It wasn't her choice to end up stuck there. Far from it, if she was being honest. It had all started as a chance to get into a media that her family's business had not yet started in. She wanted to research it. She didn't go into it thinking she would end up trapped, but she wouldn't have had it any other way. Looking at the two children in front of her, she was glad that she was trapped... or at least as glad as she could be trapped in something from one of the novels her older younger brother enjoyed reading so much. Games involving imminent death, both virtually and in reality weren't really her thing at all, but it seemed interesting enough compared to the constant business meetings or medical classes she had been through before.

The two in front of the woman sobbed into each other's' arms, although they were both mumbling their thanks under their breath. She simply smiled and nodded, turning away from them and taking a few steps toward the awaiting shadows of the forest. A small clearing of a throat stopped her in her tracks, and she looked over her shoulder at the boy who stood in front of his younger female companion, tears and sniffles not yet stopped.

"Miss, what are you," he asked quietly, wiping away his tears and trying to look as if nothing had happened, but failing miserably. He blushed a little, and the woman couldn't help but chuckle at him. "I... I didn't mean it like that! I just-"

"I'm 'a' Taro," she said quietly, laughing under her breath. She had never been asked 'what' she was, at least not like that. She had been asked from what family she was from or what of what profession, but never of what race or... what did the boy even mean? "If you ever need any help-"

"I didn't mean that, Miss Taro! You... you're like no other player I've ever met! And I've been playing MMOs for a long time! Are you a guildmaster? Are you a Shadowlander? If you are a player, what is your level? What class are you? Subclass? What skills do you-"

"You're full of questions, aren't you," Taro chuckled. The other girl giggled a little too, wiping at her face, but stopped when a man, in similar dress to Taro's, walked out of the shadows that blanketed and caressed the mysterious dark haven of the forest. Taro tensed before relaxing when the man put his hands up in a placating motion. "Masa," she acknowledged.

"Taro, it's time to go. I'm getting really, and I mean really, tired, and the monsters and MGs are beginning to show up more looking for stragglers who haven't found havens for the night. It's dangerous, and you're exhausted. Don't try to deny it," he said before seeing the two young children standing a bit further away, eying him nervously. "MPCs?"

"No, Masa. They're like us. They're solo," Taro said, looking back at the two younger players. "If you want to find out 'what' I am, why don't you hang around with us for a while? At least until you level up a little and get used to the game. It'll be safer than joining a guild or going it alone for now. You may not know us, but you don't know this game either, and I saved your life. That's more than you know about these woods."

There was a moment of hesitation as both considered Taro's proposition, and Masa tensed up, moving his hand slowly toward his weapon as if the children could somehow hurt them, but Taro stood firm, looking off into the forest with an intense gaze as if considering her proposal again. She nodded and looked back at the children. The boy's frown turned into a beaming smile and he nodded excitedly.

"Then let's go on an adventure. How about it?