Catastrophic Catatonia

This game, Terrasphere, just had so much stuff, Aria wasn't sure if she could explore them all even if she spent months or years playing it constantly. From the tranquil Brisshal forest, now the green-haired Felis found herself in... what was this place called again? Oh right, Dunnstads. Specifically in one of the many port cities littering the coastal region. The salty smell of sea air, the rustling of waves, and the squawking seagulls, they were emulated perfectly, Aria felt as if she was truly standing there and not watching a movie or playing video games.

"That's wicked." She whispered, gawking at a large cargo ship docking nearby, using a slang that might not be thematically correct for the game. "Urgh... I did it again." She really ought to work on playing her into her character's supposed personality more but man, it was hard. Like, it was much easier in modeling jobs because she just had to put on pretty clothes, make a still pose, and a smile. Nothing that'd require her to constantly play a part, that was why good models didn't necessarily make good actors. Still, didn't mean she could just continue like this, she played this game as a form of escape from the hustle bustle showbiz college business.

Still enjoying the seaside scenery, the so-called 'Felis Ranger' didn't realize a pair of young teenagers were sneaking up on her from behind. Closer and closer then suddenly, "Wha-... hey?!" they snatched Aria's coin purse, immediately bolting away into the alley where they came from. "Ku-..." Pickpockets, here?! Oh Terrasphere, it emulated reality too much, why did they have to implement those unnecessary annoying brats into the game? Someone, somewhere, programmed those... those NPCs to steal people's purse. Was this the admins' way of punishing players who couldn't roleplay properly? Well, up yours!

"You little snitches!" Enraged, Aria gave chase to the two street urchins, dashing into the alleyway. Even though she was supposed to be a ranger, that meant being fast and agile, Aria found herself stumbling here and there over crates, barrels, and other random objects. "Fuuuuu-!" Why did she suck so much? Oh right, her Mobility was zero! Z-E-R-O! The generous game masters of this freaking VRMMO weren't gracious enough to give new players anything but crappy fashion-blind starting gears!

"Once I get my hands on you...! You... uh..." The pickpocketers then deliberately separated, confusing Aria, which one had her purse? "..." Realizing she might just be their easiest victim ever, the green-haired Felis slowed down, no point in getting herself tired, she lost them. "Haaa..." Her ears drooped as she walked out of the other end of an alley, back against a wall then slid down, staring at the people loitering around the street, wide-eyed in disbelief.

@Kyupin Felnya

 

The sound of screeching nearby was enough to bring Kyupin to a slow stop. "You little snitches!" She would never get used to the cries of distress as pickpockets slipped in and out of alleyways, swiping what purses they could. A street urchin, kicked out of a store and berated by an angry store owner with a broom... It made her ill.

Two boys passed her, snickering and exchanging looks. One bounced a pouch of coins, cackling, while the other made grand gestures and exaggerated expressions. Ah. The little thieves. Rolling her shoulders back, the small Felis stepped into their paths, eyes narrowed at them.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked.

They froze, shooting her a look of confusion, then irritation, and then glee. She knew those expressions - the kinds they made as they calculated an escape plan. Her mind wandered to the cry from earlier, the despair and frustration. It wasn't fair that people had to suffer, had to resort to screwing each other over... she knew it was a hard life to live. But still. Honest earnings and meaningful livings, right? They took a step, and next thing anybody knew, Kyupin's bow was in her hand, string still vibrating. Each boy was pinned the wall by an arrow through their clothes. It wouldn't hurt them, but it would certainly stop their progress.

She approached them, easily swiping the coin purse they'd dropped in the sudden movements from the ground. Popping that into her apron pocket, she fiddled with her inventory UI to withdraw two loaves of bread. It wasn't quite fresh, but still plenty good for eating. "It's not nice to steal," she chastised them, pulling out the bread. "But I don't want kids to go hungry. So have some food, okay? I don't ever want to see you guys stealing again." There was no threat needed, as Vulcan came around the corner, trotting up to his tamer's side.

They nodded, frantic, and Kyupin left them to get themselves free from her pinning arrow.

Where had that voice come from earlier? She walked around, hands firmly planted in her apron pocket to prevent anybody from swiping something. With Vulcan by her side, no matter how sweet the large, fluffy wolf actually was, it seemed nobody wanted to mess with her. She nodded to other Felis as she passed, brows furrowed. "Um," she called out hesitantly, rounding the corner of the alley to the street. There was a girl, leaning against the wall with an almost visible cloud of gloom hanging over her. It sounded a bit silly to say aloud, but, "were you just robbed by these two kids? Screamed something 'bout snitches?" Yup. Sounded silly as heck. Oh well. She continued to smile, despite the awkward embarrassment threatening to swallow her whole.

@Aria

 

Aria was so deep in despair, if this Terrasphere was a more comical kind of game, there would be a literal dark cloud above her head raining tears on her green-haired form. Alas, she would have to do with the gloom of doom look. Those vibrant green eyes were lost in an apathetic stare even as the shorter golden-haired Felis and her fluffy white wolf companion approached her.

"Nnngh..." The newbie ranger answered with a low groan as if she barely acknowledged Kyupin's presence, as if she knew someone was talking to her but couldn't care less who they were. "...eh?" It was when the shorter Felis mentioned about 'robbed', 'two kids' and 'snitches' that Aria blinked her eyes, her lips went slightly ajar as she turned at Kyupin. "Uh... yes, how did you know?"

Ah, the girl must've witnessed the whole thing. "Heh..." A blush colored the ranger's fair cheeks as she rubbed the back of her head, looking away in embarrassment, "Yeah, I couldn't even catch them, some Ranger I am huh?" A deep sigh escaped her tired lips, a sad sad smile curled on her face, "I hope you are careful, well, at least more than my sucker ass." She chuckled dryly,

"Your dog, uh... wolf, looks nice by the way. What's his name?" She just wanted to forget about her poor purse, no pun intended.

@Kyupin Felnya

 

She smiled shyly at the other as they proceeded to put themselves down over their failures. Yeah, she knew that feeling. Kind of? She often felt useless, as if she could be better but just wasn't. She waited until a moment of silence and crouched down, balancing on the balls of her feet, so they were closer to eye-level.

With some of her weight on Vulcan to keep her balance, she could easily scratch under his chin. "This is Vulcan. And I'm Kyupin." Like with other frightened animals she encountered, Kyupin tried to exude her calmest, gentlest aura.

Her tail swept along the ground, leisurely drawing circles in the dust, and her ears perked up. "I was nearby and heard your shout," she admitted, digging through her apron pocket with her free hand. She grasped the purse and held it out to @Aria, hoping to get rid of that sad smile. "I'm hoping this is yours?"

"Are you new here?" she asked, showing care with her phrasing. She'd had some experiences with confusion from NPCs who knew nothing about Terrasphere as a game, and had been working on finding ways to spot a player among NPCs. It could easily be misconstrued as her asking if they were new to Dunnstads, but she hoped the other would realize she meant to ask about being new to the game itself.

 

Vulcan and Kyupin, such felicitous names for the two, rolled off the tongue nicely and just showed how close they were. "Hello, Kyupin, Vulcan." The green-haired girl smiled, though still with the heavy look in her matching eyes, "I'm Aria. Nice to meet you." Were they fellow players? The NPCs in this game were so realistic, she couldn't differentiate them from the PCs, at least until the latter started performing 'player only' actions such as making hand gestures of swiping through player menus or pulling out items out of thin air. So far, the blonde Felis had done none of those things.

"Aaah... hahaha... I'd appreciate if you just forget about that." Again, her cheeks blushed, turning her gaze away from the shorter Felis and her white wolf companion, "It certainly won't be something I wish to remember." Then at the corner of her eyes, she noticed Kyupin searching through that big front pocket, one similar to a kangaroo's, then fished out... oh my, was that...?

"M-... my purse?" It looked brown tied by a simple rope, just as nondescript as any other purse out there but judging by what Kyupin had said before, it was most likely hers, "Ah..." Aria absentmindedly received it then checked the content, indeed, the amount of gold (which wasn't much) looked to be correct. This was her purse... and the blonde Felis just returned it to her. "T-... thank you." Aria fidgeted with her fingers as the brows lightened and the cloud of gloom above her cleared up.

"Thank youuuuu!!" Overwhelmed by joy, Aria wrapped her arms around the fellow Felis and hugged her! "Thank you sooo much~" She giggled happily before releasing Kyupin. Now that her worries were gone, she could properly look at the golden-haired girl, she looked pretty cute and small, must be a younger girl then? "I should give you something back for this, little missy~" Little did Aria know, they weren't that far off in age, virtual persona-wise.

Tired of just glooming around, Aria stood up, now she saw how tall she was compared to the other Felis. "Hmm? Oh yeah, I just registered a few days ag-." Eldhi stopped herself, remembering that she didn't know yet if Kyupin was a player or an NPC, if the latter, she tended to notice that NPCs had mixed reactions if they were exposed to what players call 'meta info'. Damn, she should have thought it through, her and her big mouth. "Ahem, I mean, yes, I just arrived here not too long ago. Nice place by the way, except for the pickpockets. Do you live here, Kyupin?"

Aria's attention then went to the big fluffy white wolf she was leaning against, "Vulcan looks cute~ and tame too. Tell me, how do you uh... teach him? From where I come from, wolves don't make good pets." Plus, she wasn't sure if it was even legal to keep wolves in Boston either.

 

The sudden change in @Aria's mood caught Kyupin completely off guard, even if she'd been hoping for the positive outcome. She wobbled, barely keeping her balance with the extra weight of the surprise hug. "You're welcome!" she chirped, stretching as she, too, stood. Ignoring the little missy comment, Kyupin instead latched on to the word 'registered'.

Even if Aria stopped herself, it had been the sign she'd needed: Aria was another player.

She smiled to herself. She'd been like that before, too, unaware of how odd it was to adjust her behavior for NPCs and Players. It certainly wasn't easy to keep in mind, but after playing for quite a bit of time, she'd gotten used to watching for those sort of things.

"Well, maybe not Dunnstad's best first impression," she admitted.

Then she shook her head. "I'm not from here - would be nice to live here, though." That's right. This world was not her own. On top of that, she was a proper citizen of Astorea now. Heck, she was a noble of Astorea. How nauseating.

She tried to stop the thoughts before they could derail the happy moment, blinking away the looming gloom to focus on Aria instead.

She smiled. "I've had Vulcan since he was a cub," she said, fondly rubbing at his ears, "found him injured in the forest on my first day. We bonded and he decided to follow me." She shrugged. "I guess you can call me a natural beast tamer?"

Kyupin shook her head as Aria described him as a 'pet'. "He's not a pet. He's my companion." It was an important distinction. Rather than owner and pet, they were equals, watching each others backs. "Though he's not very well trained, always running off," she added off-handedly, her tone slightly chiding. Vulcan picked up on it and whined, ears folding over his head and tail curling in defensively. "See? He knows it!"

She looked contemplatively at the other. What kind of masteries had they chosen? "Are you interested in beast taming?"

Kyupin wasn't exactly certain where she was going, but it was nice to stroll through the port town. Maybe they'd stop by the docks and look over the waters; enjoy the fresh sea salt air for a while. Or maybe Aria had somewhere to be.

 

Ah, so they were both travelers, well, there was also the possibility of Kyupin being a fellow player. "Yeah, I've noticed a lot of Felis around here." Aria smirked, her feline ears perking up in an amusing thought, "Must be all the fish. Heh." The stereotype stayed true, cats would be cats. Wait, she was a Felis too? But eh, she was a player so she had to act like one and it was the difficulty she had been having so far in Terrasphere, to act like someone else. Nevermind about herself now, she wanted to know more about Kyupin's wolf.

"Ah... that explains things." Aria heard about how even the fiercest of beasts could be tamed if they were domesticated from infancy. So these two must have gone way back, Aria put one hand against her chin as she mulled over her thoughts, "You saved his life." She mentioned the obvious, smiling warmly, "Maybe you are~" She had met two people with loyal animal companions so far, the Faerin Alice and now, the Felis Kyupin. Interestingly, they both possessed golden hair, though different shades of iris. Alice's were blue, Kyupin's green.

With that thought, it didn't come as a surprise for the Felis when Kyupin claimed Vulcan wasn't her pet, a companion instead. She got it now, beast taming didn't necessarily mean subjugating an animal into a master-pet relationship, it could also mean befriending them, bonding with them, standing as equals. "Hahaha~" The Felis chuckled in amusement, yes, they definitely had a special bond. Due to the nature of this virtual world, the idea of them being mentally connected wouldn't far-fetched. "Now, now, Vulcan, Kyupin here is a very nice girl. You better listen to her, alright?" Feeling safe, she attempted to gently pat the wolf's ears and rub his neck once.

"Ah..." Yep, the blonde hit the nail on the head. Briefly, Aria checked her Masteries, yep, still zero on 'Beast Taming'... and pretty much everything else. "Yes, actually, I would really appreciate it." Aria nodded, "Anything you can tell me, it'd be of great help. So, right, I'm ready, not doing anything else anyway. Where shall we go for our lesson, Madame Kyupin?" The taller Felis winked, giggling as she prepared to walk together with her kin. Oh yes, she was definitely going to enjoy spending time with her.

@Kyupin Felnya

 

Kyupin laughed, holding her hands up in a placating manner. "Please, just Kyupin," she said. Her ears twitched. 'Or Countess Kyupin, if you want to be accurate', but saying something like that to a stranger was just... uncomfortable. Maybe if they were friends, she'd let it slip, but announcing her noble status felt like showing off unnecessarily. If she could be 'just Kyupin' for a little longer... it wouldn't be too bad.

She hummed in consideration, thinking about their surroundings. "There's... not much to training your taming instincts. Have you encountered any animals already? Usually there's this, um, natural feeling of connection. Animals kinda like you more from the get-go than they would a regular person." Trying to explain 'Beast Taming' made her realize how inadequate she was to really do something like that.

She was no teacher! But she'd already implied she would... Oh jeez.

"I guess our first step is to find an animal and get it to approach you! Or at least... to not hate us." Kyupin nodded to herself and turned them inland. Land creatures, or mammals of any sort really, would probably be easier to connect with.

As they reached the start of the treeline, Kyupin's sharp eyes spotted a flicker of... something. Was that...? It was! "Look, over there!" she whispered.

It was hard to keep the excitement from raising her voice. She pointed to the animal, eyes glittering. She so badly wanted to approach it and talk with it, soothe it and understand it. But it was not her time. No, no. That was for Aria to experience, firsthand.

It seemed their first animal encounter would be...

A nest of birds? "It's a bunch of baby birds without their mom." Generally, it was a horrible idea to intrude on a nest full of youngin' birds. But, this was a training session! "Let's go say hi."

If the momma bird came back to fight off the intruders, it might even be better for Aria. Taming a calm animal was far different from trying to tame an angry mother. Kyupin would know.

She lead the way, swinging herself up on a branch, climbing with the agility of a cat until she was perched haphazardly near the nest. She smiled down at Aria from her place. "They're really cute," she pointed out.

@Aria

 

"Hahaha~" The taller Felis giggled as affectionately ruffled Kyu's hair, "Okay, Kyupin." Perhaps, it was for the best that the Countess kept her title a secret or one couldn't even imagine how awkward it'd be. To Aria's defense, Kyupin did look quite young and petite for her age, plus her manner of speech didn't sound like one of those snob sophisticated nobles either. "You can call me, hmm... Aria too, it's fine~" She almost said 'big sis Aria' but nah, that'd be creepy to someone she just met not an hour ago.

"I see..." Aria put one hand against her chin, pondering over her experiences. "Yes actually, I met a Faerin, Alice, who looks quite similar to you, she had friends, a bear and a fox among them, like you and Vulcan I guess." Damn that 'Tucky', the bear almost gave her a heart attack but the resulting sight of seeing a small girl talking down a hulking brown bear was something she couldn't see everyday. "So that's the power of a Beast Tamer. Haha, damn, that's wicked." There she went again with the 'modern' slangs. "I did 'tame' a baby bunny with a carrot tho! Does that count?" Aria giggled as they continued traveling out of the port city.

The two Felis finally left the bustling port and into the rural area, Aria felt more at home here, well her character would if she was going with what she originally had in mind. However, over time, Aria felt she should stop trying so hard to 'roleplay' and just enjoy herself. "Yes, what is it?" Her feline ears swished about and her cat-like green eyes searching until they locked themselves up to a nest neatly placed on a high branch. "Ooooh, birds!"

Taken by excitement, Aria climbed the tree after Kyupin, now quite used to doing so, even though still a bit awkward, at least she won't fall flat on her ass anymore. A moment later, the two arrived at the specific branch where the nest perched, the chirps of adorable baby birds ringing in ear feline ears. "Hehe, awwww~ they really are." Aria examined the juvenile avians, cooing. "Where is their mother, I wonder~?"

As if on cue, the chicks' mother soon arrived, already squawking in protective anger as it landed near the nest, a falcon by the looks of it... or a hawk? Er... she didn't know the details, it was one of those birds of prey that's for sure. Obviously sheltering her children, the mother bird tried to make herself bigger to intimidate the intruding cats! "So uhm..." Aria whispered to Kyupin, "What do I do now...?" She didn't prepare bird feed in her inventory, oops.

 

She smiled at the mention of a baby bunny. The babies could be the hardest, sometimes. They were either very accepting or super hesitant of humans. She would've loved to see the little bunny Aria spoke of, but the moment passed, and so Kyupin held her tongue on the comment.

When the mother bird arrived, almost as if summoned by Aria's comment, Kyupin hummed to herself. Lucky them! "Stay calm," she urged. That was the first step to any kind of bonding. "When you make that connection, it's a two-way thing. You feel them, they feel you. If you're calm, they'll feel more clam too." She recalled her first session in the game, where another beast tamer had taken it upon themselves to protect her - to make her feel safe. "I will protect you, no matter what. So try to approach it."

Hawks, and most other birds of prey, were swift hunters. Having one as a companion might help Aria in the future. Kyupin kept an eye on the other animal and smiled, expelling her own positive aura for both the animals' and Aria's sake. If the other had the same kind of intuition, she might feel that emotion like a slight tingle, nudging in the back of their mind. It was one Kyupin was always aware of when around animals - a sort of doorway between her and them.

For now, she kept her door closed, and she knew the hawk would do the same.

But perhaps Aria would convince it to let her bond with it, making that personal mental connection that only companion and tamer could have.

She stayed silent, letting the other do whatever they felt best to try and connect. All she was here for was to keep them safe. If things went south, well, Kyupin could either force the bird to calm down with her own taming skills or a nice arrow.

@Aria

 

"Oh, right... uhm..." Keeping herself steady on the tree branch, Aria listened closely to Kyupin's instructions on how to relate with the mother hawk. The first step was to stay calm, yep, she was calm, real calm. "Deep breaths... happy thoughts." The green-haired Felis took a few deep breaths through her nose, calming her beating heart. While the hawk didn't look dangerous enough to be able to fatally wound her, getting scratched by those talons would hurt.

Next up was to make the connection, so... how could she do that exactly? Certainly the hawk couldn't add Aria to her friend list now could she? However, Kyupin made it sound so easy! Still, she had to try something, maybe uh... an icebreaking session with the bird first. Kyupin would protect her anyway, she should be fine... hopefully. "Okay, here I go..." Aria gulped as she scooted closer to the mother hawk, the avian was still glaring daggers at both her and Kyupin, though it was no longer screeching, more incredibly cautious than threatened now. If she had to make a guess, her blonde kin was the one responsible. Thank you, Kyupin.

"H-hello..." Aria's features curled into a genuinely warm smile, bowing a bit to show she meant no threat to the hawk or her chicks. "Nice to meet you, I am Aria." Here she was, talking to a bird, but well, people trained their cockatoos in real life so this wasn't far off. "I'm here to be your friend." She continued, opening up in a welcoming gesture, "Would you... be my friend?" At the last question, Aria offered her gloved hand at the hawk but still respecting its personal space. Holding back a gulp, she awaited results.

The hawk blinked, staring at Aria, her chicks, then back at the Felis, then she slowly relaxed. The mother bird scooted closer then she jumped up to Aria's arm, squawking in curiosity as if asking who was the guest visiting her nest and why she wanted to be her friend then after a few moments of contemplation, the hawk squawked once more, welcoming the Felis into her home.

"Oh..." The Felis gasped softly, did she... did she do it?! Though the bird couldn't speak, she could feel her instincts resonating with the hawk. This was a solid start to an amicable relationship. So this was how being a Beast Tamer felt. "Hehe, hello there~ can I call you..." What would be a good name for her, hmmm... "How about 'Ratu'?" Squawk, acknowledged the hawk, "Ratu it is!"

---

Moments later,

Waving up at her new avian friend shortly after she climbed down from the tree, Aria then focused her attention back to the adorable Kyupin and her vulpine companion. "Thank you soooo much for all your help, Kyu~" The taller Felis gave her another big hug, "Hehe~ finally I can something right for once." She released her, "Now let's go have fun in that seaside restaurant, my treat!" Money? No problem, thanks to Kyu.

Indeed, she had made three new friends today. Kyupin, Vulcan, and Ratu. Things would only get better from now on!

@Kyupin Felnya