((OOC:

Event posting section for 'The Lake.'

:OOC))

The perfect thing to do after a day of running around and wasting all your energy was one thing: taking a dip in the pool. Well, virtual pool in his perspective. Shenmock stood in Mac Anu, staring up at the Chaos Gate. People were walking around, some looking like they were headed to the event, and some just walking off to do dungeons that day. Today was a day that Shenmock couldn't imagine going through a dungeon. Especially after a hot day.

Shenmock held up his spear and called out the words, already on his way to the pool party. It sounded fun, people would be there, and he would have a chance to meet some new friends. It sounded cool, and it was going to be cool. Golden rings descended upon him, the brief loading screen coming up before revealing the area to him.

But before he could do anything, a screen came up, revealing many bathingsuits of shapes and sizes. He picked his size and continued on to his design, all the designs for the event looking pricy if you were to buy them in real life. But in the end, Shenmock found what he needed. A black bathingsuit with flames surrounding it, each flame being a different shade of blue. In his perspective, it looked wicked and something to wear all the time. Yet in some people's perspective, it was way uncool.

Shenmock appeared at the edge of a forest, standing out over a waterfall, seemingly being the first one there. He gasped. No lifeguard, no rules, and the best, unlimited fine. This was a must on his 'To Do List'. Shenmock took a step back, preparing his legs for a long sprint and then, a huge jump.

He sprinted forward, yelling with excitement, the hot sand burning his toes as he went. The water emerged quicker than he thought, Shenmock running in at top speed, laughing at himself, then making a huge leap, adrenaline coming up to help him with his fall. Shenmock gasped as he noticed how far it was down, but still, he laughed all the way through it. "Cannonball!" he yelled, his knees going down first, his eyes glowing with excitement. Then, the lake emerged, Shenmock falling in, a huge splash coming up to greet any ongoing viewers. This was going to be so much fun.

Cold water rushed through him, schools of fish scattering as he landed in their territory. Shenmock opened his eyes and stared out at all the fish, their eyes blank and staring at him. Bubbles formed out of his mouth and were brought up to the surface. Shenmock started swimming up, seeing that this lake was pretty deep. His head broke surface, Shenmock jumping out and waving his hair.

Looking around, he saw that the water from his splash was still waving a bit. That was just too cool to him. Diving into the water again, Shenmock opened his eyes, seeing that nothing would harm him in the virtual world. It felt like he was snorkling, only not so low underwater. Seeing that his breath wouldn't last much longer, he started pushing up, breaking surface once again. This was the life.

“An event?” Asuka wondered aloud, staring up at the bulletin, which she checked every so often. It appeared that CC Corp had tossed together yet another of its oh so original events, though this time it appeared that there was no reward, or indeed any set purpose. This event was simply for fun and relaxation, so it said. Asuka thought about it for a moment, and a slight smile crossed her face. She hadn’t been to the beach in quite some time, and with all that she was bogged down with in real life, she likely wouldn’t get a real chance to go. Aside from that, she supposed that there was always the aesthetic factor to consider. After all, she loved just to watch the river flow in Mac Anu, and considering this event seemed to be all about exotic scenery, it likely would be a great pay-off to go and take a look. Resolving herself with these thoughts she let a wide smile slowly slide across her face as she traipsed off toward the shimmering blue Chaos Gate.

As Asuka was carried away by the familiar golden rings, she was briefly redirected to simple screen. It was much like the one at first registration where one could create their character, but this one was just a bit different. Instead of an entire character, this screen only asked that the user design their own swimsuit for the duration of the event. It only made sense, after all, this whole event was entitled “Pool Party.” Asuka thought for a moment about what type of swimwear she would go with and proceeded with the actual designing. It was a rather simple design; a sleek navy blue one piece that was cut low in the back, with the front wrapping around the neck, and small string bows tied on each hip. Also, printed on the front of suit, at the top of the chest area, were the words “Celtic Moon.”

That done, Asuka found herself whisked off to the north-most area of the event map, likely fragmented for the purpose of holding all of the event goers. However, the area Asuka arrived in was all but empty. Wondering if she was the first to arrive, she took a look at her surroundings. It was a heavily wooded forest area, which she thought quite odd, given the event description. Nevertheless, she heard a faint noise, like the sound of rushing water. She took a few steps through the forest in the direction of the sound, her bare feet disturbing the wood chips beneath them ever so slightly, and came to a dead halt as she became free of the trees. Her eyes were wide with amazement as she saw the enormous waterfall in the distance, pouring directly down into an absolutely gorgeous lake. Asuka’s jaw dropped at the sight, and she immediately began walking toward the waterfall, hiking up a small hill in the process.

As Asuka came ever closer to the top of the waterfall, she noticed an identical fall directly opposite the first, and could only smile in wonderment. Reaching the crest of the hill, Asuka’s feet splashed softly into the flowing stream that plummeted so beautifully from the cliff-face and stared out over the lake below. A soft breeze blew over the top of the hill and Asuka let out a deep breath as she stepped up to the edge of the waterfall, the sound of the rushing water filling her ears completely. In an instant she was up and over the edge of the cliff, descending gracefully toward the water below at a high speed. Her body passed into the water seamlessly, leaving behind very little splash. She drifted a ways below the water’s surface, taking in the deep azure beauty that had enveloped her. She had to return to the surface before long however, as it seemed that even in a game she wasn’t able to hold her breath forever.

Breaking the surface once more, this time simply letting herself float on her back, Asuka let out a peaceful sigh and looked to the bright skies above. The sun shined down on her warmly, and the breeze rustled the tops of the trees gently. Though she had spotted another player splashing around the lake somewhere, she may as well have been the only person there. Now this was an event within “The World” that she could enjoy.

The day was bright in Mac Anu and the sun light shimmered off the water. Talal had been touring the city trying to get a feel for where everything was. She had visited almost every shop she could find, each with its’ own specialties to offer, for a price of course. Being new to The World having only begun playing the game within the last month, she hadn’t really met too many players yet. She honestly wasn’t sure if she wanted to. She enjoyed the less stressed life of being somewhat of a solitary individual. As she continued her stroll around the city, she came to the waters edge near the main bridge. She sat down, hanging her feet over peering into the ripples on the water. What else could she do today? She remembered seeing something on the message boards about a special event. It was a pool party of sorts with four different locations to visit. One was a beach, but she already lived at the beach so that was out. The hot springs sounded…well hot. The pool she thought would have too many people, so that left the lake. Yes, she would go see the lake.

She got up from her spot next to the river and walked towards the Chaos Gate. While Talal was walking, in real life Kali was frantically searching for the piece of paper she had written the different gate addresses on. ”Aha, found it!” She approached the gate and stated the address for the lake. To her surprise, instead of the wooded area appearing before her as expected, a design screen came up. In order to enter the event, each character had to design their choice of swimming attire. Alright then, this should be fairly simple. Since I live at the beach, I have several suits in my closet. Let’s see, what kind of options do we have to choose from?

Talal settled on a simple two piece bikini. It was yellow with white trim and white ties. Not sure whether she would actually swim or not, she also chose a light weight wrap around skirt that tied in a knot off to one side, a small blanket to sit on and a towel just in case. She clicked on the finish button and suddenly found herself standing in a forested area in her bathing suit and skirt. In the distance, she could here the sound of waterfalls, so she headed off in that direction. Not traveling too far along the forested path, she walked into a clearing. It had a huge lake with two waterfalls on either side. The waterfalls rose high above the lake. It was the most beautiful sight she had seen in a long while. The air gently blowing coupled with the sound of the waterfalls, made her just want to lay out and bask in the sunlight.

She walked around to the east side near the waterfall and found a nice spot to relax. Not too many people had arrived yet. There were two that she could see swimming around in the lake, one guy and one girl. Other than that, she could not see anyone else. She flung open her blanket and lay it in the grass and sat down to watch the others swim. With a smile on her face, she took a deep breath. This was going to be a very relaxing day indeed. Who knows, maybe more would come and she might get up the courage to make a couple new friends.

At the moment of just knowing about the event Tsuki headed toward the Chaos Gate of Mac Anu. A smile on her face said to all she was in high spirits about the event, even if there was no prize to be earned. She had written down the locations of all the event areas, though she really planed on just visiting the lake and hot springs, being that Tara, outside of the game, lived near a beach already. After taking a moment to think she called out the area words to the Chaos Gate that lead her to the area with the lake.

Upon warping into the area, things froze as she noticed a large screen prompting her to make a swimsuit for the event. Well, this is great, at least this game is most realistic unlike others I’ve played, she thought as she looked through the selection and soon switched out her light black and green armor for a bikini. She choose it to be a royal blue with her own touch being a black angel wing design.

Smiling again she was now able to move in the area, noticing she was high up on a bit of a ledge. Hm… how tempting, came a thought as she saw a few users in the lake below. She found it amusing how perfect it was, the lake was surrounded by forest except from here, it was a waterfall pouring just perfectly out of a piece of a mountain. All in all it was just made to be pleasing obviously and to give to the players something reality couldn’t. However, after taking in her surroundings she headed back towards the source of the waterfall, turned around, and at a run… leapt into the air.

SPLASH!

Landing in the lake below, deep into the water she opened her eyes below the surface estimating that she was about a good 30 feet into the clear water. She propelled herself to the surface of the lake by pushing herself off the bottom. Upon surfacing she looked around seeing at least one person looking at her. ^^;

As Shenmock broke surface, he noticed another person. A girl who had jumped, yet made a miniature splash compared to his. He knew she knew he was there, yet he didn't bother. She looked like she was having a relaxing time. Another girl walked up by the cliff and sat down on the grass, watching over them. Shenmock knew that the girl was probably avoiding the lake until someone asked her to come in. But he really couldn't care less if anyone or no one came in. This was his time to relax. Shenmock lay on his back and floated in the water, the gentle wind coming to his ears and soothing him like a lullaby. He took a deep breath and let out a sigh. This was totally a well planned event.

He looked up to see another PC, another girl, yet she was jumping in. She was already in mid-air and falling fast. Shenmock immediately broke his stroke, but was too late, the girl falling in and splashing him, sending him down in the water a little from the splash.

Bubbles formed from his mouth as he looked at her, the girl being quite a ways down in the lake. Shenmock stared at her as fish came around him and examined the two. He immediately found that he was running out of air. He took strokes upward and broke surface, shaking his head to get his hair out of his face.

Then, diving back down, he went to explore the depths of the lake. The first thing he found was that this wasn't the kind of lake kids would go and have fun at. This was the kind of stuff where you could go down and see really cool fish. Shenmock was determined to find the bottom of this place, but he knew his air wouldn't last. Taking another stroke down, he noticed some pretty strange fish out there. He even noticed an Angler Fish! Yet it didn't look too happy to see him...

Shenmock looked all around him until he felt something catch his leg. It was a pretty big fish, yet what it did made him screech underwater. It had some razor sharp teeth and it bit him. Even though this event was safe and all, you had to pay attention to the fish that could drag you down. There weren't any there, but you could get distracted. He shot out of the water, before the monster could do anymore. Looking back, he saw the monster in pursuit.

Shenmock literally shot out of the water like a torpedo, grabbing onto a rock that stuck out of the cliff, looking down at the water. He had to note not to go down so far. He gasped, then jumped, landing on the small platform that had a ladder attached to it. Grabbing it and climbing, he reached the top in no time. He needed a bit of space from the water for a while. Seeing that the girl was still there, he went over, curious as to see what her name was.

He almost gasped as he noticed it was a girl that was trying out for his clan. What a coincidence. He went over and smiled, introducing himself. This was an event to get along with people. "Hey, my name's Shenmock. Nice to meet you," he said cheerfully. He just hoped he didn't act too stupid.

What a great day so far. Only a few players had decided to show at the lake, but it was still early, the day had only just begun. She was the only one however, that had decided to not take a dip. The water did look inviting. The ocean was always so brutal and violent, but this, this was almost serene except for the waves caused by those who were jumping in and splashing about. It was rather fun to watch.

She had been watching the guy swim around, diving down under the water and then coming back up for air. All of a sudden another player was jumping from the cliff above. It all happened so quickly, there was no time to shout a warning or anything. It looked like she was going to land right on top of him. As Talal was getting ready to yell for him to get out of the way, there was a big splash. A few moments later, she saw him come up to the surface, just long enough to take a breath and back down he went. Inside she was laughing, as it didn’t appear to have bothered him much. Obviously she had been way over cautious. After all, this wasn’t the battle field, it was a pool party, where people came to relax and have fun.

Moving her hands back to support herself, she straightened out her legs, crossing them at the ankles. Taking in the scenery, she noticed birds flying high above, gliding elegantly on the wind. The trees were swaying at their tops. They had done a really great job creating this event. So much detail, she would have really expected nothing less. She was so taken in by it all, she hadn’t even noticed someone walking up to her.

"Hey, my name's Shenmock. Nice to meet you”

The Twin Blade looked up half startled but with a smile. ”Hi, I’m Talal. Nice to meet you too!” It was the guy she had been watching swim around in the lake. She hadn’t even noticed him get out of the water.

Shenmock, half startled that she had actually replied, smiled. ”So, I see that you are trying out for the Army of Darkness”.

”Why yes I am. How did you know that? How did he know that? Were the recruitment postings public knowledge? Oh, now she remembered. She had posted to the recruitment announcement that she was interested in joining the recruitment challenge. But how did he know that they had allowed her to participate? ”Are you a member?”

”Yes, I am. I noticed it on the BBS.” He looked out at the lake again before turning back. ”I hope you do well” he said, scratching his head and grinning.

So that’s how he knew. He’s a member and must have the inside scoop. It was nice of him to come and introduce himself and basically wish her good luck. After all, he didn’t have to, he could have just kept swimming. ”Thanks, I hope I do too!” He appeared to be a little uneasy about striking up conversation. She had to admit, she wasn’t really good at it either. The ice was broken though, so might as well have fun. ”I was getting ready to go for a dip. Are you done swimming or just taking a break?”

”Nah, just taking a break” he replied, his gaze lingering down. Next time he wasn’t going to go so deep and get his foot bitten off. ”I guess I’m ready to take another swim in the lake. Whenever you’re ready.”

”Great, how about now? I was going to go try a dive over the falls. You can join me if you like or I’ll just see you down on the lake afterward.”

She stood up and removed her wrap around skirt, folded it up and laid it on the blanket. As she turned, she smiled and began walking, not even sure if he had decided to follow, until she reached the edge of the waterfall cliff and dove off. She did a couple of half twists in the air as she loved doing acrobatics, and hit the water with a small splash. She must have went down about ten feet or so before arching back up towards the surface. When her head rose high enough above the water to open her eyes, she looked around to see where her new friend, Shenmock was at.

Raven found himself back in Mac Anu and back in his black clothing. He turned back to the Chaos Gate and took a look at the keywords for the area he wanted before warping to the next area in the event. The gold rings picked him up and warped him to the Lake area, and he found himself in a sort of mountainous region. There was a large lake in the centre, and forest all around it except for two rocky walls with waterfalls flowing over their sides on either side. It was absolutely beautiful, and Raven slowly walked towards the water to get the full view in. Speaking of completely beautiful, he saw a figure nearby seeming to be relaxing in the water. She was just wading around in the shallows, wearing a navy blue onepiece that suited her rather well. It didn't quite register with Raven for a moment, but finally he saw her face and realized it was his friend and clanmate Asuka that he had been gawking at. He shook his head for a moment to try and unsuccessfully rid himself of the mental picture that had come up when he saw her. He walked over to the shore, wearing his own pair of swim trunks once more. It was dark blue with three stripes running down each hip, orange, red, and black from front to back. He stepped up to the shore behind her and called out to her.

"Hey Asuka!" he called.

Still floating on her back, she raised her head and looked at him, seeming to not recognize him for a moment.

"Oh! Hello to you, too." she said finally.

"How are you doing?" Raven asked as he took a few steps out into the water.

It was a bit chilly, but it was still a great experience. He hadn't gotten a chance to do this in so long, and the fact that a friend was there as well only made it better. Asuka righted herself in the water, and looked straight at him.

"I'm fine, thanks. I came to enjoy this event for a bit, though it's too bad it's just a game, you know?" she told him.

"Oh, I know. It's been so long since I've been to swim in a lake...or go to the Hot Springs for that matter. I already checked that area out first." Raven told her.

"They have a hot spring? How exactly does that work?" she asked curiously.

"Not very well. It's a mixed bath, and everyone's wearing swimsuits. Nobody bothers to wash themselves before going in either, but I guess that doesn't matter much in a game, does it?" Raven sighed, pushing off from the ground a bit and swimming around in the water.

"I see. Well, at least they tried..." she muttered, staring at him for a moment before laughing quietly. "I must say, though, that swimsuit is a bit of a switch for you, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is pretty different from my normal black clothing. I must admit though, I was rather pissed off at the world when I designed my character. Not so much anymore. On the other hand, I have to say, that swimsuit looks really cute on you." Raven told her, trying to switch away from the topic the moment he realized he brought it up.

"Oh, well thank you. It was really the best I could come up with on such short notice." she shrugged.

"I see. You still did a really good job on it. I was actually rather floored by it when I first saw you." Raven admitted.

"Really, you're flattering me a bit too much. I don't even think this is really any better than the one I wear for the swim team." she said with a slight blush.

"Looks better than the standard competition suits I'd say. So, you're on the swim team, eh?" he asked.

"I am. I'm the best backstroke swimmer we have." she told him proudly.

"Oh, that's really cool. I wish I could join some of the teams at school..." Raven sighed, already regretting raising the topic.

"Is there some reason you can't?" she asked.

Now that he had brought up the subject, it was too late to tell her that he would rather not say. She did tell him a few things about her in real life after all, and he trusted her. That still didn't stop him from being a bit embarassed to say it though.

"Yeah...my school's not exactly handicap friendly." he told her.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." she began, hesitating before smiling widely "But you can still have fun here with me, can't you?"

"Yes I can. Not that I can't swim a bit with just my arms in real life. It's just so much more fun when I have legs to help. Plus, its really fun here, even if it is just a game." Raven told her.

"Alright then. Just stick around, and maybe I'll even show you a few tricks." Asuka joked.

"I'd like that, let's have a blast." Raven agreed.

Tsuki quickly swam to the shore, passing by some players. As soon as she was on land she choose a spot and relaxed, smiling as she took in the scenery. "The World" was truely something to behold. Part of her mind wandered wishing she could just stay here. At that thought Tara looked at a clock beyond the headset and jumped!

"Crap, I'm late!" she cried out and quickly gated out of the area. Upon reappearing in Mac Anu she saved her adventures and logged out promptly.

"Goodbye... for a while..." she sighed as the golden rings rained down.

Shenmock looked out as Talal jumped off the cliff and dove down into the lake. It probably would be quite fun to jump down right at that second, but he wouldn't dare fall on a girl. Never. Waiting a good thirty seconds, Shenmock took one foot back and sprinted forward. He looked down at the last second, seeing another conversation play out. The thing was, as he saw the conversation, he forgot about what he was doing. And then, looking down, he fell off, not having to jump, but having to fall off on accident. "Yikes!" he yelled, front flipping down to the lake.

Shenmock landed bad on that one. Shenmock looked down at the water and landed flat on his head, seering pain coming up to shock him. His vision became fuzzy and everything around him seemed so far away. Shenmock lay in the water for thirty seconds before realizing he needed air. He shot out and broke surface, gasping for breath and rubbing his head. His vision became clear again. He saw Talal and the two people talking. "Curse my lactose in tolerance," he muttered, then waded over to the platform and called out to Talal.

"I'm gonna head out to the Hot Springs. Landing on your head isn't that great so I think I need to relax a bit," he said before starting to climb up the ladder. His leg and head was injured, he felt miserable, and plus, this event had a bad start with him. The Hot Springs were the way to go.

Shenmock reached the top and headed off to the forest in search of the Hot Springs.

After coming up for air, Talal looked around the lake searching for Shenmock. She wasn’t sure if he had followed her over the cliff or not. A splash near the base of the cliffs had caught her attention, but from where she was could not see anyone on the surface. Suddenly, there he was. Splashing around in the water gasping for air. He didn’t look like he felt well at all. Maybe he landed wrong in the water. I wonder if he needs any help. She was getting ready to swim over to him, when he climbed up and out of the water away from her. As he climbed up onto a nearby platform, he yelled over to her.

"I'm gonna head out to the Hot Springs. Landing on your head isn't that great so I think I need to relax a bit.”

Oh my, that sounded painful just to hear. Hope he takes it easy over at the Hot Springs She waved goodbye to Shenmock, but by that time he had already turned to walk through the forest. There was another couple having a nice conversation. No need to interrupt their peaceful day.

She swam around a bit in the lake, enjoying the calmness of the atmosphere and the sun on her back. After a while of half swimming and half just floating along, she was tired and ready to dry off. It had indeed been a peaceful day and she had even met someone new. Someone that if she passed the recruitment for the clan, would most likely see again soon. I think I’m ready to go. I should really get back to Mac Anu before it gets too late. Thinking about a couple of items she was interested in, at the shops she had visited earlier that day, she quickly dried off and wrapped her skirt around her.

She turned to leave, and although she didn’t know the other two players, waved a polite goodbye and began her journey back to town.

(Closing in 2 days.)