[f19-sp] pelagic woods i.

floor 19.

to most players, the environment was an uneventful wasteland. and they would be right, given the giants that once roamed it having been felled an age ago. so why, amidst the fog, were there a few present here today?

two silhouettes. there was night, and there was day. each had a steed that they travelled on, equines trotting fast. purple lazy eyes swept the surroundings for any sign of wildlife, or objects of importance. but there weren't any.

given their circumstances, it would make sense how players wouldn't even care to entertain such a request. yet, bistro's services were advertised impeccably. at least, compared against their high prices. that was what she could bargain for when carteling one of the stronger players in their universe, after all.

she wasn't sure who'd commissioned the task; likely someone who wanted to flaunt their money, or gather some intel on the wildlife in the environment she wasn't sure was going to be much use to anyone else. but the expedition had a simple goal for her -- eliminating the enemies present and bringing back their dropped loot. that was simple enough.

not much was known about the pelagic woods. it was of interest to players in the past for how the forbidden ones were unlikely to enter its territory. hence, it was once used as a refuge for players out in the forbidden lands, given that they were on an expedition into the wilds themselves. however, the woods were located on the far corners of the region, and hence were an unlikely place for visitors to travel to, so it must've been under some dire circumstances that anyone had ventured to it for shelter, if at all. with players' eyes on the prize of leaving the current floor and getting out of the game alive, it too, made sense how this place would've been left intact despite the traffic.

very little information was traded around the brokers about the jungle, save that it likely had several layers of depth, with the surrounding creatures changing in appearance in adaption to its environment; none of them studied up close, of course. and night had initially suspected the use of the term 'jungle' at first glance, but drawing closer to its entrance, she saw that the incredibly minor report was correct.

she was used to jungles out in the tropics. unfortunately, anything this wild and unkempt would've been seen as such, in defiance of its traditional definition.

wasn't it a little odd, too? the fact that most of this area had been a wasteland spoke very much to the idea that the forbidden ones had trampled the ground flat. yet there was still a region they were repelled from, that survived despite the degradation of the land around it. wildlife where there wasn't supposed to be some. but these were some of the questions gone asked, then ignored for a better one to be answered instead. a looked-over alternative. now night would get the chance to investigate it, first-hand.

after all, wasn't that the point of bistro's services in the first place?

night dismounted her steed, just as her companion slowed behind her. they sent the horses off with a small pat to their side -- intentions known, these horses but started to gallop out into the wild, only to fade into the mist. only the tall brush and the hauntings echoing within waited before them, now.

as always, night was never the first to speak up. two steps into the woods, and day had already looked over the scene before them; a mass of towering trees, only saplings to the titans they would've once passed on the way here.

"huh, looks kind of dreary." a simple statement, the construct's gaze falling onto the other's back. "is there anything in particular you're looking to pick up from here?"

and she'd briefed the mission to her ally; this was a matter of opinion. "the client stated that they're expecting claws, hides, and any irregularities of the sort. the material goods go past us. the information we share amongst ourselves."

day simply shook her head, starting to pace herself, too. "knowing this can't be a worthy investment, it must be something akin to bragging rights or having hunting trophies."

"that's what i thought," night mumbled, making way through the entry grove. what appeared to be long neglected kudzu only got into way of their steps, and for a moment, she wished she had brought someone with a scythe along.

perhaps the annoyance got to day, too, or the intention could very well be read in the air. but the first summons of a blade between them was from the system herself, and with a first tear, day reaped what would lay before them to knee-height. the vegetation trembled, its fallen kin sparkling into the air as dust.

night simply turned, absent minded, to her sentient toolkit bearing the shaft of her two-handed weapon upon her shoulders. day shrugged back, gesturing for the woman to lead.

so the player did, quietly, eyes to the ground as much as they were through the vines. "you think i should have my eyes out to the ground?" an honest question. "maybe there's something we could pick up around here."

"like what?"

now it was night's turned to lift her shoulders. "interesting herbs of some kind."

day took another turn at culling the meek as they trudged, giving another hum. the cluster of weeds ahead of night soon turned to ashes, and she pressed on, albeit slowly. "maybe if they were related to the enemies of the floor. y'know, the big ones. could be used for repellent, or something. that might be likely."

"and not to be known for good use anymore."

the noise of agreement from behind night had a tinge of sadness.

past the grove, it wasn't too long for the trees of the woods to gather close again. above them, the canopy was growing thick -- it was once spotty between the areas of weak growth, gaps that would allow the underbrush to plant down seeds of their own in the future. now, it was clear that the interior of the woods were darkening. ambient light fading. night hadn't exactly prepared herself the best for this scenario.

at least, not intentionally. if she'd packed some glow stone, she could say that she did. instead, night vision aided her way through the shutters of void, as she punched some notes into her menus as they passed by trunk after trunk. each cull from day but helped immensely, though the sound of shredded plants hung in the air of silence, punctuated by movement in the brush around them.

there were enemies to be found, for sure. but how likely?

when night joined in the clearing process, it was with her sword of gluttony. the fiery red hot shell of the blade had no effect on the brightness of the environment, and with the density of the woods, it was unlikely for the weapon to catch anything on fire, if it even could in the first place. her first swing, however, was a miss -- it cut the overgrowth easily, certainly, but the tip of her edge had lodged itself into a nearby trunk, something that night had failed to account for in her daze of an investigation.

"oh, crap."

she'd certainly tried to wiggle the sword out, almost stumbling backwards when she did, and was thought to be in the clear for the moment as she regained her footing. but a quick drag backwards from the pull of a strong grip on her shoulder informed her otherwise. a pointed finger upwards -- right underneath that canopy, small figures were starting to emerge, clambering down the trunk she'd rudely plunged her blade into. and as they trickled down to the ground, night quickly realized just how inaccurate her estimates were regarding their numbers.

she thought once that it was their size that made them seem like incredulous threats. then, they revealed themselves, and it became more certain that these woodland creatures were more stacks of familiar animals, unionized in some manner of gathering, than they were abnormally shaped.

which means that they were outnumbered, quickly, and surrounded despite day's attempted nudging. the latter, however, was calm about the outcome, as she always was. the scythe quickly turned into a bat of some sort -- almost like a two-handed blunt weapon if cardinal could account for such a thing, and she pressed her back against night's own, sword out and ready for the latter.

"i'll beat you in count by three," the player bet, a futile estimate only fueled by realizing the maximum stack of (racoons? squirrels?) ended at such a number.

"i'm sure i'll get higher quality loot than you," came the return -- a boast that could only be made by computerized accuracy, given the nature of day's weapon.

so they lunged forth. and, knowing the aptitude of the enemies often on this floor, night was more than prepared to take them down without issue. the grouping of targets together also meant that each blow was an easy fell of at least four units -- she was certain she would've been able to take out way more at once, had the system be more lenient, but it didn't matter. what scratches she did take from a dive of furry creatures here and there was only quickly mended by battle healing, and the occasional breather was won once she tumbled out of the frenzied arena.

in that moment, night turned to the canopy once more. no other rodents coming out to play. fine by her.

the largest of the pack were uncharacteristically the last to face off the forest intruders. weren't they supposed to be guardians? that's what crossed night's mind as she tore them up as well -- edge of her blade to their side, followed by a leap away from the corner they struck out with their claws. a simple dance, that evasion and kill, and the most ferocious of them all were gone.

her estimation had been right, by the way. despite her disbelief in doing so, her other was still fending off a few more targets that refused to fall over and bleed pixels by the time night was done. and perhaps it had been showmanship, to pick a weapon least suited for cutting deep into the heart of flesh, but night rounded the field to cut off a few more stragglers -- the stacks rather than lone fighters specifically -- to watch day fell that final last guardian of the nest.

night tucked away the bubbling comment about her sloppiness. all day had to do was reach out towards the pelt of her enemies, pulling it upwards for the player to see, and she knew they were on even terms. "look," day commented, as the last of her enemies faded away to the ether, "the entire thing's still here. unlike your scraps."

the construct gestured, and night's gaze followed. sure enough, very little of what she'd gotten was salvageable by skilled gatherer players -- and what she would've automatically gotten was stored inside her inventory. way less than her counterpart, night was sure.

night took a few steps towards the trunk she'd so disrupted earlier. the gash upon its form was gone, as was per system standards. the better question was what sort of ecosystem the forest was running off of that had brought the downpour of rodents to the floor. night simply gazed upwards, hand on the tree, eyes searching the black for anything worthy to note, but couldn't find a thing.

so instead, her eyes were brought downwards, as though the dirt and grass had anything special to say about the skirmish. nothing much was found, save half of a fruit that had likely fallen from above, the food half-eaten. with a dark orange shell and its insides of goop, it almost reminded her of a papaya; though, it looked more like a large nut in shape. likely not the best for further analysis or consumption.

still, this was the first food source she'd found from the area. a glass jar spawned, night scooped what was left of the fruit into it, to the curious look of day from afar, which morphed into agitation once she'd realized what night was collecting.

"we're not taking that home," day decided.

and night fully agreed, vanishing away the gunk into her inventory. the look on her face simply said it all. "i wouldn't either," she offered as a disclaimer. "so that's the first thing we'd drop off for bistro, whether she's in her shop or not. do you have a damp cloth?"

after the player had wiped her hands, and day had swapped her weapon of choice, the two took some time to align themselves with their origins and their current position. they were headed further into the forest, sure -- but they had to make sure they knew their way back, if they could help it.

"i'm sure a teleport crystal would be enough," night had mused, but hesitated on closing her open interface. "on the other hand, the map data would be a valuable asset to trade around."

"valuable to whom?" day reminded her, an arm resting on the player's shoulder. "no one really goes here any more, and it's not like they would need to, either. the drops look like they come from other floors, too, where the monsters are a little more accessible."

all night could do was stare a little harder into the darkness of the woods.

no sooner past the first skirmish did another begin.

just a little further into the woods. night couldn't tell if they'd been passing through any thresholds. she doubted it, by all accounts -- only the fact that the thicket above them was getting denser, and that there was still signs of life that were present, yet difficult to track. to her side, day was chopping out swathe after swathes of weeds. the cluttered vision didn't help night any, but neither did she complain; after all, easier footwork given these circumstances were a blessing.

then they came upon a long-abandoned camp, and it was more surprising that the wares left out in the woods had been left untouched by cardinal themselves after all this time. it had been several years since the clearance of floor 19, after all. the site would have to have been well preserved for that amount of time if the different player equipment had survived.

player equipment -- camping tools was more the accurate verbiage to use. an abandoned tent, presumed to be left out to disintegrate after it had been used. a few paper plates laid out in the open. a chopping board, with its durability worn. a makeshift fire pit, with its embers long snuffed out. the party who had been here must've been decently wealthy, or incredibly well prepared for the journey.

night only stared at the board left behind, uncertain.

"so, i get that most of these were meant to be for one-time use," she began, hovering over it, the latter found rested on a cluster of vines that seemed relatively stable. "but leaving behind a chopping board? isn't that strange?"

day was merely waiting for the other to release herself from her examination, idling, sitting upon a nearby rock. she shrugged, head turning around the woods, aware of all the trees present. "if they brought along a lumber jack of sorts, i don't see why not. or maybe they just forgot to take it with them, you know?"

the player fought her best judgements to follow along in her construct's rationale. "yeah," she said, gaze finally lifted. "makes sense."

but the sinking feeling in her stomach was originally presuming the site was a trap. it was, in theory, but not in the way that night had assumed it to be. the moment she started walking towards day, the only signal that ticked her off about her suspicions was the distractedness of her other, and the sudden summoning of light from an empty grasp. a double bladed axe. night stared out into the woods once more, searching for signs of life.

it was easier to read the dark once her counterpart told her what she should've been looking for. "wolverines. large ones." and she spotted the lunar bright eyes amidst the mystery beyond. then came the warning, "surrounded on all sides. watch out for their size." so she looked harder at where their tails ended.

look too much, however, and night would be read as distracted to the system. day pulled away from their moment first -- a good offense was a good defense, after all, and night would get the chance to measure the length of their predator when it was the first to pounce upon her position. the player moved on instinct, sword out before she was ready to strike. it didn't save her from a gash and a cut of her health down, dry.

vulnerable on all fronts, the best night could do was dodge the one ahead of her until she felt her body warn her of what was coming up behind. she ducked, weaving through the gluttons that were darting around like snakes, before sinking into the dark as she was accustomed to do.

and, oh, she was certain the system could read her. that the counter offensive was obvious to cardinal, by how she most oft worked. yet instead of going directly for the nearest enemy, working her way into the bunch, she opted to take a leap of faith instead. sword edge raised above her, a simple sunder downwards was hopefully enough to alter the mustelids' programming for a moment, giving her a brief window to end the bulk of them shown.

the tip of her sword sank to the ground just as night stuck her landing from air. the shockwave was minor, but it buffeted the quick and crafty, ready to shred standing on two paws. a movement then that willed the sword to pierce the earth -- one large swing of her blade across her surroundings, and most of the animals were put to bed.

no attack cancel -- she hadn't predicted her opponents this much. but a single injury sustained was enough for her to bear, and that was before her companion dove in to sweep the single mustelid off its feet, too. day kicked it into the air, where it blocked out the light temporarily from above. the aftermath of her blows only scattered the worn tent into pieces, as they should have been eons ago.

upon recovery, night chased that wolverine down with a simple cross slash. the second strike knocked it backwards against a nearby trunk -- to which the player found herself cursing, eyes upon the canopy once more. but the moment passed without event, silence holding within her standstill. so night sighed, finally, and looked around.

"you missed one," she heard, quicker than she could see. in the corner, day was finishing off another of the beasts, rendering it unable to move with a series of recalculative stuns in her motions. all it took was the beast's paws to lift off the ground, and so long as it wasn't near the trees...

once its corpse landed on the ground, it shattered into a million pieces. day merely shot her original a grin. "so i guess i win this round!"

what else was there to re-examine within the area that hadn't already been looked at before?

debris, most likely. debris, because when the animals of the forest attacked, so too did the campsite get trashed. there was almost a certain level of guilt that night held onto as she surveyed the remains of what party had been here before -- the missing tent, plates, re-arranged campfire. the chopping board, however, remained sturdy and present.

night almost couldn't help but hover over it again. i'm sorry, she must've thought to herself, though approached the center of the site to reorient the duo once more.

day remained quiet, pacing over, watching the player fumble for a direction to head in next. when night finally signaled for them to continue, the two of them struck off into the woods in tandem, with only the latter glancing back towards the ruins in silence. at a whispered, "what're you looking at?" night shook her head and continued on her way.

how far away had they been from the entrance of the forest?

if there was even an 'entrance' to behold. from night's guesses upon the map, it seemed as though heading towards the edge of the map where the floor's walls were likely to be was the right move. with most of the forest appearing like a circle, it seemed as though appropriate not to continue along the circumference unless the duo were afraid of venturing inwards.

not that night had any worries about facing on whatever might be in the forest.

the trees only seemed to grow taller, from where they were standing, and her vision a little darker. many times, night had been glancing, catching day in the corner of her eyes like a deer caught in headlights, captured by a shoddy car camera. the player blinked the thought away, eyes upon the map data. they were headed somewhere, yet the interface disagreed otherwise.

then something in the air shifted, past a certain step into the woods, and the horizon finally seemed to flood with an unnerving orange. orange, like the sun was setting, despite the lack of a light present. orange, almost tinted with red and pink, and a growing fog, returning, upon the recesses of the field.

night's first instinct was to hold completely still, but while it was still fresh in her memory, she had to mark it down. a quick drop of her pad with a shortcut guided by fingers, and a brief tap -- only day was the one to pull her back quietly, not pass the threshold, but backwards, away from something. arms locked underneath her own, the player's own adrenaline kicked in despite the construct's attempted warning and precaution, the almost-whisper by her ear, if day would even vocalize a noise.

the huff was simple enough, because night's second instinct was to listen out for a response, like prey -- and she heard the sniffling of something much, much bigger than her. her third instinct, then, was to hide.

night felt herself released from the gemini's hold, pausing in her turn if only to give the other some space. and day responds, at their matched gaze, by pointing in the direction she is certain there is an enemy present.

the player wondered if she should've queried day further. deciding otherwise, night followed the direction set ahead of her instead. she felt no glimpses of seeking eyes as she walked ahead, attempting to be cautious. it was no surprise, then, that she found the target first.

a bear, laying belly-down, head upon its paws. a number of gashes line its body in dark streaks, short yet visible. as far as bears went, however, the size of it was much, much larger than the ones she was certain was regular for cardinal's use. it didn't exactly seem awake, either -- only an overactive snout would indicate that it was breathing, if at all.

so night took the first strike, only to be aggressively proven wrong.

players were rarely shocked upon the battlefield, the intensity of war a bigger issue than one's nerves about frights. yet, the sudden widening of the various wounds proved them to be more than that -- eyes -- full black beady eyes that showed no signs of scleras, and the sharpest set of teeth and ferocity that a regular animal would show to her. no -- this thing couldn't even be called normal, given its apparent propensity for sight. and yet even as night's swipe against it loosened the beast's jaw upon her shoulders, it barely staggered as were most mobs to do, keeping sturdy as it fell back, appearing dazed and confused.

"okay, what the hell is this thing then --" the player asked, after leaping backwards with footsteps too soft to hear. and the bear darted forth in a frenzy barely off to the side of the duo, its hind illuminated by day's spear. from head to toe, where there was pelt on this creature, there were eyes, eyes, eyes.

poor move. day could handle multiple processes at once, but still she only had one voice, and it went, "move!" without an answer, the one thing night sorely needed. even with a shove, the player remained transfixed at the horrendous thing as it swerved around, gunning for the only source of light it knew in its lifetime. only then, after it turned around, did night finally take heed of the advice given to her, blade at the ready. this happened to her once -- and it would not happen again in her life time, not if she could help it.

"it's a meso-ursine! heightened senses with a lack of eyesight!" and the understanding of why such a creature would exist would be lost on the battle-hardened night, though to her credit, she had the capability of being more intuitive on their feet. night struck hard, just as day did with the jab of her spear -- a blinding light that might've brought colour to the creature's eyes had it the rods to perceive such a thing, it roared as one of its irises were struck. then it roared again, as the player's blow finally took form to even greater devastation.

another snap of the bear's jaw, now right upon her shoulder as night tried to duck out of the way. despite her struggle, it seemed without an intent of letting go. night had nearly dropped her sword in the strike, just as day's spear switched over to a set of claws, the construct's eyes set upon the maw locked onto its prey a struggle of outlasting.

staying calm was difficult, yet achievable. the tip of night's sword found rest on the ground, inches deep, whilst her hand pulled forth a crystal to shatter just in case the extraction wasn't possible. the eyes on the bear started to close on the side facing the player, but maintained wide open towards day's.

like a larger carnivore, the claws sank in deep into the beast, upon its head. yet, the pressure only continued on night's arm. she shrugged back harder in resistance, snarling in an attempt in intimidation, as her ally pulled harder to force its jaw open.

patience was the key. patience, as the light dug into the mesoursine until it reared its head back, opting to dart for its aggressor instead.

final mistake -- for night took the opportunity to draw the sword back into her hand and pull out another crystal, just to ensure she'd put the beast down for good. a simple click of the button to the consumable's side, and an overhead swing, blade's weight in one hand. day had successfully danced around the bites of their target, taking into the air in her stride -- one leap, soaring over the creature, and she somersaulted into a dodge roll behind the player, in time for night to send it back to cardinal with a growl.

the mesoursine fell to the floor with a terrible gasp, barely a howl.

night sighed, hand feeling up her shoulder. her eyes went back to the singing crystal first, before her escort took her by the wrist. "doing okay there?"

"yeah," she replied, still distant and agitated.

"good." day glanced to the song, too. "we'd better leave this area. as soon as possible."