FujiwaraPhoenix

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Given how curious she had seemed, Misaki found herself slightly confused at Lazirha's hesitance at going to check the situation out. Risk-averse as she tended to be, though, the foxgirl could not willingly leave herself in the dark—not in this situation, at least.

Of course, when that reticence disappeared after she gave her confirmation, her earlier worries seemed to not matter; with the younger girl dragging her out in full force now, the young woman could do little but to keep up. Of course, the sight that they came across was none too comforting—an ambush in the works seldom was—but who that was meant for... Well, who could tell?

It was at this point, though, that Narkissa seemed to pop up, and just as Lazirha began to call her over, Misaki waved for the other girl to come to their side before promptly gesturing at Lazirha to lower her voice. A quick glance towards the nearby hunters to confirm that they hadn't caught wind of their arrival would come before hushed whispers, the foxgirl peeking out from behind cover in an attempt to piece together what exactly they were trying to do.

"Suppose we both ended up curious... What do you suppose they're trying to catch—or kill, maybe?" she asked, hoping that she didn't stand out too much against the underbrush. The snow helped her blend in, at least, but...

@Click This@Rune_Alchemist

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

@Dark Cloud: Depends on the specifics of the stealth, I'd say.

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

@Dark Cloud: I would say the latter, though to be frank I would not go down this route in the first place. Proficiency in thievery does not make for a good mechanic in this setting in my opinion, as when translated to a more 'realistic' scenario, the ability loses any use against anything that isn't actually carrying anything to steal in the first place.

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

@Dark Cloud: Situation is still vague to the characters IC, but this is more Log Horizon than it is .hack//. In short, they're in the world and cannot get back to Earth as far as they are aware.

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

"Eh? Wait, isn't it still—?!"

Wholly taken off guard by how casually Lazirha dragged her out of Mie's tent, Misaki stumbled a bit as she attempted to not trip over herself. Given what she had done to help the young woman escape from her would-be captors, the foxgirl was not particularly looking forward to possibly facing off against them again...

And without the element of surprise, it wasn't likely she would get off scot-free like she had the last time. Her hands still stung even now, even if the pain was fading a bit faster than she would have expected.

Luckily enough, it seemed that the worst of the trouble had passed them by. Whether that was related to the commotion outside the tent during her negotiations or something else entirely was something to consider, of course, but when she arrived back at Lazirha's home...

Well, the sight she found was not all too surprising. If anything, the fact that there was even anything left slightly untouched was a miracle unto itself.

"...Well, I was—" she began to say, only to be promptly knocked to the ground by the fawn she had left behind. Though slightly rattled by the impact as she was thrown to the ground, Misaki managed to gather herself and pet the animal on the head as it rested on top of her... Despite the pain from the impact, at least.

"It's good to see you're all right," she said back, smiling as she slowly guided the fawn off of her and shakily rose to her feet. One would have usually expected 40 kilos of animal rushing at a person to not leave them unscathed, but it seemed that she had come out with little more than a pain that was quickly fading.

Food for thought.

As she brushed herself off, though, the sight of the nearby obelisk grabbing her attention. As much as she would have liked to stay out of harm's way, though, something about the situation seemed to suspicious for her to simply ignore. Lazirha seemed to want to check whatever it was out too, given the look on her face, but...

"...I don't think it'd be any safer here left in the dark about whatever insanity's going on, given how close we are," Misaki sighed, scratching the back of her head before looking between the deer, Lazirha, and the array of flashing lights and whatnot off in the distance. "So I suppose that the recovery here can wait a bit longer. Is there anywhere we could get a better look? Ideally, safety would be included in that, but..."

It wasn't as if she could offer much in the grander scheme of things—at least, not as she was now—which meant that if the others were involved and nearby, being dead weight (or just dead) in the middle of combat or something like that would not end well for anyone involved.

@Rune_Alchemist

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

Sunswept Plains

As was to be expected from a wild animal, the cub did not take kindly to human contact. Despite being injured and apparently having just woken up, the small creature had more that enough energy to flail about in an attempt to escape from beneath the tree. Of course, when the person who had cut the tree down came near, its subsequent choice of action—namely, to cry out and attempt to look big enough to scare it away—seemed only natural.

There was no sign of its parents anywhere in the immediate vicinity, for better or worse, but leaving the cub be would leave its life up to the whims of fate. It would be hostile towards anything approaching it aside from said parents, it seemed, but...

Well, was that something worth risking right now...?

@Rune_Alchemist

---

As predicted, the scattered bolts of magic had done well enough to draw the creature back out of the water. Breaking through as it had before, the beast simply locked back onto the pair—being the only two others present as they were—before loosing another roar at them. Given how the one in the front seemed to be pointing a weapon at it, the monster seemed to take everything until now as a challenge—one that it was more than willing to oblige. With blue-black scales shimmering in the afternoon sunlight, the leviathan reared back and fired another high-pressure jet of water at the pair—this time, sweeping across the ground in an attempt to attack the two rather than simply attempting to ward them off.

@Sho Minazuki@VitaVitaAR

---

Sen Rynta — Outskirts

Overhearing the order to put the food away, one of the hobgoblins found that it could wait no longer and charged out from its hiding place. Its fellows, not quite willing to either let another one of theirs beat them to the punch or run away, decided to simply charge in afterwards. With the knight in their way, though, the best that they could do was attempt to charge in from all sides.

She couldn't stop all of them as they went for the food, right...?

@Hammerman@Operator Luna

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

As she was about to respond to Narkissa's question as to where the caravan was headed, Misaki found that both she and Mie had already left to discuss their own plans, leaving both her and Lazirha behind. She was not in any particular rush to leave, given what had transpired earlier—and neither was her companion, or so she assumed. Hopefully, the others could resolve the issue and come to collect them afterwards, but until then...

Well, the best they could do was get comfortable for a long stay.

With a deep breath, the foxgirl leaned over, resting her head on one hand as she pondered what to do with regards to her papermaking plans. The troubles ahead on that front were a bit more current compared to the undertaking she was going to tackle come their arrival in Chagawa, but even so felt necessary to see to fruition. Proof that she could at least create something of value, to allow her to have something to leverage for herself...

Not doing so would be foolish at best.

It was Lazirha's sudden enthusiasm to aid her, though, that caused Misaki to perk up a bit, her back straightening out slightly as she turned to face the young girl. Compared to the deer (which she could only hope remained out of harm's way, given that it didn't appear to have followed her here), Lazirha would likely be a bit more helpful, at least with regards to preparing everything...

And given the loss of boiling water and possibly the torn not-bamboo, the setback to even reach the starting point meant that any extra aid would be appreciated.

...Even if it meant giving up a bit of her dignity in the process.

"Ah... Well, fine, I suppose that's a fair trade," Misaki shrugged before nodding towards Lazirha. "There's a lot of work ahead, though, so it's not like it'll be anything simple. It's quite likely that we will fail. A lot. We're also on a time limit. But if that's okay with you, then who am I to complain?"

@Rune_Alchemist

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

With a sigh, Misaki shook her head no and returned Mie's offer with a bittersweet smile. There was little else to pursue for the moment in terms of negotiations, though obviously she would have preferred using something less blatantly easy to abuse for military might in the first place. Regardless, the deed had been done, and she would have to deal with the consequences afterwards.

On the upside, this was likely going to happen regardless, given how Nobunaga was... Well, Nobunaga. That much couldn't really be helped.

"Well, again, I was working on something that I would have liked to finish before ending up here..." the foxgirl trailed off before Narkissa entered the tent. The young woman seemed to note that there were some negotiations at play here, though, and Misaki slowly withdrew her hand from the handshake, looking at the new guest with a shrug.

"Nothing in particular, really," she responded in turn, glancing between the two before taking a step back. "Though, well, I feel like the chaos that brought us here means that we might not actually be able to finish that project before the caravan leaves..."

There was some disappointment that her efforts would likely end up in vain, but compared to letting Lazirha get kidnapped, that was probably an acceptable sacrifice to make.

@Rune_Alchemist@Click This

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

Sunswept Plains

Having the theoreticals of chopping trees down, simple as they were, meant that Kokoma's attempts to lop one down with her spear were not in vain. The make of her weapon made making headway into the trunk less efficient than it might have been had she used an axe, but both she and Eunice could most definitely see that her efforts were making headway.

A few more heavy swings would leave the tree precariously swaying from side to side, the large indentation on its side making clear that it would fall away from where the two standing by were watching. Slowly, steadily, what remained of the narrowed-out hollow of the tree trunk would begin to buckle from the weight and snap, bringing everything above with it.

Unfortunately for the tree's residents, this would include one sabertoothed cat cub of some variety, who had chosen the tree as its resting place of choice. Its parents were nowhere to be seen, of course, but the startling awakening it had been given coupled with the yowling made clear that it was both stuck and calling for help.

"Ah... Hm," Eunice would enunciate, glancing between the leaves of the fallen tree and Kokoma. "I certainly hope this won't end poorly for either side..."

Given that there was someone far more suited for handling animals, the mage would choose to let the Shenke do as she thought fit... Whatever that ended up being.

@Rune_Alchemist

---

Given the amount of magical firepower directed at the lake, it would come as no surprise that the fish were caught thoroughly off guard. More than a few were launched high into the air, with no small number of them damaged by the blast itself. The sky rained a mix of blood, water, mud, and fish lucky (or unlucky) enough to be launched into the air, and unfortunately for the two standing by the shore, physics did not discriminate. For what it was worth, though, there were a sizable number of fish left stunned in the water or falling towards the two that were left rattled but not damaged in any way.

But as the blood from the blast began to mix throughout the water, a darker shadow would barely make itself out from beneath the depths for but a moment, stirring ever so slightly as something breached the surface for a moment before sinking away from prying eyes.

At least, for a moment.

Another pass of the shadow would confirm that there was indeed something lurking in the depths, and the sudden spray of blood-soaked water as the source of it all—a large leviathan-esque monster—reared up and roared at the pair before shooting a high-pressure torrent of water towards them. Though the attack did not seem to be one with any intent to fight, the withdrawal of the beast back into the lake made it seem as though it was gauging the response of the two before it, it's eyes periodically breaking through as if to continue monitoring them.

Whether it was angry because of the explosion, their encroachment upon its territory, or something else seemed to matter little at this point; the option to retreat certainly existed, though, restrained to water as the beast seemed to be.

@VitaVitaAR@Sho Minazuki

---

Sen Rynta — Outskirts

The smell of rabbit was not one that Anastasia was all too familiar with, given how she had never actually tasted rabbit meat before in her life, but the tantalizing scent wafting through the air was undeniably enticing to her. The young woman felt her stomach growl, and an embarrassed blush crossed her face as she moved in closer to get a better look at the meal being prepared.

Unfortunately, though, the scent of such a delectable meal spreading throughout their campground would bring with it a few monsters eager to loot some for themselves—namely, a small group of hobgoblins spearheaded by one with a red cap on its head. The leader apparent and those behind him peeked out from behind the bushes, and more than a few ended up licking their lips as they slowly attempted to sneak further in. The cook looked busy, at least, and the one beside her looked like easy pickings...

But the knight seemed a bit more dangerous. If they could just sneak in and take the two near the food——!

@Hammerman@Operator Luna

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

Sunswept Plains

Shokatsu Yu

Eunice stared at the group for a few moments, the look of incredulity in her eyes somewhat damning given what a few of them had just said. The white-haired girl opened and closed her mouth a few times as she attempted to figure out what to say before she finally chose to instead take a deep breath and sighing.

"...Okay. I guess I'll just... Not question that too much for the moment," she said, massaging her eyes for a moment before continuing, "so let us consider the division of labor. If the arachne can hunt and Saito is offering to guard..."

The mage mused to herself for a moment before nodding.

"Right. If Sefira wishes to go and fish, Saito should go with her as a precautionary measure. The arachne should be able to hunt on her own, as I have no doubt that she is more than capable of doing so. The others—namely Yu, Kokoma, and myself—should set up camp. Does that sound good?"

Without any direct objections towards the decision, Yu gave a nod towards Eunice and, as the others gave their assent and began to head out, was left trying to figure out how exactly to contribute.

"With a mage, we can at least start a fire easily enough, though we will need actual wood to burn... Right?" he asked, turning towards Eunice, who gave a nod in turn. "Okay, that much is at least correct. As for shelter..."

The young man paused as he began to sift through his inventory, the bolts of cloth scattered within seeming like a good a place as any to start. There was an awkward bit of time as he began to fiddle with his equipment, taking things on and off before finally giving up and just throwing his usual crafting outfit on, needle now in hand.

"I, uh... I guess I can handle trying to make us some tents?" he said, pulling out a few bolts of cotton from his inventory before looking mildly worried at them. "You two can... Probably handle the firewood. It should just be chopping trees down and cutting the logs up, I think?"

"Erm... Somewhat?" Eunice said, turning towards Kokoma and nodding. "I'll keep an eye out, then, so if you could handle the trees..."

The surrounding area seemed to be sparsely populated with said trees, at least, so obtaining the requisite would be just as much an issue of figuring out how to lop down the trees correctly as it was doing so before all the nearby trees were sacrificed in the process of doing so.

---

It would not be long before Saito and Sefira would find their destination in the form of a medium-sized lake, the name and even existence unfamiliar to the two who had arrived. The body of water, it seemed, branched off from another river somewhere to the north, leading to everything here now. The water itself was clear, free of debris as the forms of the occasional frog or small fish darted to and from the surface.

Whether or not something was lurking beneath remained to be seen, but for the moment, the tranquility of the water made it seem like a good spot to fish.

Provided they knew how to fish in the first place, at least.

@Rune_Alchemist@VitaVitaAR@Sho Minazuki

---

Sen Rynta — Outskirts

With precious little to worry about from the horned rabbits that were more than easily able to be culled in the blink of an eye, Anastasia considered her companions' statements for a moment before shaking her head.

"As fun as adventuring was when this was a game, I don't think I could put myself into danger that easily without someone protecting me. But in that case, um... I suppose that most anything is good, right?" she responded, considering Myrtle's suggestion of a restaurant with somewhat genuine interest. "I think that a restaurant would be interesting, though! Who knows what sorts of things would be possible with a bunch of new ingredients and spices?"

With that said, the group had seemed to have begun walking along the path further towards the center of the floating island. The further they got from the actual city, the less noise (from people shouting as they swung to bone bouncing off steel) there was to speak of.

"Uh... Maybe a roadside grill, then?" Anastasia asked, rubbing her chin for a moment. "Or... Do you need a fire for that, or does being able to cook get you one as part of the role?"

@Hammerman@Operator Luna