Disclaimer:I don't own 1/2 Prince, or any of its characters, however Bibbity is my creation.
This is my first online story, so please leave a comment to tell me anything you think I might need to know to improve on future writings. At present this is a stand alone story, but it has the potential to become the intro chapter to a much longer and more complex story. I would also like to know if anyone enjoyed it aswell. I hope to make more chapters in the future, readers input would be welcome. Thank you - Katchr
Bbbity came to. She had been sleeping in a tree again. The recent events from before were still fresh in her head, and all she knew was that she didn't want to be there. Besides, today it was final. There is no going back now.
She had only been playing Second-Life for a month, and leveling had not gone well, but it was still better than thinking about the situation.
Rubbing her eyes and stretching, she was careful not to fall. Atleast here the mobs wouldn't get her. She could ruminate without interference and the local pkers probably wouldn't see her. After all she didn't have anyone to email or pester her ingame.
She had picked a class that was hard for soloing. Since she had no prowess in hand-to-hand combat, Bibbity had chosen to become a lightining mage. Sometimes the spells worked and she had discovered that some of the minor mobs couldn't climb trees. That was what had started the tree climbing ritual.
Since she had discovered strange things would raise her stats, Bibbity had worked hard on increasing here agility and strategy skills. Unfortunately, she had no clue how to improve her magic or fighting abilities.
Over time climbing trees had become much easier even though her hair got in the way. She carried hairbands on her hand for such occasions. However, the feeling of it flying free in the breeze was somehow comforting. At the moment the long brown length of hair hung limply down below the branch she sat on, because there was no wind in this woods.
It had been quiet for sometime now, not even the birds had been chirping. Usually a mob would have ambled by. There had been nothing.
Hm, I wonder what is going on? It was too still.
She changed from a sitting position to a balanced crouch, and began to search her surroundings with her greyish-blue eyes. Thankfully, her vision was improved in-game.
"Ahh..." escaped her lips as the trees in the distance began to shake, creak, and then part. Her eyes grew to saucers. What's going on? she questioned within herself again.
She was riveted to her perch. If something that dangerous was coming she would be caught up in it. It continued to move in her direction.
There, faintly, the sounds of spell-casting and weapons became slowly louder, and louder.
"Loli Dragon, are you okay?" an elf with a black sword yelled out as he appeared from behind a tree. He was covered from head to toe in different colored bloods.
A girl was running and periodically returning to fight. "Nothing I can't handle," she yelled back at him, gasping for breath.
It was obvious they had been at it for a while and it seemed like all the mobs in the woods were after them.
However, the mobs were going down fast.
The two quarter combatants were slicing, dicing, and stabbing with efficiency.
Spells are being cast too, but from where? Bibbity craned her neck as though that would allow her to see through the trees. They must still be coming. During some spells moving was hard to do.
Bibbity heaved a big sigh. " I'll never be able to cast like that." Every spell hit and it was obviously doing lots of damage.
Finally, the other four players came into veiw. They were surrounded by skeletons for protection.
The four magic based players moved Westward, in her direction, but stopped short of her tree.
Bibbity gasped in shock as she began to realize who she was watching fight, almost losing her grip on the tree. Teetering back and forth, she grasped for the tree's trunk.
Her eyes rested on the demon bard. Then she took a closer look at the warrior elf again. "Oh, oh, oh..." Her excitement began to rise. These were Second-Life's equivalent of celebrities, and she was getting to see them in action. They weren't at the top yet, but they were quickly climbing levels and were known for uncommonly good looks, at least part of the squad was. It was Odd Squad.
"Never in my life did I think I would be so lucky," she thought.
She snuck another look back at the bard. He played his weapon and sang his incantations. He was fascinating to watch. So graceful. Elegant hands sweeping across the strings bringing out various rhythms. Bibbity loved music and was enthralled. His long hair and outfit were so perfectly suited to bring out his facial features. The only word for his appearance, the music, and the song chants was perfection.
Why couldn't I have picked the bard class? Then she could have worked, crafting her self presentation with a similar, elaborate depth. How strange, he even has a guqin. Everyone says he is comical, that he is idiotic and non-sensical also, but I don't see that she thought. Too much perfection. He was far too graceful. There was no hint of an idiot. Too smooth.
She began to get the feeling that nothing in that mob fight would escape his notice.
Suddenly, the bard quit casting. He stood motionless for a moment, then his head swung up to the tree branch she was squatting on.
Gui, the demon bard, had seen her.
Fear grew in her, as she realized that he had noticed her. After all they were practicing for the second half of the tournament and probably did not want to be seen.
His eyes were intense, penetrating. With a couple plucks of the strings and "Supersonic arrow," an arrow of light shot out and hit the tree branch she was perched on.
She fell to the earth below as the branch shook mercilessly. "ow, ow, ow, ouch!" Bibbity screamed.
One of the mobs had seen her. The commotion had caught it's attention. As the giant Armored Turtle moved in her direction. The "Blood Elf'," Prince, moved to counter.
All Bibbity could do was try to scramble to get away. She wound up sitting against the tree she had perched in earlier, still trying to push herself further into the tree by repeatedly kicking her heals into the ground.
The giant bipedal turtle swung at her and in answer, once again, the sword flew horizontally above her head, landing in the turtle's neck.
Bibbity instinctively put both hands up to protect her head.
The Armored Turtle had tried to escape the sword and was dispatched quickly with a following blow.
Prince moved on to another mob, thereafter appearing to keep himself bodily between her and the mobs.
She was now forced to watch, mesmerized with fear, excitement, and awe as this grotesque elf, covered in blood fought in a manner that resembled a gruesome dance. The more blood flew, the more the elf, possessed with a feverish battle mania, smiled with the joy of slaughter. Occasionally, Bibbity got a glimpse of that fevered face and cringed. Rumors didn't begin to express his fearfulness.
Everything in her screamed to get out of this situation, but she willed herself to stay. The fear from all the times her life had been put in danger in the real world threatened again to well up. This is only a game, she told herself. This isn't real. She willed herself to stay there, at the base of the tree as she shook in fear and began to understand how much the real world had affected her game play.
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As Bibbity watched the battle from the base of the tree, the stress caused by her fear began to take its toll on her mind. It wasn't an uncommon problem for her. She would fall asleep in the middle of arguments. It had become a regular problem for her, and now it had begun to happen. She felt all her strength seep out from her limbs, and a heavy weight on her eyes, accompanied by the sense of her mind going numb. Her head fell to her chest as she blacked out to the sound of battle.
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They had been fighting for an hour and a half at that one location now, and they had finally run out of mobs.
Prince, covered in blood, slimy from head to toe, took in the view of all their hard work. He knew that in the heart of battle something had happened, but he couldn't remember what. Hacking, slashing and generally getting a really hefty workout really felt good. He took in a big breath, letting it go, shook clean the blade of the black sword and sheathed it.
Something caught his eye. There was a person unconscious on the ground. They didn't look like they had been hurt. Sleeping in a place like this? What kind of fool is that? he thought to himself. He could see she was soundly asleep, breathing in regular intervals.
He went over to the sleeping form. The armor was lower level, worn out, definitely in need of some serious repair. There was what he had originally mistook as a brown pool all around her upper torso, it wound up being lots of hair, long brown hair, everywhere.
"Hey, wake up." He slapped her left and right cheeks.
In reality, Prince was a girl, so the appearance of the girl didn't phase him that much. The only thing remarkable about this girl was all the hair. Prince had a bad habit of comparing every girl he/she met in-game to his physical form. No jealousy rose up this time.
The first thing Bibbity felt was pain on her cheeks and a man saying, "Wake up."
She didn't want to wake up. It was so peaceful where she had been.
Loli Dragon PMed Prince. "Don't forget to put up your front. You don't need more fan girl troubles."
Prince PMed back,"Thanks for the reminder." He slipped on his icy cold expression. No wanting any new fans to gather in his shadows.
That was the look that greeted Bibbity's eyes, coupled with the blood caked on. She screamed.
Prince fell back. His sword sheath landing in the dirt on point, causing a very awkward moment as Gui rushed in to help his beloved Prince regain his composure.
Bibbity, totally panicked, scrambled on all fours to get away from the frightening face that had awoken her. Rising to her feet after escaping to the other side of the tree, she began to run.
Ugly Wolf had been prepared for this whole scenario from the moment the battle had ended, and he realized Prince would get to her first. In reality he was physician, and had seen many traumatized patients, so he had moved to an advantageous spot which just happened to be behind a bush. He intended to block her escape and then calm her down if necessary.
Bibbity, unseeing in her panic, ran straight into his chest and fell back onto the ground. Another scream reflexively escaped her lips as she realized that she had bounced off something that did not feel like a tree.
She didn't dare look up. she was too scared. This time she huddled into a ball, whimpering, and shaking. "It isn't real. It isn't real. It isn't real." she kept chanting to herself again and again.
It came closer and a shadow blocked out the sunlight that had been peaking through the tree tops.
Bibbity was once again enveloped in darkness as her mind shut down.
Ugly Wolf, a compassionate wolfman, with a kind disposition, had thought to help this traumatized girl, never expecting she would black out a second time, and so quickly after the previous episode. It was disconcerting to him that someone so apparently fragile would be running around in the woods alone. Wolf gently scooped the girl up in his overly large, strong arms.
All of the Odd Squad had gathered around him by then.
"Prince, until you have bathed, you are not allowed to go anywhere near this child." Wolf's rasping voice spoke in team chat. Because his frame was much taller than the average person, the girl looked like the child he had called her.
The looks of concern on everyone's faces had gotten serious, and Gui was very much beginning to repent for his earlier action.
There was a stream and waterfall nearby, so the party began to walk.
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Loli Dragon was playing with Meatbun in the stream. The sound of their laughter could be heard as Meatbun called out to "Mommy," who could be found on the other side of a sizeable black boulder, bathing both himself and clothing at once. Prince didn't totally trust Gui to stay away during his cleaning, even though Gui had been strangely quiet this whole time.
Down stream from everyone Doll could be seen languidly floating. They had worked hard and all she wanted to do was relax. Of course she was worried about the stranger, but Yulian and Wolf-nii were more than capable. She would just have to wait till later. Besides everything in her body was worn out. It was taxing to keep so many skeletons out for so long. However, over all her skills had improved greatly due to Wolf-Dage's training regiment.
Yulian sat on the river bank cradling the stranger's unconscious head in her lap, while holding the wet cloth that Wolf, her ingame husband, periodically replaced for her.
Ugly Wolf, had never quite appreciated the realistic quality of the game as much as he did right now. Thanks to it he had been able to check her pulse. But it still bothered him. Why had she been alone? A spell-caster with bad low level armor...
He absentmindedly stared at the sparkling water that slowly meandered by.
Yulian watched Wolf from where she sat. She loved his straight shoulders and noble form. He stood so tall and upright. His shoulders never bent and his head never bowed down in defeat. His heart and mind never were cloudy. A kind, gentle wisdom shined through his voice. she hoped that someday she would have the honor of meeting him in real life. such a person as this deserved her respect.
The first thing Yulian felt was a small shift in the head. She opened the team chat and called, "Wolf-Dage, she just moved."
He got up right away as everyone else took notice. All eyes went to the figure which was groping heavenward to block the sunlight which had become very bright.
Wolf, this time from a distance, spoke to the girl, "I am a friend, and a healer. Will you allow me to approach?" After what had happened the last time he did not want to take anymore chances.
Bibbity, who was very afraid to open her eyes nodded her head yes. Someone was trying to talk to her gently, but their vice was deep compared to the average human's. It had a rasping quality, almost like a canine's.
"I want to check your pulse one more time. Will you allow me to do that?" He wanted desperately to establish some trust before she panicked once again.
There was a huge hand gently wrapping around her wrist and she could feel fur tickling her arm. she jerked a little. It was not expected. Then she remembered she was not in the real world, this was apparently someone who was from the beastkind.
A much smaller and more delicate hand gently brushed her cheek, and she realized someone else was holding her. "Who, who is holding me?" fear began to build.
The deep voice gently answered. "My wife, Yulian, has watched over you in your sleep."
The hand that had checked her pulse now carefully released it's hold and gently, she felt the back of that hand brush her face. It brought back memories of childhood, when she was nine years. She had owned a dog that had been a cross between a husky and a collie. She had loved burying her face in that fur. But the fur of this hand was even softer.
Bibbity began to relax a little, but she was still afraid to open her eyes.
Wolf looked in Gui's direction. He had noticed that Gui had never gotten back into character. It concerned him a little, but there was nothing to be done. He knew Gui had shot the girl out of the tree. Whether on purpose or accident no longer mattered.
He PMed Gui and Prince each, warning them not to rush in. This person needed recovery time.
Gui then looked over at Prince. I just wanted to protect Prince from further fan-girl problems. he thought. But there was no true excuse that his conscience could accept. He knew that normally, picking on Prince could lighten his mood, but he didn't even want to be happy. The game was supposed to be an escape. It didn't feel like it was right now.
Gui openned up team chat. "Everyone, thank you for today. It was a good training session. I'll be back in a little bit." He abruptly signed out.
At that time Doll's game was interrupted. Apparently she was needed elsewhere too, so she also told everyone good-bye and took her leave. As she logged out she told the stranger she hoped to see her soon.
Prince, who was a university student named Feng Lan in real life, was trying to figure out what to do. She knew that something was seriously wrong when Professor Min, Gui, didn't even acknowledge her ingame alter ego. She had been too busy fighting to know that Gui had anything to do with what had happened. No one had talked much about it either. Partly because they had just been too worn out.
Back in the real world Professor Min prepared himself some tea and began to work on grading papers.
His mind kept wandering back to that girl. She appeared to be about the same age as his students. Wolf was with her, so she would be ok. After all Wolf was part of the university's medical staff. He consoled himself with that thought, and promised himself he would get back into character next time he got on-line and apologized to her.
Loli Dragon, a hidden GM, was beginning to think that in some peoples' cases maybe the realism needed to be toned down. Was that even possible? It was something she was going to have to ask the bosses next time they talked.
Yulian helped Bibbity sit up. The young girl had finally mustered the will power to look around. Yulian decided it was now time for the introductions. "I am Yulian, a human fire wizard. This is Ugly Wolf, my husband and a wolfman priest. Over there, by the waterfall, the girl with the red hair is Loli Dragon, a human theif. That round thing on her shoulder is a pet named Meatbun. It belongs to Prince, our elf warrior, who is presently fishing. One member has left already, as you already know."
The girl stood up and brushed the dirt off her beaten leathers. "Thank you. I fear I have caused you much trouble today. Please forgive me. I am Bibbity." She didn't look anyone in the face when she spoke. Her face was looking down at the ground.
Yulian, wanting to ease the girl's tension..."Bibbity, what a strange name. How did you come up with that?"
"The story of Cinderella, where the Godmother casts her spell, 'Bibbity, bobbity, boo.' She gave a sheepish smile, while still shyly looking at the ground.
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Prince had managed to get five decent sized fish.
Loli had gone berry picking, while Wolf started the campfire.
Yulian and Bibbity had spent the time chatting about anything and everything once the awkwardness had been dealt with. It had done wonders for Bibbity and she had learned a lot about spell-casting. Now she had an understanding of why she had troubles.
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When Gui came back he hoped they would still be there. They were, and the fish were almost done roasting.
Wolf waived when Gui arrived, and called him over. "Introduce yourself," 'and be sure to apologize.' he added in private chat.
Here goes nothing. Gui thought as he adjusted his cape, preparing to perform the ballad he had been practicing. He had made plans to applogize on bended knee.
Bibbity recognized that the bard had returned just as the air about him changed. Something was about to happen. He was purposely walking toward her. The musical weapon he had attacked her with was in his hands.
Bibbity grabbed Yulian's sleeve as panic fought to surface. That small move helped anchor her resolve.
Gui had noticed the movement, so he stopped a couple lengths away and dropped to one knee. No sense in sending her into another panic. "I, Guileastos, demon bard, do apologize for having attacked so tender a blossom." His fingers began to make a gentle melody as he lifted his voice toward the heavens pleading for forgiveness. Afterwards he bowed his head, waiting for an acknowledgement.
Such an extreme applology, but atleast he is trying to get back into character, thought Ugly Wolf.
Bibbity summoned her courage, still holding onto Yulian's sleeve. She resolved to not hide behind her new friend. "I forgive you, but..."
That was all Gui needed to radically switch gears, and in an alarmingly quick switching of gears, his face lit up and stars could be seen in his eyes as he clasp his hands together. With the excited look of a joyful puppy, he pounced at the totally unprepared girl, saying "Thank you, thank you, I'm so happy!"
Then like a miniture whirlwind he headed in Princes' direction.
Wolf laughed, and said, "I guess the Gui we all know and love is back."
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As the night wore on Bibbity had watched Gui messing around with Prince, and she had begun to see his heart, that he really did care for his companions. He may not have been as aloof as she had imagined at first sight.
She had gradually quieted down as the beach party had continued and the members of Odd Squad who were still there got pulled farther into conversation.
There was a warm feeling rising up in her. This was the first time she had, had human company in this alternate reality, but her eyes were being drawn to the night sky that had so long kept her company.
She felt full inside, content. It was nearing time for her to wander again into this world's dark night which so willingly wrapped its arms around her. She silently crept away from the crackling fire to go sit on the rock outcropping, allowing her to watch the enlarged moon which hung low in the horizon, and listen to the trickling of the waterfall.
Gui spied movement out of the corner of his eyes as she went, and looking around, he realised who was missing.
With a gesture to Wolf, Gui got up and quietly walked to the human silhouette that had sat on the rock.
"Gui, who are you really?" Bibbity didn't even turn around. "I saw a man who's antics breached on the idiotic, just as rumors said, a warmth in your smile when you looked at your friends. I would have compared you to a kitten playing with their favorite ball of yarn at those times. But I also saw a man who was cold, calculating, and potentially dangerous. Who are you really?" She said again.
Gui was surprised, she knew it was him. He was sure he hadn't made a noise, to keep from disturbing her. His head jerked slightly as shock ran through him. Nothing he had seen or heard from this day had prepared him for this question.
Because of the shock, he had stopped walking without realizing it. He took the last few steps and slowly sat down beside her. Without looking at her, he answered, "I wonder that sometimes myself."
"You know I don't trust men, they are dangerous." Another unexpected statement from her lips.
The events of the day returned like a flood to his mind. That ever annoying, near perfect memory could once again see the fear in her eyes. He had been the catalyst for those events. "I am sorry." That was all he could say, as his face fell, crestfallen. No role-playing this time.
They sat in silence listening to the wind of the night sky and the gentle falling of water.