-KKKKK
An arrow stuck out from the back of the girl's chest, spraying blood onto Crow.
Crow's eyes widened as his heart beat like crazy, and the world became shaky.
The taste of spattered blood sent a metallic sensation down his throat.
The world seemed to move in slow motion as Crow felt an encroaching nausea build up in his stomach.
When the boy came back to his senses, he saw Lóa leaning forward on all 4's for a brief moment before slowly rising to her feet as she caused a pink vine to rise from the earth behind her, splitting the arrow lodged within her chest and pulling it out, causing it to clutter to the ground.
As the arrow dropped to the ground, Crow thought he could hear a HISSSSSS sound.
The girl then reached out, pulling at Crow's hand.
"C-Crow, y-you, bleugh!!" she coughed up a puddle of blood that splattered against the patch of grass, "You have to run and find the Blessed. They should be able to stop these bandits."
"No!" The boy shouted as he stood up, "I'm not leaving you!"
TWEEEEE-
The pair's eyes widened as they hurriedly dove down.
-KKKKKKK
An arrow zoomed past overhead.
Without another word, Crow quickly grabbed Loa and put her on his back as he sprinted in the opposite direction of the arrows, running in a zig-zag pattern as he stayed low.
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[Meanwhile... in another part of the Grasslands.]
A group of 4 all stood around.
A beastkin with the bulky body of a man, the head of a tiger, and blue fur lined with black stripes stood at the forefront as he watched the 2 run away, "Hmmm..."
A tall woman with brunette hair tied in a ponytail, paper white skin, green eyes, and sharp teeth, most likely a Slin, looked towards the beastkin, "Should we give chase, Boss?"
He shook his head, "No, best to use our time wisely. We'll split."
He then pointed towards a grey-skinned slin with neck-length spiky white hair and scheming red eyes.
"You got it, boss, hehehe!" The grey slin laughed as he licked his daggers and sprinted after the duo!"
The remaining group watched before turning around.
The beastkin murmured as they walked, 'What a shame... they look so young as well.'
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[Deeper in the Grasslands...]
Crow's back, arms, and legs were aching as he ran.
A puddle of sweat was pooling on his back mixed in with the blood leaking out of the girl mounted onto him, "Loa, w-we'll get to safety soon, don't worry about it."
Yet, Lóa, as if slipping out of it, could only softly mutter his name, "Crow..."
Suddenly, he heard fast approaching footsteps behind with the sound of laughter, "Kakakaka! I'm gonna getcha lil piggy's!"
Crow turned and saw the tall grass rustling as the person giving chase was rapidly closing the distance, which sent a shiver down his spine, causing him to nearly trip over his own legs as he ran.
Huff...
"How did he catch up so fast?"
Huff...
"Are we gonna die?"
Huff...
As Crow ran, he could see a cave not too far off, 'Shelter!' the boy screamed in his mind despite the fatigue, so with a newfound goal, he pressed on.
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Only a few moments later, as Crow made it to the entrance of the cave, he felt a solid kick from behind, sending him sprawling and Lóa tumbling across the ground and into the cave, slamming against the wall inside, her body lying still as if it were a doll.
Crow, seeing this, stretched out his hand, "Lóa!"
KCHUNKK!!
"Aaaaah!" Crow let out a harsh scream as he felt a sharp pain in his hamstring, followed by the pressure of a foot on his back, "Now, now, where ya thinking you're goin lil piggy?" The sound of a nasally voice came from behind.
"It's nothing personal, rat. Just blame your own existence for being easier XP sources than monste-."
Yet, then the nasally voice paused as if noticing something.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"
The nasally voice slowly walked forward from behind the boy, revealing the grey-skinned slin's transparent halo above his head, causing Crow's pupils to shrink.
The grey slin walked into the cave and crouched down, grabbing the unconscious Loa's face in his hand, "I haven't even seen girls this hot in the real world."
The Player then stood back up, "I know before I said nothing personal..."
Crow's eyes widened as the sound of unzipping echoed through the cave, and the dark slin chided, "But then again, you're just an NPC."
The grey-skinned player stood over the girl, pants hanging down to his knees with a malicious smile.
At this point, Crow felt his vision shake as another dose of adrenaline surged through him, causing him to ignore the pain in his leg and charged at the man, "Damn you!"
"Heh," the grey slin scoffed as he threw a front kick so fast Crow could only see a blur.
WHACKK!!
Crow's body was launched out of the cave as he rolled and tumbled nearly 5 times before coming to a stop in ankle-high grass.
"Ughh!' Crow groaned out as he lay belly down on the ground, his chest felt like it had been caved in by a metal baseball bat.
tap...
tap...
There was the sound of quietly approaching footsteps as the grey slin leisurely approached Crow, bending down and lifting the boy's face up by his hair, "Ya got spunk for an NPC, ya know that?"
The man sighed as he took a look at the multiple orbs in the sky as if out for a leisurely walk, "If NPCs could actually respawn, I'd like to hunt you again, but oh well, plenty of other XP to farm."
The man raised his hand, wielding a dagger in a reversed grip, preparing to swing it down.
Crow's eyes widened as he felt his heart tingle, cold sweat pooled down his back, and even his whole life came flashing before his eyes, including the day with Lóa.
How could such a perfect day end up like this?
KCHUNKKKK!!
Blood splattered on the grass, soaking the verdant green in glossy coats of scarlet.
Crow's black hair now tainted rose as he looked ahead in shock.
The grey slin had a gaping hole in its chest, with a thick pink vine sticking out the front of it.
Crow looked at the grey slin who continued to return his gaze, yet despite being stabbed, still had a smile on his face, "Might see you in a future hunt... lil piggy."
With that, the grey slin's body disintegrated into gold particles just as the other player in the town did.
With the grey slin's body gone, Crow could now see Lóa lying facedown in the middle of the cave floor, a trail of blood smeared behind her, and her hand stretched out with blood oozing down her nose.
Her veins were tensed visibly in her increasingly pale face as she let out a weak smile to the boy before passing out.
"Aaaah!" Crow let out as he rushed into the shallow cave whilst hurriedly taking out the items from his pouch.
Some bandages, a throwing knife, ointment, and the green potion.
"Fuk!" He hurriedly ripped the top of Lóa's dress, gasping immediately at what he saw.
In the center of her chest, there was a gaping hole about the size of a tangerine.
Worst of all, the edges of said hole had a green discolor along the sides.
Crow's mind shook as he nearly lost his balance at the sight; the loss of adrenaline was starting to get to him, 'No!'
He smacked both sides of his face, 'Stay awake!'
Yet he couldn't help but think back to that Player.
The carefree smile that grey slin had, he knew that she was poisoned.
Anger arose in Crow's heart, 'But... he didn't know I'd have this potion.'
The boy squeezed his fist, 'So was he just playing with his food? Or... was he trying to guarantee we were dead, regardless of what he did beforehand?'
The memory of the grey-skinned player flashed through Crow's mind, his taunting gaze as he stood over Lóa with his unbuckled pants.
The boy shook his head, 'Stay focused, I need to save her!'
Sweat dripped down Crow's forehead as he began his operation.
He applied the ointment to the wound, to which there was a HIISSSSS... sound.
Crow furrowed his eyebrows at this, 'These ruthless bastards!'
Lóa's body subconsciously shook as he applied the disinfectant, making him need to hold her down as he did, a deep frown on his face as he did so.
Then he gingerly lifted her body and wrapped the bandages around her chest, making sure it was tight and steady.
Finally, he took the potion and slowly lifted Lóa's head as he began to pour it into her mouth.
Yet, the liquid would flow back out.
Seeing this, the boy shook his head as he swiftly poured the potion into his mouth, 'It tastes like treebark.'
Yet, without a moment's delay, he lifted the girl's head and pressed his lips against hers.
Her lips were lukewarm, and the taste of iron permeated throughout, yet, had a subtle sweetness to it.
Bit by bit, Crow administered the potion until he was interrupted from his thoughts by a voice.
"You're my 1st kiss, so... you'll have to take responsibility."
"Loa!" Crow called out in excitement, "You're awake!"
"Mmmm." The girl could only let out a weak nod.
Crow grasped her hand as he assured her, "Don't worry. The Blessed will be here soon."
The girl then began to violently cough, to which Crow quickly reached for the potion bottle again, "No, Crow!"
Lóa grabbed his arm, "Save it for yourself. I may be blind, but even I know you'll be disabled if you don't take care of that leg. Don't waste it on a dead girl."
She motioned towards Crow's leg, which now had a small puddle forming underneath it.
Crow shook his head, "What are you talking about? I'm fine, this potion will fix you right up, the Blessed are gonna come save us, and we'll get you home safe."
The girl could only give a wry smile, "The Blessed? Our Heroes who see us as nothing more than game to hunt?"
Crow's eyes widened at the girl's words, "You... you saw his halo?"
Lóa gave the boy a smile, "I appreciate you trying to protect me, but even a blind girl has to see the world for what it is."
The cave grew tense as if neither knew what to say.
Finally, Lóa spoke up, "Here, I want to give you this."
The girl weakly stretched out her hand holding the white flower she had tried to gift the boy earlier.
Half of the previously pristine white petals were now stained with blood.
Crow slowly reached out his hand to take the gift before-
SHOOOOOH!!
A pink light emerged from the flower, causing Crow to cover his face and turn away.
When the light dimmed back down, the previously multicolored herbs that made up the stem were now all a milky white.
The splotches of blood that had previously stained the white petals were now all converged into pastel pink patterns throughout the entire flower that read, "C+L".
Yet, most notable of all is that the pistil (middle) of the flower was now a dazzling pink gem that sparkled and shone with brilliance, giving a sense of awe at its mere presence.
'I-I" Crow tried to find the words to say, not wanting his cracking voice to be heard.
Loa reached out and gripped Crow's hand, to which the boy paused and slowly looked down.
Her palms were cold to the touch, and her beautiful, freckled face was pale as paper as her voice lulled out, "A special gift... for a special person."
Crow carefully took and stowed away the flower into his pouch by his side before taking Lóa's hand once more.
The orange sky outside continued to grow dimmer as if counting down.
At that moment within the quiet cave, Lóa's soft voice spoke, "I don't know how it is for others who are blind, but the whole world is white and pink for me. And I know it sounds weird coming from a blind girl, but..."
"...I'm scared of the dark."
The girl's voice cracked as she began to shake, tears pooling down her face, "I'm scared, Crow."
Crow looked down as his eyes grew red, tears streaming down from his cheeks.
Lóa spoke softly as if begging, "C-Can you hold me?"
The girl weakly stretched out her arms.
Crow's lips trembled as he tried his best to keep it together, nodding his head as he bent down, gingerly wrapping his arms around her.
Her soft voice that was still as delicate as wind chimes whispered in his ears, "Thank you..."
Her voice choked out as it dimmed, "My... hero."
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The day slowly drifted by, as only one heartbeat remained in that cave.
The sky was now dark, as if the skylight, after sensing the extinguishing of life, chose to do the same in mourning.
The body of this young girl lay still, her beauty still just as present, yet the warm enthusiasm was snuffed away.
Crow sat at the edge of the cave, gazing at the many multi-colored orbs that hung in the night sky.
'This fukin game... this sick fukin world... I thought it'd be an escape, a way to make something of myself, yet...'
He fought back the emotions surfacing up, eventually urging the tears back down, 'Fuk this!'
With that, the boy limped back inside the cave, blood still pouring down from his leg, and lay down next to Lóa.
He lay there as the whole day flashed through his mind like a movie reel, over and over, and over, and over, and...
"Logout," a hoarse voice, heavy with fatigue, called out.
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15 minutes had passed, and Crow still lay there on the cold cavern floor.
His eyes slowly opened to reveal a deep onyx gaze.
"I'm really an NPC."
He slowly turned his head to look over at the girl next to him, a single tear streaming down his face, "Huh."
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