The Cave, Arnoth, 10 AM

Cynthia kicked her feet up, resting them on a low table. Her pack was slung across the back of the chair, which meant that anybody could access her inventory, but she wasn't worried about it. Everybody who was here she trusted. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of not having to wear that heavy armor.

"You know," She said to nobody in particular, "Realism is cool and all, but they could have lightened the equipment a bit. I feel like I've been hauling a tractor every time I stop running around."

She opened one eye and looked the 'natural' room they called The Cave. She and Prince had stumbled upon it on a gathering quest, and claimed it as a personal space, and now it served as a base of operations for their group. The group in question was now scattered around the rest area, minus a couple of people.

"Someone want to flip on the TV?" She asked, spinning her chair to face the screen set on the wall. "Might as well know what's going on in the world while we wait."

Raijin gave a dry laugh from his place in the Cave, resting with his back against the wall.
"I wouldn't know Cynth, I wear light armor so I can avoid that discomfort. And why can't you get up to do it yourself." He mumbled the last part to himself as he got up from his sitting position, stretching a little as he did. It still felt weird to have a tail, or ears on top of his head that he can move. He moved to turn on the T.V., flipping to the news channel, then going to lay on the couch across from Cynthia. He didn't really care much for the news, preferring the going ons of this world to the real one. That world was only filled with pain and suffering, for him anyways. Those thoughts made his ears lower ever slightly, an unconscious signal of his melancholy.

Kalinda, or Cattypea as she was known here, was walking towards the cave, attired in her normal in game gear, a slight smile on her face, her hand around her staff as she hummed to herself. She looked about her as she walked, enjoying the simple pleasure of being by herself, and being able to...well, know that she had people who would be happy to see her. No one knew her name.

Unable to make friends, at least ones that stuck, her life in the real world was somewhat....depressing. Here, no one knew she was an orphan. No one looked at her and thought, that poor girl. No one knew her past.

It was heaven. It was freeing. It was...relaxing.

She heard Cynthia complaining about the armor and then asking for the TV to be on, Raijn reply and comply, and stepping into the cave, setting her staff near by as she claimed a spot, she said, "Because if it wasn't heavy, it would be light armor? You should increase your strength, that might help" She added with a shrug.

She looked to the TV, "Anything interesting?"

"Well, the last living panda in the Adras Nature Conservatory died after a stress induced heart attack the other day... Does that count as interesting?" Grey responded dispassionately. Like always, he was wearing his iconic face mask, giving his voice a slightly distorted and robotic tilt.

As usual, the young cyborg was in his typical spot at the crafting table, tinkering away at some sort of half finished upgrade, barely paying attention to the television. In all the time the group had known Grey, the number of times they had actually seen that mask of his come off entirely could probably be counted on the fingers of one hand. In fact, were it not for the necessities of eating or drinking, most would simply assume that it just never came off, being somehow fused irreversably to the Enokian's face. Even when consuming food, it was rarely lifted up to a point where one might see the features below, only ever revealing a little pale skin at most. While most would assume that it would be fairly cumbersome to wear all the time, it was actually fairly comfortable, and hardly impeded vision at all. Only a shock of long, messy white hair remained uncovered, tied off in a lazy braid running halfway down the player's back.

"If you're so concerned about the weight..." he added teasingly. "You could always go my route and not bother with all that equipment at all."

To say that Grey was a minimalist when it came to inventory space would be an understatement akin to saying that water was "a bit humid". Apart from the barest essentials, such as consumables, tools and special items, pretty much 99% of the items looted from adversaries were traded for upgrade components nearly instantly. Although having the skills necessary for making one's own items from scratch might seem like it would make things easier, some of the materials required for doing so were tremendously expensive or hard to find. As a result, unless it was on the return trip from a particularly long quest, his inventory would most often be found to be almost completely empty. On the upside, this made stealing from Grey pretty much impossible, unless one were willing to use a crowbar to pry apart his limbs, but it frequently meant having to buy new tools on the fly to tackle problems as they came. Right now, apart from a few arcane circuit boards and some spectral energy cells, the pack at the table's feet was practically empty, only containing some provisions and a small tool set.

'Our love is fading away, away, away, away, away...'

Marinette bobbed her head with the beat, by now her fellow clan members knew about her audio addiction-- they also knew, however, that she was listening to everything they said. From Cynthia's armor problems to Raijin bitching about having to get up, Marinette's head rested precariously on her arm as the discussion continued. She considered these people her friends, and even if it was a character, they considered her one, just getting to hear their banal banter was a blessing.

"Right, but only so many people want to play as the worst possible class, Grey-kun." She said, smirking playfully. "The armor's so heavy because otherwise it'd literally have no downside," She paused to get up from the table, only to go collapse on the carpet in between the couch and the TV, "I mean, at least at this stage in the game, that stuff is a fucking stonewall." She stared at the ceiling of the cave from the ground, "But even the speed penalty isn't that much of a debuff, all you'd really have to do is get good--" Marinette's head turned to look at Cynthia, "Do you even lift, Cynthia?"

"Also--" She sat up to face the companion who had just walked in, "Hey Catty. Do you know why we're waiting? These guys won't tell me."

Kyron, better known here as Mr.Hazard, had been spending this time in the dining area, eating one of the wrapped treats he had found on his way to the cave. Being an Esquen, he had a pretty good knack to find things, and when he wasnt off on some mission with some of his friends, he was usually out exploring and looking for whatever he can find. To be honest, he wasnt even supposed to be online right now, as he would be at work at this time, but the boss called him last second saying they were overstaffed, and he quickly obliged to taking the day off and spending it on here. Because priorities.

"Tellin ya Cynth, light armor is the way to go. but the fact you are more of a close up, personal kinda gal, it probably wouldnt be the most useful." he said as he kicked his legs up on one of the empty chairs, looking at the now on television. "Though Mari's got herself a point, at this point the armor makes the wearer a tank for lack of a better word." he looked over at the group who were gathered at the couch, fellow Esquen Marinette apparently too lazy to even sit up. Downing the last of his candy bar and watching his health meter creep slowly back to full, he decided it was the last time he ventured to the jungle... stick to the desert, nice, hot desert, where no tigers live.

He stood up and rummaged in his bag, pulling out his last bar. He had no need for it, so he held it into the air and called out as he made his way to the group, "Last candy bar up for grabs, who wants it?" without waiting for an answer, he tossed it onto the table in front of the couch, knowing whoever wanted it would take it. Seeing there was not much room on the couch, he settled for sitting on the floor just next to where Mari was laying down. "Pandas dying of stress huh? Thats a new low."

Mantam lingered for a second at the entrance to 'The Cave', their group's personal hideout, coming a little behind Catty. She listened to most of the idle chatter for a second before having a moment of self-realization that what she was doing might be construed as eavesdropping. She entered the room, quick to announce her presence, "Dibs on that candy bar!" she said, hopping over the couch without waiting for reply and snatching it up. She turned around and gave a sly smile to Raijin, why was lying on the couch she just leapt over. She gave a small laugh before saying, "Sorry Raijin, didn't see you there." She continued on, looking for a spot to sit. After a moment of consideration Mantam opted to lie on the floor next to Marinette. "It looks like you have quite a comfortable spot here, Marinette." Mantam said, with an edge of sarcasm.

Mantam turned her attention to the TV. "Awwww, that's so sad... The 'Adras Nature Conservatory' must be a pretty crappy place if a panda can manage to die from stress." Mantam paused for another moment before moving onto the topic of heavy armor. Mantam half sat-up, looking towards Cynthia, "That's why I picked a Caster class, robes are soooooooo much more comfortable then heavy armor. You always look so... sweaty." Mantam let out a badly suppressed giggle, as she pulled out her newly found candy bar and began eating, falling back to the ground. "I love this game, I can eat all I want without getting fat. And everything tastes so... real."

"So, what's the plan today? Surely we're not going to spend all day hanging out here?"

Cynthia glanced at the clock, seeing that Prince was late. "I think the plan for today is to get those of us still bellow level five to level up, so we can all move off this world together." She levered herself off the chair and picked up her bag, opening her inventory and retrieving an apple. Sure she could have just reached into the bag itself, but she never took the time to organize it, so it was easier to use the menu.

"Unfortunately, Prince is one of the two level fours we have in the group, so we can't just start without him." She bit into the apple, chewing slowly as she thought. Finally, she sighed.

"Well, as long as we're waiting, we might as well decide on the formations. Since we have two people to level, we should split into two groups. The only reason we even need to group up for this is that there are rumors floating around about a group of PKers lurking in the wilderness areas, hoping to snatch some loot off of the lower levels, so we need a PVP team for defense. I'll go with Prince for his tank."

Raijin gave a flippant ear flick in Mantam's general direction, before letting out a low whistle. Suddenly, bolt of blackness struck at the Mirage shifter's candy bar, before slowing down to reveal Void, who brought it to her master.

"Good girl, Void," Raijin said before taking a bit from the candy bar. " And I agree Mantam, that must be one sucky zoo."

"Pssh, you're one to talk, Mrs. "Freelancer with only one level in strength"..."[/i] Grey shot back at Marinette amusedly, nodding to Catty as she entered. [i]"Hells, if you were any weaker, I'd bet even Mantam could probably overpower you..." Just then, said shifter decided to make her presence known, jumping at Hazard's candy bar like a wild predator pouncing its prey, leaping over the couch in the process. "Speak of the devil..."

"So, what's the plan today? Surely we're not going to spend all day hanging out here?" She finally asked.

"I think the plan for today is to get those of us still bellow level five to level up, so we can all move off this world together. Unfortunately, Prince is one of the two level fours we have in the group, so we can't just start without him." Cynthia said, biting an apple.

Grey looked up from whatever they were working on, nodding in agreement.

"Well, as long as we're waiting, we might as well decide on the formations. Since we have two people to level, we should split into two groups. The only reason we even need to group up for this is that there are rumors floating around about a group of PKers lurking in the wilderness areas, hoping to snatch some loot off of the lower levels, so we need a PVP team for defense. I'll go with Prince for his tank." The Fae outlined as she ate, a serious look on her face.

"I could go with either teams as a backup. I'm not much good in an open firefight, but I get some pretty ridiculous crit bonuses when I catch someone by surprise, and I've got fairly good stealth ever since I leveled up and got those new dampeners. I could follow the main group around from a slight distance and just ambush whoever tries to sneak up on us from behind. Even if they're wearing armor, my blaster can hit very hard at close range, and would probably force them to reconsider their plan of attack. Hazard could act as support for the other one, or maybe even cover both groups at once if we position ourselves well enough. If he does, I could back him up and play spotter while he covers for both groups as well." he offered, a pensive look hidden behind his mask.

A bit of a ways away from the Cave, Prince slept contently, the soft, warm breeze of the environment around him keeping him relaxed and properly lazy. To say Prince was like a cat was a bit of an understatement and this was one of his many cat naps. In fact, currently he was dreaming about chasing a weird glowing butterfly around. Nothing too terribly serious or meaningful. Probably.

It wasn't long before the lethargic Prince slowly opened his eyes and looked around. With a smile on his face, he checked the time. As usual, he was late for something or another. To be honest, he didn't really care about graduating or leveling. It didn't really matter to him much, as long as he could stay inside Paradise, he'd be fine.

After several minutes of convincing himself, Prince finally rose and began to make his way over to the Cave. He let his fingers dance across the bark and the leaves of the trees as he walked, smiling. It was amazing how real it all felt and it always gave him this sense of... pride in it all. This was his world, right? He could claim it, right?

As he entered the room, he glanced around to see most of everyone already inside. Grinning, he tucked his arms behind his head and greeted everyone, "Hello Everyone!" His voice was slightly sing-song as he walked over to the couch and let himself fall onto it, nevermind if anyone were already there. Which, of course, there was. Prince looked down to see a rather disgruntled Raijin. "Oops!" He spoke, chuckling to himself as he let himself lay on top of Raijin.

"You know, I think we might need a bigger place, Cynthia. I mean, we can't have members sitting around on the ground." He spoke, sitting up to look down at the few members sitting on the floor. He gave them a sly grin before looking up at Cynthia. "So... uh... what's up?" He asked, knowing full well what she'd say.

Prince himself was wearing his normal clothes, too lazy to change out of them for any reason. It wasn't like they had any need for showers. His dirty blonde hair was held in place in a braid that went down to the middle of his back and was now perfectly placed over Raijin's face, draped across his face. Blue eyes stared over at Cynthia as he waited for a response, the banter about the last panda dying went on in the background. Stuff like that didn't really surprise him anymore, though it did make him a bit sad. He'd have time to react to it later... probably.

"Prince, if you don't get off of me right now, your gonna have to deal with my foot up your ass." He would have pushed the Ki brawler off himself, but he figured he might as well give the guy a chance to get up, lest he finds him self launched across the room. Raijin took another bite of the candy bar Void had stolen from Mantam. Whoever designed the game so that players could actually taste stuff should be given a gold medal of awesomeness, this stuff tasted great.
"And for formations, I fine with whoever, since me and Void are a pretty versatile group."

"Psshh, since when did I need a spotter?" said Hazard jokingly, holding up his hands like he were some bad ass. He breathed a sigh and fell onto his back, looking at the rest of the group and stretching. "To be honest, its not a bad idea, but I wouldnt want to keep you out of the fight. Ol' Potshot has some range on him, especially since his last scope upgrade, so I can stay pretty well hidden and pick off any ambushers should they wanna try anything. Just keep me informed if you see anything so I can get a bead on whatever pops out. And of course you go for the tank Cynth" he added with a chuckle.

He looked over to the rest of the group and noticed Prince coming out and greeting everyone. "Well the sleeping Prince awakens!" he said jokingly, throwing his arms in the air in a mock celebration. When he mentioned getting a bigger place, Hazard chuckled, "Yeah but think of the nostalgia of this place! Its the first place we got as a group, its our home! Granted a little more space would be cool and all, but I like to hold on to the memories places hold, call me a sap all you want."

Despite her self, Cattypea had fallen silent, letting the lthers talk and basically just listening. She knew that she was one of the level fours, and was merely waiting to be told where she was to go, and with who. This made her disgusted with herself. Was she so easily going to slip into her habits? She didn't want that. She bit her lip, trying to figure out what to do.

At Princes declaration that they needed a bigger place, so people didn't thabe to sit on the ground, Catty said "I do not mind sitting in the ground. I like this place. No one else has found it. It gives us a safe place. I think any bigger and we won't be able to keep it safe and hidden from others" she shrugged, laying back. "I will go where I need to go, and with whoever comes with me. Primarily, I'm more ranged but can do closer combat to. So I'm happy working with anyone" she said

After a minute, she rose and, since Raijin was otherwise occupied, she plucked the candy bar from him, returning to her spot. In the game, indulging in candy was one of Kalinda's weaknesses. She smiled at Raijin and said "even stolen candy should be shared"

Prince let out a small chuckle and stood up from his position atop Raijin. "Sorry, sorry." He told him a bit sheepishly. He looked over at Hazard with a wide grin when the Esquen greeted him.

"Hey-o!" He greeted in return, holding up a hand to send a small wave Hazard's way.

He turned, still standing, when he heard Cat speak. Still smiling, he nodded his head. "I guess I have to agree. It just wouldn't be the same, huh?" He returned, chuckling slightly. With that, he spun on his heels and walked over to the other wall, deciding to sit down and lean against it. "In any case, some more chairs might be in order... Let's make them fluffy and comfortable, yeah? I need more places for a cat nap." He added, closing his eyes as he leaned back against the wall. "Let me know when we start doing stuff." He finished.

With that said, he sat still as a stone, his eyes closed and his breathing even. If he had to be honest with anyone, he never left the game... ever. When they all logged off, he simply found his own little hole to sleep in. Sometimes he might stay in the Cave and just let people assume he stayed logged in all night or something. Every now and then was okay but other times he had to find somewhere else to find to stay. It changed from day to day, eventually he might just find something worth keeping but for now, he kept on the move. It'd been about 9 or 10 days since he'd even logged out. Probably.

At Catty's mention of being more of a ranged fighter, Hazard opened his eyes and smiled at her, "Yo Catty, if you wanna step up your ranged game, I can show you a thing or two, probably can get you bumped up the level you need doing so. How does that sound?" he said to her happily. he had noticed since he had met her that she was more of the silent type in the game, kind of just going with the flow more than anything. Hazard hoped to get her to open up a bit more by inviting her to work with him.

He remembered his first day on this game, immediately going for the guns and whatnot that made him a marksman. He understood what it was like to be the silent one, though he tried his best to be part of a group. His luck at the beginning didnt really work out too well, kind of bouncing among groups but never really fitting into one that he clicked with. He was pretty discouraged at that time, not sure if he would ever make many friends on here. When he ran into Prince though, it changed. The brawler was kind to begin with, and he and Hazard hit it off real well. After doing a couple missions in their spare time, he decided to invite Hazard to the group. It was still pretty small at the time, it was crazy how much it had grown since then.

"You sleep too much Princey-boy." he said as he himself rested his eyes as he lay on the floor. He watched Catty take back the candy bar from Raijin and let out a chuckle. "Anyone ever need a candy bar, ill be the one to hook you up" he said jokingly.

"Mmm. My uncles a health freak. I have to sneak anything like candy in the house and hide it from my cousins" catty said without thinking about it. "They do the same and try to hide it from me, too" she said amusedly, "if my uncle gets a whiff of it, we all deny deny deny. Kind of hard to argue with four of us" she laughed, and bit into the candy bar, before chucking it to Hazard, and lying back down, stretching out, content.

She closed her eyes, and said "I'd appreciate that, Hazard. I'm favoring Fire balls at the moment, so they are pretty handy for ranged attacks" she smiled, just enjoying being with the group, who would offer to help. And who had candy. She started to hum again, happy. "the floor isn't that bad for a cat nap" she said after a moment "just don't lie on a rock and you be fine" she laughed again.

"So when do we move out?" She asked "I have to log out before dinner. It's my turn to cook and last time I got paid out because I just made spaghetti. Want to really wow the family" she loved her family dearly, and the truth was, if she didn't have them, she probably wouldn't log out. Except to eat and wash.

Hazard smiled his goofy smile at Catt as she thanked him for his offer. most likely he would have to bring in his range a bit, since his sniper rifle was a tad further in range, but it would be worth helping his friends out. Once she mentioned laying on a rock, he couldnt help but notice his back felt weird, and after a little fidgeting, he pulled out... a rock.

Flicking it aside, he his face as she mentioned her family. He wished he had that relationship, but it was because of his parents that he lived alone in a low income apartment. He shook off the negative emotions and smiled once more, "Heh, Id love to try some of your cooking some time! Ive been living off tv dinners for the past month!"

Marinette was brought out of a musical trance by Hazard's comment. She looked at her fellow sand dweller with a confused expression. "But dude-- TV dinners are the best." The mention of rocks prompted her to get up and stretch, she aimlessly paced the room before continuing, "Like, no offense, Catty, but have you guys never been to K-Wall-Trader Joes-Mart? They just expanded their selection of Girl Scout cookie flavored Pad Thai. Shit's amazing."

She rested again against the back of the couch, the song currently blasting into her artificial ears was some odd mixture of reggae, soft rock, hip hop and washing machine sounds-- very soothing. Ness, the player behind the character, much preferred convenience and practicality over senseless hassle. Having grown up practically impoverished, he found extravagant meals to be a waste of time and money, and gravitated toward the simple and fast-- having practically lived off of ramen since middle school, this habit bled over into other things, and it was why he found Paradise-- the character he could be, as well as the world itself, in it's elegant simplicity-- so desirable. With access to the internet, he could take his classes and do his work from here. It was a perfect set up.

"And I'll be honest..." Marinette continued, leaning her head back with the beat of a song only she could hear, "I think I've had the best food while in here..." Ness had been logged in as Marinette for about 72 hours at this point. "But MAYBE, that's just a lame and corny reason, like the power of friendship or something..."

Mantam gave a feigned look of hurt as the candy bar was snatched from her. "Raijin, I can't believe you'd actually steal from me..." She said teasingly, not nearly as sad as she seemed to be. As the candy bar was passed around, Prince entered the room. "Yo! Prince, I expect payment for helping you level." She said sarcastically. She then shot Catty a wink, "I'll let you off easy Catty, since I like you... even though you and Raijin stole my candy bar." Mantam paused for a moment, and rose. "Also, of course we can't leave this place, it's like home... I just wish we had a kitchen..." She said, grumbling for food, staring envyingly at her former candy bar. She then had a flash of brilliance, suddenly morphing into her preferred animal form, that of a brilliant red wolf. She tensed on her heels, and before Catty could protest, leapt and snatched the candy bar from her in one swoop. Snarling, the wolf swallowed it in one gulp before morphing back into a Human. She strode towards Catty, and leaned down to whisper in her ear "You're lucky I have a good AGI stat, or you might be short a hand." She said with feigned threat, smiling.

"As far as formations go, I don't mind either way, as long as Price pays. PKers don't stand a chance against the legendary Red Wolf." Mantam said, flexing in an overtly false show of machismo.