* * * THE WORLD: DUN LOIREAG * * *
Stepping out of the ascending golden rings, Arinyes boldly headed off into the blasting wind that was omniprescent upon the high peaks of the capitol city of theta server. Feeling refreshed already after the madness in Mac Anu, she took a deep breath of fresh alpine air and slowly let it out.
With all the rushing about, and kissing on one bridge in twilight Mac Anu, a rare sight to be sure, she had gone off and wandered the streets in a daze, not quite yet ready to take to bed. Needing to clear her head, it had seemed to her this was a good place to go to blow away that stuffy feeling in her skull.
So far she hadn’t been wrong, the crispy chill doing wonders. Not that there was something to be said against the comfortable warmth of the aqua capitol, but mountains… they had their charm every now and then. And though cold wasn’t her on her top list of likes – it rather was at the top of absolute hates – storms were. And if there was anything to be found high up in the mountains, at the peaks with nothing but air all around, it was fierce gusts.
What it was that fascinated her so much about them and made her feel so alive when stuck in one, she didn’t really know. Her guess was that it was the sheer chaos of it, like rain. The ever changing and even fickle sound of drops hitting the ground, just like the wind’s dance around her body, stroking her cheeks, howling in her ears, pulling at her clothes and sometimes ripping the heat straight from her body. Yet, the top of it was the thunderstorm. Flashes of light as arcs of static energy crested the skies, crackling and exploding with loud booms that cascaded across the heavens while rain got tossed about by furious winds.
Just standing in one was pure orgasm.
With her head cleared a little, she swung her staff across her back and headed off, heading for the nearest bridge and just enjoying the scenery. Watching people milling about just like they did in Mac Anu, the more notable things was the array of weapons that were carried around here, though when it came to wardrobes, they were no different from the lower level crowds. In fact, the only thing that was different was the scenery. Why does it trouble me so? Arin wondered, at the looks of the crowds not feeling much difference from being in Mac Anu. Just where did experience begin to show?
Her gaze falling to the grunty farm lying on a large plateau that had some buildings along with a pen and a large field beyond it, a thought struck her. Having read sections of the manual, especially the parts she had extensively perused had been the part about pets. Already having had to run in there before, she hadn’t really stopped to look better on the account of having been in a hurry. Whether it was the spinning of a fatigued mind or some sense of deeper purpose, her feet began to carry her with purpose to the shop. And, so she surmised, in the end it didn’t really matter which it was; it would only be game money.
Looking a little lost while entering the store, Arinyes glanced around with a bleak expression. Starting when the owner seemed to materialize right beside her, she nearly took a swing at him, refraining from doing so just short of giving him a firm whack on the head. “Gods, man! Don't do that so shortly after the zombie fest,” she almost wheezed, scowling hard.
The man's expression remaining rather calm, the NPC asked, ”What can I do for you?”
Frowning at the somewhat odd behavior, Arin tilted her head curiously. True enough that the shopkeepers were all programmed sprites with some base interactive subroutines, but just hearing him talk as though she hadn't almost tried to take a swing at him without so much a pause was unsettling in any situation. “Um, well...” For a moment actually forgetting why she had come or even where she was, spotting numerous writhing foods with eyes on shelves, with a door leading to another area, the sign above it stating in eloquent letters 'Baby Grunties', it quickly got back to her. “I came to buy a grunty,” she told, not quite sure what protocols to follow, or even whether the NPC would recognize the meaning of her words.
”Right this way, ma'am,” the shopkeeper told, leading the way to the backroom.
Scratching the back of her head, she gave up on it already and just followed. There were times she was sure that the NPCs were far more than just mere sprites, seeming to have recognition protocols like the bartender in her usual haunt. Most of the shopkeepers responded nice enough to her, eventhough it might well have nothing to do with her being polite and friendly in the first place. It was just... it sometimes felt they were a little kinder towards her than to the usual crowd that would dismiss them as secondary 'things'. And then there were the times that some responded out of place, or perhaps uncommon enough that it seemed hard to be part of their regular programming. Usually it happened when she least expected it, which was what made it so damn hard to put her fingers on it. That on its own held potential for having a grunty, since there would be interaction and learning on both sides. Whether she actually had thought this through properly that was something...
Entering what looked like the stable version of a nursery with small booths holding grunties of differing colors, she was nearly deafened by some considerable noise.
... she definitely hadn't done whatsoever.
Rather perplexed with the situation, she tried to remind herself that she had managed a kindergarten class all on her own for a full week, and that was with four and five year olds not stuck in a box. On top of that, the noise was made by so many, which was always worse than a single one. Just best remember not to take it into the field, she thought. At least for as long as she hadn't managed to train it to be considerate of combat situations. Slowly stepping up to one of the boxes, she looked down at a nest of grunties with purple spots, all of which stopped with whatever game that grunties played to look up at her, wagging their weird little tails while looking up at her. Having gone through the manual to learn more about the different personality types, she pretty much knew the type she was looking for and purple ones weren't them. Moving on to the next and finding only a single one lying around and snoozing, pink spots showing barely through the coat, she for a moment hesitated, before continuing. Making a full circle, she returned to a box with a trio of silver grunty babies, which had looked like... well, something there had sparked her interest.
One of the three was observing her with tilted head, seeming to have difficulty what to make of her. The other two were engaged so to speak, one lying about as far away from the open side without actually lying up against the wall, while the second one was bumping into it and prodding. “Not an easy choice,” Arinyes muttered and for a moment considered to just give up on the idea altogether. Aware that she was still being stared at, she took a deep breath and slowly blew it out, her gaze swiveling between the three. Curious, bothersome and indifferent, the three silver grunties. Neither particularly her choice of character, but something about these three had sparked enough of her interest to pick from these over the four odd boxes that held silver grunties. Well, curiosity she could deal with, she decided after a long time, though she was apprehensive with giving in to that staring. “The hell with it,” she sighed and turned around, looking for the shopkeeper. Finding him gone, she turned around again and leaned on the fence, staring right back at 'curious'. “Well, you had a good look at me. Wanna get out of here with me?” she asked.
”Are you my new mooooh-mey? Quwee.”
Standing with her mouth wide open, Arinyes didn't know what to say to that. Nothing in the manual had referred to any of such calling of roles. On the other hand, it was a baby, so how could you not expect it to call... it was adopting a grunty, wasn't it? Snapping her mouth shut, she smiled lightly. “I could be,” she retorted, deciding she might just as well check and see exactly how intricate the personality routines were, and how well it could process and reason what she said. Nothing more frustrating than finding herself the brand new owner of some dumb pet that hadn't even the slightest shred of ability to comprehend a single thing that even a domestic animal could. It could speak, but if that was the limit of it, she might just as well go out and get herself a Tamagochi™! “When you like what you see, can stand that I will be strict and demanding, and able to understand the meaning of what I say right now.”
Tilting its head the other direction, the grunty stared at her with wide eyes. Just about when she was going to give up on getting a response, it said, ”I understand, moooooh-mey. Quwee!”
Berating whether it actually did, or just somehow managed to piece together two words that in conjunction with each other was the right response by pure chance, Arin guessed she was stuck with it. Either she had gotten something that had some semblance of thinking, or she got a toy that made a convincing semblance. “In that case, come on out and stay close to me,” she told, opening the fence wide enough for it to waggle through. Crying out when she turned from the fence after shutting it again and looking at the grunty, almost standing right on top of the shopkeeper, this time she did give him a hit... with her hand against his chest. “Dammit! Stop doing that!!” she snapped, before reigning in her anger.
”Grunties aren't allowed out of their box, unless they are purchased,” the male NPC told.
Looking up at him, she sighed. “Sorry about that... well, I want to buy him, so...” Slapping down herself, she fished her purse from her sash and shook it to make the coins clatter. “Think that being purchased is close enough?” she asked hopefully of the unflinching man.
”Mooooh-mey?” the grunty asked.
Snapping her gaze to the little pig-like thing, at its current size already comparatively large, she blurted out without really thinking, “What, dear?”
”What is purchase? Quwee.”
“This way, please,” she shopkeeper told, walking over to a counter that she had failed to notice. “That will be 500 gold.”
”Mooooh-mey? Quwee.”
“In a moment,” she told the little thing, motioning for it to follow. At the desk quickly laying out the sum, her eyes fell to the man's hand, holding a quill. Arching a brow, she looked from the hand to a book, and then at the man's face, her heart sinking as it didn't take much for her to comprehend what the next question was, before it was even asked.
“What will you name her?”
Her!? The thought almost roared through her head, but she let it pass quickly. The more immediate concern was the naming bit, which was for her quite the problem. Understanding all too well that with adopting a name was required, she truly hadn't thought of it yet. On top of that, not a great fan of names to start with, she knew it all too likely for her to even forget the grunty's name just like that, unless she could find one that somehow wouldn't slip her mind. Letting her mind dwell on silver, 'Aurum' first came to mind, which didn't seem like a good girl's name. And it was rather cheesy to call it after her color, eventhough Aura wasn't all that bad a name. Glitter? Right, she should shoot herself just for thinking it! Mirage? Where the hell did THAT come from? Gazer... Sounds a lot like LASER! Cloud... Don't even wanna know what that is about. Running a hand through her hairs, Arin truly was at a loss. Having written and read quite a bit, there were names abound, but to find something to truly define and capture the essence of a being in proper name... she didn't even know the grunt enough to have an inkling. Wait! Naming? Namer... do I dare? she asked herself, remembering a character from a book series she did particularly like. But Rhapsody? Looking down at the little critter, she licked her lips and guessed it might prove fitting. It was mostly due to being completely at a loss for anything better that she'd do it, and who knew... maybe she could change the name later, whether or not against payment.
“Rhapsody,” she said finally. “I'll call her Rhapsody.”
Entering the name into the book, the farmer smiled at her. “Thank you for adopting a grunty, miss Arinyes. Please take good care of her. If you experience any difficulties or have questions, feel free to stop by at any time.”
“Thank you, I will,” Arin promised, turning towards the baby grunty. “Come, Rhaps.”
Looking with her big eyes at her, the baby grunty stared curiously.
For a moment having the hope that the strange creature finally was processing it, all hopes were dashed when Rhapsody tilted her head and went, “Ouwee?” Sighing deeply, Arinyes moved off. “That’s you, dear.” Not sure whether the grunty understood or ust followed by default, she kept the door open and watched Rhaps waggle past, shutting the door. Taking in a deep breath of fresh air, with the reawakening of her dazed mind, it shot through her head that the NPC had addressed her as miss Arinyes, eventhough she hadn’t stopped to tell her name. Swinging the door wide open, she met with the curious look of a fattish man in drab clothes, whom she faintly remembered from the last time she had been there. Frowning wide, she shut the door again and stepped back, her heart skipping a few beats when she saw Rhapsody charging off down the bridge. “Rhapsody!!”
Swearing under her breath for having the grunty slip away so quickly, Arin ran after the baby. What the hell was I thinking buying something like that while I’m half asleep from running around for most of the day already? Not a difficult question to answer, really. She hadn’t, and a tired mind made for poor council. Fortunately, for Arinyes the Wavemistress, fatigue did not catch the body, though with the speed set to her character, it helped little in catching up to the runaway grunty.
“Rhaps!” she shouted off the top of her lungs. “Here, girl!” Not surprised to be completely ignored, she took back her initial conclusion. Of all the things, curiosity was the one she was least equipped to handle at present. Apathy would probably suit her best and annoying… well, perhaps curiosity was the middle one of the three, though in a rating of one to ten, apathy had a one, annoyance had a twelve and curiosity a twenty! Managing to gain some ground when Rhapsody came to a halt on the other side of the bridge, she groaned on the inside when Rhaps ran onward, bolting across another walkway. Why was it that I chose silver grunty again? The answer seemed elusive with her mind still pending for a restart of the neurons and getting the conscious processes running. Truly there was something to be said about electronic brains over the organic gray masses, though in computing power organics still won the round, if one could find the means to work objective rather than subjective.
Something about independence seemed to ring in the back of her mind, though it was all a little fuzzy. All the more since she recalled that most grunties tended to do better independently. Sighing full of relief when Rhapsody seemed to have come to a full stop, staring up at a building full of wonder, she slowed down to a walk when she got in close enough. “And just where did you think you were going?” she asked good naturedly, stepping up to the little thing and dropping down beside her.
Jerking around and blinking at her, Rhapsody looked startled.
“Don’t go running off like that. If I don’t notice you being gone, what would happen if you got lost?” Arin asked, feeling rather odd for having this conversation with a cyber pet. All the more since it sounded a lot like something her mother had told her when she had been younger. Her attention drawn to a passing blademaster for a moment leaping over her, she turned back to Rhapsody and blinked at the empty space, before it struck her. Quickly looking around, her heart dropped when she couldn’t immediately find out where the grunty had gone to. Spotting her running after the blademaster, she sighed deeply. “General mood stubborn, wasn’t it?” she muttered, scrambling to her feet in an undignified manner and resuming the chase. “Rhaps! Come back here!”
Losing sight of both Rhapsody and the blademaster when they got into a late night crowd of people gathered for a chat, bursting through she managed to spot the blademaster and came to a screeching halt, running a hand through her hair. What the hell? Cupping her hands around her mouth, Arin took a deep breath and yelled, even without a sliver of hope it was going to get a response, “RHAP-SO-DYYYYYY!!!” Listening at her call cascading into silence, despite the wind, she looked around feeling absolutely lost. This is nuts! It’s not like I actually did any bonding in the first place! she thought furiously, chiding herself on feeling so vehement about something as… yet, she did.
“Are you all right?”
Spinning to a large woman, not waring any discernable weapons, Arinyes blinked.
“Aren’t you a little low to be around these parts?” the woman went on with a frown.
Firming herself, Arinyes snapped her staff down in front of her. “Just because I’m small doesn’t mean I’m a kid, you know,” she rebuffed. Snorting at the befuddled look, she stepped off, not having the heart to actually ask for help. Besides, she had managed a class of fifteen toddlers for a full week. Dealing with a single cyber generated pain in the backside couldn’t possibly compare to that. And just how big could a root server be in the first place? Scanning the surroundings, made more difficult by the darkness, she adjusted her that opinion. Stumbling to a halt when a huge grunty with shaggy hair blocked her path, she glanced for a way around the titan that stood about as high as she did.
“Weird thing. Achoo.” it said with a heavy reverberating voice. “Got a kid grunty walk up and ask why am so big. Achoo. Am not so big, right? Achoo?”
“I… honestly wouldn’t know,” Arinyes retorted, staring at the tall grunty and wondering whether Rhapsody was going to be this big. “Um… where did this grunty go?”
“Achoo.” the monster grunty brought out. “Hop on. Achoo.”
Stumped for a moment, Arin scratched her head. “Really?”
Turning about to give her free access to the back, the shaggy gruntry turned its head towards her. “Achoo.”
Guessing there was no better indication of an invitation than that, she tossed all remaining thought to the winds and grabbed a full hand of fur, pushing off with her feet and clambering onto the grunty’s back. Seated up high, she got a good view, before nearly getting tossed off again when the grunty started running all of a sudden. Unaccustomed to wild sway, all she could do was hold on for dear life while being jostled to the point she could hear her teeth chatter. Suddenly being lunged forward, she managed to safe herself from being launched headlong over the grunty’s head through a lucky grab of shaggy fur. Struggling to right herself, Arinyes looked about and wondered where exactly they were, facing a weapons store built up against a cliff. Chiding herself a moment later on forgetting about the map, she turned half around in her seat to stare at the chaos gate winking in the distance like a lighthouse, being not all that far away.
Turning back to a couple of characters gaping up at her, she scowled back at them, before remembering what she had come for. “Excuse me. Have you seen a small silver grunty?” Watching the two exchange glances and shrug, the one on the right pointed off at the way they had come.
“Achoo!” the shaggy grunty brought out and spun about, galloping into the indicated direction before she well knew it, clamping on and suffering the wild ride that was little more than night air and fur along with glimpses of blurs of different ranging colors. Dark grays of drops and green and brown of the dirt and grass, to bright colors all around the spectrum of what were most likely the clothes of players they passed. Again being nearly tossed off when they suddenly got to a stop, she managed to catch herself on the grunty’s head, ending up nearly nose to nose with a shop attendant, the usual fattish sort with a moustache and heavy brows. “Hi,” she said, struggling to get a little distance. “I’m looking for a stray baby silver grunty.”
“No grunty passed by here, adventurer,” the man retorted.
“Moooh-mey!”
Jerking upright as the voice she had already come to recognize drifted on the wind, Arin her face into the wind and stared away. “The… magic store,” she brought out, giving the shaggy grunty a prod with her heels. Prepared this time for the abrupt motions, it didn’t help at all, the grunty’s gallop being such that she just kept bouncing around on its back, not being helped at all by needing to hold on to her staff and her mind barely able to stay awake. As such not the least prepared when the shaggy grunty came to yet another abrupt halt, this time she failed to hold on and somersaulted over its head, hitting the ground with her back under an involuntary ‘Oomph!’.
Scrambling to her feet without too much thought about it, she scanned the area. “Rhapsody-y-y-y!!!” Her heart pounding in her throat, it didn’t for once come up in her dazed mind that she was taking things far too personal.
“Moooh-mey!”
Frowning as it came from a far different corner than expected, she peeked at the map indicating the way she was facing and groaned, being just a couple of paces from the weapons shop. Pole-vaulting onto the shaggy grunty’s back, she pointed into the direction she had actually meant. “Storage!” Tossed flat against her temporary mount’s back, she felt her feet being launched into the air, and dug her hand into the fur, just before being flipped, getting a strong buck into her abdomen that almost flipped her right back to her previous position, if it hadn’t been for the jerky move. Feeling like a rag doll helplessly being tossed and pounded, she figured she had to make one strange figure.
At their next stop being firmly slammed into the grunty’s back, she struggled to get up, her hands slipping in her furious haste, causing her to need far more time to find purchase and getting a clear view. Slipping just when she managed, she fell off the side with flailing arms, groaning and cursing under her breath while she crawled to her feet. “Rhaps?” she asked, gaze sweeping the ground as she circled around the shaggy grunty. “Where are you, girl?”
“Moooh-mey!”
Blinking full of disbelief, she slapped herself for the head, figuring that her call had drawn the baby grunty to where she had called from. “Back to the magic shop,” she sighed, grabbing hold of the shaggy fur and just having enough time to haul herself onto the back, sent flailing as the huge abomination of cyber nature moved. Dropping to the ground at their destination, Arin figured that in the real world she would have been a moving bruise, and actually feeling like she was bruised all over.
“Moooh-mey!” came the call from the distance, before she even had a chance to look around herself. “Moooh-mey!”
That was all she needed. A kid playing hide-and-seek. “Save point?” she mumbled and with lead in her feet mounted the grunty again. “Save point,” she more firmly repeated and managed to at least maintain some semblance of a seat, though not by much. Once there, the call seemed to come from the grunty stables, and from there it sounded like it came from the chaos gate. Feeling tired and unpleasant, in an endless nightmare of bouncing around on the back of a wild grunty, never seeming to get any closer, somewhere along the way everything turned dark.
“Wake up, moooh-mey!”
Opening her eyes and blinking, her first sight was with a pair of big silver eyes staring back at her. “Huh? Wha?” she mumbled, full of bewilderment looking around, she straightened herself and realized she was lying in a box in the stables. “What the hell?” Getting a big lick in her face, she coughed and sputtered, before setting her sights on the baby grunty that was big enough to reach up to her knees. “Rhaps!” she brought out, pouncing on the pig-like animal and giving her a big hug. Straightening full of embarrassment when she caught up with what she was doing, she shook off the fuzzy sensations in her head, which seemed a clear indication what had happened. I so need to get to bed, she told herself and rubbed her face, hoping that Sarah in the real world was sensible enough to do that much.
Going cross-eyed on the thought of such distinct separation of the same entity, she tossed it onto the fact she was tired. Crouching down to give Rhapsody a pat on the head, Arinyes stifled a yawn. “Be a good girl and stay here, alright?” Looking up at her, the baby grunty let out an ‘Ouwee’, which she accepted as a confirmation.
Moving out of the box and shutting it, she leaned on the lower beam that not just held her more level with the grunty, but was better accessible with her size, Arin reached out to give it a last scratch. “I’ll be back soon, I promise,” she told her fondly, marveling that gaze of curiosity that seemed so lifelike. “Mommy needs a lot of sleep, and so do you.” Tapping her on the snout, Arinyes pulled back. Weird dream, she thought, rubbing her forehead and trying to make sense of it.
“Moooh-mey? We go out again next time too? Ouwee.”
Faltering in her pace, Arin looked back and stared at the baby silver grunty wagging her tail. Confused and uncertain, she guessed she was even more tired than she thought, and smiling retorted, “We’ll see, Rhaps.”
