The opportunity granted by the event of the caravan temporarily entering the crystallized world of Zalra was too good to pass up. Vina knew that it would be better if she didn't wander too far, but she wanted to explore the world just a bit, before they left this wonder to return to the world of earth and stone, towards the mountains where their allies were waiting for them. She loved nature, so it wasn't like she was hesitant to return to the green world, but she was also fascinated by this strange place, where something had turned an entire forest into some kind of palace of mirrors, except exaggerated so much that it would put all those attractions back home to shame. The shapes, the colours, the way it all elegantly blended together... Not all of the crystals actually created perfect reflections, but that actually made it even better as the world glimmered and shimmered around you even as you made your way onwards. Instead of only seeing your own reflection a several hundred times (intriguing as that already was) this place flashed and flickered, at times creating a world of light and colour, and then it all faded away so you had a hard time seeing the world around you at all, only the vaguest of outlines hinting towards an ethereal imitation of a forest. It was the kind of view that could bring an artist to tears, both because of how beautiful it was, the inspiration it gave, and the knowledge that no matter how hard you tried or how talented you were you couldn't create something like this. This was beyond something that you could create with paint and canvas, it wasn't something you could do with normal mirrors. It was something that could only exist inside a virtual world, or if there was a way to create it in real life Vina wasn't aware of it. She wasn't crying, because she had always found it easier to find joy than to find sorrow, but she did feel somewhat small when faced with this masterpiece of nature, unsure how she was supposed to compete with something like this. She could draw, she could paint, she could play a variety of musical instruments. She was supposed to be quite a talented artist, primarily because of how easy it was for her to channel her enthusiasm and enjoyment of the world around her into pieces of art. However it was all different from this. Did the people who made this game feel like artists when they created this world? Did they see the formation of this crystallized forest as one of their masterpieces? Or had they managed to surpass what many artists would give their arm for to be able to do without even having that in mind? Vina knew that on some level this entire world was a masterpiece of programming, of coding. Maybe for the kind of people who made this coding was art in itself, and they appreciated it not because of the beauty of this crystallized forest but because of the flawless code, without any flaw or mistake that would translate into an error in the game. Vina placed her hand on one of the trees and looked up. She was in the place where before people had been gathering fruits, which just like the trees themselves looked like they had been carved out of crystals. Supposedly they would fetch a high price, although Vina wasn't sure if they were meant to be edible (and if so, how) or if there were nobles and rich merchants out there who would give a lot of money for something so naturally shaped as this. Or maybe these fruits were simply considered an easy way to obtain crystals which you could then turn into jewellery and trinkets. Vina herself didn't feel like trying, since she could feel that the crystal which shaped the tree was hard and smooth, and she didn't think she'd be able to get enough of a hold to not fall back down. Better to leave that to the people who were more determined, since Vina was more interested in the forest than in those fruits. She sat down at the base of the tree as she relaxed, closing her eyes as she enjoyed a very strange sensation, the sensation of utter silence. The caravan was far enough away that she couldn't hear it from here, even with her vulpine ears, and the crystallized forest had a strange kind of eerie silence which made normal forests a cacophony in comparison. It was a little creepy, since absolute silence was in its own way deafening. Vina frowned as she found that while she was perfectly capable of enjoying normal silence this silence was actually getting on her nerves. Instead she stood back up and began to sing to herself as she wandered around the caravan, moving slowly back towards it as she didn't want to get lost or get left behind. As interesting as this place might be she still wanted to help the princess and the rest of the caravan, so it wouldn't do for her to get lost inside this forest, no matter how intriguing it was. As she sang about a swallow and what it saw in its journey around the world Vina wondered if there were others in the caravan who were as enthralled by this place as she herself. Most of them seemed to be more focused on the actual mission, on saving their friends and getting to the mountains alive and healthy. Vina had those desires as well, but she was known by family and friends to be a dreamer and someone who could easily get sidetracked by her own thoughts and ideas. Amidst the shimmering and flickering trees the song of the swallow resounded, with only silence to answer it until she either ran into someone or she got close enough to the caravan that she could hear the sounds of preparation once more.
"Haa..." After her embarrassing failure of what was supposed to be an easy task, Aria dragged herself back towards the encampment. She couldn't believe it, someone who called herself a Forest Felis Ranger yet failed to climb a fucking tree! Granted, it was a slipper crystallized pole of a 'tree' but still! Even kids could climb yet she blundered, twice in a row. Her butt felt sore but nothing compared to the massive dent on her pride and dignity. Her new friend, the eyepatched Magus Emil, had returned ahead due to her request that she needed some time to be alone. Amidst the empty vastness of the crystallized land, was there anything that could cheer the ranger up? "...oh?" As if on cue, her keen Felis ears perked up as they caught the hauntingly beautiful melodies echoing from her side. Turning there, green eyes focused on a single wandering figure. A fellow Felis, snow-white locks swaying in the night breeze, eyes of mesmerizing sapphire, soft tunes flowing her from her small lips. While Aria didn't know who she was, the ranger somewhat recognized her as one of the adventurers traveling with the convoy. Damn, she sang good, Aria might be good at modeling and posing at the best angle for fashion magazines but she had little skill in the art of music. She seemed to be enjoying herself... so should she? Ah, screw it, she needed something to push off the memories of her failures, besides fellow Felis should watch out for each other, right? Camaraderie and all that. Approaching the taller woman, Aria put her hands behind her back, her tail swaying, "Hey~" she called out, her voice not as beautiful or haunting, it was the cheerful call of an eager feline. "Does anyone ever been a fan of your voice?" A smile curled at her features, "Well here's one at least. Hehe, I'm Aria by the way, an adventurer with the entourage though that's kind of obvious." She chuckled, "Let's get to know each other?" @Vina Skysong
"The swallow looked down from the skies above/saw the villages, they were filled with love/The swallow looked down and saw many trees/A vast expanse, greener than all the seas..." Vina didn't know there was someone listening to her as she sang, more focused on the song itself and the world that surrounded her. She often sang in real life, so even though she had yet to make much use of her Music mastery she could already use her experience to produce decent sounds. She wondered what improving the Music mastery would actually do. Would it increase the quality of her voice? Her body inside Terrasphere was nearly identical to her actual body, the only real difference were the Felis features. As such she herself at least thought that she already had a nice voice, so it would be interesting to find out what the Music mastery would do. She couldn't guess at what kind of effect it would have, but she was eager to find out... although so far she'd found that she'd been forced to focus on the more practical masteries, since as long as she was inside of this event she was pretty sure it'd be better if she focused on being a good healer instead of a good bard. She only noticed Aria when the green-haired Felis was already close, Vina's song halting when the other Felis greeted her. Vina turned to see who had arrived to listen to her singing, smiling and swishing her tail from side to side as she recognized Aria. She didn't know the woman by name, but she had seen how she had been one of those who had charged into the bandits to help drive them off. She was quite pretty, and Vina had been hoping that she'd be friendly as well, since she would like to get along with a fellow Felis (and non-Felis, but there was something a little special about other Felis. Maybe it was the tails?). Given the fact that Aria was the one approaching her and complimenting her voice Vina took this as confirmation that Aria was as friendly as she had hoped, the high position of Vina's tail and the elegant swishing movements helping display her happiness as she laughed softly. "Maybe~ I've been told that I have a pleasant voice before, but I think you're the first to call yourself an actual fan. I'm flattered though~!" After Aria introduced herself Vina returned the favour, imitating Aria's gesture of folding her hands behind her back as she leaned forward a bit, as if bowing but more playful. "It's nice to meet you @Aria. I'm Vina Skysong, and like you I'm an adventurer with the caravan." Her azure eyes flickered to the surrounding trees before returning to Aria. "I like to style myself as a druid although this game doesn't really have classes. And I'm guessing you're a ranger?" From what Vina had seen so far Aria was going for the classy elegant archer style, moving smoothly through the forests and being good with animals. It was something Vina herself had thought of, but to become an archer she'd have had to sacrifice at least one of her current masteries, and she was quite fond of all three of her choices. Maybe she could get the Ranged mastery later on, although that depended on what options there were... She had seen several very interesting ones, so it would be difficult to choose. It'd be better not to worry too much about it in the here and now, and instead just focus on enjoying herself and improving the masteries she already had. Speaking of which, she'd have to try actually taming an animal soon... So far she'd mostly used the Beast Taming mastery's animal empathy to wander about without being attacked by the numerous more mundane creatures that inhabited this world, but she wanted to see what actually turning an animal into a close friend would be like in this game. "And yes, let's definitely get along. I saw the way you helped drive off the bandits, and I was very impressed~ It's a lot more practical than my skill set, since it seems that it'll take a while before my Beast Taming mastery will be useful for more than getting along with the creatures of this world." Of course since that had been Vina's primary intention when choosing the mastery that wasn't a real loss for her, but it did mean that she had to acknowledge that Aria's masteries were giving much more practical results. "But it'll definitely be worth it, especially if I can find some of the creatures that live in this beautiful place." She indicated the crystallized forest that surrounded the two of them, stretching far into the distance as their reflections could be seen a hundred times in all the facets of the world of glass, in all shapes and forms. "This place really is amazing, isn't it? I don't think I'll ever be able to see something like this on Earth. It makes me want to try and make a painting of it, but I doubt I'd do it justice." Well, successful or not, Vina was going to try once she was logged out anyway. Even if the painting ended up not even half as beautiful as this place it'd still be something she'd be proud to show off, and as an art student this was the kind of inspiration you shouldn't ignore just because you were afraid that you might not be able to make the painting match the vision. That was always the challenge with art anyway, trying to make your work as beautiful as what was in your head, so in this case the only difference would be that what was in her head was something she had seen in another world. Although she'd have to hope that none of the other students or professors played Terrasphere, or they might call her lazy for just using a portion of Terrasphere as her inspiration. They seemed to vastly prefer it if you tried to be more original.
Vina Skysong, quite the euphonious name, quite fitting for a Felis siren really. Aria wondered if the white-haired girl had the ability to lace her words with the arcane, the tales of Muses rousing the soul and knitting wounds just with their voice were quite famous after all. "Likewise, Vina~" Since the woman reciprocated positively to her advances, calling her on a first name basis right away would be alright. "Oh, I really thought you'd be a Muse there, not a Druid. Does this mean you can't perform spells through your songs?" Peculiar indeed, every muse she had met before could do it, why not Vina? "As for myself, yep, I am a Forest Ranger." The green-haired girl nodded gingerly, her verdant locks swaying in the cold night breeze, "I wield a bow, can hunt, and communicate with animals." Nothing surprising really, just a typical ranger skillset. However, being different from everyone else didn't mean one would be useful. Besides, the girl was sure that every combination of masteries had been taken by someone out there. While their respective fluffy tails, though Vina's was fluffier, swished behind their waists, Aria approached Vina further. Their difference in height became rather apparent now that they were standing merely a meter or so from each other, Aria had to crane her neck up slightly, "Oh, haha, it was all the Princess, Marquis Alonso, and the knights really." The ranger blushed, rubbing the back of her head, "I just stayed at the back and finish off the bandits they missed." Her kind of skills clearly weren't designed to be a frontline fighter or a vanguard, she'd be squashed. Still, she was personally requested by the Princess to take part in charge, it was something. "Oh, you have Beast Taming too? I see~" Now that they shared something, Aria's mind thought up of all the activities they could do together. They could befriend a cute critter or two, like the mother hawk Aria tamed a while back along with her Felis friend named 'Kyupin'. "I am sure you will, there are a lot of interesting animals to see, whether cute, dangerous, or both. Lemme show you around sometime~" Well, after this quest was over at least. "You can paint too? Wow..." Really now, Vina was quite talented in all manner of artistic arts, she could sing, draw, maybe play a musical instrument too while she was at it. "So... Vina, tell me, what made you choose a Felis for your character?" Aria pondered, her thoughts flowing, "I chose mine because when I received that e-mail, I joked to myself that I'd only try the game if I can make a catgirl ranger and well, lo and behold." The emerald-eyed Felis giggled shyly, "It's a dumb reason, isn't it?" @Vina Skysong
Vina raised her eyebrows as @Aria questioned her about whether she could cast magic through song. "I use song to cast my spells, but my magic is that of nature. I just formulated the chants for my spells so I could sing them. Why do you ask?" Of course Aria had previously expressed interest in Vina's singing ability... Well, it wasn't that strange a question to ask. "I did consider getting the Muse mastery, but I decided that while I'm definitely going to get it eventually I found Naturamancy the better choice to start with. It sounded a lot more straightforward and easy to get used to." Although Vina did somewhat wonder what the difference between Muse and other magics exactly was... She herself used song for her chants anyhow, since the game didn't seem to have any barriers against HOW you chanted as long as you just had something solid. Different types of spells you could use? She'd find out once she eventually got the mastery, but for now she didn't think there was much difference between that and what she did, i.e. turn chants into songs (although she imagined most people did that: why wouldn't you?). "Being a ranger must be very fun. As a druid I may have a lot of interaction with the wilds, but being a forest ranger is a lot more like being a part of the wilds, isn't it? Since you actually hunt and experience what it's like to live in the wilds, while I just wander about." Vina may be a very energetic and active girl, but she wasn't quite at the level where she'd consistently partake in the more hardcore types of sport like survival, which she imagined that being a hunter was a lot like, even if realistically speaking Aria would have a much easier time of it than if she tried to do the same thing in real life. Since Vina was leaning forward with her upper body, her tail swishing behind her, the difference in height was mitigated a bit, although Vina did still note that she was the taller of the two. Not too unusual a situation for her since she was above average in height, especially for a woman. If it wasn't for her primarily slender build and overall gentle appearance and demeanour she'd probably be quite intimidating, although she personally wouldn't have been happy about that regardless. "They did their part, but it's not like you didn't do yours as well." Vina's smile grew a bit wider as the tip of her tail flicked from side to side, a mischievous glint in her eye. "The female archer style is a very good one for making an impression, you know? I wouldn't be surprised if there was more than one person who was impressed in more than one way while watching~" She giggled softly, keeping the mischievous expression for a bit longer before it returned to her previous more innocent smile. "Taking care of those who the ones in front haven't been able to catch is a very important task, so I'm glad you did such a good job of it. All I did was jump about wagons trying to heal people where I could." She nodded as Aria exclaimed about her possession of the Beast Taming mastery. So far Vina had done very, very little with that mastery, aside from enjoying the fact that beasts seemed to feel comfortable in her presence in a way that they wouldn't have been to someone without the animal empathy. However she did still have it, and she was determined to make use of it at some point, since making friends with animals was certainly not an opportunity she was going to pass up. "I'll gladly take you up on that offer. Since you're the more experienced one maybe you could also help me learn more about the Beast Taming mastery~ Even if I possess it and it makes them like me I don't know how good a job I'd do convincing one of them to become my friend and travel with me. I'd imagine that most of them are quite attached to their territory or their abilities to go wherever they want." Of course optimally speaking where they'd want to go was wherever Vina was, but she doubted she was quite that alluring. "I'm an art student, so I have a lot of interest in the many ways people use to express themselves. I'm most familiar with music myself, but painting and drawing is definitely another method I'm very fond of. It's not quite as emotional as music but it gives a more lasting image of what inspired you in the first place, you know?" Vina rocked her feet. "I'm not very good with three dimensional arts, but I think I'm decent with music and two dimensional art. As for why I became a Felis..." Vina looked up, looking thoughtful as she brought a finger up to her chin. "My first thought was actually Yladian, since the elven druid stereotype is one I'm very fond of... But during character creation I realized that even if being an Yladian would allow me to be an elf, being a Felis would allow me to experience the world as a beastkin, with a tail and hopefully an easier time getting along with the creatures of the world." Vina chuckled. "It was several things, but I think that in the end it was mostly the tail." She moved her tail to the front, running her hand through the pristine white fur. "It's a wonderful feeling, having a tail, isn't it?" She asked brightly, clearly very enthusiastic about this fifth limb. "Of course I may partially have been motivated by the thought that I'd be able to tell people that I'm an animal in bed...~" Vina winked, then laughed again. "But I don't think your reason is bad either. I could tell you stories of how many times people have tried to tell me that art doesn't mean anything unless it has some deep and profound meaning behind it, but if you just want to draw a flower because you think it's a beautiful flower that's just as good for me. If you wanted to play a catgirl ranger than that's as good a reason as any." Again, that glint in her eyes. "After all, people love catgirls~" She hoped that she wasn't being too playful with the Felis, but at the same time she noticed that Aria was being a bit shy, and maybe the teasing would help her become a bit more open.
