13. After Vermell

Waldina and Kiandra rushed away from Vermell’s territory. Although Vermell itself was defeated, Waldina didn’t want to risk waking up inside one of its underlings’ stomach. Nor fight against them needlessly. Wolves were known for their night vision which meant the ninja and her fairy friend would be at disadvantage. At least for now, as Waldina still didn’t have her night vision skill.

As Waldina prioritized getting out of Vermell’s territory before resting, everything else had to wait until later on. This included inquiring Kiandra about her plans and processing the information she’d received from Slehtkubi’s holograms. If this really was her new reality, she didn’t want to stay for too long at a territory she for sure knew was dangerous. She may have been annoyed with Slehtkubi, but didn’t make her suicidal. She’d stay alive even if it was the last thing she could do.

Kiandra on the other hand was still too scared to utter anything. She was content enough with the fact Waldina had given her the chance to journey together. Or perhaps not given but at least partially invited. She was too scared to ruin this moment and her chances of staying with Waldina. She didn’t want to say anything that could make the ninja change her mind.

Vermell’s territory was neighbours with either the green goblins area or with a small meadow-like square. Behind the square a new territory would begin, namely a forest. Behind the forest was meadows - again - and after that finally the path into the next town - at least in the game Adventurous Online.

Waldina decided to believe in her prior knowledge and act like the area would match her info. So she headed towards the next town - or the forest that came before it. Inizio as a town was wonderful, yet so remote and small that evolving into a stronger ninja would be difficult from there. After all, bigger operations and challenges happened further away, closer to either larger cities or the demon lord’s territory. As Waldina knew that she was in need of more challenges in order to level up and train herself as a ninja, she had no choice but to continue marching forward. Though, it would also take longer to return to the green goblin’s territory than it would take to reach the small meadow square ahead of them.

Fueled by her thoughts her steps became feather light and she sprang into running speed. She tried to reach the peaceful excitement she’d had these past few days, but it wasn’t easy. It was different to wonder if she’d ended up in a game world than actually knowing that fact for real. Not to mention the fact she wasn’t here as the great hero: she was a mere back-up plan if all else failed. Useless. And that didn’t exactly motivate her. Though perhaps it would be antimotivating to anyone else as well. She could just go on with her life, settle on to the far ends of the world of AO and live a peaceful life alone. No one would care about her doings.

Except she herself of course.

Some kind of dignity forced her to continue forward. Strive to be the best she could be. She really wanted to prove to Slehtkubi’s leaders that she was in fact stronger than the Oziel they so favored. And no, it didn’t really matter to her what kind of person Oziel himself was. He could be the kindest and strongest person alive, and she’d still focus on her own thing. She’d rise all the way to the top and prove everyone wrong. Oh, and afterwards no one would dare say a bad word about ninjas and their usefulness. Most importantly: Slehtkubi could beg and regret their choice yet she wouldn’t give them a chance. The world’s strongest wouldn’t save them. No amount of begging could help.

Waldina still held ninjas dear, even though she hadn’t done anything relating to ninjas for a long, long time. Yet now she had an extraordinary chance to really get to know ninjas and their skills. Never had she imagined a day like this would come. She could actually achieve her dream of being a cute ninja girl. Only if her situation with her summoners, the Slehtkubi leaders, wasn’t so shitty, she could perhaps really enjoy this all.

In her heart she knew that someday she would enjoy this.

The journey from Vermell’s territory to the closeby meadow wasn’t far away but it was already dark out as they reached it. The sun had settled behind the trees long, long time ago before the duo reached their destination.

The meadow was small. Like really small. It was more of a small square in the middle of the forest than an actual meadow, though it consisted of the basic elements of meadows. Waldina wondered if the real purpose of the meadow was to separate Vermell’s territory from the next territory. That way that part of the forest would be divided into two different areas; two different forests. To be honest, even the environment changed slightly.

Vermell’s part of the forest was dense and full of trees, small caves and paths. On the other hand, the forest in front of them seemed to have fewer trees and they were positioned further away from each other. There were more underbrushes, grass and moss. The actual difference forever wasn’t that huge and at a quick glance they were both seemingly part of the same forest. It was more about the territory borders than anything else. The green goblins and Vermell owned the first Waldina and Kiandra had left behind. And the forest in front of them had different, small owners and guardians, namely bunnies and other small rodents. The leader of the territory, Blancob, on the other hand, wasn’t small. It wasn’t as big as Vermell, but it was by no means a small harmless bunny.

Blancob was usually a calm being which didn’t harm humans. Unless someone evil entered its territory, committed atrocities or most importantly, caused harm to the small rodents in its territory. That made Blancob’s territory a rather safe place for camping - under the presumption Blancob wouldn’t deem Waldina and Kiandra a threat. Waldina wanted to believe that they were allowed to camp at the very least for one measly night.

As Blancob’s territory held mostly rodents that were usually harmless for humans, Waldina didn’t make an effort in looking for an extra safe camping spot. She was also quite tired and just wanted to rest. So she made a small camp for her and Kiandra by the edge of the meadow. They were just enough at Blancob’s territory so Vermell’s underlings wouldn’t come after them seeking revenge.

Waldina set a small campfire and after successfully starting the fire she took from inventory the coat she’d received after defeating Vermell. She set it on the ground, sat on it and signed for Kiandra to follow her. They were sitting there in silence looking at the campfire. It mesmerized them both as they enjoyed the view and sounds of fresh fire.

“Well, do tell me, why’d you come back to me?” Waldina’s words broke the spell they were under and Kiandra flinched slightly. The fairy, shining with blue light, turned to Waldina. Reluctantly she stood up, jumped into the air and flew right in front of Waldina’s face. Kiandra’s wings pointed slightly downwards, like a sad dog’s tail. Waldina frowned seeing the view, yet stayed quiet.

“I didn’t tell you before but… I have been trapped in the grimoire for as long as I can remember,” Kiandra’s voice was silent and trembling, “and before that I was… at the fairy village. But the village is long gone. It was destroyed by some poachers. Since then I’ve been trapped in the book.”

Waldina nodded slowly. She understood the meaning of those words. They were sort of in the same situation: Neither one of them had a home to return to. Kiandra’s home didn’t exist anymore whereas Waldina was unable to return to the home she knew.

“I’m not sure what fate has in store for me, but if you’re willing to deal with it all, you’re welcome to join me. But you are responsible for keeping yourself safe at all times. And just know one of my goals is to eventually return to my home world,” Waldina explained carefully. It made the light cloud surrounding Kiandra twinkle. That light cloud made the fairy really easy to understand, her feelings were so easy to guess. Before she had been like an open book, but now she was more like an elaborate documentary that ran on the tv so long you’d know it from word to word. Waldina found it cute.

“That reminds me, what are your other objectives?” Kiandra asked after she managed to calm down her excitement. Waldina tilted her head, pondering: “At least to become so strong I can show off to Slehtkubi’s leaders. And to everyone else underestimating ninjas.”

“I’m going to make ninjas the most wanted career path,” Waldina finished smiling shortly as she shrugged. Kiandra kept her wandering gaze at her purple haired friend, but didn’t say anything. She was trying to get a read on Waldina’s feelings, but couldn’t figure them out. And finally she decided she'd be content just traveling with Waldina. Even a day more would be fine.

“That sounds great!” Kiandra exclaimed after a long pause. In return she got a sceptical look from Waldina. “No, I really mean that. Let’s go and show those Slehtkubi idiots their mistake in judgement. And perhaps to that other hero while we're at it.”

“Oziel,” Waldina said, feeling her body become lighter by the minute. She had feared the pure motivated Kiandra wouldn’t appreciate her motives nor plans. It wasn’t exactly the best reason to aim at the top, after all. Hearing Kiandra accept the darkness in her heart and mind was like someone had just saved her heart from drowning. Kiandra had just become her partner in crime and very first friend in the vast world of AO.

And Waldina couldn’t be happier about it.