by Dante Doom
"Good point," Sahara said, "although I'd side with Van here. Wizards are great, but I've played one forever and I can tell you that they do not live long in combat."
"It's not a vote," Fredlin said as he folded his arms. "There is nothing you can say to make me leave."
"Even if it were a direct order?" Van asked.
Fredlin shook his head. "I’m not in the military anymore, Van. I don't have to worry about direct orders. I've been a faithful part of this team for long enough for you to trust that I know what I'm doing. I have been willing to be there for your every single step of the way. Now? Now I need you to be there for me."
Van shrugged. "If you feel that strongly about it, fine, you can stay, but just know that you're probably not going to come back."
"Oh, I'm coming back," Fredlin said. "I've seen war before. Whether you come back or not is a choice. If you ever say to yourself, 'I'm not coming back', then you're gonna fulfill that prophecy; otherwise, you have a good chance." His eyes narrowed, a darkness having fallen across his face.
Sang put a hand on his shoulder. "Alright, well, we're counting on you then, so don't screw it up for us."
This elicited laughter from the rest of the group and drained the tension.. Van nervously glanced over at the rest of the people present. No one else was laughing
9
Van felt the wind whip past him as he dropped towards the earth. When the man had said they would be dropped into the woods, he hadn't expected the prediction to have been literal. Sang, Kylian, Sahara, and Fredlin were all falling alongside of him, a purple bubble of safe-landing magic engulfing them.
The woods were dense, composed mainly of pine trees and oak trees. It was an odd combination to see, but Van tried to memorize as much of the landscape as he could as he fell to the ground. They all landed together at the same time then, their feet gingerly touching the ground as the spell softened their descent.
"Alright, we need to fan out and get some weapons!" Van said. He looked around and found a large rock on the ground.
"Here's a stick that we can whittle down," Kylian said as he picked up a stick. "Turn it into a spear of some sort?"
"I think we'd be better off scavenging," Sang said.
"We can do both," Sahara said as she grabbed a rock and began to clack it against another stone.
"What are you doing?" Van asked as he grabbed a rock from her. "Don't make too much noise. We have no idea who's out there right now."
"Oh, I was trying to sharpen one stone against another one. Then we can use vines to tie them up to make spears," Sahara said.
"That's not a bad idea," Van said, "but I don't think there are any vines around here."
"Moss is available," Fredlin said as he grabbed some moss and stuffed it into his pockets. "Come on, we need to start looking for some water. Water sources are where other players are going to be. If we find the water, we're guaranteed to find where others will be making camp. Then we can sneak in during the middle of the night to kill them."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Van hissed, "we aren't killing anyone."
"The hell we aren't," Fredlin replied. "We're in a deathmatch, Van. If we don't kill them, they will kill us."
Van shook his head, "No, that's too close to murder for me. We'll only fight when we're attacked."
"So your conscience can feel better?" Sang asked. "Van, I know you don't want to hurt innocent people, but let's face it – these people were told exactly what they'd be getting into. There are no surprises here. I'm in favor of Fredlin's plan. I say we try to take out as many as we can, and by surprise if we can."
"I know where you stand," Van said sharply, "but I'm not a fan of that plan. Besides, it's tactically weak. The attacker is always at a disadvantage. Let's find some weapons, figure out where the water is, and wait things out until the numbers drop off. If anyone tries to kill us, we'll fight back, but only when necessary."
"Van, this is not the time to get into this kind of fight," Sang said as she crossed her arms. "We've got to—"
Her words were interrupted by the rustling of bushes. A large tattooed man with a sword emerged.
"Oh crap!" both he and the entire party shouted at once.
"Oh my, and no one has a sword," the tattooed soldier chuckled as he swung his sword around. "Looks like this will be an easy fight! You don't have to outrun me; you just have to outrun your slowest friend!"
"Outrun this!" Fredlin said as he chucked a stone right at the soldier, cracking him in the skull. The words 10 damage hovered above his head. The soldier stumbled and dropped to the ground, moaning.
"Was that really a lethal hit?" Van asked. He checked the man's hit points to see that he only had 11 hit points total.
"No, but this one is," Fredlin said as he walked up, grabbed the sword, and swiftly stabbed downwards, killing the man.
"Fredlin, are you crazy?" Van asked, but before he could walk up to the wizard and confront him, Sang leapt in front of him.
"What's done is done," she hissed. "If we fail, a lot more than 22 people are going to die." She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him in close. "We don't have time to be bitching about our feelings. Man up and let's get to work."
"Here," Fredlin said as he handed a sword to Sahara.
"Thanks," she said as she spun the sword around a little.
"We better move," Van said, trying not to think about the fate of the man they had just killed. He had no lies to tell himself, and no method of coping with what had happened, so instead, he chose to shove his emotions down and not think about what was unfolding around him. Things were going to be a lot more gruesome in a few hours.
You are thirsty! said Van's display. Health Regeneration is disabled until your thirst is quenched.
"Ah crap," Van said as he looked at his health bar to see that he only had 15 points, as well. His rage power would have been helpful in this situation; it would have given him the ability to stay alive for as long as the rage was activated… though he'd immediately die after it wore off.
"Alright, weapons or water?" Fredlin asked.
"We got a weapon," Kylian said as he grabbed a few rocks and shoved them into his side pouch. "Let's find some water. The faster we can get to full health, the better."
"Should I go scout somewhere?" Sang asked. "My stealth should keep me alive."
"No, we can't afford to split up," Van said. "This place is way too dangerous for anyone to be alone. Alright, Fredlin, cast your locate water spell."
Fredlin nodded and grabbed up a clump of dirt. He muttered a few arcane words and threw the dirt into the air. Wind began to blow behind Fredlin, scattering the dirt across the ground. Van watched as the dirt began to glow. The dirt particles moved across the ground then and formed together into an arrow that was pointing southwest.
"It's that way," Fredlin said as he lined up his hand with the arrow so he could follow it exactly. "This spell will always point to the exact location of water, so as long as we go in that direction, we'll find it."
"Good," Van said. "Let's move in formation. Fredlin, I want you invisible. Save your magic points on turning the rest of us invisible, though. We might need that power later. The rest of you, clump together and get as many rocks as you can."
The team complied and quickly assembled, moving quietly through the forest in search of water. Sahara held the sword up and was shaking a little as she walked. No doubt she was scared out of her mind, but she'd had every opportunity to bail. Van was thankful for her desire to stay and fight anyway – a warrior of her skill level would be incredibly useful.
As they walked through the forest, Van heard a rustling in the distance. The entire team stopped moving and ducked behind several trees. Van peeked around the edges of the tree to see Peterson and his team walking through the area. Peterson made eye contact with him. The man was armed with a bow, and Van felt his heart stop for a moment.
"Uh, this way, team," Peterson said as he gestured in the opposite direction from where Van and his
team were. "Maybe we can find something useful over there." The team didn't seem to disagree with his instructions, and followed after their leader.
"Whew, I guess he isn't a total bastard after all," Kylian said.
"Still can't trust him," Sang said.
"Did he see us?" Sahara asked.
"Yeah, he saw me," Van said. "We'll give him credit for that. I still think he's up to something."
"Well, as long as his scheming keeps him over there, I'm all for it," Fredlin said.
They continued moving toward the source of water. Eventually, they reached a small depression in the ground that led to a babbling brook. The brook was a few hundred feet away from them, and they'd need to go down the depression in order to reach it.
"I really don't like the fact that those trees are hanging right over the water," Sang whispered as she crouched down. "An archer could have a field day just picking people off as they go for water."
"No bodies around," Kylian said, "so that's a good sign."
"Maybe no victims have shown up yet," Sang countered. "Let me stealth down there and look around."
"Be careful," Van said. "Check the area and give a whistle if things are safe." He checked his private messaging system then and saw that it had been disabled. The words Only VOIP enabled in survivor mode hovered above his private message box.
Sang nodded and turned translucent as she crept down the slope, reaching the water in a matter of minutes. Van couldn't see her at this distance, so he merely waited, holding his breath in anticipation. After a minute of waiting, he heard her whistle sharply.
"Alright, let's go," Van said. "One person drinks at a time. Get as much as you can; we don't have any containers, so this will have to be it for a while."
"Roger," Sahara said as she rushed down to the water. She knelt down and began to lap away at the brook, drinking it as quickly as she could. Her health bar steadily began to climb back up until finally she was at full health again. Van noticed that even though her character had originally had close to 800 points, she only registered as having 100 now.
Van was next, and drank up, taking note that his own health bar also increased only to 100.
"Ah, man," Kylian said as he knelt down to drink. "I think we all have the same health in the name of realism."
"That means damage is going to be way more realistic, too," Sang said as she rejoined the party. She was carrying a pair of daggers in her hands. "I found these suckers just sitting on a log. Who wants one?"
"I'll take one," Van said as he reached out. Sang abruptly pulled her hand back.
"I think we should give this to someone who's going to use it."
"I'll use it if I need it," Van replied as he put his hand out angrily. "I don't need you to treat me like a child."
"Then maybe you should stop acting like a child," Sang hissed. "We are in a life and death struggle, and we don't have the option to play nice here. That option is gone."
Van leaned forward and grabbed the knife from her. "Let me do things my way, and you do things your way. I thought we agreed to stop fighting about this."
"We did, but then, of course, it becomes a major issue," Sang growled. "I just don't want to see you die over a false sense of a conscience."
"How is not wanting to hurt people a false sense of a conscience?" Van asked.
"Because, Van, if you want the five of us to survive, that means everyone else has to die. It doesn't matter who kills them, because they are already dead," Sang said. "We all signed out death warrants when we came in here, so unless you feel like letting some random person who's willing to murder so he can play a video game as a job kill one of your friends and endanger the world, please, please feel free to help kill them, like they'd kill you. I didn't make these rules, but I sure as hell am going to play by them."
Van didn't know how to respond. He felt a flash of anger rising up within him, but she was very right. It didn't matter what happened in here… there would only be five survivors. He felt a burning anger at her, at Draco, and even at the world around him. This wasn't fair. Why the hell was he facing this kind of dilemma? He'd never wanted to hurt anyone, and now he'd be forced to kill people who were so desperate that they'd commit murder in a game.
"Look," Van said, "maybe you take the lead on this. I don't think I have it in me to make the right decision."
"Van," Sang said as she shook her head, "we need you."
"No, Sang," Van said, trying not to get choked up, "we need you. I can't do it. I won't do it. So you do it. You tell us what to do."
"Fine by me," Kylian said. "No shame in admitting someone else is better than you in a given situation. A true leader empowers his people."
"Yeah, what he said," Sahara said.
"I'll do whatever, really," Fredlin echoed.
Sang's eyes were wide at the proposition, and Van could see the etchings of fear on her face, but she was quick to hide it from the rest of them.
"Fine, I'm running the show. We need more weapons, but this watering hole is perfect. I say we lie in wait above, in the trees. Kill anyone who comes and take their stuff. Prop their bodies up so it looks like they're an easy target from a distance."
"That is gruesome," Van said. "But… brilliant."
Sang sat in the tree, fiddling with the dagger. She only had the one, but fortunately her class gave her plenty of bonuses with thrown weapons. She had been waiting for nearly three hours, watching for signs of life but seeing nothing.
It had been a surprise when Van gave her control of the party, but it had been the right decision. Van was a strong leader, regardless of his personal hang-ups, and he proved it time and time again when he put Sang in charge. She would be able to lead them to victory, no matter how tough it was. For now, though, the rest of the team was out searching for weapons. If Sang noticed anyone coming from her vantage point, she would whistle sharply and hope the team was within range.
There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to where the weapons were located. She had found the daggers on a stump, but there'd been nothing special about the placement. There'd been no beacons, no treasure chests. Just two daggers laying on a tree stump.
Only Fredlin was with her now, sitting in the tree opposite of her, whittling down a stick with Van's dagger. He had volunteered to craft weapons and Van had been quick to hand the knife over since they weren't going to be engaging while scouting.
"You've seen war, right?" Sang asked quietly.
Fredlin glanced over at her. "Yeah," he said. His invisibility spell had worn off, but since he was so high up in the trees, he'd be perfectly fine for now.
"Is it weird to feel this calm when in a battlefield?" she asked.
"It's weird," Fredlin said. "But everyone's different. I knew a guy who would sing when under enemy fire. He would sing about how nice the sky was. After the fight? Puking for an hour straight. The stress and terror comes, my friend – it just comes at different times than we think."
"That makes me feel better," Sang said with a little chuckle. "I just think I've been so stressed out from all of this that maybe it's all become normal to me."
"Yeah, so be careful," Fredlin replied. "That's when you get complacent. And complacent people die."
"Alright, it looks clear," Van said as he crawled through the bushes. Kylian and Sahara were both lying on their stomachs, looking at the clearing where a large warhammer was resting.
"That is such a vulnerable position," Kylian said. "Just in the middle of a perfectly clear area – no cover. I mean, whoever runs to grab that thing might as well shout 'free target practice.'"
"I'm not going for it," Sahara said. "I think we should skip it."
"Two measly daggers and a longsword aren't enough," Van retorted. "We need something strong. I mean, we could use that hammer to break wood so we could make traps, too."
"Sounds like you have every reason in the world to grab it," Kylian said.
Van frowned. The rest of the team definitely seemed against going to
grab it, but at the same time, it would be very useful for more than just combat. They hadn't seen any other players for quite some time.
"Well…" Van said. "Just cover me."
"Do you want this?" Sahara asked as she offered him her sword.
"Nah, keep it in case I end up in trouble. You can flank them on both sides," Van said as he slowly stood to his feet and took a deep breath. "Here I go!" he said as he ran at full speed toward the hammer.
He reached the hammer and grabbed a hold of it, pulling it off the ground.
"Haha!" Van said as he began to run back to his team. As he turned, though, he felt an arrow shoot into his right arm. The pain was intense – so much so that he dropped the weapon to clutch his wound. The words 20 damage floated above his head, dropping his health down to 80.
"Over there!" Sahara shouted, pointing to the right of Van. He glanced over to see that there was an archer standing by one of the trees. He was nocking another arrow.
"Crap, cover me!" Van yelled as he ducked down and grabbed the hammer, rushing toward the player trying to kill him. An arrow narrowly missed him as he rushed the man and swung his hammer as hard as he could.
The player tried to dodge out of the way, but didn't have a chance with how fast Van was going. Van's blow cracked him in the side of the head, dropping him instantly. The words Critical One Shot floated above Van.
"Over there!" Sahara said as she rushed in next to Van and brandished her sword. Two more players were coming towards them, both of them women armed with knives.
"How many do you have left?" Van asked, swinging his hammer in the air to try and scare them off. "Enough to kill the two of us?"
"Go to hell," one of them said, snarling a little at Van. She was redheaded and, in some odd way, reminded Van of O'Hara.
Van could feel the adrenaline surge through his body as the women broke off from one another and began to encircle them slowly.
"You get the one on the right," Van said as he faced the red-haired warrior.
