"A-a-ah! Of course n-not, L-L-L-Lucia! I-I-I didn't mean to i-insinuate that you're old!" That really wasn't the sort of impression that she wanted to make, that she thought that Lucia was an old lady that demanded to be called miss and ordered respect, not that the gentle necromancer wasn't worthy of respect mind you! She was one of the most worthy and kindest people that Luna had ever run into in the game, up there with Harveste and Angel in terms of how much she could respect the woman, who seemed to like to take every opportunity she could to teach something to somebody if it seemed like they would find the lesson useful. She'd already learned how flawed and wrong things could end up being if she kept making and acting on assumptions that she made with only secondhand data, or with no data at all. Heck, she was even making sort of friends with an abomination thanks to the lesson that Lucia had taught to her. She was a little ashamed at the fact that she couldn't share the woman's view on the gods of the game without having seen one or seen any real devout worship for herself. Sure, the NPC's worshipped them fervently, but a real person claimed to have met one? Weren't the gods and goddesses of this world just NPC's that had been granted more power than the regular villagers, knights and kings that they could encounter around the world at any point? Stronger than any magic wielding player, even? It was strange to think of, but they were just programmed that way, the same as every other NPC, though at the same time that didn't mean they didn't deserve respect. This world seemed so real, so fresh and vibrant, that just maybe she felt that she could become a believer, if there were sufficient evidence or reason. She did feel a bit confused at just how visibly alarmed Lucia seemed at the revelation that she played with the pain on realistic, before the woman fixated her with probably the most intense gaze she'd ever seen or felt. She blushed despite herself, wiggling uncomfortably under the woman's intense visage. Had....had she said something wrong or made herself seem strange somehow? Was it that weird to play at the realistic pain setting? Maybe it was, or maybe the woman thought she was a person that was into pain in a way that it gave her relief or even pleasure? She blushed deeper at the thought, deliberating as to whether she should speak up against such an idea. That was before two hands found her shoulders and she was pulled into the closest hug she'd ever been in before, feeling closer to Lucia than she'd ever felt physically to any other human being in her life. The woman's clothing really didn't do a whole lot to mask the feeling of her body, which was just a little more voluptuous than Luna's own created form. She could hear Lucia speaking, offering her advice of some kind, something about her fear being a cage and that she should find something to support herself, though if she were honest she were more focused on the hug and the feeling of closeness to another woman that she'd never felt before. Slowly, she let her arms snake around the woman, keeping them wrapped in a gesture that was similar to an uncertain hug. And then Lucia's hands began to wander. Luna gasped, freezing slightly as the woman's hands traveled, squeezing at places and pulling her closer whenever there was room to fit. Her mind felt like it simultaneously froze and switched into overdrive, working through countless options at once yet focusing solely on the woman's hands, almost completely missing her words entirely. She squeaked, rather adorably she'd have said had she heard herself or been somebody else, burying her face in the woman's shoulder to hide her deep crimson blush, shifting to rub her thighs together and toe at the ground awkwardly. What was Lucia saying? Wandering? Wandering hands, touching each other? Oh! Wandering around! Fear! Luna squeaked again, almost pulling back before hesitating and instead just pulling her head back to look the woman in the eyes. "I-I'm s-s-sure it's p-p-p-p-p-p-p-possible that j-just wandering m-might just make me scared, b-but I need to find out who L-Luna is. W-w-who I am. B-beyond L-Luna the r-r-rookie adventurer and c-c-c-coward." Was she a coward? She stuttered at any sign of conversation and shook whenever the chance of fighting arose, yet sometimes her actions completely dashed that view of herself. She'd been ready to fight and die at the hands of Alice to save somebody she'd thought was in trouble. Were they the actions of a coward? Had she just been thinking about taking the easy way out? She squeaked again as the woman's hands continued to wander, yet couldn't pluck up the courage to ask that she stop. Also she, though she'd never admit it, didn't have it in her to care too much. It was indecent and a little naughty, but this wasn't even her real body, right?
Lucia only chuckled sweetly, whether or not Luna understood how similar her view might be to Lucia was something she wasn't worried about. Whether gods and goddesses were just powerful or had administrative rights which made them powerful wasn't much different in Lucia's own mind, as an individual immersed in this world they were effectively the same thing. The only reason she had doubt was because something like a Virgin killing sweater from the modern world should be something the fantasy goddess from Terrasphere shouldn't understand. She felt there had to be some real world know how in there somewhere. While Luna was buried in her shoulder trying to make sense of things though, Lucia lifted a wandering hand from the girl's more attractive parts to her head. She stroked her hair affectionately, as if trying to calm a flustered horse or animal she brushed her fingers through her hair in an effort to be reassuring. Lucia from the start had never really been good with 'socializing', instead she communicated better with gestures and touches which was why things often devolved into this sort of thing. Still, she made a solid effort believing Luna would need her words more then any kind of devious comfort. "You hadn't put a lot of thought into it before hand, I can tell." Lucia spoke sweetly, clearly finding kinship in Luna to an extent, growing more confident in her assumption that Luna was like her. Hating their real self, disapproving of who they are, coming to this game to be someone new, to change. If Lucia had to put a peg in how they were different, outside of their problems no doubt, it was also their levels of preparation. Luna seemed to be making things up as she went, while Lucia had come into the game fully aware of who she would be if given the chance to throw away her real self she loathed. Still stroking Luna's hair to keep her calm, even as her other hand groped around and probed, she continued trying to give the girl advice. Even as the closeness caused her moist soft lips to brush against the girl's ear, she lowered her voice to a low whisper continuing on. "All it takes is something you can be passionate about though, like I said, something you can invest yourself into." Lucia offered though it was clear Luna would have already done so if she had something. Even Lucia herself was a little lost in exactly what to work for when she first got into the game. Putting some thought into Luna's troubles and problems, she mused about exactly what would be the best for Luna to invest in. The girl was very easily started by monsters, particularly those that were frightening. It was for that reason, Lucia mused on thinking about something Luna could try that wasn't horrifying. "If you don't have anything, how about coming on a little trip with me? I have one I can try to introduce you to if you want?" Lucia offered in thought thinking that it might be good to expose Luna to some things while the metal was hot.
One of Lucia's hands ceased wandering to find Luna's hair, stroking it in a manner that was calming for the girl, though the wandering of the other hand still kept her from completely relaxing into the woman's hold. It was such an odd feeling, being in the arms of a woman she'd just met yet feeling both completely safe and also appreciated for who she was and what she was trying to do. Though she had no way of knowing, lacking the ability to read minds or thoughts and all, Lucia's guesses about how similar they might be and what drove Luna forward were actually fairly spot-on, though there were a few subtle differences here and there. Luna didn't hate her real self, finding hate to be such a strong word to use. She was just disappointed in the person she was in reality. Though the woman was right about one thing, she definitely had jumped into her attempts at escapism totally unprepared and without any real forethought as to what sort of woman she wanted to become in a world where she could be nearly anybody. She'd picked everything that wasn't her appearance at random, including her Masteries. "N-n-n-no, I um, I-I-I kinda d-d-did everything on a w-w-w-whim..." She stuttered out, still resting in the woman's grasp, feeling an odd sense of safety and thrill. It was probably the naughtiest she'd ever been, letting a woman she'd just met hold her so closely with hands that were quite clearly wandering without speaking up about it, though she probably couldn't even if she had wanted to. Though, it was kind've sad to think that something so relatively tame was the naughtiest thing she'd ever....done.... Could she feel Lucia's lips press ever so slightly into her ear as the woman talked? Luna swallowed, squeaking as she froze at the touch, doing her absolute best to listen to the woman's words instead of focusing on the soft lips at her ear, the feel of the woman's skin against her own and their thin dresses barely managing to mask the feeling of each other. Was she supposed to get out of this situation? It wasn't like it was hurting either of them and she could probably say no and be let go easily, right? Lucia was a reasonable and kind woman, being the gentle necromancer that she was. All Luna could really do was nod, letting herself go along with whatever trip the woman was going to take her on. "O-o-o-okay, I-I-I'll go with you. I-I um, d-d-d-don't really have anything y-y-yet..."
Lucia chuckled, hearing that everything ended up as she'd predicted. She couldn't fault the girl too much though, most of the greats had already adjusted their starting choices a little since playing. There were likely none among the veterans who still had the masteries they ran from the moment they started playing. Instead Lucia only nodded her head in understanding it was not a problem so profound that it couldn't be fixed. Instead it was just something that took some time still, something that would be fixed with exposure. "Alright, good. Then don't worry, just let me take care of you~" She spoke reassuringly, her last few words brushing her moist lips against her ear before slowly sliding back giving Luna some room to be comfortable again. Giving the girl's hair one last gentle stroke of her fingers, she nodded her head reaching down to Luna's hand taking it gently in her own. "Come on, I'll show you some nice things." She spoke taking Luna's hand before turning to into a small jog, trying to tug Luna along so the girl could keep up without being shocked. Lucia herself wasn't particularly fast or athletic, so she didn't doubt Luna would be able to keep pace with her as she went. "I think the nearby wooded areas had some good spots okay? This might be a little scary, but hold onto me okay?" Lucia spoke with a bright and enchanting grin before turning back around to face forward. Just as Luna might be wondering what would be so scary or frightening about the jog though, it would become clear the reason why was pretty well known by now. Seeing Lucia darting away from it, Alice watched them go for a short time before it's large lumbering frame quivered. One mouth opened up at it's top end, as if twisting open like a blossoming flower with each pedal having row after row of teeth. It released an unreal squeal in reaction to being left behind, it's large frame flopped forward before several large bones began to dart out from it's sides into the ground. Evolving quickly, these sharp curved bones resembled ribs that scraped the ground, flesh slowly covering half of them as it tried to improvise limbs. Tendons and ligaments stringing themselves to the fleshy coverings allowing them to move with tugs and pulls before finally tightening up lifting the creature's large squirming body up onto those dozens of bones. It's blossoming mouth facing forward as it continued squealing and started racing after Lucia and Luna. Unlike Lucia, Alice was made from nothing but muscle and flesh, it's speed was at the level of a whole different world. It raced towards them, writhing and squealing before ducking down near by, it's gesture and attempts clear at least to Lucia who was delighted at Alice's efforts. "It's okay, I've got you." She spoke supportively as she began trying to tug Luna in Alice's direction. Even if Luna struggled, she'd try to bring the girl aboard the larger creature. Lucia didn't have mounted skills, but a creature like Alice was one that couldn't really be 'mounted' in the traditional sense, it was more akin to a moving platform as it proceeded towards the woods in the distance. It's surface was soft and plush, though a little sticky, it fortunately didn't leave behind any unsavory residue. "If it gets scary let me know, I'll hold onto you like before." She offered with a melodious laugh offering to hug Luna if she was uneasy while Alice barreled forward like a freight train.
Luna would've been somewhat alarmed if she were able to know just how accurate a perception of her character Lucia had managed to get from such a quick and simple exchange with each other. Was she really such a transparent and easy to read person? Probably so, especially with the lips of an attractive woman just barely ghosting against her ear, making it difficult to think clearly through the haze of confusion and physical attraction. It was hard not to feel that way in this sort of scenario, though Luna wasn't exactly intent on actively escalating or defusing this situation. At this point, all she could really do was go with the flow and roll with whatever punches were thrown her way by reality. It was all her mind was really good for anymore. She blushed as the woman whispered, before squeaking and meeping as the woman grabbed her by the hand to tug her into a light jog, nothing that she couldn't really keep up with, especially in a body like this one. She'd have probably struggled more in her real body, as short as she was, but Luna was tall enough to take greater strides and fit enough to exert herself far more than Eva ever could before tiring out. In basically every respect, this body was better than her real body. This life was better than her real life. Though she could try to overlap them as much as she could, to take some of the wonders and the friends she made in this world and make them as real as she could. She was already thinking of meeting with Angel again, after all. Partway through their jog, a sudden cry emerged from Alice, so sudden that it had Luna squeal in terror and shock, head darting backwards to look at the creature now shifting towards them at a fairly high speed. She yelped, her hand squeezing Lucia's hand as she turned to look at the woman incredulously, eyes wide with terror. What was happening now? Why was Alice racing after them so intently like that? It got closer and closer, moving at speeds she'd not even thought possible for a creature that size, before ducking low close to them. For a brief moment, that instinctive fear returned, Luna being terrified that the abomination had just turned against them and become a foe like most undead creatures would have you believe. As soon as Lucia began trying to tug her up to it, she felt herself instinctively resist, though the woman was far stronger than she was at this point. She stumbled onto Alice alongside Lucia, immediately dropping to her knees and pressing her face to the woman's chest to block her sight of the world around them, shaky arms wrapped around the woman's frame to anchor her better. Even with her eyes closed, the speed they were traveling at was unreal, like something she'd never felt against her bare skin. She was honestly scared they might fall and die. "W-w-w-where are we g-g-going!? I-I-I think I might f-f-f-fall!"
Lucia couldn't help laughing at Luna's reaction, finding it adorable after pulling her onto Alice's pudgy frame. Clinging to the girl to support her who was clearly and visibly flustered about the way things had developed. Though it was a development she'd largely expected, it was unfortunate, the first time she'd ridden on Alice's back had been a delightful and fulfilling experience for her at least. As someone who had never done anything extreme in her own reality, who had never felt the thrill of anything even remotely similar outside of an occasional amusement park ride. No-- If Luna was really like her, this might be a valuable experience. "It's scary isn't it? Don't let go." She spoke, but continued with a teasing and coaxing tone as she tried to lift Luna's head from the softness of her chest to see the surroundings with a sweet smile. "You're missing it though." She urged gently thinking that Luna's curiosity might overpower her fear for a moment. While it might seem like a scary ride, Lucia had long since understood that no matter what happened, Alice wouldn't allow any tragedy to happen. Even if they'd slipped off they would be scooped from the air very quickly. Knowing it was safe, she hoped to let Luna experience some excitement and thrill at least. Alice was moving quickly across the terrain, ripping it up along the way, stones and soil being turned up by it's bone-y limbs. Occasionally it's loud roaring squeal would echo to alarm and frighten near by creatures and keep their journey safe. It's speed though was akin to a car ride on the high way, the caught Lucia's hair and buffeted her as the terrain shifted beneath her rapidly. She slowly began to let go of Luna with only one hand, hanging on with the other, holding the other out to welcome the wind with a small smile. It was as close to the feeling of flying one could get in the game. One that Lucia had grown to enjoy thanks to Alice. "Well, it's a fun feeling if you always wondered what it would feel like to fly. I suppose it's not for everyone though. What I wanted to show you isn't too far, just in the woods a little way away." Lucia explained trying to give Luna a soft pet of reassurance hoping she would at least be calm enough to understand Lucia didn't mean to freak her out. This poor girl didn't understand how detailed or complex the game was, far from just skills and meters, there was a world to explore out there, lore and things that were fantastical and just waiting to be explored. It would be a shame for anyone to lock themselves away with all of the potential out there just waiting to be found.
As embarrassing as it was to cling to a woman that she'd just met and had only just previously been letting her hands get a little too adventurous, Luna had to admit that she felt far safer with somebody holding onto her atop Alice. She'd never really felt such speed before, it really wasn't something she could equate to anything that she knew existed. Was skydiving like this? Cliff jumping? Race car driving? She really couldn't think up a real world equivalent to this. She slowly attempted to lift her head to at least have a look around, succeeding in managing to peek over Lucia's shoulder slightly for a moment, in awe at just how fast they were managing to move on a biological creature. Sure, it was an undead abomination, but she felt like her amazement was well earned. As far as she was aware, no living organism could move that fast horizontally in the world. Some birds might be able to dive bomb at similar speeds, but this was just incredible. "W-w-w-wow...H-how is A-Alice s-s-so fast? T-t-this is like a car or a t-t-train!" Every roar or squeal that Alice would let out caused Luna to flinch and hide her face in Lucia's chest again for a few moments, peeking back up when the noise had died down. She had to admit that it was difficult to contain her curiosity as to where they were actually going, all she knew was that their destination would be a wooded area. Were they looking for people? Animals? More undead that Lucia had raised and kept hidden in a forest somewhere nearby? Honestly the more she thought about it, the more plausible answers she could come up with, which honestly made it a very exciting thing to actually experience firsthand. She managed to turn, with her back to the woman's chest, though she still kept a tight hold of Lucia's hand to keep herself stable, looking at what she assumed was their destination in the distance, getting closer and closer. "i-i-is that w-where w-we're going r-right now?" She had learned her lesson about assuming and wasn't going to make an assumption like that any time soon, though asking a question was never a bad thing.
Lucia chuckled a little, feeling rather proud of Alice since Luna seemed to be impressed. Certainly it would be hard for normal mammals and creatures to achieve this type of movement speed, but Alice was something different, she had the advantage of being able to imitate almost anything she had the parts for. The creature she was imitating now was not a large creature, mammal or even bird. Instead, her sharpened rib like legs and musculature imitated insects, beetles and the like. They looked like they moved slowly because of their size, but if an insect the size of Alice darted around at such a speed, they would be incomparable monsters. "Right now Alice is using the bones of various animals to create the structures of beetles. While she could get faster then this, she'll start to lose the ability to see where she's going." Lucia explained, after all, eyes could only see so and so frames per second, if she became too fast, she'd move faster then her own eyes would be able to track. Though Luna's question made her chuckle and nod, they were heading towards the more wooded areas near by, crossing the vast plains to reach them. Out in the plains there weren't very many creatures that were easy to see after all, most that were were monsters or villains who weren't afraid of the locals. Instead, the forest was a better place to introduce Luna to some interesting subjects. "Naturally~ There are a lot of parts of this game people don't normally see, things like the ecosystems, the smaller critters who work in this world for others to profit from. It's sad but even here there's a circle of life you know?" She explained, waiting until Alice made it to the edge of the woods, leaning to one side, she tried sliding off of the larger beetle-like frame of Alice. Though her surface was a little sticky it didn't make it impossible to slide off. Lucia brushed her butt off to get rid of anything that might be left behind as she spoke with a smile. "Now, come on down, we'll go find something nice that you like." She urged, not having a clear goal in mind, but instead wanting to show Luna some of the non-aggressive creatures of the world, even some of the more mythical ones if she could find them.
That was actually really ingenious! Luna hadn't even considered the fact that Alice wasn't limited to only mimicking mammals and birds, but could also mimic insects and any other living creature. That would definitely explain just how that Alice was able to move so quickly at her size, considering that bugs were ridiculously fast for their own size. Weren't some of them capable of outpacing even larger creatures like mammals, heck, some spiders could move fast enough to really startle humans and even horses, at least, as far as she was aware of anyway. Still, it really was an impressive thing and Luna couldn't help but admire Alice all the more for it. She really did pity anybody that had to come against the creature as a foe when she had more time to learn her own abilities. By that point, the abomination would probably end up being a veritable force of nature in her own right. Once they reached the edge of the woods, after Lucia's little explanation that had Luna nodding along, agreeing with every point that the woman made, Lucia slid off of the creature. Everything she'd said had only made more and more sense, in Luna's eyes, since she'd noticed the buildings of ecosystems for herself as she'd traveled, though she hadn't really stopped to consciously consider them. She'd seen bees and flowers, fish and frogs, toads and all sorts of creatures that seemed incredibly mundane until she stopped to realize how important every little creature was to maintaining the status quo. Without some of them, the whole ecosystems would collapse, yet they weren't even thanked or appreciated. Even worse, players killed and farmed them for easy experience. She sighed, slowly shuffling down Alice and sliding off of the abomination, landing with a squeak and stumbling for a moment, using Lucia's shoulders to try to stabilize herself. She took a look at herself, but it wasn't like she could see how she looked from behind, so she turned around to expose her back to Lucia. "U-u-um, d-d-d-do I have s-s-s-stuff all o-o-over m-my back?" Or her backside, or the back of her arms. She wasn't totally coated, but there was definitely some residue there.
Seeing Luna's awed expression, Lucia couldn't help chuckling, was it that mind boggling of a thing to think about or consider? Lucia had long since tried to analyze every eventuality, she was meticulous by nature, and her persistence and determination to rise and be 'someone' was resolved and strong. Of course insects would be a powerful material for Alice to imitate and replicate, they were quite literally monsters among their own size categories. In reaction to Luna's awed expression, Lucia just gently stroked her hair with a soft hand, really enjoying the moment, Luna might even recognize the very pleased and happy smile as she stroked her hair affectionately. This girl was purely a delight for Lucia who's endless efforts to be more then average didn't often get recognized. "Don't worry, you will find something special just like me... And when you do, you'll want to learn every little thing about it too." She urged with a soft but firm tone, one that tried to assert something forcefully rather then beckon or encourage. Though when Luna turned to expose her back, Lucia couldn't help giggling, it was presented so willingly and vulnerably, she'd have to be strange not to take advantage right? With that thought in mind though, Lucia reached her hands out in silence, suddenly brushing the girl's back and working her way down. She gave no affirmation or denial about her having stuff all over, instead, she just silently brushed her off. As she worked her way down to the girl's backside though, her 'brushing' turned into grabbing. Squeezing and groping at her plush backside, Lucia turned her head as if inspecting and probing a treasure. Lucia kept going, long enough for it to get a little awkward even before she finally spoke with a soft tone. "Don't worry, I like the way you look, there's nothing there now." She spoke, never saying whether or not there was anything there, but for the compliment, rather then just saying she looked good, Lucia affirmed her preference for Luna's look, trying to pay her a compliment that Luna couldn't easily refuse. After spending some time in the girl's company, she began recognizing Luna's type a bit more. Asking them guiding questions, encouraging them and supporting them wouldn't help, wouldn't change much. If nothing else Luna had lived up until now as she was likely because those things didn't help, unless everyone around her were just hateful people, she would have been encouraged or told to change her ways after all. Instead, Lucia thought an experiment was in order, instead of guiding she should try enforcing, not encouraging but demanding, not supporting but pushing. As long as her actions and tone were gentle and not abusive, she had confidence Luna would react positively to a more forceful and heavy hand then an encouraging and helpful one. "Specially the undies~" She teased with a coy giggle as she pulled her hands back with a sweet smile, after touching her for long enough, feeling what was underneath hadn't been too hard. Instead she took the chance to try and tease Luna before grasping her wrist. "Come on, these are the parts here." She spoke trying to lead her on. If Luna started to hesitate or get too nervous, Lucia would just tug her a bit harder with a gentle smile, tell her to follow with firm words but a sweet tone. It was only when they arrived at a small forest clearing that Lucia tried to stop her. "Here, this is a good one, can you see?" She asked with a warm smile. Within the clearing there was an abandoned cart, it looked as if some merchant or adventurer had left it in a hurry, but it had been looted far too thoroughly to have anything of real value to people. Instead, this wreckage was a treasure trove for a different kind of creature, one that Luna was probably very familiar with. A small slime, the size of a boot or shoe was wiggling around, it's small frame brushing and bumping it's way through an occasional crate or box. It was small, underdeveloped, as if a child, it seemed as if it were roaming or perhaps waiting for prey, but Lucia insisted Luna watch it for a long time. "Can you see?" She asked, as if waiting for a realization to dawn on the girl. It might be difficult to discern at first, but after a while of watching it would become more clear. As the slime moved, the trail it left behind might be a little slimy or slick, but after a short time it would dry and reveal an immaculately clean surface. As if it had just been vigorously scrubbed with multitudes of products, Lucia smiled as she watched it continued to roam about blindly for a time. "If you just watch them from afar, every monster's role is very interesting. Can you tell? It's not eating the boxes-- then how does it survive? Where does it's energy come from?" She questioned, more to make Luna question then to demand an answer, instead, she pointed towards it and spoke softly, sliding closer to the girl beside her. "Slimes don't just eat anything they touch, if they did they'd all be giants and huge powerful monsters after eating everything around them. They don't eat crates, or grass, so what do they eat? They eat dirt, dusts, toxins, stuff we can't see with our own eyes, like whales they gather up millions of little things to eat instead of eating one normal thing." Lucia lectured about Slime habits as she turned towards Luna. An expecting smile on her face as she continued. "But then, if they don't eat boxes and grass, if they only eat dirt, why do they eat corpses? why do they attack people?" She didn't pose questions expecting Luna to answer them, instead it was to give her the time to think that there was something wrong, a gap somewhere there that made it hard to understand. In case the girl was afraid with a slime in the distance, she held her a bit closely, close enough for Luna to hear her voice right by her ear. "Aren't corpses dangerous? Don't they cause a lot of plague and disease? What if they just attack people because they're dirty? What if they never really meant us harm until we attacked them because we didn't know?" Lucia asked with a sad smile, glancing back to the small wiggling creature that was scrubbing the abandoned cart. No one would come for it, no one appreciated it's hard effort put into cleaning an abandoned wagon, it's only reward was a few scraps of food that wouldn't allow it to grow beyond it's tiny boot sized frame. "Slimes do attack people, don't get me wrong, they try to fight humans now, but... maybe it wasn't supposed to be like this. Generations of slimes being hunted as monsters-- what if all they originally wanted was just the dirt we didn't notice? What if the reason they're hostile towards us is because they're afraid? They're scared that we'll hurt them when all they want to do is live in peace, cleaning and eating, so they attack us first, because we're the blood thirsty monsters who've hunted them for ages? And all this time, we're just killing each other because we're afraid, because we can't understand each other to explain." Lucia spoke up til here, a soft hand stroking the girl's hair as she told of a sad possibility about why hostile monsters might have become hostile. She gave Luna some time to digest those questions, a small smile on her face as she waited for a short while. "I found my niche in the undead, the misunderstood race of this world, but i don't know much about monsters, about their lot in life outside of what i've seen and studied. Isn't it very sad? That these creatures have no one to tell their story? No one who cares enough to stop that cycle of fear and killing?" She asked with a small smile, thinking that Luna would understand with this much.
She really did hope she'd find something that she could have as much passion in as Lucia had passion within Necromancy and the undead, at least eventually if she did ever manage to find it. It looked so refreshing and life-giving to be so passionate about something and to be able to explore it in ways that nobody else had explored it before! But what was even out there that she could be passionate about? Magic in general was pretty interesting to her, but it didn't quite enflame her passions like Necromancy seemed to do for Lucia. Hopefully she'd find it one day, or maybe Lucia would introduce her to it? The woman seemed like she was smart enough to know or be able to guess at things like that! Luna jolted slightly in shock as Lucia began to brush at her back, having not expected the woman's sudden gentle touch. She'd expected some sort of verbal response, maybe an offer to clean it or something along those lines, but this worked just as well. She blushed slightly, blinking as the woman's hands started drift downwards. Wow, she'd really gotten a lot of the goop from Alice on her back, hadn't she? Thank goodness that Lucia was there to clean it off for her, since she didn't want to know what it'd feel like if it dried up! "Eep!" She actually eep'd, freezing when the hands suddenly made a change from brushing to grasping, groping at her backside. She let out a shuddering breath, stumbling backwards an inch from the shock, though her legs managed to freeze again to keep her standing, though it'd probably seemed more like she'd pushed into the hands that were working her over. What was she supposed to do in a situation like this? Was she supposed to speak out? Ask the woman to stop? It was like...a sign of appreciation, right? She let out a tiny squeak, almost a light moan, before the hands left her and Lucia spoke up again, giving her some sort of compliment before mentioning....her underwear!? She squeaked again, hands flying to cover her backside as her posture became rigidly straight, turning to face the woman with possibly the most atomic red blush she'd ever had on her face. Lucia....really liked to let her hands wander, didn't she? That was so brave! "A-a-a-a-a-a-ah, um....t-t-t-thank y-y-y-y-you...?" She struggled to accept the compliment, wanting beyond all else to refute it, but she couldn't say Lucia's opinion was wrong! That would be a pretty bad thing to say! She wracked her brain for a counter compliment, but she fell short. What could she say? Lucia was, well, hot! But she couldn't just up and admit that! She'd probably die of embarrassment or something! Maybe if she worded it a little bit more softly? She never got the chance, before Lucia grasped her wrist and tugged her along, with Luna just simply allowing herself to be brought along without a fight. Lucia was the woman with the plan, after all and Luna had no clue where they were. She was starting to adapt ever so slightly to just how touchy Lucia was, though it was obviously going to be a long process. Not that it was a bad thing, but she didn't know anybody so touchy and feel-y. They stopped at an overturned cart and Lucia began grilling her with questions and answers. She made an awful lot of sense and Luna could practically see what she was saying as the truth. Humans probably had just attacked slimes out of fear and after years the slimes had started doing the same. It was all a cycle born from a lack of understanding! If somebody had taken the time to do some research on slimes that went deeper than 'how to kill them' they'd have probably noticed all of this a lot sooner than before! Slimes didn't cut chunks from the earth when they moved, after all! Lucia's closeness did a lot to curb any potential fear, though it was replaced with that same nervousness that came when an attractive person was standing close enough to you to whisper into your ear, but Luna didn't make any attempts to move. "I-i-i-it's like n-n-nobody w-w-wants to learn a-a-a-anything besides their weaknesses..." She mumbled sadly, though with how close they were there was no chance that Lucia didn't hear it. Was it possible to be any more intimately close? "D-d-d-do you t-t-t-think p-p-people would r-r-r-really stop k-killing them now i-if somebody made an effort to understand?" She wanted to know what the gentle woman would say, what she thought. "I-I um....I feel s-s-s-so sorry f-f-for that little g-guy..." She sighed, shifting her body as her frozen rigidness caught up with her, shifting backwards slightly into Lucia before freezing again. Yes. This felt more intimate. Her face lit up again.
Lucia found Luna's reactions adorable, putting a pin to mind when the girl didn't react negatively, wasn't it the same as approval? Lucia took stalk of this recognizing the girl as free game with a happy grin. She didn't hesitate to hold Luna closer for this particular reason, a lot of the reason Lucia kept clinging and being handsy was purely because Luna didn't stop her. Others would no doubt have drawn boundaries for Lucia to adjust and react to, but Luna hadn't made a single attempt which only caused Lucia to keep growing bolder and more assertive. Though Luna's mumbling wasn't surprising, the logic behind why a lot of creatures were hostile with people were likely similar. If one thought about it, how could a people and a race provoke such intense hatred for no reason? If it were a simple fact of food and such, then Lucia could understand but there were plenty of other things out there to eat, so why aggressively provoke humanity? Nodding back though, Lucia understood Luna's train of thought, it was indeed the only thing people researched or looked into these days, the weaknesses and negatives of the creatures rather then the creatures themselves. This was what she thought could become Luna's new path and passion, the creatures without a home and without a voice. "Who can say? Violence has been going on for so long, I'm not sure how many people would listen to one brave kind hearted person even if it was the truth." Lucia explained with a gentle tone. "But I do know that if nobody tries, then it won't ever stop. That if 'someone' doesn't help, there will be a time when these poor things are hunted to extinction." Lucia explained with a heavy sigh, knowing that if things kept on there would be a war to extinction someday as humanity tried to erase threats. And these poor creatures with no weapons or armor wouldn't survive. Seeing that Luna was feeling bad, that she was clearly understanding the tragedy, Lucia nodded and continued with a firm tone. "These aren't the only ones either... Slimes are only one creature. Imagine just how many out there are suffering like this? How many out there have no voice? Have no ability to surrender or make peace because they're not given a chance? Killed for their furs and skins, for their teeth and bones, for points and numbers, and for what? To be taken away from their homes? Families? Environments? All that need them." Lucia explained trying to heap on the drama and depth of the issue. It was a mass hunting, a war unlike one seen in the real world, there was no guilt, no shame or care for a creature's extinction. Instead, Lucia smiled at Luna, nodding her head hoping that the flames of passion were igniting as she continued. "It doesn't take someone brave... It doesn't take someone strong... Not even someone super intelligent. It just needs 'someone'. 'Someone' who can tell right from wrong, who can tell the good ones from the bad ones for the rest of us, at least someone who cares." She explained gently touching Luna's chest with gentle fingertips, trying to gesture to her heart deeper within.
Being held closer, she felt simultaneously both safer than she'd felt in a while and the most nervous she'd ever been in her life. How did she respond to situations like this? Asking the woman to not be so close or so physical might offend her and it wasn't as if the woman was hurting her! Quite the opposite, really! Her touch was actually pretty pleasant in a lot of different ways, from the warmth and the gentle touch to the pleasure and tingle she got when the woman's hand would glide across her hair or ghost across her skin. All in all, it really didn't seem like it could hurt too much to let the woman just do whatever she wanted. Maybe this was normal where Lucia was from? Who knew? "It's k-k-k-k-kinda sad, y-y-you know? T-t-t-t-that people are t-t-t-too afraid or i-i-ignorant to w-w-want to learn more. J-j-just watching t-t-t-this little guy is s-s-s-so interesting..." She watched the slime slide around, the box looking cleaner in the slime's wake than it did just in front of the little thing. It was like watching a nature documentary on the tv or on her computer, only she was actually there in the field observing the creature up close! Like she was a tv presenter or something, out there studying the animal with her own two eyes! "S-s-s-seeing something r-r-reduced to j-just numbers is s-s-sad. I-I-I don't t-t-think I could not f-f-fight if some were a-a-a-attacking a person..." She had stepped in to save that NPC from a group of slimes, after all, but even then she hadn't felt particularly good about it. Having to actually kill things herself was such an odd, disturbing feeling that she desperately hoped that she never got used to. "....b-b-but w-w-we shouldn't j-j-just h-h-hunt them for n-no reason!" It was probably the same with the wolves, and the bears, and all of the countless other animals, fantastical or otherwise. They were all hunted for the sport, for the glory and the experience. She felt Lucia's finger tap her on the chest and locked eyes with the woman, though Lucia would only be able to see her one eye. Was the gentle woman really trying to insinuate that she could be that person? "Y-y-y-yeah, s-s-s-somebody like that w-w-would be nice..." She spoke up, not wanting to make any sort of assumption and get it totally wrong. "D-d-d-do you think s-s-somebody w-w-weak like me....c-c-could make any s-s-sort of d-d-difference?"
Lucia chuckled softly, since Luna wasn't hesitating to let her do as she pleased, she continued simply letting her hands wander nodding along as Luna processed the information. It was a bit of a long way around, but she felt that this was something Luna could get invested in, supporting poor critters who needed a helping hand, understanding the good creatures from the bad. It took a lot of effort but if no one took the chance then there would be no progress. "It will be very hard, very very hard. People, specially people set in their ways, firm in their beliefs wouldn't listen. Even then, there are some creatures that are just bad, that do prey upon humans specifically and some that should be culled for the greater good." Lucia explained, being the devil's advocate for just a moment, showing Luna that it wouldn't just be roses and sunshine on such a difficult and arduous path. Being the first, being a trend setter was always a struggle and even unreasonable experience, so much so a lot gave up part way through, either from the pressure or the frustration from a lack of success. After saying such dispairaging things though, Lucia's smile didn't falter, still stroking the girl affectionately, she continued in a firm and confident tone. "But I think that if anyone could do it, you could. It doesn't need someone strong, like I said. It just needs someone who can believe in the innocence of a stranger, someone who would be able to get up and protect them but most important is someone who wouldn't stop if they realized they found one that wasn't innocent. I believe in you, because I don't think you'd give up on those little ones just because of a few bad eggs who went down the wrong path right?" She asked with a tender tone. There were after all some monsters who were bad, just like Lucia understood there were some spirits and undead that were just evil and cruel. Lucia would protect those innocent ones, those who weren't dyed in the color they were considered, but she wasn't afraid of being wrong when encountering those few that did have evil and cruel schemes. After confessing how she felt, how she thought Luna would be good for the job, she turned her attention back to the little slime on the cart, musing a little on how to give Luna a bit more courage. After a while, she smiled and continued with a small smile. "Pain is scary, and dying is also scary... but in this world we don't feel all of the pain like they do. We don't stay dead like they do. no matter how you slice it, they should be more afraid because of that don't you think? They have no where to run or hide from this world like we do." Lucia nodded firmly, concluding her sob story for the sake of those poor monsters. She felt if Luna wasn't convinced by now, going further might just have an opposite effect, instead she hoped Luna at least had enough courage to try or make an effort even if she didn't know how.
Yeah, Lucia had a very good point there. It would be hard and people would give her flak for something like this. It was honestly a pretty scary thought, that she might end up being a trend setter or something along those lines, somebody that people looked to for advice or something like that. That wasn't the way things worked, she'd always been the person asking for help! It would definitely be hard and part of her wasn't sure she could even manage it without quitting halfway through, but hearing that Lucia, for some reason, believed that she was the person that could do it helped just a little. She blushed, looking down at the floor and blinking away a small tear of gratitude. Why was somebody believing in her after they'd just met her? Was she really somebody that seemed like the type of person that was capable of bringing about change? She did stiffen slightly as Lucia's hands started wandering again, letting out a soft whimper of a moan, backing up slightly more into the woman when she panicked that her sound had caught the attention of the slime that they were watching. "Y-y-you really think I have t-t-t-t-that s-s-sort of c-c-c-capability? T-t-t-that I c-c-can see i-innocence a-and l-look at t-things f-from a different point of view?" How? She'd assumed that Alice was evil when she'd first seen the abomination. Wasn't that exactly the sort of thing that Lucia thought she was now capable of preventing? She really wasn't the paragon of justice and truth that Lucia seemed to think that she could be. She was just a pathetic girl running away from her real life problems and trying to be a better person online. "I-I'm n-n-n-not t-t-that great o-of a person. I-I-I'm just a-a-a-a-a scared l-little girl t-t-t-that can't even escape h-h-her problems online..." Why did people suddenly seem so fond of her when she came online? People avoided her like the plague IRL since she couldn't even hold up a conversation without stuttering up a storm! Heck, she'd even had more compliments here than she'd ever even heard in the real world. She smiled, listening to Lucia talk about pain and death or something. "I-I um, I-I don't t-t-think pain is n-n-necessarily scary. I-I-It proves t-t-that you're a-a-alive a-and t-t-that you can s-still feel." She blushed. People thought she was weird when she said she didn't exactly mind pain."I-It's t-t-the death part t-t-that I'm w-w-worried about. F-f-for me and e-e-everybody. I-i-it breaks my heart t-t-to see things die o-or hear a-a-about a p-person d-d-dying." She glanced around, still very stiff at the closeness between her and Lucia. The woman's body was really warm. "I-I think I w-w-want to s-s-study the c-c-creatures h-here. M-m-maybe w-w-write down w-w-what I find and h-h-hope it helps p-people b-be interested..."
