Kade stepped out of the capsule, barely three hours since he’d entered it. Sure, he’d made the great statement of not caring about the world, but… people! How could people deal with other people? He shook his head in amazement. It was a mystery.

Stepping out of the capsule he went and browsed a shelf of (definitely not pirated) anime and famous movies. It was a tossup between the two and he couldn’t decide, so he just grabbed a handful of both. He’d decide later.

Scrounging the cupboards, he extricated everything that he would need to make popcorn. You couldn’t have a movie marathon without popcorn. You just couldn’t.

Throwing the popcorn into a large pot he went and browsed through the disks he’d grabbed. There were a few more recent ones from rising movie companies, mixed in with older ones from the last generation, like the Marvel series. He sighed. It really wasn’t easy to pick.

In the end he found himself seated in front of the screen, watching an old western, with a bowl of popcorn on either side. Yes, it was very outdated, the acting was bad and the sound effects were plain awful, but it was a movie he’d often watched with his father.

The story was about seven outlaws, who, for different reasons, ended up in this little village in the middle of nowhere. All of them are on the run, but end up befriending each other.

The story ended with the outlaws making a final stand to defend the village, as well as all the villagers they barely knew. They all tragically perish, but the village survives.

The few times his mother watched, she would always clutch his father’s hand, as the outlaws bravely and tragically met their ends. He lifted a hand to his eye and found it damp. He thought he’d stopped missing them by now, but it seemed he’d just locked it away. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Eventually the movie finished, and he turned the TV off. He wasn’t in the mood for the other action films he’d lined up. Stuffing the last handful of popcorn into his mouth he looked at the ceiling and wondered what to do next.

When he couldn’t think of anything, he gave up.

He wasn’t really in the mood for anything. He wasn’t hungry. He wasn’t tired. He didn’t even want to go back in the game. So, he did what had become his default in the last few days. He went out.

Outside the streets were alive, with people rushing back home from work. He turned back immediately. Too many people.

Since he didn’t own a car, people meant crowded buses, crowded trains and crowded streets. It just wasn’t his day it seemed. With a sigh he returned home, throwing the dishes in the wash and entering the capsule.

At least in the game there wouldn’t be people. He’d warned the players and he’d sent the villagers away. The forest was people free once more.

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Giving Sera a brief nod he entered the game.

***

Cairn, the village chief, surveyed the beginnings of the new village with a satisfied air. The dozen or so villagers with him were already making good progress on the beginnings of the village. The iron tools they’d plundered from the invading players made the work so much easier.

The village layout was very simple. He’d designated a central square around the stone pillar, making it the focal point of the village. The towering spire was a reminder of their position. It showed that they were under the Lord’s power, but also that they should strive for greater heights.

To one side of the square were the houses, simple wooden abodes, while on the other side they planned to clear some area for small farms. The cleared wood would then be used in the continued construction of the houses.

The villagers worked diligently as he kept an oversight of the proceedings. Every now and then he caught one of the villagers staring at the stone pillar in silent awe and reverence. He’d explained the Lord’s guidance to the others.

The pillar was the representation of strength that the Lord expected of them. The villagers had accepted the Lord’s decree and accepted his word with all their heart. Already, it had become a place of worship, with villagers placing offerings at the base.

Such was the way of the forest, like the bees gives a bear honey, the weak give to the strong. All was as it was meant to be.

A cry rang out from the one of the villagers and he turned to see what the commotion was.

The Lord walked out of the forest, draped in his cloak of shadows. All the villagers got down on one knee.

***

Azrael stood in what could be called the beginnings of a village, his hands full of offerings. Nothing was going as expected today. Azrael tried to figure out what was going on, but the village chief before him kept on interrupting by bowing and going on about teachings and strength and other things Azrael didn’t quite understand.

Originally, when he’d logged back on, he’d heard sounds from his cave and had come to explore. He had not expected what he’d found.

The villagers that he’d sent away had started building a village right in the middle of his forest! Already the beginnings of structures were appearing. With the intention of sending them out the forest, he’d walked into the clearing and been surprised when all of them immediately felt to their knees and began bowing to him.

The chief had taken that chance to bestow upon Azrael ‘offerings’. Clothes, shoes, dried meat, a necklace, an iron spear. It was a motley mix.

He looked at the clothes, then down at his still naked and blood caked body. The only reason they were here was because of him and he had technically burnt down their village. He would lie if he said he didn’t feel a little guilty about that.

The iron spear looked pretty nice, the spear tip glinting cruelly in the sun. He’d lost his in the fight and these villagers hadn’t actually done anything wrong, really.

He looked at the boots. He looked at his scratched and dirty feet. He looked at the boots, then at his feet again. He sighed.

It seemed they could stay. They were pretty close to his cave, although… he’d been meaning to move to the other side of the lake anyways.

After the villagers had arrived at his cave, he’d realised that it was a great defensive position, but terrible in every other regard.

There was nothing stopping anyone from waltzing through the forest and arriving at his cave. The cliff effectively trapped him in as well. Being protected on three sides also meant that he was trapped on three side. He intended to move to the other side of the lake shore.

To get to the other side people would have to pass through the forest, then cross either the lake, or the river feeding out of it. The mountains that formed the valley also offered protection from the back, but still potentially allowed him to escape to higher ground should anyone make it that far.

Azrael accepted the offerings. Today was just not his day.

At least he got boots.