The "Best" RPG Ever-21

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Zack raised his nose up and sniffed the air a few times, turning toward Nora's smell before opening his eyes and starting to walk. Are you sure you're right this time? said Katherine mentally.

I was right the first two times, but some people aren't wearing armor thick enough to walk through all those thorns and I'm trying to account for that.

Do you want me to try and get a look from above? asked Mika.

I don't—hold on. Zack stopped, putting a hand on his sword's hilt. Someone's coming toward us, right through the thick brush. Doesn't even sound like it's slowing them down.

Feeling the sense of caution from his mind, Katherine removed a couple of her own weapons from the nebulous inventory and held them in her hands, ready to release or throw them as necessary. Mika just looked around awkwardly, not exactly having a specific way to be ready for battle.

After a moment, the person in question walked out from behind a tree: A blonde girl with a combination of scales, horns, and wings that made her look part dragon. "Hi there!" she said, waving cheerfully. "You must be Nora's friends, right?"

"...Yes," said Zack after a second. He let go of the hilt of his sword but kept his hand close to it. "So you've met her, then?"

The stranger nodded. "Yeah, she's on her way here right now!"

Is she telling the truth? he asked the psion.

I don't know! There's like some kind of haze over her mind so I can't read surface thoughts, and—
I meant, do you sense Nora nearby.

Oh! ...Yes, actually. Seems she was following our friend here. Katherine quietly put away her weapons, she and the knight both taking on slightly less tense postures.

While they had that exchange, the dragon-girl was rambling awkwardly: "Well, uh, anyway I'm Rose, I kinda helped her out of a little jam, but she did most of the important work though, don't get me wrong...uh..."

The elf finally stepped into view, her legs having a few minor cuts from the plant life. "H-hello again," she said, picking some bits of plant matter out of the longer parts of her clothes and hair.

Rose turned to Nora. "Y-you didn't tell me all your friends were cute girls!" she blurted semi-conspiratorially.

"I d-don't really think of them that way," said the elf, looking a little confused.
"Also, I'm a guy," added Zack, crossing his arms.

Rose looked him up and down wide-eyed, for a moment, before grinning and taking a few slow steps closer. "R-really? Are you into girls, then?"
"I'm really not 'into' anyone right now," he said, his ears folding back against his head in irritation.

"Oh, uh." The draconian blinked awkwardly a couple of times before backing away, looking surprised. "Oh! Sorry. I just tend to say the first thing that comes to my mind without thinking what it'll sound like, I'm not used to anyone else actually hearing it!"

"Uh, sh-she helped capture the guys who kidnapped me," said Nora, trying to smooth over relations a bit.

"So you got away from them on your own?" said Mika eagerly.

"W-well, pretty much. Rose d-didn't show up until I was out of the ropes and standing up. Why?"

"Heehee, nothing. Anyway, nice to meet you," she said, skipping up to the tall dragon-girl and offering up a hand. "I'm Mika, I'm a witch."
"Oh, uh, yeah! Nice to meet you too!" She took the hand and shook carefully, trying not to scrape her claws against the smaller girl's skin.

"These two are Zack and Katherine," she added, waving at the others in turn. Katherine nodded; Zack was still busy frowning at her, but at least his ears were partway up.

"Well, thanks for helping with Nora anyway," said the psion. And to Nora: "You said you captured them?"

The weaver nodded. "Sh-she tied them up in some vines with plant magic. They're knocked out right n-now. It s-sounded like they were involved in some other crimes, s-so it might be a good idea to bring them b-back to town."

"Town?" said Rose. "There's a town?! How did I not notice a town showing up near my forest?!"

"Your forest?" said Zack.

"Uh-huh," she nodded. "I made most of it and I live here, so it's mine. Oh, welcome here by the way!"

"Is the town a problem?" asked Katherine.

"Problem? No, not unless they start cutting my trees, which they haven't. But I've hardly seen anyone in years!" she said excitedly. "Can you take me to your town? I'd love to visit!" Even though Rose remembered seeing plenty of people lately, as Rob, the sense that she hadn't seen anyone in forever was so strong. Just how much had this game messed with her mind, anyway?

"Uh.." Katherine looked at Zack.

"Sure," he said, "I guess we need some help carrying those criminals back anyway."

"Oh, yeah! I can do that, I'm really strong!" Rose flexed one of her arms, which didn't really show off much of anything, but she certainly felt strong enough to carry four people. Or at least drag them along the ground for a while.

"Um, w-will your forest be okay without you?" asked Nora. "It's a f-fairly long walk."
"Aww, it'll be fine for a little while," said Rose. "You and those bad guys are the first ones here in forever, so probably nobody even knows it's here! Anyway, it's not like the plants have no way to defend themselves. But, umm." She looked up at the sky as if needing to confirm it was still night. "It's really dark right now. Do you wanna, maybe, spend the night and go in the morning?"

"I guess we were gonna end up making camp somewhere anyway," said Zack. "We should probably keep an eye on the kidnappers, though."
"Oh, sure! I can lead you right to them." The dragon-girl started back toward the way she came.

"Uh, m-maybe you should lead us through a clearer route," said Nora, "s-since there's so many people."
Rose turned around slowly, putting a scaly hand behind her head nervously. "Oh, uh, r-right. Sorry 'bout that. There are actually some really clear ways through here, I forget not everyone has scales..." She moved over toward a clearer path, routing a way through some of the nicer groves and around the thornbushes and things in her mind before gesturing for everyone to follow and starting the walk.

---

Aria's dream was different.

It would be hard to quantify just how different, as she remembered very few of her dreams before coming to this world, but it certainly had a different quality to it. It felt very grounded and real, as if she had simply been physically transported somewhere else. That somewhere else was a cliff hanging out from a landmass of some sort, overlooking a deep black void.

There was a demon in the void, looming at least twice as tall as the cliff she stood on, far enough in the distance to make out its full form. It was vaguely humanoid, bright-red-skinned, with a network of giant horns from its forehead. It seemed to have six arms, but its entire body was wrapped up in equally gigantic chains, some seemingly made of ordinary metals while others were of various colors, some glowing dimly or brightly and giving off seemingly the only light out in the void.

She knew what this demon was without thinking about it or asking anyone. This was the inhabitant of her sword. Its eyes were closed, and it breathed slowly, as if asleep. But she knew this was what demanded blood during the day, so it couldn't be entirely unconscious. The sight of it was terrifying; it gave off a sense of all-encompassing power and at the very least made her feel it would be a very bad thing if this were to ever truly wake up. It seemed likely that the hunger she encountered was just its unconscious desires, the basic, animal-like hunger that demands to be satisfied to remain alive.

Aria turned around, curious what the landmass overlooking the void was. But as far back as a few feet from where she stood, everything turned blurry and indistinct. It all looked...familiar somehow, and yet she couldn't quite mentally grasp what she was seeing. She tried taking a step toward it, to get a better look, but it seemed to retreat away, and on closer inspection of the ground she stood upon, she hadn't actually moved at all from her position on the cliff.

She tried going back and forth on the cliff, moving a step toward the demon and a step back away from it. Space seemed to work normally for all of those movements. But she was stuck on this little island-like cliff; she couldn't get to the indistinct stuff behind her, and the very thought of jumping off the cliff into the void was enough to paralyze her with fear for several seconds.

It seemed like the dream should have ended once she had figured out the extent of what could be done here, but it went on. Bored, Aria tried to see if there was anything else. There was a sound, a dull, roar like distant waters rushing through something, pervading the entire area. It had been there from the beginning, but Aria didn't notice it until she concentrated on trying to hear. It smelled like fresh blood here. Blood smelled good.

Aria sat down, cross-legged, on the ground. It felt increasingly like she was trapped here. But..she had gotten here by falling asleep, right? Surely she would wake up soon...any time now...and be free again. She stared across at the demon, memorizing its features. The sense of boredom and monotony slowly mounted, the fear of being stuck here forever grew. She thought about getting up, turning around, and running full-tilt at whatever it was behind her, but she didn't do it. She just knew it wouldn't work anyway.

The idea of being free seemed so nice...why did they have to keep her tied up like this? It was uncomfortable. It hurt a little. Aria shook her head, trying to make sense of those thoughts. They weren't...quite her own. She wasn't physically tied up, right? The demon was. The demon was what liked the scent of blood, too; it was a little disgusting to her, to be honest. But it was hard to draw that distinction; the thoughts felt very much like her own.

She closed her eyes, and breathed slowly. She had never tried meditation before, but it seemed like it might be a good way to pass time here. The idea was to just think about nothing, right? That was good because it seemed like every train of thought she began here ended with something maddening. And time should pass easily if she wasn't thinking about it. It was difficult, but slowly she managed to focus on her breathing, and only that. She blocked out the increasingly panicked thoughts of being stuck here, the scent of blood, the sounds. Just breathe. In...out...in...out...

This would be over soon. Would it? Yes. Just a few more hours, tops...

---

On the way to the captured men, Rose tried to make some conversation. "Hey, uh, Zack was it?" she said.

"What?"
"I hope it's not too rude to ask, but if you are a guy—I mean, uh, since. Since you're a guy. Why do you look like, well, like that?"

"...It's a curse." He'd been expecting some NPC to ask about this eventually, and had thought up a perfect backstory for it that would make sense to people in this world, and still essentially describe his situation. "My body was changed from how it used to look."

"Ohhh. Did you try asking whoever cast it to change you back?"
"They're dead."
"Ah. Well, I guess I don't need to ask if you tried that, either. But if there's magic that can make you look like that, isn't there any magic that can make you look like a guy again?"
"Probably. I haven't found anything yet, though." Which he hadn't. But he hadn't exactly been looking all that hard, had he? Maybe it would be a good way to spend whatever time off they next had in town. Better than shopping for more clothes, at least. "...But if it's that rare, it's probably expensive, too," he thought aloud. "We aren't exactly rich."

"Well, I'm sure you'll make bank in no time," said the dragon-girl, trying to be encouraging. Although if she thought about it, she was sort of hoping Zack would just get used to the body and then think a little more about the idea of still liking girls. The body he was in was really pretty, and the ears and tail were so cute, too...!

But...that was mean and selfish, wasn't it? She shouldn't wish someone else's desires failed just for her own, what, amusement? Yeah. She needed to root for Zack to get his body back to normal, and maybe look for a way to help him herself, to make up for it!

Thinking like this was hard, and she distracted herself as quickly as possible by thinking about the other girls in the little party instead. Mika was adorable and had a voice to match, and Katherine's kitty ears were cute, too. She grinned, humming quietly to herself as she continued leading the way toward where she'd first met Nora.

Do you think we can trust this woman? Katherine thought at Nora.

Well, she's a little weird but she did help me out. I get a raised-by-wolves vibe more than a, uh, pretending to be friendly one. Can't you just read her intentions, though?

I can't, and that's why I'm worried. I'm not sure if the weird haze over her mind that's keeping me from reading it or even communicating with it in any way is something natural to her...kind, since we've never met anyone part-dragon like her before, or if it's a skill she's using on purpose.

I guess we could just insist that one of us four keeps watch tonight, and watch her as much as our captives. Nora paused for a moment. But I have to really hope she's on our side. She actually is really powerful, and she's got an enchantment on the plants here that make her effectively more powerful when using them. By the way, everyone— Katherine nodded, and Nora continued, her thought being broadcast to the other two as well. Rose really hates fire, so don't even mention it unless she does start acting hostile.

Okey-dokey, thought Mika. Zack nodded.

Before long they reached the former campsite, and the four men were still just as unconscious and wrapped in strong vines as before. "Here we are," said Rose. "I guess this is a pretty good campsite. I mean, I can sleep pretty much anywhere so I, uh, don't really know what a good campsite needs."

"We have some bedrolls," said the knight. "That should be enough unless it's gonna rain. We should probably make sure these guys don't wake up, though."

"Yeah, we'll take shifts," said Katherine.

"Well, you shouldn't really have to. My plants let me know if anything's going on, so if they started getting out of the vines I'd wake up."
"I th-think we'd feel a little better if we did anyway," said Nora. "R-right?"

"Yeah!" Mika agreed, catching on. "Just, psychologically and stuff."

"Okay. Well, if you need anything I'll be, uhm, curled up over there." Rose found a spot at the edge of the little clearing and curled up on the grass, mostly-closing her eyes and pretending to sleep but actually squinting and planning to watch the party for a bit. There was a mixture of curiosity and genuine interest in these people that made her want to know what they would do when they thought she was asleep and not paying attention.

That seemed kind of abrupt. I don't think she's actually asleep yet, said Katherine mentally. We probably shouldn't talk about player stuff tonight, at least not aloud.

"So, I'll take first watch," said Zack, getting the bedrolls out of their inventory and handing them out. "Who's taking second?"

"Um, I'll do it," said Nora.

"Can I have fourth? I'd rather just wake up and stay awake," said Mika.

The psion nodded. "That's fine."

Well, that was boring, thought Rose. But these four seemed to know each other pretty well, like they'd been through some stuff. Zack took a seat on the ground while the others got into their bedrolls fully clothed. The draconian made a little gesture and raised up a little platform of vines next to him he could sit on a little more comfortably. After a moment he noticed, glanced in her general direction and nodded before getting up and sitting on that instead, crossing his legs just as naturally as any girl.

His facing was so that he could see both Rose and their captives, she realized. Which meant...they probably didn't trust her all that much yet. Oh well, she'd just have to do a little more to earn their trust. Maybe starting with trying to actually sleep instead of watching herself be watched? She closed her eyes and, after a few minutes, drifted off easily enough.