Chapter 2: Coppervein

POV: Kaiah

Author: WTP storm

The bitter wind blew over the sandy dunes of Merriam's broad desert. Cacti stuck out of the dust, giving the otherwise colorless land splotches of green. A lone figure rode a horse across the desert. She wore a set of iron armor with a large-brimmed hat to hide her eyes from the sun. She reached a crest overlooking a small town. She scowled down at it as she flicked the reins.

The figure rode into town and tied her horse up in front of the sheriff's office. She walked inside and took off her hat, revealing her rich brown hair tied up in a ponytail and her brilliant blue eyes. The three men in the room, one with a noticeable mustache, a second leaning back in a chair, and the third had a sheriff's star on his chest. All three of the men looked up at her.

"Alright, so I assume one of you is the sad sap that dragged me out here," the woman said with a sigh.

The mustache man popped a gum bubble. "You must be the guard from Zone 1. I heard the king has been sending guards to towns in Zone 3 to handle the recent crime spree," he said.

"Yup. My name is Kaiah Coppervein, it's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Pleasure to meet you too, miss," the sheriff shook her hand. "Your arrival is actually quite convenient. We just had a testificate come in here complaining about bandits ransacking his village."

"Bandits? Okay, is the testificate still in town?" Kaiah asked.

"Think so. He just kinda stormed out," the mustache man said with a casual shrug.

"O-okay." Kaiah was put off by all three men's indifference to the situation. "Thanks… I guess," she put her hat back on and walked outside.

The blazing sun seemed to scorch the sandstone buildings forming the small town. Most of the townsfolk were inside to hide from the sun, but that didn't stop the inhabitants from judgmentally glaring at Kaiah from windows and covered porches. She nervously adjusted the strap of her sword sheath on her back and approached the least hostile person she saw.

"Hello, sir," Kaiah said as she walked up to a man leaning against a house and smoking a cigar.

His eyes narrowed and he took a long drag of his cigar. "What do you want?" he asked judgmentally.

"Um, I'm looking for a testificate that came through here recently. Do you know where he went?" Kaiah asked as politely as she could manage. She just wanted out of here as soon as possible. These people were nothing like the ones in Zone 1.

The man gestured at a shop on the other side of the street but didn't say anything. Kaiah just smiled awkwardly and nodded. "Er, thanks!" she scurried across the street without another word.

The shop was rather small, with a counter separating the customers from an enchanting table surrounded by bookshelves holding enchanted tomes. In the front room, three men stood around an anvil, standing in shock.

"Um, hi!" Kaiah said, startling the men. "I'm looking for a testificate who needs help defending their village from bandits?"

The three men turned to face her. One was a player, the second was a human, and the third was a testificate. Kaiah could have sworn that the whites of the testificate's eyes were glowing green, but he blinked and the effect went away. "Yeah, my name's Corson." She shook hands with him. His hand felt… weird, like he had some kind of weird energy in his palm, but she just brushed it off.

"I'm Kaiah, and I'm a guard from Zone 1. I've been ordered to come out here and deal with the crime spike. I heard there's been bandits ransacking your village?"

Relief flooded Corson's face. "Y-yeah. Thank Notch, I thought I'd have to fight them off all by myself."

Kaiah raised an eyebrow. "You fight?"

Corson narrowed his eyes. "Don't act so surprised that a villager can defend himself."

"Sorry, sorry!" Kaiah raised her hands in defeat. "I didn't mean to offend you. It's just… I've never met a… villager like you." The other two men exchanged glances that Kaiah couldn't decipher.

"It's fine. I was just about to head out, I could show you to my village," Corson said, sheathing his sword.

"Uh, are you feeling… okay? After what just happened?" one of the men asked, looking at Corson with a slightly disturbed expression.

"I'm fine. I feel fine. Thanks for the enchantment," Corson said, not even looking back as he walked out. Kaiah blinked, unsure of what to make of this interaction, before following after Corson.

"I assume you got your sword enchanted?" Kaiah asked, catching up to Corson. She looked at his sword, trying to see the shimmering blue magic around enchanted objects. Curiously, she didn't see it. Maybe it was just the bad lighting, because she couldn't see anything else Corson had on him that could have been enchanted.

A strange tremble went up Corson's spine. "Uh, yeah. Knockback II." He refused to make eye contact with her, which Kaiah just puzzled at. This villager was… weird. All villagers were weird though, at least from what Kaiah had seen. People got weirder as well the further from the origin point they lived, so that probably had something to do with that.

Kaiah reached her horse and untied it from a post. "Do you come here on a horse?" she asked, glancing back at Corson.

"No, I walked," he said simply. "My village isn't that far from here."

"Oh. well, you can ride the horse. I can walk," Kaiah said casually.

Corson blinked at her. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I've been on that thing's back for days now and I could use the exercise. I insist! You look like you could use a ride," Kaiah said with a smile.

Corson hesitated. "T-thank you. I really appreciate it." a smile flickered across his face.

"Alright, let's hit the road!" Kaiah cheered, pumping her fist in the air.

The sun was starting to descend as the pair reached the end of the desert, where the sand blended into dead-looking grass and acacia trees. It wasn't much longer before they reached Corson's village. It was a small group of orange houses with villagers wandering between them.

"Welcome to Salkadina," Corson said, gesturing at the town.

"It's… charming," Kaiah said, forcing a smile. She couldn't help but notice the ripped up and trampled farms that the farmers were working hard to restore.

"You don't have to pretend. I know it's awful. This is what happens when your village gets ransacked multiple times a week and no one does anything about it," Corson said with anger laced in his tone.

"Well, we're going to do something about that!" Kaiah said, changing the mood. "Tonight, you and I are going to wait for these bandits and make sure they never come back here again!" she extended her fist for a fist bump, which Corson reluctantly returned.

The two walked into town and immediately Kaiah felt the prickles of stares on the back of her neck. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the villagers of this town watching her. What was with the people of Zone 3 and staring? Well, the only players that these people had probably seen were raiders and bandits, so the staring made a bit more sense.

"Corson! What are you doing now?" a villager walked in front of the two, crossing her arms. "Who is this?"

"I'm Kaiah. You could just ask me directly, you know. I am capable of speech." She smiled sarcastically. The villager scowled back at her.

"Charna, this is the solution to our problem. She's from Zone 1 and she can fight off the bandits for us!" Corson explained.

The villager, Charna, scowled at Kaiah. She grinned cheekily back. "Yeah, so I suggest if you want to be able to keep the crops you grow, you'll treat me with a BIT more respect." Charna didn't take this very well, and instead scowled harder.

Corson noticed the two's staredown and elbowed Kaiah to try and get her to stop. "Well, um, I'm going to take her back to my place. We need to get some rest for tonight to face the bandits tonight."

"That's right. So if you'll EXCUSE us…" Kaiah put a hand on Corson's shoulder and with a dramatic whirl, turned and walked away.

"Kaiah, my house is that way," Corson said, pointing at his home in the opposite direction Kaiah was walking in.

Kaiah's face flushed with embarrassment and she stopped walking. "Yeah, I think you should be the guide instead of me."

Corson laughed, and the two headed towards his house.