Cliff By The Ocean

    The ocean could be heard crashing below the rocky surface of the cliff face, as the trees with their star-like white flowers gently moved in the breeze coming from the ocean below.

On this rocky, grassy surface was a dark-scaled Salamander going through a few techniques. Not with a blade or shield. Not with magic, but rather hand to hand techniques. Things he was trained to do in the military.

His opponent? Just an old tree that was working out well for a striking point. Though when he did go to punch, he always did controlled motions. Nothing to get himself injured, but enough to brush the bark.

Though his fist at the end does strike the tree. More in frustration as he leans his head then up against the tree and closes his eyes. Breathing heavily and seeming tired.

The icy chill seems gone from the air with the shifting of the weather in Yamato. It's still cold, but it lacks that biting edge to it. Still, Mikage isn't about to delve off into the wilds of the game without some preperations, so she is still wearing the winter leathers that she has been seen in as of late. A thicker coat with fur lining that puffs up where the hood lies back against her shoulders.

She seems to be out on the hunt, perhaps looking for game or something else of that nature when she stumbles upon Xander doing his workout on the beach once more. It has a familiar feel to it, like the first time she'd run into him at sunrise. This time, though, she doesn't bother sneaking up on him. In fact, it would be hard to, as her pet lynx goes traipsing forward, running almost the entire distance up to Xander and then starts to circle his legs.

"So... this is just a thing you do, huh?" She asks, brows lifted. "Come out to the beach and beat up on plant life? Xander, tree slayer, most powerful of the Salamanders." She smirks.

    Xander blinked as he felt-- something brushing against his pant legs and looked down to see the Lynx, "... Hi there?" Then heard Mikage's voice, which he stood up straight to look at her.

He gives her a gentle smile before places his hands on his waist belt. "Its quiet, away from anyone, and it gives me somewhere to vent." The Salamander shrugs with his shoulders. "If you a few plants must die for my satisfaction so I don't do something idiotic, then so be it!"

Xander then crouches down and extends his hand to the Lynx, before seeing if he can pet it. "Is this fella yours?" He asks Mikage.

The lynx glances back towards Mikage briefly, then looks up at Xander with big eyes. The creature doesn't seem quite fully grown yet, and he extends his nose out, sniffing at the Salamander's hand. "He's mine. Be nice, Rama." Miki replies, though the lynx only twitches an ear in her direction.

"What has you so wound up that you need to take it out on the poor, innocent plants?" Her amusement seems to linger as she draws closer, her feet brushing against the ground in order to make sure she actually makes sound as she walks. For the most part, other than the heavier clothing, she looks much the same as before, though her 'inspect' would show that she now has a guild and alliance tag.

"I mean, if that's what helps you blow off steam, more power to you. Just figured something has to be gnawing at you if you're trying to sort through it by using your hands as woodworking tools." She whispers, teasingly, "You know you can't level up the skill that way, right?"

    "It is less leveling up and more just blowing off steam." Which Mikage already knows and Xander sighs softly, moving his hand just ever so slightly to see if the Lynx would even /allow/ him to pet him.

"The Scale Empire as a headquarters in the works. I met someone else who thinks the..." He rolls eyes his eyes at the term, but says it anyways, "... Landers are also evolving, and to test that theory, I might have to do some dirty work down the line."

    Xander lowers his eyes gently. "... what worries me, is that if I find out through more peaceful means that they are a ton more complicated and getting more complicated... can I honestly bring myself to do what I may have to do later."

The Salamander looks over and does an inspect, but doesn't bring attention to it yet. "... and while its nice to be able to walk, feel my lower half again." His eyes go back to the Lynx. "... I hate the fact..." His brows furrow. "... that the longer I stay here... The more I don't want to leave and yet I know isn't really living."

The lynx seems accepting enough to being stroked, and even manages a throaty little rumble of a purr as he arches into the touch. "He's friendly enough, especially if you have food." She chuckles, finally stopping to stand a short distance from Xander, likely not wanting to get in the way if he decides to go back to beating upon trees.

He might notice the fact that she goes quiet again, like she had before when he had spoken of his past. The girl seems to take things in and think before speaking at times. "I think we're still a bit early in the expansion to know one way or the other when it comes to the Landers." Miki tucks her hands into her pockets, seeming reasonably relaxed, despite his stress. "It's possible that they've been given some sort of adapting or evolving AI."

She lifts her shoulders in a shrug. "Most of the ones I've seen are maybe a little more lifelike, but they're still repeating dialogue options rather than having conversations. Except maybe for Mifa of the Fourland Dukedom. She seemed pretty advanced." Her head tilts, as if she were curious about his commentary, though. "What you might have to do later?"

Oblivious to the inspect tossed her way, Miki nods her head. "If you want my advice?" She pauses briefly, just long enough that he could shoot her down, then continues, "We don't know how long we'll be here. Take every chance you have here. This might not be your real body, but it is your mind. Your memories. Your thoughts. You are /living/ here, even if you do someday return back to the real world." She smiles, then laughs to herself. "Live, laugh, play, run, explore, fight, fuck, whatever it is you want to do." Her lip quirks, "Trying to get out doesn't have to stop you from appreciating the world, does it?"

    "Well, the trouble with one of those is I have zero clue if I am crib robbing or not." Xander says with a playful grin, giving the lynx a few scritches, before he at last stands up.

He looks Mikage dead on, but he never does answer her question about what he plans to do, instead he avoids it for the time. "And yeah, I know. Nothing is set in stone and survival should be more than just surviving. Just," He motions with his hand. "My head. I guess. I--" He licks his lips, looking off to the side.

Then his nose scrunched, before he looks to the ground. His silence takes hold, as words seem to fail him. He rumbles lowly in frustration. His tail twitches gently, before he shakes his head.

    "... A-anyways. I see you, um, you have a guild and alliance huh? Who did you decide with?" Xander asks her trying to move the topic along and off his own thoughts.

Miki laughs, the sound soft and almost musical. "You know, sometimes you make it really obvious that you're not Japanese." Oh, she knew that already. He'd given her his name and his story so it was obvious enough from that, but his way of seeing things also runs in contrast to some aspects of Japanese culture. "Older men marry younger women all the time in Japan. In fact, it's almost a badge of honor."

"Then again, I imagine it's a little harder here. People can lie to some extent about their age." She smirks. "But usually it's pretty obvious when you're dealing with a teenager. Though you also never know if the person behind the character is a guy or not, too. Adventurers are just a ball of mysteries."

She doesn't press when he evades the question. It's easy enough to make her own assumptions about what sort of things he feels he might have to do. "You have a lot swirling around in that head of yours. I imagine it's pretty busy up there." She reaches out, tapping a finger to the side of his head and then retreating them again, smirking.

As he makes note of her new allegiances, Miki just nods. "Silver Sword. Got an invite at the recruitment fair the other night. Tried to see if you were there, but you weren't." She lifts her shoulder in a half shrug. "They seemed focused on exploring and experiences, and they're one of the raid guilds, so there should be some decently challenging combat there." She makes no comment on the beliefs of the various alliances, though, at least not for now.

    Xander pulls his head back just slightly as she goes to tap it, "Hey easier there. This brain of mind already been through a blinder once in its life. It doesn't need to get more mixed up than it already is." He says with a grin. Though he knows he never told her /how/ he got paralyzed and thankfully-- she never asked.

"Funny thing is though, I was raised on the base, went to school most of my life in Japan, two years in America, and then came back here, but again-- Army life is /not/ Japanese life." He admits. "You know some of the culture, you grow up around some of the culture, but yeah... Not everything is... Cut and dry."

    The Salamander shifts his weight a little. "Yeah, I... Tend to run in my own little circle. Even if I /was/ there, I doubt some of them would have been happy to see a member of the Aincrad Liberation Front." He smiles, "But sounds like a good fit for you. The Silver Sword that is."

He reaches up and goes to ruffle her hair if she lets him. "You do seem to have a knack for exploring and getting around."

As he ducks away, Miki withdraws her hand. "Sorry." It's a quick response. She isn't particularly shy about physical contact, though there are plenty of people within the game who are. The fact that it feels real is a startling thing for a lot of people in the days after the Apocalypse. There's something in her expression that suggests she might be wary of doing such a playful gesture again.

"I was born and raised in Japan. Though we moved to Tokyo after my parents' divorce." She explains, "Though I'll be the first to tell you that there's more than a fair share of dumb that exists within Japanese culture." After a pause, her brows raise, "I imagine there's a good amount of dumb in military culture, too." She laughs.

"There were a few people from the Aincrad Liberation Front there. Pretty much all the major guilds had someone representing them." She tilts her head at him then. "This isn't going to become one of those things where you're like... Oh no! We have chosen different factions! Now we are unable to be friends and must be bitter rivals! Have at you!" She pouts on an accent, miming someone drawing a sword and waggling it in the air.

Then, of course, he has to ruffle her hair. Oh boy does that send her mixed signals on the whole touch thing. But she doesn't seem to mind it. Miki draws back and runs a hand through her hair, then sticks her tongue out at him. "If we're stuck here, I plan on seeing as much of it as I can. Who knows. There might be answers out there that we just haven't found yet."

    Mixed signals is nearly Xander's middle name. The Salamander moves his hand away and laughs a bit. "Nah and hopefully..." his voice takes on a more serious ton. "We never will be. I actually know more people in other guilds than I do my own " Xander frowns a little. "But it's always been that way."

He then goes to step away and lean against the old tree he was beating up earlier. "Also don't apologize for messing around." He hand waves gently, before tilting his head slightly. "I don't mind contact.. just don't get me super drunk... /that/," He rest his head off to the side rubbing his forehead gently. "Well, some of the crazier military culture might come out." He shrugs a little, "But I seriously doubt you'll ever see that."

     Xander's tail gently flicks as he continues to lean there. His eyes look down at the little lynx, before up at her. "By the way... Earlier. When we were talking about age and such..." He then pushes off the tree and walks over to her. He leans down slightly to look her more dead on as his tail sways gently behind him. "Why do you believe me? How do you know I am really a guy, who was military, and now paralyzed from the waist down?" He gets a little closer, "Or is it because it all sounds to true. Because I admit, I've been trying to guess you how honest you've been... And maybe your age." The dark scaled Salamander smirks. "Like my guess is your mid-twenties... Maybe mid-thirties."

"Good. Because if you started trying to play that card on me, I would have to dunk you into the frozen ocean until you wised up." She may not quite understand why he stands appart from his own guild, but Mikage seems glad enough to have people she calls friends across the various groups within the game. If nothing else, it keeps things from becoming too much of an echo chamber.

She watches as he leans against the tree, the shifting in his expressions, but she mostly stands still. The girl has a way of doing that sometimes, shifting from motion to stillness in a way that is almost eerie. "You're the one that always keeps inviting me out to drink. Even if the alcohol here does taste like piss water." Miki scrunches her nose, then shakes her head slightly, a few strands of white hair falling into her eyes in the process. "It's a shame the recording functions may or may not be working, since the antics of a drunken Xander sound like a hilarious series of Nero films."

The lynx trots back over to Miki at that moment, sitting next to her. Standing in that same stillness, her eyes follow his approach, meeting them with her own crystaline blue gaze. The height difference always means she has to look up slightly. "Call it a knack for reading people." She admits, her voice getting slightly softer in the process. "When people see a wheelchair, they make all sorts of assumptions about why you're in one. So you get to see people being fake as much as people being real." She lifts her shoulders then.

"You could be lying, but I don't think you are. I could be lying, but I don't think you're doubting me." Her lip quirks, but it lacks her usual humor, "Though I could be reading you entirely wrong." As for when he mentions her age, she just shakes her head. "I'd rather not play that game, if that's okay? The fact is, I don't really think it matters. I'm not a kid. I'm of legal age. I can drink." Which, for Japan, means she's at least twenty. "Beyond that, I don't really want to be judged on that." Her expression is almost a bit sad as she says this, "And you've already shown me that you will. So... I'll keep  my exact number of years on this fucked up world to myself, if you don't mind."

It might seem evasive, but at least she is being honest about it as much as she can.

    "I would argue..." Xander says softly, "But I can't, because you have a point. I /do/ judge on age, but, I also know it always isn't wise to do that."

The Salamander crosses his arms over his chest, as he closes his eyes. "I've met some folks who are younger than me and yet, they can be /wiser/ than me. Experience builds character after all, not how many years you've been alive." He opens his eyes and looks at her. "So, you gave me enough information to know you're an adult... And that is fine." He nods his head softly, "I won't push."

    Xander then continues to stand there in silence, jaw clenching a little in thought, "I am thirty-five." He says in all honesty in his voice. "I lost my ability to walk... or have any feeling in the lower part of my body from my waist," The Salamander lowers his arms to point at about where his belt is. "All the way down." He motions to his feet. "After the Flash of Death."

"So see," He chuckles then, "Because you have lived with something all your life, you take it in better stride than me, thus having more experience and, in turn, as two people who are handicapped." Xander then smiles softly, "You are my elder there." He then goes to further explain, "I might judge at a glance on age, but my end feelings on anyone is based on their experience and wisdom."

"We've got time." Miki turns away from him then, looking out over the water. She raises her hands behind her head and hooks them at her neck. It lightly covers the dark tattoo there, the one that marks her Were Fang form. A form that she has almost never used and only a rare few have ever seen. "And time builds trust. So maybe you'll find out someday, but right now..."

She just sort of leaves it off at that, sighing as she lets her hands fall back to her sides. It's clear she's listening to him, but she doesn't look back right away. Perhaps it's hard to do so. She is someone who hangs her heart on her sleeve and admitting that she isn't quite sure how much to trust someone is hard, especially when you might want to.

"I wish I could say that I understood what that felt like, but all I can do is empathize from my own situation." Blowing a few strands of hair out of her eyes, she sighs. "But I can picture it. That's why I was so good at Angelic Layer. It was all about what images you can hold in your mind." She reaches up, tapping the side of her head. "And I can see a strong, capable soldier. A man used to being able to protect himself and others. A man now faced with a life in a wheelchair. A life depending on others. A life without some of the things that he might feel make him a man."

She turns back towards him then, "All of that, taken away in an instant." There is no pity in her eyes, only an understanding that comes from someone having felt that sort of loss, herself. "I'm not any more experienced than you are, or wiser. We all just try to take this one day at a time and figure out how we take that next step... sometimes figuratively, sometimes literally."

"Japan can go ahead and go fuck itself for how they treat people, though. That is the one thing I'm not looking forward to dealing with if we get back to the real world."

    Xander walks up to where she is, so when she turns around, she doesn't find him to far away. Then he keeps walking, walking right to the cliff edge. His boots just inches away, as he looks down at the ocean below.

The Salamander then looks back to her. "... What if we didn't go back?" He asks her raising a brow, "What if, even if we do managed to find the key to send people home-- we choose to stay here." His body then turns to fully face her.

"It's maybe a horrible idea, because I know for me, I'd leave behind my mom who lost my dad and nearly already lost me once, but," His eyes look off to the distance. ".. It would probably save her suffering more."

    Xander then laughs a little before, he full turns to face her. "Stay here and make this our new home!" He grins a little. Was he being serious? Was he joking? Just trying to lighten the mood? It was hard to figure out. "Maybe even become pirates." He nods his head a little, before he slides over to her, moving to place his arm around her, while avoiding the small lynx. "Mikage and Xander! Pirates of the great seas! Masters of their own destiny!" He then grips his free hand fist close and strikes outward, before extending his finger toward the ocean. "Where none shall stand in our way!"

She doesn't make any move to stop him going right to the edge of that cliff. Maybe before they realized that players could respawn, she might have been concerned, but at the moment, she just seems curious about what he is doing.

His question catches her off-guard, moreso than one might expect for someone who has pledged their alleigance to the New World Alliance. Mikage is quiet for a moment, then adds, "It's an option." She shakes her head then. "Let's say, some future hypothetical time when our benefactors outside have figured a way of getting us out, or we figure out own escape... How long do you think they'd still keep this place running? How long would they keep paying to keep our bodies alive if we choose never to return?" If their bodies even still exist. There were plenty of theories.

"There's so much we don't know." She whispers, sighing to herself. "If this is our new reality, I want to savour every moment of it. Live it to the fullest for whatever time we have in it." Glancing at Xander, she seems conflicted. "But if it comes down to a choice... I'd rather live in the real world, than die here. At least, even if I'm returned to my failing body, I'd still have my mind. I'd still be able to try to help people." She laughs, but there is no humor in it, "Maybe I'm just afraid to die."

The prospect of becoming pirates has her laughing though, a real laugh this time. She doesn't avoid the arm placed around her, and after a moment, even leans into the contact a bit. It's unlikely she really had that kind of affection in the real world. "Too bad you never got a chance to play in Dark Water. I heard that's a pirate's paradise."

    Xander doesn't reply to her words, they were words he has shared in some ways to others, but he got her to laugh, and that was a victory, proven by the big boyish smile that crosses his face.

Though when she leans in, he blinks a little, his features soften and he glances to the side with his eyes. "Y-Yeah. But hey! Always can do that one day. Just for fun."

    He looks back to her, "Like you said, live life to the fullest, right?" He doesn't move his arm away, though he wasn't sure if he should, and it was becoming slowly clear if one could see the fidget of his tail. "So, what would you want to do here, to the fullest, if you had a choice."

Xander kind of said those words back to himself, after he realized that sounded a little silly, but hrmed a bit, "If uh, um, if th-that question made any sense."

For what was likely just a kind gesture, Mikage does lean into his arm for probably longer than strictly necessary. Yet, she isn't completely oblivious to his reaction to that. The twitching of his tail catches her eyes and she stands straighter again, under the guise of trying to stretch her arms out with a sigh. The girl may be just a little touch-starved, even if she won't admit it.

"You remember what happened on the trip to Ezzo. Not sure either of us are fully capable of being pirates. Not yet, anyways." She had ended up looking a bit like a drowned rat after facing those weird, clicking fish-men that seemed drawn to the Lander ships.

Her arms fall back to her sides, hands slipping into her jacket as she looks at him. "I want to do everything. See every corner of the world, delve every dungeon, run through every field. Hopefully find a way to make food not disgusting so I can eat all the delicious things." She laughs again, some of her humor returning to her. "I just want to live. With everything that goes along with it."

    Xander watches Mika stretch with the corner of his eyes. His tail slowly comes to a stop. He continues to watch her. Her movements, her words, even how she presents the words.

A friendly smile crosses his lips as she explains everything she wants to do. Including making real food that tastes like food. "You and I both, Mika. You and I both." this though causes him to snap his fingers, as he turns to quickly face her. The side of his fist coming to rest in the palm of his hand. "Did you hear about the compass? Someone named... Jazz-something made this compass! Like actually made it, without the menu. This apparently lead to the compass pointing West, instead of North."

     Xander taps his chin gently, "I've been debating on seeing if I could make a campfire that way. Like I would in real life." His hand lowers by his side, "But a little busy to test that out and I really need to find out if the monster AI is evolving before something bad happens. Like mass death." Xander shakes his head, "Anyways, I should be going. We can talk more on it, alright?"

"I heard." Miki confirms, nodding her head. "Haven't had a chance to talk to her about it, or see it in person, though. Seems like there's a good number of folks experimenting with the crafting systems." She smirks, "Unfortunately, I didn't invest into that with my skills. Best I can do is hunt animals, which won't be that useful until I can trade them with someone for some finished food or leathers."

As he rattles off all the things on his list, she chuckles, "Busy man. Guess I'll leave you to it then." She looks down to her lynx, "Come on, Rama. Let's go see if we can find anything worthwhile to hunt. Maybe Miss Sassaral will be able to make some progress with the whole cooking thing." Though she has her doubts. If the guilds haven't made progress, it is unlikely a single person will. Still, having the raw materials means that once someone does figure out the problem, she should be set.

"See ya around. Don't go killing too many trees." She waves behind her, heading away from the cliff and back towards civilization.