look for answers i never use to wonder why search for loving but that always comes in time make it look easy wish i didn't have to try out with with strangers use to take all my nights would you tell me if I'm right Is it worth your time you can try all day to change my mind but I can't do that
snacks. good, brain fuel. mooncake nods fervently as she thinks; she can’t tell straight off the bat how the bow is supposed to feel - she’s not an archer, after all - but she knows enough about the technical aspects to think up a fix. “want balance, b-but don’t want it heavy! can’t add weight; so take away?” she balances the bow’s grip in the centre of her palm, watching to see if it tips. “sturdy, ooft. could partially hollow it out…?” she turns to rose, then, with the suggestion, trying to gauge if the other is willing. she beams wide as the blonde gestures at the arrows, letting out a small laugh. “okay, no more practice, then. the bow - do you want the bow done now? we could wait - share a break, first.”
if there was anyone rose would trust with her bow, it would definitely be mooncake – the other was far more knowledgeable about weapons than herself and was experienced enough to come up with a good fix for her. “yeah, i guess making it lighter could definitely help to balance it out...” she thought, knowing that it would take some time to finish and she’d be without it for a bit, but it would be worth it if the weapon was more viable. “you can take your time on it, let me collect these arrows first and then i can make good on that snack promise.”
not going to shoot you. “oh. well… good,” she responds, as though it had at all been in doubt. mooncake beams wide as the other goes on a little about the bow, meeting rose halfway as she hands the weapon over. though she knows quite a fair bit about the various types of weaponry available to velia’s players, bows have always been a bit tricky. (love tricky, though, so that’s no issue.) she holds it loose in one hand, getting a feel for it for herself. “what’s bad?” she asks rose, though really she means to ask what’s different. in this case, though, she supposes they’re one and the same. “weight? balance? grip? could fix - could fiddle with any of it. promise it’ll be good! depends what it is, though - might need time. …and snacks?” the last bit is spoken with a hinted wiggle of her brows. (she doesn’t need to be paid in gold all the time.) then, with less excitement and haste, not wanting to push the issue if rose isn’t interested, she adds, “or! could do moral support while you practice.”
rose was confident in mooncake’s ability to help her out, considering her broad knowledge of weapons, and her kindness didn’t go unnoticed by rose either. “i think it’s mostly balance and weight. i guess it could just use a little tweaking. it’s far more weighted than my old one.” she explained, hoping mooncake understood what she was getting at. “oh yeah, snacks! i can definitely make that happen for you.” rose smiled, knowing that she’d be happy to repay the girl in any way. “no, no. i think i’ve had enough practice for today.” she laughed, gesturing to the arrows littered around.
NIKE was surprised when rose agreed to quit her training to tag along, but she really shouldn’t have been. her friend had the same adventurous sense of curiosity that drove nike to making some of her worst decisions. “good call,” she agreed, nodding confidently. “i have to warn you though, i don’t have the best idea of where i’m going.” her smile finally grew, warm, familiar. rose reminded her of her friend’s outside the game, the ones she’d grown up with. they were similar, the two girls, just chosen different paths. “why were you training out here anyway?”
rose had honestly been surprised when she and nike had become good friends. but the two were more similar than they cared to admit, and rose was glad to have someone else to commiserate with from time to time. “well then, we’ll just have to figure it out along the way.” rose smiled back. “it’s quiet. and i like it, something about the woods out here puts me at ease.” she shrugged. “and honestly, i didn’t think anyone could find me to bother me out here. clearly i was wrong.” she laughed, poking her tongue out at her friend to let her know she was just teasing. although rose had been seeking some alone time when she’d come up here, she was glad her friend had come along, if not just to get her mind off of everything for a minute.
in a flash, her hands fly up above her head in a gesture of surrender. “f-f-f-friendly fire, rose!” mooncake yelps in defence, instinctively ducking but not bothering to reach for her weapon or shield because she’s sure - or thinks she’s sure - rose would never lodge an arrow in her on purpose. she catches sight of her friends’ bow even through her grimace, though, and immediately perks with unguarded excitement. “oh! th-that - is that new?” her lips spread into a smile and she drops her arms, glancing around - she sees some of the arrows the other had been retrieving just a moment before; notices they’re a bit scattered, as though they missed their mark. adjustment period, then? familiar with building and fixing up weapons as she’s come to be, mooncake’s sure she can make it easier, somehow. “help! i can - ah, can i?” she fumbles with the wording, brushing her palms down the front of her armour. “i mean: anything i can do to help?”
once rose realizes that it’s just mooncake who’d disturbed her (and was now trying to avoid her bow in a hilarious manner), she quickly dropped her bow and smiled at her friend. “don’t worry bud, not going to shoot you.” when the other recognizes her new bow, rose shrugs, flipping it over in her hand a few times. “oh yeah, i just got it today. afraid it’s a little more advanced than my old one and i can’t just get the hang of it yet.” she sighed, gesturing to the scattering of arrows that littered the wooded floor. “uh, yeah! if you think you can help out i’d be seriously grateful.” rose knew that mooncake was good with weapons, at least with the mechanics of them, so hopefully she’d be able to give some guidance. “here.” she offered up her un-loaded bow to mooncake, so she could take a look at it.
nike made sure to make a show of her eye roll as rose taunted her, unable to hide her following chuckle. “i’m the luckiest,” she teased, tension leaving her body as rose put away the deadly instruments. was it too embarrassing to admit she was out here on her way to the second dungeon entrance? just to watch. but still. “i’m on patrol,” she lied, deciding to cover her ass, give her stupid mission some purpose. “supposed to go check on the sandpit for the night.” it sounded less pathetic this way, right? “want to come with? i wouldn’t object.”
rose could tell that nike felt more comfortable once she’d put all the arrows away, which made rose chuckle internally a bit. although they weren’t the same guild, rose didn’t have any reason to hurt nike, and it’d probably be more trouble than it was worth. “sure, i’m tired of hitting the same tree over and over again, i could use a little bit of a walk.” she shrugged, slinging her bow over her shoulder. rose wouldn’t admit that she was finally happy to have an excuse to take a break from being so frustrated with herself, and walking with nike would take her mind off of the seed of disappointment growing within her.
“i was about to be on your ass about ‘what if someone snuck up on you out here’”, nike started, holding both her hands up in surrender as the arrow trained directly on her. she was offering an apologetic smile, but her eyes remained even. she trusted rose enough not to let the arrow loose, but she wasn’t catalyst, and it was always hard to completely trust an outsider. “but i think you have it covered. so.. uh.. good shit.” she nodded at the bow and raising an eyebrow, unwilling to voice out loud her request for her friend to lower the weapon.
rolling her eyes at her friend, rose stuck out her tongue a bit before lowering her bow. “you’re lucky i like you.” she replied, dislodging her arrow and pointing it at nike before sheathing back in her quiver. “what are you doing out here?” she asked, retrieving the last of her arrows that she had been after before nike snuck up on her. rose hadn’t been expecting to see her friend on this floor, especially not so deep into the woods.
He could have knocked her out in seconds, but because she was a part of the same guild, it was up to him to help them be aware of everything. They all needed to fight smarter. She would have taken too long with her bow, to aim, and then release. “If you’re going to practice, don’t do it here.” his voice stern, and firm. He wasn’t one to say much but when he did, he made it count. He moved passed her, making sure there weren’t monsters lurking.
there were times where rose felt like she was finally getting the hang of things, that she was gaining experience in the world and could finally keep up with the rest of her guild. but most of the time she felt young and unexperienced, constantly trying to keep up with how good everyone else was. “well where do you suggest?” she replied, returning her arrows to her quiver. rose knew he wasn’t much with words, but she appreciated any guidance she got.
He had already tracked her to this area, it wasn’t hard for him to do so, considering he was a rogue. Sneaking around, knowing the floor inside out, that is what he does. The military did him good to become his surroundings, it was why no one could track him, nor spot him. She was so focused on aiming at her target, her concentration only shifted when he threw a rock across the ground, rustled with the leaves. He ended up behind her as he leaned against the tree. “You really need to work on moving, or at least taking cover, rather than standing there on guard, makes you an easy target.” he stated seeing Rose.
when she heard his voice behind her, rose turned on her heel, lowering her bow in the process. of course oasis had found her here, he was a tracker and he always saw her before she saw him. giving him a tight lipped smile, she dislodged the arrow already in her bow before heading to take on out of the tree he was leaning on. “note taken.” she said, yanking her last arrow out of the tree. “to be fair, i probably wouldn’t have been able to hit you anyway. this stupid new bow has a weird weight, i probably couldn’t even shoot fish in a barrel right now.”
she wasn’t sure how long she’d been buried deep in the forest, but rose was beginning to feel frustrated. the new bow she’d gotten had a heavier weight to it than her old one, and it was taking her a while to get used to it. it wasn’t that she was a bad archer, she was a damn good one and she knew it, but for hours now she’d struggled to consistently hit the knot in the tree as she adjusted to her new possession. the bright sun had started to fade now, the colors beginning to stream a deep orange as it dipped further behind the tree line. rose had been retrieving some arrows when she’d heard the crunch of leaves behind her. she wasn’t naive, she knew there were dangerous monsters that lurked in the woods on this floor. her reflexes immediately kicked in, the arrow in her hand quickly stringing on the bow and her whole body turning to face the disturbance, ready to release on a moment’s notice.
°✧｡ [OLIVIA HOLT, CIS-FEMALE, SHE/HER] IT’S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE ROSE JOINED VELIA FROM BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. APPARENTLY THEIR NAME IS ASPEN TAYLOR AND THEY’RE A ARCHER. THEY HAVE BEEN FIGHTING AS A BLOOD OATH MEMBER FOR A WHILE NOW. DIDN’T PEOPLE SAY THEY WERE NOT A BETA TESTER? I HEARD THEY TURNED TWENTY-TWO THIS YEAR. LET’S HOPE THEY MAKE IT OUT ALIVE. [ANS, 20, EST, SHE/HER]
hi my loves! i seriously cannot express how excited i am to be here! i’m ans, i’m from the est timezone and i’m twenty years old! i’m really excited to bring aspen here, and i’ll try to save you guys a little bit and keep it short and sweet! if you want to know more about aspen or plot or anything, drop this a like, or hit me up on discord or ims here!
life before
when she was younger, aspen bounced around from foster home to foster home. she wasn’t a bad kid, but she never found a family that she really clicked with, and eventually most families saw her as too old to adopt.
before she turned sixteen, she found herself being taken into the taylor household, and her whole life changed. her life hadn’t been bad before, but the amount of love she felt in that house changed her forever. she was adopted after a year of living with them.
there was no one that aspen was closer to than her adoptive older brother, ethan. despite the nearly ten year age gap, they were best friends instantly. after she began living with the taylors, he was there for every milestone. he drove her to her first day at her new high school, helped her enroll for her first semester in college, he was always there for her.
she was enrolled in boston college, just around the corner from her new house with the taylors. as a history and literature major, she often had her nose in a book and was always in her professors’ offices asking questions.
after logging on
aspen initially started the game on the urging of her brother, as he played and loved it. she thought it was fun, but he was definitely more into it than her, but it gave them something to bond over when they didn’t get to see each other as much.
she joined the blood oath because of what they stand for. aspen knows what it is like to feel helpless, and she’s always been one to help others. especially since her brother is stuck in there with her, she’s more determined than ever to get out as soon as possible. she misses the rest of her family in the real world too, they’re what motivates her.
aspen is always one to help the greater good, and she will do what is asked of her, no matter the cost to her own detriment. she’s caring to a fault, and tends to help everyone else before herself.
