Crawling back out through the hole, Dave was confused by tiny motes of light pointing him into two directions. One showed him back towards the campfire and the others, while the other pointed him towards the closest exit he could remember.
Dave pulled Tiny Rock The First and Ropey out of his satchel.
"Alright guys, we have a situation here." He said, putting on a serious expression while looking back and forth between the rock and Ropey.
"This way, is some horrifying being that wants to eat us." He said while pointing towards one direction. "While this way.. I don't really know, but we could probably survive going that way."
Tiny Black Rock The First gave no indication of fear, while Ropey just wiggled excitedly.
"While I do commend your bravery, I think we should still make a tactical retreat. Make sure we have a plan B in case everything goes to hell. Ropey, you'll serve the vanguard scout position, while Tiny Black Rock The.. By the gods who came up with this name.. your nickname shall be Rocky henceforth!" he announced with his cheeks dusting a faint red from his own shamelessness while trying to forget the fact he was the one who named Rocky. "Right, while Rocky will keep the inside of the satchel warm and be ready for action when needed."
Putting the rock back into the satchel, Dave patted Ropeys head before wrapping it multiple times around his waist. Wondering what worms usually eat, he decided to feed Ropey a little of the nourishing tree nectar.
At first Ropey wiggled in pure joy, diving headfirst into the nectar as Dave watched it eat. After it had its fill, Ropey wiggled a lot less than usual, slowly coming to a complete stop and making him worry.
Seeing as Ropey just moved less but steadfastly held onto his waist as a makeshift belt, he decided to check up on it every once in a while as he walked towards the tiny mote of light pointing him towards the fence.
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Personal objective:
Pick your path:
Fight
trait +1 Flee
trait +1
Balling her fist under her cloak, she gritted her teeth. She knew exactly what her personal objective was about this time.
'Of course the game knew about it.'
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"What's wrong little bunny, cat's got your tongue?" One of the burly cat humanoids taunted. They invaded her village and rounded up everyone in her tribe.
The great rabbit tribe, known for their running capabilities. Always ready to flee at a moment's notice, always prepared for danger and able to run away to safety with high certainty, was cornered.
She looked around and saw the shocked looks of the elders, the frantic horrified looks of her parents and siblings. How did this happen? Why was everyone frozen still? Is our tribe really just a gathering of cowards, ready to be put on the chopping block? What makes us different from the rat kobolds?
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Her memory was comparable to a messy unfinished jigsaw puzzle. After waking up in a place with no recollection of the past, she started searching for clues. As fate would have it, surviving game after game helped her recollect some of her past memories. The way the memories abruptly begin and end, pointed her towards artificial amnesia.
Someone or something was dangling pieces of her lost memory in front of her like a juicy carrot. An angry growling squeak escaped her at the thought of being played with. Oh she knew, or more like felt how the memory would have continued.
She doubted her tribe would have actually fought back, but as continuous waves of anger crashed into her at the mere thought of fleeing, she was certain she fought.
She swiped away the status screen knowing she would continue fighting.
For now she planned to track that feral mud spirit, the only one who was smart enough not to fall for the trap. The same one who bided his time to disappear, when everyone had their attention on her.
She was frustrated when she didn't notice him leaving. She blames the parts left behind by her naive past self and her own overconfidence.
Casting a wary eye around the group while zoning out their mindless babbling, she channeled some of her mana into her fingernails, sharpening them barely enough to cut her robe which was stuck to the stone.
Was she really the only one who noticed him disappear? Did nobody observe their surroundings?
Contrary to how she thought they'd start spewing curses and hurling insults as their talk reached a boiling point, they all stopped talking at the same time.
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They shakily turned into the same direction and like her past clan members they stared frozen in shock, at the monstrous being as she slowly shuffled backwards.
Making sure nobody paid her attention she disappeared towards the treeline, sniffing the air and scrunching her nose. She wasn't able to track his smell, as much as the mud impaired her judgement on his looks, it also impaired her keen sense of smell.
Walking towards the direction he disappeared towards, she started tracking him. She easily found the faint markings of boots, as he had stepped on brushes and soft dirt alike.
She shook her head. 'Did he never learn to hide his tracks? Are they all city dwellers perhaps?'
Bending her knees and coiling her leg muscles, she hopped on the closest tree. Following the markings of her target, she made sure to leave none behind herself.
Her sensitive ears easily allowed her to pick up sounds from a distance. She made out more words the closer she got.
"..proud Ropey, ..going.. a quick joint.. overgrowth ..five minutes. If there is anything dangerous I hope you will wiggle very strongly to tell me about it, alright?"
And she spotted him talking to a..
'is that a contract beast? Where did he get it from?' she scrunched her nose, watching the contract beast disappear into a hole in a wall made of vines.
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She wasn't sure what exactly she expected but a chapel in the middle of this forest? They had small shrines in the villages she knew, usually dedicated to a specific god or goddess worshipped by the locals. But what could animate someone to build a chapel out here with no believers donating their faith? It also looked to be well cared for.
Shaking her head she went back out of the enclosure to wait for him, she couldn't really follow him inside the chapel and there was no place to hide around it either.
Her long furry ears twitched as she picked up the sound of someone crawling through a narrow space. 'He came out faster than I expected.' She thought while listening to his over dramatic storytelling. She was surprised by how clean he was in comparison to before. None of the mud, dirt nor leaves stuck to him anymore.
She decided she'd check the inside of the chapel before talking to him about this game. Two heads were better than one, significantly raising their chances of passing this game. She was certain he would be a good partner as someone who avoided getting stuck to the stone trap.
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After pushing open the beautifully decorated chapel door she understood why he was able to return that quickly. A short passageway, only a few steps long, with flat grey stonewalls lead directly into a circular room. A small altar stood in the middle of the room, illuminated by the glow of magical candles. A chalice and a donation box were placed right on top of it.
There was nothing else inside, not even a demarcation about which deity this chapel was built to honor.
She took out her water flask, filling the chalice a quarter full and dropped some of her favourite berries into the donation box. Giving a short prayer to honor the deity, as she knew they were fickle beings, she drank the water out of the chalice and turned around to catch up to the young man she followed.
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At first everything was going fine, he fed Ropey and Ropey seemed to shrink in length but grow more resilient. 'Was it going to turn into a butterfly?'
After that he reached the fence and saw his 'survival light' pointed him to the parts behind the fence. 'Of course I'd survive if I just ran away.'
Facepalming he turned around to go towards the other direction only to be greeted by a masked and cloaked person. He remembered they were the quiet one during the gathering.
Unnerved, he gripped his satchel and readied his other hand to pull out either Rocky or his needle dagger as they'd protect him. Silence ensued as both of them just stared at each other without moving.
Breaking the awkward silence, he put his all into his suave charms and amazing social skills.
"S'up?"
"..."
He was sure she wasn't an enemy yet. 'Who knows how long she's been stalking me without my notice. So she probably wants something from me.'
"Do you need something from me?"
She put out the flat of her hand and wiggled it in a so-so gesture.
He raised an eyebrow at her non verbal answers. "Are you able to talk?"
They nodded.
More silence ensued. Dave gave a sigh, as much as he loved to play up his skills to himself, he knew his social skills were just okey. They definitely weren't passable to mindread a masked, hooded person who doesn't want to talk. 'Maybe we need to establish some common ground before they trust me enough to.. is that a rabbit tail?' His eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of a white fluffy tail from a cut portion of the cloak. He calmed down instantly, 'who am i to judge someone's interests,' he shrugged.
"Ya like stones?" he tried to make small talk again, moving his hand in an exaggerated gesture towards his satchel, to make sure she caught him doing that and to be as non threatening as possible.
Pulling out Rocky, he presented him flat on his palm.
The hooded person slowly moved closer, they poked the rock and looked back at him. Through the eyeholes of the mask he could see a glint of panic and curiosity.
'Of course, everyone loves pets.. and I guess Rocky counts as a pet? What next?'
"So.. any specific reason you are here? Is it about the game? What are your thoughts on it?" Dave looked at them, hoping to finally get a verbal answer only to be disappointed. He was greeted by two nods and a head tilt.
"I'm Dave, nice to meet you, miss..?"
The cloaked figure stilled for a moment and Dave felt a cold shiver run down back. She narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a while, until she came to some conclusion and tension visibly left her shoulders. She nodded resignedly and pointed at an evergreen tree.
"Miss Evergreen?" A shrug was all he got for his efforts. 'I feel like she didn't care and just pointed at the first thing in sight..'
He sighed and collected himself. Moving his hand towards her in a gesture for a handshake he said "well alright Evergreen, hope for a good cooperation?"
He saw her hood twitch before she grabbed his hand and shook it gently.