The wolf was still outside when I exited the cave. It sat and cocked its head at me. My rib was on the ground, teeth marks marring its abused white surface. He reminded me of my dog as a child, a big St. Bernard. He had a white nametag above his head now.

[Sparrow]

“Are you a good boy?” I asked jokingly. I put a hand out slowly, intending to pet the furry creature. His ear twitched. Kent seemed restless on my shoulder.

“Nathan. Whaaat are you doing?” The wolf clamped onto my hand.

“Ow.” It didn’t hurt as bad as a dog bite usually would, probably because I didn’t have flesh or nerves. Then Sparrow whipped its head side to side, which hurt considerably more.

“Ow!” The wolf tore off into the forest. Looking at my hand, I noticed he’d also taken a finger with him.

“You friggin’ idiot!” Kent groaned.

“Yeah, I know!” I clattered along after the wolf.

I pushed leaves out of my way as I stumbled through the wood. There were game trails along the forest floor so that I could follow the wolf with some effort. My robe caught on every thorn and branch. Somehow I kept pace, seeing the pointed black ears bob above the green not far ahead. Kent’s tiny claws held onto my shoulderblade for dear life.

“Sparrow! Get back here!” Now he reminded me all the more of my dog, Nelly. I could never keep her out of trouble.

The wolf wasn’t too far ahead as we broke into a clearing. The sun was blindingly bright as it reflected on the vibrant grasses of the meadow we’d emerged into. Vibrant splashes of purple and blue wildflowers sprinkled the meadow with beauty. I had stopped running, and so had Sparrow. I just looked around in awe. I had no time so far to appreciate the beauty this world had to offer. Of course, I was still angry at my situation. I was frustrated that I had been deceived, and I was scared about what my future here would mean. But damn it, it was beautiful here.

I composed myself and looked for Sparrow. He was sitting just ahead, my middle finger in his mouth. His ear twitched again, and he walked toward the edge of the clearing. I followed him, now getting a sense that he was trying to lead me somewhere. Sure, enough, at the edge of the clearing was a gap between the roots of a massive tree. Nestled into the rootwork were more wolves, varied in color and size, some even seemed to be pups. The little ones wrestled and nipped each other as their elders lay and watched. They all had nametags floating above them; Cooper, Sally, Robin, and others. They looked back between Sparrow and me repeatedly, showing as much confusion as I expected a canine could.

Sparrow nuzzled one of the elder wolves and turned toward the treeline. He made a strange motion, lowering his head and dropping his tail for only a moment. I looked toward where he was now gazing. A mostly naked man stood beside a great tree, wearing a simple loincloth. His eyes were wide as he looked me up and down. A steely beard accented his wild black hair. His body displayed muscles covered in scars and scratches, making him look like he barely survived a deathmatch with a blender.

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“What are you?” The normalcy of the question caught me off guard.

“I’m a skeleton, I guess. The reanimated kind.” I glanced down at my bones, checking and confirming that I indeed was a skeleton. The wild man threw his head back in a full-bellied laugh. I heard startled birds flee the treetops as his laughter broke.

“I suppose that’s my fault for asking such an oblivious question, eh?” He sounded like I expected a lumberjack would. “Thanks for not hurting Sparrow here. He only likes to play. If you had met Silva out there, you would be in a few more pieces.” He chuckled some more before he took on a more serious tone.

“Call me Dan. I live here with the wolves. What should I call you?” He held out his hand. I stepped forward and grasped it, exercising my practiced handshake. The one that was supposed to win me a promotion or two before I died. I looked him in the eyes and firmly shook his hand. “I’m Nathan, it’s nice to meet you.” After about two seconds, just long enough for my introduction, the handshake was over. I wished to myself that I could, for once, stop overthinking social situations.

“Well Nathan, I hope we can be friends. You are welcome to stay in this meadow as long as you like. The forest knows no master.” He turned and moved into the forest. I wasn’t sure how to feel about meeting a fellow NPC. I didn’t feel threatened, so I relaxed just a bit.

“So Kent, is Dan also a person from earth?” I whispered to my shoulder. Kent yawned.

“Maybe. I don’t think all NPCs and monsters are downloaded people, but I can’t say. I know that conversations about your unique situation with any player or NPC are carefully monitored and censored by the game. You'd better not to attract the attention of the AI admins.”

“Thanks.”

The sun’s journey brought it low to the horizon. I couldn’t see much of the pink and red through the trees, but I imagined that it must be beautiful. I sat cross-legged in the meadow and opened the gospel of philosophy. The book was a collection of essays, each the author’s reflection on a question or idea. I had dabbled in similar collections before, but I had never been very interested in philosophy. I opened the first essay, and Sparrow came over to curl up beside me. He also returned my finger, but I found no way to reattach it.

[Aquiring Virtue: The Ungiven Table

Among the most misconceived concepts of all is the concept of virtue. Virtue is very much a table. One quality of virtue is that it isn’t something gifted like a table could be. Virtue is not inherently had, but it is a table built by striving to build the best table there can be. One might be born with the lumber required to build the perfect table, and perhaps their upbringing can even help them cut the lumber to the correct portions. But to finish the table, a personal investment of effort and time is required. Anyone can build this table if they relentlessly try and truly desire to have it. But as nobody is born with a table, you may be required to work quite hard to build yours, as those before you often did.]

Not the best analogy I had ever heard. I closed the book and laid back on the tall grass. Sparrow chewed innocently on my femur as he slept. The stars began to peek out, and thanks to the magical nature of my vision, I could see quite fine in the dark where I lay. I waited for sleep to take me, but It never did. I lay anyway, staring at the stars. Constellations like I had never seen floated above. How beautiful and cruel a world could be. I patted Sparrow’s fluffy head

“Maybe I should be the one writing philosophy books,” I joked with a silly skeletal smile.