Horizon Line Chapter 1: Blackbird, Rude Dark Elf, a manhua/chinese comics/漫画 fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own ½ Prince or anything other intellectual property that is not mine.

Author's note at the end.

LINE BREAK

It was yet another late Friday afternoon that found me in my room, reading the same sentence in my book for the dozen or so time. While being in my room was more common than not, typically I was an avid reader who would devour books in no time at all. Boring, I know, but the world beyond my literature holds nothing of interest to me.

Right now though my mind and emotions were in too much turmoil to focus on what I was reading. The reason for this? My older sister has returned home. She had been attending college all the way in Japan for the past four years, give or take, and I had only seen her during the summers during that time. And for that I was really glad, since I didn't want to see her any more than I had to. Now however she was back in the States and had gotten a job nearby at Life Gaming (a job that anyone interested in the video game industry would kill over) and is thus staying with us for an indefinite amount of time until she buys a house close enough to work.

I scowled at my book at the thought of her. She had tormented me for all of my life, no joke, and the time she had spent away from home was a respite I had never known before. I don't want her back in my life, which was far more comfortable without her. Sure, my parents paid more attention to me since their oh-so-perfect daughter had left, which was unfamiliar and made me uneasy to say the least, but at least I could avoid them by holing myself in my room. But no, Pansy would just go out of her way to find and make me miserable.

Suddenly the door to my room opened. Startled, I flailed a bit, flopping down heavily back on my bed as my book was flung a foot into the air and landed on the floor.

"Eugh, have you ever heard of something called a window, Terry?" a scornful voice commented, the nose of its owner crinkling as she took in the dusty smell of my room, eyes squinting in response to the dim lighting that she had to adjust to. Pansy – for that is who the intruder was – strode over to my bedroom window – I winced as she stepped carelessly on the several papers and books scattered across my floor – and rolled the blackout blinds up before pushing the sliding cover open to allow fresh air to enter.

"It's my room, and what are you even doing in here? Shouldn't you be with Mom and Dad?"

Pansy sneered at me.

"And your room sucks. For your information, Mom and Dad are at a friend's house drinking wine. As for why I'm here . . ." Pansy walked over to stand next to my bed, and I flinched away just the slightest as I recalled all those times during our childhood that she could pick on physically me due to her being larger. I was larger than she now, but the memories remain. She snorted at my reaction before dumping a large package unceremoniously in my lap.

"Wha?" I asked ever so intelligently, running a hand over the smooth box. I must have been so concerned with her just being here that I never even noticed she had brought it with her.

"It's Second Life, the most popular game made by Life Gaming. The North American servers are going to open in a few minutes."

I looked up from the box to her, orange-hazel eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"Why are you giving me this?"

Pansy snorted, her lips twisting into a cruel smile as a malevolent light entered her paler eyes.

"Isn't it obvious? It's going to be hilarious seeing you get torn apart by monsters and other players. Y'know, just because you only feel the pain at thirty percent of how it would actually feel doesn't make it any more enjoyable. A little twerp like you will probably just end up as some sniveling priest without a team, because really, who would want to be around a socially retarded freak like you?" she jeered.

I felt my blood boil, my hands clenched into fists as I gritted my teeth and glared. I took a deep breath and held it, stomping down the rage I was feeling. There is nothing, absolutely nothing that I can do about it.

"I'm not a retard!" I shouted, although it came out strained as if I were uncertain to argue.

My sister barked a short laugh at my expense.

"You're the one who called yourself that; I just called you socially retarded! There's a difference, you numbskull."

With that she sauntered out of my room, gleefully crumpling some of my drawings underfoot in the process. I sat in silence, simmering for a minute or two longer. Then I moved the box off of my lap, slid off of the bed, and shut the door that she had left open angrily.

I returned to my bed, taking the box back into my hands and starting to read the print on all of its six sides. I may not be a fan of my sister or video games, but I have been excited about Second Life, what with its fantasy-based content and alleged ninety-nine percent realism for weeks, and I have to grudgingly admit that I'm glad my sister got it for me. Still, I'm definitely going to make her eat her words. I'll become the most fearsome player in all of Second Life; no one will dare mess with me!

Prying open the box, I removed a gaming helmet, game cartridge, and manual, tossing aside the packing material to some corner of the room. Before even starting the game I read the manual from front to cover, as any sensible person would do, and committed the information to memory. By the time I finished reading it I took a glance at the digital LED clock that was on the dresser next to my bedside and noticed that the time for the game to start had already passed.

Inserting the game cartridge into the helmet, I then placed it on and plopped onto my bed, allowing the gaming helmet to work its magic and send me to sleep artificially.

LINE BREAK

I came to awareness in a black room stretching all around, its only feature a floating chair in which a guy probably around my sister's age sat. His features were hard to make out due to the helmet he had on over his head, but I didn't particularly care since chances were he was just an NPC.

"Welcome to Second Life. Before you may start the game, you must first create the character. You may only make one character, and once it is made you cannot change them." the NPC stated in a cool and official manner. I liked that, as peppy people trying to start up a conversation with you when you are complete and utter strangers is always awkward to say the least.

"Alright, let's get on with it then." I said.

At once a wide variety of races came into existence before me, and I found myself impressed. There was a great selection here. But of course, that was one of the many things lauded about Second Life, that being the variety.

"Races you may choose from are human, elf, dark elf, dwarf, demon, spirit, holyman, and beastman." the NPC informed me, indicating to each race as he stated their respective names.

"Get rid of the human, elf, dwarf, spirit, and holyman." I said at once, not wanting to be something too generic, weird to play, or "pretty". At once those options vanished, leaving me with far less choices, including the sub-races.

I examined the remaining options.

"Get rid of the demon too."

After all, the demon race was composed of either hideous humanoids or beings that just looked too much like the elves. I may not want one of the pretty races like holyman or elf, but I didn't want to look like a bog monster either.

Now all that was left was the dark elf and various beastman sub-races. It was a tough choice, since the dark elf had a cool, edgy and exotic sort of quality to him, while the beastmen looked intimidating and animals are just plain awesome. After some more consideration though I decided that the beastmen were out, leaving me with the dark elf. While beastmen may generally be more fearsome than a dark elf, it would definitely say more about me if I could strike fear into people as a humanoid. Besides, not only do I like how the dark complexion is a far cry from my pasty skin in real life, but I don't want to be mistaken as a furry. G-d only knows that between my sister and some of peers at school I am more than teased enough.

"Are you sure that you wish to be a dark elf?" the NPC asked me.

"Yes."

My race set, I then went through deciding the rest of my features. While dark skin was a prerequisite for a dark elf, there were various shades possible to be one coming in browns, greys, reds, and blacks. It didn't take long to settle on the darkest black, which was so dark it looked like one could fall right through it like a dark cave. Then I chose for my eyes to be an alluring blue-purple the color of tanzanite, and for my hair to be silver to contrast my to-be dark skin strikingly. Unlike my hair, which was short in real life on account of my parents always making me cut it once it reached chin length, I designed my game self so that it was long, coming down to about mid-back. At least, it would have been if not for the fact that it was meticulously plaited into countless tiny braids and then gathered up into a high ponytail. I grinned upon seeing the finished product, which definitely looked cool. Now this was what a fantasy character should look like, and I could hardly believe that I would be this person.

"Excuse me, but we do have an option for your character to be beautified or uglified by up to ten percent. Would you like to utilize this option?" the NPC interjected.

"Ten percent more beautiful, please." I made a face at using the word 'beautiful'; couldn't they have called it 'handsome' at least? My masculine pride was somewhat wounded.

"Now you just need to choose a name and continent – of which there are five, consisting of the four cardinal directions and then a central continent – and then you may enter the game."

I thought about this, looking at my character and trying to think of the perfect name.

"How about . . . Blackbird for a name?" I asked. I was considering Dark Knight, since my last name is Knight, but realized that that sounded so generic and like something a preteen who fancies themselves unique would come up with.

"Yes, that name is available."

Now I just had to choose a continent to start out on. I paused here, thinking about what I read of each one. Central was based off of continental Europe, Eastern off of Asia, and they were the two most popular continents. Then there was Western, which had a pre-colonial Native American vibe to it, Northern, which was Norse-like, and finally Southern, which was apparently based off of the Middle East and Africa. Not many players chose to play on the Southern Continent from what I'd heard, on account of the difficult terrain, dangerous weather conditions, and particularly aggressive monsters.

So of course, I knew which continent I wanted to start out on, and informed the NPC that I chose the Southern Continent as my starting place. I could have sworn that the NPC raised an eyebrow before giving a small smile at my choice. Nah, that was probably my imagination.

"Excellent, enjoy your Second Life."

The NPC's voice faded with the room.

LINE BREAK

Still in the empty room, awaiting the next new player to sort out, the GM allowed himself a small smile.

"So that's Pansy's brother?"

LINE BREAK

I woke up to the sensation of a stick prodding my side. Despite feeling groggy, I still reached up and grabbed the stick while frowning. Sitting up my attention turned to the urchin NPC at my side, who looked like a deer caught in headlights. Sneering at the girl, I stood up and wrenched the stick from her, snapping it over a knee and tossing the two halves to the side.

"I. Do not. Like. Being. Touched!" I warned her, my voice on the verge of dropping into a hiss. The girl stared up at me with the onset of tears welling up in her large dark eyes, and I had no doubt that they were genuine; the news of the NPCs in Second Life developing sentience had hit headlines around the world. Frankly enough though, I really couldn't give a damn if she a person in all but flesh.

"Don't you dare cry on my watch. You can repay your poking me by telling me where I am."

"A-Afel Village." she stammered.

I nodded and got to my feet, swinging my in-game limbs around and rotating my head on its neck. It felt just like my real body, even though I was taller and in much better shape in this game. With no use for the raggedy NPC girl I then started walking away, planning while I did so. Quickly becoming lost in my thoughts and making sure I didn't run into anyone, I did not notice the bemused and even indignant looks I was receiving for my treatment of the NPC.

LINE BREAK

Afel Village – or Afel-on-the-Pirenes, as the beginner village was known officially – I had realized, as I familiarized myself with the settlement, was a quaint place set on some small hills overlooking a small river known as the Pirenes. There wasn't much, but where it was set was in a savannah with a decent amount of trees and foliage with lazy animals sprawled out in the thick reeds and along the riverbanks.

When I had spotted an inn with actual glass windows (most of the buildings here – which were either composed of sandstone or bricks made of dried mud with straw mixed in – did not have windows, or if they did then they were just oiled parchment set into wooden frames) I had paused to examine myself in their reflection, and found myself to be wearing the same plain robes – dun in color and nondescript – that I had seen worn by most of the other players, who were new to the game like me. There were also some plain pauldrons and thigh guards that really didn't do much for my stats, but were better than no protection I supposed. Once I made enough earnings from monster loot from grinding I could always buy better, or maybe find some treasure or win them by taking on quests. Second Life was a huge world with plenty of opportunities for anyone willing to go out and work, so I'd heard.

I leaned against the building, considering my options. Dark elves were a fairly well-rounded race that typically specialized as magi, warriors, and thieves, although archers weren't that uncommon. Not many people chose to play as dark elves, warriors preferring the better strength and endurance that beastmen and humans typically have over dark elves over the higher agility that dark elves were usually endowed with, while regular elves were just plain more popular, their good-looks being more generic, while their agility was just a slight better and their endurance lesser, making them better archers than dark elves typically.

Really, I wouldn't be that impeded by my race no matter what class I chose, unlike say a beastman, the majority of the sub-races being notoriously slow and often lacking in intelligence and wisdom stats. You would think that, being animal-like, they'd be faster, but I suppose walking on two legs as opposed to four really does make a difference.

So I could basically choose any class and be well off. I ran through my options, immediately dismissing mage, priest, and archer, along with sub-classes of those main classes such as bard from my options. I wanted something that was up close and person to show my sister up, and really, what's the point of playing a game like this if you're going to hide behind other people? Besides, I wasn't planning on making or joining a team, so being a class dependent on others would be a folly.

When it came down to it, my options were pretty much either warrior or thief. Not sure which to choose at the current moment, I decided to put it off later and instead check my stats and equipment.

"System." I stated to nothing, feeling foolish. However, I had read in the manual that this was the way to check the system menu, and the information was proven correct a moment later.

Name: Blackbird | Gender: Male

Huh, I wonder what I did to lower my reputation. Ah well, no point dwelling on it. Overall, my stats are looking pretty decent, save for Charisma. Probably mean I'm not going to be a thief, then.

Disabling the system menu, I checked for my equipment. Did I really just start out with nothing but the clothes on my back? I patted all over myself before unbuttoning the leather pouch hanging from my belt and sticking my hand in, delighted to find that there were a few things inside. I removed from it a somewhat dull knife about the length of my hand, a pair of plain but sturdy gloves, and a cheetah print bandana. Upon closer inspection, I found that the bandana, while as manipulative as any regular bandana, was much harder – as if there was metal inside – and if warped into a shape could retain it. Cool, sort of like Ryoga's from Ranma ½! After a moment of consideration I wrapped the bandana around my forehead before donning the gloves. It was probably too hot for the latter to be sensible, but I figure that any boost to my defense would be appreciated with so little gear and the levels of my stats currently.

Feeling a bit more settled into the game now that I've taken care of some primary business, I was raring to start playing seriously.

"Excuse me, but what are the best monsters around here for a beginner to fight, and where may I find them?" I inquired of a passing player who looked fairly battered, my polite speech kicking in as it always did when initiating conversation with somebody I didn't know well.

"The man-eating slimes to the north are a good bet." he said before moving on. Nodding and with a destination now in mind, I headed off in the aforementioned direction.

LINE BREAK

Author's Note: Right, so this is my first ever fanfic for ½ Prince, and I'm not sure how it turned out. All reviews are welcome, even if they are harsh critique (so long as it's constructive.) This story isn't a priority of mine, but I am finding it fun so while updates will be sporadic don't expect to wait for new chapters for too long. If need be, feel free to review and/or private message me prompting me to hasten my work and I will do my best to meet your demands if it is within my means.