T̷h̷e̸ ̵G̶a̴m̸e̵ - A VR Role-play

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

"Why should I waste breathe on flavorless utterances when there's so much grandeur squirreled away in the human language?" The comic irony in that was his entire lack of a respiratory system. Or any bodily organ, to be honest.

Sphagnum was pleasantly surprised he'd already managed to get her riled, but he was also tuned into the exhausted undertones that spoke of her extremely low tolerance level. If he did continue on in pursuit of her goat, she might just be liable to leave.
And that would be simply unacceptable. Sphagnum didn't just lose children.

Sphagnum began disengaging from the tree in his characteristic inchmeal manner that was somehow both hurried and lingering. "What, do you suppose, should be our next course of action? Any particular desires or discomforts? You speak of this tiredness."

“I think we should just find somewhere safe” she replied “and stay there until someone comes and gets us. Surely they must have noticed we were gone by now right?”

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

“Hey” Lieu pointed a finger at Lyra, “Calm it lady before you break a hip.” She advised sternly before acknowledging Evan who’s face had gone completely white. “What’s your deal? See a ghost or something?” She jeered, waving the monkey keychain on her staff at him to get his attention.

Evan stood completely stiff, None of this is making sense.. in fact.. everything just got far more confusing. Are we really even on Earth anymore if she’s never heard of these places? Looking over Lieu’s appearance silently, he assumed she never learned such things if she was living out here by herself. Would this be considered the Distant Lands? Where we are now? And the Safe Zone.. is..?

Lieu started to poke Evan with her staff until she received an answer from him, curious if he’d turned to stone or something.

“Where.. are you taking us?” he finally uttered.

She stopped with the poking and started following the set path once again, “Somewhere that takes you to the Safe Zone. You two can’t really last out here much longer than you already have. Especially without weapons.”

Lyra opened her mouth to argue but thought better of it, she needed to pick her battles with this kid wisely, and that didn’t include getting angry at a small child because they were trying to help her. “Well I have a weapon” she spoke up “it’s just not a useful one” she pulled out the tiny throwing knife brandishing it

 

[Yowza Wowza]

Lyra opened her mouth to argue but thought better of it, she needed to pick her battles with this kid wisely, and that didn’t include getting angry at a small child because they were trying to help her. “Well I have a weapon” she spoke up “it’s just not a useful one” she pulled out the tiny throwing knife brandishing it

Lieu glanced back to inspect the weapon, then snorted at the little thing. She didn’t bother to make a comment, but it was easy to take the hint that she found it pathetic.

Evan frowned at the child’s rude behavior and decided pull back a little bit so he was walking side to side with Lyra. “Hey, maybe we can attach it to the end of something? Like a spear or somethin?” he suggested, trying to lift up her spirits. “It won’t be useless then.” he added with a smile.

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

Lieu glanced back to inspect the weapon, then snorted at the little thing. She didn’t bother to make a comment, but it was easy to take the hint that she found it pathetic.

Evan frowned at the child’s rude behavior and decided pull back a little bit so he was walking side to side with Lyra. “Hey, maybe we can attach it to the end of something? Like a spear or somethin?” he suggested, trying to lift up her spirits. “It won’t be useless then.” he added with a smile.

She smiled back at him “my bet whoever gave us these weapons did them to what they thought we could handle.” She brandished the small knife with a laugh “I doubt I could handle a spear without it going awry”.

 

[Yowza Wowza]

She smiled back at him “my bet whoever gave us these weapons did them to what they thought we could handle.” She brandished the small knife with a laugh “I doubt I could handle a spear without it going awry”.

“I mean.. you’d have to practice with it quite a bit to get the hang of it right?” Evan looked towards the ground, thinking back to when he had his baseball bat. He never had to use one as a weapon before, but he proved it proficient for the job. “Besides, I don’t think we’ll find any other weapons just laying around..”

As Lieu led them along the trail, she felt a strange feeling come over her. She observed the odd combinations of how everything had grown quiet besides her two adult companions and the lack of wind that usually flowed through the forest. She abruptly stopped, listening closely for the creature’s that usually caused these conditions. Hearing a ‘snap’ Lieu spun around once again to face Evan and Lyra. “You two, listen to what I say and don’t question it” she began, “Draw your own individual circles in the dirt and whatever you do, don’t mess them up or step outside of them.” It was clear in the child’s voice she was dead serious, leaving no room for jokes or sarcastic remarks of her own. She set one end of her staff on the ground and drew a wide perfect circle around herself.

 

[TamingMaster]

Fabian got over halfway to the other side, before throwing their hammer and coat safely onto the snowy bank.

The ice cracked further underneath their feet, splintering into assorted sizes, starting to push itself apart. Some shards started sinking into the water, others pushed their way onto the banks, crashing and scraping across the frozen ground.

They almost made it.

Almost.

Fabian's foot slipped, plunging into the freezing water. The momentum carried the rest of their body in, pulling their head under. The shifting ice slid over, making it impossible to resurface.

They desperately struggled, their numb hands trying to slide the ice out of the way, even if just long enough for them to take another gasp of air. Their legs kicked wildly, despite the coldwater shock, hoping it'd be enough to keep them afloat, just until they could escape.

With all the strength they could muster, they punched at the ice, splitting it just enough to push apart. They reappeared from the water, taking a deep breath, their body shivering as it clashed with the cold air. "Aha."

But, their celebration was far too premature. The little tracing shadows rose up, wrapping around their legs, extending up their torso, and pulling them back down, under the now crashing waves.

Fabian tried to pull them off, to swim back to the surface, to do anything to escape, but the shadows wrapped further around their body, up their arms, continuing to pull them down.

Quickly, it became obvious that the little shadows were tentacles, attached to a much larger squid-like beast. And they were pulling Fabian towards the mouth - a giant, piercing beak, hidden in the midst of the extremities.

A giant eye domed outwardly, clashing with the murky green skin of the creature. It had a soulless pupil, thinned like a goat's, a hunger glowing in them, like nothing they'd seen before.

The tentacles constricted suffocatingly tighter around Fabian's torso as they were pulled closer, ensuring they wouldn't escape before they were able to be devoured.

Out of seemingly nowhere, a gigantic whale snatched the squid from the bottom of the depths, kicking up bunches of sand and flora.

The panicked squid released Fabian, its only goal now was to escape the jaws of the enormous whale. It clung tightly around the whale's skull, constricting as much as its weakening muscles could manage. But, eventually, its body gave out, and was swallowed down by the whale, as it disappeared into the deeper water.

The waves, from the battle of the beasts, knocked Fabian further into the deep, smacking their head on the mass of rocks that were splayed across the ground.

They tried to swim back up, a trail of blood seeping from their forehead, but they were too weak. The unconsciousness took them faster than they'd expected, and everything faded to black as their body drifted through the water.

"F-" Their last remaining breath left their lips as they began floating downwards, straight back to the place they'd tried so hard to escape, leaving the world guessing at what could've been their last word.

...

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"What on Earth is going on?" One of Fabian's moms called out as she made her way into the kitchen, shortly followed by their other mom. Smoke was floating through the air, setting off the fire alarms, which had woken both of them up.

When they got to the dining table, it was covered in plates filled with pancakes, cups of orange juice, a badly made jug of coffee, and burnt toast. Syrup was dripped across the tablecloth, and some of the butter, too. There were even some garden weeds that had been picked and tucked into a vase, placed in, roughly, the middle of the table.

The two shocked mothers stood in surprise for a minute, before Fabian appeared from around the corner, holding a little pot of strawberry jam.

Fabian stood for a moment, just looking at them, gauging their reactions. Their little face was covered with food smears, including a patch of flour across their forehead. "I-I wanted to say sorry. For running away."

They walked over to the table, tiptoeing to put the jam next to one of the plates. "Also, thank you."

Their first mom leaned down, pulling them into a tight hug. Their second mom, after turning the stove off, joined the hug.

"Thank you so much, Fabian." Their mom smiled widely. "This looks delicious."

Their other mom nodded along, "Shall we eat, then tidy up together?"

Fabian grinned proudly, climbing into one of the chairs between them both. "Yeah!"

...

Fabian launched up into a sitting position, patting their chest and gasping away, as the feeling of drowning hadn't quite yet subsided. "I'm alive? I'm alive!"

Their clothes were completely dry, apart from where they were sitting in the snow, and their skin prickled, like it had only just started to chill. It was almost like they'd just been placed there, to relive the sensations.

They patted their face, checking their hands, when they noticed a black, oval marking. It started to fade across the top, stopping when it reached a third of the way. "What the hell?!"
But, they were quickly distracted by more urgent matters.

A glance around revealed that Fabian was still in the frozen forest, next to the icy lake. A few steps away was their hammer and the jacket they'd thrown, prior to their journey to the depths.

They stood up, rushing over to their gear, and suddenly realised that the bag was missing; it wasn't across their chest or piled with the jacket.

A quiet splash drew their attention as the bag resurfaced in the water, floating close to the shore line.
Fabian hastily fished it out with the hammer, pulling it close enough to grab, as they dared not to enter the water again. Whether it was a dream or not, I'm definitely not chancing it.

A glint in the water caught Fabian's eye, causing them both to widen with shock as they realised what they were looking at.

Their body, deep in the water, faded away, like it had never been there to start with, leaving them with more questions than answers. But, it left them with one certainty.

"I really died."

It felt like hours since Fabian had moved from the frozen bank, but it had only been a few, long minutes.

Their knees were soaked with melted snow, and they had started to shiver again, the temperature having finally caught up with them.

Fabian breathed, blowing out another puff of white air. They didn't know what was going on, but they had decided to stay calm. After all, they were alive.

"I must be delusional," they mumbled, pulling the jacket on, followed by the bag, which was surprisingly dry. "It's probably the weather. Or something in the air."

They unzipped the bag, checking the contents quickly, before taking the water bottle out. The liquid had frozen, expanding a little inside the container.
Fabian let out a long sigh, tucking it back into the bag. "I guess that's off the table too..."

They weren't planning on drinking from the lake, delusional or not. And they didn't want to try to eat snow, especially not if some animal had recently been nearby. I should find someplace warm, maybe build a fire.

But, they wanted to keep moving forward for as long as they could. Maybe finding some sign of civilisation, or just someone who could help.

Fabian stood up, tucking a hand into their jacket pocket, the other grasping the handle of the hammer. Another little sigh passed their lips, before they set off again, hoping to get far away from the lake.

 

[TamingMaster]

As Leita made her way through the new cave, following the taps of the little stone creature, the sound of the rain faded into the distance.

The passage slimmed, leading into a huge cavern. Tiny, glowing, orange bugs sailed through the air, their fiery light causing shadows to dance along the walls. They illuminated thousands of crystal stalactites that spiraled down from the roof of the cavern, dripping the purist of water.

"Ahaah," Leita muttered in awe. Her eyes widened, sparkling in the dim light. She had no idea where in the world she was, but the caves were definitely beautiful.

The little rock creature tapped her ankle, once again. It looked up at her, it's movement even more twitchy and curious than before.

Leita crouched down, looking down at the creature. She extended a hand, holding her index finger out. "You still need me to follow you?"

It carefully took hold of her finger, giving it a little pull, before pointing towards another smaller pathway. It continued on its mission, racing across the dark rock, through a stream of clear water, impatiently waiting at the entrance of said pathway for Leita.

She let out a little giggle, before rising to follow it. "I guess that's a yes."

The path led to a large, carved, spiral staircase, lit by nests of glowbugs draped from the walls. Stairs? Why are there stairs here?

Leita glanced at the rock creature, before taking a few steps down the stairs. "Hello?"

No reply.

She took a few more steps down, wondering where the little creature was taking her. It plopped down the steps, each as tall as it was, desperately trying to keep up with her.

Eventually the pair reached the end of the steps, a glaring light shining through the exit, much like the previous cave.
This time, Leita was much more careful with her approach, as she took small, testing steps towards it.

As soon as she could see a safe path out, she raced through the opening. "We're at the bottom of the mountain?!" She yelled excitedly. "This is amazing! We can finally try to find somewhere with people! Come on."

She turned back, looking at her new friend. It stood back from the entrance, not daring to take a step further, tilting it's head.

"What's wrong?" She walked back over to it, kneeling down. The creature just stared back, its expression still blank. "... You can't leave the mountain?"

Tink. It replied, confirming her suspicions.

She sighed solemnly, reaching a finger put and tapping its little hand. "Thank you, little rock brah."

Tink, tink. The creature replied, as if to show its happiness and own gratitude.

Leita looked back at the dirt path, beyond it was huge darkwood forest.
When she turned back to the cave, the rock creature was gone.

She continued on, picking a direction of the path and following it forward. Thinking back on the potential hallucination and smiling fondly. Thank you.

Just past the black mountains, down the path, and far beyond the forest, Leita had reached the start of sandy plains.

The sand itself was pale, covered in waves left by blowing winds. Combating the climate, tiny browned shrubs grew through. They looked dead, burnt by the sun, but they were very much alive. They were offset by tall, dark, green cacti, the top of which were covered with little, pink flowers. Though tall, they were limbless, growing straight upwards.

Leita reached down, taking a handful of the sand and letting it run through her fingers. She was hopeful that she would find a beach nearby, or at least some form of water.

She continued on, making her way directly through the quiet desert. The further she walked, the thinner the vegetation grew, until it seemed to stop completely.

The sun had started to burn her usually hardy skin, and was starting to affect her vision negatively. Her body ached, and all she could think about was home.

She unzipped her bag, taking a large swig of the warm water, before scolding herself for drinking so much. She placed it back inside, hiding it from the sun.

The medical tin glinted in the light, reflecting the sun's rays back at Leita.
"Ah, right." She knelt down slightly, untying the t-shirt from around her leg. It had been a while since she'd checked it, as it hadn't hurt enough to draw her attention. "Let's see how bad it really is."

The shirt drooped down into the hot sand, Leita quickly pulling it into her lap, to avoid dirtying it further.
Where it had been, there was nothing, aside from a few skin indentations from where the shirt had been tied. No wound, no blood, no balm. Nothing.

She glided her hand down her leg, checking for any indications of her previous injury. "Huh," she questioned, "it must've been some kind of fast-acting corticosteroid."

Before she could continue her thoughts, a dark shadow loomed over her, providing much needed relief from the glaring sunlight. It took her slightly longer to realise that something was causing the shade, and that it could be something dangerous.

Leita slowly turned around, still crouched down, so as not to startle whatever was behind her.

Her jaw dropped, her eyes locking with that of a giant, bedazzled crab. It reared up slightly, one giant claw clamping shut in front of her. The gold chains that dangled from every part rattled as they knocked against its exoskeleton.

"Stay calm, Tam." A voice spoke softly, a single comforting hand creeping into view, shortly followed by the rest of the person as they slid down from the crab.

A tall, handsome man looked down at Leita, smirking as he took in her features. He held out his hand, offering to help her up. "And who might you be, my desert flower?"

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

“I mean.. you’d have to practice with it quite a bit to get the hang of it right?” Evan looked towards the ground, thinking back to when he had his baseball bat. He never had to use one as a weapon before, but he proved it proficient for the job. “Besides, I don’t think we’ll find any other weapons just laying around..”

As Lieu led them along the trail, she felt a strange feeling come over her. She observed the odd combinations of how everything had grown quiet besides her two adult companions and the lack of wind that usually flowed through the forest. She abruptly stopped, listening closely for the creature’s that usually caused these conditions. Hearing a ‘snap’ Lieu spun around once again to face Evan and Lyra. “You two, listen to what I say and don’t question it” she began, “Draw your own individual circles in the dirt and whatever you do, don’t mess them up or step outside of them.” It was clear in the child’s voice she was dead serious, leaving no room for jokes or sarcastic remarks of her own. She set one end of her staff on the ground and drew a wide perfect circle around herself.

Lyra glanced nervously at the kid, “w-“ she stopped herself and drew a wonky circle slowly around herself. “Is this okay?” She asked keeping her feet firmly planted in the dirt of the forest, that’s when, of all things. A spider, a tiny eight legged bug eyed spider crawled onto her leg. She let out a shriek and almost toppled over, but then she remembered she couldn’t step outside her circle, why? She wasn’t sure. She used her hand to try and beat away the tiny insect, “hellllppppp” she wailed

 

[TamingMaster]

"Hey, don't apologize," she said, offering a reassuring smile. "That-" she gestured back toward the shop "-was really... unnerving. It freaked me out too."

She nodded and turned away as he spoke, stuffing her hands into her back pockets. He was right, they did need a plan. "I mean, we could leave the Safe Zone. I don't know how dangerous it is out there, but we're getting nowhere in here."

The coin, nestled in her pocket, brushed her fingers, and she absentmindedly brought it out, her eyes settling on her palm tattoo instead. The coin, forgotten, was returned to her pocket as she stared at the inky 56 marked on the skin of her hand.

"Yours was a 100, right? What do you think these mean?" She asked, looking back up at him as she tossed her theory around in her mind. "Do you think there are more of us out here? What if these are like- I don't know- player numbers or something." Her voice quieted as she finished the thought, a little embarrassed but too confused and anxious to really care.

Damir's eyebrows knotted tightly, nodding as he listened to Nina. "You're right. It might be worth looking outside of the Safe Zone, if we can figure out where it's limits are." He took a short pause to think, before continuing. "If we stick close to the city, where we know it's safe, we should be able to avoid trouble."

He was caught up in his own thoughts, interrupted by Nina's voice as it broke through the city noise once more.

"Yeah, it was." He replied, taking a step closer. He held his palm out beside her own, showing the 100 mark. "If there are, we might bump into them around here somewhere... Maybe they'll have more information about this place..."

Damir didn't laugh or dismiss her last statement. In fact, he'd even considered something similar to her own theory.
But, he didn't want to say outright that he thought they could've been kidnapped, brought to a strange island, and forced to participate in some kind of sick game.

"Let's... Let's not assume anything just yet." He smiled, starting to follow one of the dark city streets, hopefully towards the edge of the Safe Zone. "We'll figure it out as we go." Although Damir spoke with reassurance, he was well aware of his own hypocrisy in the matter.

"And," he said as he stopped and turned to Nina, waiting for her to catch up to him, "let's try to not get separated... At least until we know our way around."

He didn't know who he could trust, or who exactly he was saying that for; himself or Nina. But, he trusted her - someone who was in the same position as he was - over a bunch of people who didn't seem to care.

(Sorry this sucked. )

 

[Yowza Wowza]

Lyra glanced nervously at the kid, “w-“ she stopped herself and drew a wonky circle slowly around herself. “Is this okay?” She asked keeping her feet firmly planted in the dirt of the forest, that’s when, of all things. A spider, a tiny eight legged bug eyed spider crawled onto her leg. She let out a shriek and almost toppled over, but then she remembered she couldn’t step outside her circle, why? She wasn’t sure. She used her hand to try and beat away the tiny insect, “hellllppppp” she wailed

Evan followed the child’s orders and found a decently sized branch to draw a circle around himself. He watched in fear as Lyra freaked out out of no where, as if something invisible was attacking her. “What’s wrong? What’s on you?” he choked out, far more fearful of stepping out of his circle and whatever was attacking Lyra attack him.

Lieu watched completely unamused by Lyra’s struggle with the small eight-legged insect. “Stay in your circles!” she hissed at them both, “Don’t do anything stupid!”

At Lieu’s final words, emerged a 7-foot tall mutant arachnid with an entirely black body and scattered orange stripes on its appendages. It’s numerous bulbous eyes stared directly at the three humans, remaining still until it suddenly began to skitter over to its first victim without warning.

Lieu sat completely still with her eyes closed as the spider swiftly passed her by, feeling the rumble as each of its legs made contact with the ground. It seemed that she was completely at peace with how calm and unbothered her face was, but she was truly panicking on the inside.

Evan yelled at the top at his lungs as the spider made its way towards him, fighting every urge in his body to not abandon his circle as it made its descent on him. The spiders jaws opened wide, just inches away from him now. I’m gonna die.. I’m gonna die.. I’m way too young to die.. he recanted over and over in his head, squeezing his eyes shut as he prepared for inevitable death. But that moment never came, and instead the spider had chosen a completely different victim as it avoided Evan’s circle entirely.

The spider lunged on top of Lyra, the circle, or more of an oval that once surrounded her was completely disregarded as it began to spin webbing over the poor girl with its backside, quickly wrapping her and encasing her in a cocoon to drag back to its dwelling.