Disclaimer: I don't own Blood, Ariel, Kleude, Rose, Bian, Nate, Aqulla, Pooly, Mari, Baal, Pooly's grandfather, Kleude's mother, Kleude's brother and Kyoko they belong to Tamsoft, I own everyone else though
Warning: A bit of cursing, violence
Pairing: One sided Ariel/Blood
Note: More Rose and Blood interaction in Cheirai village
Story
After they finished their lunch, Blood and Rose walked to a field full of cherry trees.
"Aren't they beautiful?" said Blood.
"Yes but…"
"Were they related to what happened to you before?"
"I was expelled in one night when these trees are in their full glory…"
"Ah…"
"They are beautiful though" a tear began to fall off one of her eyes.
"You're crying!"
"I-I'm not!"
Blood brushed the tear off.
"Let's go meet up with the others, they should be booking an inn to rest for the day."
Rose nodded following him.
Inside the inn.
"Hi Blood!" Pooly cried.
"Hi everyone, how's things?" Blood asked.
"We got a video game console" said Ariel.
"Sweet! What shall we play?"
Ariel looked inside at the games they had with the console, there was a game with a man holding a sword, one with some cute dragons with bubbles and a cover with a purple background.
They took out the game with the purple background.
Ariel, Blood, Pooly and Kleude waited for the game to run, looking at the manual.
"Hey Kleude, this guy's name is similar to yours!" said Blood.
"I have to wonder why Mom picked my name like that instead of Claude" said Kleude.
"He looks like a superhero!" said Pooly.
"He looks a bit plain…" said Ariel.
"That I can agree with" said Kleude.
They turned the page with a girl with blue hair and large elf ears.
"Man I thought my ears were large…" said Kleude.
"She's so cute…" said Ariel.
"She's as ugly as you are."
"She's cute" said Blood and Pooly.
The blonde grunted turning the page.
He covered his eyes at the woman with the low cut dress.
"Oh god my eyes…" Kleude groaned.
"She is so sexy…" said Ariel.
"Yeah!" said Pooly.
"She's not my type" said Blood "she's not wearing enough clothes and she's so curvy in a way I don't like.
Ariel let out a thought of relief, he didn't like voluptuous women after all!
They turned the next page.
"Is that a dragon on his back?" said Pooly.
"Looks like it" said Ariel.
"That looks pretty cool next to boring her, ugly frog face girl with big ears and flashing woman" said Kleude.
"He looks awesome!" Pooly exclaimed.
"Those dragons are creepy…" Ariel shuddered.
"Aw but they look cool" said Blood "Especially since they got two different colours."
They turned the next page.
"That girl reminds me of that princess in the orange dress…" said Ariel.
"If she's anything like her, I'd play as her" said Kleude.
"Considering your reputation as a woman hater, I'm surprised" said Rose from the back.
"She's a fictional character, she won't bitch back like the girls in my area does."
They turned the page again.
"Ooo a doctor!" said Blood.
"He looks so boring!" said Pooly.
"Well that's better than you" Kleude poked his ribs.
They turned the page.
"Three eyes?" said Ariel.
"Damn another woman with an absurd amount of cleavage" said Kleude.
"So hot…" said Pooly.
"The three eyes are cool though" said Blood.
They turned the next page.
"Another person with three eyes?" said Kleude.
"Damn he looks so cool…" said Blood.
"H-he looks scary…" said Ariel.
"I would like a whip…" said Pooly, earning a glare from Kleude.
They turned the page.
"Is that one of those men that are pretty yet handsome enough to get all the women?" said Kleude.
"He's looks ready to kick butt!" said Pooly.
"Bleh I don't like those type of men."
"He looks so mature…" said Ariel.
"I bet he must be a pretty interesting character though" said Blood.
They turned the page.
"Hey look another cat folk!" said Pooly "He must be really lucky."
"He barely looks any older than you" said Kleude.
"Hey I'm already thirteen years old!"
Everyone stopped staring at Pooly, he looks seven at most!
"He's still way too young, kid" said Kleude.
"Too young?" Pooly cocked his head.
"Never mind… You seem to believe us cat folks start having babies as soon as we are born…"
"He's cute" said Ariel.
"He looks insufferable" said Kleude.
"I like the doctor look a lot" said Blood.
They turned the page.
"Why does his eyes reminds me of that little brat?" said Kleude.
"He got long ears too!" said Ariel.
"Boring" said Pooly.
"He looks so calm, like he's content with life" said Blood.
"But he's soooo boring… I wanna see the last person!"
They turned to find the last ally.
"What scarlet hair…" said Ariel.
"And another person with ears to pierce the moon" said Kleude.
"She seems interesting" said Blood.
They closed the book starting the game.
They had a choice of two protagonist.
"Both of them look so boring…" said Kleude.
"I like the guy better" said Blood.
Ariel would have said to pick the girl but since Blood preferred him she agreed.
"Ooo you can name him?" said Blood.
"How about we name him Golden hair?" said Pooly.
"There's only seven spaces."
"How about Sword?"
"How about Blood, since you will be playing as him" said Ariel.
"Nah…"
He named the hero Eiji after the name of the hero of the other game the others bought according to the back cover.
The hero began to narrate something.
"Man his voice sucks!" said Pooly "He doesn't sound heroic at all!"
After the cutscene were talks between the hero and his father before Blood could steer the hero.
However there was more cutscene after a short while.
"Whoa what happened to the hero!" Ariel yelled.
"Did he just vaporize!?" said Pooly.
A few lines later.
"Oh I'm glad he's alive, I thought he just…" said Blood.
"Oh dear there's a creature near that girl!" said Pooly "Save her!"
Ariel watched the scene, it was all too familiar…
After the monster was killed, the girl ran away from shock.
Ariel thought about all this, it reminded her of the time Blood saved her except she didn't run away from him.
After more introductions, the heroine joining briefly while Ariel renamed her 'Peach' and the hero denying he was a hero of light, Blood began training him to level five before heading for next city.
"It's a wonder he can still use that weird weapon without getting the whole world giving him items for free" said Kleude.
"I would like to buy whatever I want for free…" said Pooly.
However after getting stuck, Blood decided to go back to the first village.
"Whoa the heroine is kidnapped!" said Blood.
"Oh my just like-"said Ariel before Kleude cut her off.
"Looks like I have to go back to the second town hehe…" said Blood.
Inside the second town, Blood noticed that there are people near the mansion.
"Maybe we should take a look in here?" said Ariel.
"Okay."
The door was locked, however the hero used his gun to blast the door.
"Lame, the effect isn't as nice as in the battlefield' said Kleude.
"Aww he ran out of power on his gun…" said Ariel.
Blood was looking though the menu.
"Two hours…" he said "I should find the next save point and take a break.
After a few more minutes of cutscene he saved his progress, shutting off the game.
The spiky haired boy got up, stretching his arms.
"Ahhh we should take a walk around the village before dinner…"
"But I don't wanna walk anymore I'm tired!" Pooly whined.
"Then you can stay at home, Fido" said Kleude.
"My name is not Fido! It's Pooly- Hey let go of me!" Rose was dragging the boy by his ponytail, locking the room.
"It's so beautiful in the moonlight…" said Ariel looking at the cherry trees almost glowing in the dark.
"Your skin is glowing in the moonlight Ariel" said Blood.
"Ah?" her ears caught Blood's voice.
"And Rose is so dark…"
Ariel glared as Blood talked to the woman.
"Hey there Rose" said the boy.
"Hello boy" said Blood.
"You can call me Blood Maverick."
"Maverick…" said Nate.
"You heard of that name before?" Ariel asked.
"It's my family name as well…"
"Could you be?"
"I don't have any relatives, both my parents are only children so it could be a coincident."
"I see…"
A cherry blossom fell on top of Rose's head.
Blood stood on his tippy toes until his head was past Rose's chin and he picked up the flower.
"Oh dear this one has a torn petal!" he said.
"Is that supposed to be bad luck?" Rose asked.
"But it's still beautiful in its damaged state…"
He smiled at the flower.
Ariel approached Blood.
"Torn or not it's really beautiful Blood…"
"Yeah."
"Wait here, I bought some flowers Blood!"
Ariel began heading back to the inn to pick up the bouquet.
A soft hissing passed echoed through the air.
"Aww are you feeling cold Kleude?" Blood asked.
"No I'm not, I'm wearing a thick shirt" said Kleude "But that Ariel girl is so so…"
"You should take a rest, you seem a bit off the entire day" said Nate.
"It's only six thirty…"
The blonde headed off somewhere in private.
"When this war is over where would you go with your sister, Rose?" Blood asked.
"Maybe I'll settle in here, this place is a lot nicer than Sakuranbo."
"That's a nice idea."
"What about you and the others?"
"Hmm I'll return to Mizuiro to my mom and hang out with my old friends and maybe the others if I ever see them again."
"I wanna go exploring around the world!" Pooly yelled "Then I can prove my parents I can take on anything!"
"I don't really know what I want to do after this…" said Nate.
"Maybe we'll find out what you can do" said Blood.
Ariel returned with the bouquet.
"There we go, you sweet little thing, you can join your friends" said Ariel.
Rose began to giggle.
"What were you all up to?" Ariel asked.
"Oh we were just talking about what we'll do when we stop the black wisps" said Blood
"Oh."
"Do you have any plans?"
"I just want to go back to my temple and maybe start something to earn some money. You can still visit me if you want."
"Okay that just leaves Kleude!" said Blood.
"Where is he anyway?"
"Went off to cool off his head off."
"What do you think he could be doing?" Pooly asked.
"Probably jacking himself off."
"Jacking off? You mean he has those jack tools that people use to lift heavy things off?" Blood asked.
"Err that's not what I meant Blood…"
"What is-" Ariel mouth got covered by Rose's hand.
"You don't need to know Ariel."
They waited for fourty minutes.
"That boy sure is taking an awfully long time" said Rose.
"Maybe we should find see him?"
"If he's just needlessly playing with his thing we shouldn't."
"Okay we'll let him do whatever he's doing and we can wait a b it longer."
The blonde was as an edge near the sea, his ears raised up.
"Did you hear me Black wisps!?" he screamed "I will punch the living day lights out of you for destroying so many lives! And I will tell Lemuria what I think of him! He's a useless good for nothing piece for fodder for letting that woman release all of you into our world!"
He felt relieved from all the yelling, heading back to where the others were.
"Hey there Kleude did you have a good time using a jack on something?" said Blood.
"Blood it's rude to ask people what they are doing in private" Rose hissed.
"Jack on something? You mean those tools they use to lift carts?"
"Yeah!"
"I don't have one of those."
"Then what were you doing-" Rose covered his mouth
"Sorry but it's his personal reason."
"Huh?"
"You mean he doesn't want us to know he was playing with his thing?" said Pooly.
"Pooly!" Rose cried.
The blonde cocked his head.
"We should keep quiet about it, he will be annoyed if we knew."
"I dunno what you three are on about me but isn't it time for dinner?" said Kleude.
"Okay but first what will you do once our journey is over?" said Blood.
"Probably return to Tabitha with my family."
"Okay, now it's time for dinner!" the boy began marching to a restaurant.
"Welcome strangers, what would you like?" a waitress asked.
"It's a huge wonder nobody turns an eye at the sight of a man with metallic limbs, a robot or someone with cat ears and a tail stuck to his bottom..." said Kleude.
"Anything not too spicy?" Blood asked.
"You could have sushi without wasabi."
"What are sushi?"
"Fish with rice on vinegar."
"Okay I'll try some sushi then."
"I'll try some of these cute little octopus balls" said Ariel.
"Hey these bowl of pork look good!" said Pooly "And the beef too, man I can't decide…"
"How about both?" Ariel suggested.
"Okay!"
"I'll just take a chicken bowl, too much fish in here" said Kleude.
"I'll have mushroom curry" said Rose.
"I think I will go with udon" said Nate.
"Any drinks?" the waitress asked.
"How about green tea for all of us?" said Blood.
"Dessert?"
"Hmm I'd like chocolate shaved ice."
"How about green tea ice cream?" said Ariel.
"Do you have carrot mochi?" Kleude asked.
"No" said the waitress.
"Then I'll try a red bean flavor."
"Chocolate parfait!" said Pooly.
"Dango" said Rose.
"Bean soup" said Nate.
"Okay, it'll all be ready in a few minutes!" the waitress walked off to the kitchen.
"I wonder how my friends back in Mizuiro are…"said Blood.
"I'm sure they're fine Blood" said Ariel.
"Yeah but what if the black wisps appear and demolish them."
"They are prepared this time. Please let's just think about the current affair."
"Okay… What about Mislead forest?"
"Name sounds very misleading" said Kleude.
"When we get there do you think the place is bright and sunny?"
"Or dark and gloomy" said Rose.
"D-dark and gloomy?" Pooly shook.
"Ooo a dark and gloomy place… It will be just like those horror novels…" said Blood.
Blood began narrating possibilities which was creeping Pooly out.
"You think that might possibly happen?" Ariel asked.
"Maybe or maybe not."
"Please no dark forests!" Pooly screamed.
"Enjoy your meal" said the waitress.
Pooly shrieked, surprising the waitress.
"Whoa you scared me" she said.
"Maybe we should have gotten the game with those weird creatures that look like they are decaying…" said Kleude.
The little boy began screaming again.
"Kleude, don't be mean to him!" Ariel yelled.
"Hey I'm just teaching him to grow a spine if he wants to be the world greatest man."
"You didn't have to be that harsh…"
"Says you, Ms Softy pants."
"Well how about we talk about what we like to do?" said Blood "You first Ariel."
"Erm… my old mistress and me liked playing noughts and crosses and chess… making tea for her was fun as well…"
"I like to go out into town, getting something before going off to play!" said Pooly.
"Hanging out with Mari is all I ever need for entertainment" said Rose.
"I just whatever there is in the house with Jet, Sarah and Mom" said Kleude.
Nate was scratching his chin "I guess I just hung out with my friend Kyoko without really thinking about it…" he said.
"What is Kyoko like?" said Ariel.
"She was always trying to brighten me up even as everyone despised us, hanging around the fields and pick flowers."
"I'm sorry she died sir Nate…"
"Hmm…"
Everyone stared as him as he scratched on his hat.
"I wonder how it's like to be Kyoko, so bright and cheerful…"
"I wonder how it's like to be Mari myself sometimes" said Rose.
"Say I wonder what is it like to be each other" said Ariel.
"Well I sure as hell don't want to be you" said Kleude "Or any other woman, those stuff you get saddled with must be heavy."
Ariel covered her chest, frowning.
"Must be lonely to live alone with only an old woman" said Blood "I'm sure I would want to run away from all that loneliness."
"I wouldn't mind living with only one person though" said Kleude "my classmates are all really heartless."
"I wouldn't."
"Aww I would die from boredom!" Pooly cried.
"I wouldn't mind either" said Rose.
"Please, e-enough of my life!" said Ariel.
"How about Spikey's life?" said Pooly.
"I can't imagine how it's like to have friends" said Ariel.
"Neither can I" said Kleude.
"I think it will be fun!" said Pooly "To have lots of friends who will admire me!" the blonde glared at him.
"I would like that life actually" said Rose, earning a glare from Ariel.
"I think I would as well" said Nate.
Pooly looked at the plate of curry.
"Hey the smell is nice!" said the boy "Can I taste it?"
"Sure" said Rose.
"Do you think he'll like it?" Ariel asked Blood "The smell reminds me of mapo tofu."
"Won't hurt for him to try" said Blood.
The boy dropped the spoon after tasting the curry.
"It's…" he went "Delicious!"
"Well he likes it after all…" said Blood.
After dinner they went back to the inn to play some video games before settling for the night.
Blood handed Rose the controller "Play some games Rose, it's fun" he said.
"Me? Play?"
"Don't worry if you are not good, just have fun!"
"Okay…"
They loaded up the game.
Rose steered the hero about as Blood instructed her on how to play the game as they got lost and wandered around places they get booted away from.
They stopped in a strange room with more cutscenes and a battle starts.
Ariel took over the second controller, set to manual.
Ariel decided to help the hero defeat the creature.
However the girl was much slower than the boy and a strike from the creature almost killed her character so she had to run away.
"What can I do?" Ariel asked, looking at the manual "Cure others?"
She accessed a tab.
The first icon was called magic.
There was a cure spell.
She healed herself, however the hero managed to defeat the creature earning a victory for both.
"I leveled up!" said Ariel.
The man that attacked them was back to normal and much more cutscenes until they are on the world map again.
"Poor girl she never knew her family…" said Ariel.
"Well you wouldn't know yours either, if it weren't for those people in Glacie either" said Kleude.
"True, I hope she find hers soon."
Several hours later they saved the game a shut it off for the night.
"That man with the bright blue hair is so mysterious…" said Ariel.
"He seems like the contrived cool guy type" said Kleude.
"I wonder if we will know more about him…"
"Maybe, we're still early in the game" said Blood.
"That heroine is annoying about him though" said Kleude "Then again she's always annoying."
"I like her" said Ariel.
"Well she's a bit like you."
"I want to try that cool guy!" said Pooly.
"Maybe tomorrow before we head to Mislead forest, we're sleepy…" said Blood.
Pooly nodded as they headed for bed.
However strange creatures began to wander about the village in the dead of night.
To be continued
