“IS EVERYONE HERE?”

I COUNT EVERYONE JOAT SO LET’S GO” Zzoid shouts back at me enthusiastically, I guess he’s refreshed like the rest of us.

“What about the other groups?” Baila asks

“Ah well they come on around 2 hours after us” Zzoid answers her succintly.

“THEN LET US CATCH UP, IF YOU CAN’T KEEP UP TO MY PACE, THRASH OR BONECRACKER WILL CARRY YOU” I look towards them and they nod. Well there are benefits of having fitness junkies in your squad.

Starting out at a light pace, I party up with Anoobis, who takes his time, little blighter.

Opening up the uninformative map, I see his dot and mine and quite literally go in a straight line.

At least I don’t have to talk while running; my throat’s still a bit raspy from the high-powered lecture I gave this morning. Jeez it’s not getting any less weird to see all 3 of them in there.

I just hope Josephine Dyle isn’t someone I know as well

…

..

.

Universe I know what you’re doing, don’t please…pleaase.

As we run, I quickly notice Krudel is carrying Princess in the respective carry while BC is carrying Charmine on her shoulders.

Ok so most of our group is fit enough, but to be fair Miss Nameless is a mage and Charmine doesn’t seem like she’d going to be much of a front liner either.

I should start planning how to actually fight as a group…mah someday.

…

“Joat, quick break?” Baila calls out from the back, sweating quite heavily.

“Thrash” Without missing a beat, Thrash picks her up in a princess carry and we continue running, panting like dogs.

At least we’ve hit the 30 minute mark, and we’re getting closer.

…

“Ok everyone, 5 minute break” Collapsing to the floor, I just lie there for 5 minutes, hearing the others do the same. Even the heavy thud of Thrash/BC can be heard.

…

..

.

Alright back on our feet and let’s go.

…

It’s been 4 hours now, and my legs are jelly. We’ve only taken one big break to get our satiety up again and completely recover (game mechanics are pretty sweet).

“How far left?” PJ asks as she lies down in the ash, body blackened all over.

“With the pace we’re going, we should be there within the next run”

That lifted everyone’s tired spirits a bit…well discounting Miss Nameless and Charmine since they’ve run barely anything.

“Right, last run guys”

On our way again, we quickly reach the end of the ash plain and find ourselves looking at a tall line of mountains. Well as far as I can see the mountains go all the way to my left and my right.

I bet if we went round we’d be bowled up or something similar.

No time to check that out sadly, so let us continue forward.

Thrash finds a strip of white cloth tied to a stone a small distance away, next to a wide slope going into the mountains. Ah so there’s already a route through? Fantastic.

Walking up the slope (no way we’re running up that), it twists and turns quickly swallowing us into the mountains and away from the ash ridden forest that was our starting zone.

*Buf*

Smashing into the ground, something heavy lying ontop of me, and I can definitely feel a pair of soft squidg-

“YOW-”

*rrrip*

Hopefully Baila, rolls off of me and I roll over to see Thrash holding two half pieces of what looks like an oversized cat.

Oh. My. Aiag. There are monsters here!

Standing up, I quickly notice a few things; Firstly Krudel is lying on top of Miss Nameless, his spine scattered across the ground. Secondly, Thrash has an entire bit of his shoulder missing, oh wait it’s hanging from the large cat’s mouth.

“I was too slow” Thrash drops the cat unceremoniously and growls in self-anger.

“Krudel?” Miss Nameless shakes the corpse and moments later he disappears in a pillar of light.

“It’s alright, he’ll be back in a while” PJ is already there, comforting her just before she goes into mild shock.

Wow, Krudel actually died and Thrash looks beaten up.

“Thrash, how much health did you lose?”

“104”

…

..

.

That’s almost an insta kill!

“Everyone back to back now!” Circling around Miss Nameless we all stand back to back. “Thrash are there any more out there?” I’m trusting him because he’s got some really good senses.

*Sniff*

“None here, but there will be” He points towards the corpse.

Ah, that isn’t good.

“Right, let’s walk slowly, BC, Thrash, both of you take either side, I’ll take front, Zz’s take back. Baila, Pinky Seniour and Juniour, we’re relying on your hearing. Honey, help BC and Princess, take its soul and stay in the middle. Try to prepare the spell as we walk. Charmine, stay safe in the middle” I see a few raised eyebrows at Miss Nameless’ strange orders.

Though everyone quickly makes a nice box with our ears and squidgy’s in the middle.

Miss Nameless gives me a shaky thumbs up. She’s handling the situation rather well for someone seeing their guardian (at least I know he’s not her father anymore) die in front of them…

“Right, let’s start walking, keep close and keep everything peeled.”

Peering just in front of me, I take slow steps trying to see anything that looks closeish to mix of brown and straw yellow, almost like a clay colour but about half a gradient towards yellow.

Though that’s mostly what the mountainside looks like so this won’t be easy.

“Enemy” Thrash calls out and we all stop immediately.

“Keep looking in your own directions and don’t stop, Thrash keep eye contact with it”

We continue moving.

Reaching a split in the mountain pass I quickly spot a cloth bound rock on the left side. Also there’s a body of a really hairy grey dog-beastman lying on the left path.

Damn, is that a player? And if their corpse is here…that means the NPC’s saw his death…

We’ve got to be super careful.

“CAT” BC yells and I swivel round to hear a mushy thud accompanied by a loud crack.

“Everyone alright?” I get confirmations from everyone, even BC who isn’t facing me but by the amount of blood dripping onto the floor it must be a pretty nasty wound. “BoneCracker inner circle and someone bandage her up”

We take a few minutes to stop her bleeding and continue once she’s regained some hp.

Another junction, to the right this time and no corpses either.

“CAT” Multiple shouts come from multiple sides and I’m tackled by someone, hearing a crackening thud straight above me.

“Oof” Something heavy just landed on the already heavy thing on me, I think I may have broken a rib…

STATUS: Broken Rib

Movement decreases by 5%

All physical skills reduced by 1

Thank you game…

“Wounded to the middle and stop your bleeding…dead to the side” I fear the worst as I slide out from underneath whoever’s on top of me.

“We’re all here” Zzoid quickly calls out as his brothers tie their ripped shirts around the tears in his chest.

“Left side is fine”

“All good” Honey responds as he keeps watch.

“I’ve broken my foot” PJ complains slightly as she’s picked up by PinkyS.

“Can someone get this thing off me please, it’s really heavy” And that’s a Baila.

Helping the massive cat off Baila…

Wait, can I?

NAME: Mountain Cat [lvl 10] (Deceased)

Health: 0/100 Attack: 81-110

An animal from the cat family that resides in the mountains

Oooh, so I can identify dead monsters, cool. And it’s only level 10…so why is it so strong?

I really need a higher level monster identification

“Big brother Zzoid, how did you not die?” I overhear Zzand asking as everyone gets slowly back into position.

“I spent a few points on Endurance” How many is the question…and was it worth the permanent change…

Looking at the map, we’re almost at the carts, seems like they haven’t made it far through this either.

Back into our square, we slowly continue down the pass, and soon we’re in vision of slow moving carts, boxed in by a large amount of people, all keeping an eye out for mountain cats.

“Joat” Anoobis calls out from a small distance.

“Anoobis, Everyone. What are the casualties?”

“Only the one, he was busy making the marker when he was caught out” Anoobis looks down, probably angry that he got one of his squad member’s killed. I know how you feel…well it was Krudel who died so not sure whether I should’ve been sad or happy at that moment.

Anyways.

“We’ve lost one too” I give him a grimace. He should’ve warned us… “Why didn’t you warn us earlier?”

“I messaged you hours ago about it” He looks at me confused.

Raising an eyebrow, I check my inbox and sure enough his message is there…but I didn’t receive a notification.

Actually checking the time received….

“I only got it when I got into the mountains”

“Damn so messages don’t pass through areas?”

“Doesn’t look like it” He shakes his head in thought.

“We need to warn the others before more die”

“Squad Animal won’t be logging off till the others are here” Dillydally appears with a shifting look towards the mountainsides.

“Our lot won’t go anywhere either” Braxel snorts as he too looks around shiftily.

“Sorry but we can’t stay too long” B0mber let’s everyone down, tut tut, but hey real life I understand.

“Alright, let’s make a group of everyone with the highest vitality and senses to grab the others and escort them”

“No need, Squad Animal will do just fine” That is probably a good idea.

“We’re stronger” Braxel takes a slightly threatening step.

“Squad Animal have been together longer, They’re a lot more in sync than any squad here” I reply back and quite a few people nod to that, the ones who have seen them in action definitely nod their heads.

Braxel thankfully backs down and shouts some orders to get his squad ready to move out again.

“They should be at the entrance in maybe an hour or two, so get there quickly” I give Dillydally a strong handshake as gets his lot together.

Taking over the left side of the carts, we spread out and start focusing on the mountains, one small step at a time we go.

I do however go into the middle to talk to the village elder, who’s busy spreading a concoction of herbs onto the massive gash on Marty, trailing from neck to foot.

I’m amazed he’s still alive…especially as he doesn’t recover like players do...

“Village Elder” I give a light cough to garner his attention.

“Ah Orphan Leader Joat, what is it that you need?” He supresses a yawn, but the dark bags underneath his eyes show his clear lack of sleep.

“How long will it take for us to get through the mountains?”

“The path is not long, but at this pace it will take around 2 days”

Damn that’s a long time to be worrying about the mountain cats…and logging back in won’t be easy either.

“Sorry but I must continue treating Marty” The Village Elder gives a small bow before getting back to his work.

“RIGHT EVERYONE WHO HAS AN INTEREST IN HEALING AND TREATING OTHERS, LEAVE THE SQUARE AND GET TO ME” my shout causes a round of tense jumps, which would be funny but given the situation it’s probably best not to laugh.

Anywho, a small number of people leave the square; Charmine, Zzard, the Petite Elf i’ve seen around Braxel, Anon and that’s it apparently.

Well 4 is better than none.

“Ok, so us 5 will aid the Village Elder to keep the NPC’s alive because he nor the others have had any sleep so please take over”

“Yes boss!” They’re all so well mannered.

Turning back towards the Village Elder, I see he’s grateful for the help.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m doing this for the skills.

As we walk along at snail pace, I’m stuck with Marty and his hideous wound.

Lathering the green paste inside his wound, only receiving a weak groan of disatisfaction in return…he’s really weak.

Inspecting his wound closer, it doesn’t look like it was done by an animal, hell I don’t know what kind of animal could inflict such a wound.

“It is the effect of over dosing on potions, it splits the body” The Village Elder helpfully notices my curiousity.

Actually…Oh so it’s not just Marty.

I had peered at Yidoo, who is sharing the cart; his body is also torn up, a deep red crevice lining his chest.

After finishing off filling Marty’s wound with the paste, I begin regulating his temperature with a damp cloth.

“Joat” A cracked voice breaks my concentration and I turn to see Darlene handing me a bowl of something…broth I’ll assume.

Thanking her for the food, I begin pouring it down Marty’s throat, stroking it with each sip to entice him to swallow.

Back to lathering his wounds and cooling the burning fever…to which he reacts little to for both.

…

“Joat” A familiar voice calls out from a small distance. Kale!

Standing up on the cart, he quickly makes his way towards me, followed by Sugar and Ravenna?

“Everyone get here fine?” Nods all around. “Where’s DillyDally?”

“He and his squad logged off at the entrance, said they would grab the 2 who didn’t make it and help them through” Kale explains with high praise.

Right didn’t even think of the dead ones…

“Right so Braxel’s squad is going to log off in a moment, so all of us have got to power through these mountains as fast as we can”

Everyone nods and takes up positions in the square, all except Ravenna.

“You know since we’re such a large group no mountain cats would dare attack us, especially as they don’t seem to work in packs larger than 3”

“How do you know that?” For all we know there could be a whole family of them waiting out there.

“According to one of my squad members, and he’s trustworthy it seems”

“Well then this’ll speed us up beautifully” Calling out to everyone, I have the square dissasemble into just a mass of people.

I’m hoping logic still remains in this game and the mountain cats won’t just attack because of aggro.

Speeding up our pace to a fast walk, we go back to normal pushing routines, with an extra squad present, since Ravenna was half a day early in logging in for some reason.

Right now the Zz’s are cooking and not doing a half bad job of it…apart from setting one of the furs on fire but at least they put it out before it set the cart itself on fire…

The next 5 hours pass without a single problem and we decide to have a rest at a Y junction.

“Alright, we’ll be logging off so try to get the carts out of the mountain” Anoobis gives me a tired wave before heading to log off.

*Rumble*

…

..

.

“Anoobis”

“…fine” He rolls his eyes and doesn’t log off, much to his own disapointment.

“Everyone quick form up” I call out to everyone who are already standing up, facing the strange rumbling sounds coming from our right; the other side of the junction.

*RUMBLE*

Hmm it sounds less like a strange avalanche and more like organized stepping. Plus I swear I heard the clanging of metal.

The nowhere near deafening but still pretty loud sound reaches its pinnacle just before a number of figures appear out from the other side of the rocks:

A well formed mass of varied races, all holding large square shields and short swords, march out from behind the rocks and stop in as much confusion as we are once they spot us.

“Shields form up” Someone calls out and the well formed mass turns into a wall of shields, blocking out all sight of them.

…Holy Aiag they are definitely not to be messed with, even if I only see around 30 shields.

“Hello there strangers, I am called Joat and am the Leader of these people, may I speak to whoever leads you?” I call out to the threatening wall, hoping to not start a fight we’d most likely lose.

Suddenly the shield wall splits apart in the middle, allowing 2 figures to emerge; the first is a tall human with crew cut hair and a vicious mug. The second is a whole lot more fairer and a lot more pleasing to the eye and imagination:

She has long red hair, curling down half her back, accompanied by baby blue eyes and a sweet innocent yet arousing smile. Her body doesn’t wall behind either with a chest hugging leather top and tight leather shorts accompanied by thigh high boots.

…

..

.

Wait a second I’ve seen that exact outfit somewhere before; it’s what Jenna wears!!

Damn and I thought it suited Jenna…I’ve been enlightened.

“Joat is it? I am Anavi” I think I just had a heart failure. What a serene voice.

Holy mother of Aiag

“EVERYONE READY” I jump back from her and retreat to my squad… “I SAID EVERYONE READY FOR BATTLE”

Ok they are listening but look confused as to why we’re about to fight.

“UNIT” The large man screams “STAND DOWN”

…

..

.

Well this isn’t good.

“Joat, are you alright?” Charmine gives me a raised eyebrow.

Dammit what do I do?

“Sorry for seeming so aggressive, but we are peaceful, simply looking to pass the mountains and find a town, would you care to allow us to travel together through these mountains?”

“I don’t see why not”

“Go for it”

“Please d-”

“EVERYONE SHUT UP”

…

..

.

“JOAT WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU, WHY ARE YOU SO HESITANT TO LET THEM JOIN US?” Kale shouts towards me from a distance, accompanied by many male and a few female voices.

“THEY’RE PKER’S”

…

..

.

“WHAAAT?”

The place goes ablaze in an uproar as half of us don’t know what’s right and wrong while the other half simply are mistrusting of the strangers. I’m with the smarter half.

“Hahaha” Her soft laughter cuts through the confused chatter like a hot knife through butter, causing all to focus on her. “You have a beautifully vivid imagination Joat, but please tell us why we’re Pker’s and I’ll convince you we’re not”

That is exactly what I’m worried about…

But there’s little else I can do now that I’m in the spotlight.

“Why do you only have 30 people?”

“That’s all we had in our village”

Hmm guess there’s no way against that “How about the fact that you’re the only woman here”

“Bad luck or good luck I guess”

“How are you so well organized and well equipped within only a week and a bit in game?” with only 30 they would’ve had a lot less manpower than us so it’s be harder and also their shields are all metal…suspicious

She points at the tall man next to her “Axet is a good commander” Him? Surely you mean you… “Do you have any other absurd theories as to why we’re Pker’s?”

“Any less obvious theories are already understood by those who will fight you” I’m sure Ravenna in the least doesn’t trust her…probably because Avani´s showing herself to be much better at what Ravenna is tying to do, but that’s better than trusting her.

“Well ok, sorry if I’m being rude but I believe that you may just be tired, so rest and think a bit. Until then, we shall remain a distance so that you’ll remain safe” She gives another graceful bow before turning away, luscious locks bobbing perfectly.

“LEADERS MEETING NOW!” I shout out to everyone.

“Joat she’s got to go” Ravenna immediately pops up next to me. Good, that’s one on my side.

“I don’t see what’s bad about her. Feeling jealous she’s getting more attention than you?” Sugar sticks his tongue out at Ravenna

“No I’m bound to agree with her, she’s the epitome of a femme fatale” Anoobis interjects before Ravenna goes head on to Sugar.

“Her? No, she’s too sweet to do such a thing. I mean look at her”

“Exactly Kale, look at her, who is that perfect, that amazing” I turn his head back to the meeting.

“Well she hasn’t done anything to make herself seem untrustworthy” Kale shrugs his shoulders “So I say we let her in”

“I’ll second that” Sugar gives Kale a cheeky smile.

“Well we’re all against it” Anoobis, Ravenna and I shake our heads in sync.

“Sadly the choice isn’t just up to you” Zzoid slips into the meeting and gives us all a concerned look. “She’s so beautiful and when I say so, I mean most guys here have taken a picture of her and saved it to their personal folders already”

…

..

.

I’m not surprised...at all.

“And?” I wait for him to finish saying what we’re all thinking.

“The group will decide and not you”

…We’re totally screwed

“EVERYBODY COME HERE” I jump onto a cart and have everyone gather round.

*Ahem*

“Right, all those who want Avani to come with us, raise your hands”

…

..

.

That’s a lot of people; hell even out of my squad only Zzoid, Thrash and PJ didn’t raise their hands.

“53 people for…that’s a huge majority”

“And…those against?”

The few hands that are raised, not even Ravenna’s minions remained faithul to her

“8 against” Zzoid calls out

Me, Anoobis, Zzoid, Thrash, PJ, Ravenna, Nekineki, Nerisi and Nerisp…that’s a sad group indeed.

“Then it’s decided, Avani and her lot are allowed to join us” Many cheers resound.

Seriously how were they convinced so quickly?

Well nevermind how that happened, let’s focus on not fully losing ourselves to her.

Right, for those who don’t believe her, spend your time trying to gather evidence, before we’re all converted

Converted? Nerisp questions on our little 8 person private chat.

Yeah didn’t you say they were pker’s? Nerisi follows through

That is still possible, but think about it, why is she leading if Axet is the one commanding. Ravenna puts it beautifully.

I just told everyone they’re Pker’s because that’s more believable than her being a wololo man, which sounds stupid but is way more dangerous than a Pker…

So we find evidence that she isn’t a nice person basically? PJ gives me a questioning look from a distance as she types.

Basically, but mostly keep an eye out or any suspicious movement.

Closing the chat since I feel like someone’s watching me, sure enough in the huge crowd of meet and greeting people (way too friendly for strangers) my eyes meet with that oh so gorgeous manipulator.

Avani wants to be friends

Yes

No

…I guess I’ve got to accept it. Plus I’m curious as to why she sent me one.

…

..

.

Ok no message, so common courtesy?

But she isn’t that simple, so I’m sure she’ll do something soon, I fear.

“Everyone…let’s move out”