[PP-F4]Snow Berries (Jubei)

[Anima 0]

Anima shivered gently as she drew her coat tighter around her small frame. This would be one of the few times she regretted not wearing pants. Why would anyone be here in this weather? well many people lived here for some reason, but Anima was not one of those people. She didn't like the cold, in fact it did not suit her at all. She was more of a tropical beach kind of girl. The only reason she was here was to search for materials, in this case plants to be used for alchemy. She had heard of snow berries, a great material that could be used in a variety of potions, either to strengthen life potions, to create frost resist potions or even make a light blue hair dye. She wanted it for the strengthening of health potions. 

 

She had just ported in from floor one, and left the safety of the floor 4 starter town not moments before. Anima had heard of the wilds around this town, but was unafraid of their dangers. So long as she kept her eyes open and her head level she would be fine. Still to be safe she had her starter mace equipped and ready to be used in a moments notice. She took a moment opening her map to look for a good spot to start her search. She decided on a forested area not 15 minutes walk away, and marked it on her map. With it closed she noticed the marker appear on her hud indicating the direction she needed to travel. 

 

Before she could start however she noticed an odd looking bush off to the side of the path. It was not like any she had seen, not that she had ever been to this floor before or seen any of its native plants. Still she felt it warranted investigation. She approached it carefully and began to pick through its branches. A moment later and she had somehow managed to lean too far into it and had become stuck. She kicked and yelled, and to any who walked by she might have looked ridiculous, hung up like this with only her rear and legs exposed. 

[Anima 0]

Anima continued to kick and struggle against her unbalanced and other wise awkward position. Despite her best attempts however she was completely stuck. In any other game she could simply issue the /stuck command free herself, but here she had no such novelty. She gave another sharp kick and growled angrily as she tried to push herself out, before finally going limp. "Thats it," She thought. "I'm going to die like this." She let out a defeated sigh. As luck would have it though she soon heard approaching footsteps. rather than stop behind her however they continued around the bush to her front. She looked up to see a man kneeling down in front of her, he had a look of amusement on his face, and she couldn't help but blush. 

 

"So, how does one get stuck in a bush?" He asked while trying to hold back his amusement.

 

Anima lowered her head blushing a little more. It was a valid question, but it only pointed out that she was in fact stuck in a bush. She let out another sigh, this one sounding smaller and more defeated before speaking. "I- I was looking for materials." It sounded even worse now. No doubt there had never been another player in all of Aincrad to get stuck in a bush looking for berries. "I lost by balance and fell in, and now I can't get out." She sounded genuinely upset now as her voice began to shrink away in embarrassment. "Would you please help me?"

[Anima 0]

Moments later Jubei had lost it, falling back and laughing. Anima sighed again, she knew her situation would be funny, and if it were anyone else stuck in a bush she would have laughed too. But right now it was her stuck, and while he laughed other could have been walking by and getting a cheap thrill as well. "I was looking for snow berries..."  Again she sounded  defeated at her position, knowing that it sounded even more ridiculous as she went on. For all she knew snow berries didn't even grow on a bush. Jubei's next comment made her blush again, this time with anger. Charging people to spank her? If he did that she would kill him right now. Before she could say anything, he spoke again. Her expression softened a bit, but the red flush remained.

 

A moment later and she closed her eyes as he cut her free. She quickly found herself falling, but rather than hit the ground she was caught up neatly in the mans arms. This was a strange thing for her and she slowly looked up at him. Everything about this situation seemed to only demand she blush more. Caught in a bush, teased, objectified and finally rescued.

 

" Now why on earth were you looking for materials in a bush?"

 

She lowered her gaze again as it refreshed in her head that she had no idea where to look for snow berries. "I thought I might find Berries in the bush." She answered quietly. She stood up now drawing the long coat around her tightly to keep from freezing. When she had slipped it had caught on the bush and left her rear exposed. Now she was shivering gently. Luckily the coat itself was very long, and lined on the inside with fur, so after a moment or so her shivering subsided. the entire thing was not helped by the only leg protection she had being a pair of white thigh high boots that were not made to keep warm. She pulled her hood up hiding her two toned hair aside from a pair of long bundles, one white, one brown, handing on either side of her face.

 

"Thank you for helping me." She started returning her gaze to his eyes. She hated being helpless like this, and having to ask for help. But at this point it was her own damn fault for staying confined in the city on floor 1 for so long. "I'm Anima."

[Anima 0]

As Jubei spoke anima suddenly had a thought. "What if Snow berries were just a name, and they weren't found on this floor?" This only went to prove how inexperienced she truly was in such matters, so far. She continued to stare at him for a moment, as if debating on sharing her reason, and risky another teasing. It did seem like he knew his way around here and perhaps if she explained herself he might be able to help her. "Snow Berries are a light blue berry, that grows in colder climates. I thought that this was the coldest place found so far..." In her own mind her logic was right, but she didn't really know if this was the coldest place so far, rather she had been excited and jumped to the first cold floor she knew of. Or on the other hand maybe it was just too cold here.

 

Jubei introduced himself in a rather soft way, which contradicted the teasing he had been giving her just moments before. She smiled now tilting her head to the side. At least now she had a name to call him, and he seemed to be friendly enough. However Anima was confused when he mentioned a camp. She had heard of players pitching camps around Aincrad, but couldn't imagine one here. From what she knew most stayed at the Inn, or snuck into the various houses at night. Needless to say with her own limited experience she was curious as to what a floor 4 camp looked like. Did he live alone, or were there others? "is it far?" She found herself asking before she could catch herself. "I mean not that that's an issue."

[Anima 0]

An hours walk? That was a long ways away from anything. She couldn't imagine being that far from a city, what if something happened? Weren't there PKers around here? To stay so far from help was either the mark of a very powerful person or a very antisocial one. She had the thought that if he was heading back that way he might not be returning this way for a little while. Instead of heading there perhaps they could search for these mobs that he had mentioned. This of course led her to wonder what kind of creatures could drop berries. Perhaps some sort of bird? This line of thinking caused her to imagine a giant frozen chicken patrolling the wastes that were floor 4. It caused her to giggle gently.

 

"So, Ms.Anima what brings you here alone?"

 

Anima looked at him with puzzlement. No one had ever addressed her as Miss before. It was sort of nice to hear, but weird all at the same time. "Well, Mr. Jubei," She giggled "It's strange but no one seemed interested in helping me. So I was forced to come alone." She took a step back from him and posed dramatically with her hands on her hips. "I intend to become an alchemist, but not just any alchemist, no I want to be the greatest alchemist this game has ever seen."