I slept that night even if I was convinced that I would not be able to. Back in the real world feelings like I was having would have kept me up all night. I would have never fallen asleep as nervous as I was. But I did sleep. As I lay in bed, I recalled the most pleasant moments I had shared with Karla. That vision relaxed me and I closed my eyes to hold on to it. Somehow the system knew what to do, and I fell into a deep slumber. Under such conditions the game made it almost impossible to stay awake. Laying in a bed, closing ones eyes and relaxing created an inescapable condition, and sleep would come almost instantly.
I woke up slightly annoyed that I had slept more than I needed to, but strangely refreshed and motivated, it was the side effect of having a purpose. I headed out of the inn and looked around. Finally I headed to the edge of the town. Karla had sat there when I first invited her to party with me. I could imagine her there sitting on a rock, looking out into the wilderness. But when I got there, there was no one. I took a quick scan of the area before heading to my next destination.
I went to the town square with the small monument. But there again there was no indication that Karla had ever been there. I recalled getting scolded by her; having deserved it. I chuckled at the thought then sighed deeply. Where was the girl that had, a while ago, invited me to be her friend? I shook my head and headed to the market place. There was one last place I wanted to check.
The tea shop was there, as it had always been. I half expected to still see my abandoned tea on the table, and Karla glaring at me near the entrance. Obviously she wasn't there, and neither was my tea. I felt a little stupid; I was the only one who had had tea here. She'd only showed up to get me to follow her. There's no reason for her to come back here, it wouldn't be significant enough for her. I left the shop and wandered the streets, hoping for a miracle.
I didn't really know why I had come back to Taran. There was no sign of her, or even of her recently passing through this town. So why did I think she might be here? It was all wishful thinking. I just wanted it to be true, without any indication or information to back myself up. In fact I was procrastinating. There was a way to contact her, but I was doing my best to avoid it.
I wasn't the only player that had been in contact with her. Specifically two brothers, that I knew, had Karla on their friends lists: Ory and Sharpclaw. I actually felt embarrassed to ask them for news of Karla. It was hard to admit to someone younger that I had messed things up. But they were the only ones that could get in touch with her and help me fix things up. I reluctantly opened my menu and sent a message to Ory.
Ory,
I'm on the second floor, in Taran.
I need your help again.
I messed up with Karla and I need to apologize to her.
But I can't reach her 'cause she un-friended me.
Can you help me reach her?
I'm heading back to Urbus, I can meet you in the market square.
Wolf
A few minutes later I got a response.
Ok for the market square.
BTW be careful on the way here.
It's less safe than it was last time you were her.
c u l8r
I chuckled at his version of "see you later". Having not done much chat lately it oddly emphasized the fact that there were real people behind the avatars, not just computer programs to be used. It bugged me that I had to get someone else involved in my situation. But I had no other way of contacting Karla. She had probably not realized how radical it was to unfriend someone, or how difficult it would be to get back in contact with the person, once you did. She certainly had not considered that I'd have to go through someone else.
Getting a response from Ory actually raised my spirits. I was being selfish of course, using him to get in touch with Karla. But he was a good guy and at the least it would give me a reason to meet up with him again and catch up on what him and his brother were doing. They had wanted to train and get better and I wanted to know how that was going, whether they had managed to go up a couple of levels.
With the promise of a happy reunion, I headed out of town and took the main road. Once again I traveled the path back to Urbus, meandering through the valleys and cutting across the plateaus. The all too familiar fauna, to which I was more of a threat than it was to me, was totally ignoring me. With no threat in sight I kept my battle axe on my back and lazily took in the the scenery as I walked.
"Hey!" a voice called out to my right. I stopped dead in my tracks. I had not expected to meet anyone on this road. Before I had time to grab my battle axe, a guy jumped out of the bushes with his sword out. He came up to within a meter of me then stopped. He eyed me up and down then spoke. "Are you headed for Urbus?" he asked.
"Yeah, why do you want to know?" I asked back. "Good. Mind if I join you?" he replied. I instinctively looked up at his cursor: it was green. I was relieved that he wasn't a player killer, but I was still a little worried as he had not sheathed his sword. "If you put your weapon away first." I requested. He looked at his sword and swiftly sheathed it.
"Sorry about that. I was taking on some creatures out here and I usually leave my weapon out when I do." he apologized. "I would have headed back later but you came along. Me not wanting to miss an opportunity to not go back alone I'd rather go back with you. And if we do encounter anything It'll be easier for the both of us to take care of it. In fact you get a similar advantage, no?" he pointed out. With my level, it wasn't much of an issue, but I decided not to mention it.
"Before we go, I'll just organize something in my inventory" he said as he accessed his menus. From what I could tell he accessed his messages instead, and it looked as if he sent a message, just before closing his menu. I didn't see him type anything though so it seemed strange to me that he'd be sending a message. I brushed it off, thinking that I must have been mistaken.
He let me take the lead. I tried to make conversation but he wasn't very talkative, once we started walking. "I heard the road wasn't as safe as it used to be." I said. "Is that so?" he responded. He didn't seem too concerned with my words. Instead he walked slightly behind me, nervously looking either side of the road. His level was lower than mine, so it didn't surprise me that he would be a little worried.
We walked like this for ten minutes or so before we came to a spot where the road passed between a large rock a couple of trees. I stopped before reaching it. "Why are you stopping?" he huffed. "There are players hiding behind the rocks." I told him before shouting ahead at the rocks "Whoever is hiding behind those rocks, show yourselves!"
Four players appeared from behind the rocks and the trees, with their weapons at the ready. My heart sank as I looked at their cursors : they were orange. We had to get some distance between us and the orange players. "Maybe we can outrun them." I suggested. "That won't be possible. Well at least for you it won't be." my traveling partner said. I heard him unsheathing his sword. I looked back and saw that he pointed it at me. "You see, it's like you said:"
"The roads just aren't safe anymore."
