Kira had spent hours upon hours in the character creator, simply molding the appearance she had been given over and over again until she was satisfied. When she finally finalized creation she was whisked away to an unknown area. At least unknown to her. Anima slowly opened her eyes to the world of Terrasphere for the first time. The canopy of leaves up above her filtering in rays of sunlight. The smells of the forest slowly becoming apparent to her senses. It was rather overwhelming. Just what secrets did this world have to be discovered? If her first five seconds had been anything to go by... Probably way too many for her to find on her own. Also, what kind of game spawns you in the middle of nowhere? With almost no other players around? Well at least it wasn't like those other non-vrmmo's in the past where 20 players spawned in all at once and just sat in eachother's models while they didn't move. Would have been much more awkward. Anima shivered at the imagined sensation of just being merged with someone else's model for a moment. "Alright... Let's see... Is there a town nearby?" Anima's red eyes flickered to the sides, then she turned her head to look around.
Why not just approach someone? Whispered words coalesced into the statement, soft as pacifistic wisps in the ether. In this comparison, the ether was Nalla's mind. She sat with her rear upon the dirt, nearby to the spawning area. With a predatory gaze, she glared at each of the new players that wandered the forest. "It's not that simple. They'll think I'm crazy." Then why not set them on fire? They already think your crazy, right? Whereas the first statement was spoken with velvet smoothness, this one could be comparably polar opposite. It crackled, like wood being consumed by flame. It spoke with fearlessness and sparks, volatile and frightening. She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't burn people, I burn things... And myself sometimes." The pyromancer protested to the voice in her conscience. Take a chance. Make a friend. She shut her eyes, moving from an idle seated position, into a crouching one. "You're one to talk..." She grumbled, with a subtle resentment in her voice, though not completely void of respect. "You're shyer than I am. Maybe ya shouldn't be giving me pointers, cat." The soles of her slippers curved, as she perched on the balls of her feet, reaching up to rub the side of her head. Confrontations with strangers had always been frightening and difficult, but usually they were in the heat of the moment. She often met friends amidst great combat, while they had a common opponent to bond against. Walking up to a stranger with no purpose other than greetings... It was a terrifying task indeed. Watch me. Do as I do. Flickering from behind her crouched frame, a semi-translucent cat pranced out, fearlessly form their hiding spot, approaching the proximity designated for character spawning. Its radiant blue cape and cerulean aura radiated around it, like a beacon to the purple haired girl. "Hey, that's not fair! You're not even real!" Nalla scampered out of her hiding spot, the rustling of branches and leaves tracing her movements, as she chased after the cat. She only paused in her pursuit once she realized that she had suddenly made herself known to any players nearby. The racket she had made, how foolish! Frozen in position, her hands still outreached towards where she had last spotted that damn feline. Tracing her eyes to where her limbs directed, she saw that the phantasmal creature had vanished. "Of course..." She grunted, reaching up to rub the back of her neck, some concoction of steam and smoke rising from the hand, as well as a subtle sizzling. "H-hey! Welcome to Terrasphere!" The fiery girl turned to the closest recognizable player entity, @Anima. She gave a weak smirk, nervously chuckling to herself. If there ever were to be a Terrasphere welcoming committee, there is no doubt that the pyromaniac would be somewhere near the bottom of the list.
Anima's head turned quickly to the sound of someone shouting about somethingnot existing. A tilt of her head to the side. Well, at least it wasn't a total weirdo? "O-oh uh... Yeah, thanks." She looked around rather nervously. Then looked down at her body. It wasn't a great start to things, but at least she ran into a seemingly nice player. Well, who else to ask for directions than from a veteran player? "Er, is it possible that you could guide me to a town or something? I mean, I'd rather not sit out here where I could be attacked by monsters when I have the starting gear or something." Anima's head tilted upward. "This place is rather pretty though. If I wasn't a veteran to VRgames I would have lost myself in the scenery..." Anima smiled at the woman that had called out to her and finally decided to take her first actual steps towards @Nalla. "Though uh... What were you chasing?"
Fire. "Psh." She scoffed in response to the voice, blowing a strand of hair that had fallen upon her face out of the way, before listening intently to what the newer player responded with. "Town, yes! Honeyhome is not far from here. Nice place!" She commented. It had certainly been quite a while since the pyro's last visit to Honeyhome. In fact, it hadn't been since her initial login, after returning to the game. The question in regard to what she was chasing then came up. "Ehm..." The pyromancer scratched the side of her head. Opportunity! The remark was unwarranted, and Nalla's polite expression turned swiftly into something more displeased. She gave a light, but still relatively forceful knock to the side of her own noggin. "Oh, nothing! Thought I saw a cat is all!" Then, she felt it. The ferocious approach of a threatening awkward silence. Before it could develop enough to bring discomfort, she broke it, speaking out and bowing to the stranger. "I'm Nalla, by the way! Nice to meet you!" "Honeyhome is this way, if you would like to head there now." She turned around, pointing into a section that appeared just as any other, a wooded grove before her. With her other hand on her hip, she turned back to the stranger. See, easy as could be. The pyromancer grit her teeth for a moment, a set of embers fluttering off of the tips of her hair. "I can lead the way. Though I doubt you'll find much trouble there. Not much in the form of monsters around here." She shrugged, glancing around. "Perhaps some wolves... Maybe."
Anima blinked a couple times. The woman was a bit odd but then again, VRMMO's allowed people to role-play quite easily without much trouble. "Oh I see, a cat." Anima nodded. "I'm Anima. Nice to meet you." The young looking girl held her hand out after Nalla finished her bow. Not all too bad a person. She held a smile for now as she followed her newfound companion. "What kind of place is Honeyhome? Is the place themes around bees or something similar, such as a... Well honey?" Anima glanced around a small bit. Well at least no danger made itself obvious for now. But soon enough she'd probably have to use these beginner items in some way. Hopefully she wouldn't have to PVP too soon. She still had to lay out plans and other such things... Hell, she didn't know how to cast any spells yet. That was just dandy
After the handshake, off they went. Nalla remembered her first times in this forest, many months prior. Her thoughtless skipping of the tutorial area, believing that the quickest way to learn was to do. When it came to combat, things really got tough, as she could barely control her magical abilities. The first time she had attempted to fire an arcane bolt, while she was still in her previous body, that nostalgic fizzle, as pain wracked her mind. Fortunately, there was very little fizzling when it came to pyromancy. Very little focus as well. Often times, a bit of rage or displeasure could bring about a fireball in her hand in a moments notice! Concentration was not really an issue anymore. Still, a part of her missed the sharp accuracy of the arcane shots she used to fire. Alas, with time comes change, and that body was long since replaced. "Heh. No, it's--" As she lead the newfound comrade through the forest, the purple haired female made a sudden halt. Lingering in the air, the sounds of many avian creatures could be heard. Their chirps spoke of freedom and bravery. Of fearlessness and peace. But the voice in Nalla's head spoke of just the opposite. Ignite, it growled. Go. "Mmm... Fine, fine." Usually she put up more of a resistance to these violent notions, but she figured there was much less harm in killing a bird, than setting new players on fire. Pointing her hand up towards an opening into the canopy above the trees, she gathered energy to fire a little shot into the air, a bird flying past to catch the fiery projectile. "As I was saying, "Honeyhome is just a nice, calm, average little village, I guess." She continued along, placing her hands into her pockets as she did. Still somewhat wary of this @Anima person, she kept the female in her peripherals, as she continued along. In a few moments, they managed to get onto a path that would lead them to the cozy hamlet. "Apparently there was some commotion over here a while ago, but it has been rather quite for a while. There's an old lady who makes lovely bread!" Nalla smiled, nodding back to the stranger, before turning her gaze back to the path in front of her. "You just spawned in, I'm guessing?" Still, another voice within her mind knocked at her skull to be more proper. For goodness sake, she had previously been a detective, priding herself on details and knowledge. Now? Saying 'I guess'? She had gotten far too used to the casual way of speaking and acting, even occasionally slouching. In her previous body, she had held maintained such a high standard, not only keeping her posture rigid and aligned, but each step had been made with meticulous precision, as not to trip. Now, that accuracy was replaced with violent carelessness. Perhaps that's why she was always finding herself in precarious, deadly situations... Hm...
There was a small squeak as the fire ball was thrown into the air and the bird carcass landed on the ground. What... What was the point of that? Why did @Nalla do that? Was it just a show of 'mess with me and I might do this to you' or something else entirely? Her eyes wide for a moment before she calmed herself down. Someone wouldn't go through this much effort to kill a newbie... Right? Anima listened to her talk, about how pleasant the town was, the old lady that baked bread. Well, it sounded like a nice place. Probably meant to be as it was the starting town. "Oh, uh. Yeah, I just spawned in like... Maybe five minutes ago or so."
"Wow, fresh as can be, then!" Nalla commented, not bothering to glance back at the newly met person. Between her legs, if @Anima were to look close enough, perhaps she could catch a glimpse of the cerulean cloudy textures that seemed to form... Some kind of cat? Maybe? It certainly wasn't any normal cat, walking just along side the pyromancer. A moment later, the animal vanished. Perhaps the viewer had blinked, or perhaps it had never been there in the first place. "Yeah, this place is pretty safe." She motioned a hand towards the vast forest that converged over the wooded path they trotted along, leaving infrequent splotches of sunlight across the earthy floor. "It's called Brisshal. And there isn't much hostile stuff in here." A hand was brought up to casually scratch the top of her head in idle thought. Squinting to her left, the russling of a bush caught her attention and nearly a swift inferno, if the culprit, a squirrel type creature, had not made itself known immediately. "Yeah. A nice enough place that I actually visit it to practice with my abilities every now and again. Find a quiet place in the trees and fire away!" "One time..." She muttered, preparing her words to tell the tale that she was reviewing in her mind. Instead, she did not finish the statement. The story had been about a time that she had nearly crushed a newer player beneath a tree in that very forest. Completely accidentally, of course. Having found a hidden outcropping, the player had sneaked up on her, and was nearly crushed by the falling of a tree that her arcane bolt had struck through. Rubbing the back of her head, she was glad that she thought before truly starting the story, as it might have frightened the new comrade. "You seem reserved. Is something the matter?" Nalla sent a gaze back at the one who walked with her. She hoped that she hadn't somehow frightened the new acquaintance in some way.
Anima watched her escort closely. Half sizing them up in case she would need to protect herself in the long run. But this w- wait, what was? Oh it's gone... Best not to worry about it. If it comes up in the future as some sort of enemy Anima was expecting @Nalla to be able to handle it. Then she heard the last bit and gave a small jump. "A-ah, no, I just have the habit of listening to people talk most the time instead of talking." Anima held up her hands for a moment. "I mean, it's better for a newbie to learn things from a more veteran player than to just wander around aimlessly for the next 20 minutes and get killed by a random wolf or an overly aggressive bee."
The comment on the wolf amused Nalla. She recalled a time when she too was a new player, venturing through those very woods. While she had reassured this newfound person of this place's tranquility, it also harbored its fair share of beasts. The memory was faint, but still evident. Before, she had been a detective, with a coat and a hat, bumbling through the forest in search of herbs and education. Alchemy had been her craft, but one she had long since forgotten the stratagems for. With the curiosity of a mouser, she had pursued a growling ruckus that lingered outwards from somewhere deeper. Between the leaves of the trees, and the grass below, she had not realized that there was an entity pursuing her, bearing fangs sharper than her wit. It had been thanks to a veteran player that she had not perished on that day. But much had changed since then. It had been ages since her blue cap rested upon her head, and her coat was burnt up somewhere in the crossfire between time and mayhem. Now, with new clothes, a new face, and a tainted mind, she conversation with a new player. "I wouldn't call myself a veteran, I still make many mistakes." She pursed her lips. Her eyes idly scanned the trees. "Growth comes with time. And so, I have grown." The bag that rested upon her back, with straps across her shoulders bucked, as she tugged one of the fastens into place. The clattering of books in this canister could be heard, and so came the scent that leaked from within the pages. Great tales that the pyromancer loved lingered within her backpack, not to clog up her inventory spaces. "But generally, it's a good rule to stay on the paths whenever possible." She chuckled, reaching up to unpleasantly rub above her left brow. "I can't tell you how many times I've made the mistake of wandering off. Nearly all of the time, it leads to something messy." As the town of Honeyhome came into sight, her eyes were locked upon it. "But maybe that kind of mad hatter adventure is what your after. In which case, go for it." Turning to glance back at @Anima, she added a single, final statement to this notion. "Just... No one ever died because of additional precautions, you know?" Hypocrisy! Shouted a voice from within, snapping like twigs beneath a smoldering mass. Of course, the voices could never remain silent for long. You speak of fear, but we act without hesitation! We are not cowards. A growl came from Nalla's stomach, a dull, orange glow radiating from beneath her clothes. Thankfully, this outburst was not one visible on the exterior, merely twisting the girl's posture ever so slightly. "It's not hypocrisy." She turned away, muttering to herself in thorny whispers. "It's just safety precautions. Intelligent decision making. Don't be so rash."
"Veterans make mistakes too, ya know." Anima shrugged as she followed in step behind @Nalla. Her hands went to her pockets to search her inventory for things she might have as a beginning player. Most likely garbage items worth practically nothing. "I don't exactly know what to expect from all this. Due to there being no advertisements for an illegal game..." She gave a sly grin. "But it'll be interesting no doubt! A game that let's you feel pain realistically... Well, at least I didn't spawn inside someone probably would have been horrifying for us both."
