The noise of furious typing on the keyboard and the clicking of the mouse filled Tracy’s room. The room was a gamer’s haven, with different posters hanging on its grey wall and several orange fox stuffed animals and jackets decorating it. Despite its nerdy appearance, the room was neat and clean, with clothes, books, and finished homework assignments in their respective places. Her desk was the same, a clean space where her monitor, keyboard, and mouse sat. At the bottom of the computer were sticky notes that reminded her of what she needed to do. Each one of them crossed off. She needed to focus.

She stared intently at the bright screen, her back up straight, ready for the fight. Her cute orange headphones, with fox ears, were plastered to her head and pulsed with intense music. She was so close.

Just a little more. Her character, a duel sword-wielding kitsune girl, dashed through a steel vent. Just milliseconds later, a blue beam of destruction blasted her earlier position, vaporizing anything in its radius. Mid-air, she pulled out her sniper rifle and, with cat-like reflexes, aimed down the sights. Her thrusters activated, holding her in the air and giving her a clear shot. She lined up the crosshairs on the giant skull mask of her target. She took the shot. Fire jetted out of the gun’s barrel, the recoil pushing up the weapon. The bullet zoomed through the air, hitting the boss right between the eyes.

“Headshot!” Tracy smirked as she saw basilisk tooth (0:20) on the bottom of her screen. In twenty seconds, the boss would turtle up in a tank while its minions would pour out of the doors around her. She only had 5% of her health left; she couldn’t handle another hit, but… She looked at the boss’s nearly depleted health bar. Neither could the boss, though.

She dashed across a wall before landing on the other side of the map. No minions were in sight. Nothing was obstructing her view. Perfect. She lined up the shot on the boss’s head again. Then, with satisfaction, she pulled the trigger. Nothing came out. She cursed under her breath as she looked at the bottom of her screen—no ammo.

“Rats!” She breathed out as she pulled out her dual swords

“Tracy! TRACY!” She heard her mom yell as she banged on the door. Tracy bit her lip. It was now or never. She didn’t have the time.

She stared down the map. She was a hundred meters from the boss with ten seconds left, much too far for any melee character to reach. She didn’t care. She sprinted towards the boss, using all the parkour she could. She dodged past the enemies, beginning to spawn. She gritted her teeth, looking closer and closer to the screen until she was only inches away from it. She would need nothing short of a miracle to win this encounter.

As she thought, a white bar turned gold at the bottom of her screen. She chuckled, just in time. She pressed Q on her keyboard. The gold bar drained off her screen as her kitsune form burst into flames, eight tails sprouting behind her. She blasted from her spot, fires bursting where she was, igniting any poor minion unlucky enough to be standing next to her. The inertia sent her into the air, high above the boss but still 30 meters away. She didn’t have any ranged attacks in this ultimate form. Splash damage from her melee attack wouldn’t reach in time. Four seconds left. She looked frantically around the screen until she saw a drop-ship taking off. Awesome. She burst next to the drop ship using the last charge of her dash ability. She landed on its edge, just enough for her to wall run across its exterior. 2 seconds left. She looked at the boss, she couldn’t tell the distance this far up, she didn’t have a choice. She aimed at the boss, her character shot down, swords aimed at its heart. Tracy gritted her teeth as the swords plunged into the monster’s heart.

“Yeah!” she yelled as she took off her headphones. “Take that, Bracus Zahn!” She yelled. The boss groaned as green gas escaped from its suit. She pulled out her phone. As she did, a badge appeared on her screen. She snapped a quick photo, admiring it as she sat back in her old office chair.

She heard knocking on the door as she mused about the photo, jostling her from her thoughts. She ran to the door, opening it with a wide swing. Her mom stood in the doorway, her arms crossed while she stared into Tracy’s eyes. Tracy chuckled as she scratched the back of her head. She was in trouble.

“I can’t believe you.” Tracy’s mom said, making her way down the stairs. “Your brother is going on a trip, and you can’t even stop your game for a second for this.

“It’s not like that! I promise!” Tracy said in a desperate tone as she followed her mom down the stairs. “I just wanted to prove something to Tristan, that’s all!”

Tracy turned down the stairs and faced the kitchen. Before Tracy could say something else, her mom arranged a lunch box. “Finally managed to smoke her out.” Her mom said triumphantly. Tracy rolled her eyes, not amused.

Tracy saw her dad looking over a checklist of items while her brother stared at the ceiling. Her dad called off different things while Tristan tapped on various pockets of his camping backpack before saying check. Seeing her brother, a smile came onto Tracy’s face. She pulled out her phone. She was going to enjoy every moment of this.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Tristan’s eyes went from the ceiling to his sister. Tracy shook her phone around, jeering at him. Tristan’s eyes went wide. This only made Tracy grin with satisfaction even more as she nestled right up to him.

“Got something for ya.” Tracy taunted. Tristan opened his mouth.

“No way,” Tristan answered.

“Not now, Tracy.” Their father said before looking over at Tristan. “We still need to double-check the list.” Their dad said, tapping on the checklist.

Tristan rolled his eyes. “Dad, you know me. I already did the double-check. You don’t need to go through the list again.” With that sentence, their dad folded the sheet and stuffed it into a pocket in the backpack.

“Just making sure that you have everything for the trip. It is the worst when you realize that you didn’t pack something.” Dad said, folding his arms as he smirked.

“I appreciate it, Dad, but I got this. I know that I have everything.” Tristan answered.

“Well then, I’m glad you have everything for the trip. Are you ready to go?” Dad said again.

Tristan nodded his head. “Although…” He said, turning to Mom.

“Thanks for dragging Tracy out of her room. She would’ve stayed there all day if you hadn’t done anything,” Tristan said before grinning at Tracy. Tracy slugged Tristan in the arm.

“I would not! I just needed to get the achievement before you leave.” Tracy said, her phone dancing in her fingers.

“The one that I haven’t been able to get for two months? And you go it in two hours?” Tristan said incredulously.

“That’s the one!” Tracy said excitedly. “Let me show you the proof.” She starts to open her phone, getting to her saved picture.

“Tracy.” Tristan starts, getting Tracy out of her excitement. She looked up, seeing both her mom and dad smiling at her. She closed her phone and looked Tristan’s way, seeing that he was already halfway to the porch door. Tracy tilts her head like a fox. Something was up. She could feel it. “I just want to show you something,” Tristan said, motioning Tracy to follow him.

They both make their way to the porch, going outside into their backyard. It is a large yard, complete with a playground and a trampoline. Both things they both grew up with and enjoyed. Tristan falls into one of the lawn chairs on the porch, slouching back as he looks into the sunset above them. Tracy takes a folding chair that is right next to it. It squeaks as she puts her weight on it. She looks over at Tristan.

“Nice view, huh?” Tristan says as he smirks. Tracy rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, especially as the forest blocks it.” She answers sarcastically. It was true. Their backyard felt more like a forest with grass than a backyard.

“Still a great view regardless. But Tracy.” He said, sitting up from his chair and facing her. “Happy early, late birthday.” Tristan pulled a figurine out of his pocket and tossed it to Tracy. Tracy caught the figure with ease. As she looked over the figurine, she gasped. It was a fox made haphazardly out of leather and felt. Tracy could easily see the seams that hid about as well as a kindergartener in a game of hide and seek.

“It’s perfect!” Tracy lied as she hugged it. Tristan looked at her with a stupidly big grin on his face. Tracy raised an eyebrow. “Could use some work, but I love it.”

Tristan chuckled, “I’m glad. It took the entire semester for me to finish it.” He slouched back in his chair again. “You have something to share with me too, right?”

Tracy lept at the words as she heard them. She pulled out her phone, navigated to her pictures, and handed the phone over to Tristan. It was Tristan’s turn to gasp. He sighed as he sat back even further in his chair.

“How do you pull such good grades while getting this good at Future?” Tristan said, defeated.

Tracy smiled before laughing. “It’s all in the builds! I know the kitsune soldier is your favorite. You just need to understand her arsenal and get the right power gems–”

Tristan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right! I’ve been doing the builds you show me, and I still struggle with the strikes even with two other players.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment then.” Tracy smiled. Tristan smiled at the comment before his smile faded as he looked into the imperfect sunset. Tracy frowned. The atmosphere of their conversation changed. She could feel it in the silence.

They both looked into their view of the backyard where they grew up. Words didn’t need to be said. Tracy knew what he was thinking. As the silence continued, Tracy’s mind returned to their shared memories. How, when they were in elementary school, their parents would kick them off of the Wii and demand they play outside. They thought they were so wise playing hero together, defeating legions of Tristan bad guy’s army with the power or friendship. Memories Tracy wouldn’t trade for the world.

“I’m sure this place will be much bigger without me,” Tristan said, finally breaking the silence. Tracy’s eyebrow went up.

“It’s only a week's trip to Africa. You make it sound like you're going to disappear forever.” Tracy shot back. Tristan put his hands in the air.

“Who knows? Maybe I’ll like it so much that I’ll stay there.” Tristan countered. With that, Tracy stood up from her chair, walked to Tristan, and slugged him in the arm. “Ow! Kidding! Kidding! Jeez, go easy on the violence. Maybe you have been playing too many video games.”

Tracy clenched her fist as she stood there. Worry on her face. “Hey, I’m–” Tristan started.

“Don’t joke about that!” Tracy blurted out. “Promise that you’ll come back,” Tracy said.

The smile disappeared from his face as he stood up. “It’s only a week trip. I promise I’ll come back.” He looked her in the eyes and held out his pinky finger. “Promise.”

Tracy grabbed the pinky finger with her own. Then, out of nowhere, Tristan pulled Tracy into his arms and into a hug.

“I’m going to miss you,” Tracy said.

“Me too,” Tristan said in kind. “I promise I’ll be back soon.”