Little Red breathed in the scent of baking cookies, closed her eyes, and sighed wistfully. She could almost taste the chocolate melting on her tongue . . .
“Don’t even think about it,” her mom chided, her tall, slender figure whisking into the room.
“Aw, please? Just one bite!”
Her mother clapped flour-covered hands against each other, spreading a faint white cloud through the kitchen. She wiped her brow, looking pale. A debuff notification appeared above her head. Drained.
“You know these Lesser Cookies of Restoration are for Granny. I’ve got one more batch to make. If I catch you in the cookie jar, I’ll grind you up like that poor old Englishman, and you’ll be part of the next batch.” She shook a finger at Little Red with an exaggerated wink, pulled out her Rolling Pin of Perseverance, and opened her baking grimoire to follow the recipe for her final cooking project of the day.
Even though she’d seen her mom’s rare rolling pin in action, Little Red always enjoyed watching the magic flow into the baked goods as her mom rolled out the dough. She glanced at the cooking utensil. A text box hovered in the air above the item.
Rolling Pin of Perseverance: once per day, allows the bearer to ignore Mana costs for a single cast.
Her mother tucked a stray chestnut curl into her hair net and slipped a yellow-and-white striped apron over her head. Little Red had hired an Enchantress, Seamstress subclass, to make it for her mother’s birthday last week. Today’s pastries were the first test case.
“Red, go get the wicker picnic basket from the attic. By the time you find it, I’ll be done with the Blueberry Spirit Pastries. You can deliver the cookies, pastries, and pie to Granny.”
Apron of Appreciation: Imbues all baked goods with buff A Mother’s Love—Baker subclass-only buff; 200% efficiency to one batch of baked goods stats.
Little Red stomped up the stairs, muttering to herself that Granny had an eighty-year head start on eating cookies. Being a kid was downright unfair! It was bad enough that she didn’t have a subclass yet, but no cookies took the cake. She stopped for a moment on the third-story landing by her room and giggled at the silliness of all the desserts in common sayings. Just the way the cookie crumbles, eh?
By the time she’d reached the attic, Little Red had decided to run off with the cookies, or at least sneak two or three on the way. It was only fair; she was the one who had to haul them through the woods. Besides, Granny probably didn’t have very many teeth left—shouldn’t she try to avoid sweets these days?
Little Red whistled as she searched for the old picnic basket. The attic was smaller than she remembered, but a good deal more cluttered. A minor Quest popped up: Spring Cleaning. She swiped no without waiting to see the rewards for accepting. Not. A. Chance. Rummaging through piles of half-empty health vials, beat-up suitcases, and threadbare capes, Little Red finally spied a tan-colored handle.
“Gotcha!” Little Red hollered, dragging the basket into the center of the room. She blew off a layer of dust, sneezing as it billowed back at her. How long had it been since her last visit to see Granny? Guilt knocked at her heart, but she didn’t answer the door. Go away. I’m taking care of it right now!
“Fine,” she said aloud, pouting. “I guess I won’t eat the cookies all by myself.”
Little Red skipped back downstairs, basket in tow. She bounded into the kitchen, twirling the empty basket by the handle. “Ready, Mom!”
A lopsided smirk played on her mom’s lips. She held up an egg-timer hourglass with a few grains of sand still left in the top half. “Record time, kiddo. You win. I’ll let you eat one cookie before delivery. Maybe Granny will feel generous and give you a second cookie after you drop off her baked goods. That way you won’t have to sneak a cookie in the forest.”
“I’d never—”
Her mother put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes, clicking her tongue. “You think I haven’t delivered cookies to my Granny before? I may not be a Courier, but I’ve stolen my share of cookies.”
“You mean, you’ve put in your share of honest work?”
They grinned at each other. Mom kissed her cheek and said, “Exactly. Cookie thievery is a time-honored tradition in this household.”
Little Red snatched up a Lesser Cookie of Restoration and started munching. She tried to talk around the mouthful of chocolate and oats and nuts, but it all came out in a jumbled, “Mhmmm . . . hmmmph . . . yummmm!”
Her mother laughed and finished packing the basket. She handed it to Red. “Don’t forget Granny moved into the Peaceful Glen Retirement Cottages last month. I’ve updated your Map of Quests with a Waypoint.”
Little Red tossed back a glass of milk to rinse her mouth and eagerly opened her Map. She squealed in delight. “You granted me an official Courier-class Quest! This should be just enough XP for me to finally hit Level 5. Thankyouthankyouthankyou!”
Her mom gently pushed her out the door. “Go get that subclass, honey.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
=+=
“I’ve got to get a faster bike,” Little Red grumbled to herself an hour later. This trip was taking forever. She skidded to a stop at a fork in the trail to check her Map. Only 23% of the way there. Suppressing the urge to kick a rock on the side of the road, she hopped back on the bike and veered right. As she pedaled, she toyed with the idea of adding extra points to physical skills with her Level Up and Subclass bonus, but she rejected the thought eventually. Too many other, more valuable perks would be available.
Three turns later, a peal of unnaturally gleeful laughter caught her attention. Little Red craned her neck, looking for the sprite. They were supposed to be good luck.
A side trail branched to her left and meandered over a quaint wooden bridge, leading to a playground she’d never seen before. She unrolled her Map and groaned. Technically, the side trail took her off the Map-approved path, though not by much. If she lingered too long, it might count as a Deviation.
A flash of silver from the playground made up her mind. She turned down the side trail, chasing the sprites. It was still morning. Plenty of time to finish up her Quest later, as long as the Map didn’t count the Deviation against her.
A small, green sprite buzzed up to her and tagged her arm. “You can’t catch me!”
Little Red jumped off her bike, almost dropping the basket, and took off running. She set down the treats, untied her cape, and kicked off her shoes. A right proper game of playground chase required bare feet, as far as she was concerned.
Moments later, she caught the green sprite, who giggled and misted out of her hands as soon as she trapped it. Two more sprites—one small, lithe, and golden; the other big, banded, and blue—zipped about her head, clamoring for their turn to play.
They took turns distracting her from each other’s course, flying toward her face with little bursts of light. She ran until her Stamina blinked, too low to continue sprinting. Try as she might, Little Red couldn’t catch them both at once.
Hands on her knees, panting to catch her breath, Little Red pulled up her abilities list and stared longingly at Charm Strangers. It would cost half her mana pool, but it just might be worth it to win. She hated losing.
A low hum, like an a cappella chorus warming up, swelled through the playground. Again a flash of silver traced by, and Little Red gasped when she saw the crown on the sprite’s head. A Sprite Queen!
Charm Strangers: Circumvents natural suspicions and temporarily changes Status to Friendly; superior effect on elderly and children, reduced effect against Enemies; AoE, not required to use against single-target (cost: 6 Mana. cooldown: 1 day)
Mother would not be happy if she found out about using a Daily on a game of tag, but if Little Red caught a Sprite Queen, she might have a chance to get a Boon. Surely that was worth the splurge if it worked.
If.
A soft chime reminded her that her Stamina had refilled. Grinning, Little Red tore across the playground after the Sprite Queen, who laughed and soared through the wooden towers just ahead of Little Red. Every time the Sprite Queen drifted within range, she’d wink at Little Red and poof! off again, just beyond reach.
They darted and spun in circles for hours, until a rumble in Little Red’s tummy reminded her that she’d missed lunch. She squinted up at the sun—already early afternoon—and huffed, activating Charm Strangers. She’d committed too much time now to walk away empty-handed.
The silvery Sprite Queen flew closer as Little Red felt the cold shock of losing half her mana at once. It was all worth it once the Sprite Queen landed on her arm, perched like a falcon ready to hunt.
“Tag,” Little Red whispered, winking.
With a little gasp, the Sprite Queen crossed her arms and beat her wings at Little Red. “You tricked me!”
Little Red shrugged. “Game was rigged.”
“Game was rigged,” the Sprite Queen agreed, giggling. “You’ve earned your Boon, but choose wisely.”
Little Red leaned closer in anticipation.
“Oh, I know!” The Sprite Queen brightened. “Do you want to turn purple for the day?”
At Little Red’s scowl, the Sprite Queen doubled over in laughter, falling off her perch. She caught herself with one finger on the ground and pushed herself back up to hover in the air in front of Little Red. “Nah, I’m only fooling. You can have that if you really want, but I’ll offer you something more boring. You humans never understand the value of a good joke.”
Little Red poked the Sprite Queen. “I can dump paint on my head any old time if I really want to change colors. Got anything to make me faster? I’m late getting to Granny’s house.”
The Sprite Queen tapped pursed lips with a long, slender finger. She shrugged, then disappeared without warning.
Little Red growled and stalked back over to her bike. She balanced the picnic basket on the handlebars, unrolled the Map to check her bearings, and laughed when she noticed a new Quest update.
Sprite Queen’s Blessings. Reward: “Tag! You’re it! Tailwind” — a permanent 25% buff to movement speed.
Little Red took off down the path, ignoring the standard warning text about a possible Deviation detected. She still had time to complete the quest within the time limits, especially with her new Tag! You’re it! buff. According to the Map, she was going over 30 feet per second now. Definitely worth the mana cost.
She pushed faster, chasing 40 feet per second, but almost crashed into a tree when she missed a sudden turn in the trail. She wobbled, fought for control as she charged through the underbrush, and regained her balance long enough to slam on the brakes. No more peeking at her speeds while riding a twisty dirt path in the forest, she vowed.
A steady, annoying beep warned her that she’d Deviated from Quest parameters. Ugh. I’ll never get that subclass! For sure now she’d miss the deadline.
She pulled up the map, searching for a shortcut. There. She stabbed her finger at the Map accusingly. A narrow road she’d missed earlier showed a straight line between her house and Granny’s place that would get her there in half the time. She’d looped around to the side, but a five-minute jaunt should get her back on track.
When she punched in the new Waypoint, the Map let out an alarm.
WARNING! PVP ZONE! SEVERE QUEST DEVIATION DETECTED. GUARDIAN-LEVEL APPROVAL REQUIRED FOR SUCCESSFUL QUEST ALTERATION.
Little Red swallowed. PVP zones were restricted until she was level 10, according to her mom, but maybe she could sneak through . . .
She couldn’t risk taking the time to return home to ask for approval. Besides, she knew deep down in her bones that her mother would never go for the idea. A glance up at the sun in its course confirmed her fears: she was running out of time. If she didn’t complete the Quest, even outside of parameters, then her gamble was for naught.
Only one thing left to do.
Little Red grinned and disabled the Map. It would invalidate the automated Quest, but maybe she could complain that it malfunctioned and apply for a credit to her XP upon Quest completion. Guild approval would take a few extra days, but she’d waited her whole life to gain a subclass, so what was a few extra days?
Crisis settled, Little Red swung into her seat, pushed off from a dead tree on the ground, and pedaled toward her new route, straight toward a restricted PVP zone. Sure, she was only Level 4, but how bad could it be?