It was a quiet day overall, or so she thought. The sun beat gently down through the trees of the woods as she was walking to her favorite training and gathering area. It was a clearing she'd used before and one she'd surely use time and time again to make herself stronger and more prepared to protect. It was her home away from home- a place she felt would help her protect those around her, which her inner martyr naturally needed. And, it was that dominant need that caused her to notice an unusual shout, a frightened cry. Turning around, she looked for the source- only to see a familiar face, @Sean Poteitoku, running away from an unknown enemy. It took only a little bit longer to realize what he was running from in a terrified frenzy. A rabbit. A small, harmless rabbit. A rabbit that was running with a carrot to an unknown destination. Wondering why he was running in such fear, the girl decided the best way to stop the shouts and screams was to deal with the little bunny. She apologized to it as she cut it down in one slice with her sword. She used the weakest sword she had, a beginner's sword that she never really bothered with most of the time- it was good for gathering, she'd felt, and for something as hopeless, it was pretty merciful even if it still managed a one-hit KO. Putting the sword away as the rabbit disappeared and left her some herbs of some sort and a carrot, things she could probably use for medicine, she pocketed her loot and walked towards the panicked swordsman with flaming hair. She put a hand on his shoulder, smiling sadly. "Do I want to know what happened? I never thought I'd see you running from a rabbit of all things... Just what have you been up to that lead you to something so..." Her voice trailed off. What could she even say at a time like this? It just felt sad to watch. They'd already met before, and Sean had shown such courage last time. What could have caused him such dire grief over a small animal? "Wait..." She sputtered and realized one thing that might cause such a peculiar situation. She hugged the man close, wanting to calm him down. She chanted softly to heal his heart with magic first, letting the light envelope him with her arms before she asked her question properly. "Sean... Did you die?"
"Uh... Well..." Sean stopped. You fucked up now, Sean, he thought to himself. "I suppose you could say I didn't exactly get out of a quest unphased..." He tried his hardest to avoid eye contact. "Okay, yes... I died... I didn't really notice a difference in anything until I got a random urge to run away from a rabbit of all things," he sighed, beginning to visibly blush. "I'm sorry... I failed you..."
Not sure what kind of quest he'd been in, the girl lightly bonked his head with a small fist, smiling sadly. "You didn't fail me, you failed yourself, didn't you? The only reason I'm upset at all is because you didn't come to me to ask for help. If you're in danger, you should rely on friends, Sean." Then again, Solaria was the martyr of the world- there was no way in hell she practiced what she was preaching just then. If she was in danger, she'd just rush in blindly to make sure anyone with her got out alive. Basically, she opted to take over any tank's duty, even if she had no skills to do it. "Sit down with me. Tell me what happened, why you have such a strange urge." She plopped herself on the ground, patting the spot near her and holding a hand out to him. If he didn't sit with her, she'd force him to with a yank- but she was pretty sure he'd be nice enough to let her have her fun playing the therapist or whatever her mind was making her out to be. "What was going through your mind just now while you were running? Surely you're stronger than a rabbit. I did that with a crap sword from the lowest possible ranking... Even if I'm a master with a sword, that trash equipment is still just that: trash. Right?"
"Well..." Sean sat next to a tree. "I had taken up a so-called 'beginner friendly' quest that saw me retaking a fort somewhere around here. Everything had gone perfectly fine, no casualties, up until the boss came." His face started to become more mellow than his usual cheery tone. "The boss had teleported to most of our party and attacked some of us. I was nearby so I went over and used all my strength to break a barrier it had. After that, all possible teammates attacked the boss as hard as they could, but we couldn't take them out. The boss used some sort of giant area-of-effect attack and killed three of us at once, me being last. Watching my allies die... It felt like I had no power." He took out his sword. "That boss... If I ever meet him again, I want to just stab him in the head..." He placed it on the ground to his left. "As to my thought process while running from the rabbit... I was like, Why is this rabbit so menacing to me...? I know it shouldn't be, but it is...?" He seemed like he was about to cry, but he started to smile. "All's a process of learning. I should build upon this, get this dumb status off me, and become stronger."
Ruffling his hair as he spoke of his grief, she moved the hand to slap his back with a grand grin. "I'm proud of you. Even if you died, you died to try to help your friends, didn't you? To be honest... Even if I don't like people dying- I hate that you died, but... At least you died for a worthy cause. You died to protect someone. That's the noblest death you could have. If you don't regret your actions, if you feel you'd do it again in a heartbeat... Then I can't be as mad, now can I?" Well sure, she could be more angry at him- but that was her inner martyr, her inner desire to keep anyone she cared for away from harm. "Still, that a beginner quest was that hefty... I'm not sure if I should be surprised or not. I mean, there are some pretty massive monsters that will attack anyone in a heartbeat even here in the spawn areas. But... I don't think I've ever been on a quest that was quite that dangerous as a beginner." Her finger tapped her chin, before moving to scratch her neck. She couldn't really recall her early quests anymore. There'd been so many she tried and managed, others she tried and failed. "Ah, you know... I just remembered one quest I haven't tried yet... and one of my earliest quests that still haunts me..." She wondered if she should talk about it, but decided to let him have some time to think for himself over her pride in him. If he could handle that, maybe she'd ask him to join her on the quest she never quite tried yet- one that she was sure she could handle now, but wasn't sure he'd be up to in his current state. The other topic... Well, that was fairly vague, really. Vague, but something she was dying to know.
"There will be times when you are forced to either watch your team die in front of you or die for your team. If you die for your team, you don't get the reward for the mission and get an odd status, but you might get glory and respect in the end. If you watch your team die in front of you, you get the reward for the mission and don't get the odd status, but everybody else misses out. If I can prevent others from contracting something like what I've got, I'm fine." He sighed, rolling onto his side. "I have to find out how I'm going to do quests now that I can't even fight the local wildlife."
She laughed a bit from his words- not a 'ha ha' funny, but an awkward giggle of sorts, one she couldn't quite place the cause of. "To me, it's more like... 'If you die for your party, you may lose out on the rewards and have to accept punishment for your death... But at least you were able to stop someone else from feeling that pain.'" Her words were matter of fact and to the point of her beliefs. But likely, anyone would expect something like that out of Solaria's lips. "As for how to fight wildlife in your condition... Isn't the answer to that easy? You have two options, really. One, you focus on quests that are domestic in nature and don't require battling the wildlife. Or, number two... You don't go it alone. Work with friends that can take care of the small fires that scare you, and focus on whatever else is part of the task that you know you can do. Play to your strengths, cover for each other's weaknesses. Isn't that the point of a party?"
"I suppose you're right..." Sean leaned deep into thought. "Domestic missions aren't fun, and even then, I think people smaller than me will trigger the status." He looked up to the sky. "And personally, I don't think any of my teammates would care about my condition and just go 'suck it up and fight', which I personally think is rude as hell." He took a glance at his sword. "Hey, could we look for a bear? I'd like to show you something I thought up of during the quest."
"A team should rely on each other without being mean like that. Just team up with me for now. I'll take care of the small fry before you can see them. Sound like a plan?" She was feeling a bit over-the-top as she spoke. She didn't feel judgmental, but she surely felt a bit... pathetic, perhaps, was the word. Her need to protect people was getting stronger and stronger as she did herself- even if it was from themselves. She'd offered without even a second of thinking- which was even less than usual for the impulsive woman. On the other hand, he had a plan of his own. "A bear, huh? Well, they surely are big... And numerous around these parts. It won't be hard to find them, but don't overdo it okay?"
"I can't promise anything," Sean chuckled before noticing a bear close by. "Huh, perfect timing." He picked up his sword and lifted it to the sky. "Here's my Blazing Excalibur!" He yelled, engulfing his blade in an immense pillar of flame before lunging through the bear, defeating it in one attack. He returned a couple seconds later with his sword sheathed and his hair slightly burning. "So how did you like the special attack I thought up of?"
The woman clapped a bit, though in her smile was a mixture of emotions. She felt a lighthearted pride for his surge of growth, but was a bit frustrated by one thing: his lack of self-awareness. With a quick movement, she used her sword to create a breeze near the hairs that had embers to put the tiny flickers of flame out. "It's a good move, but you should try putting some focus on not setting yourself on fire remotely in the process. Otherwise, a great mix of powers, I'd say."
"Honestly, I don't care about hurting myself with it," Sean shrugged. "It allows me to put more strength into it." He started to look at the sky. "To be honest, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do now. Do you have any suggestions?"
A small groan left her lips from his words- and she retorted, rather matter-of-fact about it. "You don't care but I do. I'm sure others do too." Watching his gaze, she ruffled the hair she'd put out of harm's way and tried to listen to his concerns more calmly. Chewing him out wasn't going to do any good... And even she knew it would just be hypocritical to boot. "I don't think it's a matter of something you're 'supposed' to do. It's a matter of what you feel you need to. I'm aware that for a thousand gold you can get rid of the affliction, though I've never felt a need to do it myself... But there are ways to work around these things, too, depending on the person. It's a matter of finding what works best for you. Life doesn't come with a manual, you know?"
"Well, what I feel I need to do... Is get a thousand gold to get this stupid curse off me." Sean sighed. "So, break it to me, what's the fastest way to safely get money?" He started to pace around, kicking small stones. "I feel like I can't reliably be a part of any team with this curse, yet I know you'll say otherwise."
"I already told you the main options I know," She mused simply. In this situation, what other options were there? She got some money out of her shop, but it would take months if not a year to be able to cover getting rid of her affliction if she bothered to do it. Naturally, that meant giving him a job wasn't likely going to have any merit to it, at least for him. Plus, Sean didn't seem like he would want any handouts even if she could afford it. She could tell, because they were just too similar that way. "Basically... Either getting a job where you won't have such monsters around or focus on the big battles. Bosses give you a lot more loot and funds than the wildlife anyway, usually... But they're not meant to be tackled alone. It really is best if you could rely on others in a situation like this..."
