by Dante Doom
"Alright, weapons or water?" Fredlin asked.
"We got a weapon," Kylian said as he grabbed a few rocks and shoved them into his side pouch. "Let's find some water. The faster we can get to full health, the better."
"Should I go scout somewhere?" Sang asked. "My stealth should keep me alive."
"No, we can't afford to split up," Van said. "This place is way too dangerous for anyone to be alone. Alright, Fredlin, cast your locate water spell."
Fredlin nodded and grabbed up a clump of dirt. He muttered a few arcane words and threw the dirt into the air. Wind began to blow behind Fredlin, scattering the dirt across the ground. Van watched as the dirt began to glow. The dirt particles moved across the ground then and formed together into an arrow that was pointing southwest.
"It's that way," Fredlin said as he lined up his hand with the arrow so he could follow it exactly. "This spell will always point to the exact location of water, so as long as we go in that direction, we'll find it."
"Good," Van said. "Let's move in formation. Fredlin, I want you invisible. Save your magic points on turning the rest of us invisible, though. We might need that power later. The rest of you, clump together and get as many rocks as you can."
The team complied and quickly assembled, moving quietly through the forest in search of water. Sahara held the sword up and was shaking a little as she walked. No doubt she was scared out of her mind, but she'd had every opportunity to bail. Van was thankful for her desire to stay and fight anyway – a warrior of her skill level would be incredibly useful.
As they walked through the forest, Van heard a rustling in the distance. The entire team stopped moving and ducked behind several trees. Van peeked around the edges of the tree to see Peterson and his team walking through the area. Peterson made eye contact with him. The man was armed with a bow, and Van felt his heart stop for a moment.
"Uh, this way, team," Peterson said as he gestured in the opposite direction from where Van and his team were. "Maybe we can find something useful over there." The team didn't seem to disagree with his instructions, and followed after their leader.
"Whew, I guess he isn't a total bastard after all," Kylian said.
"Still can't trust him," Sang said.
"Did he see us?" Sahara asked.
"Yeah, he saw me," Van said. "We'll give him credit for that. I still think he's up to something."
"Well, as long as his scheming keeps him over there, I'm all for it," Fredlin said.
They continued moving toward the source of water. Eventually, they reached a small depression in the ground that led to a babbling brook. The brook was a few hundred feet away from them, and they'd need to go down the depression in order to reach it.
"I really don't like the fact that those trees are hanging right over the water," Sang whispered as she crouched down. "An archer could have a field day just picking people off as they go for water."
"No bodies around," Kylian said, "so that's a good sign."
"Maybe no victims have shown up yet," Sang countered. "Let me stealth down there and look around."
"Be careful," Van said. "Check the area and give a whistle if things are safe." He checked his private messaging system then and saw that it had been disabled. The words Only VOIP enabled in survivor mode hovered above his private message box.
Sang nodded and turned translucent as she crept down the slope, reaching the water in a matter of minutes. Van couldn't see her at this distance, so he merely waited, holding his breath in anticipation. After a minute of waiting, he heard her whistle sharply.
"Alright, let's go," Van said. "One person drinks at a time. Get as much as you can; we don't have any containers, so this will have to be it for a while."
"Roger," Sahara said as she rushed down to the water. She knelt down and began to lap away at the brook, drinking it as quickly as she could. Her health bar steadily began to climb back up until finally she was at full health again. Van noticed that even though her character had originally had close to 800 points, she only registered as having 100 now.
Van was next, and drank up, taking note that his own health bar also increased only to 100.
"Ah, man," Kylian said as he knelt down to drink. "I think we all have the same health in the name of realism."
"That means damage is going to be way more realistic, too," Sang said as she rejoined the party. She was carrying a pair of daggers in her hands. "I found these suckers just sitting on a log. Who wants one?"
"I'll take one," Van said as he reached out. Sang abruptly pulled her hand back.
"I think we should give this to someone who's going to use it."
"I'll use it if I need it," Van replied as he put his hand out angrily. "I don't need you to treat me like a child."
"Then maybe you should stop acting like a child," Sang hissed. "We are in a life and death struggle, and we don't have the option to play nice here. That option is gone."
Van leaned forward and grabbed the knife from her. "Let me do things my way, and you do things your way. I thought we agreed to stop fighting about this."
"We did, but then, of course, it becomes a major issue," Sang growled. "I just don't want to see you die over a false sense of a conscience."
"How is not wanting to hurt people a false sense of a conscience?" Van asked.
"Because, Van, if you want the five of us to survive, that means everyone else has to die. It doesn't matter who kills them, because they are already dead," Sang said. "We all signed out death warrants when we came in here, so unless you feel like letting some random person who's willing to murder so he can play a video game as a job kill one of your friends and endanger the world, please, please feel free to help kill them, like they'd kill you. I didn't make these rules, but I sure as hell am going to play by them."
Van didn't know how to respond. He felt a flash of anger rising up within him, but she was very right. It didn't matter what happened in here… there would only be five survivors. He felt a burning anger at her, at Draco, and even at the world around him. This wasn't fair. Why the hell was he facing this kind of dilemma? He'd never wanted to hurt anyone, and now he'd be forced to kill people who were so desperate that they'd commit murder in a game.
"Look," Van said, "maybe you take the lead on this. I don't think I have it in me to make the right decision."
"Van," Sang said as she shook her head, "we need you."
"No, Sang," Van said, trying not to get choked up, "we need you. I can't do it. I won't do it. So you do it. You tell us what to do."
"Fine by me," Kylian said. "No shame in admitting someone else is better than you in a given situation. A true leader empowers his people."
"Yeah, what he said," Sahara said.
"I'll do whatever, really," Fredlin echoed.
Sang's eyes were wide at the proposition, and Van could see the etchings of fear on her face, but she was quick to hide it from the rest of them.
"Fine, I'm running the show. We need more weapons, but this watering hole is perfect. I say we lie in wait above, in the trees. Kill anyone who comes and take their stuff. Prop their bodies up so it looks like they're an easy target from a distance."
"That is gruesome," Van said. "But… brilliant."
Sang sat in the tree, fiddling with the dagger. She only had the one, but fortunately her class gave her plenty of bonuses with thrown weapons. She had been waiting for nearly three hours, watching for signs of life but seeing nothing.
It had been a surprise when Van gave her control of the party, but it had been the right decision. Van was a strong leader, regardless of his personal hang-ups, and he proved it time and time again when he put Sang in charge. She would be able to lead them to victory, no matter how tough it was. For now, though, the rest of the team was out searching for weapons. If Sang noticed anyone coming from her vantage point, she would whistle sharply and hope the team was within range.
There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to where the weapons were located. She had found the dag
gers on a stump, but there'd been nothing special about the placement. There'd been no beacons, no treasure chests. Just two daggers laying on a tree stump.
Only Fredlin was with her now, sitting in the tree opposite of her, whittling down a stick with Van's dagger. He had volunteered to craft weapons and Van had been quick to hand the knife over since they weren't going to be engaging while scouting.
"You've seen war, right?" Sang asked quietly.
Fredlin glanced over at her. "Yeah," he said. His invisibility spell had worn off, but since he was so high up in the trees, he'd be perfectly fine for now.
"Is it weird to feel this calm when in a battlefield?" she asked.
"It's weird," Fredlin said. "But everyone's different. I knew a guy who would sing when under enemy fire. He would sing about how nice the sky was. After the fight? Puking for an hour straight. The stress and terror comes, my friend – it just comes at different times than we think."
"That makes me feel better," Sang said with a little chuckle. "I just think I've been so stressed out from all of this that maybe it's all become normal to me."
"Yeah, so be careful," Fredlin replied. "That's when you get complacent. And complacent people die."
"Alright, it looks clear," Van said as he crawled through the bushes. Kylian and Sahara were both lying on their stomachs, looking at the clearing where a large warhammer was resting.
"That is such a vulnerable position," Kylian said. "Just in the middle of a perfectly clear area – no cover. I mean, whoever runs to grab that thing might as well shout 'free target practice.'"
"I'm not going for it," Sahara said. "I think we should skip it."
"Two measly daggers and a longsword aren't enough," Van retorted. "We need something strong. I mean, we could use that hammer to break wood so we could make traps, too."
"Sounds like you have every reason in the world to grab it," Kylian said.
Van frowned. The rest of the team definitely seemed against going to grab it, but at the same time, it would be very useful for more than just combat. They hadn't seen any other players for quite some time.
"Well…" Van said. "Just cover me."
"Do you want this?" Sahara asked as she offered him her sword.
"Nah, keep it in case I end up in trouble. You can flank them on both sides," Van said as he slowly stood to his feet and took a deep breath. "Here I go!" he said as he ran at full speed toward the hammer.
He reached the hammer and grabbed a hold of it, pulling it off the ground.
"Haha!" Van said as he began to run back to his team. As he turned, though, he felt an arrow shoot into his right arm. The pain was intense – so much so that he dropped the weapon to clutch his wound. The words 20 damage floated above his head, dropping his health down to 80.
"Over there!" Sahara shouted, pointing to the right of Van. He glanced over to see that there was an archer standing by one of the trees. He was nocking another arrow.
"Crap, cover me!" Van yelled as he ducked down and grabbed the hammer, rushing toward the player trying to kill him. An arrow narrowly missed him as he rushed the man and swung his hammer as hard as he could.
The player tried to dodge out of the way, but didn't have a chance with how fast Van was going. Van's blow cracked him in the side of the head, dropping him instantly. The words Critical One Shot floated above Van.
"Over there!" Sahara said as she rushed in next to Van and brandished her sword. Two more players were coming towards them, both of them women armed with knives.
"How many do you have left?" Van asked, swinging his hammer in the air to try and scare them off. "Enough to kill the two of us?"
"Go to hell," one of them said, snarling a little at Van. She was redheaded and, in some odd way, reminded Van of O'Hara.
Van could feel the adrenaline surge through his body as the women broke off from one another and began to encircle them slowly.
"You get the one on the right," Van said as he faced the red-haired warrior.
They were all wearing the same basic rags – a tunic with no belt. No armor, no protection. If Van made one false move, he'd be killed.
A rock flew through the air and smacked the redhead in the back of her head. 10 damage floated above her. For a moment, she was distracted, and that was all it took, as Van gave a hard swing with his warhammer and cracked her in the head, dropping her to the ground.
"She's getting away!" Sahara yelled, pointing to the other woman who had made the wise choice to retreat after watching her ally get dropped.
"Should we chase?" Kylian asked.
"I'm not sure," Van said. "She could be going back to her team. If it was a full group, they'd still have three left. And these ones found weapons."
"You're bleeding pretty bad," Sahara said, pointing to Van's wound. Van glanced at the arrow sticking out of his arm and saw that the blood was pouring out profusely.
"Urgh, that is disgusting," Van said, wincing as Sahara touched it. "No one has any medical skills, so let's just leave it in there. I don't think I’ll get any additional damage from it."
"Well..." Kylian said as he picked the bow up and grabbed an arrow off the dead body of the murderous archer. "Here's the thing… Legolas over here only has one arrow on him. He missed with one earlier, so that's two. That one sticking out of your arm makes three."
Van grimaced. "I really, really don't want you to – ouch!" he shouted as Kylian seized the arrow and tore it right out of his arm. Blood gushed from his wound and the words 5 damage hovered above his head.
"Ahhh!" Van gasped.
"Sorry, Van," Kylian said as he reached down to tear the tunic of the fallen player apart, making bandages with the fabric. "But we need that arrow more than you need those hit points."
"Over there," Fredlin whispered as he pointed to a small group of people walking toward the water. They were heavily armed, carrying swords, maces, and clubs.
Sang could see two players total. One was wearing what looked to be plate mail armor.
"Ah, man, that's a serious set-up they have going on," Sang said. "Why the hell couldn't we get gear that good?"
"Finding that water early was pretty valuable," Fredlin replied.
"Not as valuable as that mace," Sang whispered. "Unless you can light them all on fire, I'd wager to say that we can't win this one."
"Yeah, my spells aren't that powerful," Fredlin said. "But I do have a few tricks up my sleeve. If we get some arrows, I can bless them to ignite."
"Beautiful," Sang said. "I just hope we actually get some arrows."
As they watched the players fill up on water, a woman carrying a dagger ran up to them. She was pointing behind her frantically, and Sang could barely make out what she was saying.
"There's three of them!" the woman said. "They killed Yil and Grex!"
"What kind of weapons do they have?" asked the one in plate mail.
"A longsword and a warhammer," the woman replied. "And our weapons now."
"Damn it. Okay, were they hurt?"
"Yeah, one of them was."
"Then they'll need water. Let's hide and ambush them when they come by," the one in plate mail said. He knelt down to finish filling his canteen with water and pointed toward a few trees. The three all moved into position, hiding behind the three trees that were directly beneath Sang and Fredlin.
Fredlin looked up at Sang and mouthed the word "Plan?" to her. She shrugged at him. The one in plate mail had serious armor, so he would be hard as hell to kill. Between her dinky dagger and Fredlin's hand-crafted spear that was more of a pencil than a proper weapon, they wouldn't have much of a chance. She wondered if the woman had been referring to Van and the rest of the team. She had said there were three players and that one had a longsword. That matched the description, although Sang didn't know if Van had found a warhammer or not.
Sang slowly moved across one of the tree branches and crouched down. She could theoretically leap down and stab the woman directly beneath her – that would be enough to kill
her. Then Sang would be able to grab the sword that was hanging off of her belt. But could she take two people down at once? Did she have to? The man in plate would be too slow to catch her. Maybe she should just adopt guerilla tactics here. There were a lot of things to ponder, and the finality of it all was growing heavier on her shoulders.
"Perfect is the enemy of success," Fredlin whispered. Sang looked up at him and nodded.
She leapt down from the tree and came crashing down on the woman's back with all of her might, thrusting her dagger right into the spine of the fallen warrior. The words Sneak Attack Lethal Blow floated above her head.
"The hell!" shouted the man in plate mail. He grabbed his mace and bellowed at her before charging at her as fast as he could. Fortunately, he wasn't nearly as fast as Sang was, due to his armor, and she deftly dodged out of the way. She darted away from him and dodged his ally, who came at her with a wooden club.
"Up here!" Fredlin shouted, throwing one of his stick spears at the man in plate mail. The stick harmlessly bounced off of the armor, but it was enough to distract him. He turned around to see Fredlin above him. "Come on and face me!"
Sang rushed through the woods, but the man with the club gave chase. He was just as fast as her, and was gaining on her.
"Crap," Sang said as she realized she'd forgotten to grab her slain foe's sword. A dagger against a foot-long club was not going to be a fair fight. Her stamina bar was also rapidly draining, adding to the stress. She ran up to a large, fallen log and scampered atop it. The she stopped abruptly and stood in a battle stance, holding the dagger close to her side.
"Come on, let's see what kind of color you bleed!" she shouted, trying her best to sound like a wicked woman.
"Oh, I'm not gonna be the one to bleed," the man replied, thumping his club against the log. His teeth were clenched and she could see utter rage in his eyes.
Sang crouched a little, preparing to spring towards him. The moment he rushed her, she'd lunge at him and hope that she could dodge the club long enough to get her blade into his throat.