Private Eastern Brisshal The Story of a Giant learning how to fight with more than just a canon with the help of his Lepus friend and lots of fistfights in a VRMMORPG DeathGam

[Brutus Dahlgren]

What's the plan here chief?
Hrrm?
Are we going for a smooch? Are we going to confess our love to her?
Oh
Yeah dude, were you just so happy about fish that you decided you were gonna go all in?
I mean, we care about her.
Yeah, but like...how are we gonna tell her?
I mean, this is a perfect place and time
But how? Are we just gonna lean up and try to smooch her?
Yeah fuck it. Lets go
Wait!

Brutus would slide up next to the Lepus, cupping her chin in his hands as he would peer into her ruby eyes. "Toko..." he would lean a little closer, eliminating the space between them. "I lo-"

KABOOM

A flash of light would erupt through the sky, smashing into the ground not more than a quarter mile from their location. The giant would burst to his feet, canon in hand faster than you could say "NANI?" as he was checking sightlines.

"Shit!" He would turn to his Lepus Lo-friend and scowl. "I uh, think we should check that out..."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

"Toko..."
"H-Hai—"

The Lepus' voice would get caught up in her throat upon turning to look at the Felis, the sudden proximity startling the hare before she felt his fingers cupping her chin softly. His gaze was serious, an intense gleam flickering through those blue eyes of his, and as Brutus leaned even closer still the rabbit could feel her heart thumping a mile per second inside her chest.

Badump...! Badump! Badump!!!

"I lo—"
KABOOM!!!
"Hiiiyaaah!"

Her cheeks were fully flushed then, the color even spreading to the tip of the Lepus' long ears, and Toko had probably been quite close to a cardiac arrest when a flash of light suddenly sparkled into her eyes. The deafening noise that quickly followed it caused the hare to release a high pitched squeal of surprise, instinctively huddling here head close to her knees for comfort and protection, as her hands quickly grabbed her ears and pulled them down to lessen the discomfort of the noise.

"N-Nanda-Nandayooo?!"

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus would wrap an arm protectively around the Lepus pulling her closer and taking a knee to get on her level as he evaluated that everything was safe...for the moment.

"I think something just fell from the sky...a star maybe?" He would raise an eyebrow at her panic and would gently pull her closer. "It's gonna be okay though, I'm right here and we're together so we got this...I don't know if we should investigate or not, but my gut is telling me we should go check out the crater." He would rub her back soothingly and make soft, comforting, tutting noises like one would make in order to soothe an upset animal.

"What do you think? Cause if you want we can just plop right back down and I can co back to what I was doing..." Fucking meteor, literally getting in the way of him getting his fucking game on. Piece of shit rat bastard rock.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

The Lepus' normal reservations regarding physical contact had quickly flown out the window the second a fucking meteor had decided to crashland nearby Cleartop, the rabbit's heart beating erratically even as a shiver ran down her spine in response.

"H-Hoshi...?"

There was an incredulous intonation to her words as the Lepus spoke, finally taking a moment to peer out from the protective cocoon Brutus had made with his arms and in the general direction of the crater. Had she not heard the meteor land Toko would've assumed the Felis was trying to pull her leg, though she still remained quite close to the giant as a hand rubbed her back soothingly.

"Y-Yeah, we can check it out...!"

Badum...! Badump! Badump!!!

Her heartbeats had just begun to calm down, in part thanks to the soothing touch and noises the Felis made towards her, before Brutus' words instantly caused it to pick right back up—the Lepus quickly disentangling herself from the Felis before shakily getting back onto her own two feet... completely unaware of the sudden chunk of energy currently missing from one of her need bars in the UI.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus would pat the Lepus on the head and then would begin leading the way down the hill and towards the crater. He would keep his canon at the ready, on the off chance any...space goblins or other pests afoot. His own heart would flutter, not from nervousness of danger, but at the fact that he'd just been standing on the edge of an emotional cliff.

You know what they say.
Shut up
Stars, can't do it, not today.
Fuck you

He'd been centimeters from kissing the Lepus. Seconds from it even, he would have let her know unequivocally how he'd felt, there would be no more teasing, just raw romance. But NO, some stupid fucking space rock had to come down with the power of God and anime to ruin the moment.

"Stay close Bun."

Little was he aware of the truth of the hare and her magic. After a short walk, he would find himself peering into a deep crater.

"Holy fuck."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

She could still feel the constant doki doki in her chest, although if her nervousness was due to suddenly seeing a meteor crash not too far from where they had been resting was definitely a debatable point. Carefully she followed behind Brutus, though the hare kept a couple of feet between themselves physically, as the pair slowly neared the recently formed crater... Brutus being the first to properly catch a glimpse of whatever had crashed into the soil.

"Holy fuck."
"N-Nani...? What is it, Brutus?"

She wasn't sure what to expect, it's not like Nao had ever seen a meteor crash down into the earth—whether it was inside this game or outside in the real world—until this very moment. Logic dictated that it should just be a piece of space rock, but at the same time this was a game with magic and flying alligators... who could say if it would follow the same expectations?

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Before them was a smoldering, perfectly spherical lump of stone. Or was it metal? It was hard to tell. He would take a few steps down the crater before stopping and turning to the Lepus, reaching out a hand to snag hers to hold her closer to him. "Let's treat this like its going to be the worst case until it we're sure it's fine."

That totally wasn't a plot to hold her hand, not at all, stop projecting.

With his other hand cradling his canon, he would take a series of slow, cautious steps towards the orb. His hands were sweaty, no time to worry about that. He would squeeze her hand tighter as they got closer, his tail tapping against her for confirmation she was still there.

As they grew closer yet closer, he would reach out with his canon and give it a light tap. The peal of metal on metal rang out incredibly clearly, echoing through the space. "What the fuck..." he would murmur taking a few steps closer.

"It's like...space metal or something..."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

"U-Uun..."

She nodded at the Felis' suggestion to be cautious, her hand reaching out to take his as Brutus offered it, before a surprised squeak left the hare when he suddenly pulled her close to him. Sure, it made sense, but that logic wasn't enough to keep her heart rate from spiking up in response... especially when the giant hand tightened the hold as they got closer to the object.

"M-Metal...? Really?"

She wasn't a connoisseur of space and the cosmos, although she knew various minerals could be found in asteroids, to confirm or deny the claim... but maybe someone else could. "... do you think Corsair would know more about this?" After all the Magia was one of the most intelligent, if not the smartest, people that Toko knew.

The only other one Toko could think out of the top of her head was Askera Question.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"I have no clue..." he would muse, pondering the space orb. He would get close to it, watching as it radiated heat softly outwards.

"Do you think if I roasted marshmallows over this they would give me superpowers?" He would ask, turning back to the Lepus with a raised brow. His immediate fear of whatever this was had subsided ever so slightly, it was just an orb, what could it possibly.

The orb would hum still from the strike sonorously, droning pleasingly on the Felis' ears as he squatted down low to get a better look at it. He would squint a bit, before tapping the thing again, this time with his hand. His fingers would sear slightly, and he would pull them back, blowing on them.

"It's still hot so don't touch it..." he would warn, his other hand still clutching the rabbit's tightly. "But other than that...I don't think it's any danger at all?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

"Pffft... I don't think it'd be a good idea to eat anything off of it, not until we know what it's actually is made of Brutus."

There was a soft chuckle as the hare shook her head, for all they knew this thing was 90% lead and probably quite terrible for them. "Hmm... do you think it's possible to shove that thing into the UI inventory?" She wasn't sure what the limitations to their storage might be, if there even were some to begin with.

It'd be easier, and safer, however to use such a method if they wished to bring the roughly shaped ore back home for Corsair to inspect—

... nanda?

She immediately stilled when the thought crossed her mind, the hare completely unaware as Brutus went and stuck a finger to the searing object before quickly recalling it as he warned Toko not to copy his idea.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Put it in our UI?" He mused aloud, sucking on his scorched finger. "That's a concept..."

He hadn't thought about it, honestly, but his better Bunny brained friend had a point. He would reach down with his scorched hand and very quickly snatched at it, going through the motions of dumping it into the virtual hammer space that was his inventory. He could feel it buckling against the motion at first, but soon the orb would cave and vanish into his inventory. When he pulled it up to look at it, it simply registered as ??? Space Metal. Leaving the giant puzzled. He would think for a moment, and then turn the rabbit.

"Well, the UI worked but it won't show me fuck and all about what we're looking at here. We're going to need to phone a friend on this one." He had still not managed to let her hand go the entire time they'd been at this. "We could take this to Corsair or someone in the MIT if you'd like?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

Well color her surprised... that hare brained idea had actually worked.

"That's... wow. It worked."

Sometimes she really wished this game had come with better instructions, liek what was or wasn't possible, but at the same time she supposed that would've taken the... unique experience of discovering things like this one on their own. "Wonder how it got here... like what are the odds?" She wasn't very knowledgeable on that stuff, but considering Nao had never seen a chunk of space rock land remotely close to her location in her entire life... Toko was guessing the chance were abysmally low.

"Uun, I think Corsair would definitely love it!" She instantly lit up at the idea, after all the Magia had been the first person to cross her mind. "... maybe even Researcher-san?"

She was sure the MIT researcher had dabbled in mysterious metals and materials before, surely he too would be interested in this piece of space rock. Throughout this the lepus had been unaware of the fact Brutus was still holding her hand, that is until she felt the faint tug that caused her eyes to drift down and notice.

"A-Ah, g-gomen...!"

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Maybe it's a quest?" He would reply raising an eyebrow. "How else could something like this happen? That or some sort of magic? Maybe some goon with Astramancy tried to snipe us and take us out and they missed?" There were a myriad of fuckers lurking in the woods ready to jump him given at any time. Between the Hemomancer and the Hag, all he needed was a starcaller to add to the list and he'd have a trifecta of clusterfuckery.

He frowned, "We can try everyone and their dog." The giant would turn to the woman, then realizing he was still holding her hand he would immediately let go and shoot her an apologetic smile. "Gomen Toko." He would shake his head and motion back to their picnic.

"More booze? Some food? Enjoy the stars? Eh?"

Perhaps he could salvage this night, maybe he could get back to that moment before. Maybe he could salvage this, turn it the fuck around.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

A quest...? What kind of a quest would involve hurling a meteor at two player? She frowned, trying to make more sense of the situation, when a couple of words spoken by Brutus suddenly registered in the rabbit's mind next... one of them specifically related to one of Toko's masteries.

"Maybe some goon with Astramancy tried to snipe us..."

It caused the rabbit to suddenly stiffened, her eyes turning over to the corner of her UI where her need bars were shown... and her yellow energy bar was down by 75%. W-Wait... when did that happen?

"Gomen Toko."
"Eeeh...? A-Ah, i-iie...!"

Maybe it was all just a coincidence...? Surely she hadn't... I wasn't casting any magic...! Wide eyes turned to look at the Felis then, just as he suggested going back to the picnic blanket to continue enjoying the rest of their evening...

"I... I..."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Are you okay?" He would lean forward and look her over. "You look pale? Are you ok?" He would cup her chin and lift her gaze to match his as he leaned in closer. "You're not like, sick or anything are you? Nothing crazy like moon fever or something? Check your UI."

Thump thump thump.

He would quickly scoop the hare off her feet, carrying her bridal style back up the hill. "Focus on breathing okay, we'll get you some like...food in your system maybe, juice in the tank to fight off the moon fever and then we'll get you to a healer."

He would set her down on the blanket pressing his lips against her forehead to check her temperature. "You don't feel feverish." He would pull back. "But you look pale. Tell me how you're feeling, can you feel your fingers and toes? Are you getting shaky at all?" He would squint at her, his eyes narrowing into slits.

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is perfectly fine and ten is you're on deaths door, where are we at?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

The sudden realization had caused the hare to pale up, and it only took a moment before the Lion picked up on it. "You look pale? Are you ok?" He'd lean in closer, concern clearly written all over his face, as Toko struggled—and failed—to find the proper words to say.

"Y-Yeah... I mean, no... I...!"

After all how did you go about telling your friend that you had almost accidentally knocked both of yourselves out with a goddamn meteor... not to mention that Toko didn't even understand what the fuck had triggered the magic in the first place! Before the Lepus knew it she found herself swept right off her feet, literally, as Brutus princess carried her back to the picnic area.

"N-No... I'm f-fine...!"

His lips pressed against her forehead, and the sudden closeness caused her temperature to rise in response—the change recovering some color to her pale face. "N-No, I'm not sick...! I j-just...!" The clear concern over her well-being only made Toko feel dreadful in return, the warnings she had discovered regarding her Astramancy with Erick surfacing to the forefront of her mind.

"B-Brutus, it was me...! I... I'm the r-reason that meteor j-just crashed...!"

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Eh?" He would blink looking down at her as he pulled away. "Nani?" The word slipped out his mouth as he cocked his head to the side like a curious cat. "Oh, like with gravity shi-" he would pause. "Wait what? How the fuck!" His head would snap to space and then back to the Lepus, once, then again, and finally a third time before he turned back to her and settled his sapphire gaze on her.

"You're telling me, that You, pulled that Meteorite, from space." He would blink, stunned. "On purpose?"

He would listen as she shook her head no and explained her reasoning.

"Huh." He would furrow his brow, plopping down next to her and rubbing his chin. "Well good news is that you're not dying..." He would nod along as if this was some great discovery. "But the bad news is that randomly pulling meteors down willy nilly, especially with zero control is a major party foul." He would pour her another shot of Sake after warming it back up for her and hem and haw for a bit.

"Let's try to walk things back then, see what could have caused it."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

"Wait what? How the fuck!"
"Shiranai!!!"

His gaze moved away to look up at the night sky and back down to Toko, repeating the action two more times before finally settling on Nao's gaze once more. It sounded ridiculous, even Toko understood that much, but another glance at the corner of her UI confirmed that she was still missing 75% of her energy meter.

"You're telling me, that You, pulled that Meteorite, from space."
"H-Hai... I think so."

A soft nod of confirmation was given.

"On purpose?"
"Wha—IIE!!!"

She shook her head adamantly, a look that was equal parts surprised and offended on the rabbit's face before her hands reached out to receive the warm cup of sake. A frown and a pout remained on her face as she nursed the cup in her palm.

"Let's try to walk things back then, see what could have caused it."
"Iie...! What if I trigger it again trying to do that?!"

She'd rather not test her luck twice in one night.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"If you bring another ine down I'll home run bat it with my canon." Brutus replied with an enthusiastic grin. "We get to learn about how you do that, I get to test my skulls AND..." He would chickle a bit raising a finger up. "We get more cool space metal."

He was suprised by the developement for sure, but he knew she was strong. She'd always been like...a shotgun blast of magic. Maybe more like a bomb? Either way, if she could wield this power reliably she could be better artilerry than him.

"Besides, wouldn't being able to know how to do that and how NOT to do that be huge? Imagine dropping them like bombs on your foes, or you could knock projectiles out of the air!"

He would ruffle her hair and plop down next to her. "Aren't you at least curious? I know this cat is!" He would exclaim throwing back a shot of Sake.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

"Eeeh?!" The Felis certainly felt confident about this proposed experiment, though it was quite clear the Lepus didn't share his enthusiasm in the matter. "Muri muri muri!!!"

Her reaction was almost immediate, Toko shaking her head vigorously in clear refusal, even as Brutus attempted to reassure the rabbit that everything would be perfectly fine... if anything this would be a boon for her future combating abilities! "Shitakunai...!" Unfortunately it seemed the fighter wasn't as confident with the matter at hand, she had come to understand just how dangerous the gravitational powers of Astramancy could be if not properly controlled... and the fact that she had managed to pull down a whole ass meteor without even realizing it didn't exactly inspire any additional confidence on the hare for this matter.

"Besides... I'm tired."

Another glance was spared to the corner of her UI were the need meters were shown, the energy meter still reflecting that a whopping 70% of it was currently missing from the yellow bar. That little space rock had certainly been quite the energy dump, and Toko wasn't keen on trying anything remotely similar for the remainder of the night as she quietly sipped the sake Brutus had served in her cup.

@Brutus Dahlgren