Flame and Steel (closed for Aussie_Wolf)

[slut_in_white]

"Why are you grinning, Lily?"

Lily Hargrave looked up from her work, surprised to see someone else there. She was in the library on campus, doing research for a project, though she admittedly wasn't getting all that much done. In concept, she was doing as much work as she could to get ahead in most of her classes so she'd have plenty of time to play the new Flame and Steel game when it came out tomorrow, but she was distracted, thinking about what the game was going to be like.

She was a hard worker, usually - one didn't become a masters student in engineering without a lot of work. But she had her weakness for video games, and knew she was going to spend more time than she should on the new game once it was released, so she figured why not prepare for that by working extra hard this week? It made sense.

The voice had come from a man leaning against the bookshelves, leering at her. Matt Pomson. She didn't like him all that much, too full of himself, and kind of empty-headed. He thought he was God's gift to women, and many women seemed to agree, but he always harassed Lily because Lily was one of the few women in the world who didn't just immediately succumb to his "charms." It didn't help that she was quite pretty - long, fine blonde hair, fair, freckled skin and a pair of lovely, wide blue eyes. He'd been bothering her all semester.

"Please leave me alone, Matt." Her voice came out soft, uncertain, and she cursed her shyness. She was never going to convince anyone to leave her alone, sounding like that.

"Tell me why you're smiling," he insisted, walking toward her.

Lily looked at her watch. 11pm. Might as well go to the local gaming store and get in line for the midnight release. Give her an excuse to get away from Matt. "No reason," she lied, badly. "I gotta go." She shoved her book into her backpack and sped out the door, leaving Matt glowering after her once again.

---------

Flame and Steel was unusual in that, while it was a fantasy MMO, it didn't follow the usual humans/elves/dwarves dynamic. Instead, they went with a post-apocalyptic fantasy setting, and the races were all a little more unusual. But the thing that made Flame and Steel most unusual was the nature of playing - it was the first ever true virtual reality game. It came with a special head-set that, according to the advertising, used electromagnetic waves from the brain to control the game, and send the signal back to the brain to be read.

Lily wasn't sure how it would work, but she was excited to try. She sat down on her bed in her apartment, and plugged the controller into her computer, then turned it on.

Instantly, the room around her went black, and she started a little. The sensation of feeling like you're going from sitting to standing without actually moving was a little disconcerting, but she was starting to feel giddy at how real the experience felt.

A moment later, several images appeared before her - the races - and a disembodied, pleasantly feminine voice asked her to choose one. After looking over each of them, Lily stepped forward and touched the blue-skinned woman - the nymph. The images shattered into shards of light, and Lily looked down at herself to find that she was dressed in a pure white dress, and her skin was taking on a bluish tone. Her fingers grew longer, and developed slight webbing, and she grew a few inches taller. And when she reached up to push her hair out of her face, she realized she'd grown small, subtle gills on her neck and her hair had turned a beautiful shade of sapphire. She grinned.

Next, a few more images appeared, asking her which class she wanted to try. Lily was, for a moment, torn - she felt a certain... kinship, she supposed, to the cleric class. She was a shy, kind girl, with a desire to help people in real life. It felt like it fit her. And yet... the image of the dark woman wreathed in black flames kept drawing her attention. Warlock. They specialized in summoning demons and undead, and placing powerful curses on enemies. It was so very unlike Lily... but wasn't that what games were for? To play at being someone else? She reached out suddenly and touched the warlock image, and a moment later, her white robe turned jet black, edged in purple. A gnarled, bladed staff appeared in her hand, and a small, ugly imp appeared in front of her, bowing. A thrill of power ran through her. She felt good. She felt confident.

She was really going to like this class.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Connor sat in his penthouse apartment and looked over the cities skyline. He had graduated university early and joined his families business empire at the tender age of 20. Of course he had not started at the bottom, oh no, that would not do for the son of the president. He had been given a cushy job in middle management and most people had expected him to just take it easy and goof off.

He however had other plans. He had streamlined his division and made it one of the most profitable sections of the company. He expected a lot out of his workers, but he worked just as hard if not more as they did. He had been promoted several times but people had stopped saying it was because he was the bosses son. Everywhere he went success followed. People thought he was a hard ass, but a fair boss. Slackers got fired, hard work was rewarded.

Lately he had been in charge of the entertainment division of the company and they had been heavily involved in the marketing of the first ever Virtual Reality game. Connor usually never had time to play these sorts of things, but he and his team were all given a copy of the game for their excellent work, and he had been given two weeks off to rest and recuperate.

He walked back away from the large windows and sat down in his favorite reclining chair and looked at the box. Pulling out the contents he studied the headset and then quickly scanned the manual. It seemed simple enough, he just needed to put on the headset, choose a race and a type and then he would be transported to a post apocalyptic type world. His own brainwaves would control his movements so it would feel like he was almost there and he would just have to react normally.

Connor shrugged and decided to give it a go, hell if he hated it he could always just log out and toss it. He got comfortable and then slipped the headset on and hit the button. A blackness surrounded him and he was taken aback but a pleasant female voice immediately came on in his ears and told him to pick a race. Several options appeared and he was going to just pick a human when another one caught his eye. It looked like a werewolf but the face was a lot more human. He reached out and chose that one and suddenly the darkness shattered into shards of light and he was dressed in a loincloth and a light grey fur was growing out of his body and his nails were growing pointed nails.

He felt his face changing and his ears growing, as well as his body growing taller and his muscles developing. Finally everything stopped and he wished there was a mirror for him to look into so he could see himself. Now however the lady was back asking him to choose a class and more images appeared before him. He was reaching out to pick the warrior an obvious choice for him when he had a thought. This was supposed to be a bit of fun and relaxation right? Why would he spend all that time at work being the driving force and then come home and do the same thing?

He started to scroll through the other classes and saw a few that interested him. There was a healer, a hunter, and a mage. All of them seemed to be people that helped from the back if he was reading the descriptions right but he was most intrigued by the Hunter. They specialized with bows and arrows, but had the ability to capture and train beasts they found in the wilderness. It sounded to him like that could be someone who could be totally alone and free, the total opposite of him. He reached out and chose that class and immediately he was clothed in sturdy brown leather pants and a similar top. He had no shoes but on his back was a bow and he had a quiver of arrows buckled to his belt along with a knife. He smiled and then the world went dark again.

 

[slut_in_white]

Soon, Lily found herself in the beginning zone of the game. It was a fantasy world, full of dragons and monsters, but some great cataclysm had destroyed most civilization. She, along with most other new players, started in a small grove, hidden away and protected from the magical energies which had twisted most of the local land.

It was quite beautiful, actually. She awoke dressed in her black robe, on a bed of leaves in a small copse of woods. A human woman was standing next to her, smiling. "Hello! I'm glad you're awake. We found you in the wastes, badly injured, and brought you back here to recover." She handed Lily her weapons. "If you're feeling alright, perhaps you would go speak to Scout Logan. He's the one who brought you back. I understand he's in need of help protecting the grove. Perhaps, if you're willing, you might return his favor for another?"

Nodding, Lily pushed herself to her feet and wandered out of the copse, staring at her surroundings. "I can't believe this... This is amazing!" she murmured, drawing a chorus of agreement from the various other players who were also just standing about, looking around.

She eventually found herself in some kind of training room, where she spent a while setting the various test dummies ablaze in purple fire. It felt good - like she was really in control of dark magic. She felt powerful in a way no other game had yet made her feel. Oh yes, she was definitely going to be playing this one a lot.

Eventually, though, she found Scout Logan, an NPC sitting by the entrance of the grove, waving at the various people gathered around him. Lily approached and discovered that there were a few other refugees from a nearby town trying to make their way to the grove, but that they were being harassed by the various monsters between here and there. He wanted Lily (and every other player) to clear a path for them.

Smiling, Lily headed out with her little imp, ready to get started. She paused at the gate to the grove and turned to the rest of the group. "I'm going to go explore and kill some baddies. Anyone want to come with?"

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Connor had woken up in a pleasant glade in a peaceful wooded area. Well it was peaceful for a little while. People of all shapes and sizes began to appear all around him and he decided he better get up and explore the world before he got left behind.

As he stood up he was greeted by a pleasant looking woman who approached him holding out the bow he had seen at his selection screen plus a quiver of arrows. "Hello weary traveler.You were found upon the road injured and brought here to heal. This equipment was found with you and we return it to you now. If you are up to it perhaps you could visit Scout Logan and find out how you could help out our community."

Connor smiled and gathered his belongings and moved towards the small path leading out of the glade. it only took him a few minutes to find where he was supposed to go, but he took some time to get acquainted with his new body.

It felt a lot different to the one he was used to. More powerful and faster and definitely able to hear and smell things a whole lot better. His sight was also a little better but he had to admit the sun was a little bright in this world.

He gradually became used to his body and was soon shooting arrows into targets and straw dummies with ease from short and long ranges. Smiling he then began looking for Logan. Connor eventually found him surrounded by other newcomers. he listened as he explained that other refugees were trying to make their way here but could not because of various monsters along the way. Their first job was to help those refugees make their way here.

As he made his way towards the gates another woman moved up to him. "Gentle hunter I have a gift for you. I have your first pet to give you. You may choose from a flying type, a fighting type or a supporting type, the choice is yours." Connor looked at her and puzzled over his decision. What would be best for him. He could use a fighting type and send it out to fight while he sat back and peppered the target with arrows, but that was not his style.

He eventually settled on a flying type to aide him with spotting enemies earlier and maybe finding hidden treasure. The woman gave him an egg and he used his in game tutorial and found out he had to 'Hatch' it by gently warming it by a fire in his arms. Luckily there was one right by the gate and soon he had a small bronze dragon sitting on his shoulder with it's tail curled around his neck.

He was extremely happy with his pet and was about to run off when he heard a voice at the gate yell out,"I'm going to go explore and kill some baddies. Anyone want to come with?" He looked around and spotted a pretty blue water sprite maybe, dressed in black robes and holding a bladed staff with a small imp standing next to her. Hmm she definitely looked like fun.

"I will be in that," he said striding over. "The names.." he paused. Did he want to use his real name or a made up one. "The name is Beawolf, pleased to meet you."

 

[slut_in_white]

Lily watched the wolf-man approach her - he practically towered over her and she looked up at him, suddenly aware of the size difference and the claws. It was a good thing they weren't enemies, and she made a mental note to check in on the PvP rules in this game. Last thing she wanted was someone like him sneaking up behind her and stabbing her in the back...

She noted the bird perched on his shoulder and smiled. That made him a ranger, then, she was pretty sure. She nodded when he introduced himself, grinning in spite of herself at the name. Ah, of course he'd make up a "screen-name" of sorts! She stuck out her hand to shake. "Oh! You can call me.... Nephthys." Yay, courses in Egyptian history and mythology!

They headed out into the wilderness together, stepping for the first time out of the grove. The grove had been cool, shaded by the canopy overhead, but out here, there were fewer trees. The land had been crystallized here by whatever terrible event had swept over the land. Everything was glassy and purple or blue. She gasped and looked around, holding her face up to the warmth of the sun. "I can't believe how realistic this is!"

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Connor couldn't either. He was literally panting as they moved, his tongue hanging outside his mouth as he took short shallow breathes. He was amazed at how cool it actually made him feel, but the sun was now really hurting his eyes.

He raised a hand up to shade them and then remembered his dragon as he felt her tail on his chest. As he stroked her, information flowed into his ear from the ever helpful woman. It seemed he could use her to Scout out an area once every few hours and also to fight for him. She would also be able to gather things that were too high to get to and help him in other ways as she leveled up.

He smiled and lifted her off his shoulder onto his arm and stroked her small head and long scaly neck. "Well I can see you are going to be very valuable to me little one," he crooned at her as she sort of purred at his ministrations. "I am going to have to name you of course. How about Diver. I know that was a male Bronze dragon but I think you look like a Beast that likes to swoop through the air."

He chuckled as he kept up with Nephthys trying to remember where he had heard that name before. Soon they had walked a far way from the village and he was pretty sure they would be sure to see these creatures soon. "Okay Diver, go Scout," he told her as he launched her into the air. She circled upwards then headed further down the road they were traveling on.

"Well she will give us a warning if there is anything ahead, or I am supposed to get some knowledge from her," he explained to Nephthys. "I am not sure how it works yet." He pulled the bow off his back and knocked an arrow just in case though. "So is this this game mind blowing or what. It really feels as if we are here. I could swear I actually felt Divers talons in my arm. I think I am going to enjoy this, what about you?"

 

[slut_in_white]

While Beawolf was listening to the woman explain how to scout with his pet, and observing how much fun this game was going to be, Lily had turned her attention to a dead tree. She could see the roots buried down into the shattered glass ground, but the tree itself still seemed to be made of wood... She made a motion with her hand, and the wood erupted into crackling purple flames, making her jump with surprise.

She turned to look at Beawolf, and then began to laugh. "I'm not sure what else I expected to have happen..." Then she nodded eagerly in response to his question. "Oh yes! We haven't even started combat yet, and I'm already having a lot of fun!"

As she spoke, the sounds of people further down the road became audible, and they turned their attention to the path to see a caravan of refugees, on its way to the grove. She waved. "Those must be the people we need to escort." She started making their way toward them when an ear-piercing screech sounded from behind some onyx boulders. Lily watched in horror as a series of huge lizards pounced upon the refugees, attacking them. "Oh shit!" She broke out into a run, sprinting down the road toward them, and set off an explosion of magic in a wave in front of her, knocking several of the lizards away from the people. "Get behind us!"

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Connor cursed to himself. He had sent Diver in the wrong direction. He should have seen the faint traces of the road and sent him down it and they may have had some warning of the attack, or at least of the caravans arrival. Instead they were taken completeley by surprise and now it looked like people had been hurt.

He lined up a shot at one of the lizards Nephthys had knocked down and let fly. it flew true and struck it easily. however the thing was well armored and was still getting up. His hands started to fly and he sent arrow after arrow at the thing until it keeled over and then he changed targets.

Nephthys seemed to be holding her own with her magic and he was picking off any that tried to sneak passed her and attack the refugees, or attack her from behind. She was killing more but he was holding his own and really he didn't care. This was fun helping someone else out for a change.

Finally it seemed they had vanquished the mob and he rushed towards the refugees to see if he could help out. "My god Nephthys you were brilliant," he called out. "It is going to be fun adventuring with you if you can do that sort of thing now. Just wait until you get stronger, you are going to be a power house."

 

[slut_in_white]

It felt good to be able to rush into the fray like that, knowing that someone had her back. Lily quickly had all the refugees behind her, so that the lizards would need to get through her to get to them. She could throw fire around as she pleased, without having to concern herself with checking behind her all the time to make sure none of the creatures had slipped passed - Beawolf was taking care of that for her. Having someone behind her, someone she could depend on like that was nice. It gave her the freedom to commit to her power and attack on a large scale.

More, she already liked the small handful of spells she'd started with - she had her standard flame attack, a damage-over-time immolation curse, and that amazing knock-back wave she was sure would long remain a favourite.

She turned when Beawolf called out to her, grinning, but couldn't respond because one of the refugees tugged her into a strong hug, thanking her over and over for their help. She laughed. "You're most welcome. The rest of the trip should be safe - the grove is really close." When she straightened again, she turned her attention back to Beawolf and laughed when she realized a human child had latched onto his leg, hugging him tightly in thanks for coming to save them.

With the refugees on their way soon after, Lily looked both ways down the road and sighed. "I think... maybe we should head to the forward camp, see if there are any other refugees who need help." Then she grinned. "And thanks. You were pretty amazing too!" She kicked the lizard he'd shot and smirked. "I don't think just anybody could shoot an enemy out of the air like that."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Connor had been surprised when the child had latched onto him like that. One because he could feel it and two because it had actually felt good. He had helped somebody and they had appreciated it. Then Nephthys had said the same thing and it gave him a warm glow. Was this how his workers felt when he praised them for doing a great job. There had never really been anyone to do that for him. His father just expected greatness from him and everyone else was either expecting him to lead, or giving him the hardest jobs and expecting him to fail. This actually felt good.

He walked up beside Nephthys as they continued down the road. "Sorry about sending Diver the wrong way. I didn't really notice the road. Fortunately she has scouted ahead to the outpost." He closed his eyes as he received her report and then he opened them. "We should meet one more caravan before we get there. I have ordered Diver to circle it and keep a watch on it so we should have some warning this time. If we go with the same plan I think it will work," he smiled. "However if you can think of anything better don't hesitate. After all you are the one putting your life on the line more than me."

 

[slut_in_white]

Lily smiled, listening to Beawolf's thoughts on how to approach the next caravan. "Sounds like a good idea to me." Then she laughed at his comment about her putting her life on the line more than him. "Well, honestly, I don't mind so much when I know I have someone watching my back. So thanks."

They walked in silence for a little while, still a ways away from the caravan. Finally, Lily cleared her throat. "So, um, can I ask you about yourself? I mean, I know some people aren't particularly cool with the idea of giving away any details about their real life online..." She scratched the back of her neck, feeling a bit awkward. "If not... maybe tell me about Beawolf?" She smiled. "I mean, are you the kind of player who likes to roleplay your characters? Do you have a backstory and stuff?"

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Connor was caught a little off guard by her question. He had never really expected this type of thing to come up. He had played other games but really he had only used the chat window function and only for battles. With this game being so real it just became natural to talk to people, so a conversation between partners was inevitable. The problem was how much did he want to give away.

"Me, oh I just work for a big company in their entertainment division. We were the guys who actually handled the roll out of this game you know," he told her trying to mix some truth into his story while omitting other facts. "I happened to get one of the games as a bonus for the hard work I did on a tricky problem and well, who can resist playing something they have just spent the last six months talking about."

He smiled as he looked around. "I have to say it is even better than the executives said it would be. Those programmers and tech heads really did a great job. I am going to have to tell my boss all about this tomorrow. He will want to give them some feed back, so if you can tell me how you are enjoying it as well that would be great," he smiled at her.

"As for Beawolf here, well I have to admit I have always been drawn to wolves. I love the sense of freedom and strength they inspire. So choosing the Race was easy. The type of person though or class sorry," He shrugged " Got to get used to saying that in game, it just feels to real here. Anyway the reason I picked a Hunter was that I could probably go it alone given my races extra abilities and the Hunters talents, or I could team up and provide a lot of cover for a party. I like having options when I play and I like to help out. It is not always fun being the one to rush in and do all the damage though," He looked at her and he smiled wide, "Although you seem to really enjoy it and are very good at it."

"I will have to get back to you on my backstory though," Connor told her. "I don't know if I want him to be a tragic hero or a lone wolf figure just yet," he chuckled. "What would you suggest? Go the tragic route or the heroic quest route?" He asked her then decided to ask her about herself as well.

"So what about yourself. What is your story, both in Real life and here if you don't mind me asking?"

 

[slut_in_white]

Lily puzzled over the question about his backstory for a moment, putting a finger to her lips. "That's hard to say. But I kind of like the tragic backstory, personally." She blushed, grinning. "More romantic."

"But as for my personal story... Well, I haven't thought much about this character yet. But I think Nephthys will be a bit of a rebel. Not sure if she'll be with or without a cause, yet," she joked, grinning. "I'd like to be someone bigger than life, you know? Certain, confident, that kind of thing... because I'm not really like that in real life. It could be good for me, you know?"

"I'm currently working on a masters' degree. I've been excited about Flame and Steel basically since it was announced, so I actually did twice as much work last week to get ahead in all my classes because I knew I'd be pretty distracted this week!" She paused, laughing. "I wanted it to be a fresh experience when I first logged in, so I kind of avoided information on things like the classes and races. I wanted to be surprised. So I don't know all that much about the races and classes yet. I picked the nymph because... Well, because I've always been drawn to the elf-y races in games like this, and this is sort of this game's equivalent to that. And I went with warlock because I thought it would go well with the more confident, fiery personality I want this character to embody."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Connor smiled widely at her. "Well I would say that you have the fiery part down really well." He began to chuckle when he got a flash from Diver and looked up to see her not that far ahead.

"Looks like the caravan is pretty close. Diver can't see anything in the surrounding area yet but I think we better hurry along. If all the other games I have played are anything to go by, once we are close the enemies are normally triggered."

Connor started to run and was surprised at how easily he moved. His body virtually flowed over the ground and yet he was not even putting much effort into it. He looked over towards Nephthys and found she was struggling to keep up and so he slowed down.

"Sorry, seems I am a natural runner," he told her. "I will have to remember that and adjust my pace when we are together. Still it could come in handy sometimes." As they ran he looked at her and started to think. She didn't look all that heavy and he was heavily muscled. He wondered if he could actually carry her for a bit while he ran to get them out of danger or to somewhere quickly. It was worth discussing with her later.

For now though they had made it to the caravan just in time. As they came in sight of it Diver sent him a warning. "We have incoming Nephthys. Same sort of groups as before, two from our left coming from behind that rock formation, one from the right about to circle around from that little hill and one from the rear. There are four Lizards in each group."

He shook his head in surprise. A lot more than they had faced before and a lot more of a coordinated attack. Still a little tweak of their plan and it could work. "Let's rush straight to the Caravan and I hope you have a spell that can surround it in a circle of flames. That will buy us some time for your more powerful spells to destroy the two on the left. I will take the group on the right and then start on the rear. Help me out when you finish yours, I have no doubts you will be all done before I get done," he smiled. "So what do you think, is it doable?"

 

[slut_in_white]

Lily took off at a run ones Beawolf started running down the road ahead of her, but it became quickly apparent that she'd never, ever keep up. The way he moved, he looked like a real hunter for a moment, a creature built for speed and silence. It was actually quite beautiful to watch, and while she appreciated him slowing to wait for her, she had to admit, she was a little disappointed she couldn't watch him let loose for a little longer. Maybe some other time...

Her thoughts were interrupted when he told her about the incoming enemies about to attack the caravan. She nodded at his suggestions. She didn't have a spell that could just give rise to a circle of flame, but she did have an idea that could approximate that... She dug through her pack, knowing that each new character had been given a standard set of adventuring gear to start with. She found the rope and turned to Beawolf. "Can you have Diver place this in a circle around the caravan?" Normally, she wouldn't expect something like this to work in a video game, but since the tree had exploded into flames for her, she suspected it might in this one.

The caravan stopped at Diver's approach, and seemed bewildered by the length of rope dropped around the outside. It didn't go all the way around, but it was close, and Lily knew she could protect the missing arc with her magic. Diver's approach had triggered the lizards, and Lily set off at a run once she saw the enemies cresting the rocks along the edge of the road. "Look out! Lizards! Stay where you are!" With a wave of her hands, she ignited the rope, creating something like the circle of flame Beawolf had suggested. She stepped into place to cover the missing part of the arc, using her knock-back spell to keep the lizards away while she fired off little balls of fire at them, igniting them until two of them retreated and the other two were dead.

With that finished, she turned, looking for her partner. "Beawolf? You okay?" She couldn't see him or the lizards he was supposed to be dealing with, and she found herself more worried than she'd expected. What if something had happened to him?

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Connor wasn't sure what Nephthys had in mind but he trusted her. As he ran forward he mentally commanded Diver to do exactly what she had suggested then he jumped up onto the small cart the woman and children were riding on and knocked his bow.

From this height he was able to see both groups as they approached and he could tell that the ones on the left would arrive first. He swiftly began to fire at them and had picked off two before with a roar the rope diver had circled around the small caravan burst into flames.

He smiled as the Lizards and even the people backed away and he used the distraction to kill the remaining two lizards. turning his attention to the group charging from the rear he saw they were a lot closer and that he might have a bit of trouble. He aimed at the leader and sent an arrow straight at it's head and was rewarded when he saw it go down with his arrow buried in it's eye. He switched to the second and tried the same shot, but it ducked and he shot it in it's body three times before it dropped dead.

The remaining two were now almost to the fire ring and they did not look like they were going to stop. making a hasty decision he quickly fired two arrows then dropping his bow he drew the axe at his side and jumped down to meet them. His arrows had found their mark and each lizard was now hampered by an arrow through the leg, but it didn't seem to faze them much as they jumped through the fire and advanced on him.

 

[slut_in_white]

When Lily didn't hear his response, she frowned and came around the side of the caravan on time to see two lizards leaping through the flames at him.

He clearly had one of them in his sights, but the other had come around, closer to Lily, in an attempt to flank him. She got the impression he was at least partly aware of it and what it was trying to do, but he couldn't keep eyes on both of them at once.

They leaped at him at the same time, and Lily yelped, immolating the one closest to her while Beawolf attacked the other with his ax. It worked reasonably well, but Lily's flame spell did nothing to rid the flying lizard of the inertia it already had, and so, even once it at its partner were dead, the weight of the now-fried lizard still crashed into Beawolf's side, making him stumble.

Lily ran forward, kicking the lizard's body away, and, with a quick motion of her hand, put out the rope-fire she'd set earlier. Kneeling down next to him with concern written all over her face, she started checking him for injuries. "Are you okay?! Crap, I knew I should have played a healer..."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Connor had watched as one of the lizards had started to circle around to flank him, but he had to concentrate on the one in front of him and trust that he would be able to finish it off before he took too much damage from the other one.

As it leaped at him he met it head on and buried his axe in it's neck while blocking it's own attack with his hand. He was able to grab the Lizards downward thrusting arm with his hand and was surprised when he found he had the strength to actually stop it in mid stroke. He had no time to actually gloat however as he felt something crash into him and a burning sensation begin in his back.

He fell to the ground, loosing his grip on his axe but the sensation quickly passed and he rolled over then saw Nephthys rushing towards him. As she checked him for injuries expressing concern he was surprised to find that he did not feel all that hurt. Then that helpful little ladies voice popped into his head again.

"The Vulpines are resistant to all kinds of extreme temperatures and therefore have a natural resistance to all elemental attacks."

Connor smiled. Ahh so that was why he was not burning up at the moment. That was a good thing to know. He looked up at Nephthys and grinned. "It's okay. Seems I have a natural resistance to elemental attacks. I don't want to try it out on a large scale but a small attack like that is not going to do much to me. Oh and thanks for saving my hairy butt. Without you I am pretty sure I would have needed a healer."

 

[slut_in_white]

Lily blew out a breath of relief when Beawolf assured her he was fine, and smiled ruefully. "Well, that's good to know. Still, I'll try to avoid setting you on fire anymore."

She looked up to see the various refugees from the caravan staring down at them with wide eyes, and she smiled. "Alright, lets get you guys to the grove, shall we?" She helped Beawolf to his feet, and they headed back off towards the grove.

About halfway there, they met a patrol of NPC guards who offered to take the caravan the rest of the way. Lily shrugged, looking at Beawolf. "You think they'll be okay without us? It'll give us a chance to go check out the camp they're coming from, and see if anyone there needs help."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

He nodded to her. "They should be fine now. Besides I am as eager as you to see what this world is like. I didn't think I would be but this is actually more exciting than I thought it was going to be. Maybe it is because it is just so real, but I can't wait to see what else is going to happen and what else you can do in here."

He offered her his arm like a proper gentleman and then smiled broadly. "Shall we go Dorothy. We just have to follow the dusty road to whatever adventure awaits, because we are certainly not in Kansas anymore."

He chuckled and waited to see what her reaction would be. Lots of people had told him his humor was a bit strange and very few people actually got it.

 

[slut_in_white]

Lily giggled at Beawolf's quip about Dorothy and Kansas, setting out to follow him and joking with him a little herself as they made their way to the camp.

They ended up playing together a lot over the next few weeks. They took their time with leveling, choosing to explore and enjoy themselves rather than be as efficient about leveling as possible. They met a couple of other people they got along with, too, and ended up forming a guild with a few of them as the weeks went on.

As she gained power, Lily chose to build up her fire spells and summoning spells. She was able to call down powerful firestorms, now, and could summon up demons of surprising power, including a succubi-like demon that she often teased Beawolf about, because of his reaction to it the first time he saw it.

Still, despite their growing, loose circle of friends in the game, Lily and Beawolf continued to grow closer in a way unmatched by anyone else. It was getting quickly to the point where new members of the guild assumed they were dating outside the game, or at least friends. Something that they regularly just laughed off.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Connor had been having a lot more fun in the game than he thought possible. At first he thought his work would suffer, but it turned out that it actually helped him. He was much calmer and able to concentrate better and even his employees started to notice the difference. He was still as driven as before, but now he was much more efficient. His experiences with his guild mates had shown him he could rely on others and he began to allow his other executives to handle more of the workload he had normally taken on himself. He rewarded those that thrived and those that didn't were replaced. Finally he had a very efficient team around him and work flowed in and out of his office smoothly.

Of course all of this gave him more free time to spend in the game and Beawolf leveled up nicely. He chose skills mainly for support. He improved his accuracy and learned eagle eye, improving his range and allowing him to aim his shots. Arrow barrage that let him shoot an arrow into the air that magically became a hundred as it plummeted to earth covering a targeted area and his favorite triple strike allowing him to shoot three arrows in rapid succession.

His pet skill had also increased and Diver was now a medium sized Dragon almost half the size of him and just learning to breath fire. He had also captured and trained a saber toothed tiger and a large prehistoric looking water creature, (he nicknamed it Nessie because it looked like all those pictures of the Loch Ness monster).

Of course he had gotten close to his guild mates, but not as close as he was to Nephthys. It might be because he had been with her since day one, but he thought it was something else. She was just so happy all the time and had a bright personality. People always thought they were dating because they were always together and they shrugged it off and denied it, but part of him wanted it to be true. Could they make it work in the real world?

Still he knew nothing about her nor did she about him. Except for the little bit they had exchanged on that first day they hadn't told each other anything. Heck he didn't even know her real name! Still he wondered every time he saw her.

This weekend was to be special though. A long weekend and a big dungeon to explore. They had managed to arrange a large party from their guild to accompany them so it was going to be a lot of fun. It was hazardous as it was close to the limits of some of the people in the party and only just below theirs, and some truly epic monsters lived in the dungeon as well, but they only resided in special areas, so as long as they avoided those they would be fine.

They had purchased a map for just that reason so nobody would have any troubles. As soon as they started everyone would have access to it and be safe. This weekend was going to be epic and he could not wait for it to start.

 

[slut_in_white]

Lily had been looking forward to the upcoming weekend for almost two weeks, since they'd first started planning the dungeon expedition. She'd been paranoid that she'd get saddled with some huge project on the day before the long weekend, though, so she'd been unable to give a firm answer about whether she'd be able to join them.

Saturday morning, the day they were set to leave, she logged in and immediately went to her friends list to see where Beawolf was. Looked like he was out hunting in the Blackrock Mountains. It was pretty near to the dungeon, so she took a portal to the city nearest where he was hunting, and then headed off to find him.

A few minutes later, she spotted him, just finishing off a creature he'd hunted down. He was collecting the materials of value off the body - the horns, leather, maybe some bones, that sort of thing. A lot of it sold for quite a pretty penny on the trade market. "Bea!" she shouted, waving at him with a grin. She trotted over and was going to hug him, but Diver got in the way and jumped her instead. It seemed the no-longer-little dragon wasn't particularly aware of his size anymore. He used to jump up on Lily's shoulder whenever she showed up in-game, nuzzling her in greeting. He was far too large for that now, but he tried to do it anyway, and ended up knocking her to the ground and licking her face.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Connor laughed at Diver's antics before he finally called him off. Diver turned his head and blew smoke at him but relented and trotted over to him to get his head scratched, purring in delight as Connors nails got the spots on his head and ears that he never seemed able to get.

"Hey Nep," Connor greeted her, "See you made it. I guess you won't be teasing me with your Demon any time soon," he chuckled. He hated when she did that. Sure the first time she had summoned the thing he had been shocked to see it, and when it had actually been able to touch him all over (and he did mean all over) he had nearly jumped out of his skin. Now she used it to torment him and the bloody thing enjoyed it too.

"Don't worry I will talk to Diver and see if I can explain to him that he is bigger now. We certainly don't want him to be teaching Fang the same trick now do we," he smiled cheekily.

He looked around and checked the time on his heads up display. he had got here early so had decided to do a bit of hunting in the hills. The monsters wouldn't give him much of a fight or experience, but he was after materials. He needed a few things to build a new bow for himself and knew Nep needed some for a special magic item.

"So want to do a bit of hunting with me for awhile. We still have some time and you can tell me how your week went. It must have been busy, I haven't seen you much."

 

[slut_in_white]

Nephthys climbed to her feet, making a face as she wiped away the dragon-spit. "Gross." A moment later, though, the rest of it simply faded into non-existence. Ah, the benefits of being in a video game.

She made a face, nodding when Beawolf mentioned that she hadn't been around much. "I guess that's the negative about being in school. Assignments, projects, and plus because I'm Masters I have to mark papers for all the classes I teach... What I wouldn't give to have a normal, 40 hour work week. I've been busy getting everything done so I could actually be here this weekend for the dungeon crawl," she explained. Then she grinned. "And I mean, I'll help you to hunt if you want, but are you sure you want me to? I mean, I'll probably damage any of the materials you want to get because I can't do THAT much but throw around some fire when it comes to pure damage. I could curse some of your targets if you want but..." She grinned, nudging him. "I doubt very much you actually need my help."