Opal was standing next to one of the empty chairs near the fireplace. She smiled warmly and her eyes gleamed in the firelight. "Mind if I join you?" she repeated. I sat up straighter and moved my hand to invite her to sit. There were after all four chairs at the fireplace, it wasn't my place to refuse her request. She sat on a chair next to mine and put her hands up towards the fire, warming them in the virtual heat.

"Would you like some tea? I ordered some but they always bring to much for just one person." Opal said as a waitress arrived holding a small tray with a tea pot and two cups. "Sure, why not." I said. I thought it was kind of her to offer it to me, and it might have been rude of me to refuse. She poured a cup and handed it to me. She poured herself a cup and set the teapot on one of the remaining chairs.

She gently put her hand on my arm. "Wolf, I wanted to thank you for saving me earlier. That was very generous of you." Opal started. I smiled in response. Opal's eyes gleamed brighter. "Not many players offer themselves that way. A lot of them couldn't care less. But you fought for me, you got rid of the wolves, you kept me safe. I hope there's something I can do for you, to repay you in some way." Opal said.

"Hey, it's okay, I couldn't let someone just die without at least trying to help. It's easy to get in over our head. The wilderness is so unforgiving. It is nice of you to be so appreciative." I said. "Now, just stay away from wolves and you should be fine." I joked. Opal laughed heartily. Her laugh was inviting and made me smile. I frowned thinking of her earlier predicament "Why were you out there on your own anyway?" I asked

"Oh I do that a lot, and usually I'm fine on my own. But I got caught off guard this time. The patterns of creatures change on this floor, instead of two wolves you get five, or one day you're fighting kobolds in an area and the next day that area has trolls. The difficulty goes up and down a lot. It would certainly be easier if I had some help." Opal sighed.

"That's precisely what I mean. Why go alone? There must be a ton of players that would like to party with you. If your level is similar to mine I'm sure there's a guild out there that would gladly take you in. And ... well ... I don't want you to take this the wrong way or anything ... being a girl, in a male dominated environment ... aren't the guys interested in having you in their group?" I said trying not to sound either insulting or too direct. I felt my throat go dry and I took a nervous sip of my tea.

Opal bit her bottom lip. "They haven't shown me much respect. I'm either a bother or a prize. 'I'm sorry we're looking for more muscle in the group.' that's the type of reply I get when I try to join a party, so I get turned down a lot. But in town, it's the opposite, they hit on me and vie for my attention. None of them has shown sufficient respect or any sign of actually caring for my well being. At least not until today that is." Opal indicated. The fireplace must have gotten hotter, because I felt my cheeks get quite warm.

Opal tilted her head to the side and down a little away from me. "You seem to be the type of guy that goes out hunting a lot and I like to go hunting too. I was planning to go out into the wilderness tomorrow. Maybe you were also planning to go out into the wilderness tomorrow too. And if that's the case, since we have similar plans, would you be free to go with me by any chance?" Opal asked as she turned her head to face me.

The request came a little as a surprise, and I couldn't come up with a good reason to refuse on the spur of the moment. "Oh, okay." I replied. Opal put her hands together and smiled. Then she opened her menu and sent me a friend request. I accepted it as it's easier to form a party with people on your friends list. "I'll let Karla know in the morning. We can leave after breakfast." I said. Opal made a sour face then looked away. "Is something wrong?" I asked

"N-No of course not. It's ... it's the tea, it has a funny flavour." Opal sputtered. She got up off her chair rather quickly, nearly spilling her tea. "Well I guess I will see you in the morning then. Good night." Opal said. I didn't have time to say anything before she turned and walked right out of the inn. I guessed this wasn't the inn she was spending the night in. It did strike me as a little odd to have come here just for tea.

I stayed by fireplace a little longer slowly sipping my tea. "I don't know what Opal finds wrong with the tea, it tastes fine to me. I guess she wasn't really in the mood for tea." I thought to myself. My mind wandered to our plans for the next day. Having an extra player in our party meant we would be more powerful. It would give us an extra edge in our encounters and permit a more solid defense. "I hope Karla doesn't mind another player joining us for a while." I wondered.

"You what?" Karla blurted. "I invited Opal to join us on our hunting. She certainly knows more about this floor than we do, she can guide us to the good spots. It will mean more hits for us and less damage. We could take on stronger creatures that offer greater rewards. You don't seem happy about it. I thought it was a good Idea." I said surprised by her reaction.

"Why on earth would you invite some random girl to our group? You didn't even ask me how I feel about it." Karla was fuming. "You don't know this girl from a hole in the wall. What if she's not safe? What if she plans on killing us and taking all our belongings with her? Have you considered that maybe she could steal something from me?" Karla complained.

"What could she possibly steal?" I asked indignantly. Karla clenched her teeth and pursed her lips. She screwed up her face as if she was holding her breath, she looked like she would explode. But instead she crossed her arms and turned away. "Nothing. If you can't ... forget it, there's nothing." Karla grumbled.

"Look, I told her we would be hunting today and she asked to come. I don't know of a good reason to refuse some help. Things don't always have to go your way. Why are you making such a big deal out of this?" I argued. Karla's reaction was getting to me and for some reason that i couldn't explain, I was taking it personally.

"I don't like her!" Karla screamed. "Well I do!" I yelled back. Karla's mouth opened but no words came out. I stood up at the table and leaned on the table on my fists "Karla, we're going hunting today, and Opal is coming along. I'm sorry if it's not to your liking but that's how I'm going to have it today. We meet in front of the inn in one hour." I insisted. I pushed off from the table and walked towards the door. As I opened the door Karla said:

"I won't be there."