But like all special things, there came a time for it to end. It wasn’t that night, when he dropped her off at her doorstep, or even any of the other dates they had over the next few weeks. Weeks of “real” time, months of time in the game. She had gotten steadily stronger with training, and he….he had stayed. Stayed in the same quiet hamlet, doing his odd jobs rather than pursuing the path that he’d picked up at the start of the game. It ate at her in a way she didn’t know how to interpret, didn’t know how to work around, so she asked. Broaching the subject one day as she was sharpening her sword.

“Natty…..why do you stay around this place? You’re an Archer, right? Shouldn’t you be working on your bow form? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you even hold one, let alone shoot.” He blinked, looking up from the cask being patched. The tar coated scraper coming to a halt at the end of the stroke, plugging up the leak that the bartender had complained about at the inn. Another of the odd jobs that he did, rather than pursuing his path. His beautiful face contemplative for a long moment, before he murmured quietly.

“Why do I stay here…..it’s because it’s quiet, Mina.” He looked up at her for a long moment, before glancing away. A faint flicker of shame visible on his features, to her keen gaze. “I got to a point where my arrows were being pointed at….people. And I didn’t….couldn’t….shoot, anymore. I didn’t want to kill people, even in a game like this. Perhaps that’s stupid of me-”

He didn’t get the rest out, as she simply leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. Resting her arms on the crossguard of her sword. It had taken a few dings, through her training, when she’d accidentally cut through a branch overhanging the glade she liked to work in. MIna had crossed paths with a few other sword wielders in the inn, over the past weeks, and had gotten in some good spars too. But it had only raised another question—why were there only Swordsman path players coming through here? Any time other players had come, Natty had been particularly tight-lipped about his own path. Almost as if he was scared….was he scared, of them? Of the other sword players? Why?

She shook her head, and cupped his cheek with a hand. Murmuring in her hoarse voice as pink eyes watched him tenderly. “It’s not stupid at all. Truly, I think it’s admirable to keep to a path of peace. But you should still practice. You’ll get rusty, if you don’t pick up your bow now and then.” She thumbed over her shoulder to the store down the way. Smiling wryly. “I saw a few nice ones in Jakie’s this morning~ Do you want me to go pick one out for you? If you’re nervous, I can help. You deserve to see more of this world than just this village.”

“Mina, I really shouldn’t…..” A soft sigh escaped Natty, before he stood up. Setting aside the scraper as he gave a shy smile to Mina. “Alright. Let’s go pick out a bow together. But first, I have something for you-” It was as he was fishing in his pocket for something, that everything fell to pieces. An axe whistling through the air hurtling end over end, burying into Natty’s back as Mina shouted.

“NATTY!!!!” Before she could even reach out to catch him, another axe came hurtling through the air, this time at Mina! Her reflexes reacting to the danger to quickly bring her sword cutting up in a short slash, cleaving the axe that had been aimed for her face in two! Only for her to come face to face with the source of the axes, a burly looking man with long arms overly long for his body. Head glossy and bald, utterly devoid of hair. The man’s beady eyes fixed on her with a lustful expression, but it wasn’t sex that she felt in that gaze.

No, it was pure violence that was being lusted for here. The thrill of the kill, this mysterious axe wielder had murder in his eyes! And he wasn’t alone, either. As she saw three other axe wielders slip out of the brush behind him. Ambling closer languidly while they vaulted over the fence that Natty had built, a woman and three men. The woman going so far as to hack through the fence with her axe rather than vault it, making Mina snarl with fury. How dare they break what Natty had built so painstakingly! Was killing him in this damn game not enough?

She exhaled slowly, cooling herself as pink eyes glanced over the group. Four of them versus the one of her. The other sword wielders had all gone ahead just last night, could that be why these people were attacking? She couldn’t afford to be careless here, when she was outnumbered and unable to expect reinforcement. No….this was going to be a serious test of the skills she’d honed over the last months. Sword held in both hands as her legs flexed, pressing her booted feet firmly into the ground. Recalling the first fumbling training sessions, where she’d struggled with her footing most of all. Footing, it seemed, was the key to the sword’s power.

Mina felt herself growing calmer as her heart pulsed slower in her chest, regaining her composure as the group of attackers languidly kept up their approach—until one at the back bolted forward! A lanky man with a mop of blonde hair and greedy looking green eyes over a sneering, crooked, smile. His hand axes flashing out to the sides as he lunged for her and she felt as though time had slowed down, recalling something she’d done a lot in the last game she’d played. One that featured tournament play as the main attraction, fighting against other players. That leading axe was stretched out too far to be a real threat, it was the back one she needed to worry about with its more stable swing. But she could knock him off balance!
Flicking the blade to knock aside his wrist with the flat, she took a firm step forward and pivoted the weapon under the man’s leading arm. Bringing it right back in a slash up as she cut through man’s torso with a splatter of blood trailing after her blade. The scent of iron cloying in her nose as she kept up the momentum, taking another step in a longer stride that was near a run as the other two goons rushed her.

Mina ducked under the woman’s axe swung at her neck, and remembered another helpful trick from that game. Pommel strikes, that could stun with enough force put into them. There were no status conditions here so far as she knew, but she could still do some serious damage and send them reeling with a good strike of the iron pommel—so she did just that. Smashing the pommel into the woman’s sternum and knocking her back as she swayed backwards out of the swing of the man rushing her. Flipping her blade back into a forward facing and driving it through his throat in a sharp thrust. Stabbing him right in the windpipe and severing the arteries on either side as she pierced his spine.

Tugging her blade out quickly she re-centered her grip. Adjusting the tightness of it to account for the slick grease of blood slicking the grip. Surging forward and decapitating the woman who was doubled over from the pommel strike. That thud of the head bouncing on the grass an oddly muted sound as the body thumped after it. Slumping to the side while Mina looked to the last of them. The bastard that had thrown the axes at her and Natty, who was looking a bit more terrified now that he had no weapons, and was facing her with the corpses of his friends on the ground behind her. He tried to back away, to start to beg for mercy, but she ignored him. His words falling on deaf ears as she stalked closer, and cut his ankle when he tried to flee.

It was all over when you turned your back on an enemy, and it was all over a moment later as his cut achilles meant he toppled onto his hands and knees. Before her blade pierced through his back and pinned him to the dirt, killing him like a dog, just the way he deserved.

It had been only a few moments, a few traded blows, but the fight was over as swiftly as it began. Her breathing calming as she flicked the blood off her sword, taking a deep breath to try to clear the smell of the death from her senses. It was worse than just the blood. The scent of excrement was starting to perfume the air, as the bladders and bowels loosened with their final offerings—this game really was too realistic, including stuff like this. Yet she had felt strangely satisfied with it. As though the act of fighting the axe wielders had given her a deeper understanding of her sword—the feel of flesh against her blade. Of a body dragging against it, as she struck a killing blow.

She pushed that thought away for later, looking back to Natty and feeling her eyes water. Wondering what it was he was going to say to her, before the attack. She’d have to ask him after she logged off. In fact, feeling oddly disgusted with the game for the moment, Mina decided to turn it off early tonight and get a shower. Fight sweat was something new to her, having not fought in a realistic game like this before; if it was anything like the first time she’d woken up it would be -crazy- swampy in her suit right about now. With a last look to the strange axe wielders laying dead in the grass, she signed off. Waking up with a slow opening of golden eyes, gazing up at the ceiling through her helmet’s visor for a long moment before sitting up.

“Maybe I should offer him some late night noodles….Character deaths are always rough.” Hopping into the shower, she cleaned off the sweat from her playing. Flexing her hands as she felt the fresh calluses built up by training, and the odd blisters from the sword tugging sharply when she’d cut through the brigands. It sank in then, finally, just what had happened. Those were other players. She’d cut down other players, other -people-, tonight. Human lives, reduced to dead weight and splatters of life along the ground and buildings. In any other person, it probably would’ve been disturbing, the thought that they’d so easily taken lives.

But Mina was by no means normal. The feel of the weight to the bodies as they dragged against her blade, the strain in her muscles from having to work against the sudden corpses, it was so palpable she could remember every fiber of her muscles working. From the feel of the first man falling to her upward slash trying to coax her weapon back to the earth where the corpse fell; to the resistance against retracting her blade from the throat of the one she’d pierced. She could even recall the ease with which pulling it up from the leader’s back had been, and best of all was the lack of weight after she’d lopped the head off the woman. So many sensations, so many motions to learn from.

She wondered how she could make it more efficient. There’d been a slight pause between each of her movements that grated on her. A more skilled swordsman would have killed her in an instant in any one of those gaps—she needed to smooth her flow of strikes. Maximize every movement to be a honed blade in its own right. Was that what walking the path of the sword truly meant? How exciting~! Her lips curled up as she washed the sweat off her skin, scrubbing slowly with a flex of her sore muscles. This game was getting better with every experience, she couldn’t wait to tell Natty all about how she’d felt the strain of her body while fighting tonight!

Thoughts of Natty sobered her a bit. Recalling what he’d said, just before they were attacked. He didn’t like violence….didn’t like killing other people, even in a game. It was strange, to Mina, to think of that. Her golden eyes dulling slightly as she tsked to herself, mulling on how the man had lost his ambition. He couldn’t surmount his fear and repulsion, so he hadn’t tried. Only hid in a safe place far from the fighting.

Yet it had still come. In the end, violence had found him anyway…..Clicking off the water Mina stepped out of the shower. Drying off with a long moment to admire her growing muscles, before scooping up her phone. Pressing the button to call Natty’s number, and lifting the device to her ear as she waited. The tone dialed once….twice….ringing a third time….

It was on the fourth ring that she started to get worried. Natty always answered by the third ring, he was predictable and rote that way. It was cute, the way he was eager to speak with her when she made the effort to call. It was cute, yet today that cuteness yielded to worry as a fifth ring passed. A sixth following. And on the seventh and final ring, there was still no answer, the call going to voicemail—she’d never heard his voicemail before.

It wasn’t even set up with a message, just the automated bot. What a lazy way to go about things. Frowning, she left him a message, talking into the device that held none of his gravely warmth; only the cold of the machine as her voice echoed in the tiled room. “Hey Natty, I was just wondering if you wanted to come over and have a bite to eat. Maybe grab some noodles together at that little stall down the street—my treat! I logged off early, but I took care of that issue in the game. If you want to talk about it, call me. I know how sucky that kind of ending feels.”

Fully dry and now feeling like there was little point to waiting if Natty wasn't going to pick up his phone, Mina quickly fixed up some food. Chowing down and swapping out the filter on the water after pouring herself a glass. Before she suited up again and laid back down on the couch. Curled up with the plush he'd gotten her on their date, and logging back into the game. The village coming into view again, the corpses gone as she found herself back in the alley the fight had taken place along. Though, alley was a bit of a stretch to call it, seeing as the buildings were a solid twenty feet apart. Meaning it was more of a side street at best. The fence that was destroyed during the attack had even been rebuilt!

With the same knot that Natty used....Was he just logged into the game still, then? That would explain why he didn't answer the call. Looking around, she found her way back to the main street, pausing as her eyes widened. Mina taking in the sight of the revamped town that was -definitely- not the little village she'd been in just minutes ago! Looking out over the bustling streets that were full of people, she took a step back, taken aback by the sheer difference as her eyes scanned the crowds for a familiar face.....Not here. Where in the world was Natty, if he wasn't by where they'd been attacked? The inn, maybe?

Her feet turned towards the direction she remembered the building being in, setting off to find out if it was still there or not. And hopefully, she'd catch a clue about Natty, too. If he was really still playing, then why hadn't he waited? Something about this didn't feel right, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Hoping, for the moment, that he was okay....