The Sneering Dusk's Weed Eater
It took a lot of willpower for Bunny to resist to urge to run off and start fighting monsters as soon as she warped into Sneering Dusk's Weed Eater. They all looked so cool and fun to beat up... even if they were weak--but that just meant to she beat up more of them in a short span of time! Ohhh, she wanted to punch them so badly!
But the Blaster Fist resisted, standing near the entrance point of the field as she waited for the other party members to arrive. A bright, full moon hung in the sky, illuminating the wooded area through the leaves of the trees. The whole field was a maze of trees, with monsters hiding between tree trunks and wandering the paths that cut through the forest. The darkness an narrow paths made it difficult to see what was around the corner, and despite Bunny's insistence that the monsters were weak, her idea of 'weak' was anything less than twice her level (her motto being "if it can't kill me in two hits, it's not worth the effort").
She scanned through her inventory as she waited, putting her massive potion stocks into shortcuts for easy use in battle. She had at least two thirds her maximum weight used up carrying potions. Ah, the joys of playing a tank.
---
"Sneering Dusk's Weed Eater" didn't exactly sound like a particularly easy field-- but with a party as big as theirs was turning out to be, Yako though it would be safe to assume they could avoid another "Delicious Black Phoenix" incident. Oh, boy. At least it was gathering feathers, not 'go defeat a gigantic field boss'.
Maybe she could even get a higher level out of this, or food items! That would be great.
Blissfully unaware of what she was getting herself into, the healer warped into the field-- and considering she'd come from a relatively well-lit environment, it took a good few moments for her eyes to adjust to the dim light. The moment they did, she managed a faint 'eep'. There were monsters out there!
...Then again, well, this was a field. Monsters were sort of part of the package. Even in the semi-darkness, spotting her fellow player was easy enough. Sidestepping an innocent-looking rock, Yako jogged over to the other girl, waving.
"It's Bunny, right?"
---
Bunny's ears perked up. Oh! Another player! Possibly one of her party members! She was one step closer to getting the most amazing quest-reward gauntlets ever.
"Yep, that's me!" she exclaimed, pumping an enthusiastic fist in the air. "And you must be..." Bunny paused, looking over the other player. She noted the staff--well, that was a dead giveaway. "You must be the Acolyte! YumTakoyaki, am I right? Of course I am!"
She grinned, adding in a cheerful, "It's nice to meet you! :D"
---
It was impossible not to respond to such open friendliness, and Yako was never one of those anti-social sourpusses anyway. Whether intentional or not, the smile she beamed back at the other girl was completely genuine. "That's right! But ah, you can just call me Yako. The username's kind of a mouthful." And, she'd been told on more than one occasion, hard to type out in the middle of a fight.
With the Halloween event over, her appearance was a lot more typical for an acolyte in the game; an oversized beret perched precariously on top of her head, paired with a sleeveless, high-collared dress-- which, ironically, barely came to mid-thigh. Still, with the arm-length gloves and the thigh-high boots, the combined amount of covered skin was enough to be decent, right? ...Right?
As Bunny's already observed, the staff was a dead giveaway. This one was a practical model, bought with the last of her Pence that she didn't spend on food; set with a crystal in a crescent-shaped cradle, it cast a soft illumination over both players.
---
Raven let out a sigh before warping to the field. He was coming on more of a whim than anything else. Not like there was anything else to do other than sit around in the busy places like the taverns and central squares and listen to all of the young folk talk. Though he supposed going out and watching the younguns getting together and partying up wasn't such a bad thing. It had been a while since he last joined a group, anyway.
With his specialized bow contracted to its small blade form and attached to the back of his belt, hidden by his jacket, Raven meandered his way over to the two young ladies with a hand raised, his attitude brightening just a little.
"So you must be Bunny," Raven said as he approached before stopping to turn to Yako. "And may I ask who this lovely lady is?"
Hey, it was also good to keep tabs on who the party members were. Especially when one of them was a healer. ...A female healer.
---
In response, Yako lifted one hand in a slightly awkward greeting of her own, though the smile on her face hadn't faded. She realized, rather belatedly, that she hadn't gotten the final number of people in the party, after all-- hm. Something to ask later, she supposed.
"I'm Yako," she answered. It was a lot easier for other people to say, she'd found, and... answering to anything but her name felt too weird. "It's nice to meet you, mister...?" Well, he did look like the kind of guy who deserved to have 'mister' tacked on the front of his name.
---
"Just call me Raven," he said with a grin before crossing his arms behind his head, just beneath the knot of his messy, bushy ponytail.
"So who all else is coming?"
More girls, hopefully.
---
"Yako, huh? Well, it is a little easier to say, haha!"
Now it was Raven's turn to show up, wandering over to the two girls. Two down, two to go!
"Hey old man~!" Bunny shouted obnoxiously, waving at him. "I hope you remembered to take your medication today!" She honestly had no idea if he was that old, but it was fun to tease him either way.
Pausing to contemplate the Surefire Arm's question, she placed a finger on her chin. "We're still waiting on Brave Vesperia and Prussia." Just a little irritably, she added an impatient, "They better not take too long!"
---
"Raven-san, then." 'Old man'? The words made Yako blink a little. Well, he did look sort of... mature. For a character on an online game, anyway.
"That's strange," she frowned, putting a hand to her chin. "It's not like Y-- Brave-san to be late." Well, she'd been in a party with him all of once, so she wasn't an expert, but if he said he'd come on time, he usually delivered...! The other player name, though, she was unfamiliar with. Hopefully, they'd all be decent fighters.
---
"I ain't that old!" Raven whined. What was with these kids today? Then again, playing the "I'm old" card did get him out of a lot of unnecessary situations as well as get him a few nice things. Just wait until these kids actually saw him they'd regret making fun of his age. As. Humorous as it was at the same time. He was such an actor that was for sure.
Oh and that kid was coming along, too? ...Oh boy. "That kid just gets inta everythin' doesn't he?" Raven sighed. He wondered if things were going to go as well as their last party together.
---
With the promise of a battle, Prussia was there. Sure, his ego had taken a few harsh blows lately (namely with fighting Bunny and Bad Girl), but the opportunity for a fight was too tempting.
He strolled on to the scene, taking his time well aware as to how late he was.It was totally intentional. He was being fashionably late. Had nothing to do with him getting stuck with schoolwork. Nothing at all.
“Yo,” a casual wave accompanied the greeting to the group once he was close enough.
---
"Well, you sure sound like it!" the boxer snickered. "Let's just hope you don't have a heart-attack mid-battle!"
So Yako knew Brave Vesperia? "Oh, do you know him, too, Raven?" That's what it sounded like anyway. Normally she'd be worried about his somewhat negative reaction, but then again that just might mean the other player wasn't lazy like Raven was.
Another player enters the field--just one more and they could go! And it was Prussia, too.
She grinned, greeting him with a mocking "So you didn't chicken out after all!"
---
The thought had crossed over his mind again and again whether he actually wanted to show up or, maybe, feign some sort of stupid excuse that always seemed to work. If it weren't for Yako... He could see this party going over as well as lead balloons. Depending on what the field conditions turned out to be, things could only turn out for the better or for the worst.
Eventually, a new person warped into the area not too far from the mostly formed party, his hands tucked into his plain, black trousers. Not a word left his mouth as he approached the group. A nod to each of the people that stood around him more than counted as a "hello", right? Right.
Besides, Brave Vesperia was far more interested in taking in the sights of the field that the gold-digging girl had chosen. It was less of a field and more of a hellacious forest that was going to give each of them a run for their money. Which, really? Was far more than perfect in his mind.
Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, after all.
---
The "Bunny" girl was certainly a lively character-- even Yako had to admit, the way she teased the other party members would be enough to make one think she'd known them for ages. Still, watching the last two players make their appearance, it was also oddly comforting not being the only girl in the party.
"Um, hello. I'm Yako." That weak greeting was accompanied by a small wave in Prussia's direction; when Yuri finally appeared, looking as interested in the prospect of beating up monsters as he always did, the girl managed a slightly more enthusiastic wave.
Well, that was everyone. What happened next, was up to their... 'fearless leader', so to speak. As if on cue, Yako turned her gaze to Bunny, blinking inquisitively.
---
Finally, their fifth party member entered the field, walking over to them and just silently nodding. Well, that was a weird way to say hello... but good enough!
"You're Brave Vesperia, right? Right?!" Bunny said eagerly. She didn't even wait for an answer, instead opting to point dramatically at the path ahead and roll right on into her next speech.
"OKAY. So we all know what we have to do, right? We have to track down the thirteen Harpy Knights and get one Onyx Feather from each one! Then all we have to do is go to this one old NPC guy and give them to him and we'll get LOADS AND LOADS OF EXPERIENCE AND ITEMS AND MONEY!" She made sure to shout that last part as loudly as humanly possible. "So it's easy as pie! Now let's go beat up some harpies!"
Bunny then ran blindly into the forest like the good party leader she is, expecting her teammates to just follow her. And hopefully not get herself killed.
---
Well, she was rather quick to cut him off. He had only managed to get his mouth open to answer her question before she started on her showy little display of leadership, leading him to snap it shut almost audibly. Not that he had been expecting much better out of the bold girl. (And, at least, she hadn't yelled at him or somehow managed to get in his face for being late.)
Speech aside, the way she simply ran off caused his eyes to widen a bit. What was she thinking?! At this rate, they could all end up knocked out cold or even dead thanks to neglect. A slightly frustrated noise came from his throat before he tightened his fist around the strings hanging from his sword's scabbard, enough to allow him to quickly take off after her into the dimly lit forest.
Someone had to play the knight in shining armor, even if he completely loathed the idea.
"Hey, Bunny chick! Not so fast!"
---
“Going it alone? Nice style,” Prussia commented while equipping a small, one-handed sword.
Finally, something interesting was happening. He was almost certain that the level of the field was far above his own, a worthy challenge. He was almost quivering in anticipation of future battles.
He glanced at the remaining party members, distain apparent in his voice, “Well, what are you lazy sobs waiting for? An invitation? Get moving!”
With that, he ran into the forest, searching more for monsters to slaughter than the girl with her quest.
---
Wasn't this bringing back memories. Somehow, Yako was getting the distinct feeling she was missing something-- first Bunny disappeared into the forest, and Yuri-san, and then now--
"I am not a lazy slob!" She yelled after Prussia's back-- a futile effort, since he was already running ahead, but who the heck did that guy think he was?! Something like righteous fury propelled the girl hot on his heels, staff hefted over one shoulder like she might just smack the first monster she came into contact with. Leaving Raven ... well, not quite in her dust, since he could probably catch up, but metaphorically, at least!
He'd probably have something to say about 'those young'uns' later, if they managed to get out of this in one piece.
---
Raven just let out a sigh as he watched the youngsters run off ahead.
"Always rushin' off. When will they ever learn?" he half whined before jogging off after them.
This was going to be interesting. And he was stuck babysitting. Again. Wouldn't have been so bad if there had been more girls in the party...
---
Ahaha, everything was going according to plan! With her teammates in tow, Bunny just went along with her usual strategy--punch anything that looks like a monster until it dies. It was flawless!
"Take THIS you stupid plant!" she cried, driving her gauntlet into a man-eating flower. It was several levels above hers, but with all her boosts and stats concentrated into pure attack she managed to take off a quarter of its health with a single Shockwave. "Now die so I can find those harpies!"
The plant then must have decided 'no, fuck you', because it proceeded to chomp down on her arm. The Blaster Fist whined loudly, punching at the flower with her free hand.
"Uaaaah, no fair, no fair!" She chugged down three or four potions to restore all that HP she kept losing. Stupid flower-thing!
---
Yuri's attention ended up being directed to a very similar plant. Once he had swung his sword up to where he could actually hold it and sling the scabbard off into nowhere, that is. The clean, almost white blade sliced through the thick air, cutting across the plant's stem. He was more than a little pleased to see how much of the thing's health came off with that single slash.
If Bunny's mistake taught him anything, it was to jump back and away before the plant could even think about retaliating. And before it could even pull to its original position, his blade was meeting it again -- once, twice, three times. Then again, giving the plant no time to retaliate.
And because he just had to make a manly show, the last bit of its health was taken out by a clenched fist directly to its ugly face.
"That's one down!"
He had a baaad feeling that these were the ultra easy guys. Eight hits just to take these down? Not good.
---
To say Yako felt a premonition wouldn't be strictly accurate. It was more like the likely course of the next ten minutes flashed before her eyes, all of them ending in her character's horrible, ugly demise, and her half-translucent corpse sprawled on the field with spinning eyes for any passersby to loot.
Not good.
"Bunny!" Leaping over a small bump in the field's landscape to give her a better vantage point, Yako winced. Bunny wasn't looking in good shape. With a quick spin of her stave, the acolyte cast a regenerative spell over the only other female party member-- it would be easiest if she could cast it over everyone, but at the moment, her level was too low for it. Way too low for it.
Too busy trying to juggle a poorly-arranged inventory of spells, the girl had yet to notice the sound of something slithering up behind her. The grass snake, harmless except for the fact that its mouth was easily big enough to swallow her from the feet up, reared to attack.
---
Not good, not good. Raven knew something like this was going to happen. He had hoped they had a bit more sense. This was supposed to be a party, not a "run all over the place doing your own thing and therefore get yourself killed" expedition. Especially with the varying levels they had going.
But, Raven had also expected something like this. One from the bit of conversation with Bunny, two from his previous "fun" with Yuri, and three, just the general sizing up of everyone from the get go.
So what was the oldest and highest ranked member to do? Well, first off was to take care of the snake that was just oh so conveniently trying to gobble up the fair Yako. Raven had to hope that Yuri would be able to cover the other two.
"Yako, hurry up and heal Bunny!" Raven yelled as he whipped out his specialized bow, the once medium sized blade instantly forming into its true form as he used Rainsong, nailing the snake right at the back of the head to not only deal a good bit of damage but also distract it. He should be able to take care of this boy easy but. Eh.
---
With a few good Shockvibes, Bunny managed to free herself from the monster's grasp. She stumbled back a little, trying to regain her composure.
Then, of course, the Blaster Fist went right back to punching the monster in the face (flower?) with another Shockwave, briefly pausing only to replenish her SP. A few good hits and four more potions later, she managed to take it down. Success!
"...Ha! See, these guys are easy!" she boasted, blatantly ignoring the fact that her HP was already halfway gone. She drank another potion for good measure.
---
The first of these monsters had merely been a test for Yuri, mainly to gauge exactly what they were up against. Honestly, a part of him felt a little badly for just leaving someone else to save the Bunny girl. But, hey, then again? He wasn't exactly sure if he was ready to end up on the bad side of her attacks if she took the saving act badly. He'd just... Next time. The girls of the party were obviously going to need a hell of a lot of protection.
"Easy, right." The duller side of his blade taps lightly against his shoulder in frustration, mirrored in the way his eyebrows knit together. "You shouldn't use your potions so quickly, y'know. What if you need them later?"
Was he... Was he lecturing her?
Oh god, he was starting to sound a little too much like a friend of his.
---
Now, let’s take a look at the situation. The field’s level was around 20-30, monsters averaging out in the level 25 range. Prussia was leveled 14, and he also ran off on his own to fight. Not smart. Not smart at all.
Now sure, he could probably take down one or two of the Garden Snakes at the expense of large numbers of HP; however, the moment his luck ran out and a higher level monster attacked, he would be screwed.
Which is precisely what happened. So, when the party continued deeper into the forest, they would find a very angry and a very dead Prussia, lying in their path.
---
"O-on it!" Just as the other girl slammed her fist into the monster plant a final time, Yako snapped off a quick heal-- bringing Bunny up to full health, or nearly. "Bunny, are you all right?!"
With no monsters in the vicinity, other than the snake Raven's attacks had so neatly drawn her attention to, the healer devoted herself to backing out of the way. She was the backup for a reason-- but as the disoriented snake reared up, weaving slightly, she couldn't help but be distracted by the nagging feeling that... something was missing in their general vicinity.
---
Raven fired and arrow into the ground, creating the red glyph of the Serpent bomb trap just before the snake came slithering toward him, jumping out of the way as it exploded beneath the monster, depleting its HP even more to just enough so that he could finish it off with a few more arrows.
When he landed, he let out a sigh and with a flick of the wrist, the bow contracted once more before he slipped it back in its place on his belt, once again hidden by his long jacket.
"Well that takes care of that," Raven said as he walked over to the rest of the group. "But aren't we missin' someone?" he said as he made a quick head count.
---
Bunny pouted, placing her hands on her hips. "I have lots and lots of potions, so using a few now won't hurt!" she said to Yuri. But the spell from Yako was still very much appreciated.
She paused to look over the party herself. One, two, three...
"...Where's Prussia? He was right behind me a minute ago."
---
The potions comment was enough to get a long sigh out of him. Really, so wasteful. Part of him could only hope that she wouldn't be regretting that later on.
"Prussia?" Right, they were missing a party member, just the person he thought would have run off and away from the rest of them. There's no way he could have gotten too far in this place. It all depended on the direction he decided to take. "He probably decided to play the self-centered hero role."
Without waiting for another word, this would be Yuri casually walking from the group. His sword still rested on his shoulder as he passed tree after tree, all the while keeping an eye peeled and an ear open. Both for monsters and idiotic male creatures alike.
"He~llo? Big hat man?"
Yelling in the forest wouldn't attract monsters... Hopefully.
---
“My hat isn’t big,” came Prussia’s deadpan response. His character’s body was sprawled out behind a tree to the left of the one calling for him. There was a rather large man-eating flower beside his ‘corpse,’ obviously the cause of the Jack Meister’s downfall.
“Stop shouting, kill this thing, and heal me!” One could almost taste the raaaageeeee.
---
"Oh, sorry, Prussia-san!" That was his name, right? Seeing as he was conveniently out of the immediate range of her spells, Yako ran ahead, stopping once she got close enough to target the downed player.
Casting a Resurrect was easy (thank goodness SI's controls didn't require a whole lot of complicated gesturing) at least: with a wave of her stave and a fancy little light show to go with it, the previously-downed Prussia was back on his feet, health bar blinking dangerously in the red, but alive, at least.
It only occured to Yako a beat later that waiting for the rest of the party to attack the man-eating flower might have been a good idea. But by then, she was in its range as well, and it seemed to be having trouble deciding which of them to vomit acid on first.
---
Yep, too bad Yako hadn't realized that before running up there and reviving Prussia. They were just lucky that one) the plant was deciding which to chomp on/spew acid/whatever the hell it did and two) they had a Surefire Arm in their party.
So, Raven seeing the great peril that they were in, instantly whipped out his specialized bow and used two Rainsongs in quick succession on the plant, killing the bugger.
"Kids. Yeesh," he sighed.
---
Bunny snickered at Prussia's corpse, resisting to urge to spam him with XD's. For such a cocky guy, he didn't even stand a chance in this area.
So the party was back together and another crisis averted. The Blaster Fist looked around the corner for the next mob to blindly attack. "Where are those Harpy Knights?!" she grumbled, her ears twitching. "Are they hiding or something?"
Then, as if on cue, a huge spear came flying out from the forest, taking out two-thirds of Bunny's remaining health. She yelped, scrambling back to her feet and jumping out of the way as a giant armored harpy swooped in, screeching loudly.
"KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT!!" she cried, hiding behind Yuri as she tried not to get killed. "YAKO, HEAL ME NOW!"
---
Talk about speak of the devil. He had barely enough time to register what had just happened, much less change into something more of a defensive stance. And before he knew it, the Bunny girl was behind him, effectively bringing the monster's attention on both of them.
"All right, all right!" Yuri didn't need to be told in so many words when he needed to go after something. As soon as the large creature went in for another swoop, his sword had already swung upwards through the air to meet it. The real disconcerting part came when only the tiniest amount of its health was knocked off and, more important than the god damn health, it just kept coming. The blow hadn't even phased it.
He swung again, twice in quick succession, aiming more toward the creature's head than its body. Still, barely any health was knocked from it. It seemed to pull back for a moment, at least, which gave him just enough time to do a little yel-- er, encouraging.
"Hop to it, everyone! And, Yako, stay as far out of the way as you can!"
---
Brilliance. Absolute genius on the part of the healer. Reviving someone RIGHT NEXT TO THE MONSTER THAT KILLED THEM. If Prussia hadn’t been scrambling out of the way as quickly as he could, he would have been shouting at the girl. But the battle was over, and the quest was still on. Since Prussia had completely forgotten to buy some potions beforehand, he could only wait for his HP to slowly increase.
However, that didn’t last long. A new enemy appeared, one that seemed to have the party’s strongest member on edge. It was strong, huge attacks barely taking off any damage at all. But Prussia, being Prussia, completely ignored the deterrence effect of the harpy’s strength.
He was just about to begin a charge when suddenly-BAM! His character dropped to the ground, dead again. A second harpy had been drawn by the sounds of battle, ready to begin preying on the struggling party.
Prussia's only response? A heartfelt "FUCKKKKKK."
---
It hadn't been the most brilliant move; Yako knew that much. She would have apologized... if she wasn't busy running around the outskirts of the fight, summoning the strongest of her healing spells for Bunny's sake. Hopefully, that would at least get the other girl's health up high enough to keep her alive a few more seconds; at the rate Bunny plowed through monsters, though, she wondered if it would be enough.
Annnd there went Prussia again, and oh crap, this wasn't going to end well, at all. "G-gyah!" The second harpy, unfortunately enough, came in from the direction she was running towards (to heal Prussia-san, ideally, but right now, that was a bit far from her mind). Feet slipping on the grass in a furious attempt to backpedal, the healer's feet flew out from under her, and she tipped over with a yelp.
But not before she could call out a name in the confusion.
"Ayao!"
With an entirely-too-showy burst of flame, the fire summon comes barrelling out of midair, slamming into the harpy--
"Aahh, hey, where are you going!?"
--attacking Yuri. Not the one about to flatten Yako into the dirt.
"I CRUSH YOU LIKE TINY PUPPY!" the summon boomed, blissfully ignoring its master's flailing in favor of... flexing and aiming a fiery punch at the harpy's solar plexus. If it had one.
---
Once again, it was up to the adult to help at the healer not die. Even though Raven wondered if he should just start being the pseudo-healer and Love Shot everyone. At this rate, he may have to.
And the summon? Oh God. It took a great amount of sheer willpower for Raven not to just out and lose control by laughing. He had never seen such a thing and he had been a lot of parties before. But this...this was just too much.
It was a good thing his sense of "Must help and protect others" was dominant though, particularly for Yako. So out came the bow again and out flew out a few arrows.
Like they did any damage. If Yuri's blade couldn't do much, his arrows were going to do jack. But it would at least distract the harpy away from Yako.
"On your feet, Yako! Stop standin' around and do your job! That goes for all of you!" he yelled as he ran around, keeping the harpy focused on him. Why did he always have to remind people of what to do? At least he could count of Yuri. Too bad that wasn't even half of the team.
Sigh. Kids these days. Couldn't they, ya know, think every once in a while?
This party was so doomed.
---
Bunny jumped back into the battle right after Yako healed her, throwing wild punches at the first Harpy. Even with her ridiculous attack boosts she could barely do any damage, so she switched to pelting the damn thing with more Shockvibes first to keep herself alive. The less accuracy that thing had, the better.
And then, of course, another one shows up and all hell breaks lose. Prussia's dead and Yako's flailing on the ground and suddenly a fire summon pops up screaming about puppies and arrows are shooting all over the place and--
"THIS IS CRAZY!" she shouted, dodging another spear and chugging three more potions. Prussia was now officially useless and the brunt of the attack was on Bunny and Yuri, with their healer still in imminent danger. Crap, they'd be screwed if she died!
"YAKO, DON'T DIE!" Bunny then leapt at the Harpy Knight still looming over the healer, hitting it in the neck with a quick Burning Rave.
Then, of course, it skewered her on its spear for a critical hit and she dropped to the ground, dead.
Well, so much for that.
"H-heal please!"
---
Honestly, what with the thing he was fighting? Yuri barely had the time to pay attention to anything going around him. Hit after hit and the harpy's health was going down as slow as molasses in winter. And, hell, this winter was bad. For once, he had to break out a few of his special skills, flashy little things that made his fighting style seem even more fruity than it already was.
Hey, they worked, at least. Better than simple slashes to the monster's armored body.
Of all things, the summon was the thing to break through his concentration. The strangest looked passed over his face -- something between horror and disgust, either from its appearance or the ridiculous thing that had come from its, er, mouth. How very odd. How...
And it was when the especially odd summon had pulled back for a moment, it was then that the damn harpy managed to land a blow right to Yuri's chest. That's what he gets for suddenly looking back at the poor condition Bunny was in, at least.
He was sent flying into a tree, his back hitting it with enough force to send some leaves showering down, and leave Brave Vesperia horribly disoriented. "Shit!" There goes half is HP. Damn.
---
Dead people party. On the ground.
Prussia couldn’t help but lol as Bunny fell. It was almost like just desserts; the only pity was that Prussia wasn’t the one to finish her off. But it was still epic lulz.
Unfortunately, for the team, the prospects for victory weren’t looking too good. The harpies were quickly decimating the HP of those left, even with the help of the sketchball summon.
"Oh, come on! You guys don't suck that bad, do you?" Unnecessary taunts are GO.
---
Either it was Raven's words or Bunny's death that snapped Yako out of her daze, or the ridiculousness of the situation with the summon, but the healer abruptly pulled herself together, eyes narrowing as she jumped up to her feet and assessed the situation.
The first thing to do was, of course, revive Bunny-- and that was easily accomplished as she ran over to the other girl, ducking her head to avoid the fireball the summon blasted at the harpy. Despite the impressive digital pyrotechnics, the display only resulted in an average reduction in the harpy's HP, and sufficiently annoyed it that it chased after the summon, instead of following up on Yuri.
(Personally, Yako thought the summon's yell of "MUSCLE SHOT!!" had as much to do with attracting the harpy's attention as anything else. Maybe it was one of its features.)
"Come on, Bunny-san!" The moment her resurrect spell finished casting, Yako was at Bunny's side, pulling her to her feet. She ignored Prussia's taunts; she'd heard a lot worse before, after all. Once she was sure the girl was on her feet, and after a hasty healing spell, Yako scuttled over to where Yuri had been inelegantly spreadeagled.
Just in time to see six more harpies burst out of the forest foliage.
"HAHAHA! AYAO IS STRONG LIKE OX!" The summon, equipped with its (incredibly) limited artificial intelligence, immediately launched itself at the newly-arrived foes, muscles glimmering with pixelized sweat.
---
Wonderful. Juuuust wonderful.
Well, Raven couldn't say he wasn't getting any exercise out of this. Just wish it didn't have to deal with the threat of death on their heels every time.
As he watched Yako hastily revive/heal the other two, Raven "tripped" over Prussia's head.
"Whoops, sorry there pal," Raven said as he leaned down and flashed him a grin which was hinted otherwise. "But looks like we're gonna have to get a move on so if ya don't mind..."
And without much grace or gentleness, Raven yanked the poor dead guy off the ground, threw him over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and...ran.
---
Well, at least she was alive again, but things were looking pretty grim. She managed to sneak in another Burning Rave before six more harpies showed up.
"ACK! We're gonna diiiie! DDDX" she shrieked, trying to get out of the way of the rampaging monsters that Yako's summon had attracted. She ran out of SP and just started punching the shit out of them, but it was still so very useless. After all their attacks, the first harpy only lost under a quarter of its HP.
And then Raven just ran off with Prussia, of course. "HEY! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?!" Some help he was! She flailing around a bit more and hid behind a tree to heal herself some more. Leaving the remaining two party members to deal with the eight harpies, of course.
---
As if things hadn't been bad enough with him barely able to fight, thanks to the disorientation from the tree. Seeing six more of those things pop up was like a nightmare come true. There was no way a party such as the one he was in could possibly even think of taking out one of these things without spending a lot of precious energy on it. How the hell were they supposed to take out eight?!
Bunny's yelling really wasn't helping.
"Whether you want to admit it or not, Bunny chick, we need to get out of here." The old man hadn't done much that went against him this time around, and, for once, Yuri couldn't argue with the fact that they needed to get out of there, and quick.
He tried his best to get up from the tree, head absolutely swimming while he stumbled a bit. "Yako..." Out reached his free hand, going right for her wrist. "Come on."
Time to re-pay the favor of the dragging from last time.
---
This was a lot worse than Delicious Black Phoenix. In fact, Yako was willing to venture that it was the worst party experience she'd ever had-- barring a few certain times, because at least this party didn't contain players all too happy to knock the ever-loving daylights out of their teammates.
The expression on her face when Raven just took off with Prussia in tow was indescribable, though it probably fell safely in the realm of 'disbelief' and 'righteous fury'. Really, and Raven-san was the one with the most experience--
("AAAAGH! YOUR PUNY ATTACK IS NO MATCH FOR AYAO!")
--which, she supposed, in the end made him exactly the right person to know when it was time to get the hell away.
Ayao was proving to be quite the flashy distraction, but that would only last so long, considering the rapidly-shrinking HP bar she could glimpse in her peripheral vision. "Bunny-san! Let's get out of here!"
She reached for Yuri at the same time the Blade did for her; by some ironic twist of fate, their hands met in the middle, tangling together like Hansel and Gretel lost in some dark and lonely wood.
Full of harpies.
NOT THAT YAKO WAS PAYING ATTENTION, because in the next minute, she was taking off like a shot, leaving Ayao to the mercy of the birds' claws. Inglorious defeat wasn't inglorious if you lived to fight another day!
---
Raven figured the other guys would follow suit and he was ignoring Prussia's stream of taunts and curses he was hearing as he carried the poor sap along.
Seriously, what was with this party? He swore he would never be in a group like this again. Unless there were more acolytes. ...And less guys.
He chanced a glance back and seeing Yuri and Yako holding hands and running with one another, he couldn't help but smirk a bit. Oh was he going to tease the young Slight Blade.
But after a bit of running, he soon reached a spot that was clear and dumped the dead player unceremoniously on the ground before dropping to the ground and sitting nearby, catching his breath.
"Damn, I'm never going to join a party like that again. Least not for one of these kind of fields."
---
"But... but the quest! The glory! The amazing gauntlets!" She bit her lip. No matter how good she was, there was no way she could beat all these monsters on her own.
"Auuugh, you guys suck!" The Blaster Fist then bolted past the ravenous harpies, ducking under a pair of sharp claws and a spear on her way through. This quest was such a bust!
Chasing after the other three living party members, they eventually stopped in a small clearing free of monsters. Ayao seemed to have kept the Harpy Knight busy enough to let them escape... well, good for him!
"Now what?!" she grumbled. "We didn't get a single feather, what a gyp!"
---
The little fact that he was gripping onto Yako's hand itself and not her wrist wasn't something that crossed his mind as he tried his best to get the both of them out of there without any further damage inflicted. He could only think of dodging this and dodging that, jumping out of the way of trees and being extremely thankful that the girl seemed just as ready to get out of there as he was. His only glance back at the scene had been to make sure the Bunny chick was following. Good thing she had, else...
The clearing was a welcome sight, and he had been all-too-happy to come to a stop. It was only around that time, maybe a few seconds after they had stopped, that he realized the predicament his hand was in, still wrapped just tightly enough around Yako's. He ends up gently working it free, something like an apology muttered as he did.
And once he stabbed his sword into the soft earth below, he plopped down on the ground as unceremoniously as Raven had.
"Now what? Would you rather we go back and all of us die? You're insane."
---
“Haha! Oh man, that was priceless,” Prussia was practically rofl’ing (considering the fact his character couldn’t move), “That was some hilarious shit.” And it really was, too! They didn’t even last an hour on their quest. And now, their fearless leader had tucked her tail between her legs and fled. Sure, it was pretty humiliating to be carried like a sack of potatoes and dying twice, but seeing the general state of panic the party had erupted into was just too funny. Hi-fuckin’-larious.
---
When they finally came a stop, Yako was left huffing for breath-- while she'd have liked to collapse just like Raven and Yuri, she dropped to a crouch instead, staff dropped carelessly to the ground beside her. She barely noticed it when Yuri released her, but responded automatically, nodding and mumbling something about it being fine.
In the distance, just barely audible, the summon's dying cry resounded.
"I SHALL returrnnnnnnn..."
She managed, just barely, not to bury her face in her hands from mortification. Gah, at least that crazy summon had turned out good for something. "I guess it could have been worse," she mumbled. And then-- oh yeah. Prussia was still kind of dead, wasn't he? Better fix that.
"Sorry I didn't get to you earlier!" Wobbling to her feet, the healer finally cast a Resurrect on the KO'd party member-- and, just to round things out, casting a healing spell on everyone in the party, bringing up their dangerously flickering health levels to a healthier green glow. Well, there was only so much one could expect a Level 15 acolyte to be capable of.
---
Raven just let out a sigh as he leaned back and flopped onto the grass completely.
"You kids really gotta learn somethin' about strategy and, ya know, think before chargin' like that?" he said, his voice tired. "The next time ya set out for somethin' like this, count me out. Unless ya actually got a plan or somethin'."
Seriously, this had been way too much for him to handle. Well. Mentally at least. It didn't cause that much exertion to hit a few keys and move a mouse. ...Maybe adrenaline could count. Damn this game could be so real.
---
"Shut up, Prussia, you were the first one to die. Did you even get one hit in?" She shot him a glare. What a cocky little bitch.
She paused, as if actually putting some thought into her reply. "...We'll just have to try harder!" This was her solution to everything--just keep punching it until it dies or you win or whatever! "Aw, come on, old guy, you're tired already? See, I knew you were all wrinkly and old."
Bunny pouted leaned against a tree, arms folded and ears drooping a little. Ohhh, she just had to have those ultra-rare gauntlets! Life was so cruel.
"Stupid harpies."
---
"You're too old for something like this, anyway, old man." Okay, okay. Everyone else was throwing jabs, he might as well have gotten one in, too. Even if he did appreciate what Raven had done for the party in this unfortunate... Crisis. Without him, there's no doubt that they'd all still be back in the forest, lying dead on the ground and wondering what to do. How embarrassing.
Still worn out, he settled his hands in the grass and leaned back on them, his eyes falling shut in the process. "Let's just all get along, all right? No sense in fighting over what's already happened."
There was no possible way their party could have survived that, right? Right. There would be even less sense in bearing bruised egos over it.
Except maybe Prussia.
---
Alive again! And it felt great! Prussia stretched, the player and the character simultaneously cracking their knuckles. It was getting boring just lying there. Stupid, illegit monsters springin’ out of nowhere. Completely unfair.
Cowards attacked en mass. Cowards attacked from behind. The harpies did both of these things. Something like that was a personal insult to the Jack Meister. These bitches had to go down.
“Well, when are we going to try again?” He asked the group, obviously prepared to go right back into battle.
---
There wasn't really much else Yako could add to the conversation; somewhere in the middle of the Raven-taunting and general grumbling, she finally decided to sit down properly, fingers idly toying with the false blades of grass. Faintly, her stomach growled.
"..."
By the time Prussia finished asking, the girl had unwrapped another of those sandwiches Yuri was so familiar with, and had gotten half of it down her throat before the other player's words registered.
"Not right now!" She protested, hastily swallowing before shaking her head in a definite no. "We couldn't even take one down!"
---
"Hey, is all ya kids ever do is just pick on the old man?" Raven whined. "Lookin' after you kids is worse than lookin' after two-year-olds." Which was saying a lot considering how kids were during their terrible twos.
And at the suggestion of going at those things again? A hand of protest shot into the air.
"Forget it! You'll just yourselves killed. If that's what ya want, then go on ahead. I'll just be waiting to hear your sorrowful throes of deaths."
He then finally sat up and looked at the group. "Seriously, though, this party is definitely not up for going against those monsters. You'll have to get some more people with better levels for this."
---
Bunny sighed dramatically, sulking. "Awwww... I'll never get those gauntlets! This quest is impossible!"
Seriously, eight at once? Who in the world could beat eight super-powerful harpies at once?! By the time she'd be high enough level to beat the quest, the weapon would be useless! And really, that was the only reason she was here.
"Maybe there's some secret way to beat them... Like they have some kind of weak point that K.O.'s them instantly or something." She wracked her brain for some kind of sneaky trick, but maybe she just had to punch them harder. That was a much easier solution. "...Well, we can't just give up! Come on, one more try!"
---
"You know, there's also buying those gauntlets from someone. That seems like one hell of an easy option, compared to this." What with all the potions and everything else you'd waste on a quest like this, the money could easily go toward the fund for the things. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. Of course, he would refrain from saying anything like that outloud, what with the already tense air around them.
Yuri's eyebrows shot up in surprise as she stated her want to just go out there again, like that damn Prussia. What was with these people? It was like they had the IQ equivalent to room temperature. That's pretty sad. "Uh, how about not?"
That's all he could say on that subject, thank you. If he were to get up now, it would be to get his ass out of there... Not to go back into the forest of hell to face his death.
---
Think, think, think, think. There had to be a way. There just had to be. Nothing was impossible, especially in a game like this.
“I hate to admit it, but I agree with her,” he indicated Bunny with a jerk of his head, “There’s got to be some secret way to kill ‘em. You guys are just too lame to try and figure it out.” He couldn’t help the snide comments.
---
Yako folded her arms, frowning. "Even if there is something like that--" And her tone probably did wonders at conveying her skepticism. "--I think Raven-san's right on this one. Sorry," she added, shrugging sheepishly at Bunny and Prussia, "But I know I didn't do so well back there, and I don't think a second try would go much better."
Prussia's attitude rankled, just a little. Geez, she wasn't looking to get nearly-killed again.
... Anyway, that made more than half of the party flatly refusing to go along with the plan, didn't it? Surely that counted for something.
"Isn't there any other way to complete the quest, Bunny-san?"
---
"I'm actually gonna have ta agree with Sir Brave Vesperia over there and say just buy the darn things," Raven sighed.
"But like I said, if ya kids wanna get killed again, yer free ta do so. Me on the other hand will be headin' back ta town." At this he stood up and stretched. "This was enough adventurin' ta last me fer a while. And if you'd be smart fer once, you'd do the same."
---
"But... that's like cheating!" she groaned, her rabbit ears drooping. "What's the point of just buying them? That doesn't take any effort at all, it's lazy! Besides, I'm saving up for something else."
But it didn't look like she was getting anywhere with this today... She'd have to train harder first!
"You guys give up too easily!" Bunny sighed. "Fine, have it your way."
Without another word, she warped out of the field. Oh, but she'd come back. She'd kick those harpies' butts so hard, she'd just have to look at them and they'd shower her with feathers. Shower her with them!
---
Sir Brave Vesperia...
Don't say anything. He just shot Raven a slightly incredulous look. Good thing that, deep down, the title had amused him, even with the "no, we can't!" "yes, we can!" tension still heavily amongst them. Here's to hoping this little party experience wouldn't make friendships awkward. Ignore the part where only one of the members could really even be considered his friend.
After Bunny so hastily exited the field, Yuri took his time as he stood from the place he had been seated. A hard tug and the blade of his sort slid from the earth itself. "Guess it's time we say our goodbyes. I'm glad to have it my way."
No matter that he had no idea where he's headed next.
---
“So we’re all just going to wimp out?” Prussia looked furious. He stood, his hands on his hips, glaring down the remaining party members. How could they do this? Sure, they lost a battle, but it wasn’t the war. They could still fight; they weren’t beaten yet! But they were just surrendering. Totally giving up. Lame.
For a second, his scowl drooped into a sincerely crestfallen expression; however, it was brief, replaced with a cruel smirk.
“Well, you guys suck,” he said as he warped out of the field.
---
Well, that wasn't exactly the most glorious of exits. Left alone with Raven and Yuri on the field, Yako's expression gradually shifted from surprise to irritation. That hadn't been very nice of Prussia-san, after everything. Look who kept getting himself killed!
Perhaps a little bit of the annoyance bled into her voice as she brushed nonexistent dirt off her skirt, bobbing a quick bow at the remaining players-- she'd have done the same for Prussia, as rude as he was.
"I should be going too, Yuri-san, Raven-san," she murmured, before straightening and smiling at them both. "It's almost lunchtime, anyway. I'll see you another time, all right?"
In a blur of blue light, Yako warped out.
---
Raven chuckled a bit. "Kids," he said before turning to Yuri. "Well, looks like I'm gonna follow suit. Ya did good, though."
He gave Yuri a half wave. "See ya around!" he said cheerfully before he, too, warped out.