"Now then... this will be a great joy. Finally free to do as I will. Come Alpha. We have a ways to go." The witch had traveled a ways away from Stokbon. Following along was her, well whatever she was, Alphabet Chocolate. Ugh, still the name annoyed Elizabeth like a nagging tooth ache. She was a useful little extra hand for now so Elizabeth would not dwell on the issues that were not important. Now that they were in the wild. Elizabeth could focus on much more appealing things. Such as self development and appeasing the dark gods with much blood letting. Merkaba strolled along the vast forestland with her scythe and dark magic in hand. Elizabeth found that even with her mastery of such things in the prime dimension. In this one, she was unable to fully control the dark. Only at a low level was she able to manipulate it to her wishes. That was unacceptable. This was supposed to be closer to the gods not further. It was the fault of the technology being used to connect the dimensions. She wondered if the fools that were both the players and game masters even were aware themselves of any truth. Treating things like a game... Elizabeth continued to entertain her own insane views of things as she advanced. She had three major goals at the moment. First was to become more adept to drive her dark word forward. That meant spreading a great deal of blood and building her magical abilities as far as she could get them. The other two objectives were to gather the like minded under her dark tutelage to create a expansion of her cult into this world. Finally she would then aim to give this dimension entirely to her dark gods. Yes, even if that meant finding a way to pull the control of this world from it's very creators. As she walked on, her fist shot forward and she opened it to see where her destination was. The place would be a ruin that she had heard about from the robed NPC at the Wursht Outpost. The ruin was supposedly rife with perfect prey for her to reap in offering to her own power and those of the dark gods as well as a good gathering ground for ritual items. A small dot blinked nearby. It was surrounded by green dense forest land and almost resting right on the river that divided the area. Almost there but still far enough to get into some more encounters. Good. Merkaba closed the compact menu as she continued through the forest. It continued grow thicker. Growls could be heard from the trees. The beasts of the forest have finally begun to make a combined effort to pounce. "Be glad. The time to fell that which hunts us is coming. This will not be a stray like earlier encounters." Merkaba began to speak a chant as she made ready her magic. Regardless what the beasts would do. They would not last long against the dark. As the foliage cracked and the sounds of encroaching danger grew louder. Elizabeth stopped moving. It would be impossible to finish the spell at her level without standing still to complete it. She raised her Scythe slightly with one hand and reached out her other hand to her right. Glowing a light purple she continued. "Edidere saltantium umbra umbra umbra ,. Noctu volare. Unbrightly semper ardebit quasi chorum saltare Umbrarum Vel! Utere me ut tuo virga..." From the the trees all around came four snarling gray wolves. They were the size of large dogs and had eyes of blood red. Their canine mouths snarled and drool flew from their faces as they rushed towards the two. Merkaba did not show signs of panic. Her body suddenly burst with black magic and her Malefamancy art was complete. Many torch like dark purple flames began to cycle around her. Merkaba's eyes seemed to twinkle as she grasped her scythe tightly in both hands. The wolves only inches away. "Let us end the hunger of the beast." And a few seconds later, the wolves were upon them... @Alphabet Chocolate
Trailing after Merkaba was the natural course of action after their time together during the opening event but, unfortunately, Alpha didn't really think ahead when they found themselves deep in the thicket of forest. The journey so far (traveling from Stokbon to a remarkable distance away) had been relatively lax and pleasant in a way. There were no encounters that had forced Merkaba to draw her scythe out (the Alpha knew of, anyway) so Alpha didn't have to stare at the horrifying blade. Now that she saw it again, however, she found herself fearing that very, very sharp blade more so than the pack of wolves which ambushed them. "Haha," she gave a nervous chuckle. "Maybe they're friendly?" Alpha reached to give one of the wolves a tentative pat. She had that beast-taming skill, didn't she? Maybe they'll, uh, roll over? Alpha felt her hand shake a bit as she approached (the game was just so realistic and, well, seeing very huge wolves that were almost as big as her certainly kicked her fight-or-flight instinct into overdrive). She gave a quick glance at Merkaba to see the stoic woman chanting some ill omens. "It's okay wolfie, good wolfie, it's okay..." The entire food buffet in the food tent had really distracted her and she regretted forgetting to buy some sort of weapon when she had the chance. As her hand grew closer, however, the wolf snarled and snapped straight for her hand which Alpha hastily drew back, stunned. Okay, maybe that beast-taming skill wasn't the best but at least her rogue skillset wasn't totally hopeless. Maybe she could just drift away into the shadows and abscond... that's what rogues do, don't they? But, as she traveled that line of thought, she once again noticed Merkaba standing straight in face of the adversaries. Alpha gave a strangled sigh, even if she was scared she couldn't abandon her first friend like that. Alpha quickly took a look at the wolf's health bar. Full HP, figures. She took a deep breath and bent down, picking up a pebble. The chanting Merkaba did was going to leave her vulnerable, most likely. She read this in several World of Warcraft guides --- never leave the magician-equivalent unprotected while they were chanting. It was just a game, she reassured herself. With a vicious determination, she threw the pebble at the first wolf that was mere inches away from Merkaba with a shaky hand. It hit the wolf straight at the muzzle, turning its attention to her. If her gaming terminology was correct, this would be called aggroing it or something. "Well, that wasn't so bad..." The wolf launched itself at her at full force and, while she turned, had left a deep gash on her torso. Alpha didn't know whether to be relieved that the injury had only hurt so much as a particularly bad paper cut (with luckily less of a sting) or to faint at the surprise of a massive beast lunging for her throat. As the wolf landed on its side, Alpha resolved herself and charged, putting as much strength as she could into her kick and hit straight at the wolf's crotch. Okay, that was 1/6th of its health. Not that bad. Problem was that its swipe had taken at least 1/5th of her own health bar. Alpha eyed Merkaba nervously, hoping the older lady had a plan. @Merkaba
The wolves were on the attack but after seeing between the small shadowy lights around Merkaba and Alpha's attack they immediately as if of one mind backed off some and began to circle the pair. Drool dripped onto the grass and dirt as they sized up their prey. The wolf that had been kicked was licking it's lips hungrily, looking at the thief. The next attack would be much worse if action was not taken. Elizabeth saw this as what it was however. A group of mangy hounds standing before her. Perhaps when Alpha see's her actions, the girl will take the offensive and they could finish this to be on their way. Then again... the hopeless girl had no weapon. Unbelievable. Why she did not take the time between the Wursht Outpost and this trip to get herself equipped was something Elizabeth would contemplate later. She had to deal with this for now. Perhaps a ruin trek would be a poor idea without personally taking this girl to find starter equipment... or maybe Merkaba needed another less problematic companion. To some degree though, the girl made herself easy to control by being so helpless. Maybe that was why Elizabeth kept her around. Truly she did not know why she was constantly letting the incompatible girl slide. "You must at some point, tell me what you were doing instead of preparing yourself for dangers? I hope your goals here are not only to feed your gullet? You partly redeem yourself by standing firm here. We will talk later." Merkaba would leave it at that and took the offensive on the wolf to the east. Her dark ring would only protect her and keep the beasts at bay for a short time. As it was eating at her mind points which were high due to her character build but not capable of holding a spell like this for too long. That was what the scythe was for, a beautiful weapon of death that even at low ranks possessed both reach and the wide slashing motions could hit multiple enemies. Her scythe sliced from side to side hitting two wolves across the snouts. Blood splashed out onto the sickle as the wolves wined in agony, blood having gotten into their eyes, noses and mouth. The circling dark magic also slammed one by one into the rightmost ones head causing the small dark fires to burst against it. The taste of their own blood, half blindness and rattled heads from the magic attack, made them even more feral and they howled and clawed at each other when they hit the ground from the force of her swing. The bad news was that the same force caused Merkaba to fall forward from her own force. She had to quickly put out her foot to avoid falling over as her scythe almost flew out of her hands. She needed to work on that stat some more. .. This also did not put a stop to the two remaining wolves including the one that had Alpha on it's dining menu. These wolves made a charge for her while Merkaba was busy. Merkaba had only two fires left and she had to dismiss it so that it stopped draining her. At the moment, Alphabet Chocolate was on her own. @Alphabet Chocolate
Alpha couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed when Merkaba chastised her for her incompetence. Maybe she shouldn't have been concentrating on those particularly marvelous delicacies? Alpha shrugged the feeling off. Food that good was hard to come by in real life and, at this point, they were in a pretty bad predicament to be regretting past mistakes and the like. Alpha ran through all of the skills she had selected at the beginning, hoping to find something that could help the pair out in the predicament while Merkaba was slashing and dicing several of the wolves with her scythe. She didn't have a dagger or any piercing weapon of any sort so that scratched off that one-handed pierce mastery. She ran through several scenarios in her mind. Beast-Taming didn't work Rogue One-Handed Pierce no weapon As she was running through the options (and finding that she was in full-blown panic), Merkaba's warding flames had dissipated. Merkaba looked drained from the energy her spell took from her and Alpha couldn't help but feel worried. "Merkaba, are you alright?" she called. Then, Alpha switched her attention back to the two wolves prowling around her. Alpha felt fear prickling against her skin, looking for a way to escape her body (probably in the form of the bile that began to rise up her throat). "Okay, Alpha, keep calm...you can do this..." And, with false bravado, Alpha picked up a wooden stick on the grassy floor as the wolves charged straight for her. The wolf she had injured had charged head-first but, despite its speed in reaching her, it slowed down as it catapulted its fangs towards her. Despite its determination, it seemed to be at least in a bit of pain from the earlier attack. Alpha steeled herself. Before the wolf trailing from behind could catch up, Alpha charged straight into the wolf in front, lodging the tree branch down its open jaws and into its throat before kneeing it in the stomach. The fangs grazed her arm but she managed to withdraw her arm before the teeth could clamp down and sever her arm. Alpha was grateful that the wolf had been stunned enough to give her the opportunity to abscond. The other wolf had stilled, seemingly confused as to what to do and obviously not anticipating the action. Alpha closed her eyes tight. This is my chance, she thought. Before the wolves could recover, Alpha took her elbow and hit the wolf-in-charge full-force which, admittedly, wasn't that much without the Unarmed Combat mastery but, alas, it was better than nothing. The wolf's HP bar depleted by half and was incapacitated for at least awhile. Alpha then looked behind to the other wolf who had recovered from the surprise and gnashed its teeth together, promising some sort of painful retribution. Alpha did the only thing she could do at that point. She ran, full-speed ahead, into Merkaba, tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she screamed bloody murder. "Merkaba! Help!" she pleaded. @Merkaba
Merkaba's attack had has intended left the two wolves in a state where they literally killed each other. The beasts were certainly pleasing to watch, however there were other matters at hand. Merkaba's energy was depleted some but it would last her for this and maybe a few more encounters. The problem was that she was heading for a dungeon and with her follower not having any weapons or items... it would be impossible to make any headway. Her plans were going to have to change. For now, she had to make up for Alpha's mistakes. Merkaba would push the thief behind her dismissively. The wolves were not waiting around now and heading for Merkaba's position. Merkaba's left hand radiated a black energy. Focusing she shot forward a small black fog. It sprayed on the wolves and disoriented them. It had terrible range, literally right in front of her but it was a good simple 'wall' spell. Especially when the wolves here in biting range. Not waiting around for them to get through the disorienting fog wall. She backed up and swung into the fog. She was unable to see into the small cloud herself but it was a chance she decided to take. Swinging her scythe into the fog... she struck them! A murderous look filled her face as she swung repeatedly. Wolf blood pouring out of the black fog and whines of agony came from the beasts within. Another step back as her scythe dripped dark crimson. The fog faded and two wolves, or pieces of wolves were laying in the blood soaked grass. Elizabeth was pleased but Merkaba was breathing heavier than she should. Curse it. She needed to improve so that this sort of thing was not so draining. Turning to look at the thief girl. Merkaba put a finger on her scythe blade and allowed some of the blood to soak her fingertip. Putting it under Aplha's nose she spoke in a whisper "This smell is something you will need to get used to. Many will die here. Many times and in many gruesome ways. Your own blood could have been filling this grass." Promptly placing the bloody finger into her own mouth and tasting it. Merkaba looked eastward. There was supposedly a village on the map nearby she remembered. Elizabeth originally had no intent at going there but this little incident changed her mind. Bringing back up her menu and checking the area. Yes, about a hour trip eastward. Probably a fishing village. It was right next to the river. Perhaps she could still get to the ruins after this. Closing her map screen she looked to the girl and made a gesture towards her new goal. "We are making a detour. A village is nearby. If they do not have a shop we will simply rest and return to Stokbon. If they do... you will get supplies and equipment for yourself." Merkaba turned and began to walk keeping her scythe in hand. @Alphabet Chocolate
Alpha flinched at the bloody finger Merkaba forced her to smell, her nose wrinkling at the deathly odor. The carnage that Merkaba had created wasn't a pleasant sight and she hastily looked away, placing her eyes on the trees that lurked ahead rather than the bloodshed and corpses of torn-up wolves. Although they had attacked, Alpha couldn't help but feel a tinge of empathy for the animals. "Alrighty," she whispered. Although Merkaba had created such a gruesome scene, Alpha still trusted the older woman with the entirety of her heart. Regardless of her actions, she knew that Merkaba was just trying to help protect the both of them and, well, Alpha couldn't abandon her first friend just because she happened to be a tad bit different from regular people. So, she stomached the scene and puffed out her chest, trying to look not a bit hesitant. It was surprisingly easy to ignore the carnage around them and to push the unsavory thoughts away from her mind. Although Alpha wasn't really a fighter, the experience taught her that she must at least know how to defend herself and Merkaba. She really didn't want her friend to get hurt trying to protect her and, despite her misgivings about the idea of wielding a weapon, she steeled herself and convinced herself it was for the best. It was just a game after all and she shouldn't get so attached to non-sentient wolf monsters that were starving for her blood. Picking up pace, Alpha dashed to follow behind Merkaba's footsteps and, with time, her smile returned to her face full-force as if nothing had happened. "Haha, maybe I can get a really cool weapon like yours! And I can tell people the story about how we defeated the wolves with shins and elbows and a stick and dark magic!" she grinned ear-to-ear, following devotedly alongside the woman. @Merkaba
Alphabet's ability to get it together quickly was a redeeming quality. Elizabeth would have dumped her back in the woods if she did nothing but cry and fear everything. The problem with the girl was her weakness, inability to be prepared and well... general cheeriness. None of these were compatible with witch. Maybe she could make a project out of the girl. It would be entertaining to see if she could properly convert and mature the girl into her dark cult. This was a early part of Merkaba's growth so why not entertain herself some? It would not be harmful to Elizabeth and if the girl was hopelessly unusable. She would deal with her at a later date. "Perhaps over time, my weapon and magic could be usable by you... If you'd like. A could instruct you a little. However you must get yourself together before I bother teaching you anything." Overall nothing amazing happened between the wolf encounter and their arrival at the village. Which was good because Elizabeth did not know if she could tolerate another encounter like that last one. Upon arriving at the riverside village, Merkaba's expectations for a good shop was drastically lowered. The village was... incredibly small. It was like a bunch of old shacks bunched up on the river. Old fishermen and little raggy kids ran about. This place was not going to have a good source of equipment. Well, maybe a traveling merchant was here. Otherwise this entire endeavor was over for now. A total waste of time! As expected were the stares she received here. The villagers did not get many visitors and she was not the most friendly looking person. Actually Merkaba passed for a monster or NPC enemy then a heroic player character. Oh well, disdain from the foolish masses was something Elizabeth was very used too. Some day they will all be converted or condemned. Merkaba spoke to her little 'travel mate' while she put her scythe away and scoured the area for someone who looked like a merchant. "This place is disappointing but it will have to do. Child, find us a place to rest and a merchant. I will do the same. If the villagers question or bother you. Just say we will not be here long or that we are to protect them from some fictional threat. Villages like this will usually be very paranoid. Work on that fear. Just remember the objective, to resupply and rest.... and to get you a weapon." Merkaba headed on hoping beyond hope that she did not make a mistake leaving that silly named girl alone again. If she failed to be useful this time however. Merkaba would leave her right here and move on. The witch would only play around with the unworthy for so long before tiring of it. @Alphabet Chocolate
Alpha was, at the beginning at least, resolved with the intent of making it up to Merkaba and focusing solely on her personal quest of finding an inn or something to rest up in for the night and to find a vendor who'd be willing to sell her some kind of weapon. She was swept up in imaginary what-ifs and found herself obliviously skipping along the streets, thought bubbles popping into her head about possible weapons; maybe a yo-yo, or a lollipop weapon (imagine that!), or maybe even a scythe like Merkaba—except made of whipped cream! Possibilities floated in her mind and, with her most recent thought, she couldn't help but to fall on her bottom and go in a giggling fit. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to leave her on her own, after all. Regardless, she attempted (and admittedly failed the first couple of times) to regain her composure. "Okay Alpha, you can do this," she muttered. "Just get a place to stay and something to make sure you don't get killed out there. Simple." She got up and took a look around, surveying the area. She pulled up two of her fingers and pressed it into her temple as words began filtering through her vision. She looked through with the filter on, searching before hitting the jackpot. She gave a whoop in victory. There it is, in bright white lettering: INN. As she rushed in with spirits high, she quickly pulled up the communications window to message Merkaba: "C u in INN, ill pin the map" From: Alphabet Chocolate To: Merkaba She threw her arms up in excitement. This would definitely make up for the entire incident before! Then, her eye began to twitch. A look of dejection and melancholy passed by her face. She had already pressed the 'SEND' button and she didn't get a weapon yet and, most likely, Merkaba was already on her way (the woman was very serious and focused like that). She collapsed and huddled into herself before letting out a large groan, attracting the attention of the people on the streets as they hurried past. "I hate my life," she moaned. @Merkaba
Clueless fishermen, idiots that could barely speak English properly let alone any other language, and a overarching fear of the dark lady. A completely rural riverside village of idiots. Not a item or weapon for sale anywhere. This search for a merchant was becoming difficult. It was becoming obvious that this village was ment only as a rest point. Not to resupply or do any shopping. Most of the villagers ran away or closed their doors at the mere sight of her. It was telling just how much she needed to adjust the views of this world. Make it much more accepting of darkness. Were there no other people in this dimension worshiping and spreading the dark god's word properly? Those mages at the Outpost were supposedly dark worshippers. They were not doing a good job were they? The inn was not difficult in to find at all. It was right on the village map. It was looking like there was no sign of a merchant in this village however. Merkaba walked around barely looking around her at this point. Her eyes on her map generated from her menu. No worries about bumping into someone when they all run for dear life when you approach. It makes you wonder if this village has a reason for fearing a dark arts practitioner so much? That would be something to check into for later. Right now where was a blasted merchant? Checking all over the town she had yet to find one, then she saw him finally! A man in a red vest and large wide brimmed hat standing by the riverbed. He looked like he may be a fisherman, but he had a small bag of what looked like spears and a assortment of fishing bait for sale He was not on the map... Useless technology unable to record everything in this dimension properly! "You. Are you a merchant? I seek wares and supplies for myself and my follower." Merkaba approached him like a vampire in broad daylight. His face was one of shock but he seemed to quickly compose himself. He smiled nervously, saying he was a traveling merchant who would be here only for a day and gestured to his small bag of items. It did not look like much. He seemed to like spears. That would not be that helpful. Merkaba used polearms but she would not wield anything other than a scythe and Alphabet... well, she seemed to be incompetent so Elizabeth was not sure what to give her. She never asked to know her masteries or whatever the silly technology based limiters were. Maybe daggers or a bow. Hopefully the silly girl would not stab herself or hit Merkaba with them. "Do you have..." Her request would be halted by a message that suddenly popped up in front of her. What was this? A messaging system? "C u in INN, ill pin the map" From: Alphabet Chocolate To: Merkaba Elizabeth was not sure why this girl was going to the Inn before getting her weapon... If she had given up on searching for the merchant Elizabeth would have to not blame her too badly. It was only by luck that she stumbled across this man, but still... This girl did not understand how to fulfill a task assigned to her. Maybe, just maybe she had found this merchant and already made her purchases. Somehow Elizabeth doubted it. Sigh, she would have to improvise. "Did a girl about four feet tall come here earlier?" The merchant shook his head and said that he had no clients at all today. He wanted to leave soon too. "Do you carry medical supplies? Daggers? Bows?" He nodded and in said he had some herbs and a two sets of daggers available. However he had no available bows. He also tried to sell her his bait and spears to no avail. He looked worried that Merkaba would attack him for his lack of armaments. "I will be going to the Inn and getting the child in question who requires supplies to come to you. Do not leave here. Understand?" He nodded nervously. Elizabeth was unsure whether to trust him so she gestured for him to follow. She would not allow him to 'vanish' after she went to the Inn. "Come, you will come with me. It's more efficient that way..." Merkaba kept her eye on him as she almost forcibly made him take his bags and transfer them to the Inn. How amusing. This world's people are not aware of this mastery limiter foolishness. So she simply has to appear terrifying and powerful. The simple villager will see her that way. All the more reason this world was separate from the technology that linked to it. And so the witch marched with the merchant and his bags up to the Inn. @Alphabet Chocolate
"We have a room with two beds and a balcony view on the third floor starting at 200 gold pieces a night," the Innkeeper bargained, eyeing the satchel of gold that hung off Alpha's waist. He had figured that it would be easy conning the girl out of her money, considering that the amount of gold she carried, her youthful age, and naive personality all attributed to the qualities of a rich, dumb runaway. Well, you could use the word 'dumb' to describe Alpha pretty accurately but, still, she wasn't all that rich or the heiress to a mega-corporation or anything. Alpha scratched her chin and a thoughtful look fell on her face. "I still have to buy some stuff so maybe 2 gold pieces a night?" she haggled, wiggling her eyebrows. The Innkeeper fought the urge to hit his head onto the counter as his eye twitched and a vein popped on his forehead. "This is the last time I'll tell you, if I let everybody stay here for 2 gold pieces a night, I'd be broke and this Inn will be a thing of memory!" he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Here, I'll make a deal for you since you're just a kid...how about 199 gold pieces a night? No lower, and I know you've got enough money for that," he eyed her bag of loot. Just as he finished stating his offer, however, the doors of the Inn opened and Alpha couldn't help but be drawn to the sight of a man struggling to carry stacks of bags. Then the woman to the right caught her eye. "Merkaba!" she laughed, rushing over to hug her travelling companion. "It's been so long, I've missed you!" The Innkeeper, upon seeing the two strangers that just entered the Inn, felt sweat pouring down his neck. The lady garbed in dark clothing had a mysterious, dark aura around her and he couldn't help but feel intimidated. His throat felt dry and, although he wanted to, he couldn't muster the strength and will to grab the young girl to stop her from approaching a definitely dangerous person. Alpha, meanwhile, attempted to nuzzle her friend. "And is that our new friend?" she pointed at the bumbling merchant. "Man, you find friends really fast Merkaba!" she cheered. @Merkaba
The witch eyed the Inn upon entering. It was one of the few well built buildings in such a small rinky-dink village. The innkeeper probably was either a shrewd businessman or already had some wealth. Then her red eyes settled on the small visage of the thief girl. Well at least she stayed where she said she would be. Mekaba saw the nervous innkeeper's look and gave him a dark smile. These country folk were so easy to manipulate with fear. Elizabeth barely had to do anything, Merkaba's looks alone too care of it for her. The girl ran up and hugged her. Always making a scene of herself this girl. Merkaba just stood there looking at the innkeeper then down at Alpha with a tired look. Truly this day was dragging on more than she would like. Elizabeth herself was not a young chick anymore (OOC anime 31 is geezer!). And all of the childish antics was getting under her skin. Placing a delicate pale hand on the girls head, Merkaba gave her orders in a quiet tone. As usual having to keep the girl on track. "This man is the one you will get what you need from. Purchase a weapon and herbs for survival. The previous encounter will not be repeated." Pushing past the girl now and leaving her with the merchant that immediately brightened up when he saw that his actual client was such a cute little girl instead of the vampire looking woman. He began to shuffle through his wares and haggle. Although he kept it under control to not be too scamming when the dark lady was right there... Merkaba meanwhile approached the innkeeper and placed 20 gold on the table. "This is what your largest available room costs. Make sure that it has a large floor. I may desire to do some work tonight. I need space." The innkeeper looked at the gold and shook his head. "I-I'm sorry miss. It's going to have to be at least a 100. I have to make a living." Merkaba sighed and opened and closed her fist. It glowed a deep purple and radiated for a few seconds. The dark energy crackled and danced in her fist. Then a few 'sparks' hit the desk and left burn marks. She stared into the man's eyes and shook her hand as if it hurt. The purplish glow fading away. Merkaba spoke again. Her voice full of sincerity, but also foreboding. "I have a... condition you see. One where it is important that I have a resting area with great floor space. I require a ritual to praise my gods or... You see my power may occasionally become unstable, and then it would cause a great deal of misfortune in a wide radius. You would not want to be blamed for that calamity would you?" The innkeeper did not need any further pushing. He grabbed the 20 gold with haste and checked off the room number. He almost threw her the room key. "Right! I think we can have a a opening for that price! Great room! R-rest well miss! Top floor and turn right. Only two rooms up there. C-cant miss it." Merkaba cave a cold smile and turned away with the key. Looking at her silly named follower she would tell her to follow her to the room. Then she began to slowly head towards the stairs. It would be time to leave this body for the night. The prime dimension's Elizabeth was growing tired. Tomorrow she would make another journey towards the ruin for her needs, with a prepared follower in tow... "Finish your purchases. It is time we rested and prepared for the morrow." @Alphabet Chocolate
Stars were in Alpha's eyes as she eyed the merchandise and the kind, bumbling merchant. A peculiar looking bottle that had the icon of a cat painted on the outside had intrigued Alpha more than any blade or herb. "Oooh," she stared at it with an odd sort of fascination, oblivious to the on-goings around her. "What's this?" she inquired, poking the bottle and making it wobbled hazardously. The merchant eyed her closely and almost panicked. "N-No d-," he paused, giving a weary glance to see the white-haired woman casting some sort of magic around her fist. He gulped, sometimes lost merchandise just wasn't worth his life to protect. "N-never mind that, it's just a transformation potion," he attempted to dissuade the girl from touching it any further. Alpha's eyes just glimmered even more, now akin to a radiant, shining star. "A transformation potion?!" she exclaimed. "That's so cool! Like, what happens if you drink it? There's a cat on here too, do you turn into a cat or something?!" she bombarded the sweating merchant with a host of excited questions and a load of enthusiasm. "H-haha," he laughed nervously. It would be best to amuse this little girl as long as possible lest he might get decapitated or worse. "That's exactly it! But be careful when you drink it because it's hard to—wait don't!" he was too late. As soon as Alpha heard that her inferences had been correct, she had been overcome with energy and an unquenchable desire to see what would happen should she drink it. She downed the drink as the merchant watched helplessly, unknowing as to whether he should interrupt her or to leave her be. Then, after a moment when she's downed half the bottle, he ran out the door with only his hat on, crazily escaping for his dear life. ... .... .... ... ... .... Alpha felt something odd... Then she decided that it was just a con or something cause she didn't feel the slightest bit different! She gave a grumpy sigh as she walked to Merkaba upon seeing that the older lady had finished getting them a room. And—wait, was she walking on four, wait wait wait wait, were those paws?! Her eyes glowed with excitement as she checked her body and the world that now seemed so big to her. 'This was so cool!' she would've said if she could speak with a human tongue. Unfortunately, since she was a cat now, all that came out of her mouth was: "Meow, meow, meowww." Giggling, she pawed at Merkaba's feet to try and get her attention. "Meow!" @Merkaba
Between the starting journey from Stokbon, the forest encounter with the wolves, the village search and finally all of Alphabet's ridiculous antics. Elizabeth was finished with this day and had thought that she would be able to move on up the room she had just payed for, taking a rest from not just the trip but also her foolish girl companion. Well.. that rest would have to wait a little longer because the silly thief had once again done something unnecessarily stupid. A cat, a damn cat. The one in control of this girl's body must be either 5 years old or a troll. Nobody is this stupid. "Meow!" Merkaba was at the steps ready to climb them. When a tiny meow and a rub of fur on her leg made her stop. Shortly before she had heard a shout of "No!" from the merchant.... oh not again. This would be the last straw. Elizabeth was not going to deal with being this girl's babysitter and savior again. Looking straight down at the cat that was obviously the dumb girl, Alphabet. Merkaba did not know whether to laugh at this level of idiocy or to become angry and stomp on the creature. Sometimes it was pain that made a person learn from their mistakes the quickest.. The merchant came running over to the witch and ironically, her cat.He looked worried that Merkaba would cause him harm for giving the girl the transformation potion. Merkaba ignored his rambling and simply stared at the animal below her. Folding her arms and glaring, she spoke with a hint of irritation but would not lose her generally stoic nature. First her words were directed at the merchant. "A potion of transmogrification wasn't it?" The merchant nodded nervously and began to explain that Alphabet ignored his warnings. "So... what to do with you now? I could just leave you here. I'm sure the innkeeper could use a rat catcher. How long does it last? Curing ailments is not my specialty." Merkaba waited for a response while her red eyes glared as if they could burn a hole in the Alphabet cat's new little feline body. @Alphabet Chocolate
Alpha yowled nervously at Merkaba. The woman was awfully intimidating when she was irritated but she wouldn't hurt her friend—right? She took a paw and gave it a tentative lick, her anxiety on full display with her feline mannerisms. "Meow, meow, meow," she tried to explained, only to cut off when only mewls came out of her traitorous tongue. Her fur was starting to get matted with the excess sweat she was producing and, as a creature, she could see the dark aura around Merkaba even more clearly. Despite being her friend, Alpha had to admit that Merkaba was a dangerous person. The eerie feeling that had settled down in the middle of her stomach only spiked when Merkaba had directed her scathing words and cold, red glare on her. Never before had fear this intense enveloped Alpha and she wasn't sure if it was just because she was trapped in a cat's body. She froze, her instincts kicking in and she couldn't help but look for possible areas of escape. She mentally kicked herself. Why would she run away from her trusted companion? Still, her fight-or-flight mentality just wouldn't get the memo. Again, despite her previous failures at doing so, she tried to communicate in any way she could with Merkaba. "Meow, meow, meow," and irritation bubbled within her when all she could get out were pathetic cries. "Meow," she whimpered, eyes wide and fearful, backing away from Merkaba's heated glare. Then, without warning and without a level head, her body naturally moved on its own, attempting to swipe the merchant's foot and make a distraction before running after the door. "Urgh!" the merchant screamed, lifting and clutching his injured leg. Alpha didn't mind the slight drips of blood that began to ooze out the man's light cuts slowly. It wasn't deep enough to seriously hurt the man and her primary motivation now was to simply get out of here. She didn't look back. @Merkaba
Merkaba watched the now feline Alphabet Chocolate flail her little paws about. The dark mage was not amused nor did see try to understand. What was there to understand, really? The idiot girl had done yet another mishap. Unfortunately for the silly child.... this was one mishap too many. Elizabeth was not letting her off the hook anymore. The dark stare continued and when the cat scratched the merchant and ran, Merkaba would not pursue. Instead she simply smiled almost with sympathy. The child did not even stay so that Merkaba or the merchant could cure her. Silly, silly, child. The darkness would more likely devour that one rather than convert her. Looking to the merchant Merkaba would give a partial shrug and turn for the steps. This was enough for today. Elizabeth just wanted to log out and rest in both worlds right now. She had too much to do still and wasted her time on that girl. Without a care , she continued to climb the steps. One foot after the other. The merchant watched and shouted nervously behind her as she climbed. He obviously thought they actually were 'friends'... ha. Elizabeth had no friends, only followers and her gods. "Hey! Don't you want to help your friend? She will return to normal in 24 hours but if you use a special herb found in the mountains she will recover sooner! Hey miss...." Merkaba ignored him and climbed the stairs to her room. She took no time finding her room and entering, leaving all the fools outside of it. The room was spacious and had a great window with a balcony. This will do nicely. Merkaba felt the bed's surface with her hand. Very nice... sleep in this dimension would be just like the prime dimension. The dark witch would arrange for a short ritual during the night maybe but for now she put her alter body to rest and would log off to get a rest for herself as well. Elizabeth had work at the lab tomorrow and needed her wits about her. A large scale project was about to begin... [Thread Complete!]
