Out on the town

[solieus]

Kimimela entered Mac Anu with no particular goal in mind. Earning gold is harder and more time-consuming than watching paint dry, so she normally doesn't buy much. She needs items today, but hopefully she'll find something else to do as well. The Sun was bright and as she walks down the main steps out of the chaos gate she hears the sound of people bustling about. It comforted her, since most of her hours so far on this game have been spent wandering around dungeons alone and figuring out which way is up with the only sound to accompany her is the growls, snarls and other odd noise that come out of that particular area's monsters. She felt now like she could carry a decent conversation without sounding like an incompetent dweeb finally, and figures the best place to meet people is in town. The sun was warm on her back... Bloody sun, it's always so bright and cheery here! There's barely ever rain in Mac Anu and yet all the dungeons and areas I ever go to always end up having cold, icky weather or a sun so desolate and intimidating I felt it was about to come down and swallow me up....I should try not usng such harsh words like "croaking", "raging" and "calamity"...

Kim entered the fray of users to head to the main stores and pick up some health drinks and fairy orbs. She still couldn't get over the smooth movement of her robes and the slight tinkle of the silly accessories she added to her character when she first created her. It's so neat to wear clothes that look like they would rip if stared at too long and still have the freedom to move around so easily! Ah, Sun, I'm beginning to think you're a gift to me today after all, I'm getting more attention in this game than in real life with my friends... And so she was, for her reflective clothing sparkled and twinkled in the midday sun. She bought her items from the respective shops, and was saddened by chicken scratch that was the amount of gold left in her purse. Too bad NPCs run the shops... if they were real people I might have been able to sweet talk.. ehrm... bargain... them down to half the price they made me pay for those.

Kim checked her friend's list and, to her dismay, the few people she had addresses to were not online. And to think I was actually compelled to talk to somebody for once and of course it's always when everyone I've met is offline and I can only hope I can find a reasonable excuse to start up a random conversation with another user about... oh, I don't know...

She pokes a random dude that was walking away from her. When he turns around, she asks him "You're not busy, right? He nods. Kim smiles. "Good.. What do YOU dream about when you eat a spider while sleeping?"

[Camax]

Cali gated in a flash of blue light and stood looking about the room. This was her second time logging in, her first not having gone so well, and now that she had read the manual from cover to cover she was ready to have a good time. First on her agenda was to explore this place called the Root town Mac Anu.
Cali ran down the steps from the Chaos Gate chamber and did a little spin at the bottom.

"AMAZING! ^^ this is incredible, everything looks so real! I could almost believe that I was really here!" Cali continued to walk towards the market, taking a detailed interest in almost everything that caught her eyes. As she reached the shops she intently inspected everything that was on display. She spotted a beautiful new red headband and picked it up, turning it over in her hands. "How much for this?" She asked the shopkeeper with a large grin.

"Well, that's an exceedingly rare item, and it is the last one we have so... how about 2500?" The rather plump shop keep held out his hands, two fingers held up on on and all five on the other. Cali's brow furrowed, an odd expression on someone her age and she looked down at the headband in dismay

"Really? I'm new here, and I only have" Cali checked her inventory "fifty..." Cali sighed and held the headband in her hands. Wishing she had to money for it, when out of the corner of her eye she spotted something very shiny. her depressed look vanished as she bolted over to the shiny dress and started to inspect it. Her ability to examine the dress, however, was hampered by the person who was wearing it. Suddenly Cali heard a shout from behind her and looked up to see the shop keeper shouting and running over to her. She looked at him with confusion and a tinge of fear, then she hid behind the person wearing the shiny dress hoping to shield herself from the crazy Shop keep. Cali was still oblivious to the red headband in her hand that she had forgot to set down before running off to see the sparkly dress.

"Stop Thief! You there Macabre Dancer, Stop that girl!. The Shop keep yelled at Kimimela, waving his arms and pointing to Caligatio who was nearly hugging Kimimela's leg, trying to hide herself by pulling the excess material of the dress around herslef.

[solieus]

Kimimela was about to poke the guy who was currently staring blankly at her from her ridiculous question when she suddenly saw a girl, slightly smaller than him, streak towards her and bury herself in the folds of her dress. Huh? She thought, then heard the shopkeeper shout “Stop Thief! You there Macabre Dancer, Stop that girl!”
Kim looked down at the girl and cocked her eye. Her first impression of the girl boggled her as to what class she was. Probably a double-blade or an adept rogue. No matter, obviously a newbie, and seemingly one to get into trouble. She saw her grasping a headband tightly in her right hand. She sighed. “Hey, kid, is he talking about that headband in your hand?”

[Camax]

Cali blinked a few times before looking down at her hand and the headband that was clutched in it.

"OH NO!, I'm so sorry! I...I didn't even realize. Oh my, oh my, oh my, ^^;" Caligatio thrust the headband into Kimimela's hands and began to sniffle small apologies into her shiny dress. "I'm sorry, please don't be angry! I didn't mean to, it wan an accident!" Cali tried to make herself as small as possible behind Kimimela as the shopkeeper approached them.

"So, you two are in cahoots are you? Well I've caught you both now, so either you hand over the merchandise, or I'll be calling for a GM to settle this dispute for us." It was now obvious that the shop keep was another player character, probably from a guild of some sort. "And I'll make sure the other members of Biocide never forget it..." There was an evil smirk on the shopkeepers face, Cali had no Idea what "Biocide" was but figured that it was a guild, hopefully not a PK one but with the way he had said it she doubted her luck was that good. Cali gave a short tug on Kimimela's dress and looked up at her with pleading eyes

"Lets get out of here" Cali whispered with a chocked sob caught in her throat.

[solieus]

“Now, hold on a minute there, dear,” Cautions Kimimela to her new little companion. She turns to the Shopkeeper of the Biocide guild. That's not a nice name... I'd better be careful. She took the headband and gave it back to the Shopkeeper. She gave him the most modest and innocent look as she could possibly portray through her character. “My good sir, I am extremely sorry for this incident. I am sure this girl didn't realize what she was taking, and now it is returned to its rightful owner. I hope you can forgive use for our folly, and I hope there shall be no hard feelings between us. Thank you.” She hoped that was enough honey dripping from her lips and enough sorrow in her eyes that the man was convinced. If not, then they will have to get out of there fast before he brings in his buddies.

[Storm Sheppard]

Storm Sheppard scratched his head, oblivious to the scene before him. His eyebrows furrowed and his lightning like eyes crackled as he squinted in thought. He had been tossed one of the most mind boggling riddles he had ever heard, and none of his ‘fancy book-learnin’ seemed to be coming to his direct aid. He gave up with a loud sigh and came between the young woman clad in a shiny blue dress and some pudgy little shop keeper. Storm Shepard brought his face within millimeters of the girls face, the little bolts from his eyes bridging the vague distance to tickle the girl’s eyebrows.

Okay, I give up. Storm Shepard said with a pouted face and serious eyes. It hadn’t happened that somebody managed to defeat him in the realm of riddles (largely due to the fact that nobody had ever asked his one). What DO you dream of when you eat a spider while sleeping? -.^ The look of stark seriousness he was wearing on his face was interrupted when he heard the voice of someone distinctly short and a bit blubbery. He also sounded like he the colour orange. Storm Shepard was happy to see that he managed two out of three things about the green clad shop keeper.

Yet another co-conspirator eh? He said with smug satisfaction. He crossed his arms, holding a rather delightful little head band in his hand. Just because you were caught doesn’t mean you can apologize it away! It may work at other shops, but not on the Biocide shop! You’ll all be sorry for real soon! He laughed. Storm Shepard just looked at him with a confused look on his face.

Um, you shouldn’t threaten me. I don’t mean to threaten you, just a warning. The Gladiator guild loves pk-king, and you may get on their bad side through me. Storm Shepard said with monotone worry. He leaned in close to the shopkeepers face so he could whisper the next bit. Or worse than getting Gladiator on you, you may make Camax mad. The guy is a sweet heart, but he’s psychotic when it comes to fighting for the members of Gladiator. Storm Shepard stood back up leaving the storekeeper with a worried look on his face and a head band in his hand. Oooh! Is that a rose head band O.o!? They’re pretty rare! How muches!$? Storm Shepard beamed, looking generally back to his wide grinned and crazy demeanor.

Uh- uh, 2500? The little man stuttered. Storm Shepard clapped excitedly and initiated the trade. After a few short moments of the exchange, the little head band appeared in Storm Shepard’s hand.

GWEE! he squealed, placing the piece on his head between two spikes of his mohawk. It looked absolutely ludicrous, but Storm Shepard paraded around with his hands on his hips as if he were a runway model. He quickly jerked around and was once again face to face with the macabre dancer and little school girl from earlier, headband securely fastened. Spider, eating, dreams. Answer me now! he called out, one eye twitching and his lips squished into mock seriousness.

[solieus]

Our fellow Macabre Dancer stares curiously at the man blabbering in front of her. She had originally caught his attention because she was so intrigued with his lightning eyes. Though his tactics with the shopkeeper were quite unique, they were very effective. Now she is curious about this Gladiator Guild. It seems like an exciting place to be and if it was home to people like this guy, it's bound to be a good time.

She stared right back at this quirky character and softened her eyes with a smile. "My dear fellow, it is a subjective question! I merely want to know that, when the occasional spider crawls down your snoring maw, do you dream? And, if so, what exactly would it be? Myself, it always causes me to get the willies. I believe every time I get a bad dream it is the direct cause of my stomach trying to tackle some sort of invading insect and, hence, a lot of my nightmares include snakes, spiders, flies and other squiggly, sqeamy, shudder-inducing creatures. Now you, on the other hand, may not have such a reaction. So, I ask again, what do you dream about when you eat a spider sleeping? Oh, and after you're done, I'd love to know more about this Gladiator Guild from which you come!" She said this with almost too much quaint-ness and hoped she didn't come off as one who was British right to the bones and hence, as portrayed in most American movies, was delightful conversation but as shallow as the two-dimensional puddles in The World. I sound like an absolute fool, I know it! First I'm too curt and now I'm so genteel I might as well be from the 1800s! Kimimela and Cathy both sigh inwardly in unison.

[Camax]

Cali put on a pout as the silly man with the white hair paraded around in the fantastic headband. Bah, who is this guy? Cali's eyes started to water and her lip began to quiver. She started to sniffle and flopped down on the ground, sitting with her legs poking out from under her skirt. she grabbed the hem of her skirt with both hands and began to look as sad and pitiful as possible.

"Now...now I'll never own a pretty ribbon like that one... Cali sniffled and wiped her eyes on the backs of her hands. She looked at Storm Sheppard with the widest and most sad puppy dog eyes she could manage all the while keeping just small pools of tears in the bottoms of her eyes. "I'll never look as pretty as... as pretty as you two. Cali let out a large sigh and slumped her shoulders, looking oh so sad and depressed.

[Storm Sheppard]

Oh yes my dear, of course that was the meaning of your serendipitous query! A fool you must of me I’m sure, but know that I have an answer to your quandary and it plays as thus… Storm Sheppard spoke in a rather mockingly upscale voice of an aristocrat. He continued his faux accent into his next line which followed as: Considering how many creatures of the eight legged persuasion I eat in a night, I suppose my dreaming would be left relatively unaffected! One may say I dream the dreams a dreamer may dream whilst dreaming of dreams to dream on the nights spiders do ride my lips, I shan’t quake nor quiver nor scream. He babbled off in a little stream of lyrical bemusement. He gave a slight bow as if being let off from a performance. At the bottom of his bow he shot back up throwing a hand into the air and widening his stance such that his feet were a good meter apart. His hand was oriented such that his index and pinky finger were pointed up, the remaining fingers folded in to the palm. To an experienced ‘rocker’ this would be known as ‘throwing the horns’ but would likely be lost on the girls before him. He didn’t seem to notice. THANK YOU! I’LL BE HERE ALL NIGHT! He shouted in yet another British mockery, this more to the tune of a rock band than an upscale aristocrat.

-sniff sniff-

Storm Sheppard looked down from his rocker pose of success to see a little school girl sniffling in her oddly dark dress. She looked so… adorable, but that wasn’t what managed to hit home in Storm Sheppard’s mind. It was when she uttered:

I'll never look as pretty as... as pretty as you two.

Y…you think I’m pretty? He said in a very girly tone as he pulled his arms in to his chest and crackling tears started welling up in his eyes. That’s the first time anybody ever called me pretty! He exclaimed, scooping the teary eyed girl up and grabbing the woman of flowing robes. He pulled them together in what may have been called a forced group hug. I’m so happy… He let his grip go in a hurry and took a step back from them. Here, since I have a blue one, I’ll still look pretty. He grinned, pulling the red thing off and gifting it to Caligato. He stood there with a blue head band poking up between his Mohawk frills, a dark blue rose pulled off to the side. Nobody could be terribly sure when he put it there... Anyway, Galdiator is a guild for Arena enthusiast. If you fight a lot in the arena, win or lose, you can get into Gladiator. Nice place. HOMG! We could all fight in the arena and call ourselves the pretty people since we’re all pretty! He grinned, looking to his new acquaintances with cheery eyes. I’m Storm Sheppard by the way! Nice to meet you! He grinned, one cock-eyed smile that still didn’t match his rosey headband.

[solieus]

Kimimela stared with wonder at the amazing mockery of her accidental overuse of her upper-Brit accent which sometimes came into her voice from hearing it so often in real life. She felt slightly insulted, but only slightly. This man was ridiculous, so much that she could only smile. Actually, she right out laughed at the conversation taking place in front of her eyes.

And then, *oof!* She didn't expect the hug that took all the air out of her character's lungs. After the mohawked man finished his little bit about a pretty team in the arena, she took a few gasps and she burst into a fit of laughing again. Perhaps it was embarrassment, or perhaps it was relief... she was not used to getting so many compliments directed towards herself. Either way, it took her a minute to calm down.

“Ah.. ok... what? Oh, I'm Kimimela, here's my address.” Kim handed her address to both Storm Sheppard and the little girl beside him. “And, arena? I've heard about that, what's it like? I mean, I'm not strong enough, anyways... I heard you need to be at least level 50 to win anything in the arena. I'm only level 2. I'm no use to you. I need more friends, though so I'll be glad to talk with you. Nobody's made me laugh that hard in a while. Sorry about the british snobbiness, by the way, it wasn't intentional... it just, well, happens sometimes.. I'm from London, anyways.” She shrugged.

Kim looked down at the little girl. “What's your name?”

[Camax]

Cali's expression almost instantly changed from sorrow to joy as the strange man who called himself Storm Sheppard handed her the headband. She quickly donned it and hopped back onto her feet.

"I'm Caligatio! but you can call me Cali. Arena Eh, I've read about it, but never been there. I don't even think I can get to Omega server yet.. ^.^;;; but hey once I can It sounds like a whole buncha' fun. YAY!" This last exclamation was said rather loudly and high pitched, as she twirled on the spot with her hands thrown in the air "And we'll be sure to win because the beauty of all three of us is so totally overwhelming! Here take my member address you two! lets be sure to keep in touch and make certain that the Pretty People climb to the top!" Cali handed out her member address to both of her new friends.

[Storm Sheppard]

Sorry, but you can’t technically reach the top if you team up with me… Storm Sheppard said rather sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. He put his fingers together as if a little embarrassed about what he was about to say next. Y’see, I’m the emperor of the Demon palace. If you join my team you’re already at the top… He said putting on a sheepish smile and looking rather hopefully pathetic. But I still want to be on team Pretty People ó_ò! Please don’t vote me out! T_T He pleaded, getting on his knees and rolling around on the ground like a child who just had his favorite toy taken away. Ooop, hold on a sec. BRB. He said, sitting up straight and staying perfectly motionless. There was a brief amount of silence before he came back to life, chewing on something. Sorry, my popcorn finished. Anyway, PLEASE DON’T KICK ME OUT OF PRETTY PEOPLE! he squealed, initiating yet another ‘forced group hug’ with crackling tears running down his cheeks. Oh, and there isn’t a level requirement to go to Lumina Cloth, you just need to download the Omega server patch that came out last month. After the reformat they’ve been throwing patches out like candy. he said with a sideways pout, releasing his grip yet again and standing back as if nothing had really transpired. Oh, and here’s my member address.

[solieus]

Kimimela looked up at the tall and eccentric man in front of her. This is the Demon Palace Emperor? I assume that means he's first in all the rankings at the arena. Wow. How'd I manage to meet up with this guy? “I knew about the patch, actually, I have downloaded all the most recent patches. I still thought there was another qualification needed. O well, that's exciting! I'm glad to meet a such a powerful player as yourself. I won't vote you out, you can teach us about [The World] since it seems like me and Cali here are both newbies to this game. We'll need to train a bit together, too if you guys don't mind. I've been mainly solo training for a while and my class really is about party fighting so I'll be glad to finally get to use my skills and hopefully level up my weapon and get more spells. My list is quite short right now.” Kim kind of pattered off as she caught herself going on and practically speaking to herself at that last sentence. Oh, well, at least I've gotten control over my british accent. That was so weird, it's never that bad... It must be this new environment is messing with my brain. Cathy gave herself a good headshake and noticed she's not exactly used to the display yet, and figured she should take a break. “Well, guys, I'm glad to meet you all but I think my display is giving me a headache, so I'm going to take a break and get some water or something. I should be on later. Bye!” Cathy had her character give a little wave and walk away, then she logged out. She took the display off and her head swam a few seconds as she got used to seeing real stuff again. Wow... I haven't had this bad a headache since the second day I played... hopefully I'll get used to this thing soon.

[Camax]

As Cali watched the woman in the shiny dress walk away and give a little wave she jumped onto Storm Sheppard's shoulders, plopping herself into a sitting position like she was getting a shoulder ride as she gave a grand wave to Kimimela. After Kimimela dissapeared she bent over Sheppards head and looked into his eyes.

"Don't Worry Sheppy! You're a lifetime member of the pretty people! though...it is a bit of a drag that Sparkles had to disappear so quickly. hey, why don't we go on an adven..." Cali suddenly froze stark still, and the faintest of mufflles could be heard escaping her mouth.

"What did I tell you.....o game.....omework Finished"

"Common....hour or two....ease?

no...omewor...ow.. and n....moking... under this roof!" Cali sprang back to life and blinked a few time (still being a few centimeters from Sheppards vision)

"Ummm, I'm sorry Sheppy, but I got to go... Mummy's gotten her undies all in a bunch so I gotta do my homework's T.T But I'll download the patch while I'm working on it okay? Thanks for everything! With that Cali disappeared in a bright flash of blue light as she logged out.

Adel pulled off his headset and stubbed out his cigarette. He set his computer to download the patch as he laid out on his bead and opened his Physics textbook. Storm Sheppard, Demon Palace Emperor eh... This could turn out to be a lot of fun.