Melody the Blade was perched in her favorite spot, a sturdy branch near the top of a gilded maple that sat upon a hill in Hollyland, just east of the Vales of Aergondi. She and her guild had decided to lie low for the time being after their disastrous alliances with Rama and Hathisis and then the Skulls and Bones Pirate Confederacy to focus on less high-profile earnings in the ongoing competition. Besides which, it seemed as if the one she most desired to combat was not on for a second night this week.

Lana... Melody thought to herself with a wistful sigh. It was now synchronous midnight; if Lana had been on, she would be getting notifications from the forums that she had marked. Nothing that girl did stayed quiet for long.

Who knew Rachel was so boisterous in a virtual world; I swear, she's more tomboyish than I am... tomboyish?

Melody frowned. Most of the time she had seen Rachel had been at school, but every time she had witnessed her fellow thespian from school outside of that setting she seemed to be quite the opposite of a tomboy. Of course, that discounted the typical gamer's personality; even in this world, people were inclined to put on airs or have different personas than their own real-life self. From what Melody could discern, there was a roughly fifty-fifty split between those who “put on masks” so to speak and those who were more their real selves.

Not that I think that figure's perfect; maybe it's sixty-forty, or the other way around; who knows, really. I can't say I blame any of them... though if that psycho Venomy really *is* like that in real life, then I should be grateful I don't know him, she mused with the bare semblance of a grin. One of the other girls in the guild knew him; she could never remember which one.

“Mel?” Clara's voice came to her from a distance.

“Over here,” the younger girl called. The girl with green hair came into view moments later, gazing up at her leader with a smile.

“Kinda thought so.” she remarked softly.

“Any news?” Melody asked her.

“Queens of the Desert Skies is back.” Clara told her, the older girl leaning back against the tree her leader was perched in.

“Hmm.”

“Rama and Hathisis, along with all of their die-hards, were kicked out. They're forming a new guild, but there's no way they'll be good for the competition, not this late.”

“Neither will Rayna and her Queens.” Melody shrugged.

“True,” Clara agreed.

“What about the pirates?” Melody asked. She saw Clara snarl at the reminder.

“Those jerks sent us our gold just as they promised, and they've staked a claim on some islands way out past the Hitherlands. I doubt they'll be as profitable, though...” she sighed.

“It must have been worth it to Rackham... though I'd rather they'd have crushed that fleet. Fènghuáng and her phoenix were not in our calculations, though.”

“That thing--! Ethereal creatures like it being immune to poison and venom... hrrrrggh!” Clara fumed.

“And once it took us out, I suppose the two dragons did a number on the pirates...” Melody said as she stretched out her limbs.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Probably. Which is why they sailed on; it's hard to get a cannon pointed straight up, and though cannon-fire would probably hurt the dragons, I don't know if it would actually wound them...” Clara mused in a calmer tone.

“Hmm? Ahh, I think I understand,” Melody nodded, leaning back. “You think it'd likely be more of a gut-punch to them than anything else.”

“If a dragon like that could be taken out by cannons, that Dwarf-guild would've done it already, so yeah.” her second replied.

“And the Silvernight Queens?” Melody then asked. There was a moment of silence before Clara answered.

“The one you want isn't on.” she said softly.

“Hm.”

“Mel...” Clara sighed, turning to look up at the other girl. “I--”

“I know.” Melody said, lightly hopping down from the tree to look Clara in the eyes. “And I... I want to honor your feelings... but right now...” she broke off, uncertain of how to explain her own feelings. Clara smiled, reaching over to gently pat her head before wrapping her up in a soft hug.

“You want to make a clean break with your feelings for her.” she said.

“… Yes. Yes, I do.” Melody smiled, relaxing into the embrace.

“Sometimes... sometimes it doesn't happen that easily, especially with unrequited love. Sometimes you just... have to do it.” the older girl told her.

“Where does that leave you?” her leader asked, a teasing smile upon her face.

“In just the right spot to be there for you when you're ready.” Clara said softly as she let go, a gentle smile on her face. She saw Melody slowly nod, and decided that was good enough for her at the moment.

“I want to at least... to at least take her to prom, as a way of... reconciling, for all the trouble we get into with one another...” Melody then said.

“Hm, hm...” Clara nodded with approval. “I think that's a nice idea.”

“Thanks.” the other girl smiled back.

“There you are!” came the voice of Jana, who was approaching from behind.

“Hmm? Oh, Jana,” Melody said, softly smiling.

“I just heard a story up in Ragnarheim; Lana and her second won't be on until Sunday,” the red-haired herbalist told them with a shrug.

“Sunday, huh?” Clara remarked.

“Looks like Lana's on a bit of a leash with her lover after pulling all those stunts recently,” Jana said with a smirk.

Leash? Leash... tomboy... personalities... Melody frowned.

“But anyway; where are we headed tonight? I know that idiot Venomy is headed for the Borderlands, but I'd rather not get into more PvP after getting trounced so many times...” Jana continued.

“Right?” Clara sighed.

“Hmm... let's do some resource runs, then,” Melody suggested.

“Yes! Let's!” Jana said excitedly.

“We'll do that,” Clara smiled in agreement.

“I'll get the boys... well, the three of them that aren't idiots...” Jana said as she pulled up the message functions.

“Pfft!” Melody snorted, a smile breaking out on her face. “To be fair, he does quite well on his own,” she then noted.

“Bleh. And we do better without him,” Jana snorted. “Aergondi, right?”

“Since we're about there, yes,” Melody nodded.

“Right!” the other smiled, sending the message.

“Let's get to a wayport, then,” Clara said, and the three girls made their way from the hill to the nearest wayport they could find. Melody looked back towards the tree for a brief moment; the semblance of a question began forming in her mind, but before it could become tangible it was borne away by more chatter from her guildmates.

Oh well; it's probably nothing, she reasoned, quietly sighing as she processed the idea of her rival being offline for a week. I'll be here, waiting for you... Lana.