"Chew on this." Violet offered Theo a wooden branch. He looked up at her, then back at the stick. Then up at her again.
"What am I? Your pencil sharpener?" he scoffed.
She waved it at him; "You're the one with monster teeth- I can't very well do it! And we need a way to defend ourselves, if Rose didn't bail us out earlier you'd be dead. Do you want to die? Chew. The. Stick."
Theo snatched it away from her begrudgingly. He started nibbling a point onto it.
"Too bad we don't have those gun things your world has.", "Yeah, that'd be dope.". Violet ignored the strange word she didn't understand. She'd come to expect it by now.
"My legs are tired." Theo grumbled.
They marched for over an hour since they arrived- exactly how far did Rose dump them?
He blanched when he saw more water. He dropped to his knees. Defeated.
"...What are you doing?" Violet asked, annoyed.
"I give up- I can't swim anymore! Go on without me. Tell my grandma to come get me. I will sit here until then.",
"Like hell I will! Why should I crawl through leech invested water while you relax here!?" Violet went to grab him but Theo [Sticky Jump]'d away. -He always made sure to have one in the chamber. He bounced and flew weightlessly through the air.
"Come back here! You lazy-", "No!", he landed and crawled up into a trees canopy away from her. She threw her hands up and turned away."Fine! Have it your way!"
A giant cricket the size of a small dog chirped on a branch next to him, it's massive evil looking eyes looked back at him without emotion.
Theo ignored it.
"Leave one of the spears!" he called out after her. But she didn't respond. Theo looked towards where she had been walking, but she had stumbled. And fell!
"Violet!" He went to climb down the tree but he saw people walking out from behind some trees. People in ghillie suits- covered in plants that grow around the swamp. They had blended in perfectly.
Six figures stood there around the unconscious [Rogue].
'Bandits!'
Instantly Theo scrambled back into the tree next to the cricket. "Shhh!" he told it to stop chirping. To his surprise- it did... For a second.
He heard the voices of the figures who emerged.
"I thought you said there were two." one said. "There were! They must've separated. Or..." they looked around. Theo shrunk into a ball. He was almost the size of the cricket when he did.
"You three can look for the little one. We'll take this one back to camp.", a voice said as they threw violet over a shoulder.
Another one waved; "Very well. But wait to open up that casket until we get back.", they laughed in response; "I make no promises! You better hurry!"
The group divided into two. Theo wanted to follow- but the remaining three begun searching around. Fanning out in a circle.
Their bushy hoods obscured their faces as they moved closer. "I don't detect any thing human sized here. Just crickets and those spiders lurking about."
"They couldn't of gotten far. Holler out if you see them."
One of the figures wondered beneath the tree he hid in. "Come out! Don't worry! We won't hurt ya!"
'Like hell I will', Theo held his breath and watched the trio gradually make their way past him. Stepping soundlessly into the marsh beyond.
He slinked out of the tree once they were long gone.
As far as he saw it- he had two options. Go after the bandits, or return to the guild and send help. But half the bandits went towards the guild anyways- he'd have to get by them. He slapped the sides of his cheeks- then realized it didn't have the same effect as it did when he was human.
His face was dinosaur shaped.
"Shit." he grabbed up a branch and began chewing on it.
---
Violet stirred. She felt the heat of a campfire on her face, and strained against ropes that held her to the base of a tree.
"Whoa there. Goodmorning darling.", a man said. Wearing regal clothing with a wide brimmed head that curled with a long feather hanging from it. He had spectacles on that had a reddish tint.
"W-wh-" Violet started but the man raised a hand. "Oh I know. Save your breath; 'Who are you?', 'Where am I?'" He pantomimed like a damsel in distress as he asked the questions. Gesturing with his hands dramatically. Then became very stern suddenly.
"-Criminals don't get to ask such questions. 'Violet', where's your accomplice? The monster?" He leaned in.
Violet spat at him but he swatted it from the air before it reached him. "Please, you are far more intelligent than that. You managed to infiltrate a duke of the kings estate. That's no fools' accomplishment. You know who I am. One more chance- tell me."
Violet shuddered. She did know this man. He came up when she considered the potential consequences of her mission. She wouldn't never taken it if the reward wasn't so grand, because of consequences that of which this man represented.
"...You're making a mistake. I'm a [Thief]- I didn't kill anyone. Neither did Theo. That has nothing to do with us. And furthermore- I'd suggest you reconsider any untoward action. A powerful guild not far from here expects us to return by nightfall and they're not to be trifled with." she sounded far less confident than she would've liked to.
At that, he sighed. He flipped out a pocket watch on a chain and checked it. "Yes, I know of that mercenary outfit down the river. We feel no fear towards that bandit rabble. If we must, we'll dispose of them. If only to find your accomplice. But for now-" he nodded towards one of the people camouflaged in plant matter.
They went over to a large which sat in the light of the campfire and unlatched it. Inside sat rows of gleaming iron torture implements.
---
Theo was running towards the men who had taken Violet. He'd scout the camp and try to sneak her out while they slept. That was the plan he had so far at least.
"Hey!" a cheerful voice sounded in his ear.
Theo dove to the ground- scrambling to turn towards the source of the noise.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
It was Rose.
She was standing with her arms crossed. One of her ears flicked in annoyance.
"Where you goin'?"
Theos mouth was agape for a second- then he gave into fury; "Where were you!? You killed that spider right? Why didn't you save her!?" he shouted at her.
Rose shrugged. "That's what I'm doing now. And you made a bad choice. Going to their camp? Stupid. They split-up! You know that's the first thing that happens in horror movies? The main cast splits up, and gets taken out one-by-one. And you're literally a monster class! This is your element." She gestured to the misty swamp, the afternoon slowly transitioning to a sunset.
"I'm level 6, what am I supposed to do? Can't you just blow up their heads like you did that spider?"
"Oh, and you just kill people so casually? How can you ask me to kill for you so easily?"
Theo was at a loss of words at that.
"They're chasing you because you committed crimes. Sure, you didn't kill anyone. But still... You owe them answers.", "Can't you just tell my grandma-"
"She knows. The guild knows. But we won't baby you... We don't level so fast by protecting our guild members from the consequences of their actions. To be fair... An entire noble house after you for murder is a pretty high level consequence... So, I'll help balance the playing field." she held out a hand.
Theo took it and stood up.
"You should've said that to begin with! Come on- we have to hurry!" he went to run again but she grabbed his shoulder- "Hold your horses, tiger. I didn't say I would help directly. I have something for you, and some advice."
---
The sun was setting over the dense bog.
A young womans' screams would've been heard if it wasn't for a silence spell cast on the area.
"AH! STOP! I told you everything! My bosses name was Celyphous! A half-orc! My parents are dead! I just needed to do one more job! AGH!" she called out as he carefully placed another steel wedge beneath a fingernail.
He was all too calm about it.
"An interesting story, but you've yet to confess to the murder.", "Please! I didn't kill anyone! Maybe Theo did- but I doubt it! He's a buffoon! He was dead when we arrived!",
"You must understand- that makes absolutely no sense. A shapeshifter wears the mans form- and discovers the man dead also? Do you take me for a fool?" he plucked another steel wedge from a small case next to him.
"Captain Roa, the others haven't come back yet." one of his henchmen said. The oppulently dressed torturer sighed. "Perhaps those bandits noticed us. I want everyone watching the bog. Move it!" he waved the remaining soldiers off.
---
'Just stab him!' Theo told himself. It was Roses' orders! He floated soundlessly at the waters edge. A camouflaged man was standing above him, looking out into the marsh. Searching.
Rose told him what to do, and he did it. He swam along the waters edge and found this guard- as she said he would. He was just far enough from the others that they wouldn't notice his disappearance.
It was too... Surreal. 'Just do it!' she said. But it was so much more difficult than that. She assured him that the dagger she'd given him would only paralyze them. But stabbing someone was so violent.
Suddenly he felt a pinch on his bum. 'Youch!', he reached back reflexively and pulled a tiny piranha out of the water.
"Huh?" the hooded man said, looking down at the water.
'Shit! Stab!' Theo slashed wildly- but they were a professional. They swept their leg back out of range. But not quickly enough, a tiny cut was visible through their leafy pantleg. They looked down at the tiny cut. Then reached for Theo.
And fell into the water limply.
'That's some strong poison!' he said as he carefully sheathed the dagger. Rose was right- this was a fair handicap for him. She wanted to make it difficult for him, but not impossible.
He pulled the man onto a river bank. His eyes moved about in fear, he couldn't move. "Don't worry- I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to get my partner back." Theo whispered.
The eyes seemed to narrow in response.
Then widen again as Theo shimmied off his pants.
"I'm going to need your clothes."
---
Violets vision was pulsing- her ears were ringing. She grit her teeth so hard she was worried she'd chip them. She's never felt so much pain before.
'I deserve this.' she thought to herself.
"How strange..." Roa looked at Violet with a confused look. "I told you... I didn't kill anyone.", her voice was hoarse. Blood was dripping from her finger nails.
Roa chuckled. "I'll admit, you're pretty tough. Everyone confesses eventually. Torture is so effective in that way, it hardly matters if you're actually guilty or not. Just confess, so I can get what I want, and you can be free of this pain." he gave her a forced sympathetic look. She could tell he didn't mean it.
"Fuck. You." she said in between breaths.
"...Get me the pliers." a henchmen started rifling through a trunk.
---
[Form Change Completed]
Theo adjusted the ghillie. He was human again- that was nice. To have a nose... Hair.
Not to mention being above four feet tall. It just felt right.
He searched through the mans backpack. There was a pack of blowdarts, a small crossbow, a shortsword and some daggers. Travel rations and basic anemities.
"I guess they escaped to the guild ay' Zhaz? We'll have to route them out, it's unfortunate but it's what we were planning anyways. At least we got one of them- what a stroke of luck that was. We can interrogate them about the bandits defenses." a cloaked figure said as they approached him.
Theo startled for a second, but then he remembered.
[Assimilation]
"True. Let's hope they saved some of the good wine." he said casually. The other hooded figure chucked, "I wouldn't get your hopes up!"
Another approached. "Guess we better head out then." Theo sighed and began walking back towards the camp.
The two figures just watched him go though. "...Where are you going? The camps back this way dumbass." the chuckled at him and began walking in another direction.
"Oh yeah." he followed.
---
Rose would hope Theo would hurry up- she didn't like watching what Violet being tortured. Well- it wasn't the most extreme torture. The fingernail thing was just the start, the real torture would take days to get to. True torture was not being allowed to sleep for days.
She grimaced watching from the tree line. If every guard commander didn't operate this way- if it wasn't the normal way of the law in this world- Rose would send a rock through their heads.
But the standard of morality here wasn't the same. She'd have to kill every guardcommander in the world if she applied such rigid standards.
And... Violet had gotten herself here. She was a [Thief]. Even if you're a in poverty- stealing just made things worse. It's a documented fact in their world. Of course being in a survival situation is different. But sneaking into a government building and robbing them blind wasn't justifiable.
She did the crime, she'd do the time. And maybe she would actually level up from it... Probably not though. Rose and Shorty suspected Violet was at least level 20. Probably closer to 30. After seeing Violet lob a ten pound rock at that spider earlier it was probably the ladder.
She had piss-poor close combat abilities. But she could throw. But a [Thief] like her needs tools. The weakness of the class. After Theo takes out the others, he'll probably get to the camp and fail part 2 of the plan.
---
"I got to take a piss." one of the men said finally, while they marched back towards the camp.
'Finally!' Theo sort of felt like a horror movie villain- as Rose has said. It's a good way to plan his [Doppleganger] tricks. 'Think like a serial killer'. He shuddered at the idea, but it was an effective way to frame it.
They walked off into the marsh, picking a bush.
Theo slowly unsheathed the dagger at his back. "Hey, Jackal- I picked up this dagger, what do you think of it?" he asked showing the remaining henchmen while the other relieved themselves.
The dagger Rose gave him was an artifact- a rare item that anyone could use no matter their class or level. It was a elven [Skooma Shiv], something a Elven village rewards their most accomplished [Rogues]. She'd want it back after this, surely.
It was all black. -Opaque even. Only the silhouette was visible. It defied logic in the light of the setting sun.
"Oh, thats... T-that's actually not half bad-" he reached for it.
Then Theo poke him with it in the side. It went in about an inch and he grunted.
"What the-?" Theo grabbed the man as he went slack.
'Two down, one to go...'
---
Linn sighed to himself as he went back to where Jackal and Zhaz were waiting.
But Jackal was on the ground and Zhaz was missing! He ran over and checked his pulse. -He was living.
Still- his heart raced- it must've been the other one! But they were weaklings... There's no way.
"Jackal- Jackal!" He slapped him on the cheek and jostled him. Jackals eyes were shooting left to right. "Are you paralyzed?" in response, Jackal kept looking to the left. He wasn't looking- he was pointing.
Linn looked towards the left and a figure was watching from the tree line- half obscured by a tree.
---
The michael myers theme almost played through Theos head as he waited by a tree.
He felt silly. But at his level he couldn't afford to fight fairly. The only reason he stood a chance was thanks for two reasons.
1. his ability to change into others.
2. this artifact that Rose had given him.
Linn- the other henchmen stepped out of the dense thicket he had been pissing in. -Theo shuffled behind a tree, peaking out as they shook the paralyzed Jackal.
---
"Zhaz? Is that you? Answer! Did you do this!?" Linn unsheathed his shortsword and began stomping towards the outline of Zhaz.
It was disturbing how motionless he was.
"[Flicker-Strike]!" Linn called out the skill as it activated- clones of himself one after the other. One stabbed Zhaz, another went from a over-hand slash, another- tossed a dagger.
A series of clones made different attacks in rapid succession.
But only one was real- the rest were only illusions.
The thrown dagger pulled the cloak down- dragging a stick which held it up down with it- clattering to the grown like a broomstick.
Linn looked down at the shabby scare-crow with a confused look. Then sudden fear as they realized. They whipped around and felt a piercing pain in their stomach.
"Sorry." Theo said as Linn grunted, falling over to the ground.
---
The scare-crow trick worked. Theo called it [Shadow-Clone] jutsu and it went just as he planned.
He tied all three of the paralyzed guards together. It should last a couple more hours at least, or so Rose claims. At their level affects like these should be very powerful.
---
'This is why players have such an advantage' Rose thought, as she watched Theo work. She'd suggested he'd think of his powers as if he were a villain in a horror movie and so far it's worked.
A crow landed next to her, and flashed a red eye towards her. Rose rolled her eyes. "God you're such a helicopter mom. I GOT it. Jesus." she waved the crow away.
---
Violet sat there, barely conscious. Roa pinched Violets pinky between the pliers. "One more time. Why did you kill Lord Charles? How would such an act further your plan? And what's this about the 'Proletariat'?"
"I... Don't.. Know. I told you, that butler- Stelios- was working with Charles Malton... Theo and I have no idea about that... I have no reason to lie about any of this!"
"Huh. Maybe there are two different factions at play here... Too bad we don't have that [Drassus Amulet], that would make this easier." he sighed. "My job doesn't pay enough." he clenched down tightly on the pliers.
"Captain Roa!" a voice called out, frantically. Someone stormed out of the dense thicket into the firelight. The sun had finally set, and the mist of the bog had grown dense.
"Zhaz? Where are Jinn and Jackal?"
"They're fighting the bandits! They sent me to get you! Come on, we got to save 'em!" he called out to the other henchmen standing around the perimeter. They all seemed ready to go, looking towards Roa waiting for the order.
Roa just tilted his head. "Say, Zhaz, what was your kids name again?" he asked casually.
Zhaz flinched, seemingly irked by the question. "...My kid? W-what does that have to do with anything! We have to hurry! Their lives depend on it!"
Roa stood up slowly. "Answer the question, 'Zhaz'.", it was only visible to Violet- but Roa slowly grabbed a dagger handle at his back.
Then it clicked for Violet too. 'Theo?' she thought.
---
To be continued...
