A heat wave had reared its ugly face in the New Yorker’s sanctuary. The southern most part of the big apple had received the worst of it, since the sun was pointing towards them. It was there that people were resorting to walking with umbrellas in hopes to receive some form of shade. People were lucky to be located in the cooler parts of New York, but even so, everyone was sweating, regardless of where they stood. The paved streets were warm and reflected searing heat everywhere; the grass even looked as though it were about to light ablaze. But it didn’t, and everyone continued to traverse the streets. As they did so, they would stop at any tree or small shop that would provide cool cover or a drink of warm water from an old fountain.

The air conditioner that resided in Taylor’s apartment blasted confidently in the small room where the residence scratched his head irritably…

“Ugh, and he said I wouldn’t regretting playing this and it freezes my damn computer after a weekend of playing it!”

Taylor stared at the frozen image of The World, which burned the monitor of his computer. It had been at the log-in display for quite some time and the young man’s patience was wearing thin. He was actually starting to enjoy the role playing game; Taylor had taken the time to create a character and submerse himself in The World. He even managed to purchase a few items along the way. As he fixed his eyes onto the monitor, he recalled how much fun it was to swing the blades he had gotten. The fact that he did not have the chance to use them in battle irked him so.

It had been a weekend-no, a few hours or play time and already Taylor’s computer was complaining and overheating. His boss had not only purchased the game for him, but also offered to pay for the monthly fee! Taylor could only imagine how angry his boss would be to learn that Taylor could not play the game when he just paid for the member subscription to The World. That would be fifteen dollars down the drain and possibly a job loss. That was a hassle the student could not afford, especially not over a game that he had barely played!

The young adult scratched his cheek as he wondered what the problem was. He had to figure this out…His fingers tapped gently across the box where the game had come from. Again he looked over the system requirement. He sighed quietly and slouched in his uncomfortable desk chair. He could not figure out why his computer was unable to take it; it was a new Intel processor that was supposed to be perfect for any and all games…Taylor had even played more graphic specific games and even they had worked without a problem. Why was this one having so much trouble?

Taylor picked up the plugged in visor to the left of him and looked through it. ‘Blank…’ The boy let out a long drawn out sigh as he stared into the darkness of the visor. Normally, when he was on the log-in screen, he could type in his username and password and press log-in. From there his computer would log him onto a server and the game would say ‘Welcome to The World’ in a very serene voice. After that he would put on the Visor and look around to see himself in Mac Anu…Mac Anu had never looked so blank.

“Ah whatever!” Taylor leaned back in his chair and brought his leg up to slam his foot into the monitor.



“Oh so now you work…” Taylor could not help but laugh. “Right after I threaten you.” He fitted the visor across his head entered Mac Anu. The vast city illuminated the college student’s eyes and he couldn’t help but gasp as the reality he was now in. The place was magnificent every time he saw it.

“I wonder if anyone has responded to my pin-up on the boards.”

--------------------------
“Hey man!” As the man read, he was interrupted by a new player, clearly someone who just wanted attention. “Whatcha up to?” He asked, his face was beaming at the time, but that soon change when Esuki turned around, his face appeared uninterested with a mixture of annoyance as the player of Esuki quickly got in character. Taylor, the player, disappeared in his character as Esuki pulled the left side of his hair while his eye twitched. “You okay man?” The man asked, attempting to get closer to the Twin Blade, but Esuki simply backed away when he did so.

“Sorry…Your voice annoys me.” He answered and let out a long, drawn out breath that made the whole situation seem awkward. “Hmmmmmmm, what do you desire?” Now he was asking the questions, cupping the left side of his face with the hand that had been pulling at his hair. Esuki hunched and took another drawn out breathe from the air and then looked up.

“Huh? Oh, uh, nothing man?” He said, quite confused by the way Esuki acted, which made the Twin Blade laugh hysterically. “Just wanted to talk to someone I guess…” The man who had started talking to Esuki was quite aloof now and back, debating whether to run away or fight the guy. He had narrow orange eyes and his luxurious, straight hair was brown and worn in a style that looked like he had been hit by fireworks. The man looked like a Twin Blade as he sported two ammeter blades and had a narrow build. Perhaps that was why he attempted to talk to Esuki, as a fellow Twin Blade…That was a mistake.

“Heh, I might now be the best candidate...” Esuki answered, saying. “Go talk to an NPC or something.”

Just then, he heard a small beep and new flash mail appeared in his view.

Esuki answered the mail, completely forget about the boy who had engaged him.

((continued straight from my profile story))

Katie’s arm dropped to her side as the plastic of the CD’s face lightly tapped against her thigh at every ascending step of the stairs. She eventually reached the entrance to her family’s apartment and took out her second key, reaching into her bag and extracting a rusty key with shiny, used teeth. She jammed it in the unforgiving hole and braced all of her weight against the wooden door as she twisted the lock. The key budged a fraction of an inch, but managed to turn all the way with a click as Katie pummeled her free fist on the top corner of the entrance. Turning the handle let out a series of clicks and creaks as Katie gathered up her newfound gear and walked through the small kitchen and into the small hallway. An unforgiving door littered with signs of limited admittance accompanied a combination-lock rigged to a dead bolt. Katie twisted the contraption to her three favorite numbers and entered her sanctuary.

Posters of hardcore bands and Japanese entertainment consumed her walls to the point where the color of the paint beneath would be a journey to track down. The main color schema of the posters was a jet black that gave her room an aura of darkness. The room was mostly tidy with the exceptions of various electronics and knick-knacks scattered about her floor. She added the helmet and mysterious CD to the fray, dropping them from her hands where she stood. In the corner opposite her bed was a large, black desk littered with more junk and crumpled bills. The screensaver on her desktop flickered and morphed as she sat down in her comfy, almost-leather desk chair.

She thought about stimulating the mouse and checking her email, the news, or her favorite sites, but the familiar feeling of numbness and uncaring clouded her mind like a bad storm on a sunny day. Why bother… she thought to herself as she swiveled over to her nicely-made bed. How did my mom get in here… She was never this clean in her space, but the ultimate feeling of despair acted as gravity to her body as she plopped on the covers and buried her head in the fluffy comfort of her pillows. She lifted her legs onto the bed and wrapper her right arm around a pink bear with fake blood pouring out from its jaws. It was another Japanese artifact that Katie had found in Amos’s Shop: a Gloomy Bear. With her head still buried in her pillows, the girl’s left hand reached between the wall and the mattress and found an old CD player and headphones that were snapped in various places. She slipped the mangled plastic onto the back of her head, over her ears and pressed play on the player. "Life In Your Way" blared into her ears as she silently beamed at fate’s choice of music to fall asleep to. The screaming rocked her to sleep as blank thoughts touched her consciousness, but never broke through.

~

“Tee Hee…are you still asleep?” Alexander, a small boy of five, reached over the edge of Katie’s bed and lightly touched the lid of her eye with his squishy, baby-fat finger as a look of wonder brought his mouth into an “O” when the smeared makeup followed the trail of his finger down her cheek. The eye lid retreated and revealed a beautiful, green eye that smiled despite having her other eye and mouth still buried below a pillow. A smile met Xander’s beaming face as his sister’s eye creased upwards. How did he get in here? She couldn’t be mad at that adorable face.

“How did you get in here?” she asked the little boy who turned around with the blackened finger pointed at an opening where her door had previously been. Her mom must have taken the bolts out from the hinges last night. She probably wanted to talk later too. Katie’s visible face fell as she looked downwards, but looked back up at the sound of plastic touching plastic. Alex had replaced his head with a synthetic mass and was making monster sounds while reaching outwards.

“RAWR-RAR! I’m a monstar!!!” He stumbled from the lack of vision from the visor and caught the edge of Katie’s bed with his chest. She stretched her stiff muscles, sitting up from her bed and removed the helmet from her little brother. He faked sadness and asked what it was for, in his best, pouty voice.

She smiled at his curiosity. “I'm not really sure, Alex. Let's find out!” Her eyes glowed. She got off of the top of her covers and left a print of her body on the sheets that she had never bothered to get under. Folding her dress under herself before sitting down, Katie told Alex to hunt down a CD with the words “the world” on it. He stumbled around, but eventually emerged with the same shiny disk Katie had dropped the previous afternoon.

“Here it is!” he cried triumphantly as he held it over his head and into his sister's hands. She smiled at him and stimulated her mouse to life. The intricate designs turning over and inside-out abruptly stopped to reveal a desktop containing a “Death Note” character. The tray whined as she clicked “eject” on the computer box under her desk. The familiar sound of CDs being shuffled on a surface fluttered around the room as she switched out a blank CD, probably already full of music and forgotten, for the mysterious disk Amos had given her. She waited for the drive to accelerate as her brother grabbed on to the edge of her desk with his eyes looking over the edge expectantly at the screen. He wasn't disappointed when the pixels flushed black followed by a beautiful sprite dancing across the screen acting as a loading bar. After a whimsical dance from the little fairy, the character looked at the audience and winked with an inviting wave. The character skipped into the black background until only a speck could be seen before an intricately designed button materialized.



Katie paused before clicking the button as Alex's eyes when wide. After a minute, the same fairy came back from the black, invisible horizon. She ran up to the audience and grabbed their hand. “Quick! Put the helmet on and come with me!” The fairy smiled gaily and the screen went black. The sound from Katie's speakers did not falter, however, as she realized what the visor was for. Alex seemed to understand too and knelt down to pick up the device before handing it to her. She crawled under the desk and slipped the usb key into the slot behind her pc in the most unreachable place possible. Voices started to talk through her speakers as she emerged and replaced her hair band with the helmet. Vibrant colors of trees flooded her vision as the images poured past her at lightning speed. The fairy was still holding on to her arm, yanking her across countries, mountains, forests, and oceans. Katie was filled with wonder at the sights and knew she had found something special.

~

After having landed on the ground in a loopy-looking town, the fairy NPC asked her many generic noobie questions like what her name was and her appearance. Katie created what she imagined her muse to be: a young girl dressed in Gothic Lolita with various little details Katie added as she went along. After the introduction to the game, Dispirited, her new persona, was dropped into the middle of a square. Katie immediately sat her character down and decided that she was going to start this MMO right. She alt-tabbed out of the game and found an online manual that she thoroughly read, along with the official BBS boards of the game. She entered back into the game and sent a flashmail to a promising player hoping for a quick response so she could get right off.

Katie soon became aware that her shirt was drifting off to one side in spurts of anxious energy. She lifted the helmet for the first time in an hour to see her brother looking very sad next to her, tugging on her sleeve. He stopped as she looked at his face and fixed her shirt. “Alright, alright. You can see too.” She picked him up by the shoulders and sat him on her lap before switching a setting she had read about in the manual. The option for video output through monitor, helmet, or both allowed for little Alex to participate.

Alex jumped on her lap as the helmet's and desktop's speakers PINGED almost violently as the response to her flashmail arrived.

Hmmm. At the field. She vaguely remembered it had something to do with speaking words into the Chaos Gate...where that was she had no idea.

Being a good foot or two shorter than the rest of the crowd, she had no real vantage point at all to see much of anything. A tall wavemaster passed closely by her as she tugged gently on his robes. He looked down with a blank look at the beaming little girl, but his stare was jerked to a smile at her zealous attitude. “Hai!” she piped. “Can you tell me where the Chaos Gate is? I'm really new here and can't see anything.” She gave him another drop-dead cute smile, as he lifted her up onto her shoulders where a wonderful view with strange looking buildings and interesting people filled her sight. The charmed wavemaster extended a gloved finger towards a spinning hoop about fifty feet away.

“I can bring you there if you'd like. It is pretty crowded today. Navigating might be a little though.” He smiled embarrassed at his penetrating statement, but Katie merely responded with a “Giddy-up!” and spanked on his shoulder.

He held onto her legs kicking with excitement as he trudged through the mass. They reached the spinning orb where the wavemaster looked up at her. She let go of his hair she had been twirling on the way and raised her hands in the air triumphantly. “Yay! We're here!” She looked down at his smiling head and kissed him on the forehead a quick, wet peck. He smiled, embarrassed as Katie let out the words to her destination, “Hidden Passed Over Sea of Sand!” She beamed and waved goodbye to the reluctant wavemaster as her body began to form into shafts of light and accelerate upwards, off his shoulders and into the pale, blue sky.

A four year old Light was lying in the center of the glass, his dark eyes wide. His mother was standing above him. Her breath was coming out in ragged panting, a crazed gleam present in both of her eyes. "M... momma... I'm sorry...", the child pleaded, too frightened to even move off of the glass beneath his back. "I don't want to hear it, you little brat! Just stay quiet!", screamed the woman. But then the door leading into the kitchen swung open...

Light's eyes snapped open as he quickly sat up, his breathing uneven. Just a dream... It was all just a dream. A dream of his twisted past. His hand came up to his forehead. Sweat coated his palm. He closed his eyes again, immediately realizing that he probably wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. That always happened whenever he dreamed of his mother. The young teenager turned over in his bed so that he could see what time it was. It was still fairly early in the morning. The sun hadn't even risen yet. Light sighed. "Well... what could I do now...?", he said quietly to himself.

It was then that his eyes fell on the computer across the room. A dark screen stared back at him, indicating that it was turned off. The face-mounted display which accompanied the online game, The World, was sitting on the desk beside the terminal. Oh yes, that was just perfect. He could get online and play in the World for a couple of hours. That was sure to take his mind off of the dream he had had. Light shifted, moving the covers off of himself and getting up from the bed.

The teenager was dressed in a simple white night shirt and a pair of white shorts. His glasses were lying on the table beside his bed. He picked them up and slipped them on over his nose and eyes. "There we go... Much better.", he said as his vision became completely clear. Light then walked over to his computer desk, sitting down in his chair. Before long, the terminal and monitor whirred to life. Bright light shone forth into the dark room from the previously black computer screen. With a few clicks of his mouse, and after putting on his FMD, Light found himself ready to enter The World.

Light opened his eyes. The glorious city, the Aqua Capital, Mac Anu, surrounded him. Today, there were a lot of other characters walking around, chatting it up with each other, visiting the shops, or doing whatever else one could do in such a place. The young Wavemaster smiled as he descended the stairs leading away from the Chaos Gate and into the main parts of the town. Surely there was something that he could do here to pass the time. As he walked along side the waterway, the youth found himself longing to see a tuft of silver hair among the crowd. Was there even a chance that Centrus would be on this early in the morning? Perhaps, or perhaps not. It was worth a try to send a Flash Mail.

After a few minutes of waiting, there was still no reply from the Heavy Blade. Light sighed, hanging his head forward slightly. "I guess he isn't here right now... Ah well. There are other things that I can do.", he paused, something jarring his memory. "Oh, I know! I can go check the BBS boards." With that new goal set in his mind, the Wavemaster walked back to the the Chaos Gate. After logging out, he immediately went to check the BBS boards. Luckily, there was something there that caught his eye.

The new quest sounded perfect for him. Besides, he really needed to get out there and make more friends. This provided him with the perfect opportunity to do so. Perhaps he would even gain more adopted family members. Light decided that he would definately check into it, hoping that there was an open spot for him. He logged back into the world and was about to send a Flash Mail to the character, Esuki, when something strange captured his attention.

There appeared to be a Wavemaster with another smaller Wavemaster riding on top of his shoulders running through the crowded stone walkways. The smaller Wavemaster was a young girl dressed in pretty clothes. Light guessed that she was riding on the other man's shoulders because she was so small. They were both headed towards the platform where the Chaos Gate was and where Light was still standing. Upon reaching their destination, the female Wavemaster squealed her excitement and kissed the taller Wavemaster's forehead in appreciation. Then she called out the keywords of the field that she desired to go to. “Hidden Passed Over Sea of Sand!”

Light watched the fellow Wavemaster disappear within the golden rings. He blinked, his still drowsy mind not completely registering the event that had just taken place. It to a few more moments than it should have but finally something clicked inside his head. "Oh... Hey! That's the field that Esuki wanted for the quest. Maybe that girl is going to join the party too. Should I just follow her and see if that's right? Surely there's no harm in it...", he said to himself, moving closer to the Chaos Gate. "Hidden Passed Over Sea of Sand!" Those same golden rings encircled him and warped him out of the Root Town, taking him into what he hoped would be a new quest.

Alex shifted on her lap as the bright, tan view of a gleaming desert erupted onto the screen. “RWOW!” the toddler mouthed. He pointed at the screen and touched the fiberglass with his fingertip. Katie looked under her visor and reeled in the boy before he could put more fingerprints on her screen. “Hmm!” He crossed her arms and stuck out his lower lip.

Dispirited immediately shielded her dark eyes. The light was intense, to say the least, and Katie's usual dark persona only added to the strain. Geez, I really wish I looked up what this field looked like. This is going to drive me crazy.

The fumbling of keys followed by banging echoed around the little apartment. Alex leaped from her lap, causing Katie to recoil in surprise and discomfort. Leaving the room with a playful look, he turned into his mother's legs and held on to her left calf with both arms and legs. The groceries in her arms crinkled at the sudden jar. Glancing over her load and down at her eager son, a smile came to her lips. The welcome home had been worth all those hours at the restaurant. Her hips bent as she placed the food on the kitchen table, ready to unpack. Alex was eager as ever to help, but not before some major persuading to let go took place. The rolling pin did the trick.

Katie got up from her chair and kicked the door shut with the tip of her boot. No more distractions.. The monitor powered down as her black fingernail left the button. She replaced the headset and immediately recoiled from the light.

Why do I hate the sun so much? What's wrong with me? Her rhetorical questions held no weight as the little, maid-like girl ran daintily over to the nearest pillar ruin with her arms spread to the sides. The defined shadow masked her character from view. Only her pale, white skin on her face and hands could be seen. The setting sun created long and sharp shadows that extended nearly twenty feet from where she stood. The pointy, dome-shaped pillar stuck in the sand as if thrown there from a great distance. Shallow groves flowed from the broken end of the top to the sand-covered bottom resembling something from a Roman courthouse. Katie ran her soft fingers along this groove to the ground where she picked up the fine-grained sand and watched it flow between her thin fingers.

Katie sighed as the last grain passed through her hand. Just like my life...Meaningless. Her fingers began to trace nonsensical patterns into the canvas. It's only natural that I'd end up liking a game like this. More wasted time...just like me. A mistake. The circles and patterns began to form into a head. Katie humored herself by adding hair and ears to the abstract face. An arc was placed between the nose and chin. Katie frowned back into the depressing expression. She looked away.

Her dress covered her feet and made a dome around her squatting legs. From a distance, she might look like a little girl peering into an ant colony in wonder. Instead, sadness masked her perfect features and a small rose replaced the magnifying glass. The embroidered edges of her dress pushed softly against the loose sand as she clutched her stomach with her elbows. Her pale hands tugged on the fabric covering her back as she turned her torso slowly, lamenting her existence.

Katie slowly recovered as the touchdown of a player echoed off the hard, stone pillar and into her ears. She rose to her feet with her arms still wrapped around her body. Okay...*sigh*...whoever this is...I'm not sure I care, but...I really want to get out of here. Maybe I'll ask them if they want to leave and go somewhere else, though I don't blame them if they don't want to go with -me-.

The long blue cloak of a wavemaster displaced the sand as the brown-haired character landed. He stood up, but immediately caught himself as his oddly-shaped shoes – clearly not made for this type of terrain – sunk an inch into the ground, causing a less agile person to lose their balance.

Katie looked down at the ground and slowly stepped into the light. Her hands fell down to her belly and folded themselves; her elbows straightening. The petite and light voice barely reached the wavemaster a few feet away. “Um...Sir?” Her downcast eyes glanced up at him, but rested back to the sand. She bit her bottom lip lightly. “I'm not sure who you are but...” The more words she said, the more she began to doubt herself. “I don't really like this place, but don't want to leave, alone.” Her eyes flickered back to his, but withdrew quickly. “Umm...” Her baby teeth found her lip again. “Is it okay if we leave together and I follow you to another place?” Her fingers fumbled with each other while she became uncomfortable and felt foolish for asking.

The young Wavemaster was soon deposited within his intended field. Light's player winced behind his FMD as the blazing glare of a desert sun nearly blinded him. On the computer monitor's screen, his misfortunate character was trying to regain a sense of balance. Light had not come prepared for the sandy terrain and the two inch heels of his white boots easily sunk into the grains, stealing away his ability to maintain an upright position. Eventually, after staggering once, twice, thrice, he ended up landing on his rear in the sand, causing a small fountain to erupt around him.

"Damn it... This is so not going to work. I can't go on an adventure if I'm falling on my butt every five seconds.", the boy grumbled to himself, sitting up and shaking some of the grains off of his face, hair, and arms.

He soon found that by using his Water Wand as a crutch, he could stand up without falling down. Though, he still didn't quite have the hang of walking without staggering. With his staff clutched firmly in one hand, supporting him, he used his free hand to dust the rest of sand off of his cloak, clothes, and body. Light then took the time to observe his immediate surroundings. Aside from the desert terrain, he also saw some old, broken ruins and a few humongous sea shells that could have passed for shelters of some sort. It was such a drastic change from the first field he had ever visited. But it wasn't really so bad overall.

While he was still trying to take a step without shaking, several grains of sand flew into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. The Wavemaster cried out, letting go of his weapon so that he could rub at his stinging eyes with both hands. Naturally, this led to him winding up on his bottom in the sand once again. His staff fell into the grains beside him. As he tried to cease the irritation and clear his vision, he began to wonder just what had kicked up the sand in the first place. It could have been a gust of wind, or an approaching monster, or even another character.

Light was soon able to see again, though his vision was slightly blurry and there were just the smallest traces of tears within his brown eyes. He looked at the immediate area where he was, in the direction that the sand had come from, trying to locate exactly what it was that had kicked it up. There, almost completely concealed within the shadows of a large ruin, was the female Wavemaster that he had seen, and consequently followed, in the Root Town. She was crouched down, looking towards the ground with her head down. Her hands were cupped together, as though she had been holding something just a moment before. It was now obvious that she had stirred up the sand.

Well, now he just couldn't be mad. After all, it had just been the innocent act of another person. Surely they hadn't meant to let the sand fly into his face. In fact, Light was sure that she didn't even know he was there yet. But he could already tell that something was wrong. This wasn't the same exuberant girl he had seen in Mac Anu. The girl who had been happily riding upon another characters shoulders while he raced toward the Chaos Gate. No, her posture almost suggested that she was upset. The boy grasped his staff and managed to stand up, dusting the sand from his body once more.

The other Wavemaster then became aware of his presence and she stood up, slowly walking over to him with her head down and her eyes downcast. Light waited, trying to look as though he wasn't practically clinging to his Water Wand for support. The girl approached him and indeed, she appeared sad and depressed. She soon explained why. Apparently, this kind of field didn't suit either of them. Since there had been no sign of their would-be leader, Esuke, the Wavemaster assumed that it would be all right for them to leave and find another field.

"Sure thing. I've got one that we could go to, though it's a level two. Is that okay with you, Miss?", Light asked, trying his best to give a soft grin. The young lady nodded her head, and the two of them both gated out of the field simultaneously.

"Sure thing. I've got one that we could go to, though it's a level two. Is that okay with you, Miss?" Katie beamed, nearly shutting her eyes, as a trickle of relief dropped into her. The wavemaster seemed happy to please a complete stranger, so he must be a nice guy! They turned together to the chaos portal. Katie looked up at him with the same happy face and reached her fingers around his hand, meeting his eyes. Red flesh lit up on his cheeks as he looked away. Katie couldn't help wondering if his hands felt clammy. The kitty emoticon “:3” popped up on her face.

When they reentered Mac Anu, they weren't holding hands. I guess the game doesn't save the previous animation... Light wasn't far though. She looked up at him again with a quizzical look on her face. Hmm, I don't think we've properly met! “Sorry! Heheh. I don't think I introduced myself!” An embarrassed smile flickered across her face. “I'm Katie! You probably see 'Dispirited,' but my friends call me by my first name. It's actually my first time playing heheh. Like, I logged on five or ten minutes ago. I hope that's okay? I think I know the controls and everything. Anyway, nice ta meetcha!” She smiled a toothy smile and held out her hand. The wavemaster leaned forward and reached for hers, but Katie took advantage of his posture. She pulled her hand away and got up on her tip-toes to kiss him lightly on the cheek. Her arms locked behind her, pointing to the ground, as her wrists bent. She rocked back on the Mary Jane heels and looked like a kid that had just dipped her finger in a cake. She wondered how he would react to THAT. Hopefully she would get his name too. She chuckled lightly to herself at her antics. I didn't know not being alone made such a difference... Katie sighed to herself under the hood of the headset at her self-introspection.

Dispirited landed gracefully to her feet on soft, thick grass a few shades lighter than Katie was used to. Well, as far as grass in an asphalt paradise goes. The field was still a little too bright for her character, but it matched her current mood divinely. Maybe it was just because Light was a larger, male figure, but Dispirited felt happier around him. More secure. She knelt down and placed her chin on her knees. Her fingers sifted through the soft grass and caught one, pulling it up. The blade broke before the roots released their hold from the ground. She dropped the plant and stood up.

“Yes, this is much better! What's that?” She bounded off towards a sparse set of trees, looking back to see if he was following. Simulated birds flew from tree to tree and sung happily. A little brook cut through the small forest with a fish hopping up every few seconds. The shiny flank of the sea creatures shimmered in the bright sun.

“Oh, Look!” Behind a vibrant brown tree, pink and green stuck out from the edges of the trunk and moved rhythmically up and down. Katie shimmied to the left to see the more colorful half. A spiked bright pink head pulsed against the ground, feeding off something under the soil. It released its head from the earth and looked to the side at Katie. Sharp teeth shaped like daggers displaced blood red lips. The spikes Katie had spotted before resembled the mane of a lion. Clicking and hissing started to erupt from it's mouth as the green she had seen on the other side of the tree disappeared. Hairy, green legs that moved like an arachnid skittered around the far side of the tree and followed the bobbing head towards the little girl.

“Eww! What is that?!” As she pointed her finger to the freak of the previously tranquil atmosphere, the rose in her hand flashed into a three-foot long, white wand. The tip curved in a C-shape encircling a blue orb with a smooth, marble surface. The top of the “C” had a protruding spike only a few inches in length. All of the curves and breaks in linearity were jagged and unfriendly. The texture of the rod took on the quality of an equally thick stick with gray shadows littering the whiteness.

The disgusting creature was rapidly closing the gap between them as Katie eyed the new weapon in her hand. It matched her skin tone in every way but the shadows. It felt natural in her fingers. Katie's eyes focused past the wand and into the clamping teeth of the carnivorous plant. Gritting her own teeth and closing her eyes, she shouted the first spell that came to mind as her head turned away from the creepy monster. “Rue Rom!” A tornado of water sprouted in front of her and accelerated forward. The Mad Grass was caught in the storm and flung backwards a few feet.

The legs, still upright, shuffled around in a circle as the head lay on the ground, weighing the creature down. The plant dragged its pink appendage the few feet it had lost in the attack before it resurfaced and clicked madly like a baseball card in bicycle spokes.

Katie braced herself, hiding her eyes in her elbows, and touching her knees together. A mumbled cry escaped her covered lips. “Help me!” It hurled itself, swinging its head and using the centripetal force to jettison off the ground. Its legs fumbled madly while in the air. She screamed as the thing latched onto the flesh of her tricep. It pulled and struggled like a raccoon caught in a cage – dark red blood beginning to swim away from its mouth. Katie fell backwards as the hairy, ever-moving legs danced across her chest, pulling on her dress and shirt underneath, trying to get a foothold.

The ten-year-old squealed as the plant began to snap rapidly at her like a snake striking over and over again. “Help! Ahhahahaaaa~!!!” She started to whine helplessly as bite marks multiplied – the blood tarnishing her previously marble white skin. Her legs and arms continued to kick wildly as the hostile vegetation opened glands on the right and left side of its “cheek” just preceding the mane of spikes. Green haze erupted from these discovered pits and filled Katie's nostrils and throat. Her arms and legs slowed to a stop as her eyes closed and her head nodded off to the side. The Mad Grass let out something resembling a throaty cackle as its head bobbed up and down slightly.

Light waited silently, patiently, for the other Wavemaster's response. She appeared to be very relieved at hearing his proposal. A bright smile finally replaced her previously sad and uncertain expression. Just as the two of them were about to Gate Out of the field, the young lady wrapped her fingers around his hand, holding onto it gently. Her eyes turned up to meet his and he turned his head away in the opposite direction, a light shade of red coloring his cheeks. Not even in real life had Light ever held a girl's hand before. But he didn't have the time to be embarrassed for long.

The Gate Out command triggered the warping of their characters out of the area and returned them to Mac Anu. Fortunately, when they materialized back at the Chaos Gate, the female Wavemaster was no longer holding onto Light's hand. His blush finally faded away and he sighed softly, his brown eyes falling closed for a moment. It was at this point that his new companion chose to introduce herself.

“Sorry! Heheh. I don't think I introduced myself!” An embarrassed smile flickered across her face. “I'm Katie! You probably see 'Dispirited,' but my friends call me by my first name. It's actually my first time playing, heheh. Like, I logged on five or ten minutes ago. I hope that's okay? I think I know the controls and everything. Anyway, nice ta meetcha!” She smiled a toothy smile and held out her hand. Light allowed a small smile to conform his lips as he reached out to shake hands with his new friend.

But then Katie once again did something that he was totally not expecting. She pulled her hand away and instead leaned up, placing a small kiss on his cheek. This latest action almost left him unable to react. He felt the blush return to his cheeks with fervor. His hand fell back to rest at his side as he managed to give her some kind of reply. "Eh... It's nice to meet you too, Katie. My name is Light Lavastine, but don't bother with the last name. No one ever does. Anyhow, shall we get going? The field I have in mind is Hidden Forbidden Aqua Field. It a level two wood element area. Should be much more tolerable than that desert we just came from.", Light said, moving to stand in front of the Chaos Gate.

Once more, the two Wavemasters were transported away into another field within The World. Light opened his dark eyes to behold a large open grassy plain filled with lots of small hills, trees, rocks, and ruins which were the remains of wells, wind mills, and buildings with banners still hanging from their walls. It was about mid-day or perhaps early afternoon. The sky was clear and blue, without a cloud in sight. Oh yes, this was definitely much better than being in a desert. Especially since the heels of his boots weren't sinking into the ground with every step. His fellow party member seemed to share the same thoughts as she yelled her excitement.

Light watched Katie run off with a small smile. It brought back a few memories of his own first quest with his big brother. His attention was then captured as the other Wavemaster called out for him to come and have a look at something she'd discovered. He reached behind himself and drew his Water Wand off of his back before starting to walk over to the tree where his friend was.

Before he reached her, however, her excitement turned into surprise and horror. The young lady had happened upon a roaming Mad Grass, which also sort of surprised Light. This was his first time seeing a freely roaming monster that wasn't confined to a Monster Portal. Nonetheless, he stopped walking and waited to observe what Dispirited would do while facing her very first monster.

Unfortunately, the young lady was quite shaken and Light began to think that she wouldn't be able to react in time to avoid taking damage. He was about to step up and help her out when she suddenly unleashed a spell. A strong whirlpool of water errupted in front of her and sent the attacking Mad Grass flying. The monster was a little worse for the wear but recovered and was now apparently enraged at the girl who had inflicted the damage on him. "Dispirited! Try hitting it with Gan Don now!", Light called to her. "It's a wood element so try using earth!"

But his advice seemed to fall upon closed ears. Katie tried to shield herself with her arms in the hopes that the Mad Grass would simply disappear. She called out for help. He realized that there was still just too much of a distance still between them and that he'd never reach her in time to save her from taking damage. It all seemed to happen so fast, even as his feet carried him towards his friend and the creature attacking her. The mobile plant plunged its fangs into her arm and sent her falling backwards to the ground. The monster was absolutely relentless in its attempt to kill the girl, striking at her multiple times and finally unleashing a poisonous gas as a finishing tactic.

The Wavemaster was then standing beside his fallen team mate, Water Wand poised to strike at the offending flower. He swung his staff as hard as he could manage and literally pitched it off of Dispirited. It was a move that he'd used in his very first quest, and it had worked yet again. Before the monster could recover itself again, Light quickly thought to heal his companion. "Repth!"

A gentle green light surrounded Katie's battered body and began to heal the wounds and damage that had been inflicted. But there was nothing that he could do to cure the poison which would slowly steal her life away for a temporary period of time. However, he couldn't stop to worry about that at the moment. There was still an irritating Mad Grass hissing about.

Light moved away from Dispirited so that he could face it. It was finally time for an offensive spell of his own. He held his wand above his head before crying out the command. "Gan Zot!" The ground shook beneath his feet as a massive boulder seemed to fall from the Heavens above and crash down upon the creature, depleting the remainder of its life. Well, that was one worry off of his mind. Now if Katie could just hold out long enough for the poison to wear off on its own then they'd be in good shape.

Katie's vision in the visor faded from relentless horror to darkness. She couldn't believe what she was seeing: the inside of Dispirited's eyelids. She had fallen asleep! What?? Katie slipped the blank visor off and alt-tabbed out of the game. She didn't know how long this would last, but she sure wasn't going to wait for her character to die through closed eyes.

She fired up a browser and found a wiki page on the game through a search engine. She bookmarked the promising site and then entered “Mad Grass” into the site's search feature. At least she had a name for her attacker. Level one?? Why didn't it die when I cast the spell on it? Katie sighed as she kept reading. Apparently, she had picked the exact wrong spell to use. Another thing worth noting: the creature had the ability to make its opponents fall asleep – not too bad for one of the weakest monsters in the game. Katie became sad at her weakness and dreaded her class choice. Nothing else would have fit her muse. Maybe she was just a weak person. She got up from her chair and unlatched the door, not caring when or how the character eight years younger than herself would fare.

“Katie!” her mother cackled from the kitchen. The teen looked at the ceiling and hung her jaw. What now... She dragged her hands along both walls to the kitchen and put on the best “what do you want” face on she could muster. “I need you to pick up eggs.”

“Get them yourself.” Katie considered her mom lucky that she had even left her room.

Her mother looked back at her incredulously. “What did you just say to me?” Her expression was clearly giving the girl another chance, but the green-eyed beauty kept her lids half-massed. “You're not going to get far in life if you treat others like that – and I do NOT deserve that kind of treatment!” She stomped her foot in emphasis. “Just for that, you're babysitting Alex every night this week.” Her finger silenced Kat before she could open her mouth. “Every! Night!”

Katie turned around and made for the hallway going back to her room. “Where do you think you're going? Do you want two weeks? It doesn't hurt my feelings to tell Judith she doesn't have to watch him!” The girl changed her direction and grabbed keys off the counter before wrenching the door open and walking through it.

It did not bother her to watch Alex, just the thought of not being able to go out if she was asked irked her. What if a boy called? Nah, I've got nothing to worry about... Her face dropped as she descended the stairs. She was one of those rare beauties that actually scared the other sex away, intimidated. Unfortunately for her, she took their lack of attention as a lack of interest. They always seemed to glance away when she saw them. She wondered if they thought she was a freak and didn't want to get caught staring at the freakshow.

The convenience store was only a block away. The door rung as she entered and the clerk looked over at her while handing money to a customer. She caught his eye, but he had all ready repaid his attention to the customer, thanking him as he left. Such a freak.

She found the eggs. Grade A? Her hands squeaked across the styrofoam until she reached the brown, grade 'B' ones. She opened it and made sure at least three eggs were cracked before clipping the fragile lid back on and making her way back to the shifty-eyed clerk. He found it hard to look her in the eye. “Umm.” His head shook, releasing himself from a brief trance. “Will that be all?”

“Yes.” He must think I'm so poor getting these ugly eggs. He couldn't even start his sentence. But of course, that was not the reason.

Her mother greeted her return happily like nothing had happened. “Back already?” The mopey girl dropped the eggs harshly on the counter. A pained sigh left the matriarch's nose.

Dispirited lay with her right arm stretched above her, bent slightly at the elbow. The fingers of her left hand rested on her tummy as the rookie lay peacefully sleeping. Air entered and left her lungs in a smooth rhythm – her hand simulating waves as it moved with her stomach.

Katie stimulated the mouse while dropping her weight on her chair. The helmet on the ground lit up. Dispirited licked her lips before yawning and stretching her arms straight above her. Her arms remained straight as they were brought down to her hips, massaging the soft grass on the way with open fingers. Katie replaced the helmet on her head to view a familiar-looking bright blue sky.

There's no way that guy hung around...I guess I'm alone again. As the game's expression-reading feature calculated Katie's face, Dispirited's happy awakening morphed into a solemn frown. She decided it wasn't worth getting up, and lay there staring at the sky. I was starting to like that quiet guy too...

Light walked over to where his party member was laying in the grass. Strangely enough, her life hadn't been draining away. It was still what it was when he had healed her. This indicated that he'd made a mistake and had assumed that she was poisoned by the now deceased monster when instead the Mad Grass had only put her to sleep. Now he felt incredibly stupid for having not known that that particular monster could do that to characters. But at least Dispirited wasn't in any immediate danger of dying. He moved to sit down on a semi-large rock that was nearby and was intent on waiting for his friend to awaken.

As the Wavemaster sat there, resting his chin in the palms of his hands, his thoughts began to stir about. "I'm so stupid. I never should have brought her here to this field... A level one in a level two area? What the hell was I thinking? Was I trying to become some sort of mentor to her...? Was I trying to be just like Big Brother Cent? Such an idiot... I'm only a level two myself, hardly above a newbie.", he paused his mind and turned his somber gaze down to his companion. "This girl, Katie, she trusted me to help her... I couldn't even do that. If and when she wakes up, I'll apologize and ask her if she wants to leave. At least if we go back to the Town, I'll be able to snag a few Restoratives and Antidotes in case this ever happens again."

The minutes seemed to pass by slowly, as if each one was stretching itself to be a lot longer than just sixty seconds at a time. Light remained sitting on the rock, resting his chin in his hands, and waiting for the young lady to wake up. His thoughts soon turned to him wondering just what Dispirited's player was doing in the real world while her character was unconscious. Wondered if she too was sitting in the same position as he was and waiting for the monster's sleeping powder to wear off. Or if perhaps she had simply taken off her FMD and gone to do something else to pass the time more quickly. Either way, Light would never know unless he asked her and he had no intention to because he didn't want to sound nosey. The next thing he knew, he realized that it had been about half an hour and his friend still had not woken up.

"Uh oh... Maybe the sleep can only be ended by an item? Well, damn it... I don't have any of the right item required to do so. I suppose I'll just have to wait a little longer then...", Light said, leaning forward a little bit so that he could examine Katie's character more closely. "I don't think that's what a character that has died and become a ghost looks like... So she must still be sleeping. Or at least I hope that's it." Just then, the young lady yawned and stretched her arms up into the air above her body. Her dark eyes opened and stared straight up at the sky above them. A frown claimed her pale lips as she remained laying in the grass. But at least she was awake and appeared to be responsive. He stood up and walked over towards her slowly. "Katie, I'm so sorry about that attack earlier... Are you all right now? Would you like to go back to Mac Anu?", the Wavemaster asked with his gaze downcast to the ground at his feet, his dark hair shielding his eyes from view.

He wouldn't have blamed her in the slightest if she had hated him after what had happened to her while she was with him. In fact, he was already hating himself right now. There was just no way that he could ever hope to become anything like his older sibling, whom he currently idolized more than anyone else in the World. However, if Katie, by some miracle from the Gods, decided that she wanted to keep going on this quest, then he would not abandon her. They would go as far as they possibly could together and only then would Light be satisfied with himself. "Or, if you'd be willing to give me another chance, then we could look around the field for a little while longer and discover what other secrets are hidden here...?", Light offered in a soft, almost hopeful voice.

"Katie, I'm so sorry about that attack earlier... Are you all right now? Would you like to go back to Mac Anu?" Katie's head turned to the sound. He hadn't left her! Her lips parted as she pushed off of the ground with her elbows and feet. "Or, if you'd be willing to give me another chance, then we could look around the field for a little while longer and discover what other secrets are hidden here...?" She answered his question with a tight hug around his neck. Her black shoes hung roughly a foot off the ground. She slide down his chest and landed daintily on the soft earth.

“Of course, silly!” She lifted her wand hand. Her mouth formed into a small “o” shape as the familiar rose danced in front of her face while she played with it between her fingers. I guess it changes when there are monsters around. Cool! When Katie had added that element to her character, she didn't know how it would work with a weapon, but it seemed to function perfectly! The wand is cool too. It goes right with my color scheme. The rose retreated back to her side as her free left hand fixed her shoulder straps that had gone amiss in the fight and hug afterward. “But we have to stay close to each other. Level 1 isn't as strong as I thought.” She felt like torturing him again with a grab of the hand, but Katie decided that the poor guy had enough of Dispirited's cute, clingy side for now.

They walked together for a bit, entering into the sparse forest the Mad Grass had come from. The babbling brook was teeming with life as usual. Katie knelt down beside it, sitting on her calves under the dress. She ran her hand through the water as the fish swam around and over. She giggled as one splashed her in the face with its tail. The girl looked back to the left at her companion and whipped her hand along the surface of the water, splashing his legs. She giggled again and jumped over the small brook and leaned against a tree with her hands and back. An expression of playfulness echoed across her features as she leaned forward slightly – ready to pounce away if he pursued.

Light's body began to brighten as his expression changed. Behind the playful girl, a chasm of blindingly yellow, spinning circles imploded on themselves. Katie's hand was forced half an inch apart as the rose transformed again. The pointed “C” poked the corner of the girl's vision. She looked down at her hand and then up again at her worried friend. Uh oh. Familiar clicking leaked into Dispirted's ear. "It's a wood element so try using earth!" The previous words of wisdom echoed through her head as the creature turned its own to look her in the eye. Not this time, buddy. Her hands and left foot pushed from the tree and over the brook next to her companion. The Mad Grass snapped at her during her retreat, but was less fortunate to have time to react. She entended her arm with a determined look on her face. “Gan Zot!” Sharp spires erupted from the previously tranquil ground, piercing the animal multiple times through its core and ugly pink head. The spires retreated back into the ravaged ground, meeting the creature a second time and redoubling the holes and wounds. The Mad Grass failed to cackle this time.

Katie's happy bouncing at her friend stopped abruptly. Glazing back at the fallen creature, a metallic weapon nearly as long as her character turned slightly in the side of the tree trunk. It edged back and forth until disappearing completely to its owner a few feet away. A silvery blue cage covered the sentient being and owner of that relatively gigantic weapon. Katie shuddered as the sword dragged just off the ground behind it as the man (or creature) clinked over, each digit of it's armor sliding together like finger nails on a chalkboard. It made no noise, but judging from the swipe it had taken while she was pushing from the tree, it was not the friendliest of players.

The swordmanoid stepped into range of the wavemaster and mistress across the brook before bringing its blade above its head and heaving a mighty blow across the water. Katie jumped backwards, landing in a sitting position with her equipped hand stretched out for protection. Water splashed onto the two of them as the sword landed, missing its target. Katie had no idea what to do with this element. She didn't even know if it was a player. Whatever it was, it was pursuing a wavemistress with no SP and very little in the way of experience. “Light! Help me!” She knew he would, but her knees bounced together regardless.

Light gave a relieved sigh as the young lady looked up at him, seemingly coherent. Then she was up and off of the ground before he had even had a chance to finish speaking to her. Her thin arms wrapped themselves around his neck in a sort of embrace. Naturally, since he was just a tad bit taller than Katie was, this feat left her hanging above the ground. He found himself carefully slipping his own arms around her small waist and holding her weight up so that neither of them fell down. Their current position caused another blush to spread across his cheek. Before it turned too red for even a tomato, the girl released him and landed gracefully back on the grassy terrain. 'Thank the Gods... I was afraid that I was going to melt if she had hung onto me any longer...', Light thought to himself, trying to hide the blush.

It was then that his partner announced that she was going to stay and give him another chance, or at least that's what he assumed she meant. He felt a small smile break onto his lips as a small chuckle passed through them. But Katie was too enthralled with her transforming rose wand to have noticed it. After fixing her outfit, the younger Wavemaster exclaimed that it was vital for them to stay together, since she simply wasn't as strong as she'd thought herself to be. Light sighed gently and fixed her with a sort of stern gaze. "Yeah... I've been trying to tell you that. But you keep running away from me before I have the chance. I can certainly understand that you want to take in all the wonders that this World has to offer, but how 'bout waiting for you partner every so often, neh?" He nodded softly.

The two Wavemasters then began to walk back to where they had first come from. Katie moved away from his side but she didn't go far, merely went to sit beside the running river. He watched her; she seemed to be captivated by the water and the life it held within it. Yes, the water was also one of his favorite elements as well. Even his weapon was mainly based on water. So he didn't mind it at all when Dispirited splashed the cool liquid onto his legs. It actually felt kind of good and it wasn't like the dampness was going to damage his boots. But his partner seemed to think that she was going to be reprimanded for the action. Light merely smiled across the stream at her. "The water feels good."

Suddenly, a noise originated from somewhere behind the young lady. T'was the sound of a monster portal breaking open and releasing its prisoners into the field. For a moment, he seriously had the thought that perhaps Dispirited was accident prone or really unlucky. Either way, it was soon readily apparent that she wasn't going to be such an easy victim this time around. Her wand materialized in her hand and she quickly moved to be by Light's side as she faced the newly unveiled Mad Grass with a sense of determination painted across her expression. Light was pleased to see that she remembered what he'd been trying to tell her last time. Katie unleashed Gan Zot on the unfortunate monster and it successfully ended its life.

But their shared joy was soon interrupted. Another monster, one that Light had never laid eyes on before, appeared before them. It had been given the name of Swordmanoid. Made sense, seeing as how it was wielding a rather large sword the left the two Wavemasters a little more than intimidated. The humanoid creature raised its blade and brought it crashing down into the water. Hundreds of small droplets found their resting places all over Light and Dispirited. Light looked over to where Katie had fallen to the ground beside him. Her SP had been almost completely drained from her previous attack on the Mad Grass. She couldn't contribute in this fight until after it had refilled. Meaning that he would have to take care of it on his own. Not that he minded doing that at all. One scream from his partner confirmed what he already knew.

The Swordmanoid began to trudge its way across the small river, having difficulty due to its armor clad body and the extra weight from the large weapon it held. But this gave Light a few precious moments to gather up his courage and attack the thing before it got out of the water. He raised his Water Wand up above his head. "Gan Don!" Whoosh! Slam! Bang! Crush! There were various noises made from the large boulder impacting on the living suit of armor, possibly crushing whatever lay inside of it and denting up the metal beyond repair. More water sprayed on to the two characters as the monster dropped its sword into the river. 'Perfect.', he thought, choosing his next spell carefully. "Juk Rom!" A miniature tornado, composed of leaves and thick branches, suddenly converged on the Swordmanoid, tearing into it with force. Light watched the monster fall into the river and disappear without resurfacing.

He slowly glanced around, checking to see if there were any more monsters for them to deal with. There were none. The battle was over for the moment. With a smile, the Wavemaster looked down to his partner and offered her a hand up. That was three monsters down and a whole dungeon load to go. But he was confident that the two of them could pull it off somehow. "Now that that's been taken care of, there's something that I would like to check out. It's called a Spring of Myst, and I believe there's one in this field. It should be somewhere nearby. Would you please accompany me to see it, Dispirited?", Light asked softly, waiting for the young lady to accept his outstretched hand.

Katie clenched her teeth as a surprised look brought her eyebrows up. She watched her friend overtake the knight like a true gentleman: fast and dirty. The blue material of the wavemaster's robe stretched as the character reached his arm out to his damsel in distress, bending over slightly to appear less intimidating. His voice was warm and inviting. “Now that that's been taken care of, there's something that I would like to check out. It's called a Spring of Myst, and I believe there's one in this field. It should be somewhere nearby. Would you please accompany me to see it, Dispirited?”

The girl frowned as she slipped her hand into his. She swiped her hand away when her weight was centered and pouted. “I told you to call me Katie!” The statement wasn't loud, but the last word sounded like she had stomped her foot in unison. Her ghostly hands swept across her dress. The natural dark red was stained with shallow shades of green and pale brown dust from the ground. The edges were wet from the splashing. They hung even heavier than usual as she twisted her hips. “Hmph.” She decided to answer his question after a few flicks at her tarnished frock. “Yeah, yeah...I guess so...” She might have been more excited if she knew what a 'Spring of Mist' was.

She decided to walk slowly next to the older wavemaster with her hands held together in front, and a sad frown on her face looking at the ground. She watched her black shoes with caked mud trade places being in front. He didn't call me Katie :(. Maybe he doesn't like me...why would he? I'm just acting like a clingy brat. Dispirited sighed in unison with her owner. My cloths are ruined...I hope they don't stay like this.

Katie figured Light was keeping an eye out for monsters because she sure wasn't. Her dark red eyes wandered over to where Light had been walking just a moment ago and found nothing. She looked up and ahead to see ten to twenty feet between them. He seemed to notice as well and turned to her, stopping to wait. Something about his expression forced a smile onto her face. She looked just under her brow and tilted her head down and to the left slightly – reluctant to show the smile on her face. Her legs decided they didn't care and bounded off towards him with the big smile let off its leash and pointed at her friend.

Her muddy shoes clopped on the ground with a staccato click as she skipped alongside her partner. Her hand swung and caught his, flailing it with hers. He didn't join in with the skipping, but that didn't surprise her. His speed fluctuated slightly with hers, but they moved together nonetheless. The girl, now looking up, spotted a circle of bushes with a small crevice revealing a shining, blue pond roughly the size of two characters laying down, in diameter.

The muddy attire of the still-cranky wavemistress halted with her. She held out her free hand in front of Light, turning her body to block the entrance. “You, Stay here.” She pointed at the ground with a determined frown and turned into the crevice to enter the area set aside for the myst. If I had decided to play a character my age – or a little older, I might have asked him to accompany me :3. But I'm more mature than that...heh.

She sat down on the soft grass and laid the rose next to her bent knees. Her arms stretched out in front of her to unbuckle her muddy, shiny shoes and slip the remains off her purple stockings. Her feet suspended in air until Katie decided they were going to hit the damp grass no matter what, and let them lightly land against the ground. Before lifting her dress over her head, she popped her peering expression over the bushes. “Noooo Peekinggg~~!” She wagged a finger at her friend. The wavemaster turned away immediately, realizing what she was doing, and held his hands behind his back, scanning the horizon.

Satisfied with his stance, she got off her tip-toes and disappeared back under the line of bushes. Her fingers fumbled against the buttons on top of the dress before she reached down and lifted the bottom over her head. Fabric displaying the outline of arms yanking the owner free danced around over the line of bushes. She eventually freed herself, and held out the dress before dropping it to the ground. Her loose, gray shirt hung to mid-thigh with her stockings continuing down her legs and around her feet. The dress folded neatly together, with some coaxing from her small hands. She knelt on the edge of the petite pond as the dress broke the surface of the water and changed to jet-black in the liquid. Katie felt the weight of the dress underneath the water through rocking it back and forth and feeling the inertia. Clean clean clean. Her face smiled, content.

Dispy struggled with the new weight of the dress as she lifted it from the water, liquid pouring off and through it. A symphony of small splashes trickled from the pond as the thick drops reached the surface once again. The girl walked over to the vibrant bushes and held out the dress in front of her before laying it on top to dry.

Her muddy Mary Jane's were next, plopping across the water. The ten-year-old touched the shoes to the surface, but never submerged them in fear that the insides would be flooded. Soggy shoes, yekk. Eventually, all of the mud fell off into the pond like food coloring in a glass full of tap, spreading out in spiraling chasms of brown and black. She took the shoes from the water and shook them a few times, up and down – holding the shoes away from her face as the droplets flew.

The perky mage hopped like a bunny, with her hands inside her shoes together, sole to sole, over to her still-damp dress. Her left hand reached under her right armpit. The shoe became pinned and her hand relieved. She reached out and felt the material of the garment between her fingers and frowned. It was going to take longer to dry than she had thought. Her gaze fell to her long, loose shirt and stockings below. She seemed decent enough.

Her toes curled against the ground as she propped herself up to call out to her friend. “Okay! You can come in now!”~ From his point of view, he could only see above her nose and waving hand. Exactly how ready she was, was out of his reach. She didn't expect him to have a surprised reaction, but a wiser person would.

“So what do we do here?” She sat, with her legs crossed, next to her dress along the edge of the small reservoir with a playful, cat-smile on her face.

“I told you to call me Katie!” This sudden statement caught Light by surprise as the young girl took her hand from his. He had not forgotten her request but was there any real reason for her angered outburst? After all, it was her Character's name. "I'm sorry, Katie, but Dispirited is what you decided to call yourself within this World. Please, don't be mad at me for using it from time to time.", Light said gently. Though he wondered if his words had even reached her ears as she began to thoroughly examine her clothes. It was apparent that she wasn't pleased with their current state. In the end, she agreed to accompany him. Perhaps this time they wouldn't be seperated.

Light had a slightly confused expression on his face, as well as a look that said he was upset. But he didn't bother to press the matter any further. Instead, he reached into the folds of his cloak and drew out an item. It was a small orb with what seemed to be a million tiny fairies fluttering around within its depths. "This should make finding the Spring of Mist much easier.", he said, raising the orb above his head before tossing it down to break on the ground at their feet. "Fairy's Orb!" Once the sphere was effectively shattered, each of the little fairies burst forth and began to explore their surroundings. Soon, the entire field map was revealed, including the locations of the monster portals, the dungeon itself, and the Spring of Mist, which showed up as a large blue water droplet.

"Come on, Katie. It isn't that far away from us. We'll make it there in no time.", the taller Wavemaster cheered. He started to walk in the appropriate direction of the Spring and made sure that his companion was walking alongside him. T'would be extremely bad if she got left behind on her own. What with roaming monsters and the like. As he glanced at the girl's face, it reminded him that she was still sad from having heard him call her by her Character's name. Light turned his dark eyes forward again. 'Damn it... I didn't think her reaction would be like this. I said that I was sorry but it didn't do a damn thing to help her mood...', the boy soon became lost within his own thoughts.

Nothing seemed to de-rail his train of thought. Not even the threat of roaming monsters. Before he even realized it, Light had walked on ahead of Dispirited by about twenty yards or so. He stopped as soon as he noticed that the younger Wavemaster wasn't at his side and then spun around elegantly on his heels to find her looking at him from afar. 'Shit...', he thought as he remained standing still. 'This is just not my day today...' The boy then forced an embarrassed smile while raising his hand out to her, gesturing for her to hurry and catch up to him. Light didn't allow the smile that broke out onto her lips to pass him by. It conformed his own mouth to a gentle smile as she ran over to him. "Sorry about that... Wasn't paying much attention."

Katie reached him and grabbed his hand once again, swinging it around in her own. Then she started to skip merrily onwards. Though she was small, she nearly pulled him down with her. But he remained upright and moved to walk, instead of skip, alongside her. This time he really didn't mind that she had his hand in her's. It was as if he had gotten used to it, or perhaps was just glad to see her happy once more. They continued to make their way towards the Spring of Mist. Finally, after a few minutes, they came upon a small glowing pond outlined with some bushes. Light sighed with a smile. For once, they'd gotten somewhere without being attacked.

However, the Wavemaster then found himself being told to Sit and stay. He blinked but remained still while Dispirited disappeared behind the bushes. Almost as soon as he realized that she was... undressing... he immediately turned around to stare out at the field, an extremely bright red blush staining his pale cheeks. Light stared at his white boots while returning to his inner thoughts. 'What the hell is up with this girl anyway...? I didn't have the chance to tell her, but that spring is not for washing soiled clothes in...'

Another deep, exasperated sigh escaped his mouth as he heard another command from Katie. “Noooo Peekinggg~~!” 'Yeah, right. Like I would peek at you. That's the kind of thing perverts do. It's almost like you're insulting me...' Light waited, as patient and still as stone, until he heard the final call that he could enter the Spring's enclosure. He chanced a glance at Katie and was relieved to find that she was actually decent, though the blush never quite faded entirely from his burning cheeks. His dark eyes turned away from her and to the Spring itself. “So what do we do here?”

Light scrolled through his Equipment menu and changed his weapon to that of a Cypress Rod. "Just watch and see, Katie." With that, he tossed the staff into the water. It sank beneath the surface. Then a large water droplet appeared before them. The creature had a strange face that reminded him of the Cheshire Cat for some unknown reason. It hovered in the air and slowly bounced up and down as it looked at them. Finally, it spoke. "Was it a Golden Axe you dropped? Or was it a Silver Axe?" The Wavemaster scrolled down to the very last and unsaid option on the list before selecting it.

"What? Neither one? Hmm...", the droplet, called Monsieur, spent a moment contemplating this response. "Then is it this?" The creature then spun around full circle once and a new weapon appeared in Light's outstretched palm. "Good bye now. Have a nice day!", Monsieur called cheerfully to them before bouncing once more and seeming launching away into the sky, disappearing from their sight.

He looked at the weapon and smiled. "The purpose of the Spring of Mist is... to make weapons better. This was a Level 1 Cypress Rod. Now, it's a Level 2 Water Wand. And... I'm giving it to you as a gift, Katie. Here." The taller Wavemaster thrust the wand horizontally out to his companion, dropping it into her lap. A small chuckle escaped his mouth and he looked at her again. "Now, if someone could kindly put all of their clothes back on, we should be heading for the dungeon."

Katie watched as her friend pulled out a modest-looking wand and held it in front of his face triumphantly. She flashed a confused frown and turned her head to the side. Why is he so proud of that dinky thing? Isn't that just - Her thoughts where interupted by the 'SHLOOP' of the wand falling like a pencil, shooting into the water. Dispirited leaned over the lip and watched the item fall down, down until the clear water no longer mattered.

Katie flinched from the edge and fell back, reaching for her dress and instinctively covering herself. A bright blue water droplet – clearly the water-tension in this puddle was quite high – left its home and remained floating two feet above the surface. A mouth and two eyes took shape on the side pointed at her friend. Light didn't seem to be surprised at all when the droplet started talking and asking stupid questions – like it didn't know a shiny twig had just clonked it on the head.

Before Katie could grasp what was going on, the creature left as abruptly as it came, splashing her dress lightly as it spun around and returned to the modest lake. Katie threw her dress to the side and inched up to the puddle. On all fours, she dipped her finger into the water, and quickly out again like a child entering the kitty pool for the first time. Her lips formed a small, round shape as her eyes took on an expression of wonder. A small drop fell from her finger and into the surface creating a symphony of ripples. She flicked her finger dry as a new thought came to her head. Good thing that clown didn't take my cloths! She fell back into a cross-legged position and craned her neck to see her dress. It was so dark that she couldn't tell if it was dry, but it had felt fairly good when she was shielding herself from the previous fright. Her friend then piped up and she turned her attention to him, looking up with her mouth open naturally from the pull on her skin.

"The purpose of the Spring of Mist is... to make weapons better. This was a Level 1 Cypress Rod. Now, it's a Level 2 Water Wand. And... I'm giving it to you as a gift, Katie. Here." The generous wavemaster dropped the sparkled item in her lap where it leaned against her ankle and thigh.

“OOOOh.” She raised the item and examined it. 'Water Wand,' eh? Katie looked down and to the left at the rose on the ground. It was still there. I guess I have to equip it for the skin to transfer. The girl opened the inventory dialog and double-clicked on the familiar-looking icon surrounded in a black background. A red error message flashed in her goggles. [Level limit not reached.] Well that was humbling. She had forgotten that on the food chain, she would be dangling on the floor connected to some other rusty piece of metal.

How rude of me! She got to her feet and wore a genuine smile that nearly blinded her. “Thank you Thank you!” She held her hands up and prepared to spring off of her toes.

"Now, if someone could kindly put all of their clothes back on, we should be heading for the dungeon.”

“Riiiight...” She looked herself over and let her arms fall to their sides. The neighbors would have liked that one.

“Dungeon run, dungeon run, time to go on a dungeon run!” she sung. Her arms flopped around as she hopped over to her dress resting on the soft grass. She knelt down and crawled through it like a bunny entering its home. Before her head could pop through the other side, she sat up and fed her arms and gray sleeves through the holes and yanked the top through her head. She looked around, scanning the floor. “Where did I leave my shoes...” A frustrated rush of air left her mouth. “If that water-thingy took my shoes – I'm going to be so mad!” She scanned the ground again, this time walking around on the damp earth was that much more frustrating, knowing that perhaps the questionnaire was fondling her Mary Janes and laughing at the wavemistress getting her skivvies wet. If that thing pops up and gives me boots, I'm going to be soooooooo angry.

After a few laps around the pool, her feet kicked something hard and shiny. The object skittered across the grass and by her rose. She looked down at the ground where she had kicked the object, and sure enough, a shoe. She kicked the thing on, putting a finger in the back and strapping the top. Her head bobbed up and down as her uneven steps eventually reached her rose and matching shoe. She freed her left hand by placing her new wand in her inventory (slipping it down her dress), and scooped the flower up. “HOkay.” She sighed. “I'm ready.”

Katie paid more close attention to her surroundings as the two left the grove and made off into the grassy plain once more. Her little mini-map displayed a red arrow pointing not too far away. Katie shielded her eyes and peered into what she thought was the right direction. A foggy version of the opening of the dungeon came into view. “I see it! I see it!” She turned and grabbed her friend's arm, yanking him forward to run with her. When he stopped yanking back, she let go and pumped her arms by her sides with a determined look on her face. As they got closer, the old ruins became more and more defined. They looked like they had stared into that beating sun for centuries, but Katie knew it had only been a few years – at most.

Dispirted stood on the edge of a descending staircase between two cracked pillars. She looked down into the darkness and back up at her friend for reassurance. “Maybe you should go first.” Her sad/scared look entered her face and she held onto the wavemaster's free hand with her own as they stepped into the hungry shadows.

Light observed Dispirited as she examined her gift. The look on her face belayed that she was indeed excited at having recieved something of that nature. 'Well, of course she's excited... That is probably the first gift that she has gotten in the World.' Katie looked at the rose on the ground beside her and must have attempted to equip the new wand. But the expression that overtook her face said that it was not possible to do so at her current level. 'Well, that will be fixed by the time this quest is over...'

He was caught off guard as the young lady stood up and smiled an almost impossible smile up at him. “Thank you Thank you!” Two sentences of gratification followed as she prepared to spring-vault up to give him another hug. But fortunately, he made his suggestion in time to avoid it. "Now, if someone could kindly put all of their clothes back on, we should be heading for the dungeon.” Dispirited's arms fell back to her sides with a defeated, “Riiiight...” Light closed his eyes with a barely audible sigh. 'What is with this character...? Too many hugs...'

Brown orbs opened once again as the Wavemistress started to sing. “Dungeon run, dungeon run, time to go on a dungeon run!” She bounced like a human pogo stick over to her dress and other garments. But a small commotion soon stirred as Dispirited realized that she couldn't find her shoes. “Where did I leave my shoes...” A frustrated rush of air left her mouth. “If that water-thingy took my shoes – I'm going to be so mad!” The entertaining image of Monsieur holding Katie's little black shoes then popped into Light's head and he strained to contain a spill of laughter. It was just so amusing; he couldn't help it.

The lad placed his wand across his back and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting patiently beside the small pond as his companion began to search about for her missing shoes. A small smile etched itself onto his lips. 'Well, this might take a few extra moments of our time... But ah well. It's all right.' Finally, it seemed as though the girl had located that which had gone missing. Katie pulled on her footwear one at a time before snatching up her rose. She then turned around to face him. “HOkay.” She sighed. “I'm ready.”

Light nodded and unfolded his arms, moving to walk beside Katie as the two of them left the enclosure around the Spring of Mist. His mini-map revealed that they weren't too far from the dungeon. T'was but a short walk across the plains. “I see it! I see it!”, Katie called out in utter excitement. With an internal sigh, he realized what was coming next. She turned and grabbed ahold of his arm, yanking him forward to run with her. He was a little jolted, though not surprised, as the pair bounded off towards their destination. Eventually, Dispirited released his arm and started to walk forward on her own.

Ancient ruins flooded their vision as they ventured closer. Two massive pillars composed of rough grey stone supported an arched stone cieling over a descending staircase that seemed to lead down into the shadowed unknown. Light felt Dispirited turn her gaze up to him from where she was standing beside him. His own expression was that of intense anticipation. 'Finally... Our true conquest begins.' But his friend was less than enthusiastic. “Maybe you should go first.” Katie reached out and held his hand as they walked side by side into the darkness. Clack clack clack.

Light then found himself standing inside of a small room. The only light came from four lit torches, two placed on each of the two main walls surrounding them, hung in small wooden baskets. Their flames revealed that there were scrolling runes decroating the worn surfaces of the stone walls. He inhaled deeply, the stale musty air entering his lungs, and he loved it. 'This feeling... I have missed it.' After pulling another Fairy's Orb from the folds of his cloak and breaking it open, the first level on the dungeon was completely uncovered.

"Well, this level doesn't look all that vast... There are a few monster portals, good. But I'm also interested in seeing what lies within the other rooms of this underground castle.", he paused, looking down at the girl who was still grasping his hand. "I hope you aren't afraid of being underground, Katie. Oh, and are you the jumpy type? Because I don't think this is going to work if you cling to me every time that something scares you." His expression softened and he smiled. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. Just be strong." Of course, this statement seemed to lose it effect as they passed by a skeleton sitting against the wall beside the entrance to the next room.

It was much, much larger in comparison to the first. The contents were also very different. Torches still lined the walls, providing their helpful light. More runes continued to beam down at the pair of Wavemasters. But their presence was joined by that of a glowing, swirling Monster Portal. Luckily, neither had taken enough steps forward to activate it. Light reached one of his arms behind his back and drew his Water Wand from its holster. He glanced sideways at Dispirited, making sure that she too held her weapon in hand. "All right, get ready.", the lad advised, moving forward.

There was the loud release of two monsters into the space. Another Mad Grass and a new creature, a Deadly Moth. The Grass was easily dealt with and best left up to Dispirited. But the Moth was something new to explore and Light decided that he would test it first. He stepped toward the fluttering insect. "Katie, take out the Mad Grass. I can't watch your back for you so if you're injured, use a Healing Item. If you have none, lead the Grass my way and I'll handle it. But do try your best. You'll never gain strength by always relying on others." Then his full attention was focused on the Moth flying before him.

Light raised his staff above his head and called out his first spell. "Juk Rom!" A strong gale stirred up as a small tornado composed of leaves and thick branches converged on the creature. It chittered its discomfort and thrashed about in mid-air as a portion of its life disappeared. Then it unleashed an attack of its own. He barely managed to jump back when the Moth's long whip-like appendage scored the floor where his boots had previously been. 'Woah... That seriously would have hurt if it had hit me.' In his mind, he was still subconsciously listening for any cries for help from Katie. There had been none as of yet.

That whipping tongue recoiled and then came at him again. The lad scarcely managed to bring up his Wand to block the strike. It came with such force that it send a shudder of pain up his wrist and forearm, leaving it with a slightly numb feeling. But the action also seemed to cause the creature some discomfort as well as it pulled back and shook its small head. 'Now's my chance...' Light dashed forward and swung his weapon forcefully from the side into the Moth's exsposed wing. His strike impacted, almost knocking the monster out of the air. At least now it wouldn't be able to manuver as easily. Another slice of its life was also detracted. While it was recovering from the hit, he moved back from it and turned to look at Dispirited and her prey. "How are you doing over there, Katie!?", he called out to his fellow party member.

The black of the atmosphere of the stairs slid up the girl's pale and apprehensive face as she timidly took one stair at a time, hitting each step with both feet. She looked at her hand holding the rose and shivered. The vibrant, red color bled from the petals leaving behind a white rose dripping thick, dark drops onto the cold stone floor. What was left looked like the wound of an impossibly beautiful animal with a coat of a blindingly white sheen.

Dispirited Grinned. She brought the suffering animal to her face and smiled wider as the last drop, not destined to stain the flower forever, fell to the ground. “Heh heh...” The pale girl with dark hair inhaled the scent of the tainted plant like a six-year-old smelling vanilla extract for the first time. But her face was filled with a very different wave of happiness.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. Just be strong." The girl caught the end of his speech. She looked at her other hand holding onto his and let go, swiftly opening her hand into a flat plane and then slowly placed it at her side. A skeleton leaned up against a wall with what appeared to be a bee's stinger through its right rib cage, holding the bones of the human in place. The skull leaned to the side in a relaxed position, but the jaw was locked open as if the victim had died in agony. The leftovers had sagged with time.

Dispirited knelt down on her dress and followed her index finger around the jawline of the dirty skull. Her remaining fingers curled around her suffering flower. She shifted the flower to the tips of her fingers and placed it inside the skeleton's gaping mouth. She got up and looked at the bleeding flower growing out of the fallen's strained gullet. She turned her head sideways and smiled an expression of dark satisfaction.

The girl brought her hand up to her ear and snapped her fingers, still staring at the creature pinned to the wall. A new red rose appeared, amplifying her snap, which immediately began to bleed again – this time flowing over her hand and into the cuff of her gray shirt. Zebra stripes of dark red blood and pearly white skin blurred slightly as her hand was brought back down to her side. She turned away from the statue still holding her suffering flower, left behind.

She followed Light with a walk of conviction. Shade from Dispirited's brow blocked her eyes from view as she leaned her head down slightly, allowing the straight, jet-black hair of the girl to fall around her face. Her flower splashed blood everywhere as her white staff from before materialized. The pointy C-shaped staff held the same shape and texture, but now residual blood from the gruesome transformation dripped from the edges. Her flank was covered with blood like someone's side was cut open and allowed to splash onto her dress and shirt. The small amout of light provided by the torches on the walls revealed how much there was from the hundreds of glistening reflections from the dark liquid.

After the beating heart had exploded next to her, she poised herself with the dripping staff gripped tight and held out in front of her at a forty-five degree angle to the ground. The devious girl's legs were spread in front and behind her with her knees bent barely more than ninety degrees. The unconscious part of her actually listening to her companion told her that the pink and green Mad Grass was hers.

She reacted immediately as the clicking and biting creature skittered across the ground like a noisy spider. “Gan Zot.” Her voice was cold. As the rocky spires tormented the creature, Dispirited dropped her guard and slowly walked over to the reeling creature twisting on the ground. Her knee hit the ground pinning the plant's scrambling feet, as her left arm caught it in the throat. She squeezed its neck until it held still, shaking. The red tongue of a ten year old leaked from her mouth open wide as she licked the chin of the Mad Grass quickly. She smiled manically and looked at the victim. Her free hand holding the staff cut swiftly through the air, the sharp C-shape first. The weapon plunged into its mouth with a bone-crunching crack as the creature's neck broke.

Katie turned the expression detector off and squealed in pleasure.

Light's dark brown eyes suddenly widened as he observed the drastic change in everything surrounding Katie and even in the Wavemistress herself. Her long dark hair had fallen forward like a curtain, preventing him from seeing her eyes. But he didn't really need to see them. He was already highly aware that something was wrong. There was blood everywhere... So much blood. Blood on Katie's clothes and hands, dripping from every inch of her staff. Several pools in various sizes all over the floor of the dungeon, gleaming eerily from the light of the torches. It was truly a horrific scene... Like a gruesome murder had just taken place.

'But... How...? Why is there so much blood? Did Katie recieve an injury...? But then, how can she still be standing... and why is there so much...? I don't understand this...' Light managed to keep his thoughts silent and tucked inside of his own mind, even as his heart raced and pounded against his rib cage. Time seemed to slow down, almost stop as he continued to watch the girl that had once clung to him like a child. That side of Katie had disappeared completely without a trace. What was left behind was... He could not be sure of that.

“Gan Zot.” Her voice was cold as she unleashed her spell on the monsterous plant. It sent a small shudder tingling up the Wavemaster's spine as he listened to merely those two words. But even as his body writhed uncomfortably, he forced himself to keep watching Dispirited. She approached the creature while it was being crushed beneath the weight of the boulders toppling down onto it. "Katie, what are you do-" Light was cut off when the Wavemistress knelt down and took hold of the Mad Grass' throat with her bare hand. Even from the distance between them, he could see her fingers as they closed tighter and tighter around its airway, causing the monster to spasm.

'All right... I really do not like the look of this... What's wrong with Katie? Or is this... just the way that Dispirited is really meant to be...? I can't tell at the moment...' He jerked and almost jumped back a couple of feet as Katie licked the plant's chin. It was such an unexpected action, despite that Katie was already acting incredibly sadistic. The smile that claimed her lips then told him that Dispirited was about to administor the killing blow. She raised her Wand, slamming it down into the creature's body. Light visibly cringed as he heard the sickening crack of the Grass' neck snapping. He felt the immediate urge to run, having forgotten entirely that he too was involved in a battle of his own.

'Holy crap! Why the hell do I always end up meeting insane women? First mom, now even Katie...! She seemed so nice in the beginning too... Damn it! Now, she might even try to PK me... and she just might be able to do it too... I have to get away from her...' As Light turned away from his corrupted partner, the Deadly Moth he had been facing earlier suddenly lashed out with its whip-like tongue.

The attack slammed across the boy's face and sent him flying backwards. He hit the ground with a sharp cry. His Water Wand clattered on the stone floor beside its owner. There was an intense pain in his head from it having hit the hard floor first. But he managed to push himself up into a sitting position and he shakily took ahold of his weapon again. "Damn it...", he panted, now bleeding from a deep gash in his right cheek. "Juk Rom!" Another miniature tornado composed of leaves and branches shredded the Moth. While his attack converged on the monster, Light cast a healing spell on himself. "Repth!" Gentle light enveloped his body, relieving some of the pain and restoring his lost life back to full. The insect was almost dead, hovering on its last wing. He made a quick decision. "Katie! My magic is too low for another spell. Come on over and finish this Moth off...", he called.

Katie: 2 Levels, Fire Wand, Mage's Soul, Ice Storm

Esuki, should you make a return and want your work graded, just let me know.

Katie and Light, it was a pleasure to read. You two make a good team. I hope to see more out of you guys in the future. =D