Private Western Brisshal Wish Upon a Thicc Star

[Misha]

A cold night breeze blows past her features.

She can feel the chill cling to her skin, though it’s neither terrible nor pleasant. Unlike the air conditioned room from which she connected into the game, the mix of temperature, the rustling leaves and verdant fragrance everywhere makes it all feel real, natural. Palpable. Such is Terrasphere, and she’s glad it has remained true to its roots even after such a long time.

“Hnnngh!” Her first instinct is to stretch, “Heh, I missed this feeling!” the chirpy liveliness to her voice does not match the muted shadows of Brisshal’s western side during nighttime. Auburn eyes glance upwards, where stars swimming within an endless umbral pool are biding their time before falling upon this land.

She’s here to meet one of them!

After opening her palm menu, Misha is eager to go over all the new options. “Aight, I should have some time until he finishes making his ava-” and as if on cue, the bright glow of a falling star stirs the night, falling towards the blue rapid. She blinks unceremoniously as proverbial sweat cascades down her features.

Her hand is still hovering over the menus.

“Fuck me upside down! Did he even change anything on his avatar?!” she slaps away her user interface and rushes to the crash site before Leon becomes yet another victim of Terrasphere’s wolves(tm).

No wolves were harmed in the making of this thread.

Probably?

---

After hopping and bouncing from one tree to another, she finally ends her rush at the sight of the blue rapid. The brunette lands upon a tree’s large branches, and from there, her auburn eyes find an unmistakable frame.

“Guess you just tossed a bowl of oatmeal at the character screen and called it a day eh?” the jab aside, should he look her way, he’d find Maerie’s avatar jumping from her perch. She approaches at her own leisure, with relaxed steps and her arms folded behind her head. Her demeanor is almost tomboyish if compared to her real world counterpart.

“Maerie here! You can call me Misha, though.” She stops, eyeing him up and down.

“So, how’re you feeling? Anything outta place?”

---

@Dainsleif​

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[Dainsleif]

70 / 100

Retal: -15*2 = -30 HP

The thicc star shot down from the chilly night sky with shining fervor. Its initial blue tail slowly shifted into an orange gradation from the heat building up from the fall. Léon, no, Dain had never felt like that his entire life. It felt just like falling in a dream only to snap awake a split second before slamming into the ground. Well, he didn't wake up from the falling nightmare. His body helplessly followed the trajectory until he slammed into two wolves snapping excitedly at him at the river bank.

The muscular blond crossed his arms as he braced for the unstoppable impact.

SLAM!!!

He crashed into the two wolves, turning them into a thick red mist.

When the mist cleared, Dain could be seen standing up from the steaming pile of canine gore.

"Argh, gross!" an audible groan came from the youth as he felt the sticky red dripping down his bare skin. He was covered in blood and guts and probably not the best-smelling lad either. The carcasses slid into the river, where the water current carried them away, which, no doubt, would be picked up by hungry animals further downstream.

When an unfamiliar voice called out to Dain, he turned toward the source with blood and wolf guts covering half of his face.

"Hey, Maer- I mean Misha?" he said as he approached the smaller girl. "Wha- I didn't know you could customize your avatar. You look completely different than outside the game. Amazing. Is any of it real?"

He reached out and grabbed her face, playing with it like playdough, all the while spreading the wolf jelly all over her skin.

When she asked him about how he felt, however, Dain took a step back and began testing the full range of his movement. Nothing particularly felt out of place.

"No, I don't think so. I'm pretty in tune with my body, so if anything, it feels even better than in real life. Why did you decide to change up your looks, by the way? Wasn't it a pain to go through that much customization?"

Rolls

Wild Attack (Starfall)
2d100 (84 + 90) = 174
174 damage
Next cycle (-10) if you make a save roll.
Slash Weapons | Dainsleif | 1516
Killed 2 pre-buffed wolves from falling

 

[Misha]

Her lips curled up in a smile as he approaches; of course someone out of the loop wouldn’t know how virtual reality games work. When she opens up her mouth to answer his question however, she’s far too late to react. Dain succeeds in grasping her avatar’s face like she’s some stray brat he had found on the street. The redhead’s blood boils, the hair on her neck rises and the sheer rage forces her hands to ball up, and then —

Nothing.

If anything, Misha is the patient type. Even as he smears her face with god-knows-what kind of gore, her face remains neutral.

“Well, yeah! But…” she whispers, checking her surroundings as if wanting to share a secret. “I think something else is at play here, you know?” she prompts him to lower himself so she could tell him the secret…

Except there is none.

“You know, like…!” When the man lowers himself, Misha swiftly picks the wolf gut over his face and slaps it atop his head with as much strength possible. “LIKE USING THE BRAINCELLS YOU DON'T HAVE!” The impact echoes across western brisshal, it’s gory and thunderous boom rivaling even the dragonfall of vintergard, delivering a swift end to the thicc star.

Not really, but damn was it worth it!

---

Crouched nearby the river, her hands reach for the running water, scooping up some to wash away the gore painting her face. While refreshing, some of the terrible smell remains. A sigh escapes her lips as she looks back to Dain and the massive bump on his head.

“So yeah Lé- Dain, that’s lesson one. Don’t spread gore on people’s faces.” she stands up, crossing her arms and trying her best to hide a pout behind the dark of the night. Back when she started, she almost died to her first wolf, but this guy?

He quite literally squashed them to pieces by just arriving. It's almost like they playing with some sort of playtest package.

“That said, though, don’t you know what they do when they find you playing Terrasphere IRL?” she tilts her head and her ponytail dances along her motion, “Something along the lines of ultra-atomical-virtual reassignment.” Misha does her best to suppress a snort. Would he fall for it?

“It's why I made this avatar. The gov’s basically turn you into all sorts of stuff. Saw people become cyborgs, some become clones, even dinos, but…”

She eyes him up and down.

“Nevermind the wolf bits, between a bowl of oatmeal or a beefcake, I dunno which one they’d make out of you.”

---

@Dainsleif​

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[Dainsleif]

Marie's always known how to wrap the big guy around her finger. Just because they were in a game didn't mean it would be any different. Dain fell for her treacherous trick, bent down to listen to her suspenseful line, only to be clobbered.

With the bumps on his head, the blonde followed the girl to the river where he doused himself with the cold water, washing off the fleshy bits and sticky blood, letting the water carry their stench downstream.

"Sorry... I'm not super good with games, so I might be underestimating how everything feels super real, and gross too," he apologized with a hapless smile on his face.

What was more concerning, however, was the next part, the part about the ultra-atomical-virtual reassignment nonsense. It wasn't nonsense to Dain. His face became visibly distressed.

"Oh no. I was so caught up in moving that I completely forgot about how illegal this game is. Crap! This is my real face too!" Dain raised his voice up by a few octaves as he looked at his reflection in the flowing water.

Moments later, the blonde turned toward Misha and clasped her shoulder and shook her a bit.

"You've got to help me get out this pickle, Marie. My therapist said that playing this game is the only way for me to get better. I can't just stop logging into the game, but I also don't want to be caught by the government. What should we do?!" he panicked.

@Misha

 

[Misha]

“Hmm, I dunno…” Even as he shakes her, the redhead feigns apathy. “Maybe after that wolf gore shower, they might turn you into a wolf!” she closes her eyes, nodding to herself as the image of a lupine eared Dain pops up into her mindscape.

“Yes, that’s cultu- I mean, uhm…” She blinks unceremoniously as she notices the blonde’s panic is written all over his face. Sure she liked teasing him, but anymore than this would be downright mean, and he doesn’t deserve that.

“Fiiine, fine!” Her hands rest over his, unhooking his own from her shoulders, “Before that, though, we need to get going. It’s dangerous at night, but Honeyhome should be nearby.” she says that with the utmost confidence and experience of one week-player in a game played four years ago.

“Following the river should be enough to get us there. C’mon, let’s go!” she waved towards herself, urging him to follow her. As soon as she turns, however, her auburn eyes sharpen and the smile in her visage fades in response to all the changes since the last time she had logged into Terrasphere.

The beaten paths are gone.

The sharp eye would notice bones around the corner.

The trees have many markings belonging to an unknown language.

They have to leave.

“Anyways, there’s a trick to avoiding the gov!” she turns to him while walking backwards, her visage back to normal. “Stick out your hand like this and close your eyes…” she forms a fist with her right hand.

“Focus your innermost power…!” she growls and concentrates on the motion.

“Think about the stars on your way here…!”

“The wolves not among us anymore.”

“The power within you–”

“Reach for it-!!”

“And open your hand, releasing it all at once!! HOOOHH!” she ends her instructions by opening her hand with a dramatic shout, hoping to introduce him to the User Interface.. Even though none of the theatrics were needed in the first place.

---

@Dainsleif​

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[Dainsleif]

Being the trusting guy he was, he followed Misha's directions to the T. She seemed so confident and deliberate in her pathing that it oozed an undeniable aura of a seasoned Terrasphere gamer. The only time he really doubted her was when she began making the Kamehameha-like gesture and talking about power.

"Haha, you look kind of silly doing that," he chortled but copied her.

Currently, the little game UI popped up on his hand, radiating digital light that is nowhere to be seen.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "It looks like a phone screen, except it follows the movement of your hand."

Dain forgot all about how silly the gesture looked as he began navigating through the UI, inspecting all of the options and stat screens, but to Misha, it would seem like Dain was pulling off some elaborate interpretive dancing.

Dain seemed rather contemplative and apprehensive as he browsed through all of the UI-related functions. It was clear that he was neither good at technology nor was he a gamer, which frankly made sense considering his upbringing. So once he reached his limit, he rubbed his eyes and closed it all down.

"Argh, this is so complicated. There are too many things, and I don't get any of it. Either way, this game is realistic, right... This means that if you hit monsters with a big stick, they're going to reel back in pain. How do you fight though, Mar- Misha?" he asked.