Complete Eastern Brisshal First Steps

[Toko]

Nao couldn't remember the last time she had played a game... and they certainly hadn't been anywhere close to this one, that was for sure.

Something about the title screen seemed vaguely familiar, but it was soon forgotten when she was presented with the very expansive customizable options the game had for her character. A copy of her, in just black underwear, stood unmoving in front of Nao... the whole ting a bit unnerving at first considering the very detailed structure of the model. How the VR managed that was beyond her knowledge, but soon enough the faint uneasy feeling ebbed away as Nao began to test the available options.

She had decided to play on a whim and, as a result, didn't really had any idea in mind... all Nao knew was that she didn't want to look like herself out there in a fantasy world, that was just way too weird and kind of creepy in her humble opinion. However she didn't felt like fiddling too much with the ranges of the body and face, concerned that she might screw something up and not be able to revert or fix it enough later. It was then that one of the beastfolk options caught her eyes, the lepus variety having randomly assigned a white furred and red eye version... one that reminded her of the little usagi she had raised as a child. Before Nao knew it she had spend who knew how much time perfecting this new character, and the lepus model that now looked back at her exuded an air of confidence and power.

She couldn't help but chuckle softly, her eyes glancing at the selected username that seemed so childish in comparison to the created character—but she had loved Toko dearly, and considering the rambunctious little rabbit had been the inspiration for this model it seemed only fitting to use her namesake. With a nod and a click Nao locked in her final choices, before watching a white haze begin to filter into the creation room as everything became blurry...

"Uwaaah..."

By the time Nao had come to, her eyes blinking as they adjusted to the new view before her, she couldn't help the soft sound of surprise that escaped her lips as the lepus looked around. Lush greenery could be seen all around her, and as she focused more on it the woman was pretty sure this verdant expanse easily rivaled the natural areas and forest found around her home in Ōgimi village. Long ears twitched as they caught the sound of singing birds in the distance, though their tunes weren't ones that Nao recognized. Carefully she crouched down, allowing her hands to softly caress over the blades of grass and wildflowers around her, as she marveled once more at the realism of it all.

"No wonder Obaachan always talked so excitedly about what she'd done for the day in her gardening game."

Her eyes trailed off to the horizon then and the tree line, watching as the hues of the sky changed as the dawn progressed. Had she truly spent all night just creating her character? Or perhaps this game world operated on its own time clock...

 

[Solaria]

Not far away, another player had materialized for the first time. Solaria was a commonly seen name in MMOs, but not in this one, no. She was wandering around the woods in awe at the realistic scent of the trees, and the way the taller grasses tickled her ankles ever so softly. There was something awe-inspiring about this world, and it left Solaria's jaw dropped.

Or at least, it did until she saw someone else. Her lips came together to turn upward as she ran towards the stranger at full speed, grinning ear to ear. There was something about the woman that screamed 'in awe' like Solaria felt. And so, she had to bond over it.

"It's amazing, isn't it? I really feel everything!"

She adjusted her position and held a hand out to the woman before her. She could only wonder what the beastfolk would think of her elven character. "My name is Solaria. Did you just start too?"

 

[Toko]

Nao had been so engrossed in her admiration for this new world that she hadn't realized the presence of another had appeared, the steps of the elf mingling with the rest of the sounds in the forest. It wasn't until the voice reached her ears that Nao startled, a soft squeak escaping her lips as the lepus jumped back momentarily before realizing she wansn't in any particular danger.

"Ah, gomen, I didn't noticed you around..." A small bow was given, a customary thing for Nao, before she nodded in agreement to the elf. "Yeah, this place is really beuatiful... you could easily think you got transported to another world if you weren't aware that it's just a VR game."

Maybe she should've paid more attention to the games and news, who would've though that VRs nowadays were so advanced little did Nao know this was one very illegal game for that very reason. As a hand was extended, the elf introducing herself as @Solaria, the lepus snapped out of her thoughts as she extended her own in greetings.

"Hajimemashte, I'm Take—ah wait, no, that's wrong gomen... I'm Toko. It's nice to meet you, Solaria."

Right, game... this was a game, and she almost self-doxed herself on the first introduction with another player. It would get some getting used to, but while she was here Nao had to remember that her actual name was Toko now.

"Yeah... it showed up on my inbox so figured I'd give it a try, though I'm pretty new to VR games in general."

That was an understatement, this was the first VR game that Nao had ever touched in her life—heck, her grandma had more experience with this thing. Still maybe it wasn't a good thing to let others know how terrible of a newbie she truly was...

 

[Solaria]

Solaria recognize the bow and smiled brightly as she bowed back to be polite. The elf was surprisingly aware of just how low to bow, partially thanks to observation skills, and partially because she had taken classes that taught Japanese etiquette as a side to the primary objectives.

"The pleasure is mine, @Toko. And good job catching yourself! I've self-doxxed a few times over my life in online games. It's harder not to in this one, I think, because it feels like we're in a real world. I almost told you my name too."

With a giggle, Solaria took another gander around them. The trees were swaying ever so slightly in a gentle breeze, and there were birds singing beautifully distant tunes up above. "I heard about it from a friend who sent me the game file... But I didn't take to heart when they said it was realism to the max. It really is something."

Solaria gave a quick stretch to her arms, raising them over her head and towards the sky. "I only got my VR equipment fairly recently, so I'm lucky I've practice VR games at Ay- er, my friend's- house. It's amazing how easily I'm moving in here considering that. It really feels totally normal!"

 

[Toko]

There was a soft surprised when Solaria returned the bow, the girl doing a pretty good job at keeping it just the right angle and level—not too high nor too low—before Solaria's words made Toko blush ever so slightly in embarrassment.

"Hahah yeah, the realism here is on a whole different level from what I expected. I could almost believe this is real life if I wasn't careful..."

Seriously everything was incredible... the singing of the birds, the feel of the breeze in your skin and even how the foliage ruffled softly in response to the caress. She had thought getting the hang of the controllers would've been hard, but instead it seemed to be the exact opposite. Everything just came to one self so naturally... had she been smarter, or just aware of the game and its past presence on the internet, then perhaps Nao would've been a little bit more apprehensive about it all.

"I bought it for my Obaachan, she had gotten older and couldn't enjoy gardening anymore... so when that gardening game came out for VR I figured she'd love it. Shoojiki, she spent so much time in that game that I worried now and then... but she always talked about her plants so energetically that I knew she was having an amazing time."

 

[Solaria]

Seeing the soft surprise on Toko's face, the woman giggled a bit. "You're surprised, aren't you? There's actually a kendo dojo in my area, and I've been training since I was young. My teacher was originally from Japan and, during our lessons, would teach us the etiquette he grew up with. We use it all the time at class."

Solaria was an outgoing person by nature. She had a tendency, however, to overshare when she was in an excited state- and who wouldn't be excited trying out a secretive game with such great graphics and sensory detail? She could practically smell some wild plants not far away from her. What was this feeling? This euphoria? She was happy as she could be. And she was already meeting such nice people!

"I wish I could've done that kind of thing for mom when she was pregnant. I should look for a good kid's VR game for my brother. I'm sure there must be some good educational ones..."

She stopped talking for a moment, her fake skin going a bit paler as it dawned on her she was talking too much about herself. "Sorry, talking about reality kind of kills the atmosphere, huh? But what do you say, wanna walk around a little and take in the sights, @Toko?"

 

[Toko]

"Heee, ii dess ne... where I'm from we don't get a lot of foreigners settling down to live—oh, there were some US military people though that lived mostly around the middle of the island. I interacted a lot with them growing up, of course only when they were on their personal time, but I guess it was a lot of time considering I picked up English really quickly back then..."

It had been a while now since she had enjoyed a conversation with someone of the younger generations, and while in no way would she ever complain about the elderly aunts and uncles that she knew back home speaking with Solaria felt... nice. She nodded in response when the elf considered looking up games for her—presumably—younger brother, but then the elf seemed to become pale and a concerned expression washed over Nao in response.

"Ah, daijobu...?" It was then that Solaria apologized for ruining the atmosphere, something that confused Nao considering she had been enjoying her company so far, and the lepus shook her head softly before smiling. "Donmai donmai, really! I'm enjoying our conversation very much, Solaria-chan."

Still Nao couldn't deny she was also curious about this new world, fake as it might be since it was a game it was extremely easy to forget that fact when you looked around.

"I wouldn't mind seeing more of this place though, maybe we can figure out more stuff about the UI since movement here seems pretty intuitive...?"

 

[Solaria]

"Wow, the military really sends people all over the world, huh?" Solaria mused, a finger to her chin as she contemplated if she should join the military after nursing school. She shook her head with a smile. "I thought about it, but even if travel sounds nice, I don't think I'd want to leave my family behind. It's a bit of a shame though, since it'd be nice to meet more nice people like you in person, Toko!"

With a bright grin, Solaria twirled around to take in the entire scenery, particularly after she was consoled by Toko over her worries about bringing too much real life into a game. "I'm enjoying talking to you a lot too! But you're right, we should learn how the UI works. I wonder if it uses hand gestures?"

The girl tried all sorts of silly poses that she thought would be interesting ways to use the UI- but none of them were right. It took her a few minutes to finally figure them out- and then, to relay to Toko what she'd discovered. "The UI is pretty amazing. It was a lot simpler than I was making it out to be, wasn't it?"

She ran a few feet away from @Toko before turning to look at her and laughing excitedly. "I feel like I'm really running on ground! I can feel the little bit of give the dirt gives as I do it, too!" She held a hand out to reach out to Toko. "Where do you want to go? I'll follow you any direction you like!"

 

[Toko]

She could understand that feeling, Nao herself hadn't wanted to leave her grandmother alone in her younger days. Often the older woman would complaint that her granddaughter was missing out on the opportunity to see the world, experience new things and meet people closer to her age… surely it couldn't be fun for a young girl to be surrounded by old and wrinkly men and women that were way past their prime.

Nao never regretted her decision to stay by her grandma's side. Sure, they might not be young or be in the latest fashions and trends… but her grandma and her elderly friends had so much knowledge and wisdom to share—Nao never found herself lacking in any regard, their company being one she would cherish for a lifetime even long after they were gone.

"I guess that's the true allure of these games, huh? Being able to see and experience new places, meet and share words and stories with new people… all without having to leave those dear to our hearts behind. Best of both worlds, dess ne?"

It took a little while, but eventually the girls seemed to have a better grasp on the game's UI—the condense version on Toko's palm was the most intuitive one, it was almost just like handling apps and settings on a phone. "Hai, I totally thought this would take me most of the day to learn—but it's actually pretty intuitive… then again, maybe I just lucked out and found a good sensee in you, Solaria-chan~" She giggled in response to the elf, her hood nature was quite contagious, before looking down at her lepus feet when Solaria brought up the realism of it all.

"Mhmm, it's insane. I can feel the dirt under each individual toe, and even the feeling of I scratch at it with the claws… it's almost like this was my actual body, instead of something generated by the game for me to interact with the world loosely."

Maybe she had missed out on a few things while living in Ōgimi… but hey, better late than never to discover them right? As a hand was offered Toko didn't hesitate to walk over, grasping the elf's hand with her own before pointing to a random direction—eastbound.

"I think I hear a lot of birds singing in this direction, wanna check it out?"

 

[Solaria]

The words Toko spoke made Solaria's heart feel light. Someone outside the smaller part of her circle understood what she'd been saying! Toko seemed to just get the exact reason the real-life-teenager liked games and media. The immersion in a story, the ability to experience things the real world wouldn't let them- it was something special to her. Sure, it couldn't bring back those lost to time, but it still did something amazing, didn't it?

"I think it's just intuitive," Solaria mused with a giggle. She was told in high school she made a good tutor, but she had no idea what she was doing right now off the top of her head. "But by working together, I think we grasped it faster than we would have alone."

When Toko took her hand, she smiled a bit brighter. She was already making a friend, she felt like. It was fantastic! When Toko mentioned the sound of birds, Solaria took a deep breath and tried to listen closer to the east. She heard it, but probably fainter than Toko did. Still, a soft sound entered the elf's long ears, and it was uplifting in some way.

"I like the sound of that. Let's see what kind of birds they are!" With lighthearted footsteps, she began to walk with her new acquaintance- or friend- towards the east. What would they discover? The student in her was itching to find out!

 

[Toko]

'This is nice…'

It was a simple thought that crossed her mind, but Nao had to agree with it wholeheartedly. Part of her had been worried about meeting new people initially, having debated the thought in her room for a while before the woman had finally put on the VR headset and booted the mysterious game. After all her culture had many nuances and small details to remember on any such meetings, but from what she understood of the game she could meet absolutely anyone within it… and, at least from the military bases near her home, Nao had quickly learned other cultures could be quite different from her own.

She was probably very lucky that her first meeting was with someone as nice and sweet as Solaria then, the elf girl friendliness being warm and contagious as they walked and entered into small talk. "I wonder what these plants are, these flowers are quite beautiful but not exactly any I remember from our world… oh, wait! Maybe that thing in the UI can help…" She stopped in her tracks for a moment, her free hand forming a fist (what Solaria had discovered to activate the palm UI) before Toko's eyes flickered through the options carefully. 'It was here somewhere, I'm sure of it—ahah, found it!'

"Uwah… sugoi!" There was a look of surprise followed by excitement, the lepus eyes having acquired a pale pink glow to them after she had activated the investigation mode in her UI. "Solaria-chan quick, you have to see this… toggle on the 'investigation mode' in your UI!"

 

[Solaria]

Solaria felt she was the lucky one, meanwhile. Toko was a kind and interesting person, at least from her point of view. She was more than grateful to be making a friend so early in her adventure. And then, Toko pointed out the lovely flowers on their path. Solaria would have otherwise ignored them. Surely, Toko was a treasure for pointing them out.

Turning on investigation mode, Solaria gave a good look at the flowers, crouching next to them. "The flavor text says they're sometimes used in medicine. Will it be okay if I pick some? One of my chosen skills is alchemy." If she could start making medicines early, Solaria felt that would be of great help to future friends and Toko. She was pretty good at swordsmanship due to her real-life training, but alchemy was new to her.

She picked one of the flowers and sniffed it. "Toko, take a whiff! They're not just beautiful- they have a divine aroma!" Solaria's grin was a bit silly as she held the flower up to her beastfolk friend. "Isn't it lovely? I can't believe something so nice can make medicine! I can't wait to try!"

 

[Toko]

"Oh, they are? My UI only says they're not poisonous, but useful in various crafting recipes... then again I didn't pick alchemy for myself, so that's probably why?" A nod was given when Solaria wondered if it'd be a good idea to harvest some, the lepus pointing to a particular cluster nearby. "You definitely should, and I recommend these... my UI says they're higher quality than the others around, maybe it's because of the nature magic that I picked on creation?"

When her newfound elven friend offered one of the flowers for Toko to sniff the lepus didn't hesitate, leaning closer before taking a deep inhale. Her eyes opened wide in response, the sweet and aromatic fragrance that tickled her nostrils being quite different from anything she had smelled in the real world before.

"Man, whoever created this game really went all out... we should keep looking around after collecting a few of the higher quality flowers here, maybe we can find other plants that are beneficial for your alchemy?"

 

[Solaria]

Solaria took heed to Toko's note about the higher quality flowers. She picked some immediately, putting them in her inventory with a smile. Taking an extra two, she put one in her hair, behind her long ear, and offered one to Toko. "I know it's not much of a gift, but... Take this one. It's a gift to nurture our budding friendship."

Her grin softened slightly. She was so excited about their discovery, and the idea of finding even more interesting things- but she was also feeling a bit sentimental and warmed in the heart. She was making a new friend, in a new world. It was like a dream, somehow.

"You're right, they really did go all out. The attention to detail... I would never have the patience to create a world like this." She laughed slightly. "But you're right. We should look around some more. Who knows what we'll find? Maybe things that can help you too!"

 

[Toko]

The offered flower was graciously taken with a smile, Nao taking a few moments to tuck it behind one of her elongated ears safely. "I love it, arigatoo Solaria-chan~" I was a beautiful flower with a beautiful scent, she couldn't think of a better symbol for the new blossoming friendship with the elf.

"The most I've done is code stuff for my online store back home... and even that can be quite the challenge at times even with all the available resources on the net to guide me. I cannot imagine what it would take to make a world as real as this one..."

Something that could help her... that was gonna be rather hard, considering Nao knew very little about everything right now. Honestly half the things she picked in the character creation was just on a whim, or because they sounded cool, but before she could voice out her worries over it a familiar scent caught the lepus attention.

"Wait... I know that smell!" She quickly moved of the dirt path the duo had been travelling by, stopping not too far away next to a cluster of low bushy plants. She smelled them again, before a hand plucked one of the leaves and brought it to her mouth. "Yappari! Solaria-chan, hayaku, I found mint!"

 

[Solaria]

When Toko accepted the flower, she was relieved to see her smiling. "I'm glad you like it! And it looks so pretty on you, too!" She gave a thumbs up to show she was serious about it, in case Toko wouldn't believe her. Solaria didn't know if she had good taste or not- fashion had never been a big deal to her- but looking at Toko wearing the flower she handed to her made her kind of interested in appearance, at least for a moment.

"You run an online store? That sounds pretty hard... Coding alone is hard, but there's so much other stuff that goes into a business. I'm glad you have time to play with me today! I hope you're getting plenty of rest and relaxation!" She covered her mouth before she could start nagging. "Sorry, I'm very... health conscious. I'm even preparing for nursing school right now."

Suddenly, or at least to her, Toko had fled down the dirt path and checked on some plants down the road. "Mint?" She made a confused look before looking at the plant. "I've never seen wild mint before! The only mint I've seen is my auntie's little herb garden on the windowsill! And mint is super amazing, you know? It's full of nutrients and good for indigestion and- okay I'll stop there."

 

[Toko]

"Ah yeah, any of the people in the village I'm from are really good at pottery... but they're also really elderly, and most of the young people tend to leave soon as they're able to." She didn't blame them, Nao could understand the allure of wanting to see more outside of Ōgimi and Okinawa Island. "They're really skilled and make incredible pieces, but it was all mostly sitting there... so I helped them get out there taking pictures and posting them online, and before I knew it the store kind of blew up."

The concern that Solaria showed for Toko's well-being was heartwarming, the lepus giving a soft nod in response along with a faint smile. Rest and relaxation was the least she had been getting these past few months since her grandmother had passed away... but no need to sour the conversation with her newfound friend with that information. Besides the elf was so endearing, especially when she began detailing all the facts she knew about mint... if Nao would've had a younger sister she wouldn't have minded someone like Solaria.

"Yeah, mint is really good for the body... and also pretty nice in the kitchen too. My obaachan used to make an amazing mint green tea with honey, that drink could probably revive even the dead."

 

[Solaria]

"I see, so it's a bit of a community effort. That's really amazing!" Solaria was truly impressed. She'd learned a bit about pottery in art classes when she was in middle school, but it had never worked out as well as she'd hoped. In all honesty, she preferred to watch than to do it herself. Her hands were meant for healing, not creating.

Something seemed off to Solaria, but she couldn't pin it down. So, she shook it off and tried to ignore the instinct to pry. "Mint green tea sounds lovely! I always drink a cup of chamomile tea before bed. Tea comes in so many varieties, I think it'd be hard for someone to not find a kind they like. I've tried green tea, but I still prefer herbal teas the best. Aunty makes them really well."

Solaria began to pluck some of the mint from the ground. She sniffed it, smiling, then put it away. "I love the smell of mint..." She let out a soft, entertained sigh. "I've been on nature walks in my area before, but I don't think I ever got to see wild mint. Is there a lot of herbs and stuff in your village? I don't know what that's like, since I was born and raised in suburbia."

 

[Toko]

"Don't tell anyone," the lepus leaned a bit closer, beckoning Solaria with one hand before whispering a secret to her. "I'm not super fond of green tea either... but I did like the one my obaachan made."

Hilarious, right? A Japanese person that was not into green tea or anything matcha related... she blamed her grandmother for that, with how many varieties her grandma grew back home it was hard to prefer green tea over the other floral and aromatic options available.

"Mhmm, there's a few herbs and stuff that grow naturally in the mountain used in our cooking—but having to go out and forage the ones we use the most all the time would be too exhausting, especially considering most of the villagers are on their elderly stages and still live on their own." When the median age was about 57 years (and that was way back in like 2015 or so) finding ways to make your day to day life easier was important. "Apparently obaachan and her neighbors decided long ago the perennial plants they would each grow, and then every year they'd rotate the annual crops between them. That way nothing was ever truly missing, and any extras that no one used could be sold off in the nearby city."

 

[Solaria]

Solaria smiled when she heard the secret. Toko was so cute, feeling that her distaste for green tea overall should be kept silent! To Solaria, knowing what you did and didn't like was important- and she felt others should respect your likes and dislikes, as well. Still, Toko lived in a different world altogether than Solaria did, from what she'd come to learn so far. And either way, it wasn't that either of them hated green tea altogether, from the sound of it- it just wasn't their favorite.

"We should have tea together sometime," She said rather suddenly after pondering the cute secret she'd learned. "We can make herbal tea on our own with the herbs we find out here, most likely, or we can find a tea shop in a town to sit and relax sometime." She wasn't going to rush into a tea house right now, of course. If Toko wanted to go, she would- but first, she wanted to see more of what the world had to offer.

"It's really nice sounding, your village. My town is pretty boring. It's not like there are a lot of elderly people, nor a lot of young people. It's just... I guess it's because I go to school in the city, but my smaller town feels so... I can't really word it. It's just not a place that brings me any particular joy. I love the people there- it's where I've lived my whole life, so I've known most of them my whole life too, but... I'd love to see a village like yours, where everyone works together, and the elderly are still enjoying their lives, or so it sounds. It might just be me romanticizing it because I have a friend there, though."