Few Months later...
The shot was true and the lame elk dropped to the ground like a puppet that lost their strings. It was still unnerving to watch something die so abruptly and completely. Shrugging off the melancholy, Tuatha hitched her bow over one shoulder, picked up her staff and started towards the prey she'd been tracking for days. This was her first real solo hunt since finding someone to show her how to use a bow and hunt with it. For one thing was for certain, the game rules concerning class no longer applied. If she wanted -or rather needed- to learn how to use a bow, she could. She couldn't afford to use her magic for something like getting food, it was too precious, and honestly too dangerous, to use for such things.
When she got to the body, Tuatha knelt down and whispered a short prayer of thanks to send its spirit peacefully to the afterlife. After going still and silent for a moment, she got out the skinning knife and got to work. It was gory, but hunger made one ignore such things after a while. After field dressing the corpse, she made a rough travois and brought it to the small community where the meat, bones, tissue, and hide would be removed and either used or stored. She was given a portion of the meat which she made into strips of jerky for travelling with. They also gave her fresh supplies and anything else she needed; for she was leaving once everything was cooked and gathered. In the meantime, she mended her gear and practiced with one of the others in martial combat. She learned just what she needed to defend herself with until she could run away or get the upper hand. It was all she needed so far.
Some players did not take no for an answer. The Devils Cheerleaders being some of the guiltiest among those. She met members of that guild everywhere it seemed. Though apparently their leader had recently met his end; knowledge that she took sanguine pleasure hearing. There were still others... some who thought "no" gave them the right to use force. They all realized soon enough it wasn't smart to mess with a Druid. Even a Healer.
Later that night she got a few visitors wishing her luck on her journey. She'd made a few who she thought of as friends, but this community wasn't her home. The world pulled at her to explore it. She was off to go it alone. She'd done it before with less skills and knowledge; she can do it again now. Tuatha had also been hearing about some interesting events surrounding some notable people. She was hoping to encounter some of them and get the real tales. Also... she wanted to try to find her raiding group. She often worried about them as they were on every day and was likely in the real version of the game as well.
The leaders of the camp bid their farewells in the morning; they were loath so see such resource go, but understood that this place held too many memories for her. She had to move on.
Tuatha knew the general direction she wanted to go, but left it to fate and kismet to actually guide her feet.
In the real world she had been pretty spiritual, though she would often hide it. Giving the reigns to the powers wasn't something new to her. Though in this world, such things had a way of manifesting themselves much easier than they would have otherwise.
Being alone with just the landscape and her own thoughts soon became like a therapy. Tuatha thought about the life she'd left behind when she was brought here. While there was definitely things she missed from there, all in all she was happier and felt freer here than she ever did in the real world. Soon she wondered what made that world real and this one not. Perhaps they were both just as real as the other? Other than the fact that this world had been a game before, it now felt just as real, tangible, and difficult as the other. This world had different challenges, but those challenges were literally character building. The challenges of the real world felt more fake in comparison. There was only so much social media warriors one could take before enough was enough. If she was being truthful to herself, Tuatha preferred this world. Sure it was primitive in its own way, and the day to day living was harsher, but it had a certain purity to it. The struggle to survive far outweighed the struggle to earn a living in a world that was economically biased against you. Plus: Magic.
Even if there were a way back, she wouldn't take it.
She was at least a week on her journey; she'd been travelling the areas she knew her friends preferred the most in hopes they'd stop there. At least she could try to find information about where they might be. One small village known to be near a popular dungeon was able to tell her about the people she was seeking: a paladin elf leading a rogue dwarf, gnome fighter, an elf hunter and a human wizard. So far dwarves were fairly scarce in this part of the world, so their presence was noted. She didn't stick around to hear the murmurs and disgruntled comments, but set out in the direction the tavern keeper said he'd over heard them talk about. Seemed they were trying to get to one of the Capitals in hopes to settle down and find paying work, if they didn't find a good gig before that.
Why they didn't pay for a ride of some sort from one of the caravan NPC's or bought horses for themselves was beyond her comprehension. Though she herself had started with a fair amount of gold on her, after a few muggings and survival purchases at the beginning, she had started getting stingy. It was why she'd stopped at the community she stayed at. She had been nigh broke and starving; as well as needed training. The community provided a safe place for her to learn as well as a means to provide payment for said things in trade.
Horses were also expensive, and not just to purchase. They required maintenance that most players weren't used to providing. Horses didn't last long when they didn't get taken care of well enough. And the group she was trying to find tended towards the special snowflake variety. Though they did have traits to make up for it. They were still the closest things to allies she was likely to find.
So she trudged on, following the road that her fellows would have taken. She soon left the road in favor of the woods; not liking how exposed the road made her feel. Tuatha didn't have the luxury of safety in numbers like those she was following. Besides, she'd been playing this game for years and always cut through the land; she knew this forest well; or at least did before it became an actual forest.
For one thing, she knew she would be coming up on a lake soon and would have to skirt it. It was one of those lakes that those nasty little water gremlins that liked to occupy the shores in the game, and she didn't feel like encountering them in a much more real way. Tuatha got as close to the lake as she dared before picking a path around it, trying to keep it, and any mobs, in sight as she did. When she caught her first look at those things, she nearly puked. They were ugly as sin, and smelled much worse. In fact, she smelled them before she saw them. Like a mix between seaweed gone bad, dirty and sweaty socks, and the fine perfume of vomit.
Tuatha was able to get passed the first few smelly settlements fine, but as she was skirting the next one, the sounds of shouts and fighting came to her. Some poor group had decided to chance an encounter. They probably had not realized that game dynamics when it came to groups of enemies were different. Line of sight was definitely more of a thing now. So she left the shelter of the woods and went towards the sounds.
There she found a settlement of the fishy uglies defending their tiny little huts against a band that was no other than those she was looking for. The Paladin had most of them aggro'd, but there were still those that went after the others. Before her eyes, the gnome went down after being impaled on a fishing spear. Tuatha burst into a sprint while using some basic druid magic to whip the gremlin away before it could deliver a final blow. When she was among the group, she swung her staff in a circle before thudding the bottom onto the ground; the earth instantly reacted with blooms and healing essence. Without pausing, she went to her knees beside her fallen friend and inspected the wound while giving him soothing words.
She planted one of her hands onto the damp soil beside her while the other hovered over the wound. After taking a deep breath, she opened the channel of nature magic and it coursed through her and to the injured gnome. Her focus became the injury and using the healing magic to repair and knit the severed vessels, viscera, and muscles. Through the ground, she could feel the others get their second wind and fight even harder to protect her and their fallen comrade.
When the last soft tissue fiber was knit, Tuatha opened her eyes and looked around her. The fight was over and her old raid group was all staring at her. She gave a weak smile. "Hey guys! That was good timing wasn't it?"
The dwarf pointed a long dirk at her. "Who are you?"
"What?" Tuatha was taken aback; surely they recognized her as surly as she recognized them. "Come on Grunthar! You know who I am! We've been on enough dungeons and raids that you should know." She looked at all of them for a few seconds each. "It's Tuatha!"
"If that were true..." The Paladin put in before the dwarf could reply, "Why do you carry a bow? You're a Druid. Druids don't carry or use bows."
Tuatha looked at the Elf, who she knew was a guy but liked the idea of a female Paladin elf wreaking shit, as if he was deranged. "Well... Lorena... the game is real now. We can use whatever weapons we want. We just need to learn how to use them. And while we're on the subject of weapons... where is your greater bastard sword that you forced us to go on the same raid again and again to get?" Even still on her knees, Tuatha could give him a scold enough to make him squirm. She turned to the other Elf. "And what about you, Kaellas? Where's that big as shit bow you said you loved more than anything in the world? In fact many of you aren't wearing the same armor then when we weren't in the real version. What happened?" She asked the question though she could guess what the answer would be already.
Grunthar put his dirk away, a slight blush appearing underneath his dwarfish beard that had seen better days. "We had to sell them."
"Why?"
They all looked at each other, except for the gnome, who they all called Idon, as he was still unconscious. Lorena drew him-herself up as if that would help bring back the ability to use the gear he'd (she'd?) acquired while gaming. "They were too heavy and too large to use or wear. Keeping them would have hampered us."
Getting to her feet, Tuatha brushed off the sand, dirt and grass that clung to her gear; the same gear she'd woken up with which was in much the same condition as she started. One of the things her teacher had ingrained in her was to take care of everything she used; from her leather belt to her skinning knife. She also knew how to patch gear and sharpen blades. Things she never would have thought to learn in the other world. Another thing that was learned quickly; big and flashy didn't mean it was better than blades bought at a vendor. And just because some had magic enchantments didn't mean one knew how to activate them. It was a hard lesson for some; and a humbling one for many. She took a step towards Lorena, "Idon needs rest, and we can't stay here 'cause those creatures will respawn soon. You can believe me when I say I am who I say I am, or not. Either way, I saved his life," she reminded, pointing to the gnome, "Now either invite me to make camp with you in a safe place or tell me to fuck off."
Lorena's usually deep toned face went even deeper. The feminine planes tightened. "I prefer Lore now."
Tuatha laughed. "I bet you do." She slapped his-her arm. "Welcome to the sister hood by the way." She laughed again as Lore blanched and went to pick up the gnome.
"Yeah, uh, thanks." Lore replied awkwardly as they started for the forest. "It'll be good to have another fighter anyway. With six of us, there won't be much that could stop us."
With a sigh, Tuatha patted Lore of the shoulder as they walked. "Yeah... about that..." To which she explained to the once celebrated tank that she was stuck as the healer specialization of her class. "I actually don't mind it that much. I'm always welcomed and can find work. I always liked helping people in real life, so I suppose this is for the best." She finished.
A small clearing opened up and the Hunter left to set snares and hunt while the others gathered firewood and arranged rocks where a fire would be ideal while also putting their gear where they wanted to sleep.
Tuatha placed her gear a bit farther back from where the fire would be; helpful little vines wrapped around the pack in a hug while she put her staff over it. She kept her quiver and arrow on her person and was about to head away to see if she could catch anything to eat when Lore stopped her.
"Where are you going?" s/he asked with a startled and disturbed expression.
Was he kidding? "Ummm... I can hunt, so I was going to go hunt." she explained, gesturing to her bow like Lore hadn't noticed it was there.
Lore shook his head, his silver hair catching the deepening colors of the evening sun. "That's what Kaellas is for. You are too valuable as a healer to be going into the forests alone." S/he took a patient breath, "You don't have to hunt now, Tuatha. Just sit and wait for the actual hunter to come back with food with the rest of us. If you need something to do, you can go to the spring we passed a moment before and fill the water bags."
Cocking her head, Tuatha had to take a moment to study the elf paladin before realizing that they were being serious. Not only that but she even detected a bit of condescension in there. One would think that living in a female body would provide some sort of epiphany on how to treat other people, but clearly he had not had that happen. After blinking a few more times than necessarily, Tuatha took a step back. "Alright." She held her hands up to indicate understanding. "I'll just wait. Then. Right over here." She backed up to her pack, taking off the quiver and placing it against the tree with her bow; glancing back at Lore to see him give a satisfied smile and walk off. Shaking her head, she got her sleeping blankets ready. "Ass." she said under her breath as she settled herself between a boulder and the tree.
Normally she would have been thrilled to be able to do nothing, but now... it was like having a favorite toy taken from her. Before, she hadn't realized how much she enjoyed hunting and the whole survival routine; it was exhilarating. Some may think hunting and killing separated a person from nature and the animals in it, but it felt like exactly the opposite. As if the hunter and prey and even the earth around them, were connected on a deeper level that was even more powerful then love. Or at least more ancient and sacred then love. Tuatha never felt capable of explaining it to people right. It was too complex for words.
On the other side of it, Lore was right. Kaellas was the Hunter and had probably proven himself capable, as they all looked more or less fed. Sure they looked a little gaunt, but they were travelling on foot. That meant they were burning what they ate; and hunting was not always a guarantee. Tuatha had come back empty handed and empty bellied enough times to know that. Two hunters would just chase all the game away, and probably get in each other's way.
That's how she rationalized Lore's reaction to her wanting to hunt. At least until Kael came back with barely enough food to feed all of them, and had ruined perfectly good hide with too many arrows to boot. But then... his kill so his leather. She zipped her lips and ate what she was given before slipping back into her little nook to fitfully sleep until morning.
