[PP - F1] <<Secret Medicine of the Forest>> (Baldur & Tyger)

[Lessa 1]

A gentle breeze rolled across the small clearing. It carried the scent of distant flowers, and the blonde-haired woman who sat in the grass, its blades bowing with the wind, took a deep breath. As the sweet-smelling air filled her lungs, big blue pools slipped behind her eyelids. With her eyes closed, Lessa could focus on the other sensations that washed over her. The breeze that kissed her cheeks, and toyed with the stray strands of hair. The earth beneath her palms, as she leaned back, propped herself up on her hands. The distant buzz of an insect, accompanied by the rustle leaves on a nearby tree.

 

The girl drew another breath, savoring the way her surroundings made her feel. And if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing changed at all? Pale coral lips curled into a small smile as lyrics from one of her favorite songs came back to her. It did feel a bit like that, yes. When she closed her eyes, she could imagine herself back home in rural Michigan. Her mind constructed a new reality for her, erecting her family's farmhouse to her right, and their large, white barn to her left. She could imagine the barking of her two dogs, carrying across their fifteen acres of land. There was her mother's voice, her father's laugh, and the constant teasing of her brothers. The player emitted a soft, shaking sigh.

 

To an outsider, Lessa's actions may have seemed a bit odd. She sat in the middle of a field, fully equipped in her heavy armor, her pink Claymore resting by her side. Her eyes were closed, making herself vulnerable to attacks from any player or monster. And the smile that flickered across her features was one of sad nostalgia. But moments like these had become especially important to Lessa over the past month. She had placed far too much stock in a few individuals, and they had not risen to meet her expectations. Slowly, the girl was learning to find motivation in what she had left behind, and not what she found in-game.

 

How am I gonna be an optimist about this? Her smile faltered. "That is the question," the girl mused aloud, "isn't it?"

[Baldur 0]

Baldur and Tyger were walking through the fields of the first floor, searching for more easy mobs they could farm up. Baldur himself was clad very sparingly in starting equipment. The cloth he did wear was custom selected to be a very deep sky blue, the color which precedes the dawn. His plain curved sword swung at his side, and yet somehow seemed well worn, or perhaps just comfortable there. His dark, short hair was tugged gently by the breeze, but always fell back perfectly into place.

 

He saw Lessa from quite a ways off, and subtly started steering his and Tyger's path over towards the the heavy armed stranger. He did not want to get too close to her, but he wanted to make sure the figure was still alive. The cursor above her head indicated she was a PC and not an NPC.

 

"Uhh.... are you alright?" Baldur called out almost hesitantly, but the wind seemed to be enjoying the field as much as this anonymous armored player was, and he didn't think she had heard him. He opened his mouth to call out again as they got closer when she said, "That's the question, isn't it?"

 

For a moment, Baldur was confused. That was an awkward way to answer his question.

 

He glanced at Tyger, then back at the figure. They were obviously a player who had been pushing the frontier's back. What did they call them? An assault team?

 

"umm... that's really a question only you can answer for yourself." He offered her a friendly smile and a shrug.

[Tyger 0]

"I spy... something brown."

 

Baldur guessed it, a tree.

 

"Fine. Uh... I spy... something... green?"

 

Baldur guessed it again. Tree. 

 

"I spy a vertical log."

 

Okay, that one was just for fun. But, either way, that was all they'd seen until they'd reached the grassy clearing on the first floor. They'd explored a while and only had some Col, a few dead wolves and boars that'd disappeared after their untimely demise, and no players. So, of course, seeing the strange lone player in the center of the field was a strange sight. Her pink armor was something that caught her eyes as well. A pink Claymore and obviously high leveled gear. Tyger was amused that Baldur's sense of chivalry and protection kicking in, immediately sending him to check on the lone girl in the center of the field. He had some hesitation, but spoke either way to check on her. She crossed her arms and watched as she gave him an odd answer.

 

It made her chuckle, and she took a step closer than Baldur.

 

"Just gotta say, that armor is awesome. I need to get me some. But in orange. Or white. Or both."

 

Tyger put her hands into her pockets, Tiger's Fang resting against her hip. She seemed nice enough, and her icon was green, so that meant she wasn't one of those aggressive player killers. At least, she wasn't at the moment. But, there was nothing they could do but run if that were the case, so they'd be okay hopefully. But what was a high level player doing here, on the first floor, in a field of monsters that wouldn't hardly benefit her at all?

[Lessa 1]

A voice interrupted her solitude.

 

Immediately, Lessa went on the defensive. In a blur of metal, and a hint of pink, the Guardian lunged to her feet. One hand grabbed for Hell Rose, and she held the sharp blade out before her as she wheeled around. Now facing the pair, she prepared herself for battle in the blink of an eye.

 

However, as her gaze swept over the two low-level players, cheeks glowed a deep, warm crimson. She immediately let her heavy weapon dip, no longer holding it to the throat of the nearest player. "I'm so, so sorry," the young woman stuttered. With a long, soft exhale, Lessa all of the panic leave her startled body. Then, "I really am. Please forgive me." She drug her lower lip between her teeth as she studied each player in turn. "Its sort of become a habit."

 

First, she turned to the young man. He had answered her question for her, and at the thought, her blush only intensified. "I honestly did not think anyone was around," she confessed, shaking her head and giving a short, humorless laugh. "You probably think I'm some crazy person." There was a pause, then she added, "and at this point, that's probably not too far off."

 

Then she heard the woman's compliment. This brought a faint smile to her lips. Graciously, she nodded. "I'm very glad you like it. I crafted it myself."

[Baldur 0]

When the woman who a moment ago had been peacefully leaning against a tree shot to her feet and grabbed her giant sword, Baldur's only instinct was to put himself between her an Tyger. He moved to reach for his sword, but stopped when the girl had already had the two-handed sword against his throat. He raised his hands up in a gesture of surrender, but his blue eyes were impassive. He opened his mouth to try and talk her down, but the pink clad warrior woman seemed to quickly take stock of what had been going on, and she lowered her weapon.

 

"I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I'm glad I haven't developed that particular habit." Without thinking of it, Baldur raised his hand to touch his neck as if he could feel a cut from her sword, but within the system no such thing existed.

 

"I uh... I'm sorry for disturbing your rest, we just wanted to make sure you were okay." Though he had lowered his hands, Baldur did not lower his guard. He didn't think she was threatening or hostile, she probably could have just killed him if she wanted to, but his nerves were set to edge now.

 

"Back in the Town of Beginnings there are a lot of people who just sit around... practically wasting away..." He let the implication hang pregnant in the air.

[Tyger 0]

There wasn't much time to react before Baldur had pushed Tyger out of the way of the pink claymore she'd complimented merely a second or two before the aggressive retaliation. Tyger's hand shot for her sword, but Baldur had put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. Her own heart pounded in her chest while she thought of what to do in the few seconds Baldur had left. However, the woman had come to her senses, realizing that they weren't in fact something about to hurt her. She was on the first floor? What could hurt her? 

 

Obviously the girl was embarassed, and began to apologize. Tyger's eyes narrowed, suspicious to begin with. Yeah, sure, you let your guard down, but seriously. You're on the first floor. Concerned eyes scanned Baldur's neck, but there was no sign of a nick, or even a scratch. Her habit was indeed a good one to have, albiet overly aggressive if not slightly paranoid. However, that made sense considering the stakes of the game...

 

"Yeah, me too..."

 

Baldur touched his own neck, and Tyger studied the pink woman.

 

"Not crazy, just maybe a bit paranoid. That's a habit I could understand."

 

Well, she was okay. They could go now, right? She didn't want to stay here too long, considering if things had been different, she'd be down a boyfriend and in a lone field alone with a high level player. 

 

"Must be pretty useful. Only luck we've had with that is, well..."

 

She looked down to her hip at Tiger's Fang. Even if the sword really didn't have a name, it gave her something to clean, take care of, and giving it a name helped her cope with this world. Made her feel badass among those far more capable than her. Tiger's Fang helped her avoid even wanting to become one of those people wasting away in the Town of Beginnings.

[Lessa 1]

The blonde gave the young man a wry smile. "You'll develop it soon enough, I'm sure," she assured him, blue eyes heavy with sadness. "Its the terrible reality of the game." With a nod in Tyger's direction, she said, "you do become more than a little paranoid, especially with all of the player killers running around." With a soft, uncomfortable laugh, Lessa reached back to scratch her head. "Its a shame that we spend more time fearing other players than we do fearing monsters. But I guess its just human nature to take advantage of others when so much is at stake."

Realizing how morbid her words were, she emitted a soft sigh. "You don't have to apologize. Honestly, it was kind of you to check on a complete stranger that way." Gaze flitted between the pair, before she added, "I just savor these quiet moments while I can, you know?"

On the matter of players wasting away, Lessa gave a small shrug. "I can understand why they don't want to leave the Town of Beginnings. Its scary out here. Besides, it is easier to reject our new reality when you can't see the monsters, if you know what I mean. Hiding is understandable, even if it is not something I could stomach."

"That's a nice scimitar," the girl complimented, motioning toward Tiger's Fang. "I'm a claymore girl myself, as I'm sure you can tell, but the curved swords are pretty cool."

[Baldur 0]

Baldur's face was kind, but unrevealing of any emotion. Tyger had always complained that he was part Vulcan, or that he had the emotional range of a wet paper sack. The only emotion he could easily display was happiness, otherwise he had an impassively neutral expression, and it was this one he wore now.

 

"I'm Baldur, by the way, and this is my girlfriend Tyger."

 

He made a slight bow to her, "It's nice to meet you."

 

This woman was an interesting enigma to him. He could understand that she wanted a quiet place, and that safest place to do that was on the first floor, but then, he couldn't imagine what it must be like being on the upper floors, and putting your life somewhere it was really in jeopardy... on the front line.

[Tyger 0]

"Must be pretty hectic on the upper levels. I'm curious to see who you ticked off up there though, to still be so jittery on the first floor. I forgot about the player killing mechanic."

 

She seemed like a nice woman, now that she wasn't pointing a blade at her boyfriend. Baldur seemed to relax now, although he always had his constant state of emotions, which usually had a pick from one or two variations. Either way, he introduced them again, which was fine. When Tyger had introduced them, the situation had been a bit different. When he said her name, she gave a little bow followed by a respectful head nod. When Lessa complimented Tiger's Fang, Tyger couldn't help but smile.

 

"Thanks! I lucked out. I mean, it's no high level weapon or anything, but I got it on my first boar fight so i'm kinda fond of it. Gives me something to look after, aside from 'ol Baldur here."

 

She bumped her hip into Baldur's. 

 

"Nice to meet you. I enjoy the curved swords. I never liked two handed weapons in real life. I prefer to have one hand open just in case I need to catch myself, or use it for a shield. To be fair, if I was given a copy of your claymore, I wouldn't object. Especially in orange."

 

Her smile was genuine. Tyger's emotions flowed easier than Baldur's. Maybe it was a girl thing? Either way, if Lessa had any confusion about their genuine concern or friendliness, Tyger was a good indication of the overall emotion of the pair. There was a little twinge of envy, too. Lessa was already geared up and ready for battle. She was doing more for this world than Tyger was, and that was something Tyger wanted for herself as well. Lessa gave her the gumption needed to kick her butt into higher gear if she wanted to make it to the front lines and be useful.

[Lessa 1]

At the mention of the word "girlfriend," a sad expression flickered for a split second across Lessa's face. How wonderful it must be to have someone that you love beside you in the game. Surely, they drew their strength from one another, and kept each other sane in such a cruel, terrible world. The girl, who had been on her own for a couple of months now, shifted her weight from one foot to the next, doing her best to hide the thoughts that whirred through her mind. It must have been so comforting to know that they at least had each other, if nothing else, at the end of every day. Of course, it could have been incredibly difficult too. With the threat of death hovering over every player's head, Lessa found herself wondering if the pair ever feared for each other. I'm sure they do, came a somber thought. Just like I feared for him.

 

Now the woman, whose name she had learned was Tyger, was speaking to her. The topic was weapons, and Lessa focused her attention just in time to catch the tail end. She put on another smile, and replied, "Hell Rose was crafted for me by a dear friend. He told me he modeled it after something Joan of Arc might carry." Emitting a soft laugh, the blonde added, "not that I feel I am worthy of such a weapon, of course. But this sword has kept me alive for a very long time."

[Baldur 0]

Baldur offered Lessa a friendly smile, "It sounds like your friend has a sense of humor. That certainly is one hell of a sword though." He looked up at the light of this world's sun filtering through the leaves of the three she was resting beneath, and the azure sky that absorbed everything else. He wondered how they decided on just what shade of blue to make it. He realized suddenly that he had forgotten to look up at the night sky. Were there stars in this world?

 

"I suppose, if I was used to the higher floors, that if I wanted somewhere to relax, I would choose somewhere as peaceful as this." Maybe his smile was more compassionate than kind.

 

He turned his head to Tyger, "Well, I think if you want an orange sword of your own, you're going to have to take up crafting."

[Tyger 0]

Tyger nodded, resting her hands on her hips, not inclined to whip out her sword in defense any longer. Her shoulders visibly relaxed, and she could sense the tension slowly fading away as they started their conversation. The shade of the tree felt cool on her skin, and she wondered how much of that was fake brain activity. Where were their bodies now? In the hospital, like Baldur had mentioned? They were obviously still alive, and hopefully so was their pet at home. So much to think about, it was amazing her brain still let her play the game with all that was running around in it.

 

Lessa shifted momentarily, bringing Tyger back into the conversation. Words had been spoken, but she missed them. Intently listening to the conversation like a normal, social person, Tyger acknowledged the story about the sword, as well as Baldur's quip about crafting.

 

"You know what, Baldur? I just might do that. Everything with tiger stripes. Tiger stripes everywhere."

 

Her teasing was as light as the breeze that blew past, creeping in to ruffle her hair and take the edge off of the previous tension. That sword though, it was special to her, and Tyger was sure that it'd probably kept her alive in more ways then one. It was almost like how she felt about Baldur, on a different level, of course.

 

"Well, i'm sure you do your friend proud with the way you wield it. I'm curious about the upper floors, but we'll just have to wait until we're strong enough. It's taking some time though, for sure."

 

It was a bitter topic, and an unfortunate one. In order to get stronger, one needed to explore and fight. But, that put you in the crosshairs of disaster. In a cruel, sick way, she and Baldur had lucked out. At least they weren't solo'ing the world as individuals. They were a team, and they'd level up eventually.

[Baldur 0]

"Ummm... Miss..." He realized she hadn't told them her name yet.

 

"We still haven't really ventured out very far from the town, but we were looking for some quests that you think a couple of beginners could benefit from. Do you have any ideas?"

 

They had had the beginners guide that was sold for free in all the towns, but they didn't yet really know what they could or couldn't handle. It would nice to have the advice of someone who had already seen and done so much in the game already.

[Lessa 1]

"Oh, right," the Guardian muttered, realizing why it was Baldur's voice trailed. "I'm so sorry. My name is Lessa." Cheeks warmed but the smile that she offered the pair was genuine. "And you're Baldur and Tyger." As she spoke, she looked to each in turn. Then, "I have to keep reminding myself, or else I'll forget. I'm just terrible with names. It used to take the full first month of school for me to learn the names of my kids, and even then, there were some that slipped by me." The sharp pain of nostalgia rocketed through the young woman, and she changed the subject immediately.

 

"Quests are a great way to get stronger," Lessa assured the other female. Turning to Baldur, she added, "and I can think of a few that you two could tackle at your level. In fact, I have a few floating around my queue that I never got around to myself." She laughed softly. "My best friend back then was a bit mob happy, and we leveled up pretty quickly just from that." In one practiced motion, the blonde opened up her menu. As she scrolled, she continued to speak. "If you two wouldn't mind my tagging along, I'd love to accompany you. Might as well check a few of these quests off my list, huh?" Lessa gave the pair a wink. "I promise I won't even hog all the action. We can split it three ways, if you'd like."

 

Suddenly, she stopped scrolling. "Alright," the player announced. "How about Secret Medicine of the Forest? We're tracking down some medicine, and it looks like it is being guarded by a big plant of some kind."

[Baldur 0]

Baldur offered her a genuine smile of his own. Strange that just a second ago she had her sword at his throat.

 

"I'm pretty bad with names too, so I will apologize now if I forget your name and just call you Blonde-sempai, hmm.... or pink-sama?" Baldur tapped his chin for a moment in thought, but then just laughed and left the subject behind as she explained to them about quests.

 

"That sounds great! We really appreciate your help."

 

Baldur swiped down with two fingers and brought up his own menu, and invited Lessa to their party.

[Tyger 0]

Tyger nodded, glad the introductions went off without a hitch. Earlier, there had been pointed swords, but now things seemed to be civil and controlled. 

 

"It's hard for me to remember the names of patients, but i'll do my best to remember yours!"

 

Her assumption about quests seemed to be right. From what she'd read in the manual, it was the main way to get various skills, and level up quickly. Otherwise, it's a lot of grinding with local mobs, which always took too long for Tyger in the real world. Even on games that required grinding, it could get rather tedious quickly. As Lessa went through the list of quests she hadn't took, Tyger passed a glance to Baldur. She'd been using the past tense about her friend. Had her best friend died on the front lines or something? If so, it was tragic. She hoped it was just her looking too far into things. 

 

"That'd be fantastic! It'd be nice to have someone show us the ropes."

 

How exciting! Someone from the front lines helping them with a beginner quest? Sure, she probably didn't have that much to gain from it, but it was still good for their duo. The quest seemed fitting enough too. Medicine. Even in video games, Tyger just couldn't escape her job. To be fair, it probably didn't involve any X-rays or barium.

 

"That sounds perfect. Right up our alley. Especially if it's a beginner thing."

 

She wasn't afraid to admit that she wanted to tackle something easy first. Mistakes couldn't be made. They couldn't afford it.

[Lessa 1]

Lessa laughed softly, shaking her head. "Either works, Baldur," she replied. Then, to both of her companions, "I'm ready to head out now, if you'd like." With one quick motion, she accepted the boy's party invite. "I'll be honest with you," she added suddenly, cheeks warming slightly. "I'm looking forward to this. Its been a while since I went out with questing with capable, reliable players. I know that you're both still low levels, but I get the sense that you know what you're doing. Or, at least, you can handle yourselves, and you're intelligent enough to work through things." The blonde grinned. "That's refreshing," she admitted.

A sudden rustling of leaves behind her spurred Lessa into action. With the same speed that she had exhibited before, she spun around, Hell Rose in her hand once more. A pair of boars trotted out into the meadow, snorting sharply, their sharp hooves digging into the dirt with every step. "It can never be easy, can it?" the Guardian growled. She glanced over her shoulder. "You two up for this?

Boar 1: 10/10

Boar 2: 10/10

[Baldur 0]

Baldur immediately drew his sword and stepped up next to Lessa, holding it in a basic guard stance.

 

"Three vs two, while we have them out-numbered, it's just not enough bacon to go around." He flashed her a smile and then charged forward, taking his saber and slashing downward at the <<Boar #1>> but the bug eyed creature was ready for him and it deflected his blade with one of its tusks.

 

"Gah!" Baldur cried out as his blade bounced off the creature. "Tough little suckers!"

 

---

 

[iD: 8217 BD: 3+1]

 

Baldur 11/11HP

+1 Accuracy, 3 DMG (1 base, 1 skill, 1 sword)

 

Boar 1: 10/10

Boar 2: 10/10

[Tyger 0]

"It's a pretty big compliment, thanks Lessa."

 

The red-head smiled, and took it to heart. Having such a player tell them that they were actually looking forward to running a quset with them, instead of by social obligation when one was that high of a level... It made her feel a bit better going after this quest with her. Tyger was glad to have the help of such a strong player, and the genuine excitement from Lessa made it even better. So, when the two boars appeared before them, the girl wasn't the least bit nervous. Clutching her sword in hand, she followed up Baldur's miss with a quick prod to the Boar's side. She didn't do much damage now, but eventually she'd be causing quite the bit of pain. 

 

 

[iD: 8222 BD: 7]

 

Tyger 11/11

 

Boar 1: 7/10

Boar 2: 10/10

[Lessa 1]

"Nicely done, Tyger," the Guardian called out. "That's a solid hit." Next, she she spoke to Baldur. "You'll get it next time," Lessa assured him, blue eyes never wavering from the boars. "They're slippery things, but you had great form. You shouldn't be disappointed by that. You'll get faster with time."

The second boar, who had been all but ignored, took the opportunity to charge the higher-level player. Lessa's months in the game had improved her reflexes, and though the attack was unexpected, she was ready for it. The monster's sharp tusk struck her tough gauntlet, bouncing off harmlessly. Now in a daze, it stumbled to the side, exposing itself to Lessa's blade. She buried Hell Rose in the boar's shoulder.

Unfortunately, while she focused on the boar, its partner snuck up on Baldur. When she finally turned back, a sliver of the man's health was gone.

{[8457] Battle: 6. Hit. Lessa deals 7 damage.}

{Boar 1: [8458] Mob: 7. Hit. Deals 1 damage to Baldur.}

{Boar 2: [8457] Mob: 8. Hit. Deals 0 damage to Lessa (1 - 3 (Lessa's damage mitigation).}

Lessa: 46/46

Baldur: 10/11

Tyger: 11/11

Boar 1: 7/10

Boar 2: 3/10