Complete Private Eastern Brisshal How many times does this make...?

[Chako]

Chako was walking around Honeyhome. She was starting to get used to the world here on Terrasphere, and she had quickly grown to really like this small hamlet. She often spent her time online just walking around, talking to the people here, not caring to find out if they were NPCs or players... It was just fun. Fun to walk. Fun to talk. Fun to understand how things worked around here.

It was just one such day that Chako was walking around. Taking in the sights. Looking to see if she found something new that she hadn't found yet in Honeyhome.

And as she walked, she got distracted. She just saw a pretty bird flying nearby, the rainbow-colored feathers completely caught her attention.

... And so she fell. Again.

"How many times does this make...?" Chako grumbled as her face hit the ground... Every time she got distracted, she forgot how to put proper strength on her legs and fell... It was easy to laugh it off on the first day, but by now it was really getting tiresome.

Chako sighed and sat up. Looking up to the sky for a bit, just thinking. She didn't have a hurry to get up anyways. It's not like she was in a hurry to do anything.

... I guess it's still nice that I can fall like this in the first place. Way better than being forever stuck in a wheelchair. Chako thought.

@Rhela Elahka

 

[Rhela Elahka]

In this world, Rhela had already kind of gotten used to things. Her eyes keeping a focus as she walked around, paying attention to everything. Her ears twitching upon her head as she tried to make sense of every conversation at once. The world that's been crafted in this game seems quite wonderful, if not outright dangerous at times when she thinks back to her first day. That wolf had been rather strong. She shook her arms a bit at the memory of the pain. A deep breath. She stops walking a moment as she witnessed someone fall over. From what she could tell, a young girl.

... A young girl that was taller than her. No fair. That's just no fair at all. For a moment, Rhela pouts, her ears going flat against her head in sadness about the inequality of her height. Before shaking her head and walking over, holding a hand out to the girl. "Need any help?" She asked with a soft, caring voice. A soft wag of her tail, and a glance off to the side. While Rhela's outfit seemingly fit the setting a bit, it certainly didn't quite match what the people of Honey Home wore. Hers was a more... elaborate and almost tribal clothing style.

@Chako

 

[Chako]

Chako saw a woman offer her a hand to help her get up... That has also happened a few too many times already.

Nonetheless, Chako smiled and grabbed her hand, "Thank you." and used the help to get up. It was always easier to do that with help, after all. And Chako wasn't feeling like falling a down a handful more times before she got up proper, looking up to get a better look at the woman's face.

Only... Something really strange happened. The woman disappeared once Chako got up. That was so strange! How could that even happen!?

Chako looked down to stare at her hand that was still intertwined with the woman's... Then Chako slowly brought her head up, until it finally found the woman's face.

And Chako was looking... Down?

... This was strange. Chako didn't know what to say here... "You're short." Or was Chako too tall? Did Chako mess up making her character? Did Chako exaggerate on the height?

... Took Chako a while to realize this couldn't be the case. Everyone was taller than Chako. Everyone was always taller than Chako. Whether it was in real life or here, Chako always had to look up. Making herself a tiny bit taller in Terrasphere did not change that. This woman was just plain weird! Absolutely weird! Chako could not understand how someone could be this short!

"Uhn... I'm Chako, by the way." Chako suddenly did not know what to do or say. She was a bit embarrassed. Should she let go of the woman's hand? Was the woman bothered by being called short? Maybe she shouldn't have just said the first thing that came to her mind, but... Too late for that.

@Rhela Elahka

 

[Rhela Elahka]

"Oh, thanks for pointing that out! Like hadn't known that all my life..." Rhela pulls her hand back and pouts, once again, her ears flatten against her head for a moment. She took a moment to look up at the girl. "I'm Rhela. Do you make a habit of falling over and then commenting on the height of the person that helped you to your feet?"

"I'm a bit new here though, so, I can't help much more than this." She tries to brush aside the insult of her height being pointed out to her once again. After all, there was no point in dwelling on such a small detail! ... Damn it, she did it to herself! "I'll prolly be here for a while longer though, so... if you do need anything, or want to do anything, I'm... here."

Rheal smiles a bit and motions to herself. She could help random other people if need be! After all, she saw just how powerful the creatures in the forest were... Dangerous place this is.

@Chako

 

[Chako]

Chako felt a bit troubled seeing the woman in front of her get angry... What was she even supposed to say though!? She was just way too short!

"I-it's not like I fall down on purpose!" Chako blushed a bit, "E-even if it happens a lot..." Chako averted her eyes from Rhela.

Chako then tried to stay calm while wondering how to reply to the other part, but she couldn't stop her tails from fidgeting non-stop... Chako couldn't help wondering why it was so easy to move tails, but so hard to get a proper grasp on her legs... Well, maybe it wasn't that easy when considering they just wouldn't! Stop! Fidgeting!

"A-and uhn... Sorry for the comment, I guess..." Chako rubbed the back of her head with her hand, "It's just that I never ever had to look down to see anyone in my life, so it came out on its own..." Was this helping or making everything worse? Chako honestly had no way of knowing.

"Oh, help!?" Chako couldn't help wondering if someone new would be able to help her on anything... After all, she certainly knew she couldn't help anyone herself, "Uhn... Do you know some nice places? I just joined the Explorer's League, you know?" They and their incredibly chuuni oath, that almost made Chako giggle when she remembered it, "So I kinda wanted to get to know some new places! You know anything!?"

@Rhela Elahka

 

[Rhela Elahka]

"It's fine, it's fine, I'm used to it. Practically everyone is taller than I..." Rhela just sighs. Her ear twitched a bit. Her eyes went to Chako's tail...s? Two? Huh. If she had known that was an option she might have taken it... Alas, it is too late now. Rhela smiles a bit as she heard the girl say something about an explorer's league and going to places. Of course... Little Rhela knew nothing about this world as is! And it didn't matter besides. "Well, I did see a river out in the forest, it was rather pretty, but aside from that, I haven't seen anything of note."

Rhela, notably, is generally a solo player. Her tail curled into a question mark. "Is there any benefit to joining the League? Or is it just a union of like-minded individuals?" Her head tilts to the side curiously, almost forgetting that this person, perhaps isn't all that much older than her.

@Chako

 

[Chako]

"Well, I guess we're kindred spirits in that!" Chako giggled. She was pretty sure she would still need to look up all the time anyways even without the wheelchair, after all... Well, she'd be able to look down on children at least, but what can't be helped can't be helped. That's why Chako joined Terrasphere in the first place, after all.

"Oh, I might check that out, then! The forest itself was quite pretty as is, but finding some clearings, rivers and the like must be nice... I'm hoping I can find a deer drinking water or something! Maybe I might be able to even pet it!" Do deers live in this kind of forest? Chako had no idea. Biology and animals' natural habitat were far from her forte. But hey, she could dream!

"A benefit from joining the league...?" Chako tilted her head while pondering a bit, "Well, you can get a nice whistle." She showed her golden whistle that proved her status as a new member of the League, "And you also get a free opportunity to recite the most chuuni oath you'll ever recite in your life!" Chako couldn't stop herself from giggling as she remembered it, "Which is hard because it's supposed to be a serious occasion, so you can't laugh as you do it, but like... Well, when else will anyone ever get the occasion to say something like that!? It's great, I tell you! Great!

"Other than that, I don't really know in all honesty. I kinda joined it in a whim? I guess it's kinda like a guild or something? Figured it would be fun, so why not join it? Might as well make the most of it."

Chako then stayed still for a few moments pondering if there was anything else she missed... Until she finally hit the palm of her hand with her fist, "Oh, right! They have a bunch of maps! A lot of maps! I dunno how to read any of them, but they have a lot, so it should make your life a lot easier to walk around if you have access to those!

"... Though maybe they let anyone use the maps? Or did they sell the information...?" Chako tilted her head as she tried to remember, "Can't say I paid too much attention to it... Well, I know I can look at the maps whenever I want!"

@Rhela Elahka

 

[Rhela Elahka]

"... Y..." Rhela just stares at the taller girl, dumbfounded for a moment. She couldn't believe what sh just heard. Most chunni oath? One has to take an oath to join the league? And it's likely something foolish? All want to potentially join this group that she had, was dashed just upon hearing that. Joining a guild in one of these games is kind of important! It dictates some of the people you end up meeting. Hells, it could affect how you're viewed going forward by other guilds and the like. She's known quite a few guilds that have a really bad rap in certain communities.

Not knowing what was offered to members was another thing. Maps? But being unable to read them? Truly? Maps are some of the most important things for an explorer! How could you not read them???

Rhela takes a deep breath. "You didn't pay attention? Truly? I... How could you not pay attention to something interesting? What made you wish to join aside from the chunni line and whistle? Does the whistle have any special properties...?"

She wanted to be sure! There had to be something special about it, right? After all, what good was it other than creating an ear piercing noise that likely draws every creature nearby in your direction upon it's noise being heard?

@Chako

 

[Chako]

"Ah, yeah. It was just hard to pay attention after hearing the oath once. It just kept repeating itself in my mind and I just had to try so hard to stop myself from laughing that a good chunk of the explanations went over my head!" Chako giggled again, "I think I can remember it even now! What was it again?

"Right," Chako suddenly took a deep breath, put her hand on her chest and started reciting it, "I, Chako, am one who defies death, to beat back darkness and light the path forward. I acknowledge the dangers of the expeditions, that death walks beside me always, and that my whistle is a promise to keep my skills sharp, my will steeled, to become the source of strength for my comrades, and to never abandon my company even in the direst of times. Ad astra per aspera, our aspirations take us to the stars." And then she started laughing out loud. "Did you hear all that!? It's so ridiculous! It's so chuuni! How could I say no after hearing I had to recite that!?

"So uhn... Yeah. That's why I didn't pay attention. My focus was on not laughing the whole time!

"As for why I joined... I just heard it was a place filled with people who wanted to explore everything in Terrasphere, which is like, the whole reason why I'm playing the first place, yanno? See nice places. Walk there with my own two feet. Enjoy the scenery and all that. Can't really do it in the normal VRMMOs where I can barely feel my own legs. Those just don't feel fun, yanno? It just had to be Terrasphere!

"So... Goals aligned and all that? I really didn't think too much about it." Not like Chako thought too much about anything. She preferred to act first and think later. At least in Terrasphere. Why waste time thinking when she could be playing, after all. She has all the time in the world to think when she is offline.

"And... Special properties of the whistle? I don't think so? Can't say I tried blowing up on it. Not with how sensitive those are." Chako moved her ears up and down a bit, "I'd rather not deal with the pain in my ears that loud noises cause, like, you wouldn't believe what a sonic boom can do to those ears! It felt like something exploded right inside my head! I'm not gonna go ahead and try a whistle if I can help it!" Well, the whistle won't cause a sonic boom, obviously, but Chako still felt like it was gonna hurt, and she'd rather avoid that if she can.

"... I think it's just something to call attention though? Like, if you're in danger, blow the whistle so your friends know you're in danger? Probably? I mean, that's what I'd use a whistle for in the middle of an exploration at least."

@Rhela Elahka

 

[Rhela Elahka]

Rhela... Doesn't seem too impressed by the oath needing to be recited. It sounded like a generic one for a video game organization. A bit edgy but also about camaraderie. This wasn't uncommon by any means.

But Chako did say something kind of interesting. "You heard something that made a sonic boom? What was it, and where? I mean, not so often you hear about something like that happening in any given location. Those things are so loud they can burst eardrums..." Rhela looks a bit worried, looking to Chako's ears to see if there was any damage. Of course, Chako was too tall for her to even see into the important parts of the ear.

"The organization sounds interesting, and yea, makes sense for the whistle, but I was just curious. Don't think I'd be joining, however." Rhela cracks a slight smile, before looking around. An adjustment of her clothing. A twitch of her ear.

@Chako

 

[Chako]

"Oh, yeah, I saw it! I had just joined Terrasphere, you know! Was in the forest near here, and I had just been kicked from a party for the third time in a single day for being a bad support and BOOM! A super high speed catgirl came to help me as I had fallen on the ground! And she was fast! Crazy fast! Fast enough to cause a sonic boom! It was crazy! Like, I knew things were wild here, but I didn't expect high level players to be this wild!

"Her name was Crimson Ruby, by the way. Really nice girl. Good at dancing, music and stuff." Is it bad manners to share the names of other people around? Well, if it was bad manners, then it was too late to regret it, so Chako figured she shouldn't dwell on it any longer.

"Oh, not much into exploring? Well, there are some other organizations... What was it again? The Lions and the Adventurers and the... Uhn... I forgot, but it was a mad research group.

"Anyways. I heard the Lions thingy, whatever its name was, was a group of goody-two-shoes that helped people, and the Adventurer's Guild or something were like, typical adventurers of those isekais animes and whatever. Likes doing all sorts of odd jobs for money and stuff.

"Dunno anything about the mad researcher group. Everything I heard about them went in and out my head the moment I heard they were involved in research, like... That looked boring! Who goes to a game to do research!? It's like doing homework as you play! Who does that!? I already have enough homework as is without needing to add more to the pile as I play!"

Chako then tilted her head as she saw Rhela looking around, "You waiting for someone?"

@Rhela Elahka

 

[Rhela Elahka]

"I'm not... Just wondering what to do now. I'm not interested in joining any groups or anything." A slight shrug as she leans back to stretch her back. "Mnn...."

"Crimson Ruby, she sounds like an interesting person, and... You fall over a lot, don't you?" A small grin as she pokes at that particular sore spot. But her mind was already back on the player, and the other two groups mentioned. She already said she's not too interested in joining groups so... Not much can be said about them. "I mean, I met someone recently when I first arrived here, jumped in front of a charging wolf and took a nasty bite on my hand before they came along and saved all three of us from the beastie."

Rhela put her arms to her side and looked off. "I'm just looking for something to potentially do to take my mind off things. Which... That looks like a store for fishing gear..."

@Chako

 

[Chako]

"Mmmmm... I guess playing solo can have its charms?" At least it meant nobody would be screaming at Chako, so she felt like it wasn't that bad, even if she felt like playing with other people should be more fun, overall.

"I-I can't help it, yanno!? I'm still getting used to walking! It's just not the kind of thing you learn in a day or two!" Chako blushed as she replied... Like, come on! She was already walking and standing on her own two feet just fine! Babies and toddlers needed to go through a crawling phase before, so Chako felt like she was making pretty good progress already!

Though hearing those next words made Chako stop, then look at her own fingers... She lifted three fingers of one hand, then used the index finger of the other to go through them for a few seconds before commenting, "Uhn... What about the second one? There was you. Your knight in shining armor, and... Who's the second person they saved?"

Chako then looked in the same direction that Rhela pointed, and both her ears and tails rose up in excitement, "Oh, fishing gear!" and just as quickly as they rose, they deflated, "... Which I have no money to purchase..." Chako wondered if she should try catching fishes with her hands to change her wild-fruit-only diet that she had in Terrasphere so far... If bears could do it, then Chako should be able to too, right? Right!?

@Rhela Elahka

 

[Rhela Elahka]

"I know how to catch fish without a rod, so I don't really need this. But hey, I can look around at potential options, no?" Rhela turns her head back to look at Chako as she walked to the store. Her tail in a soft wag. "I don't have any money either, but that doesn't mean we can't get any by selling fish, no?"

@Chako

 

[Chako]

"... What are you, a bear!? How do you catch fishes without a rod!" While Chako said that, she was actually a bit happy to not hear anything about what she said before.

She was a bit worried about talking about how she still had to get used to walking. Would she receive a surprised reaction? A pitying reaction? She really didn't know, and... Getting no reaction at all was the best reaction she could have hoped for.

It's just as she thought when she first joined... Everyone here either has a strong enough reason to play, or is really stupid. People who have some sort of disability must be normal here... She just hoped Rhela was not on the stupid side, because Chako felt like dealing with stupid people would be a hassle.

Though now that she thinks about it... "Why look at potential options if you don't need them? Is window shopping that fun for you?" Chako asked as she walked by Rhela's side, wondering if Rhela was actually part of the stupid group.

"... Wait, you can sell fish? For real?" It was a bit disappointing to hear it. Chako heard this was a very realistic game, and the time she spent on it so far made her believe it... But now she is hearing that she can sell any random junk to NPCs and they buy it for some arbitrary amount of money? That felt quite lame... Chako figured nothing was perfect, after all.

@Rhela Elahka

 

[Rhela Elahka]

"Just b ecause I don't explicitly need a rod to fish, doesn't mean they aren't helpful. A bear would find use in a net if they could." Rhela states, raising a hand up and pointing out matter-o-factly. Her tail in a small wag. "It makes sense that we can sell fish, I mean, people need fish to survive, from what I've seen. Fish, meat, other foods. It makes sense to not always go out and get the food yourself if you need it, what if you have an injury that prevents you from fishing or hunting, but you know people around you have meat for sale?"

Rhela looks to Chako for a moment. "Same goes for other crafted goods. The ability to supply places and things with food, or other such things is important for sustainability. Obviously not everyone will buy everyone buy everything you have for just any price. If you go to a fisher who already has a good rod, why would they buy a fishing rod from you? Or fish for that matter?"

@Chako

 

[Chako]

Chako started imagining a bear holding a fishing net to catch fishes, only for the net to slip away from its paws and slowly go down the current as bear looked at it with a poor saddened face. She almost felt bad for the poor imaginary bear.

She then started thinking about how a bird could then catch the net and bring it back to the bear, and then they could go through a training arc to help the bear learn how to wield the net, and then the two would figure out the true meaning of friendship, complimenting each other in their weaknesses and finding out the true joy of life.

Until alas, the bird would be one day killed by a snake, with the bear killing it in revenge, but then crying in sorrow at its poor lost friend that revenge was unable to bring back. The bear at that day learned an important lesson that it would take with it for the rest of its life.

Suffice to say... Chako had no idea what Rhela was getting at, and she started daydreaming hard.

Once Rhela seemed to have stopped talking though, Chako's attention got back to her, "I honestly have no idea about anything that you just said, but it seemed to be smart, so I'll trust you on that." Chako nodded many times.

@Rhela Elahka

 

[Rhela Elahka]

If someone was unwilling to pay attention to something like this, then they didn't really deserve to learn it in any way... But she turns her attention back to the fishing rods on sale. "I dunno what to say in response to that, Chako... All I have to say is... PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GODS, PAY ATTENTION WHEN PEOPLE ARE TALKING OR YOU MISS IMPORTANT INFORMATION!"

@Chako

 

[Chako]

Chako instantly crouched down and covered her ears as Rhela screamed at her. Her eyes quickly started getting tearful, and her body started shaking.

The echo in her ears was harsh. It felt like Rhela's words were ringing inside them over and over again.

"S-sorry..." Was all Chako managed to mutter. It was hard to even say this much with how much pain she was in right now.

@Rhela Elahka

 

[Rhela Elahka]

Oh, she wasn't lying about the sensitive ears thing. Rhela glances around a bit before back to Chako. "Ah- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell, Chako." Rhela moved a tad closer, and began to softly pat her head. She felt bad now. She probably shouldn't have done that.

Twas a bit awkward petting the head of someone taller than you, but this is a needed comfort she felt.

"I can teach you how to fish, if you want?" It was really the only consolation she could think of right this moment. She glances around a bit, awkwardly smiling at the others around them thar heard and saw the display. Her face slowly turning red from the embarrassment.

@Chako