(PP-F1) Discussing the Guild

[DrakeWing 0]

Drake sat inside of a restaurant-like shop, waiting for his guild leader, Lessa. As he sat there, he pulled his sword out of it's sheathe and set it against the side of his seat. He was eager to actually meet her, and was even more eager to be a part of something larger than himself. He waited for several more minutes when the door opened.

[Lessa 1]

The door swung open with a soft creak. The woman who entered certainly did not look like a guild leader, dressed in blue jeans and a simple pink blouse, with her blonde hair pulled back in a high pony-tail. But the wrinkles on her face revealed she was deep in thought, and the black bags under her blue eyes revealed that she had been thinking for quite some time.

Spotting the young man, Lessa did her best to don a more welcoming, happy expression. It was important that she remained pleasant, especially at the start of their conversation. Like one of the students she had taught before SAO, he was most likely just confused, and unsure of how he was supposed to act. At the same time, however, his behavior had upset quite a few people. With her attention now focused entirely on clearing floors, the last thing Lessa needed was another enemy.

"Drake," she greeted. She extended her hand to him. "I'm Lessa. Pleasure to meet you." After the pair shook hands, the woman dropped into the seat opposite the young player. Blue eyes studied him for a moment. Then, shoulders rose and fell as she heaved a soft sigh. "Let me begin by saying that the acceptance of your guild request was a bit unusual. Rarely do I ever accept a request without first interviewing the candidate. However, as the Guardians are currently undergoing a bit of an overhaul, I figured you were worth taking a chance on."

She spoke with slow, cautious restraint, doing her best to keep from appearing bossy or condescending. "That being said, it is partially my fault that I did not explain the expectations of this guild. Guardians should do their best to stay away from petty drama, and focus on working to clear the floors and free the players from this game." Motioning to him with one hand, she continued, "I've heard that you caused a bit of a disturbance here recently. That's alright, as you did not know any better. But it is not something that I'd like to see again."

After she said her piece, she exhaled. Then, sitting back in her seat, Lessa rubbed at the bridge of her nose with her pointer finger. "Glad that's out of the way," she muttered. Finding his gaze, she flashed him a small but genuine smile.

[DrakeWing 0]

Drake looked her up and down, assessing her appearance, trying to determine what type of person she was. He gave up on that though, and started listening to what she had to say. As she mentioned his behavior, he clenched his fists by his side, she didn't understand.  As she finished, he said, "I can't help my behavior. I have my reasons. And yes, I do understand that I have been... stirring up trouble. I just don't think that..." he stopped, unsure of how to word this next part, "... I'm not sure that some of these people should be around, if you know what I mean." As he finished speaking, he shrugged. He didn't know what to say to justify his actions, but rather felt he was doing the right thing.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Ariel was in a random local, since she didn't wanted to eat, she just ordered a green lemon ice tea at the counter, near the entrance. As she was sipping from the glass she was surveying the place: It was a pretty decent place, it had a area like restaurant in which you could serve a hot meal and also it had a bar counter where people could just have a beverage. Taking a closer look at the menu she could observe a wide range of drinks, from simple tea and coffee to other products she never heard of in her life but looked yummy from the picture next to the names. But she decided get her favorite summer drink, experimenting with thing is good but she wanted to check if the drinks in this world had the same taste as IRL. To her surprize the green lemon ice tea had quite an accurate taste.

 

"That guy* really thought of everything didn't he, even I would pierce his eyes with my rapier if I ever cross paths with him IRL, I must praise his genius, THIS thing that we are trapped in now is more than a game. For me at least it appears to be a new reality." with that thought in mind she heard a soft creak and instinctively turned her looks towards the source of the sound.

 

She saw a girl dressed in blue jeans and a simple pink blouse, with her blonde hair pulled back in a high pony-tail, her blue eyes seemed distracted and tired, she seemed tired, not physically but mentally as she had a troubled expression. That expression changed as the girl spotted a boy seating at the table. She headed towards him and extended her hand."So it isn't her boyfriend...to bet maybe meeting with her boyfriend would cheer her up a little". Then the girl sat down across him, giving Ariel a chance to see her features. A second later Ariel's expression changed to a surprised one.

 

"Is that the Guild Master? she isn't wearing her heavy armor...but the face appears to be the same" she thought as she took another sip of the ice tea."It would be impolite of me to not say hi to her" then as she finished her drink and paid, she stood up and headed towards the table were those 2 were sitting. Once she was in their line of sight Ariel turned slightly towards her guild's master and said in a polite cheerful voice:

 

"Hello Guild Master, nice seeing you here in casual clothes. I was having a drink here and saw that you enter this place so I had to come and say Hi" then she turned a little towards the boy saying: "Sorry for interrupting your talk, my name is Ariel btw."

 

 

* - she refers to the creator of SAO, the GM that appeared in the "Starting City" square on the first day, Kayaba Akihiko

[DrakeWing 0]

Drake looked at the player named Ariel, and said in an overall friendly tone, "It's fine, we weren't really that deep into conversation yet." He looked at Lessa once more, saying, "But yeah, I just have a thing against THOSE people. They..." He couldn't continue, once more unsure how to word his sentence. As Drake stood there, he started tapping his foot, a sort of sign that he felt awkward.

[Lessa 1]

The woman glanced up as a stranger neared the table. Blue eyes studied her for a moment, before they lit up with realization. It was Ariel, the other player who had recently become a Guardian. They had met once, in passing, and she had been brought into the guild shortly after. Ariel seemed like a very sweet woman, and though they had only interacted briefly, Lessa had seen some of herself in the player. For that reason, she had been made a Guardian without too many questions. Of course, her hurried acceptance of both Ariel and Drake could potentially be quite dangerous; giving another guild a reason to see them as enemies could have grave consequences. For this reason, Lessa was pleased to have both players in the same place at the same time. Perhaps she could speak to them both about the responsibilities of being a Guardian.

 

Lessa waited patiently while Ariel greeted them, and remained silent while Drake spoke. Worry clouded her blue eyes, but she did her best to remain unfazed by his words. This was, after all, a business meeting. She had to keep her cool.

 

"Great to see you too, Ariel," Lessa replied, lifting her hand in a small wave. Then, the same hand motioned to another chair at the table. "Feel free to grab a seat. Drake and I were just talking about what it means to be a Guardian."

 

"Those people," the girl began, now addressing Drake, "are not all the same. You'd be foolish to believe that." Though she fought to keep the emotion from her voice, some leaked through. Perhaps her words came out a bit more stern than she had meant for them to. "I know a few player killers. They each have their own unique reasons for what they did, and they are not all evil." Memories of her old friend returned to her, his amber eyes searching hers as the shooting stars tumbled across the Star Glades. Her stomach twisted, and her voice was strained when she spoke again. "I expect all Guardians to show restraint, especially when it comes to player killers. Will you be able to manage that?"

[DrakeWing 0]

Drake looked her in the eyes and knew she meant what she had said. He coughed. Could he restrain himself? He didn't know. But for the sake of Lessa, he would try his hardest. He nodded, and said with determination, "I will try my best, but I cannot make guarantees. If you only understood my reasons, you would know what I mean. Its just that-" he choked, feeling a lump in his throat, "-I... I have had real life issues. Ones that I... I cannot think about." He stopped, looking away and wiping a tear. He hadn't cried about his father in a long time. What was causing it now?

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Seeing as the Guild Master greeted her back, Ariel saw that she pointed towards a nearby seat then invited her to join their talk. She was a bit hesitant about disturbing them, but when she found out that it was a discussion about guild-related matters she happily sat with them. But something about what the boy said intrigued her.."THOSE people, who are you talking about?" she wanted to ask. But the Guild Master began addressing Drake, so she kept quiet. She was often direct in about asking people things she didn't know, but this time managed to restrain herself and listen. As Lessa continued addressing him she learned that, "THOSE people" he was referring to were the PKers. It seemed that he had a grudge against them or something.

 

Then she shifted her gaze towards Lessa. She was obviously troubled by the topic, as if she'd just just remembered something painful from the past. When she asked him if he would be able to restrain himself, after hearing his response and reaction, Ariel wanted to say some words of comfort to  the both of them, but she didn't knew what to say...so she decided to do something else instead. As a waiter passed by her side, she raised a hand trying to order another green lemon ice tea:

 

"Excuse me sir, I would like to order a.." But he didn't hear her and continued walking away. Ariel tried to extend her hand and get his attention, but the chair made a scraping noise and she "accidentally" fell backwards with it, catching quite the unwanted attention of the nearby clients. She felt a little embarrassed as she rose up, but hoped that with that, they would have snapped out of the gloomy mood.

[DrakeWing 0]

Drake heard the chair scrape across the floor, and turned his head just in time to see the newcomer, Ariel, fall out of her chair. He laughed, and offered his hand to help her up, saying, "I don't think you need a drink, I think you need lessons in balance." He looked at Lessa and said with a touch of humor, "If the guild is composed of people who fall over all the time, what type of reputation will it get?" He was glad the player had fallen, it took his mind off of other things, but it also showed that this world was still fun. It didn't have to be so serious all the time.

[Lessa 1]

The man's sudden display of emotion caught the guild leader off guard. The faint frown that had danced across her lips before now deepened. Lessa understood as well as anyone that feelings could easily cloud judgement, leading to rash or unwise decisions. She had experienced this many times before, even before first donning the nerve gear. Of course, she had been mature enough to keep herself in check - at least, for the most part. Rarely had Lessa let her emotions run away with her, and when she had snapped, angry words had been the extent of her damage.

Drake, however, struck her as a loose cannon. He was young, loud, and had a sort of presence too him that she found slightly unnerving. Perhaps she was being overly cautious, but youth, naivety, a short temper, and raw emotion was a mixture that rarely led to anything pleasant.

It was a sudden thud from directly beside her that shook her from her thoughts. Lessa's eyes immediately moved to the source of the sound, and she found Ariel sprawled across an over-turned chair. Out of instinct, she moved to help the girl. Much to her surprise, Drake beat her to it.

"I'd rather we be a guild of clumsy players than a guild of rash ones," came her reply to his joke, and though she meant well, her blue eyes were sharp as she eyed the young man. Then she shook her head. "Just please lay low for a while, alright? Take some time to grind, and become more familiar with the game. Truth be told, I'd feel much better if you just stayed away from all Player Killers for the time being, unless they are part of the guild."

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

She took Drake's hand and got up while saying in a displeased voice:

"I'm not drunk...I've only had a ice tea. and wanted to order another, but didn't get the waiter's attention." then started making up excuses like a small kid "And I'm not clumsy!!!!!it's the chair's fault!!!! who designed it made it with a flaw and that's why I fell" she then stopped talking, looked down for a second , her voice then changed into a serious tone, speaking more to herself than to Drake or Lessa.

 

"You know... when I was little I was quite sad and gloomy myself, training almost all day with father, I had no time to play with and like other kids my age. But when I got older, I had to move to high school and thought that people will see me the same way, a awkward girl that thinks she is superior to the others... thinking about it now, maybe I was that way. But my mother said some words to me before going to school, as though she sensed my distress." then she rose her gaze towards the two"And I want to tell you what she said: 'You know Ariel, now are going at a new place where nobody knows you. This is your opportunity to make people see you as you want then to see you, even change your behaviour if you want, change your personality completely if you have to. It will be hard at first, but with time you will make friends and memories that you will cherish for all your life.' or something like that." she stopped, took a deep breath, she could feel her face going red but continued:

 

"Now, my advice to you two, especially you Drake, is to think of this world, this floating castle, Aincrad, as a new beginning where you can shape how people perceive you, make new friends and memories that you will remain with you, even after we beat this game." she then kept quiet and turned her gaze down towards her hands that were on the table. She didn't knew if her story had any effect on them, but she had to say something. For some reason that memory popped in her head, and she just let it out.

[DrakeWing 0]

Drake glared at Ariel, upset by what she said, and barely managed to refrain from yelling, "You are saying that I should change? Me? I am not responsible for who I am." He felt like that made no sense, and continued, "I was shaped into who I was by a horrible man. He caused this!" He looked at Lessa, and said with a touch of bitterness, "I won't 'lay low'. I will confront them if I deem it necessary. I will be cautious, that much is obvious." He hated how these people saw him.

 

Mari had seen him as a child. Lessa seemed to see him as out of control. Malakath thought he as crazy. It wasn't right. He took several breaths and tried to calm down, saying, "Look, I know I have acted rashly. But this is my passion, this is my only goal. I can hold myself back, but I WILL accomplish my goals, okay?" He realized that he had stood up, and sat down, feeling all of his muscles relax.

[Lessa 1]

"Alright," the blonde barked suddenly, holding her hands up in the air. It was the universal gesture for stop, and she would wait until both Ariel and Drake did so before she continued.

"Ariel," she began, turning to the young woman first. "Your advice is sound. I appreciate it."

"Drake." Now, she addressed the blue-haired player. "I understand and respect your passion. I do admire how much you believe in your goal. However, I cannot risk the reputation of my guild, and by extension, the safety of its members. I will put you on probation for now. We will work on your self control, and decide if there is a compromise that will make us both happy." The generally good-natured guild leader was expressionless, and her blue eyes were accented with heavy black bags. "That is going to be my only offer. Work with me, or I will deny your application to the join the guild."

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Ariel made a nod after hearing Lessa speak, then turned towards Drakewing, trying not to get angry at him:

"Listen, nor I nor anybody has the right to tell you to change. I was just simply offering a suggestion based on what I have been thought. You can choose to listen to it or to ignore it, I am sorry for whatever happened to you, *she took a quick glance at lessa as well* and I didn't want to upset you like this. But in my opinion just bitching about it won't help you feel better. I think you've made the right decision by wanting to join a guild instead of going on the hunt for PKers. And as Lessa says you can be passionate about your goal, but not that it consumes you. Honestly is as she says, I for one wouldn't want to fight alongside you in..lets say a boss battle where PKers might be present as well. You present a liability with your search for vengeance, and might go berserk on the battlefield." she then took a quick breath of air.

 

She thought she spoke to much...letting her mouth go wild like that was one of her definitive flaws, but as long as it didn't impede her in the battle, she didn't mind it too much. She then turned her attention towards Lessa:

"Changing the subject, I am very curious to hear about the guild's future plans, like ...it would actively partain in the front line fights? and that kind of stuff." she decided they talked enough about Drake and wanted to ask about that truly interested her.

 

(since drake appears to be..busy.. I propose we 2 continue the topic and if until the 20+ post after we finished the rp, he doesn't reply we close it. Just pretend he was listening to our conversation:D