Shu opened his eyes to a world of dancing shadows and rays of morning sunlight streaming through the green canopies above. Before anything else, he became painfully aware of a small weight clinging to him. It seemed that despite his efforts last night, she had somehow moved over to him after he had drifted off to sleep. His defensive wards hadn't even alerted him...

He looked down to find Lisa lying practically on top of him, almost plastered to him with her face buried in his chest and the light scent of yesterdays sweat and beer clinging to her. It was not an uninticing scent to be honest, though he supposed that that hot spot on his stomach from where she was breathing on him felt kind of strange. Still, this girl was too close.

Atleast Mr. Soldier wasn't doing a morning salute, otherwise Shu might just have to find a branch and get to work on that self-flagellation...

Nearby, the various party members of Ouroboros 7 lay scattered haphazardly about. Vorna and Trevor lay entangled together as a couple should. Shu cringed when he noticed how their situation resembled the one he was currently in with Lisa and sought to expeditiously extricate himself from this embarrassing position before anyone noticed. Being so close to someone made him feel very uncomfortable, but it was strange because there was also a part of him that longed for it, a part of him that wanted closeness and found comfort in it.

A part of him that he thought had died with... those people... back when he was a child.

Brock lay near the root of a tree with a few smashed kegs of beer near his splayed form. Fiona was sprawled on top of one of those... and Caia? Caia sat beneath a tree, enveloped by her cloak and hood.

She out of all of them, looked like she was sleeping normally, or perhaps even guarding her party as they slept.

The other Ouroboros members though... had all completely passed out drunk last night. Shu had imbibed too, but found that it did not intoxicate him much at all, he just felt a little fluffy. Lisa though... well, it would be best if she forgot about that. He shouldn't mention it either.

Hopefully the other Ouroboros members would forget about it also, because it was too goddamn embarrassing for him. He didn't know how to deal with that kind of thing, and what she'd done... Ugh.

Very carefully, Shu extracted himself from the clingy little girl, intending to go take a dip in the river. He hadn't sweated and he didn't think his smell was offensive... it was just good practice. Lisa however, was a different story... her body was hot and sticky with sweat and beer and it had kind of rubbed off on him.

The smell of her lingered as he moved away, clearly stuck to his clothes, to him... Shu tip-toed around the zonked out adventurers, not wanting to wake them.

When his feet whistled through the grass near where Caia sat, the woman looked up, removed her hood and smiled. "Good morning Shu. Did you sleep well?" she said, grinning. Shu froze for a moment.

That expression on Caia's face... it was far too devious. "Yeah, I guess..." He said. "I can't remember the last time I slept that deeply. I'm usually a light sleeper... so uh, I didn't even notice Lisa, and..." The Caia woman was still smiling up at him, as if she knew some great secret. He gulped. Had she seen what Lisa did last night?

"I won't tell. Just don't spread rumours about Ouroboros 7 being drunkards. And we'll both pretend like it never happened. " Caia said. "That'd make us even, right?" Shu nodded. So she had seen that, after all. Bloody hell... He really, really hoped Lisa didn't remember.

What that timid little girl did had been so strange and out of character, and it was simply too embarrassing.

"Well," Shu said. "I'm off for a dip in the river before we move. Lisa could use a bath too, actually. She's..." he trailed off, feeling his own face reddening.

Shu coughed into his hand. "Okay, yes." He said, nodding to Caia and straightening his back, walking away from the camp. As he walked, the sound of a faint chuckle carried to him on the wind and his cheeks flared up once more. When had he started blushing like a little girl? He needed to practice stoicism... perhaps find a branch with which to whip himself.

But he might then run the risk of turning into a masochist and what was the cure for that? He would have to stop the whippings, but doing that would mean he'd end up where he started so there was no point in beginning the whole thing, was there?

In response to his own random musings, he produced a strangled sound and shook his head. Perhaps the alcohol had affected him more severely than he'd originally thought, or perhaps he was simply good ol' fashioned crazy. He could nought but shrug it off as he reached the riverbank.

The river... was divine. Although the current where he'd first crossed was strong, further down stream, it was more managable. In any case, he had nothing to fear from a simple body of water, so he removed the clothes that smelled like Lisa and threw himself into the river. The cold shock sent a tingle up his spine and he resisted the urge to shout and laugh.

It felt so nice, so refreshing... he felt truly alive. After a good 10 minutes of splashing about naked in the cold river water like a kid, he re-emerged, water dripping from his statue-like body, the sunlight meeting his smooth, marble skin.

By all accounts he should've produced little bumps on his arms and legs due to the cold water. He remembered the phenomenon from when he was a kid.

Goosebumps they were called, though the reason why they were named such was a mystery to him.

His parents had once taken him to a zoo, where he'd seen one of the creatures called a goose. As far as he could tell from his admittedly cursory examination of the animal, he'd found no visible bumps on the creatures skin. Alas it was one of those unsolved childhood mysteries which his immature adult life hadn't seen fit to illuminate him about it, nor had he himself done anything to remedy his ignorance on the subject. To be honest... he hadn't cared, and if a need for the knowledge ever came up he could just pull it up on his holo.

Shu dried himself with a blast of hot air, burning away the moisture and leaving himself nice and warm. He then took out another doublet of the Pandemonium style, which was to say, dark and subdued. This one was dark blue, near to black and had a pair of trousers to match.

After covering himself, he looked over to the discarded pile of clothes... then put them into the guild chest. He could've dipped them in the river to wash them, but they smelled of Lisa, her scent...

Shu glanced down at one of his hands, noting that his small digits trembled a little. What kind of animal had he become? Was it due to his innate nature as a demonkin or had he somehow been a little girls scent enjoying closet pervert all along? In any case, he did not think it wise to divulge his newfound predilection for sniffing unwashed clothing to anyone.

It wasn't even culturally warranted, as would've been the case had he grown up Japanese. His mother had gotten custody of him though, and taken him far away from the land of the rising sun. He kind of resented her for it. Just a little. He often wondered what it would've been like to grow up in the techno mecca of the world.

Shu shook his head to clear it. Yeah that was it. He should go out into the world soon and seek out a beautiful big titted woman with whom he could copulate plentitiously. Caia? But no... it just didn't feel right with her. She wouldn't cure him. Fiona... absolutely not. Vorna was taken, and besides, the homey type, while kind of heartwarming, didn't really strike his fancy either.

He returned to the camp clean and well dressed, with his hair arranged neatly into a chinese style bun with a purple pin stuck through it. His mothers hairdressing hobby, which she'd practiced religiously with him as her most frequent victim, had finally found a use.

He found the camp much as he'd left it, except Vorna and Trevor were up, having joined Caia around the newly rekindled campfire. Vorna moved a few flat slabs of stone closer to the flame, then threw strips of meat onto them. It wasn't quite bacon though. The meat was an odd purplish color, but it smelled divine nontheless.

Soon the scent attracted a very disshevelled looking Fiona. Her hair, which had been so neatly arranged the previous night, was now a tangled mess and several of the leather straps had come undone. She greeted them with a sheepish smile and bowed her head to Caia. The fact that she was quiet was a bit eerie.

He expected the woman to shout loudly. With the way she and Brock had been drinking last night, his supply of generic cask ale would soon run dry. The big man joined the group soon after, and they all sat in silence, eating very slowly. Shu joined them, but did not eat. He wasn't hungry at all, despite how delicious the strips of meat smelled and how they sizzled mouthwateringly on the rocks.

The last to wake was Lisa. She opened her eyes and blinked slowly. Then she groaned. Then she sat up and swivelled her head about with a look of growing panic in her wide eyes. When she spotted him, her whole body nearly collapsed with relief. He was puzzled at the girls extreme reaction.

Still, he smiled and waved. She returned his wave weakly, then staggered to her feet, stumbling a few steps forward before faceplanting in the grass.

Shu decided that enough was enough when even the heavily hammered adventurers began chuckling under their breath as they ate. He went over to help her.

"Good morning." He whispered into Lisa's ear as she was struggling to her knees from the ground. Looking up, she replied "Good morning," Lisa's voice was dry and hoarse. He lent her a supporting shoulder and half carried her over to the campfire. Lisa flopped about and almost tipped over when he sat her down near the fire.

"Come here." He said with a sigh, moving over and sitting down behind her. Shu pulled her gently back, indicating that it was okay to use him as back support. Lisa accepted, flopping back against him with a sigh.

"Caia would you mind passing us some of those strips of meat please?" Shu asked, still speaking softly as he reached out a hand.

"Of course. Here you go. Oh, let me get her some water too." Caia said, rising to her feet to fetch a waterskin.

"Much obliged." He murmured.

Shu was grateful for Caia's help, since he was currently immobile and doing his best impression of a chair. Lisa's smell was there but he pointedly did NOT sniff her hair, keeping himself aloof as he helped her. What the hell was wrong with him?

Lisa could barely hold the waterskin, so Shu ended up having to do it for her.

He could tell she was embarrassed by this, but she hadn't the energy to protest either. Once he'd gotten some food and water into her stomach, he softly cleared his throat.

"Well Lisa." Shu said. "Did you have fun last night?"

"I... don't know." Lisa replied. Inside his heart, Shu felt great relief. Just how would she react if she remembered last night? That timid little Lisa had done such a thing...

"My head hurts." She complained, in slow almost slurred speech. "Want a bit of ale to start the day?" Shu asked with a lazy grin, and Lisa hurriedly shook her head.

"No, no. Ugh, my head's spinning. I shouldn't do that." She leant back into him, using his body as her recliner as she rested and digested.

Shu felt a strange peace as he held her. Hopefully she'd revive soon. In truth, he was a bit worried. For some reason, Lisa had seemed alot more mature last night. The way she'd talked after a few beers had prompted him to treat her like an adult...

Caia and the others thought it perfectly normal for a child to drink though, seeming to have no reservations about it. Then again, the Ouroboros party had been off their fucking rockers too, drunk as badgers, so they mightn't have even noticed. It could also be due to the cultural differences between humans and whatever species he and Lisa were a part of. Shu wasn't clear on that point.

He looked up from Lisa to find all the adventurers looking at him and Lisa and smiling. "Yuck. What's with those creepy smiles guys?" Shu said, and all five of them shook their heads, struggling to erase the stupid grins from their faces. The hell?

"By the way Brock, you've got something stuck in those yellow bricks you call teeth, and Fiona, there's a half-eaten meatstrip in your hair..." Shu continued, filling the silence with words that fell flat. His ears were getting hot again. He was sure these damnable adventurers saw straight through him, judging by their stupidly grinning faces.

Lisa began breathing more softly, having already fallen asleep again, which was good. She'd recover faster that way. He briefly wondered what potions would do for hangovers, and if healing magic could purge someone of the ill effects of a night of heavy drinking. That could be dangerous though. She'd best experience some consequences, so that she would remember not to drink so much and act so... improper.

It wasn't good for his heart when she pulled that kind of stunt on him, with an audience no less!

After eating a hearty breakfast and recovering a bit, the group began a slow and leasurely trek through the dense heart of the forest. On the first leg of the days journey, Shu carried a sleeping Lisa on his back. Occasionally the cute little puppy would drool and it would slide down his neck.

Brock offered to carry Lisa, but there was no way in hell he was handing her over to any of them, especially not the Arnold Swarzenegger impersonator.

Carrying the small girl was not a problem for Shu. It was just like in the game world. Once you passed a certain level, your basic stats would rise to a point where you felt like a superhero, with a body light as a feather and strength greater than hercules. This was true even for magic based players like Shu, when they reached a high enough level. The fact that he was able to walk for hours, unhindered and uninhibited while carrying the sleeping Lisa, told Shu that his stats must be similar to when he was in Edge online.

Strange how he thought of it as him transitioning from one world to another. Yes, it was very weird. This was supposed to be the world of Edge online 1000 years later.

Edge online was a life-like immersion VRMMORPG and yet this was reality. Wasn't it?

Eventually Lisa woke up feeling much better, though she blushed cutely when she realized she'd been carried by him.

After Lisa revived, the group snacked on provisions, before continuing on foot for the entirety of the day, deftly navigating the small snaking paths through the lush green woods.

Sometimes the adventurers would sing a loud marching song, all except Caia adding their voice to the boistrous bouts of vocal cord torture. Other times, they walked in silence, absorbed by the ambience of chirping birds and the wind whistling through the trees, making leaves and branches rustle peacefully.

Fiona talked at length about the different monsters they hunted in these parts, but none were forthcoming on the return trip. The adventurers thought this unusual, as it was quite normal for them to have to fend off several ambushes and attacks along the road from the wildlands to the more civilized parts of the country.

Perhaps monsters did not come out because he was with them? If they behaved like in Edge online, low level monsters would cower and even flee from far stronger opponents. In that way, they were more intelligent than players.

”This is a good place to camp for the night.” Caia explained, waving to what appeared like a temporary station of sorts. There was already a firepit dug out, with plenty of stones nearby and carved stumps for seats. ”It's conveniently located, this place.” Shu remarked as the party stopped and surveyed the area.

”Aye, that it be. We use it quite often, and not just us but other adventurers too. It's like an adventurer waystation of sorts. We got a few o these littered about here and there.” Fiona said as she walked around the camping spot nudging stones with the toe of her boots and studying the grass. Shu saw Trevor do the same, while Vorna Caia and Brock went over to get the fire going. They had obviously done this many times before, so he left them to it.

He walked to the edge of the clearing where he sat down in the shade of a tree, leant back against it and closed his eyes. Knyrkelbark my old friend, he thought before drifting off.

Shu opened his eyes with a start, but did not move. He wasn't exactly sure when he'd nodded off, but he must've slept for quite some time. In the twilight of the waning sun, he saw the shapes of three adventurers sitting around the campfire. Brock, Fiona and Lisa were missing and he looked around but did not see them anywhere.

With a sigh, he noted the smashed keg of ale lying near the campfire. It wasn't even night yet and they had already started drinking again... that did not bode well, but perhaps he should just blame himself for supplying them with an ample amount of the stuff. Still, happy adventurers asked few questions and had loose tongues to boot, so it was a cheap price to pay. Probably.

Shu made to get up, but before he could fully rise, he heard a loud rustle from a nearby bush. Then Lisa exploded forth from the bush in a shower of leaves, her skirt fluttering wildly. Her face was bright red as she ran up to him, staring intensely into his eyes with a furious blush.

Before he could even wonder what she was up to, it happened. Lisa lifted her skirt, revealing a pair of frilly white panties which fit her snugly indeed.

Shu's mouth hung open in shock as he inadvertently feasted his eyes on Lisa's delicious kneesocks, thigh-gap and cute panties, which by the way, he had been sure to provide to her, given how short her skirt was.

”Eh? What?” Shu managed to say. His voice was hoarse. Hoarse from sleep, he told himself.

Then Brocks loud, obnoxious laugher rang out from nearby. It was soon followed by Fiona's maniacal cackling. At the sound of insane, drunken laughter, Lisa let out a cute little yelp, dropping her skirt.

Then she covered her bright red face with her hands, turned about and ran away from him, squealing the way that girls do when they are extremely embarrassed. Shu felt his heart pounding in his chest and looked around trying to make sense of this whole thing.

Soon, Brock and Fiona stumbled from the bushes.

Brock had a keg o' ale under his trunk-like arm. They looked like they'd been tumbling about in the bushes doing who knows what, and Fiona's hair had once again acquired some accessories in the form of leaves and small twigs.

The redheaded woman let out a burp, staggering for a moment before she was caught by Brock. They looked at each other, then over at Shu before once again breaking down and laughing hysterically.

”I don't wanna know.” He said with a sigh, passing them on his way to the campfire where Lisa had gone.

Taking a seat next to Caia, Shu remarked. ”You know, I'm not sure I can keep the promise Caia. If this keeps up I just might have to tell someone about Ouroboros 7's dark secret.” Shu said with a sigh. Caia smiled. ”If you do that, then I might just have to tell someone about that thing, then.” She retorted. Shu just shook his head and sighed. Then he fixed his gaze on Lisa intending to ask her about before.

To his surprise and trepidation, the girl wouldn't meet his eyes. Instead, she averted her gaze, looking just about everywhere except at him. Remnants of her furious blush still graced her freckled cheeks.

Caia noticed him looking over at Lisa and said. ”Leave it. It's one of those things.” She sighed, then picked up a bowl, ”Here, have some broth. It's been cooking ever since you fell asleep, so it should be good.” Shu accepted the bowl of broth which Caia had generously ladled up for him.

He sipped the steaming hot broth quietly as the adventurers talked, but said little. The dream was...

he dreamt about his cousin, uncle and aunt, visiting them at the mountain lodge, playing in the snow, getting lost outside at night during a snowstorm. Being found freezing and half-dead, lying on top of his little cousin trying to protect him from the cold...

The subsequent scolding, and warmth spreading from his core as he swallowed the herbal medicine they had forced on him. Snuggling up at a fire with his cousin and their dog, lazily falling asleep beneath the mountain of blankets. Waking up the next day to find his younger cousin still asleep next to him. Reaching over and patting the younger boy on the head with a smile.

That had been the last time he saw his cousin, his aunt and his uncle. Soon after that, the illness took him to hospital and confined him in a world that he came to hate and love at the same time. A world that ended up giving him a new life. He could communicate with the outside world via text messages, but constant full-dive was required for the life prolonging nanos to do their thing...

This night was much the same as the first night, except Shu did not really feel like joining in their celebrations. He spent time alone, contemplating his own life, the path he had to take in this world. And Lisa. She was with the adventurers and didn't look at him. Perhaps she was angry with him or something. Should he have apologized? But he hadn't done anything.

Well, it was a moot point now since it looked like she would be avoiding him.

Deciding that he'd better prepare more adequate sleeping arrangements than last nights blankets under open sky, he pulled out the small black box, the Guild Chest of Pandemonium. From it he procured two tent-kits.

With a silent command, two box-like black tents came into existence.They had a purple mark of pandemonium painted on the side, but he wasn't really concerned with it.

”Bloody hell. Would ye look at that.” Fiona exclaimed, waving over at Shu. The rest of the adventurers followed suit, turning to stare at the two pitch black tents.

”What?” He asked the gaping adventurers. Brock coughed, Caia chuckled and said ”Our little friend grows more mysterious by the minute.”

Then they turned back to the campfire and their ale.

Lisa though... Lisa was staring over at him now.

She noticed him looking but didn't avert her gaze this time. No, she stood up and came over to stand before him, looking down and fidgeting.

”Why... two?” She asked in a whisper. ”One for you and one for me.” Shu replied. Lisa shook her head.

”One for you, and me.” She said, blushing.

”Don't need two.”

Wasn't she angry with him? Why was she suddenly doing this?

”I really think it's best if you sleep alone.” he said. Lisa looked ready to protest, so he added. ”Don't worry Lisa. I'll make sure to place spells on the tent to protect you. You will be completely safe, so...”

Biting her lower lip, Lisa walked even closer, almost touching him. She stood up on tippy toe and looked him in the eye, then she leaned in and brought her mouth right next to his ear. ”One tent is enough, dummy.” She whispered.

He'd never been more uncomfortable in his life, than the moment he and Lisa went to sleep together in the tent.

They had seperate cocoon-like sleeping bags in which to sleep, but that didn't last long. Lisa soon fell asleep, closing her eyes and becoming still and peaceful. Rest did not come as easily to Shu, though. He tossed and turned in the enclosed space of the sleeping bag, and eventually decided to just split it open and spread it out like a blanket. Even so, it was only after a long struggle that he finally managed to go to sleep.

With a start, Shu's eyes flew open. Just like the first night, he found Lisa clinging to him. She was a mess, drenched in sweat, her rumpled underclothes dangerously close to simply slipping off. As he rose, Shu became aware of an amazing feeling coursing through his body. His spine tingled pleasantly and a strange peace settled in his belly. He inhaled and could smell Lisa's sweet scent mixed with the grassy, earthy smells coming from just the other side of that black canvas.

Almost in a daze, he chugged some water, dressed in a fresh set of clothes and went out to seize the day.