Chapter Ten

Stay Away from the Wilderness...

Scorpions lived within the rocky pit near the northern entrance of the greatest desert land in Runescape. Through their many feet, they could feel another creature's movement, the gods only know how far. Their dusty armored bodies roamed the wasteland, searching for prey, anything from rats to heroes. Anything that moved. Some of them near the far north-west of the desert paused in their hunting. They felt footsteps, footsteps coming nearer. Their knowledge, small in most areas but greater than any other's in the way of footsteps, told them that a human was coming. And coming fast. The lightweight footsteps indicated a small human, their limited memory told them that all humans are tough enemies. They scuttled away, in search of better prey.

These simple hunters sensed what the few tired noobs guarding Al Kharid's northern entrance didn't. Kysin encountered no difficulty whatsoever in speeding past the guards and continuing his journey northwards.

Once out of Al Kharid he slowed his breakneck sprint to a steady lope. At this pace he could continue for a long time, hopefully long enough to find a safe place to wait out the day. By the next night, he would be ready to jog the rest of the way back to safety. Safety, he guessed would be somewhere west of White Wolf Mountain. Like Camelot. How long could the Burthorpe army hold out?

His intentions were to enter the wilderness, and turn west. When faced with the troll infested mountains bordering the western edge of the wilderness he would turn south to Burthorpe, then get out onto troll plateau like he had done earlier that night. From there, he would take one of the many paths west through the mountains to the Fremmenik province. It was only a short, safe sprint south-east to Camelot from there.

Perhaps he was forgetting what had happened the last time he had let his attention waver, or maybe he was still charged from his escape. Or perhaps he simply wasn't expecting noobs to rig up any trap past a brightly-colored, giggling ambush. Whatever the reason, he wasn't paying enough attention to where his feet was going. He knew that he had passed the borders of the wilderness, for the ground beneath his feet had gone softer, more muddy. His swift lope gave him momentum, so when the trap was sprung he was suspended horizontally, as if flying for a moment. Then he fell to the ground, hitting the mud with his face and chest. He relaxed his muscles, and he was pulled off the ground to hang suspended, upside-down in the air. For a moment, all was quiet. Kysin was purposefully not breathing. And no noobs ever really had the ability to be quiet.

With his hands, Kysin explored the trap. He felt the rope, a perfect noose that had been pulled tight around his left ankle. His fingers began to work at the noose, pulling it open. It was a fairly simple trap when he thought about it. A flexible tree with a short rope fastened to it's top branches. The other end of the rope forming a noose, and lying on the ground bordering a small depression in the ground. The noose was held down by a number of small, delicate twigs. As soon as a heavy enough creature stepped within the noose, it would break the flimsy wooden anchor allowing the tree to spring back into it's original position taking rope, noose, and anything now trapped within the noose up with it.

It was a very well-made noose. Every time Kysin rested his figures, the noose would snap shut again around his ankle. But now he had it. Just a few little seconds more...

His whole body went rigid. Every muscle locked still. Against the back of his neck, was the unmistakable cold, smooth feeling of a sharp blade.

"I'm going to let you down. When I do, don't run or scream or else my knives will be in you're back and you will be in big trouble in Lumbridge for abandoning you're post." This voice, and the sharp blade belonged to the same person. Kysin relaxed and breathed slowly, trying to control his heartbeat. Yes, he knew this voice. He knew the person who owned it. He knew that this person was no noob. But he would've preferred it to be a noob...

"Bio, shut up and take you're knife off me." Kysin instructed. The blade was instantly removed.

"Kysin? Is that really you? You're caught in a trap?" The voice asked incredulously.

'No you idiot, I just found this rope and decided it would be interesting to tie it to the tree and my leg... fking hell you are such a fool kid.' Kysin thought. He didn't say anything. With one last tug, the noose widened enough to release him. He fell unceremoniously to the muddy ground , where he quickly rose and began following his northward course.

"Hey Kysin, wait!" The 'fool kid' was calling. "I found another guy, he's real talkative and he says that he knows you... Did you actua..."

"What other guy?" Kysin said sharply, cutting off Bio's words. The night had been a hard and frustrating one even by his standards, and it was beginning to take it's toll on his manner.

"Oh the other guy who came up here earlier, he walked straight into my net-trap that could hold..." Upon hearing Kysin's low growl, Bio continued. "Anyway, he's back at the outpost not far... you wanna come?"

Well it's not like Kysin had anywhere better to stay. "Ok kid. Get moving."

Bio walked off north-east, with Kysin easily following the sounds of his footsteps.

Bio's real name was Biohazardluver, but that was shortened by basically everyone into Bio. He was a weak fighter by many standards, but he knew the wilderness like he knew his traps. Bio basically lived in the wilderness, so now knew his way around it better than anyone else, better than even Kysin perhaps. He was pretty smart and resourceful; his traps and outposts were small, simple yet they worked and worked effectively. Since he had learnt of the noob invasion (he had known since he watched Varrock burn) he had filled the lower levels of the wilderness with endless traps created from ropes, rubble, holes, sticks, trees... He had also added 'fortifications' to his tiny outposts. Meaning that there was only one winding path through about twenty meters of solid traps to his outpost. Yet Kysin abhorred the guy.

For the simple reason that Bio hero-worshipped Kysin. Ever since Bio had first met Kysin, his aim had been to be like him. In his eyes, Kysin was perfect. Fast, stealthy, mercenary, calm, smooth... Kysin was everything that Bio wanted to be. So far Bio worshiped the same God as Kysin (Zaros) and carried the same hand weapon. Kysin didn't like being worshipped. Worshipped means stalked, watched, observed... That was for heroes, legends, the knights of Camelot, paladins of Ardougne... not for a thief, not for one who killed people in their sleep, not for him.

Bio's nearest outpost turned out to be a ruined Zamorak shrine, on an island almost entirely surrounded by lava. The molten stone gave off enough light for Kysin to pick out traps here and there... a bit of rope, some disturbed soil... He followed Bio's sure footsteps exactly.

Once inside the ruins, Bio opened a trapdoor and dropped down into the lighted room below, with Kysin following.

"Hey Kysin! Long time it's been ay!" Kysin closed his eyes. What are the odds of being stuck in the wilderness with a loudmouthed idiot and a little kid wannabe. He opened his eyes again. Nothing had changed. Bio was standing awkwardly at the side and Kryarn was sitting on a bed that looked like it belonged to a lesser demon some hundred years previous.

"Dude where the hek have you been? I haven't seen you since you were a level 21 noob guy! Guthix you've grown. And now you're here, why are you here anyway? Did Bio trap you? He trapped me. I was dangling there someways northwards of Edgeville and theres this bunch of noobs throwing rocks at me. I caught some of the rocks, threw 'em back hard, but most missed me anyway. And there's me hanging there and I'm thinking Kryarn, you stay away from the wilderness now. It's a dangerous place. Some level 92 guy told me that when I was a real little guy with a wooden shield and a bronzed sword, that's what he said to me. 'You stay away from the wilderness cause it's very dangerous.' But then Bio came al..."

Kysin turned his back on Kryarn's recital and went outside. Disliking Bio as much as he did, he wasn't about to hear the kid become a hero anytime soon. There he rested the remainder of the night and most of the day out, in a corner of the ruins where sunlight never really penetrated.