Uruvei was slinking around Mac Anu, as usual. There was something about having the ears, tail, paws and eyes of a cat that made you want to slink. It was either that, or the knowledge that the entire police force of The World had you on their wanted list. Speaking of... her boots scuffed a discarded poster. There were three faces pasted across it, grainy from being cut out of a screen shot and blown up to an eye-catching size.

WANTED. Any information about the whereabouts of these players will be rewarded. Contact the Knights of War.

There were no names to go with the pictures, which Uruvei knew was their lucky break. Had they stayed a split second longer, the Knights would have identified them, and that would've been that. Account suspension, maybe even a fine, and likely a permanent IP-ban for her computer. Uruvei bent gracefully and scooped up the paper. She smirked at the rightmost picture. All the Knights had to go on were faces. And faces could be changed.

For all that, Uruvei still looked somewhat similar to her old self. They looked rather like they could be sisters. She hadn't been able to bring herself to completely abandon the motif of the original design - which seemed to be "as much purple as possible." Before, the purple had a certain red tone, like a fresh, painful bruise. Now it was much more blue, the color of toes that probably aren't going to survive frostbite. She still wore a one-piece leotard with blue fishnetting covering what parts of her arms and legs were exposed. Now she had a frock coat loosely buttoned over the top, a purple rose pinned in the lapel. Her hair was shorter than before, and styled to go around her cat ears. The bangs in front were the longest (and oddly, fluffiest) part of the 'do. Behind, it was a short, jagged bob that bounced when she moved abruptly. She'd finally given in to reason and clad most of her legs in thick leather armor. And then there was her favorite costume addition: the gauzy lavender scarf looped around her neck, studded with sharp purple thorns. The thing was a menace to all who got near it, which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how Uruvei felt about the person who'd just gotten entangled in her own portable deathtrap. Eventually, friends learned not to sneak up behind her.

"Hmph." She'd changed her skin color and the planes of her face, too, for good measure. A thinner jaw now, with a pointed chin and a slightly longer nose. Her eyes were angled, to enhance their feline appearance. She'd tried to change the eye colors, but Neko's data was still mucking with that some. They generally appeared aqua-blue in normal light, and vivid green during battle. And the right eye still had that milky sky-blue film... but not too noticable. As for the skin, she was still chocolate-colored, but much more a mocha now, instead of cafe-au-lait. Someone who knew her would see the similarities, but it was enough of a difference to keep her safe from the administrators. Probably.

Uruvei let the poster rejoin the junk cluttering this back street and plunged into the currents of people jostling their way around the capital city. She'd just set up a meeting with a couple of new players and an old friend. It would be best if she could find Sabbie before he (or she? it was hard to tell) got too lost in the crowd around the Chaos Gate.

~"~

As she turned the corner, another player slid down from his rooftop perch, dropping lightly to his feet and stooping to retrieve the poster she'd dropped. His eyes flicked to the retreating tip of her tail and then down to the rightmost picture. A slow predatory smile formed as he pulled a marker from somewhere and drew a check over her picture. Found her!

~"~

Uruvei elbowed a squat heavy axe that was blocking the stairs to the Chaos Plaza. He turned angrily, dwarvish beard bristling, only to see a poof of scarf and a smugly swishing tail rapidly disappearing. He grabbed for the scarf and swore loudly, yanking back a hand full of tiny, painful puncture wounds. Uruvei smirked.

A quick survey of the aptly-named Plaza didn't reveal any misplaced Wavemasters. Good; she'd gotten here first. Time to station herself near the Gate and look as visible as possible. As she found a spare bit of ground to stand in, Uruvei thought back her her early days. The smirk on her lips uncurled, turning into a real smile of anticipation. There was something about playing with newbies that brought the zest for the game back. Watching someone discover The World for the first time was fun! She was going to enjoy this.

~"~

From a crenellated wall top overlooking Chaos Plaza, the hunter again spotted his prey. She wasn't easy to miss, in that rich purple. His predatory grin widened into a hungry smile. He was going to enjoy this.

"Ooh..."

It was Sabbie's first entrance into The World. And of course, he expected to be amazed. He knew from what he read that the game really was a real world in front of your eyes. But, what he didn't know, was that it snowed, in The World.

He had previously been chatting with a group of people on the BBS, to set up a party. He didn't expect to have a team of Wavemasters(with only one Long Arm), but, he didn't have to worry about healing!

So, after he had agreed with the others to meet up in Root Town, he had immediately logged in, anxious to see The World with his own eyes. The people looked... real, almost. They weren't tiny little icons, they were real people running around doing whatever it was that you would be doing in this game. That was so... cool, to Sabbie. He was amazed that his computer actually had enough space for this game, actually.

Sabbie had been dressed in a winter version of his outfit. His jacket was now a long orange overcoat, which fell to his ankles. He also had on regular, cheap-looking boots with white fur on the inside, to match the fur on his coat/jacket thing. He also had on gloves to match the whole outfit, along with a cute, orange hat. ...What was with him, and the color orange?

Sabbie had taken a while to watch everyone in The World, as they ran around and talked about monsters and all that other stuff. He found himself sitting on the railing from the bridge in The World, after brushing the snow off of a spot. One reason for doing this was because he was tired of standing. He also enjoyed people-watching, too. It was fun sometimes. And, he also didn't want to set foot into the snow just yet.

Sabbie soon reminded himself of why he was even in The World, in the first place. He was supposed to meet up with other people! Right, right. Sabbie quickly hopped off of the bridge, landing in the snow perfectly--until he fell. He coughed, and sat himself up, looking around as he saw other, taller players laughing at him. Mean people. Soon enough, he began his trek through what seemed to be an endless amount of snow.

Of course, having a short frame already, Sabbie found himself trying to literally wade through the snow, finding out that he could barely lift his feet up in it. This idea... didn't really go so well for him, either. He found himself falling, slipping, tripping, and even being stepped on often. People in The World really didn't care for a poor, short little wavemaster who was getting stepped on, obviously. Sabbie made a note to try and learn how to move, in the snow, and quickly at that. He soon spotted what he guessed was Uruvei, the girl who was supposed to be purple, and be designed like a cat. Sabbie actually expected her to be a full on cat, but, it was still surprising. He didn't remember that when he was designing his character, but he wasn't really trying to look throughout the whole thing anyway.

Sabbie tried to wade his way over to her, having an even harder time than before. Wasn't it supposed to get... easier, when you did it so much? Whatever. Sabbie ended up crawling, in a desperate attempt to avoid getting stepped on anymore times. He sighed out of exhaustion, once he actually made it to Uruvei, and stood up, trying to brush the snow(and footprints) off of his coat.

"Uhm... Hi..!" Sabbie smiled cutely. He had no idea what he was doing.

Urufu’s lips parted as she released a warm stream of breath that turned cloudy as it hit the cool air of Mac Anu. “Unusual.” She thought aloud, and then gazed up at the gently falling snow which sparkled slightly from an unclear source of light. It was a first in her time as a player that the she had witnessed an alteration in the Root Town’s weather. Instead of the cheerful “perma-sun” that had diligently greeted her upon every reentry into “The World,” she found herself below a sheet of smooth grey clouds. Had it always changed unbeknownst to her? Even the wavemaster would admit to being a less than active player, so there was no way for her to know for sure if it had been going on for years or had just started yesterday. The girl’s right hand rose to catch a few flurries. Almost instantly they melted away into tiny droplets and Fu realized how out of place her outfit must look in the snow. A short sleeved blouse? Shorts? Items far more suited for the sun than the ice, she would be frozen were she really experiencing it in real life. But that was just it, she was in a game and though she might have looked absurd she knew deep down that there were far more players out there is crazier garbs than her own. Smirking at the thought she decided to move on, “Wouldn’t want to be late…” She muttered.

No one seemed too impressed by the odd precipitation, maybe she had missed something all this time, or perhaps hadn’t perused over the message board quite as well as she believed. Oh well, it didn’t particularly matter why it was snowing, the only thing that was important in the wave’s mind was that it was snowing! The fact had just barely sunk in to her head at that point. She should be excited! The smirk Urufu wore broadened into a huge grin and her gait quickened ever so slightly. She was due at the Chaos Gate soon, but she had unconsciously decided to take a quick walk around the city. It was bustling as usual, some things never do change. Once she reached the bridge she decided to stop a moment to look down upon the canal that ran through Mac Anu. It had not escaped the winter’s grasp, it was iced over. A guffaw escaped her when she saw that the fish too were frozen solid in the water, “Fishcicles.” She noted when she caught the eye of a few people gawking at her. They seemed less than amused. It was then that a player on the other side of the bridge slipped on the ice; all the users that had given her looks found this terribly amusing. For the first time a grimace formed upon her lips. They should be helping him, not giggling!

“Noob.” A higher level player uttered softly, though the wave was able to just hear it. She would had gone to help the player up, but despite his stout form he appeared to be able to handle himself. Besides, Urufu was too busy making a few snowballs. Normally Fu didn’t go out of her way to seek revenge, especially over such a thing. But today was a special day, so that called for something different. Besides, she hated it when more experienced players made fun of the newer ones. They always seemed to forget that part of their journey in “the World.” Plus, she a virtually limitless amount of ammo on her hands, and she was ready to use it.

She waited for several players to pass that had nothing to do with the previous event before initiating the assault. The first ball of ice hit its target, the face of the heavy blade that had called the other person a noob. His body language made it clear that he had been utterly taken aback; the other two cronies (a twin blade and long arm) seemed unaware… at first. But they would realize quite soon why their friend was flailing his hands over his face.

*Thunk**Thunk*

The other two balls of ice also were as accurate as the first, right in the face. Though stunned for a few more seconds, all three were able to collect themselves. The hurriedly glanced around to locate the source of the attack. Urufu had no problem with them knowing it was her, as so she tossed a few more. They more or less landed on the users, though in a more haphazard way than before. And a guilty smile made it clear to the trio that she was indeed the culprit.

“Why you!” One of them shouted angrily; the other two said nothing, they merely glared. For a second Fu couldn’t figure out if they planned on chasing her around the Root Town, or hoped that giving her a mean enough look would make her character suddenly collapse and die. Then the one closest to her lunged, Urufu managed to jump just of his reach. And the race was on! Having had the initial head start the girl was able to stay a head, but they were catching up every second.

I just need to get to the Chaos Gate and I should be able to loose them in the crowd, but I’m not sure I can make it that far before the catch up. She quickly took in her surrounds, “ahah!” It was her good fortune that there was an especially large mass of people of people close by. It wasn’t difficult to devise a quick and effective plan. Okay, almost there I’ve just got to wait until… Now!! In one swift movement she had herself on her knees sliding through the sea of legs, occasionally knocking over and unsuspecting user. “Sorry!” she would shout back. This is fun! It’s like… Human bowling! When she came to a halt she was near the middle of the of the crowd, some people hadn’t noticed the crazy girl sliding on the ice, others were yelping in surprise. But the plan had ended as anticipated; she was in the group of users and the goons were not. She would merely have to work her way through. The wavemistress sighed as she pushed pass the last person, but she couldn’t stand there and let the guys she pissed off find her.

A mad dash for up the Chaos Gate was made, and she cringed when she heard them shout, “there she is!”

“Argh, Vei-chan, where are you…?” Urufu scanned the crowd for someone who looked even vaguely like her old friend. There was but one person that was covered in purple and had a cat-like demeanor. I knew it! She may have changed her design quite a bit, but she’s still the violet colored long arm she knew! And there was someone else with her. The wave gasped when she recognized him to be the player from before, the one that had fallen on the bridge. She could still here those guys shouting, would they never give up? Moments passed and Uruvei was right in front of her. “You never saw me, ok?” She didn’t wait for a response but rather ducked behind the two characters. This was no easy task considering that the other player was quite a bit shorter than the average player, but she managed it. Hopefully those guys wouldn’t notice her. “And sorry if I’m late,” she added in a whisper.

“Fine, be like that then.”

Yelled Kragt with his tongue out and his finger to his eye in a gesture that would have to get the guy to say something. Yet the responses remained blank and empty. “Wow, the NPCs get more realistic each year.”

Kragt started to walk backwards before getting knocked down by a large group encircling the Choas Gate. “Uh oh.. I hope I didn’t offend all these people too. How are all of you gentlemen and ladies doing today?”

“Wudda ya think kid? Were going dungeon raiding to get out of the snow,” Shouted the Heavy Axe with all the rounded armor.

“So shiny… But what sno-… oh….” His chin dropped down to the frosted stone on which he was resting. And to anyone who could see him his eyes were large enough to catch a fish in now.

“SNOW!!!” Fistfulls, baskets, balls, anything and everything suddenly got his attention whilst his own hands and clothes became frosted and soaked. “SNOW!!!” Shaking his head in a showered disbelief forcing some of those who was nearby to get a bit wet from it but without thinking he finally got up to see more of what was happening. Apparently this was a bad move for sandals. “Yeow!” Flat against the ground again in a more demeaning belly-flop position this time. Though apart from the thud and later the ringing of Christmas bells, Kragt swore he heard some laughs in there. “Maybe it’s time to get out of here before I get covered in even more dirt and water. I’ll just need to find somewhere to go. Maybe I need to check the BBS.”

“Will you quit talking to yourself out loud and just get out of the way, everyone needs to use the gate today and your slowing down a few people by lying on the ground. Go make snow angels on the river please.”

“Another nameless voice, I must be going insane now too. I suppose I need to stop getting concussions, but the voice is right. I need to find my new team mates.” After a few more face bashing slips Kragt the Graceless made it to The Walls Greater Safety and Stability.

***

“Ok we got a few BBS groups, let’s limit levels to Mac Anu area and search for groups.”

Resounding clacks and clicks didn’t mask the yelling and surprise.

“How is there only one group open? I thought this game had thousands of new –players every day. Wavemasters and a Long arm… I didn’t realize we were so popular. I guess it can’t be helped. Better get to work.”

***

With opened eyes and the blinding white of a now snow covered Mac Anu Kragt started his search for his teammates. What a masquerade this would be.

“Flash of mauve
Splash of blue
Name the friends
Game from new
Hair of blonde
Dress of pearl
Join the group
Find The World
And what a masquerade for all.”

Kragt rested against a wall with his staff pushing down. A bit dismayed that his singing with text didn’t garner any applause. However, with or without that he had other things to focus on, like looking less foolish. This would be a bad time to slip again in front of the new team. Good first impressions and such were supposed to be important, but now what was needed was the group.

“Hey are you Sabbie?” Kragt tapped an orange twin blade on the back. “I thought you said you were a wave master? Oh! Sorry, it’s just you looked a bit... Umm different from the options I saw earlier. And you two must be the higher levels that are here to teach us new bloods how to not get eaten and digested by all the monsters of the game. Or get brutally maimed from other players who aren’t nice. And even stop those really big boss monsters that love to slaughter the masses of people like us in colossal and speedy waves of attacks... I can’t wait!” Kragt beamed happiness in a smile and just stood there like an idiot for a good minute before he was pushed aside by a small triplet of players with a rather frenzied look about them.

Uruvei watched people playing in the snow while she kept an eye out for her team mates. For the two newer players, all she knew to look for were wavemasters. Urufu should be more apparent. The cat-girl had to laugh as she watched a group of female characters in revealing costumes gate in and suddenly yelp in the unexpected cold. Other groups were making their way swiftly to the Gate looking ready to get out of the chill. Uruvei identified with them. She loved the snow, but she'd already had her fun in it earlier. Things were starting to go numb that she didn't want to lose to frostbite.

Something small and bright orange was tunneling through the snow towards the Gate. Uruvei watched it with curiosity. She realized after a while that it was a smaller character in a large orange coat. The person had brownish blond hair in a chin-length spiky style. It was impossible to determine if the player was male or female with that huge coat obscuring everything. The hair suggested male, but the long-lashed brown eyes, currently squinted from exertion, made Uruvei think it was a girl. Equally confusing was what class the character was. Weapons away, and in winter clothes, she just couldn't tell.

The person crawled right up to Uruvei, panting from effort, and stood up.

"Uhm... Hi..!" Uruvei checked the person's gamertag out of a strong suspicion. Yep! It was Sabbie, the newbie she was here to meet.

"Hello!" She responded, smiling back at the girl, who must be a wavemaster based on her post in the BBS. She was so CUTE! The clothing was unusual for the spellcaster class, and the color would make her stand out like a target in almost any field. Uruvei wondered if she should suggest a costume change, since wavemasters typically didn't want to draw the attention of monsters. No, better not. Costumes were an extension of the player's personality. And, after all, she'd survived newbiehood herself the color of an overripe plum. She'd just have to keep an eye on this lowest-leveled member of the party, to make sure that she didn't get overwhelmed my monsters.

There was a commotion over by the steps. Several people went head-over-heels and several others started shouting angrily. A white-clad figure emerged from the chaos, running like made for the Gate.

"There she is!" A trio of rough-looking characters began to shove their way through the sea of people towards the wavemaster that Uruvei recognized as Urufu. What had her friend gotten herself into this time??

"You never saw me, ok?" Urufu whispered, ducking behind the cat and the small orange wavemaster. Uruvei glanced at the three angry players, who were looking around for their escaped target, and back to her friend. Shrug. Of course she wouldn't give a fellow clan-mate away.

Another player walked up just then, tapping Sabbie on the shoulder. He seemed to have figured out who they were. "And you two must be the higher levels that are here to teach us new bloods how to not get eaten and digested by all the monsters of the game. Or get brutally maimed from other players who aren’t nice. And even stop those really big boss monsters that love to slaughter the masses of people like us in colossal and speedy waves of attacks... I can’t wait!"

"Yep, that sounds about right," Uruvei told the smiling blue-robed wavemaster. "You must be Kragt. This is Urufu, Sabbie, and I'm Uruvei. I'm thinking we'll head to a level 4 field. As long as the two of you stick close to me and Fu-chan, the monsters shouldn't be too much for you to handle, and you'll level fast. First of all, accept my Member Address so we can all form a party." The card appeared in the screens of Kragt and Sabbie, followed by a party request to all three. "Now, the Chaos Gate--"

A Heavy Blade shoved Kragt aside, focusing on Urufu.

"What, you think you can just hit us with snowballs and walk off?" He spat into the snow at her feet. "Naw, bee-yotch. You gotta respect." He leaned forward, a nasty leer on his face, his companions raising their weapons and stepping close. At precisely that moment, a blademaster fell on them.

"Yep, time to go," said Uruvei. "To use the Chaos Gate, just target it and select your keywords. When one party member uses it, it takes the whole group with them, so I'll just select a good field here... Collapsed Eternal Fiery Sands!"

The Gate activated at the spoken keywords, and the party vanished into a set of rings that looked like smaller, horizontal versions of the bigger Chaos Gate.

~"~

The hunter saw the rest of her party come to join her. Spending times with newbies, was she? Converting them to her illicit cause? Or just trying to throw off any pursuers with a show of innocence? Well, it wouldn't work on him... But doubt entered his mind. He would have to prove somehow that Uruvei was the same person on the Wanted poster. Sure, she still had a similar general appearance, but if he accused her without proof, she could just claim it was coincidence. To get a reward, he'd have to be more patient.

She was talking to her party members. He leaned over the edge of the roof, trying to hear better. If he was in luck, she would announce the field name aloud to the others, and he would be able to overhear and follow them. However, they were interrupted. A belligerent little man and his lackeys approached and began harassing the white-clothed wavemaster. The hunter leaned over even further, trying to get the best view he could of the events happening almost directly below. Now, perhaps, he would get some proof! Would she use some sort of hack against them? Punish them for insulting her friend? Prove her ill intentions?

ZOOPS! That roof was icy! The blademaster scrabbled for a grip, but it was futile. All he could do was try to tuck his limbs in and not break too many bones when he hit that pavement...

Fwump! Something hit the pavement, but it wasn't him. His fall had been broken by three somewhat softer forms. Granted, there was a blade handle sticking into his side, but at least it wasn't the pointy end, and overall he was unharmed. The prey, however, used this opportunity to escape without fighting. How odd. She didn't know that he was following them, did she? No, no, she spoke the keywords aloud and brashly.

Collapsed Eternal Fiery Sands. I'll give them a few minutes to get away from the gate-in point... He thought, getting to his feet. Behind him, the thee stooges scrambled up as well.

"Hey, buddy. What the f--?" One of them began. The hunter calmly drew his sword and decapitated him a quick movement. The snow around them turned pink. The other two hesitated, started to lift their weapons, and were cut down just as easily. Other players were now giving the patch of stained snow a wide berth. The hunter grinned.

~"~

"Woof!" Uruvei gasped as they warped into the field. The heat hit her at once, a change of temperature so abrupt that it left her still shivering as she began to sweat. They were inside an apparently endless giant's sandbox. Dunes rose gently into the distance. The sun was a baleful red eye on the horizon, but that meant it was almost sundown. The current heat was mostly rising from the sand. Perhaps in a while it would actually get fairly cool. Nothing like the frigid Root Town, of course.

Uruvei scanned the field, squinting against the pale gold of the sand to locate what she wanted. Ah, there was one! A gold disk hovered on its edge over the sand, spinning slowly like a coin on a tabletop. It was not unlike the Chaos Gate, but had a solid center, inlaid with delicately-wrought symbols. Uruvei started towards it, motioning for the rest to follow.

"That's a Monster Portal." Uruvei explained to Sabbie. "Most of the monsters you'll face will come out of those. They don't activate until you get close. Sometimes there are free-range monsters that aren't inside portals, but that's unusual, and never happens in dungeons. We're almost in range, so get ready. As a wavemaster, you'll only really fight with spells. You can select your spells from the dropdown list, and then select a target. "Repth" is the healing spell; everything else you have right now is probably offensive." The Monster Portal suddenly went "WHOOSH" and spun very quickly. In a few seconds, it had poofed into a fine golden powder, while several monsters appeared where it had been.

"Okay, um!" Uruvei said, calculating very quickly. "Why don't Kragt and Sabbie work together on fighting one monster at a time? You should be able to handle the Goblins on your own - they only take a few hits to kill. For the rest, tag-team 'em. Urufu, keep an eye on them and heal them if they get in the red, and take out whatever monsters you can. I'll take out the Magical Goblins, since none of you will be effective against them."

There were six monsters advancing across the sand. Four of them were short and ugly, leather-skinned with long ears and faces only a mother could love. Of these Goblins, two had short swords and were at the front of the pack, and the other two wore colorful garments and skulls of their own species on their heads. These were the Magical Goblins, resistant to magic-based attacks and also very annoying. They tended to hang back and cast Poison on their enemies while they were busy with the other monsters. They could also use some sort of rock-dropping spell that Uruvei particularly disliked. More than once, an encounter with these things had left her with a goose egg on her skull. Also coming towards them were a Snip Snap (a giant pink crab thing, Uruvei's least favorite monster) and a Deadly Moth (a huge purple bug that attacked with its wings and proboscis).

Uruvei left the three wavemasters behind for the moment, bearing down on the annoying little Magic Gob. It was best to get these out of the way first thing. The critter raised its staff, prepared and incantation, and then gave it up, yelped and turned to flee. Drat. Magic Gobs were fast when they wanted to be.

"Hello!"

Sabbie relaxed a bit, finding that the Long Arm was as nice as she was on the BBS. Sabbie was very curious about Uruvei's character design, however. How did she get the cat body parts? Sabbie didn't neccessarily want them for himself--he wasn't sure how he would look with them--but it was still interesting. He could've sworn that he never saw it on the character customization screen...

But, at the moment, there was no time for this. Sure Sabbie had the perfect opportunity, and could have asked, but...

"There she is!" You see, there was a commotion. From what Sabbie could tell, a lone Wavemaster was running away from a group of... scary-looking characters. Oh, but wait! Most of their group consisted of Wavemasters, didn't it? Did that mean that this one was one of their group?

"You never saw me, ok?" The Wavemaster said that to Uruvei. Oh, that must have been... Urufu, right. Uruvei and Urufu seemed to have known each other for a while already. Hey... "Uru"vei, and "Uru"fu. Was that a coincedence..? Well, whatever. But, yet again, there was another distraction, as Sabbie was tapped on the shoulder. He turned around, seeing... another wavemaster, it looked like.

“Hey are you Sabbie?” He began to speak. Sabbie didn't want to really interrupt, so he nodded, listening to whatever else the person had to say.

“I thought you said you were a wave master? Oh! Sorry, it’s just you looked a bit... Umm different from the options I saw earlier." So, Sabbie would be confused for a Twin Blade, then? Oh well. It worked as far as him wanting to look unique, and different. Not to mention that his character was an image of himself.

"And you two must be the higher levels that are here to teach us new bloods how to not get eaten and digested by all the monsters of the game. Or get brutally maimed from other players who aren’t nice. And even stop those really big boss monsters that love to slaughter the masses of people like us in colossal and speedy waves of attacks... I can’t wait!” ..Whoa. He made this stuff sound scary now! Sabbie hadn't paid much attention to the fact that players can actually kill other players. Looking at his group, he figured he was lucky enough to not actually get killed off; that was a relief.

"Yep, that sounds about right," Uruvei started in. Sabbie had began looking around; surely the trio had not given up their search for Urufu yet.

"You must be Kragt. This is Urufu, Sabbie, and I'm Uruvei. I'm thinking we'll head to a level 4 field. As long as the two of you stick close to me and Fu-chan, the monsters shouldn't be too much for you to handle, and you'll level fast. First of all, accept my Member Address so we can all form a party."

Sabbie was soon offered a member's address, from Uruvei. Of course, he accepted it, exchanging her's with his. Next, they were to form a party. Sabbie wondered what the actual limit on party members was. I mean, you wouldn't charge into a field with twenty people, but still. Of course, he joined the party.

Uruvei began to say something about the Chaos Gate, but was cut off by Kragt being pushed aside by the scary people from before.

"What, you think you can just hit us with snowballs and walk off?" The Heavy Blade spat at Urufu. Seriously? A snowball was what got them so mad? You're obviously going to see people throwing snowballs when it snows. It's all just for fun, right?

"Naw, bee-yotch. You gotta respect." ...Why did anyone need to respect him? They didn't know him! Sabbie would have told him off for this; but, a blademaster randomly fell on top of the three. Agh, that had to hurt.

Uruvei took this chance, figuring it was time to go.

"To use the Chaos Gate, just target it and select your keywords. When one party member uses it, it takes the whole group with them, so I'll just select a good field here... Collapsed Eternal Fiery Sands!" Uruvei had given a quick lesson, before Sabbie felt himself being swept away by... rings? They looked very similar to the Chaos Gate; obviously, that's how you get around in The World.

=n=

Soon after arriving in The World, Sabbie collapsed, sitting on the ground. It actually did feel pretty good to get out of the cold... but, what he was wearing made it so much worse. Maybe they should've gone to a colder field... Not to mention the fact that it happened as fast as you can turn a fan off. ...Actually, it's very similar to that, isn't it?

Sabbie glanced up at Uruvei, while she scanned the area, apparently searching for something. One thing about this area was that the sand seemed to be getting blown about; or it did at least to Sabbie, who was getting sand in his eyes.

Uruvei soon began walking; she must have found what she was looking for. She motioned for the wavemasters to follow, and Sabbie pushed himself up, off of the ground. He sighed, then began jogging a bit, to catch up with Uruvei, though still keeping a bit of distance. They could be going to fight monsters, for all he knew.

"That's a Monster Portal." Oh, he was right. Sabbie knew that Uruvei was going to start explaining mostly to him; Urufu was Level 7, and Kragt was Level 2. They both had at least some experience.

"Most of the monsters you'll face will come out of those. They don't activate until you get close. Sometimes there are free-range monsters that aren't inside portals, but that's unusual, and never happens in dungeons. We're almost in range, so get ready. As a wavemaster, you'll only really fight with spells. You can select your spells from the dropdown list, and then select a target. "Repth" is the healing spell; everything else you have right now is probably offensive." Sabbie listened intently, finding himself only a few feet away from Uruvei now, as he began walking. Only fight with spells... that was fine, for Sabbie. He was more of a distance and assistance person anyway. The Monster Portal soon began spinning, and disappearing, and imploding, and all those words.

"Okay, um!" Uruvei started, apparently scanning the whole situation. Sabbie backed up a bit; this was a Level four area, and he didn't want to get killed in one hit.

"Why don't Kragt and Sabbie work together on fighting one monster at a time? You should be able to handle the Goblins on your own - they only take a few hits to kill. For the rest, tag-team 'em. Urufu, keep an eye on them and heal them if they get in the red, and take out whatever monsters you can. I'll take out the Magical Goblins, since none of you will be effective against them." Uruvei sent out her plans of attack, which would be smart to follow. There were about six monster's, attacking the four of them, and only one was actually a front-on fighter. But, having so many Wavemasters could prove to be useful, right?

Sabbie watched as Uruvei went after the Magical Goblin. He figured that was probably smart; they sounded like they were annoying. Sabbie looked back to the monsters, only to see two Goblins flying after him. Knowing that the Wavemasters couldn't move that fast, either, Sabbie began to start his own plan of attack. Okay, the Goblins can't take too much, and the both of them are rushing at me, right... He said, searching for a good spell to use.

Sabbie would have actually attacked with a spell right there; but he had forgotten what was what. Rue was... Lightning? Or was it Water? He found himself quickly being... confused, and baffled and whatnot. Then, he looked up to see a Goblin flying in the air at him. It was now or never, so Sabbie called out a random spell.

"Er, um... Gan... Zot!" Sabbie watched, as a large rock was fired at the Goblin, effectively silencing, and sending it out of the sky. It wasn't dead; it had taken the hit rather well. But, it was hurt long enough for Sabbie to focus his eyes on the next one, now in attacking range. Not to mention the rest of the monsters on their way.

Urufu remained motionless in her “hiding place,” as poor as it was, keeping an eye out for her would-be pursuers. Thus far it appeared that they had yet to discern her position, but there was no guarantee she wouldn’t be spotted. At least she knew Uruvei would say nothing, though she couldn’t be sure of the other person with her. She felt a slight tinge of guilt for potentially pulling the two into such a ridiculous thing, but the long arm could hold her own and it would be simple for her to protect the newbie. Oh yeah, what’s his name again? She glanced up a moment and caught sight of two player tags. Sabbie. the wavemistress noted, that should be relatively simple to remember. The sudden approach of another player hurriedly reminded the girl that she needed to remain attentive. Fu sighed when it became clear that it wasn’t one of those goons, rather it appeared to be a third wave. Presumably it was the last of their party, Kragt. When he began to speak, it only confirmed what she had thought.

“Hey are you Sabbie? I thought you said you were a wave master? Oh! Sorry, it’s just you looked a bit... Umm different from the options I saw earlier." The later part of his statement made Urufu look back at the player to take in Sabbie’s costume. It was true, he wasn’t wearing what would make anyone in “The World” stop and think, ‘oh, he must be a wavemaster.’ But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing in her opinion. Having a outfit that didn’t immediately give away the user class was both creative and could be used to the player’s advantage. She was also a tad biased; being one who didn’t also didn’t follow the wave clothing trend. She wore no robe, nor were her garments overly baggy.

Kragt then looked towards the pair of Uru’s, "And you two must be the higher levels that are here to teach us new bloods how to not get eaten and digested by all the monsters of the game. Or get brutally maimed from other players who aren’t nice. And even stop those really big boss monsters that love to slaughter the masses of people like us in colossal and speedy waves of attacks... I can’t wait!”

Urufu gaped at him for a moment, and then realizing that she was doing so closed her mouth. She had… never heard it put quite that way. Huh, he seems like an interesting fellow. It’ll be fun going through a dungeon with him, Sabbie and Urvei. A grin reformed on her face as the idea of fighting their way through a dungeon took over that of the trio. It had been a few months since the last time she had been able to log in; her first semester at college had proved to be a busy one. And sadly it had kept her from the game.

“…Urufu…” having heard her name, the mage focused her attention back to her old friend. It took only a moment for her to conclude that the long arm was just going over a few things with the other pair of their team; a party request followed, which the girl accepted. Vei continued with whatever she had been talking about, but was immediately cut off. Kragt was pushed aside by a large pudgy hand. That couldn’t be good.

"What.” Ah yes, she knew the voice; it definitely wasn’t good. “You think you can just hit us with snowballs and walk off?" He spat, as if he were trying to add some sort of emphasis to his statement. It didn’t work; at least, she thought it just made him look like more of an idiot. Beyond that, what he said wasn’t even accurate.

Walk off? As I recall it was a tad more involved than that. There was definitely quite a bit of running, and a little sliding too. Actually, I don’t believe there was any walking on my part… And geez these guys are hotheads! You’d think they would have forgotten it by now. They have a longer attention span than I thought.

"Naw, bee-yotch. You gotta respect." Urufu’s eyebrow raised and she contained her laughter. Surely people didn’t really speak like that? But his face remained contorted in a stated of rage. She knew then that they would probably have to fight their way to the Chaos Gate. Fu began to stand up while pulling out her staff, the three player started to advance forward. But, as it turns out, they wouldn’t get that far. There was an abrupt collision between the trio and a blademaster who had randomly fallen from the sky and landed on top of the goons. The wavemistress let out a small squeak of surprise.

Was he trying to jump off the roof?? No… He probably slid. Goodness knows it icy on the ground, I can only imagine what it would be like up there…! It’s sort of weird though, he must have plunged straight down from the top. Why was he at the very end? She stared at him feeling both pity and gratitude for the player. It appeared that he had successfully subdued her pursuers. She stood there for a few moments more, debating whether or not she should help the guy up. There was a good chance she would have had she not noticed that her new enemies were already starting to stir. Er, maybe I should just follow Vei’s lead… And almost as if on cue three gold rings began their descent over the player; Mac Anu disappeared into darkness. Intense warmth was the first thing to hit her when the field finally loaded which made the wave feel slightly uncomfortable. From what she saw, Uruvei and Sabbie shared her sentiments. Gah, it’s like I’m sick and have the chills… She rubbed her arms which had formed goosebumps from the sudden change in temperature.

The heat reflected their field’s environment, a dry sandy dessert. She could see large dunes dotted across the area and others in the distance the silhouetted against the slowly setting sun. Twilight was coming, at least the group had managed to avoid the hotter parts of the day. Yet the fact remained that despite the time of day, the heat was still quite stifling. The wave already felt tiny beads of sweat form upon her forehead which she wiped away. Then she peeked over at her companions, oh? Vei’s caught sight of something. The long arm’s gaze had locked onto some; Fu followed, though she had an idea of what it might be. It wasn’t shocking to see the monster portal not far off from the party’s location. We’re on a level four field, I wonder what will come out of that thing. Obviously nothing too vicious, but she hoped there would be a few monsters the newer players could take.

Uruvei was the first to begin the approach, closely followed by Sabbie and then Urufu began to run after them. In mere seconds ring was spinning furiously and emitting a bright golden light. Next thing she knew it was gone, where it had once stood there were now six beasts. Two goblins, two magical goblins, along with a snip snap and a deadly moth. Not too bad.

"Okay, um!" Her friend paused. "Why don't Kragt and Sabbie work together on fighting one monster at a time? You should be able to handle the Goblins on your own - they only take a few hits to kill. For the rest, tag-team 'em. Urufu, keep an eye on them and heal them if they get in the red, and take out whatever monsters you can. I'll take out the Magical Goblins, since none of you will be effective against them." The wavemistress nodded.

“Hmmm… Which one, I wonder?” she muttered looking back and forth between the snip snap and deadly moth. She was more inclined to go after the large crustacean, if she got the higher level monster out of the way it would make the over all battle easier. Or, so she thought. Then again, the moth could be rather annoying if you didn’t kill quickly enough. Either way I’m going to have to keep an eye of the both of them plus Kragt and Sabbie… So, it doesn’t really matter. Guess I’ll just go for the one that tries to kill me first. The two monster’s had hung back even though “attack mode” had been triggered. Fu watched them curiously, they stood completely still as if they were realistic statues erected in the sand. And they were staring at her, seemingly in anticipation for her charge.

Urufu made her move, swiftly moving forward toward the two massive monsters. She eyed them both on her approach as she waited for one or the other to lash out. A simultaneous assault had not been part of her plan. The large crab swung one of its massive claws while the deadly mouth tongue whipped out at the wave. She ducked under the pincher, but the tongue caught her in the side. “Tch.” The girl winced. Dang bug… With a quick glance at her health she saw that she was fine, only a small chunk of HP had been drained from her. Which reminded her, it was probably about time to check on the others. But it would have to be postponed; the Snip Snap was coming in for a second swing. “Argh! Vak kruz!” Fu shouted angrily. Chunks of molten rock formed as if out of no where in the sky just before hurling themselves into the beast. Its screech rang out throw the endless desert; the wavemistress was forced to cover her ears. However, the bug was unaffected and took the opportunity to go after its distracted target.

"Yep, that sounds about right," stated the purple cat. "You must be Kragt. This is Urufu, Sabbie, and I'm Uruvei. I'm thinking we'll head to a level 4 field. As long as the two of you stick close to me and Fu-chan, the monsters shouldn't be too much for you to handle, and you'll level fast. First of all, accept my Member Address so we can all form a party."

“Uruvei has invited you to join her party. Do you accept?” Kragt poked at the little yes button so he could see more about the group. He kept his footing long enough to watch three guys yell at his newfound team mates.

"What, you think you can just hit us with snowballs and walk off?" yelled the first of three. "Naw, bee-yotch. You gotta respect."The trio began to ready their weapons, this might end up bloody.

Grrr… These guys aren’t too nice. Maybe we can fix that. Swirly style... “Ru-,” Kragt was interrupted by a skiing Blademaster that blocked his target icon.

“Hey! That’s a great idea! People sledding could be the wave of the future, thanks random guy.” Kragt stood there smiling, understanding that nobody would be likely to hear him over the commotion but it was time to enact things. Kragt scooted closer to a small Heavyblade character putting his hands on her shoulders and said, “Excuse me Ma’am but I need your body for an experiment.”

“What the-“ Kragt had no idea what the lady would have said to his sledding idea since they were interrupted from this moment by his abrupt disappearance. Blinding flashes attacked his senses before his face was hit by the red twilight of the deserted landscape.

No, no, no, no, no and no… They had to pick a desert again… Heat and sand again. I’m going to have to kill someone for this. Kragt shook his head as he attempted to get used to the heat. He took the other time to get sand off of his glasses and robes. Afterwards he looked up and saw that his team mates had already ran off without him straight into a portal. “Hey!”

*Whoosh, thudthudthudthudthud* An assemblage of six monsters plopped into the desert sand. Some leather uglies, crazy leather uglies, sushi and a venomothmon. Kragt began running, leaving a cloud of kicked up sand.

Upon his arrival the purple one was already issueing a decree of combat for his actions. "Why don't Kragt and Sabbie work together on fighting one monster at a time? You should be able to handle the Goblins on your own - they only take a few hits to kill. For the rest, tag-team 'em. Urufu, keep an eye on them and heal them if they get in the red, and take out whatever monsters you can. I'll take out the Magical Goblins, since none of you will be effective against them."

With his own nod he watched everyone else start their combat fighting. Uruvei the Commander was taking on the Magic Gobs, Sabbie Youngest was doing her part while Fu the Elder kept staring at everything for a moment. “Gee whiz guys. I didn’t know we went to the desert to do community service. I bet these monsters are dying for a meal. You guys are so sweet wanting to feed them your own bodily flesh. I don’t have that kind of generosity in me bottomless hole of a soul.”

“Gan Zot.” Kragt’s attention snapped out of his little world and towards his fellows and their antics. In particular he watched his new blood team mate. He’s using boulders on an earth monster? I should go over the elements with him later; however, right now I got some catching up to do…

“Im not going to be outdone so ea- GAHK!” His hands leapt to his ears and his face to the sand when an almost soul piercing screech came out of tonight’s dinner.

********* more bloody sand. I think its in my mouth now too. I am never going to another desert again, ever! Once the noises subsided he pulled himself into fighting position. Only to get hit in the stomach by a Gob’s knife. “THAT DOES IT!!! JUK ROM!” yelled Kragt with his staff pointed at the gobs head. A green glow came from within and then outside the gob as a small gust began tossing sand and somehow leaves at the ugly little bastard of earth. His next move was the basic kind he wasn’t really supposed to do as he swung his wooden rod straight into the head of the little bugger.

“Just die already!”

Kraaaagt! Please leave a link to your profile in your sig for future ease. =DD Thanks!

That said, good work everyone. You guys continue to define your characters well, and the stories make me wish this had gone on for more than seven posts. T_T I look forward to being able to read more from all of you in the future.

Uruvei: +Ceramic Ankelt*, +Soul Charm
Urufu: +Diabolic Wand, +Health Charm, +Mage's Soul
Sabbie: +Iron Rod, +Raining Rocks, +Ice Floe
Kragt: +Earth Wand, +Meteor Storm

*Vei, I hate to keep giving you things above your level, but 9 is just an awkward one for your class. I'm sorry.