This is an intro to story that's been brewing in he back of my mind for a very long time. As I'm not a native English speaker I apologise for any grammatical errors that will occur in advance but bear with me here. I hope anyone who reads this finds it interesting.
The story itself is situated in an extremely advanced LSMMORPG (Life Simulation Massively Multilayer Online Role Playing Game). The players use a MindHack helmet to directly connect their consciousness into the game. the game then reads the basic parameters of the player and translates them into numerical values. The player can then freely sift around the values, to increase and decrease the values. The currentl list of possible stats is long ranging from physical strenght to mental agility and poise, which can all be modified to increase the possibilities of the players. There currently is no caps on how strong one can be, though the experience ponts received from quests and kills decreases and the demand for a level up increases.
Without further ado, I'll get on with the story. Enjoy.
Spoiler
The cold wind in the northern wilds was something to be feared. Those unaccustomed or unprepared got frostbites immediately. How someone would wish to live in an inhospitable place like this was beyond Hildr as she scanned the barren tundra. The few deformed and small trees would provide little to burn in t
he fire and even less shelter. The only thing keeping her caravan from freezing to death were thick coats made from tundra wolf pelts. The wind slashed the little bare skin that the coats didn't cover like knives.
If only mad men would live in a place like this, why would anyone want to travel here then? Simple. Rare goods. The northern wilds were filled with raw materials that were part of the high end crafting system and creating caravans to get them was extremely lucrative.
For Hildr, this was her first expedition so far north. She had lived her entire life in the warm and comfortable climate of the central kingdoms. The worst things to face there were the mosquitoes and the winter rain. Having left her home Kingdom in search of precious goods seemed like a good idea at the time, but after two weeks in constant state of cold induced numbness gnawed at her resolve.
Still, even this place was populated. Small hamlets dotted the map. The most respected member of each village was the pyromancer. A mage able to create a globe of warmth, where villagers could grow crops and herd animals. The more powerful the pyromancer, the bigger the town.
The caravan had left the town of North's Edge just two days ago and already had been harassed by Tundralings. Weedy, purple creatures resembling a crossbreed of gnomes and goblins with nasty temper and the ability to induce frostbites.
They weren't particularly dangerous when there was only one, but they rarely left the hives alone, almost never in fact. And when they left to hunt for whatever that ate, they would usually encounter caravans. The attacks seemed more desperate than organized. Most likely because there wasn't much to eat to begin with. Lore told that the Tundralings often resorted to cannibalism when the food was scarce. Which was always...
Hildr felt a sudden sting of compassion for the creatures. Their life must be a constant struggle, when us Civilized Races were using all the tools in creation to ease our lives. But the feeling subsided swiftly when she remember the scene where a dozen tundralings were devouring one of the hired guards.
The way they devoured the guard was a combination of frenzy and ecstasy. She felt nausea raising it's ugly head. She need something to do and quickly. Every idle moment caused unpleasant thoughts to pop up and she preferred them hidden somewhere in the back of her mind.
She walked back to the camp. A group of yurts huddled together like baby oxen, seeking warmth and comfort from each other. The dozen or so stocky and hairy oxen that were grazing the brownish moss and grass were their lifeline. If the animals died, so would all the member of the cravan. To prevent any misfortune from happening to the precious beasts, there were several guards patrolling around the animals and five herders to keep them close to camp.
Hildr open the door flap of the closest yurt and the warmth of the fire punched her in the face like a wall of soft and warm cotton. She sighed in relief and began removing the coat. The thing was heavy enough to make her stamina regenerate very slowly and keeping it on in the yurt was unnecessary. These things were crafted by the habitants of the north and they kept the cold at bay with ease. Expensive as they were, even a midly successful expedition would yield it's price tenfold.
Hildr glanced around the yurt for a place to lie down. There was place between the cravans pyromancer Gryl and the leader Walrquin. She carefully stepped over the dosing guards and placed herself between the two. Gryl was a tall and thin young man with fiery red hair and red eyes. His features could have been handsome if it weren't for the deep lines of worry shadowing his face. How one so young could look so old was beyond her.
She unconsciously glanced at the two missing fingers in Gryl left hand and flogged herself for that. The last raid of tundralings were the cause. And she was the catalyst of the accident. She was in the middle of reciting a blessing when seven tundralings surrounded her. She couldn't stop the blessing, or the feedback would have knocked her unconscious. Luckily Gryl was nearby and saved her from being eaten, but lost two finger in the process.
Gryl sensed her guilt and nudged her gently. Hildr raised her round and childlike features framed by greenish-black locks and met the mans red gaze with her brown. Gryl gave her a quick smile before returning to his meditation. The interaction eased her guilt, but didn't remove it.
Walrquin slapped Hildr in the back of her head and grunted with a lowered deep voice.
- Stop moping girl. This is the north. If we come back from here, we will all be rich and that little incident will be a trophy for him. The ladies will be swarming him, the gallant pyromancer who rescued the maiden in distress.
Gryl looked a bit uncomfortable and that made Walrquin laugh. A few other chuckles could be heard before the yurt returned to its weary silence.
Hildr gave the leader a stabbing look. The muscular man wasn't handsome at all and the big red scar crossing his face from under his right eye to his left jawline crossing the lips made him look barbaric. The brown eyes were confident and seemed carefree, but the dark shadows under his eyes gave him away. No one could relax in this place.
The mane of badly cut hair was tugged back but a few strands kept falling back on his face. Walrquin grunted, grabbed a knife and cut the unfortunate lock of hair off and threw it into the fire. The smell of burning hair filled the yurt and a few guards protested half-heartedly.
Hildr browsed through her pouches and discovered a piece of beef jerky. She began to gnaw it and drifted off into a state of emptiness.
She woke up to screams of alarm and the sound of combat. The smell of freshly spilled blood filled her nostrils alongside the smell of burning leather. All the occupants of the yurt were scrambling on their feet and grabbing their weapons. She could hear the booming voice of Walrquin guiding the confused soldiers to defensive positions. She quickly grabbed her mace and rushed outside.
The battle was everywhere. The flames cast shifting shadows everywhere and the smoke made her eyes water. Thoughts tripped on each other inside her head, the most pressing one being "Tundralings don't use weapons...". She tried to focus on one of the attacking beings. It looked human.
She heard a war cry behind her and instinctively ducked and did an uppercut with her mace. The metal head connected and broke bone with a disgusting crunch. Blood spatter on her head and clothes as the attacking figure collapsed in front of her. It was a man.
The big brute bled on the ground, the coppery smell of blood penetrating her consciousness. Why? Her thoughts screamed. Why would men attack a well guarded caravan like ours? The confusion and noises made it hard for her to think. Another thought started to dominate. Find Gryl and Walrquin. Find them quick and help them. Suddenly a pillar of fire erupted not far from her, illuminating the battlefield. During that instant she glanced around. They were losing. Badly. A hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. She used the momentum and aimed a strike where she believed her assaults shoulder should be. The weapon was stopped by a hand. It was Walrquins.
- Run. He said. A small trickle of blood could be seen on the side of his mouth. Then he fell down. Two arrows and the end of a spear were jutting from his back. She ran.
The freezing air burned her skin, throat and lungs as she ran in the open tundra. She really didn't have an idea where she was going or whether she would survive, but she ran anyway. The shouts of her pursuers echoed around her and arrows flew past her. She suddenly felt a shove and almost lost her balance but quickly regained it and kept running. Had she been in her right mind, she would have realized that an arrow had pierced her right shoulder blade, but the amount of adrenaline numbed the pain and abled her to keep running. A warm sensation crept down her back and the cheers of her pursuers pushed her forward. She scrambled up a hill and dared to look back. There wasn't more than a 100 meters between her and the group of barbarians.
She was about to pick up the pace when she was stopped by a tree trunk. She was knocked off of her feet by the surprise more than the actual impact but when she hit the ground the arrow that had hit her in the back a few moments ago now fully pierced her shoulder. The arrow head coming out right under her collarbone. She screamed and grabbed her shoulder.
It took her a few moments to realized that whatever she hit could not have been a tree, since all the trees she had seen for days were no taller than a dwarf and as thin as straw. She looked up to see what ever it was that had stopped her and her jaw dropped. She was looking straight at a pair of ice blue eyes framed by a bush of unkempt hair. She barely breathed, paralyzed by the unrelenting gaze. Her pursuers climbed the last meters and stopped on their tracks. The eyes let her go and shifted on to the barbarians.
It felt like time stood still. The only sound the deep, almost rumbling breaths of the tundra ogre. Everyone paid close attention to the ogres reactions. Seconds passed before one of the barbarians quickly drew and released the arrow he had prepared for Hildr. The arrow flew as in slow motion and thudded in the ogres abdomen. Everyone held their breath. The ogre looked down, grabbed the arrow and pulled it out. A small drop of dark blood fell from the tip. The air around them suddenly grew thick and it felt hard to breath. He ogre inhaled loudly and the sound of its roar knocked Hildr unconscious.
The extreme stress from her flight through the freezing night, the loss of blood and the starting infection in her shoulder caused her to drift from waking to feverish nightmares. She lost all track of time and place, excluding the few moments where she felt like she was a small baby in her mother's womb, the slow and steady heartbeat with the noise of breathing lulling her back to sleep. Some primal instinct within her told her that she was safe, and she should take this time to recover. She was unsure where it originated from but she trusted it. Her instincts had never failed her, and it was the only thing she could tell was real.
Slowly the nightmares subsided and the deep, healing sleep took over. She had no idea how long this lasted, but when she finally woke up, she was laying on a warm bed made of coarse haired skin that scratched her bare skin. Her shoulder burned. She slowly touched where the wound should be, only to find rough bandages. It took her sluggish mind a few moments to process everything. Who had treated her and why? She felt her body for any sign of violation. There was none. A small sigh of relief escaped her lips.
It was then when she finally became aware of her surroundings. It wasn't a bed she was laying on, but a huge chest of a man. The realization shocked her on her feet as she jumped off of the chest. Unfortunately her legs were weak from the infection and she dropped to her knees with a grunt. The steady breathing stopped, and a head popped up from behind the chest. It was the head of the tundra ogre she had encountered just before she had lost her consciousness. She kept the cry of despair under control and instead took a defensive stance, preparing herself for her last stand. If she was going to die, she would do everything she could before she did.
The ogre slowly rolled himself to his knee, keeping eye contact with Hildr constant. It backed away from her carefully next to a well made fireplace with a large cooking pot on glowing embers. Still maintaining eye contact it grabbed the huge ladle and poured liquid to a bowl large enough to be called a bucket. It took a few steps forward, reached and placed the bowl close to her and backed away again. This was the only moment it broke eye contact with Hildr as it rummaged through something that looked like an assortment of cooking wares. She kept up her guard but was intrigued by the strange behavior of the ogre. As far as she knew, ogres never used plates or bowls to eat, and the delicious scent of the liquid filled her nostrils. Her belly rumbled as it recognized the familiar scent of cooked rabbit and herbs.
As if by queue the ogre stopped its search, carefully turned, took a few steps closer and produced a spoon fit for her. It placed the spoon in the bowl and pushed the soup closer to her. She looked at the soup, then the ogre and the soup again. She was anxious and puzzled by the ogres civilized behavior, but the voice of her hunger grew louder.
When she finally decided that this wasn't some kind of trick, she carefully took a spoonful of the soup and tasted it. It was a bit hot and a tad bit too salty for her taste but at the same time it was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted in her life. Another spoonful followed the first and soon she was devouring the soup with gusto. A large pint of what turned out to be oxen milk appeared next to her and she drank it with one go.
When she slammed the pint to the ground the ridiculousness of the whole situation hit her. She was in what looked to be a cave, with an ogre, eating soup and drinking milk. And the soup was a bit too salty. The last bit echoed through her head. When did ogres learn to use salt? She couldn't stop the laugh and the tears. So she laughed and cried and ate a bit too salty soup and drank milk in an ogres cave, listening to the ogre hum. And she felt perfectly safe.
Then next few days were spent in a tentative silence. The more she watched the ogre, the more she became aware of the fact that it wasn't an ogre, but something completely different. Sure, it was gigantic and covered in brown hair, but the care and dexterity it used when changing her bandages was surprising. Every time the moment to change the bandages came, he made a certain sound, like a question, if it could approach. She would look at him and wave him closer.
Underneath the bandages was a bitter smelling paste. She couldn't identify the components but it stopped the infection from spreading, lowered the swelling and numbed the pain and itching. If she was careful, she could move her arm a bit, but that always made him grunt, as if scolding her.
When she became more used to their current status quo, she had time to explore the cave a bit more. The walls, roof and floor were exceptionally smooth, and the solid rock was used to create a table and an alcove for a bed, among other things. She remembered the first time she properly woke up and thanked the gods for him being kind enough to sleep on the floor. Had she fallen from the bed, she might have broken something.
The communication was challenging. Teddy seemed to be unable to produce actual words though he was capable of producing sound. And the look of his cave told Hildr that he wasn't stupid. She had decided to call him Teddy, since calling him just Him felt awkward and calling him Ogre felt... Insulting. He had saved her life after all, and treated her with respect.
Her wounds healed steadily and her body grew stronger bit by bit. She felt that she could exercise, but Teddy was there to make sure she didn't over work her shoulder. She could piece together from the primitive sign and grunt language that Teddy used that she should take it easy.
After a week she became used to the daily rhythm of this new life. She woke up, exercised and observed Teddy. The longer she watched, the more his behavior fascinated her. It was nothing like she had ever seen. She never knew where he got all the vegetables. They seemed to be fresh every time he brought them. There might have been a sort of garden but how it could survive in this climate she didn't know. And she had yet dared to leave the safety of the cave. When he came back from his hunting trips, he used surprising finesse in skinning and preparing the game even though his fingers were as big as her wrist. And he threw away nothing.
The skins were used to make clothing, the ligaments used as string and the bones as jewelery. By the looks of it, he had had a lot of practice in carving animal bone. The intricate designs captured her attention time after time. He even carved a necklace and matching pair of earrings for her.
She finally got fed up with the way Teddy's hair was all over his face. She grabbed an iron knife she had found in the assortment of tools in one of the alcoves in the cave. At first she had kept it in case Teddy might have tried to do something to her, put had then forgotten she even had it after it became clear that she was well kept and her limits respected.
She walked behind Teddy, who was focused on curing a skin of a tundra yeti, and tapped his massive back. He grunted in response. She tapped again. Teddy turned his head and looked at Hildr inquisitively. She shoved him the knife and pointed his chin. Teddy frowned, scratched his wildly growing beard and shrugged. He signed that he needed a minute, finished his chore and walked to the solid rock table and sat on one of the chairs. Hildr climbed on the table and reached out and pulled Teddy's massive head closer to her.
She spent quite a while grooming him. After awhile he closed his eyes and stated to produce a sound that she thought reminded her of purring. He enjoyed the attention she gave her and it made her happy. She had now stopped being surprised by these small interactions between them and started to consider Teddy a human, albeit a strange one.
Underneath the thick coat of hair the features of relatively handsome man emerged. Had Teddy's face not been covered in scars of countless battles, and had he been a quarter of his current size, he might have been one of the most handsome men in the Central Kingdoms. His face was the epitome of manliness, chiseled to perfection by evolution.
- You should take better care of yourself. She said to him. Teddy grunted.
- I know you don't really have visitors but you never know. Maybe you could find a mate someday and you should look your best at all times. The purring stopped, he opened his eyes and stared her coldly. She stuttered.
- I... I didn't mean anything by it. Surely there are more of your kind in the north right? A gnawing sensation rose up her throat. Teddy shook his head.
- Are you really the only one? Are there no others? Teddy shook again.
- I'm so sorry. I didn't know... Teddy grunted. She felt really sorry for him, wondering just how long had he been alone in this cave without anyone to talk to. With no one keeping him company except the constant howling of the wind and fear of death in the hands of starved tundralings.
Hildr continued to work in silence, swallowed by her own thoughts of regret. She couldn't understand why Teddy was left alone in the the middle of no where, how he stayed sane after all these years. It was a mystery she couldn't get her head around. She would have lost it after a year for sure. But there he sat, being groomed by a stranger he had met only a bit over week or more ago.
The thought of time suddenly broke her immersion. How long had she stayed on-line? She felt dizzy and disillusioned and stopped shaving. Teddy sounded a question. She waved her hand and sat down. She had been so consumed by this sudden circumstance that she had completely forgotten everything outside the game.
She quickly recalled the UI and watched her game-time. 14 hours of continuous game-time.
- *censored*.... She muttered. She had to log out or she might miss work. She glanced at Teddy and her jaw dropped. She could hardly believe her eyes. Teddy was level one. How could anything below level 130 survive in the north? She executed a scanner mod and looked at his status. She was surprised a second time in a row. The stats were insane.
All the raw physical stats combined were over 9000. His willpower was on par with a raid boss and wisdom that of an Arc Cleric. This could explain how he had survived in this place for as long as he had. The intelligence of 53 explained the lack of speech, it required an int of at least 80 to properly learn a single language.
She went through his stats with minute detail while Teddy watched her confused. Strangely enough there wasn't a single active skill in his set. Only a long list of different passives, all of them involving the improvement of his physical skills during combat. She made a few quick calculations in her head and came to the conclusion that and extended battle would actually make him more powerful rather then the other way around. The thought scared her.
She excelled in a battle of attrition, using her prayers to keep her topped off while debilitating her enemies. Teddy was her natural enemy. The longer the battle lasted, the higher his passives stacked and the more damage he would inflict. It seemed that after a certain point he would turn into a godlike being, the battlefield his heaven. But this came with a weakness.
Even though he was extremely well versed in long battles, he had nothing to protect him from being bursted down down from the get go. In fact, he had very little resistance to magic, aside from his near immunity to Cold. She was puzzled by all these things as she logged out. What kind of an NPC was he?
She logged back in. The familiar smells of the cave made her feel welcome, as if returning home from a journey. She searched for Teddy, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. At first she thought he might have gone hunting, but then she heard a muffled sound, like shouting from a distance. It came from the direction of the cave entrance.
She walked towards the mouth of the cave. It was covered with a pelt of a Mammoth, to keep the cold and the wind out. She pushed the heavy pelt aside and was greeted with the biting cold of the northern climate. All her senses flared as she realized the sounds were men and women screaming.
She followed the well traveled path leading down from the hill towards the noise. It came from the base of the hill, somewhere to her right. She climbed on a larger boulder and froze. There were nearly two hundred men and women and they had encircled Teddy. They were shouting taunts and war cries, inciting blood lust in each other, yet Teddy seemed out exceptionally calm.
He stood there, towering over the mob that had come and watched with the eyes of a beast. He reminded her of a lone lion, encircled by a pack of hyenas. He watched and waited for the opportune moment to strike. The circle broke and a man bigger and more muscular than the rest approached Teddy with confidence of a leader.
- Give us back the bitch you stole from us. The barbarian leader shouted at Teddy. Teddy didn't move, merely watched. This seemed to anger the barbarian leader. He seemed to be more used to being feared than challenged like this.
- Do you see how many of us there is? Can you even understand the difference in numbers? Or are you just so stupid that you don't even understand enough to be afraid. Teddy remained silent, like a stone pillar.
At this point Hildr noticed the weapon Teddy was leaning to. It was a gigantic two-sided axe. The edge was blunt and there was rust here and there, but in his hands, it looked terrifying simply due to its size. It looked big enough for him to wield it with two hands and she knew he was strong enough to swing with only one.
The leader shouted more insults and demands towards Teddy, but he ignored the all. Finally this passiveness made the leader snap.
- Break him boys! He bellowed and charged, the howling mob followed. A fews mouths were frothing due to their rage and they all charged without fear. Hildr prayed. She didn't for which one, for Teddy to be safe, or for the mob to die quickly. She soon decided the later.
Teddy kicked the axe off of the ground, spun it around his body once and used the momentum to spin himself around. The axe cleaved the first row of attackers, flinging broken bodies and blood all around. The leader had ducked under the swing and headed straight for the Achilles tendon. He swung his sword and it bounced off with a clang. Teddy had lined his boots with armor scraps from the skeletons of caravans he had found during his hunting trips. Teddy reacted to the sound with frightening speed, grabbed the leader, squeezed, breaking bones and tossed the broken man aside like a rag doll.
The battle was a one-sided massacre. The efficiency Teddy cleaned the mob sent chills down Hildrs spine. It was as she had feared. There wasn't a single ounce of elegance in Teddy's movements, only brutal simplicity designed to kill anything in his path. Teddy swung his axe from left to right and around in carefully calculated arcs, cleaving men and women with ease. Soon the ground was littered with body parts and corpses. The battle ended and the mob was killed to the last.
Hildr hopped from boulder to boulder as she moved down the hill side. She noticed how Teddy sat on the ground and started to hum a tune, like a prayer to the souls of the slain. Hildr stopped to listen to the undulating chant and it sent waves of sadness down her body. Was this what it had been for Teddy? Everyone he met would try to kill him, and he never showed any resentment towards them. Only respect and even offered prayers to whatever he worshiped to ease their passing.
She snapped herself out of the trance and continued her way down. She reached the bottom of the hill when the chant was finished, and slowly approached Teddy from behind. If he had noticed her, he didn't show it.
-Teddy? Are you alright? Hildr broke the eery silence. She circled around Teddy to see that he had his eyes closed. The few cuts he had suffered from the weapons of the mob were quickly closing, leaving pink scars at their wake. She touched Teddy's knee and he let out a sigh. He opened his ice blue eyes and for a moment, Hildr was sure she could see something like sadness in their cold stare.
He sifted his attention to her and gave her a weak smile, as if apologizing. Hildr gave him an encouraging smile and he got up. He dusted the skins he wore as clothes and swiped the blood off of his axe to the ground. he was about to leave when Hildr stopped him
- Aren't you going to bury them? She asked. Teddy gave her a glance and nodded towards the tundra. She could already see a few tundralings gather like vultures.
- You aren't serious? She protested. Barbarians or not, they should have a proper burial and not to be left for tundralings to feast on. Teddy shook his head.
- Even tundralings need to eat. Teddy gestured but Hildr was adamant.
- We bury them. She demanded
- They will dig them up. He gestured
- Put a boulder on it. She said.
- They will dig around it. He gestured. Why make their lives more difficult when we can do nothing to stop them? She had nothing left to argue with. The cold practicality didn't fit her well but she had to admit that he was right. There was nothing they could do to stop them from eating the dead. So they left the site of carnage.
The tundralings were hesitant to approach the corpses at first but soon the hunger overwhelmed them and they rushed to the feast. Hildr tried her best to close the sounds of small teeth ripping flesh and breaking bone from her ears but didn't quite manage to. Teddy seemed unfazed by this, as if it was normal for him. Hildr wondered how many times this scene had occurred to produce such composure.
Instead of entering the cave, he turned left from the entrance and circled around the hill. She was surprised by this at first but followed. On t he other side of the hill was an area covered in thick mist. It felt weirdly out of place but as they approached it, she realized that it was caused by hot springs. She noticed something on her right and finally had her explanation for the fresh vegetables.
The volcanic activity around the hot springs gave and ideal temperature for plants to grow and the soil was rich with nutrients. There were many familiar plants growing around the hot springs and they seemed well tended. Teddy headed for the biggest pool in the area and took of his clothes on his way, sprinkling them along the path. He carefully slipped into the pool, leaned back and sighed with content.
Hildr was about to pick up his gear but he grunted telling her to leave them. She didn't listen and piled Teddy's gear neatly next to the axe. It was way too heavy for her to move. Teddy grunted halfheartedly and continued to soak in the warm waters. Hildr felt a bit uneasy. What should she do? Wait for him to finish? As if sensing this Teddy lift up one of his arms and pointed towards a stone slab. She closed in to it and noticed there was a big piece of soap and a brush too big for her.
- Did you make this yourself? She asked rhetorically. There were herbs embedded in to it and it smelled wonderful. She grabbed the knife she had claimed her own and cut a piece of her own. She looked around for a pool more suited for her size and found one. As she was climbing down from the slab, she noticed a small tub, a bench and a washing brush of her size on the other side of the slab.
At first she was going to say something but she figured there was no need. He had prepared these just for her after all. She collected everything and carried it all next to the pool. She slowly stripped herself, folding her clothes neatly on the chair and slipped in to the pool. At first the heat was too much for her skin but the feeling soon subsided as the relaxing warmth pierced through her body. This was wonderful, no, heavenly.
Teddy grunted from the middle of the mist. Hildr grunted back and Teddy uttered a little laugh. The scene of carnage and feasting was washed away by the purifying waters of the hot spring.
After they had both bathed to their hearts content, they walked side by side back to the cave. Hildr noticed that Teddy's expression had become grim and distressed. At first she thought she should ask about it, but one look stopped her before she could say anything.The heavy atmosphere continued all the way to the evening until Teddy finally spoke his mind.
- I think its time for you to leave. He waved. Hildr was stunned by this, It felt sudden, out of place.
- Why? Why do I have to go? She pressed.
- It's not safe for you here... I'll escort you to the border. We leave at dawn.
Something in Teddy's demeanor stopped Hildr from debating on the subject further. She felt oddly betrayed, like a dear friend had just told her she had hated her all her life and now was cutting off all ties. I really didn't make much sense, that feeling. They had known each other only for a few days and yet she felt this way. Granted Teddy had save her life but that didn't actually warrant for these emotions. She did her best to push the, away from her mind and went to bed. It would be a long journey and most likely dangerous.
The night crawled on. Hildr was laying on her back, staring at the faint edges of the roof. She couldn't sleep. All the thoughts she had tried so hard to suppress kept coming back. She could hear the steady breathing of Teddy in his bed. Somehow that reminded her of the time when she was still injured. The time she felt like a child in womb. She had a sudden urge to feel like that again. She wanted to hide from these dark thoughts.
She took a sharp breath. This wasn't like her at all. She had been strong all her life. Most of her time here she had spent solo, as a wandering warrior priestess. A party had always been out of necessity. Some thing's were just harder to do alone. But now, to feel a need for companionship with a stranger felt odd.
She struggled with these thoughts for seemingly an eternity. She didn't know how long she had been laying awake but every minute slowly sapped gnawed on her resolve to not go sleeping on Teddy's chest. She finally gave in.
Slowly she got up and sneaked closer to teddy. It was hard for her to see details but the leather linings on the bed gave her enough to grab on and pull her self up and on the bed. Teddy was sleeping on his back. The pelt of a mammoth working as a blanket, his shoulders were exposed and his chest slowly rising in rhythm of his breaths.
She carefully crept on his chest and snuggled herself under the pelt. The noise of heartbeat and breathing lulled her to sleep almost instantly. Teddy opened his eyes and watched her for a while, wondering her intentions but decided to let her do as she pleased. It wasn't really an inconvenience and he liked her scent. The feeling of loneliness that had chased away his sleep seemed to fade as soon as she had climbed on his chest.
How long had it been, since he had last met someone who hadn't tried to eat or kill him? He could remember all the years of constant battle and hunger, but the time before that, before all this? Pain surged up from somewhere within his skull. The thumping sound of his own heart amplified it further. He did his best to suppress it, but the thumping morphed into a high pitched buzz. Hildr seemed to sense his distress and whine in her sleep. The pain disappeared.
Hildr woke up to the gentle nudge of Teddy's finger. It was almost noon. Why hadn't Teddy woken her up before? She stretched and scratched Teddy's chest. She didn't feel like moving but the Teddy's insistent poking forced her up despite her protests.
- Fine fine. I'll get up. She was irritated. They could have spent a little more time together but he seemed keen on getting rid of her. If that was how he wanted it to be, so be it. She jumped down from the bed and went to equip her war gear. It was better to be prepared for the journey.
They started the journey in a heavy silence. They hardly noticed the things around them as both of them were staring at the ground before their feet. A few tundralings watched them from afar but none dare to approach because of Teddy.
The first night finally broke the silence. They both seemed to have realize how stupid the continuous sulking was and decided independently of each other to enjoy their what seemed to be last moments together. Teddy created a makeshift ten using his own body and a Mammoth pelt for Hildr to escape the cold. He then wrapped himself with another to keep himself warm as well.
They spent their time watching the stars and Hildr talking well into the night. Hildr had never been one to babble but somehow she felt at ease around Teddy. He didn't say much but then again he really didn't need to. His presence alone and the few grunts he uttered were more than enough.
When the morning of their second day came, they both felt refreshed. The brisk air tasted sweet and the warmth of the morning sun caressed their exposed faces. The wind had also ceased its constant howling, as if to bless these last moments they shared. They gathered the little gear they had and set on their journey with renewed bodies and with a increasingly snakelike path. Unconsciously, Teddy wanted to extend this journey.
The following two weeks were relatively uneventful. When she had first arrive north, she had thought, that there really wouldn't be much of a wildlife to begin with. But the time she and Teddy traveled together through the tundra, she came to the conclusion that she just didn't know where to look or what to look for.
The amount of fauna was staggering. From goat to mammoth, wolf to tiger, all manner of creatures called the cold north their home. Everyone of the habitants had created its unique way of dealing with the harsh environment. Smaller mammals burrowed deep into the frosted ground to provide shelter and warmth from the tearing winds, some had thick fur and a layer of fat to function as isolation.
The amount of information on the animals' physique and social behavior that Teddy had almost scared Hildr. She kept asking the same question: How long had he been here? The idea chilled Hildr to the core and she quickly banished the thought back to the dark recesses of her mind. It didn't matter. It was of little consequence.
After what turned out to be a day over two weeks, Hildrs nose caught a whiff of civilization. Smoke and trash. The staples of any community. This invigorated her and she pestered Teddy about it.
- Are we there yet? She demanded from his shoulder. Teddy sighed in frustration.
- Just over that hill. He caught Hildr mid air when she suddenly leapt from his shoulder. He grunted angrily.
- Careful! He exclaimed.
- Don't be such a baby. I'm not gonna be hurt by a little fall like that.
Maybe she wouldn't, maybe she would. Still, her enthusiasm hurt Teddy somewhere he didn't know existed. Was he afraid of losing her? This tiny thing he had known for a few short weeks. Impossible. He shook his head and cleared his thoughts. Its was paramount to get her out of north as fast as possible.
Hildr ran up the hillside and stumbled on rocks and loose dirt. She felt invigorated by the prospect of a proper bed, a cold beer and a decent meal. Traveling was fine and good and Teddy's cave had been more comfortable than expected, but she was a city girl, deep down, and she missed the sounds and smells of the Capital of Richtren. She climbed the last meters on all fours and watched the valley before her.
A few hundred meters down and up another slope was a town, encircled with a palisade wall with watchtowers and two gates. She stared at the sight. The village wasn't all that glorious but to her, it shined like a beacon. Her eyes naturally gravitated towards the dominating stone church. It had been so long since her last communion. There was a sudden gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach but it passed quickly, overruled by her enthusiasm.
- Come on! We are almost there. She shouted to Teddy, who was slowly making her way up the hill. Hildr began her hasted descent and quickly lost her footing, tumbling down the slope with a cry of surprise. Teddy ran the last few meters up and watched Hildr roll down the slope, worried for her. He was so distracted by Hildrs predicament that he didn't notice the fireball zipping towards him.
There was a loud bang and a cry of pain as the fireball slammed to Teddy's chest. The air was filled with the stench of burned flesh and hair. The fireball turned out to be a Pyromancer, who's right hand was missing two fingers. The Pyro growled, his red eyes filled with magical fire as he started to hurl fire-bolts towards Teddy.
Teddy landed on his back and grunted but his instincts saved him. He rolled to his right, dodging the first fire bolt and with a practiced grace swung his battle axe off of his back and swung it, slapping the second fire bolt harmlessly to his right.
The following exchange seemed like a game, the Pyro flinging bolt after bolt of fire towards Teddy, and he slapping them away harmlessly with the side of his axe. The accuracy of Teddy's swings seemed to give the Pyro pause, but it was just a blink of an eye. He change his tactics, instead of throwing a single bolt, he extended both of his hands and rapidly fired several consecutive bolts.
The change in rhythm threw off Teddy's timing and a few bolts made it through his guard, burning away his clothes and skin. His whole body ached. The attacks were magical and didn't proc his passives as well as fire, which negated his natural regeneration. He was at a terrible disadvantage and he knew it. He searched desperately for an opening but was overwhelmed by the constant assault. The desperation slowly turned into realization. He had to take a hit to land a hit. Normally, against a physical foe this wouldn't be such a hard choice, but this time, it was different. This would really hurt. He gritted his teeth and rushed forward, lowering his guard and taking several hits.
The sudden rush by the ogre caught Gryl off guard. He was already rattled by the fact that most of his attacks were effortlessly parried by the swings of a rusted battle axe. And why in the Nine Hells didn't the axe break already? He had just enough time to envelope himself in a bubble of fire when axe came down with force. The axe shattered his fire shield, slashed his chest and threw him back down the slope. He rolled down but quickly managed to regain his balance, glancing up the slope to see that the ogre was kneeling, holding one hand on the large chest wound and blood soaking the ground around him. Time to finish this, he thought to himself, cauterized the gaping chest wound and zipped towards the ogre one last time.
Hildr slammed to the ground hard. Her body ached all over, but it didn't seem like she had any broken bones. She quickly cast Regeneration on herself and the pain slowly faded as the magic took effect. She had heard the sounds of combat and now focused her attention up the slope. She saw how Teddy fought evenly with the pyro. She had to hurry. Teddy could very well die if she didn't stop the fight.
She jumped to her feet and hasted up the slope, casting Wings of the Crusader as she ran. Normally this skill was used to jump to flying enemies, but it worked well in the situation she was in. She leapt with blinding speed up the hillside and prayed she would make it in time.
- Teddy! She cried out as she saw how he dropped his guard and took the hits form the Pyro. The Pyro seemed familiar. Was it Gryl?
- Gryl?! Stop. He's friendly. But he didn't hear her. She watched him zip towards Teddy as a fireball.
Gryl slammed against Teddy's shoulder and dislocated it. Teddy cried in pain and dropped to the ground face first from his knelt stance. Teddy was now easy pray and Gryl climbed on his back, lifting both of his fists up in the air.
- Burn, filth. He spat and slammed both of his fists to The Ogres exposed back.
A pillar of fire erupted from the ground and enveloped them both. Teddy howled in pain as the extreme heat carbonized his flesh. But he wouldn't pass out. He had to get Hildr to safety. He had to. Before it started. The spell ended leaving a wide black circle around them. Teddy whole skin was black and crispy, cracking when he moved. His armor was mostly gone or melted, fusing to his body. Still he moved to attack. He heard the Pyro shout in surprise as his hand found him. Teddy squeezed, but couldn't put strength in to his hand.
It hurts so much. Breathing hurt, he couldn't see, but he wouldn't lose. He put the last of his strength into his arm and threw the Pyro away. The tumbling of the pyro was the last thing he heard before everything went black.
The pain faded, he was standing in a field of pure, blinding light and in the middle of it was a woman. She stared at Teddy and smiled. It was far from kind. An evil, wicked smile of triumph. She moved her lips as if saying something. "You lost, Sentinel. The North is mine now."
Teddy tried to cry out in defiance, but nothing came out. The scene convulsed and he was swept from the scene, carried by an unknown force. He could almost hear the woman shriek in frustration. Another light, this was warm, gentle, it carried him, holding him tight like a mother holds her child. A voice, no, thousands of voices at once spoke into his ear. "Please don't die on me now, Teddy. Please. Wake up. Teddy."
Hildr watched as Gryl flew towards her, but instead of catching him, she used him as a stepping stone and launched herself next to Teddy's burned body.
- No. No. No. No ... She kept saying as she poured all of her magic into healing Teddy. The black, crisp skin slowly peeled of and revealed healthy, normal skin underneath, but then she realized she wouldn't be enough. She needed help. Badly. A holy place where she could use magic without restraint, but moving Teddy would be risky. She needed help now. All she could do now was pray and hope that someone would come.
- Please don't die on me now, Teddy. Please. Wake up. Teddy.
She let out a small shriek when she felt something huge, rough and wet touch her ear. A gigantic wolf stood right next to her watching her with brown eyes the size of her head. She couldn't even move due to her fear. This was the biggest tundra wolf she had ever seen. When had this thing walked next to her?
The wolf stared straight into her eyes and she suddenly felt something touch her mind. Telepathy? The touch was as gentle as a puppies paw and as soft. She reached out to the feeling inside her mind and a rush of images like a small stream filled her mind. She knew what had to be done.
Hildr rose to her feet and walked on the other side of Teddy and with strength she didn't know she had, she rolled Teddy over. Her mind screamed as the absurd scene played out in front of her. She rolled Teddy one more time and on the waiting wolfs back, which had dug a hole to the hillside to ease the process. She then climbed and sat on the wolfs neck. Her prays had been answered, but nothing made sense anymore.
This ... Didn't feel like the game she was used to. It seemed strangely convenient, as if the whole world was trying to save Teddy, but there was no point in trying to make sense of this. Most of the things that had happened to her since she had met Teddy made little sense. How this gigantic wolf fit into the picture she could only speculate on, but she was sure that it would eventually be explained. Somehow.
The guardsmen watching the scene were stunned, their eyes wide open as the tundra wolf walked into the town, the gate opening before them on its own. The whole town watched as the wolf walked straight to the church and dropped Teddy with unnatural grace next to the stairs leading to the large double doors. Hildr jumped down from the wolfs back and received a gentle lick to the face. The wolf walked away and slowly faded into thin air. A high grade spirit animal? Everyone in town knew they had seen something amazing and extremely rare.
Poll
Topic: Strongest Level One (n)PC (Critique wanted) (Read 10762 times)
