Princely Peko Panic

It's a little known fact that the regally royal and ravishingly handsome Prince Rafferty isn't always a scaredy cat. Contrary to the reputation he's been building in Yamato, he sometimes can be a brave boy. Take today for instance, he has made his way all on his own up to the cliffside, so he can look down upon the scenic beauty below. As he stands proudly at the summit of the rocky surface, a smile spreads across his finely sculpted face.

Today he's dressed himself in flamboyant threads. A silky suit of crimson red fits his lean frame like a glove and beneath this is a black ruffled shirt, chosen to match the shining black boots that cover his feet. There's just enough wind to ruffle his plantinum locks, without causing them to be overly windswept. Yes, all is well with the pampered prince until...

A piercing scream breaks the peace of the pleasant afternoon, as a feathered foe flutters frantically towards him. The sound of its flapping wings had caused him to turn to face the fear he feels and he has found himself facing it full on. As he frantically tries to back away, his frantic and fast feet have him heading straight towards the edge of the craggy cliffside!

    The platinum-haired Prince's peril at the pitiless Peko's pursuit does not go unnoticed, despite the remote refuge on the ridge where Rafferty has come to rest. Seemingly from the very aether, a shadowy figure appears, flying toward the beleaguered blond from the periphery of his vision. Suddenly, he'll find himself contending with a seeming second threat - a masked, curvy kunoichi streaming red sashes attempting to tackle him out of his tactical withdrawal before he can take a tumble off the sheer cliff face and find out for himself how harsh the falling damage in Elder Tale Online can be!

    How rude.

"Nooooo" is the blond's bewildered cry, as his soaring scarlet clad saviour sends him smacking into the soft ground below. He frantically fumbles to protect his face, flailing against her feminine form as she protects him and prevents him from taking a frightening amount of falling damage.

The Peko starts to squawk, backing away from the bundle of limbs in search of less alarming attractions."I'm okay!" the prince protests, his voice sounding pitchy and petrified.

"Stupid bird" he adds petulantly, once it's out of earshot.

    The entangled twosome tumble to a stop at the precipice of the terminal drop to the seashore below with room to spare as scant as the lower half of the female ninja's outfit as she pins the prince between her straddling thighs and digs the blades of her twin kama into the dirt to arrest their movement. Leaning back and letting her posterior plop down on Rafferty's princely personage, the ninja reaches up to push her dragon mask off to the side of her faintly flushed face.

    "Idiot," she calls the pretty boy she's sat on between deep breaths as she recharges her stamina. "You do realise that jumping off a cliff is a lot worse than getting attacked by a Peko, right? Then I would've had to wait around a whole day to find you again, not even counting figuring out where you respawned."

A dazzlingly delicious smile radiates from Rafferty's face as he recognises Raiza.

"Oh hey, babe!" he beams brightly, seemingly recovered from his run in with the Peko and a potentially perilous plunge.

As her pert posterior is positioned perfectly on its plushly clothed perch, he shifts beneath her stretching out his long limbs.

"It seems like it all turned out well" he comments casually. "Neither of us seems to have lost any health. We just had a bit of hassle and some raised heartbeats."

"What are you doing here anyway? Up to anything fun? I haven't seen you since the beach party when I had one too many tropical potions!"

    Raiza lets out a huff as Rafferty seems to shrug off her scathing rebuke - and the concern masked behind it - like water off of a duck's back. Then, realising the position that she's in as the Prince relaxes beneath her, she hastily scoots her booty off of him and onto the grassy clifftop, her cheeks still faintly flushed.

    "Who said anything about raised heartbeats? I'm totally relaxed," the ninja fibs as she forces herself to stop panting and sniffs. "I've just been out here to see a few sights and do some training."

    Of course, there's just been one sight in particular that she's been particularly interested in seeing, but she doesn't see any reason to mention that - and the 'training' has mostly been practicing her stalking technique for an amount of time she's lost track of since she located the Prince out on his pedestrian path. And why was that Peko so spooked, anyway?

    "You owe me, by the way. I totally saved your life - or stopped you having a nasty bout of amnesia, at least. And I told you last time, you don't have to call them 'tropical potions...' Of course, you probably don't remember much of that, do you?"

Oblivious to the babe's blushes, Rafferty listens as she states her case for him being in debt to her.

"Well if I can help you in any way, then please feel free to ask" he offers, though his tone reveals a hint of hesitance.

"I could get you some more tropical potions perhaps."

Apparently he's ignoring her tip to drop that name for them.

"You're right by the way. I don't remember much about that party at all! I think I was dancing at one point then it all went blank. How about you? Did you have a good time?"

He's rising to his feet now and looking around for any further signs of bullying birds.

    Raiza rises up to her own feet, dusting green blades of digital grass from her butt with her hands as she does so. She gives Rafferty a sidelong look with one of her emerald green eyes as he suggests that he could offer her some more 'tropical potions.'

    "So, when I owe you a favor, you cash it in by making me let you buy me a 'tropical potion.'" She accentuates her contempt for the phrase by providing air quotes with her fingers. "And now that you owe /me/ a favor, you offer to give me more 'tropical potions.' So, are you trying to get away with giving me a drink, something that you actually enjoy, to repay a literal life-debt?"

    Raiza folds her arms across her cleavage and gives a disdainful sniff, putting on an air of offense. "How about I let you get me a tropical potion for free, since you like doing it, and then you can come up with a better way to pay me back. Otherwise, I could leave you to the Pekos," she threatens, turning her nose up.

The 'Prince' looks most put out by Raiza's commentary on his generous gesture.

"I thought you liked tropical potions" he shrugs, his sulky scowl somehow making him seem even more beautiful. Maybe it's the brooding.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of tropical potions, thrusting them towards the nimble ninja girl.

"There you go, have those out of my good grace and generous nature. Now what do you think it is I owe you?"

These last words seem to be directed at her chest area rather than her face.

"I should remind you though, that I do have a girlfriend and I swear she's been acting more jealous lately."

    The 'tropical potions' are accepted, and through the magic of Elder Tale, disappear into Raiza's inventory despite the lack of anywhere obvious to put them given the bodysuit-style design of her outfit. Raiza's face remains aloof and off-turned as Rafferty asks what it is that she thinks he owes her.

    "Thanks for the gift. As far as what you owe me - hey, why are you staring at my chest when you say that?!"

    The kunoichi's face flashes with fire - not literally, in this instance, but certainly red hot - and she balls her hands into fists.

    "And what does you having a girlfriend have to do with it? And since when do you have a girlfriend?!"

    Each question seems to be delivered with mounting pitch and rising anger.

    "Do you think I'm some kind of desperate loser or something?! I didn't save your life just so you'd - you'd - whatever it is you think that I want you to do!"

The Californian looks confused, both at the raging Raiza and her line of questioning.

"Well I thought..."

He pauses, pretty face puzzled.

"That's what people usually want me for, unless they need a swimmer or something. It's not like you are going to want me to fight with you or work out some difficult equations is it?"

He straightens his silky suit and stands to his full height, as he looks down upon the bolshy brunette.

"Perhaps it would be simpler for all concerned if you just spelled it out. What do you consider my life to be worth?"

As he asks the question of her, he takes a step closer, seeking to make eye contact with his piercing blue peepers.

    Raiza sets her jaw as she stares back up at Rafferty, rather lost for words for a moment as she struggles to maintain her composure. She continues to simmer for a moment as she holds her arms at her sides.

    "Right now... I'd say it's worth about one good push," she says, placing a hand on the front of his shirt and threatening to imbalance him toward the long drop to the rocky shore behind him - but she curls her fingers around the collar to keep him from actually falling.

    "I don't need you to run my dee-pee-ess numbers, I can do those myself. As for fighting - "

    She quirks her lips, suddenly looking thoughtful. "Maybe you could actually help me with something along those lines. It would involve a bit of a workout... and it'd be pretty hot." Her green eyes shift to one side as her lips press together pensively, then she brings her eyes back up to his. The steaming anger seems to have escaped, leaving her tone more cool and casual. "Think you'd be up for it?"

"Don't you dare!" he screams, as she makes out as if she's going to facilitate his fall to his fate.

Those big blue eyes threaten to shed a tear of fear at her threat and by the time he realises she's not going through with it, a startled sob has slipped out.

He wipes it away, continuing to move his hand back to ruffle his lovely locks and then starts to sniffle sorrowfully.

"I suppose I could be under the circumstances."

That's about as enthusiastic as he can manage, despite the promise of a steamy session.

"You're going to have to be patient with me though. Can we take things nice and slow?"

    Satisfied that Rafferty is willing to concede to her demands, Raiza pulls him away from the cliff's edge by the collar, assuring that her favor won't be cut short by a quick and likely-fatal escape into the sea.

    "I prefer to go hot and hard, personally, but we'll see what you can handle. I'll try not to break you," the she-shinobi sing-songs as she sashays off toward the treeline, intending to keep the blond boy in tow. "We'll need a bit of room to tumble, so the cliffside's probably a little risky, unless you're into that. I think I spotted a clearing back through here..."