Once again as Sif moved off to fight another wolf Belle drew her bow. The kid seemed jumpy enough as it was, she’d really hate it if he would die because he seemed like the kind of guy who’s confidence would be shot by that kind of thing. This was probably his first game of this kind, which was fair enough because other than some really lame little game the NervGear didn’t have anything even remotely close to this. She watched him again, it seemed like it was going to take a while for him to get the hang of this fighting thing.

He didn’t that aggressive nature in him from the looks of things. Sif’s cry of pain brought her out of her own thoughts and she quickly drew her bow and fired, the blow not only knocking the wolf off Sif but also killing it. Belle quickly jogged over to him and offered a hand to help him up. “Are you alright?” She asked worriedly. A quick check of his health bar showed he hadn't taken too much damage due to his gear. “Pina?” She asked regardless and the creature let out another soft cry before it flapped its wings in Sif’s direction, coating him in a blue, sparkly powder that vanished quickly enough but also restored his health. “Thank you.” Belle said, giving the dragon an affectionate scratch.

Sif blinks as the wolf is shot off of him, and the face of Belle appears. He takes her hand, and pulls himself to his feet, shaking. He wipes a few tears with a shaky hand. He may have not felt any pain, but his character certainly did. The pain had affected his character's emotions, making him cry silently, but he imagined that if he had really felt the pain it would have been quite sore. "I-I'm..." Sif whispers, taking a breath. "I'm fine... I'm okay, I'm okay." He whimpers as he wipes away a few more. The blue powder had certainly done something in the way of healing, but it was still terrifying to be bitten by a wolf, even in a game. The powder did nothing to cure his shaking the same way it had restored some health.

“Aww…” Belle couldn’t help herself. She’d never really seen someone react so badly to being attacked by an enemy. It was just a game after all and, whilst it was scary at first once most people realised nothing hurt that fear turned into a kind f adrenaline rush. “Come here.” She took hold of Sif and gently lowered him to the ground; sitting behind him she wrapped her arms around him and just held him gently, like someone would with their child or maybe younger sibling if something had happened to upset them. “It’s gonna be okay.” She assured him, taking a gentle tone in her voice.

Right now she was wondering if maybe this wasn’t the kind of game for him. It was pretty she could see where the concept of it would attract people who maybe weren’t usually gamers but if the basic level monsters scared him so much maybe this wasn’t the best idea for him, since fighting was a really integral part of the game. She wouldn’t tell him that right now though, maybe later once he’d calmed down a little. Right now the only important thing was to at least try and make sure he wouldn't be traumatised by this even later.

Sif sniffs as he sobs silently, tears spilling down his eyes as he cuddled against Belle. His young character was scared at the attack of the wolf. He felt like he was being cuddled by an older sibling that was trying to comfort him. Sif wondered if there were actual families and relationships in the game. It certainly would be interesting to see a family running around. For now, he was more interested in trying to get his tears away, which was slightly easier with the sympathy coming from Belle.

Belle's gentle voice began to calm Sif down a little, and he took deep breaths as he wiped away some of the last of his tears. His tail rubs itself against Belle's side as he nestles his head under her chin. If he was going to get this kind of sympathy from Belle all the time, he knew the player he was going to hang around with the most.

Once Sif seemed to have calmed down a little Belle sighed deeply and slowly separated herself from him, once again offering a hand to help him to his feet. “I think we’ll call it quits for the day.” She eventually said, trying to be as delicate about it as possible. Who knew, maybe this was just a little kid playing; it could be scary for him. “We’ll head back into town, log out and think of a new plan next time you’re on okay?” She began leading him back towards the safe zone of the town. The girl was under the assumption he knew the conditions about logging out.

Whilst technically you could log out at any time unless you did so in a safe zone your avatar would remain where it was and would be vulnerable to attack. Only in the safe zones, which were usually towns and cities, where monsters couldn’t spawn, could you log out fully and your avatar remain safe. Belle figured that it’d probably be really sad for Sif if he logged in to a death notification and all his stuff was gone. As it was it was around dinner time for her anyway and she she was getting hungry.

Sif nods as he takes her hand and rises to his feet, shakily. "R-Right. Yes." He says quietly. At the very least, he knew to log out in a town. It was one of the main highlights in the manual, one of the only areas he had read, as it was quite important. As they walk, he shyly, gently grabs her arm, walking with her, now completely silent. Maybe it would be alright to log out. His real self needed dinner anyways.

Sif decided to ask something while they walked, just to fill in the time. He had been quite silent for a few minutes, apart from the occasional whimper. "Belle," He begins, silently. "Is it possible for there to be families in this game? Like, creating a family, or is there a feature which allows characters to decide upon their relation?" Sif asks as they walk.

“Um…” She had to think about that one. “You can’t… have kids, if that’s what you’re asking, they didn’t put like a… mature rating on it I suppose? Since anyone any age could play this and they obviously didn’t want to open themselves up to lawsuits because… stuff.” Really she still had no idea how old this kid was and it was considered really rude to ask about people’s real lives so that wasn’t something she could do either. “You can get married, if you wanted, the only real perks you get from that though is a shared inventory.”

It wasn’t something a lot of people did, that she knew of, especially strangers. Maybe if a couple were really into gaming they might get married. “But you gotta remember this game is still centred around battle and quests and exploration and junk and while they did make an effort to give a very wide range of experiences and offer options other than those they’re still not the focus of the game. You’d be better off waiting for like a Sims to be released or something if you just wanted to play house.”

"Right. I was just wondering." Sif smiles through his tear-stained face. "Just a question to fill the time." He was still holding onto her arm lightly, letting her guide him the right way to go. "I'm guessing there are marriage gifts, too." He says, before letting out a breath. "It would be amazing if they updated this so people could actually play house, and stuff. It would attract a lot more players, definitely." He says, his voice quiet. "How far is the town, Belle?" Sif asks, looking up at her face. He could not help but notice how cute she was. Sif's cheeks turn slightly red.

Belle shrugged slightly. Sure, adding something like that… would maybe attract more characters, but at the same time she felt like it would be drawing a lot away from what was supposed to be the aim of the game. You weren’t supposed to get comfortable because at any time someone could come along and take over your land. Heck you couldn’t even buy houses in the game because of that factor. She figured if they wanted to attract people who wanted to play house they’d develop a separate game for it. Maybe they were. Or they’d open up a different server where the objectives were different.

But really she had no idea and this was why she wasn’t a game designer. Either way she didn’t want to disagree with him too much. “Just up ahead.” She did answer, there was a small hill in front of them and then the town would be visible. This was a really small part of the world after all, compared to the world as a whole. She’d never explored the whole thing yet, but she’d heard from people that it was massive and took a really long time to cross from one side to another using conventional travel.

Sif's face turns to slight happiness as they near the town. He wondered where he would log out. Maybe he'd just sit on someone's lap and log out with his eyes closed, making it look like they just had a kitten fall asleep on their lap. The thought of that was adorable. He wondered if he could do that with Belle. Then again, it would probably be incredibly awkward, for him, especially since they had met this day. Belle was very sweet, though, and she had helped him out. Pina was adorable, too.

As they entered the town, Sif smiles at Belle as he lets go of her arm. If she had friends here, it would be a good move, so that any of them would not see her with a younger person clinging to them and wonder if they were siblings. "So, where should I log out?" He asks her, looking at her shyly but happily. His sadness and fear was now over that they had entered the town.

“Where ever you like.” She dismissed quickly. “When you log back in you’ll be in pretty much the same spot, so it doesn’t matter too much.” Now that they were back in the town she seemed somewhat distracted, mostly because she was. She had a few things she needed to finish up before she logged out and realised very quickly that this new development was going to affect her game play very significantly. The kid couldn’t take a hit without breaking down and that was just… really inconvenient for her. It made her glad she hadn't agreed to be his mentor.

She would have never been able to go on a quest again with him there. Well… she would, but he would slow her down and would probably die fairly early in. She was still sympathetic to him, as much as she was able. He did remind her of a younger sibling she needed to take care of but at the same time she didn’t come here to babysit kids. She came here to get away from the stresses of real life and it would be difficult to do that if she was constantly worrying about someone who really probably shouldn’t be playing this game. She had a lot of things to think over.

"Well... Thank you, Belle." Sif says. He stares at her for a few seconds, before grabbing her and pulling her into a tight hug. "Thank you. I-I hope I'll see you again." He says, squeezing her even tight, before eventually letting go. He walks over to a nearby building, and sits down, curling into a ball before he begins to log off, closing his eyes so it would seem like his character was sleeping. The last thing he saw was Belle before his vision faded to black, and he was brought back into the senses of the real world.

Immediately upon removing the head gear, James wishes he had a cat tail and cat ears. They were just amazing. He places the head gear on his desk, before he picks up his keys. He was starving, and was planning to get a quick dinner down at the on-campus cafe. Nowhere fancy, but he didn't feel like going out far to eat. He guessed that a few of his friends would be there, too, so he exited his room, locking it and walking down the corridor. As he passes Avery's room, he decides to call out, "Hope you don't choke on your dinner! Oh wait, yes I do!" James smirks as he walks.

She turned to him, smiling gently though she was caught off guard by the sudden hug. It took her a few moments but she eventually reciprocated it. She watched him as he moved over to a bench before logging out, thinking it was a very odd way to do so. His avatar vanished and she let out a small sigh as she began making her way through the town. She had a bit of useless gear she wanted to sell off and was hoping to upgrade some of her existing, though due to the interruption she doubted she’d have the cash for it just yet.

Belle paused as she passed a general goods store, nibbling at her lip as her tail flicked back and forth as she pondered the purchase before eventually groaning and walking over. Once the item was in her inventory she immediately sent it over to Sif for retrieval once he logged back in. Maybe it’d keep him out of trouble if he came back whilst she was gone. Finding herself very short of the necessary funds she decided it was enough for today and logged out, removing the NervGear she placed it delicately on her bedside table before leaving her room. She was really in the mood for pizza.

James finds that his friends were at the cafe. He bought himself a slice of pizza and some pepsi before he walked to his friends and sat down. The four of them began to talk loudly among themselves about how bad the tests were, and then they moved onto speaking about gaming. Chet, Sophia and Michael all had something to say, and James also had something to say. Once they were done, they listened as it was James' turn to say something.

"Oh, well, I started playing Fairy Tale Online, that game I only played for five minutes and then left. I only just realized how real it is. Like, woah. I met this girl, her name was Belle, and she began to teach me about the game. There was this mentor option, and she said she didn't want to be my mentor officially, but could be it unofficially." James says. Sophia chuckles. "You had to have someone show you around the game?"
"Well, yes. It's giant. It's literally a fantasy world. And even I have to say that Belle was really sweet to my character." James explains as he eats his pizza.

Avery walked into the on-campus café but paused when she saw who was there and found herself retreating a step just out of habit. She still wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but her and James had just never gotten along. He was just always so unnecessarily mean to her. In the end she decided that she’d just order something to go. Walking over she made her order and sat as close to the counter as possible, hoping to avoid and kind of confrontation or attention. Unlike in her online persona Avery was not a very confident person, if anything she was more like Sif than Belle.

But that was because she wasn’t powerful here, in Fairy Tale she could just beat the crap out of someone who made her mad and if they attacked back they couldn’t really hurt her. She wouldn’t feel pain and her bones wouldn’t break. Sometimes she wished she could just live in Fairy Tale. She wouldn’t even miss this world that much, not really. She wouldn’t miss the tests or the responsibilities. Most of the people she really considered her friends were online. She certainly wouldn’t miss certain people of this world.

"Come on, how is she sweet? Did she bang you or something?" Chet asks with a grin. They all laugh. "No, no. Apparently you can't do mature stuff on that game. Well, my character is meant to be all shy and stuff. He cried when a wolf attacked him, and she just cuddled him. Belle also has this dragon-thing pet that can heal. It's adorable, just like she is!" James laughs. "Everyone in my race has cat ears and stuff, too." Hearing this, Sophia can't help but make a small joke by making a purring sound, like a cat. The group can't hold back their chuckles and laughs. James continues on, speaking about Belle and Sif.

Avery shook her head stubbornly at James and his group being loud so she pulled out a pair of headphones and slipped them on, turning the volume up loud enough to drown out their chitter chatter. Her pizza was eventually called and she quickly got up, thanking the man before she took her dinner and quickly made her way back towards her room. As she ate she logged onto her computer, checking up on some new Fairy Tale announcements.

She enjoyed reading through about quests she should consider trying. At the moment she had free time, it was in her nature to study things she was interested in because she liked to succeed. She pondered it for a moment before she decided to post a question, asking for advise on her new situation regarding Sif without using any names as well as giving the new mentor system a poor, strongly worded review.

The friends continued to talk, mainly about gaming stuff but soon Michael and James learned that Chet and Sophia had actually started to date. They made jokes, but eventually, James and his friends all got up, and walked away to their individual rooms. As usual, he decided to advertise his presence to Avery as he passed her room. However, he did it in a separate way than usual. He knocked on her door, alone as his friends had gone away to their rooms. "Hey, Avery! You're a girly girl! Do you know any forums for Fairy Tale online?" He asks through her door, loudly so she could hear.

The knock startled her for a moment and she turned sharply as she heard James’ voice from the other side. The girl groaned in anticipation and covered her head with a pillow as she waited for whatever insult was about to come her way. However what she heard next made her gasp and she flew out of her seat so fast it fell over on her way to the door. She opened it, the glare on her face full of hatred as she stared up at the blue eyes and blonde hair she’d grown to loath so much.

“None I would want to see your face on.” She said, realising that made little sense but this was the person she disliked most in this world the idea of having to deal with him in the one place she used to escape from here made her blood boil. “And if I ever see you sorry face on my game you had better watch out buddy because you will be sorry.” Without another word she slammed the door in his face, turning and marching angrily back into her room. She grabbed her NervGear, roughly throwing it onto her head.

She didn’t care if she was supposed to go to sleep right now. She needed to kill something.

"Fine then! I'll just go! I've got someone who would probably answer me, anyways!" James shouts, turning on his heal and walking to his own room. Upon entering, he closed his door and grabbed his NervGear, swinging it onto his head as he laid down on his bed. He lets out a very frustrated and annoyed breath as he enters the world of Fairy Tale Online again.
Upon entering the world, Sif was greeted with a notification. An item from Belle, it appeared. He clicks on the item, and accepts the delivery, before he begins to climb onto the roof of the building that he was sitting under. He needed to sit and relax, and then maybe try killing something by himself.