of the quest. It didn't seem too hard. She had to find some old man, who lingered by the gate to the desert, and take him to his hiding spot...wherever that was. She had played these sort of games before. Escort quests. The hardest part about them was having to slow yourself down for the terribly slow NPCs. 

Alinta --> Scar: Hey...I found this quest and I was wondering if you could help me with it? It's called <<The Traveller>> and it gives you a Survival Skill that helps you deal with a bunch of weather and terrain debuffs. I looked into it and it's just an escort quest so it should be pretty easy but those are kind of boring to do alone. So if you want to come you can.
Alinta --> Scar: You don't have to though.

A pause before she sent another.

Alinta --> Scar: If you do. I am waiting at a small cafe by the teleport gate in Fortaleza, I bought you a drink.
Alinta --> Scar: Not that I assumed you'd come, its hot so. I'll just drink it myself.

The woman had to close her messaging system, lest she became too overbearing...perhaps there was a reason she didn't really hear back from Oscar. He was a busy man, and her catching sight of him at the Blackbook event - lead the woman to believe that he had started to see another woman. That was fine. It wasn't like they had even dated or anything of the sort. He simply showed an interest in her.

 

Alinta instead; put her attention to the table in front of her, made of smooth sandstone, two drinks sitting on it. Each with a festive paper umbrella. Both bright blue in colour. Alinta picked up her own and took a long sip from it, tasting the sweet lemonade before pressing the glass to her forehead, enjoying the cool touch of the condensation upon the glasss.  "He probably won't come...." She muttered to herself. The woman was fully prepared to do this alone. She just...didn't want to.

After all, she had only met Scar once, and they...well. 

At the very least she had enjoyed his company during the event.

ALINTA OMBRE | HP: 560/560 | EN: 74/74 | DMG: 1 | LD:2 | True Tier 3

WC:511

Spoiler

 

"Name: ALINTA OMBRE
True Tier: 3
Level: 28
Paragon Level: 0
HP: 560/560
EN: 74/74

Stats:
Damage: 1
Loot Die: 2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - 
Armor/Trinket: 
  - 
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - BLACK CROSS EARRING +2 LD

Combat Mastery:
  - 

Combat Shift:
  - 

Familiar Skill:
  - 

Custom Skill:
  - 

Skills:

Extra Skills:

Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:

Mods:

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - HEALTH POTION +5HP x3

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:

Gathering Profession:
"           

 

                                                                                                                

@Scar

Edited 1 hour ago by Alinta

[Scar 0]

The message blinked onto Jack's interface while he was half-distracted, cycling through his quest log with idle disinterest.

Alinta -> Scar: Hey.. I foudn this quest and I was wondering if you could help me with it?

He read through the series of messages, escort quest, «The Traveller», survival skill reward. Straightforward. A bit dull. Escort missions were the MMO equivalent of watching paint dry, but when he reached the last message, he caught himself smirking.

Alinta -> Scar: I bought you a drink. Not that I assumed you'd come.

He could almost hear her voice in that. That mix of stubborn detachment and uncertain invitation made something in him stir. Maybe it was curiosity. Maybe it was something else. Whatever it was, he was already on his way to the teleport gate before he could talk himself out of it.

Not long after, the shimmer of light faded, and he was standing on the fifth floor. The sun felt like a real solid block of heat against his body.

"Holy hell," he murmured, shielding his eyes.

The head of the midday sun showed off the whole of Fortaleza, street of sandstone, tents made of decorated cloth, and a crowd that went about their business with a leisurely kind of will under the blazing sun of the desert. It was beautiful in its own way, but Jack was thinking right off the bat that his clothes were all wrong. Black t-shirt, black shorts, and black shoes. Without a shadow of a doubt, it had appeared alright when he was leaving, but under this sun, the color might as well have been his doom. He was almost able to see the material soaking up the heat like a sponge.

"Perfect," he said sarcastically to himself. "Dress like a shadow, burn like one."

Still, he pressed on through the plaza, scanning for the café she mentioned. It wasn't long before he could see the wide canopy close to the teleport gate, shady place, sandstone table, and a delicate aroma of citrus carried by the wind. And there she was, with nobody but herself, sitting.

Even from a distance, he recognized her immediately. Alinta had that same calm, self-contained posture he remembered from the Blackbook event, though here it looked.. different. Less guarded. A little more human, maybe. She was focused on something in front of her, two drinks, both topped with small blue umbrellas that looked comically festive in the desert heat.

He stopped for a second, a smile coming to his lips. She hadn't seen him yet.

That made things more interesting.

Quietly he moved from one table to another until he was just behind her. Without a word, he reached out and tapped her shoulder once, light, casual, and stepped to the opposite side before she could look back. As her head turned in the wrong direction, he leaned in close enough to poke her cheek with one finger.

"Guess you didn't think I'd actually show up, huh?" he said, voice laced with amusement.

He straightened up, took the vacant chair next to her, and smiled. "Yeah, you weren't joking about the heat." He was pulling the collar of his black shirt with his land a little. "Wearing this was a terrible life choice."

The two drinks caught his eye, and he looked at her with a little bit of a surprise saying, "You really did get me one." Playfully he says, "Watch out, Alinta, if you keep doing considerate things like this, and I might start expecting them."

He dropped back in his seat, one arm draped over the chair. "So," he said after a moment, his eyes bright with interest, "Where's this old man we're supposed to escort? Please tell me he's not halfway across the desert."

* * *

Spoiler

Scar | HP: 140/140 | EN: 32/32 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 4

[equipments.]
scimitar. | [#000000] | TIER 1 RARE CURVED SWORD | ACC, BLEED (12)
[desc.]: A sleek, crescent-shaped weapon designed for precision and speed. Its sharp curve biting deep to draw swift, bleeding wounds from every strike.

[battle-ready inventory.]
starter healing potion. | [#000000] | TIERLESS POTION | HP RECOVERY
[desc.]: A small glass vial. When consumed, it restores 50 health points.

WC: 629

@Alinta

[Alinta 0]

"Huh?" She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned her head - seeing nothing the woman grumbled in frustration. As Alinta turned her facea again she felt a calloused finger press into the soft skin of her cheek. Alinta jumped in surprise, almost spilling her blue drink all over her white top. She would have, if she hadn't already drank half its contents. "Scar..." His name spoken with an Exasperated sigh as she watched the man shift to sit down.

"Guess you didn't think I'd actually show up, huh?" 

Alinta crossed her arms, lightly glossed lips pressing into a pout as she gave a visible and audible huff. "Who cares if you did?" she asked. "It's not like this is my first rodeo. I've spent thousands of hours playing these sort of games before." And she had, it was all she really did aside from her modelling gig. "I just..." A shift of her eyes to the teleport gate, and away from him. "Didn't expect to be able to actually die in one." Something she was reminded of daily back in the Town of Beginnings. Her voice filled with a sort of hesitation. Suddenly unsure if she wanted to do this quest. Alinta had to remind herself she had someone with her, that there wasn't anything unusual about the quest. Alinta would loosen her arms and allow herself to lean forward on the table, shifting her drink to the side so she could address her companion properly, and with a smile.

"You good there?" She'd ask with a tilt of her head. "I should have warned you to bring something..." Her eyes would dance up and down his body. "A little more airy." Alinta placed her chin in the palm of one hand and picked up her drink with the other, taking an idle sip as she watched him. He was easy on the eyes, and despite how he dressed - he always managed to smell like fresh linen. "Of course...I don't mind watching your sweat." She'd add. She'd continue their tit for tat that they had the night of the ball - granted there was less fire behind her words. This time, it was more of a playful banter. Alinta didn't want to get him too riled up, nor her too flustered. She now knew he'd match her, then take it several steps further. 

And...she wasn't sure she'd be able to keep up, and keep a level head.

"Ah...T-The drink." She stammered as she gestured toward it, catching her thoughts before they had time to seed themselves into her psyche. "Yes!" She'd pick up his glass and place it against his head, letting the droplets of condensation drop down his head. "See. It's good for two things." 

"Watch out, Alinta, if you keep doing considerate things like this, and I might start expecting them."

"O-oh?!" Alinta felt embarrassed at that, she'd set the glass back down in front of him and lower herself back to her own seat, shifting her gaze away as she picked up her own, playing around with the little umbrella. "So...right. Right the quest...we gotta... find and escort an old man named Z-Zamek to some hidden location. He's usually wandering around the front gate to the city. North side...but...before that..." She'd play around with the umbrella a little more. "I....I don't - I mean....I haven't invested my skills in anything yet." She felt a little embarrassed to admit it.

"So...do ya think I should do that first?" She turned to him. "What build are you going for?"

This....This was safe talk, nerd talk. Her talk. She could handle this. Far, far more than sultry whispers and the scent of sweat and lavender.

 

WC: 614