Private - One Step, Two Step

One, two, three, four... That was how Zelrius counted each passing moment, mimicking it with each step he took along the shoreline, stopping for just a moment around the fourtythird step to wipe all the sand off his pants and shoes. The golden haired man at that moment promptly turned and waved off the boat that had dropped him off, another wave being passed off to Vina as they now parted ways. Maybe for the last time, though Zelrius hoped he'd see his White-haired Felis' friend again. Though he wasn't sure how soon that would be, if at all. he was more than hopeful that it would be in the near future, perhaps after things had calmed down in Falderen and Astorea. Though he was left with a bad taste in his mouth; He hadn't added the woman in their last adventure together, and wasn't sure how to get a hold of her otherwise from here on out.

For now, those thoughts were left behind as he squinted into the horizon, watching small canoes beginning to be drawn back into a distant port as the sun settled. That was his next destination, and with a spring in his step, Zelrius started off toward that village, basking in the late-autumn sun. The sand shifted slowly under his feet with each step Zelrius seemed to mellow out quite a bit from his usual 'Hustle and Bustle' attitude. It was strange even to him, how calm he seemed despite the frustration he had moments ago. Though that frustration was melted now, and his annoyances came to a calm, his thoughts seeming to move in conjunction with the breeze, a snail pace. That same breeze tickled his face, as it pushed hair against and away from it in all directions, making his long golden locks flow about freely, the man seeming to give little to no mind to them, allowing them to dance in the wind and act on their own with it. The air was noticeably cozier here than in comparison to Brisshal, where the winds began to bite and whistle against every corner of every house, and distract every article of clothing that wasn't closed up from doing their job. Everything from open sweatshirts and jackets, to skirts and dresses being thrashed about in those harsher and much colder winds.

Just as the afternoon sun dipped below the horizon, the swordsman made his way into the town now in search of an Inn. He had no intention of resting, only of finding information on the area and what there was to do while he was here. The man had just gotten done fighting a war for Astorea, having cleared the tunnel successful, albeit getting blasted out of it, and then personally defending the wall in a last ditch effort of distraction while the Princess and Astor's team handled Theodore himself. Those two missions were done, and the fight at the wall ended shortly after Zelrius himself drove his blade through the Lunatic princess herself; Snefrid. Just the memory of the Wolf-Bitch and her army, the golden haired man shuddered, remembering the brutal fighting and taxing struggle that the battle had become in the later stages.

Though that wasn't the most unsettling part of his early morning the night of and morning of that battle. No, that award belonged to the Funeral Pyre he had personally set up to honor the fallen foe. He remembered helping Mizuki up on the wooden throne he had built for the then dead Snefrid, and then watching as the woman he considered a friend tore open the breast of the dead wolf, and reached for her heart, devouring the muscle and tissue after getting her hands on it.

That vivid memory cut the trip of the mind's eye short, as Zelrius found a near by building to lean against a vomit, the horrible sounds of Mizuki chomping and tearing at the vital organ of another being ringing in his ears even still.

 

It had not been exceptionally long before Ilya had started to work her way to the nearest shoreline. In fact as soon as she had completed sculpting out her in game character, joining much later than everyone else, Ilya had started to walk towards the ocean. At least, in the direction that her map had told her to go. By mid-day Ilya had arrived in Dunnstads. Walking through the various towns and cities that scattered the seemingly endless terrain on her way to the sea had been straining if not to say the least. But nonetheless, Ilya found her way to be exuberantly standing on the very edge of the sparkling warm sand and the inviting vast sea. The crisp cool breeze was gently carrying the scent of salt, obviously coming from the waters. As Ilya took a breath in through her mouth she could taste the air enough to know that she was at her objective location at long last. The soft ebb of the sea could be heard as the waves lolled along the shoreline only being interrupted quite a few times by the seagull's cry of jubilation. Without even thinking about it, Ilya's cat ears and cat tail twitched out of excitement. With a soft yelp of alarm Ilya's hands shot up feel the top of her head. Having forgotten that she had picked Felis at her character creation, Ilya had needlessly panicked. She shook off the feelings that having a tail and ears that would move at her command left with her with.

With her thoughts being filled of the awe that being a Felis left Ilya, the sun had slowly started to sink in the sky. Ilya was enjoying the feeling of the refreshing water lapsing at her feet which were buried in the wet, compact sand. Deciding it was about time to figure out the system in its completeness Ilya made a fist like motion before releasing, leaving her palm faced towards the large swirls above her, called the sky. She took note that the time was rather later in the afternoon. Ilya then took note of the various need meters. Upon studying the palm menu further, she noticed the inventory button. Now this should come in handy. Ilya gave a light-hearted laugh to herself. Scanning her eyes beyond the inventory button she noticed the mail icon along with the other features of the palm menu, the final icon being the logout button. Having no need to log out Ilya closed the palm menu. With near no knowledge of the story thus far in Terrasphere Online, Ilya decided to search for someone who would be of assistance.

Picking her feet carefully out of the sand out of respect for the crabs that lived there, Ilya moved on her way. Keeping to the water's edge, she headed for the nearest village. The air surrounding Ilya lazily rode the gentle, mother-like currents of the sky (Another way to say "breeze"). Along with the air being sifted, Ilya's silky red hair fluttered ever so slightly leaving the impression of light-hearted spirit. Ilya's compassionate yet stern red eyes scanned the terrain surrounding her. Taking note of tall coconut trees and different sized rocks along her path, she dodged each obstacle while maintaining the small skip in her step.

The sun continued to near the horizon however before it could so much as light the sky up with it's playful warm colors, Ilya had reached the town. Her feet had naturally kept her moving before her eyes fell upon the doors to the inn. After the relaxing sounds of the beach, Ilya had not been prepared for the ruckus caused from within the inn. Her soft red cat ears flattened against her head as her tail swished anxiously. It was not long before the doors to the inn swung open and an elf of sorts was tossed out by an angry looking innkeeper. Not wanting to go inside of the inn after the shenanigan, Ilya opted to find a different building to seek for information. The sun had finally lit up the sky as if it were setting it to flames. Ilya took a second to admire the absolute beauty before she rounded a corner. Upon rounding the corner, her eyes befell on a golden haired man who was making a horrid noise. Her nose twitched, vomit. Without much thought she silently looked away, but not before taking a few steps backwards. Her soft ears flattened once again and her fluffy tail began to lash back a forth without her wanting it to. This Felis thing might become a pain in the neck.. I can't control these involuntary 'twitches' and movements. Along with an enhances sense of smell..

 

The smell was horrid; his nostrils curled and flared as it stung into his nose. He reached a hand up to pinch it closed, not wanting to endure both the horrible taste and the god-awful smell of his meal from the boat. Eventually, his stomach was empty of not only that meal, but any he had left within his system; causing the hunger bar in his menu to go from a nice and healthy full orange, to a depleted red, only a tiny sliver of it poking through. It was disgusting, in all manners of the word, and he felt horrified now that he had let Ueno do such an act. But, at the same time, Zelrius couldn't really blame himself. She had insisted that it was a way to honor thy enemy, and as such, he allowed her to go through with it, even feeling like it was the right thing to do. Even still, that didn't change the fact that it was gruesome and horrifying to watch. He was reminded even then of his first battle with a monster in the game, and that led to his first fight with a person. The monster wasn't a whole lot different than from other computer games, but there was something different about actually standing there and feeling your blade sink into a beast, before withdrawing it and with that weapon, a large chunk of meat and blood. Terra was slowly becoming a darker and darker place the more time Zelrius spent within its confines.

There was the cultist kidnapping of that small Felis back in Stokbon, the one he had dealt with Kijin, a man who seemed more than well-versed with the dark underbelly of societies, especially the ones here in the game. The golden haired man strove to be of noble and clean slate, but had found himself in more than one occasion doing the dirty work, and handling people who were less than savory. The answer most people who weren't happy with a game would be to log out, right? Well, for Zelrius himself, that wasn't exactly the best of his options. The man disliked the turn his life had taken, feeling completely isolated from those he considered friends and family. Even more so after he alienated him following graduating Highschool. Terra was his life at this point, and to be honest, he had no idea what he'd do without it at this point. That coupled with the fact that he wasn't exactly unhappy with the game, there was just more to it than he was originally ready for.

His thoughts were interrupted by footsteps close by, immediately triggering his initial reaction to be place his left hand on the hilt attached to his right hip. This was a habit he had picked up after his time in the sewers with the aforementioned Bloodsworn, and was reinforced further into a reaction by his time spent on Druuk with Vina, and the pirates running amuk. He turned sharply to see a Felis, not an uncommon sight in the game. This one had red hair, and actually appeared to be in more discomfort than anything. It was almost instantly apparent to him why, as he wiped his face with his sleeve, making sure that they stayed low enough to conceal the rest of his arms. He gave a slight step toward the Felis, though it was more of an attempt to get away from the puddle of human bile he had created than it was to move toward her.

With a slight bow and placing his hands behind his back Zelrius only gave a short nod before speaking. "I, uh ah," It seemed he'd never be able to get being socially awkward around people he had never met before. "Sorry. Didn't meant to disturb you. I wasn't throwing up against your home or anything?" He wasn't sure what the girl was doing there, unable to tell whether she was player or NPC just by looking at her, and even more unable to tell why she was there in the first place. Still, she seemed soft enough in expression; something that seemed to be shared by most of the people in these sleepy villages, making the assumption that the girl was from this area. "You wouldn't happen to know where the nearest Inn is would you? I uh," He gave a slight gesture to the vomit he had just expelled from his mouth, "H-Have to wash a taste out of my mouth." He kind of stepped to the side, a bit embarrassed by the stuttering and major inability to exactly express what he wanted, hoping she'd understand and point him in the right direction where they could part ways.

 

Two footsteps rung through the dark street where the only light source was the rising moon and Ilya's head lifted, watching cautiously as the human stepped towards her.. From the way it looked, it was as if he was trying to get away from the retch that he had managed to heave out of himself. Ilya's expression of caution immediately changed to one of surprise. One of her kitty ears lifted partially in curiosity as the man before her bowed at her. Hearing his voice caused her tail to slow down in speed so rather than the violent lashing it had been expressing prior it was now at a snail pace, flicking left then right. The question-like statement that sounded caused Ilya's right ear to shift, his voice sounded.. If she had to pick a color to describe him it would probably be gold(not because of his golden-like hair). Realizing that the question was rhetorical only too late, Ilya's mouth had already spoken the answer. "To be quite honest, you actually were not disturbing me. I had rather b--" Ilya shoved her hand over her mouth to stop her from speaking. Embarrassed. "Sorry, I did not realize it was a rhetorical question." Ilya kept her hand at her mouth, yet moved it upwards slightly to hide her flustering cheeks. Bad Ilya. You weren't supposed to embarrass yourself on your first encounter with someone! Her ears at this point had been twitching with embarrassment until she heard his second set of questions. At this her tail froze and her ears flattened once again.

"Errr... I don't think you want to go into the nearest inn." The mind of Ilya churned as she replayed the events at the inn in her head once again. The man stepped to the side, away from the overhanging of the roof and away from the 'deposit'. He was no longer in the shadows, not that it mattered much with Ilya's eyes. Ilya blinked twice as she examined the man for the 'first' time. He was tall. Ilya would say he was around five feet, eleven inches to six foot, one inch. His hair was golden of appearance, and quite straight. It framed his face and made his clear blue eyes to "pop" out. Underneath his armor it was difficult to tell what style of build he was, but she had a good guess. Might be lean or athletically built.. Who knows. Her eyes then fell on the sword that his hand had been attached to. It was on his right side. Ilya looked down to her arms making sure her gauntlets were in place. Having since stopped "checking him out" (which in fact she really was not doing) her motive being, 'understanding what those around her look like in case she runs into them again'. "But, you might need more than just a place to wash up. Your food bar must be depleted by now! You just threw up your guts. Ilya frowned slightly, "My own experience with the nearby inn isn't that great.. I won't go into detail but it made me not want to enter its premises. Although, maybe having somebody with me mi-" Ilya's words stopped sounding from her mouth. She had done it again. Been rambling on and on.

The hope was that her voice and actions had not altered the man's thoughts of her in negative context.(She was quite insecure when it came to that) "You know what? Let's just go. I'll take you there. Follow me." Ilya turned around and walked back around the corner. The building that the man had thrown up on was in fact the inn. Ilya couldn't help as her laugh popped from her mouth. It was funny. This guy, had just thrown up on the very building he was suppose to clean up in. This might further my concerns.. From the looks of the building it was definitely an inn, or tavern. Either worked. Her first impression of it, prior to this surprising event had been in fact that it was an in. (It also has double doors, cause why not?)

 

Player. His mind answered the question he had had earlier regarding the status of the Felis that stood in front of him. He hadn't been sure up to that point, Terra had been very good at the realism aspect. However, the giving away sign was the speech pattern and Vocabulary. Or atleast, it was a good basis. Zelrius hadn't expected to really run into another player out here in the middle of nowhere along some random shoreline in an equally random Village. That of course, was slightly naive of the golden haired man. There were a lot of unknown factors in that, ones that clearly were insignificant, because here stood a player in front of him now. Those factors being things like, He had no idea how many people played Terra, or how often they moved about or Traveled, and how far. Or for their own motives; he had no idea why this woman was here, but he had to assume that it was for something. Right? It was semi incomprehensible from his point of view for people to wander aimlessly without a goal of some sort in mind. For instance, even Zelrius roamed the open world without a specific end destination in mind, but the goal was almost always discernible. It could be broken down into One of Three general ideas. Make Money, Get Mastery, Or Complete Task. So now the question burned in his mind, what was her Objective from being here? Did she even have one? Or was he wrong, and she wasn't a player, but instead, just a very unnatural inhabitant of Terra?

That last question was easily dismissed. She was rather articulate, even more so in literary phrases like Rhetorical, and using modern day phrases such as 'To be quite Honest', something that was very unnatural for the Medieval-like locals of the Sphere. He gave a soft laugh at her apology, trying to keep the mood light even though he was now beginning to jitter a little in hunger. "Eh? I mean, eh, I was just worried that you were a Local and that this-this," He pointed to the building they were standing right by "Was like your home and you were coming out here to shoo me away..?" Though that was really what he thought, his words sounded unsure, like he was second guessing that idea. He shook his head, knowing now that was wrong, because it was clear she was not only a player, but that neither of them had any idea what the building behind them was even for. Perhaps it was a home, or a warehouse, or a closed shop. None of that mattered anyway, though he did feel a bit bad about leaving a smelly and disgusting mess down the side of it, even more so as it all began to collect into one area.

The girl seemed apprehensive at first about going into the nearest inn, causing Zelrius to raise a blonde eyebrow at her, intrigued now. This caused a grin to form on his face as he tapped the hilts of both his swords stationed neatly on both his hips. He was going to speak before she continued on, his eyes now slightly widening in disarray as she went on about his empty food bar. It wasn't something he expected; not used to people, number one caring about such things, or being observant enough to understand the correlation there. The swordsman himself wouldn't have thought of something if someone else were in his situation. "You're right, I suppose... Well, I have plenty of coin, perhaps I may even treat you to something." Again, more uncertainty filling his voice. The man meant it purely as a polite gesture, trying not to come off as rude or weird. The felis went on to talk about her premonition regarding the Inn, causing the smirk to return as he was reminded of his earlier thought. "If you're worried about people causing trouble," This being the first time his voice had a sliver of confidence in it "I dare someone to get into a sword fight with me." He kept the thought vague, but was confident she'd understand what he was getting at.

With that, the pair seemed to hurry off and into the Inn, stopping just outside as Zelrius scanned the area. It was a beautiful place, this small fishing Village, illuminated only by the Moonlight, a nice shimmering silver in a clear sky. He immediately grew red as the man realized that was the building that he had just been vomiting against. Not wanting to dwell on it too long, the now beet red Zelrius walked forth, pushing open one of the double doors and holding it open for the woman.

 

"Well, I am sure that if I stick around and get to know you I can manage to see you get into a sword fight with someone." Ilya's sharp eyes landed on the man once again, whom she still had no name to match his face. However this time instead of scanning him to memorize his face and physique, her eyes were upon his hands which had landed on his two hilts. "Besides the added comfort, I am sure that I will have nothing to worry about. I am pretty good myself." Ilya's drew her hands into two fists and clashed them both together creating a satisfying clang. The devilish grin and dark eyes that appeared on Ilya's face flashed for mere seconds. You cannot let him see that side of you yet.. Damn it Ilya. Get it together. With a bit of struggle, Ilya had her grin disappear to a more happy version. "As for treating me, I would love it. Although... I can be a bit expensive....." Right after Ilya held emphasis on 'expensive', she winked and let out a joyous laugh.
With the door being held open, Ilya nodded her head in thankfulness and walked inside. Beyond the double doors withheld a mixture of things. What first caught Ilya's attention was obviously the innkeeper (who was also the bar tender). He was quite tall, by rough estimate Ilya assumed he was at least 6' 5". Pretty tall for a NPC.. He was younger in age, Ilya's guess was he was around twenty-seven in age. His hair was tightly gelled back with four loose strands hanging on either side of his face. His hair was a deep brown color that initiated even the smallest spark of interest in Ilya. She had not ever seen hair a color so deep. It wasn't so much that she was interested in the man himself, it was more the hair. It sort of had its own aura that spoke in volumes. The bottom portion of his uniform was hidden by the bar counter. He was wearing a nice button down, white, collared shirt with a navy blue tie. The very tie he had on was tucked into a black-like vest that held a small hue of dark brown within its threads. His arms were moving about it a rhythmic manner while he made drinks.
Behind the bar tender/innkeeper was two wide oak wood shelves. They was intricate in design and held various items and splendor. On the left shelf, it held glass cups and numerous types of wines and beers. On the left side in the corner of the left shelf were all of his virgin drinks and sodas. On the right side in the corner of the left shelf were fruits and olives that would be put in various drinks. There was a small opening between the two shelves that seemed to run back into kitchen of sorts where the smell of meat cooking and pie baking wafted out. A small rumbling vibrated through Ilya's body as she realized how hungry she was. She had been travelling all day without a bite to eat. Her own food bar was quite low itself.

The shelf to the right was splendorous in itself. It was smaller than the shelf to the left but it was just as glamorous. On the upper portion of the shelf there were small pecks that held each a room key. Some were rusted while others were shiny. Below the rack of keys was a rack of potions and medicinal herbs. To the right of that very shelf was a sink and a drying rack with cups set upon it. The waitresses of the inn were dressed in a short pink skirt with white ruffles and a white poofy blouse with yellow accents. They also had black vests on, (much like the bar tender) and had yellow ribbons to top off the whole look. Most of the waitresses had blonde hair and small elf ears.

The inn was full of rowdy noises as each individual person was talking. It was quite busy for being so early in the night. Near the door, there was a group of people at a table. They were all dressed differently. One had light blue hair with light blue eyes and an outfit to match. She was standing over the table with a cup of beer chatting excitedly to the group of people. In front of her was a brown hair lass who had his back turned to Ilya, so much that she could only tell that he was eating some sort of food. He was wearing a gray pair of slack that had a faint tint of blue, with a brown leather belt bucked around his torso. Tucked underneath the belt (but over the pants) was a white shirt. The younger looking man had one more thing on that made him stand out. He had a green cape of sorts that was shaped like a triangle. To the right of him was a girl who was facing Ilya. She was holding a leg of fried chicken and had food all over her face. She was wearing a flame colored tunic with a brown colored belt matched with black knee stockings. Her hair was brown in color, making Ilya assume she was a sister of the man to her left. Her eyes matched her own outfit, being flame colored. Across from the sister, was a small, big breasted female who was wearing armor of sorts. She had sparkling blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Her sharp blue eyes were gazing at the brother with a look of adoration.

Ilya's observations were interrupted as her stomach rumbled once again. One of her hands went to her stomach while the other went to cover her flushing cheeks. The bar in itself was well-lit so much to Ilya's disappointment her hand did not hide a lot of her now reddened cheeks. With a small glance to her left she noticed that the man had bright red cheeks as well. Not wanting him to notice, she made a beeline for the bar tender. She set her hands on the counter as she took a seat at the bar, "One pint of ale and one plate of fish." With a smirk from the innkeeper he called out for her order of fish before setting a pint of ale in front of her. The inn was not at all like what Ilya had experienced prior from the front of the inn.

 

Zelrius frowned slightly at her comment, making it seem like the two would get well acquainted, which to be quite honest, wasn't in his plans at all. It wasn't anything against her, the Felis seemed nice enough, its just that... A quick scan of her told she wasn't well equipped; He knew all too well of that from his early days. Though the gauntlets she kept about were fancy, the man wasn't sure exactly what they were capable of. And to be honest, while the man enjoyed meeting people and making friends, he was socially fatigued from doing so. The war and the events leading up to it had caused him to work with and meet a bunch of people he would have otherwise never even considered talking to. People like Claire, and even though they butted heads at the beginning, eventually got along. Don't get Zelrius wrong, he quite enjoyed those people that he met, and the group of people from the division that split off from the Rescue Entourage referred to as "The White Team", people like Blithe, Magi, Romulus, Blake, Vina, and the aforementioned Clarissa, would always hold a special place in the man's heart. They were wonderful people, and the team had amazing cohesion. Overall he liked those people. However, Zelrius wasn't a social person by any stretch of the imagination, especially not in this stage of his life. He had no want to befriend a random girl he met while throwing up on the side of an Inn. It would serve him no purpose, and social interaction actually drained the man of quite a bit of energy. That, and he was already extremely tuckered out mentally from the last few weeks of the war itself. The siege of the Fort with the frogs, the poisonous Cave. The Abomination down in the Tunnel, the Battle of Dormont and his own Contribution (Or in his mind, lack there of).

These thoughts were cut short as she reassured him that she was plenty good in a fight, but to be honest, Zelrius was skeptical. Once more, not anything against the woman, but he actually was always skeptical of people who said that, knowing only a handful of people off the top of his head who moved and dominated the battlefield in such a way that no danger was brought to them. "Rrright." He said, his voice laced with doubt and sarcasm, but an attempt to be polite floating in there as well. It was odd, for someone who wasn't very confident in himself, for the man to be so doubtful of others. See, his self-deprecation wasn't a feeling that he was inferior, it was a feeling that everyone was inferior in some way, and the man had no way of controlling that inferiority to the others of the world. Often times, as a child, he would dream of the big wigs back in Boston, how it is they made their wealth and what is it that separated them from the lower class, people like the golden haired man himself. And through one way or another, he attributed it to birth and childhood circumstances, along with a bit of genetics. He was convinced that those people were born to be that way one way or another, and that he, like many others, just wasn't. It was his only explanation to how he wasn't as successful as those people, seeing no other justification in his own mind as to why his life had gone to such shit since Graduation. What made that thought worse still, was no one challenged Zelrius on these ideals when he expressed them, most people just ignoring him and changing the subject. And in his mind, those same rules applied to Terra. Everyone was inferior, except for the few who were godtier in comparison. People like Seto, Astor, Gwyn or even D'Vangelline herself. Ilya didn't escape this rule, atleast, not in his mind. So, he was naturally doubtful of her capabilities.

Still, that would have to be discussed another time as the pair entered the Inn together, Zelrius trailing a few steps behind her, looking more for someone than to actually get anything to eat or drink her. The tables were full, one of them seemingly bustling with activity as a group of adventurers glanced back and forth and seemed to be a bit rowdy, one of them munching on what appeared to be a chicken wing or of the like. She began to speak again, causing Zelrius to glance over to her and listen if only for a moment. He comment caught him by surprise, as he once again raised an eye brow and stood awkwardly to the wink and laugh. More than caught him off guard, the comment kind of annoyed him, causing his jaw to clench to keep from being rude, drowning in his own thoughts. Of course, all women get expensive when it's someone else's money they're spending. Though he wouldn't dare say this out loud, only tease in return. "Run the bill up too much, and you'll be the one paying." And with that she was off to the counter, and with a sigh, the golden haired man followed one slow step at a time. He listened to her order, and he too gave a small request. "Water, and a few napkins." The Tavernkeep of some sort complied, sliding the cup and small basket of rag-esque things over. Zelrius nodded, taking a large swig of the water, swishing it in his mouth, and then, while holding the rags up to his mouth, spit the water out and into them. Repeating twice more this rather disgusting and uncourteous act, the man went into his inventory and retrieved a coin pouch. With that, he placed Ten Coins in a neat stack on the table and slid them over to her. "Pay for whatever you get. If you need more just yell for me." And without paying second thought to how she might do that, given the felis didn't know his name, Zelrius trotted off, his mouth now free of the horrible stench of bile.

After some time, and quite a bit of conversations to be had, Zelrius found the information he was looking for from a dark haired man surrounded by what appeared to be a group of guardsmen of sorts. "Anti-Pirates." That same dark haired man correct when the swordsman tried to put a name to them. "Anti-Pirates...?" Zelrius responded, curious, but already forming a general idea. "Aye. The pirates like to roll up from Druuk and bring sufferin' and what have you. So, one of them fancy lord types paid me and some of me boys over here to sit around, and anytime a ship comes aknocking, to make sure that is friendly. And if it ain't, we make it so." The golden haired man gave a nod, now using that as a lead into his next question. "So you know the area then?" The dark haired man gave a sidelong glance, not entirely sure what he was getting at. "Eh, getting there, shurre." A grin slowly formed on Zelrius' face. "I am looking for something that might have also caused trouble in this area. A Crab of sorts." Now it was the dark haired man's turn to grin. "Yer lookin' for ol Muddy. You adventurers are crazy I tell ya. Lucky you guys are brought back by some cruel god, I guess. Yea, I know whatcha got next. 'Where he at tho?' The answer to that is down the ways to the east. He likes to hangout with a whole gang of them little chompy buggers. Best of luck, Adventurer." And with that, the two gave a nod of understanding, as he gave out another twenty or so coins to the Dark Haired man and the three men he was surrounded by, a sort of thank you.

With that he glanced around and looked for his soon-to-be Ex-Companion, making his way back to the counter and finishing the glass of water. Speaking to her. "Okay, how much do we owe? I will pay and then you and I part ways here. It was nice meeting you. Maybe we will meet again." Though he didn't believe that last statement, intentionally keeping his name a secret so that it was even more unlikely. Not that he thought the girl would search for him or anything, but he simply just didn't want to create that kind level of friendliness with her.

 

As the golden haired man ordered a single water, Ilya's facial expression became a slight frown. He needs food. He will not be able to go anywhere like this. The man had walked away as if he was looking for something by the time the innkeeper had returned from the back with her plate of fish. He walked closer to Ilya as she continued to non patiently wait for it to appear. Ilya looked at her plate as her fish was set in front of her. The plate was a plain white in color with small black designs that continued underneath her food. The smell made her mouth water as the freshly caught and baked fish called out her name. She could hear it... Illyyyaaa... eaaattt meeee Her cat tail wavered in the air, before she set herself on the fish. It was steaming hot, but it didn't matter to her. She ate it in a few elegant bites before swigging it down with her ale. Her cup clanged down onto the table as she set it down. She waved her hand to signal that she did not need a refill. Her thoughts started to rummage in her brain as she grew unsettled. I don't know what I did to upset him so much to the point that he simply walks away from me all the time. Especially with the doubt and sarcasm that had laced his voice earlier. Her cat ears flattened against her head as she recalled the exact moment. It's just like.. That day.. Ilya's mind was suddenly taken back into memories of her real life. Her 'easy' life. It was a warm and sunny afternoon. The birds had been chirping quite a bit as Ilya was taking a walk among the premises of her mansion. It was an exceptionally long walk as her property was quite large in size. It was then that she stumbled upon what seemed to be a man sleeping in a small tent just on the outside of her property. She had woken the man up delicately, as one might expect them to do. He had woken up and from the get-go he had been embarrassed. His face peeked out of the tent before his whole body had exited. He had been dressed as if he had no home, and no real shelter in a long time. He had a scruffy beard and lonely brown eyes. She had obviously offered to give him shelter in her home, and he had taken her up on her offer. She called over her butler who had then attended to his items. She had made sure he had water, clothes and a decent hot meal before asking him for his name. Which he had refused to give her. "It's not like we will become well aquainted." Ilya had been distraught, she had helped him out so nicely. Yet here he was refusing to speak to her after this, rather wanting to part ways.

Ilya had not much respect for the man after that moment, yet he stayed for two more nights. It had been the fourth day that he had been in her home (yes i did my math correctly). She had asked his name once every day, yet this time instead of giving it to her he told her that he would be taking his leave. She assertively had told him "Not before you tell me your name. Here I am trying to help someone out, as I have put no effort into getting this acclaimed fortune, yet they deny me as if I am a pest. As if I am the bane of their existence." At this the man had simply walked out on her right then and there. This had discouraged Ilya quite a long time after the event, refusing to go to the simplest of tea meetings saying she "felt ill". Ilya had refused to let it ever happen again, and she wasn't bound to break her promise to herself. Ilya's mind flashed back to the present as she was sucked out of the endless void called 'memories'. She gripped the counter, "Give me five bottles of water, one bottle of Porter and four turkey and ham sandwiches." While the innkeeper prepared her order, she looked down at the ten coins that the golden haired man had laid on the table. I can't let this be like last time. Despite her feelings of unease, at being rejected yet again. She screamed internally, her tail lashing back and forth. Why am I like this.. It's like I get so easily discouraged by the simplest thing such as a person's opinion of me.. I need to.. Ugh. I don't want to do anything, but curl up in a ball and sleep forgetting of this man. But at the same time it's a battle of strength. I feel if I show confidence I might become better in his eyes. Letting her two battling personalities fight each other, she looked at the innkeeper who had since then arrived with her order. "30 gold pieces please." Ilya didn't even look at the ten the man had left, as she opened her inventory and spawned thirty of her own gold. She handed it off to the innkeeper before standing to her feet.

Opening her two hands, she scooped the gold pieces the man had left her into her left hand. With her right hand, she placed the sandwhiches, beer and the waters into her inventory before turning around to face the guy. He was talking to a man. She pricked her Felis ears to listen in, despite it being rude. She heard the tail of the conversation as the main guardsman seemed to say his last piece. "Yer lookin' for ol Muddy. You adventurers are crazy I tell ya. Lucky you guys are brought back by some cruel god, I guess. Yea, I know whatcha got next. 'Where he at tho?' The answer to that is down the ways to the east. He likes to hangout with a whole gang of them little chompy buggers. Best of luck, Adventurer." Ilya's facial expression turned to absolute upset, So he plans on leaving me too, then? Well he better not. Or else he has another thing coming. Her eavesdropping had only confirmed her previous assumptions. Grinding her teeth, she watched as the man started to turn. As if she had never been upset in the first place, her quiet hisses stopped and her teeth turned upwards into a joyful expression. The man walked towards her, and spoke a few words. "I know what you are doing, and it won't go under my watch. You might say that we might see each other again, but I know you probably have no intention of seeing me again as per your previous actions and replies. I once told a man the same thing I am about to tell you. I am not a little pest. I won't be the bane of your existence, and no a friend won't kill you. I won't let you just run off after our short exchange. I happened to stumble upon you for a reason. Despite whether or not you want me to, I plan on sticking around. Besides that you could probably use some help for fighting ol Muddy if that's what you plan on doing. Especially if he is in a whole gang of other various buggers. I want to help you out, my whole life I haven't had to put effort into anything. I have always gotten what I wanted. I was born into an exceptionally rich family and now that I finally have an opportunity to actually work hard and get rewarded based on my effort, not my social status. I plan on taking this opportunity and you can't stand in my way, so I will be putting in effort to get on your good side, and make you like me. Whether you want to or not. Here's your ten gold and don't you dare think we are parting ways just yet. I plan on showing you what I really am made of. Ilya's body heaved as she hadn't dared to take more than a single breath through her whole rant. She could only hope that the man would accept her proposal. Her assertive personality definitely payed off, yet Ilya couldn't help but feel an ever growing doubt present within her soul. What would he think of her now?! I should not have said that... Where Ilya's thoughts as her ears were perked and her tail silently still.

 

Zelrius gave her a look up and down as he approached her after speaking. She had just gotten done doing something in her inventory, and it appeared to be sorting it or some sort like that. Either she was taking things out or putting them in, peculiar. Perhaps, he thought, she really liked the fish or wanted to try other food items. Or maybe she had done trading of a sort? No, that wasn't right; he had offered to pay, she wouldn't need to trade anything around here. He was never very observant, but something about the woman entirely just felt way off. He took a moment, glanced at her left hand; it was grasping something, a bit poking out from under her grasp. A stack of coins, his neat little stack that he had laid out for her. Zelrius wasn't sure what to immediately think of that, under the impression that she hadn't paid, and that this felis intended to do one of two things. Either run the bill up right now and leave, or even worse; Dine and Dash. He would have no such thing, looking over to the bartender, and receiving a polite wave as they exchanged glances. Something was fishy here, and the golden haired man couldn't exactly figure out what. The crimson-haired Felis ripped his attention away from those thoughts and into a whole new set of ones, as she began to speak.

Her first sentence caused a grin to form on his face. It was always amusing when people said that, because they very rarely did actually know what the other person was doing in that moment. However, the sentence following that actually caught him by surprise, but it still wasn't enough to wipe the grin off his face. It was true enough, he wanted nothing to do with this girl. Not only did the golden haired man find it difficult to have much above a base attraction for pretty girls, he also wasn't a fan of her personality in that sort of way. These thoughts of distance and uninterest were amplified by the simple fact that, at a surface level, she had nothing to offer the man. She wasn't wealthy; atleast, not any more seemingly so than he was. She didn't appear to be well-connected, atleast not at the level that Zelrius wanted in people. Though, what Zelrius never gave defense for, was anyone he tried to put at that scale had to match up to people like D'Vangelline or Astor. Quite literally royalty, and that wasn't exactly fair. Even despite those standards, the man made plenty of worthwhile friends, some being equally as well-connected, just on the other side of the spectrum. Men like @Kijin Shihaku. Something about that dark haired man was both magnetic, and repulsive. Still, he was almost positive that this woman didn't meet either of those. And she didn't appear very strong, and maybe he could be wrong about that. Perhaps a test was in order. "Maybe you have a habit of driving off men." He quipped jokingly, trying now to remain calm and light-hearted in the face of confrontation, something Zelrius was never very good with. Sometimes, when he didn't put much effort into thinking about his words, he found that it was easier to speak and easier to have witty conversation. Though that confidence was easily broken as she began to actually demand things. "L-Look..." He tried to interject but she kept going on about it, causing the man to take a step back from her. He wasn't sure what to say or do at this point. She had a point in that, if Zelrius wanted to stop her, he couldn't exactly. She could, by her own free will, follow him around, and there weren't a lot of options to do about it. There was always just driving a sword through her, but even that seemed a bit overboard for someone who was a bit annoying, even if they would just respawn. It wasn't the death itself that Zelrius was worried about it; he was more concerned about the pain he would inflict, the feeling of his blade going through another real person, and the worst of all; The Death Affliction. They were invisible hands, that effected you in game, and compel you to act out of the ordinary. The man couldn't place any exact run-ins with it himself, since again, it was invisible, but he could definitely feel somethings he did here and there weren't right. Things like a growing fear and hatred for Frogs.

He shook his head, trying now to stifle a laughter as she used the exact wording of the clearly uneducated Anti-Pirate. "Mud-Mud-Mud" He stuttered over the word more than a few times, both his lack of self-worth and inability not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the name 'Muddy' for something that was actually a terror on this coastline. He held his hands up, resigned. Now just listening while kind of leaning back, taking a more defensive stance. As she spoke on, Zelrius only half listened, his eyes partly dulling out, but then almost instantly lighting back up at the mention of her money, in the real world. For a moment, he was reminded of his own financial situation, and how shitty of a hole he had dug himself. So she is one of those born to be successful. The man wasn't sure if this made him resent her more, or feel more intrigued, but between that fact and the rest of her long speech, the golden haired man caved into her demands. Quite ironic, she complained about being handed everything, yet she basically just threw a fit in a bar and begged to get her way. Richies are never different. He whispered in his own mind as she finished, tossing him the ten gold. That answered his questions from earlier; she paid for it herself, of which he respectfully declined by handing five back to her. "Split it." Not wanting to argue about something as petty as paying for a god damned drink and some food, unaware of the other items she had bought.

He fully gave in, now feeling extremely self-conscious about some of the looks and laughs the pair was getting, looking like they had gotten into a drunken argument of sorts. He glanced both ways without saying a whole lot, leaning back to her and whispering. "You're making a scene. Let me explain more outside." And with that, he quietly led her outside, hoping to all hope that she'd follow. If and when she did, without glancing back at her, to hide his now once again, beet red face, flushed with embarrassment, Zelrius began going into detail, now switching his intended plan, still unsure about the woman's fighting Capabilities. "Mudeflester. Is my name." He gave a small huff of hair in amusement. "Just kidding, thats the actual name of "Ol Muddy." My name is Zelrius, Zel is acceptable, but only to friends." Now he hoped to get a name out of her. "I don't think we'll be fighting Muddy tonight, I've got many other things to do," Setting up that sentence to later use as an excuse to break away from her. "However, I suppose a test is in order. So here's what I propose, come with me, for a nice little stroll up the Coast, and help me find tracks of, or the actual existence of Muddy. While we're there, those 'Chompy Buggers', also just known as the smaller Mudcrabs should be littered about. You fight a few, and if you can handle them, then I will agree to maybe spend more time with you, as a friend. D-Deal...?" As always, his voice was laced with doubt. But he had hoped that was good enough for her, not really wanting to be given by another lecture by someone who thought they were better than him simply based on their real world wealth.

 

I will not accept the coins. Were Ilya's thoughts as she held her hand out. Her palm facing him. She shook her head 'no' and her tail lashed out. If I plan on at least making myself stick around for a bit, I need to do things my own way. To sort of... prove myself. Ilya was unsure why she wanted to stick to the man's side to prove herself, but it did not bother her any further as he started to walk outside. She nodded her head, following in pursuit. He had turned his back to her, and this made her laugh on the inside for some odd reason. Ilya nodded her head slowly, Mudeflester. Sounds more scary that Ol Muddy. "Well, the name Zel definitely suits you." Ilya had purposfully called the man 'Zel' signifying that she viewed them as friends. "As for not fighting the Mudeflester--" Ilya had since paused her sentence to reenact a motion, as she bobbed her head forward, and twisted her hips along with pushing her two fists forward. Her tail wavered in amusement as she realized she would not be able to see her. "What do you have going on, Mr. Busy Busy?" Ilya groaned internally, I swear if it is just an excuse... "As for me, the name's Ilya. Just Ilya, nothing more nothing less. I do not have a nickname so yeah. Call me whatever you want to, but Ilya is the name I picked." Ilya knew for a fact that the man before her with utmost certainty that he did not believe in her at all. What a way to live. Doubting the abilities of others. If I was not so-- Nevermind. I feel quite the same in fact. "Just so you know, I will not be the only one being tested. I will in fact be testing you as well. It goes two ways. I can just as easily leave you, despite how I have acted previously." Lifting her head slightly into the air, as a 'hmph' escaped her lips she rotated her shoulders to stretch. "Well then, let us be on our way. Mudeflester is farther east. I already bought some water and sandwiches. In fact, you should eat while we trek forwards." Opening her inventory she pulled out a ham sandwich. She started to walk forwards, and right as she passed by Zel she tossed the sandwich at him. She did not keep looking to see whether or not he had caught it as she kept walking. It did not take long to come across the exit of the village as she headed in a beeline towards the middle of the sandy beach. This way she could see not only the sand near the ocean but the sand towards the forest line. As she continued to walk along the sandy beach, the direction in which she was facing was partially eastbound. Slowly making her way in east as they walked. It was most likely about twenty or so minutes in when she saw the first sign of markings. She crouched down onto the balls of her feet. She started to examine the markings in the sand, I definitely need to train more in my Hunting mastery. I cannot figure out what it is from nor what way it is going. The only hint that Ilya had was that they seemed to be heading outside of the ocean, and down the beach. I should just pretend that I know what I am doing. She stood to her feet and started to follow the markings in the sand that resembled the feet of crabs. As she continued to travel, the moonlight beat down on the sand making it shine as if millions of pieces of gold remained eminent in the sand. It was not long before even more footprints made there way to be seen. Ilya silently congratulated herself as she kept following them. Her gaze was now on the shadows that lurked ahead. It was a small cove quite a ways away from the village they had gone to. The rocky overhanging cast a large shadow and within the shadow were a number of large crabs. A large shuffling noise could be faintly heard from within the cove. Ilya's eyes narrowed. The sound most likely could not be heard by anyone other than an animal based person as they had enhanced senses. Ilya shuffled forward a bit forward before taking shelter behind a rather large stone. Her eyes glanced at the crabs. Each one glinted in the small amounts of moonlight cascading through the small crevices of the rocky cove. They seemed to be black in color and rather quite large. If they are this size.. I wonder how large Mudeflester is... They had eight crab legs, four on each side and a pair of nasty looking- huge pinchers in the front of its shell. The eyes glinted with malicious intent in the dark, making Ilya narrow her eyes. She felt like she was ready enough. She opened her inventory, Before the small fight, I might as well rest a bit. Her energy bar was diminishing from her continuing walk. Not looking to see if Zel had followed her she spoke, "I have made it this far, proving my tracking skills are at least adequate. Now, I need to rest even if a bit to maximize my energy usage not that it matters too much. Body Combat does not take that much energy, but with this many crabs I do not want to test my luck. I have some water, if you want to rest as well." She took out two glass bottles of water and opened her own taking a swig. Upon swallowing her water, she started to scan through her player-made skills. I wonder what would be most efficient on these crab-like demons. Not knowing herself she could not help but speak up yet again. "Have you ever fought these demon spirited crabs? If so, please let me know of your experience. If not, then I can do without it."

 

Zelrius quirked an eyebrow as she refused the coin, now glancing back and hoping to all god that they had paid, and that she really hadn't just left. Richies do know they still have to pay for things... right? His thoughts trailed for a moment, being ever resentful and unfair in image to those with wealth. He kind of stood straight up for a moment in discomfort as the woman insisted on using the short hand version of his name generally reserved for those close to him. It caught him off guard; how adamant she was about sticking around despite Zelrius' very strong hints that he didn't really want her around, and he kept trying to put her off easy. Once again, the man couldn't place his own mind as to why he didn't want her around. Atleast, why he didn't at first. Of course, the answer was, it was nothing against her specifically. She was nice enough and lead him to an inn upon request. He was just socially exhausted from the last few months, and even more so with his trip to Druuk. Then it slowly morphed into a not so great image of her. She had wealth, and that appealed to him strongly. But along with that wealth, she probably had everything she needed, and always did. Always a recipe for shitty people, in Zel's book. Probably one of those who would skip class, go to a party, get drunk and fucked on the near daily. Probably still is like that and Terra was just another form of a Richie like her fucking around and throwing away great opportunities. However, he stooped himself there, unbeknownst to him that he was actually being extremely hypocritical. Afterall, Vina was hedonistic in that sense, to a strong degree, and he actually had no problems with her. Perhaps his mind was making up excuses to grow disdain for the girl, and still yet, the Golden haired man was completely oblivious to the fact that up to this point, she had actually been nothing but nice to him.

This was exemplified by the sandwich being pulled out of his inventory, the game forcing the feeling of hunger upon him again, causing the swordsman to immediately focus on it. He had hoped that she'd be willing to share, but the man was too scared to ask. Though luck always seemed to be on his side, as she tossed it in the air, seemingly ditching it. Almost as if compelled by some invisible force, the man's hand shot out and caught it as it raised into the air and then lowered, eventually to exactly elbow level before reflex kicked in, and his now balled hand crumbled the sandwich to pieces, but still holding all said piece in his hand. It clicked in his mind that this was her intention; she was trying to give him food. Maybe she isn't a bad person. His mind whispered, but the golden haired man refused to accept as much consciously so easily. He stared at the balled mass of bread and fried fish, layered with seasonings the man probably couldn't name even if they were in his inventory. It looked enticing enough, or so he thought as he bit into it. At that moment, actual taste didn't matter, as he pretty much devoured the sphere that was once rectangular, chomping and eating messily. Almost as if by magic, the man's food bar filled to nearly half from that, and a lot of onset status ailments that he hadn't even noticed clouding his thoughts had disappeared. You owe her. Said that ever so conscious voice in his head, the same one he refused to let surpass his actual thoughts, drowning the sub-conscious with conscious.

And just as fast as he had eaten the small meal wrapped in bread, she seemed to moving off like a herd of turtles. He moved up to walk briskly beside her, deciding it to be rude to have walked ahead of her, and not letting this random girl walk all over him while he hung behind her lead. And then a real lead was found. Sometime after their little journey had begun, just as Zelrius was about to actually take the lead, it seems that the crabs left little indents in the sand where their feet had touched. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, littered the shore, showing activity by the monstrous amounts during the day time. She impressed him, by now beginning to follow the tracks, and within a few minutes after stumbling upon one of the stray ones. Zelrius almost instantly kicked into gear, his confidence only seeming to rise in the face of enemies or monsters. Slowly, with his left hand, it found the nicely engraved pommel on his right hip, drawing out the Exquisite-tier weapon; the Outlaw's Cutlass. Now he would answer a few of her standing questions, starting with a compliment. "Nicely done Eya-Kitty," coining that nickname to hopefully intentionally annoy her; a bastardization of the name she gave him, and making fun of the fact that she was a Felis. "I have fought them, they swarm this area and parts of Druuk. " Nonchalantly, Zelrius moved forward from where Ilya was taking a small rest, to prove a point. Drawing the weaker Iron Cutlass from its sheath, he swung at the crab. Two things happened, one unexpected, and one expected. The unexpected; the weapon had made contact, it didn't just go right through the crab. The Expected; This contact did absolutely 0 physical damage to the Crab, as it now reached to chomp at him. Just as planned, the golden haired man moved the finer Cutlass to cut right through the appendages jointing the menacing pincer to its body. Though this damage itself was minimal, it did sever the limb for a moment. Now he wanted to test another thing, doing the same to the other pincer, and just dancing with the crab for a moment as it raved in frustration of the in ability to attack, consistently trying to lunge to bite at him with its tiny mouth. It missed nearly every time, sometimes catching hold his pant leg and giving it a bit of a wrestle. One thing was clear, they were weak creatures to begin with, atleast, attack-wise. But they would have tons of hp and heavy defensive stats. Good ol crustaceans, always sticking by the RPG book.

And now for what Zelrius had hoped he would learn from this small encounter. Slowly, a stick of an arm appeared from what used to be a bloodied mass of an ex-ligament. Before his very eyes, the crabs whole arm was rebuilt, now slowly forming a pincer back together. With that information now gathered, the golden haired man severed the limbs again, and now promptly repeatedly stabbed the crab in his abdominal region, where there was the least amount of shell protecting it. The crab dying seemed to cause a bit of unrest with some of the shelled figures along the coast, all of them now shaking and jittering; almost as if an anxiety had washed over them. From deeper down the Cove came a loud screech, one that Zelrius was all too pleased to hear. With that, he headed back to Ilya and sat next to her on the beach, enjoying the water and explaining himself for a moment. "So, finishing that thought from earlier; I don't imagine my one sword will be very effective against Mudeflester. So, we are to confirm that he is in fact being held either by Demonmancy the magic, or is perhaps infected by a real demon. Or maybe he is one himself. We will need to get this information, and then I will get the necessary gear to handle this." With that he finished the water, setting the glass down in a little inlet of sand he created as a sort of cup holder, his blue eyes now searching to Ilya for her response to all this.

 

"Eya-Kitty works for me, if you really wish to call me that." Ilya's steadfast grin crept up on her face as she shone down on Zelrius's attempt to annoy her, in fact doing the exact opposite as it encouraged her. She watched with admiration as the man seemed to go out and attack one of the various crabs. He slashed and dashed until the crab was slain. What Ilya had not been expecting was the rowdiness of the other crabs littering the beach. Her eyes hardened as she heard the quiet groan she had heard earlier, followed by a loud screech that Zelrius was certain to have heard. "Well, considering the very loud noise we just heard from within the cove, I am here to say for certainty that he is indeed here. What will we do now? Shall I show off my own skills?" With her dignity high on her shoulder she stood. Her energy had fully recovered leaving her feel like she could take on anything. With a crack of her knuckles she eyed the nearest crab. He was facing towards the cove, as if listening to something give instructions. Well, better make all that training count. Ilya grinned back at Zelrius before taunting him, "Be prepared to watch the pro at work." With her small comment she faced once again back towards the crab. Her eyes took in a rather large rock much like the one she had that outcropped a little bit behind the crab. She crouched down onto the balls of her feet before dashing over to the rock. She had practiced that maneuver quite a bit until she had it down to the 'T'. Once at the base of the rock she scaled it as if it was nothing. Her body now rested higher up than the crab, with this she would use it to her advantage. She wanted to first test to see how her skills would work on the crab. She leaped off the rock and plundered towards the crab. Her leg lifted midair and made it way down on the crab. She caught it off guard as it got pushed down into the moist earth. Ilya was determined now more than ever to make herself great in Zelrius' eyes. She had no idea what compelled her to, but she knew for a fact that she needed to. If not for him, but for her own sanity. With a clashing sound, Ilya realized that the crab had wrapped it's pincer around her ankle sending her flying towards the floor. Ilya had gotten distracted and too wrapped up in her thoughts. Much like any other cat, Ilya landed on her feet. However, unlike a cat she only had two feet and not four. Once her feet hit the ground she initiated another attack, she pushed off of the balls of her feet, gaining some air on the crab. She pulled back her right fist and intended to pound the crab right in the middle of his face.

Much to Ilya's dismay the crab blocked her attack with his other pincer. Ilya frowned and backed up a ways as the crab went to grab her with his other pincer. In order to block the attack, Ilya clashed her gauntlets together in an 'x' formation. This caused a vibrant blue color to surround her feet as the pincer got blocked by her gauntlets. Ilya pushed back, causing the crab to stumble. Upon it stumbling, catching it off-guard she once again drew her fist back. She initiated 'Superiority' and began pounding the crab in its face. Each punch seemingly doing more than the last. Back and forth her fists went, first right, then left until at last the crab's shell shattered around its face. She jumped in the air before lifting her leg and bringing it down again onto the crab's now opened shell, smashing it into the ground and killing it. Ilya drew a breath as two crabs started to race at her. She backed up a bit, getting closer to Zelrius before narrowing her eyes. She drew in another breath as her eyes began to glow a faint red. The red was more vibrant than her eyes as she a smirk grew on her face. She now centered her energy on her legs as she ran forwards. Leaping into the air at the last moment she did a wide swing kick, knocking the crabs onto their back. She then punched her right fist into her left palm, initiating yet another skill, I've gotten pretty good at these 'combos'. Her arms and gauntlets looked as if they were lighting up with electricity as she punched the crab to her left in its weak spot. She switched from her power skill to her consecutive skill, pounding the crab deeper into the earth, its shell cracking as she kept punching. Overkill.. The crab was dead by this point. Ilya swung around to face the other crab. Concentrating on another swift kick she displayed yet another act of combat. She swung her leg forwards, blowing the pincer off of his left arm. She looked at the crab before stomping on its eyes, causing them to pop. (They were after all, on the ground) The crab let out the most inhumane shriek as soon as it could no longer use its eyes. Ilya looked up at the cove as a loud roar sounded. With her gaze on the cove her ears twitched with caution. As Ilya's tail nervously lashed back and forth, a large shadow that since now had been covered by the cove stepped into the light.....

 

Zelrius grimaced as she clearly didn't mind 'Eya-Kitty' as a nickname. He would give up on trying to annoy her for now, deciding that even if he was successful, it'd back fire pretty quickly. Afterall, she insisted on accompanying him, atleast for this task. The last thing he needed was for someone who insisted on following him to get a pissy attitude and begin harassing or intentionally messing with his flow and movements because they were a bit irritated. The screech was heard indeed, a wide grin on his face as the man remembered Kijin's words following the funeral pyre for Snefrid. "How does it feel, to be called a hero?" and for the life of him, the golden haired man couldn't recall his response, only that the question excited him. It was true, he had gotten both praise and criticism for what he did to Snefrid. Everyone agreed that she was an enemy and needed to be dealt with, but how to do so is still hottly debated in some circles, despite the deed already being done. There were the options of Kill, or Capture, Or... The image of his friend- Ex Friend- Kaede popped into his mind. She was quite upset that the golden haired man had ended the Lunatic Princess' life. To this day he can hear her cries of distress and pained voice, screeching, calling for his death. He'd have to make it up to her one day. For a moment, Zelrius enjoyed just a small rest from his seat along the cove floor, as Ilya began to make her way to a crab of her own, giving a few words of arrogance. His grin returned, a happy change from his slightly pained thoughts. He leaned back, now wondering what it was she was capable of. He watched for a moment as she danced and flew around the crab, wondering just how much energy she was burning by doing all of that. Still, he wasn't one to comment, the man remembering when he was just learning, standing beside the aforementioned Kaede, and Mizuki. They had fought hordes of Goblins together, and despite his total in-adeptness with a weapon at the time, the pair had been exceptionally patient. Out of respect for those two people, the man made no comments or jeers as Ilya played amongst the sand and rocks with the shelled critters. He only took small notes of her fighting style, and how it actually reminded him heavily of how Mizuki fought, though Ilya had the distinct (and less annoying) stance of fighting entirely on her two feet, rather than the Lupine-Felis' fighting style of the all fours and dashing about. Even if they were different, it looked relatively the same. I will have to ask her what Masteries she has. He thought to himself, as it began to look a little too similar.

She eventually killed the damned thing, and thank god. Zelrius clapped slowly, his expression being one of relaxation more. It was entertaining to watch, and certainly more than he expected out of her, perhaps she wasn't so bad afterall. He wasn't so quick to completely change his opinion on her, but he also was one to take a step back from his pre-conceived notions when some had been rebutted. He stood as she went to take a step on the Crab, Zelrius' eyes widening as he realized what she was about to do. "Ilya don't-" It was too late, she smashed its face in with her foot, causing the grapes for pupils to expand, and then explode, a shriek erupting from its body as this happened. He remembered what had happened after the crab he had killed Shrieked when he was done killing it, the loud moan and noise coming from the Cove itself. While it was the desired effect, the man wasn't exactly ready.

Too late it would seem, as from the far side of the cove came the man - or Crab - of the hour. A giant crab, somewhere around twenty feet tall, each step of its grimy, gargantuan legs making lots of crackling and popping sounds as the things exoskeleton strained under its massive body weight. The menacing pincers snipping and snapping seeming uncontrollably, searching for a target. This, as Zelrius observed for just a moment, was Mudeflester. The golden-haired man didn't miss a beat, instantly springing into action. As he rushed across the ground, the man redrew the Outlaw's Cutlass with his left hand, quickly wrapping his right arm around Ilya and tugging her backward and out of the immediate view of Mudeflester, silently praying that she'd comply for just a moment so that they had a second to actually get into position. He had backed up just a bit, though he could feel the giant dark pits the crab called eyes searching, and scanning, for those who had hurt his kin. Once actually face to face with the beast, Zelrius felt his insecurities rise. He became doubtful, withdrawing a bit even though he still held his sword tightly; feeling the sweat born from nervousness begin to play with that grip. His throat was dry, causing him to constantly swallow, the anxiety rushing up his body. For a moment, he stood there, not making a move, just motionlessly watching Ol' Muddy, as the crustacean turned and whipped around, insearch of anything that wasn't inherently crab-like. He was frozen, just taking small steps backward and trying to corral Ilya to doing the same, speaking in a hushed and raspy voice. "No sudden moves, Eya, no sudden moves..." Fear slowly consuming both his voice and entire body.

 

It was the load roar that echoed out of the cove that lit Ilya up with a burning passion to fight off endless waves of monsters... IF her energy would have held up, she would do just that. It did not take long before Ilya's sharp eyes landed on the emerging giant monster that had been the source of the sound. Ilya's tail fur fluffed as it stilled to silence. Her own ears moved not a single inch. The feelings she had felt at first glimpse of the horrendous beast were in fact a feeling of being "hunted". She was all too familiar with the way her own cat, Choji liked to hunt down mice and give them to her as gifts.. It was much like that moment, yet instead of being the cat, (no pun intended), she was the mouse. Instead of the playful gift seeking that her cat usually did, it was as if the giant crab was hunting to protect. This also installed an ounce of fear deep into Ilya. Upon her second glance, Mudeflester was insanely tall. About four of Ilya stacked ontop of each other. The eyes of the crab, seemed to be inside of the face, much more like a human's than the smaller crab's own antena-like rodded eyes. Ilya's ears did not need to be that of a cat's to hear the sickening loud pops coming from the joints in the crab's numerous legs. That very sound sent chills down Ilya's spine. Yet despite the insane feelings of fear and that of prey, Ilya felt a rush of excitement. This is what I like... Her facial expression that had been emotionless during this small time period as she had scanned the appearance of Mudefleter changed slightly as a small smirk toyed across her lips. It was not long before Ilya felt a rush of wind, as she was scooped up and pressed to the back of Zelrius. Despite not being able to see around Zelrius' tall figure, Ilya could feel the cold, seeking eyes of the "Ol Muddy". It was in that instance that Ilya determined that Mudeflester was a name that suited the monster much more, as it installed a specific amount of fear and power that the nickname Ol Muddy could not give. As soon as Zelrius told her not to move an inch, she became stoic. Her breathing lessened until it was unvisibleto any of the five senses,. She focused on slowing her heartbeat and the small flicks of her tail. She finally managed to get them under control as her tail wrapped around her left leg tightly securing itself into place. Her ears remained upright as she relied on her hearing to make up for the blocked vision she had. As Zelrius slowly began to back up ever so slightly, Ilya hissed out in a bare minimum whisper, "If he is looking for us.. Then it is best if we do not move..." Only a few moments after she spoke, Zelrius did the same. This time telling her that no sudden movements. Ilya could undoubtedly and obviously hear the fear laced around the words that Zelrius spoke to her. She wrapped her arms around his right arm that was securing herself behind him in an attempt to give him a gentle hug, "Do not be afraid, I am here. I can at least buy you enough time to get out of here if worst comes to worst. But I do not intend on going down easy." Her voice was so soft that only Zelrius would be able to hear it, along with the stiff air around them. The same air that filled the spacious beach that they were standing on. Yet her voice did not carry anywhere close to where the mad crab was. She let go of Zelrius' arm so that she could ready herself just in case. Her hands itched in a sense, ready to protect Zelrius, despite her impressions of him. Ilya was unassuradly a strange girl at most. She would get her courage in a spur of the moment. The side of her being easily discouraged seemed to always get cast aside when she was in combat. It rather only affected her when socializing. However, she knew that if Zelrius were to tell her that she would not be able to do something right before the fight with this large beast.. She would end up unable to do anything, she would get down on herself and be unable to fight for what she believed in, and most importantly fight for other people. The feelings that the monster left on those within proximity was ione that only a powerful beast could leave behind. If Ilya did not keep her guard up, she would for sure get swallowed up by self-doubt and fear, which would ultimately get both her and Zelrius killed. She would become a detering factor in the upcoming fight.

 

His breaths became uneven, and withdrawn, each one becoming sharper than the last. Somewhere in his mind, the man knew that it was just a game, and there was nothing to be this scared over. That didn't stick very well, or Zelrius couldn't hear the little voice trying to remind him of that, only able to see the large shadow and figure of the menacing crab. Though that name for the creature hardly seemed fitting. In his own perspective, crabs were small, and weak, as a general rule. Back in Boston, they'd roam the beaches, and be shifty little buggers, stealing things away or snipping at people as they slept. Even here in Terra, the ones that Zelrius and Ilya had just fought moments prior, were nothing but common rabble, even so far out from Brisshal. They squeamed and squirmed when stepped on, both the large ones of the game, and the tiny ones back on the shores of real life. This was entirely different; the bone chilling sounds each movement it took made, the snipping of the pincers, always searching for something to chop through like paper, these were fear-inducing sounds. Terra was always good at realism, at least, in terms of the monsters and the physics of how everything worked, and this was quite the example of both coming together in a spectacularly artistic way. Even despite the development beauty behind the beast, Zelrius still played as though his actual life depended on it.

He had made a pact after the death to the Frogs, that he wouldn't be so brash as to go around dying again. Aside from the Death Affliction system, which Zelrius himself still had yet to fully understand, the man couldn't stand with the shame he felt from having to have Vina revive him. And even more so, how she lorded that over him, even if just for a moment, so that he couldn't act on his own instinct to kill the frog right then and there. He wouldn't allow, one, for Ilya to be able to tease and poke him about his death after the fact, two, nor would he allow the simple shame in himself, coming out as someone who was all talk. Atleast, that's how he thought both Ilya and the Anti-Pirates would seem him after this, someone who was all talk, but just another idealist Adventurer doomed to fail. No way, No how. Those words echoed in his mind as he kept backing up, only being silenced by the Felis he was with speaking. It came out in a stinging whisper, her words jumping around in his ears for a moment before he immediately agreed, stopping dead in his tracks.

It seemed, as of now, that Mudeflester hadn't directly noticed them, but for sure knew that the pair was in the area. He eyes bounced around for a moment, scanning the area, and then narrowing it down to a semi-broad region, beginning now to move on popping crab foot over the other. One Step, Two Step. Zelrius began to count the individual movements of his furthest forward leg, holding still. He let go of Ilya, stepping a bit to the side of her as she spoke again, her voice significantly calmer than his general demeanor. Her attempt at reassuring him seemed to work, if but for a moment. His thoughts became less clouded as a suppressed laugh creeped up on his face, realizing the tension was superficial. "Then don't," His voice wasn't soft and quiet like hers, nor was the the hushed breaths of fear that he had given earlier. It was articulate, clear, as if he wasn't exactly trying to hide anymore. A bold step toward the crab was taken, his voice coming out once again, louder. "Move around the right side there, see if you can use the rocks to get up. Target the jointy parts in the legs. See if we can't disable him." That was the mans strategy, now enacting his own part. He drew the other sword, now holding one in each hand and beginning to slowly circle counter clockwise to Ol Muddy. Fight's on, Bitch. He taunted Mudeflester, though silently.