“We just got the x-rays back. He’s fractured his foot. When we got out of the game he was a little too excited and bounced out of the pod. He came down badly and now has a fracture through the navicular. He’s currently arguing with the doctor who wants to put a cast on him.” Miriam's voice held a mixture of pain, sadness and exasperation.
Will let out a sad laugh, “I think he will end up with arguing with death when she comes to collect him.”
A sad, heartbreaking sob was his reply, “Probably.”
Will sighed and looked at Lavender, who was sitting beside him looking worried, “If anything else happens call right away. Since we won't be getting into the game tomorrow, how about we come over for dinner?”
Miriam sniffled and got her composure back, “That sounds wonderful. I’ll let him know when I get back in there to beat some sense into him.”
“You've been trying for years, why would it work now?” his voice carried a hint of laughter to it as he tried to bring a smile to her face.
“One should always hope, it is mankind's greatest gift after all. I’ll see you for dinner, sorry for waking you.”
Will shook his head, “No, we want to be kept informed. Try to get some sleep when you can.”
They said goodbye and hung up. As Will placed the phone down he turned to Lavender and told her the story. Amythyst sighed and hugged her lover to her, knowing he needed some support right now. She was of two minds about the situation, one part of her wanted to slap David as his health was hurting her love. The other part thanked him for not dragging out his last few moments on Earth and prolonging Will's sadness.
“Come back to sleep now, love. We’ll need to be well rested to deal with David tomorrow. After all he’s a handful, I still don't know how she copes with him.” Lavender said as she curled up with him.
“Sheer force of will. She is the most stubborn woman I have ever met. It makes the two of them a matched set.” Will pulled Lavender in closer and held her tightly until he could drift back to sleep.
The next day David opened the door to his friends wearing an air cast boot. “Welcome, friends.” he stepped back with the help of a cane and waved them in, giving each a brief hug. “Glad to see you. Miriam went with the family pasta today instead of pork and mac.”
“Yeah, but your family’s red sauce is awesome. So, how is the foot?” Will asked giving his friend a gentle squeeze on the shoulder.
Shaking his head with a sigh, David closed the door behind his friends. “Fractured and right at the middle of the foot. The doctor didn't understand until we filled him in on my condition. Then the fucking moron wanted to put me in a hard cast.”
Miriam looked towards them just inside the door and interrupted, “Come in and sit down, don't let the ape keep you there.”
“Sorry about that, yes please come on in.” David got them ushered into the living room proper and got them beverages. “So anyway after some back and forth he finally agreed to this thing.” He stuck out the air cast and shook his head.
Lavender looked at it, “How is it working out for you?”
“Fucking hurts, but I've been in pain for a while now so what’s a little more?” David shrugged and looked away.
Will eyed his friend for a moment before letting a sly smile cross his lips. “So how was Alvira doing?”
David looked up and laughed, “Oh my gods, it was amazing. She went along with everything that we suggested and reveled in it all. So very nice...” He cut off and his face grew sad for a moment, “We shouldn't have though. It hurts to know that soon she very well might be hurt by me.”
Miriam was standing in the archway to the kitchen, “Yes we should have dear. I already said that every moment you enjoy is worth any amount of pain. Food is ready.”
David looked up at his love and gave her a sad smile, “Right. Lavender I don't think you've tried our pasta, you are in for a treat.”
The rest of the night the friends laughed and joked as they ate and during the board games after. Hours later David and Miriam saw their friends to the door and watched as they drove off. As David shut the door he leaned against it with a sigh, “I'm being selfish again aren't I?”
Miriam hugged him from behind and buried her face in his back. “I will take any pain right now to grant you even one more moment of joy, love.”
David turned and gently embraced her as she buried her face in his chest. He kissed the top of her head as his tears dripped onto her. “I only want our last moments to be of joy and happiness. I never want to see you in pain. I am sorry, dear heart.”
Miriam raised her eyes to his, the tears trickling from her eyes as well, “Life is making a mess of that sadly. Come now, let's go to bed and cuddle. Tomorrow will come soon enough.”
Friends Reunited
Dumadin stretched and bounced in place for a second, smiling at the lack of pain before Kittish appeared beside him in the square. He snagged her for a hug and kissed her cheek, “Morning, beautiful.”
Terets exited the inn and shook his head, “In the middle of the street, do you have no shame?”
Dumadin chuckled before releasing Kittish, “In the street, in the rain, on a boat or a plane. For I have no shame, Sam I am.”
Terets groaned and clutched his head, “If you’re going to mangle Dr. Seuss, please don’t do it in front of me.”
“What’s our plan?” Amythyst interjected to derail them.
“I got a text from Garthur that he and the wife would make it to a city in two days and they have the coin for a teleport to Veno. I let Felton know and he said he and Emilia will be there as well. So let's fast travel to Thallien's and go to Veno from there.” Dumadin laid out the info he had and his tentative plan.
Terets considered the plan and shrugged, “Sounds good, but that gives us a whole day basically in the capital.”
As the group was discussing their plans various players greeted them with smiles. “Seems people enjoyed the party last night,” Amythyst commented as they cleared the town.
“Who doesn’t like free food and half-priced drinks?” Kittish laughed.
“The afterhours entertainment was better,” Dumadin cut in with a leer at Kittish.
Kittish giggled, “She was sure energetic and feisty last night.”
Terets rolled his eyes, “Do we really need to hear this?”
Amythyst patted Terets’s hand, “Just because he needs Alvira’s help to satisfy Kittish isn’t a reason to try and stop his tall tales, dear.”
Dumadin clutched at his chest, “Ouch, that was a low blow.”
“Of course it was. You’re only half the man I am,” Terets interjected to cut his friend off from adding more. “Anything going near you has to be a low blow.”
Kittish laughed and pointed at her lover, “He might be small, but he is fierce.”
“Oh here we go again, picking on the redhead,” Dumadin rolled his eyes as he spoke.
“I don’t know. I think I see more grey than red today,” Terets smirked.
“Having two gorgeous women milking the life out of you will do that to any man. Hmm, must be why your hair is solid black.” Dumadin said with a twist to his lips as he tried to hold back his laughter.
“You’re just jealous that I still have hair on the top of my head.” Terets replied quickly, “not all bald like you.”
“Ah but that’s because the women are yanking it out as I make them orgasm. Don’t worry though, now that you can practice I’m sure you’ll get there.”
Throwing his hands up Terets hooked arms with Amythyst, “Shall we leave these two depraved souls behind?”
Amythyst giggled, “I doubt we can, but we can still try.” A second later the couple was gone, having fast traveled.
Dumadin looked over at Kittish who was shaking her head, “What?”
“Too thick,” was Kittish's comment as she looked at her lover.
Rolling his eyes Dumadin sighed, “Fine, I'll back off a touch.”
“Good, nice to kn
ow I can still train apes,” and she disappeared as well.
“Hahaha,” Dumadin faked a laugh before following after his friends a moment later.
The others were already ready to move when he appeared next to them at the base of the trail. “So, anyone have any ideas about what we should do in Veno while we wait?” Kittish asked as the group started to walk.
Terets shrugged, “We really do need to hit the bank. Other than that not a clue. I mean we have cash to spare but we really don't need anything at the moment.”
“Once G and his wife show we can get them outfitted as well. We should take them and do the goblin cave with them. I would bet they haven't done an instance yet.” Amythyst added her opinion as they walked.
Agreeing Kittish smiled, “That will be fun. If Emilia and Felton come as well it shouldn't matter if we are under leveled.”
“Sounds like fun to me,” Dumadin chipped in, “besides, I want to see what they think of either Thallien's cave or Stoutbank as the place for the castle.”
The trio shook their heads but didn't say anything. “Other than that though, we have nothing really to do. We could always jump to their capital then port back with them.” Amythyst said with a thoughtful expression.
Kittish blinked, “We should have done that right at the start. Oh well, water under the bridge. We’ll get to Veno late tonight before we have to log. We could always just fast travel back to Stoutbank until they’re ready.”
Dumadin's eyes lit up and a smile filled his face, “I second this plan.”
Terets rolled his eyes, “I foresee a closed leather shop in the future. Let's get to Veno and log for the night then hit the bank tomorrow, then we can go back to Stoutbank while we wait.”
The other couple agreed, thinking about the future as the group walked on. “Oh woodsage,” Kittish spoke into the companionable silence.
The group quickly got ready for combat as she picked the flower, but again no mob attacked them. “Hmm, beginning to think they might have removed that feature,” Dumadin said as they started walking again. “A little sad. The excitement of being attacked the first time made it kind of fun.”
The others only shook their heads as they continued to walk on. Many hours later as their time was about up they reached the gates of Veno. “See you tomorrow morning,” Amythyst and Terets said before disappearing as they logged out.
Dumadin pulled Kittish into a hug and just stood there. A minute later Kittish looked down at the helmet, “Are we going?”
Dumadin sighed, “Make the game kick us. This way I can enjoy a few more minutes of peace.”
Kittish nodded sadly and tightened her arms around her lover, “As you wish.”
Dumadin chuckled into her bosom, “But we aren't rolling down a hill towards the fire-swamp.”
“I am also not the dread pirate Roberts,” Kittish said with repressed laughter in her voice. “The real dread pirate has been retired for ten years and living on an island off of Patagonia.”
The duo shared a deep laughed and enjoyed the hug for five minutes before the game kicked them from the system due to time constraints.
The next morning the group greeted each other with Dumadin smiling broadly as he stretched his muscles out. “G said they would be here in about an hour. They were just a bit short of New Bany when they had to log last night. He said something about his wife wanting to take a day off as well. So once we start traveling I was thinking of having her mount behind one of us and letting her log,” Dumadin finished and looked at his friends.
“She can mount behind me,” Amythyst said, “I think I can still heal from horseback.”
“Sounds good. Let's get over to the teleport area and wait for them,” Kittish added.
The group lounged around waiting, watching as a few people appeared and hurried into the city. As they chatted amiably Felton and Emilia appeared and greeted them.
“Hey you scrubs, is that the break area?” Felton said with a broad smile.
Dumadin got to his feet shaking his head, “If it was we would have named it after you.”
The group exchanged hugs and chatted about equipment, as Emilia and Felton were both outfitted in good gear. “It was worth the expense,” Emilia was saying, “it’s been much easier to gather mats and explore.”
Dumadin filled them in on what G had told the group and as he was finishing Garthur and Gwennie appeared. Dumadin waved at them, “G-man, over here.”
Garthur grinned, and taking his wife's hand walked over to them. “Hey guys, sorry for the delay. This game is so much fun.” His wife nodded at his words and conversation paused as everyone exchanged hugs again.
“Well, now that we’re all here let's go get the fast travel point at the town square. After that we want to hit the bank, then we’ll see about getting you two kitted out.” Dumadin chuckled as G started to shake his head, “Yes we are, now stop trying to protest.”
“I was thinking of relaxing for a day,” Gwennie added looking at the group.
Amythyst jumped in at that point, “We have a plan for that actually. Once we’re headed out of town, you mount up behind me, then log. You’ll travel with us while not being logged in.”
Gwennie blinked, “Does that actually work?”
The group started moving towards town as the others explained the different ways they had found to get the system to work with them, such as being able to travel while logged out or using the aggro list to ping pong mobs. Eventually they reached the main square and got their notification.
You have found Veno, Capital of Vadena.
You receive one thousand experience and can now mark this is a fast travel location on your map.
“Ding,” G chuckled, “just enough to get me and the wife to level eight.”
The group congratulated them both before moving towards the bank. Dumadin handed G and Gwennie twenty gold each, “Open up bank access, it makes it easier.”
G started to argue again but was roundly shut down by the others. Shaking his head, he advanced to one of the tellers followed by Gwennie. A few minutes later they were all walking out looking at a new addition to the game.
“Bank bags, I didn't see that coming,” Amythyst comment as Felton as still chuckling.
“Sorry, didn't want to ruin the surprise for you guys. I was shocked when I found out in Dalton. It makes sense though, it gives you access to the coins but not to the items. This way it seems more natural to hand over your coin to the merchants. It also accepts coins at a 2% loss, minimum one copper. Really hurts player killers as anyone with a bank bag will basically never drop coin now.” Felton was still chuckling as he spoke.
Terets looked pensive for a second then laughed, “I wonder who got that past Pavel?”
“Larry was working on all the merchants and stuff so it would have been him and Jazzy overriding Pavel I’m sure,” Amythyst added.
“Okay we have bank access, now let's outfit our friends and get the heck out of town,” Dumadin said as silence descended among the companions.
The next hour was spent visiting different shops, getting Garthur and Gwennie outfitted. Garthur eventually stopped trying to argue and just accepted his friend’s largess, saying he would pay them back eventually.
Their last stop was the stables and the group all chipped in to get the duo a pair of mounts. G tried to put his foot down due to the cost, but Gwennie was enthralled at the black and white horse she had seen. When it was pointed out to G he sighed and backed down again.
A few minutes later the group was all mounted and riding through the city on their way out. A lot of others stopped and looked at the eight of them. It was rather shocking to see a group all mounted as the cost was prohibitive for new players.
After they got out the gates Dumadin turned to Gwennie, “So go ahead and mount up behind Amythyst and we can get going while you enjoy the rest of the day.”
Gwennie looked a little bashful before she replied, “I have reconsidered. I would like the time to ride Tw
o-tone here.”
The group all smiled with her and directed their mounts towards Thallien's cave. “We’re glad to have you along,” Amythyst added as they began to move with Dumadin at the head of the party.
Tour Guide
The next day the large group logged back in at the base of the cliff with the path that lead up to Thallien's Rest. Dumadin smiled and greeted everyone as they logged in shortly after him and Kittish. “We have an hour hike up and down here. This is one of the possible places for our castle. So follow me, I know the way.”
Terets chuckled, “Got lost in his own museum once?”
Last Horizon: Live Page 8
