(PP-F1) Crimson As Blood, White as Snow (Tristan)

[Amira 0]

Manta walked down the street on the fourth floor, her cyan blue hooded jacket on and zipped up, with the hood down. She had gone out with Sousuke to hunt for materials the day before, and she was still in a good mood. The sun was out and shining brightly, matching exactly what she was feeling at that moment. The snow on the ground was crisp and white, almost matching the color of her hair. She had been spending a good deal of time on this floor lately, and a couple of rude players had taken to calling her 'Ice Queen' whenever they saw her, just because she'd turned down their advances. Seriously, didn't people recognize an engagement ring when they saw one? She didn't have a particular reason to be on the fourth floor that day; she wasn't running an errand to a shop around here, or going hunting for mats and col. Her goal for today was a lot more fun and less monotonous. She was going to make a friend or two. That was it, her entire goal for the day. Sousuke and Koumori were great and all, but she needed more friends than just them. She leaned up against the wall of a building, surveying the area and the people contained in it.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan was minding his own business strolling along the snow of Floor 4. He had been here more than times than he had fingers and toes helping new players with Avalanche, after a year ago having his own near death experience from the boss. Then again, that was a time where having a full set of unique equipment was hard to get hold of and uniques more so. Now? He had one perfect and two unique pieces of equipment which he had earned from boss raids and at this point, was arguably one of the top tanks. Oh, and he won the S&Z PVP championships Zelrius ran, beating the top level players that fought and became effectively recognised as one of the strongest. So much so, in the ongoing second S&Z tournament, he was asked not to join by several players.

Tristan was going in his usual attire, which was the blood splattered templar armor from the crusader and the unique Twinfire Reflector on his back. These days, they were the symbols of his reptutation with the shield of flames and the armour covered in blood permanently and of regeneration. He sighed and thought, thinking how some new friends would be great, since several had gone their own ways. Tristan decided to lounge around to see who was around, or if people approached him. Well at least more people knew him than he knew people.

[Amira 0]

Manta's eyes were almost immediately drawn to a player with red hair. He had what looked like extremely rare armor, but that wasn't what drew her to him. She wasn't looking for powerful players to make friends with specifically, but the interesting ones. If she was going to be stuck in the game, might as well make some interesting friends and have fun. His red hair intrigued her. Sure, she'd seen ginger hair before, but this was a full on red. Normally in a VRMMO someone with hair that color wouldn't be all that special, as character customization was a thing. But here, you looked like you did in real life, meaning that she had seen no one with hair like that yet. It was a strange reason to approach someone, but maybe people asked him about his hair all the time.

She stood up straight, away from the wall shed been leaning on, and started to walk over towards him. With her luck he would be one of those cocky ultra-high level players that didn't associate themselves with the lower level players. There weren't many players like that, but they did exist sadly enough. She got within a yard of him and raised a hand in greeting, not wanting to invade his personal space. "Is your hair natural?" Was the first thing that popped into her head, so she voiced in as friendly a manner as she could.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan was a bit taken aback by someone suddenly appearing and greeting them so. He was not unused to it, it happening rather often, but that was the first time he was given that for an opening phrase. The most amusing encounter was probably the one with Hasai, who had full on fangirled at his presence and fought the Avalanche together. That probably ranked number 2 in his encounters, being second only to when last year Karina dropped fanfiction of him doing it with Karina on him while he snoozed, a crazy coincidence as it sounded. Might have not been a coincidence, but those were times gone by.

Tristan took the hand in greeting and shook it gently with his own rather larger hand. To be fair, Tristan was a giant at 6ft 3 in height, which made him probably look far more dangerous in disposition than he was. Unlike Zelrius who had an abrasiveness to match his looks (though he sometimes wondered how much that was an act), Tristan was the definition of a gentle giant. Tristan began speaking, a deep british accent that was gentle and no louder than required to be heard: "Sort of. It's a more ginger shade of this, but I dye it a slightly redder colour. It's something of an image I've had for a long time, so I keep at it til this day. What about yourself?". He gave a small but honest gentle smile.

[Amira 0]

Manta shook his hand. He was almost half a foot taller than her, and that was a bit intimidating, but the softness of his voice put her at ease. His hair was apparently ginger, but he dyed it so that it was more red. That wasn't too surprising to her. She'd never seen a shade of red like that in the real world that was natural. Granted, she never got out in the real world, so that didn't actually mean much. He asked her about her hair, and she raised her hand, holding onto a strand of it and peering at it. She'd never been asked that question before, although, now that she thought about it, her hair was an abnormal color. You didn't often see pure white hair in someone her age.

"It's completely natural. I never dyed it because I felt like my hair color is a gift, and I don't want to mess with it. At least in real life. I usually go with pink or light blue in VRMMOs." She answered. She released his hand and brushed the strand of her hair that she had been looking at behind her ear. "So, what are you doing here? Anything I can help out with, or are you just hanging like me?" She questioned, continuing the conversation but directing it down another avenue.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan chuckled at the mention of her hair and beamed a smile, adding to what she said with "I had a history teacher who was quite young but with silver hair like yours. It reflects very well in sunlight and also makes ageing far less impacting on your visual appearance.". His remark aside, Tristan thought for a moment as he was posed a question by this person. Oh, that's a point, he didn't even know this silver haired girls name. That should probably be something to get out of the way, since their entry phrases were on hair shade.

"Bored more than anything. I know people are getting ready for the Floor 12 floor boss and the halloween event which I'm both attending, but I have little to pass the time with right now as I feel as prepared as I'll ever be. However...", he nodded his head forward in greeting, "The name is Tristan Delaney. More people know me than I know people, which I can never tell if it is worrying. May I have the pleasure of knowing your own?".

[Amira 0]

Manta nodded. He had a good point. She'd never really thought about the long term aspects of having hair this color. "I heard about the boss fight and the Halloween event. I've been training nonstop with my friends to try to level up enough to join either. I leveled six times in the last week, and I'm still shy of the point where I need to be for either. It's a bit frustrating." Unlike him she wasn't even close to being prepared, meaning that she wasn't even a high enough level to safely join either. Not that boss fights were ever safe.

"I've accepted that I wont be ready for wither, so Im taking it a little bit easier today." Se would definitely be ready for the next event or boss fight, whichever one came sooner. "I'm Manta. Nice to meet you Tristan. So your part of the clearing group? What's your role?" From her experience, people liked to brag about the skills that they had leveled, and she was no exception. Plus, she enjoyed hearing other peoples strategies.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan listened as she spoke, as was only polite. He couldn't help be distracted by the silver flowing hair, but tried not to show it while they were speaking. He had never seen someone with white hair so long, so it was like watching a mirror shimmer or alike while she spoke as it reflected the sunlight much like the snow around the, did. Now he thought on it, she would probably make a very good ninja on floor 4 with it like that. After she asked about his role and clearing experience, he smiled and said "Been clearing since Floor 9. I'm a tank, to put it at its simplest. Paired with the unique shield and armor I have, I strive for ultimate defence and being able to take all the damage instead of my teammates. I've...I've seen people die in floor bosses, and I want to avoid that as much as possible. So I draw in all the hate and absorb. I can put up a fight though as well mind you, for example this summer I fought in the S&Z PVP tournament Zelrius ran and won, beating a number of high level players like Calrex and Teayre. In fact I think all top players except Zel....", his mind wandered off as it went on a thread, but then returned, "Anyhow, i digress. You could say I'm rather capable, but I'm not concerned on being famous or riches. Ever since last year it has been my goal to protect the people of Aincrad, so that we can minimize deaths in this game and all come out alive and well.". He gave a silly but happy grin at the end. He really cared for people and didn't want to see them hurt, and he would try his damn hardest to keep it that way.

[Amira 0]

Manta looked him over. He definitely looked strong. "I have to say, Ive never heard of or met any of those people, but I was out of action for a very, very long time. Now I know who to watch out for I guess." His determination to protect the people of Aincrad was impressive, he'd gone so far as to orient his skills around that. It made her feel a bit bad about how she was investing her own skill points. "I guess im a bit selfish. I'm a high evasion high damage type. I don't really have skills that help other people, although I can throw a mean combo. Still, it sounds like we have some of the same goals. I usually voice my main goal as protecting the lower level payers, but that's just because generally speaking the higher levels can take care of themselves. I don't want anyone to die in this game either." She stopped, thinking about her goals for the moment. "The guild im part of is small, and we do material hunts and get materials to shops that need them. The others don't seem to want to do anything else. Me, I want to help more actively by joining the clearing group. I have the determination, the only thing im missing is the level." She rested her hand on the pommel of her rapier, clenching it determinedly. She didn't care if Tristan told her that she wouldn't be able to make, it wouldn't stop her from trying.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan let her talk as she spoke, talking of their goals and roles. It was interesting since her build was much like that of Zelrius or Rebekah in that regard, but their disposition was totally differing. Then again, Rebekah was a bit of an enigma to everyone in that regard. He wasn't really going to follow that train of thought though and reverted back to the topic at hand and spoke up again after she had finished, his voice gentle as ever. "To kill the enemies that threaten us is also required. Plus we aren't working alone here, so working with a tank like myself would do excellently. Even the high level glass cannons need to take care without a tank, and a tank like myself concerns themselves over their lack of damage.
As for guild, well...I'm probably the strongest one. I don't say that out of arrogance either. Every member has been in a boss raid, owns uniques they all earned from said boss raids and two have won PVP tournaments, Zel and I. Don't worry though, we are always looking for the strongest and we all used to be level 1. So if you try hard enough, you have the potential to aid us all in the clearing of this death game. So if you ever need help, just say. Honestly, we could with ease do harder quests like Iron Guardian since id absorb all the damage.". Tristan gave a wide smile and gently rested a hand on her shoulder, showing confidence in her.

[Amira 0]

Manta was pleasantly surprised to hear words of encouragement coming from Tristan's mouth instead of him telling her that she should just concentrate on making potions. She was also surprised to hear that he was probably the strongest in his guild, and it didn't sound like he was bragging, rather, more like he was stating a fact. "To me that would feel like cheating, having such a high level player going on a quest with you. Itd take all of the fun out of the encounter. More so it would just feel dishonest to ask you to help me. Other people need that help more than I do." She said, explaining why she wasn't likely to ever call on him for help. She looked up, staring him straight in the eyes.

"Also, I have a more personal reason. I trust my own strength so that I can trust others, meaning that I need to constantly prove to myself how strong I am. I cant do that with someone taking all the hits for me. Im going to get stronger under my own power. Im going to push myself forward, and not let anyone pull me along." She said, her eyes seeming to spark with determination. She wasn't angry with him or anything, in fact, she liked him more for his offer. She just felt like she had to explain exactly why she would never ask him for help, at least until they were on equal footing.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan quirked an eyebrow at what she said, then laughed, leaving a wide grin as he spoke. She really did remind him of Zelrius, someone who always sought for a challenge, even at the possible risk of death. The only difference was Zel was one of the top glass cannons (while Manta still had ways to go) and he was already at the top. Plus even he knew partying was more sensible. "Okay, I'm going to give you advice from someone who used to think the same way and knows people rather alike. A challenge is nice, but don't recklessly throw your life away, it benefits no one. Also remember that Sword Art Online is a party focused game. You can challenge yourself to solo everything, but it will put you at risk. And when you reach high level quests, it can be incredibly deadly to at the least not pair a damage dealer with a tank. Many bosses will make mince meat out of you, even at high levels. So just don't forget that to clear SAO means working together, like any MMO, and that to never be afraid or ashamed of asking for help. It can save you death. I know being reckless nearly killed me and that I've kept many alive. And I have seen people die due to carelessness. So don't you do go and do the same and stay alive for me, alright?". By the end, his tone was more serious, though remaining gentle, and he was looking her right in the eyes. "Everyone has their special role in an MMO, which in synergy with a team will achieve the best results. Beating things solo doesn't extend beyond bragging rights in usefulness.".

[Amira 0]

"What I mean to say is that I'll party with players around my level or lower, not higher. I definitely understand the importance of partying." She hadn't until recently, but after the experience she'd had with the skeleton she knew how important it was to have back up. She might have been able to defeat it by herself, but nothing was certain. It had had a ton of attack and mitigation, and even with Koumori's help she was still in the yellow by the time they defeated it. "I'm not about to die; I'll promise you that, if you promise the same to me. Just as one player to the next." Even though she still felt the need to prove herself. As sad as it was, the only reason she could trust her fiancé was because she could beat him in a fight. Her experiences in game had led her to being extremely untrusting of even her own closest friends, unless she was sure she could beat them. She hoped that that would change, and the emotional scars she had would eventually fade. They hadn't yet though, so she had to keep growing stronger and surpassing her friends. They didn't know about this aspect of her, and she hoped to keep it that way until strength no longer had a part in her trust.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan chuckled and gave a lopsided smile, noting her remark. "Oh don't you worry, I plan to stay alive. After all, what use is a dead tank to anyone?". It was a very true point, sine Tristan was a planner, not someone who rushed headfirst into things. He always thought out his plan of action since he needed to know that he would live another day to protect people and that whoever was not with him would not die either. After all, he'd be a rather awful tank if his partners went and died on him and all. "Well you can trust me of having no ill intent and only wanting to protect and if you're in need of aid, will happily crash in. After all, my social skills tend to be piss poor, so I just go with what I do well.". He smiled and thought for a moment, saying "Also if you have problems outside simply fighting, feel free to talk about them too. It makes me happy to support people and well, no one wants their friends in the dumps or troubled, right?".

[Amira 0]

Manta wondered why he seemed to think that his social skills were terrible. He was a nice guy, and was good at holding a conversation. Maybe he just had terrible table manners or something that completely overwhelmed those good aspects. "I go with what I do well too. At the moment that is helping the beginners." She remembered just the other day when she had given a boy her gauntlets and a health potion for free. They were all stuck in the game together, and she was going to do her best to keep as many people alive as she could. "I already have a confidant of sorts, but ill keep you in mind if something comes up I cant talk to him about. The same goes for you. If you need someone to talk to just let me know."

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan smiled to her returning the offer for heart to heart conversations, giving a nod in acknowledgement to what she said. "Helping beginners I'm too familiar with. Well to be fair, I'll help anyone who asks, so I guess there is that." he chuckled and thought for a bit, then realised he had actually run dry on things to talk about. This was mostly in consequence that he barely knew Manta, so decided on something. "Well how about we'll register as friends, so we can easily send messages to each other whenever necessary. Who knows, it could end up saving a life.". His voice was in minor jest at the end, being melodramatic on purpose. "And hopefully you will join us in the frontlines as well. Who knows, maybe you can try already to do so, since people like me will tank for everyone anyway to keep you glass cannons safe. It's just something to think about. I mean in the last boss fight we had Persephone our support, a low level who survived just fine.".

[Amira 0]

Manta hadn't know Tristan long, but there was just something about him that put her at ease. He was an easily likable person, and seemed trustworthy enough. Normally she wouldn't be sending friend requests to someone unless she had fought a difficult battle with them and had a few conversations. She brought up her menu and sent him a friend request anyway. "I might join the front lines soon, but as reckless as I might sound, I don't have a death wish, and I'd rather get a bit stronger. Maybe when I get to level twenty... What level do you think would be good to join?"

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan grinned at her confidence, happy to see them join. The more people they had, the better. As it meant that they would have an easier time clearing the floors, a goal they all had. "20 sounds good. Be sure to keep at it then with getting stronger and I'll always be here to help on harder quests, where your evasion is just not enough. Trust me, you'll need it. So...want to get some tea or coffee?". He thought that it was probably a good time to stop standing around like muppets and for them to have something while they were here, accepting the friend request as he thought.

[Amira 0]

Manta had been thinking that their conversation had been drawing to a close, but apparently it hadn't. According to Tristan, level twenty sounded good. She was much, much closer than she had originally thought, with only two levels to go. That would really only help with her health points, which was important, but not her main goal. She rarely got hit in fights anyway. Her main goal, in terms of skill points, was to max out her sword skills. She was already at tier four, she just had fifteen more skill points to go. That was a pretty large amount of skill points though, probably extending to four level ups from where she was now.

She stopped strategizing, realizing that she was being rude and keeping Tristan waiting for her answer. "Yeah, we probably look pretty dumb just standing here in the cold. And dont worry about me giving up on leveling. As long as the bosses keep getting stronger, I will as well." She said, waiting for Tristan to lead the way. She only knew of one cafe in the vicinity, and although it was good Tristan probably knew of a better one, being a more experienced player.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan smiled at what she said, saying "Well just be sure to get stronger faster than the enemies do, or you might run into a problem. From the sounds of it though, it looks like we don't need to worry one thing." And with that, he gave a smile and walked off to a place he had visited before called the Runcible Spoon. He had hot cocoa and tea here before with Kiru and could attest to it being a nice place.

Tristan chuckled and said "Trust me, they are.". as they walked into the rather lavishly decorated place that had a theme of of a warm red colour. He went to the front and said "One standard tea for me please. And I'll pay for whatever she wants.", paying the rather substantial amount of Col up front. He had the Col to spare though rather easily from winning the S&Z, plus Dom offered him to give more if it was necessary as that man was basically loot Jesus.

Seeing as they had a constant supply of kettles and such with everything ready to pour on entry, he got the drinks almost immediately and held his own, giving Manta whatever she ordered.