[PP-F4] Snow-covered

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius stood in the center of Snowfrost and looked up at the falling snow. The white droplets of frozen water landed on the boy slowly, almost nauseatingly. The ones that hit his skin melted within a moment, however the snow that landed in his golden hair stuck and stayed, specking it with white dots here and there. When one hit his eye, he reacted quickly and threw his head down to rub the water out. God damn snow. The boy thought to himself as he looked down at his gloved hands, the same color as the snow around him. The boy straightened his askew bowtie and centered the Azure Pendant around his neck around his neck. In the boy's right hand he held the skull of the fallen Hydra of Floor 9. The stained red color of it unwavering in the infinite white. 

 

The golden haired boy sighed, his breath a misty dull color in front of him. he had not spent a ton of time on this floor, only coming for quests and whenever Kiru asked him. Other than that, Zelrius despised the cold, and even more so, the great number of people that dwelled in and on this floor. Making his way over to a bench, the golden sheath of his Twinfire sword bouncing with each step on his hip, and it stopped as he sat and continued to think. What am I doing here? Waste of my time waiting for the damned front lines to get going.

[Scarlett_ 0]

Floor 4 was a beautiful yet far too cold floor. Eliza never really liked going to the so called winter wonderland since the weather on the floor wasn't her thing at all. The girl didn't really know why she was going to  floor 4, at first she wanted to look around for some mobs but knowing that it was so cold made her doubt that decision. Eliza walked up to the teleportation gate on floor 3 and quickly pulled her long sleeves over her hands. After adjusting her sleeves the girl yelled "Floor 4!" and closed her eyes. In just a few seconds she found herself in the snow, already shivering. Liz didn't have anything that could keep her warm, she only had simple cloth clothing which sure wasn't made for floor 4. Eliza hopped off of the teleport platform and began to run through the snow with the hopes of finding an inn or tavern.

 

The layer of snow on the ground made it hard to keep running, but Eliza didn't want to stop since it would get even colder if she did. The girl looked down at her feet as she made her way through the town. She constantly felt the snow fall onto her hair, making it wet in just a few minutes. After running for about three minutes she was already exhausted. The girl walked over to a wooden bench, almost tripping over a stone on the way. She sat down on the left side of the bench. Liz looked around to see if there was a tavern or inn close by but couldn't see anything obvious. It took a while for her to get a normal breathing tempo as her physical condition was really bad. Liz didn't do any sports so running and fighting was really tiring. She looked to her left, only just now noticing that there was another man sitting on the bench. Eliza doubted if she wanted to talk to the man, she wasn't the most social person yet she felt the urge to talk to him. Liz was in a good mood and didn't have any contact with other players for a while now, so talking to someone wouldn't be bad, right? She took a deep breath and began to mumble "Uhm.. Hi.. uh.. Do you... like the weather here..?" Eliza's cheeks immediatly flushed red as she looked down at her feet again. Great... Good job Eliza, good flippin' job..  She thought to herself.

[Zelrius 0]

The Ex-Blood Buccaneer continued to be lost in his own thoughts while staring into the falling snow and the distant grey that clouded the end of his under-par vision. With a smirk, the boy laughed just a bit to himself thinking about how much time he had been wasting waiting for the Scouting Parties to host the meeting for the Front lines. Zelrius had skipped out on Floor 10 due to an Order the Azure Brigade had decided upon and now he was regretting voting for that order. Nonetheless, The golden haired boy finally decided it was time to get back in the game, just a matter of time before the meeting was held and all was the same.

 

That is, all was "Normal" until a girl came running through the snow at a high speed, only to slow and then stop on the same Bench Zelrius was sitting on. He leaned his back against the corner of the bench between the arm rest and the wood to get a good view of the scene beside him. The eternally present narcissistically confident curve of his smile grew more present as he only watched the girl catch her breath. This is an interesting one. The boy ventured in his mind as he thought back to the several encounters he had with people throughout the time in SAO, yet none were quite like this one. Finally, the female turned and seemingly just noticed Zelrius, much to his annoyance. Her words seemed a bit nervous and before speaking, Zelrius thought to himself Oh, what fun. "Salutations and greetings be to you. The weather? No, I hate it here. I would spew a string of profane words to emphasize my dislike of the cold and snow, but I will save it. For now, could we have your name?" Zelrius's pattern of speech often followed those guidelines when speaking to strangers or acquiantances. He only ever dropped it in the face of people he thought to be friends of his.

[Scarlett_ 0]

Eliza frowned slightly as the man began to talk in a much more elegant way than anyone she had met so far. He seemed to be a quite polite guy, which made a good impression on the girl. She grinned as the man finished talking and began to talk with a slight smile. "My name's Eliza, It is a pleasure to meet you. I don't like the weather here either and have absolutely no clue why I came here really.. And what is yours" She said, with an awkward smile on her face. Talking wasn't a thing that she was good at, but she didn't want to be rude against the man so slightly changed her way of talking. Even though it still wasn't very polite it was much better than the normal way, which probably would've been "I'm Eliza, nice to meet you".

Eliza's sudden gain of courage to be able to talk to the man was quite odd. Since she got into the game she really noticed the change in her behavior. The girl was able to actually talk normally if she just focused and made herself feel more comfortable.

 

Liz turned around, now facing the man and immediatly noticed something behind him. She noticed a incredibely obvious board with "Cafe" Written on it in big letters. Eliza's eyes went back to the man infront of her. "So why are you on this floor? If you don't mind me asking." Her eyes fell back to the cafe for a second but she quickly focused back on the man. She really wanted to get up and go to the cafe but that would just be straight up rude. So she looked over to the man whilst shivering a lot. Eliza couldn't resist the cold at all. Whenever there was just a slight breeze she would already shiver as if she was on the north pole. Her reaction usually was to stay in the house all day with 2 blankets wrapped around her. But in SAO this wasn't possible..

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius went on with his arrogant smiling, looking around the floor for anything and then threw a glance at the girl. She had spoke more about the weather, which quite honestly bored the golden haired boy. He was not one for small talk and disliked it even more from strangers. To add to how aggravated he was becoming, Zelrius hated even more the cold. His tuxedo provided sufficient warmth for maybe the ordinary person, but for Zelrius? No way, he had spent too much time on the fifth and ninth floors to not want more than the usual heat. What caught Zelrius in her speaking was the name Finally, off the topic of fake frozen water falling from a fake sky. The thought uplifting him, if only just by a bit, now that they were seemingly off the subject of the weather. "Well, ave," He stopped, silently scolding himself for saying a latin word in coversation to someone he didn't know. "and good day to you Eliza."  She now seemed a bit more confident in speaking this time, just another thing Zelrius added to his list of Not-So-Bad things that day. 

 

He noticed her shivering and now felt just a tiny bit bad, though not entirely seeing as though it was not his fault. "I am here because I want to be.  I'd offer my sword to warm you up, but there is no way in hell you're getting to even see that. But if you honestly want to talk about motives for coming to a frozen wasteland, then by all means, You're free to accompany me to a nearby Inn or something of the alike." The boy stood from the bench, holding his skull of the Hydra in his right hand and brushing snow from his hair with his left. He began to slowly swagger off in the distance, making no sound other than the click of his heel everytime his dress shoes hit the thin layer of snow beneath him.

[Scarlett_ 0]

Eliza looked at the blond haired man as he began to talk again, still shivering by the cold. She didn't know what to think of him but he sure looked like someone that knew what he was doing. Liz was quite obviously a lower leveled player and would possibly be seen even lower as she really was. She was still walking around in cloth clothing and only had some accessoires that she made in her shop, but they were barely visible. Eliza pushed the soaked hair off of her face and pulled i behind her ears, her hair was getting worse and worse the longer she was sitting in the snow, yet the girl didn't really care a lot about that, she simply wanted to go to a warmer place. The girl felt slightly more comfortable with talking to the man yet was still a bit nervous. Eliza's desperate attempts to meet new people lately confused her since in real life she would've never even dared to talk to a stranger. Since the loss of her brother she felt lonely, which was probably the reason why she talked to people that she didn't know. Liz let out a sigh and pulled her sleeves over her hands again.

 

Eliza frowned and looked at the man, slightly confused by what he just said. Eliza nodded as the man got up, not really knowing what to say. "Offer a sword to heat me up?.." She mumbled as she got up and looked over at the male. Liz didn't know if it was a joke so didn't know how to react. The girl doubted if it was a good idea to acquaintance the man but followed him anyway simply because she didn't want to be alone. Eliza walked behind the man, staring at the skull that he had in his hand. It somewhat freaked her out so she quickly looked away. Two younger npc's ran past her, a boy and a girl both laughing whilst the girl followed the boy with a snowball in her hand. Liz turned her head and saw the two npc's run further into a street that she was unable to see. Eliza smiled and kneeled down to  pull up her left boot. Even though the npc's were simply fake. some of them did the same things as real people, which confused the girl. She quickly got back up again and jogged towards the boy.

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius continued to click along in the snow, his arrogant swagger unchanging. As he had done before, the boy looked down at his chest, straightening his bowtie that lain askew, and then flattened the rest of his tuxedo for any creases or frills. He centered the Azure pendant around his neck as it had bounced out of place when he moved around on the bench. The cold was biting, even through the tuxedo, and he wondered to himself who in their right mind would come to this freezing hell hole and live here on a daily basis? The answer, of course, was for some reason a lot of people liked to winter wonderland. Why? Zelrius guessed that most of the girls found it pretty and most of the guys were here because the girls, Tch, Pathetic. The golden haired boy thought to himself as the two npcs ran by.  For the first time in a long while, Zelrius remembered a time before SAO. When winter rolled around and after a day of shoveling snow, Him and his siblings would do exactly that. How fun that used to be. His arrogant smile dropping as it turned from narcissism to thought, his brow furrowing and lines being created on his forehead.

 

All that was smashed in a second, He instantly snapped out of his small daze and back into reality. Along with this snap, his expression returned to its usual over-confident self and he gained concentration on his surroundings. Eliza's question annoyed Zelrius, but only for a second. He laughed soon there after, realizing he had never met this girl and therefore there is no way she would know anything about his equipment. "Oh, the weapon thing," He stopped, grabbing the golden hilt and drawing it out of the equally colored sheath. In a flurry of blue and red flames wrapped around the blade, Zelrius held the twinfire sword in his left hand, and slightly out to Eliza. "This is what I meant. A sword of flames, you see." He smirked as arrogant as ever, yet not as much in these latter days. I didn't tell her my name, which is why there is no way she could've known about the sword. It whispered into his mind and he about facepalmed if it weren't for Eliza standing there. "It occurred to me that I never gave my name. How rude of me. I am Zelrius, Ex-Blood Buccaneer, Commandant of the Azure Brigade, and slayer of the Hydra."

[Scarlett_ 0]

Even though she hated the snow and the cold weather, Liz could see why people would come here. Everything looked beautiful, that's probably why it's called winter wonderland. With a smile she looked around, at the npc's and humble shops. If she actually had clothes that could keep her warm she would probably come back here.. It was so weird, knowing that everything is just simply fake yet feels so real. Eliza quickly hopped closer to the man so that she wouldn't lose him. Liz didn't know what to think of him really, so far he was quite nice and polite yet he somewhat confused her. The whole sword thing was quite odd for her as she couldn't even imagine a sword that could do something like that. Liz glanced back at the head he was holding in his hand, and was once again freaked out. She had no single clue why someone would carry a head with them. It was quite clear that she was probably talking to a much higher and skilled player, which made her somewhat nervous. Liz let out a slight sigh and proceeded to walk after the man, staring down at the snow.

 

The girl closed her eyes for just a few seconds while walking, and opened them just when the boy infront of her suddenly stopped walking. She almost bumped into him but luckily managed to stop just in time, he probably wouldn't like her just walking into him. It was weird, even though the boy said nothing wrong she felt intimidated, simply by his look and the creepy head he was holding. As the boy unsheathed his sword Eliza frowned in surprise and backed off slightly whilst admiring the sword. "Holy.." she mumbled.  She could feel the heat of the beautiful flames dancing around the sword. It sure was something special.. But it made her former statement about being with a much more skilled and higher leveled player true. Liz didn't even know that something like this was possible as she saw it as magic. The long title of the man didn't really impress her that much as she didn't know what half of the things that he said were. She had never heard a single thing about the so called "Azure brigade" or a hydra. Everything sounded very powerful and Eliza immediatly looked back at the creepy head which was probably that hydra he was talking about. Without having a single clue about anything the girl didn't want to be rude against the man. "It is an honor to meet you.." She said with a slight bow, she was indeed talking to someone that claimed to be very strong, so being polite wouldn't be bad. Liz was not that familiar with any strong players, thus didn't know when she was talking against one. 

[Zelrius 0]

(OOC, Short post my apologes)

Zelrius's seemingly forgotten pride returned to him in an instant with her reaction to the twinfire sword. He raised his right hand up to his head, putting the hydra skull on his face, concealing his golden hair the exception of a but sticking out the back of it on his neck. With the twinfire now pointing to the ground and his hydra skull on they boy laughed and spoke in a voice that was muffled slightly by the skull. "Honor to meet me? Yes, I suppose it is an Honor to meet Zelrius. Though you don't seem like you've ever heard about me, how disappointing. I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and believe that the bow and words are not sarcastic, hopefully." The boy said his final words whilst lifting the Twinfire and pointing it to the girl. With a smirk, he extinguished the flames by sheathing the sword back in the golden casing on his right hip. His hydra helm fizzled, turned into blue data, then disappeared into his inventory. "Bet you haven't seen any of that before," Zelrius turned and continued walking to a nearby inn

 

In all honest, Zelrius had no idea where he was going and was hoping that Eliza would know where something is. He had never been Floor 4 towns much longer than to leave them to hurry and do a quest. Other than the map data of outside the towns, the golden haired boy had no clue where anything was. He had to find out if she knew where a place was, but say it in such a way that he wouldn't look like a fool. "Aye, do you have anywhere in your mind you'd like to visit? Any specific inn or restaurant?" Golden, His words whispered in his own mind. Let's just hope she doesn't realize that I have no idea what I am doing here.

[Scarlett_ 0]

(More than enough ^-^)

Eliza smiled slightly awkwardly as the man put the still horrifying head on his face and held the burning sword in his hand, it seemed as if he was posing.  The girl was bad at lying, and hated it, but this wasn't the time to be honest abe. She knew that she shouldn't mess around with the person infront of her as he seemed to be quite powerful. Even though Liz honestly never heard anything about the man, the words that she said were indeed true. As it's an honor to meet someone that seems to be really strong. "They were not sarcastic, it is a true honor to meet someone this strong" She said whilst looking at the man's sword. Liz soon regretted not telling the exact truth but it didn't bother her that much as it was probably the right thing to do. As the man lifted his sword and pointed it at her she backed off slightly, she could feel the heat from the sword which was actually quite comfortable. She shook her head as a reply to the man and smiled. Liz was getting quite nervous as she felt more intimidated by the man. This was probably the strongest player she had met so far,  no, This is the strongest player that she met so far.

 

The girl followed Zelrius, not exactly knowing where he was planning to go to. As he asked her if she had any place she would prefer to go she looked back at the cafe that seemed to be closed as the curtains were closed and the lights were off. Liz looked around and noticed a smaller building not to far away from them with absolutely no decoration but a big wooden board with "Ye Olde Inn" Carved into it. With a slight doubt Liz pointed at the Inn and looked at the man. "We could look over there" She said, with a quite serious look on her face. Eliza wasn't that hungry at all really and really didn't like the look of the Inn. Yet she was freezing, so needed a warm place to stay. She could see two taller men stand next to the door of the inn, looking around at the npc's that walked past. It was probably a really bad place to go, yet Liz didn't really care that much. The inn seemed to be the only one close to them that was still open, so there wasn't a really big choice other than going to it. They could of course look around the town but that would just be time consuming and there wouldn't be the guarantee that they would find another place to warm up.

[Zelrius 0]

(OOC okay, time for me to show off, And sorry this took so long, had 389,789,273 things to do on skype)

Zelrius's ego was back in full boom. Where it had gone when he first encountered the girl was a mystery to him. Here it was again, He stood tall and straight, His arrogant curve of his smile ever so present, and in his walk just aired "I am the best". Because in all honesty, Zelrius felt he was and there was yet anyone to prove him otherwise. He had won Clash of Blades tournament, Fought in Six frontline battles to date, Got the final hit on the Hydra, wielded in his hand the strongest weapon known thus far and had his full set of items as Uniques. Yes, he was the best, both in his mind and many others. Zelrius listened and then replied in his ever so narcissistic tone "I'd hope they weren't sarcastic. Though I cannot say it is an honor to meet you, it is a pleasure thus far." As he finished the boy continued to just click the heels of his dress shoes along, admiring how well the Tuxedo he was wearing accommodated the cold environment he was standing in

 

As they approached what appeared to be an inn with two men standing out front, Zelrius glanced back to Eliza, making note of her seeing it. The Golden haired boy himself was not all that interested in going to a run down place like that, but sighed in digression as he realized that it was probably to only place left to offer at this time. With her words being spoken, The Commandant of the Azure Brigade knew it was too late to avoid the place. He sombered just a bit and grabbed the golden sheath with his right hand and turned to Scarlett. "The place looks below-par. Or as normal folk would call it "Shifty". Since I do not know your strength or anything about you, just stay a little close as we enter" All arrogance was dropped in an instant, his mouth flat lined and the creases of thought coming in. And just as fast, as soon as he stopped speaking, all the egotism reappeared as they approached the inn.

[Scarlett_ 0]

As the two approached the inn Eliza became a bit more nervous, at first she knew that the inn was dodgy but as they came closer it was getting worse.

The two tall and large men didn't seem to have a weapon, yet they looked intimidating especially towards the weak and short girl. If she was alone she would've probably immediatly teleported back to floor 3 without hesitation, but she was now acquintanced by a strong person, and looking like a whimp wouldn't be a good first impression. Liz nodded as a response to Zelrius and held her hand against the sheathe of her dagger. She didn't know what to expect, but the place looked incredibely dodgy and having a weapon would possibly intimidate people a bit, not like anyone would be scared of a little girl.

 

The two men infront of the door seemed to allow them to come in, yet they looked incredibely serious and gave both of them a rather nasty look. Eliza slowly walked to the wooden door and opened it, immediatly greeted by the stare of a man in a tuxedo at a wooden table close to the door. The inn was crowded, filled with yelling men that were obviously drunk. As the door closed behind her the inn went silent for just a few seconds as almost everyone stared at her. Liz felt incredibely uncomfortable and wanted to run away, but she controlled herself and looked around for a table to sit. Most of the tables were already filled with drunken men and a few girls that were showing.. rather much, atleast that's what her opinion was. Most of the men went back to drinking and laughing with each other, however some of them were still glaring at her with a disgusted look on their faces. It was obvious, they didn't want them here, not even the bartenders did. Eliza froze right infront of the door, too scared to walk past anyone. She was scared, and hated it. The only thing she liked was that it was warm in the inn. The girl hoped that the man would take care of this..

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius stood tall and straight as ever, his calm and self centered gaze simply glancing around the Room. The room was like a scene from a bad pirate movie aired on a network like HBO. Nonetheless Zelrius ignored the stares of most of those in and around the place, simply finding an empty seat by a single man sitting by a woman, clearly trying to flirt, and failing miserably. With a straightening of his once again askew bowtie, Zelrius pulled his gloves back down on his hands and centered the pendant around his neck. The boy's egotistical stare met many around the room, and each returned only a hate or the same look Zelrius gave many others in the realm of aincrad: Contempt. The look you give someone when you think you're better than them. It was at that moment Zelrius realized just how disgusting that gaze was.

 

The golden haired boy wiped off the snow from his hair and walked on over to the open seats by the people.  He gestured to the seat across the table for Eliza, all whilst not even asking permission if he could sit. Now, with head resting in the open palm of his right hand, Zelrius waited. He wanted to see just how easy these people would be.

[Scarlett_ 0]

Liz immediatly made her way to Zelrius as he gestured at her to follow him. It seemed that he didn't care a lot about the disgusting stares that the men gave them. As soon as the man sat down both the women and men around them gave them a horrid stare once again. They seemed to absolutely hate them being in the inn and Eliza didn't want to stay so long really. However Zelrius seemed to have different ideas. Liz didn't sit down as she was far too scared and simply stood near him.

 

Liz was still scared and tempted to still run away. It became even worse as a tall man came up to her and laughed. "Well hello little girl, Mind coming with me eh?" He said whilst pushing her with him. Eliza was absolutely disgusted by him and didn't want to come with him at all. As the man proceeded to push her to a crowded table she panicked. When they were only about 4 meters away the girl turned around and was tempted to do something that her brother told her to do whenever a man tried to do anything. However pain wasn't a real thing in this world so it would probably not work. Eliza glared at the man as he put up a smile that disgusted her. "Anything wrong?!" He said as he came closer to her. Liz was terrified and felt so weak. Liz knew that if she didn't do anything right now she would be in a really sticky situation. She took a deep breath and stared up at the man. "Leave me alone" She mumbled. The man immediatly responded with a dramatic laugh. "What did you say? Can't hear youu" He said, trying to tease her. "I said Leave. Me. Alone", Her tone turned into a very serious one as she backed off from the man. He didn't seem to like what she had just said and immediatly grabbed her arm tight. Out of pure panic she kicked him several times and tried to pull her arm loose, which angered the man even more. In just a few seconds the man grabbed her other arm and glared at her. "You little brat!" he yelled in her face as he tightened her grip, pulling her away again.

[Zelrius 0]

(Sorry for taking so long, had to clean car)

 

Zelrius sat patiently and was a tiny bit annoyed with Eliza for standing instead of sitting. "Dear lady, I am not going to force you to sit if you don't want to, But now you've made me look like an arse in front of all these lovely people." He had finished the sentence with emphasis on that last two words and glanced around a bit to see reactions. They had kept up the same ones that they had since the pair entered the room. The boy continued to sit, looking as though he was waiting for a bartender to come talk to him, but the golden haired boy knew full well that wasn't going to happen. Leaning back in his chair, Zelrius awaited to see if any events transpired.

 

And his wish was granted. He watched as Eliza was whisked and drawn away. For a moment, the cruel cold side of Zelrius thought of just getting up and leaving her to this. However, the other side knew that he couldn't do that and live it down. So he stood and looked in the direction of the events gone past. "Why don't you guys do what the lady asks and leave her alone?" Immediately after the interaction of the two, she began kicking the man and Zelrius damn near put his palm to his face. I didn't expect her to do that. I have to act now. Within an instant Zelrius was across the room and holding Eliza's free arm with his right hand. "I believe this one is mine for the evening, good sir. Why don't you hand her back over?" The man stopped and turned back around "What if I don't?" Zelrius drew his twinfire blade once more with his left hand and stuck it out past Eliza pointing at the man. "I've been Orange before, a PKer, and I am not afraid to go back."

[Scarlett_ 0]

(Sorry for the short post, I still don't get why you put me on a time limit really but oh well)

 

Liz couldn't do anything but watch as the golden haired boy approached. There was no possibility of getting out of this herself, the man was simply too strong and wouldn't let go. Liz frowned as the man stood up for her.. Something that she wasn't expecting him to do to be completely honest. So far she liked the man, yet still found him a bit dodgy. The unknown man glared at Zelrius as he unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards him. With a shrug the man let go and backed off, dissapearing into the crowd that had formed around them. She looked up at Zelrius. "Uhm.. Thank you.." She said. Liz sat down on the table near them and closed her eyes, not knowing what to do. The people around them went completely quiet and walked away, back to their seats. Liz was done with the inn, she wanted to go away immediatly and just go to floor 3, back to her shop. Yet she froze in place, unable to move from the table.

[Zelrius 0]

When the crowd calmed down after Zelrius threatened the man, the golden haired boy sheathed his flaming sword once more and cleaned himself up. He ran a gloved hand through his hair to fix the disheveled parts and then returned to his infinitely narcissistic self. When he returned to their seats at the table, Zelrius looked at Liz and at that moment, he got a message from Lowenthal. Checking it, the boy grinned and then looked back to Eliza. "It would appear I have a call to arms on the Fifth Floor. It was nice meeting you, I would say see you around, but that's highly unlikely. Nonetheless, salutations and farewell be to you. Vale." The boy's last word being in Latin since he decided it was only proper to say goodbye in Latin when you say Hello, even it the first was by accident. 

 

He stood and walked away out of the inn and into the snow. Equipping his hydra helm and fixing his bowtie once more. Just like that, The blood Buccaneer disappeared into the white mist and was gone.

 

-ZELRIUS LEAVES THREAD-

[Lessa 1]

She burst into the inn just as the blonde-haired boy was standing to leave. A lower-leveled player had flagged the Guardian down as she wandered the street, recognizing her guild symbol, and tagging her as someone who could help. Frantically, he had explained that a girl was being roughed up in one of the nearby inns. After getting descriptions of all involved players, Lessa had sprinted to the scene, ready to breakup yet another fight. It was not at all an uncommon problem, but she still could not sit idly by while a weaker player was bullied.

 

Slipping out of Zelrius' way as he left, she watched him in silence. He did not seem to notice her, and while he did not fit the description of the guilty men, she was not at all surprised to see him there. That boy seemed to follow trouble, or maybe it followed him. Regardless, she could only shake her head as she approached the lone player.

 

"Hi there," she greeted with a smile, her voice straining to carry over the roar of the inn. "This place is a madhouse. Why don't we go outside?"

[Scarlett_ 0]

Liz was frozen in place as the boy walked out of the inn, she simply nodded as a goodbye and looked down at her shoes, unable to say a single word. She was quite shocked by what had just happened and was quite thankful of the golden haired boy that had saved her from.. them. People were still staring at the girl, and as soon as the boy left some stood up. Suddenly a taller woman came into the inn, immediatly taking over the stares of the drunk men and women. She was greeted by some people whistling and shouting rather rude and disgusting things. Liz tilted her head to the left, seeing the woman walk towards her. Liz got up and forced a weak smile onto her face and nodded as a response to the woman greeting her. A crowd once again formed around them in just a few seconds. It was disgusting how everyone acted and Liz wanted to get out immediatly. "Y-Yes please.." She mumbled to the woman. She quickly squeezed herself through the crowd of men, staring right infront of her to avoid making eye contact with one of the men.

 

As Liz pushed herself through the crowd she quickly opened the wooden door and walked out. Immediatly after she walked back into the cold again she looked at the blond haired woman and smiled slightly. "Thank you.. If you weren't here I would've still be stuck in there.." She mumbled, slightly embarrassed by the fact that she had completely frozen in place back there. As Zelrius left Liz kind of gave up, knowing that the chance of getting out without being pulled away again would be really small.

[Lessa 1]

The thank you, she had been expecting. Lessa gave a short nod to signify that it was a simple task, and she appreciate the girl's words. What came as a surprise, however, was what the stranger said directly afterwards. She would have been stuck in there? The Guardian's small smile wilted slightly. What was it that was keeping her there? Slowly, delicately, Lessa spoke. "You know, you're free to walk out of a place like that whenever you feel like it." She understood that she was approaching a touchy subject, as it was more than likely some sort of fear or anxiety that kept the girl frozen to her seat that way. Regardless, this was a lesson that she needed to learn sooner than later, if she hoped to survive the death game.

"I mean," she continued, "you're in a safe zone. Those guys can't really do anything to you. Besides, I've learned from experience that most men are too chicken to mess with strong, powerful women. Show them how fearless you can be, and they'll leave you alone." The pair had traversed a short way down the snow-covered road, snaking in and out of the circles of light cast by the streetlamps. "And if that doesn't work," she concluded, her small smile returning, "you could try the White Wolf Inn. That's the inn where I spend most of my time, and where my guild meets. The innkeeper normally keeps things pretty tame."