"Oh..." Hmm. So it kind of sounded like @Kaede Hoshi's reasons for playing weren't all that different from her own. Real life could be awful sometimes, and she just wanted to have fun inside a game like Terrasphere, where she didn't have to worry about anything. Not her parents making her go to tournaments all the time, not her teachers getting mad at her about failing her math quizzes, not her sister ignoring her all the time, not anything. She thought on that a little as they continued walking along. And then @Harveste began talking about what she was doing out in the woods, and Valdrada had to turn around to see her on top of Kaede's back. It seemed a bit silly to be carried like that, but oh well. Better her than Val. Valdrada's eyes widened at Harveste's words. "You were in a deer's body!? And you could read its mind?" That was cool. That was really, really cool. You could do that sort of thing with magic? Hrrrmmm, now she really wanted to try it out. She did pick a magic when she made her character, after all. What kind of cool tricks could she do? How could she use magic, though? The sword and shield were pretty easy to get a hang of, but she didn't have the first clue how to start using her magic. Oh, but there was a squirrel walking up the tree to her right! Maybe she could try it out? Squinting really hard at it, Valdrada tried to concentrate on it? Focus really hard? She wasn't even aware of her tail going ramrod straight and her cat ears swiveling to attention from how hard she was trying... to... do.... something! ...Nothing happened. The squirrel gave a little chitter, and ran away. Disappointed, Val pouted. She didn't even notice the rustling in the bushes beyond the tree, or the pair of yellow eyes peering out through the leaves.
_____Kaede did slightly take notice to the eyes from the bush, however due to currently having Harveste on her back and wanting to make sure the new player could defend herself even slightly she would not fully act on things. Simple moving to look at the girl with a smile before she knelt down and loosened her grip to let Harveste down. Moving to stretch her muscles a bit before she would lightly tap Valdrada’s weapon and point it towards the eyes watching them carefully. How the girl reacted would determine what Kaede herself would do. _____If She tried to hide Kaede would step to protect her, if she looked ready for a fight Kaede would move to try and support her. If she seemed to trust herself to support Kaede then the crimson haired girl would take point. There was other options but those had been kaede’s main focus not exactly knowing what the creature or thing was herself. She always aired on the slight side of caution as of recent, the less chance she lost her emotions the better after all. Moving even slightly forward to show she was more focused to protect the girls if nothing was done. ”Your choice Valdrada, what would you like to do…” _____With her words spoken and her slight show of what she felt would be a smart choice of actions she would simply listen. Not recalling the color of the bear’s eyes to know if it was another one of the red bears, or if maybe it could just be a friendly creature. It was hard to say with the game and maybe deep down Kaede was hoping this was a peaceful creature and she was worrying for no reason. But at the end of the day with kaede’s luck most times things always turned out bad for her and by extension those around her. @Harveste | @Valdrada
"Perhaps mind-reading isn't the right term... It's more being able to connect to it on a... spiritual level? My magic resides solely in nature. I can make plants grow and such, and I can possess animals for periods of time- though it takes a lot of energy so far, and I'm not very good at it, so I want to get better. I've had it save my life before... Or felt like it did. I fell into a hole and got hurt, so I couldn't move... So I got help by taking on the body of a boar and getting it to get help with me. It carried me for a while on it's own back. Think of it like beast taming, but temporary. We become friends, whether temporary or not. And to me, that's a wonderful feeling." She'd blabbered enough to anger herself, her words regularly dotted with breaths that hitched in her throat. Her energy had depleted more than she'd meant to, making her body slightly collapse on itself. Grumbling to herself, she muttered fairly low, muffling herself on Kaede's shirt. "I play games to experience what I can't...Not to experience my normal daily pain..." Shaking off the frustration soon after, she noticed the way Valdrada had tried to use the same skill she did. "What kind of magic do you use? I think it's naturamancy specific, that skill... Your magic likely has different abilities that I couldn't imagine. Like how Kaede's has let her see spirits... Or I think they were, right, Kaede?" Realizing she still didn't know much about the skills Kaede had been struggling with for a while, she tried to stop herself from prying any further. As the rustling of the bushes caught her ears, Kaede had started to let her down. She stood shakily, turning to look into the bushes. "If I weren't so tired, I could try to get it on our side... It doesn't seem threatening from here, but... I can't really tell outside a gut feeling. I'd like if I could make it my friend, but I have my doubts in my condition I'd be able to fully understand what I feel from it...So tired... What do you think, Valdrada? What should we do...? I can protect you with vines if it attacks, but that's about it right now... Vines, and maybe Drip can help..." @Valdrada | @Kaede Hoshi
Aww. Nature magic sounded like the coolest thing in the world. Making friends with animals sounded so awesome! But fine. Val made her choice when she created her cat character, and she could live with it. "Uh, I chose, uhh. Ar-arcanamancy. I don't actually know what it does..." She'd chosen it mostly because it sounded like double magic. You know, with arcane and the -mancy suffix that all the other magic had. Magic-magic. If she was going to be playing a fantasy game, why not go all out with the magic powers? Though maybe she should have chosen her magic based on what the magic could actually do, and not just on how cool of a name it had. Just as she was wondering, really, what arcanamancy could actually do, @Kaede Hoshi tapped her sword. "Huh?" When the red-haired woman pointed over to the eyes in the bushes, Valdrada let out a quiet 'eeep'. She hadn't seen that at all. What if it was another bear? Was it angry that the other bear exploded? Was it going to eat her? And to make things worse, Kaede and @Harveste didn't look like they would be taking the lead either. When Valdrada looked to either of them for what to do, knowing that they were probably better than she was at this game, neither of them really stepped forward. ...Okay! Okay, then! If they wouldn't tell her what to do... Then she'd just have to go ahead! Steeling herself, she put up her sword and pointed it at the bushes. "I-I'm not scared of you!" she yelled at the eyes, trying to keep the quiver out of her voice. "I can fight you!" (OOC note: You can choose what happens next! If it's a hostile animal or not, what it does, etc. Up to you!)
”Wha… I’m not gonna ‘'woooh, oof'…” _____The area near the eyes began to speak up before a head poked out from the bushes and tried to fully get free before falling face first into the dirt, her staff skitting across the ground towards the group as the girl tried to rub her nose and looked up almost ready to cry. Kaede would blink a few moments before slowly chanting and waving her hands slowly, a ball of light passing over the girl as the slight redness of her nose vanished, as well as some of the scraps she got for trying to walk through a bush. Heal-O-Wisp ”Thank you miss…" _____Kaede’s face twitching slightly at the use of the older term for a woman before slowly walking forward to pick the staff up and give it back to the girl before trying her best to smile calmly. She was about to reach to see if the girl was hurt before she heard sounds from where the girl had came from and watched her try to run behind the group. Kaede looked up towards the sounds before her face went slightly pale and three monkeys fell from the trees and began clinging to her. _____Sure they looked like they had been hugging Kaede but the way the crimson haired girl reacted was far from that as she looked terrified, hands trying to swat them or pull them off her and she began to look panicked and very angry as they kept climbing back onto her or dodging her hands while using her as a climbing post. The others in the group would likely notice that two other monkeys began to rush towards them, nothing they did would be considered dangerous, just over friendly. _____Kaede’s hair beginning to rise on end, sparks dancing in her hair as she allowed her lips to move and slowly start chanting, that was until a monkey stuck a finger in her mouth and pulled her lip to the right stopping her chant and tasting terrible. One monkey poking her hair before it got slightly shocked and it’s hair puffed up. @Harveste | @Valdrada
"Arcanamancy is kind of different, I think... It's a non-elemental magic, if I recall... I think Kaede could explain it better than I could, really." Smiling gently, the girl stalled. She was intimidated by the bushes, but mostly because she was tired and angry at herself for it. I used too much energy with the deer before... Now I'll be useless to them... It's my fault if they get hurt... Valdrada was quick to take a good fighting stance, though Harveste would notice the fear in her voice fairly easily. When the strange girl came out of hiding, she smiled a bit more at ease. Kaede had helped her, as she always did. So gentle as always. I wish she'd notice that about herself more... She never seems to realize her kindness. When the girl ran behind the group, Harveste noticed the monkeys, their long limbs clinging to Kaede with clear intent to merely become friends, but her mind reminded her soon after that good intentions didn't always mean good results. Kaede feared animals, she was aware. "I'm so tired... Maybe..." Instead of what she originally planned to do, she opted to use a musical tactic. She'd originally thought to take the monkey's minds to help get them off, but instead, she decided a soothing song would help far more. "Let your inner flower bloom~ Let your petals color the room~" Bonus Concerto It was a somewhat energetic song, but it had a soothing edge meant to heal the heart. It was a song that spoke of letting yourself be yourself, of accepting yourself and others. A song of friendship and kindness, which slowly ebbed the monkey's into climbing their way down Kaede's form. Sadly, her good intentions were awarded by their curiosity. They turned to start clinging to her instead, one climbing upon her head while the others came to tug at her dress, wanting more songs and more attention. "I-I didn't mean to cover me- Please stop! I'm already tired- I should've used the vines to grab them instead... My grimoire would've been more helpful there..." Covered in monkeys, she groaned. She was already small enough- being covered in their weight wouldn't help keep her on her feet for very long. @Valdrada | @Kaede Hoshi
Well now, didn't Valdrada feel a fool? It wasn't some creature at all, it was just a person. A young girl like her, who didn't seem threatening in the least, not after tripping and falling flat on her face. Blushing in embarrassment, Valdrada tucked away her weapon and lowered her shield again. "Sorry," she muttered sheepishly at the girl. "I- I thought you were an animal or a monster. I- sorry. Are you okay?" @Kaede Hoshi did something to heal her, since the little scratches that the girl had were cleared up. "Oh." Why did everyone seem to have cool magic that could do awesome things? All Val could do was wave a pointy stick and a round piece of wood around, unable to figure out what any of her magic could actually do. Even @Harveste's explanation didn't really clear things up. What did she mean by non-elemental? Well, either way, there wasn't time to think about that. Because the stranger suddenly jumped back behind their group, as three monkeys dropped from the trees. They swarmed over Kaede, at least until Harveste sang a song. It was really pretty, and somehow the monkeys all decided to leave Kaede alone after that. But now, they were all rushing over to Harveste. And since Harveste was tinier than Kaede... "Uh- uh." Valdrada looked on in panic as the purple-haired girl was buried. Umm. "Wait, I can, uh-" Val moved over and started trying to pull the monkeys off. One of them switched its attention to her at that point, and she quickly became entangled in getting this one monkey away from her as well. Somewhere along the way, she must have swiped her hand somewhere, because a blue screen of light popped up. Surprised, Valdrada looked it over. There was something called... Fianchetto? Huh? She must have accidentally pushed it, or touched it somehow as she was struggling with the monkey, because suddenly her mouth started saying weird gibberish without her brain telling it to. Otherwise frozen in panic, Valdrada wondered what was going to happen when- Fianchetto Eep! Suddenly, Val found herself in a completely different place, with no monkey clinging to her anymore. She could hear a surprised and monkey-like screech though, and looked over that direction to see the scene that she had just left. Did she just... teleport?
_____Once Kaede was free from the monkeys her temper started flaring out. Eye twitching as she watched the primates climb over her girlfriend and not exactly happy about such. Anyone in the area could tell that as her lips began moving slowly and her hair started to rise up, small sparks tracing between them and the ends of her crimson hair igniting. One monkey took notice and shrieked out altering the others, sadly Kaede’s chant was already finished and she was just waiting for them to start trying to run away. Lining up her shot before the Sparks on her bounced to the monkeys. Heated spark chain _____Not intended for heavy damage but clearly not to be overlooked as each monkey turned into large balls of fur and static energy with small trails of smoke from the patches of fur struck by the sparks. Kaede herself growling loudly and glaring at them as they kept running away before she relaxed when they left her field of vision. Turning to smile at Valdrada before giving the girl a thumbs up and falling backwards into the grass. She was not out of energy, just needed time to relax since she went from extremely freaked out to angry. ”Here I was going to say that before we cross into Astorea territory it might be wise to make sure you have some training under your belt… But for the moment why don’t we just relax a bit… As for Arcanamancy…” _____Kaede would move to wave her hands in the air, small purple lights flickering in and out of view before they began to stay longer, slowly forming a frame, a person cloaked in purple robes beside Kaede. Her lips moving slowly as she tried to fully recall the chant needed to slightly pull the arcane spirit into this realm so he could better explain things. The figure stood at seven feet, his face hidden like all of his features by the purple robes. ”Ask him about Arcanamancy, considering he does not always tell me many spells you might have some better luck since you chose to specialize in his magic type.” _____As Kaede spoke the spirit would slowly turn his head towards Valdrada, his gaze seemed soft despite not seeming to exist behind the hoods shadow cast over it. Sleeve rising to each at his chest before he slowly bowed to the girl and spoke up. ”I will do what I can to answer, however if you can not handle something I will refrain from speak of it. As the base to Arcanamancy, it could be considered the force of non element or all the elements. It’s main uses are either teleportation as you had just did, or beams of energy. It is one of the harder magic to master without a direct teacher I've been told and have discovered over the years of my existence.” The spirit would slowly move closer to the girl he was speaking to, after getting so far from Kaede however his form would flicker drawing him back. Kaede’s illusion only could work so far after all. @Valdrada | @Harveste
She'd been coated in monkeys when Valdrada disappeared. It took the great electrical energy that grabbed hold of the fur on the monkeys that they began to run away, leaving the tormented, tiny girl to fall to her knees, panting. She'd never been afraid of a monkey, but this may very well have made her less inclined to go to the zoo for a while. How do I explain to grandma when she tries to make me go with her...? Shaking off the anxiety, she rushed to Kaede's side to hug her in thanks, eyes peering around for a moment before she actually let herself touch the woman's skin. She made sure she touched the grass below to let out any extra static, the earth accepting it with glee under her hands. Before she could hug onto Kaede like she'd planned to, she noticed something... Strange. "Hey, Kaede, where's Valdrada...?" Lips pursed, she saw the woman fall to the ground to rest, waving her hand and chanting until a strange spirit of some sort appeared. She could just vaguely see it, herself, or so she thought. She sat down to watch as it went to seek Valdrada's side. With a large hug to the redhead, she shivered slightly, smiling up at her. "Thank you for saving me... That was really scary. I never minded animals before, but.. I-I couldn't get into their heads and they... Ugh..." She felt dirtied, in a way, tears in her eyes from the rush of relief that quelled her anxiety. "Um, who is that...? Are they going to help find Valdrada?" When the robed man seemed to look in a direction, she peeked and saw the stranger she'd been hoping to find. "Thank goodness... Looks like we're all okay. But... Kaede, you look pretty tired... Did you use too much energy protecting me...? I've gotten some of mine back, I think... I can carry you this time if you want... Or try..." @Valdrada | @Kaede Hoshi
Valdrada carefully picked her way through the leaves, still a bit disoriented from the sudden teleport. Luckily, it wasn't too far away, and she quickly got her bearings once more and walked over, rejoining once it looked like the monkeys were taken care of. She didn't quite catch what had happened to get rid of all the monkeys, but it seemed as if the problem was taken care of for good once she made her way back to the clearing. The girl that was hiding in the bushes was gone too, when she returned back to @Kaede Hoshi and @Harveste. Valdrada didn't see any sign of her when she got back. Maybe she took her chance to sneak away from the monkeys when they were all distracted clambering over the rest of them? "U-uh," she began, trying to catch the attention of the other two. "Are you guys okay...?" Seemed like things were fine. Kaede's suggestion of a quick break sounded good, though. That jolt of magic, her first ever spell, took a lot of energy out of her, and she didn't think that Harveste or Kaede would protest a rest after having to fight off some overly-curious monkeys. The purple robed spirit that appeared was entirely a surprise. Her eyes widened as she stared at the thing. They widened even more when Kaede said that she could ask her questions about Arcanamancy to the enormous spirit. They felt like they were going to fall out of her head when it actually began speaking to her. She was going to ask Kaede where the spirit came from, but when she found out that it was going to answer her questions about her own magic, all thoughts of that flew out of the window. She was vaguely aware that Kaede and Harveste were having a conversation of their own in the background. But now that she had a source of information, she didn't really care what they were talking about. "What kind of things can you do? Who's your teacher?" she began, sitting up straight out of interest and excitement. She began asking her questions rapid-fire, often not giving the spirit a chance to answer.
