A fill for HSWC Bonus Round 1

Jake3Jane

"Nice view from up here, don't you agree? It almost makes me forget that this is only a video game." -Zacharie, OFF

They had been in that game for over half a year. Everyday seemed to be routine. Get up, fight a bunch of skeletal monsters, attempt to find clues or puzzles to figure out what the hell to do next, fail, get some rest, repeat. On an odd day it would be where she would speak to her friends. Get updates, maybe plan to scour their lands together. That was it and so far there was no progress what so ever. Jane was getting tired of it all. Lately she found herself wandering alone on her land. Ignoring whatever quest she was supposedly meant for and ignoring the messages she received from her friends. She would talk to them later. Make an excuse about being preoccupied elsewhere. It was strange. She was so excited at first. But then things just kept going downhill and she didn't know what she was doing any more. The walks offered her solitude but by no means did they bring her peace or serenity. They just seemed to make her feel worse with the way she thought about the ridiculous game. What was she even supposed to do now?

Sometimes she would just walk with nothing on her mind, just blankly staring ahead with no destination in mind. At one point she had found a cliff high above the ground that looked down upon the vast grey land and colourful balloons. The rest of the day was spent sitting there looking at the pretty colours bobbing up and down every now and then. She felt a little better after that. It was definitely a place to return to.

A couple of visits later she found Jake sitting in her favourite spot. It was one of those days where she felt she needed to be alone so she headed there right away. A frown found its way on her face when the surprise visitor was spotted.

"What are you doing here Jake?" she said with a bit more malice than intended.

"Oh hello Jane," he greeted without turning around and without picking up on the irritation in her voice, "I came to check up on you since the others hadn't heard from you in a while."

She stood there trying to find a nice way to tell him to leave.

"I came through a different gate this time around," he looked up and she did as well. A gate sat high above the two of them. She had never noticed it before, "Then I ended up here. I was going to look for you right away but the view captivated me so I decided to sit and enjoy it for a little while."

Jane couldn't disagree with Jake on the view part. With a sigh she gave up on trying to tell him to leave and sat down beside him joining him in balloon gazing. Looking at him she found a small smile on his face. A silence sat between the two for a couple of minutes before he spoke up again.

"Nice view from up here, don't you agree? It almost makes me forget that this is only a video game," he chuckled to himself before leaning forward, his smile straining, "Then again what kind of blasted video game throws a bunch of kids into such dangers and hoo haas about some sort of bogus quest they have to fulfil. It's insane."

So even the great adventurer Jake was having doubts. Well she couldn't blame him. He was much more excited than her in the beginning as well but it had been far too long already. This game just seemed like an infinite loop with no real goal in the end. Jane had had enough.

Without thinking she spoke, "I want to go home."

Jake looked over to her and found tears falling from her eyes. With his smile faded he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close so she could rest her head onto his shoulder. He let her cry as he rubbed her shoulder in comfort.

"I just want to go back home with my Dad. I want to go back to those stupid silly fights we had and bake together again. I want to go back to having fun and chatting with all of you without having to worry about skeleton creatures and stupid caves and quests. I want to go back to when my only worry in life was my crush on you not wondering where my Dad was or if he's even alive or wondering how to get out of this damned place," she attempted to wipe her tears away, "I don't think there's any way out of here at all."

"Hey now," Jake pulled her back and turned both of them so that they could look at each other. He held her head in his hands and wiped away her tears with his thumbs as he spoke, "I know my strong gal Jane Crocker is in there somewhere. You just had a few off days that's all it's understandable but remember you're not alone in this. You got me, Roxy and Dirk all here with you. We will all get out of this you hear me?"

She looked at him with a devastated face and sobbed as she put her hands over his and looked down. She just couldn't believe it. Jake couldn't bear seeing her like this. She was supposed to be the leader of the group. The gutsy gal, the detective, she was the strong one. It was strange seeing her breaking down like this. He had to let her know it wasn't hopeless. Tilting her head up to look at him again he leaned in and gave her a kiss right on the lips. When they parted she looked at him slightly confused for a moment. He just smiled at her back and pulled her into a comforting hug.

"We'll get through this. I promise. We'll find your Dad. We'll get out of here together and things can go back to what they were. I'll make sure of it so just smile for me again okay Jane?"

But how long would that be? Another year? Two? Were they just destined to stay there forever? Jake's words were slightly comforting but reality still slapped her in the face. It just seemed impossible. In the end she just held onto him tighter and cried the night away.