4655/Leve: Fry Me A River ft. N'raha and Yuuki

Leve: Fry Me A River ft. N'raha and Yuuki
Date of Scene:	10 October 2016
Location:	Alfheim Online <ALO>
Synopsis:	Yuuki has an unexpected guest in ALO, as Mr. N'raha crashes in to do some Fishing and conversing with a fellow adventurer.
Cast of Characters:	N'raha Tia, Yuuki Konno

---

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Welcome to the land of the gypsy-sheep! And today, a real live Cat-Person. Mr. N'raha is camping out on a hillside, near a swiftly rushing river. There's a Puca encampment not far from here, where the nomad-sheep NPCs have set up a large gathering. A perfect place for trading, shopping, and finding some odd jobs. And more so, odd jobs that match the Miqo'te's skillset pretty well.

    Namely, fishing. The cat's got his head hidden by a wide brimmed hat, a fishing rod in hand, and he's watching a bobber that's floating in a slow eddy in the river nea a rock outcropping. The perfect place to fish up some nice fat bass. Mmmmmmmmm.

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    How does that old joke go? 'I just flew in from Aarun, and boy are my arms tired...' Not that flying involves arms, not exactly, and fatigue in the virtual world doesn't work quite the same way as in the physical world. The approximation is good though, and even someone with Yuuki's experience could use a stamina boost once in a while.

    That doesn't explain why Yuuki would come all this way of course. But the notorious duellist has some raiding to prepare for. That means bottled buffs, and raiding foods, and all that other good stuff. Which means a trip to the land of the carefree. No, not the Cait Sith. The musicians. Yuuki has more spare time in ALO than the rest of her guild, so it's easiest for her to do it.

    Yuuki's not particularly good at haggling, having more money than she knows what to do with and having a generous spirit besides. But haggling is FUN! So she's probably paying three or four times what something's worth, but she's having a great deal of fun doing so loudly and cheerfully. It's a game, seeing what she can 'get away with' without being mean or coming off as a total rube. But then, so what if she does seem the fool? That's never stopped the girl before!

N'raha Tia has posed:
    One of the nice sheep people, an older lady by the name of 'Martha <Fish Trader>' suddenly sprouts a quest icon for Yuuki as she gets close. That's included with a quiet and happy waving to the swords-elf. "Hallo! I have a job for you~"
    A QUEST!

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    "In a minute!" Is Yuuki's immediate reply to the fish trader. She shows the same casual politeness to the quest NPC as to the merchant NPCs and the player characters besides. She's got a certain brash tomboyness to her, but the politeness is baked-in as well. She has work to finish, but once that's done...

    It doesn't take her long to finish her shopping, and she heaves a satisfied sigh. The merchants are generally happy to see her come and go, amused and enriched by the experience. For her part she has no regrets. Now... food? Or ... hm. Well, there's a quest. It's worth checking out at least right? Might be something entertaining. She's not a fisherwoman or anything, and that seems to be the NPC's theme, but it can't hurt to check it out.

    Yuuki bounds over to the Fish Trader, flinging arms wide to twirl once before halting practically in the NPC's face, boundless energy overflowing. "Yes? A job? I like jobs!" she beams.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Martha puffs up, her old face beaming a bit. "Hello, dearie! Ah, I'm almost out of some nice fresh <River Bass> for my famous fish and chips! I was wondering if you could help me out and bring back some <Quality River Bass>? I'll help you out with some trinkets I've got to spare!"
    The NPC thinks a moment. "You could also meet that nice Cait Sith boy that came to help out! He's down by the River right now, I think!" Oh hey, someone else is one the quest too! Thanks, adaptive NPC dialogue!

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Quality River Bass? Well, that sounds intriguing at the least. Yuuki's no fisher. As in, she literally has no game skill and no slots free to learn it. But hey, she's no cook either and yet she enjoys food. A shame the reward is trinkets. Unlikely to be anything she can use given the level of the region - she gets her stuff from raids, not from solo quests... but then, she might just try the fish and chips!

    "Sure thing, Martha!" Yuuki beams. She'll buy the fish on the market before disappointing this nice Puca. The quest rewards aren't really important. Being herself is. And with that, she zooms off towards the river.

    It isn't hard to spot the 'Cait Sith' the vendor mentioned. "Hey!" Yuuki greets in a voice likely to scare off fishes. "Are you fishing?" she asks.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    The 'Cait Sith' in question startles at the shout, and totally hadn't been napping against the tree. At all. He lets out a distressed yowl of noise, before looking up at the flying girl landing nearby. Elezen, or the local variety thereof.

    There's a yawn from the fellow, and then a /very/ feline stretch, from the tips of his ears to the tips of his toes. "Hnnnnnn, I was. I am. Fishing, I mean. Not so good on the catching. This place is tough." He huff puffs a bit, and then looks around. Still day, okay he hadn't been sleeping long.
    A tip of his hat, and his fluffy long ears splay out a bit. "Mornin'. I'm N'raha!"

    First things first, he's totally not a Cait Sith, but may be an honest to goodness cat-fellow. He's certainly not a native. Second... is he here in the flesh? That's bold.

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Yuuki sees nothing immediately impossible for Cait Sith about N'raha. She has no reason to suspect he's a walk-in. Still there's something. She's not at all sure, has nothing even to base a suspicion on, but an instinct of sorts is tugging at the back of her brain, making her give the 'Cait Sith' more consideration than she might otherwise.

    Even the cat behavior is very much Cait Sith. Alicia Rue does the same, though of course her player must be human. She'd probably fall asleep fishing too, no doubt. It's part of the race's appeal, to some. Being a self-indulgent cat, that is. Yuuki only grins. "Well you're probably better at it than me! I don't even have a fishing rod!" she claims with absolute and cheerful candor. "I'm Yuuki. I've got a quest to catch some fish!" she beams, setting down lightly. Her aerial control seems effortless, and describing it as 'graceful' is quite possibly selling it short. She might be as comfortable in her virtual skin as one would have to be were they a Cait Sith who could stretch their ear-tips.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    There's a happy chuckle from N'raha as Yuuki settles down, and wiggles his butt in his spot to find some feeling there. "Hnrrrfmmmmr." That's less a purr than a lion-like rumble in his chest. "A quest huh? You mean Miss Martha looking for some fish? Well, you came to the right place!" He grins and pats at his fishin' basket.
    He also tips that hat a bit. "Name's N'raha. Nice to meetcha!"

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    There's a huge variety in facial features, decoration, and body structure in Alfheim Online. Given N'raha's ears, he's quite obviously Cait Sith. A bit beefier than a typical light-race fairie, but well within spec. No, it's his gear that doesn't look typical. It's obviously a set piece, and yet it doesn't look familiar. And it's not ... quite... to the same aesthetic of the Land of Faerie. Different priorities.

    It doesn't really bother Yuuki but it does nag at her. Still, not a big deal. Yuuki's not one for dwelling on puzzles. "I don't suppose we can catch fish with swords?" she asks, miming spear-fishing with more imagination than accuracy. "Or would that ruin them? I'm just a lot better with swords." she admits.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    The catman grins. "Well, I mean you can, but the fish aren't like the ones back home. I mean, the big ones that like to flop up on the shore to murder you."
    'Back Home'. Well, a little bit of confirmation at least. N'raha's grin focuses a bit, before he sits up a bit straighter... and seems to be giving Yuuki the same once over she's giving him. "Boy, there's a lot of different sort of Elezen- hnng." A self correction. "Elves around here. And a fancy duelist elf, no less. That's gotta come in handy. A lot of the critters around here are way too fast to properly fight.

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    There's a lot of fishing in the Cait Sith lands too for some reason. But Yuuki blinks. N'raha's comment makes a few things suddenly click. It's more calling her an Elezen-thingy than the mention of home, of course. "Not an elf, technically." Yuuki grins and flashes her fingers in a victory pose. "An imp! We're faerie races here. And ... huh, you're not logged in somehow, huh? You're actually here? I've seen it before, but I'm more used to the other way around."

    As for critters being too fast to fight, this makes Yuuki tilt her head in puzzlement. "Really? I haven't found anything too fast to fight." she says. Not with pure humility perhaps, but with the genuine confusion that robs the words of arrogance. Then she brightens. "Unless you mean things like Ragout Rabbits. They don't fight, they just flee. REALLY fast!" she notes. "But if you can catch them, they make an amazing meal if you can find a good-enough cook!"

N'raha Tia has posed:
    The catman grins. "Logge-Oh right! I had people tellin' me this was a Fake World or something, but it feels pretty much like home in a lot of ways." He stratches behind an ear, and then huffs. "I know I wouldn't like people calling my world fake, is all, but I know you guys don't seem to mind it, I suppose."

    "Oh, and not the bunnies, those were plenty fast though. There were these plant-thingies that kept sprayin' goop at me and then running just out of range of my axe. Eventually just had to bop one hard enough to stun it to get it to lay off."

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    For a moment Yuuki clearly doesn't understand, but then she breaks out in a peal of laughter. "This isn't MY world!" she replies, clearly amused. She's not an NPC! "I just spend a lot of time here!" There's a moment where she might say more, but of course Yuuki almost never speaks of her own physical life. It's only a moment's brief pause, a slight awkwardness. "I'm just an ordinary girl who plays this game a lot." she shrugs, deflecting that awkwardness with a half-truth.

    The insistence on this world being real, that's another thing. Of course Yuuki agrees. This world's as real to her as any other, and far better than most. "You don't want to just fall asleep in the woods or anything!" she grins. "You should only catnap in safe zones. Else something's going to try to eat you!" she teases. Yes, it's teasing. She doesn't really consider life and death matters while in the game itself. To her, getting eaten here would be just plain awkward and embarrassing, not permanent. Not unless something unforseen and terrible happened.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    There's a chuckle from the Miqo'te, and he huffs. "Well I know that, it's the same way back home, mostly. Dont' want something nasty to eat your face. That said..." He looks around a bit. The sheepyguys wouldn't have set up camp here if it wasn't a safe place, right? So I figured I'd come down and get some fish."
    He looks up at Yuuki, and then reaches into his backpack. Up to the elbow, which ought to be impossible. And then he comes out with some <Honey Tea>, and he hands it over to the swordsgirl. "Here, I got some of these off some nasty faeries over in the woods nearby. They kept dropping em, so I guess they really like tea."

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    "Get some fish?" Yuuki asks, a dubious cast to her voice. Doesn't seem like this catman was fishing when she'd seen him... More like getting some sleep! Nothing wrong with that, except of course that when you sleep in anywhere that's not an inn or home, your body remains there for a while after you've drifted off. Even Yuuki, who sleeps in VR, ends up logged out of this game after a while. She's not sure how that'd work for walk-ins, but supposes they must remain forever even when sleeping. Neat.

    She eyes the tea. More miraculous would be how it remains hot and fresh in a backpack, but she's not one to second-guess the miracles of a VRMMO. 'Magic' sums it up nicely. "Thanks!" she says, accepting the gift. "Buuuut how do you know I'm not a nasty faerie?" she grins playfully. "I *am* an Imp after all?! Though I do like tea..."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    "Well. You haven't tried to hit me yet. And you're way too pretty to be mean, of course." A little fangy grin, and a swish of his tail. N'raha, not that subtle at flirting, really. He's still worknig on it.
    "Also most of the stuff that wants to kill you around here just... well, they come at you straight away. There's not a lot of.... middle ground between 'oh hey i'm doin' stuff' and 'aaaaargh wanna murder you'.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    That arm goes into the bag again, and N'raha comes back out with... a Miq-ka-bob. Fish ka-bob, somehow still warm and fresh and tasty, steaming like it was just made.
    ...Real food, here.

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Real food, virtual food, it doesn't matter to Yuuki. Her body gets its nutrition through a tube, and anything she 'eats' is only virtual to her avatar. Which is fine of course. She takes pleasure in food, especially in new foods. Even when not particularly tasty, new foods are an experience she'd otherwise be denied.

    Likewise flirting is kind of new to Yuuki. Her guild doesn't do it, not with her. She's their kid sister, most of them. Her opponents don't do it either. Most are too much in awe. And at school, well, she's younger than most of them and an outsider besides. She beams at the compliment, though not without a faint reddish tint deepening the color of her cheeks. She wouldn't dress the way she does, not counting the armor of course, if being pretty wasn't a worthwhile goal! She's just not used to compliments on that. Duelling compliments are way easier to handle.

    "I suppose that's fair." she agrees. "And someone coming to try to kill you would be red-flagged anyways. So you'd get fair warning if you're careful!" she says obscurely. She eyes the Miq-ka-bob with some curiosity, then accepts it and takes a bite... almost gasping and dropping it from the unexpected heat. Unexpected despite the steam.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    "Careful there! They keep pretty warm in my bags. Magical adventurer bags, don'tcha know." N'raha chuckles, and grins at the blush. Well, at least he still had that. A game swish of his tail, and he grumps. "Flagged red? I uh... I'm not sure what that means." ...Oh of course, he doesn't ahve the benefit of a HUD or anything like a player UI. Well, that must make things interesting.

    "But I know that my senses are pretty sharp... when I'm not... concentrating on fishing." He rubs at the bridge of his nose a little nervously.

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Considering Yuuki has a magical inventory she can use by waving her hand around, a magical bag seems almost mundane. She only nods, accepting this, while waving her hand at her mouth in the hopes of mitigating the issue. Not like this will cause serious damage or anything. Still, interaction of real and virtual means if she burns her mouth on food she'll be feeling that discomfort all day.

    "Concentrating on fishing. I see." Yuuki says teasingly, once she's dealt with her overly hot mouthful. And then, "You really are new here aren't you? You don't even know about PKers? Well, better be careful! This isn't a big spot for monsters or anything but some players hunt other players for loot. It's mostly harmless but it's annoying, and I'm not really sure what'd happen if someone tried it on you. Safer to be in a town or something where they can't do that, if you're gonna be ... concentrating for long!"

N'raha Tia has posed:
    There's something... well. Something vaguely unsettling at that one, at the thought crossing N'raha's mind at that statement. "Bandits? I don't like killin' people, but when I have to do it, I'll do it." The Miqo'te stands up at his full height, libering up easily. "I know I look like a beach bum, but there's more to me than that."
    He grumps, and holds up his fishing rod, the shaft collapsing into the handle...

    And then there's a flash of light and instead of a fishing rod, he's holding an axe as big as he is, the head a gnarly looking, intricately designed cleaver of creatures. "I... I can handle myself."

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Bandits? Well, that's close enough. A reasonable explanation of PVPing anyways. Yuuki doesn't flinch back from the sudden axe reveal, though her eyes do widen slightly and her focus snaps to N'raha's eyes. Surely she's well within his swing reach, but equally clearly she feels no need to make room. The eye-look may be to gauge intent, or perhaps it's a warrior thing. Watching the eyes rather than the hands, to better-predict an attack.

    After a moment she steps closer, slowly, to within arm's reach rather than in weapon range. She reaches out a hand, puts it on N'raha's weapon arm. "Easy." she says soothingly. "Best not to fight players here. They're not actually intending to kill anyone, just rob them. If you don't like killing people, just keep in mind they might not be killers themselves. Not here." she adds.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    A slow breath, and N'raha sighs. "Back home, sadly, there's way too much of that. Emprires wrecking shit, the end of the world, that sort of stuff." The hand on his arm... gets him to relax, the his tail de-puffing itself without him even realizing he'd gotten all poofy. He grumblegruffs, and the Axe slides to his shoulder, the counter weight on the end resting in the dirt next to the stream.
    "Sorry. You just had me worried for a second, Miss Yuuki." The miqo'te's shoulders are the last to relax as he bleeds out his energy in one go.

    Yuuki's trained battle senses will see... he's very, very skilled with that axe, with how easily he handles it, how casually it moves. But there's also... a tenseness there, like he's /always/ ready to fight, if he has to.

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Over the years Yuuki's learned to read posture and eyes, though mostly only among humans. Regardless of the MMO, it's always a human behind the VR avatar's reactions. She can tell the weapon's a part of N'raha, but can't really read his skill level. Nor he hers, no doubt. She's graceful and apparently fearless, but none of this directly translates to combat ability. She doesn't have that constant tenseness of battle-readiness though, not even after N'raha drew that axe. Surely that suggests something.

    Yuuki takes a small step back, though she's still probably in the catman's personal space. She really doesn't have a personal boundary of comfort, and doesn't seem to notice when she's invaded someone else's. "I understand." she says. "I mean hey, I'm willing to fight for my life too. I just think people should be careful with others. If they're playing a game like a jerk, then they deserve to be spanked and sent home like babies! Not to be killed for it, or kicked out of the game like a cheater or something."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    "...Oh, right. Game." N'raha wilts. He really has no frame of reference there. A little soft grump, and he shifts his stance, leaning up against the tree again.

    She's still in range though, and that fluffy tail swishes a bit to intentionally catch her in the shin, the fluffy tip swishing at a knee. "Sorry. This is... so like home it's not funny. There's a bunch of world like this too, and I just..." He blinks a bit, and then looks lost in though, ears flicking a bit. "It's weird thinkin' someone would want to play in a world like mine, you know? Give up bein' who they are to do the stuff we do."

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    "My own world's nothing great." Yuuki admits, and there's a certain wistfulness in her tone. One that speaks of pain rather than emo angst... not that Yuuki seems at all prone to emo. "And for some they're not really giving up much." she adds, again with that certain something in her voice. Remembered pain and grief start to return to the surface, casting a pall over Yuuki's habitual cheer. That is, until her knee's thwapped by a fluffy tail.

    She grins, as much at the distraction as at any true humor. After a moment she matches N'raha, flopping back against the tree trunk cross-corner to him. "It's not... really a game any more, not for some." she allows. This doesn't seem to bother her like the previous topic did. "I don't entirely understand it. It started out as a game, and it's still just a game for most of the players. But it's also got a life of its own. Real somehow. But it's still an amazing world, best I've ever seen... and it's still lots of fun!" she grins.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    There's a grin from N'raha, as Yuuki joins him in leaning on the tree, and he closes his eyes... The axe gets propped up a bit more, before it once again vanishes into the Aether. That tail, not dissuaded from teasing at Yuuki, sways slowly, brushing against her leg on each swish swish.
    "Mmmmmh. Game or not, there's... well." A scritch at his belly though the open bits of his casual shirt, and the catman sighs. "I'm not sure I could imagine being anything else at this point. Not as deep into things as I am now." His ears flatten out a bit, not out of angry or worrk, but just from relaxation. He's not heading back to sleep, but... well. This was the essence of Fishing. Relaxing and enjoying nature and the people with you. Possibly with adult beverages.

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    "It's okay to just be yourself!" Yuuki declares, with just enough heat in her voice to make the words sincere. Strange, for someone who's an admitted hardcore VR-worlder. Because of course Yuuki is herself... in mind at least. She never tries to pretend otherwise.

    And yes, she notices the tail. It's not unpleasant, even if it's ticklish. She doesn't have any reason to think it's conscious. And of course if it IS, then if she were to react to it that's just be playing into whatever N'raha's attempting. She squirms a little, stifling a giggle, but she can't entirely suppress the smile threatening to erupt.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Teasing pretty girls is its own reward. :|

    The tail finally stills a bit, and N'raha chuckles. "Funny you say that, cause I've spent... like the last 6 months figuring out who that is, exactly. And now I think I'm ready to show people... even if the rest of my fellow Light Warriors aren't here to do it, any more." He slumps a bit, and then lowers himself on his haunches, bringing his head lower than Yuuki's, ears flicking expressively. "A lot of time, just me and my ship and my crew and... well." A distant look in those green eyes.

    "...sorry, gettin' all philosophical on ya."

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Yuuki's philosophy is pretty straightforward really. "I can't imagine not knowing who you are." she muses. "You're you. I'm me. What's there to figure out?" she asks, reaching up to prop arms behind her head comfortably. The wings, which would probably have been in the way, seem to be gone. More magic... or pseudo-magic at least.

    "It's okay." she says, disregarding the apology. "I just wonder if you mean you're trying to figure out what other people want you to be? Things got a lot easier when I stopped worrying about that. And ... you know, the future. The future's scary, so I'd rather live as much as I can now than worry about it!" she grins. Once again though, she's not sounding purely happy. Wistful perhaps, regretful... but not worried.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    A laugh at that, a real laugh. "That's part of the thing, I guess. It's... uh."

    Those ears wilt for real now, as the cat man murmurs. "I sorta fell into being a Chosen One for my world. 'Blessed' by the Soul of the planet in a bid to save her from corruption and destruction." ...Oh, oh my. He's a Player Character, but for real. Oh, that explains a lot. "So I got like... people pushin' at me to figure stuff out and Hydaelyn just bein' all quiet and supportive but then there's the Primals who I'm supposed to kill and... and... buh." He hangs his head forward. "When I stop to think about it all I freak out sometimes."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    He perks up, though. "So... that's why I wander some times, to see the rest of the multiverse and help people out, you know?" A grin from the cat, and less wilting.

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    "Sounds like you should stop stopping to think about it!" Yuuki agrees cheerfully. "Wandering and helping people sounds like a good way to live, if you ask me. Sounds like some of my friends." she adds.

    She's heard of the Warriors of Light, though she isn't sure what that group actually is. There's no doubt dozens of organizations with names like that. It's what a group does, what people do, that's important... not what they're called. "Besides, if I know anything from playing these games it's that if you're destined to do something, there's nothing wrong with a few side-quests on the way! If you get too focussed on what you *must* do instead of doing what you *should*, then what good is some prophecy?"

N'raha Tia has posed:
    "Oh you have no idea on that one. I get to see stuff... all the time. It's annoying." He rubs at his eyes, and grumbles. A huff puff and a lion-like rumble in his chest, annoyance rather than angry. "And the helping people... was what I started out doing. I'm with the Adventurer's Guild and the Syndicate just for that reason, after all."

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    "I've been adventuring for years." Yuuki says, not quite the world-weary murderhobo. "Lately though, that's become a bit of a sideline. I'm in school now!" she claims. "Well, not NOW obviously. But school's nice, and they're teaching me to fight monsters. And somehow, doing this with people who're serious about making a difference feels a lot different from doing it with friends for fun!"

N'raha Tia has posed:
    N'raha smiles a bit, and murmurs. "That's always the best, isn't it?" He chuckles, and mmmmhs, falling silent.

    And then he idly pushes the fish basket over towards Yuuki. "Have a peek, take what you need." Inside... there's more than a few <Quality River Bass>, along with some <High Quality River Bass>. Mr. N'raha must be quite the fisherman indeed. "Figure it's a fair price for gettin' to meet a local girl." A chuckle, and he looks up to Yuuki with a sly, fangy grin.