I felt strange.
Cool air rustled against fur, something I could only describe as a tail protruded from my rear, and every extremity seemed… off.
Memories came back to me in a rush and my eyes sprang open in alarm to see an orange furred snout blocking the bottom of my vision. I heaved myself into a sitting position.
My eyes scanned downwards, taking in a vul’heli form that was a mirror of what I'd seen during the initiation. I wore a sleeveless vest of coarse green fabric from which my orange-furred arms and black hands protruded. Below the vest, a simple kilt-like garb was secured around my waist by a leather belt where my bushy tail emerged from a hole in the back to brush against the ground.
A feeling of panic and wrongness began to well up within my chest before it halted halfway formed. The wrongness faded until I began to feel normal, as if the form of a vul'heli was the one I had always worn. Something resembling a frown formed at the corners of my canine mouth.
I pushed myself to my strange digitigrade paws, finding my balance with the ease of one who’d stood on these same legs many times before. Then, sucking in a deep breath of crisp autumn air, I took stock of my surroundings for the first time.
Thousand-year-old trees wider than my arms sprouted from an open forest floor covered in leaves, ferns, and sparse brush still covered in the night’s dew. Moss covered stone bricks, the remnants of some ancient ruin, lay in heaps between the trees. My fox-like ears twitched and twisted towards the sounds of leaves rustling overhead, birds calling between the branches, and I could even make out the faint burbling of a distant creek. My nose breathed in the smell of damp earth and a dozen other things I couldn’t place.
As I stood there, another string of silver text appeared in front of my eyes.
Welcome to Realgar! Personal status can be viewed or dismissed with mental commands.
Personal information? Like a status screen? With a simple thought, a new box filled with silver text replaced the notification.
Name:
James Nelson
Species:
Vul’heli (Level: 1)
Age:
18
Mana:
80/80
Stamina:
50/50
Total attributes:
45
Primary Path:
N/A
Secondary Path:
N/A
General Abilities:
3
Attributes? Like strength and dexterity? I focused on the attributes section and the window expanded:
Total Attributes:
45
Strength:
2
Dexterity:
4
Constitution:
5
Perception:
8
Willpower:
6
Intelligence:
12
Spirit:
8
Free:
0
A 2 in strength? 2 seemed laughable, but probably right to be my lowest stat. The intelligence made me pause. I didn’t think I was that smart. Unless of course the average person was around a 10, in which case I guess everything made sense.
I focused further on the attributes in search of more information.
Strength: The maximum physical power an individual can produce.
Dexterity: Precision of physical movement.
Constitution: Physical endurance and robustness.
Perception: Acuity of sense.
Willpower: Power over magic.
Intelligence: Manipulation of Magic.
Spirit: Magical capacity and regeneration.
Free: Unassigned attribute points.
Nothing out of the box, but it was useful to know the attributes followed logical convention. Seeing as I didn’t have any free attribute points to assign yet, I decided not to think about their distribution too much. Worrying about a ‘build’ or class was a problem for future me.
Next, I focused on ‘Primary path.’ A new box filled my vision.
Primary Path (Not Available): Your primary path. Choosing a path requires a species level of 10. Paths can be changed at the cost of all accumulated abilities and attribute points.
I focused on the ‘Secondary Path’ which gave a prompt much like the first one:
Secondary Path (Not Available): Your secondary path. The level of your secondary path may not exceed your primary one. Choosing a path requires a species level of 10. Paths can be changed at the cost of all accumulated abilities and attribute points.
Next I focused on ‘Species’ which, to my surprise, pulled up a new panel of information:
Species: Vul’heli
Created by the god Trickster, vul’heli are an elvenoid species native to the northern forests of Realgar.
Attribute Modifiers:
Strength:
0.8
Dexterity:
1.1
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Constitution:
0.9
Perception:
1
Willpower:
1
Intelligence:
1.2
Spirit:
1
Racial Abilities:
Senses of the Vul'heli (Passive):
Effective perception is doubled when using auditory sensing.
It looked like I had two more racial abilities to unlock which I assumed arrived as my level increased. I mentally returned to the main status screen and focused my attention on the last item on the list: ‘General Abilities’.
General Abilities:
Arcane affinity:
Affinity for arcane magics.
Soul bond:
Your soul has bonded with another.
(Hidden):
???
(Hidden):
???
Arcane and fire affinity was self-explanatory. Soul bond, well, I wasn’t so sure. Kevin and I were close, and we had been attached at the hip ever since I could remember, but why would we be soul-bonded? I couldn’t think of anyone else who might qualify.
I really hoped my soul wasn’t connected to my sister.
I read and inspected the status window again when my ears twitched toward the sound of leaves crunching behind me. I spun where I stood to see the lithe, yet muscular form of a female sek’heli walking towards me. Her brown eyes skirted warily across my vul’heli self and her long tail twitched behind her.
She wore a garment of light blue cloth that wrapped around her modest bust and over her right shoulder, leaving most of the fur on her midriff and arms exposed. A kilt-like garment of a similar style to my own was cinched around her waist by a leather belt. She had a thick coat of white and light gray fur covered in darker spots and faint tan highlights, but fading to milky white down her front. Taller than I by an inch and at least twice as strong, the sek'heli should have exuded power, but her body language implied something else.
Apprehension. Trepidation. Uncertainty.
Her digitigrade paws stepped forward with an unsteady yet determined gait.
“Hello.” I said.
My voice sounded strange to my ears. Rougher, and shifted sideways in tone. The word itself that came from my mouth wasn’t the English ‘hello’, but a higher pitched sound from another language that I found I instinctively knew.
“Hello.” The sek’heli responded in the same language, her voice smoother than my own. She came to a stop not twenty feet away beside one of the massive trees.
“Are you from…” The Sek’heli struggled to find the right word, but seemed to give up and settle on something else entirely. “...new here?”
“Yeah.” I said. “Earth right?” My mouth stumbled over the word ‘earth’ as it tried to pronounce familiar sounds with unfamiliar physiology. “I assume you are as well?”
She nodded.
“So what’s your name?” I asked, deciding to go with something a bit safer. This could be Gretchen for all I knew.
The sek’heli unexpectedly froze, her eyes staring at me in wild panic and her ears instinctively flattening back against her head. She backed up against the tree and buried her face into her hands. Something was obviously wrong, and I expected it went beyond the evident change in species. Concern flickered across my features and I took a few steps closer.
“Are you alright?” I asked, wincing at how stupid I sounded. Of course she wasn’t alright.
The sek’heli shook her head and sucked in a deep, shuddering breath. I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t a psychologist. I felt like I needed to say something though, so I said the first thing that came to mind.
“My name is James.” I began in a soft voice. “I just arrived here a few minutes ago. I’m looking for a few friends of mine. Kevin, Dean, and Gretchen. Maybe we can help each other.”
Instead of responding, the sek’heli slid down the tree trunk to rest between the massive roots on the forest floor. Her entire body trembled.
I took another few steps forward and knelt before her.
“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” I asked, my own anxiety worming its way into my chest. “I know I’m really bad at this, but I do want to help.”
The Sek’heli shook head. “You don’t understand.” She breathed.
“What don’t I understand?”
With a great force of will the sek’heli lowered her hands and looked up into my eyes.
“James, I…”She sucked in a deep breath. “I… I am Kevin”
Kevin? But this sek’heli was a girl! My mouth worked furiously as words eluded me, but I knew I needed to say something. Anything to break this wretched tension.
“How?” I asked at last. “Why are you…”
“I wasn’t given an option.” Kevin whispered. “Every species option I had was a female model.”
“There has to be a mistake somewhere.” I whispered furiously. “If this system can create these bodies then it has to be able to fix it. Lets ask it. Maybe there is something on the status-”
“James Stop!” Kevin yelled, but then his voice dropped to a whisper barely audible even to my sensitive ears:
“I… I don’t think it was a mistake.”
My mind whirled. What did he mean it wasn’t a mistake?
What did he mean?
Then it clicked into place in my mind. Oh.
OH!
“Oh.” I said aloud.
Kevin broke eye contact. I saw tears welling in her eyes. Her hands reached up to cover her face once more and, like the breaking of a dam, great sobs began to shake her form.
At first I stared in silence, not knowing what to say.
Then I realized it might be best if I said nothing at all.
I pushed my tail aside and sat down beside Kevin in the nook between the tree roots. She shook against me as her entire being heaved and gasped for breath. I tried to exude confidence: to be a pillar of strength while she worked through something I knew I would never fully understand. In reality, I was small and scared: a nerd in a strange body and an alien world.
I hoped my presence was enough.
At some point Kevin’s sobs slowed to heaving breaths and her trembling limbs stilled. She opened her eyes and we simply sat and stared at the empty forest. Kevin was the first to break the silence.
“All my life.” She began. “I felt. I dreamed. I knew.” She sucked in a deep breath. “But I was trapped. I couldn’t say anything. Not to my parents, not to my friends, not to you. I was their perfect son. I couldn’t hurt them like that. I didn't want to see their faces.”
“But now…” She continued. “But now this place… It feels so real.”
“Maybe it is real.” I hummed.
“You know, when I saw the species selection, and knew I was getting placed in a female avatar, I left the list of contacts blank. I didn’t want anyone to see me like this. But at the last moment I put your name on it. I think I wanted you to know.”
“Thank you for trusting me.” I said.
“What do I do James?” Kevin breathed. “Do I just wake up tomorrow and go back to my usual life?”
“Maybe.” I said. “I’m not so sure we will wake up back on earth ever again. Maybe we can find someone here you can talk to about this. Someone who went through the same things you did. Someone who isn’t a bumbling idiot like me.”
“You’re not a bumbling idiot… most of the time.” Kevin snorted.
“Thanks.” I said, glad some of her humor returned.
“And what do you think?” Kevin asked.
“About what?”
“About me.”
“Nothing has changed.” I said. “You are still the same person I grew up with. I may think more of you for trusting me, but certainly nothing less.”
“I… thank you.” She said, genuine relief in her voice. “That means a lot.” Kevin smiled. It was a strange feline smile that touched her eyes. “Maybe we should focus on this new world while we’re here.”
I laughed. “Only if you’re ready.”
Kevin turned and looked at me. I mean, really looked at me for the first time.
“Let’s start with why you’re a fox.” She smirked. “That’s something I’d expect from your sister.”
“It turns out the system forces family units into the same species.” I explained. “My sister fell asleep before me so I never got a choice.”
Kevin snorted in response.
“I placed her second on my contact list after you so that I could strangle her when I arrived.” I continued. “Though to be honest it doesn’t feel as bad now that I’m wearing it.”
“You strangle Sarah? She’d beat you up first!”
“A minor flaw in my plan.” I agreed. “So what about you? Why a cat?”
“All the human-looking ones were taken, the dwarf females have beards, and...”
“...and?” I prodded.
“...and the sek’heli looked cute.”
“I suppose you do look cute.” I acquiesced.
“You can’t just say that!” Kevin said in mock anger and half twisted away, but I caught undertones of satisfaction and embarrassment in her voice.
“You know.” I began, a sudden thought worming its way into my mind. “If you got to choose your race, that means no one else in your family chose before you.”
“Yeah so?”
“So your parents are forced to be cat people.” I grinned as only a fox could.
“And your parents foxes.” Kevin broke into a laugh. “Assuming they ever went to bed.”
“Yeah.” I agreed. “So, do you still want me to call you Kevin, or did you have something else in mind?”
“I... never really thought about it before now.” Kevin sighed. “I’ll let you know, but Kevin works for now.”
“Are you sure? I could call you Kirsten, or Kira, or Kayla, or Karen.”
“Not Karen!” She laughed. “Anything but that. Really though, just Kevin is fine until I think of something.
“In that case, shall we get up and explore a bit?” I asked, pushing myself to my feet. Paws? Foot-paws? “I’d rather not sit next to a tree all day. Not to say we can’t if you need more time.”
“I think I’m okay for now. I think a distraction will help. I can worry later.” Kevin responded, pushing herself upright after me. “There is a stream I found just over the hill. Maybe we could start there.”
“Works for me.”
**********
Only three feet wide, the brook tumbled over cobbles and around boulders on its path across the gentle slope of the forest floor. Thousands of stone bricks lined its banks and lay scattered amidst the rounded cobbles of the creek. Even under the rushing water, the bricks remained perfectly smooth with chiseled edges as sharp as the day they were cut. A symbol, each identical, was carved into the stone faces.
We decided that the fastest way to find civilization would be to follow the water downstream. The forest felt empty and I began to worry that we would have to find a way to survive out here in the wilds.
“Say, what do your stats look like?” I asked Kevin, if only to distract me from my own thoughts.
She shrugged. “65 total. I’m not sure if that’s good or not though.”
“What! 65?! Way to make me look bad.” I grumbled.
“Bad? What’s your total?” She asked.
“...45.”
“...Maybe you’re still above average?”
“Maybe I just suck.”
“Or good at only one thing. We should compare.” Kevin offered.
With great reluctance I pulled up my status sheet and began reading off my attribute scores. Kevin broke down into laughter when I mentioned my 2 in strength. After I finished, she followed me in listing off her own. She had an 11 in perception, a 7 in willpower and intelligence, and a 10 in everything else.
“See? Even if your physical stats are low, at least you’re smarter than me.” Kevin said.
“Yeah maybe.” I mumbled, tossing a stick into the burbling waters of the brook. Then, just as I opened my mouth to speak again, my ears caught the sound of something just downstream. I put my hand on Kevin’s shoulder to stop her, and listened.
Voices. Humanoid voices.