Chapter 1: To Lazuli!

Leaving a life to go on by herself to see what the world has to offer, River Ponds travels from E-Rantel to the distant nation of Lazuli due to a interesting quest that began to appear, something about an old threat the Lazuli royalty, River didn't really care but she wished to see what Lazuli has to offer, but she wasn't alone that she has a travelling companion.

"Sheesh River, go any slower you'll be 200 years old!" A floating grey-furred cat exclaimed, being named Gladstone. "You said you used a horse before, and yet the speed ya going at a turtle is faster!"

"Shut it! I **rode** on a horse, I never used a carriage, and the horses of the high Lands are intelligent magical creatures, bonded to their human companion telepathically so we never need to use these... things, only a saddle!" River angrily exclaimed back as she cautiously used the bridle to direct the horse, but it did very little as River is trying to be gentle as possible. "It be better if I just ran to Lazuli." River then began to complain.

"And yet, you were the one to have this." Began to Argue as River stared as Gladstone in the eye.

"Only to bring supplies!" River counter-argured as the two began to talk back and forth on their way to Lazuli.

Though this banter lasted a while, It eventually grew old as the pair began down a gentle inclined hill running alongside a wide stream. Something about the wide-open fields and rising forested mountains in the distance made it a pleasant journey, even with Gladstone still occasionally trying to prod a response out of River. For the most part, they traveled alone. They’d see the occasional farmer or fellow traveler far in the distance, but only as specks or slight movement on the horizon.

After a few hours of traveling, River pulled her cart up to a crossroad, where a small ship was docked at the side of the river loading up farmers crops. After learning the ship was heading upriver, the same direction they where headed, River bartered for passage, and led the house up the gangway to board the ship.

Though the trip was arguably slower, River appreciated the break. Despite traveling in a straight line, her lack of skill steering the house from the seat of a carriage had begin to aggravate her. Letting someone else handle the steering, while allowing her to relax was something she’d never thought she’d enjoy so much.

Laying in the back of her cart, River lost track of time. She wasn’t sure how long it took her to nod off, only that the sky was beginning to turn orange with the setting sun when the ship’s lookout announced that they were approaching their destination. Uradori, a rather small, walled port city that sat on a large lake that supposedly fed rivers that snaked all throughout Lazuli. River wasn’t interested in any of that though. She’d come here with a destination in mind. The city’s Adventurer guild had put out a call gathering adventurers for some sort of excursion. Details had been scant, but enough to entice her to make the journey.

As she stepped off the ship, River let out a short huff, taking in the… Rather rundown city that stretched out before her and her companion. Narrow streets interlaced with general shops, with a lager, if equally rundown looking noble district surrounding a medium sized palace in roughly the center of town. As she and her friend walked towards the palace, she was suddenly stopped and as she turned to face them, a surprise to be sure but a very welcomed one seeing who it is.

"Well well well, I figured I ran into ya here!" A small diminutive dwarf Brokkr himself as smirked at her. "Been a while since that fiasco way back when, at least ya friend is doing fine." Brokkr commented as Gladstone sat on River's shoulders. "I do help those weapons I gave ya are doing wonders, ya not gonna find any higher quality weapons then those two in this here world." Brokkr said as he gestured River to follow where his shop is set up, being near the Adventurer guild. "That being said, I bet ya you are going on that expedition, eh?"

"You know?" River questioned as Brokkr scoffed, as if him knowing was offensive.

"Hell yeah I am aware! This is a quite a expedition so I hear, so I am setting my shop here for any adventurer to get geared up; weapons, armour, potions and support items I got'em all right here for everyone to come and buy. You see many will buy my wares for this."

"At least you wont be on short supply considering what you are and what you know." River chuckled before walking inside the guild. "Just be careful, alright?"

"Careful? If ya knew what my people were, you think of us as maniacs but I am always careful. Catch ya later. I'll also look after ya carriage I may even tinker with the Armour of Midgard, a special surprise for ya when you're ready to go." Brokkr said his farewell as he began to do his blacksmithing-merchant duties as River walked inside, Gladstone being a small feline bakeneko hanged onto her bare shoulder.

Inside the guild was somehow both a strange, yet familiar sight to her. The building appeared larger inside than it did outside, though that appeared to be largely do to the thin plaster walls and exposed rafters across the roof. The main floor was littered with cheep, wooden round tables, each with a handful of chairs at each, and a narrow L shaped reception desk along the corner in the back of the room. A half-second floor balcony that overlooked the entrance, and at a glance appeared to be a bit more lavish, if only just.

The people though, where another story.

Right away, there seemed to be a divide in the patrons. Though on the bottom floor where largely younger and noticeably more jovial, eating, drinking and looking to be in the midst of celebration. Those on the upper floor where a little more on in age, and appeared to be a fair bit more somber. As the door swung shut behind her, nobody save one of the two attendants behind the desk at the other end of the hall paid River so much as a passing glance.

"There is... a lot more younger people here then I thought." River whispered to Gladstone on her shoulder as she walked towards the front desk. "Maybe I should've worn my body armour, this attire might be too.. revealing for these people." River again whispered but to herself as she reached the desk. "Hi there, huh I am here for some special quest-expedition-excursion thing that is happening?"

“Y-yes…” The receptionist said sheepishly, crouching slightly and compiling a few papers together from under the desk. “Are you a member of the guild?” As soon as she stood up, she banged her knuckles on the edge of the counter and dropped whatever she’d just compiled. An uproar of hollering filled the guild not long after. Obviously not because of her mistake, but it seemed like she took it as the adventurers laughing at her all the same. “I’m sorry, I have to ask… Are you from the guild?” She mumbled in a disheartened tone. “I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

"Yes.. I am from the guild, but I am not from this land, I came from the Re-Estize Kingdom, here's my *Mithril* badge to confirm." River then held the *Mithril* plate in her hand, while she believes this should be enough, she has come prepared with the paperwork if the need arises. "Also... are you ok? Did ya just banged ya head from under the desk?"

The woman stood agape for moment, but slowly bit her lops and looked away. “N-no… I’m fine…” She looked to the other side of the desk, where her fellow attendant was occupied conversing with three other adventurers. Obviously unable to help, the woman hung her head again. “I’m just… New here. They hired me to help with all the adventurers coming in for… I guess the same job you’re here for. But it’s been…” Again, an uproar of laughter filled the hall, and the woman gave a small shrug as soon as it died once more. “Rowdier than I’d thought…”

River then glanced to look behind her, quickly inspecting the adventurers before turning to face the attendant. "Tell me, are ya being picked or something? I got a bad vibe of a horrible work place."

“W-w-what? N-no, nothing like that.” The young woman shrunk away, looking like she didn’t any more problems. “We’re just… busier than I thought. This job is…” She trailed off, biting her lips again. One more look back at her co-worker still occupied by the same group of adventurers, the young woman leaned over the desk and whispered. “Look, I stole a glance at the job details. I really think you should reconsider. It should be a job for the kingdom army, not-.”

“Sharing trade secrets, are we?” A gruff voice interrupted her, and both women turned just in time to see a man approach. He had swept blond hair and leather armor. A dark red muffler coiled around his neck, though it did nothing to hide his prideful grin as he rested his hand on one of a pair of long, curved knife sheaths hanging from his sides. “Hardly fair, don’t’cha think?”

“I-I wasn’t trying to-.” The woman stuttered.

“No worries, I’ll show the newbie around. She must be here for the same job as the rest of us, yeah?” He announced, slapping a hand on River’s shoulder and not so gently turning her away from the counter. “They call me Raptor around here. Best Gold plate rouge you’ve ever seen.”

"Oh yeah, a rogue? Then I'll be the best Mithril you'll see soon enough big man so don't go treating me like an lesser, treat me as equal and we'll get along just fine. But a tour will help a lot, I'll even pay since I am new the area." River smiled at the rogue adventurer as the bakeneko cat just had a concerned look on his face as he held onto River's shoulder before turning to face the attendant. "Thanks for the help there, but try to be less nervous but I'm a sucker of new people so if ya need me, you can contact me, names River Ponds."

The woman smiled slightly, looking somewhat relieved. “T-thank you, I’ll-.”

“Mithril plate, ya say? You sure got ambition, girly. I like that.” The man calling himself Raptor interrupted again. “Pretty sure I’m close to a promotion myself. Killed a Cave troll on my last outing. Ugly thing barely saw me coming.”

The receptionist puffed out her cheeks, obviously sick of being interrupted. “Sir Raptor, we’ve already told you that won’t count towards your reputation. This cave troll you speak of was not your target. And even then, you failed to bring back proof.”

“You want proof?” Raptor challenged. “Just ask that new girl, what’s-her-name with the silver hair. She was there, she saw it happen.” Obviously liking hearing the sound of his own voice more than anything. “Where is she? She’ll back me up.”

Again, the attendant furrowed her brow, but her face lit up the instant he made mention of this new woman he spoke of. “If you mean Bella, I think she left for the smithy earlier today.” She stopped a moment to think, then added. “Though… I think she was just picking up a few new weapons, so she may be back by now.”

“Excellent.” Raptor barked, taking River by the shoulder again. “C’mon, you gotta hear this story.”

"You do know a cave troll is a easy kill, not something to boast about?" River said as she looked at Raptor confused. "But I'll only say this once... do not touch me, or else. It was acceptable the first time, but a second time is not" River tone changed from happy-neutral to that of a callous threat as she narrowed her eyes towards Raptor as she semi-politely shoved his hand off her.

“Riiiight” Raptor chuckled, continuing out the door but giving River a bit more space. “Cave trolls… Twenty-foot beasts whose wounds heal in seconds. Easy to kill.” He shoved the door open, and strolled outside not even looking back to make sure River was following him. “You’re my kind’a woman. You know that?”

So stunned by that last comment was River, that the few minutes she followed her passed like nothing. The city itself was rather drab, even among some of the more high-end looking storefronts. River hardly noticed this, still debating weather raptor’s words should flatter her or disgust her. Even as he continued to ramble on.

She finally tuned him in once more when she heard him shout. “Hey, there she is. Bella! Bella c’mere a sec!”

River looked up, seeing the woman he was calling to instantly. She, as described, had shoulder length silver hair, but didn’t look any older than twenty. A single that hung over her shoulder, with a red, frilled headband that somewhat resembled a maid’s headdress keeping most of her messy hair in order. Her clothing also made her stand out; a black robe with dark gold hemming, that reached down to her knees. Though, whether it was too big for her or the woman simply didn’t know how to wear it, it looked like it might slip off her shoulders at any moment.

The thing that really caught River’s eye though, was her armament. At a glance, she seemed to have no less than four swords slung over her shoulder, their sheaths all bundled together by a single cord, and a strap of knives was visible just above her black thigh-highs through the side-slit of her robe. Despite her calm, graceful steps, this chick looked like she was about ready to go to war.

Once again though, all this seemingly went ignored by Raptor. “Oi, Bella, I’m talkin’ to ya here!”

Despite this, the woman strolled right past him. “Yes, lord Raptor, I’m sure the whole city must know that by now.” She carried on, not so much as breaking her stride. “What can I do for you today?”

“Remember that cave troll I killed a week ago?” He reached for River once more, but stopped dead in his tracks upon remembering her warning once again. “Go on, tell her how we took the beast down.”

This time the woman stopped, turning around and eyeing River up and down. “Well… let me think…” She smirked, folding her arms together inside her sleeves. “You… Lunged at the creature from above, after the walkway you were standing on collapsed…” Raptor’s smile instantly faded, and Bella’s smirk grew as she turned her eyes to River. “He valiantly landed on the creature, franticly stabbed at it’s throat for about thirty seconds, before the two collapsed. At which point I complemented his grace, and the rest of the party moved on.”

That was obviously not the rendition Raptor had in mind, as apparent by his dissatisfied expression. “Well… yeah, but the thing’s head fell off by the time I was done.”

A twinkle flashed in Bella’s eyes, and her she chuckled into her sleeve. “Yes, of course. How could I forget. You stunk of troll blood for a week afterwards.” Raptor’s eye twitched, and Bella feigned a surprised gasp. “Oh dear, I’m sorry… You must not have wanted your new lady friend to have heard that. My apology’s, Sir Raptor. I’m sure you’ll find another lady of the night to keep you company tonight.”

"I'll get going, nice.. talking to ya I suppose." River chuckled as she walked away from Raptor and towards the weird dwarf at the front of the guild who was packing things away, grumbling to himself.

“R-right…” Raptor grumbled, half reaching out to stop her. Again, he stopped himself, and decided to leave it alone. As he headed back to the guild, Bella’s eyes remained on River a moment longer. Another twinkle flashed in her eyes, and her feigned smirk grew into a more genuine one before she followed after Raptor.

"Hey Brokkr.. what ya doing?" River questioned as everything of Brokkr's shop was gone and dusted.

"I just realized how pathetic I look setting shop in front of the guild." Brokkr explained as he held a duffle bag over his shoulder. "Gonna set up elsewhere, maybe there's a market district or something in this here city. Also come, I did some tinkering with your armor." Brokkr said as they went to River's carriage where the armor is located. "I tinkered with some things and now, you can will it to be on you."

"Will it?" River questioned Brokkr, who is confused and found the dwarf wording to be insane. "What you mean, will it?"

"Well... think about that armor being on ya, like ya wearing it and you'll see it." River looked at Gladstone who was just as confused before closing her eyes to concentrating. In a flash of light, the armor vanished from the carriage manifesting onto River heself, her old revealing outfit replaced with of that expensive full body armor, shocking those that witnessed it and River herself. "Ya see.."

"W-what the.." River was in awe as she inspected and processed what just transpired before beginning to flex her body. "How did you?"

"Now it is linked to you, you can perform a very specialized skill called 'Requip'. You can now manifest armors that you yourself touch, sending them into a small pocket dimension and or leave them out." Brokkr explained. "It will work on your weapons, potions, and all that. But bare in mind the pocket dimension is limited so don't just put everything in it, you'll know when it's full." Brokkr began to leave the two. "Also.. MERRY CHRISTMASS!" He shouted before walking away, leaving the two confused.

"What the hell is a Christmas?" River questioned with Gladstone shrugging before she use her 'Requip' skill to make her body armor vanish and bringing back the more revealing attire. "I think it's time to head back inside and get us a bed." River then walked back inside the guild to find a room.

Inside the guild was just as rowdy as she left, but marching to the same desk, the receptionist was at least happy to see her. “O-oh, hello again.” She seemed a little more upbeat, seeing as how Raptor had not returned with her. “Did you meet Miss Bella?”

"Not exactly, she more or less ignored Raptor and told me the actual story on he killed a cave troll, though she did call me a 'Lady of the Night', no idea what that means, sounds like a cool title though I wasn't wearing anything dark to warrant that." River shrugged. "I'm looking for one room to stay for a night, if ya can."

That was clearly too much to take in all at once. And that last comment left he attendant blushing. “W-w-well… I’m sure she was just jesting… Please don’t pay her any mind.” Moving on as fast as she could, the woman fumbled around behind the desk and pulled a piece of paper and a key. In that same instant however, her face fell slightly. “Do you… Have money for a room?”

“Don’t worry about that.” A familiar voice came from behind her, and both River and Gladstone turned slightly to see Bella standing behind them. “She can room with me for the night.” She pulled a pair of silver coins from her robe and lay them on the table. “I could use someone to keep me company tonight.”

“W-wha?” The receptionist stuttered, her face blushing deep red remembering River’s comment before.

Without elaborating, Isabella turned away with a smirk and waved goodbye. “Come up whenever you’re ready.”

Before River could question, Isabella was already gone as she sigh. "Well... that was weird, does she do that often?" River asked the receptionist as she cocked her head to the side. "I feel like that reaction is a no."

“N-No…” The receptionist shook her head slightly, still watching the stairs where Bella had departed. “Do you… still want your own room?” She leaned in slightly, despite the guild being noticeably less rowdy than it was earlier. “It’s no trouble… You don’t have to…” She nodded for the stairs, unable to bring herself to finish her sentence.

River sighs as she turned to face the receptionist. "May as well accept the generous offer though, I have a feeling declining wont be a option, hahaha... so what room is she in again?" River questioned politely.

Quickly running her finger down an already open book, the woman answered. “Room number four. It should be the last one on the left.” She looked up once more, biting her lips. "F-F-For what it’s worth… I don’t think Lady Bella would mind if you get your own room. She hasn’t been here for very long, but from what I’ve seen she doesn’t seem the type to hold a grudge.”

"Don't worry, may as well take the offer anyways since she would had to pay extra, see ya tomorrow.. I guess." River said her farewells to the receptionist as she walked to where the rented rooms are located. She would then head towards the room designated by the receptionist, the last one of the left and stood in front of the door, silently.

"Gonna go in?" Gladstone broke the silence as he talked right in front of River's right ear.

"I hadn't bunked with someone in a long time, this is gonna be.. awkward to say the least, especially with a stranger." Taking a deep breath, River then proceeded to knock on the room's door and awaited the response from the generous stranger.

“You may intrude.” A rather singsong voice called back. She recognized it as belonging to Bella, so at least she knew she had the right room. What she didn’t expect was to find her laying on her stomach on the bed, still fully clothed with the pillows balled up under her head and a small book in her hand. One of her sandals dangled from her foot over the edge of the bed, and the woman didn’t so much as look back as River shut the door behind her. For someone who had invited her in, Bella couldn’t have seemed less interested in her arrival. “Hmm… I wasn’t sure you’d actually join me.” River caught a small smirk forming in the corner of her host’s mouth. “But I’m glad to see I was wrong.”

"Can I ask why you paid for me additional for the room to someone you hadn't met? Do you usually invite strangers to your room?" River questioned Bella, who is trying to deduce the motive behind in paying for additional member to the room. "I feel like you do not do something without reason... or you don't seem to care." River then said as she realized Bella has yet to actually look at her or even in her general direction.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean." Bella chuckled. "I simply paid for the room myself, and invited someone to join me. I don't see what the problem is." Closing her book, she kicked her loose sandal away and sat up on the bed, finally meeting River's gaze. "Though... Did you see the look on that girls face?" She began giggling into her sleeve, turning her head away. "I think she suspects I mean to bed you."

"Bed? Not sure what you mean by that, I'll just sleep on the chair since there is only one bed. Unless you mean we be sharing beds? Not sure that will work, it's too small!" River cried out, obviously naïve behind the actual intent of 'bed you'.

Though she slowly tilted her head in confusion, Bella's smirk grew ever so slightly. "Not the reaction I was expecting." She mumbled in a jovial tone, though one that was barely loud enough to hear. All the same, she hopped off the bed, crouched down, and pulled out a large drawer with a full sized bed contained within. "Where you not aware? Apparently some clever carpenter in this city came up with these not long ago." She said, pulling the bed to the side of the room and returning to sit on her bed once more. "Not all adventuring party's can afford their own rooms, and from what sir Raptor tells me, it caused quite a few fights to break out when nobody could agree on who slept on the floor. Quite the amusing tale, wouldn't you agree?"

"I suppose so, we never had these rooms where I was, but that shouldn't matter." River sighs. "We should get some sleep as I think the quest thing will be announced tomorrow." River said as she walked to to the bed that came out of the draw before lying down. "Well.. thanks for the bed." River awkwardly said before the floating grey cat floated onto River's stomach as she petted him as the two began to drift to sleep.

Bella smirked at her, before she too rolled over and stared up at the ceiling. She didn't go to sleep though. By the light of the full moon, she pulled a small journal out of her sash and began making notes. Her smirk persisted long after she finished, looking down at River, and Gladstone as he gently rose and fell with each of River's breaths. "Hmmm..." She hummed under her breath, rolling back to stair at the ceiling with her hands folded behind her head. "Seems this boring city just got a bit more interesting."

**Next Chapter - Chapter 2: Quest Accepted**