[OP-F1] The Embarrassing Spoils of War

[Mack 0]

OOC: Anyone may join this thread, for Crimson Blades members it will count towards your required threads for promotion within the Guild.

As Mack traipsed back through the grass covered fields that surrounded the City of Beginnings he swiped his free hand, the one not keeping Shirosu planted firmly against his right shoulder with her face pointed back the way they had come, in the air to open his player menu. Tapping through commands, he pulled up a message window and began typing in the air one handed as he trudged inexorably onward towards the City's eastern gate and completely ignored Shirosu's protests and the beating of her tiny fists against his back. "You committed the crime, now you do the time," the burly blacksmith said in a low rumbling tone, not perturbed in the slightest.

To: Crimson Blades
Subject: Crime and Punishment

Attention Blades,

One of the new recruits, Shirosu, tried to kick me in the crotch during our training duel. She is going to be punished for this. Please teleport to the City of Beginnings and meet me at the Eastern Gate when she is ungloriously carted into the town like the spoils of war or, more accurately, like a deer carcass being brought to market.

That will be all.

With the message completed, Mack tapped the send button in midair with his pointer finger and the message was immediately sent out to all the Guild members, including Shirosu herself. "You might want to read that," the axe-man said in the same low, rumbling tone. Within a few more minutes, they were cresting the final hill that would bring them in sight of the main eastern gates of the City of Beginnings and the small crowd of onlookers that had already assembled.

[Carambit 0]

The color drained from Carambit's face as he read the part of the message that said 'deer carcass'. "Wait... Did he actually kill her??" he asked. He had to know. The player came charging down the main strip of the town toward the eastern gate. What he was met with was in fact a sight of a much more humorous nature. Carambit bent over and clutched his knees, laughing so hard that tears flowed from his eyes. She punched and protested vigorously, but none of it seemed to affect Mack in any way. Once he had regained his composure he approached the pair of them. "Hey, are you... both... alright?" he said between chuckles and giggles. Carambit wiped a tear free from his cheek and flicked it away. He was shocked at how small Shirosu was compared to Mack; her tiny body not even tilting Mack's composure in the slightest as he easily carried her on his shoulder. The more he thought about it the more he had to fight back laughter.

[Beoreson 0]

Beoreson gets the message and, decides that he is going to have to see it for himself. The warrior rushes over to the the eastern gate and, sees that Mack is in fact carrying the woman on his shoulder like she doesn't weigh a pound. He walks over to the blond haired warrior and, says,"Hey, Mack nice seeing you. See that you caught a wild ballshooter." "Not to sure that it will meet the requirements to be tagged though." says the warrior with a grin.

[Vasth 0]

Vasth stared at the message, He fell into his pool in his shop,Vasth gasped of breath "Aww...Man" Vasth quickly changed,Vasth had mixed feelings....confused,shock,stunned and oh you get by now. Vasth quickly grabbed all his gear and ran to the teleporter. When he got to the floor Vasth ran as fast he could.As Vasth ran he thought Do you really have to punish her at bad...  When He got there he saw that Mack,Carambit,Beoreson and.....Shirosu on Macks shoulder. "Yo guys...sup Mack...umm you're not going to hurt her right?" 

[Opal 0]

A fist came out of nowhere and nailed Carambit in the shoulder for his laughter, her honey colored eyes set on him like a woman's scorn, daring him to make another chuckle. Poor girl, this Shirosu, the only other female member of the guild was produced like a bagged trophy from a hunter. Opal placed a hand over her forehead and looked down shaking her head, the black tendrils of her long hair came undone as she gave a heartfelt frown to the girl as they passed as Opal mouthed the words, "Sorry," to her. Surely she would not make the same mistake in said duels, though she did enjoy being manhandled but that was for a different matter all together.

The young woman flicked the inky black hair from off her shoulders and folded her arms, she would get Mack back for this. She would have to plan something with Shirosu so they can get even with him. She looked back at Carambit and pointed her finger at him, "If I so much as hear another chuckle...I'll rip them off, ok?" she said with a sharp smile with an upbeat tone. So this was how it was going to be. Shirosu would be decorated on his throne no doubt and placed on his wall or something. Such a sad sight; Men-One, Women-Zero.   

[Xion 0]

Xion had been in his shop when he got the PM, and after reading it HAD to see what was happening. So, he closed his shop and made his way to the eastern gate of the town of beginnings, eventually seeing the glorious sight. Mack, leader of the crimson blades was carrying Shirosu on his shoulder like a hunter's trophy. Xion nearly died with laughter, a  rare thing to see from the tank. "Oh god, Mack you are a comedic genius he said, as he pulled himself back together, calming down so that he was able to control the laughter. This, to say the least put him in a rather jolly mood, which unfortunately was cut short by Opal's assault of Carambit. It was minor, but still other guild members need to be shown respect, and in all fairness Carambit had done nothing wrong. 

 

Calmly he walked up behind Opal, being as quiet as he could with all of his armour on, and drew his sword swiftly placing it mere centimetres away from the woman's neck. "Now, I know that this seems unfair but Shirosu dared to attempt to hit Mack in the crotch during a training exercise, and technically that is assaulting another guild member without a justified reason. You do know that he could do much worse, and this is merely for embarrassment's sake, not to mention you are the only one reacting negatively to this, so please refrain from such things." he said, before placing his blade in it's scabbard once more and going back to his happy tone. 

 

"So Mack, I didn't know that you were a comedian outside of the guild" he said with a chuckle as he walked closer to the hulking blonde, struggling to hold back laughter as he watched Shirosu flail and struggle, ultimately in vain. 

[Shirosu 0]

"Maaaackkkkkk!" she whined reading the notice the look of pure horror on her face explaining her feeling to the fullest and serving as incentive to increase her futile struggle.  When she saw the gate's her heart dropped, seeing as a crowd of guild members had assembled, the most pathetic sound she had ever made in her entire life escaped from her mouth. The closer they got, the more her cheeks coloured, to the point of being almost scarlet, and she covered her face with her hands and groaned.

 Soon, all the shell shocked faces started to brighten up and she heard laughter, her punches, no matter how hard she hit felt like trying to beat a solid brick wall, and wasn't going to get her anywhere. When she started hearing the comments Shirosu started to get a little pissed,"Oi!" she shouted over her shoulder towards the guild, her eyes narrowed into slits. She tried to hold that face for a little bit, but soon went back to loudly complaining about the current situation,"You were the one that started it," She accused pulling Mack's ear, hoping to annoy him.

[Takao 0]

Takao exhaled a low, muffled groan as he stepped out of one of the many buildings that lined the streets of the starting city. He huffed a breath out of his nostrils and glanced aside to the draconic familiar that sat upon his shoulders. "I can't believe how hard it is to find an alchemist around here." He said, tugging at and adjusting his collared tunic as he closed the door behind him with his free hand. The hand then moved to run through his hair and rub the back of his head before dropping back down to his side. "S'gonna make preparing for the raid impossible if I can't find one." His tone had dropped as he turned and moved to take a step down from the shop's small porch, though he slowed to a stop upon seeing a small gathering further down the street. With his curiousity piqued, Takao shelved his search and approached the crowd instead. He pushed past some of the people until he stood at the front.

A frown immediately set onto his face when he saw what could easily be deduced as the source of the gathering. He recognized Mack immediately, and not so much the girl he carried over his shoulder. It was clear from her apparent protesting that she wasn't thrilled to be carried in such a way. His ears twitched upon hearing a vaguely familiar voice, and he glanced aside to look at Xion and Opal, inadvertently eavesdropping on his explanation of the situation. The brunet's eyes set upon the blade that was held up to woman's neck and his eyebrows furrowed, only pulling his gaze away to look back to Mack once the sword was returned to its scabbard. "Hm."

Edited August 31, 2015 by Takao

[Mack 0]

"Quiet, you," Mack rumbled in a low tone, jostling Shirosu on his shoulder as she continued to beat on his back with her fists and boundless impotent rage. "We're both fine," the Grandmaster continued, answering the questions that had been posed by several of his guildmates. Besides that, now that they were in the safe zone of the town neither one of them could harm the other outside of a duel. "Well, Shirosu's dignity isn't," the blonde man continued, deliberately jostling and bouncing the silver-haired woman again as he passed through the gates and into the city proper, completely ignoring the fact that she was tugging on his ear. "But, that's neither here nor there."

At the sound of the scuffle between Carambit and Opal that Xion was intervening with. "She was warned that, while all things are permissible that doesn't mean some things won't still make your training officer mad. Crotch shots are one of those things, though it didn't help that she missed. Still, it was certainly an inventive attempt. Now, if you'd care to defend her honor Opal, we can duel right here and right now. Unarmed, first to three. But, when you lose you'll be the one getting carted through town back to the forge."

[Vasth 0]

Vasth sighed.... I mean going for a man's crotch is a dishonourable thing to do but..... isn't this going a bit too far." Vasth sighed, Vasth looked at Shirosu struggling,Vasth crack a smile but that was quickly shut off by a girl he didn't know who punched Carambit. He quickly changed. Vasth heard that Mack would 1v1 for Shirosu release but if the girl lost she would be in the cart instead of Shirosu. Vasth wanted to take over for both of them but he figure that the girl wouldn't like that so Vasth deicide this instead.

"Mack don't you think it's a bit unfair for you to fight her,I mean you have way more experience then both of them combined, it seems like not the honourable thing to do, how about letting someone else to fight,just giving a idea out there"  Vasth wasn't sure what the reaction that Mack would have...He hoped it wasn't a act that Mack would get angry at him for.

 

[Grave 0]

I couldn't help but chuckle slightly when I read the message about one particular recruit, Shirosu, attempting a nut shot on Mack.  She wasn't the first.  I was quick to shut up my short-lived laughter, before making my way out of my diner and to the teleport gate, Hikari wrapped around my waist like a large, orange, furry belt.  The scene when I arrived was rather humorous, but I kept myself from laughing out loud.  Opal seemed to be confronting Carambit, the recruit I trained, and in turn Xion confronted the former.  I was about to go up and forcefully lower the tank's blade, but he already began to sheath it and strolled out to the giant.

I silently approached Opal and gently placed the soft palm of my gauntlet on the top of her black hair.  "Hey, there!" I greeted her, before stepping off to her side.  This movement brought me within earshot of Mack's offer to duel, and I scowled, turning to the woman beside me.  "You will regret it, I assure you.  Don't bother." I explained, whispering in her ear.  I looked to the silver-haired girl slung over Mack's shoulder and scowled further.  Sure, he was only trying to embarrass her... but maybe this was going a little bit far.  After all, he could have explained about nutshots before the duel.

"Poor Shirosu..." I mumbled to no one in particular.  She seemed to be in quite the dilemma.

[Opal 0]

Opal bit her lip as she watched as the graceful blade of Xion came rolling across her neck, it was a warning and he shot those words straight into her heart as he felt the need to humiliate her as well with his act. Her right eye twitched with frustration, this guy, no matter who he was; was getting on her last nerve. Second in Command or not she was about to rip his ass wide open, "Of course I am acting negatively towards this! He could have done something much less humiliating to her for such an action besides this. But whatever, Mr. Second in Command." 

After the small little rebuttal, the Guild Leader had chimed in to announce if she wanted to Opal could defend the honor of the woman he was carrying but in place be the one to be towed back to the forge instead. She would have agreed to this duel, but Grave had come in and whispered to her ear after placing a hand on her black hair, that it would have been a bad idea and to just let it pass for now. Folding her arms under her bosom, Opal turned her face away while her blood was still boiling from the actions of her Second in Command. Obviously they think they can get away with this, obviously they were wrong. Opal would get her revenge on the Guild Leader one day. 

"Whatevs," she said in an annoyed tone. 

[Takao 0]

Takao's eyebrows knitted closely together as he listened. He had quickly gathered that whoever the girl hitching an unwanted ride on Mack's shoulder was, she hadn't necessarily done anything wrong. Just something Mack didn't like. Takao never had any issues with authority, though the spiteful display of power at the sake of another before him just didn't sit well with him in the slightest. He glanced aside to the small gathering of players to his left and noticed another familiar face beside Opal, who seemed to talk her out of accepting Mack's duel challenge.

Takao glanced from Vasth, who had just spoken his suggestion, to cast a sidelong glance to his familiar who hastily shook its head at the look. He shrugged his shoulders dismissively and took a few steps forward and faced Mack anyways, not seeming to look much into his companion's opinion. He was well aware that the situation wasn't really his place to chime in, but his gut instinct had told him to go for it regardless. After all, even if he lost, he'd still get a free ride to Mack's shop!

"I'm game to duel you instead." he said as he folded his arms across his chest.

[Xion 0]

Xion's head snapped back to Opal as she voiced her opinions "What she did was dishonourable and she should be ashamed. I'll say this again, Mack could do much worse, just be thankful that he isn't" he growled, in an almost uncharacteristic, hate-fuelled tone. Xion then turned away from her, not wanting to anger himself any more, in hindsight, what he did was a bit unfair, but he and Opal had some...personal issues, ones that began when he was training her. As the tank tried to calm himself he hear someone, a familiar voice that he had not heard for a long time. "Takao? Takao you glorious bastard where have you been?" he asked, a huge smile on his face as he approached the brown haired player. 

[Shirosu 0]

Finally giving up her struggle, Shirosu gave in to the whole idea of the situation and decided that while she was here, she may as well to her best to annoy mack for the time being. She continued to do things like pull his ears, tug a tiny piece of hair, ect. nothing dramatic just enough to be annoying all the while ignore when ever he jostled her and rebutting with a slightly harder tug on an ear. She was grateful that a few people seemed to be in her favor, a few even seemed to want to fight Mack instead of letting her suffer up here. She slowly started to see the slight hint of humor in the situation, even though she was still pissed and her ego had completely fled the premises. Doing her best to give a small grin she explained " I'm ok, just a little mad right now, not as bad as it looks, i'm all bark really, no bite" She hoped no one would make a fool of  themselves for her, then there would be two fools instead of one, not an ideal situation. The she growled in Macks ear"And no! i wont be quite, im so embarassed right now i could holler lady gaga's bad romance to the sky and it wouldn't change a thing"

[Mack 0]

"There's nothing dishonorable about it, Vasth. I have no ranks in Martial Arts so while, in the real world, it would be an extremely one sided fight as far as SAO is concerned we are evenly matched," Mack replied calmly as the rest of the Guild seemed to talk over the challenge that had been issued to Opal. "Besides, it's not as if Shirosu will be denied her just reward," the blonde Grandmaster continued, turning around so that his back was to most of the rest of the Guild but so that Shirosu would be facing them. "Wave to your adoring fans," Mack said, looking over his shoulder at everyone else and continuing to ignore Shirosu's little annoyances. Of course she was going to try to give as good as she got, it was only fair. "And say hello to the first Soldier in the Crimson Blades, toss your guild amulet to Xion so he can update it for you."

No sooner had the announcement been made than Takao spoke up and decided he wanted to take on the dueling challenge for Shirosu's honor. "If you want to, Takao, I'll not deny you the chance... but if you lose, you'll be carried back to the forge Princess-style and you'll have to do the Queen's Wave to everyone we meet," the smith continued amiably, holding up his free hand and showing Takao what he meant by "queen't wave". "Your call, unarmed and first to three."

[Beoreson 0]

Beoreson heard something about a fight and, grinned. "If you will excuse me Mack, I'm going to go see if I can punch someone with my new skills." says the warrior as he breaks away from Mack. He walks over to where Opal and, Takao. "Can, I fight as well? We could make it a free for all." says the warrior with a grin. He really wanted to try out the points he put in martial arts. He had only killed two goblins with it and, was rather bored of PVE. But, he knew that he couldn't go around punching people.

[Takao 0]

The consequences for losing and the stipulations for the fight didn't seem to deter Takao in the slightest, given how the small smile on his face remained. His right hand was raised and motioned to call forth his menu, where he then navigated to his inventory to unequip the sword and scabbard hanging off his right shoulder. When the weapon disappeared from his body he directed his attention to Xion, and offered him a warm smile and slight wave. "Hey Xion, long time no see! I've been helpin' out with scouting, so I haven't had much spare time to be around lately." he said with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

His eyes switched back to Mack as his arm returned back down to his side. "Y'mean if I lose, I get to htich a free ride to your forge? Sweet!" His words were accompanied by a lighthearted chuckle. The brunet glanced to his familiar and gestured to the side with his head, wordlessly instructing the monster to hop off his shoulders and move aside. "I was actually going to stop by anyways, so this works out well... aaaand since we're making it interesting... How 'bout if you lose, you have to make me something for, say... half price?" His attention returned to Mack as he spoke. It seemed like a good opportunity since he needed the equipment regardless.

[Opal 0]

Promoted? Shirosu must have met all the requirements to be promoted to Soldier, she was happy that she was the first female to reach that status and when Mack had announced it she clapped her hands. However, she wanted to get away from Xion and she didn't know who this brown haired fellow was. By the words used from Xion, Ugh...Xion...  she learned the name Takao. He was taller than her, that was a plus, was attempting to defend the woman's honor, another plus. And he was handsome...another plus. She folded her arms under her chest and moved away from the crowd in the opposite direction of Xion, she just needed to get away from him. With her nerves battered and her blood boiling, she just needed to calm down...a drink and a cig was in short order. She pulled her Lavender Scented cigs from her menu and the pre lit item materialized between her fingers. She took the first drag, a long and slow inhale and then lifting her head up and blew the excess purple cloud of scented lavender into the air. She sighed and felt more at ease after that, flicking the ashes off her calming stick with her thumb.

"If Takao succeeds in beating Mack, would that make this guy stronger than him? This of course was just a punch fest duel, not an actual event of skill between the two warriors...So it doesn't matter, but still..." she placed a fingernail in her mouth while she crossed her arms over her chest, the lavender smoke escaping off the burning end of her light purple cigarette while she took another long and much needed drag. 

[Jomei 0]

It had been quite awhile since Jomei visited the good ol' Town of Beginnings on Floor One. He had been so caught up in things on higher floors, that he was neglecting visiting the town, checking to see if there were any players who could use his assistance. The day seemed slightly more quiet than usual, and warmer as well. With his hands in his pockets and the small owl perched on his shoulder, the ginger haired player walked through the streets, admiring the familiar shops on each side of him. He decided after a long walk of finding nothing, he would treat himself to some tea at one of the outdoor cafes nearby. He ordered his drink from the small bar and received it moments later, paying the NPC for it. Jomei then moved himself to the outdoor patio, where he found a nice seat to overlook the streets of the town. He was only a few sips into his tea when he noticed a small clutter of players making quite the commotion. His eyes shifted to look at them, not recognizing anyone at first.. Until he saw Takao in front of a larger man with blonde hair. "Hm.. What's Takao doing here..?" he then noticed a girl who seemed to be being dragged by the larger man. Jomei, in the middle of a sip of tea, choked on it and quickly shot up from his seat. He then stormed over to the group, and stood by Takao's side. "Oy, what the hell is going on here?" The orange haired player, with hair coming down over one of his eyes, glared at the group with his one visible green eye. His arms were crossed, and his normally cheerful stature was now stern. He looked straight at the warrior with the girl slung over his shoulder, "You know, lad.. that girl doesn't look to happy to be held like that.. Maybe it'd be best if you put her down." the Irishman said.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Jomei