Infinite Heroes

[Banana Lobster]

OOC: I'd have had this post up sooner, but the night I wrote it, the mods must've been updating the site, because I couldn't post it. After that, I kinda lost track of time, sorry guys. She should be in time for Saify to arrive, which will make the second post easier to write. (I don't know why my characters end up on their own so much, it makes the posts so much harder to write!) Well, here goes!

Azure Archer

Azure rode easily along the trail, watching the grassy green fields on either side; her horse's ears flickering uneasily from side to side. What once had been a well-worn road had now become a barely-visible trail hidden in the long grass. People had become so scared of travel that they stayed off even this well-known road, leaving it to the monsters to overtake. Her bow rested across her thighs, an arrow already in hand. Luckily, all the monsters were low-level, so a quick draw and shoot, and they were done. At the speed she was going, it wouldn't be long until she reached Central.

She had been searching for two weeks-since before the Incident-searching for any sign of them. Two weeks, and nothing. Somebody with some sense would probably have left when they were still able, but she had refused to leave without them. She'd probably get in trouble with Miss Elise for that. She had only agreed to let them in as long as they stayed together. She had turned her back for only a minute, and they had gotten lost in Central. That had been their first adventure in Infinite; they had been through many more in the last year or so, up until their latest one, two weeks ago, when she had lost them, and been unable to find them.

Now she was returning to Central to restock on supplies before heading out again. It was rough, taking so little time for rest, but she was responsible for them, and she refused to leave until she either found them, or found out what had happened to them. In the distance, the walls of Central slowly came into view, and she relaxed her shoulders slightly. An hour or so, and she'd find a stable to rest her horse while she restocked her inventory.

[Wolfsong]

Heads up, we have a new member in-coming! Here are Cheetah's character sheets

Name: Maddison Grey/Sholl
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Appearance: Straight, red hair. Hazel eyes. Slim and petite. Her online character looks very much like her real self.
Race: Human
Power: A mage, specializing in support magic.
Personality: Sholl is very serious and no nonsense. She really doesn't enjoy playing games.

Name: Jason Grey/Big Buff Man The 3rd(or just 3rd for short)
Gender: Male
Age: 10
Appearance: Jason has dark reddish hair and brown eyes. He's small like his sister. In game, 3rd is how his name describes him; big, muscular and manly, with jet black hair and black eyes.
Race: 3rd is an ogre. He appears normal except for his fangs. When he goes into combat mode he becomes bigger and more beast-like.
Powers: 3rd is very strong, very tough and has good stamina. He can easily swing a war hammer and tends to be very destructive with it.
Personality: Jason loves games. Being child, he is very energetic, impatient and always on the go. His goals are primarily to look cool and impress people, especially his big sister.

Other:
Maddie wouldn't have played Infinite at all, but Jason got it for his birthday and coerced her into playing it once with him. They both ended up stuck in the game and Maddie took it on herself to learn support magic so she could protect Jason, who she considers to be dangerously reckless.
Being a serious player, Sholl levels up quickly in support magic and is very accomplished at it. Her character is higher leveled than 3rd, who just likes smashing stuff and doesn't usually take the time to learn anything new. Though neither she nor 3rd really realize that.
Sholl has been trying to keep 3rd from doing anything dangerous, but this proves to be harder and harder.
Jason still doesn't take the game seriously, even though it's really dangerous now. He's just ecstatic that his sister is stuck with him now.

Be nice everyone.

[Wolfsong]

/Eshalehm/Lily/
Making their way along the beach, they soon reached the plains again. Eshalehm was hard pressed to keep up with Lily, who darted about with eagerness.
"Where do you get that energy!" he laughed as he paused, huffing.
"hey, look, there's someone!" Lily started running toward this blue-haired kid with a monster beside him.
"Lily wait up!" he protested as he rushed after her. He hoped this guy was friendly.

OOC - there, Claec, there's something for Jayar to do.

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
He stared at Zare with mixed feelings. While overjoyed to see him again, he was sorry to be seeing him again, as it meant Zare was trapped here too.
"Sure is," he agreed, glancing around. Snorting, he gestured at the cloaks they both wore. "Who saw this coming when we did...that." He smiled softly after a moment. "Much as I wish you weren't here, I must say, I am glad to see you again."

/Pierce/Arachni/
He glanced around furtively, waiting impatiently for his contact. Jeez, at any moment he could be discovered. Why was the man taking his sweet time?
Another figure entered the alley, a short stumpy figure in rags. Arachni eyed him angrily. "You're late," he said flatly.
"Had to lose some stragglers," the rag-pile replied, unconcerned.
Arachni accepted the excuse. "Well?"
"There was...a sighting of the blood spirit on the second continent. The man you're curious about was with him. They were conversing with sea monsters." The skepticism was clear in his voice.
"Sea, huh." Arachni nodded and handed him a money bag. "My thanks." and he stepped out of the alley, pulling the hood lower over his head.
Sea continent and sea creatures. Before that was the mountainous continent, surrounded by monstrous spires. There was no pattern to the sightings, no way to guess where he would show next.
Sighing, Arachni pulled a teleport item from his pack anyway. Perhaps there'd be a clue this time.

/David/M'kalna/
M'kalna had his group ready when the hour was passed. It took him a little while to find SAify in the mass of people, and when he did he found that girl had beaten him to it. Grinning slightly to himself, he walked up to Saify. "We're ready to go," he informed her.

[Cheetah]

Thanks for letting me join in.

Maddison/Sholl
Jason/3rd

"Can we please at least go to the next town?" 3rd whined. "I'm so bored with Central."
Sholl looked up at the hulking figure at her side. For how big and menacing he appeared, her kid brother was still his old self.
"It's too dangerous to venture out." she said, taking a firm hand as always.
3rd huffed and crossed his arms, looking away from Sholl as he did.
"There's nothing cool about pouting, Jason." Sholl told him.
"For the thousandth time. You can't call me by my name here. At least call me 3rd, or Buff Man if you like that better."
Whatever." Sholl muttered. She had been perfectly willing to make her user name Maddie, but her little brother had instantly forbidden it, dubbing her Shollmeisterhime from the Wandering Supernova. She felt she was generous in humoring him with Sholl.
"Now where is that magic shop again?" Sholl wondered out loud. She had never been good with directions. She looked around Central, unable to distinguish one street from another. The people walking in every direction around her didn't help with her disorientation.
"Are you going to trade in your staff again?" 3rd asked, looking over his sister's shoulder at the blackened wood staff in her hand. It was knobby and gnarled and had a sharp kink in it. "This is by far the coolest one you've had yet. What's the problem?"
"Looks aren't everything." Sholl snapped. "And even if they were, this thing is ridiculous. Not to mention impractical; it's not even straight. I only got it because it was the highest level I could use at the time. I've leveled up since then and can use something better. When are you going to upgrade on the hammer?"
3rd pulled the heavy warhammer from behind his back and examined it fondly. "Never." he answered. "This thing is awesome."
"Its accuracy is sorely lacking." Sholl pointed out with disgust. "And it has no defensive properties."
"Yeah, whatever." 3rd said, replacing his hammer and walking off towards the direction of the magic shop. "Let's just get this over with. You're probably going to spend all of your money on the most expensive stick you can find. I'm totally going on a quest afterwards, whether you come along or not."

[ClaecElric4God]

OOC: Be nice? To that? *sigh* Yes, ma'am.


/Jarod/Jayar/
Jayar opened his eyes groggily. So instead of going and doing something productive like he'd said he was going to, he'd ended up falling asleep again? Typical, really.
But what had woken him up? He was sure he'd heard something.
"Lily wait up!" He heard. Jayar sat bolt upright, putting a hand on Brick's shoulder.
"It's okay, buddy," he said quietly. The girl looked innocent enough, but Jayar wasn't sure what to make of the guy following her. Immediately on guard, Jayar put on a calm composure, smiling lop-sidedly. He waved at the newcomers.
"Yo, nice day, huh?"

/Eric/Zare/
Zare sighed, running a hand through his hair. But then he just laughed.
"Yeah, me too. Didn't see the whole trapped in the game thing coming. But it is what it is. And you're still looking for Pierce, right?"
Zare suddenly felt a bit awkward. Should he bother to tell Ash that he'd spent the past few days running around looking for Pierce or any news on him? It was for Ash's sake, but would Ash understand that? Zare had made his opinion of Pierce clear enough in the past, and as things were, telling Ash he'd been looking for him could very easily look like he was hunting him down for justice or something. But Zare had been doing a lot of thinking, and he'd finally realized just how badly Ash needed to reconcile with his brother.

[Wolfsong]

OOC - you're going to be in so much trouble Claec if you don't stop doing that.

/Eshalehm/Lily/
"Um, yeah," Eshalehm started to say, trying to figure out what he was going to say, and then Lily was running up to that big tiger creature. "Lily, wait! It might not be-"
"Tigeeeeerrrrr!" Laughing like a little kid, she leapt at the tiger, throwing her arms around it. "He's so cool! What's his name?" she asked Jayar, grinning at him.
Eshalehm rushed up, looking more than a little worried. "I'm sorry, she can be very childish sometimes..," he said awkwardly, not quite sure what to do.
"Am not!" Lily gave him a glare.

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
He nodded. "Yes. Though...He's been hopping about everywhere. Much as I'd like to, I just can't pin his movements."
Shaking his head, he changed topics. "What have you been up to, anyway? What brought you to an informant's den?" He grinned at Zare.

[Oddood198]

Saify looked at Hael, who seemed rather impatient to be on the move. "Not yet, the time isn't past yet." She said, sitting on a stone benchat the edge of the square. Once the hour had finally passed and most of the player had gathere, the purple-haired mercenary came to Saify and announced his group was ready to go. "That's everyone, then." Saify said.
She stood up on the top of the bench, balancing on the soles of her feet resting on just the back of the seat. All the players hushed themselves, stopped what they were doing, and looked at her. Time to be a leader. She thought. "Everyone," She said, barely even needing to raise her voice to be heard in the silence, "you've all been patient, cooperative, and calm during this crisis, and I can't thank you enough for that. You've put me in charge of you, placed your hopes and faith in me, and I do not take that lightly." She raised a hand, clenched into a fist, up to her chest, "Now, as your leader, I solemnly vow that I will bring you all into Central City, where you can be as safe as anyone here. We will be in danger, and we will have to fight our way out of it. But just follow me, and I'll see us through. I am Saify Calling, the hero of Infinite, and I will lead us to victory!"
With the end of her speech, Saify threw her fist into the air, prompting cheering from the assembled players. Good mods, look at them all. She thought, I have to keep them safe. I have to. "Now, follow me!" She leapt down from the bench as she spoke, and as soon as she touched the ground, she conjured her armor around her. Shining, silver armor, smooth plates of her solid illusions weaving around her, covering her arms, legs, and torso. A second later, a helmet with eye and mouth slits appeared over her head, and a purple cap spread out from her back. Her spear appeared in her hand, and she gave it a quick, showy twirl overhead.
Without another word, she walked through the crowd of people, letting them all turn to follow her. She led them to the outskirts of the town, looking out to the Eyelit forest in the distance. She paused briefly, letting all the other players get a good look at the dark, sinister forest. Time to be a hero. She picked up the pace again, walking directly to the forest.



Claire hated hospitals, they gave her the creeps since the Aeon incident, but this was were hurt people such as herself went for care and rest, so this is where they'd stuck her. Now, much like the last time she was in a hospital, she found herself sneaking around, avoiding contact with any and all living things. If any staff saw her, they'd send her back to her room, and patients or visitors would likely raise the alarm, since she was clearly not fit to be out of bed.
But she didn't care, she was going to Katherine. She just needed to find an Infinite headset.
A pair of footsteps accompanied by chattering voices sounded, coming closer, and Claire froze. She crouched down, it was a three-way intersection of hallways, so there was a 50-50 chance of them coming her way. Go away, go away, go away. She silently pleaded. They came closer, unbearably close, and just when Claire thought her nerves would snap the pair of doctors appeared and turned down the other way, never once spotting her. YES! Claire rounded the corner, going down the hallway they came from as fast as she dared. The sedatives they had given her were still wearing off, and she didn't dare to try and run for fear she would trip or hit something, and make too much noise.
The hallway she chose led her to a reception area of some sort, and Claire could see the place was abuzz with activity, and the room was brimming with an abundance of children. Claire saw a banner hung up on the far wall, and she sucked in a breath. It read, "Bring your kids to work day!" This was not going to be fun.

[ClaecElric4God]

/Jarod/Jayar/
Jayar watched the pair approach, then jumped in surprise as the girl threw herself at Brick. Jayar moved to intercept her, but it was too late and suddenly she was hanging on Brick's neck. Much to Jayar's surprise, the tiger simply turned and gave him a perplexed look, as if asking if he was supposed to put up with it or not. Jayar sighed in relief. That could have been a lot worse if he was aggro.
"It's Brick," Jayar replied. "But be careful, I'm not sure how good he is with kids."
"Nah, it's fine," he said to the guy, looking him over even as he put on his casual attitude.
Could he be....? No, there's no way. That doesn't even makes sense. Quit being paranoid.
Jayar shook his head, shoving aside the doubt and worry. He just needed to enjoy himself while he could.
"The name's Jayar," he said, offering his hand. "Nice to meet the both of you."


/Eric/Zare/
Shoot.
"Well, uh...." Zare rubbed the back of his head, trying to think of something. But he quickly gave up, giving Ash a nervous smile.
"No point in hiding it, I guess. I was looking for Pierce." Zare quickly continued, afraid of what Ash might think. "But don't get the wrong idea! I'm not hunting him down or anything. If I found word on him I was going to let you know. I know how badly you want to find him."

[Banana Lobster]

OOC: I was going to wait until Saify arrived in Central, but this works better.

Azure Archer

Azure slipped her quiver back over her shoulder, its stock of arrows restored. She dropped a small pile of coins on the counter with a jingle and turned to walk out the door. Just as she reached it, an ogre with a huge war hammer came in, followed by a human girl with red hair and a mage's staff. Azure smiled at her as she walked in.

"Hey, that's a pretty high-level staff you have. You must be pretty good with magic for that."

[Wolfsong]

/Eshalehm/Lily/
She just grinned at Jayar. "You're a beast tamer?" she asked, letting go of Brick and sitting next to him. "I think they're really cool, though Es - Rasmus there tends to get edgy around the." She giggled.
Rasmus studied the man with veiled interest. He seemed unduly edgy, despite the casual attitude. This set off all the alarm bells in his head. This was probably a hunted character, or even a monster in disguise. The way the game was now, there was no way to tell what was or wasn't safe. Another person could easily turned into a monster.
On full alert, he nodded at the man. "If I may ask, why are you so far from a town?" he asked cautiously. "Most people have taken to hiding in the forts and cities, particularly the main ones like Central. Don't you care?" Personally he though it was foolish. You had one life wherever you were, so why were people suddenly panicking about it? He didn't get it, not at all.
"Ramus, he's just an explorer like us," Lily said, suddenly serious. "Its not polite to poke into his business." She faced Jayar again, a serious expression on her face. "Sorry if we're bothering you," she apologized.

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
Ash started laughing; he couldn't help it. Zare looked so worried it was comical.
"Zare, I'd think you were nuts if you weren't looking for Pierce. I would also be surprised if you didn't have some aggression in mind." He smiled slightly. "Personally, I'm going to beat the stuffings out of him before I make him correct whatever he did to the system. After all this worry and fuss, I'd say he owes us that much, aye?"
Suddenly conscious of their surroundings, he glanced about quickly to make sure no one was around. "So...have you found anything, or have we both hit brick walls?" he asked.

/David/M'kalna/
He eyed the forest with a sense of foreboding. This assuredly did not look pretty. That in mind, he had switched out Legend for a fenrir, a vicious dog-like creature he'd named Shock, because at their first meeting it had startled him and almost killed him.
"Sir, we're ready to go," Etheral reported. "How should we do this?"
"Saify and Frosty-face are up front, so we'll ride mostly at the back. I want you to take two others and scout ahead. Be careful."
Etheral nodded and, gesturing to a couple, ran ahead.
M'kalna closed his eyes a moment, taking a deep breath. Any price, she'd said. He wondered how she'd react when he named his price.
"Its nice having something to look forward to. Of course," he thought, failing to suppress a grin. "We were already on our way to Central to collect a couple team members, but I sure ain't telling her that!"

[Cheetah]

OOC- Nice running into you, BL. Hope this is okay and workable.

Sholl/3rd

"Oh..., well..." Sholl stepped back, unsure what to say. She was so focused on whatever task was at hand she was thrown off guard when strangers randomly talked to her. "I don't know about that. It's actually pretty average for someone who's stuck in a virtual reality game 24/7."
Sholl stopped suddenly, realizing that she was starting to take out her frustrations on a complete stranger. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. Don't mind me."
"Hey, Sholl." 3rd said, pointing at an icy blue staff with crazy dragon designs carved on it. "This one's cool."
Sholl rolled her eyes at her brother and followed after him, "No, no, Ja... I mean, 3rd. I want something higher level. Preferably with a faster healing rate."
3rd copied his big sister's eye roll. "You do realize all the best stuff comes from quests, right?"

[Banana Lobster]

OOC: Hey Cheetah, nice to see you.

Azure Archer

Azure leaned against the wall next to the door, shifting slightly to avoid leaning against her quiver. "Try the ones in the corner; they're not as good for offensive magic, but they do amplify healing spells quite nicely. They are pretty expensive though."

[Oddood198]

OOC: Yoo-hoo? Anybody there?



Saify walked at the front of the group, leading them into the forest, into danger and mods-knew-what. She was trying to appear calm, but inside she was shaking and fraying at the ends. She took a deep breath to steady herself, It's just a big party, passing through a forest. No need to worry. She told herself.
Her boots made small, soft clinks as they walked over stones and roots, and her cape rustled as it brushed against bushes and caught on branches. No one was actually sneaking, or trying to remain hidden; the Observers that called the forest their home couldn't be snuck by so easily. Instead, they just took it slow, and hoped to avoid any potential threats as best they could.
They walked for a long time with only the sounds of their feet and labored breaths, no one daring to say a word or break the silence, almost fearing it would bring the whole forest down on them. Saify's eyes were sharp under her helmet, rapidly moving and scanning every new area as it came into view, looking for any signs of monsters.
So far, so good.

[ClaecElric4God]

OOC: Yeah, working on it. I would have posted before you, but then you went and posted before me. So it's not my fault. It's your fault.

/Jenna/Hael/
Hael followed close behind Saify. The truth was, she didn't want a bunch of hopeless newbies between her and her view of the forest. She didn't need her senses blocked by the bodies and tramping of these people. It wasn't that she wasn't used to being in a party. On the contrary, she had done plenty of party quests. But they usually involved a bunch of newbs who'd asked her to come along so they could do high level quests and get experience. So parties usually meant dragging a bunch of hopeless children along behind her, and putting energy into protecting them. So she had no reason to expect that these were any difference. Even the leader of this band. Hael eyed her, once again assessing her abilities. Was she someone Hael could trust as a teammate, or just another person she needed to protect and take care of because she was too wimpy to defend herself? Heal didn't want to overestimate her and get caught off guard by an enemy. She didn't much fancy the idea of having this girl's blood on her hands.
Hael finally turned her attention back to the forest. She couldn't keep her guard down for a second. These woods were no joke, and Hael hated this slow pace. She could have flashed through these woods in a second if she were on her own. She could only hope that they didn't run into any enemies.

/Jarod/Jayar/
Jayar saw the strange look the guy was giving him, and it set him on edge again.
"Uh...no, not at all," he looked back at the girl, smiling disarmingly. "Don't worry, your friend has every right to question me. I suppose I am being a bit suspicious, standing out here in the middle of nowhere when everyone's in a panic." Jayar was more than a bit nervous about how long the guy had been staring at him.
"But I'm not exactly an explorer, either. To be honest, I just don't much care. I get the mass panic because this is all real now or whatever, but honestly, I don't want to forget to take a break every now and again. It's a pretty nice day, you have to admit. But really, I'm just a nobody going nowhere. I don't really...have much of a life, so I'm not too worried about losing it. Honestly, being stuck in this game is the best thing that ever happened to me..."
Jayar trailed off, a sad look in his eyes. But then he realized what he was doing and quickly broke into a grin, rubbing his head awkwardly.
"Haha, can't believe I said all that. Just ignore me. So what's with you two? You're pretty far from town yourselves."
Jayar tried not to look at the man when he said that. He really didn't want to mistrust him, but he couldn't help it.

/Eric/Zare/
"Yeah, I got nothing..." Zare sighed. "I kind of ditched my last source when I first saw that you'd returned. And I haven't turned up anything since then."
Zare leaned against the wall, running a hand through his hair.
"Agh, I'm so tired. I could use a break right about now. Never thought I'd wish I was at home not playing a video game."

[Wolfsong]

OOC - Claec, its good to see you here...
aw, heck with it.
CLAEC YOU'RE BACK I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!!

Sorry about disappearing again guys, this month went crazy-busy on me.

/Pierce/Arachni/
He had removed the cloak, grateful to be away from people. Hardly anyone went exploring anymore. Too many feared to die in this world away from home. He saw no difference between this world and the other, except maybe others' loved ones were on the other side, families and the like. Save for perhaps his mom, who was alive if Ash had told the truth, he had no one there he wanted to return to.
Personally, he had achieved one of his dreams. And yet, he was still dead miserable. How weird was that?
"Pierce? Its Garrison. Are you there?"
"I think so," he replied telepathically. He glanced around the sandy coast and in the tranquil waves, but nothing stirred in this peace. "Not even a monster around, though."
"Not surprising," Shaka Amity sighed. "Is there anything in the Code?"
"Besides the memory of their footsteps, no." He glanced around, then sighed. "I'm going-"
"Pierce! Movement behind you!" Garrison suddenly shouted.
Arachni swung around, blade whistling out of its sheath. He caught a flash of maroon as something flew overhead, and he swung around again just in time to see the almost non-existent disturbance in the water. Cursing, he rushed into the water, stretching out the shadows from the clouds to provide a road. He could just make out a shape below, moving deeper and deeper in. Taking a deep breath, he plunged in.
The water was dark and murky. He was quickly losing sight of the stranger. Relentlessly he forced himself to go deeper, though his lungs were nigh bursting.6
He lost sight of the person. He almost dove anyway, but self-preservation finally kicked in and he reluctantly began working his way back to the surface.
"Who was that?" He wondered.

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
"My apologies for distracting you then," he said with a grin.
"There they are!" came a sudden shout, and the mob rushed toward them. Ash grinned at Zare. "Lets team up again, since we seem destined to meet up," he said as he turned to run. "Personally, I've missed having a housecat along." He started laughing as he ran, as much from Zare's possible wrath as the mob's rage.

/Eshalehm/Lily/
Rasmus tried not to snort. This guy was every bit suspicious and his entire manner proved it. He wished Lily would just get away from the man. "You could say we don't care either," he said, deciding not to give this man any clue they had no clue what was going on.
Lily, on the other hand, had no such cares.
"We're not sure what's going on, actually. People are talking and behaving so strangely now, we just started avoiding them. You're one of the few people we've seen not cowering in fear, talking about a game." She smiled brightly at him.
Rasmus groaned quietly.

[ClaecElric4God]

/Eric/Zare/
Zare started to say something in agreement with Ash, until he said that last part.
"Hey!" He started to retort, but Ash was already gone, a wise move on his part. Zare grinned, falling into his cat form, muscles coiled.
"You're gonna pay for that comment!" He yelled good-naturedly, sprinting after Ash. He quickly overtook him, falling into step beside him.
"You know, a good housecat would just chew these guys up and leave them on your doorstep, right?"

/Jarod/Jayar/
"Wait...you're...regulars here? Like...you didn't just start here recently?"
Jayar relaxed considerably. If he wasn't a newbie, then he couldn't be one of them, right? Jayar suddenly felt really guilty for assuming right off the bat that the guy was an enemy, without any proof.
"But I mean...it's understandable that people less experienced than us would be pretty freaked out about what's going on. And I mean...it isn't really a game anymore, is it?"
Jayar realized that even if they weren't who he'd thought they were, these two were a bit strange. The girl, especially. She looked and acted like a newbie, but she wasn't even a bit afraid of what was going on, and was wandering around outside the safety of town. She must have a lot of faith in her friend...

[Wolfsong]

/Stephen/ Ashimatya/
"Well then, it would fit right in,"Ash replied, grinning. He glanced Back, then said, "However, I think these would just poison you if you put them in your mouth. " He started laughng, feeling more free and burden less than he had for a long time.

/Eshalehm/Lily/
"We've been here For-ev-er!" Lily said . "Can you tell me what you mean, When you say game?" She looked genuinely confused
Rasmus groaned, then layout on the grass. If she was going to restart asking thu question, he was going to take a nap.

[Cheetah]

3rd leaned against the wall, watching as his sister browsed the selection of healing staffs. He wasn't really a shopper. But then what boy his age was? His sister on the other hand could spend an eternity at the mall if left to herself. Funny how being in a game made her more serious and decisive. He knew it wouldn't take her long here. Her only interest was getting the next level healing staff.
She was so focused on making her purchase that she didn't pay any attention to the girl who politely tried to help her out.
3rd heaved a sigh. He'd always been better at making friends than his sister. And this was the reason. She simply didn't notice when people tried to be nice to her.
"Alright, I'm done." Sholl weighed the new staff in her hand. No doubt it was the highest grade she could handle with her skill level, which was a pretty good staff and one of the more expensive. "Let's go, 3rd."
Sholl started towards the door. She didn't mean to ignore the stranger as she passed. She'd simply forgotten about her.
Well, if Sholl wasn't going to try and be friendly than 3rd decided he would do it for her.
Ignoring his sister, 3rd walked up to the girl and gave her a big grin.
"Hi. I'm 3rd. Big Buff Man the 3rd to be precise. It's nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand to the stranger, acting his normal boyish self. One could almost forget that he was currently in the somewhat scary body of a nearly seven foot tall, hairy ogre.

[Banana Lobster]

Wb Claec, we missed you.

Azure Archer

Azure smiled and shook her head as the girl browsed the rack of staffs; she couldn't really get mad at her, it was like when one of the little ones had gotten lost in a good book. She was reaching for the door when the ogre walked up to her and held out his hand. He was definitely the friendlier of the two, which was kind of funny considering, though they wouldn't be the first she had run into. She slapped her hand into his with a grin.

"Azure Archer. Nice to meet you, 3rd. Cool war hammer, I bet you've squashed plenty of monsters with that baby."

[Cheetah]

3rd's grin got even better as the girl started speaking his language.
"You bet! Although I would have smashed a lot more if my sister wasn't such a scaredy cat."
Sholl gave an angry grunt but hung back from the conversation. For how serious she was, Sholl could be rather shy at times.
"Speaking of which," 3rd continued, "I'm dying to go somewhere other than here. You got anything interesting you'd like to team up on?"
He knew his sister wouldn't like him going anywhere, especially with a stranger. But, seeing as this wasn't real life where he was a great deal smaller than her, there wasn't much she could do about it.

[ClaecElric4God]

/Eric/Zare/
Zare laughed, feeling as free at heart as Ash. It had been awhile since he'd had this much fun. It felt good to put his worries behind him and live in the moment.
"How on earth have you survived without me?" He shot at Ash, a laughing look in his cat eyes. "Life must have been dull."
Zare glanced back, noticing that they seemed to be losing the mob. Though if they stopped they'd just catch up again. They needed to find somewhere to disappear.

/Jarod/Jayar/
Jayar cocked his head at the girl.
"Huh? I don't get it. What else would this be? A game is a game. Aren't you two players?" Jayar was stumped. There was no way these two were NPCs, he was certain all the NPCs had disappeared when people started getting trapped. So what was the story with these two? The girl seemed genuinely clueless. A bit of Jayar's apprehension returned. He wasn't sure what to think of the pair.

[Banana Lobster]

Azure Archer

Azure smiled, amused at the jab 3rd threw in his sister's direction. "I don't have anything in particular planned, except to head north. If you want to tag along and see the sights, I'm not stopping you." The north was notorious for harsher monsters than in any other direction, the rough mountainous terrain allowing them to easily sneak up on players or simply crush them with rock slides. She doubted she would get very far, but it was the only direction she hadn't explored at all; she had gone far to the west, and to the east and south she had done pretty well, but she had never been north.

[Wolfsong]

/David/M'kalna/
The silence was forbidding, sending chills down his spine. He almost wished he could hear regular forest noises, if but to ease the oppression that was falling over him.
"Great place, isn't it?"
He glanced back at one of his men, a half blood named Keeto. He was definitely half human, though with his pale green skin and tribal tattoos his other half was speculated to be goblin. He just laughed and said he was actually half mosquito. His sharp canines seemed proof enough, but M'kalna had never seen him actually bite someone. Twin scimitars rested in sheathes strapped to his back, and a knife with a curved edge in his belt.
"Is it just me," M'kalna said softly. "Or does this place just reek of trouble?"
"Well, there's been eyes on us since entering, but so far this forest's occupants seem content to let us alone."
"How long, do you suppose? I sincerely doubt they'll let a meal this big go by without making some sort of attempt." M'kalna considered it as Keeto remained silent. "Probably when we're deeper in, come to think of it. Those critters seem to have gotten a lot smarter since the game turned real."
"And there you are, answering your own question," Keeto said with a big grin. "Seriously...David, you're more alive here than you ever were back home. You've become a whole different person." He chuckled. "Its awesome. You're actually fun now."
M'kalna eyed him darkly which only make Keeto laugh harder, though he was quiet about it. He shook his head resignedly. "Times like these bring out aspects of a man that he never knew existed, so that he will survive the trials ahead. Though...why I care, I dunno. Its not like I've anything to go back to, back there."
"Your wife?" Keeto reminded him. "Who's pregnant, I might add."
"Who told me to jump off a cliff, or at the very least "just disappear already"." He sighed. "She's probably thrilled to have me out of her life now."
"I doubt that," Keeto said quietly. "She just wishes you weren't away so much. Its hard for her, and you've never been the open, emotional type. She may be your wife, David, but she's a woman; they need to be swept off their feet every now and then."
"You do realize that is one of the most asinine comments you've made yet," M'kalna said sourly. Keeto grinned and started to say something, then stiffened. M'kalna cussed under his breath as he took his weapon in hand.
"You hear them too?" Keeeto asked softly.
"I think their hunger has finally got the best of them." He motioned to a couple of the members, who rode ahead to warn the others.
They were coming, and they were hungry.

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
"I've been dead bored, but I've survived."
He glanced back, realizing that they'd never have some peace until they lost this mob. Glancing at Zare, he could see the werecat had reached the same conclusion. Smiling faintly, he reached over to grab his arm. "Hold tight now!" he said as he dove into the shadows of the buildings and dragged Zare in after him. It wasn't so bad, existing on the plane between reality and darkness, but it had taken a whole new flavor with this whole new, "real" reality that had happened.
The mob paused when it realized its targets were gone. The people milled about uncertainly. Smirking, Ash tugged on Zare, pulling him further away from the group. A moment later, a cheer suddenly started up. "We scared off the Dark Angel and his accomplice!" someone was shouted. Ash smirked at the man's happy ignorant glee.
"You can fix them, you know. You should. What good are they, really?"
Ash staggered, then jerked hard toward the grasslands, running hard.
"Its just another, small village. Just another bunch of fools no one would miss anyway. Why is it such a big deal, to kill them? There's plenty where they came from."
"Shut up!" Ash yelled back mentally. "I told you I'm done with you!"
"Are you now? I'm here because of you, Stephen Landon. I'm here only because of you."
Ash dove back into the normal plane, gasping as he released Zare and stumbled, falling on his knees. He started laughing, his head falling back on his shoulders. Grinning at Zare, he righted his head and stood, brushing himself off. He turned, smiling at the werecat. "Zarei-somethingorwhatever, I've missed you."

/Eshalehm/Lily/
"It...its a whole world!" Lily said, staring at him with wide eyes. "A whole big, real world, full of real people." She paused slightly, then stared at him curiously. "At least, isn't it? I mean, that's what its always been for Rasmus and I." She smiled brightly, then frowned. "Though it was weird, when all the people suddenly started changing. Like the shopkeepers and such, they all seem so....well, grumpy anymore. And some of them went away. And then a bunch of people suddenly started freaking out and talking about games and reality." She smiled softly. "But...I'm glad there's still people like you." She beamed at Jayar. "People who come out of the walls, even if you do still talk about those things. but at least you aren't a screaming maniac or worried all the time."
Rasmus snorted and rolled over. He was looking forward to hearing what this guy's reaction would be.

[ClaecElric4God]

/Eric/Zare/
Zare collapsed in a heap, transforming into human form. He laughed along with Ash, standing up as well.
"Yeah, I've missed you too. Though it's quite a coincidence we just happened to run into each other. Well, I guess not. There aren't many places worth being anymore, especially if you're looking for information. It seems everyone's migrated to the major towns, and for good reason. Everything's gone haywire."
Zare clapped Ash on the shoulder.
"Either way, I'm glad to see you again. Things seem a lot less bleak now."

/Jarod/Jayar/
Jayar just stared for a moment, trying to take this all in. Were these people...seriously NPCs? They just seemed too real, too three-dimensional. But what other explanation was there, if they didn't understand the concept of a game? Jayar couldn't wrap his head around it.
"Well...thanks? I guess..." He replied to the girl's comment. "I gave up running around screaming a long time ago," he laughed. "Never seemed to do me any good. But the reason everyone's changed is probably because they're scared. To everyone but you, this place used to just be fun and games, and now it's scary that they can lose their lives here. Give them time and they'll probably get used to it and start coming out again. Either that or someone will fix the game."
Jayar shivered when he thought of that possibility.
"But I'm happy the way things are." He said, throwing his arms up into the sky. "I can do whatever I want and be wherever I want, and no one can stop me. It's pretty great. And I have friends here, even if they are all animals." Here he laid a hand on Brick's neck, scratching behind his ears.

[Cheetah]

3rd and Sholl

"That works for me." 3rd said with some excitement. "Central is way too boring. When do you want to head out?"
"Absolutely not," Sholl said, grabbing her brother's hand and trying her best to pull him away from the girl who called herself Azure Archer. "It's way too dangerous up north."
"You wouldn't know anything about it." 3rd argued. He couldn't help but smile as Sholl tried in vain to move him. In real life he wouldn't have a chance of fighting her, but now she couldn't even budge him. He didn't even bother shaking her off before he turned back to Azure. "Besides, if it really is dangerous then we should help our new friend out. You can do whatever you want, Sholl, but I'm leaving Central. If you're so worried, come along and help us out."
Sholl groaned loudly and stopped pulling on her brother. Just like at home, once he decided to do something there was no talking him out of it. And now she didn't have the advantage of size. She looked away for a moment until she could regain her composure. She did her best to sound nonchalant as she answered. "Oh, alright."

[Banana Lobster]

Azure Archer

Azure chuckled, and smiled reassuringly at the girl as she lead the way out the door. "I wasn't planning on going in very far; this is just a quick scouting trip, to try and get an idea of the terrain. I'll do a more concentrated strike later. Besides, I've got a sharp eye, so it'll be pretty hard for any monsters to sneak up on us, at least until we get to the mountainous terrain. If we agree it's getting too rough, we'll pull out immediately." Shoot; she was starting to sound like one of those solder books Danny was always reading/mimicking. Eh, she'd work on that later. For now, she had to drop off a few extra coins at the stables; she'd grown to like that black-and-white horse, and she wanted to make sure it was still there when she got back.

[Banana Lobster]

OOC: Hey Wolf, how's this look? I said I might bring her back, and here she is.

Name: Dara O’Sylf
In game: Sage Shade
Gender: F/F
Race: Kelpie
Power: A Watermaster, with control over fresh and salt water alike; her abilities are heightened by the Sapphire Dragon Gem she wears around her neck.
Appearance: Short, dark red hair, with one streak of black (she dyes it), silver-grey eyes, and Caucasian skin. Usually wears a dark purple, sleeveless hoodie, and jeans.
Human form: Has wavy, dark green hair pulled back in a ponytail, violet eyes, and seashell-white skin. Wears a black cloak with a hood over a shortsleeved, sage tunic, held in place with two brown belts, brown leggings and sturdy dark brown boots. One belt is wrapped around her waist, and the other loops around her torso, from her left shoulder to her right hip.
Horse form: A dark green mane and tail, with smooth, seashell-white skin. When in horse form, the icon that shows she’s not an NPC doesn’t show up, a small glitch. She only uses this form in emergencies, worrying that the glitch will somehow spread.
Personality: A quiet girl, nice, loyal, careful of strangers.
In game: The same as in the real world, but more skeptical, and not as quiet.
Equipment: A large, black scythe, almost twice as tall as she is, and two-also black-daggers. A brown belt pouch that is enchanted to hold more than it should, and a silver
amulet hanging around her neck that is enchanted to help ward off thieves. The amulet only works about half the time though. She also has Scalen Armor; a breast plate made of dark brown scales, pointed outward, scraping up anyone who attacks directly, and Fiendish Claws; black gauntlets with three sharp, pointed claws on each hand. (Kind of like Wolverine’s claws)
Other: With her younger brother finally having woken up from the coma he has been in for the last few years, her rough exterior has softened slightly, which lead to her return to Infinite. She does feel some guilt about this, as she knows he and their parents will worry endlessly until she wakes up, but as she feels partially responsible for the problem (she was with the group against Pierce, the hacker who supposedly did this to Infinite), she has returned to offer her services to Saify, the hero of Infinite.

[Oddood198]

Saify's ears pricked up as she heard the cries of hunting monsters. So, they had finally decided to attack. She could hear the players behind her let out moans and cries at the sound, and one of them threw his weapon down and fell to his knees.
"Don't lose your hope!" Saify shouted, "I told you, didn't I? Put your hope in me and I will lead you to safety! Rally on me, stay together!" She raised her fist into the air, and a second spear materialized in it. She looked over her shoulders and saw some courage returning to the players as they raised their weapons, some of them grinning at the thought of safety.

They're all going to die.

The whisper of doubt in the back of her mind made Saify hesitate, and she was glad to be wearing a full-face helmet that hid her expression of fear. She shook her head slightly, No, I'm going to get them all out of here. she told herself.
Movement ahead caught Saify's eye, and she looked to see an Observer looking out into the forest, turned sideways to her. The observer looked similar to a human, with the main difference being that it's entire head was one big eye, with a pupil in the front and back. Silently, Saify raised her arm and hurled her spear at it, and watched the projectile fly with speed and accuracy and hit the Observer in the shoulder, piercing straight through and poking out the other side.
The observer slowly turned to Saify, watching her. After a second, it blinked, an eyelid coming up from it's shoulders and closing at it's head, and as it did, dozens of other, large eyes opened all over it's body, and began blinking loudly. Observers were terrifying creatures; they didn't scream or howl like most creatures in Infinite would upon initiating combat; the only sound they made was the constant, almost rhythmic pitter-patter of dozens of large eyes blinking, it was almost like soft clapping.
The Observer began to run towards Saify, and she stood there, waiting, making no move to prepare herself. Finally, when it was almost upon her, Saify threw her arms out to either side, and the spear impaling the Observer's arms elongated, shooting to be over a dozen yards long, and causing both ends to become embedded in tree trunks, effectivaly immobilizing the Observer.
"This is our enemy," Saify said, pointing at the ever-blinking nightmare. Most of the players cringed, and one of them turned away and lost his lunch. "They're strong, deadly, and smarter than most creatures. Admittedly, a horrifying sight as well. However," Saify spun her other spear and rammed it up through the Observer's main eye, causing red and white liquid to gush out and the body to slump. "They bleed and die, just like anything else. We can defeat them, so take heart!" Saify released her focus on the two spears, allowing them to disappear and the body of the Observer to drop to the ground.
"Everyone, follow me, and look forward to seeing Central!" Saify turned forward and summoned a new spear, then began running through the forest to lead the way.

[Wolfsong]

/Pierce/Arachni/
"Well, this expedition is officially a failure."
Arachni say on a grassy hill, somewhere on the original continent. He was trying to figure out what to do next. His hunt for Aegis had gone no where, and that strange encounter only added to his questions. Who was that man? Was he connected to Aegis? However, Garrison had just told him they'd completed a prototype that might allow a person to log out. The question was: Was it safe, and who would try it?
A long time ago, he would have turned to Cyrano. Now that was not only implausible, but impossible. No, he needed someone else. Problem was, he didn't see how he could use Garrison or Shaka as they were the only ones with any inkling of the inner core of the world. And he was possibly the only person who knew of the strange man, Aegis.
Too bad he couldn't enlist Saify and the other's help. But they were the first in line to want to kill him. It would take something pretty big to bring them over, especially Saify.
He could attempt to reconnect, but...he just couldn't believe it to be a good idea. He had so much going on right now. Still, he could do so much more with more help.
Or be killed on sight. Who knew with Saify.
Sighing, he slumped, his head falling onto his knees. Tired, he was so very tired. And his friend was no better. What he wouldn't give to just lie down and sleep...
The ground shook, just a tremor, but enough to jolt him back to life. He jerked upright, staring at the ground in surprise. Those were becoming much more frequent, and he was growing worried. Without their equipment back home, there was no way to check what was going on. All they had was what they'd hacked into the game beforehand, and that was barely enough to find a log-out solution.
The ground shook again a little more forcefully, and the ground started cracking. Arachni activated the teleport spell and left quickly. Whatever he decided, it needed to be soon. He had the strangest feeling he was running out of time.

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
"Yeah, I can't say I'm surprised either." He glanced around, saying, "I've been trying to figure out what to do. I can't seem to locate Pierce, so I've been trying to figure out if there's someway I could help..."
He started thinking about Ingo's babbled phrases, particularly the one about a hideout. He'd mentioned Siccilian, and then something about moving. Perhaps...well, it was all he really had...
"Zare," he said slowly. "If you were a crazy hacker with a god-complex on the run with your original hideout in Siccilian compromised, where would you go?"

/Eshalehm/Lily/
"Game? But this - "
"Life is a game Lily," Rasmus suddenly piped up. "We win some, we lose some, until the day we miscalculate and we die." Shaking his head, he smiled softly at her. "So ya know what? They're not wrong. It real, and its a game. So don't worry about it."
She thought about that a minute, then smiled. "That's true!" Laughing, she started dancing around, her arms out wide.
Rasmus smiled as he watched her, then turned to Jayar. "Sometimes I think she's on a whole different plane than the rest of us," he said conversationally. "She's always believed this place to be real, but its only a game, despite...how real it seems." Warming up to the part, he continued. "Personally, its not relaly all that different." Choosing his words carefully, he said, "I mean, you've one life wherever you go, right? Its not all that different."
He lay back down, arms crossed behind his head. There, an approach different from what they usually did when trying to understand. Heaven knew he'd heard enough to have an inkling of playing the word game convincingly. "But then, having things all messed up can be shocking, I suppose. What do you think?"

/David/M'kalna/
It was certainly an ugly creature. One of the new ones, he guessed, as he'd never seen it before. "I wonder how long she can keep them together before the strain becomes too much," He mused, hefting a small throwing ax.
A couple more appeared from behind. Keeto and the human with him instantly went at them, as M'kalna studied them a moment longest, readying his axe.
"How do those things feed anyway?" he pondered aloud, hurling the axe forward, straight into the largest eye. Taking his great axe in hand, he began finishing the job as he kept going. "They have no visible mouths. Mosquito style maybe?" He ducked under a blow and hewed the entire bottom half clean off. Swinging the axe up again, he cleaved the upper half in half, rendering it dead without doubt. "I just don't see it."
"Will you stop that!" Keeto laughed, exasperated.
"When I figure it out, sure thing." He glanced around, taking stock of the situation.

[ClaecElric4God]

/Jenna/Hael/
Hael was instantly on the alert. When the Observers arrived, she was ready. But then all of the players around her started going into chaos, catching her off guard. Next thing she knew, Saify was making a public example of one of the attackers, trying to rally the group. Hael stood silently, not a single emotion crossing her face, or her mind for that matter, as Saify carried out her gruesome demonstration. When it was over, Hael determined that that was the go-ahead for her to begin her own offense. Honestly, she was perturbed that Saify had gone on the offensive first. She wasn't sure why it irked her, but it did. Ignoring the players around her who seemed to be trying to muster the courage to fight, Hael weaved her way through the crowd, toward the outskirts. Catching sight of another Observer, Hael dashed toward it, katana flying. Hers was a highly offensive attack. Her defense was incredibly low, so her top priority was to not get hit at all, and that meant dispatching the enemy quickly and without hesitation. For a player with her stats, hesitation could quite easily mean death. A blow that would bounce off Saify's armor could cause serious harm to Hael.
Ignoring the milling confusion around her, Hael made a visual sweep of the area, seeking out any Observers that seemed higher level or more of a threat to the newbies. She'd never been with such a large group of hopelessly defenseless people, and the chaos took some getting used to it. But when she finally adjusted to the confusion of players milling about trying to fight off the monsters, she was able to make her way through and keep an eye on everything. Darting in and out where she was needed, Hael did her best to make sure no one was injured.


/Jarod/Jayar/
Jayar relaxed a bit. Finally, at least one of them was starting to make sense. Though why the guy hadn't said something earlier was beyond him. But even now Rasmus wasn't making complete sense...
"Well, it's more the fact that Infinite didn't used to be the same as the real world. You know, the fact that you could die a zillion times, and you'd always come back. I mean, yeah, there are the serious players who make a point to try not to die, but even they had the assurance that if they did, it wasn't a big deal. I used to be one of those players. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've died here. It's funny, now that it's real and dying isn't an option, I find myself more calm and less concerned about dying. So yeah, no matter where we go, we only have one life. But I think that means something different for everyone."
Jayar looked around at Infinite, surveying the beautiful fields. The truth of it was, dying was the last thing he wanted to do. He wanted to enjoy this place as long as he could. But being locked up in the safety of a town wasn't Jayar's idea of living. Even if it put him at risk, he'd rather have freedom than security. And he'd enjoy it for as long as he could.
"Oh, I get it," Jayar said, realization dawning on him. "You're one of those hard core gamers, aren't you? Let me guess, you've never died, have you?" That whole "one life, wherever you go" made more sense that way. Jayar was starting to wonder if this was one of those cocky jerks who made smart remarks and treated everyone else like idiots. If so, he wasn't sure how much he could tolerate. The girl seemed nice enough, but it wasn't worth hanging around them if this guy was going to be like that.


/Eric/Zare/
Zare raised an eyebrow at Ash.
"I have...no idea? Seriously, you're the one who's related to him. And I've never been a crazy hacker with a god-complex. Especially not that one."
Zare narrowed his eyes.
"You sound like you have an idea...or am I way off base and you have no idea what you're doing?"
The latter sounded more like Ash, but Zare could only hope that he was having an uncharacteristic spike in brain power. Honestly, between the two of them it was a wonder they ever got anywhere by thinking.