She knew at her first breath that she was different than others. The ones she would talk to would always have somewhere to go, someone to be with. They would disappear for an hour or even a day or two, but they'd come back eventually. This confused her to no end; how did they disappear? She would try to send them a flash mail but would just receive a blinking error message: This person is unavailable. She never understood how they just vanished, especially when sometimes they would warp right before her very eyes, even without a gate!
Eventually she learned how to tweak her system, making her appear offline even though she could never leave herself. To give the impression that she could leave The World, she'd warp to some location that didn't have anything other than the normal Gott Statue, and hide in the field. It was a very lonely existence, but she wanted to be just like the others, despite her strange appearance and lack of others to go to.
She met Elk in one of her random fields, and was startled to find him there. He was alone, staring off into the faraway mountains. He didn't look up at her when she approached him, so she merely sat down next to him, twitching her ears curiously. Usually her strange appearance would garner some sort of reaction, whether it was a double take or even stopping to stare, but this wavemaster seemed indifferent. So they just sat there together, staring blankly into the horizon.
After about ten minutes he finally looked at her. His eyes were dull and his face solemn. He scanned her, and when he reached her eyes she met them. They sat in silence for another thirty seconds like this, in some sort of strange staring contest, before he finally looked away. Mia smirked, flicking her tail with amusement. Though they hadn't shared a word, she felt deeply connected to him. He was strangely familiar, though she couldn't place his face.
Finally he spoke. "What do you want?" Her tail curled, and she laughed slightly, turning her head to face him.
"What? Am I not allowed to go where I please? I just happened to sit by you. There's no rule against it." He twitched an eyebrow and met her eyes again.
"It's just strange… you're out here alone… That's all."
"So are you."
"Yeah, but you seem to be the kind of person who would make a lot of friends." Mia twitched her ear, smiling. He was talking about her model, obviously. The one that made her stand out in a world full of look-a-likes.
"Just because I appear the way I am doesn't mean that I make friends easily. Actually, I have very few actual ones. Most of them leave in what seems like a blink of an eye." She sighed, looking up at the sky and closing her eyes. A soft breeze passed through, ruffling her fur.
"Well, some people might be curious. Like, how you made it that way. It's… different." He had paused on the last word, unsure whether to make it a compliment or insult. He had simply settled on something that could be taken either way. Mia decided it was a compliment.
"They can figure it out themselves. It's not impossible, I'm sure." She had been approached with questions like the one the wavemaster was asking. How could she teach others how to be like her when she didn't know how she had ended up that way herself? He seemed to have none of that.
"It's not considered kind if you don't share… Ah, give me a second…" His model froze up, and Mia grumbled. She knew that when that happened, the person would vanish soon. Patiently she tapped her fingers on the ground, savoring the hard blades of grass against her gloves. He suddenly jumped back to life. She chuckled.
"Welcome back."
"Sorry. I have to go eat in a few minutes." Her face fell. This boy was interesting, and so vaguely familiar. She didn't want him to leave yet. Then she scolded herself for getting too attached. He would likely be one of those people who never came back after a week. Hi s level was low enough to give basis to that theory. Still, she wanted to see him again, after he left.
"Well, how about we exchange e-mail addresses?" The wavemaster stared blankly at her, as if not understanding. She snapped her fingers in front of his face, laughing.
"I don't even know your name-"
"Mia. Your turn!"
"Elk, but I still don't think-"
"Now that we have each other's names, take it." She sent him a request, which he hesitantly accepted. Mia's view suddenly became filled with a request. Mentally tapping 'Yes', it vanished. They both sat there, Elk awkwardly shifting his character around while Mia waited for him to speak.
"Um… I don't know if you'd like it… but…"
"Spit it out!" She laughed again. Elk blinked, suddenly feeling more comfortable.
"Here! It's Aromatic Grass! I know it's useless, but-" He stopped, watching Mia intently. Her pupils had expanded, leaving little yellow to be seen. Blurry images were coming to her: a boy that looked like Elk handing her the same thing that he was gifting her now, beams of light striking her as a high-pitched scream covered everything else… She blinked, allowing her eyes to return to normal and her gratitude to be shown. A smile took over her face.
"Thanks Elk! How did you know I loved Aromatic Grass?" It was an honest question, as she wanted to know if Elk knew the boy that she had just seen. Had it been Elk himself? She knew it was a male wavemaster, but everything had been black and white and blurry, leaving no defining characteristics.
"Well, I just sort of had to give you something, right? If you like it, I can get more!" His eyes brightened with eagerness, and Mia's smile grew only wider.
"I would really appreciate that, Elk! Aromatic Grass is my all-time favorite item!" She looked around, ears pressed against her head in thought. She finally pointed in the direction of the dungeon, and looked at Elk. He glanced at her pointing hand, then at her, confused. She shook her head, laughing.
"I was thinking, maybe since we're here already, we could do the dungeon? You get treasure from the Statue at the bottom." At this Elk leapt up eagerly, taking his staff in his hands and nodding enthusiastically. Mia only giggled, getting up with a bit more class than her new friend.
"I have about ten minutes before dinner, but I think that I can eat it later if I ask. So why not?" Mia grinned, nodding. She didn't note Elk's strange desperation in the middle, as if he were afraid of losing her if he left to eat dinner.
And so together, hand in hand, they took off towards the dungeon.
A/N: I guess it should be noted now that I don't own .hack anything, though it would be awesome if I did. I really love the characters of .hack/IMOQ and /SIGN, and they really don't get enough love. Especially Mia, who's usually tossed aside for some other character to be Elk's partner.
As for my other story, it'll be updated, I promise. I forgot about it and lost the files for the next few chapters. So in apology I wrote this. We all good now? xD