<<Rumor>> F03 - Faerie Confused

[Sinnamon 0]

"Why don't you just get lost?"

Okay, fucking rude. Sin had just spent the last few minutes watching some poor girl get absolutely blasted. She probably should have stepped in sooner - she didn't deserve all of that. But there was just something about the guy running roughshod over the woman that made her hang back. Not out of fear. Hell no. She wanted to let him dig his own grave. So she idly sipped her coffee, eyes closed and legs crossed, outside a small little cafe on the main strip in the Town of Beginnings.

"We aren't here to carry you. What use are you if you can't fight?"

Well, there was more to the game than fighting. Sin knew that. But - then again - Sin was the type to cut first, ask questions never. But it took all types, really. Brawn and the brains. And this fucker's machismo was gonna get him killed. Because even though she brought the brawn, Sin knew better than to second guess the brains. Placing her mug down on the saucer, she left a small pouch of Col on the table and sauntered up to the group. Three in total - their leader looming over the small girl like some sort of abusive creep. Fuck all of that. She stepped in the way, giving the man a rough shove before placing her hands on her hips.

"If you aren't man enough to cover one girl, just say that," she sneered. Sin stepped forward. Another shove, pushing the man back towards his two friends. "It's giving needle dick. Talking all this shit and you can't shield someone from some fucking boars?"

The man finally found his nerve, having been stunned into silence by Sin's sudden intervention. "What the fuck does it matter to you? She can't do anything to help!"

"It matters to me," Sin began. "Because I can't stand fucking idiots like you. Acting all high and mighty because you got some levels. You ever heard of being helpful? Hell, even being nice?"

"Everyone needs to pull their weight in a -"

Sin stepped forward, grabbing him by the collar. Her leg hooked behind his, ripping backwards and stealing his balance. In the next moment, he was on his back, Sin's heel planted firmly on his chest. His friends made a half step forward. Sin pointed her sword at them, her expression begging them to try it. Finally, with a sweet smile, she looked down at the man.

"Looks like you aren't as good at fighting as you thought. Maybe you should fuck off."

And so they did. Falling over themselves to get the fuck away from the crazy girl that just put their leader on his ass. She spun around, driving the tip of her over-sized sword into the cobblestones and leaning against it. She regarded the woman with a bright expression, leaning against her weapon as she swayed from side to side.

"Fuck those guys," she said brightly. "Whatcha need help with? I think we've established I can handle it."

Spoiler

"Name: Sinnamon
True Tier: 1
Level: 5
Paragon Level: 0
HP: 100/100
EN: 28/28

Stats:
Damage: 10

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Steel Greatsword | T1 SS | DMG III
Armor/Trinket: 
  - 
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - 

Combat Mastery:
  - 

Combat Shift:
  - 

Familiar Skill:
  - 

Custom Skill:
  - 

Skills:
  - Straight Sword R4

Extra Skills:

Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:

Mods:

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:

Gathering Profession:
"                                                                                                                            

 

[Plum 0]

She ought to have been used to it by now. 

 

It was always the same old song and dance: she would join a small party, offering whatever support she could provide (financial, strategic), in exchange for their protection on ventures outside of the safe zones. “I don’t fight,” she always warned them, before sifting through her inventory to share teleport crystals with the group. Never had the name of a weapon flashed across the screen. “My safety is my top priority.”

 

“Then why not take responsibility for your own safety?” the leader of party spat at her once they had regrouped back in town. “You’re beyond useless. We don’t have any need for a tactician who can’t even get us to the damn cave.”

 

“Why don’t you just get lost?”

God was she getting tired of this.

 

Plum glared daggers up at her former leader, then her eyes shifted to the group’s other members, who quickly busied themselves with looking at anyone but their publicly disparaged teammate. Just about as much help from them here as in the field. The woman let out a sigh, a forceful, angry huff of air as she gathered together her retort. How they had requested after her help, since none of them knew the folklore. That they had listened to her briefing the whole trek out there, workshopping the best course of action, until their run in with a few beasts scared all of them back into town. Her cheeks were flushed with anger, embarrassment, acutely aware of how many eyes were on them. She opened her mouth to respond, but her voice caught in her throat. 

 

She was so tired of this.

 

Her mouth opened, then closed again. What was even the point? If they hadn’t listened to her before, there was no way they’d listen now. Plum was used to being persuasive, it was how she talked herself into this party in the first place, but once they got to be like this, fear manifested into outrage, words began to be about as useless as her sword arm. So she stood there, hands tightening around the leather strap of her satchel, swallowing her temper down before she became tempted to resort to something other than words–

 

Though it seemed someone else had the same inclination, only they were less inclined to stifle that down. 

 

There was a flash of motion, and a voice sharp enough to slice through the static in her head. Plum blinked, startled, as the stranger stepped in, confidence radiating off her like armor. It happened almost more quickly than she could process, had she not made a pseudo-career out of her ability to do just that. 

 

The onlookers gasped as the party leader got knocked to the earth, a few laughed, and Plum just… stared. The woman rushing to her rescue was quite the sight to behold, all legs and long hair and righteous fury on her behalf. Eventually, the gang scampered off, tails between their legs. Had they glanced back, she imagined she might see tears in their eyes.  When the other woman finally turned around to face her, the adrenaline of the situation truly caught up. Plum realized her heart was racing, and her face still was flushed - but for the first time today, it wasn’t from shame. 

 

She exhaled a shaky laugh, finally managing to push the sound out of her chest. “You didn’t have to do that,” she said, her voice somewhere between gratitude and disbelief. “...but I’m glad you did.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, purple eyes trailing over the woman’s massive sword before reaching her face. There was still uncertainty in her own expression, but seeing such a brilliant smile, it was hard to keep the corners of her mouth down. 

 

“It really was only meant to be a simple investigation. We shouldn’t have encountered any issues, but they wanted to farm EXP on the way and bit off more than they could chew.” Her expression turned quizzical, sweeping over her knight-in-little-armor with an air of appraisal. “I don’t doubt you could handle anything. But you heard them - I’m less than useless in a fight.”

“If you really are willing to help, though… it’s just, there’s a rumor going around town. No one’s died as far as we can tell, since they’re still active on people’s friends list. But people keep disappearing, and aren’t responding to messages. Sometimes they get spotted, but they act.. strange. Not quite the same as before.”

She sighed deeply. It was a troubling situation, and usually one she’d leave to more capable fighters, but player strength didn’t seem to be the issue here. And if it wasn’t dangerous, as she believed, then she couldn’t sit back and do nothing. 

 

“Sorry. I don’t mean to burden you with anything. I just wanted a closer look at some of the caves out there. My name is Plum - thank you again for stepping in. I’d be happy to treat you to your next coffee.” A wrinkle formed along her brow. “I’ve just got to solve this one.”

 

PLUM

Lv. 1

HP 20/20

EN 20/20 ||

Edited 9 hours ago by Plum

[Sinnamon 0]

Of course they bit off more than they could chew. Dumbasses had no sense of proportion. And from Plum’s story, it sounded like quite the mystery. An important one. Because if people were going missing and not responding to messages, there was more at play than anyone realized. Stakes were higher than anyone realized. To the point that - in all honesty - if it had come across her plate before Plum had apprised her of the situation, Sin would have set off to handle it herself.

And by “handle it,” she totally meant that she was gonna sic Oscar’s Hounds on it.

“I don’t have to do a lot of things,” Sin began, lifting one hand to examine her nails. With her thumb, she picked some errant splinter from beneath the nail of her ring finger and then shifted her attention back to Plum. “But I do ‘em anyway.” She twisted her wrist, extending her index finger to point in Plum’s direction with a casual air. “And you looked like your knees were about to buckle. No way in Hell I was gonna let you give those fucks the satisfaction.”

She dropped her weapon, rising back to her full height and flipping her hair. The sword, now no longer supported by Sin’s grip, tilted forward. As it fell towards the ground, it took on an ethereal glow. And before it made contact, it disappeared entirely. Fracturing into wisps of energy that flowed into one of Sin’s bracelets on her right hand. She let out a satisfied sigh.

“Sinnamon. But you can call me Sin,” she said brightly. “Only my friends get to call me Sin, by the way. And honey, I just became your best friend.”

As much as she was loath to admit it, Sin had more in common with those dudebros she worked over than she was comfortable owning up to. She liked hanging around cute girls. And Plum was absolutely that. Given how resolved the girl was, Sin realized that come Hell or high water, she was going to get stuck in.

“You’re just too adorable to go off and get yourself killed in some cave,” Sin remarked. “And besides, this is some total Trackers’ Alliance shit.”

Truth be told, she only joined the Guild at Oscar’s behest. Free perks were free perks. Sin never had any intention of doing any tracking or rumor hunting or anything like that. In a way, Plum just gave her a reason to actually do her fucking job. She was all ready to set off and get it done when-

“I’d be happy to treat you to your next coffee.”

“You mean to tell me,” Sin began, her gaze locking onto Plum’s with a sudden intensity. “That all I have to do is help you investigate and I get a nice little coffee date with a cute little nerd-” The corners of her lips tilted up at that last word. “Nerd” falling from her lips oh-so affectionately. That soft smile widened, turning into a bright grin - teeth and all.

“Sign me the fuck up.”

 

[Plum 0]

Plum watched Sin make her great show of bravado, a hint of incredulity slipping through the tired edges of the former's expression. "For the record, my knees were not about to buckle," she said dryly, evidently a little offended by the remark. A pause. She could quip further about not being a damsel in distress -at least, not in instances of social rejection- but to appear spiteful to the woman offering her help was not in her best interests, nor those of the missing players. She needed to segue back to the matter at hand. "I was simply.. biding my time. Re-evaluating my choices. Which now includes wondering why I joined that party in the first place, when someone like you was here all along."
Her gaze softened. Whether it was genuine as she did appreciate the rescue, or if she was merely slipping back into her more people-working persona, Plum wanted to make certain that her newfound partner was committed. Obviously, she had been burned before. 

“My best friend, huh? Guess I’ll stick to your side like glue,” came her next response, and she wasted no time in opening her menu to send a friend request. “I’ll be holding you to that, Miss Sin.”
The comment about the Tracker’s Alliance didn’t go unnoticed, though visibly, Plum didn’t react. It was just another tidbit of information for her to store aware until it became useful. So this girl was in a guild, was she? Given the Alliance’s reputation as rumor-chasers, it was surprising they hadn’t gotten involved sooner. Though, she supposed the lower floors had been largely combed through already. No one really cared what went on down here anymore. 

Sin did, and that would have to be enough. 

“If you see us through to the other side of this mystery, you can call on this ‘little nerd’ for a coffee date any time you’d like.” 

Plum lightly touched her arm, affirming that she meant what she was promising. But they needed to resolve this problem first, and there would be no space in her affections until they did so.

“Our objective is to reach the Cavern of Faeries.” Her tone grew more serious. “Then navigate it and find out what we can. I don’t know how the fae operate here in Aincrad, but they’re pretty universally known for being… devious little bastards, at best. You could probably cleave a wyvern in two, but we have to tread extremely carefully.”

[Sinnamon 0]

“Cavern of Faeries, huh?”

Sin tapped her chin with her finger, crossing the opposite arm over her chest. “That would put it on… Floor Three, then. You ever used a Teleport before?”

She didn’t mean to be condescending, but Plum was clearly out of her element - by her own admission. She didn’t know what game mechanics that Plum knew or didn’t know about. Well there was a first time for everything. And Sin was happy to be the Clippy to her Microsoft Word. “Here, this way,” she said as she tilted her head towards the central plaza.

Heels clacked against the cobblestones as they made their way to the Teleportation Platform. As they walked, Sin gave Plum the run down. “I’m sorry if you know how already, but I wanna be thorough -” If she was going to stick her neck out for someone, Sin was going to make damn sure that they were coming home. Even if that meant tutorializing the most basic of things. Her flippant demeanor and casual tone of speech would work counter to any condescension. She hoped, at least. “It’s real simple,” she continued. “You just step on the platform and call out your destination. And it’s Floor Three, so that’ll be Aryut.”

They stopped in front of the platform, standing shoulder to shoulder.

“I’ll go first. But listen. When we get there, you don’t leave my sight. And if we get surprised and things go sideways, when I say we bounce, we bounce,” Sin said. “But other than that, if I don’t say anything, you just assume we’re solid and do your thing, okay?”

She strode forward, spinning around once she reached the center of the stone dias. Strange runes came to life as she did, glowing bright blue. They pulsated - brightening and dimming - as they awaited command. Sin gave Plum her biggest, brightest smile. “And don’t you worry that cute little head of yours. I gotcha.” She gave her new companion a wink.

“Aryut!”

The platform roared to life, runes shining and stones vibrating as power coursed through the structure. In a burst of bright light, Sin was swept up into a shaft of radiance and carried upward into the sky. It was a disorienting experience - at least the first time. Snippets of vistas and terrain flying by her like polaroids, fragments of the space they bypassed screaming past. It was over about as quickly as it began. Her surroundings changed. No longer surrounded by the beige buildings and tall walls of the Town of Beginnings, Sin found herself standing in the middle of a city built into a tree so massive it was surreal.

And the vibe was off, immediately.

One could just as easily chalk it up to ego. But the first thing she noticed as she stepped off the platform was the fact that no one noticed her. NPCs, she could understand. But Players? She couldn’t go anywhere without at least one person banging her with their eyes. But looking around, she didn’t see anyone staring. No leers or whispers. Just Players moving to and fro, going about their business. That was… odd. She couldn’t say that she missed it, but the fact that everyone seemed to be actively ignoring her was a bit disquieting. It settled in the pit of her stomach, a heavy weight.

Because it wasn’t just ego. She knew it in her bones. Further experimentation was in order. But she wouldn’t get ahead of herself. Not until Plum had rejoined her.