[PP - F5] Mirage <<Blood in the Sand>> [Seldentar]

[Lessa 1]

The sweat rolled down the side of her face in small drops, collecting at her chin before falling onto her armor. Lessa had given up wiping it away a long while ago, and now she just let the salty liquid criss-cross her flushed skin. The sun sizzled overhead, its unimaginable heat nearly bringing Lessa to her knees. "How do people stand this?" She croaked to no one but herself.

The only reason she was on the fifth floor was for a quest. If it were not for that, she would not set foot on that God-forsaken floor. She disliked the heat. Hated it even. All she wanted to do was retire to the more comfortable second floor. Or, at this point, she would even settle for the arctic fourth floor.

"Come on, Seldentar," she muttered, shifting her weight from one foot to the other with a small clink of her metal gear. "I don't want to be here any longer than I have to be."

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar appears in a flash of blue light on the fifth floor, looking around. It had been a long time since he was here, he had stopped in briefly during his hunt for a rumored stranger. Over a month now he had looked, avoiding contact with everyone until recently. Shrugging his shoulders, he moves forward, sending a message to Lessa that he was on the floor and ready to go.

[Lessa 1]

The young woman checked her messages, and discovered that the man she was to meet had arrived on the designated floor. "Thank goodness," she growled. I couldn't wait here much longer. In a brief response message, Lessa expressed her exact location, and let him know that she would be waiting there for him. Once that was sent, she closed out of her menu, and moved her gaze back to the landscape.

It was drab. In fact, drab was the perfect word to describe it. There was nothing beautiful about the miles and miles of sand that rolled out before her. The ground seemed to shimmer in all directions, hazy under the merciless sun. Somewhere, lurking under the sand, was their target. She was not especially concerned, as the man she was to meet was a high-level player. But she was a bit nervous about meeting someone new, alone, in the middle of the desert. She only hoped he would be the stand-up guy he presented himself as.

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar relaxes, leaning against a building until Lessa gets back to him. Standing up and stretching his shoulders, he looks at the coordinates she provided. Not too far of a walk. He begins to head through the strange desert town, until he reaches the edge of the safe zone. Drawing his sword from his back, he holds it down, not aggressively, just at the ready. He begins to look around for the girl he was supposed to meet. There hadn't been much maverick activity he had heard, so he figured it was probably safe. Still, better to be on guard just in case he reasoned.

[Lessa 1]

Finally, through the haze, Lessa was able to make out the silhouette of an approaching player. A hand instinctively went to the hilt of her heavy claymore. She had always been a trusting person, and that had not changed. But she was a little less trusting these days. Who wouldn't be, in this death game?

As he drew nearer, and she was able to make out his name, she let her hand fall to her side. This was the person she had agreed to meet. He was... shorter than she had expected. Which was not saying much, as she and her best friend in the game were both relatively short. But his name, and his high level, had made her think he would be a towering giant. But he wasn't. In fact, he appeared a fairly approachable player. Still, she remained on guard. If he turned on her, she would be ready.

"You must be Seldentar," Lessa greeted. "Its nice to meet you, finally. My name is Lessa."

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar approaches the girl, looking as her name popped up. He had been in contact via PM, but so far had not met her. She had been making quite a name for herself as a Guild Leader, and rumor had it she was joining the Assault Teams. He shakes his head as memories of the past team members surfaced. There was no time to dwell on the past, they had to work together to keep moving forward. He smiles, extending his hand.

"Hello there. Its nice to meet you. So, what brings us to this god forsaken floor? I tend to avoid it at all costs, I REALLY hate the heat."

[Lessa 1]

The pink swordswoman relaxed slightly. A smile crossed her lips, and she pressed her palm to his. Gripping his hand firmly, she shook it and said, "we are here for a pretty promising quest. Believe me, if it wasn't promising, I wouldn't be here." She laughed softly. "I'm right there with you - I cannot stand the heat. I'm a mid-west girl, so anything above seventy-five degrees is a scorcher." To demonstrate, she reached back and pulled her mop of blonde hair off of her damp, sticky neck.

"Have you heard anything about a supposed shark out here?" She asked him, getting back on topic. She realized how strange the question was, but hoped he would understand.

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar listens as Lessa talks, and then shakes his head.

"The last time i was on here I was hunting down a lead on a rumor i heard, but it turned out to be a dead end. Ive seen some large snakes, scorpions, and other desert creatures. But no, never a shark. Not in the desert at least. Are you sure we are on the right floor for this?"

[Lessa 1]

Laughing softly, Lessa nodded. "Sounds crazy, I know. But yeah, I am sure. This is the right floor. Supposedly, there is something called a sand shark floating around these parts." The sweltering heat hung heavy around them, and a drop of sweat rolling across her brow and into her left eye. She blinked rapidly to clear the liquid from her vision. She growled softly, and muttered, "I really hate this floor."

"Anyway," she continued. "I vote we walk around a bit. Rumor has it, the shark is in this area. So if we stay here, we should find it."

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar shakes his head.

"Are we sure we WANT to find a shark that lives in a desert? Is this really worth going after. I mean, its a shark....in the desert. I can count on one hand how many times these types of situations end well."

He shrugs his shoulders.

"If you really want to fight this thing im game, but im not sure why we are doing this."

[Lessa 1]

Lessa thought about his question for a moment. Though she laughed softly when he initially asked it, he had a very good point. What if this quest was too much for them to handle? True, her partner was an incredibly high-level player, so she was not too concerned. But was the reward worth the risk? And worth the blasted heat that they were forced to work in?

"Well," she began, shrugging, "its up to you. But we have a boss fight in a few days, and I thought this would be great practice. We can pick up a few more skill points too. I really need to improve my skills if I want to be effective on the ninth floor." She met Seldentar's gaze, and added, "plus, there is a pretty cool potion that supposedly improves damage mitigation. That might come in handy."

"But hey, if you'd rather we do your trial elsewhere, that's fine. I just thought we could two-birds-one-stone this thing."

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar shrugs his shoulders. Floor 5 wasn't that bad on level of monsters, and even if it turned out to be a field boss, they should be fine. He would easily tear down most things on this floor.

"Its your call. I can handle most things this game has thrown at me so far, shy of floor bosses. Lead the way if this is what you want to do."

[Lessa 1]

Lessa smiled. If he was willing, they might as well tackle this thing. "Let's make the trip to this terrible floor worthwhile," she told him. "No point spending all this time sweating, and have nothing to show for it. Let's walk." She motioned for him to follow, and the pair took off across the sand. Her gaze swept the vast nothingness that sprawled out in all directions. If anything moved, or a single grain of sand was shifted out of place, she wanted to be the first to see it.

"You know," she spoke up, breaking the silence that hung between them, "I'm a bit surprised that you joined the Guardians. Please understand, I am very happy to have you. But we're a very young, experienced guild. Other guilds have a lot more to offer a player such as yourself."

((OOC: I can move into combat on our next turn if you're ready.))

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar shrugs his shoulders as they walk.

"My guild seems to be largely MIA, I have no idea if they are even still alive. The only guild I still recognize as active from before i vanished is the KoC and KoB, neither of which really suit me. I debated starting my own guild when I returned, but I don't know anybody. So instead i decided to look through the active guilds, and yours seemed the best fit. I learned that as a solo player i often got ignored or overlooked when people were planning big fights."

He looks out across the desert, looking for a mysterious shark.

(Go for it)

[Lessa 1]

((On second thought, lets use a few more posts. It won't take us a page and a half to beat this thing.))

 

The young woman nodded. It may not have been the answer she wanted to hear, but it was what she had expected. He did not join her necessarily because he believed in her cause, or felt any sort of attachment to her; he simply saw no better option at the moment. Sure, this disappointed her. She had hoped he would have something slightly more inspirational to tell her. But at the same time, she could not fault him for this line of thinking. There was nothing better out there, and he needed something to do until he could build his own. Nothing else, Lessa repeated in her mind. Was that not precisely why she created the Guardians? There were no other guilds that matched what she wanted exactly.

 

"That makes sense," she told him, finally. "And when you decide to move on, and create your own guild, please know that we will support you one hundred percent."