A Chance Encounter

    Nearly two weeks now. It's been almost two weeks since everyone had been trapped in the game... Could this even still be called a game now? No, it's something far worse, far more sinister. It's not something Amalthea would like to call her new reality, and the first chance she gets? She's going to find a way to bust out and get back home.
    For now though, the Paladin; an older adventurer, is returning to the City of Beginnings. Everyone has been scrambling for every scrap of XP they can get and she's not been shirking either, coming back with a quest or two to turn in before she moves on to the next area to get back to the grind, now that she has some equipment that's better than the rusted starter stuff she had before.
    For now though, the old woman could use a break. And that's why the old adventurer plops down on a bench, hands on her knees to heave a weary sigh before she stares up at the sky. It's blue. A perfect, clear, cloudless blue.
    "But it's not my sky..."

    The past two weeks have been hectic for Dex, that much is certain. When he found himself unable to leave the game he'd logged into, there was a brief moment of panic. However, once that subsided, he had smiled and set about his business, busying himself with trying to tune up his equipment and exploring as much of the world as he could safely reach. With nothing but time on his hands now, he had explored a decent chunk of the wilds in the shadow of Aincrad, taking down beasts and, in a sense, getting used to his new body.

    After all, since he couldn't leave, this WAS his new body, and now he could do things his pasty, weak form hooked to the computer could never dream of doing. Of course, now he felt the exhaustion of such things much more keenly, and it was in this spirit that Dex finds himself in the city of Carmina Gadelica. He pauses briefly to get a feel for the area, the warmth of the sun, the swaying of the breeze, and the sounds of the NPCs that made up most of the population going about their daily lives. It was like real life, in a lot of senses, only Dex had a bow slung over his shoulders, a shortsword at his waist, and he had none of those pesky qualms of nervousness and shyness that so completely isolated him in the 'real' world. And so he makes his way through town, eventually making his way past Amalthea's bench and freezing as he does. He glances back at the Paladin, not catching her words but offering a smile as she looks up at the sky.

    "Better than the real thing, right?"

    With her head still tilted towards the sky, one clear, crystal, blue eye rolls down to glance at the youth that's wandered so close to her bench.
    'Better than the real thing' he asks.
    In a sense, it's been... Interesting. No more back problems, the ravages of age? All gone. Amalthea hasn't felt THIS damned good in well over thirty years; it's almost as though she were in her prime all over again. But the older adventurer's answer might not be quite what the younger man would have expected.
    "No. It's not." She says at first. "It seems so real, but there's no way it can be. That sky isn't my sky." She murmurs, finally tilting her head down. A breath in through her nose slowly filters out through her teeth as she props her hand on her knee, armor rattling quietly as she drums her fingers in place. "The food tastes like shit, too."
    When everything tastes like Actual Depression, Amalthea is certainly going to have an opinion on it.
    "There are some perks, I guess." She does admit though, patting herself lightly on the chest. "Feels real at least. And I've never felt this good in years, so I guess I've got that going for me, right now."

    Dex's smile falters a bit as Amalthea answers, and he crosses his arms. "You mean the real sky? Not all it's cracked up to be, honestly. Sunburn, for one, especially if it looked like this? No thanks. I'll take the digital construct any day." Perhaps it's his relative youth compared to the Paladin's, or maybe just a difference in outlook on reality, but he finds her answer a bit uncomfortable. He does offer a grin about the food though. If there was something he missed, it was the taste of some of his favorite dishes. "I have to give you that one," he says, "but given enough time, I think that can change for the better."

    Dex leans against the bench, glancing upward and then along the road to the side of which the bench is stationed. He could, and has, watched the world go by, finding more joy in even that simple action than the loneliness he normally felt doing so from his apartment window. Maybe it was the fact that he could talk to them and, unlike the real world, could tell himself they were just programs and not worry too much about it. It was hard to tell.

    "Perks? Like everything. Life is so much more exciting now, and I don't have to worry about the tedium and lo-- err... tedium of the real world! I can go out and just... do whatever. It's such a wonderful feeling... I'm not sure I can ever go back."

    That makes the older adventurer's brow arch. "What's the sun without getting a little burned. There's no such thing as perfect, you know." Amalthea says mildly, before making a face still thinking about the food.
    "Yeah, I'm sure someone'll figure out how to make something that doesn't taste like literal despair, soon, but until then I'll stick with apples." She snorts.
    Perks though. Well, she leans forward, patting herself on the back. "I had a back back. Now I don't." She says with a chuckle. But something about what Dex says makes her eyes narrow.
    The tedium and *what*?
    She doesn't press him on it, but does go back to drumming on her knee. "Well. Unlike you, I've got my own reasons for wanting to go back." She says, "And I'm going to fight tooth and nail for them."
    A pause.
    "Whats your name, kid?" Sure, she could just EX him to get his character name, but call her old fashioned.

    Dex shakes his head. "The Daystar tries to roast me alive. I'll take my chances in the perfect version, thanks. Sorry I don't enjoy feeling like I'm on fire." He grins, then shrugs a bit. "Nothing is perfect, I guess. The weather can change here a lot faster than in real life, I think, but even that's not so bad. It's as close to perfection as I care to look for."

    He smiles a bit, then nods. "At least the fruit are tasty enough. A nice juicy orange is a welcome change of pace." He blinks as Amalthea mentions her bad back, curious about the statement and the connotations it could have, but instead just lets it go. "See? Benefit!" He beams, but he can tell they're different in this regard. One wanted the real world, and one wanted this one to be the real one. But, Amalthea certainly seemed nice enough regardless, so he decides to stop pushing the subject, especially as she mentions having reasons to get back.

    Aside from hearing from his parents, Dex can't think of any for himself.

    "Dex Alruin, ma'am," he says, offering a small incline of his head. "What about you?" He could look it up, of course, but he only wanted to do that with NPCs. With other players he felt like it was... skeevy.

Gwen has seemed to accept for the moment they will be stuck here and might s well enjoy it. She spots Dex and Amalthea and drifts towards them. She's got some kind of fruit in hand it looks like cherries? She seems to be nomming away on them as she nears both Dex and Amalthea.

She grins at Amalthea and will wait for her to introduce herself to dex then speak.

"So you and your friend want some cherries?"

She asks offering both Dex and Amalthea a bag. The tall pointy-eared woman grins.

"I think most of the major guilds are going after the whole food thing."

    Blue eyes squeeze shut for a beat, but Amalthea opts to not counter the youth's enthusiastic spite for the sun. Their desires are too wildly different, but Amalthea isn't the kind to write someone off on a matter of differing opinion.
    "Amelia." She responds after a beat. "Amelia Theodore." She gives her real name in a rare decision of trust, before giving a wave of her hand, "But I registered to this damned game under the name 'Amalthea', so use that if you like."
    That's when her eyes open and she eyes the youth's gear and equipment.
    "You've been questing?" She asks pointedly. "Upgrading your gear as you go?" She asks further, "Not taking any stupid risks when your health runs low?"
    And then... Enter the Gwen.
    That's a familiar face, and the old Paladin lifts a hand in greeting as the other tank makes her approach.
    "Yes, please." She says when the cherries are offered, plucking a few from the bag when it's held her way. "And what have *you* been up to, Gwen? Last I saw you, we were in Alne, whistling the Ghostbusters theme and hunting spooky ghosts." Amalthea chuckles.

    Dex offers a small smile, then offers another incline of his head. "Nice to meet you, Amelia," he says, "I'm not the most creative when it comes to names, so what you see is what you get here and outside." He beams again, then blinks as Amalthea starts questioning him. In response, he gestures off-handedly and opens his equipment screen. He glances down the list, taking note of the durability values for each piece and nodding. "Yeah. I'm trying to get into the groups that are touring Aincrad, so I need to grind out some better stuff. Durability seems solid, and I don't tend to let my enemies get to me." He gestures behind him to the bow on his shoulders, closing his equipment screen in the process.

    He chuckles lightly, then bows his head again. "Thank you for the concern, though. I hope you've been managing as well?" As Gwen approaches and Amalthea seems to know her, he offers another bow of his head. He politely takes a cherry, munching on it and savoring the taste for a long moment. He wasn't looking forward to choking down dinner later, after all.

    "Hello there. My name's Dex. Dex Alruin. Nice to meet you as well!"

Gwen says "Been involved in the claiming of the city on the first floor. It was quite the fight to be sure. Gwen Pendragon."

Clearly not an actual name but good luck if you want to get her to use anything but her avatar's name.

"Me? Poking at food and working on a clothing project something practical. Though I'm going to need more spider silk. Once I get that done? I'm going to fully throw myself into9 the food project."

    "Ah damn, they've already started the first floor have they? I need to get in on that before I'm left in the dust." Amalthea mutters as Gwen details what she's been up to. Pausing long enough to toss a cherry in the air and catch it in her mouth, she chews slowly, spitting the core out to the ground, nodding at Dex's proper introduction and detailing of his gear.
    "Yeah. I've been surviving. I joined up with those ah... Odysseia Knights. It's a lot of hard work. Mostly soloing, sometimes doing things with a small group. Leaves me free to run things at my own pace, though, and I've been non-stop at it."
    "Spider silk?" She asks cocking a brow. "If I run across any I'll mail it to you."

    Dex smiles and takes another cherry, this one slipping into his pocket. "I've heard the fighting up there is pretty fierce, yeah. I want to make sure I don't go out like a buster, so I'm exploring for secret grinding spots down here. Might get lucky with the drops, after all." He stretches, rolling his shoulders and stifling a yawn to not seem rude in front of the others. "The Odysseia Knights, huh? I've heard about them. I've joined up with the Sleeping Knights myself. Despite the name, they're really working on getting things done."

    He leans back, looking up at the sky briefly and loosening himself up a bit. "I'm not much of a cook, honestly, but if I can help make things actually taste good, I might give it a shot. Combat's more my specialty, though." He grins, then scratches the back of his head. "Thinking I might start working on armor and weapons on the side. Make some useful stuff for the exploring groups, or just the other adventurers in general." He glances at Gwen, then nods. "I'll help you out there, too, if I come across any." This time, he can't stifle the yawn he feels coming on, and he blinks as it lets itself out.

Gwen says "Yeah, it was an alliance of a lot of big guild and smaller operators. It did pretty well, and Odysseia? Poor choice of name few of the people on the Odessy survived to return home in the end if I recall right."

She looks to Dex for a moment

"It's pretty nuts and a lot of the SEA are fighting like they were playing a Korean made MMORPG they will burn out if they keep pushing that hard."

She notes and she looks to Amalthea.

"It should work for a replacement of silkworm silk. Given the giant spiders, we have about. Needs to be strong yet really comfortable. You could hunt for materials for cooking that could help a lot of people are working at it and it could help lessen the coffer drain."

She grins at this.

"I'd appicate it!"

    "Only Odysseus made it back alive, if I remember right." Amalthea says with something of a scowl. "Guess I'm glad no one in the guild is named 'Ulysses'." The old adventurer says in reply to Gwen's comment before she looks to Dex, a thin smile forming on her lips.
    "The Sleeping Knights, huh? I heard they do anything but sleep." She says mildly. "Mmmm, I was alright at cooking before. My husband was better at it, but he's not here, but I guess I'd better start learning fast. I'm tired of everything tasting like what being despondent feels like.. Armor and weapons though. That's a good trade here, I'd say. Everyone'll be needing them."

    Dex blinks, listening to both women with interest for a long moment. "That bad, huh?" he asks, "I've been trying to keep the information on runs to a minimum so it doesn't cloud my approach." And he's often in places where people don't often go, so news is slow unless he's actively watching for it. At the suggestion of ingredient hunting, he nods. "That should be easy enough, I think. Maybe. Some of these zones are pretty dangerous, and smart money says that a lot of good ingredients lie in areas that haven't been exhaustively treaded." He offers a smile, then brushes his shoulders. "Lots of spiders of all sorts of sizes around here. I guess it's a matter of finding the highest quality silk."

    He yawns again, and this time he sways on his feet. "They've been fairly busy lately, yeah," he says to Amalthea, "And I figure I should help them however I can. Once I get some skills under my belt, I'll make sure to let you know. If I can keep the frontline well-geared, that just means they can soak up more abuse so I can do my thing, right?" He offers a wave of his right hand, smiling again and rubbing an eye with his left. "My apologies, but I think I need to go live up to my guild's name for a bit. It was nice to meet you both! Hopefully we can meet up and go exploring sometime!"

    He smiles and bows his head, then turns and heads for the city proper in search of a place to lay his head.

Gwensays "There are the mines that keep having trouble with them in this region. The EXP is pretty good there too."
FD She looks to Amalthea for a moment

"Yeah I used to be notable in tailoring. A few notable folks were and hopefully will still be my customers. I'm getting back into it as I can produce some kinds of armour and I need to expand into weapons and heavier armour as well. It would be nice to make my own gear."

She looks to Dex for a moment humming at him.

"Sounds like a plan and the Inns are pretty fairly priced here and if you want a good pub the Fertility is pretty good! The food's the same as everywhere else but the service is good."

    "Huh!" Amalthea muses when Gwen tells her about those mines. She pens a mental note to go clear them out, later for XP and silk to send on over. "Well. I could use more changes of clothes than what I've got, so consider it a deal. I'll get you silk, and you've got yourself a new customer."
    Simple as that, as she waves Dex off on his merry way. She stands herself up as well. "That... That sounds like my kind of place then. I should see about turning in for the day myself before I get on with anything else. I could use the rest."

Gwen says "I'll ley you know when I get my project done too." She grins for a moment "You'll like the owner, she's pretty good at keeping the peace in the bar too." Gwen grins a little bit at Amalthea as she too turns to head off herself. "I'll be in touch!"