WILD LIFE: CHAPTER 10 ~LOVE AND PEACE~

*ding*

The title "Jormungand's Bane" is now available.

Jormungand's BaneYou have slain a great snake jormungand that has plagued the Britten alliance for years. These larger snakes are feared in Britten not only for the danger they pose but the danger that their reptilian allies pose to those who harm them.

Strength + 20

Agility + 20

Fame + 50

*ding*

Familiarity with Blindside has been greatly increased. An unbreakable bond has been forged.

Nature affinity has been permanently increased by 40

A change is occurring within Blindside, will you allow it to happen?YesNo

Hope gazed suspiciously at Blindside as he was desperately shaking his head "no" at Hope. "...Yes" she said

What? Blindside is evolving!

Blindside began to panic as his body started to glow. Hope watched happily as the moose grew to nearly twice his original height while remaining just as thin and sleek as he was before. Blindside now had white streaks through the ends of his fur, and his antlers had become more wickedly pointed. However the most distinguishing change was that he now had the same eyes as Hope, aquamarine eyes with an amber crown discoloration.

Congratulations Blindside has evolved!

Hope stifled a laugh as the moose inspected his new body with quiet admiration. "I forgot to mention to all of you that Blindside is a rare species of evolving moose. Pay him no mind." she said pompously to the gaping party members who had stopped collecting loot.

Hope absently thought to herself 'Bjorn must have been a warden's familiar at some point.'

When the loot gathering and moose inspection was done everyone once again formed up behind Amanda as they made their way into the mines to finish the quest.

"We're almost done keep your guard up." Guy said

"I am, it's just a little difficult to see in this place."

Hope having spotted some of what she believed to be the ore they were looking for scurried off, bent down and picked it up for closer inspection.

Volatile Iron Ore

-Requires a special process to remove explosive properties.

-Heat builds pressure within this ore.

-Explodes under pressure.

"This is what we're looking for." Hope said as she walked back up to them holding out the ore for them to inspect.

"Alright, keep your eyes open everyone look for paths with carts that have that ore in em'."

It didn't take them very long to find a decent sized chamber filled with the ore that had a working cart. The cart was nearly as big as Blindside and upon closer inspection, very difficult to move having been worn down with age.

"Well it's half full, think that's enough?" Amanda asked

"Let's fill it up to three quarters just to be on the safe side." Guy said

After they were done filling the cart they realized that going back was about to take them more than twice as long because of the massive cart full of ore.

"This is really painful." Lily said as she was pushing along side the others.

"Put up with it for a little while Lily, think of the rewards." Amanda said

"I am thinking of them!" she exclaimed "Why else would I be doing this." she complained pointing at the cart.

"I'd hate to think of where we'd be right now without Blindside." Guy said admiring the now massive moose as he pushed the cart along.

When they'd made it about halfway Hope heard something in the distance behind them. "Shhhh" she sounded to the party

Shortly after they had all stopped Hope began issuing orders "Blindside, Amanda, Lily! Double time give it all you've got. Guy start frosting the ground behind us, I want it slippery!"

They didn't even stop to question her as they'd already known how sharp Lady Hope's senses are from when she had detected the jormungand slithering through the mines. Seconds later the pattering of countless lizardmen could be heard echoing throughout the mines. The party members broke out into a cold sweat. "That's enough Guy go help push."

"Right good luck, Lady Hope." he said

Hope had quickly assembled a low quality makeshift bow. She then took up her stance from as far back as she could afford in the dark mines. As soon as lizardmen were on frosted ground she began loosing arrows.

*schhwaff* *schhwaff* *schhwaff*

With every well aimed arrow a lizardman fell to the ground and struggled helplessly to get up. Because of either poor visibility or lack of manners the lizardmen didn't stop, they just kept tripping over each other. Hope having sensed an opportunity for some incredible skill gain pulled out a molotov, lit it on fire and lobbed it onto the ever growing lizard pile... "Oh dear..."

Hope had realized the moment that she threw the molotov exactly how idiotic what she had just done was. While turning Hope yelled out to the party "RUN! Leave the cart and run for your lives!"

"What!? We can't hear you you're too far aw..." *KA-BOOM* *BOOM* *KA-BOOM* they understood at that moment and began to flee from the mines for the second time.

The entire party was now running faster than they ever had from the sound of cascading explosions. After a few more moments hope had already caught up to the slowest and tallest of the group Lily, so once again she slung the woman over her shoulder as she was running. *BOOM*

Nearing the exit of the cave, feeling the heat of imminent death and now being out of combat Hope activated sprint as she ran by Blindside, Guy and Amanda with Lily over one shoulder at a shocking speed. "What the penguin?!" Guy laughed while looking at Lily's woeful expression. Having barely managed to escape the five of them could only watch as a series of explosions collapsed the mines... after a few moments hope once again yelled out "Run!"

*KAAAASHSHSSSSSHHHHHH*

Looking back over her unoccupied shoulder Hope could see the mountain avalanche she had caused.

*ding*

-You have caused a natural disaster to occur.

Nature affinity has been permanently decreased by 100

The title "Walking Typhoon" is now available.

Walking TyphoonYou are a force of nature in your own right. You have caused incredible amounts of collateral damage through very little effort. While this was done out of good intentions your methods are questionable. Using this title may draw unwanted attention.

Fame + 200

Quest Complete!

Level up!

Nature affinity has been permanently increased by 40

Familiarity within Fort Odin has increased. You have become Renowned.

All four of them just stood there for a very long moment gaping in shock at what had just happened. They turned to look at Hope "Who'd have thought the lizards would be stupid enough to use fire as a weapon in there..." she said shamelessly

"That was insane!" Guy yelled.

"That was fun!" Amanda retorted.

"That was too much..." Lily chimed in

"Well at least we beat the quest, wait till we tell the guild about this." Guy said

"They are gonna be soooo jealous." Amanda said happily grinning

"Harry has got nothing on this." Lily said shaking off some unpleasant memories.

"At least were not dead this time." Amanda chuckled ruefully

Guy looked intently at Hope "You're human aren't you?"

As Amanda and Lily gaped at Hope she answered "I never said I wasn't..."

"You certainly didn't act like one though... that was on purpose wasn't it?" Guy said

"Well... I wasn't too sure about the three of you so..." she said a bit shyly

"Why?" he asked

"Because of you..." she answered

"What did I do? We had only just met."

"Well it's partly because we're strangers but that's only half of it. When I first saw your party you were... grandstanding." Hope explained

"What do you mean by that?" Amanda said

"I've got good ears, even better eyes and I've seen it enough times to know bravado. Even as he claimed that he wouldn't leave you, he had already begun to turn and positioned himself to run away." she said calmly

Guy having been a little embarrassed said "She did tell us to run... and it's not like I could've done much else."

"...I did tell him to run." Amanda said plainly feeling a little conflicted

"When that lizardman passed Amanda's defenses instead of helping Lily... you turned farther away even as you called out her name. You were abandoning them while claiming that you wouldn't. Because of that, I can never trust you." Hope said a bit acidly

As she said that Hope mounted Blindside and left the three stunned players behind continuing on her journey.

"That.. was a bit harsh on the lad don't you think?"

"I... I know Blindside. I'm reflecting on it, I know he wasn't a bad person. I just don't like it when people lie in that sort of situation. Deception and guile aren't bad in their own right... After all I did lie a bit to you when we first spoke, but when someone is using it in a life or death situation to improve their own lot at the expense of others I get really angry. It's hard to hold back when I get that way. I'm better than I used to be though that's for sure. There was a time when I would've shot him in the leg so he couldn't run from the lizardmen. Now I only wanted to put an arrow in him, I didn't act on that feeling this time."

"You used to be worse?" the moose said a bit astonished

"I once held my own uncle over the railing of a rather tall building in my world, it turned out that the reason he had lied to me was because he was embarrassed about the reason he was late to our meeting. I very nearly lost a family member that day and it's one of my greater regrets. Mind you I wasn't going to drop him from the building, when I say I nearly lost him I mean that if he wasn't such a good person he would've cut ties with me on the spot."

"That is worse." he said somberly

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Guy a.k.a. Mark Renshaw had logged out of royal road shortly after being scorned by Hope. He was staring at himself in the mirror when his cellphone began to ring. "Hey Ashley"

Ashley Renshaw a.k.a. Amanda had called him "It's bothering you isn't it?"

"She was right..."

"You shouldn't let it eat at you like this, she was a bit strange herself in case you didn't notice." Ash claimed

"She may have been strange but she's a good person... she saved us, even if she never let her guard down. I want to change Ashley... I want to become someone she can trust."

Ashley mulled over what she had just heard from her cousin Mark... she had never heard the frivolous person that Mark was, ever say anything nearly as serious as this before "What are you gonna do about it cousin?"

"I'm calling unicorn, I'll have them reset my account if they won't let me reallocate points and change classes. I really want to change so it'll be easier if I can't stay where I can easily run away."

"What about the guild? They might not like having a level one leader."

"It doesn't matter, this is more important to me. Ashley can you do something for me?"

"What?"

"Get Hope on your friends list. I... want to be able to find her when I decide I'm ready."

Ashley turned that over in her head for a moment. "... wait a second cousin... you don't have a crush do you?!?!"

Mark blushed furiously "..."

"She just humiliated you so now you've got a thing for her? Nice one cousin, real smooth."

"Leave me alone Ashley, will you do it?"

"Of course"

"Thank you Ashley, I love you."

"Stop it you're gonna make me blush you masochist."

"Wha... Ashley tha...!" *BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*

She had hung up on him and now looked towards her capsule... absently she said to herself "This will be a tough one cousin, she didn't seem like the forgiving kind..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Amanda logged back in she found that Lily was still sitting at camp in a daze "I didn't think you'd still be online."

"I have an easier time thinking here..."

"About Hope?"

"Yeah... I feel like I should be mad about what she did but when I think back on the expression she had as she said those things to us..." Lily looked to Amanda "she wasn't enjoying it to say the least."

"Well I'm going after her now, she left towards Fort Odin right?"

Lily looked a little taken aback "You're not looking for a fight right?"

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"No, Guy wants me to friend list her so that we can all keep in touch."

"What? He's not mad?"

Amanda looked at Lily with an impish grin "He's in love."

Lily stared back at her wide-eyed then fell off her rock and rolled on the ground in helpless laughter. "He won't be living this one down anytime soon, will he?"

"Not as long as I've anything to say about it, sooooo Fort Odin right?"

"Yeah she went south so it's likely and if she wasn't lying about her "duty" then she's probably about to get dragged into the lizardmen siege as well. We've got plenty of time to catch her." Lily explained

"Now that you mention lying... what does that make Blindside? A rare evolving moose is a bit far fetched..."

"Maybe, let's ask her. Oh wait there's a more important question isn't there?"

"What?" Amanda asked

"Hope could be a man for all we know..."

This time it was Amanda the burst into helpless laughter while imagining her cousin's reaction to that sort of news. "We shouldn't ask... that would be rude Lily."

"You just want to tease Guy." Lily paused for a moment "Then again it doesn't bug me go right ahead... Hope did manhandle me a few times though." Lily blushed when she remembered being carried by Hope like a sack of potatoes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Hope approached Fort Odin she was stopped and asked for her name "Hope"

The guards bowed "Welcome, Lady Hope. You have caught us at a rather poor time, we're currently under siege."

*ding*

For Restia!

The lizardmen are besieging Fort Odin, if the fort falls supply lines leading throughout the Aidern Kingdom will be compromised. Render them aid!Quest rank: Class QuestRequisitesWandering WardenRewardsIncreased familiarity with Fort Odin

Nature affinity

Fame

Refusing this quest will lower nature affinity and add infamy.

Hope spoke without hesitation "Maybe I can be of help?"

Quest accepted

"Of course Lady Hope, allow me to escort you to Commander Darius." the guard said

As Hope entered the fort she took note of her surroundings while instructing Blindside to behave. A basic square fort, stone, high walls with standard defenses. The fort was built to block a small pass between the Britten Alliance and the Aidern Kingdom. The lizardmen were attacking from the Britten side of the pass. After calmly taking in various things about the fort Hope was led into a passage that opened up into a room which seemed to be the command center. Standing at the far end of the room hunched over a map was an older gentleman in gold plated armor.

"Commander Darius, this is Lady Hope the Promiscuous Hero of Restia." the guard said as hope nearly fell flat on her face.

'I really should expect that by now.' she thought absently

"Lady Hope, to what do I owe the pleasure." Darius said waving off the guard

"I happened to be just north of the fort after taking part in a small anti-lizardmen operation and decided that this would be a good place to resupply before I continue my journey."

He raised an eyebrow at that "What operation?"

"The Freedmen Amanda, Lily, Guy and myself foiled a lizardmen surprise attack before it could take place." she answered

"I need details Lady Hope, we can't risk a surprise attack."

"There is no longer a concern Darius, some odd couple hundred lizardmen and a jormungand had crossed the border using a passage through the Old Hestian Mines. After they were dealt with my party went into the mines and set off a collapse... I believe you saw the avalanche that nearly killed us?"

*ding*

Familiarity with Darius has been greatly increased. You have become friends.

Familiarity within Fort Odin has increased.

Darius laughed "You did this with four men?"

"Four men and a moose." she said confidently

*ding*

Familiarity with Darius has been greatly increased.

Darius nearly dropped his map "That must be some moose."

"Sir Blindside is more than a moose Darius, he is a familiar, a friend."

"I see"

"Now that you know the reasons behind my arrival, may I inquire as to the circumstances of your current situation?"

"It's hard to say... we've been at a stalemate for the past two days. Every time there's open battle the lines clash, rough each other up a bit then fall back. In between the battles Lizardmen start using guerrilla tactics to assault the fort." he said acidly "We're beginning to run low on supplies and morale has been suffering."

"If you could break through the lizardmen line in open battle what would happen?"

"We'd be able to separate the two forces and encircle half of the lizardmen so that they can't flee." Darius claimed "If we could do that the lizardmen would no longer have the numbers to besiege us or take us on in open battle."

"So basically... we need to bring morale up, handle a supply shortage and find a way to break through the lizards in an open engagement?" Hope asked

"You make it sound simple but yes..."

"How are your men at hunting bison?"

"They could easily do it."

"Why aren't you doing it then?"

"Because of the siege we haven't allowed our men to leave the fortress."

"How many men are here?"

"One hundred and twenty-seven"

"A hundred men wouldn't be able to hold the wall long enough for those men to return in the event of an attack?"

"We could but regulations say that in the event of a siege the men must remain here."

"Even if that regulation ends up causing this fort to fall and our supply lines to be compromised?"

"..." Darius turned that over and found that he couldn't argue the logic. "I will send out men to hunt bison and collect water from the south."

*ding*

Familiarity with Darius has been greatly increased. You have become intimate.

You have removed a dangerous element from the coming battle.

Leadership has been permanently increased by 5

Morale up!

"I have a few ideas about how to breakthrough the lizardmen in open combat, if you'd like to hear them." Hope claimed

"Of course, Lady Hope."

"The first is obvious... reinforcements, I have a few friends in the Restian Knighthood and I believe that they would be more than willing to render aid."

"The knights have never left the general area of Restia... do you truly believe that they will come?"

"At least thirty-six of them will... after what happened in the ruins northwest of Restia they wouldn't ignore my call for help. Especially when I'm asking them to do it for the sake of Restia and her people."

*ding*

Familiarity with Darius has been greatly increased.

Leadership has been permanently increased by 10

Morale up!

"The reinforcements would be very welcome... especially if they happen to be the renowned Restian Knights," Darius pulled out some parchment and handed it to Hope along with a quill and some ink. "I'll go fetch a messenger."

"Don't bother" Hope said as she started to write. "Sir Blindside will carry the message to the northern gates."

"Your... moose?" he asked skeptically

"My moose may be smarter than half your men Darius." Hope looked up at him "He's certainly faster."

As they walked towards the courtyard Hope began to speak again while carefully folding the parchment addressed to Knight Commander Marcus. "The second part of my plan involves fire."

"Fire?"

"The knights will arrive with a wagon of these." she said pulling out a molotov

"What does this have to do with fire?" he asked skeptically

As they approached the courtyard Hope used her flint stones to ignite the molotov then tossed it into the center of the dirt courtyard.

As the men gasped Darius grinned "I see, that is rather useful."

*ding*

Familiarity with Darius has been greatly increased.

Leadership has been permanently increased by 5

Morale up!

"Blindside!" Hope called out

As the moose approached Darius looked at him wide-eyed "That's some moose!"

Giggling a bit at the way Darius reacted Hope promptly fitted the letter around Blindside's neck, told him where to go and how to make contact with the knights.

"About morale... well I guess I'll just have to find a way to cheer the men and women up, won't I?" she said candidly

As Blindside rushed out of the western gate in a full gallop Darius said "You, Lady Hope, are much more than the rumors ever said."

"You have no idea Darius." she said as she walked by the Commander loudly smacking him on the rear.

*ding*

Familiarity with Darius has been greatly increased. You have become very intimate.

Charm has been permanently increased by 2

Familiarity within Fort Odin has increased.

Darius stood shocked for a moment having forgotten about Hope's rumored behavior as his men looked on and laughed.

"Now then Darius do you have a blacksmith here?" she said

*cough* *cough* "No Hope, we have a forge but no blacksmith."

"I need to craft myself a new bow, the jormungand ate mine. After I'm done send all your men to me for repairs and other blacksmithing tasks. I tend to lose track of time while I work so don't forget to send someone to tell me when it's time for dinner. Oh I also like to... cook." Hope finished shyly

Darius gaped at Hope for a moment before showing her to the forge personally. "I hope that it is to your liking, the blacksmith fled at the sight of the first lizardmen battle." he said acidly "You are free to use every material that we have available here."

"Not all men can be as great as you Darius, sometimes fear can break the weak."

*ding*

Familiarity with Darius has been increased.

Laughing Darius excused himself to allow Hope to get to work. After experimenting and changing the design a few times Hope finally managed to finish a bow that she was satisfied with.

-You have received Reinforced Horn Longbow

Reinforced Horn LongbowTypeBowQualityFineDurability120 / 120Artistic Value50CreatorHopeAttack32-39Well crafted, lightweight longbow made with a large amount of moose antlers.

It has been reinforced with basic animal materials to improve draw strength.

Requires more strength to use effectively.RestrictionLevel: 60 Agility: 170 Strength: 110Effect(s):

Agility +25

Increased arrow speed.

Increased attack range.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

NEXT CHAPTER

DISCUSSION

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[th_095_.gif]

Proofread by lomie0.