P2: Chapter two

1¢op

“I think we should put our arm bands back on before we head into camp.” 1¢op said to SHEgamI, who nodded in agreement. That done they were once again visibly ranked members of the Blue Army. That done 1¢op spoke the pass phrase. Nothing happened. She tried again louder this time, with the same result. She started to turn towards SHEgamI, to ask if she had any ideas. A sound from above startled her and she quickly dropped into her ready stance, and swiveled to try and identify the source of the sound.

It was a ladder, she gestured to SHEgamI as its bottom rung stopped moving about two feet off the ground. Anrkey with an arrow still strung on her bow said, “I should stay down here, keep an eye out while you you check out what’s up there.”

“No need, this area is completely secure, one hundred percent Blue Army!” This declaration was followed by many hoots and cheers of “Blue is better!”

“I guess a lot has changed,”  1¢op said.

SHEgamI shrugged, then unstrung the arrow and replaced it in her quiver, 1¢op started to climb. Soon she could feel the ladder sway slightly as SHEgamI started climbing. Soon a platform came into view. Upon reaching the opening, entrance, of the platform she was greeted by hands. With the help of those hands 1¢op and SHEgamI were standing side by side on the platform, The hole from which they had just emerged at their backs. 1¢op saw that the platform that they stood on was a small part of a sprawling tree structure, seeming a natural part  part of the leafy canopy; a single bridge woven of branches, rope, and planks connected it to another platform.

“Welcome to Bluetopia of the Trees. My name is Toadanaga, I oversee this Gate.” The speaker was a maybe four and a half feet tall toad wearing a kimono carrying a katana in its left hand. “I check in all new arrivals,” Toadanaga said. “I am also charged with debriefing all returning missions. Are you returning from a mission?”

“Yes we are, we have been gone for a while can you please point me towards LeBlu?” 1¢op’s orders had been clear.

Toadanaga blinked then spoke, slowly as if speaking to a child. “Of course, just as soon as I take your report to my supervisor, she will talk with the commander. If he then desires, you can see him. Let us start simple with your name and rank.”

Tired of being talked down to by this piss ant bureaucrat 1¢op snapped, “Sargent, I order you to direct me to LeBlu.”

Eyes bulging Toadanaga turned and yelled, “AnrKEY! There is a Lieutenant here demanding to see the commander.”

The hut was perfectly hidden among leaves, 1¢op had missed it completely. AnrKEY a dark elf, with spiky pink hair, black saggy pants, a worn leather jacket completed the outfit. When AnrKEY stepped clear of the hut, 1¢op saw that her face was heavily scarred, it looked like a circle around what might have been an A. She wore a perpetual smirk, and her voice reflected that. “Then you better tell her where he is. Nevermind. Come on,” this to 1¢op, “I was going there later anyways, I’ll take you.”

“Thanks, I’m Penny, this is SHEgamI.” 1¢op said.

They shook hand all around.  “Let’s go,” AnrKEY said, leading them across a bridge which terminated at another landing. From this landing they took a flight of stairs. “You know? I know your name. Yeah crazy, a little while back I was told to keep an eye out for you.” AnrKEY laughed. “Its coming back now, you are supposed to have important information. LeBlu will be so happy to see you.”

The top of the stairs was a little market lane through the treetops. The lane lead to a three story building which was built into a majestic, almost unbelievably big trunk at the point where many of its huge branches separated. When it was clear that this was their destination, 1¢op asked the question that had been bothering her. “AnrKEY can I ask you a question, I don’t want to be rude?”
“Sure go ahead, I don’t offend easy.”

“Ok, great. How did someone with your name end up a lieutenant in an army?”

AnrKEY scoffed then said “I guess I like irony more than an ideology.” She opened the door then gestured them in. She lead them through a mostly empty social space with a few tables set up. On the far side of this room there was a short flight of stairs. At the top of the stair was the door of LeBlu’s office.

He looked up from his desk when the door opened. 1¢op thought he looked frustrated, but when he recognized her, the lines fell away and his face visibly brightened. “Penny! Welcome back! SHEgamI Welcome. Your timing couldn’t be better. I want to begin implementation of Operation Blue Grass. I have finally gathered the right people, The information you bring me is the final piece. Please sit down. You too AnrKEY, you have a place in this council too, that right, here on Penny’s right.”

Once seated Penny could see that what she had taken as a tablecloth was actually a map of AntruA, or at least a small portion of AntruA. LeBlu spoke again when they were all seated, sitting across the map covered desk from him. “First sync your maps with this one. This is the map that I'm using as the Blue Army’s master map. Once you’ve done that, please begin your debrief.”

It was cool to watch the information flow onto the map, it looked like someone blew the fog away revealing the land beneath. “As you can see we followed this road west a pretty good distance.”  1¢op started. “We crossed those two bridges. After the second bridge the road turned south, It was near here we saw the first soldiers in the Red army. It was a squad of three, They weren’t expecting us, so we got the drop on them. The road leads to the town of Norca, This is where the Red Army was. They seem to be very aggressive in recruiting. They control the all business in the town, but other than that we got no sense of any organization. We talked with many recruits, they all told us the same thing; they were paid. Fifty gold. It was hard to get a head count but We estimated about fifty to sixty Soldier displaying their colors, for the most part they were gathered in one spot, a tavern call Red Room.

“We spoke with many of the Red recruits, but were unable to gain any more useful information. We tried to get them to talk about any missions or if any of them had gone further west. No one knew anything. They all talked about this Tokening. Have you heard anything about this?”

“Yes, some,” LeBlu said, “please tell me what you learned.”

“Ok,” SHEgamI took over the debrief, “it seems that if your Token is looted, you no longer exist in AntruA. Your character is deleted. No one knew that the character got from this but the consensus was they got something. It seems to have them all pretty scared, some are leaving their Tokens in town when they go exploring. It is having the effect of limiting their growth, we didn’t see a single level three. We thought that maybe people were staying at level one because you can’t be Tokened if you don’t have one.”

“That matches what we’ve also found.” LeBlu said, “We have learned what the Tokener gets. Taking a Token will give you some of the Token’s power it also leaves you with some kind of trophy, generally a grizzly one. I recently spoke with the Leader of the Red Army, we both agreed that this brought a level of darkness to AntruA that we didn’t like. Any soldier, from either Army that takes a Token is to be returned to their Army where they will be Tokened. Do you guys have any objection? Good. This Intel is just what I needed. I have only one follow up question. What was the furthest spot that you saw any Red soldiers?”

“Here,” 1¢op answered, “it was that squad of three we ambushed where the road turned south. Those were the only soldiers we saw outside of Norca. I assume they are focusing their attention south. We should send another mission that way to find out what’s there.”

“I agree,” LeBlu said, nodding, he pointed to the map. “I have sent missions south from here and east to Sha. I will send whichever squad comes back first. I need you to start Operation Blue Grass. I am dubbing the road you followed the Crescent Road.” As he spoke the words they appeared on the map. “The first phase of Op BG is to establish new Blue Army outposts at strategic positions. The first one will be here in the delta between those two bridges, its mission will be to monitor and tax the traffic. If we can control both bridges we can control all traffic between Orup and Norca. Hopefully this will have the added benefit of keeping the Red army bottled up. I’m also hoping that this outpost will grow in the same way that Blutopia has.

“AnrKEY I’m promoting you to major. You’re going to be in command of this base. You will pick four soldiers to join you. A key component of your mission is to recruit new soldiers. It is up to you to build a forces that can hold those  bridges. How you do that is really up to you.” He turned to 1¢op and SHEgamI, “I have another important task for your team. I want you to patrol the woods between Norca and the river, do everything you can to keep the Red Army in the dark about the new outpost. Let’s call it The delta.”

“No,” AnrKEY said, “if I’m in command it's Gilman.”

“Perfect. You are both working towards the same goal. To see Gilman grow into a self sustaining fortress. AnrKEY you have overall command to this end. 1¢op, you work independently when you’re in the field. I want you to report back to AnrKEY every few days at first until you have a feel for the delta. Once we have a shop set up there you’ll be able to resupply on unlimited Blue Army credit. Ok take a few minutes to go over the map and cordiant your first moves.”

“I’ll take this lower road to Ourp,” AnrKEY said, “I would like to pick up a recruit or three along the way.”

“We can move fast along the upper road, we’ll bypass Ourp, then scout the road to the first bridge.”  1¢op said, “we’ll back track and meet you in Ourp, we can plan our next move based on whether we find the bridge clear or not.”

“It’s a good plan,” AnrKEY acknowledged, “I’m going to go pick my troops, I’ll see you in Ourp.” She left the office.

“Shall we SHEgamI?” 1¢op asked.

“Yes, let us.” SHEgamI said, with a smile.

1¢op nodded to LeBlu, he smiled and waved, “Good luck, have fun storming the castle.”

SHEgamI was quite as they left Bluetopia. When they had reached the road she started to laugh, soon 1¢op was laughing with her. “It’s all so ridiculous. I mean can they really be this serious.”

“I don’t know,” 1¢op was still laughing a little, “either way I’m having fun with it.”

“Yeah, you’re right, me too. What do you say should we go for it?”

“When I was going through some work training, they taught us to help with our improve skills, like our ability to think on our feet. They taught us to accept the gift, to just say yes.”

“Accept the gift? Say yes? You mean just go with it, right?”

“Exactly, I think we should go for it.”

“Ok.” with trees for witness SHEgamI saluted.

1¢op grinned and saluted back,  

Part Two: Chapter one

PART II

Ana Raknid

When she finally had the wrappings removed and she had been able open her eyes for the first time the light filtering through her window was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Now she hated it, that light fell on fell on her mirror. The mirror was a curse. It wasn’t really the mirror’s fault, it was what the mirror showed. The image she saw was a stranger.

The doctors had all been very self congratulatory as they told Ana how their skill had saved her eye and most of her functions. She was thankful to be alive, thrilled that she could she see. The doctors hadn’t been able to fix a cut nerve that left half her face frozen. The stranger in the mirror, with half a doll's face, was a constant judge and jury finding her guilty of doing something stupid. The stranger was also executioner of the sentence, right now she wasn’t sure she could do the time.She spoke with a women at the hospital, who told her it wasn’t her fault.and though there was a stranger in her mirror, Ana was still there. Both arguments sounded hollow. She signed a rolled towards her wall trying to shut out her window, mirror and her thoughts.

There was a knock on her door.

“Ana?”

It was her Mom.

“Ana, You have a visitor. Jenny’s here. Do you want to see her? I can have her wait downstairs if you need to get ready, clean up maybe?”

“I’m okay Mom, send her up please.”

“Maybe you guys can go to the mall or something.”

“Okay Mom.”

“It’s just you haven’t been out of the house for a while. Why not go for a walk in the park”

“Mom!”

“Alright sweetie, I’ll go get your friend.”

“Love you, Mom.”

Ana got up and made her bed. She ran her fingers through her hair then twisted into a ponytail. When the door opened, They squealed and hugged each other then sat on Ana’s bed. “Did she ask you to get me out of the house?”

“Yeah she told me she would give me fifty dollars to go shopping.”

“Just fifty? I would have thought that she’d be offering more.”

They laughed at this. Then the silence hung.

“I’m sorry Jenny, I’m not good company I’m afraid.”

“No, no, no. You’re fine. I’m just so happy to see you looking so good. So uh, I did take that money from your Mom, so we really should go do something.”

“Look, Jenny, I want to. I just can’t. Please understand?”

“I know you can wear sunglasses and a hoodie, It will be like you’re a celebrity.”

“That’s not it.”

“What do you mean?”

“When they first took off my bandages I was so scared that people would stare at me. They didn’t, no one seemed to notice me at all. It’s creepy, maybe i'm losing my mind. I remember people talking, there was always noise. But when I go out now, it’s so quiet, all I can hear is people breathing. No one even looks at each other, they’re just blank like zombies.”

“Oh no honey, that’s AntruA.”

“What is AntruA?”

Saying the word triggered something in Ana’s memory, Something on TV the day of her accident. She couldn’t remember what it was, she just remembered that it had seemed gross and creepy.

“...so pretty and so blue. There are forest and flowers and rivers. You can’t imagine how big it is. You can do whatever you want, lots of people fight, I mostly explore. There hidden boxes, they have money and other prizes. That’s what we should do. Let’s go get you TAPed, maybe smoothies too. What do you say?”

“I think I saw something on TV about this before my accident. It sounded like a video game. I guess we should go, does it hurt?”

“No it doesn’t hurt. Look how small it is?” Jenny turned her back to Ana and pulled her hair up and to the side. Nestled at the very edge of Jenny’s hairline was a little silver disk smaller than an eraser on a pencil. When she let her hair fall it was completely hidden. “I’m so excited you are just going to love AntruA.”

They never got the smoothies. Jenny’s excitement was bubbly and  infectious. Knowing that everyone was playing this game made it easier to go out. The procedure, if you could call it that, was over before Ana thought it started. Once out of the chair Jenny took her by the hand and walked her to a park bench. “Oh Ana, I’m so excited for you. I remember my first time. Close your eyes go straight to AntruA. Don’t worry about anything, I’m setting a proximity alert so if anyone come within twenty meters I can monitor them if they start to come closer I get pulled completely out of the game. Ok?”

“Um, yeah why not.”

“When you finish creating your character, let me know your name and I’ll come find you. I’ll be the fairy named BuTTherKup.” Jenny’s eyes had closed before she had finished speaking.

Ana watched her for a moment, Then taking a deep breath she obeyed the small writing hanging at the edge of her vision, she closed her eyes. Quickly she was able to find the AntruA app and the door in the arch of the R was before her. At first she tried to take in the whole room, but it was too much. She touched the cool marble in aw. Movement caught her eye, she turned and looked at the tapestries. The first figure that stood out was in the top left corner of the Rogues and Rangers tapestry; the Assassin.

Not really having a plan she picked that, using her own image for the template. She then found a picture of herself the day before the accident, without looking at it she uploaded it on to the character. She looked at it. Suddenly she was so angry, like stepping into a cold shower, her rage was so cold it burned. She deleted the photo, still her rage burned. One of the tapestries had many faces on display. most of them were pretty. In her anger Ana didn’t want her character to be pretty, she started to look at non human faces. Quickly she dismissed the humanoid and mammalian races, briefly considered something insectoid but knew her search was over as soon as she saw a spider head.

A spider's head on her body really creeped her out it was perfect. Her rage still burned, but in some sick way looking at her perfect form disfigured was helping. She started to look at clothing options, but thinking about fashion brought her rage back. She flung first one big swath of cloth at the body, then she flung more unleashing her rage at the figure. She only stopped when her arms were tired. Struggling to catch her breath she looked up to discover that the effect was captivating. The cloth was diasporus, dropping alluring hints as to the body it covered. A veil or maybe it was may veils completely covered the spiders face. She loved it.

She quickly picked a simple short sword for her weapon, that she could conceal it at her waist sealed it for her. Now the only choice to make was the name. Looking at the character she had just created, she felt her rage shift from the the character to the world that seemed so hard. Going with the first thing that came to mind she wrote in BrokenBeauty. That wasn't quite right, so she played around with it. She settled on BeAutyBrokEn. Ana wasn’t sure what it meant but it worked for her so she locked it in.

She watch, feeling like an observer as BeAutyBrokEn steps through the tapestry and without ceremony stabbed Ana in the chest. Maybe she should have felt something. However BeAutyBrokEn felt nothing. When the body stood back up, she felt anger. Unlike the rage which had burned hot, this anger was cold. Cold, sharp and deadly. Ana attacked, BeAutyBrokEn found she could only defend, she was struggling to do that. As suddenly as the attack had started it stopped.

“Quickly pick a skill and it better be a good one,” half of Ana’s face was frozen in an angry sneer.

BeAutyBrokEn looked at the scroll before her, she paused. The world seemed bigger, maybe not bigger she could just see more. Two eyes were looking at a blank scroll, two other eyes were looking at Zombie Ana. A few other covered the rest of the room. Eight eyes! Spider eyes, just like that she knew what her skill would be, using her finger she wrote on the scroll. Done she stepped away from the pedestal as it retracted into the floor.

Zombie Ana attacked, viciously hacking with her short sword. With her left hand holding her sword BeAutyBrokEn kept the attack at bay. With right hand she was trying her skill for the first time. From one of the many layers of cloth that made up her clothing she found a thread. Pulling it to gain some slack, she side stepped a wild chop and threw the thread. It struck Zombie Ana in the shoulder and stuck. She threw more, keeping away from Zombie Ana’s sword arm, slowing circling her nemesis. With maybe fifteen threads hanging off her Zombie Ana screeched and tried to leap at BeAutyBrokEn, who had been waiting for this moment. She jerked her hands up and the slack from the threads, most of which was lying twisted on the floor, snapped tight. In an undignified bundle of limbs Zombie Ana crashed to the floor. One leg, the only limb free to move, kicked feebly. BeAutyBrokEn felt the anger flare up, bright, sharp and cold. With the short sword she stabbed once, twice, the leg stopped kicking then the body slowly faded into nothing.

The light in the room had faded, two eyes focused on a bright light behind the torn tapestry. Without hesitation she walked through the light and found herself Outside. She closed her eyes and felt the sun, the light breeze. When she opened her eyes it was almost too much. There were no walls, just trees and grass. The Sun was high in the sky, it was so bright she had never seen anything like it. An eye saw a sign.  

AntruA

Nearest Town

She wasn’t sure what she had thought she would see, this wasn’t what she expected. Four clean walls, one door, one desk, no windows. A woman behind the desk smiled and gestured her over. As she moved to the desk three eyes focused on the woman.

6ig6a6y

Level 2

Wallet-5AU

She was big, with thick legs and wide shoulders. Framed in raven black hair, her face, olive skin, pretty was dominated by a prodigious nose. Her smile was beautiful and warm. “Hello, welcome to AntruA. You can call me Baby.”

“Thanks Baby.” BeAutyBrokEn said trying out her voice for the first time. She was pleased, it was soft and sultry, with a few faint clicks. “Call me Beauty, can I ask you a question?”

“Oh Yes! Ask me anything. That’s what I’m here for. It is my job to help you get started in this incredible world. So please ask your question,” 6ig6a6y said smiling.

That smile again, so open and trustworthy, it was starting to creep BeAutyBrokEn out. “Ok, Thanks. What is a wallet, I mean why is it so important that its listed with your name and level?”

“That’s a good question. The AUs in your wallet can be looted off your body if you’re defeated. The more money in your wallet the bigger the target you are. It’s mostly a way for you to show how good you think you are.”

“Why are AUs so important?”

“It’s real money! at first it was pegged to USD, now it’s a one AU is equal to a dollar and a quarter. I caution you, don’t get cocky after a few fights and put more money in your wallet than you can afford to lose. You can make pretty good money, either by taking it or by crafting and selling equipment. Here take this brochure, It will set up your accounts, do that and you’ll be ready to go!  Please let me know if you have any other questions.”

“Here I am!” BuTTherKup was striding across the room, Wrapped around her hips was a skirt made of reeds woven with red, black, and yellow threads. The patterns the threads created were complex, holding the reeds together keeping her modest, below the threads the reeds swung with the rhythm of her walk. Her shirt was a simple cotton sleeveless T shirt, Three beaded necklaces, of red, black, and yellow hung from her neck. Exaggerated dimples brightened her smile under a shiny shaved head. Across her shoulders she carried a massive war hammer the three colors once again represented in the form of ribbons wrapped around and hanging off of the long handle. “Hurry up and finish with your accounts, I am so ready to get out there!” She said as she reached them.

Quickly skimming the brochure, BeAutyBrokEn did just that and handed it back to 6ig6a6y. “Thanks,” she said.

“Sure, no problem.” 6ig6a6y said, she paused, then continued when they started to turn away.  “Wait one moment, there is one last thing I feel I should tell you, seeing as you’re both level one.” She turned to BuTTherKup, “You’ve been here before right? Have you heard of Tokens?”

“I think so,” BuTTherKup thought for a moment, “I heard some people talking about Tokening.”

“They’re connected. The first time you level up you get a Token. Like a coin, it contains all your information. Remember I told you that anything you put in your wallet can be looted?” This was directed at BeAutyBrokEn, “your Token can also be looted, and this is bad. Very Bad, you do not want someone to do it to you. I don’t think you should do it, actually I think it could be the evilest thing you can do in this game. A Tokened character is deleted, removed from AntruA completely. The problem is the only to gain experience is if you have your Token in your wallet when you defeat someone. You can tell if someone has Tokened anyone, which can help you avoid fighting them. They will all have a Trophy. it could be a nose necklace, or an ear belt, it could be anything like that. I like you guys I hope you have fun out there. Good Luck!”

BeAutyBrokEn was about to say something in reply when she saw the necklace hanging around 6ig6a6y’s neck. It was the small bauble that hung on a thin chain that scared her. The bauble was a small jar holding a lock of brown hair. 6ig6a6y, seeing the look on her face burst out laughing. “Don’t worry sweetheart, now you know. I won't attack you if you don’t attack me.”

BuTTherKup seemed like she was about to say something, BeAutyBrokEn didn’t want that. Grabbing her friend by the arm, with a word of thanks thrown over her shoulder they exited out into the street overflowing with vibrant characters. Seeing the Trophy had given BeAutyBrokEn a jolt, now she knew that couldn’t just explore with her friend. She felt called to mission, she must get strong, then she would hide in the shadows and go after those who pick on the weak, Token those who Token other. This was what the anger wanted. She couldn’t fix the injustice of one mistake, she would take that out on those who chose to hurt others. Really, she acknowledged she just wanted to hurt someone.

Interlude

Dear Readers,

First thank you for reading. This marks the end of part one. Other news is I'm changing the name, The new new name is AntruA. I am going through part one now, to update the name and to fix and edit. So you may want to go back and catch up on the chapters you've missed and reread your favorites,

Thanks again
Love you all
Sam Schlang  

Seventeenth Chapter

Ragnar

When his shift at the bank ended Ragnar went across the street to the building with all the crafting stations.The material he had gathered on his trip to the forest with MoMony had been burning a hole in his imagination through his whole shift. He could't stop thinking about the jewel he had found and he was really struggling to avoid expectations, but power of Zeus could only be good; he hoped.

When he entered the shop he was surprised to find it empty. It wasn’t too surprising that the noobs hadn’t found it. He had interacted with a many characters in the bank who seemed to with it enough to figure this out, at the very least Ragnar had expected to find MoMony here. After the hours Ragnar had spent behind the desk in the bank it seemed unlikely MoMony would still be out in the woods, maybe he was out trying to sell whatever he had made. Upon approaching the table for crafting melee weapons all thoughts of MoMony fled.

The table was a thick slab of wood polished smooth by age and use. It was unadorned of anything. When he looked at it directly,the table lit up. Like using a giant touch screen Ragnar was quickly able to navigate to the Upgrade. He was now faced with three options, metal bands on the handle for an increased defense, a spike added to the butt of the handle for a new attack and finally adding a socket which allowed a jewel or rune to enhance the weapon. The choice was obvious.

Ragnar’s finger pressed the image for enhancement. The grain of the wood began to move, shift. What had seemed chaos started to take shape. Growing into a complicated system of gears,bowls, tools from every school of engineering. He let out a breath when things stopped moving, an arrow lit up pointing to two small bowls each labeled Metal. He then watched as the bowls started an amazing journey through this contraption.

Seemingly started by the weight of the metal the whole system was self driven. Each step created the momentum which powered the next, each making its own noise. He was so engrossed it took a few moment to realize that these reactions had cause a belt to start, indicating five strips of leather. With both the metal and leather moving, it became sensory overload there was so much going on, the noise rose to an absolute cacophony.It was only by luck that Ragnar was looking right at a clip as it sprung open. Axe could be seen with the cip open, So he placed his axe in the clip which then snapped close. Now things really started to happen. The axe flipped over and everything stopped. The noise stopped. Slowly the structure came down, retreating back into the table’s grain.

Soon only an axe lay on the now empty table. This axe was totally different then the weapon he’d fed into the machine. The two blades were now rectangular like cleavers. They connected to the heft via a large band of metal. This band also held the socket, which Ragnar wasted no time in filling with his jewel. As the jewel clicked into place a bolt of lightning struck it. The bolt welded the jewel into the weapon, the blades were now both ingrained with lightning bolts. Ragnar pick up the axe and felt a slight vibration, as if the weapon itself moved with anticipation. He gave it a few practice swings, pleased to find that though the axe looked different it handled the same. Placing into its holster on his back he turned his back on the empty room and left the building.

He paused before stepping into the rush of the main street. With the new axe all he wanted was to see how the “power of Zeus” would work. It was the thought of his last few trips into the wild that stopped him. Other than when he had been working as a bodyguard, the trips had been boring and unsatisfactory. The wilds were just too empty. Based on the constant flow by the porch, everybody must be staying in town. He figured there must be something keeping people here, some form of social networking going on. The only way to find out was to talk with people, investigate the town.

The building to Ragnar’s left seemed as good a place to start as any. It had a lively crowd in front, working themselves into a frenzy over a fighting circle. After observing for a few moments he noticed a few characters seeming to be taking bets. From where he stood he could see four of them. It was easy to pick them out of the crowd because they all wore as much red as they could fit onto their outfits. Looking beyond the fights and its crowd he started to notice just how much red was being worn. It all seemed to center around the building to the left, not just because the betting and the fight. Characters dressed all in red came and went from the building with an incredible frequency. Wanting to understand more he made his way into the darkness of the doorway.

The room was bigger than looked possible from outside. The room was dim but  dark. A variety of lamps were scattered through the room on tables. lights were also ensconced, in a random assortment of shades on the walls. The lights were set so that the circles of illuminations never overlapped. While they never overlapped they also left no space unlit. So the room was dim but well let, with no darkness, but many shadows.

About half the seats at the tables were filled, most with characters in red. In one corner of the room there were two doors, kitty corner to each other one open the other not. Most of the full tables were clustered around this corner. The wall with the closed door had a long bar. Unlike other bars this one had no drinks or art lining the wall behind it. Next to the closed door at the very end of the bar was a chair. The chair was actually not visible as it was completely obscured by it occupant. This was a big man, with broad shoulders and chest, barely contained in a dirty red shirt the sleeves rolled up to just above his elbows. He was slumped against the wall asleep.

Ragnar sat at an empty table near a wall, close enough to eavesdrop but also far enough to not get noticed doing it, hopefully. He looked back at the sleeping man seeing that his name was ChefBobOne65. A large cleaver was literally stuck in the bar within easy reach, not that it seemed to be any danger with its owner seemingly passed out. Ragnar subtilly turned his attention to the table next to him. Three people were sitting there, two of them, were listening raptly to the third.

“You ask of the benefits? Ohh the benefits, those are good. I mean real good.” The speaker was a silver fox with great posture. His outfit took all its influence from Robin Hood, replacing the sherwood green with soviet red. A rapier and dagger completed the look. His tail, free and constantly was as expressive as his words, and the name $1lvert0ngdf0x seemed adpt.  

“You are rewarded 50 ng for signing up. Right? How great is that? The Blue Army doesn’t give you anything. Nothing what kind of deal is that? There are more; we help you train, you get protection and a discount at any Red Army store.”

“What do you mean protection?” Asked one of the listeners, a tall thin very white skinned elf.

“Simple,” said the fox, “As a member of the Red Army every Red Soldier has your back. We own this town. No one will mess with you here. If you want to explore there’s a Red Army quartermaster, who will help you join a squad, that way you always have people to go exploring with you.” His canine grin was totally friendly, the twinkle in his eyes spoke to a darker amusement.

It was clear to Ragnar that the fox had his audience completely, whatever he was selling they were sold. Then the tall white elf spoke again. “That all sounds great.”

“But?” The fox asked.

“But what about being tokened? Can the Red Army protect us against that, you can’t really guarantee that we won’t be tokened.”

“I can if you stay a level one forever.” The fox grinned then continued. “You’re right though, tokening is a real problem. I have talked with at least ten people who said that they had been tokened as soon as they levelled up. That was why they wanted to join an army, they wanted to join the Red Army ‘cause it’s the best Army. We will help you get strong, put money in your pocket. If you do lose a battle, unlikely with allies, if it happens your body won’t be alone. You get a community, really what more could there be? What do you say? Come on join me, join the Red “

The two listeners quickly agreed and all three went through the door next to the bar. When the door closed Ragnar saw a cart loaded with barrels. This seemed out of place, then he saw the huge ape pushing who was pushing the cart. Before he could get to investigate further his view was blocked by a green goblin. The goblin walked directly to Chef Bob, who responded very quickly for someone who had appeared completely passed out. Ragnar thought that they might fight. Instead they spoke, too low for him to eavesdrop on, A piece of paper was passed, read, then they turned and went out the door.

Ragnar was going to follow, until someone sat at his table and called his name. Reluctantly he turned, A willowy golden skinned elf sat with a very straight back looking at him expectantly. The elf had red hair but it was the eyes. The eyes were so intense with very black pupils. Those black dots seemed to burn into Ragnar.

The elf who’s name was MoProbs spoke, “What do you know about tokening?”

“Not much, well really nothing, I have just heard the word a few times.”

“You got a Token when you reached level 2, remember you were told to protect it?” Ragnar nodded. “Well they weren’t joking. If someone takes your Token, your character is deleted.”

“Deleted?! What do you mean?”

“Gone, erased, no more.” Those black pupils caught his eyes, “Ragnar you would be no more.”

“Why would anyone do that, it just seems mean?”

“People are cruel, You should never underestimate humanity's ability to be mean for no good reason, even in this world. I do think there’s more to it, but so far that’s only based on rumor. The real problem is no one knows anything. The people doing the tokening seem to be in hiding. That's why I wanted to talk to you.”

“I don’t get it, what do you mean?”

“You once hired out as a bodyguard.”

“How did you know? Wait, MoMony?”

“MoMony got tokened, he is no more.”

“I guess I’m not much of a bodyguard.”

“It wasn't your fault. MoMony got cocky, and he was upset about that box you found. Really not your fault. The whole experience gave me an idea, a business proposal if you will.”

“MoMony, I see it now. Ok let’s hear this proposal of yours.”

MoProbs laughed, “the idea is simple, I want you to become a bounty hunter.”

Ragnar raised his eyebrows.

“A really awesome bounty hunter. You will get commissions from people who have been tokened, you will help them get revenge. You token the ‘tokener.’ I’m going to get stronger and be a bounty hunter too. Until then I’ll help you in the hunting. Are you in?”

“What will you do if I say no?”

“I guess I would try and get stranger then start the business without you, It would be much easier with a strong figurehead. Why would you say no? Do you have something better to do?” He gestured with disdain to the red soldiers hanging around the room. “Do you want to join these mopes. Look I even have a name for us.”

“What is the name?” Ragnar was interested, there really was no reason to not do it.

“Uh, The Band of the Golden Hand.” MoProbs looked down at his hands, “of course if you don’t like it, we can use something else.”

“No it’s a good name. I’ll do it.”

MoProbs head snapped up, his eyes shining. “Really?! you’ll do it?”

Ragnar smiled and put his hand out.

Sixteenth Chapter

TifTwo

The scent of mint.

The conveyor belt moved. All the berries that had been picked needed to be cleaned and sorted. Some had leaves and petals stuck to them, others were unripe. All this detritus needed to be removed. If TifTwo wasn't out gathering berries he was here staring at the slowly moving white cloth, purple berries and stains. The tedium was hypnotic with patterns emerging, patterns that hinted at meanings TifTwo could never understand.

There was no way to judge how long he had been at this task when the last berries moved past him and he was left looking at the worn white cloth with purple stains. The goblins lining the room started using their whips to herd TifTwo and his fellow gnomes out the door and into the next room. This room was the antechamber that led to the courtyard and into the woods. He was spacing out, watching the shirt in front him. When he was confronted by a goblin sitting behind a table. The goblin thrust a foam covered mug into his hand, “Drink up.” It growled.

What could he do? With no idea of what it was he brought the mug to his lips and drank. To his surprise it was delightful. Cold and refreshing, with a nutty flavor. He wanted more. This was not to be as the mug was wrenched from his hand and he was thrust from behind.

He was running, just like that he was running, they were all running. TifTwo felt like laughing. It started with the taste of metal in the back of his mouth. There was a rushing in his ears; then as if he stepped through an invisible membrane into a new level of awareness. The world sharpened, there were details where there had just been trees. Before it was branches, leaves and bark; Now there were vaines, patterns, breath and energy. It was beautiful; more real than life.                        

He was under a tree, crouching. Looking around the trunk he scanned the area, there was nothing that indicated there was anyone around. In his pockets he had two berries, not enough. He needed to find a berry tree. There were none here, so he needed to move.

At a full sprint he dodged a trunk, slid under a downed trunk then hopped to his feet to hurtle a stump. The speed that he ran was exhilarating, his agility and timing was a surprise and a joy. The drink gave him energy like he had never felt before. It was as if he was thinking every thought at once. When he was running he saw tree, he also saw three ways he could navigate past the tree, he saw a broken branch he should avoid, a berry tree; beyond the tree there was a berry tree. All this while running full speed. The needles of the lowest branches just brushed the ground. He went into feet first slide avoiding the low branches and popped up directly in front of the berry tree. Jackpot! The tree was rip, with eight of the purple fruits hanging on their bent stalks.

He was picking the fourth berry with the third still in his hand, when he heard foot steps. TifTwo spun to find himself facing a very large man. Well the man’s bare arms and chest were huge; the rest of him, his head, waist, and legs were quite small. His small head was mostly mouth and forehead, with beady little eyes and a little piggy nose. High atop his head was a patch of straw colored hair too small to balance out his large ears. An ugly grin split his wide mouth to show two big teeth with a large gap between them.

“Huyuk,” a laugh maybe, “a bitty gnome. You are so cute, I’m going to turn you into paste.” With that as his warning, the big man pulled a large mace off his back and brought it down on TifTwo.

But TifTwo wasn’t there. With the drink still in his system the blow had seemed to be in slow motion, making it easy to side step. When the head of the mace slammed into the ground TifTwo moved again, running behind the large man. He was trying to buy some time, his hands were full what could he do with no weapon? He kept moving as the big man was now wildly swinging his mace around, making grunting sounds with each swing.

TifTwo knew he had to figure something out soon. He could run away but he didn’t want to leave the unpicked berries. It was when he thought of the berries that he remembered something the goblins had said when first talking about the berries. The goblins had told the gathered gnomes to be careful when picking the berries. Without thinking about it further Tiftwo hurled the berry in his right hand. His opponent tried to swipe the berry, but it burst all over his hand and arm when it made contact with his palm. A heartbeat later the big man dropped his mace and started screaming. TifTwo saw that the man’s hand was smoking. Moving the last berry to his right hand, TifTwo threw it. This one hit home, striking high on his bare chest, splattering onto his face and shoulders. He dropped to his knees, screaming and grabbing for his face. TifTwo saw that the hand that had been smoking was now little more than skeletal. The big man soon stopped screaming then fell on his face. 1 kill +1 xp.

TifTwo had no idea as to what that meant. He didn’t really care, it wasn’t important the berries were. The body which was between him and the berry tree had stopped smoking. It quickly dissolved and was replaced by a small statue. The stone figure depicted the man on his knees clutching his face, he could have been praying. It was not important. He picked the remaining berries, tucked them into his pockets, then took off running back to castle.

As normal he dropped his berries into the funnel that feed the conveyor belt. He then trudged to an open seat along it. His head down he settled into boredom. A heavy claw on his shoulder tore him back to the present. There was pain in his arm as he was jerked out of his chair. He was too busy trying to keep his arm attached to his body to look at who was now pulling him past the funnel. He was pushed hard through a door. Stumbling forward TifTwo heard the door slam as his momentum carried him into the opposite wall. He pushed back from the wall to find that it wasn’t a wall at all but a large desk. Setting behind the desk was a brown goblin with bright, intelligent yellow eyes. The goblin stood up to look down on TifTwo. His eye bored in, forehead wrinkled as he considered. Suddenly his head thrust downward the eyes bright yellow eye growing large. TifTwo fell back, but he kept his balance, recovering to stand defiantly staring back into those bright yellow eyes. The skin around the eyes crinkled in good humor.The goblin started to laugh, then he spoke.

‘YOU ARE A STRANGE ONE, AREN’T YOU?’ The voice was so deep its vibrations seemed to tug on TifTwo’s lungs. ‘NOT LIKE THE OTHERS. THEIR ALL VACANT BEHIND THE EYES, BUT YOUR EYES SHOW LIFE.’ His ugly face crinkled with humor. ‘YOU ALSO KILLED SOME IDIOT, THAT’S PRETTY IMPRESSIVE. HA HA.’ A small hand stuck in the goblin’s teeth seemed to wave as he laughed. ‘I MEAN HE MUST HAVE BEEN REALLY DUMB TO LET ONE OF YOU GNOMES KILL HIM.’ TifTwo tried to listen but couldn't stop watching the grotesque little hand. The goblin noticed TifTwo’s attention. He picked at his teeth then looked at what he found, he then stuck it back in his mouth. He reconsidered TifTwo as he chewed. ‘I WONDER WHO YOU WERE. WELL, NO MATTER. BY GETTING A KILL YOU HAVE EARNED A PROMOTION.’

The goblin did something on his desk that TifTwo couldn’t see.

Then the scent of mint.

Now the room was much smaller. The ceiling was just a few inches from his head he could easily touch each wall without moving. He looked down at his arms and realized it was he who was bigger. Much bigger, and hairy. He was now covered in long hair or fur. His arms were huge with bulging muscles, they were longer too, hanging almost to the floor. TifTwo looked to the goblin, who like the room was now much smaller. He seemed to get even smaller under TifTwo’s glare, shrinking behind his desk. TifTwo briefly considered obliterating this condescending bureaucrat with one swing of his powerful arm. He decided that the satisfaction wouldn’t equal the effort, instead he squatted and with great pleasure at realizing his over sized pointer finger was the perfect fit for either nostril he began to pick.    

‘That’s nice.’ The goblin’s voice no longer carried the power it had. TifTwo pulled his finger out and looked at what he had found. “Gross. You better take that out with you when you leave. Here are your new orders. First you will accompany a goblin on a sales trip, you are the transport and protection of the package. This goblin will establish a route for you, on this route you will be distribution as well as transport and protection. Did you hear me, show me some sign this is getting through, and stop playing with that booger!”

Tiftwo looked down and made eye contact, then he grinned. He flicked the booger. It impacted on the wall just above the goblin’s head where it stuck; there it remained as all future attempts to remove it failed. The goblin looked up from where he had landed after falling out of his chair avoiding the flying projectile. He screamed when he saw his new office decoration. “Oh Gross, you gross disgusting dumb ape! Get Out! Adam come get your mule! Get this ape out of here NOW!”

The door to the office started to open but hit Tiftwo in the back. The opener tried again with the same result as it hit his shoulder. “GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT” Each scream was accompanied by a fist to the desktop. The final blow was with both fists and was more than the desk could take, it collapsed into a pile of broken boards and splinters. TifTwo looked at the mess then shrugged. When the door started to open for the third time, he caught it and pulled; hinges and most of the frame came with door. He stepped through the portal, leaving the door in a corner of the office.

A green goblin was waiting for him in the hall. “TifTwo, I’m Adam I’m the sales guy who will work with you to set up a route. Do you want know what we’re selling?” TifTwo didn’t indicate either way. If Adam was disappointed by TifTwo’s indifference it didn’t show as he continued. “It’s the juice from those berries you were picking. You had some, do you remember that drink you had? I bet you do.” He did, he nodded. “I bet you liked it too.” TifTwo nodded again. “That’s what we’re selling, we call it Grog. It’s stored in wooden kegs, we have a cart made for you to haul the barrels. Right now we don’t anticipate any problems, but as the Grog becomes popular there might be those looking to steal it. Your size should prevent any attempts at theft. If anyone tries to prevent you from completing your deliveries you are authorized to use whatever force you choose. OK, let’s go get a glass of the stuff, then we’ll get you hooked up to your cart.”