Karla was looking at me strangely. "You want me to party with you and go kill some monsters? Give me a good reason why I would want to do this with you," Karla said indignantly. She had a point, we were supposed to be partners but I just took off with someone I hardly knew to do some hunting without taking her into consideration. And it's not as if I gave her much time to think about it, I simply took off.

"I don't know if I have a good reason, but I don't want to go out there alone anymore. I bet you don't want to go out alone either. If we went together, we could watch each other's back, switch in and out, rely on each other's strengths. I want to improve but it's really hard to do that solo. I need someone to come with me, and I have no one else to go with," I said.

"So I'm just a filler now?" Karla yelped. I cringed as I realized how that had come out. "What happened to the other girl you were partying with? I thought she was hanging on to you like a bad cold. I'm certain Pearl would love to go with you," Karla jeered and rolled her eyes when she said her name. "Opal. Her name is Opal," I said without thinking. "I don't care what her name is!" she snapped back angrily. I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut.

Karla crossed her arms and turned her nose up at me in disgust. This conversation was not going well at all. She was upset with me, and I was doing nothing to calm her down. In fact, I was simply sinking deeper into the hole I had dug myself, and at the same time I was fueling her anger even more. But even though she was angry, she showed no desire to leave, and, in a twisted way, that made me feel better.

"Karla, there is no 'Opal', or anyone else for that matter, there is nothing between her and me," I said. Karla turned her head a little towards me. "Things stopped before they even started, then it quickly went sour. She didn't play fair and I didn't like it," I said. I paused as I thought back on how that had ended. "You don't want me to bore you with all the details, do you?" I asked.

Karla looked down and shook her head. "Look; you're mad. I get it. You're allowed to be in whatever mood you want. And frankly, it doesn't change my offer. I still need you to come with me. And no it's not just to fill an empty spot. There's no reason, no hidden agenda, no purpose, I simply want you to come along," I stated, my eyes now fixed on her.

She looked up at me, a little taken aback, then gave me a look of disgusted disbelief, as if she didn't trust me. She turned to face me and turned her nose up at me "Fine, I'll party with you. But don't think for a minute that it makes me less upset. I'm only doing it so that you don't get yourself killed," Karla said. She put her hands on her hips "Well, are you going to invite me or not?" she pestered. I opened my menus and sent Karla a party request.

We'd made it up to the moors and did most of our hunting there. The creatures weren't particularly challenging, except when they came as a hoard: they were harder to take out when we were being attacked on all fronts. I had come out principally to line my pockets with a little cash, so to speak. It's not like we were getting any xp worth mentioning.

The hunting itself went smoothly. We had the upper hand on the creatures, carefully taking them out, one at a time, until a whole area was cleared. I was even able to do some gathering and take out a few passive animals, mostly sheep, for the materials they provided. We knew this floor well enough, having hunted it quite a bit, that our outing could have almost been classified as bordering on boring.

But I wasn't feeling bored, in fact I was more irritated than anything else. Karla's mood was not improving and now she seemed more spiteful than simply upset. During the trip up here she said nothing, sporting a sour face the whole way. The first encounters were no better, making me take most of the blows, then coming in to the fight just to take the killing blow. It's a cheap shot to steal a kill from another player, it's even more irritating when someone does it on purpose.

I attempted to overlook her behavior and tried to stay positive but the frustration would get the better of me that I would let out a loud sigh at the end of our battles which I'm sure she noticed. She did participate normally on some fights, so I tried to compliment her when she made a particularly good hit, or a spectacular dodge. It seemed to have no effect; she'd turn her head away and ignore me.

"Oh enough already!" I shouted, after we'd just finished a battle. "You've been acting like a spoiled princess, who's upset because the pony she just got isn't quite the right shade of pink! You're trying so hard to stay angry and it's really getting on my nerves. How long are you going to keep that up?" I complained. "As long as it takes!" Karla snapped. "For what? What exactly is bothering you? Is it something I did? If it is please help me figure it out, 'cause this is really hard to take," I whined.

"It's everything! You; the other players; the game; even me; it's all broken. Nothing's making sense anymore. We're stuck in a game that can kill us, with some messed up people with no morals, who allow themselves to murder other players. I'm trying to keep it together but I can't do it alone. And you just ..." she hissed like a snake unwilling to finish. "All of it just makes me angry. And when I'm angry all this is somehow easier to take. So I decided I'd stay angry. Then maybe I'd be able to get through it, day after day," she said.

"And how's that working for you?" I asked. The way she fidgeted, I could tell that it wasn't working as well as she thought it would. I softened my tone of voice. "Though I know you can be stubborn, you can't stay mad forever. It's not going to solve anything, and it's just going to make you miserable. You'll just be hurting yourself," I said. "So what if I do, it's not as if anyone will care. Let this game get the better of me it doesn't matter anymore," Karla admitted. I couldn't let that go, so I said,

"It matters to me."