[S] Homebound

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

The sun was beginning to rise on the distant horizon, the orange glow of the creeping object starting to wake the planet, and it did so right in the nick of time; it was dark as all hell and the only other source of light was on the ground sixty feet away from where the lone Adventurer stood. That light was a small fire pit which had been abandoned due to the sudden assault by an unfriendly bunch of insecticide-like ruffians. With his blades raised, the player defended himself from a massive, oversized creature which could only be described at the bastard child of Satan. It was in the shape of a centipede, long and slender, but its fangs were that of a spider’s and its legs were much closer to blades than actual limbs. It had a bite which would be fatal because of the amount of paralysis power the venom had, and the sixteen dagger-like bone limbs would easily shred anything into pieces. What made things worse was not that the beast was big, but because it wasn’t even the strongest thing in the damned forest. That single thought was frightening, and made the Adventurer want to end the battle even more. If another beast were to get wind of the fight, things could get touchy.

This beast was only level twenty and was quite weak compared to the level thirty, forty, and even level fifty creatures in the nearby territory, but it was a menacing thing none the less because of its armament. The first time the player had encountered the being; he nearly stuffed his tail between his legs and ran to the other side of the planet out of surprise and fear. It was massive and looked as if it could be a field boss, which would make any sane player on his or her own run the opposite direction. However, after duking it out with a few of the monsters, the man discovered that the type of creature had an intelligence which was quite lacking, and its attacks were fairly slow most of the time, but very powerful. But, a player did have to watch out as it could cast a secret spell on itself to increase its attack speed. All of this created a devious monster which could be designated as a brawler-class and one which would give problems for almost all Adventurer builds. Though, for a person like the Assassin fighting these things was an experience feast. With quick wits, even faster feet, and a ready mind; a man like Saber would turn the Nocturnal Centipede into nothing but chunks of dead flesh. In turn, he could essentially farm the beast for high gains of experience and some really good items if he was lucky. He wasn’t.

Unlike many other things he had faced, Saber only had to take a basic stance against this creature and held his blades down by his side, both of them pointing straight towards the centipede while coming together at the tips. He staggered his feet for a stable base, tightened his abdomen as he prepared to both attack and defend, and focused his eyes on the creature’s head as to watch its eyes. The ten red suns which shimmered there dissected Saber’s being hungrily, and the monster most likely was attempting to find some sort of hole in the player’s defenses. It was futile at first, as Saber had been easily avoiding taking any form of damage up to the current point even under the circumstances of being outnumbered six-to-one. A man with the ideals of survival first was a worthy opponent of the creature; and killing him would be a daunting task seeing as he had eradicated five other similar beasts without breaking a sweat so far. The masked player, on the other hand, would have no such thing occur. Death was not an option for him; not out here. And not anywhere, really.

After leaving Sarum in his frantic display, Saber escaped the world he once knew and immediately ventured east, far east, as far as he could go and never stopped walking for anything or anyone. He climbed mountains, scaled cliffs, waded through rivers, navigated forests, and found a handful of small towns along his staggered route where he could rest his weary soul. He found dungeons and caves filled with nightmares and demons of which he had both challenged and ran from. He had even found paradise at one point, but left promptly after discovering an underlying secret. He came across all kinds of People of the Land, some kind, some unfriendly, and one group had actually turned out to be cannibals (not the utopian group, but another). There were fanatics, drug addicts, farmers, rebels, stray soldiers, abandoned refugees, lost souls, and even escaped felons from some of the larger cities that were around the land. Saber came in contact with all kinds of people just trying to get by in the world known as Elder Tale, and he had heard many stories.

Sometimes, Saber was the first adventurer to ever come by the village. At others, he had just missed another group by a short time period; which was good as it showed that there were some curious players. The hooded man was even thought to have been a god by one group of people. Sadly, he was nowhere close to such a holy level; he was closer to being Lucifer than being an Angel. Though, he wasn’t even that. He was just a simple man trying to soothe the pain within his mind and find some sort of answers to the many questions he had. Saber also was searching for a relief to his anger, sadness, anxiety, and the worthless feeling which hung over his head like a black shroud.

: Word Count :
970

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

Yes, after his battle in Sarum, Saber was effectively broken mentally. His mind crumbled and taunted him for days, mocking him with voices, memories, nightmares, and it had seriously affected his health. He wandered aimlessly across the meadows of the virtual English land and blacked out often, causing him to essentially decline into almost a vegetable state. He didn’t know where he was going after a few days of traveling and rarely knew why he was in some places. His memories had become spotty to say the least and there was a point where he thought himself a stranger. Keeping track of the days had become difficult and nearly impossible at times as his menu was being tampered with by some foreign soul. All in all his life was a mess, but there was one thing that he could rely on; his will to survive. That was all he could trust because through it all, his fighting skills had only increased in potency. Even as he was on the verge of mental death, his physical body continued to do what it did best and kept him out of an even more desperate state.

His blades were still sharp, and his mind was still capable of pulling the trigger, making combat almost a safe haven for the poor soul. Whether it was him doing the killing or whatever else was in his mind didn’t matter either. What mattered was that Saber could still pick himself up off the floor whenever he came back to life and that he could still focus on trying to do whatever he had gone out to do. The objective of his separation was almost erased after about a week of the strange life he lived, but then Saber remembered London. That city, glowing in the distance every evening, reminded Saber that he was in the position of loneliness because he had a problem. There was something in his mind that troubled him, and it threatened those whom he cared about because of its thirst for blood. Rather than drag others into his pathetic life, Saber fled. Now, that other being was the least of his worries.

So, he kept that reminiscent feeling close. If nothing else, that was all he kept. Everything else was fading at an astounding rate. It was at the point where Saber didn’t even know what he was losing. However, every night when he saw the glowing city, he was reminded briefly of his past. And every night, his heart yearned to return to it. Saber missed the days of where he could simply run about London without a single care in the world and fight practically everything in sight without worrying about a consequence. He missed the days where he met new, friendly faces everywhere he went and could go on to enjoy various adventures with them. Saber missed all of it. He didn’t have any precious mementos of those days or anything from the people he had played with before, but that was okay. If he did have any of those items, he could bet that it would have been lost somewhere along the way. Plus, it probably would have been useless. No one had really attempted to get too close to him before and, well, Saber had not tried to do the same. He played it safe when it came to opening his heart to anyone and kept his distance from fellow players as much as possible. Sure, he gave his aid to people and helped out around the town, but only when it was necessary to keep someone alive or when it was convenient for him. Still, it would have been nice to be able to sit down at night with a few fellows and chat about the day. Without having any of that, Saber didn’t really have any memories to latch on to. Maybe that was why they were just… disappearing…

“Next time.” He would always tell himself, or “There will always be someone else.” But what if there wasn’t? What if Saber never found anyone he could call a true friend in this world? That outcome really seemed to be the case now, as he was standing all alone in the darkness of a mountainside, facing off with the sixth massive creature of the night without even Mother Nature to help him. He didn’t know where he was, how he had got to the place he was standing in, and didn’t know how long he had been here. All he knew was that he had been ambushed by these centipede creatures and had initially been trapped inside of a cave about an hour ago. If maybe, just maybe, he had someone with him; it would have been a lot easier… but that wasn’t going to happen. Was it?

: Word Count :
802

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

The Assassin grit his teeth and stepped to his right as one of the massive blade-like arms the Centipede had came down onto his position. With a simple, yet powerful, movement, Saber deflected the Centipede’s limb off to the right where it stabbed itself into the ground. The limb, comprised of pure hard bone, sparked against the metal blade of the player as the two beings stalemated once more. Saber narrowed is eyes on the beast before him, tucked his nose against the cloth mask he wore, and quickly reset his stance as the Centipede replaced the thrown knife-arm with another, and then another, and another. Unlike Saber who was only armed with two blades, the Centipede currently had four ready-weapons at its disposal, and it used them all relentlessly.

“Still fast.” Saber thought to himself as he miscalculated the Centipede’s skill duration. He growled as he knocked one massive bone arm out of his face just in time to intercept another. Then, as two arms came down together, he twisted his weapons to their flat sides and intercepted them above his shoulders, connecting the very tips of the bone blade with the flat sides of his blades. There was a loud and disorienting CLANG which rang through Saber’s ears. The pressure from the hit, the vibrating noise, and the fatigue Saber was feeling caused the man to drop to a knee. His teeth bared and his arms trembled as he barely staved off the strike, but he couldn’t remain still and he knew it. Doing so would essentially have him become food for the creature eyeballing his chaps.

He took a single breath to recover, relaxed his body, and then stomped forward hard with his left foot. At the same time, he thrust his hands upwards; pushing the massive bone-blades back just enough to get his knee off the floor. With his right toes dug in and his left heel pushing down still, Saber stiffened the muscles in his legs and pushed with his core and arms together, shoving the centipede off him. There was a brief moment of separation as the Centipede’s arms were juggled into the air, and the advantage briefly leaned into the Player’s favor. Taking full advantage of it, Saber kicked himself straight back and jettisoned himself out of the pinned position he was in towards a more competitive ground. Just as he got out from under the Centipede’s arms, they crashed into the earth and pierced deep into the strong crust, cracking it from the force. After seeing that, there was no doubt that would have been Saber’s life if he had stayed still.

The Assassin’s feet tapped at the ground a few meters away from the deadly impact point and Saber skipped a few more away, creating a very safe range barrier between himself and the oversized Centipede insect. It stood about ten feet tall and was just about five feet wide, while its length was about thirty feet. Those dimensions made it a formidable and power creature because of how much strength it could put into one swing, but it also made the beast a huge target. To say it would be easy to deal with because of its size was an understatement; Saber had a lot of real estate to play with, while the Centipede only had five-feet, eight inches, and a hundred eighty pounds to strike at. In addition to that, getting the beast stuck in places was quite easy. Like now; due to the power behind its attack, the Centipede had got itself stuck in the floor and was having trouble getting free.

“Gotcha...” As the Centipede yanked its arms out of the ground, it reeled back slightly because of it having to pull extremely hard to get its limbs free from the holes they had created. In that same moment, Saber lounged forward and made the several meter distance into only a few inches. Before the centipede could strike, those inches were filled with angry metal. One… two, four, eight ten fifteen twenty thirty slash marks coated the Centipede’s underbelly as Saber shredded its flesh like a machine. As if he was painting on the Centipede’s body, he formed multiple red lines and crosses with very powerful strokes, bathing his oversized canvas in blood. The massive creature howled and clicked its fangs in turmoil as it began to move back, wiggling its arms as it tried to get a good angle on Saber’s position.

It was a futile attempt as Saber kept himself too close for the Centipede to reach; its joints simply could not flex the bone blades downwards enough even when it leaned back. Each stab was too far off, whiffed, or easily dodged as Saber unleashed his own relentless barrage without any intent of stopping. Saying that the fight was over would be true, as the result was inevitable now. Saber created an opening and removed every possibility of the Centipede being able to defend itself, but that wasn’t enough for him. Simply killing the creature would not satisfy the Assassin; he needed to assert his dominance over the beast to show that even the thought of crossing his path was fatal. Correcting this beast was necessary.

With one more heavy slash, Saber tore into the Centipede’s abdomen and watched as blood flooded out from the open gash; he struck a dam. As to avoid the rush of liquid, Saber dove to his left and rolled out of the way. The Centipede wiggled and shrieked in agonizing pain. It began to curl up and switched from trying to stop Saber to trying to prolong its life; pathetic. After fighting so strongly, the beast was now reeling in pain and back stepping even when Saber wasn’t moving. Saber sucked his teeth at the sight and flipped his blades into a reverse grip. Holding their hilts firmly, he sprinted directly at the Centipede. Stepping right, he avoided a weak stab from the creature. Slicing left, he knocked another throw out of his face. Then he kicked dirt and elevated himself over a pincer attack from the lower two limbs. However, Saber didn’t simply hop out of the way; he jumped to an extreme height and lifted his body all the way up and over the Centipede’s head, and just out of reach of its snapping fangs. It tried to bite at him, but the cut in its stomach only tore open wider because of the motion, restricting that movement.

And so, Saber dropped down behind the Centipede’s head fairly easily. While he fell, he stabbed his blades into the creature’s back and carved two lines into its back, causing blood to leak out of the wounds and onto the battlefield. Touching down, he landed on the Centipede’s lower back. There, he stabbed both of his blades into the creature, boring their entire lengths into it. The Centipede lifted its head up high and forced Saber to brace as he hung on for the ride. The massive bug creature howled out into the early dawn and begged for mercy with its clicking fangs. A mix of green and black blood sprayed out from all over its body and its health bar plummeted as Saber tore it apart. However just before it perished, there was one more thing Saber needed to do.

Saber ripped his blades free, cutting straight downwards and away from his own body to increase the damage output of the brutal stabs. Now that his weapons were free once more, he jumped straight up into the air again and landed directly on the Centipede’s head. Instantly, all ten eyes turned and became affixed on his position as the oversized bug took noticed of the demon on its face. The Assassin didn’t even blink as the creature tried to bite at him, as his own bite was much worse. With simultaneous swings, he amputated both of the Centipede’s massive, muscular fangs. Useless poison began to drip out of the bloody mess where the left fang use to be attached and some of it dripped into the Centipede’s own mouth. It whimpered and gurgled as the poison mixed with blood which had begun to collect in its maw, still begging for life as it clung with everything it had. Too bad.

“You shouldn’t have even tried…” Saber muttered to the beast before he stepped off the front of its head. As he fell, once again he stabbed his weapons into the monster’s fleshy underbelly and gouged two bloody gashes open. As he hit the ground and pulled his blades free, the Centipede let out a final, unheeded prayer and wiggled its once mighty arms at the sky as it clawed at the invisible stairway. Saber sheathed his swords and strolled away from the beast as it was denied access and flopped over onto its side; dead. The Assassin pulled his mask down and spit on the ground to his right, getting rid of a bad taste in his mouth before covering his identity up again. He had been attacked by a small gang, and they hadn’t even been able to scratch him. Pathetic beasts.

: Word Count :
1526

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

The mountainside became quiet again, as the small war between the six oversized insects and Saber had drawn an expected conclusion, and that battle had been far too short. Sure, Saber was glad that the fighting was over and that he was able to put his mind at ease for the moment, but it had allowed him to put everything else aside. Now he was back to his own devices and there was nothing to distract him. At the moment, being left to such things was difficult and quite painful for him to do. He was homesick beyond belief and well; he just missed London. He missed the happy vibe the city had and missed the warm air. He missed sleeping in a familiar bed every night, and missed being able to eat good food whenever he wanted. The air in the wilderness was cold, stale, and unfriendly. Inns at various villages and towns weren’t always kept up and highwaymen liked to linger around them. Essentially; London was a safe haven that many people took advantage of, and Saber missed it.

Stepping through a clearing he had scouted during his battle, Saber walked out of the forest to a slight protrusion on the mountain side. From there, he could see in to the valley below and the rolling hills beyond. There were scattered towns, lights, and the morning sun revealed many oversized nocturnal beasts returning to their caves to rest their hungry souls. Saber grimaced at the sight, but his eyes weren’t searching for things to fight. They looked to the West and just beyond twelve miles out was a small bump in the hills; a clock face. London. A pain ripped through Saber’s heart for a moment as he stared out towards the aged Big Ben and he clenched his fists, his left hand squeezing the hilt of that sword he rested it on.

“Am I really such an outcast that I can’t even go home anymore?” Saber whispered to himself, speaking to the invisible ghosts which lingered around him. He spoke to the souls which had latched themselves onto him during his travels, and spoke to the demon that lurked beyond his mind’s reach. Most of all; he spoke to all of the people who had most likely forgotten him. They couldn’t hear him or see him, but he remembered a few fuzzy faces. Their names? Long forgotten.

“You reap what you sow, ey?” Saber sighed and closed his eyes, turning his face to the East towards the sun to see its morning glory. It gave off a warm, glowing orange color which embraced him like a loving mother holds her children. It didn’t have the arms like Saber’s Mom did, but it was the only true embrace he had ever since he decided to leave home for college those few years ago. All the others after from the friends he made in college, and even some of the people he met here, were empty compared to the hug made of pure love. No wonder Saber felt so cold now, even when he was so warm…

“What…?” Saber felt a drop of water soak into his mask, and then he realized something… was he… crying?

“God dammit.” He spat, shutting his eyes again as he inhaled deep. His left hand clutched his sword even more firmly and he eased his mind by controlling his breathing. Living wasn’t supposed to be this hard. Playing a game wasn’t supposed to be this saddening, and being alone used to bring Saber so much joy. So why was he crying? Why were there tears on his face? Was it because he was fed up with being alone? Was it because he missed his Mother, his friends, and just his real life in general? Or was it something else? Maybe it was because he was tired of being who he was, or tired of trying to be someone he wasn’t.

Saber was no hero, he was no soldier. He was a simple boy who grew up under the roof of a real man. He grew up in the shadow of a true man who could hold himself in every situation, and he lived under the impression that his father was impenetrable. Yet, if that was true, why was Saber feeling so weak now? After all he had accomplished and what he had done… why did it seem to futile? He couldn’t shake the feeling that everything up till now was a waste of him time, that his precious life had been used up for foolish reasons. It hurt. It hurt so much… but then he remembered one sight, one that had made him so confused for days.

He remembered seeing his mother hold his father’s head against her chest and embrace him. He had been shaking, quivering. It was as if the entire world was on the verge of causing him to break. Saber had thought it was strange for such a strong man to show that weak side of himself, but maybe that was what his Mother was there for. She was there not just to keep Saber in line and make sure he was cared for, but she was there to make sure his father was okay as well…

“Well shit…” Saber began to chuckle to himself and smiled. He opened his eyes and stared up at the clouds above his head.

“…Looks like I was the idiot, as usual.” He whispered as he felt the tears continue to fall off his face. It was like the dam he had built up was being torn down, and he didn’t exactly try fighting it anymore. Instead he let the waters run and took in the morning air. He let go of his regrets, let go of his guilt, and let go of his pain. The burden he carried with him slid off his shoulders and with each breath, Saber pried open the iron maiden of a shell he had forged around his soul. He didn’t know how long it had been since he left London, but it was long enough.

Ping…

: Word Count :
1019

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

“Huh?” The familiar notification caught Saber’s attention and he looked down as he opened up his menu. Within seconds he had his inbox open and found himself staring at the only message inside. Saber didn’t know when he emptied his friend’s list or his message box, but everything had been clean for some time now. Due to that, Saber had forgotten many of the names of people he knew. Though, the message he had received was from an unknown name. No matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t put his finger on who it was. Still, he opened the message; it was titled “Invitation”.

…

“Well… I’ll be damned…” It truly had been a long time, hadn’t it?

The message was an invitation to a wedding ceremony, and the contents described that Saber had been asked to make an appearance. Who was the wedding between? The female player known as Caerbannog and the man, Kumori. So, Caer was getting married huh? It was good to know that she was still active, and just seeing her name brought a smile to the Assassin’s face. Though, it didn’t last as he looked at the date and the time. At some point, Saber had disabled all ways of keeping track of time and tried to just live day to day. Due to this, it was still off so he had to dig through the menu in order to turn it back on. When he did, he frowned. He had only two days to get back to London if he wanted to make it in time, and it had taken him much longer to get to where he was now.

Looking up towards London and away from his menu, Saber let his hovering left hand fall to his waist again. He had missed much, and he was about to miss a very important day wasn’t he? Well, it didn’t matter. Saber was probably a ghost to those people or just someone they used to know. His significance in that city was minimal in the first place so he doubted missing one more thing wouldn’t make a difference. Hell, he bet that the only reason he got the invitation was because someone forgot to remove him from his list, or just forgot he was on it.

“Two days…” Saber whispered to himself, his eyes turning east towards the sun. If he sprinted for two full days and nights, he might be able to make it if he started now. It might be just in time for the event, but he could do it. As he looked back to the east, he created a path in his mind. It would cut straight through a small swamp, through two little villages, and across multiple hills and meadows. There was no doubt in Saber’s mind that it would be difficult because of the monsters as well, but he knew that the closer he got to London, the closer the monsters would become.

With a wave, Saber dismissed his menu and sighed. He turned away from London and pushed his lips together as his eyes looked down. It wasn’t worth it. Caer had moved on and most likely had forgotten him. There was no one in the town that he had any relation to and there were no bridges he needed to worry about. So, he left the cliff face and began to walk back towards the small mountain pass. He didn’t make it ten feet before stopping again, however. He looked up, stared at the pass, and blinked a few times. Should he go through that pass, there was no doubt that Saber would indeed leave London behind. Beyond that pass was a completely new part of Elder Tale, one which he had not seen before. He didn’t know if there would be more Adventurers, and he did not know how long it would be until he would be able to rest again. In addition, he had no idea if he would even be able to return to London again at all…

Looking over his shoulder, Saber gazed out to the edge of the mountain he had just walked away from. His broken memory pulled together a few memories of his past and reminded him of what could be waiting. Rather than uncertainty, London would provide him with safety and would welcome him back with open arms. Outcast or not, he would be able to walk through its gates without worrying about who he left behind or why he left in the first place… That was when his mind was set; if it was enough to make him stop, it was worth the pain, it was worth the risk, and it was worth his life.

“It’s time to go home.” Saber grit his teeth and turned away from the mountain pass. His feet kicked at the stony floor and he quickly approached the mountain cliff. Without hesitation…

…he jumped.

: Word Count :
823

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M