AN: Hey guys, yesterday I finished a drawing of Rue during the events of the previous chapter. For those interested you can find it here:
http (: / /) fav . me /d8fgp3o
Take out the parenthesis and the spaces, yeah?

See you at the end of the chapter!

::The Last Avatar::

Gamer Edition

BOOK ONE
LEVIATHAN

1.5

God Damn Grenades

"Map," Rue requested quietly as soon as she was far enough away from the site of her first battle. The map screen burst into life before her, Rue was surprised to see that the camp site was only a few minutes away. She could see five red dots moving around the site marked by a small flag and winced. She'd barely survived that first battle with four, now she had to get rid of five? And one of them was likely a 'boss battle' or her equivalent of one.

Tera rubbed her face against Rue's side in an attempted to calm her mistress, it didn't work very well, but the teen did reach down and absentmindedly rub the Coeurl's ears in response as she went through every scenario she could come up with. "Psh, if I could bend this would be so much easier, but no, that's obviously asking way to much," she grumped to herself. If she could earth bend she could have covered them in rock up to their necks and the same with water. Any bending was better than none.

Ah ha! So you admit that you could bend if you tried! Came a smug voice from deep within her own mind. It sounded like Korra and the woman wasn't entirely wrong Rue realised. She'd been thinking, wishing, that she knew how to bend and that was something she hadn't done before now. Crap.

"Shut up," she muttered under her breath, but there was little strength in the words. Attempting to go back to studying the map before her was halted when she noticed that one of the red dots was headed her way. Swallowing down a large amount of fear that had suddenly taken hold of her stomach Rue moved out of what she really hoped was just a trooper's path. She kept the map up this time, she needed to keep an eye on her enemies movements after what happened earlier. She would avoid being cornered again as much as possible after that fiasco. Rue frowned to herself, she still didn't know how she'd even hit any of them, let alone killed them. Her arm still hurt where she'd been shot despite the healing and her stomach rolled at the thought and the teen quickly forced herself to focus on what was before her rather than behind. She could think about the men she'd killed later.

She was crouched behind some bushes when the trooper, she sighed a little in relief at that, came into view. He didn't appear to be looking for anything in particular thankfully, probably just doing his rounds near the camp or something. Tera was settled beside Rue, but the way the Coeurl was watching the trooper with her long whiskers and tail twitching it was obvious that she wanted to pounce on the unsuspecting man. She wouldn't allow it if she could, if Tera attacked he could shout before he went down and that would draw the others. Rue didn't trust her aim that much, and she was certain she'd already used up her usually abysmal luck for the day. She glanced back at the map to see if the others were still at the camp, but a screen appeared over it, thankfully not in front of her nose for once. Maybe 'S' was back?

Hey brat

Since you leveled up and stuff and that last message mentioned your Player Perk stuff I figured it was time…

…

Tutorial

Player Perks

…

So, everyone has their own Personal Player Perk that is generally unique to them

Then there are the Class based Player Perks

Yours are:

Stubborn Will and Animal Guide

…

As you were informed earlier, Stubborn Will gives you an extra two stat points every level, this is your Personal Player Perk

These are usually drawn from the Players' personality and their effects can vary from person to person

…

As for Animal Guide, that is the Class based Player Perk.

It's also the reason your cat was turned into a Coeurl upon her transport here

I suggested something ridable, but the others wouldn't listen

Fucking typical

Anyway, her loyalty is more or less unshakable and she'll protect you from pretty much anything she can

Little spitfire she is

…

So yeah, that's really all there is to Player Perks

Although

You should know that sometimes if a person happens to goes through an immense emotional upheaval and change

That individuals Personal Player Perk can also change right along with them

This is rare, but is has been known to happen

Later Shorty

No such luck it seemed. 'B' was still in command of her screens, but in a decent mood if the lack of swearing and threats were anything for Rue to go by. There were some small mercies it seemed. Rue dismissed the tutorial screen, intent on watching where her wayward trooper was walking in case she had to move, it was unfortunate that the moment she did another screen took its place, except this one was much closer to her face and made her yelp in surprise. She had not been expecting that.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Tutorial Quest Completed!

…

*Complete the Main Tutorial*

…

Completed all main tutorials and earned an EXP bonus and your exclusive item from one of our sponsors!

…

Here are your spoils:

…

400 EXP

Plushie

Rue didn't have time to dodge the reasonably sized soft toy that smacked into her face without warning, she didn't even look at it before stuffing it into her bag hastily. The trooper had heard her startled yelp if the way he was looking around suspiciously was any indication which meant Rue had little time left if she was going to get rid of this one now.

Pulling her bow over her shoulder and drawing an arrow from her quiver, drawing would be uncomfortable from the pain in her arm, thanks to being shot, and for the same reason the glove on that arm kept falling down because of the tear in it. The small annoyances would build up and would distract her if she wasn't just had to focus. Rue stayed low as she nocked her arrow, hoping that she could hit him in the first shot. Lara Croft. Lara Croft. Was the mantra running through her mind, it helped a little, helped keep her as calm as she could stay. Shooting at people with a bow. Fucking insane, that's what this was.

While the actual use of the bow was more difficult than she'd thought it would be, heavier too, Rue put all of her 'Gamer Archer' knowledge to use for this trooper. He was moving, which meant she had to lead the target a little or she'd undoubtedly miss and tell him she was there as much as if she had a neon sign pointing to her hiding spot. Taking a deep breath Rue quietly shifted herself into a more stable and comfortable position so she could shoot with reasonable ease and took aim, drawing her arrow back against her cheek and raising herself slowly while the trooper was looking the other way. Quick movements would draw his gaze too soon, but if she moved slowly, with any luck but her own, this would be over in a moment.

The arrow missed by inches, hitting the tree next to the trooper instead of his neck. Swearing to herself Rue snatched up another arrow and quickly aimed at the trooper as he spun around with his own weapon being waved around blindly before he spotted her a moment before she released the second arrow. This one hit the mark and for the second time that night a trooper fell to an arrow through his helmet visor. There was no-one to tell her this man's name.

Rue really wished two things in that moment; the first being how the hell she managed to do crazy shit like this and the other that she didn't have to. It was irritating that when she didn't think about her aim she hit and when she did she missed. It was almost always that way with her though and it had always frustrated the teen to no end. She heard more Gil clink into her money purse and assumed she'd been allotted some more spoils after he was dead.

Checking the map before leaving her place behind the bushes for any other troopers wandering around, Rue carefully walked over to the fallen trooper. She grimaced and dry heaved again when she looked at him up close. She took a few nose-breaths and straightened, snatching the arrow embedded in the tree and nocking it once more. She should have done that earlier, grabbed her used arrows that is, but there was no way she was going back to where she'd left Rhys and she was not touching the dead trooper either, not even to get her arrow back.

At least the bloody man hadn't made a sound; Rue couldn't help that thought. She was in sneaky-assassin-mode now, except that she wasn't playing a game and she could really die. And kill people. Fucking hell.

It was tempting to take his gun, tempting and dangerous, but Rue knew she had no idea how to use a gun, and if she tried she'd end up shooting herself. No. No guns. Not ever. Rue nodded slightly to herself, the only gun she was likely to ever willingly use was a Gunblade, and that was as likely as her managing to live life to a ripe old age with tons of grandchildren around her. Which wasn't very if one took into account that she had already died once before. So, no guns. That was her rule. Like The Doctor or Batman, she would use no guns. At least until she knew how to use one without killing herself.

Turning Rue glanced at the map again and then began creeping closer. She wanted a look at what she was dealing with before she planned out this absurdity of a so-called 'boss battle' that she was so being set up for. "Ass-hats," she muttered as she moved from cover to cover with her bow still out and ready to draw. "I'm not a fucking hero, I shouldn't even be here," she added. Her personal peanut-gallery was silent as the dead. Of course they were dead so that made sense in a way. No screens with 'B's personal opinion popped up either. Interesting.

Oh yeah, someone was laughing their ass off at her. Rue was certain of it now. This 'Captain' of Rhys' was huge and angry and just about everything else bad Rue could think of. He was also a little scary. In fact he scared the crap out of her. Could have warned me.

The man in question was at least six foot and was built like a fucking tank, Rue wasn't entirely certain she had enough arrows to take him out as well as the other three troopers. They would have to go first, that she knew. How she was going to manage it was another story.

She was tempted to climb a tree, but that required her to climb and Rue knew that she hadn't climbed a fucking tree since she was a kid. She'd make far too much noise climbing whichever one she chose to climb and they'd be on her before she could blink. No. She'd have to go all Assassins Creed on these ones. Rue winced, she wasn't exactly wearing the right clothes for a stealth mission. Blue stood out far too much in a forest and she doubted that she could walk around and kill them all without falling over a few times because she wasn't watching where she was putting her feet, or, worse, she watched her feet too much as walked right into one of them. With her luck it would be Barclay if it happened.

With a thoughtful frown on her face Rue turned to Tera, eyeing the Coeurl she wondered if, between the two of them, they could make this whole thing a little easier. Boss Battles weren't supposed to be too challenging early on so the player would keep playing, too hard and what would be the point, unless you had the difficulty on 'Nightmare' or something equally absurd. Rue wasn't game to ask 'B' what her current difficulty level was on, she really didn't want to know.

"Tera," she began quietly. The Coeurl's eyes twitched at her as Tera turned her golden eyed gaze to her mistress. "I want you to go around to the other side of the camp, once you're there, I need you to take out one or two of those troopers. Not the big one, leave him till last, but we have to be sneaky, okay?" she doubted Tera would actually understand. However as the Coeurl watched her Rue saw a sparkle of intelligence she hadn't before, and to her surprise Tera rose, butted her head against Rue's and padded away quietly, easily siding into the shadows of the forest and disappearing. Blinking after the creature Rue began to wonder, not for the first time, if Tera the Terrible Terror was much smarter than she let on.

With a shake of her head Rue silently moved into a better position to shoot from, from what she'd seen Barclay had them all on watch duty while he strode around on edge and barked orders into a walkie he was carrying around. It seemed the Wutian soldiers were giving Shinra a harder time than the company had thought they would. Rue had found this spot after she'd stumbled onto the camp, it seemed they'd found some old ruins of a stone structure in the forest to make their camp more defensible. That the very thing they thought would protected them would help her seemed a little more than ironic as Rue took up her position behind a low section of stone wall just tall enough for her to couch behind with little chance of being seen.

Rue glanced out at the troopers and Barclay, she could have used her new grenade, she supposed, but honestly, she didn't want to use that thing unless she thought she had to. Bombs weren't really her style, unless they were smoke bombs. Maybe she should have taken Yuffie up on her offer earlier in the week, those smoke bombs the little girl had offered her would have been handy right about now. Next time. She promised herself, next time she would take anything someone offered her. Within reason.

She was watching carefully from her cover when one of the troopers suddenly vanished. Rue blinked and then grinned, Tera had understood. The trooper's partner hadn't even noticed he was no longer standing where he should. Rue drew back on the bowstring, trying not to think about anything but what she had to do. She hit the man in the chest this time, the force from her longbow sent him staggering backward and Tera took care of the rest. He did not make a sound either. Rue slid back behind her cover and took a few deep breaths, her hands were shaking again. That had been too close, but she didn't have time to worry about it now. It wouldn't be long until Barclay and that last remaining trooper realised their three other comrades had vanished without a sound. If they did Barclay could very well order his men back to the camp and that would be bad. Very, very bad.

As quietly as she could Rue moved to find a better vantage point down the crumbling stone wall a ways. When her remaining targets came into sight, Barclay was listening to someone on the walkie and the trooper was leaning against a wall. Neither were paying attention to their surroundings, thinking the other men were standing guard most likely. She nocked another of her arrows, trying to figure out how to go about this particular conundrum. It was then that Rue saw Tera slowly pad around a corner, just outside the men's line of sight. If Tera was going to help maybe-

"The hell?!" A shout from the trooper alerted Rue to the fact that Tera had moved forward to waltz around the corner casually and was now growling at the two men. The teen swore under her breath profusely as she took aim.

Releasing her arrow a shower of sparks rained down on the two men, she'd hit a light above their heads distracting them. Rue pulled out another arrow as Tera pounced at the remaining trooper, tearing into him viciously. Rue tried not to hear the poor sod's screaming as she aimed at the small target she was focused on. Barclay shifted, seeming to go for his gun as Rue released her arrow and it almost missed; while the effect wasn't entirely the same it did knock the walkie out of the man's hand and that was more than enough for her. It was then that the man turned, spotted her and bellowed something unintelligible at her as he grabbed some form of gun from the desk next to him. A moment later Rue realised it was a fucking grenade launcher and barely got out of the way once it was fired.

The explosion knocked her off her feet and made her ears ring, the breath had been knocked out of her and Rue coughed and heaved for air as she struggled to regain her feet before the damn maniac let another one loose at her. Her bow. Where was her bow? Breathing hard in a panic Rue searched the scrub around her for her damned bow, at this point it was the only thing between her and death unless she miraculously found a body of water and figured out bending in the next thirty or so seconds.

"Come out, come out wherever you are little girly, I know that one didn't kill you, I heard you coughing," Barclay called out through the dust from the explosion. His voice was still muffled as her ears recovered, but Rue swore again and sped up her search for the bow. She wasn't going to give up now, she was tempted to call out to him but that was what he wanted. If she made too much noise he would know exactly where to aim the next grenade, if she knew where Tera was now she would likely bite the bullet, as it were, and throw her own at him. She doubted he would expect that. Fucking asshole. Who the hell went straight for a grenade launcher when shit hit the fan? Maniac.

Her almost frantic search was interrupted by a screen, thankfully at a reasonable distance from her face.

Congratulations!

Your use with a bow allowed you to unlock another skill!

+Skill - Basic Shot lvl 1

…

You are slightly less likely to miss when using a bow now and you do more damage

As long as you hit the mark

So far you're hit rate is around 75%

Because you don't always hit the place you're aiming for even when you hit

Practice more kiddo

Rue barely took the words in before she had dismissed the screen, the dust and smoke kicked up from the grenade wouldn't last forever and she needed her bow back before he found her.

A sigh of relief escaped her when she found the blasted bow hiding from her under a damned log, it didn't last long when he called out again. "Come on girly, if you come out I won't shoot you," Rue snorted at that. It was doubtful that he'd keep his word, she'd killed his men after all. Scrambling over to the low wall, a far distance from where she'd been before Rue tried to catch her breath and calm her racing heart.

"Okay, okay, okay, I'm okay," Rue breathed as she sucked air into her lungs. However when Tera loped over to her through the dust still lingering in the air around her Rue very nearly shrieked in fright for a moment. The Coeurl seemed to check her over for injuries, of which there were a reasonable amount from the debris cause from the grenade. Nothing major, thankfully, but her clothes were more worse for wear between this and her first scrap earlier.

Tera looked fine and Rue rubbed her friend's ears to calm them both down a little as she tried to think of a way out of this. "I am not getting blown up today, are you?" she asked Tera shakily. Tera shook herself and yawned as she rolled her shoulders. Rue took that as a no and grinned, "guns blazing it is, or, bow blazing, or-oh fuck I don't even know what I'm saying any more, I'm too fucking scared," she gripped her bow harder. Taking one deep breath Rue turned, rising to her feet as she pulled an arrow from her quiver, her sharp eyes snapped to where Barclay was standing. He was loading the launcher, head down as he focused on his task for the moment.

Hands shaking slightly Rue fumbled her with her arrow, and had to re-nock the thing a few times before it stayed put. When she looked up Barclay was aiming at her with a smirk on his face.

"Gotcha girly," he said triumphantly. Tera, however, had other ideas for him as she let loose a roar Rue hadn't known was possible and pounced on the huge man. Rue stood there for a moment before she realised she was supposed to be doing something, she took another breath and drew the bowstring once again.

"Tera!" she called the Coeurl sharply. Immediately Tera sprang off Barclay and Rue loosed her arrow at him. Barclay stumbled backwards a few paces with an arrow protruding from his chest, but he did not go down as the others had. He looked down at the arrow and then back at Rue as she drew another arrow back against her cheek, sending another into his chest next to the first and pushing him back another step.

He was struggling to remain upright and Rue was prepared to keep filling him full of arrows until she ran out, but the fact that he was standing there, with his eyes practically bugging out of his skull from the effort to stay on his feet, was starting to freak her out even more than she already was.

He grinned at her as some blood spilt from his mouth and raised the launcher again, Rue felt herself freeze and watched as the live grenade was suddenly ejected and began sailing through the air towards her as Tera relaunched herself at Barclay with a furious snarl.

Unthinking Rue found herself shifting her grip on her bow and smacking the grenade away from her like she was playing baseball or cricket with one end of the weapon. The grenade bounced off the bow mercifully and headed towards the trees.

When the explosion went off above her Rue dove for cover a moment too late, she watched as a piece of wood flew towards her before everything went black.

AN: So...that got a bit dicey there...Rue's first 'solo' boss battle did not go as anyone expected (myself included). That last bit wasn't entirely planned, and threw a wrench into things that I wasn't planning on. However, I do know where I am going, I'm even tempted to draw a certain 'Bonus Scene' I can't wait to write.

Needless to say I don't know how Godo is going to avoid not being murdered in his sleep by Rue, but waving a tiny Yuffie in her face might be a good deterrent for now.

As always thank you for all the reviews, fave and alerts this story keeps getting. They make me so happy!
It's because of all of you that I've started drawing again!

Till next time~
RLK