To Flofx’s commissioned continuation of <span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Garamond","serif";
color:#3A312D;background:white”>The First Quest
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Garamond","serif";
color:#3A312D;background:white”>
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Garamond","serif";
color:#3A312D;background:white”>Equipping
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D”>It was still, technically, summer, at least. That was their main saving grace.
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D”>They’d been prepared for a field trip, maybe an hour outside, wandering around a creek bed. Sancha’s shoes weren’t as impractical as a lot of their classmates’ had been – sandals with a flat heel – but once they’d gotten wet, they were pretty much useless. And after “Sancha’s little incident,” they’d gotten not only wet, but a little bit ripped up.
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>“You can’t have turned into the sort of monster that gets really thick paw-pads or anything, could you?” Fritz examined her feet critically. “You don’t have any cuts, just a couple shallow scrapes.”
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>“I’m not a monster!” The fact that she had to lisp that around new, long, sharp teeth made it a little weaker a protest than she’d have liked.“Well, at least you’re not a vampire. That would have been the shortest vampire-lifespan ever. What with the burning sun and all.”
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>“Still not a monster.”
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>“Mm-hrrm. Well, we need to add finding you shoes to our equipment list. I wonder… hey, up there.” He pointed up the bank. “See, grasshopper, you were right. The river led to shelter.”
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>“Those are just camping cabins.”
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>“Roof and a fireplace, probably running water.”
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>“Probably locked?”
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>“Pshaw. Don’t worry about locks.”
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>It turned out they didn’t have to. One of the cabins was wide open, its door swinging on its hinges. The car was gone, but they’d left the radio going and food burning on the stove.
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>“…York City appears to have vanished, we repeat, vanished. It is not our belief at this time that this was a nuclear attack. We repeat, we do not believe this was a nuclear attack. It is believe that this is the work of the so-called Returned Gods.”
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>“Oh, shit, them again?” The Returned Gods had been getting louder and louder since mid-June. Chaos in the streets, demanding tribute, demanding to rule cities or even countries. But this was the first time things had gotten that bad.
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>What was worse was the expression on Fritz’s face. “Yeah. Things are just going to get worse. Okay, grasshopper, this just went from a get-home quest to a survival quest. Let’s see what they left, assume they’re not coming back, and take everything we might be able to use.”
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>“Fritz… you’re scaring me.” The whole day had been scary. Her new teeth and her new monster-claws were pretty terrifying. But up until now, Fritz had been treating the whole thing as a game, and that had made it endlessly more bearable.
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>“I know, grasshopper, and I’m sorry. If I could have let you float along longer, I would have. But if they’ve taken New York… the world just got really, really messy.” As unexpected as his seriousness, the hug he wrapped her in was tight and warm. “So.” And then, just as quickly, he was smiling. “What do you need to equip for a quest?”
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>She could handle this like a game. She really could. She glanced around. “Food. Clothing. Shelter. We still need shelter, if we assume we can’t stay here. And a weapon, right?”
<span style="font-size:12.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Garamond","serif";color:#3A312D;background:white”>“There you go.” Fritz patted her shoulder. “You’re going to level up any day now.”
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/418674.html. You can comment here or there.
So why isn’t Fritz weirded out? (I’m half expecting him to be wearing a Mask.)
*nose-finger*
FYI, the formatting on this is sort of wonky, with the foreground and background text colors set oddly, and an oversized font. Did you set it in rich text mode instead of in html?
Yeah, I was in a rush. I’ll repost tonight