MGE Dash: PainKiller

[Rezeed]

I take a seat and sit at the same table as the "Waitress". "Rick has went on some errands so he asked me to come here for your answer. He should be here when he's done. Please, call me Seth, I'm not a full fledged digger yet. I'm still on my field training and I do have to look for a crew.", I say in a calm and friendly tone. I cross my leg and continue on, "So tell me a bit about yourself.... (Feel free to insert the response to that here on the DM post KillerMoves) How do you feel about the offer? Keep in mind you can still wait for Rick to come to give a proper answer and you can vent your thoughts about the whole thing to me if you want. I don't mind listening and we may come to a better understanding. If you have any questions in general, I'll answer them to my best ability. I just don't want to leave you feeling as awkward and uncomfortable like yesterday. So you can relax."

[Oersted]

Managing to hide behind the tree I know it won't be able to protect me for too long, while I've yet to think of a decent plan I decide that its about time I start shooting back. Keeping behind the limited cover the tree offers I start shooting at the hostile, aiming specifically at his weapon, hoping that with a bit of luck I'd manage to damage it if not break it altogether.

[Scrapmaster]

@Killmoves

Hearing Keith's talk with Neil he couldn't help but be amused at the remarks and his sense of humor, he then quickly heard him talking about an engineer, which immediately caught his attention, he looked at Keith and then at neil before sighing and looking at keith "Well that will depend on who the engineer is...and where can we find her or him" he said before looking at neil with a 'just go with it' face before looking back at Keith, "But, yes I am interested, tell me more" he said.
He knew this was a bad idea and he clearly saw something suspicious or just downright weird about Keith, but right now, that was the only lead to an engineer he could find at the moment.

[KillMoves]

(GamerGirl, where are youuuuuuu?)

Rezeed
Your words does not appear to make her relax at all. Her body still looked tense as ever. Her nervousness did not stop her from answering your questions though. "H-hello mister Seth. I'm Asuna. Asuna Yumemiya." she reveals to you her name.

Upon being asked about how she feels about the offer. "W-well I'm actually quite..." she whispers the next words so quietly that you would think she was just moving her mouth. Nonetheless, you never caught her answer.

Her mouth was about to move again but her gaze shifts from yours to someone who had just entered bar. Inevitably you look as well and you see a familiar figure. The man in armor you saw running away from the Zakobons yesterday but this time he is holding a spear and slung a huge, round shield behind him. The armored man walks up to the counter and talks to the Lamia bartender.
"Hey, where's Piglet?" he asks.
"Piglet sir?" the bartender replies.
"The girl with the short pink hair. Her name was Aslan something. The bastard led me to a bunch of Zaks. With no weapons!"

The man continues to talk to the bartender who keeps denying, or most likely hiding, your soon-to-be Spotter. Asuna merely keeps her head away from the armored man.

Oersted
Your shots barely fazed the Chaos Marine and what's worse your shots never hit his weapon. Your opponent still fires upon you but miraculously none of his shots are hitting you.

In fact, the bullets incoming towards you seem to be flying away from their intended direction. Could this be the work of someone or something? Ponder if you must but your opponent seems to have noticed this and is closing the distance.

Scrapmaster
"Tell you? Hell I'll show you!" Keith says to you then he grabs your's and Neil's hands and starts to skip like a kid as well as swinging his arms, forcing you to swing yours too. This little debacle inevitably earned the three of you some glances ranging from small giggles to downright disbelief. You could see Neil place a palm on his face. Probably from embarrassment.

After half an hour of embarrassing skipping, the three of you exit the boundaries of civilization yet Keith keeps skipping like he hadn't noticed.
"Where are you taking us?" Neil asks. His arm still swinging along with Keith's
"To the Engineer of course. Where else would I take you?" Keith answers.
"This Engineer... where is she? Or he?" your Spotter continues to ask.
"It's a she. And she lives in the wilderness." Keith continues to answer.
"I can see that. I mean, where in the wilderness?"
"I don't know."
Neil makes a confused face. "Then where are you taking us?"
"To the Engineer."

Neil gives you a look of 'This guy's nuts. Let's ditch him.' Looking forward, you would see the ground further are steadily inclining upwards and covered by patches of snow and you also feel the temperature dropping.

[Oersted]

"Tch!" Obviously this wasn't working, not only were my shots seemingly ineffective I never actually managed to hit my intended target... If I ever manage to walk away from this alive I'm seriously going to invest in putting more power into that buster of mine. Shoving those thoughts aside in my mind I notice something unusual, none of the shots the from bulky hostile came close to hitting me, and I doubt he's that bad at aiming, actually it seems like there's actually something causing his bullets to miss. Regardless it appears the hostile noticed this too and started to move closer, this isn't good, with my buster not doing much and the lack of reliable cover here I'm in dire need of a better plan and yet my brain seems to have taken the worst time ever to take a break.

Taking another look around I'm looking for anything that could help me turn this around, given how bad my current situation is I'm also looking for a way to move away from the hostile without making myself an easy target, needless to say running away was starting to sound like a good idea right about now, of course if I did run away I knew that I couldn't run towards town or else I'd risk leading this idiot to town with me.

[Scrapmaster]

@Killmoves


"are you serious?" Dex said as keith suddenly grabbed both his and neil's hand and started dragging them out of town, getting tired of hearing Keith singing and seeing as Neil was getting tired of it as well, and afterwards seeing them ending up outside of town and going even farther from it, he saw the look on Neil's face, he replied with a nod as he stopped in place holding Keith's hand, making him stop as well "WHERE are we going?! and what do you mean you don't know who this engineer is? if you don't even know who this engineer is and is still dragging us around looking for it, we might as well look for someone else" he said with a really serious face towards keith, even with a small hostility in his tone as he said it, he clearly was not joking around as the embarrassment keith made him and Neil go through dragging them around town.

[Rezeed]

I crossed my arms as I quickly analyzed the situation. I nudge really close to Asuna, hug her so her head was on my chest gently, and whispered towards her ear. "Calm down, everything will be alright. I'm going to help you out so you can be safe." I speak just low enough for her to only hear what I am saying. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to keep hugging you like this to hide your face and haircut from the stranger. While we in embrace, lets try to let down your hair. If we're lucky, he'll mistake us for a couple and not bother inspecting any further, not wanting to interfere to what will appear to be a passionate moment. If he starts to get close to us, we'll have to make it look like it's a steamy moment through some acting. That way, you can hide in plain sight.", I continue on while I try to undo one of her pigtails while hugging her.

[KillMoves]

Oersted
There doesn't seem to be anything of use in the shrubbery. Unless you could use plants as some sort of weapon or defense. Suddenly the Chaos Marine drops to the ground. "Your mastery of the elements will do you no good!" he angrily screams from underneath the shrubbery.

"That was close onii-san." You hear a voice beside you. You turn and see a young woman with pale green skin with darker green markings on her left forearm and her ankle. The gown she wore was incredibly thin, matching her skin tone. Her hair was tied back in pigtails that twisted akin to that of a tornado. "You should know better than travel these places alone. If it weren't for me and Dory, you'd be dead!" she cutely scolds you.

Scrapmaster
Keith does not appear to be listening to you has he eyes something in the distance. "Oh there it is!" he points out a small log cabin in the middle of the snow and trees. "It usually takes me three days to find it. You guys must be lucky."

Walking up the cabin, Keith knocks on the door and waits for the response. Meanwhile Neil wrapped his arms around him to fruitlessly protect him from the cold. The door soon opens and the trio is greeted by a small female child with short, silver hair, dark, blue eyes and light blue skin. She wore a snow white yukata.
"Hey there Kyouks, where's your ma?" Keith asks the child.
The girl turns back to inside her home. "Mama! The weird man is here again!" she yells.

"Hey bro. Need a jacket?" Keith teases your Spotter.
"Nah. Love the cold." Neil sarcastically retorts while he twitches.

Soon an adult woman wearing a white kimono with a blue sash came by the door. She had the same features of the small girl except her hair was longer and it flowed down to her shoulder. "My my Keith. What brings you he-- Oh visitors!" she says surprised. "Come inside. You must be freezing out there." The snow woman offers the group.

The trio then find themselves in a room on a knelt position on a coffee table. Of course there were pillows below them but that didn't make Neil comfortable at all. "These Ballade customs are killing me." your Spotter complained.
"You'll get used to it." Keith assures him.

The owner of the cabin then enters the room with a platter of cups filled with steaming tea. She hands one to you and Neil but none for Keith.
"You don't drink tea?" Neil asks Keith.
"He does not." the snow woman answers. "He claims it is bad for the bones. Where he found that information is beyond me." The snow woman then sits/kneels along with the trio. "Greetings. I am Yagyuu Tachibana. Can I help with you anything?"
"That guy wants you to be his Engineer." Keith answers her while pointing at you.

Yagyuu could looks at you with a raised eyebrow, looking to confirm Keith's ramblings.

Rezeed
Your proposal makes Asuna yelp. "Eh?!" as you hugged her real close. "B-but my hair is short!" she whispered worriedly to you. Her yelp catches the attention of the knight who immediately goes to your position while the Lamia bartender watched in horror.

You try your best to hide your soon-to-be Spotter. "You must take me for a fool, don't you?" the knight says in a dead serious tone. Obviously he knows your gig. "Well whatever. But just so you know that girl you're hiding is a criminal. A con man." he tells you. "Okay con woman."
He then leaves and exits the bar.

Asuna leaves your chest and looks at you with teary but guilt-ridden eyes.

[Oersted]

When I hear a voice beside me I look around a bit startled and then when my gaze falls on the young woman I blink, was... Was she here the whole time? Well, this whole mess sure got me in a strange situation.. When the girl scolds me I sigh "Pretty much so, you have my thanks that's for sure. Reaverbots I can handle just fine but as much as I dislike to admit it that guy's out of my league right now..." I say, my shoulder drooping at the second part, that said I look to where the hostile is "Well, I don't know about you but I'd rather not stick around here for too long, I remember this guy saying that he got separated from his unit, meaning there might be more of them somewhere around here." I say to the young woman.

(And wow, I just noticed I switched from writing in the third person to writing in the first person, that totally wasn't intentional. But eh, I'll keep writing in first person for now.)

[Rezeed]

(Honestly, I am not else sure what to say and do aside from what I've posted. Even apprentice diggers that has had field trainning are aware how easy a fight with Zakobon can be when you know what to do.)

"Are you alright? Does that guy appear often to harass?", I say in concern and move back a little bit to give her some breathing room. "While I am not sure what happened with this guy other than seeing him flee from easy to beat reaverbots. You have to be a total miitan hugger to travel alone outside the town without some sort of reliable mode of transport and/or proper means of self defense with the reaverbots that lingering around in very open areas(and near ruins and subgates). If you only directed him to a location to a ruin or subgate, it's his own fault for not even being prepare for that sort of thing. I mean, a lot of them are locked until you have a digger's license or at most a digger's license that's at a high enough rank. Anyway, the Jakko is gone and hopefully you can relax now.", I continue on trying to comfort Asuna.

[Scrapmaster]

Annoyed that keith ignored him completely Dex still followed him to the cabin, as they waited to be let in he heard neil joking about the cold "better freezing cold than boiling heat, at least you don't melt" he said shrugging as he then saw the young girl who greeted them and quickly saw her mother as they were greeted inside.
Upon sitting down in a knelt position he heard neil and keith complaining "you do get used to it eventually, me and my family used to sit like this all the time, even it not being a custom where I grew up" he said as he then saw the woman bringing them tea, "thank you" he said as she handed a cup of tea to him and neil, seeing that keith didn't like tea by what the woman said he chuckled as he held the cup in his hands as he looked at the woman sitting down with them.
he was surprised by how fast keith explained to her his purpose to be there, seeing her stare at him he sighed as he then looked at her "its a pleasure to meet you miss Tachibana, my name is Dex Hansees, a still unlicensed digger and this is my spotter Neil" he said as he pointed at him, but quickly looked at her again "well, keith pretty much explained why I am here, I am looking for an engineer, keith said you were one and dragged me and my spotter all the way here, in any case, im not going to outright ask you to become my engineer by the fact we just met and considering you have a daughter to take care of, i'l let you decide and won't complain if you refuse, but I would like to hear what do you think about it." he said with a serious but also calm tone as he looked at her

[KillMoves]

Oersted
"Yes. Let's." The girl then jumped into the air and stayed there. "Come on Dory!" She started to hover towards the town.

Suddenly, you feel the ground shake a little before something sprouted from it just beside you. It was a woman with dark brown skin, black, bowl-cut hair, green eyes and an expressionless face. Her whole, shapely body was exposed except for her chest and crotch which was covered by light gray stone. There is also a noticeable green plant hanging on her hair.
"Forgive us for Marion's lack of introductions. I am Dorianne, a Gnome and that is Marion, a Sylph." She properly introduced the two of them though rather emotionlessly. "And you are right, we should get away from here."

While walking towards the town, Marion hovered in front of you. "Hey mister. You haven't told us your name yet." She asked you. "And why were you out there anyway?"

Rezeed
'Th-Thank you Mister Seth." Asuna meekly said to you.

"Well at least you learned your lesson now Asuna." You hear Rick's voice as he approached your table and took a seat. "Ian North may be an idiot but he's a dangerous idiot." To which the pinkhead nods in agreement. "Well back to the matter in hand, have you already decided?" Asuna nodded once more. It seems she is more comfortable with Rick than with anyone else. "Figures. It's been her lifelong dream to become a Spotter you know?" Rick told you.
"Ah!..." Asuna yelped as she tried to say something but could not.
"Don't be ashamed. I'm sure he won't mind." Rick assured Asuna of something you are not aware of. "Hopefully. You see Seth--"
"Please don't!" Asuna cut Rick off but does not say anything else.

Rick nodded a few times in understanding. "Alright then." He said before turning to you. "Well you got yourself a Spotter. Let's go find ourselves an Engineer. Where do you wanna find one?"

Scrapmaster
Yagyuu pondered for a moment before giving her answer. "I... need to talk to my daughter first. Kyouko." She calls for her daughter as she exits the room.

"I sure hope you like MILFS, Dex." Keith said to you once he was sure the Yuki-onna was out of earshot.
Neil looked at the black-clad man incredulously . "Didn't you see the kid? She's married! And I don't think Yagyuu and Dex is comfortable with the idea."
"Relax man. She's a widow so she's technically single... okay maybe not single but hookable." Keith retorted as he faced Neil. "Besides, I'm totally sure Dex is into MILFS. I mean, he looks the part." He added before gesturing to you to which Neil looks at you and begins examining you.

But before he could give his judgment, Yagyuu had returned to the room and kneels with everybody else. "Thank you for your patience Mister Hansees and I have made my decision: I shall become your Engineer." She said to you.
"Hehe. I knew you didn't like the 'settling down' thing Yags." Keith said to the Yuki-onna who did not make a reply.

Yagyuu instead continued talking to you. "What shall be the next course of action Mister Hansees?"
You also see Neil looking at you. "Yeah Dex. Your crew's complete."

[Rezeed]

'Th-Thank you Mister Seth." Asuna meekly said to you.

"Think nothing of it. What matters is that you're safe.", I reply kindly.

"Let's go find ourselves an Engineer. Where do you wanna find one?"

"Hmmm..... The Noire Continent is a death trap as we stand now, Holstox Island has is still recovering from that incident so I don't think anyone there would be so open to talk about starting up a digging crew, and the ballade continent is easy enough to get lost there as it is. Not to mention, I think one of their countries' holidays is starting soon and with how they like their snacks, it may not be a good idea....", I think out loud. I take some time to really think about where to go and started to speak up what may be my best bet finding an engineer, " I would say either the water continent or the Engineering capital of the world, the Aeronautical Archipelago. Both would be good choices and safe choices.".

[Oersted]

I nodded when Dorianne introduced herself and Marion, then as we walked towards town Marion floated in front of me and asked me for my name as well as for why I was around here in the first place "My name's Lloyd. As for why I was I around, I tried to help out a lady looking for her lover... Who apparently died a long time ago and then I ran into that idiot on the way back." I say with slight annoyance at the part with the lady and then shrug "If you think that doesn't make much sense I agree completely."

[Scrapmaster]

Dex could only sigh as keith said such things, quickly proceeding to stare at him when he said he looked the part, he was about to say something but Yagyuu quickly returned to them.
He smiled when she said she accepted the offer, but he couldn't help but be a little surprised she didn't ask anything in return.
"Just like that? I was half expecting you to ask a favor of me before considering my request" he said with a bit of sarcasm in his tone, "But thank you" he said smilling.
Hearing both neil and Yagyuu ask him what to do next.
"Well I think our next course of action might be to go to the digger's headquarter and finish my training...in order to get my ship." he said looking at them.
"all we need to do...is find the way back to town in order to do so..." he said sighing.