Erant enim filii.
Arriving in Sanctorum, where the undead were already purging the streets, the young prince was hopelessly disadvantaged given his lack of experience… not to mention the functions of Eliesium were haywiring and disabling their primary skills and abilities from the get go. Not only had Aichi been classed on the more passive and support side, but without even a sword to swing in defense, he was vulnerable, useless.
Taking what supplies and goods he could salvage in the warring mess Aichi encountered a group of children NPC under his wing; in the goodness of his heart, he fled Sanctorum with them in hopes of finding a place they could take refuge in, at least until a patch was distributed.
Weed was far from their reach, and with the NPCs complaining about their tired feet and empty stomachs, Aichi had no choice but to make a pit stop. Anostos, seemed a bit more welcoming, in terms of the spread of zombies, but there were still remnants of a larger threat looming within the shadows. The hungering scavengers perched atop abandoned buildings also eyed them with starved spite, probably in hopes that they drop dead and become their next meal. Even when this sent shivers down the young prince’s spine, he pressed on, entering a collapsing cathedral as their rest spot. Hopefully the greater deity of this ghost town would still watch over them. That was Aichi’s hope. As the children all sat around and curled up on the broken pews, Aichi caught a glimpse of flowers growing in the patches of sunlight and heading over.
“Oh, these are alstromeria.”
The paler kind, a wishful flower. It was inspiring that, despite there being no life in Anostos, these flora still rebelliously remained. Aichi folding his hands together and giving his own prayer for their safety, he then bent down and gently stroked the fragile petals. Not that it ever did much to simply hope, but it was better than nothing in such a time of crisis. Attracting the childrens’ attention, and humoring them with the little knowledge he had retained about plants, he was also thoughtful enough to pass around some food, taking the smallest piece of bread for himself and eating it sparingly.
Playing the part of a braver prince, was tolling on his mental state, and as the days whittled on by, Aichi had less and less energy to spare. Their supplies were close to running out and the situation had gotten to the point where Aichi the occasionally run out to gather more food and medicine was now a daily norm. Staying just on the outskirts of Anostos, just so that he would be able to retreat back to the cathedral if need be, the young prince–with his newly acquired sharpened stick–carefully trekked the area on high alert. Of course, at the slightest hint of abnormal movement, he swung back in reflex, probably not able to hurt anyone in the slightest, but it was to garner himself a preemptive attack in order to follow suit and flee upon confirming danger.
“You won’t sneak up on me!”
Tasuku and Chronicle had been well-stocked and ready to look for more surplus, but it seemed like the developer had another idea. As the plague wore on, the two had had to go farther and farther to be able to salvage anything edible, and even then, they were only turning up handfuls.
Few zombies could amble through the thick undergrowth of the forested path that the two had decided to take, and the monsters that circled above couldn’t pick out their targets through the canopy.
“We’re getting close to Sanctorum again… I don’t think we should go any farther than this, though. It’s probably still overrun by zombies. Hm…?”
A towering, decrepit archway caught his attention, and beside it, a sign that read “TURN BACK NOW.” That was ominous if anything, but there were no moans of the undead coming from the place. Perhaps…?
“Maybe we’ll find something in there. You wanna check it out, Chronicle-san?”
As they entered the city limits, a chill settled over Tasuku, feeling the hair on the back of his neck prickle. There was something very unsettling about this place.
“It’s…really creepy here, huh. Maybe not even the zombies wanted to stay here.”
But as the two turned a corner, another figure suddenly emerged, brandishing a sharpened stick. Tasuku stepped back in reflex, nearly colliding with Chronicle.
“Whoa! Easy! I won’t hurt you!”
“--This is... Anostos?” It was a place rumored to have been a ghost town well before the undead started rising and increasing their numbers. Apart of Chrono didn’t want to chance a journey through such an ominous site if it meant discovering another spawning point for zombies.
But if Tasupani was eager to pass through and look for supplies, then Chrono would follow him loyally.
As they just so happened to bump into trouble, as per usual when it came to their adventures together, Chrono kept his cool as their surprise attacker turned out to be nothing more than another level 1 player.
Jutting out an arm and catching the stumbling Tasupani in reflex, the redheaded vagrant was quick to pull his partner in against his side, rearing himself as hardened bright green optics stared back at the offending player. He’d defend the both of them to death, but--
“--............” No. They don’t seem to be a threat. They don’t have the looks of someone desperate enough to kill others... With that in check, all Chrono could do was remain idle in wait of the other’s follow up. If they knew what was good for them, they’d put down that stick and call it a truce.
