Prickling of my thumbs [Open;;Max two]

'This isn't happening.'

Serina swiped her hand through the user interface that appeared before at the mere thought of trying to make sense of what was going on. Her hand passed through effortlessly, the hologram remaining unaffected by her actions, just floating there with the information printed out neatly. The was an image of her and next to it numbers indicating her stats. Stats, like she was in one of those really fancy immersive RPG games that appeared on her social media newsfeed every now and then. This couldn't be happening, her a fighter. She took gymnastics in middle school and shot her uncle's old rifle once. That was the extent to any skills she had, and this holo was telling her that she was suddenly a fighter now?

"Close! Go away!" She shouted, ignoring the stares until it neatly shut by itself. Sitting on the brick ground, she stared off into the fountain in the centre of the square blankly, trying to ignore her unusual  get-up and the iron longknife that was sheathed across her waist. She had to believe this wasn't real, it didn't make any sense. What had she done to deserve this?

She was no fighter, the voice in the sky was mistaken.

Everyone else seemed to get on with it, just embrace their fates but she couldn't. She refused. This had to be a prank, she wasn't some runaway that could be snatched without anyone looking for her. There was no way they could get away with this. She just had to stay put, stay here until someone rescued her.

"Am I...dead?" Midori sat himself up against a wall and looked around. He could see a fountain in the center of a plaza. Looking around, there were other people having much of the same reaction.
"Guess not." He sighed and stood. I jumped, it should be that simple. Where was this, anyway?
Looking down, he saw stat scores and an HP and MP bar. Across his back was a basic bow and quiver. "If this is what I think it is..." He let the thought trail off.

He walked out by the fountain and clambered up onto the the fountain, but could see nothing. "AM I DEAD?!!!" He said, repeating his previous hope. His heart began to ache. He was so close to an end, but...
He climbed down and slumped against the fountain.

Damian had been lingering around Roslare because he was bored and wanted to train himself before taking on the First Level Gatekeeper. It definitely wasn't because he didn't have anyone to help him take on the Gatekeeper. Obviously not. He had been wandering the area near the fountain when he heard two voices, both sounding panicky. Rolling his eyes, he headed towards the voices. "Whoa now, let's not get to crazy here. You aren't dead. Believe me. I've been here for a few days already," he told the boy sitting against the fountain. "Are both of you alright at least? Do you remember anything about how you got here?" he added, including the girl that had arrived roughly at the same time as the boy.

Midori eyed the other boy with contempt. Who was he supposed to be? "I jumped off a cliff, trying to kill myself." He answered. "I fell, and fell, and fell, and now I'm here." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed a little, seeing no reason to hold anything back. "Best guess? Someone knew my plans and wanted to keep me alive for some reason. Not that it matters, seeing as I'll probably just try again. As for being all right...probably not. Physically I'm good, I suppose."

His gaze then turned to the girl. "What about you, huh? You jump off a cliff too or what?"

Serina was firmly lost in thought so she only noticed that Midori was up on the fountain when the boy yelled. The redhead scrambled backwards, her scabbard scrapping against the ground as she jerked away instinctively before realising it was just another player coming to terms with their unfortunate fate. But when he climbed back down, she made a point of ignoring him, not interested in getting caught up in someone else's drama, she was feel out of sorts without having to deal with other people's issues.

But then another boy approached, one who seemed less panicked. Was he an NPC? She wondered, but he seemed too real, too human. So she went to answer, opening her mouth when she was cut off by fountain jumper, a blessing in disguise in a way. She didn't know if she could stop herself from sounding pathetic if she tried to speak. But then the boy turned to her, asking basically if she was suicidal. "Cliff? No! I'm not crazy, I just, I was helping someone. They asked for directions and I came over to help them when something happened. Not everyone is like you."

Midori laughed drily at the girl's comment, if a little bitter. "Believe me, I know no one's like me. Honestly, you're all better for it." Looking closer, he could see he recognized the girl from when he appeared here in the first place. Good to know, he thought to himself.
He turned his gaze back towards the other boy, a grin stuck on his face."You said you've been here a few days. I gather you at least have an idea of what's going on. Mind if you throw me a bone here?"
Then, before the boy could respond to his comment, he added, "Oh, and I'm Midori, just for the record."

It was hard for Damian to get a word in between half-crazed suicidal boy and the girl, although she remained mostly quiet. "Damian. Pleasure." he said, introducing himself. "And a quick run-down of what's going on is that both you of, and subsequently me, are stuck inside a video game some lunatic created. And before you ask, no, we're not the only ones. There are plenty of others that have already been kidnapped that are in here. They're around town, or exploring, or figuring out how to get out. And that's a whole different problem." he explained, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Any questions before we continue our 'tour'?"

Midori pondered the question for a second. "Not really. Just one thing: can I die?" Midori knew he was repeating himself ever so slightly, but it felt like an important question to ask, regardless of who you were. He then added, "And, while we're at it, what's with her sword and this bow I've got? Do we have to kill somebody?" He held it slack at his side, feeling its weight and examining its finer details. Yeah, this wasn't exactly for paintball, He thought.

Though she was silent, her face made her opinions clear enough. Damian seemed useful enough, he knew things and was a fellow player of the game it seemed, but Midori, he could get stuffed. He was too unpredictable and she still was a little mad that he's thought her to be just like him. And then he had to ask if they needed to kill someone. In a flash, her hand dropped to the knife secured on her hip, hands tight on the handle to draw if required.

She shot Damian a nervous look, getting up carefully and stepping over to the boy's side. "I'm ready for the tour, lets move things along." She had no interest in listening further to Midori's rambles, and was a little afraid of him, though she was the one with the dagger.

OOC: Hey Mizunao, Midori is a ranger, which means he doesn't have a cane for a weapon but he does have bow. This is just for future reference, I understand that you're still new at this.

IC: Damian shrugged. "I guess if you wanted to you could probably go kill yourself. But you've got three lives in here so that might get boring. Or drive you insane, if you weren't pretty much already there," he told Midori. "And killing people? Not likely. The most you'll have to kill are some creatures, and that's only if they attack you first usually." He motioned for them to follow him and he led them through town. He showed them the cathedral where the first "Gathering" was held. "This is the designated area, for now, where we meet and discuss plans. No idea if we'll have any more, as the OG crew were kinda divided on what to do. But if you get a mass message it's probably to get together and discuss what to do next," he told the two of them as they continued walking.

OOC: Lol that makes sense. Thx for the head's up! Also, sorry if I get edgy, I swear I'm just in character.
IC: Midori was a little out of it from finding out he would have to die three whole times to reach an end. But that didn't matter; this world was starting to interest him. Plus, he was curious to see exactly what was going on here. As for the girl, she seemed to develop an aversion to him. Nah, he thought, I'm probably just reading into it too much.
"So what exactly to we talk about in these meetings?" Midori inquired. "Politics? Justice? A blockbuster? Or is it to do with the fact that we're all stuck in here for some reason or another?"
Personally, he felt it was the latter, but always better to ask, he supposed.