Chapter Nine

A/N: So sorry that it's been so long. I had writers block for forever and then I lost my suggestions and so I finally found them. So here it is.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than Kile, Dantenar, Zarathel, Jaron and Aileen in this game. The rest belongs to WildTangent or Ford or Chevy.

Jaron's POV:

I walked silently, not bothering to try to speak to any of the others. The twins were involved in a serious conversation about avoiding various monsters, Kile occasionally putting a comment in, and Aileen just sort of walked around in a daze. I felt sorry for her. I'd left a girlfriend behind, too. As I looked at everyone's faces, I realized with shock that as the game became real, their characters features had disappeared, leaving their real faces behind. The twins were practically identical, the only distinguishing feature being a freckle by Dantenar's right eye.

Kile moved over to walk next to me. "We have to find the way out. There has to be a way to leave. Maybe we can communicate with the makers of the game, perhaps they could find a way to get us out of this place." He whirled his swords, stuck a Frost Beetle, and continued. "Don't tell the girls, though. I don't want to get their hopes up."

I nodded. I could understand that. "No point in doing that," I agreed. I turned a corner, stopped short at the sight of a group of Yeti's, but continued on my way after a second. I killed a Yeti, watched Dantenar and Zarathel team up to kill a second, and out of the corner of my eye, saw Kile take on the third. Aileen didn't bother. I was getting tired of her moping around, but didn't want to go tell her to grow up.

I stubbed my toe on a raised tile in the floor and stumbled, biting back a curse as I remembered the females in the group. Suddenly, Trouble ran ahead. Zara followed him, muttering things about stupid dogs and running away. She gasped as she came to a halt out of sight, and Dantenar started forward to see what was wrong. Kile grabbed her arm as Zara screamed with pain, and Dantenar fainted.

Kile picked her up and ran forward, setting her down out of the way, and instructing me to stay by her. He rushed into the room Zara was in, and I peaked around the corner. Zarathel lay in a heap near the door to the room, and I saw a Jackal Fiend Captain grinning devilishly at Kile. Aileen ran in, and without a moments hesitation, shot her crossbow at it, killing it instantly.

I crouched by Dantenar's side, gently shaking her shoulder. "Dantenar. Dantenar, wake up." She shook her head, sitting up, her eyes wide.

"Zarathel! Is she all right? Jaron, is she all right?" Dantenar's voice was low and full of urgency. "Say something!" She grabbed my arm, hauling herself to her feet. "Very well. If you won't answer, I'll go see myself."

She stalked into the room and saw Kile picking Zarathel up, and stopped short. Kile looked at me. "We have to get her to Dreya. Now." I saw a long bloody line across Zara's stomach and fought the urge to gag. "Open the portal."

Zarathel's POV:

Terrible pain. I fought my way through the darkness, trying to return to consciousness. Agony. What was wrong with me? What hurt so badly?

Kile's POV:

Jaron used a Town Portal scroll to get us back to The Town of Grove. I rushed Zara to Dreya immediately. She was in her usual spot, but frowned as I drew nearer. "What is wrong with her?" I was surprised to hear her address me, since usually all she said was "I am a healer by trade. Will you allow me to soothe your wounds?" but I laid Zara by Dreya's feet.

"A stomach wound. A Jackal Fiend got her across her front. Can you help her?" Dreya nodded and knelt by my sister. Her hands flew across Zarathel's armor, taking it off, and then her vest, unbuttoning it and taking it off as well. When all Zara wore was her shirt between Dreya and my sister's skin, Dreya laid a hand on the wound, muttering and closing her eyes. A second later, she opened them again.

"Done. I think she'll be all right now, but don't push it. It'd be better if she stays up here for a while." I nodded, deciding that it would do us all good to rest and heal. Dreya smiled and got up. "Wow. It's nice to actually be able to talk to you people. I haven't had a decent conversation in ages." This was getting bizarre.

Dantenar came over, her face drawn and scared. "Will Zara live?"

Dreya looked confused. "Zara?" Dantenar hastily explained who Zara was, who she was and who everyone else was. Dreya shook the offered hand and grinned. "So how did you all manage to get into the same game? Usually it's one at a time. I thought it was odd when the two boys were in the same game, but now there's five of you! This is not usually the case. Though there was that one time when those two brothers came in..." her voice trailed off. "Never mind. Is there anyone else in need in medicine? I'd be happy to assist."

Jaron walked up, declined the offer, saying that he was feeling fine, and looked down at Zara, who was still unconscious. "Is she all right?" Dreya nodded. "When will she wake up?"

Zarathel's POV:

The pain and agony had died away, a coolness soothing the fiery feeling. I struggled to rise into consciousness, but something held me back. I fought it, and finally succeeded in getting away from it. I opened my eyes to see five pairs of eyes staring down at me in worry. Dantenar, Jaron, Kile, Aileen and Dreya all looked relieved. "Are you all right?" Aileen asked. "You've been out for a while."

I sat up, feeling lighter, and saw that I wasn't wearing any armor, just a shirt. I felt around and pulled my armor back on. "I'm fine. What happened?" Four voices tried to explain at once, but they all died out as Kile held up his hand.

"Zarathel, that Jackal Fiend Captain got you across the stomach," Kile said, tracing a line across my armor. True to his word, there was a long line cut into the armor. "Since it's not just a game now, it actually cut you. We got you to town as fast as we could and we nearly lost you on the way here. Be thankful that Dreya is such a good healer or you wouldn't be here right now."

His words slowly sank in to my still-confused brain. "You mean I nearly died? Yikes. That's a scary thought." Dantenar crouched down beside me and suggested that we go to Del Arnes to get my armor fixed. I agreed at once and I had Dantenar help me up. Staggering over to Del Arnes, the arms and armor merchant, I cleared my throat. Del looked up from his work.

"Yes? Oh, hello." When he saw my armor, he practically dropped the sword he was making. "My armor? Sliced open? How did that happen?" I explained. "Well, let's get that sealed up for ya," he said, and speedily mended the line. "That should do ya," he promised, and sent me on my way. I shrugged and sat by the fountain, touching the water hesitantly. It was cold and clear.

Suddenly it struck me that my hygiene was sadly lacking. I washed my face as best I could with no washcloth or soap, then made Dantenar wash hers. When she saw how dirty she was, though, she was all to happy to scrub the grime off. We grinned at each other, now clean, and went back to the others.

Dantenar had pulled off her helmet and stuck her whole head in the fountain, causing her hair to become soaking wet, so she'd taken off her mail shirt as well. Her hair hung straight down her back, nearly touching her leather skirt, and dripped onto the ground, leaving a little trail of droplets that anyone could track us by. Good thing there were no monsters in Grove.

When we reached the others, Kile had cleaned up and we could clearly see his features. He looked just like I remembered my father looking like. Sparkling brown eyes with black hair and a broad smile. Aileen had obviously kept herself clean, so she looked the same.

Jaron had also cleaned up, and looked much different without the layers of dirt on his face. He'd taken off his helmet, probably because his hair was wet and he didn't want to have his helmet rust, and although it was darkened by water, it looked like it would be a reddish-brown color when it dried. He smiled at us as we sat by them in the grass near the dock.

Dantenar dangled her legs over the edge and fished, for real fish this time. The little floating words had disappeared, so we had no idea what fish was what. I wondered what it would be like once we went back down into the Dungeon and had to deal with Mimics again.

A/N: A Mimic looks just like a Large Chest, only it says Mimic above it. Without the words, you really couldn't tell which was which.

I pulled up a handful of grass and braided three stalks together, listening to Kile and Jaron talking about something that I didn't understand. It had to do with car engines and types, and what kind of engine was best, and that sort of thing. It had never really interested me all that much. It was interesting to listen to, however, because the boys' opinions differed greatly. Kile said this kind of engine was best, and Jaron said another kind was best, and then they got to arguing about whether Ford or Chevy was better.

Juute crawled into my lap, and I petted him absentmindedly, enjoying the sound of his purring. He glared at me reproachfully as I stopped, my hand freezing in the air as Kile and Jaron glared at each other. "Umm," I said timidly. I didn't want them to attack one another, but then again I didn't want them to attack me, either. "What are you fighting about?"

Jaron looked at me. "You know, I don't remember."

Kile frowned, his face thoughtful. "You know, me neither." And with that, both of them started laughing. Dantenar looked over, reeled in a fish and threw it back. Then her fishing pole disappeared and her spears appeared in its place. She stood and joined us, sinking to the ground between Aileen and Kile. She rested her head on our brother's shoulder, and he wrapped an arm around her waist. He sighed fondly. Jaron looked a little jealous. I didn't feel comfortable doing that to him, though, so I just moved closer to him and deposited his cat into his lap. Juute immediately curled up and began purring again.

"You know," Jaron said, not looking at anyone, "This life really isn't so bad, as long as you don't spend all your time in the Dungeon. Now that the other characters can talk and move around, too, it's actually pretty interesting."

Aileen looked at him suspiciously, as if she knew what he was getting at, but me, I didn't have a clue. Kile looked up from talking with Dantenar, and my twin glanced at him, too. "What are you getting at, Jaron?" She asked. Her eyebrow was raised, her face confused. I'd never been able to quirk my eyebrow.

Jaron looked at Kile, then Aileen, then Dantenar, and finally me. "Maybe we should stay."

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A/N: What will happen now? (No, really, I need suggestions. One isn't enough to do me.) If I don't get reviews and suggestions, this FanFic is not going to make it much longer. It's already on its final chapters. I'm thinking twelve or thirteen is a good number. So suggest away and I promise I'll use any suggestions I get in a future chapter.