Chapter 4: 4. First Encounters

I take a step back to put more space between myself and the three large cat-men who stand naked from the waist down and point swords at me. (Both literal and figurative ones.) 

"Hey, there doesn't need to be a fight," I say, holding my cape closed with both hands.

"You're right, toots. Just give us everything in your inventory and you can be on your way."

Since "everything in my inventory" includes all the clothing I'm wearing (which is already too little) that's not about to happen. And I'm not interested in whatever other offers these thugs might come up with. Their growing erections tell me it won't be anything I'd like.

Screw it! The worst that can happen if I fight is I'll die and re-spawn. At this point, I'll only loose an hour or two of my game.

"Hang on," I say, stalling. "Before you do anything, you need to realize that—" I let loose with my Wail. It's a long mournful cry almost like something a bird might make, only eerier and more haunting.

One of the three turns tail and runs, but the other two lunge at me, closing the space between us.

I lash out with my blade. It barely registers that it's more of a thought than an action. I didn't even have my knife out (or karambit as the game calls it), but the second I decide to use it, it's in my hand and slashing against the thug's bare hip.

Their swords are thin barbs of flexible metal and both jab into me. I feel a double, stomach-dropping jolts of pain and get the faintest awareness that my health has just been halved.

I reach out with the One Foot in the Grave spell and tug some life away from the cat-man I cut. I instantly feel better and the pain dissipated. He goes rigid and clutches his heart before keeling over. But his friend stabs me again.

Going back to my knife, I swoop in low and gouge the blade across his thighs. And after another thrust of his sword, I draw life from him to restore myself.  I somehow manage to block his next attack and jab my knife deep into the soft meat of his leg. He retaliates with his sword, but my next slash kills him.

Holy cow! I'd just one my first battle!

I flush with embarrassment when I realize my cape is wide open and I'd gone through it with most of my body on display. But hell, they're dead now and won't tell anybody.

I check my stats and see I received 300 Experience for the kills (I also see that they were both Bandits and not players after all). I'm now level 1 with an additional 3 Life Force points and an extra Attribute point to place where ever I want. I stick it in Finesse, since it affects both my Attack and Defense ratings.

Next, I loot the bodies. This turns out to be a rather disgusting task requiring me to manhandle these two dead cat-men. Between them, they have 4 silver, 2 health potions, and 2 swords (or foils). I take everything. The items simply vanish when I wonder how to put them in my inventory. My list is updated to show they're there.

The strangest thing is after searching them and the camp site, I don't come across any pants at all. It's as if these three were going around like Donald Duck, only in an extremely non-G-rated way.

I'm a little tempted to try my Momento Mori on one of them to see how it works, but I can't imagine these NPCs have anything interesting to say. 

Feeling my confidence boosted a little, I continue on, still using the star as my guide. Even if it might not be leading me where I want to go.

It's around dawn when I spot some movement up ahead. The world is filled with deep grays and it isn't easy to see details. But something seems to be crossing my path. It's coming from my far right and heading left of the way I came.

Crouching down low to the grass, I sneak toward it. I'm not going to be dumb enough to just walk up to an enemy again. As I get close to it, I summon some fog to conceal my approach.

Stumbling along, oblivious to me, is a young woman about a head shorter than I am. She has blue hair so light it's almost white and wears an outfit of a slightly darker blue that resembles a one-piece bathing suit with a short ruffled skirt.

I realize the game has a detect feature to get information on people and monsters encountered. I use it on her.

I decide to take a chance and talk to her. Sure, player-on-player fights happen, but we seem to be fairly evenly matched, unless she turns out to be a higher level than she looks.

I stand up and step from the mist (being sure to clasp the cape closed). She lets out a yelp and leaps backward. When she recovers herself, she begins casting a spell.

"Wait!" I call to her. "I mean no harm. I'm player too. I just came into the game and need directions."

"Good luck with that," she says in a tone that's not too friendly, but at least she stops her attack.

"Are you lost too?"

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"You sure could say that." She glances around looking annoyed and a bit fearful. The skin between her eyes creases in a cute way.

"Is something wrong."

"Something? Everything! Everything is wrong!" She throws her hands in the air and then lets them flop back down. I try and pretend I didn't notice how her perky little breasts rise and jiggle with the movement, and I ask her to explain what she means. "The game is fucked! Haven't you noticed? Everything about Feronia has changed. Gotten weird. Twisted."

I'm about to say I don't know what she means, but then the pant-less cat-men come to mind. "Yeah, the game seems a bit unusual. But when you say changed, changed from what?"

"How long have you been playing?" I tell her a few hours. "And you never played before this?" I shake my head as a response. "That explains it. You must have come in after the crash and are just too much of a noob to notice."

I ignore her insult. "There was a crash?"

"The whole game reset itself. I'd been playing with two of my friends for nearly a full day, when all of a sudden all of our equipment disappeared and our avatars changed into our real selves. A little while later we became new—very changed characters and the entire environment was unrecognizable. It's like it's a completely different game now. It would be okay if it just used different styles and classes and shit, but there's a whole lot that just isn't right. A whole fucking lot!" It's weird listening to her. Her words are rough and mature, but her voice is strident and a bit nasal, making her sound like a little kid or a bubblegum popping teenager. The impression is only increased by her diminutive height.

I say, "Whoa! Can you back up a bit. What was it like before?"

"A totally generic D&D style game. Forests, medieval castles, thatch roofed cottages, dirt roads. You get the idea."

I look around at the wind swept fields of grass and see the crags of mountains in the distance. There's also a thicket of trees not far from us. Or maybe it's a forest with the main part of it hidden by the haze of approaching dawn. "I don't see anything that would be out of place in that type of world."

She seems about to contradict me, but stops herself. "Okay. Yeah. Maybe so. But it was different. This area was called the Dunnshire, and it was all green meadows and farmland. It was also summer and hot. Not this miserable weather."

I hadn't really paid it any attention before, but the air is cool and made more chilled by the gusting wind. There's also a pervading damp. I can almost feel the moisture in the air. It's actually surprisingly comfortable. 

"What happened to your friends?" I ask.

"Dead." She doesn't sound terribly broken up about it, but I guess game-dead is a lot less serious of a matter than real-dead. "We were attacked not long after the change and weren't used to our skills or weapons. Although I suspect they may not have given it their all and hoped to re-spawn as their old characters. (I don't blame them.) But they didn't re-spawn anywhere near me. I'm heading toward the last village we visited hoping they're there."

"I thought you said everything is different. What makes you think the village will still be there?"

"It is all different, but some things still map over to the old game. I'm hoping the village is one of them. It should be over in that direction." She points toward where she was headed when I stopped her.

I'm a bit crestfallen that it's not anywhere close to the direction I've been walking in (meaning I've been wasting my time), but ask her, "Do you mind if I tag along? I need to get to a village too."

She smiles slightly, and dimples appears. She really is pretty cute. "Sure. I'd appreciate it, actually. Safety in numbers and all. What are you anyway?"

"A Banshee Mystic."

"Banshee! God! There sure are some weird species in this new version."

"Were you not a Water Nymph before?"

"Hell no! I was a halfling magician. The AI completely twisted it around. Now I'm this." She looks down at herself, then says, "And a class called an Aquamancer. I'm in the middle of fields and mountains and my fucking power is water!"

We were both magic-users. Not the most balanced of parties, but we'd only be travelling with one another until the village.

We begin making our way, and I say, "I'm Triste, by the way. What's your name?"

She looks at me. Her face turns grim. "I'm Dwayne."  

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