Encounter in the Dead Forest

On the highest known floor of Aincrad, Ameia walks through a forest of tall, lifeless trunks. She has her hands behind her back, violet eyes slowly drifting around the area. She's dressed in her usual outfit of a black-and-white dress and black boots.

Crouching down, the Imp picks out one of those white, star shaped flowers to look at it more closely.

Unfortunately, Ameia's never been much a florist, so she couldn't say what kind of plant it had come from. It may not even have a real-world equivalent, she supposes.

Apart from the dead flora, there isn't much to see; it doesn't matter how many times she comes back here.

Hisame cracks her knuckles as she walks through the dead woods, looking for... signs of anything really. Ingredients, people. Clues. She hasn't been out this way for a while, but it's something to keep in mind.

There are sounds nearby though. She tilts her head towards it and hefts her scythe up and over her shoulder with a 'clunk' noise and starts to walk towards it, humming softly as she walks.

She herself is something of a florist, in that she knows what makes potions tick, but she's not focused on that now. Instead she's focused on the other imp. A hand goes up and she waves, "Yo!"

Ameia jumps a little and turns around.

"Oh, it's you," she says. Standing up, she shakes her skirt a little to get the dirt off and pockets the flower.

The two of them - Hisame and Ameia - have never really met before, but Ameia can generally recognise others in Scale. In particular, she's seen this one's posts on the BBs a few times.

"Didn't expect to run into someone. There's not really anything here, after all."

Ameia puts her hands on her hips. "Then again, that's the perfect place to hide a floor boss, isn't it? Nothing here exists without reason."

Hisame looks around at the surrounding area at the idea of some kind of boss being here. "Maybe. Could also be a breather floor or something." She rocks back on her heels, considering the idea though. "Huh. Maybe there's a trick to it."

Finger to her chin, she concludes, "Maybe bringing life back to it? Bet I could bring a growth formula up and spawn a boss. That might be.. a disaster in the making though.

The imp turns her head to look at the other imp after though. "Haven't actually run into you before right? That's a pretty outfit." She bobs her head. Then grins, "Was always terrible about drawing them though. You spend 20 minutes designing it. Decide it's wrong and toss it, then you start over again. Enough to drive you mad."

Ameia nods and holds out a hand, gesturing to the swathe of dead trees. "Not like there's anything to ruin here," she says. "Even the settlements that were here have been turned to rubble. A bit of greenery might do some good."

Hearing Hisame's comments about her outfit, she poses a little in her lolita dress. "It is, isn't it? To be honest, I'm not really sure where it comes from. I got it as a gift, well... back then."

She leans against a nearby tree. "I'm not much of an artist, but I get the idea of going mad doing something over and over. I think, at some point, you just have to settle for something so you can move on to the next thing; the next learning opportunity, if you will."

Hisame glances around and says, "I mean. Nothing to ruin, but it might be a bad idea still. Don't want to trigger something you're not prepared for. I'm wreckless, but not that wreckless. Usually. Most of the time..." And you know, she's mellowed out a bit.

She tilts her head at the idea of being a gift. "Internet boyfriend gift or osmething else?" That's actually a bit worrying. There's a brief scowl.

A hand goes up and she wriggles her fingers, "I did it professionally. Still terrible at some things." She finds this amusing though. "Not for lack of trying. Sometimes it's just easier to hit a deadline without people breathing down your neck about things. Even if it's your own inner dialogue."

Ameia puts a hand to her jaw. "A boyfriend? More like, a silly girl who wanted to be an idol..."

"Ah, a professional? That makes sense. You have pressure to make get just right for your customers, don't you? It's good to remember that just because someone pays you, it doesn't mean you owe them anything more than what they paid for... if you know what I mean." She sighs.

"Personally, I think this place could do with a shake-up. So, I might steal your idea of trying to revive the plantlife. One could even burn it all down, and turn the remains into farmland. After all, it's said ash is nutritious for plants, right?"

Ameia knocks on the tree with her knuckles, feeling that dry, hollow bark. "I'd rather see that go terribly wrong, than continue staring at this wasteland."

Hisame tilts her head at that and asks, "A girlfriend?" Definitely took that the wrong way. She gives the other girl another look though!

She nods at the question though, "Yep yep. Kind of. Customers are the guys that release the magazines though." she waves her hand dismissively, "Well nd technically the nerds that bought my stuff."

As for the farmland stuff, she offers something of a shrug. "Depends on the ash I think? Maybe? I'd run ideas past the higher ups though. I've been gone so long." She makes another dismissive gesture, "Back to help though."

Crossing her arms, adopting a more relaxed stance with her scythe planted she asks, "Why not focus on something else for a bit?"

Ameia snorts. "No, not a girlfriend. We've known each other since elementary school. I don't, um, think I swing that way."

She crosses her arms and looks at Hisame again. "Focus on something else? What do you mean?" she asks.

Hisame rubs the back of her head. "Ah. Well you'd said you didn't know where it came from, I was guessing." She shrugs at the other part though. "Nothing wrong with that"

She pats herself down then looks around and mutters to herself for a moment. "Uh. Like getting a hobby or helping improve the lives here sort of thing."

Ameia plays with her hair as Hisame speaks. "Improving the lives here... Tsk..." she says.

As it turns out, even a quiet whisper projects surprisingly well in such a quiet place.

"Is that why we're here, to live nice lives? How can that happen? When my life was stolen from me?" She turns her head slowly, looking away from Hisame. "Maybe you have the wrong impression of me. Doing this... it's boring, but I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't think it would lead somewhere. This is me. This is what I do. I don't need a distraction."

Ameia looks back at Hisame. "Why are you here, then? Is this place entertaining to you? I know artists can have strange tastes."

Hisame rests her hands on her hips and says, "We're stuck here, even if you think they're some kind of program, it makes our lives better by proxy. It's been long enough as is."

The idea that the life was stolen from her, like she doesn't know it herself. "Were you published? Were you finally getting acclaim around the world? Did you have a loving girlfriend? Don't act like you're the only one." She shifts her stance and gives the girl a flat look.

"Why am I here? Because I'm stuck here and I'm making the best of things. Better than sitting around. Whining."

Ameia narrows her eyes. "It may have been a roll of the dice that landed me in here, but it's not dice that decides whether I decide to take it laying down. Isn't that why you joined Scale? Because that's the reason I'm still out here, staring at stupid, boring, dead trees, instead of pursuing a hobby, or 'making a mark' on this world, or living some semblance of a life."

She stops leaning against the tree. "If I'm only here to be ridiculed for actually trying to do something, then I think I'll be on my way. Enjoy your scenic walk."

Hisame facepalms and says, "I joined scale because at the time we were trying to find a way out while also treating the locals as people for the exact reason I just stated. If you're stuck here, might as well make life easier as a whole."

As for making a mark, she shrugs. "We've already made a mark on the world, but if we're here for another two years? I'd like to have plumbing back. I'd like to have hot showers back. I'd like printing presses bare minimum."

she gestures up and away, "I'm not mocking you for your attempts to do something. I'm wondering how you've made it two years without any creature comforts."

"I'm a magus. I can make my own hot showers," she says. "As for books, there are libraries. I'm also a scribe, so I'm no stranger to how tedious it is to copy books. Yet, I don't spend my time building printing presses. Why? Because there is no book in this world which compares to what's out there. There's no book here, the mass-production of which would make any different to getting out of here."

She puts her hands behind her head. "I'm grateful for other people improving life here. Being able to cross islands by steamboat instead of sailboat? Yes, great. So what? Should I also pick up a wrench and start building a boat? Or perhaps, inventing a massage chair or making funny drawings, or holding a concert? If everyone just gives up when something's hard, or boring, and starts placing inconsequential luxuries and imitations of the real world ahead of what mattered in the first place, then why pretend? We may as well relabel as the 'people living in the tower', not the 'people who are getting us out of here'."

Ameia gives Hisame a less-than-favourable look. "You may not have mocked me for trying to get out of here, as you claim, but you did act incredulous that I wouldn't rather pursue a hobby, or spend my time 'improving lives'. I'm sorry I don't just give up and go coddle myself with modern comforts, or spend my time doing anything as long as it's not 'sitting around whining'. I'm also sorry I didn't have a loving girlfriend, or was aspiring to fame in the real world, or had world recognition, or had such apparently petty attachments to the real world that I would forget about them after only two years. It's almost as if we're different people, that think differently. I don't need someone else second-guessing my own motivations."

Hisame shakes her head and says, "No, but a printing press does help spread news around. Helps us affect how the world might go. Changes what kind of support we can get." she points, "And even if we're not doing that, books written by us or even comics are a nice thing." She shrugs, "What will you do if we're stuck here? You're a scribe. Nothing you want to share? No memories? No long term planning?"

As for the self-righteous approach, as Hisame sees it, she shakes her head. "Leadership must have changed drastically since I was last around. The idea of balance has apparently gone out the window. Along with any humility."

Hisame returns that less than favourable look with the same look she gave newbie editors. A deadpan, 'This won't get you anywhere' kind of look. "You're so wound up you're jumping off at the mere thought of doing something for your mental health that isn't just whinging about how boring the dead trees look." She opens her arms, spinning in place, showing it off. "You have nothing to show for it too." Her hands bob up, "I at least went looking for supplies. To improve my alchemy. To be able to prepare for the worst-" she points an accusing finger back after she turns. "Which is precisely what I originally suggested. We aren't ready yet, you're not going to solo a damn thing, but if you can find a way to organize a group, we can prepare and see what happens." She points down, "But no, you've got to jump to. Lose more memories. Splatter yourself in a spectacularly stupid way. Then you're going to whine to the healer that they're bad, or to the tank that they didn't grab aggro fast enough."

She then laughs and adds, "You think I've forgotten it? You think I don't spend every day wondering what happened? That I don't want to go back? You think I didn't spend sleepless nights under tutelage of another mangaka just to throw it away here? No, you're an impatient little child throwing a tantrum."

Ameia's jaw stiffens. Then she exhales. "Perfect. So we'll be perfectly prepared for something we'll never actually find, because apparently I should rather go around the outside of the problem and procrastinate for all eternity; I should just go fight the Palace Landers for another half a year, then go grind, or sit at a table and chat about hypotheticals regarding situations we have no information about, right? Then go over the same old experiments and same old floors of the tower and make small talk and make no actual progress while I and everyone else wait for the floor boss to just spring out of the ground so we can kill it. Yes, I'm so reckless and impatient for taking action on the lowest hanging fruit in a way that actually suits my skillset. How childish of me!"

She puts a hand on her hip. "And for the record, I don't disagree that technological and lifestyle improvements are beneficial to our goals. At the same time, I'm sick to death of listening to people who only care about those things because they alleviate personal discomforts, or because they think what they do in this world matters at all, or because they want to live in a fantasy and leave the real world behind them. Too often I hear people in Scale these days say we're 'stuck here' or use the phrase 'The Old World' without even realising it. That's what has me wound up. The idea that we're starting to become complacent and without hope."

"You want to improve your alchemy, right? Could've just said so. I don't need to hear a muttered judgement about how much free time I'm giving myself, or some kind of argument about whether these, what I would assume are unequivocally, boring trees are in fact, boring." Ameia seems no longer hostile towards Hisame, instead taking on that original neutral expression. "I should take my own advice," she says, looking at her hand. "Rather than go mad over perfectionism, I'll take what I can get and move on to the next thing. In this case, the next area to check."

"Let me know if you find anything alluding to alchemy here. The only thing I've found so far are these flowers. They don't seem to be clues, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're useful for something else."