Goldenflame27

Far From Home

here's the images for Alphard since the image input code apparently still doesn't like me.

http://cghub.com/images/view/435855/ http://anime.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/1483582/

Far From Home

Display Name: Alphard Shurai
Real Name: Ayano Nobunaga
Age: 18
Appearance:



Ayano grew up in Niigata, a coastal town, and has been Kenshin’s neighbor for many years. The two often played together as children and to this day, still spend a significant amount of time together. In other words, it’s been just about enough time for Ayano to fall deeply in love with Kenshin. Nervous about what she’s feeling, Ayano never came out and told Kenshin her feelings, but has dropped plenty of hints. Upon hearing that Kenshin would be purchasing the Nerve Gear and Sword Art Online, she formulated a plan: to meet up with Kenshin in Aincrad anonymously and gauge his feelings for her “good friend”. Unbeknownst to her, Kenshin has also had feelings for her this whole time. He was simply unsure on how to express his feelings due to his general awkwardness.
Ayano, while being a generally nice person, has some deep seated emotional problems. Her parents had died when she was quite young, leaving her to be cared for by her aunt, who in turn left as soon as Ayano was old enough to live alone. This has led to some powerful anger issues and an abandonment complex. Indeed, one of the reasons that she loves Kenshin so much is that he is one of the only people that looks past her issues and accepts her as a person.
In the end, Ayano did end up purchasing the Nerve Gear, but was severely ill on the opening day. Instead, Asano was confined to her bed and, therefore, missed all the news regarding the trapped players. Sometime during the night, Ayano’s fever broke, and she decided to spend the next day relaxing and playing video games in bed. Unfortunately, the game she decided to play was Sword Art Online. Upon entering, Ayano was bombarded with questions from fellow gamers about her reactions to being stuck in the game, which only confused her. Finally, she hunted down an information broker and forced them to explain what had happened. The news was devastating for her. The deep-seated anger issues Ayano had worked her whole life to contain simply exploded, leaving her in a perpetual rage. It became her life’s goal to find Kenshin and, with him, utterly destroy the crowbegotten man who had trapped her in this hell.
SAO build: one-handed scythe user with a tower shield. Carries javelins for medium-range. Heavy armor.

Far From Home

Yari’s party was wonderful. Kenshin had little to do with the planning, but was happy to donate Col to the event. Goodness knows he had enough, even after purchasing his new weapon: a two-handed katana. The blade had yet to be tested in combat, but was rather impressive, both in looks and in stats. Despite its name, the weapon could be used with either one hand or two, giving it a certain amount of versatility unrivaled by most other weapons. Kenshin sat in the back of the inn during the party and quietly observed the proceedings. He added his own cheers when appropriate, hugged Yari along with the others, and did actually participate. Kenshin was even one of the catcallers when Yari came out in her spidersilk dress. Luna put a quick end to this, though. Kenshin did not, however, stand out at the party. He was still quite nervous in large groups and decidedly avoided them. When the party began to wind down, Kenshin decided that it was time for him to take a walk. On his way out, Kenshin stopped by to give Yari another hug and nodded his goodbyes to the rest of his team.

Kenshin walked out of the inn and reveled in the cool night air sweetly kissing his skin. The 21st floor was built as a coastal town with soaring bluffs, green fields, and rolling meadows. It made Kenshin think of his home back in Niigata. There was a small stone path running out along the sheer bluffs where one could take a leisurely walk and feel the ocean’s spray on their face. Kenshin found a small bench overlooking the sea and brought out one of the few items he carried that had no combat value: a fishing pole. Fishing was one of the few physical activities Kenshin enjoyed back in the real world, mostly because it was the only thing his father regularly took the time to do with him. Kenshin cast his line and took in a deep breath of the soft sea breeze. Looking around, Kenshin realized that he was not alone in the enjoyment of this night. There was a tall woman, about Kenshin’s age, standing alone on one of the tall cliffs. The woman wore armor, even in town, and had her pure white hair tied back in a long braid down her back. “Sorry I disturbed you, this area reminds me of home and it’s so lovely tonight I can hardly let it go to waste. I’ll go find another place to go fish,” Kenshin called out.

The woman turned to regard him. “Don’t worry, I was of the same mind myself. The similarities between this place and my native Niigata are truly stunning. In truth, I am happy that someone else is able to enjoy this night as much as I, myself do.” As the woman moved closer, a look of complete surprise dawned over her face. “Wait, is that you Kenshin? Have I finally found you after 5 months of searching?!”

Realization hit Kenshin like a brick to the face. “Ayano Nobunaga? I didn’t know you were in this kriffing game too! I’m so sorry, you have to call this hellhole home as well.” Ayano- or Alphard Shurai as his HUD told him- was one of Kenshin’s oldest friends and the secret love of his life, though he’d never had the heart to tell her. Kenshin had lived next door to ‘Alphard’ for his whole life and he’d never seen any indication of an interest in video games. He ran forward to embrace the woman, both crushed that she was stuck here and overjoyed that he had found her after all this time.

Alphard was nearly moved to tears. She had spent five long months consumed only by rage and fear. She had come into the game a day late, not knowing what fresh hell she had wandered into. Also, upon entrance to the game, she had found a kind and caring older man who offered to accompany her on her journeys and help her. As soon as they were out in the wilds, though, the man turned on her and attempted to rape and kill her. Thankfully, Alphard already knew how to fight and was able to kill her attacker first. This had all led her to adopt a shell of raw emotion and rage, wearing only heavy armor to protect her in the blind rushes she preferred. With a special war scythe she had picked up as a drop from the 17th floor’s boss, Alphard was practically a tank on the battlefield. And now she had found the man she had fallen in love with years ago. Therefore, it came as a great joy to Alphard when Kenshin broke the embrace and asked her if she wanted to come join his team.

Far From Home

Hey guys If it's all right with you, I have an idea for a possible boss for FFH. I will explain below:

The boss room is a rough square hewn from stone. It's lit from only a few torches set into the walls, so its pretty dark. The boss is a pretty burly guy with green skin and a row of spikes running down his back. the weapon he carries is a ginormous maul and a roundshield. pretty standard attack patterns, seemingly easy to beat. As soon as the boss reaches yellow health, he lets loose a roar that blows all enemy combatants backwards. His lower body then transforms into a base surrounded by legs vaguely reminiscent of a spider. another body, his one with red skin grows out of the boss's back, joined at the lower spine. This way the boss can cover both directions at once. The second body wields a one handed greataxe. the roar also can be emitted at various other intervals, at the boss's desire. When killed, the boss drops an amulet that allows for faster re-equipping of items, armor, and weapons in battle. Also dropped is a high-level cleaver and a crap ton of Col.

Far From Home

Floor eleven. Officially one-tenth of the game finished. And in only four months. Kenshin could hardly believe how far he had come. He had grown much; as a person, and as a member of a team. Kenshin was no longer the same terrified wimp who had a meltdown at the mere thought of having to fight a Field Boss. He was a man now; still scared, but determined to remain strong. In truth, he really was a man, having turned eighteen the two months past. The team had thrown him a party in a small tavern on the sixth floor, with fabricated cake and everything. It made Kenshin finally feel like he belonged. It was at this party that he made his silent vow: never again would Kenshin Takami turn away from a fight due to fear. He would fight to defend those he cared about with all his strength, no matter what the consequences. From that point on, Kenshin had trained at every opportunity, sometimes even tiring Yuri with his incessant practice. Fitch taught him all he was able about combat mechanics, Suto showed him the basics of unarmed combat in case they were jumped unprepared, Yuri escorted him on endless scouting missions, and Luna helped him increase his accuracy and power with his throwing picks. Kenshin had transformed himself into the best fighter as he was able of becoming. Granted, Kenshin would never be as good as his teachers in their own specialties, but at least he was balanced. And with his new skills, armor, and weapons, he was well on his way to becoming quite formidable.

All this went through Kenshin’s mind as he listened to Heathcliffe’s speech outside the Boss Room. As the crimson-clad warrior turned and opened the doors, Kenshin drew his blade and willed his thoughts to calm. The doors opened and Kenshin rushed the room hot on Fitch’s heels. The strange man they found there was vaguely familiar from something, though Kenshin couldn’t place exactly what. He seemed oddly interested in Luna and KEnshin moved protectively closer, readying himself for action. It still came as a complete surprise when the man ripped his own flesh off and turned into a kriffing daemon, though. It pounced on Luna and drove her to the floor before mercilessly ravaging her supine form. Kenshin moved to defend his friend, but was beat to the punch by Heathcliffe and Fitch, who locked shields and blocked the blow that would have taken Luna from this world. Kenshin took this opportunity to draw second blood by sinking his sword hilt deep into the daemon’s back. He took a massive kick for his troubles and was sent flying across the room to slam into one of the torches on the wall. His armor took the brunt of the impact and Kenshin was instantly back on his feet. A skittering sound to the left drew his attention and he spun to see a veritable flood of imps come in from some hidden doorway, doubtless summoned here by the daemon.

Kenshin grinned savagely and activated a Sword Skill. He held his blade low and to the right side, causing it to glow a soft blue. He held position until the first of the imps was within range and then let the gathered power loose. The blade flicked up and scored a line from its left hip up to its neck. A 360 degree spin to the left took the next imp’s head off. To finish the combo, Kenshin rolled forward and removed another imp’s legs off. The pause time at the end of the combo was long enough that Kenshin took a couple of hits, but the damage was easily healed. He waded back into the fray, swinging under his own skill now, and felled several more imps. Then there were other players backing him up, lances and spears decimating the devilish ranks while swords hewed limb from limb. Kenshin was able to retreat and provide some cover at a slightly safer range with the picks.

Some time later, the silver-haired swordsman Nero lay the last strike on the final imp, finishing the battle. Kenshin trudged to where Suto stood over the shell-shocked form of Luna. On the way, he checked his HUD and was amazed to see that his health had just barely dropped into the red. He wracked his memory for exactly when he had received enough injuries to cause this much destruction and came up with a blank. Dismissing the event as an oversight due to the fog of battle, Kenshin knelt beside Luna and attempted to offer consolation. He was rebuffed, however by the assurances that she was ‘completely fine, just shaken’ and the arrival of a teary-eyed Yuri. Resigning himself to the fact that the mother hen would not let anyone else bother Luna, Kenshin moved some distance away and sat to heal the wounds received in the terrible clash.

Far From Home

Kenshin walked back into Caldwell with the rest of his team and thought about had transpired earlier that day. He was still quite ashamed of his outburst while hunting and was completely fine with Fitch’s reaction. In fact, Kenshin had already spoke to him about the incident and thanked the other boy for shaking him out of his funk. He was quite grateful for the support from the rest of the team as well. Contrary to expectations, the event had actually seemed to strengthen the bonds between the group members. This had the effect of improving the team’s combos while hunting. Kenshin and Luna in particular had a few team kills that belonged in the history books. Kenshin would throw a pick to slow an enemy and Luna would peg it with several knives, either killing it or lowering its health enough that one of the others could finish it off with one well-placed Sword Art. And now, Kenshin had a couple new levels and experience points to play with. He had already learned a new Sword Art with them; A powerful two-hit flying strike. He planned on either buying a new sword with his accumulated money or purchasing enough resources to have his current blade upgraded.

First things first though. Kenshin needed to find someplace to spend the night. He paid for his rooms a week at a time. The inn in which he had been residing needed its next payment starting today so, naturally, that was his first stop of the day. Before too long, Kenshin found himself outside his home for the foreseeable future: the Cracked Flagon. In keeping with the Victorian London theme of Caldwell, the inn was entirely stone on the outside save for a short wooden porch. The sign hanging from the eaves of the building teetered precariously on a pair of short rusted chains and depicted a wooden mug neigh split in twain up the side due to a crack starting at the base. Kenshin strode in purposefully and walked straight up to the counter at the back of the main room. The NPC manning the inn smiled woodenly as he approached. “Good afternoon, sir. How can I help you? Would you like a beverage,” this was said with a gesture to the sizable bar taking up most of the room, “or do you need a room for the night?”

“Hello again, I would like an extension on my room for another week.”

The NPC opened up his window to conduct the transaction. “May I have your registration code, sir? It’s just to make sure we extend the correct account.”

“The number is 001275860 and the name on the account is WARGOD KENSHIN,” the fighter blushed slightly at this last. The inn had required a two part registration title, probably due to the fact that it usually catered to teams. The NPC found his file and told Kenshin the amount to be paid. As he forked over the Col, a thought occurred to Kenshin, “Hey, innkeeper, can you tell me where I might find the best swordsmith in this town? I have need of a sword upgrade.”

The NPC seemed to think for a moment, before giving an address and a detailed description of how to get to the place of business. Kenshin thanked the man and left immediately. Half an hour’s walk later, he arrived at a small open-air iron forge manned by a rather brawny woman in a leather apron and holding a smith’s tools. Kenshin took out his sword and showed the woman. “Hello, my name is Kenshin and I would like to commission your services. As you can see, I use a one-handed curved sword, and I need either an upgrade or a new sword altogether. I was told that you were the best smith that Caldwell had to offer, can you help me?”

The woman laughed and introduced herself as Reyna. “With 400 Col and some common iron ore, I can increase your sword two ranks. With 1000 Col, Iron, and blackcrystal I can give you a much better upgrade. There are many different varieties of sword that I can craft for you, even an Elucidator if you have the materials, but they’re all very expensive.” Kenshin checked his inventory and wallet and sighed.

“I’d better go with the 400 Col upgrade. I have the money for the better sword, but it’s close. I can’t buy the upgrade and the materials too. Especially not the crystal.”

The smith pondered Kenshin’s predicament for a moment before speaking. “How about this. You give me some of that orcskin and 1,350 Col, along with the other materials of course, and I’ll give you the better sword upgrade. Some idiots pay an absolute ton for orcskin or lizardman hide to be worked into their armor.” Kenshin smiled and shook on the deal. He handed his blade over and, before too long, had a shiny new sword. It was matte black, with veins of crimson and silver forming strange, twisting designs along the whole length. Kenshin nodded in satisfaction and gave the woman, Reyna, a small tip on top. Then he began the long walk home, looking forward to showing off his new sword to the team tomorrow.

The Inhuman Warriors

Thomas heard the altercation behind him but did his best to ignore it, focusing instead on the howling hordes advancing on their position. At his brother’s command, he began pulling off shots slowly and evenly from both guns; one shot from the revolver for every two or three from the semi-auto. The bullets screamed down the short distance between Tom and the goblins pursuing him. Every shot was a hit to head, throat, or heart until the hammer of the revolver slammed down on an empty chamber. Still firing with his other gun, Tom thumbed the chamber release and flicked the gun sideways to flip the revolving chamber open. Reversing the gun, Tom replaced it in his specially designed holster backwards, leaving the open cylinder sticking out through a special slit in the leather. Tom quickly grabbed the moon clips stored on his belt and jammed them into the open cylinder. The gun was now ready and was immediately drawn and aimed back at the charging hordes. The m19 was now ready to reload. Thumbing the release for this one, Tom ejected the magazine and slammed the slot in the butt down onto the next one. He worked the action by pressing the slide into his leg and jerking down. Tom then resumed firing with both guns.

Tom heard Carson holler for a general retreat into the surrounding woods. A tiny voice in the back of his mind screamed that entering the forest would be the worst idea possible at this time. “Not the woods, they know the forest better than we do! It’ll be a slaughter!” No one listened to him of course, as his beliefs were completely unfounded. Growling low in his throat, Tom put away the revolver and drew the matte black ghurka in a back sheath. He turned to the man next to him and told him to be ready for some close quarters combat. The soldier nodded, grabbed his tac knife, and instantly dropped it as a crude stone axe came whopping out of the treeline and took his arm off at the shoulder.

“Shit, Greg where are you!?” Tom saw his brother calmly backpedaling towards the treeline, mowing down the goblins coming up from behind. “Greg, we’re taking damage. Avoid the trees, there’re more of them in the forest!”

Far From Home

“I agree with Suto, it would not be wise to split up now,” Kenshin began, “we are stronger together and we can take on larger and stronger enemies worth more experience, Col, and items.” This last bit was directed at Luna in the hope that it would appeal to her goal-oriented view on their exploits. “Also, our numbers would allow us to attack larger bands of enemies. In smaller groups, we would be more vulnerable, able to take on nothing but weak, standard animals, dropping only a few col at a time and giving little EXP per kill. Also, I don’t very much like this idea of working in pairs because, at last count, there were five of us. I’m getting far better at fighting, but I greatly dislike the idea of going out there alone and getting myself killed because I don’t have any coramned cover!” Kenshin was yelling by now. He didn’t quite know why. He was just sick of these people leaving him out to dry. “I know exactly how this is going to end up. Fitch and Yari are going to go off and work together, bringing in more money than the rest of us by pure dint of his being a beta tester. Suto and Luna are going to pair up because both would prefer to work with anyone but me, even if they’re both DPS.” Now even Kenshin was aware that he was making a fool of himself. Oh, well, he had too much momentum to stop now. “I know strategy. Not necessarily the strategy of this game in particular, but I have made a bit of a study of general battle tactics back home in the real world - the sane world. A weakening of our forces is exactly what our enemies would want and I, for one am not ready to die! I hunted alone earlier today, but I did it with caution in mind. I went into an open area with a clear line of sight in all directions and ran from anything I knew I couldn’t handle.”

Shamed, Kenshin turned his back on the team and drew his sword. Smashing the blade against the side of a nearby tree, he watched the purple hexagon bearing the words ‘IMMORTAL OBJECT’ spring into existence on the trunk. In that moment, Kenshin envied the tree. “I will not run or cower in some safe town, but I will not throw my life away needlessly either. We have to play this smart. We can’t just run around aimlessly and fight for fun. If we do that, WE. WILL. DIE. No matter what prior experience we have with the game.” Finally turning to regard his companions, he was surprised to see that their forms were blurred with his own tears. “I will not watch any more friends die. We all saw enough of that on the first couple of days.” Images of that time sprang, unbidden, into Kenshin’s mind. The outskirts of the beginning town on the first floor became a bloodbath. PKing was rampant as people went crazy, striking out in fear and desperation for a pittance in money and items. It was living hell. “Let’s stay alive and work together. As a team, like we are supposed to be.” Kenshin sat heavily, resting his sword, point first in the dirt and offal of the jungle floor. Leaning his forehead against the pommel of the sword, he spoke softly, “I apologize for my outburst. I will not overreact in such a manner again. I am usually in better control of my faculties than I have let show today. I was just tired and worked up. I am prepared to go into combat now, though I hope to the gods above that we are going to do it smart and all together. It’s up to the rest of you to decide what we do now.”

The Inhuman Warriors

dude, why is my picture a derpy unicorn?

The Inhuman Warriors

Meanwhile, over in the US, Anna Bergomian was having problems of her own. Currently living in Colorado with her crazy aunt Brunhilda, Anna was dealing with two equally disgusting dilemmas. What to do about the zombies swarming in from the bigger cities out West. And how to explain Big Joe to the batty old hag living upstairs. Once the staggering, drooling hordes of the undead rose from their various graves Big Joe had insisted on staying close to Anna. Verily, he was practically stuck to her and it was getting a little hard to hide him. At least that was until Brunhilda came across him this morning. She couldn’t be judged too harshly for her reaction. A seven-foot hulking stone and steel man packing a broadsword and a 40 mm grenade launcher loaded with solid slugs standing in your kitchen at 7:45 in the morning would give anyone a start, especially if, under his brown fedora, all that could be seen was the bleached bone of a human skull. It took three improvised golems to hold her down. This last bit thoroughly pleased Anna, as last year she wouldn’t have been able to even raise one ratty sand golem without ten minute’s chanting. Now, she just pointed at her targets, ripped three souls out of the aether, and shoved them into their hosts. The souls interpreted her wishes as they bonded with wood and iron and before poor old auntie could do so much as scream, the kitchen table and chairs had sprouted arms and restrained the old biddy. Now, despite his outward appearances, Big Joe was really a very gentle guy, and was swift to apologize to Brunhilda who in turn stopped hyperventilating.

So here they were. Anna stood in the kitchen trying to massage the migraine from behind her eyes. Big Joe hulked silently in the corner constantly glancing out the window in case a horde of corpses decided to shamble into the backyard. Brunhilda peppered Anna with questions, staying far away from the again-soulless wooden table. “For the last time Auntie, no, I did not kill someone in order to make Joe. I don’t know why he’s got a soul that remains human but he does. He’s my guardian golem. He guards me, he doesn’t attack old ladies.”

Suddenly, Big Joe was at Anna’s side, gun drawn. His voice had a queer, echoing quality to it; like a landslide in a mountainside tunnel. “Anna, we must go now. They are on their way. I can feel their evil intent, scraping along my metal spine.”

“Shit! Auntie B, grab some food and your keys. I’ll be right back!” Anna spun to face Joe, “can you slow them down? Without getting hurt I mean.”

“Master, for you I could slaughter an army of zombies and all of the bokors in the world” He holstered the launcher at his hip and drew the massive broadsword slung over his shoulder. The blade was made of a single piece of heat-treated steel, pressed into shape by the sheer pressure of Joe’s massive strength. A clever system of draws and magical symbols harnessed the seemingly endless energy that Joe’s soul put out into the blade. He activated this system now, causing a wave of heat and electricity to roll down the blade and giving it a soft red glow. Deep in the recesses of the skull’s empty sockets an angry blue glow built up, seeming to threaten violence without any actual physical movement required. At his master’s nod, Joe walked out the door and broke into a tireless jog toward the misty top of Pike’s Peak in the distance.

Anna took off running up the stairs, desperate to at least get to her ‘magic kit’ before they had to leave the house. The kit was really just a set of fancy sculptor’s tools and a small book of good materials for golems and where to find them in the natural world. She had just grabbed the canvas shoulder bag when the sounds of battle reached Anna’s ears, along with her aunt’s screams. She ran to the nearest window, the bathroom coincidently, just in time to see a massive circle appear on the sparse grass her aunt called a backyard. The circle seemed to be drawn in blood and had a heptagram inscribed within. A dark rune was scrawled in the center of the figure, formed of the color one sees the scant seconds after they are punched directly in the eye. All shifting blacks, blues, greens, and strange purples, it was definitely now something from the natural world. Or this dimension of it, at least.