JUMPER [solo]

[Capsule]

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∝:
1004

♪ ♫♪:
JUMPER

✏:
__

@:
Capsule

Capsule's body felt heavy, cold and battered. She was lying on something smooth, yet rough, like the kind of pebble you found in the shallow end of a lake or river, the edges smoothed out from years of exposure to moisture. Where was she, she had no idea. Perhaps she was even dreaming - she was, wasn't she? This all felt like an aimless dream, one where she would wake up from after rolling off of whatever this platform or rock was. 'Legs… Feet. Hands. Move…' Nary a toe or finger budged when she compelled them to, so there was certainly no hope for her limbs to obey. Oh well. She could lie here like this in her dream until she woke up. Sure, it made for an uneventful slumber, but sometimes the mundane road was the one to travel. Stuck on her rock for a bit, Capsule closed her eyes and tried to drift off, something that should be impossible to do if she was already asleep, but dream logic was irrational like that. Her only wish was that the slab was warmer, and that her blanket was tucked around her, shoddy as it may be. It was still warm.

'So cold…' Why was it so cold? She couldn't feel it at first, but now she could. Her skin was beyond freezing. Was that why she could not flex even a muscle? A second attempt proved to be just as futile as the first. The cold spread further and further across her body, until even her eyelids were too heavy to move. The numbing cold… did it seep into her bones, as well? "…" Her lips were parted slightly, though that soft expulsion of air was all she could manage. 'Need to move…' It was dangerous to lie around like this, even in a dream. Her mind would torment her with the apparitions of cruel monsters or vile persons assaulting her immobile body. "…" Another soft sigh departed from her lips. She really couldn't move. Fighting only made her tired, and the cold penetrated deeper with each struggle. When she lied still like this, however…

'So warm… So comforting.' Yes. She could stay locked up like this forever… just fall asleep like a good lass, and be rid of this insufferable world forever. Why should she try to run from her fate, rather than embrace it? Wasn't this the very thing she had tried (and miserably failed) to achieve months ago? The sweet kiss of death. This was surely hypothermia setting in. 'Or sleep paralysis.' Capsule could feel herself drifting off into outer space - look, there was Saturn!

"And if you look closely, kittens, you can see Uranus - no giggling!" Her Frenmic Rabbit, Fiver, was standing in front of a blackboard that had materialized in front of Saturn. Beneath his feet and the desks of the young rabbits attending class, was the vast darkness that blanketed space. Capsule was in a desk, too, though it was comically too small for her tall figure. The little rabbits seated amongst her pointed and giggled at the large student. A few of them complained about her blocking the front of the classroom. "Miss Pfeiffer, can you please relocate to the back of the class? The other students are having difficulty seeing the board."

"Oh! S-sure. Sorry about that." Light snickering came from around her as she vacated her seat, and turned into an uproar of laughter when she fell through the floor. Capsule spun head over heels, shrieking as she floated further and further away from the classroom. Fiver's angry demand for her to return to class dimmed as she continued to float off. Someone yelled out something about turning off the gravity, and whoever was in charge clearly complied, for Capsule was freefalling into the gravitational pull of a nearby planet or moon.

What followed next denied several laws of nature, and ended with Capsule landing hard on a rocky outcrop, seemingly unharmed. She was plunged into darkness, or what she perceived as darkness. Every few seconds it would shift around, revealing brief patches of dim light. Something was also touching her; something with fur that felt similar to the bristles of a brush. It was soft enough to be pleasant, almost as if a giant was brushing her like he would a pet dog for loose fur. She curled into a ball to accept this treatment, and would have dozed off again, had something not nipped at her bottom.

It was not a gentle nip, either. It was a very sharp one that left very real sensations of pain in her bottom. Was this is a dream? You weren't supposed to experience pain in a dream - "Ow!" Capsule groaned and clapped her hands to her rump, which had just received an even harder nip, one that would have gladly broken the skin if she weren't wearing pants. That felt too real to be something she dreamt up. It was time to investigate, and she feared the worse.

She tried to roll over onto her elbows and knees, but something was impeding her movement. It was heavy, and when she tried slapping at it with one hand, it attached itself to her palm with a sticky substance. The consistency and misleading frailness reminded her vaguely of a spider's web - 'Oh shit.' This wasn't a dream. She was alive and warmed by the bodies of giant spiders. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!

Spiders. It just had to be neeping spiders. She held no deep fear or hatred for them, but that did not mean she enjoyed being rolled around in them, either. ’Someone please help me. Fiver?’ Fiver couldn’t answer her telekinetically. What was she thinking? ”Fiver-!” She was cut off by something long and thick sliding into her mouth. The taste was beyond foul, but even if she wanted to vomit, she could not; the presumed spider leg was making it impossible to breathe, let alone scream. This was just her luck, wasn’t it?

coded by benetnasch of ET

[Capsule]

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[attr="class","benetbar"]

∝:
578

♪ ♫♪:
Don't Move

✏:
Noh

@:
Capsule

It couldn't go down like this. She refused to let it go down like this. Capsule had yet to experience death in this world, so she damn sure was not going to allow herself to be bumped off by a bunch of hairy and overgrown spiders. She needed to… fight them off somehow. Her first instinct was to grab her kukri, which was thankfully still on her person. 'Let's see how you like it,' she thought as she wildly slashed into the nearest spider.

A scream punctuated the air as her blade struck home, and a thick substance she suspected of being blood splashed on her hand and arms. Capsule screwed her eyes shut as she slashed more and more into the spider. Its screams grew louder and louder with each strike, and the area around her gradually filled with light as the other spiders backed off. "Yeah! That's right! You better back up!" She swung her legs at a spider nestling beside her, and with a little grunt and a one armed shove, Capsule was off.

She did not pause to check on the progress of the spiders that were sure to be trailing her. Like that biblical story, she feared she would turn into a pillar of salt if she turned around. The voice that shrieked after her almost made her reconsider this, however. The voice sounded very human, on top of seeming feminine and angry. That was obviously another spider, one that looked after the others by the sound of it. She definitely did not want to run into that.

Capsule indiscriminately launched herself over the nearest edge and went plunging into darkness - or would have, had she not recalled her parkour skills. The woman twisted her body around to slam her feet against the next platform, and kicked off to perform a backflip in midair. This would basically put her right back where she started, but if the spiders were chasing her up until this point, they would be juked hardcore. And sure enough…

The redhead laughed at the spiders scuttling over into empty air, while she came to a stop on top of the first platform. Something about this world made her feel strangely lighter. Perhaps it had something to do with her agility stat? Capsule could have stayed and questioned it more, but she needed to get out of here before the spiders climbed back up. How the hell did she even get herself in this mess, anyway? 'Exploration and rumored jumping puzzles.'

Now she remembered. She had come out to the quarry to investigate this yet unexplored area, only to fall through a hole near the entrance. The descent led down a thin chute that a larger person would not have fit through, which kind of limited her ability to use Nightmare Sphere. The resulting fall probably knocked her out for a bit and left her feeling silly in the head, too. She would have to remember to be careful, when she wasn't being assailed by spiders.

After doing some very quick warm up exercises, Capsule sprinted forward and sailed over a leaping tarantula. She landed lightly on the other side, and without pausing, was off again. The large, dimly lit cavern she was in appeared to be full of oversized stalagmites, and amongst the largest ones she could see a trail leading to another chamber. If it wasn't for the spider part, this journey would be so much fun.

coded by benetnasch of ET

[Capsule]

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∝:
577

♪ ♫♪:
Don't Move

✏:
__

@:
Capsule

THE FUN WAS OVER. OH GOD IT WAS OVER. Capsule was currently dangling from a spire by one leg, trying not to upchuck her last meal. A misplaced step had caused her to stumble and sprawl out on her stomach, riiight onto a pointy rock tower. Needless to say, this was the result of her current folly. She groaned and swung her arms around to grip the spire beneath or above her, and kicked her leg free and twisted her body around.

Having that Fall Damage skill really came in handy, for without it she would have taken more damage when she missed her jump and plummeted several feet down. Capsule groaned a little and rolled over onto her side. There was nothing but rock in all directions, punctuated by small puddles of water or what appeared to be bone fragments and other junk. She had a feeling that climbing back up to where she once was would be difficult, but at least the spiders were fully juked and remained above, though the thought of one crashing down and pulling her into a deathly embrace was horrifying. 'Thank goodness for this armor.' Yeah, right. It was hardly enough against those oversized arachnids.

Capsule patted herself down as she rolled over onto her knees, afraid of what she would hear if she were to toggle on Tongue of Nature, or what she would see if she dared to look up. "No need to fret," a low pitched voice with a neutral tone to it whispered. It almost made Capsule jump straight into the air, which may have drawn the attention of the spiders. "Easy! They usually don't come down here until they need to or are looking for scraps. Just don't make any sudden movements or noise, and you'll be fine."

After taking two deep breaths, the redhead turned her head towards the direction of the speaker, and found herself looking into the eyes of a blue eyed youth with a crop of short, green hair. The person - whether male or female, the Enchanter could not tell, was kneeling a short distance away. Their in-game name appeared to be "Noodle," and they were a level twenty two Bard. Noodle appeared to be in his or her teens, though avatars were deceptive like that. Capsule could have wasted previous time by asking questions, but she wanted to get out of here before a horde of spiders came tumbling down.

The stranger flashed her a lopsided grin, exposing a set of dimples. "I've been through these caverns tons of times. If you want to get out, you'll have to trust me, alright?"

Whoever they were, Capsule would do well to follow them - for now. "Thanks… I guess?" She was more than likely being used for her level, and if this little pipsqueak did in fact know their way around, the higher levelled player might find herself abandoned if she said or did the wrong thing. "Um, here." She sent the person a party request as a show of good faith.

Noodle's eyes momentarily lit up before they accepted the invite, and slowly rose to a crouching position. This green haired Bard was a lot taller than they let on, but not much taller than Capsule. "Alright! Follow me, through the shaft of eternal darkness!" The youth bounded off with light footsteps, near a low hanging hole in a wall that was a good ten or twelve feet away.

coded by benetnasch of ET

[Capsule]

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∝:
719

♪ ♫♪:
Don't Move

✏:
__

@:
Capsule

Getting into the hole required the Bard and Enchanter to stoop and practically crab walk through. 'Curse these long legs of mine,' Capsule thought as she made her way through the shaft the hole led to. Once she was in, the entrance gradually expanded until she was able to stand at full height. This part of the cavern was surprisingly spacious. She stepped further into the passage, cautiously feeling about with her fingertips, in anticipation of stepping into a hidden trap or walking into a spider lying in wait. Five minutes of walking and she encountered nothing, aside from her newfound guide.

Eventually the two of them came to what looked to be a large pool of water, with not much else, not even a trail of stepping stones to cross it. Were they expected to swim across this? Was there a tunnel hidden under the water - a part of the cavern that was flooded ages ago? Capsule looked doubtfully to her party member. "Are you sure that this is the right way…?"

Noodle just smirked and tipped their head towards the water's smooth service. "Of course I'm sure! This used to be just a regular room, you know - but then years of collected rainwater from one of the many holes from above filled up the deep hollow over there. There's still a tunnel - a rather tight one but a tunnel nonetheless. You've just got to swim on through! You can swim, can't you?" The look on the youth's face said it pretty well: "What kind of a fool cannot swim??

"Of course I can swim! I even had a wetsuit made just for swimming, you know!" It was true. Kumori, Caerbannog's brother - friend thing was the tailor responsible for her new digs. She had had little use for her wetsuit yet, though, having not taken the time to visit the new beach area. "And you? Can you swim?"

"Ha! Can I?!" Without warning, the Bard leapt - fully dressed - into the water. The sound of light splashing followed. Noodle was now floating in the water, doing a lazy backstroke and softly chuckling. "Are you going to stand around all night, or are you going to join me?"

Capsule quickly switched out her current armor for Freezepop, her armored wetsuit with the dorsal fin of a shark attached to the back. It was designed for some light pranking and water combat, neither of which she had yet to taken advantage of - until now, anyway. It also came with a movement speed boost, an ideal asset for underwater activities. She was no fisherman, after all.

A second splash followed the first as Capsule jumped into the water. Her bare feet, hands and face tingled as the cold seeped into the exposed flesh, but the temperature throughout the rest of her body remained consistent. Wetsuits were designed for this purpose, and hers served her quite well. In the water, the Enchanter zipped around the Bard with the ease of a fish. It was her turn to smirk now, and with a little bob of her head, Capsule dipped underwater and streaked through the tunnel hidden beneath the cool oasis.

This area of the body of water that was noticeably darker than the rest, prompting Capsule to summon her Magic Light to guide them the rest of the way through. The small orb of light shined ominously underwater, casting an eerie glow around them. This tunnel turned out to connect the previous pool of water to another, one much shallower and in a part of the cavern where there were lit torches. It was very convenient.

Capsule, too busy sightseeing and getting a grasp on her new surroundings, was outmatched by Noodle. The Bard was already waiting for her when she vacated the cool waters, the light not doing much to reveal the other person's sex. Their face was boyish with soft features, the eyes wide and full of curiosity. There was nothing of interest about their figure; slim and tall, with nary a sign of hips or budding breasts. This was a person who had either yet to undergo puberty, or was still in the very early stages.

The young teenager gave a quick jerk of their head, before scrambling off into the passage beyond.

coded by benetnasch of ET

[Capsule]

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[attr="class","benetbar"]

∝:
500

♪ ♫♪:
Don't Move

✏:
__

@:
Capsule

They didn't go very far before running into their next obstacle, or rather, the first one. The path they were following led to a dead end, with a mass of jagged rocks and stalagmites of varying shapes and sizes. Far up above was a dark hole, which she assumed was their destination. "How are we supposed to get up there, exactly?"

"By jumping, of course!" Noodle's high voice came from above, on a crooked stalagmite several feet above Capsule's head.

"How did you…?" She gave a little shake of her head before observing the mass of rocks before her. There should be at least one on the bottom she should be able to hop onto with ease, with or without her knowledge of parkour. Sure enough, after a few seconds of searching, she found one - a stubby little stalagmite.

Capsule scrambled up this one, slowly getting a grasp on how this puzzle was to go. There was a pattern once you noticed it - a sort of path of rocks one needed to traverse to reach the top. Some of it was obvious and simple, like the path to Noodle's stalagmite. The rest were… quite tricky to figure out. At one point, she was expected to jump from stalagmite to another, which was placed too far for her to think possible, but somehow Noodle managed.

When Capsule tried, she failed and fell to the bottom, dropping her health by five percent when she landed on the jagged rocks below. This happened two more times, putting her health down by another ten percent. Noodle called down words of encouragement, which did help to strengthen the woman's resolve. The third time was the charm. She resorted to using the speed boost provided to her by Freezepop to widen her jump and carry her safely onto the stalagmite top, landing beside Noodle.

The thump on her back from her little guide almost knocked her off, though. "Well done, Cap! It usually takes newbies longer to get across that little hump. Lucky for you, that was one of the hard parts."

That was the hard part? It seemed like there should be something more frustrating. And why was Noodle treating this like some big game? At any rate, the rest of the way up might be easier. Part of the path to the top was, at least. There were one or two missteps that caused her to fall back onto the previous ledge, but beyond that it was simple enough.

She was so wrong to think that that little jumping puzzle (as Noodle had called it) was the "easy" part, however, and realized this with a sinking stomach when they entered the hole and saw the next challenge that awaited them. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Capsule bit back a groan of frustration.

Noodle gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. "It's not as bad as it looks, I promise. Just stay close to me and do as I do."

coded by benetnasch of ET

[Capsule]

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[attr="class","benetbar"]

∝:
705

♪ ♫♪:
Don't Move

✏:
__

@:
Capsule

Before them was a larger area, with a series of oversized, asymmetrical stalagmites sticking up high from the ground below. A row of smaller stalagmites stood to the side, forming a series of "steps" that led to the platform where they were standing. The sounds of light snarling and shrieks could be heard below and above them - Cavern Bats and Cavern Spiders. This was what made Capsule nervous.

It would be a very simple process without the monsters, annoying, yes, but not much to worry about, aside from possible fall damage. There were even steps for them to make their way back onto the platform and restart. The monsters changed everything, though, and there were more than a few of them, from the sounds of things. They were docile for now, but if someone were to fall down there, they would be swarmed in an instant, with little hope for making it to the safety of the platform.

Her pessimism must have shown on her face, as she received a hard nudge and a frown from her companion. "Hey now. Didn't I just say everything would be fine? Trust me - I've done this plenty of times, and I've never fell. If you follow me, you won't, either."

Before Capsule could respond, Noodle was jumping onto one stalagmite, and then another, before pausing on a third. The movements were done with such ease and grace that spoke of a highly acrobatic skill. This was surely a fellow practitioner of parkour, and a much better one at that. Noodle made a come hither gesture from their perch.

If Noodle could do this, then why not Capsule? She would just have to rely on her own acrobatic skills and hope for the best. And rely on it, she did. After her first safe landing, she was able to gauge the distance of each stalagmite near her. These were all spaced rather far apart, too far for the average player lacking the skill to reach. Were these so called jumping puzzles just for people like them, then? Or were there others that were less strenuous? Either way, she was glad that she had ran into Noodle.

"Capsule! You can do it!"

With further encouragement from Noodle, Capsule sprang forward with the aid of her abilities and movement speed increase, crossing the stretch between the two stalagmites to land onto the other. She did this with the second and third, though she almost overshot it. Noodle seized her by the arm before she could fall into the blackness below. They still had a ways to go.

There were six or five more stalagmites in between them and freedom. The sounds from the monsters below grew as the two players crossed two more stalagmites. Then came the sound of what was possibly fighting amongst the spiders and bats. A bat cried out as it was slammed into the wall of the cavern, followed by the sounds of its allies ripping and tearing at its attacker. The Bard and Enchanter could not see any of this, as the bottom was too dark, but the sounds were bouncing back and force throughout the chamber.

Capsule took a risk and jumped onto the next spiral before Noodle, who seemed amused by this. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

The last three spirals were just as easy, though they both paused on the third. There was a larger space to cross here, one that even Noodle paused in front of before leaping. The little green haired teen rolled upon landing onto the platform, after which one hand was raised, and a thumb jerked up in the air.

She had done this several times - not over a pit of spiders, but onto soft grass or cool concrete while fooling around or escaping trouble. A sorrowful whine filled the air the second she jumped. It almost messed with her concentration, but Capsule redirected her focus back to the task at hand, twisting her body around like a cat to break her fall. She rolled upon impact, coming to a stop at Noodle's feet.

"Ok, now the hard part is over~."

Capsule was well within her rights to remain skeptical. "Are you sure this time?"

coded by benetnasch of ET

[Capsule]

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[attr="class","benetbar"]

∝:
602

♪ ♫♪:
Don't Move

✏:
__

@:
Capsule

"Of course I'm sure! It's just...been a while, ehehe...I've been playing in the harder puzzles more than this one. It's pretty easy, ya know."

If this was one of the "easy" puzzles, Capsule could only imagine how horrifying the hard ones were. Surely many a player had fallen to their deaths to the spiders, or been picked off by the bats in the previous chamber. 'And I can only imagine it gets worse…' Noodle did warn her about hidden traps.

"Noodle, how much further do we have to go?"

The teen shrugged, not turning looking away from the narrow path in front of them. "It can be cleared in fifteen to twenty minutes, if you know what you're doing."

"This isn't very encouraging, Noo - watch out!" Capsule had learned long ago to never question her instincts. They had saved her many a time over the years, and even prevailed in this world. Without them, she would not have interfered to help save Noodle's (infinite) life.

"Hey, what are you-" Noodle fell silent as a row of spikes erupted from the ground. "Holy smokes! I thought those were further down…" Spike traps? This truly was the booby trapped room of an MMORPG.

"You thought?! You didn't know?!"

"Like I said. It's been a while."

Things indeed grew worse from there. There were several more spike traps, but these did not come from the same direction as the first. No, one shot up from the floor, others from right or left, and one that did all four directions in a pattern that required some observation and quick movements. The spaces between the traps were only big enough for one person at a time to stand in. A feeling of dread settled into the pit of Capsule's stomach as the number of traps grew.

Eight more traps and a health decrease from Noodle later, and they were finally free from the spike traps. Their next destination was a thin shelf of rock, that sat above a black abyss. More ominous sounds drifted up from below. "Sounds like more spiders… or maybe even Ravager Centipedes. They'll finish you off if the fall doesn't."

Yes, that's what anyone would want to hear while they braved this tiny shelf of rock. Capsule placed her back to the rocky cavern wall, oddly smooth in some places. It was as if the backs of numerous players smoothed it out overtime. The expanse of shelf extended beyond what she was comfortable with. They were forced to inch by at a slow rate, dragging on for what felt like the longest minutes of her life.

At one point, Capsule lightly placed a hand on Noodle's shoulder in warning. Perhaps it was Fiver's doing, but she seemed especially sensitive to her instincts today. She was so used to the rabbit butting in and warning her, that maybe even now he aided her from his slot. The thing Capsule warned Noodle of this time was another dreaded spike trap, which went as fast it came. It was like the previous spike traps, though its presence here was even more unnerving.

This obstacle was also overcome, but caused the two of them to hold their breaths in anticipation for another trap. Their withheld breath burst out simultaneously, once they were safely on a wider ledge.

"You're a bloody great help for these, you know that? I swear you saved my life back there."

Capsule dismissed the gratitude with a wave of her hand. "Thank me when we get out of here. I won't feel truly safe until I can see the night sky again."

coded by benetnasch of ET

[Capsule]

[newclass=.benetbar]background-color:#050505; border: 2px solid #050505; border-radius: 5px; overflow: hidden; width: 150px; height:6px;[/newclass]

[attr="class","benetbar"]

[newclass=.benetbar]background-color:#050505; border: 2px solid #050505; border-radius: 5px; overflow: hidden; width: 150px; height:6px;[/newclass]

[attr="class","benetbar"]

∝:
730

♪ ♫♪:
Don't Move

✏:
-Fin-

@:
Capsule

'Good grief, how much more torture do I have to endure?' Despite all of her internal complaints, they were actually having better luck at the moment. After making it on the ledge, they had to go into another hole, this one as restricting as the entrance tunnel. It made her feel claustrophobic, but there were no signs of danger within. She had failed to detect any further traps or even monsters during the five minutes they crept through it.

The small tunnel opened into an area that was hardly any bigger, but proved to be just as safe - at least on mere observation. It was also brighter here, what with two lit torches placed near the entrances. Noodle was back to being his or enthusiastic self. "Ok, this area I remember for sure - we're almost scot free! This is the easiest part, I swear."

"Again. As soon as I can see the night sky."

"Oh calm down, you big baby. It wasn't all that bad, now was it?"

"Wasn't all that bad? I beg to differ…" She wasn't about to get into this now, however. This was time well spent finding their way out of this hellhole. She made Noodle wait while she scanned the small chamber for any signs of monsters or faint outlines in the rock that could be hiding all sorts of dangerous traps. Once again, she failed to detect anything, which was all good and well. "Ok, lead the way."

There was a confident bounce in Noodle's steps as they vacated the room to enter another. This one posed no immediate threat as well, the only sounds available being the dripping of moisture from stalactites. The room here was similar to an earlier one, minus the prowling mobs or height, with a watery floor. A smooth bed of rock curved from the top of the platform to the bottom, a slick step for those who needed to make their way back up. The opposite platform did not offer this luxury.

Noodle went first, now humming quietly to her/himself. The teen made it over to the other side with ease. Capsule followed, though found the tops of the stalagmites slippery. She toppled into the water once, but did not make that same mistake on her second try.

"That was...really easy. And actually kind of fun, even if I did slip and fall." She paused for a moment to squeeze the moisture from where her hair hung longest - the front and sides. Noodle opted for a less sophisticated method - the wet dog shake. "...You really are a kid, huh?"

"And proud of it," Noodle responded with a grin. The teen danced around in a circle, hands clasped behind his/her back. They were in another tunnel, but this one felt like it was sloping upwards.

"Noodle… Can I ask you something?"

"You just did~," came the teen's cheeky reply.

"How did you find out about these jumping puzzles?" Now that they were largely out of danger, Capsule felt safe to chatter away.

"Well, there were rumored to be some included in the expansion before it was released, and even then there are always players willing to invent some - as in explore and find the most dangerous landscapes to traverse. It's really fun for the thrill seekers, you know?"

"I see… It sounds kind of dangerous, but then I do virtually the same - or did - in the real world. Sometimes here, too, since we can't die and injuries can be healed rather swiftly." She missed her brothers and the shenanigans they got up to. Perhaps she could make friends with Noodle? 'Yeah, right…' Making friends was difficult, but the two of them did share a common interest now.

Noodle stopped suddenly, to point excitedly at the space in front of them. "Look! See that light? It's not torchlight."

A sense of relief began to tickle Capsule's insides. Noodle was right - the light was pale, not the fire orange they'd seen from torches. "Let's get the heck out of here." Still in her slowly drying wetsuit and bare feet, Capsule raced Noodle to the exit, where the sounds of slapping feet was muffled by soft grass and dirt. The bare patches of the skin on her hands, feet and face were now being gently kissed by the cool night air. She was free.

coded by benetnasch of ET