01: A Priestess Looks for a Blacksmith

   𝕄𝔸𝕂𝕀ℕ𝔾 ℍ𝕆𝕃𝕃𝕐 𝔾𝔼𝕋 𝕌ℙ 𝕀ℕ 𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝕄𝕆ℝℕ𝕀ℕ𝔾 𝕎𝔸𝕊 ℕ𝔼𝕍𝔼ℝ 𝔼𝔸𝕊𝕐. It required her parents shaking her lightly, her brother shouting at her, and then finally Dylan to come into her room and presenting the teenager with coffee for her to wake up. Today, she woke up at the utter lack of the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Today, she woke up to the lack of her brother's screaming. Today, she woke up to the lack of light shaking from her parents.

   Today, unordinary sounds jolted the redhead awake. Her fiery red hair reflected the sun's unnaturally bright rays. Creaking noises above her unsettled the teenager as she knew the sounds her loft-turned-room made. Creaking, despite one may believe, was never among them.

   Her eyes took only a minute to adjust. Holly's surroundings looked oddly familiar. Oak lined the walls of the small room. A modest bed with green sheets seemed to be what held her in place currently. The door had iron hinges and reminded her of something found in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. A musty smell filled her nose and it crinkled in disgust. Birds sang outside and her ears twitched at the unfamiliar songs.

   Without hesitation, the girl jumped from the bed she awoke in and made for the door. She rammed into it, forgetting for a minute to stop. As Holly fell back as a result of the embarrassment that she would chalk up to lack of coffee, white words highlighted in a bright lime color appeared in her vision. The phrase that popped into her field of vision read "sᴡɪɴɢᴀʙʟᴇ ᴏʙᴊᴇᴄᴛ, ᴜsᴇ ʜᴀɴᴅʟᴇ". Rubbing her forehead, she looked at the notification with confusion marring her features.

   Choosing to follow the instructions, because ramming into the door at full speed using her forehead as a way to knock the door down definitely did not work, Holly's pale hand grasped the metal ring.

   Suddenly, her vision became blinded by an array of pale colors that all almost looked white rather than the myriad of oranges, pinks, and blues that her brain processed them to be. Holly blinked despite the brightness not hurting her eyes (surprisingly). The fraction of a second was all what was needed for her to appear on the outside of the room. Her eyes opened and the hallway held the soft glow of oil lamps. Glancing about, she found her hearing was oddly enhanced. She heard the voices coming from whatever was below and could hear the chirps of the tiny animals that scurried across the floor.

   Finding a mirror down the hall, she saw a fleeting reflection staring back at her before turning away. However, that fleeting reflection was enough to cause Holly to run over to the mirror and find her eyes now purple and she had pointed ears. The red hair stayed but it was cut short and a mix between wavy, straight, and curly. The corner of her eye held a button saying "ᴘʀᴏғɪʟᴇ".

   "Profile?" Holly wondered allowed. Just as she said the word, a small window opened in front of her. It was something that was outlined in a pale blue with a list of information that was all too familiar.

ᴀᴄᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ ᴜsᴇʀɴᴀᴍᴇ; ᴍ𝟷ss_ᴡ𝟷ᴛᴄʜ

sᴄʀᴇᴇɴ ɴᴀᴍᴇ; ʜᴏʟʟɪʀʏɴɴ

ʀᴀᴄᴇ; ᴇʟғ (ᴀʟғ sᴜʙᴛʏᴘᴇ)

ᴄʟᴀss; ᴘʀɪᴇsᴛᴇss/ʜᴇᴀʟᴇʀ

sᴛᴀᴛs; ɴ/ᴀ

ғʀɪᴇɴᴅ ʟɪsᴛ; 𝟷. ᴋᴀᴢᴜ𝟶-ᴍᴀᴍ𝟶ʀᴜ

   Holly Thompson, or Hollirynn if anyone preferred her screen name, was stuck in Yggdrasil's Awakening. Her mind raced with questions of how did she get here and if it was possible to get home. However, the greatest thing on her mind was if she was alone.

   It was the final thing, the friend listing that got Holly thinking. What if she wasn't alone? What if there were others? And, what if Holly could find him? Kazu0-Mam0ru was Dylan's screen name for the game, and, as far as she was aware, just clicking it started the game's communication system. In this game of a never ending Dungeons and Dragons campaign meeting the Sims, Dylan choose to open up shop as a blacksmith once his stats became high enough. She glanced back at her profile. Her stats were not available, and that was something newly added to the screen - or taken away in this case.

   The shop was meant to help the wandering Ronin, the NPC term for the adventurers, on their quests throughout the world of Yggdrasil. If she could find it, she could find him. After all, why display the person if they weren't online, correct?

≿━━༺❀༻━━≾

   Well, all across town, people appeared on the streets. Coming out from houses and inns, acting like animals coming out of hibernation, merely because they understood nothing of what started going on about them.

   One Dylan Lee, or Mamoru as the people who walked into his shop called him, paced in the window of the shop part of his forge. He saw it with his own eyes. Beams of light depositing people into this world as if it was nothing. The way the system would boot up at a verbal command, but still held the same functions for the most part. As he paced, he glanced as all manner of races and classes walked past his shop.

   He ran a hand through his now orange hair and checked his profile again.

ᴀᴄᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ ɴᴀᴍᴇ; ʟᴇᴇ-ᴅ𝟷ʀᴀɴ

sᴄʀᴇᴇɴ ɴᴀᴍᴇ; ᴋᴀᴢᴜ𝟶-ᴍᴀᴍ𝟶ʀᴜ

ʀᴀᴄᴇ; ʏᴏᴋᴀɪ (ᴅᴇᴍᴏɴ sᴜʙᴛʏᴘᴇ)

ᴄʟᴀss; sᴍɪᴛʜ (ʙʟᴀᴄᴋsᴍɪᴛʜ sᴜʙᴛʏᴘᴇ)

sᴛᴀᴛs; ɴ/ᴀ

ғʀɪᴇɴᴅ ʟɪsᴛ; 1. ʜᴏʟʟɪʀʏɴɴ

   Holly was here. At least, his friend list wasn't giving him any reason to suspect otherwise. That worried him. She wasn't with him, and it had been a long time since the two were separated this long since the night before. He worried if she made it, and if she was safe. He glanced at himself in the window, surprised the surface contained a reflection. His orange hair seemed more vibrant now. He dressed in a traditional Japanese kimono, to honor his ancestors and to represent other things too.

   "Get a hold of yourself," his voice cracked. "Holly has this under control. She knows where your shop is and will come for you when she realizes where she is. You and her will be fine," a lie that fell from his lips as he tried to calm himself down. Without even giving himself the chance to open his mouth again, Dylan grabbed the largest sword he could find then ran out of his stone-built shop.

   This was not the time to sit around. Something serious happened and she could need him.

   Holly Thompson, the girl who checked on him after falling out of a tree. Holly Thompson, the girl who loved his freshly brewed morning coffees - claiming that it kept her sane in high school. Holly Thompson, the easily riled up young woman that pulled pranks around town with him. Holly Thompson, Dylan Lee's best friend that Dylan Lee cannot live without.

   He was certain that he was overreacting, but when does he not?

   She was sixteen and capable of taking care of herself... if she had pop tarts, but the teenaged boy knew that there would not be pop tarts in Yggdrasil. Mostly because this was meant to be some Tolkien-esque fantasy land and pop tarts did not exist whenever the author lived.

   "Oh great," he muttered underneath his breath as he felt temptation to hit himself in the forehead. His black eyes scanned the main square of Idrisel and spotted bright red hair that seemed as if it had been painted with holly berries.

   As if she felt his gaze, the girl turned and her forest green eyes were now purple. Her hair shortened and almost unruly. "Holly Berry!" He called. Her eyes widened and she jumped up. Relief filled his body and he felt that he could breathe again.

   "Dylan!" She gave him a hug on the side away from the large weapon.

   "Are you okay?"

   "I should ask you that. You look like you just got locked out of seeing your first kid being born."

   "As astute as ever, huh?"

   "Well, if you aren't offended, then I've lost my touch."

   "I highly doubt you'd lose your touch overnight..."

   "You were never sarcastic, so you wouldn't understand," Holly stuck her tongue out at him and he just grinned happily.