Open - Stopping the kidnappers

_____If someone out there in the game world was trying to stir pure rage within the blood of some members they sadly got such from Kaede ash the girl slammed her fist into the table of the tavern crashing the wooden area clean in two and causing her own hand to bleed slightly from the impact. Her frame rose up as she growled loudly and look at the crying face of her dear friend. She was not mad for the girl crying, but for what caused such as Kaedé reached for her polearm and her other hand reaching to Kira’s head to lightly rub behind the girl’s ears to get her attention.

”If you knew such was happening you should have told me sooner Kira… I’ll be sure to get Sora back, and all the others even if it cost my life.”

_____Kaedé would not give Kira time to even talk Kaedé out of the death wish she was about to go after as the girl rushed out of the tavern and began rushing towards the last known location of Sora, and the bandits that nab been taking kids to sell off as slaves. The sheer idea got Kaedé's mind to flood with blood as she could only think of ripping them limb from limb for taking kids from their homes. What pushed her to the point of getting so angry to show it on the surface was how someone took the younger sister of someone Kaedé was sleeping with.

_____She seriously hoped they knew how much trouble they had caused by doing such and if they had not yet she was going to make sure they found out real quick just who was chasing them down. Her frame moved quickly across the forest landscape, arms reaching to swing off a branch or jump as she took the high ground and snuck around in the trees ready to stalk and harm her pray the moment she knew it was them.

_____Her speed only slowed when she arrived at the last spot Kira saw Sora before she was knocked out by the bandits and woke to her younger sister missing. Frame falling from the branches as she landed in the dirt clearing and began scanning the area for signs of where she would need to go from here. Most of the area seemed normal for the forest, animal tracks and nothing fully out of order from what you would assume. What Kaedé did notice was the dirt outline of Kira drawing Kaedé to walk over and set her weapon on her back to free both her hands.

_____Frame crouched down towards the only hint she could currently see as Kaedé growled and ran her hand over the area imagining her friend helpless to stop her sister from getting taken away. Even if the girl was not hit against the back of her neck at the start Kira was not a fighter, Kaedé could only worry about poor Sora who already had trouble with people now being taken somewhere against her will.

_____Slowly rising up to walk around the area and kneel down to see what Kira might have seen in the last few moments before she blacked out. Kaedé could only get mad at herself for not being a hunter or having that mastery. Waving her hands to open her Investigation mode to try a different angle of search but still proving to have no luck. Fist crashing into the dirt covering her bloody knuckles as Kaedé sat down and took the time to tend her wound despite wanting to circle the area.

”The more time I waste here, the farther away Sora will end up… But if I just go running around aimlessly it won’t help either… DAMN IT!!”

_____Kaedé shouted loud enough to scare away the birds in the area. Her eyes still boiling with anger as tears began to trace her face. She did not want to fail another girl, how would she be able to face Kira if she could not bring Sora back to the worried big sister. What Kaedé needed was a hunter, or someone who might have seen a group dragging a girl against her will. If only fate would be so kind to give her a hand on this one...

OOC: Three additional members max. Goal of thread is to find the group of kidnappers and save Sora, or follow them back to the base and save all the kids taken from their homes in the south west area of Brisshal.

 

Mizuki let out a deep sigh once the boar fell onto the ground lifelessly, its skull cracked after the wolf Felis had managed to land a lucky punch squarely between its eyes, the copper that reinforced the knuckles of her gloves enough to break the bone shell that protected the beast's brain. Of course it was merely unconscious right now: Mizuki had only gotten in a lucky punch, and while a fractured skull could be fatal it would be better if she finished the job quickly. She wasn't entirely sure whether she liked the idea of killing an animal if she had already managed to knock it out, but experience was experience and she needed to get stronger if only because that was part of the experience of living in Terrasphere.

Stepping closer she took a deep breath, pulling back her fist as she concentrated. She was still starting out as an adventurer, so she'd have to practice getting good instead of lucky. A non-moving target wouldn't help her much in a real fight so far as practice was concerned, but at least she could put some effort into hitting what she wanted to hit, and hitting it hard. After a second of concentration she smashed her fist into the boar's head once more, wincing slightly as even with the skull already broken in one place the boar's sheer hardiness made the recoil on her fist noticeable. She'd have to get used to that as well, if she wanted to continue using her fists to fight instead of grabbing a sword.

However the strike had been enough to break the skull again, and this time the damage was severe enough that combined with the already accumulated damage from the fight the boar finally died. Mizuki watched the corpse for a bit before shaking her head and moving on. It was a disturbing sight, and she wasn't sure if she was more bothered by the idea of never getting used to it (and thus having trouble adapting to this world) or actually getting used to it (and thus becoming too apathetic towards life). She hoped that as long as she kept in mind the danger of becoming too callous she could learn how not to be bothered by it without actually forgetting the importance of not killing people: it was one of the dangers that Virtual Reality had introduced which hadn't been present beforehand, when games were sufficiently distinct from reality that it was easy to distinguish between a program and a person.

Walking further into the forest Mizuki looked around to see if she could find any tracks leading to another animal she could fight. She had come here both to train and to test the studded gloves she had bought so she actually had some kind of weapon. She glanced at the glove she had used to deliver the finishing blow, noting that it was stained with blood. The gloves, at least, were doing their job well. As for Mizuki herself, she was getting used to moving in this game faster than she thought she would, but she was still sorely lacking in combat experience. And hunting experience, as she had the Hunter mastery yet still was having trouble actually tracking anything. She could see the tracks, but... They didn't tell her too much, since the animals were realistically stealthy for the most part.

Mizuki came to an abrupt halt as she heard a loud shout, following a lot of birds flying up and away. Twitching her ears and swivelling them Mizuki looked towards the direction that the sound came from, a frown on her face as she thought of what to do. Approach or stay away? Either someone was being careless or they felt no danger in revealing their position... But this was still Brisshal, which was supposed to be the safest of the zones. Even with the warnings of that cat Felis she couldn't imagine that there'd be some kind of monster in the area which would just yell out like that. Especially in a curse, which sounded more like what a player would do... Did the NPCs of this world even use 'Damn it'?

Shaking her head Mizuki decided to head towards the source of the sound, making her way through the forest and keeping her eye out for anything that could be considered dangerous. She did find some footsteps, but they looked relatively old (there were untrodden leafs on them, which would either have been stepped on or been pushed to the side if it was recent) so she didn't think those were a direct thread. She didn't hear any new sounds from where the shout had come from either, so she began to move a bit faster, not wanting to waste half an hour being too cautious in an area meant to be relatively safe for beginners to move about in.

She came to a stop when she saw someone sitting on the ground. She couldn't see if it was an NPC or a PC, but she was guessing it was a player looking at their appearance and the fact that she was carrying around a big polearm. She also looked like she was really upset about something, given the fact that there were tears in her eyes. Mizuki narrowed her own heterochromic eyes, then carefully approached until she was visible amidst the trees, her eyes glowing slightly, one bright blue and the other golden, as she studied Kaede.

"My apologies for intruding, but is there something that I might be able to help with?" Mizuki didn't know who this was, what she was doing here or whether she was friendly or not, but seeing someone crying in the middle of the forest sounded like the kind of situation where you should offer your help unless there are some very strong signs of it being a bad idea, and so far the biggest threat was if this girl pulled her weapon without warning and rushed her... Which Mizuki kind of doubted.

 

_____Kaedé was not someone who was so out of her own mind to notice sounds approaching. What she did lack was the full focus to keep that in mind up until the voice was heard. Gaze moving up to show the rage in her eyes for a few moments as she looked at the girl who had spoken to her. Closing her eyes for a few moments and wiping away her tears as she looked back with a fake smile and cheerful façade to worry the girl less as Kaedé rose to her feet and dusted her outfit off.

”Unless you saw signs of people traveling away from here or a girl with white hair getting taken away doubtful… Most times I would ask if I could see you in a maid outfit, but today or at least right now I have to go save someone important to me and someone I know.”

_____Kaedé had no shame in her words as she began to walk around the area looking for any clues she might have missed. Having another person, more such a girl nearby was helping keep her temper down enough to think and look better. Sadly she was still not having any sort of luck with finding where to go and it only caused Kaedé to start showing her anger again as her steps grew heavier and she clenched her fist tightly to try and limit the sight of her temper to not worry the girl nearby.
@Ueno Mizuki

 

Mizuki nearly took a step back when her words were answered by a glare fierce enough that it threatened to immolate the Felis on the spot. As if the tears weren't already enough of a giveaway, that stare confirmed that whoever this woman was something was seriously wrong, and Mizuki would rather not be the kind of person who'd just walk away from someone who might be in serious need. The woman herself, however, had apparently decided that she would rather not show her distress as she first wiped away her tears, then put up a smile which might have fooled Mizuki if it wasn't for the fact that she had seen the expression that came beforehand.

Putting up a positive expression or not the woman wasn't hesitating to say what was wrong, the few words that she gave making it clear that someone she knew had been kidnapped by bandits and that she was having trouble finding signs of where they might have taken said friend. The comment about the maid outfit made Mizuki blink, but then she focused on what was more important, namely the kidnapping. Mizuki couldn't say that she had seen a girl by that description or any group of people who looked like they might be carrying someone, but she did remember those tracks she passed by on the way here.

"I'm afraid I haven't seen a girl with that description, or any other people for that matter..." She hesitated to mention the tracks, as they could be belonging to someone else: they were relatively old tracks, after all, and according to this girl it had been a group of bandits and Mizuki couldn't remember whether the tracks had indicated a group or not. Instead she watched the girl for a bit as she walked around, clearly becoming more and more frustrated in her inability to find any clues. Mizuki watched for a bit longer in indecision, then shook her head and placed her index and middle finger against her temple. The glow of her eyes before had simply been a trick of the light, but this time her eyes lit up for real, Mizuki furrowing her brow as she looked around...

She guessed that Kaede didn't have the Hunting mastery, because even as inexperienced as Mizuki was she didn't take very long to pick up on some tracks. With Investigation mode activated they almost seemed to light up in her vision, the wolf Felis walking over and then crouching, studying them from up close. It seemed she really hadn't been trying properly when she was simply trying to find animals, because now that she actually had a reason to try hard enough she was finding a lot more details. Several tracks, all of them seemed to belong to adult males, one of which had subtle but still noticeable deeper imprints... Carrying someone? Most likely the girl. Mizuki blinked when, aside from the visual information that was pouring in, she smelled a distinct scent... Which when she noticed that split into a variety of senses. The Felis for a moment stopped looking at the tracks as she instead tried to process all this new information... It seemed that there was more to tracking than just looking at what's on the ground...

Regardless of whether Kaede might find it weird or not Mizuki placed her gloved hands on the ground as she lowered her upper body, her face just above some of the tracks as she carefully sniffed. Yes, there definitely was a very distinct scent there... And some of the other tracks had an accompanying scent as well. Mizuki's tail moved from side to side above her as she sniffed every footprint thoroughly, until she was pretty sure that she could tell them apart. She could also tell which way the kidnappers had gone, which was a lot better than those indistinct footprints she had found before.

Slowly standing up Mizuki dusted herself off before turning towards Kaede, unsure of how to approach the girl. After trying several avenues of approach in her head she eventually settled for just being as straightforward as possible.

"My apologies, but I have the Hunting mastery, and I think I've found their tracks. I'm still new to this game so I'm not very experienced a fighter yet, but I should be able to lead you to them at the very least... Do you think you would be able to handle the ones that took your friend on your own?" Mizuki would fight if necessary, but she wasn't going to be so naive as to think that she would make an excellent showing just because someone's life was at stake. She didn't have a history of practising martial arts or even being that fanatic about sports, and whatever little time she had been practising combat in this world hadn't been enough to turn her into a fantastic fighter, especially without the Assist Mode to cover for her. Maybe she should activate it... But even then she didn't think it would help: she had only used Free Mode, so she might mess up using Assist Mode as well.

Inwardly sighing (not wanting to worry Kaede) Mizuki pointed in the direction where the tracks led towards, the pointing towards the tracks. "I think they were carrying your friend, so they can't have been moving very fast. Combined with the tracks still being of today and we might be able to find them before anything really bad happens." Any group which would go through the trouble of taking their victims away would most likely refrain from doing anything until they had arrived at the target destination, so if they were fast... Mizuki crouched to sniff the tracks again, confirming their age. Even with some training in her Hunting mastery she still wasn't a master, so she couldn't do something as outrageous as guessing the exact time and everything. Still, it should do for this, especially since the bandits hadn't seemed to be too concerned about covering their tracks.
@Kaede Hoshi

 

_____When Kaedé took the time to look towards the girl again she almost started going back to her normal self. Seeing her so close to the ground and her tail waving made Kaedé want to tackle her and start nibbling on the girl’s ear so badly. When the girl started to look up she quickly spun around and dismissed the ideas in favor or finding Sora before the girl suffered any more than she already likely had been. When the girl spoke of finding the trail Kaedé had a bit of a break down and rushed to tackle the girl in a hug. It would be a moment before she let go and tried to regain herself as she got her weapon and began to spin it around casually.

”I don’t have much into my fighting mastery myself but I know a thing or two about combat and how to go about things so should be fine as long as Sora is safe so I can go full force.”

_____The moment Ueno pointed she likely would regret that idea as Kaedé seemed to vanish as the girl shot off in the given direction and only slowing down after a good forty feet away from where she started to run back and sweep Ueno off her feet into a princess carry, careful not to touch her tail before rushing back with little change of her speed. Any given direction Kaedé would follow and did not seem to have any urge to set the girl down just yet. What likely could be considered accidental was the light grasp Kaedé hand under the girl’s breast to hold her steady as she ran them after the group.

”Not to mention if Sora is still awake she is going to be giving them one hell of a hard time with magic or sleep songs. I just hope she is careful to know when to stop…”

”PUT ME DOWN MEANIE!”

_____Kaedé's words cut off as she heard Sora’s voice. Frame slowing down as she slid across the dirt almost going down as she struggled a bit and eventually got her footing back and jogged to a stop. Eyes watching with returning rage as the group hit Sora against the head to shut her up. Slowly setting Ueno down as Kaedé almost rushed forward until she heard information that made her hesitate.

”After this girl we should move all them to the sell spot, any more and we are going to get busted or struggle moving them all.”

_____Kaedé wanted to save Sora, but she also now had a chance to try and save others also. The cost would be Sora getting further away and the chance this group had buddies. Numbers was the one thing the two did not currently have as Kaedé clenched her fist and for the moment chose to start moving ahead of the group turning to face Ueno before whispering.

”Keep an eye on them and if you can try to slow them down from getting where they want to go… I’m going to try and save the others before they arrive or figure out if they have to many for me to fight off head on.” With that Kaedé would only wait a few moments before she bolted off in the group’s headed direction unless Ueno did not have the confidence in appearance to do what Kaedé asked. If such was the case Kaedé would rush towards the group of bandits first, and try to save the others later.
@Ueno Mizuki

 

If Mizuki had been aware of what Kaede was thinking she would have been glad knowing that she was unaware of it, but thankfully that paradoxical train of reasoning didn't occur as instead she was completely oblivious. She had heard the comment about the maid outfit that had been uttered before, but dismissed it as there were more important things to focus on, such as the fact that there was a girl who needed saving. Mizuki didn't exactly think of herself as some kind of hero, but that was still something more important than whether someone wanted to dress you up in an unusual fashion. She could think about what that could mean later on, when she wasn't busy with the whole kidnapping issue.

Of course she did get distracted a bit when, following her offer of tracking down the bandits that grabbed this girl's friend, said girl tackle hugged her, Mizuki's cheeks turning red as she wasn't really sure what to do. She had the urge to gently push this woman away, but... She didn't want to ruin the relief she must be feeling at the idea that she'd be able to find her friend so quickly. In the end Mizuki just stood there feeling awkward for the short period that Kaede took to realize what she was doing, the wolf Felis doing her best to not react and pretend that didn't happen when the nameless stranger pulled out of the embrace and instead spun her polearm. Most likely to try and make a better impression regarding her fighting skills, since Mizuki highly doubted this girl was trying to intimidate her with the weapon given the earlier reaction.

"I'm still very new to being an adventurer, so as I noted before you'll most likely for the largest part be reliant on yourself when it comes to fighting the bandits. I can try to help a bit, but I won't be beating them down any time soon unless I'm vastly underestimating myself and overestimating them. What I might be able to do is help secure your friend's safety, grabbing her once you've distracted them with your weapon." The woman was correct that as long as her friend was a hostage it would be a lot harder to defeat the bandits, so Mizuki would have to try and deal with that issue. The Hunting mastery did also come with some minor stealth (although not as much as the Rogue mastery), so if her new companion did a good job surprising the bandits she might be able to get close and grab this Sora.

Mizuki blinked when the girl seemed to just disappear, taking a moment to register that she had stormed off in the direction that the wolf Felis had just pointed. Another moment and she saw Kaede run back, leaving Mizuki to wonder what the plan here was until suddenly she was being lifted. Mizuki struggled a bit in her surprise, but once she realized that the woman wasn't going to listen to her feeble protests she just tried her best to compensate for the lack of contact with the ground. Since she was also hunting by smell being carried was actually not very efficient, since she wouldn't be able to get a good hold of the scent. Instead she just stared at the ground, identifying the tracks as best she could and pointing the woman carrying her in the right direction. It was a good thing that even in her rush the carrier was still paying attention, and that these bandits really weren't being fearful of retaliation. Now if only the girl wasn't accidentally groping Mizuki's chest, but Mizuki chose to see that as an oversight rather than intentional. And she wasn't sure if the woman would listen anyway right now.

"Your friend is a mage? I'm surprised that bandits managed to capture then, especially if she has so useful an ability as a song of sleep. I would have to guess that they managed to completely surprise her for her to be unable to resist them... Unless they are indeed competent bandits and not a group of random ruffians who just saw an opportunity." If their opponents were actually that competent that could become a problem, as her companion herself had admitted that she wasn't exactly a master warrior. Combine someone with some experience and Mizuki with her nearly non-existent experience and a group of experienced bandits would become a serious threat, quite likely beyond what they were capable of handling.

Watching the bandits knock Sora on the head to silence her Mizuki frowned, not feeling nearly as enraged as Kaede but still feeling a decent amount of anger at this scene. Even in a game like this there were still people exploiting one another, and MIzuki didn't really care if these were NPCs or PCs, since the NPCs were supposed to be realistic people as well so they still had to be accounted for on the morality scale. Once Kaede had put her down Mizuki raised a hand to place it on the girl's shoulder, trying to keep her from senselessly rushing in. Mizuki had not brought the woman here for her to just lose control and do something stupid in her hurry to save her friend, no matter how natural and understandable that might have been.

"I should be able to slow them down somewhat, but they'll be aware that someone is following them, so you'll still have to hurry." Mizuki had done her homework, and the Hunting mastery also included things aside from minor stealth and tracking. While Kaede ran ahead to try and free whoever else had been captured by these bandits (Mizuki just hoping that the girl would actually find them: who could say whether the bandits were moving in a straight line?) Mizuki herself also moved in front of the group carrying Sora to their hideout, and began to place down traps. She was still a novice in this, having managed to do some research but not having a lot of practice. And beyond that she also didn't have limitless time, as she was placing traps in front of people who were already approaching.

Still, it seemed to have some effect. It didn't take long before the group of bandits were slowed down considerably as Mizuki, trying to be as stealthy as possible while still staying close enough to keep an eye on where the bandits were going, made them walk through snares and even lured some animals onto the path with some food so the bandits would either have to move around the animals or chase them off. It wasn't exactly perfect, and the bandits were in return moving faster to try and make up for the ground they were losing, but at least their progress wasn't as smooth as before any longer. With some luck Kaede would be able to free the others in the time Mizuki managed to buy.
@Kaede Hoshi

 

_____Kaedé would nod slowly before rushing away to deal with the first task she had on her hands. Thankfully for them or at least Kaedé this was a straight shot from the hideout as she slowed down at the edge of the forest overlooking a small cave with two guards. Waiting a few moments before she chose to approach full steam, weapon moving into view as she revealed her location to the thugs and got them to approach her weapons drawn also. The did not call for help, so either it was just them here or they figured they could beat Kaedé, a fairly large mistake.

_____Sure she did not exactly have combat training in the game but she had real life knowledge of fighting with her weapon and thankful for Sword art, how to fight sword and ax users. Waving her weapon to the blunt side as she swung at her right side towards the footing of her first target tripping them. Frame spinning rapidly to form a half circle in the ground as her weapon tripped her other target using her greater speed rather than her combat mastery. With both targets down she moved her weapon aside and came down with Elbows to both target’s necks to knock them out for now.

_____With targets down and no keys found on either person she began to drag them inside where Kaedé found them. Fifteen kids each locked in groups of five in different cages cowering in fear. Some looked worse than others and Kaedé could only growl at the idea people would do such things. Dropping the guards as she began quickly skimming her UI for her lock picks, in her defense she only had them for emergencies…

”When I let you out help the others who can’t move as quickly and go to the left, where the blade of my weapon is pointing… Hide in the forest area until I can come guide you back to the nearest town and get others to help find your homes. I need you all to do that for me… Trust me, please…”
@Ueno Mizuki

 

While Kaede went on ahead towards the hideout Mizuki continued her own efforts, twisting twigs, leafs and grass to form quick snares. They wouldn't actually trap the bandits but they would stumble, fall and hesitate, slowing down their movements so Kaede at the very least would have some more time to finish her business in the hideout. Mizuki just hoped that there weren't too many bandits in the hideout if the group was larger than the ones currently on the road, since Kaede herself had said that she wasn't actually that big a fighter, even if she most likely was still significantly better than a complete newcomer than Mizuki, who was still training against an enemy as common as a boar. At least the Hunting mastery was already doing her good, as it had allowed the two of them to track the bandits and also was making it easier for her to figure out how to quickly make these small traps.

Thinking about it she was somewhat curious how these masteries worked. Since she wasn't using the Assist Mode it wasn't like the game itself was guiding her movements, but she did note that there was a significant difference between her performance now and in the very beginning, both with Hunting and with Body Combat. Somehow these masteries were still influencing how good she was at these things, even in the Free Mode. So there was some form of assistance still going on, but it was more subtle than just blatantly doing the work for her. Instead of executing the skills on her behalf the masteries were making it... easier, somehow. Did the masteries immediately feed information into your head about what you should do? She was aware that before she entered Terrasphere she hadn't had a lot of opportunities to learn how to make traps, yet here she was moving through a forest with little to no issue and making life difficult for a group of bandits. Yet she didn't feel as if someone had just shoved the knowledge and expertise inside of her. Instead it just felt like she was... learning... but a lot faster than you'd expect. It was a very strange phenomenon, and she wondered what the deeper workings were.

For the moment, though, she had bigger things to deal with. Or at the very least much more pressing. The bandits were adapting quickly. They were actually moving faster now, and while Mizuki had SOME skill with the traps she wasn't good enough at it yet that she could make traps quickly enough to compensate for the bandits picking up the pace. As it was they'd run into her before she could finish making new traps and moving further ahead to repeat the cycle, so the Felis had to think of something else. Finding new animals to lure into the way also would take too long, which didn't leave her with a lot of options on what to do. It seemed she'd have to get more violent in her approach if she wanted to keep the bandits from getting in Kaede's way.

However before she could ready herself for that she heard some rustling nearby, causing the Felis to quickly look in that direction, in time to see that while she was overthinking what to do next two of the bandits had split off to find the trapper who suddenly was getting in their way. They both were looking both angry and calculating, although not in a manner that Mizuki could approve of. It seemed that so far as they were concerned the punishment of getting in their way would be for MIzuki to become one of their captives as well, so MIzuki would have to do her best to get rid of them. And quickly, too, because while these two kept her busy the other bandits would move to the hideout.

Growling softly at the bandits Mizuki moved deeper into the forest, still moving into the same direction as the bandits that were still carrying the girl so she would be able to resume bothering them quickly after she was done with these two bandits who were getting in her way. The two followed her, moving through the forest with little more issue than herself. Not surprising, since they must come here a lot and be familiar with the terrain. She couldn't just shake them, especially since they would just return to the group (if they actually got lost here they were so stupid that she would have to wonder how they hadn't been caught yet). Diving through a bush (and ignoring the small scratches of the branches) Mizuki used the opportunity to move behind a tree, holding herself completely still. She couldn't see the bandits now, but on the other hand neither could they. Grabbing a stick she threw it a bit further away into another bush, to make them think that she was trying to shake them by constantly moving through bushes.

Since she couldn't risk revealing herself MIzuki closed her eyes, instead focusing on her ears. Her Felis ears, which were a lot sharper than the ears she had to live with on Earth. She could hear their footsteps, the sound of very small pebbles being pushed aside and dirt crunching underneath their boots. They were getting closer, Mizuki readying one fist as she breathed as slowly as possible, somehow being aware that this was the best opportunity she would get. They were getting closer... and closer... They were rushing, since they wanted to find her wherever she want after using the bushes to disappear from their sight for a moment. In just a moment the first one would pass by the tree that Mizuki was hiding behind...

The moment she heard the footstep right next to the tree Mizuki essentially uncoiled, launching herself forward while reaching out with her fist. The copper studs that both protected and augmented her knuckles smashed into the man's chin, an audible crack resounding as the force of Mizuki's entire body was sufficient to send the man sprawling onto the ground with a broken jaw, pained sounds and shrieks coming from the mangled mouth as the man tried to spit out the blood that was making it hard for him to breathe.

Mizuki herself quickly turned around to the other bandit, raising both fists and ignoring the red staining one of the fists while she raised her tail and bared her fangs, trying to intimidate the bandit so he'd be an easier target. The bandit who was still standing appeared to be somewhat dumbfounded at suddenly having his companion get knocked out of the fight so brutally, but quickly recovered and snarled at her before rushing her, swinging two daggers as he apparently wasn't too concerned about whether he would catch her whole and healthy (and thus valuable as a prisoner) or with some pieces missing. Mizuki jumped backwards, almost stumbling over the feet of the fallen man before distancing herself some more, trying to figure out how to get past the daggers. She'd have to create an opening...

The bandit was still hunting her down, holding his daggers up threateningly while coming closer and closer, the Felis continuing to move backwards while using her tail to check that she wasn't backing herself into a tree or something. Mizuki couldn't drag this fight out for too long, so after some more seconds of not being able to think of something better she just gave the impression of wanting to run away, darting glances over her shoulder and moving her feet to create some feints, as if she was trying to get a headstart while running. Only when she thought she had convinced the bandit that she wasn't going to fight back did she suddenly launch herself forward, fist in front to execute the same attack as before.

The bandit wasn't surprised enough to stand there and do nothing, instead holding up one dagger to block her attack and stabbing at her with the other to counter-attack. Mizuki nearly flinched, but instead just narrowed her eyes and tried to ignore the intuitive fear of the dagger as she firmly planted her foot on the ground, pulling the fist that was going to smash straight into the dagger back. Leaning her upper body to the side she could feel the dagger move past her cheek even as she ducked, her other fist moving first down, then up in an arc until it rose up in between the bandit's arms. Her studded knuckles smashed into the man's chin from below, after which Mizuki once again planted her other foot on the ground and once more reversed her momentum, while the man was stumbling backwards giving him another punch right on the forehead, this one knocking him out and sending him tumbling onto the ground as well.

Mizuki was breathing heavily as she looked at the two bandits that she just disabled, one still conscious but too busy dealing with the pain of a broken jaw and the other out for the count. She didn't have rope to tie them up, so she settled for throwing the unconscious one on top of the one with the broken jaw, accompanied by stomping down on both of his shins hard so even if he managed to get up he'd be stumbling, not running.

With that done Mizuki could return to saving the girl, or at least buying Kaede some time. Hopefully the hideout was still a bit further away and this distraction hadn't caused the group to run into her companion...
@Kaede Hoshi

 

_____Kaedé could consider herself both lucky and unlucky as she was able to get all the kids out into hiding in the forest area but did not have enough time to set anything up as she ran out to see the rest of the group of bandits and Sora still in their grasp. Kaedé's temper was flickering to the surface as she got to her weapon before the group could get closer and take advantage of the fact she did not have her weapon yet or one in sight. Aiming the blade at the group as she calmed herself as best she could and spoke her demands.

”You have one chance, give me the girl you have there or get the same fate your buddies inside here got.”

”Bitch you don’t get any demands, last I check we both outnumber you and have a hostage. So why don’t you drop that weapon and go into a cell before we rough you up like our buddies did to your partner.”

_____A line crossed beyond Kaedé point of keeping calm. She did not want the girl who she sort of dragged into this to get hurt because of Kaedé's personal investment into this but sure enough it happened and now she was angry beyond control or exactly trying to settle things peacefully. She looked at the four drawing weapons in reply to her lifting her own to attention, a four on one was not exactly favorable but better than six or seven against one, or even all nine of the bandits against her as Kaedé rushed a few steps forward growling with anger.

_____The first bandit did not exactly seem to understand the advantage they could have had if all approached her at once. Kaedé's weapon was one to suffer harder the more people that got around her and the closer they got, but this fool rushed ahead giving Kaedé full rand to attack before his dagger would be in range to harm her. The motions she took almost a faint blur as Kaedé swung her weapon around and dove past the attack and his shorter range glaring at the others as the attack began bleeding out and dropped behind her.

_____Two deep cuts and a third shallow cut at his legs was enough to remove him from the fight for the moment as Kaedé moved her right hand from her weapon and beckoned the rest of the bandits to just try and test her in a fight of quick reaction. Her expression was both a mix of cold killer intent and pure rage. She was no stranger to fighting for her life and much less one to combat with weapons besides guns and bows. Her only visible dangers was the one holding Sora, and the mage starting to chant a spell behind the other two.

”If you want me in a cage, you are going to have to break every bone in my body!”
@Ueno Mizuki

 

Mizuki returned to where the main group of bandits was as fast as she could, but found to her dismay that they were already further along. Wasting no time she began to follow their trail once more, hoping that she'd be able to catch up to them before they reached their hideout. If they were moving as fast as they did before it was unlikely that she'd be able to actually stop them before they reached the hideout, but she at least wanted to avoid them surprising Kaede. They were only with the two of them, so with her having been occupied by the two who had tried to get rid of her there was nobody left who could warn Kaede while she was trying to free the people who had been kidnapped and brought to the hideout already. Mizuki didn't doubt Kaede's skill despite what the woman said about herself, but if there were more bandits at the hideout then adding the ones who took Kaede's friend she might be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

Unfortunately the further she got along the clearer it became that the bandits had abandoned any attempt at care and instead had just gone to their hideout as quickly as they could, Mizuki's frown growing deeper as she found more and more signs that she wasn't going to run into them until they had already arrived at their destination. She wasn't an expert on fighting, but it didn't take an expert to know that you usually didn't want to fight anyone on their home territory. For one thing if they were aware that you were there, and they were still heading for somewhere, it meant that they were confident that as long as they were at their target destination they could deal with you, and Mizuki would rather not be known as someone who got taken down because she underestimated a group of bandits and thought they couldn't be a threat even in their very own hideout.

Reaching the edge of the forest Mizuki saw that the four remaining bandits had arrived at the entrance of a cave, and that they were facing off with Kaede. Either the woman had already rescued all the ones in the cave or she had been interrupted, but fortunately she hadn't been completely caught off guard as Mizuki could see that one of the bandits was on the ground, bleeding from his legs. That one wouldn't stand up any time soon, so at the very least Kaede had been able to reduce it from a four on one to a three on one. However even Mizuki could see that if she didn't interfere Kaede would be in trouble, since the remaining three appeared to be a lot more careful. Mizuki moved several steps backwards, then lowered herself until she could place her hands on the ground, taking on a stance which on Earth would just have looked ridiculous but here felt rather appropriate.

Giving herself only a moment to test her balance Mizuki tensed and then dashed forward, heading straight for the one bandit who was standing behind the other two. With her sharp ears she could hear the chanting, and she didn't think that in a world where magic was freely present it was a good idea to let any enemy chant without doing your damn best to stop them. Running on all fours Mizuki accelerated, moving a lot faster than she ever had on Earth without some kind of vehicle. It really seemed like the VR system was enhancing her even outside of Assist Mode, and an idle thought in the back of her head made her wonder how much of what she gained in here transferred to the world outside of the game. Would her reaction speed improve?

Mizuki and Kaede were both lucky that the three remaining bandits thought that their two friends had managed to get rid of Mizuki, since it meant that they were all three focused on Kaede, who was keeping them at bay with the threat of her polearm. Rather than risk getting in range of the long weapon they thought it was safer to protect the caster while he finished the spell, which meant they weren't moving a lot. And even more fortunate was the fact that the bandits weren't aware of one of the downsides of chants: no matter how powerful the chanted spell might be, the chant itself meant that you might not notice an important sound at an important moment. Like when an enemy combatant you weren't expecting was rushing towards you from behind at breakneck speed.

Once she was close Mizuki jumped up, spinning herself in the process even as she practically flew forward. With as much of her momentum transferred into her spin as she could manage without just fudging the entire jump Mizuki stuck out her leg, and the mage bandit's casting was interrupted very rudely as a foot caught him squarely in the side of his head with such force that his own feet were lifted off of the ground before he fell over like a log. Mizuki, however, wasn't done yet as she also stuck out her other foot, neither her trajectory flight nor her spinning having ended with that kick as she caught one of the other bandits with the heel of her other foot, managing to knock the living daylights out of that one as well and as an added bonus send the unconscious body tumbling into the remaining bandit, who barely managed to remain standing as suddenly both of his remaining allies were falling down while a dark figure flew past, and he had to catch the body of his buddy as it crashed against him.

Unfortunately Mizuki somewhat botched the landing, scrabbling for purchase with all four of her limbs as she skidded across the ground before she managed to come to a halt, ending up next to Kaede and letting out a hissing sound as she could feel a burning pain in her fingers. Her gloves didn't cover the the joints of her fingers completely, and her skin hadn't reacted too well to being scraped so roughly against the rough ground. She could see the scrapes and red lines. She'd have to put some effort into her landings if she wanted to make a habit out of using jumping attacks... although honestly she had been very fortunate that the bandits had all been focusing on Kaede and that one of them had covered her approach unknowingly with his chanting.

Well, on the bright side Kaede's friend was no longer caught, so she could get away... but she'd have to hurry as the last remaining bandit was already dropping the body of his knocked out friend so he could instead focus on the three women who all deserved his attention in some way. Kaede, who had freed all their captives so far and taken out the guards, Mizuki, who had made their journey to the hideout so difficult and then suddenly appeared like a comet to help Kaede, and Sora, the girl they had been trying to capture but who now seemed to be slipping out of their fingers.

Even with her fingers still hurting Mizuki clenched her hands back into fists, raising herself up and keeping a steady eye on the bandit as she tried to regain her breath from the mad dash and subsequent spinning jump. Honestly she was kind of hoping Kaede would take care of the last one, since she would rather not hit anyone with her hands right now.
@Kaede Hoshi

 

_____Watching the girl not be as did in as the bandits claimed was both a good feeling and funny. Watching the girl’s actions and how she landed almost made Kaedé lose her combat mindset, if it was not for the bandit trying to move Sora into a blade to neck grip Kaedé would have. Legs moving quickly as Kaedé blitzed the target slamming her elbow into his neck just over Sora’s head to knock the wind out of him and drive him back. Catching Sora before she could also fall to the ground and moving her towards Ueno as Kaedé focused on the bandit who drew the most anger from her.

”Take Sora and the others back the way we came… I’ll catch up after I have a small chat with these bandits.”

_____Kaedé would turn to smile at Ueno for a moment before moving her focus back to the gasping male. Her hand slowly pointing to the tree line where the kids began to poke out from before dragging the males into the cave so the kids would not have to worry so much about the group. After Kaedé watched the group leave and waited a bit longer she would turn back to tossing the other males into the cages and keeping the one who hit Sora out and locked to a chair.

_____Slapping his face to get his full focus as she grinned and walked over to pick up a sword from one of his fallen buddies. Before he could spit at Kaedé she moved quickly and stabbed the blade into his leg and watched the tip poke out from the other side of the chair. His scream muffled as she moved to stuff a dirty rag into his mouth and she growled. Slowly pointing to the set of keys under part of his leg and locked in by the blade.

”If you all want out someone has to pull the blade from your leg, if you EVER do something like this again I won’t be so kind.” Giving his cheek one more slap before Kaedé rushed to catch up with the group of kids and Ueno.
@Ueno Mizuki

 

As Mizuki had been hoping Kaede was quick enough on the uptake that she moved in to take care of the last bandit before that one could do something bad to Sora, while Mizuki herself blew softly on her fingers in the hope of lessening the pain a bit. Realistic pain setting might be good for immersion but it still hurt. Unfortunately blowing on her fingers didn't actually help a lot, but at least she felt a bit better for doing something even if it wasn't as effective as she hoped. She also watched how Kaede knocked the air out of the man, choking him with the elbow slam so he was left gasping and gagging even as Kaede asserted full control and pushed Sora in Mizuki's direction. The Felis nodded as Kaede told her to go and bring Sora and the rest of the children away... while making it rather apparent that she wasn't done with the bandits just yet. Trying to ignore the stinging from her hands Mizuki beckoned for Sora to follow her as she headed for the forest, moving towards the children who were still watching. However she wasn't planning to comply with Kaede's plan, if only because she felt like it might be better if she didn't leave Kaede to her own devices completely.

Mizuki was, as a matter of fact, quite angry at these bandits. The anger had been overridden by worry and some fear, as Mizuki wasn't used to situations where her life was in actual danger and she wasn't a natural born fighter either. She had been able to get out of the situation all right but the truth of the fact was that her state of mind for the duration of the situation had been more of a controlled panic than anything else. Anger had taken a back seat because a variety of emotions had demanded a higher priority. Only now that she felt like they were all safe with the bandits defeated could she afford to feel legitimately angry, but even now the relief that everything had gone so well was making it hard for her to get really angry... and she was also helped by the fact that, concern and all, Mizuki never had any personal stakes involved other than her own well-being.

However it was quite clear that for Kaede the anger had been a lot stronger, and for very understandable reasons. It was her friend who had been captured, and it was she who had found all these children captive and had freed them, while for the most part Mizuki had only seen the aftermath as she arrived to help mop up the last of the bandits. It wasn't strange that Kaede would feel a lot more anger than her, but Mizuki was worried that Kaede might also not be completely calm right now, and with her anger she might end up doing something she might regret afterwards. Mizuki didn't know Kaede that well (or at all, really, given that she had never met the girl before today, not even half an hour ago before they two of them began to hunt down the bandits together) but Kaede had appeared to her like a passionate and caring person, positive traits which nevertheless could backfire quite tremendously if her emotions got too strong and overwhelmed her sense of reason.

Mizuki quickly reassured the children that everything was all right now, that she had scouted the area and that she was sure that there weren't any more bandits around. The only two bandits not in the cave were an unconscious one and one who would barely be able to walk, since Mizuki hadn't really held back in a) crushing his jaw so he would be in a lot of pain, and b) stomping down on his legs so every step would be a torment. Thinking back on that she wondered if she was being unfair to Kaede, but she thought it was better if she played it safe than let fear of being a hypocrite hold her back. With all the bandits taken care of she asked the children and Sora if they were willing to wait here for a bit while she went back to check on Kaede, saying that she wanted to help Kaede check out the cave to see if there was anything else of worth there.

With the children agreeing to wait for a bit Mizuki quickly headed back, not in time to hear the screams but in time to see Kaede appear from the darkness of the cave. The girl's expression was... Mizuki couldn't really read Kaede's expression that well, but she hesitated to enter the cave, instead watching the woman for a bit before speaking up, waiting until Kaede was close enough that she'd be able to hear Mizuki clearly without Mizuki having to yell.

"I'm glad we were able to find your friend unharmed, and that we managed to free the other children as well." A small moment of hesitation, before she pushed on. "I won't ask how you dealt with the bandits, but I won't blame you if you needed an outlet for your anger and worry. Just... I trust that you knew not to go too far with it." Mizuki honestly didn't know how to say what she wanted to say without it sounding like a form of accusation. "But for now let's bring your friend and the others back. Maybe there's some form of local law enforcement who can come here and arrest the bandits before they can escape and try again." Mizuki began to walk back towards where the children and Sora were waiting, so Kaede didn't have to wait any longer to fully reunite with her friend. "Also I apologize for not being able to delay the bandits any longer. Two of them tried to capture me and it was... difficult... to deal with them."
@Kaede Hoshi

 

_____Kaedé would simply chose to listen to Ueno as she smiled calmly, hands moving to hide and wipe away some of the blood as Sora ran over to the two girls and tried to tackle Kaedé while crying. Kaedé figured Sora would be like that as she reached down with her clean hand to tap the girl’s head before reaching it out so Sora could hold it and walk alongside Kaedé. For the most part Sora was holding tightly to Kaedé's arm to the point some of her fingers turned red from the tight grip of the girl who was trying to reach for Ueno’s hand also.

”Thank you for saving me miss…”

_____Sora did her best to bow her upper body and as a result started to trip over if not for Kaedé and maybe Ueno support her falling weight to keep her up and not face first into the dirt. After Sora managed to regain her own footing she would laugh faintly and keep walking alongside the two who saved her trying to swing their arms along with her and humming a little song. It was not fully known to Sora but the wounds of everyone around her would begin to very slowly heal because of the song.

”That should explain why it was not so hard to catch Sora, she might have magic but most times because of her age it’s random when it will work or not. Her older sister tries to train her since they have the same magic affinity but Rome wasn't built in a day I would say.~”

_____Kaedé would speak quietly, mostly hoping the kids would not overhear it but Ueno with her felis ears maybe could. As far as Kaedé knew such worked with Kira and other Felis she had crossed paths with so far since joining the game as the group walked mostly following the two older girls. Kaedé mostly trusted her memory of the trip and did not mind taking a bit longer since Sora was helping out with tending people’s wounds without fully knowing it herself so the group could move at a decent pace.

”So what is the name of the other hero? I’m Kaedé Hoshi, and the little singer here is Sora.”

_____This time Kaedé's voice was a bit louder so the others could hear. Sora grinned for a few moments before going back to her little song and shortly after yawning as she started to look a bit sleepy but kept singing because she was happy. Kaedé would take a moment to look back to make sure the kids had not fallen behind or seemed to be struggling to much. It would only take a few more minutes for the group to exit the forest onto a road and able to see the village Kaedé had left from. Getting closer they would notice a cat felis starting to tear up and run over as Sora rushed forward also.

”Big sis!” ”Sora, I was so worried…”

_____Kaedé would smile as she watched the two hug before Kira moved Sora up to ride on her back and followed the group into the village. Some of the older people would drop what they had been doing and rush over to their kids rushing and shouting out to them while others kept following the group deeper into the small village. Kaedé would wave to an older man who walked over with his cane and with some help from a younger woman. Kaedé stretching her arms back and wincing slightly but playing it off as nothing as she spoke.

”This was all the kids I could find that might be mixed in with that kid slave ring rumors going around these parts old man. Mind looking after them and reaching out to the nearby villages to see if any parents will come or I can stay a few extra days to help escort the kids around the area with some people to bring them all back home.”

_____The old man would nod and start walking away, the woman waving for the kids to follow leaving Ueno and Kaedé alone. A light sigh as Kaedé watched the almost happy endings happen.
@Ueno Mizuki

 

Mizuki watched Kaede a bit longer, then internally shook her head and dismissed it. She wasn't close enough to the woman to understand her well enough to say whether she had gone too far or she hadn't, and Mizuki didn't want to anger Kaede by entering the cave to check, since that would just show that the Felis didn't have enough trust in her companion to believe she'd do the right thing. And even if Kaede had done the wrong thing... Mizuki didn't think she would be able to get through to Kaede if the woman didn't want her to. Mizuki was just a stranger who happened to help her track down the bandits who captured her friend. Even if she appreciated that she wouldn't suddenly listen to Mizuki as if the Felis was an old and dear friend.

Instead Mizuki stood there as Kaede and Sora reunited proper, glad to see that the little girl was doing all right. Well, not exactly all right, since she certainly had been scared and wasn't afraid to show it, but it was better if she was openly distraught than if she showed little reaction: if she hadn't reacted as strongly as she was doing right now it could have been a sign that she had been legitimately traumatized, which would be a lot more harmful to her psyche than being temporarily freaked out in the here and now.

When the two of them walked back towards the other children Mizuki followed, although she was certainly caught off guard when suddenly Sora reached for her hand as well. The Felis blinked, her ears twitching before she slowly allowed for Sora to grab her hand, trying to ignore the sudden stinging as her hands were still healing from the rough landing she had to endure before after her overly energetic kick. "Don't worry about it. Your friend did most of the work, I just helped her find you." Honestly she wasn't sure what she had been thinking when she made that jump, aside from the knowledge that she wasn't going to get a better opportunity to help Kaede out, and that she couldn't let the mage finish the chant. She had little to no experience fighting on Earth, but still she pulled off something that you'd normally only see in those movies about martial artists. Virtual Reality really was amazing in what it could do, especially in how it was implemented in this game.

She hurriedly helped Sora remain upright when the little girl tried to bow to her to show her thanks, the Felis frowning and shaking her head. "No need for that. Let's just get back home, all right?" Mizuki had very little experience taking care of children of any age, so she just went with what she could think of on the fly, and she figured it was better to make Sora think of what's ahead. Afterwards she walked in silence together with the other two, letting Sora swing her arm while she just did her best to ignore the stinging, which had already become quite a bit weaker than before... And then slowly was replaced by a soothing sensation, which made Mizuki blink. She hadn't experienced any form of healing magic before, so she was startled by the strange sensation of her body being repaired so quickly, even if it still was going to take a couple of minutes before her hands were completely restored. "I see. Possessing healing magic seems very useful, but I can imagine that it wouldn't be too good for escaping capture especially if it's still not fully under control." At least her hands were no longer bothering her, which was a relief even if it hadn't been that bad anyway. More annoying than excruciating.

Mizuki followed Kaede's example with the soft tone of voice to prevent the children hearing it, figuring that if Kaede thought it best not to let Sora catch onto what they were saying there was no reason for her to ruin it. When asked after her name Mizuki finally remembered that she hadn't actually introduced herself yet, although it wasn't like they had many opportunities to spend time on such pleasantries before now. She glanced back at the other children before answering, mostly to check if they were doing all right and glad to see that they were. "My name is Ueno Mizuki, with Ueno being the surname so you can call me Mizuki." In hindsight naming her character according to Japanese tradition might have not been the smartest idea, because even if it wasn't necessarily a problem the exchanging of position between the surname and the given name was still causing some confusion at times. "It's nice to meet the two of you."

Once they arrived at the village Mizuki left the talking and everything to Kaede, she herself just watching as Sora was reunited with her sister, which made the Felis smile as it was quite the heartwarming scene. However once they became more and more the centre of attention Mizuki began to feel a bit awkward. Even if she was aware that most of the villagers were looking more at the children she and Kaede were accompanying she still wasn't really that comfortable being watched from so many directions at once, especially with them being a lot more passionate than the people she would usually talk to on Earth. It was a relief when things began to calm down a bit, Kaede explaining to the old man who apparently had some form of authority around here about what had happened and how she was planning to help return the children back home. Once everyone was done Mizuki sighed just as Kaede did, although hers was more relief and to get rid of the stress built up during the day.

"If there's a complete children slave ring there might still be others out there involved, so I guess I'll stick around for a bit to see if I can find any other signs of children being endangered. And we're going to have to gather some people to go and capture those bandits proper, unless you believe they've learned their lesson..." She shook her head. "Either way, I hope you won't mind if I'll remain for a while longer." Her ears were drooping a bit and her tail was hanging low, together with the rest of her body language showing that Mizuki was letting the tension flow out of her form as it seemed like right now at least she could safely relax.
@Kaede Hoshi

 

_____Hearing the girl’s words would have made Kaedé's ears perk up if she was a Felis herself. But the only real reaction she would have to hearing the girl’s plans to stick around was Kaedé turning and hugging Ueno once more. This time around a bit more playful like her normal act to the point she reached to try and pet behind the girl’s ears before breaking the hug with a childish smile. Kaedé would wave for Ueno to follow her before she started to speak to the girl.

”If you want to stick around you can stay with me at the Inn, it has two beds and I just have them beside each other at the moment so if you want to not be so close I can move them back apart. I have all the info I gained so far about the slave trade ring there also. Not to mention I can get you some new cloths.~ Not so say what you have on is not attractive, but I think a girl could always use more than one outfit!~”

_____Kaedé just seemed to go off on her own train of thought, not exactly giving Ueno much choice in where she would be staying or if the girl was ok with Kaedé's so far actions around her to trust being in the same room as the girl. But partly Kaedé figured the girl might accept the offer, a free room and clothing, not to mention being close to someone who had the same goal in mind as the girl as Kaedé kept walking a bit ahead. Her mind clicking a few odd gears before she would smile, maybe she could play a little game with the girl.

_____Without a warning Kaedé went full speed into an alley and triggered her sneak ability before starting to scale the building with a mix of climbing and jumping between the two spots until she was on the roof and ran across to go down the other side. A playful smile as she rushed up behind Ueno and moved to start nibbling on the girl’s right ear and wrap her arms around her target to prevent getting an elbow to the gut. She learned such from doing that to Kira, least the prepare and try to counter the elbow part anyways.
@Ueno Mizuki