Valther's palms slid from his eyes, the sun glaring down at him through a bare patch in the canopy above. It hurt to look at and stunned him into a stumble, feeling around to stand up on his feet surely and not so blind. Yanking on a hanging branch, he pulled himself to his full, intimidating height and shook his head, his eyes slowly creaking open to scan the forest surrounding him. His amethyst hues took in the scenery; emerald forestry on all sides, so close together it created a suffocating atmosphere, and a shiver ran down Val's spine. There were only slight gaps in the foliage around him, past which the greenery was barely any less dense. "Wow, some ingenuity in the spawning engine..." he grumbled and rubbed his head, shoving a slender wrist past a pair of wispy branches and pushing, spreading a path before him. Using his shoulders, elbows and knees as weapons, Val cleaved through the heavy foliage, sticks, leaves and various other plants burying themselves into his hair as he went. His breathing quickened and his heart rate picked up as the thick forestry never seemed to end, until finally the vines and branches thinned out and he was released into the sun, tumbling to the soft, grey sand underfoot. He kept his eyes shut against the orb of light in the sky above for a couple moments, before sitting up straight and staring off into the brightly lit forest. Out here it was much more sparse, the trees dotting the earth every four or so feet and their branches reaching out to each other and intertwining like lovers. The thicket behind him seemed only to be a sphere of tangled vegetation, and Valther sighed in relief. The violet-haired player rocked onto his feet and stood tall and took three steps forward, before his knees began to shake and his balance skewed too far forward. Dropping to a knee, he planted a palm against the earth to halt himself from collapsing completely. "This is definitely new..." he mumbled and shuffled back onto his feet, patting himself down. He shook his head in disappointment; his avatar was a full foot or more taller than his real self, so walking felt significantly different to what it usually did. Valther made his next few steps carefully and proceeded onward into the forest, hoping to push out towards clear skies.
Catharina hummed a random melody. She sat on a thick branch from a broad tree, her back leaning against the firm rough bark of the oak. The girl had her rapier balanced on her lap. The steel glistening in the bright daylight, it was a beautiful weapon. When she had received it she had looked at it in wonder. This little beauty was the very first glimpse of the series of awesome weapons she could one day possess. She wasn't really out to become the greatest heroine in the game, or even the greatest fighter. Her ambitions were modest, she wanted to be strong enough to play with the big boys on the playground but she knew she wouldn't be the first to jump into every fight. At least, not right now. Who knew what the future held, the purple haired girl pursed her lips as she polished her sword. It wasn't exactly necessary, the game kept it fairly clean. Although it was a nice way to pass time in a calm fashion. She hadn't any quests taken upon herself for the day, or even exploring. Some might find it a waste of her time, but she found the atmosphere of the game almost therapeutic. The park nearby her house had nothing on the forest near Brisshal. She rather spend the day in game than outside where every person seemed so much colder and distant. It was an exceptional beautiful day, she thought looking up at the bright sky. She had to squint her eyes, the pristine white clouds hurting her eyes if she stared at it. Yes, some days were supposed to be cherished and relax. Even in a game, she doubted any other game was this advanced or pretty. A lot of noise came from the thicket on her left. Catharina stopped herself to listen to the sound of twigs breaking and the bristling of bushes. She perked up from her higher sightline, a violet head standing out between the greens and browns like a bright red pimple. After some more strokes of the cloth against steel, she saw him finally breaking into the clearance where her oak was placed. “Oh, helloooo there! Yes you, violet hair guy.” She gave a cheery wave at the tall stranger. An obnoxious amount of little leaves and even a twig had tangled itself in his hair. “You might want to ruffle your hair, before a bird makes a nest in it.” @Valther
Val peered around for the source of the voice, and his eyes locked with a pair of emerald eyes, borne by a girl with beautiful amethyst locks tied in a pair of pigtails, a similar, although brighter shade than his own hair. A sparkling rapier sat on her lap, along with what seemed to be some kind of cleaning tools. "H-hey!" he called back, although somewhat awkwardly and forcing a smile. He slowly started to approach the girl, taking careful steps with his uncomfortably long legs so as not to embarrass himself in front of her. With a soft smirk and a gentle blush, he reached both his hands up into his hair and ran them through his locks while shaking his head, scattering the various pieces of forest debris from his hair, before patting it back down neatly. "Yeah, thanks," he replied softly, coming to a halt in front of her. "You... don't seem like you're new around here," he mentioned idly, motioning to the blade in her lap and her clothing. "If so... would you mind giving a newbie a bit of a rundown. I'm irritated and exhausted and I haven't even been here five minutes." Valther spun around and swept his arms out wide to gesture towards the thicket he'd just emerged from. "I mean seriously, who would make that a spawn point?!" he exclaimed and whirled back around, sighing, his arms folded grumpily. "I need a guide to help me out before I blow," Valther grumbled and scratched his head irritably. "And since you're the only one around... I hope you don't mind lending a hand." He huffed and bowed his knees, plummeting to the earth and landing on his rump to sit in the dirt before the girl as he awaited a response.
She turned on the branch, to face the new guy. He looked a bit lanky but perhaps it was his first time in the game or he just walked like that. She wasn’t sure but either way it didn’t really matter. Alright, it did she liked people with good postures blame it on her dad. The guy took her advice and the debris of twig, leaves and possibly some insects or bugs fell out of his hair. Poor birds, they would have to find another place to make their nest. ‘’Looks like you got all of it- no worries it would be sad if you suddenly had a bird family in your hair.’’ She grinned and sheathed her rapier. Her darling was clean, she could extra polish it another time when she felt bored. This guy would probably be able to entertain her for the time being. ‘’Not exactly new, I haven’t explored too many cities yet but I like to take it easy.’’ She was quite sure some people here were hardcore gamers. Even if they weren’t Catharina could understand why someone would spend more time in this world than the other. This place was amazing if you spawned in the right place apparently. She laughed a little at his misfortune. ‘’I spawned on a beach, bright sunny day, nice waves and all. Feeling jealous yet?’’ Catharina couldn’t help but giggle a bit more at the moped. She mentioned him to take a few steps back so she could jump down. She slid off the branch and landed on her feet with a thud. Looking down on the guy that had taken his seat in the dirt. ‘’Hmm, I suppose I could.’’ She gave a small smile. ‘’I don’t have much else to do, so yeah, sure. Get your bum off the floor, I’m Catharina.’’ She put out her hand for the guy if he needed some help to stand up again. ‘’Cat for short.’'
Valther puffed out his cheeks at the girl's impish remark. "Yeah, not a fan of the idea of having parrots squawking in my ears constantly," he responded with a grunt, folding his arms. This girl was cheeky and had a certain carefree, rebellious aura surrounding her. Val related her to a wildfire, and could only hope she wouldn't need to be 'tamed' as such. The girl's blade glimmered as she sheathed it, polished almost to perfection. "You really take care of your equipment, hey?" he asked with a slight smirk; his own blade was likely going to be flimsy and dusty once he retrieved it from the depths of his inventory. Val nodded and sighed. "Well, less new than me at least. Hot off the press, I am," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "So at least you - hopefully - can help me learn the ropes around here," he mused smugly, knowing her cheeky attitude may get in the way of her teaching him anything. Val snorted at the girl's boast and he looked away in disappointment. "Nope, totally not," he hissed, averting his gaze, mocking childishness. Valther stepped back a little and watched as the girl dropped to the ground nimbly, almost familiarly. Valther smiled up at her as she introduced herself as Cat and held out a hand to him. He attempted to stand up again but, due to his still unfamiliar height, he couldn't make it all the way and took her hand, allowing her to hoist him up to his full height. "Name's Valther, but just call me Val. I look forward to my lesson... Miss Cat," he teased and grinned, finally starting to crack and meet Cat's cheeky nature with his own.
