Belle quickly began making her way out of the town, away from the beginner's field she had been training Sif and out into the wider world, outside of the Cait-Si realm you were met with large fields that eventually gave way to mountains if you were heading towards the center of the world. To the south was Sylph zone and a forest, though the Cait-Si had an alliance going with the Sylph at the moment so she would be fairly safe if she crossed into their territory. To the north was the Pooka. Both routes contained heavy forest and both routes would provide her with something she could hit to vent her anger.

Sif lays on the roof, and smiles as he sees that the item he received was a rod. "I can go fishing now!" Sif says, a smile on his face. He opens up the menus, and then scrolls through until he finds the message system. He finds Belle's name, and then begins to write a message to send to her.

" To Belle,
Thank you for the rod! Something happened which kinda made me upset, however it has definitely cheered me up! (yes, I found out how to make kawaii kitten faces). I'll be sure to go fishing soon with the rod! Thank you again!
From Sif "

He smiles, and begins to slide off of the roof, landing on the ground. He begins to jog to one of the paths that lead out of the town, wanting to find a nice area to fish.

A notification popped up on Belle’s screen just as she took down the last of a small group of boars. It was from Sif, which immediately concerned her since shed seen him log off not an hour or so ago. She opened it and it made her smile slightly, she was glad to see she’d been able to cheer him up, though she wondered what had made him upset in the first place. She kind of saw Sif as a little kid so now all she could imagine was him spitting the dummy because he couldn’t have any desert without finishing his vegetables.

Smiling she eventually slipped down to the ground as she replied. ‘I’m glad you liked it. Make sure to stay close to the town and don’t go past that beginning field to the west I showed you earlier, the field to the east of the city has stronger monsters.’ Either way she could keep an eye on his health bar since they were still in a party anyway. On her shoulder Pina suddenly let out an alarming cry and Belle turned quickly and her eyes widened at the Ursa Minor, which was a small version of an Ursa Major, which was a celestial bear rearing up to attack her.

Sif receives her warning about the field, and he smiles, nodding at it. He didn't send a reply, but he acknowledges it. Up ahead, he sees a nice looking body of water, and he quickly migrates there, sitting on the edge as he takes out his rod. He didn't know how to fish, but he figured all he had to do was swing and wait. So, that is what he did. He reeled back, and then swung out, watching the end arc into the water. Now was the waiting game.

In the time it took to wait, Sif relaxed, and began to think of the day, both in real life and in his little fantasy adventure. Today, after boring tests of varying types, he had went on a game he had never went on -he decided not to count the five minutes of character creation he did when he first got the MMO- and he had met someone on the game. All of these feelings, the feeling of a rod in his hands, the feeling of the air and the smell of the water, it was just so real. He closed his eyes, and began to think of Belle, and what she may be doing.

Pina cried loudly as he circled around the fight going on between Belle and the monster. She’d heard that very rarely Ursa Minors would spawn out in these woods but honestly she hadn't expected to run into one of these out here, and she was willing to admit she wasn’t prepared for it. If it had been a Major, which luckily didn’t spawn around this area she would be dead. But thanks to her high acrobatic skill she was managing to stay even with it. Her health was down around half, so was the Minors. Pina gave another cry and flew in and fluttered healing dust at her, bringing her health up a little.

Drawing her bow back she let another arrow fly, which found its mark and made the Minor roar out loudly. Despite all this though Belle was loving it. She felt alive and it reminded her of why she’d joined the raiding parities earlier on in her game play. Maybe she wasn’t ready to rejoin yet, but she would definitely consider taking on some tougher quests or maybe joining a guild again. Something to remind her of why she really enjoyed playing this game.

Sif opens his eyes, and stares out at the water. "This is nice and calm. I like this life." Sif says, smiling to himself. He then notices something strange. Belle's health bar, which he could see because of the party, appeared to be fluctuating. "She may just be fighting monsters. No big deal. She'll handle it." He says to himself. But then, her health goes down to roughly halfway, and he begins to get concerned. He opens up the messaging system, and begins to type a message.

"Belle,
you seem to be taking a lot of damage. Is everything okay over there?
Sif"

Standing up and reeling back in his rod, he searches to find out where Belle was. He felt like he wanted to follow her around, anyways. She was an amazing person, he had to admit. After finding out where she was using the menus, Sif attempts to jog toward where she was, only to figure out he didn't know where it was from where he was. He began to search for a map, instead.

A small noise indicating that she had a message could be heard as Belle moved to hide behind a tree, the Ursa Minor swiping at it, its sheer size and strength breaking the thing in two with one swipe. “Don’t really have time to answer you now Sif, sorry.” The girl muttered to herself as she quickly turned and shot another arrow at it. The Minor was down to about a quarter health, she was down to about one fifth, Pina healing her once more and bringing her back up to one quarter. If it hadn't been for her amour she may be dead by now.

As it was her weapons just weren’t doing enough damage, Ursas as a rule were slow but they had very strong physical defence and attack strength. The one thing they were weak against was- she once again leapt out of the way, the Minor’s attack missing, barely. They were slow, but big. “Magic!” She reminded herself, turning Belle ran a short distance to put some space between her and the bear as she began the incantation. Magic was one of the big things about Fairy Tale, it was so in depth and powerful it could really turn the tide of most battles. That was also why it was so difficult to learn.

Now Sif was really concerned. He had found a map, and was jogging his way in the direction of the forest. Sif was scared for her, and wanted to see what was damaging her so badly. What would I do if she died forever? I may not find someone else to help me. Sif thought to himself, before quivering a little. It was quenched as he entered the forest. Belle would probably scowl him for entering such an area, however he wanted to help if she was being attacked.

Upon walking the path, he sees something big in the distance, along with what looked to be a Cait-Si. As Sif moves closer to the two figures, he freezes. "Woah," He says, seeing the Ursa Minor. Something that big froze him from fear, making him quiver again as he stared. He then figured that he should probably be retreating, and began slowly backing away, quivering.

She wasn’t as far away from it as she would like, but she was far away enough that this should work. She drew her bow back however before releasing it she began speaking in a strange language, words floated around her, some glowing strongly and lining up with others. The Ursa Minor was getting closer, which wasn’t difficult given its size, its back reaching the tops of the trees. It was probably just out of attacking distance when Belle finally finished her spell, struggling with the last few words before she let the arrow fly.

Since the bear was so close it found its mark on one of the stars on the bear’s forehead, lightning burst from the arrow, sparking all around the bear as more struck down from. The Ursa Minor cried out before it eventually fell to the ground, exploding in a poof of code and blue sparkly things. Belle sank to the ground, Pina gave a small cry as he flew in, healing her minorly again before resting on her shoulder and, surprisingly, she began laughing. That was probably the most fun she’d had in ages, even though that Minor wasn’t even close to a dungeon boss it had still been really fun.

Sif watches in a mix of awe and fear as Belle casts what looks to be a spell at the bear, and gasps as the bear cries out and falls over, dying. Even though the Ursa Minor had been taken out, Sif was still worried about Belle, who had appeared to have taken major damage. With hesitation in case something more powerful is waiting in the forest just to kill him as he runs over to assist his friend.

"Belle!" Sif says, sliding to his knees beside her and pushing himself onto her, grabbing her and wrapping his arms around her. He rests the top of his head under her chin as his arms cuddle her. "Are you okay? Why did you ask for any help? Jesus, Belle." Sif says, keeping his head nuzzled against her, cat ears twitching slightly as his tail droops.

“Hu?” She looked up in surprise when she heard her name called and the girl frowned slightly when she saw who was running towards her. “Sif?” She asked curiously as he began cuddling up to her. “What… what are you doing here?” She asked, sounding confused at first but getting more confident as she realised he’d come out into a very dangerous zone. “I didn’t ask for help because I didn’t need any, not to mention there was no one online who was close enough to help me.” She informed him sternly as she rose to her feet, pulling him with her.

“Trust me that thing would have eaten you for lunch.” She smiled, trying to reassure him. “Plus even if I had died I wouldn’t have lost too much and I would have respawned in the town. It’s not a big deal. Pina dying would have been more devastating than if anything had happened to me” Belle dismissed as she looked around, her tail flicking and her eats twitching as her eyes darted around. On her shoulder Pina let out a cry as its name was mentioned. “Come on, we should get back to the safe zone.” She decided as she began walking back towards the town.

Sif cuddles Belle, smiling, happy to find that she was okay. "If I was close enough, I would have come to help, despite you saying you wouldn't need any." He says. "And I was afraid of you dying." He says, shrugging. "Emotions, I guess." Sif says as they begin to walk to the town. A tear streamed down his cheek, as if he had been upset that Belle had almost died. He wraps arm across her back, cuddling closer as they walked to the town. "I'm sure that thing wouldn't have eaten me. You'd have been there to protect me, unofficial mentor." He gives a chuckle.

“Don’t think of it as dying.” Belle tried to explain. “Because you come back to life… if it helps, think of it more as a reset or something like that.” Anything that may be able to help him. As he cuddled her, she was reminded of her question and decided it was now or never. “Sif… I have to ask you something… if this game is so distressing to you… why on earth did you want to play it in the first place? I could understand maybe being curious about it but wouldn’t you have figured out when you fought your first monster and you broke down crying that maybe… there are better games out there for you?”

No she didn’t feel good saying about it, but it was true. She could understand curiosity, but surely he could see that this game was not a good match for him. She’d never seen anyone have a reaction this bad to the game because they never stuck around long because they realised this was a bad match for them. He didn’t make a lot of sense to her.

Sif continues to cuddle Belle, but the question catches him off guard. Why had I come back? He asks himself, thinking. I was indeed scared by that wolf, especially when I was injured, but... Why? James' eyes look down to the ground as he tries to think of something. Was it the game, the complete-package feeling of... Feelings, or was it just the adrenaline, and the rush he felt during both the fights on the wolves as well as the rush to find his friend. As he looked back up, and at Belle's face, he found another reason. One that basically just enveloped all of the rest, one that was always there during what he had encountered in this universe.
"You." Sif says, quietly. "You. You're the reason I came back. You've been there for me throughout this game, you've been here to help me, and..." His face turns red as he looks away from her. "And, you're generally gorgeous."

Belle practically stopped in her tracks, her body tensing as her ears and tail stuck for a moment before she took a few sharp steps away from him, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Now she felt like an idiot. It had been so obvious but she’d just missed it completely, too drawn in by the innocent exterior. But all the cuddling… that questions about game sex. “Creep.” She stated loudly before she brought up her menu and quickly logged out. They were within the town boundaries by now, so she didn’t have to worry about her avatar being attacked at least.

Avery bolted upright in her bed, ripping the NervGear off her head and pulling her knees up to her chest, shuddering slightly as she picked up the gear and placed it away in her draw. She’d heard of creeps like that before from other players, people who only played to get some kind of sick sexual satisfaction because they were probably too creepy to foster a relationship in real life. But she hadn't thought it would happen to her. For a while the girl contemplated reporting him, but it was late so she decided to just sleep it off and think about it clearly in the morning.

Sif's jaw drops open as Belle leaves. "C-Creep?" He asks himself. He lowers his head, sighing, and begins to type a message to her, his heart broken, feeling like liquid-sadness was being poured into the cracks.

To Belle
I'm sorry. I did not mean to look like a creep. I really meant it. I like you, Belle. You've escorted me through everything, and shown me yourself. I just, felt...

I'm sorry. I shouldn't even try. You hate me. I can't solve that.

From
Sif

Tears in his eyes, he pawed at the 'send' button, and then slowly, shakily reached for the logout button. He closes his eyes and then takes off his NervGear, laying it on his bedside table before he begins to sleep off the tears. Though loud whimpers still came from him.

The day was deeply overcast, perfect weather to stay inside and play video games. However Avery just wasn’t in the mood for it today, not after the events of last night. She felt so violated, relieved that things hadn't gotten to point where something really bad had happened but it didn’t stop the betrayed feelings welling up inside her. She grabbed a bag and an umbrella and made her way outside onto the campus in search of something she could do to take her mind off what had happened. It was late in the afternoon, however before she left her apartment.

Outside it was pouring down rain and she was glad she’d brought her rain coat and umbrella. Stepping out into the empty campus it was amazing how soothing the rain was as it pattered against the plastic of the umbrella and over the ground, it made her smile slightly. She was about ten minutes away from the dorms when she saw a figure up ahead taking shelter from the rain in a small archway. Apparently they had left before the rain had set in and hadn't through to bring something to keep it off them. Avery pondered this as she made her way towards them.

"Damn it."
James had been mourning over the loss of his only friend on Fairy Tale Online. His friends were at the Cafe, and where he would normally talk to them in the morning he left them to their selves. He needed something big, something to just flash at him and make him forget what had happened, at least temporarily. James, instead of taking his morning toast to a table and eating it with friends, took a walk while he ate.

As James strolled slowly through the campus, he tried to think of things he could do instead of Fairy Tale Online, though it was hard. He had other games, but Fairy Tale just seemed to be the most appealing to him at that time. He could join a club, but he'd end up skipping so many sessions he would just get kicked out. He could get into photography. He liked photography. On the other hand, maybe Fairy Tale Online had cameras, or a screenshot option...

God knows how long later, James sighed explosively. "I can't think of anything!" He shouts, holding his head, causing a few people to take glances at him before they walked off. He watched them as they went, ignoring the sudden feeling of an impact upon his shoulder. And then another. At first, James thought that a pigeon of some sort had decided it's lunch had to go, but upon further impacts, combined with a feeling of wetness, he discovered that it was rain that was already beginning to pour upon his shoulders.

Spinning on his heels, he quickly moves toward the nearest shelter, which appeared to be an archway of sorts. He didn't care what it was, as long as he was safe from the drops of liquid that poured from the sky. James was definitely not up for having to sit in his dorm to dry clothes. The rain did not seem to be ending any time soon, though. "Come on! I'll do anything!" He shouts at the rain, as if it will say, "Pay me and I will stop." In the distance, he sees a lonely figure moving toward him. Squinting his eyes, as the figure got closer, he recognized her. Oh, not her! She can't see me cowering from the rain like this! He turns away, so it was his back facing her instead of his front.

Despite the back turned to her as Avery approached she was easily able to recognise James and she sighed internally. She’d seen him walking away from her after a slung insult too many times to now know what he looked like from behind. Which was a sad fact. Internally she was debating the best course of action. Most of her wanted to ignore him, so she raised her head, holding it high and staring straight ahead as she walked right past him, however as she re-entered the rain her footsteps slowed until they eventually came to a stop and she sighed internally again.

Turning very slightly the girl cast a look over her shoulder to look at him. He looked miserable. She knew this should cause her some sort of happiness, schedenfreude if her German class was to be believed, which essentially translated to ‘taking pleasure in the suffering of others’. But all she felt was sympathy. Hell it would take a lot for James to avoid hurling an insult at her. Sighing once more, externally this time she turned and walked back towards him and stood before the boy, holding her umbrella out to him as she stared at the ground.

“Take it.” She insisted. The rain had been forecast to last all day, so he’d either be stuck here all day or he’d get soaked going home and whilst she understood some people enjoyed that kind of thing personally she hated the rain getting on her. “Go on, I’ve got a raincoat on anyway.” Avery continued, not really knowing if he’d take the offering or not. They’d never really been in a situation like this before and she wondered how proud he was. Worst case she could always just leave the umbrella and walk away, hoping he’d have the decency to take it and not leave it there for someone to steal.

A lot of things were on the boy's mind, things he expected to happen. James turns away again as she walks past, not wanting to meet eye contact, ashamed that he was having to hide under an archway from the rain. He had expected her to walk past, he had expected her to not bother trying to help him, he expected her to take pleasure in the fact he was cowering from rain, he expected her to hand him her umbrella. W-Wait... She's handing me her umbrella?

Her words confirmed this, so he turns, and stares right at her as if she was crazy. Slowly, carefully, gently in case this was some sort of fluke, some sort of prank. If she were to yank the umbrella back and pull him into the rain, James would be whining like a dying cat. Slowly, he grasps the umbrella, and moves it over his head. James was lost for words. Someone he had abused for such a long time, someone he knew hated him... Actually offered him an umbrella to help him out? He struggles to find words, and struggles even more to say them. "T-Thank... You..." He says. "I-I'll be sure to... Leave this... At your dorm..." Not a split second after he says this, he turns tail and begins to walk back to the dorms, shaking a little. Like a child against a wolf, he was afraid of the rain, even with an umbrella.

Arriving back at the dorms, James quickly drops off the umbrella at Avery's dorm along with a note that simply said, "Avery, thanks for letting me use your umbrella, James." The note was hell to write, as he had never said anything complimentary to Avery (unless it was intended as a mean joke), however he managed. Walking back into his own dorm, he closes the door, and gets dressed for dinner.