Login 3: Party of Two

When he awoke he was still in a lush green forest, but it seemed to be a different part of it. He tried to look around, but didn't feel the controller in his hand. Alkaid reached out to feel for it on the desk when he noticed he was moving around in game. He tried turning his head to look around, and to his amazement it actually worked. He froze up, a little shocked at what was happening. As if out of thin air the nightelf appeared in front of him in its panther form. She looked the same as before except for her eyes. They were no longer the sinister black holes, but now a brilliant bluish green.

"Whats going on? Am I… Am I inside of the game?" The panthers tail curled, and she laughed slightly, turning her head to face away from him.

"I prefer not to think of it as a 'game'. My 'world' is a more fitting term. You promised that you would never leave me, so I brought you to me. It was the only way to make your promise realistic." There was an awkward silence between the two. Alkaid had no idea what to say, or even think, so they just sat there together, staring blankly into the horizon.

Finally, she spoke. "What is it that you really want from this place. Whats your actual goal?"

He didn't even have to think about it, "I want to be the strongest and make myself worth knowing in this world. I want to be one of the best… or, at least someone notable. I just want to be someone."

She twitched an eyebrow and met his eyes again. "What I did to you… Are you fine with it? Would meeting that goal be worth it?" He sat there, silent for another length of time pondering the question.

Not expecting an answer, the nightelf looked away and let out a sad sounding sigh. Patiently she shuffled her feet on the ground, savoring the hard blades of grass against her paws. After a while, Alkaid spoke up again. "It may sound strange to you… but, yes. I think even if I didn't meet my goal, I would like it better this way."

She clapped her paws together in front of his face, laughing. "In that case, stop being such a party pooper! Cheer up a little!"

"I don't even know your name-"

"Katsby. Your turn!"

"Alkaid, but I still don't think-"

"Now that we have each other's names, lets party." She seemed lost in thought for a moment and Alkaids view suddenly became filled with a request. Mentally tapping 'Yes', it vanished. They both sat there, Alkaid awkwardly shifting around while Katsby waited for him to speak.

""Um… I don't know if you'd like it… but…"

"Spit it out!" She laughed again. Alkaid blinked, suddenly feeling more comfortable.

"Well, I read in the guide that a great place to get stronger and better stuff was by going to dungeons. Could we do that? It sounded really fun." The panther looked around, ears pressed against her head in thought. She finally pointed in the direction of a far off mountain ridge, and looked at Alkaid. He glanced at her pointing paw, then at her, confused. She shook her head, laughing.

"The Deadmines are in that direction. I hear that's a great beginners dungeon- I see people go there all the time." At this Alkaid leapt up eagerly, taking his mace in his hands and nodding enthusiastically. Katsby only giggled, reverting back into her nightelf form and getting up with a bit more class than her new friend.