TaroAndSelia

Loving Lily

"No, no, you've done nothing wrong," Grace cooed gently. She held her friend close, as though she feared Lily might disappear if she let go. Minutes ticked by as they stood there, Lily sobbing quietly, Grace trying to soothe her. Only when Lily had regained some control of her tear ducts did Grace try to learn anything more. "You know I love you; I always will. So go ahead and let it out. I'll listen to the whole story, and you know I'm on your side."

Loving Lily

"Thanks! If Lily says so, it must be true!" Grace answered happily. Lily always did know what to say to maintain her ego; without such a kind roommate, she wouldn't have half the confidence in her work she did.

That was why it stung all the more when she finally realized Lily was crying. As the small girl darted back to her room, Grace couldn't do more than watch. Reflecting on the conversation over the evening, she mentally berated herself for not realizing sooner how depressed Lily had been feeling. Cutting all the heat and tossing on a lid to keep the half-cooked meal, Grace shed the apron and darted after her roommate.

"Lily!" she called outside the door. Carefully she tapped on the wooden barrier her friend had closed between them. "Please, please let me in. I'm sorry I was being insensitive, I should have realized something was-" she called. Tears began welling up in her eyes, too.

✧ Talrae ✧ (LOOKING FOR CO-GM)

Alisea gave the stranger a nod, acknowledging his contribution. "Thank you, for coming and for offering your opinion. It helps to have a less... impassioned analysis of the situation." Alisea took another deep breath, organizing her thoughts and the thoughts everyone else had expressed.

"First issue: them leveling faster than us. You all know as well as I that we have been lax in our efforts to grow quickly. We favored ease to avoid mental fatigue or trauma. If we intend to out-level Valentine's group, we will gather several days' worth of supplies and camp out at a Dungeon--or better, inside a Dungeon as Valentine is probably doing, as that eliminates the risk of ambush by other players. We will spend as much time as we can going through it, again and again, until our health and mana are unable to support another run-through. Then we rest for the night to replenish mana, heal up, and begin again. Doing this, we may not grow past them; but as long as we can quickly reach level 15, we can subclass. That alone will do a lot to increase our chances of survival."

"Second issue: information. As Dubstepp said, we know next to nothing about them and their abilities. Valentine is a Lancer, subclass Reaper. The other three could be anything. If we give it some time, information about Valentine's associates will be discovered. People who saw them buying skills or equipment; players who witnessed them in battles; maybe even the NPCs they interacted with--if we offer to buy information, any of these sources may step forward. Again, though, that will take time."

"Third issue: capturing them. As River has made clear, we lack any real means to catch criminals. If we go after them right away, it will become a fight to the death--unless you think they will willingly surrender. Even if we did catch them, we have no way to hold them. The city has the means, but that would require NPCs acknowledging them as criminals, and neither you nor I can guarantee that. Without equipment, facilities, or authority, what can we do?" Alisea paused to let that question hang in the air for a heavy moment. Then: "Someone who might be able to hold them, though...is Aramo."

The man leading the establishment of old-world principles. Even just the name should prove a reminder of the five rules he had declared yestermorn. If it did come down to killing, their guild would have to bear the consequences now that someone was establishing law. On the other hand, if they sought out and received his cooperation, they would have greater forces and legal support. But that, too, might not happen for ten days--the day they would gather and likely establish the guidelines for policing among the players.

DanMachi RP: Secrets of the Dungeon

Koph stared at him, surprise written all over her face. She blinked. Twice. Then a bright smile flooded her face. "Sure!" she replied at last. With that simple summation, the Amazoness turned to continue their descent into the Dungeon. "Third floor passage is right through here. So you don't hear the Song? Ah, it's not weird, just so you know," she added quickly. She didn't want to make him feel belittled. "Even in my tribe, Ma Yena was the only one. Easier to say I'm the weird one!" she finished with a bright laugh.

✧ Talrae ✧ (LOOKING FOR CO-GM)

The room was oppressively quiet. Tension filled the room, weighing on all the gathered players. When everyone had sunk into a seat, Alisea rose from her chair beside Reylan. "Ahem. I should be direct. This is about Karma's murder, and the murderers behind it. We will be going after them, but carefully and in a way that gives them no opportunity to escape.”

Alisea paused to glance around at everyone’s faces, gauging their reactions. A few of the newer faces seemed indifferent; some of the others wore expressions darker than night. “Valentine was the one who made contact with us, but he has three friends. All of them are close to or above level 15. I doubt I have to explain what would happen if one of you tried to go after him alone.” Here Alisea looked at each member, but her gaze lingered a touch longer--and her glare grew more intense--on Shiba.

“As fortune would have it, they were last seen fleeing to the Ravine. We were already planning on traveling that direction to challenge the Dungeon. However, now… We need everyone’s thoughts. As I said, they are four level 15 players. None of us have broken level 10. Reylan and I spoke briefly on this, and if possible we would like everyone to subclass before we confront them so we can fight on more equal footing. This would mean postponing the hunt, my guess being for three days, in favor of intense grinding in a Dungeon. The other option is to gather everyone and march to the Ravine, then try to bring them down through sheer numbers. Finding them will be difficult, and their chances for laying an ambush are high; and even if we meet on level ground, they are all stronger. As I see it, half of us would die.”

Alisea looked around once more. She wanted her words to have a powerful effect. She wouldn’t accept any hot-headed, spur-of-the-moment ideas of vengeance. They weren’t going to rush in unprepared and shouting for justice--and risk Valentine escaping after he killed a few more of them. When they took revenge, they would do so with a guarantee of success. “Those are our thoughts. What are yours?”

DanMachi RP: Secrets of the Dungeon

The Amazoness studied Voltaire's face, hesitating. Finally a small, tired smile flitted over her lips. "Okay," she mumbled, giving herself a small nod for encouragement. "I speak of the Song. It's... Do you...? No, that's..." Over and over again Koph stumbled across her words. This was definitely the most flustered Voltaire had seen the energetic Amazoness.

"Here," she said at last. She reached out with both her arms and grabbed Voltaire's hand, gently pressing it into his chest. "Do you feel that beat? Your heart; sometimes slower, sometimes faster. Mine, too," she added, grabbing onto his other hand to press it to her own heart. "They beat together, or separate, or different, or the same. Then when you begin to move, and to choose, and to act, you start making a melody. Or a harmony. Or a counter-melody. And everyone does, so there's always a lot of noise."

Koph took her hands away, letting Voltaire's hands be free once more. "The Land has a heart, too, and a voice, and a Song. That's the Song. Her Song." Koph stared at Voltaire intently, anxious for what kind of reaction he would have to her words.

DanMachi RP: Secrets of the Dungeon

"I left because I am of age." The goblins were hesitant to approach again. Koph smiled and bounced up and down on her toes, her heels tapping a regular rhythm into the floor. "I didn't have an intended, so they sent me out to search. To search and to grow." With a glance back at her partner, Koph grinned and leaped forward into the goblins. Her spear darted about rapidly, weaving through the air and the warding arms that tried desperately to stop it. With the initiative taken from them, the remaining goblins didn't last long.

"Why Orario, though? Because of Agni, I say. Bards sing of his familia, all travelers have stories to share, even the tribes exchange legends of the great adventurers. The rhythm their tales carry is compelling--like a powerful river that draws you, pulls you along. I knew I would be an adventurer; that was the only melody I could hear."

Koph scooped up the magic stones near her. A small pouch appeared from somewhere beneath her skirts, into which she deposited them. Then she turned and held the pouch open for Voltaire. "I'm glad, too. To be here, inside the Dungeon. There are all kinds of noise outside among the city, but here I always find the flow natural. It's serene. Peaceful."

DanMachi RP: Secrets of the Dungeon

"That's a bad way to grow a city. You'll never get anywhere." Koph stood alongside Voltaire, her speartip daring any goblin to step closer. "If the tribe acted like that, our strongest warriors would eat heartily and the mothers with infants would starve. But (switch me sides) maybe that's what familia are. City tribes." Koph dropped back a step and let Voltaire take point as the goblins made their rush. She spun around his back, moving both hands to the bottom of her spear as she did, and came out the other side with a powerful swing just as the goblins were jumping forward. It's shaft smashed into the first with tremendous force, and the momentum carried it into the second as well. Both creatures were thrown sideways, passing right in front of the leader goblin and barreling into another of his cronies. The one disappeared in a burst of ash; the other two fell against the wall and lay still for the time being.

"So maybe this is more like the time our tribe gathered with three others to slay the Spotted Wyvern killing all the animals," she continued. Another goblin had been close behind the first two, but in the moment it hesitated it found the Amazoness's foot greeting its face with violent intimacy. "It didn't even eat half of them; the beast just wanted blood. It was an ugly thing. Places where it had been, the rhythm was all skewed. Unnatural."

DanMachi RP: Secrets of the Dungeon

As Voltaire kicked the goblin away from him, Koph spun around and caught it mid-tumble with her own powerful kick. The creature went soaring back the way it had come, crashing into another goblin and putting both to the ground for a time. "That sounds strange, living on the street. You were surrounded by all these people, but had to care for yourself?" Koph's spear struck out, digging into one goblin's arm as it tried to dodge, then into another goblin's stomach that failed to. Both backed away, but another pair eagerly rushed to take their place. What's more, the half-spear wielder was winding up for a charge at Voltaire close on their heels.

Koph shifted her stance closer to Voltaire and the center of the passage, swinging horizontally with her spear to cut across the advancing goblins. One had wandered too near and couldn't back away soon enough, earning a gash across its chest. The one beside it ducked low and charged forward under the spear, eager to tackle the Amazoness's legs.

DanMachi RP: Secrets of the Dungeon

"I am Amazon," Koph explained simply. The shout of a goblin further down the passage alerted them to an approaching threat. "We especially, nomads, had to be prepared. Girls can be trained when they are of age--about your age. You must have begun training much sooner. To already have been years, did you begin while still toddling?"

The troop of greenskins appeared around a bend, charging with abandon. Their leader had picked up the top half of a broken spear from somewhere, and was now waving it with glee as it rushed with its posse at the adventurers. Koph slowed her steps and brought her own weapon to bear, then glanced at Voltaire to ask his thoughts.