Wandering the Streets [COMPLETED]

It was nearing sun up when Dempsey began her morning jog. anymore it was as much about comfort and routine as it was about training her body. Something about taking time to explore the city streets before daylight and the city crowds claimed it for the day soothed her nerves. She always meditated on what she'd do that day. More supplies for the cistern, more money, more training, and she might have to make a few social calls too.

She hated social calls. She rounded the corner into a narrow alleyway littered with debris and bound up a short flight of steps. Her goal was to cross town through a series of alleyways and make the marketplace just in time for breakfast, then a quick bath to get her day started. She may want to stop and see if Aaron was still alive, after how upset he was the other day over killing that poacher, there's no telling whether he was even still playing. No matter right now. Just her and the cobblestones, no never mind to the one or two other pedestrians that still found a way to dot the streets at this early hour.

Again she took a corner and unconsciously began working leaps, flips, and a bit of shadowboxing into her run, stopping on a dime to throw a flurry of punches and kicks, then leaping off in whatever direction she choose to run next. eventually the streets grew more and more crowded as dawn broke, and the sun began to peer over the horizon, still somewhat obscured by the cities skyline. She opted to finish her routine by scurrying up the side of a building and taking a moment atop a nondescript rooftop to catch her breath and empty a water skin over her face, pouring the last of it into her mouth.

After, she stood poised and watched the streets for nothing in particular. the food stalls and especially the bath houses wouldn't be ready for business yet, so she had little do to besides stroll casually and wait for the sheen of seat that covered her ample figure to dry. 'Breakfast, then bath' became her mantra for the next several minutes. she hated walking around covered in half dried sweat, but it was a daily thing for her now, and she was getting better at ignoring the fits of self consciousness that came with wandering the city in her current state.

twenty minutes later found her pacing in front of her favorite stall, waiting for the vendor to finish his first round of kebab and hang his "For sale" sign over the rail, signaling that breakfast was served. this was also becoming part of her routine, and the NPC who was the very picture of a wiry old man, complete with a missing front tooth and wrinkled and dark skin, was expecting her giving the anxious and pacing woman a knowing smile, urging a little more patience with a raised finger. Nomatter what the reeason, even in situations as mundane as this, she hated waiting.

when the moment arrived, the ritual began. She slapped a coin onto the counter of the counter-on-wheels and held up two fingers. the old man slowly looked over his inventory, then plucked two sticks packed with cubed meat, medallioned vegetables, and a blend of garlic and pepper all grilled to perfection until he found ideal candidates. he offered them to her slowly, and nodded thanks as she accepted the offering. Every day she would return the nod, then take a seat on a nearby crate that just always seemed to be there waiting in the same place to enjoy the end of the beginning of her day.

@Amalia Leblanc

 

The gentle pitter-patter of sandled feet against the cobblestone was a noise so soft and slight, that only the most perceptive of individuals could pick it up without meaning to.

Something that a creature who had the preternatural senses of a cat might pick up. If the Felis who was likely going to gorge herself on her meal looked up, she might notice Amalia approaching the spot that she had only vacated moments before. She seemed ordinary, lightly dressed for the heat though the small violin case in her right had was an unusual addition.

Golden tresses swayed gently from side to side as a small and slight girl sashayed in front of the NPC from whom Fabijain had procured for herself a small bite-sized meal. The girl in her white sunday dress and wide brimmed hat seemed to be carefully considering what to buy, almost as if she had all the time in the world – something that the old man seemed content with.

As she traded her coins for the skewered piece of meat, she swung her case over her, securing the strap against the crook of her neck and shoulder before she picked up the meal she'd bought. She blew on it softly, taking a small bite from the meat before her eyes seemed to light up ever so slightly.

Clearly her opinion of the food was good, but she wasn't in any hurry. She took her time, savoring each morsel, each cleanly sliced slab of meat, each onion and tomato thoroughly until she was finished. The violinist washed away the after taste with a cool mug of apple juice from the man and sighed softly.

Her eyes drifted towards the white-haired person sporting cat ears. She as well seemed to be enjoying the man's produce. In a gesture of politeness that meant nothing more, she favored the girl with a small nod and smile before she started following the path leading back into the main street.

 

Dempsey sat and watched the crowd as she picked at her meal idly. something in her nature compelled her to just sit and watch from time to time, for no particular reason. she liked to imagine that there were patterns in the crowd that would reveal themselves to her if only she sat and stared long enough. for instance yesterday, she began to notice an inordinate number of a certain style of hat. all different colors, of course, but the same style.

She watched with a neutral expression as a very short and very young human carrying an instrument case of some sort approached her vendor and ordered the same thing as she did. for a moment the two made eye contact, and the girl smiled and nodded before disappearing into the crowd. While Dempseys outward appearance changed little, he mind did a somersault which landed firmly upon the idea that the little girl was discretely trying to communicate that she should follow her wherever she was headed.

Never one to pass an opportunity for a little excitement, Depmsey did just that, doing her utmost to avoid drawing anyone's attention while following the child for several blocks. Her imagination began to get the best of her, and she pictured a dozen scenarios, all which ended with her being handsomely rewarded, or fighting off a band of ruffians, things of that sort. finally the crowd thinned and she approached the girl directly, resting hand on her shoulder and whispering "You need my help right? If it's not safe to talk, just nod and tell anyone who asks I was asking for directions"

@Amalia Leblanc

 

The weight of the stranger's hand suddenly present over her shoulder was enough to cause Amalia to blink and stagger forward. She wasn't actually as outgoing a person as she liked to be and even if she could prep herself up into a state of mind where she could become outgoing, the truth of the matter was she was more introverted than she liked. The only time she could break through her own insecurities was when she was performing. Somehow when she held a violin in her hand she felt the need to be noticed, the stage had always been a place for her to showcase who she was – or was it, who she really wanted to be? It was the only time she felt she could steal the gazes of people long enough for them to listen to her scream; I am here.

Now however? She was neither performing, nor was she trying to get anyone's attention. That cause her to be a little more on edge than she liked. “Uh...” that and this person had invaded her personal space without warning which was a big red flag in her book. “No, not really?”

Her brows furrowed in confusion.

Wasn't this the girl she'd seen earlier? “Do I look lost...?” but then, she said she was the one who was lost – or was playing the part, it was all so confusing to the musician. “Look, I'm not sure what misunderstanding there is, but rest assured I'm neither lost nor in trouble.”

“The question here, I think, is... are you in trouble?”

 

She stepped back with expression that could have not been more dumbfounded had the girl grown an arm out of her forehead and smacked Dempsey with it. she washed her hands over her face before raising her hands in an apologetic gesture and backpedaling a step. She desperate tried to explain herself.

"No no... I thought maybe that earlier you were trying to signal me, secret like... like you were in trouble or something, so I was following you to make sure nobody was watching before I came up to talk to you, but just in case I was wrong I was trying to be extra careful!"

she took another step back, having explained as best she can. Now flustered and tongue tied, she simply shook her head.

"Anyway, I'm sorry if I scared you. In hindsight, it's pretty silly that i followed you all the way out here. i hope I'm not making you late for something or anything like that?"

she trailed off, still a bit red in the face.

"Anyway, I'm Dempsey!" she smiled as best she could and offered a handshake.

 

“I don't think you can bully people that way in this game.” she said, shrugging somewhat at the notion that she would be in danger at this time of day in the comfort of a town, or was it a city? She couldn't really differentiate the two when she was actually inside one. The only exception were those really tiny backwater towns.

“Look, its fine.” she raised an open palm before her in a placating gesture. “No harm done.” she told her, shaking her head softly to reassure this player that she didn't take what she did the wrong way. “I was just surprised is all.”

Strange how things went from perfectly normal to awkward over the course of a minute. But then again awkward interactions were the staple here, most players of this game did tend to be... well nerds for the most part. She couldn't even say she was an exception, she was definitely an 'otaku' after a fashion.

“I'm not late, no, not really.” she reassured the other woman gently. “Window shopping I suppose.”

With some reluctance Amalia shook the stranger's hand, her grip light before withdrawing her hands. “Amalia.”

She surreptitiously looked over at the character, her choice of equipment and came to a conclusion. “Are you new to the game?” that did seem to make some sense, it would explain why she was jumping to conclusions. This world was a little too real in a sense. The game's script seemed to be constantly evolving, trying to generate a storyline that would tie all things together into one cohesive plotline.

 

She relaxed visibly and took a step back, smiling and scratching the back of her neck with her left hand. Given the girls response, she thought that maybe she could offer some pointers, or at least personal anecdote or two. She shook her head and raged her fingers through her thick white hair, then returned her eyes to the girl standing before her.

"Here's the thing Amalia; the only way you can really tell a player from an NPC is to ask them. they're that realistic. Like Kebab guy. He's obviously an NPC right? except that any player in the game could go ahead and open a stand just like his, and unless you asked them, you'd never know they weren't players.

...What happened in YOUR case is that I thought maybe you were an NPC, and our little moment back there was an opportunity to start a quest. I'm trying to power level as much as I can, because I keep hearing rumors of a big patch coming that's going to have a raid dungeon, and I want to be one of the first ones in."

She concluded her speech with a slight tilt of her head and her usual mindless smile. A warm breeze pushed through the street, causing leaves to rustle, dibris to flip lazily, and a few banners and flyers to flap gently.

"I actually live here in Stokbon, and I could point out a few good shops you might want to check out, and I'll get you something for lunch too. Consider it my formal apology for acting like a complete creep! Not like a date or anything though. That would be weird."

she paused, giving the girl a chance to consider her proposal.

@Amalia Leblanc (I remembered to tag you this time!!! EEEEEE!!!)

 

“Huh?” her brows furrowed and she looked at the woman with cat ears in a sort of strange way. “That's odd, I mean... you can usually tell just by talking to them.” as advanced as the script for conversation was here, there were some intricacies she picked up on. “The don't speak like real people half the time. You can usually figure it out once you draw the conversation into more open topics. Like, a philosophical question tends to make it difficult for them to come up with a sensible response.”

“You don't even have to know the answer to it personally, its just the system's way of simulating the human mind isn't up to par yet. If there was technology that advanced that it could perform perfectly through a Turning Test, they wouldn't waste that on a video game... or so you'd like to think.” “You'd probably have it commit to working on something relevant... like... a cure for cancer I guess...” she sighed, her expression wilting before she shook herself out of her brief spell of depression. “Well this isn't the time and place for that sort of conversation.”

“Secret quests... that sounds fun.” she hummed softly, looking at a slow moving carriage with various pots and ladles banging on the side. Probably some NPC farmer visiting the town to sell some goods. “Why are you power leveling though?” she asked the person quite bluntly. “I mean, what's the point to getting power in the game?”

“Don't you just play it for the novelty of it?” the question was asked so innocently that it seemed like Amalia truly believed it. “You get to experience something you wouldn't in real life. What's the point of turning the game into work?”

“Real life has enough of the boring stuff, its better to just enjoy yourself I think.” she at least wasn't shy about broaching her opinion now that the person had initiated contact. “I mean, the only things I'd actually consider bothering with here are mastering skills that you might be able to help you in real life. That's why I have this.” she lifted her violin case for the other player to inspect. “Music. You can let the game's system support your playing, sure, but you can actually literally learn how to play instruments from scratch! There's also other things like pottery or carpentry.”

“Sword fighting is cool and all, but I'm not sure I could use that knowledge in real life. Even more so the spells which you can't emulate outside the game at all. Its probably why I'm drawn to the crafts rather than the battle aspect of this game.” she chuckled softly. “That and I've never ridden horses. I love being able to! I mean, it sounds cliché, but I've always wanted a pony when I was young, but getting to actually ride a horse... that's pretty cool.”

 

She adopted a more serious demeanor and shook her head mournfully. The young girls speech got to her in a certain way, because of all the things she seemed to take for granted. She decided just this once to let down her guard and be completely open

"Amalia, the real me in the real world is sitting in a wheel chair with a VR helmet on, and I haven't left my one room apartment for weeks except to go to the corner store to get smokes and beer. I like it here because I get to do all the things that I never could in real life. Adventure, explore... I don't think I'm missing out on a thing when I rush out to meet whatever's out there waiting to be found. and I get to meet people too, and not be treated like like some kind of circus attraction. Here, I'm strong, confident, and attractive, and those are all things I can never take back to the real world. "

She straightened and turned to look away, already feeling herself getting a little misty eyed. She didn't want to spend the day dwelling on things like that though, and instead took a moment to collect herself and changed the subject abruptly.

"Sorry.. I didn't mean to get weird on you, it's just that you kind of hit a soft spot, even though I know you didn't mean it that way.

I can totally understand wanting to spend your time here doing something constructive and worthwhile, but I feel that I spend my time in game as well as I can given my situation, and to each their own, right? I mean I'm looking forward to riding a horse myself, but those are SO expensive right now, and I have to buy a house too. I've just been hiding all my extra stuff in a stash I have set up somewhere, and anyone could just wander by and help themselves...

So, do you want the grand tour or not? Or shall I just scurry off and be on my way?"

She asked with a curious expression while tapping a pebble around with the toe of her sandal, making her look a bit childish for a moment.

@Amalia Leblanc

 

Amalia listened, she stood still and listened. The person before her was explaining herself, sharing a little bit of the truth to get the musician to understand her. It was hard to tell if it was a calculated plot to earn her sympathies, but quite frankly all it achieved was to piss Amalia off. “You're feeling sorry for yourself and that's what's stopping you?!”

Despite the differences in their height, Amalia grabbed the girl by the collar, pulling her towards her – meaning to say something harsh, rude even, but she stopped herself at the brink. Instead she roughly pushed the cat-woman back causing the people around them to back away slowly.

“You can take everything back as long as you still have time. What time do you have left? Twenty? Thirty? If you have that much time left you can still do something with your life.” there was certainly something Amalia was drawing this from, some experience gnawing at her deep within that cause her to snap in the face of this excuse.

“You can do everything you said in real life. You just need to get over your demons and face your fears, its not simple, but you can do it!” and she was angry, not patronizing, but furious in such a way it filtered into her words. “You know what pisses me off?”

“Its that you have time, you have no damned idea how precious that is a gift.” she stepped forward, her sandals slapping loudly on the pavement. “You have enough time to do things, not everything but if you put your mind to it and stop killing yourself with cigarettes and alcohol, maybe you could turn things around!”

Her anger seemed to be reaching a crescendo but with more people gathering around them she forced herself to calm down, strangling the tears that threatened to spill out. “You know what, forget it. I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that. We're both too broken in our own ways to interact. I'll be going now.” with that said she turned on her heel and started marching in the opposite direction, fuming judging by the way her shoulders rose and fall with every breath.

 

She trembled with anger and straightened herself as the girl finished her tirade. This wasn't the firs time she'd heard one of those supposedly motivational speeches that was supposed to remind her that life was a precious gift, and she'd grown callous of it all by now. Talk was cheap, and it wasn't going to fix her broken body or give her a normal life. She supposed the smaller one had some burdens of her own to deal with, and maybe Dempsey had struck a nerve?

She refused to dwell on it. This world, this place, right here and now was all that mattered anymore. She had made up her mind days ago, and she wasn't backing down now. This game was her new life, and this person was who she was now. She couldn't completely leave her old and broken life behind, but to stand here and tell her that she should give up on the only thing that had ever really made her happy wasn't going to happen. She would play, She would grow, she would make friends here, maybe even find love, and she Would be the best someday.

Of course she knew it wasn't real, but it was real enough for her. She stalked away, still fuming and forcing herself to maintain at least a neutral expression as crushing sadness and absolute rage fought for control in her mind, behind the blank and neutral mask she wore. She would go somewhere, have a few drinks, soak in a hot bath, and continue on with her day as best she could, while all the wile resenting the fact that this conversation would weigh heavily on her for the next few days. She didn't need preaching and lecturing here of all places, and she knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that whatever time she had left was hers to waste as she saw fit, and this was it.

with a stifled growl of anger she punched a wall, knocking lose a bit of dust and a few bits of mortar, as well as causing a planted pot on a nearby windowsill to wobble slightly. She truly hoped to never see that little brat again, and if she did, she would do well to keep her opinions to herself. She paced the streets aimlessly for quite some time, always meaning to find the bath house or a bar that was open this early, but time and time again she got lost in her thoughts and kept walking past the street she was supposed to turn onto, or changed her mind as to where she wanted to go first and doubled back. This process repeated enough times that she lost track of where she was or where she was headed until she found herself back at the market place. Still fuming, she bought three bottles of cheap wine and uncorked the first, standing in the street and drinking in broad daylight.

How twisted and damaged must a person be to take a personal confession like the one she shared and twist everything into something so hurtful. 'What WAS that kids problem anyway. Was she worse off that I am somehow? She seemed so bitter...' she mused as the alcohol began to take effect. she supposed it was best to just forgive and forget. Chances are that she'd never run into that girl again, and if she did she would just pretend she didn't know her. If she wanted to spend her whole time in Terra playing music and riding horses, let her. She was going to grab this world by the horns and live this life to the fullest.

The first empty bottle was flung carelessly into an alley and she stalked further along the alleyway, uncorking another bottle and looking for a quiet place to spend the rest of the morning. Her bath could be put on hold until she had a chance to let off this steam. No sense wasting good money on a bath that she knew she wasn't going to enjoy, right?

@Amalia Leblanc

 

Lucia had spent her day working on new arrows with a musing expression, her magic was one she was growing more adept at using as time passed, there was no reason not to upgrade her tools. After all, she tried to demand more from this game, more from this second life she was given in a new world. She felt that if it was here she could acquire fame, could be special. Had she been a part of the earlier argument, Lucia would only be able to sigh with bitterness of her own. These people were so special, so unique and interesting; Their struggles, desires, desperate actions to try and walk their paths no matter how short were interesting-- The things of story books or dramas. This specialness was something that Lucia couldn't relate to.

Her reality was as mundane and mediocre as could be, people forgot about her often, she bled into the background easily, in reality she was someone who couldn't find anything that stood out. Even the things she was bad at, it was only moderately bad rather then the catastrophic bad that people would be able to complain about. In Terrasphere it was different though, she could be beautiful, she could be strong, she could find a mount with character, a pet with personality, a house with a history. There were special things all around her, just waiting for her to experience them and shine brightly, whether for others or even if she was alone, she could see what it was like.

It was for that reason even now, she was hard at work, diligently trying to perfect her craft, crouched down low in an alley. She'd set up a magical formation for reinforcing her arrows with a bright and radiant smile that dwarfed the purple fog her malevolent skill was creating. "Just a little more and the next batch will be ready." She murmured happily as her arrow heads began to have a sinister light to them. Lucia naturally went towards a more evil route purely because it was easier to be noticed for villainy compared to heroics which were harder to perform. She was naturally joyful that she was approaching another big step forward until she heard a stranger's approach.

Well, the person wasn't screaming instantly, so Lucia could tell she didn't seem like some kind of NPC at the very least. If it was a player, Lucia was always interested in having people close to her, particularly those people who were special who could bring her out of obscurity. "Oh, a new face? How fun." Lucia called out with her best and most dashing grin. Wavy hair hanging down her shoulders making for a good picture if it weren't for the dubious and questionable thing she was doing in an alley. "Not exactly a place I expected to meet someone, but I'm flexible-- Why not? How are you honey?" Lucia asked, musing on the coincidence of running into someone in such an out of the way area, but didn't dwell on it. Any chance to shine was shine Lucia would pursue relentlessly.

 

Dempsey stopped dead in her tracks as the raven haired woman spoke. She simply stopped in her tracks with a look of surprise and looked the scene she'd stumbled upon over with a goofy grin. Some sort of ritual was being preformed, complete with a magic circle, candles, incense, the whole nine yards. And Arrows. Carefully she stepped around the arrangement until she was face to face with Lucia. She just stared for a moment unabashedly, then spoke;

"Hello to you too. My name is Dempsey, and I had a crap morning, so I'm day drinking, and going to the bath house later. What... Whachya got going on here? Doing some magic? Can I watch?"

She grinned and sipped from her bottle, then offered it to the stranger. the voice in the back of her head that spoke up when she knew she was doing something ill-advised was screaming, but in her current state of mind she was desperate for distractions and also companionship. The irritation from her earlier encounter still lingered on the fringes of her mind, and she wanted it gone completely. Even if she had to waste the entire day and empty her coin purse to do so, she would find distractions, and finish the day on some kind of high note.

@Lucia Mierz

 

Lucia could only muse about the girl's introduction, crap morning, bath, interest? Weren't these all things Lucia could use? A sweet laugh coming from her again as she shook her head briefly wondering what could be plaguing this poor woman. "Ah? I see, a bad morning huh? Tell me about it?" She didn't hesitate to be a shoulder to lean on, after all, her own selfish desires for attention and spotlight made such a position very appealing while others might find it trying or irritating. Though she didn't want to remind the girl of her troubles, if Dempsey seemed hesitate to get into it, Lucia would quickly smooth it over with a hand gesture. "Well, come on and crouch down closer, if you're in a bad place you might start to see your rest meter dropping. These will be exhaustion arrows after all." She explained beckoning for the woman to join her.

Though the ritual was continuing, it wasn't particularly exciting. The smoke from the incense was pulled towards the arrows while the light of the candles was thrust from the circle as if gentle winds were making the candles flicker. It wasn't a very enthralling thing, but Lucia found the activity to be calming and peaceful as the smoke changed the glint that those arrow heads seemed to have. "I wouldn't mind joining you with that bath though. I haven't gotten to try something like that in the game before. It's always been a hassle just to keep up with others who are madmen trying to wrack up masteries." She teased and flirted, fully willing to hop into that bath with the girl without hesitating. Though at the same time, she was one of those who were wracking up abilities and masteries like a crazed hunter searching for prey, she desired spotlight over success.

 

Dempsey welcomed the distraction, and had a bit more to drink as she watched and listened to the woman speak. She didn't feel like revisiting the altercation from this morning so she simply summed it up with the simplest of replies "I met someone, and we got into an argument. She hit some soft spots for me, and now I'm in a bad mood is all. I'll get over it. thanks for asking though. I don't mean to be rude, but the whole theme of today is 'don't dwell on the argument I had earlier' If we run into each other more often, Maybe i'll tell you some time."

with that the conversation about her bad morning was over, as far as she was concerned. She sat wordlessly as she watched the woman weave her magic. She found something extremely soothing about just sitting quietly and watching the smoke and candles dance, pulled subtly inward toward the cluster of slowly changing arrows. She let out a contented sigh and took another sip of cheap wine. she perked at the mention of joining her in the bath house. She wasn't quite intoxicated enough to ask outright, but she had to admit that she only mentioned it in hopes that her new companion would be bold enough to invite herself along.

She grinned at mention of 'madmen trying to wrack up masteries' knowing that she was more than a little guilty of that herself, but to each their own she supposed. She decided to play along and do a little flirting of her own and without looking up she asked quietly "So, miss... Do you have a name or do I have to do something special to earn it? I don't think I'd mind that either..."

@Lucia Mierz