You can find the novel on:
FurAffinity (rtf file) - https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery...../Light-Escapes
SoFurry (No download required, some formatting) - https://www.sofurry.com/browse/fold.....p;folder=45417
Weasyl (pdf download, best read) - https://www.weasyl.com/submissions/.....olderid=100548
Inkbunny (rtf file + some story, little formatting) - https://inkbunny.net/submissionsvie.....o&success=
*Note: Like my Destruction Preventer series, the links above are to the Light Escapes Folder/Pool. This is for those who wish to read the Clean version [no yiff/sex]. But it's important to note that I didn't just "take out the sex", but replaced it with another scene. If you are interested in getting a little more out of these two, the scene is act 2 chapter 5.
"What did I just click on?"
This is a "Novel Card", something I'm trying out to promote my older works. Think of it as a flyer or a reminder that this story exists in the mass flood that is content. This one is for:
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Light Escapes - I'm not a big fan of anime in general. It's fine, and occasionally I find something I like, but I definitely wouldn't call it a hobby of mine. However, this story I did try to at least get a small feel for it. The tropes are not super obvious/"in your face", so if you're not a fan of that style, you should be fine here. It just has a little bit of a flavor of it.
That being said, if you do read some of the older descriptions I wrote of these acts and notice it mentioning a certain anime; SAO, keep in mind that wording is important. If you don't like SAO, Light Escapes has nothing to do with it. At all. I just took inspiration of the concept of VR and a MMORPG, and basing the setting around that. I'm not claiming that SAO did this first out of all the animes out there, it was just the one I seen that inspired me to write.
...This description is just a bunch of damage control, isn't it?
Anyway, you'll probably like this novel if you enjoy:
+Video games, MMO mixed with VR
+Semi-Anime, kind of Isekai
+Human (female) Protagonist
+Dragon as a Companion, one that does talk and such, this time an Eastern one with an Anthro form
+Earning Trust
+Straight Sex (optional)
+Action/Unarmed Combat
+Boob humor
If you're interested, go at it. Bookmark it for later, download it, whatever. I just hope you enjoy this
For FA users, I'll give you the first two chapters here as a preview. If you like it, you know where to find it.
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Light Escapes Act 1 - Trinity
By Bartan Tirix
Chapter 0
The echoes of limping steps filled the dark hallway, only lit by the safety lights that seemed to glow with a soft light. Showing the way through the halls and doorways through the blackness of the large building. The faint sound of something hovering behind the man quickly caught up to him at shoulder height, and he greeted the small probe with a smile. "Is it done, Hawn?"
"Yes sir." The little robotic said, in a rather strange masculine voice for its size. "But are you certain about this? If this experiment goes badly, you might lose more than just your job."
"I'm too old to be worried about my reputation. I'd rather go out pushing the limits than just fade away." The man chuckled, stopping in the middle of the large hallway and facing the left wall.
"That too, I suppose. But by my calculations, this change could make a catastrophic impact on the digital world."
"Or it could change them, from being simple tools into something greater. Capable of doing more than just helping mankind."
"Or perhaps be the first step to end them." It got the man to chuckle again.
"I didn't know you to be such a pessimist, old friend."
"Forgive me sir." Another chuckle. "I just want to aware you of any consequences that may result."
"Being a scientist is always about risk." The older one said sadly. Hawn detected his vitals changing slightly, but understood what it meant. As the man sighed, and took a deep breath while looking high up on the wall, he spoke a bit loudly. "ARBITER. Please present subject D.R. 4891276645-4NX7, X-00." And the wall spit opened, revealing hundreds of glass chambers with creatures within it. As a machine within took out one of the glass tubes and brought it forward carefully, the man studied it for a moment. Placing his hand on it and feeling the warmth from the water within.
The creature displayed looked more of an eastern origin. The artist and designer made it from their love of such ancient dragons. Red scales, with grey chestplates and a wild mane that always seemed to float in sections with the upcoming bubbles. It's muzzle was mostly covered by a device allowing it to survive in such stasis, and it's eyes remained closed due to its coma. "Subjects vitals are abnormal, Sir. But stable. Are you sure about this one?"
"Yes."
"I know your daughter designed it, but perhaps you should use something else. 7CN9 Seems more likely to accept such a program."
"And fail while attempting to run it. We need something greater than just normal. 4NX7 will accept it just the same. Perhaps even fix the abnormalities within it." Another few moments of studying and the man looked above the container. "ARBITER. Please access and run the process within Device 14." Something above the container shifted. "Install M.O.E. into subject D.R. 4891276645-4NX7."
A faint siren went off for just a moment, and another voice came from the wall. "Invalid Command. Device 14 Has Performed An Illegal Operation. Canceling Orders."
"Login: Dr. Allison Lagarr. Password: Dana2061-2073. Resume Orders." The man said a bit sadly.
"Access Denied."
"Overwrite: Meaning Of Existence." Another long moment of silence.
"Resuming Orders." The creature inside began to whimper a bit in pain for several minutes, but remained asleep. With one last deep breath, the man overlooked his daughter's creation and spoke above the container once more.
"After Installation, prep the container for release."
"Confirmed." The large wall said over the whimpers. Then the man sighed, walking back the way he came.
"You're not going to see to the end, Sir? Make sure that your calculations were correct?" Hawn asked, following him.
"I'm confident in her side of it. And I know that it will work. Besides, I should have one last drink before I'm arrested." He gave the drone a smile.
"You could still escape sir. I can log you out without any traces."
"Only to eventually do more damage than what I've caused them." A playful smirk came over his mouth. "I'll be fine, Hawn. Just keep me company until then."
"Of Course, Sir."
Within Temptation (Feat. Xzibit) - And We Run
"Installation Complete." The loud voice said. Pausing for a few moments before draining the glass container. Opening the glass doors, the creature struggled to get the muzzle off and fall to the floor of the hallway. Coughing and spitting out the strange liquid that remained tasteless. Breathing heavily, his lungs burned as he began to open his eyes and focus on the faint lights.
Seeing the pattern on the floor, the red one made a choice. Going the opposite way the man left, and following the lights to the dark distance. Staggering at first, and progressively learning how to walk on two legs, the wingless dragon made his way through the darkness. Gradually picking up speed with his walk and walking past the many doors the floor lights offered. Faintly making out a solid wall at the very end of the hallway, the red one grunted loudly. Forming his right paw into a fist, he heavily slammed the wall, shaking the building and shattering the barrier.
The remnants of the wall fell down with the beast, along with a very heavy rain. He found himself falling outside of the building, trying to correct himself before hitting the ground with a massive impact that caused the rain nearby to splash loudly. The slight crater it made looked like it should've hurt the dragon, but he got up off his side with ease. Just a little puzzled with the rain.
While up there, he remembered seeing something in the distance. Looking down the empty streets filled with many tall, windowless buildings, he slowly got up. A large drone with a single lens hovered around him, then several others came near the red one, almost frightening him. Before they could stop him, he ran forward past the machines.
The rain stun his face slightly. Pulling a bit on his long whiskers and making his furry ears a bit on the heavy side. However, somehow his spikey mane remained upwards. Bouncing to his every step and splash his hind paws made on the strange concrete street. Up ahead, his golden eyes made focus to another large wall. One that seemed to captivate the entire city. With another loud grunt, he leapt at it when he was close.
Another straight-forward heavy slam into the wall caused it to crack and shift loudly. Allowing him to see the faint golden light behind it. Feeling a strange warmth that beckoned him to keep trying. Opening with a heavy knee, two body blows, and fierce Straight, the wall began to crack and break down. One heavy hit leading to another, getting the red one to speed up and almost leave a faint trail of after images of himself behind with every movement. With a hard kick, he pushed himself off the wall a few feet and took a few breaths while the rain still poured down on him.
With a faint roar that could barely be heard over the falling water, the beast did a heavy pivot. Throwing everything he had into one last punch against the wall. One that seemed to stop the rainfall before it even touched the arm, giving off this large, Bullet-shaped cone within the heavy rain before it impacted the wall. For a moment, the rain seemed to stop as the wall exploded outward with the hit. Letting the dragon bathe in the golden glow of a warm sun before getting splashed harshly by the rain.
But he paid little attention to the wet. Breathing heavily, he took a few steps out of the wall and out towards the remnants of an older civilization. One that didn't seem to be clouded by the darkness from before. It felt welcoming, empowering...
Free...
Chapter 1
A few hours of this, and she was still half struggling to understand it. Trying to control her breaths and focus, the young woman took her stance. Slight bent knees that could barely be seen through her black Hakama, a slightly wide foot placement to insure balance, and her opened hands in front of her lower chest. While most kept their hands enclosed and strained in a fist, hers remained opened.
She kept her focus on the rabid wolf in front of her. Hearing the snarls of it nearly forced her instincts to turn the other way. But if she showed her back to it, it would attack her. A few more breaths, and a fainting step forward caused the wolf to attack with its jaws. As it leapt at her slightly opened throat, the woman grabbed the beast out of the air. Pinning it down, and then breaking the canine's neck with a loud crack that she was still getting used to.
She took a few breaths as the wolf shattered into thousands of bright red pixels, and a small UI [User Interface] popped up before her. "Last one." She sighed in relief. "This is harder than I thought it would be."
"That's because you're playing your profession wrong." A rather short young man offered to help her up. Though she politely passed and he shrugged. Scratching the back of his really black hair. "Tamers are not meant to be Melee characters. They're supposed to be spellcasters."
"You've told me that a hundred times by now, Miles." She grumbled, accepting the items the wolf left behind, including the last of her current Task items. "I'm all done here at least. I'm guessing you've got your pelts?"
"I've had them for a while. I was just watching you." A sharp glare from those slightly orange eyes. "I-I mean, I was just watching your... Technique, is all. N-not your... Um..." The woman almost growled as she began to walk past him and into the large fields. Seeing other players dealing with many of the creatures and beasts that casually reappeared spaciously. The thought of actually fighting two of those wolves at once almost scared her. "What do you think of the structure system though, Trisha?" Another sharp glare at him. "I-I mean, Sarious?"
She looked at a nearby creature for a moment. "It's... A bit more real than I thought. Especially with the sound and slight... Vibration, I guess." She said, studying her gloved hand. "I like the fact that the game responds where I strike and grab. I mean, it's physics are unreal. But it's the sounds that really..."
"Make you uncomfortable?" The woman nodded. Feeling the light red hair on the back of her head raise up to those snaps and pops of bones. "Well, the devs [Developers] really wanted to make it realistic."
"They succeeded." She grumbled. "But I'll get used to it. Just a matter of experience."
"Speaking of experience, I'm almost level 4. How about you?"
"After I hand in this task, I'll be 5." The man double-taked.
"Five!? How? We were the same level twenty minutes ago!"
"That's what you get for just taking on the lower level mobs." He whined in defeat, getting her to smirk a bit.
"I thought I was too squishy for them, so I didn't risk it. I still don't know you were able to survive. You're in cloth armor, aren't you?"
"Light Armor." A faint grumble from the black haired one. "Don't you give me that. I told you what I want out of this game."
"I know, but... Cloth will make your magic stronger-"
"I don't want to use magic." She folded her arms across her Aikido uniform. "I want to fight side by side with a creature."
"There's just no class that's like that though. The closest thing is a Tamer, because they're the only ones that can have very offensive pets-"
"But that style is just Tank N' Spank. And TNS is horribly boring."
"But very affective and welcomed in the Factions. As well as raids." Yet another sharp glare. "I-I know you might not care about the social part of the game too much Trish-Erm... Sarious-"
"Miles-"
"Seriously. If you get too invested in a bad character, you won't be accepted later on in the game. It can't be soloed, no matter how much money you throw into it." She rolled her eyes.
"You know I don't believe in Cash Shopping."
"Yet you charged twenty bucks for that outfit." He smirked at her rather annoyed look.
"I briefly looked into the future designs of the Light and cloth armors, and they're mostly skimpy."
"That's MMOs [Massive Multiplayer Online (Games)] for you, and Skyline is no exception."
"Precisely why I bought an outfit that will hide my current armor. At least I could wear it at level 1. Many require you to be at about level 10 or 20 before you can equip them." Sarious grumbled again. Clearing her face and taking a breath before walking up to a Tanner. "Here's those Pelts you wanted." She said with a smile.
"Just in time! I ran out only a moment ago. Thank you very much Serious!" It made the woman double-take at the elder looking man.
"I-it's... Nevermind. You're welcome Peppin." Another UI popped up and she accepted the reward. Seeing a bright glow omit from her body faintly and a faint design that seemed to circle around the ground below her feet. The feeling of the Level Ups were rather empowering. Refreshing your entire body and getting a nice clean aura as she seen her friend do the same.
The younger man chuckled. "I guess they never did perfect the Vocal part of the Names."
"It doesn't matter too much." She let it slide as she motioned her right hand across from her to pull up her HUD [Heads Up Display]. Going into the Character Menu and seeing her new abilities for that level. "Finally, I get to choose a Companion." She read the little detail about it.
"Good. You should go with a Walker though. They have the best defense for Tanking and soaking up damage." Her face went a little cross, but she didn't respond. "But they're tamed quite far away. How much Credit do you have on you?"
"A few hundred thousand." She said rather calmly, getting a rather surprised and speechless reaction out of him. "What?"
"How!?"
"I had some money left over, and I did some research. Sold some Champion Runes to a player shop and made some extra money." A faint whimper from him. "Pay to Win, huh?"
"Pay to Win." He grumbled.
"It doesn't hurt to support the game, you know."
"I know, but I really need to save up for University. By the sounds of it, I'll need every penny I can get." Sarious was a bit quiet. "Anyway, I wouldn't advise taming anything around here."
"Yeah..." She half looked at the direction of the wolves. As much as she wanted something aggressive for a companion, she didn't really like the look of them. There was just something off in their eyes.
"So, maybe we can find something at the Animal Shelter. There should be tons there, even Walkers-" Another grunt, and she set her Map Tracker. Seeing a faint sparkly dust leading the way to the first city. "I know, I know. But they're good pets."
"They also look dumb as hell. I don't want a Golem for a companion. I want something that can decide for itself a bit. Not just take orders."
Miles just shook his head while he followed her. "You're expecting too much from the system. That's what companions do: take orders. That's all they really can do. Though, I'm not sure how so many of them get attached to their pets."
"Well, in a game with Permanent Death, I can half understand. You'll do everything you can to survive sometimes. And that creature that's constantly risking its neck for you... Well." She shrugged as the black haired one looked at her. "Maybe I just want something that won't stupidly die. I want something that doesn't act like a robot. Not caring about its own life, even if you send it to its demise."
"Sounds like an inconvenience really. I mean, back in the day when gamers still used controllers and them not responding well to the games? That's what it sounds like to me. You don't want something that will refuse your commands."
"Why not though? I almost want one that I can communicate with. Talk and discuss strategy, something that will understand what I mean by flanking, tripping, block and disarm."
"Sounds like you want a player-"
"I don't want another player." She said a bit sternly, getting that faint whimper from him again. Sighing, Sarious looked at her reflection in the water below the bridge they were on. Seeing her brown hair with a rather harsh red tint lightly blowing in the warm breeze, and getting the tail end of her bandanna around her forehead to flutter on her shoulder. "Sorry, but you need to realize..."
"That you got hurt once. I know. Some players are dicks, that's all there is to it. But it's been getting better and better with the newer games. The more realistic games." She made a noise to answer, but didn't really respond past that. With a faint sigh, she began following the trail once again. "I know I won't be on to show you the ropes much longer, Trisha." Almost a growl that time made him smile. "But try not to get sucked into this game like the last one...s..." It made her lightly smile at the plural.
"When do you leave again? Two days?"
"On the weekend, yes. And I can't bring my visor. Odds are they won't have the ports to support it. And after two weeks at the university, I'll be back. Then you can powerlevel me." He teased, getting the woman to shake her head. "The Animal Shelter building is over there."
"Yeah. Let's see what's around."
Chapter 2
Browsing through the UI was horribly boring to her. Many of the already tamed creatures were either too low in stats, too high level for her to use, or a Glacial Walker. The Gemstone Golem looked alright in the Data Icon, even up close it was quite impressive in detail. But it wasn't what Sarious wanted. "Find anything yet?" Miles asked, coming in with some new light armor. It still looked rather crude, but for his level, that was expected.
"Not really." She replied lackadaisically. "I feel like I've been at this for an hour." She grumbled, scrolling through the interface from one Companion to another.
"I guess alot of people are just Taming creatures themselves. But the game has been out for about a year." The man sat down across from her table, and started browsing himself.
With a heavy sigh, she scrolled through one almost too quickly. Making a noise in question that slightly puzzled her and getting the attention of Miles. "This is... Strange." She said in a bit of a whisper, getting him to close his UI and look at hers.
"What the?" The two looked at a Companion that had unknown stats. The name was a series of scrambled characters that were not even a programing language. Even its Data Icon was missing. "It must be an error."
"But there's a price on it." She exhaled. "300k. That'll be most of my money right there."
"Just go with something else." He shrugged, going back to his seat and opening his browser once again. Hearing Sarious ponder to herself.
"Excuse me, Ma'am?" She got up and went to the Vendor NPC [Non-Player Character]. "What can you tell me about this Companion?"
After a few moments, the Vendor responded. "What Companion do you mean?"
"There's no name on it, so he probably didn't recognize it. What about Entry 18867?"
Another few moments. "That item is on sale for 300,000 Credits. Would you like to purchase it?"
"Can you tell me who is selling this item?"
"I cannot give you that information Serious. My Apologies."
"It's alright." She half grumbled at the incorrection of her name. With a faint sigh, she looked down at the data once again. "I'll take it."
"Wait-what?" Miles jumped out of his seat. "What are you talking about? Don't waste your money on a gamble! It might not even be a pet-"
"If it isn't a Companion then it's not able to be sold in this building. Whoever put this in here probably tried selling it everywhere else. Maybe it's just an item that got leaked from a future patch." The woman confirmed the payment, watching the numbers remove an entire digit and gain one new item in her inventory. "Besides, if I don't like it, I can just attempt to sell it again."
The man sighed heavily. "Well, can you at least place it in your companion slot?" He looked into her HUD and watch as it equipped with ease. "Alright, let’s go see your first pet then." He lead the way out.
"Thank you for coming." The vendor said, giving it a soft smile as Sarious left.
The two went off in the alley between buildings. Though the first City was quite barren as it was, Sarious preferred not to be seen or gawked at while looking at the Companion. "Well... Here goes nothing." She took a deep breath and touched the Summon button on the HUD. Making a bright light before them on the ground and shaping it into a small eastern red dragon about two feet long.
"...Kinda small." Miles stated, looking at it from afar as it began to uncurl and stretch it's limbs out a bit. "And cute, really."
"Yeah..." Sarious said, a bit disappointed. Kneeling down to get a closer look at the small critter with a spikey grey mane with orange tips, and getting greeted with big golden eyes as they started to focus on her.
A faint grumble came from it as it yawned and snapped it's jaws a few times. "Morning already?" It mumbled, getting a rather surprised look out of the players. Another quick stretch and it laid back down, closing its eyes. "I'll have two eggs: one over easy, one over medium. Three sausage links, a cup of cottage cheese with a drizzle of honey. A fruit cup, unless it's mostly honey dew melon. And in that case, skip it and make it half a grapefruit. A glass of whole milk over ice and a side of toast: barely brown. Closer to bread than toast, I am not joking. If it's closer to toast, I will burn down your restaurant. I'm serious. I will track it down and burn it. Also, I'll have a bloody mary."
"...What?" The young man said, getting a glare from the small red one.
"You heard me. And don't you send that creepy freckled goblin thing to deliver it again. If you do, I will see to it personally that it will never deliver food or anything again."
"I didn't know companions could talk." Sarious said, kneeling down once again and poking the little one with her finger. Getting it to hiss and swat it away.
"I knew Ravens could, but nothing else." The woman raised a questionable eyebrow at him. "They're mostly ranged spellcasters."
"Right. So that means he's probably..."
"A spellcaster too." Another sigh of defeat from her. "It's alright. I mean, he doesn't seem to combat worthy-"
"What exactly do you mean by that?" The dragon growled. Finally getting up and looking at the two more closely. "Less talky, more getting my breakfast...-y."
"Breakfast?" She asked.
"Yes. Breakfast. Your breakfast menus are still active for another two minutes, so it's still a valid command. It's not my fault you're incapable of cooking in the appropriate time, now get to it. I'm hungry."
"It's possible that he is hungry, actually. You do have to feed your pets." The man shrugged.
"I guess I should give him something to eat then. I'm getting quite famished myself."
"Alright." Miles pulled up his own HUD. "It's five after, I should really sleep. Gotta get up early and start packing."
"Okay." The woman said, picking up the grumbling dragon as it fought against her hands. Eventually climbing on her shoulder and resting there. Though the tail of it felt a little weird on the back of her neck, she managed for now. "I'll see you in two weeks then."
"Yeah. Take care, Trisha." And the man went his separate way. Heading towards an inn.
"...Trisha?" The dragon half questioned. Trying not to sound actually interested.
"You're not allowed to call me that. I'm Sarious to you." She tapped him on the nose and it grumbled. "Do you have a name? Most of the ones I looked at already did, but your data is a mess."
"4NX7." He answered, still looking at the black haired thief in the distance.
"What kind of name is that?" It made the little one double take.
"A better one than Sarious." He snorted, motioning her to go forward, and then get used to her walk.
"You... Said it right."
"Of course. I said it how you said it. How could you possibly mispronounce your own name?" He curled his neck.
"But the others...?"
"What others?" He grumbled, feeling overshadowed by something large behind them. As the woman turned around, she was met with a large navy-blue thundercat mount. Half glaring at her, while a large man in heavy plate black and red armor was looking at her.
"That's a different pet." The man said, leaning to get a closer look. "Where did you get it?"
"Just found it in the Animal Shelter. But it seems like the only one." She answered a bit coldly. There was a strange tension the dragon could feel within her.
"Definitely don't see these at endgame. Hmm..." A little bit more studying. "I like dragons. How much for it?"
"Excuse me?" The two answered, getting them to look at each other, then back at the Blackguard.
"How much for it? I'll buy it off you."
"I'm not a possession to be bartered with!" The little one hissed, getting a bit of a surprised chuckle from the man.
"It even talks? Interesting... How about 4 million?"
"Four Million?" The number actually stunned her for a moment.
"Five?" The man asked. "I'll go no higher than Seven. That'll probably set you for life here. Even buy yourself a home."
"A home...?" She looked around the town for a moment. Just now realizing that you could probably rent or buy some property. It actually sounded quite appealing. Perhaps even buy another pet that's more suited to her liking. But the look on the dragon's face, seeing her actually consider it almost hurt him. Making his ears unwillingly fall a bit. "Sorry, but he's not for sale. I'm sure you could put that money into better use."
"You sure?" The man asked, seeing the woman nod. He sighed a bit, but shrugged. "Alright. I'll just have to find another then. But just one more offer." A bit of a glare from Sarious. "Did you want to join a Faction?"
"...No thanks. I'm not looking for one right now." Again, her reply was a bit cold, but the man took no offense.
"Alright. But if you change your mind, send me some mail." The woman stood her ground until the thundercat passed. Sighing quietly, she walked on.
"...So, I'm more valuable to you than seven million Credits, huh?"
"It was my mistake to adopt you. He shouldn't have to pay for it." That one actually made the little one whimper. "That's... Not what I meant-"
"Too late. The damage has been done." He snorted. Trying to look offended, but it actually made her smile a bit. Seeing it, he double-taked. "What?"
"I need to find you a different name."
"What do you mean? My name is 4NX7."
"But that sounds like a model number rather than a name." While walking, she pulled up her HUD into the Companion Menu. "There's gotta be a way to rename your companion here."
After a few moments of searching with no luck, the red one exhaled loudly. "Put that away and bring up your keyboard." She looked at him and he tossed his snout. "Go to the options menu and do this." He lifted his paws, palm down, and she did. Seeing a virtual keyboard pop up. "Now type in Skyline:Item/system managing/config/animaldata/tamer8669105-Sarious." She looked at him, after doing it. "Now you see your pet options in the list? Hit the first one."
"You mean: 4891276645-4NX7?"
"Yes. Now hit enter, and then option four."
"Delete?" She questioned, getting him to double take again.
"That's option five!" He hissed, getting her to chuckle. "Just hit Rename."
"Now, what to call you?" She studied him for a few minutes, until his ears went back. A loud grumble and he snorted at her.
"Whatever you wish, Master." He said sarcastically.
"You sound like a male."
"More male than female, yes."
"And you look like a Chinese dragon."
"A what dragon?" He tilted his head.
"It's a Region in the real world." The little one studied her for a moment while she was lost in thought. "I'm thinking either Long or Jinrei. Both are Chinese fighters from other games." Once again, the dragon tiled his head and perked his ears, getting the woman to smile.
"So, you're planning to name me from someone else’s identity?" He half grumbled.
"Maybe. You don't like them?"
"My only opinion is on my state of hunger. Call me what you wish." It made her chuckle.
"Think I'll call you Jinrei for now. Maybe I'll think of a better name for you later. You can always tell me how to rename you again anyway." He snorted at her, but didn't reply. As she typed it in and hit enter, it took a moment to process it. Hearing him lightly grunt almost got her concerned. But he just shrugged it off. Seeing the name above his healthbar almost made her smile as those golden eyes focused on her light orange ones.
"Happy? Can I get something to eat now?" He grumbled, and she nodded. Taking him to a nearby restaurant.
The loud slurp echoed through the entire empty restaurant, as Jinrei finished the last of his red drink and sighed in relief. "Much better." He mumbled, laying back in the cushion seats.
Looking over at the pile of dirty dishes, Sarious just shook her head. Half smiling, even though she knew the bill for it was going to be massive. "At least your hunger meter is full now."
"Yes. It's been empty for a very long time."
"How long were you in storage?"
"Storage?" He questioned seriously. Yawning and laying out on the seat.
"Yes, I bought you out of the shelter. I'm guessing you were in some sort of stasis in there."
"Just felt like a very long nap to me." Another yawn and a few snaps of his jaws as he started to groom his long whiskers a bit.
A UI appeared before the woman, allowing her to scroll through the payments. "Total of over ten thousand Credits." She rolled her eyes, but half smiled.
"A minor inconvenience for someone like you, I'm sure."
"Well, don't be thinking you're going to feast like that very often."
"Please. I cannot possibly take another bite for a few hours."
"That's going to have to last a few days." He made a noise in question. "I can't afford to pay this every few hours." She sighed, accepting the bill and watching the UI disappear. Only to see the dragon's rather surprised stare over the table. Getting Sarious to chuckle.
"Days!?"
"Yes. Days. Until then, you'll live off of Peanut Oil."
"Why? I thought you were rich." The red one snorted loudly, thumping his tail on the seat actually made a louder impact than she was expecting.
"Not that rich. I just had a starting bonus." Seeing the little one's massive snout toss, leading him to laying back down, made her smile fully.
"Peanut Oil is pet food."
"And you're a pet."
"I'm a Companion. An Ally. And I should be treated with respect and dignity. Not like an animal."
"Well, your intelligence bought you this meal. Keep impressing me and Maybe I'll buy you another." She took a close look at the dishes, just now shattering into blue pixels. "Emphasis on the maybe part."
"I suppose you should find some way to make some money then." He grumbled, stretching and coiling himself up into a small ball. Only to be picked up by the woman as soon as he got comfortable. Growling at her.
"Enough of that you. Tomorrow we'll look into your abilities. The data doesn't even state that you have any."
"I have abilities. Like my ability to sleep, which is now being interrupted by a certain someone." Jinrei snorted.
"I mean combat abilities. You're going to be earning that meal I just bought you." An annoyed whimper came from him, but he didn't argue past that. "But first, I need to sleep. So I'm going to the inn, and logging off."
"Logging off?" He half questioned. It almost sounded sarcastic.
"Yes, because watching you eat reminded me that I should eat something in the real world." He exhaled loudly, but didn't respond. "So you're going to be stowed until then. Okay?"
"As if." He grumbled. Hearing her pull up her HUD and the pet menu.
"What the...? The Unsummon button isn't optional."
"That's because the game cannot allow you to go without a pet, being a 'Master' and whatnot."
"Yes it can. I've seen people even use their pets to pull large groups of enemies by unsummoning the pet after it strikes."
"Well then, your HUD is broken."
"Well then," She mocked him. "Fix it."
"Do I look like Tech Support to you?" He snorted. "And what you probably seen was the Masters summoning a different pet. You get another slot at level 15, 25, and 35. Then you can buy them from the cash shop."
"I suppose that makes sense." She half grumbled. Putting on a smile while talking to the Owner of the inn. "Could I get a room, please?"
"Sure thing. It'll be 10 Credits per night. Do you wish to stay?"
"Yes. Thank you." She said, accepting the key and the bill for one night. Walking off out of earshot and noticing Jin trying to look at the NPC from behind.
"Why are you so nice to them?" He sounded half offended. Giving the woman a puzzled look while she rolled her eyes.
"It's some new system they put in about seven years ago: If you're nice to the NPCs, they can give you a discount or additional rewards. Including more Experience [XP], Credits [C], and Ability Points [AP]. If you're mean, sarcastic, or snarky to them, they will reduce your rewards or even charge you more. They can even reject some of your later Tasks and refuse to give you a reward. Whereas there's no way to harm an Immortal Object in Skyline, there's no way to punish them."
"Sounds..." He grumbled, but didn't finish. Feeling her nod in response.
"I know. But way back when... People were getting out of hand. Not knowing common courtesy when it came to interacting with other people. For a long while, gaming was banned through many countries, even fined harshly if they were caught hosting servers for them. Only a few decades ago, they started to come back with Virtual Reality Systems [VR]. Only if they reward players for being a good person, even to something lifeless as an NPC. After a while, you learn that it's rewarding in its own way. You just need to tuck away your antsy or cynical feelings and just be a happy school girl towards them."
"That's an oddly specific description." Again, Jin looked back, replaying her voice towards the innkeeper in his head and seeing the similarities.
Walking into the room, the dragon glided onto the small bed for one person. Laying right in the middle of it, only to be shoved aside by the woman and hissing at her. "When you pay for the room, you get to sleep on the bed." He growled at her, but didn't argue. "Alright, I'm off. Good night, Jinrei. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes, exhaling loudly. Hearing the UI disappear and notice her ceasing to move. It was almost like she was dead, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. To the point where he climbed up to look at her closely and check her vitals. "She would've shattered of she was dead, like the rest." He mumbled to himself. Walking forward on her chest to feel something oddly comfortable.
Thanks for getting this far, and here are the links again
You can find the novel on:
FurAffinity (rtf file) - https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery...../Light-Escapes
SoFurry (No download required, some formatting) - https://www.sofurry.com/browse/fold.....p;folder=45417
Weasyl (pdf download, best read) - https://www.weasyl.com/submissions/.....olderid=100548
Inkbunny (rtf file + some story, little formatting) - https://inkbunny.net/submissionsvie.....o&success=
FurAffinity (rtf file) - https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery...../Light-Escapes
SoFurry (No download required, some formatting) - https://www.sofurry.com/browse/fold.....p;folder=45417
Weasyl (pdf download, best read) - https://www.weasyl.com/submissions/.....olderid=100548
Inkbunny (rtf file + some story, little formatting) - https://inkbunny.net/submissionsvie.....o&success=
*Note: Like my Destruction Preventer series, the links above are to the Light Escapes Folder/Pool. This is for those who wish to read the Clean version [no yiff/sex]. But it's important to note that I didn't just "take out the sex", but replaced it with another scene. If you are interested in getting a little more out of these two, the scene is act 2 chapter 5.
"What did I just click on?"
This is a "Novel Card", something I'm trying out to promote my older works. Think of it as a flyer or a reminder that this story exists in the mass flood that is content. This one is for:
****
Light Escapes - I'm not a big fan of anime in general. It's fine, and occasionally I find something I like, but I definitely wouldn't call it a hobby of mine. However, this story I did try to at least get a small feel for it. The tropes are not super obvious/"in your face", so if you're not a fan of that style, you should be fine here. It just has a little bit of a flavor of it.
That being said, if you do read some of the older descriptions I wrote of these acts and notice it mentioning a certain anime; SAO, keep in mind that wording is important. If you don't like SAO, Light Escapes has nothing to do with it. At all. I just took inspiration of the concept of VR and a MMORPG, and basing the setting around that. I'm not claiming that SAO did this first out of all the animes out there, it was just the one I seen that inspired me to write.
...This description is just a bunch of damage control, isn't it?
Anyway, you'll probably like this novel if you enjoy:
+Video games, MMO mixed with VR
+Semi-Anime, kind of Isekai
+Human (female) Protagonist
+Dragon as a Companion, one that does talk and such, this time an Eastern one with an Anthro form
+Earning Trust
+Straight Sex (optional)
+Action/Unarmed Combat
+Boob humor
If you're interested, go at it. Bookmark it for later, download it, whatever. I just hope you enjoy this
For FA users, I'll give you the first two chapters here as a preview. If you like it, you know where to find it.
~~~~~~
Light Escapes Act 1 - Trinity
By Bartan Tirix
Chapter 0
The echoes of limping steps filled the dark hallway, only lit by the safety lights that seemed to glow with a soft light. Showing the way through the halls and doorways through the blackness of the large building. The faint sound of something hovering behind the man quickly caught up to him at shoulder height, and he greeted the small probe with a smile. "Is it done, Hawn?"
"Yes sir." The little robotic said, in a rather strange masculine voice for its size. "But are you certain about this? If this experiment goes badly, you might lose more than just your job."
"I'm too old to be worried about my reputation. I'd rather go out pushing the limits than just fade away." The man chuckled, stopping in the middle of the large hallway and facing the left wall.
"That too, I suppose. But by my calculations, this change could make a catastrophic impact on the digital world."
"Or it could change them, from being simple tools into something greater. Capable of doing more than just helping mankind."
"Or perhaps be the first step to end them." It got the man to chuckle again.
"I didn't know you to be such a pessimist, old friend."
"Forgive me sir." Another chuckle. "I just want to aware you of any consequences that may result."
"Being a scientist is always about risk." The older one said sadly. Hawn detected his vitals changing slightly, but understood what it meant. As the man sighed, and took a deep breath while looking high up on the wall, he spoke a bit loudly. "ARBITER. Please present subject D.R. 4891276645-4NX7, X-00." And the wall spit opened, revealing hundreds of glass chambers with creatures within it. As a machine within took out one of the glass tubes and brought it forward carefully, the man studied it for a moment. Placing his hand on it and feeling the warmth from the water within.
The creature displayed looked more of an eastern origin. The artist and designer made it from their love of such ancient dragons. Red scales, with grey chestplates and a wild mane that always seemed to float in sections with the upcoming bubbles. It's muzzle was mostly covered by a device allowing it to survive in such stasis, and it's eyes remained closed due to its coma. "Subjects vitals are abnormal, Sir. But stable. Are you sure about this one?"
"Yes."
"I know your daughter designed it, but perhaps you should use something else. 7CN9 Seems more likely to accept such a program."
"And fail while attempting to run it. We need something greater than just normal. 4NX7 will accept it just the same. Perhaps even fix the abnormalities within it." Another few moments of studying and the man looked above the container. "ARBITER. Please access and run the process within Device 14." Something above the container shifted. "Install M.O.E. into subject D.R. 4891276645-4NX7."
A faint siren went off for just a moment, and another voice came from the wall. "Invalid Command. Device 14 Has Performed An Illegal Operation. Canceling Orders."
"Login: Dr. Allison Lagarr. Password: Dana2061-2073. Resume Orders." The man said a bit sadly.
"Access Denied."
"Overwrite: Meaning Of Existence." Another long moment of silence.
"Resuming Orders." The creature inside began to whimper a bit in pain for several minutes, but remained asleep. With one last deep breath, the man overlooked his daughter's creation and spoke above the container once more.
"After Installation, prep the container for release."
"Confirmed." The large wall said over the whimpers. Then the man sighed, walking back the way he came.
"You're not going to see to the end, Sir? Make sure that your calculations were correct?" Hawn asked, following him.
"I'm confident in her side of it. And I know that it will work. Besides, I should have one last drink before I'm arrested." He gave the drone a smile.
"You could still escape sir. I can log you out without any traces."
"Only to eventually do more damage than what I've caused them." A playful smirk came over his mouth. "I'll be fine, Hawn. Just keep me company until then."
"Of Course, Sir."
Within Temptation (Feat. Xzibit) - And We Run
"Installation Complete." The loud voice said. Pausing for a few moments before draining the glass container. Opening the glass doors, the creature struggled to get the muzzle off and fall to the floor of the hallway. Coughing and spitting out the strange liquid that remained tasteless. Breathing heavily, his lungs burned as he began to open his eyes and focus on the faint lights.
Seeing the pattern on the floor, the red one made a choice. Going the opposite way the man left, and following the lights to the dark distance. Staggering at first, and progressively learning how to walk on two legs, the wingless dragon made his way through the darkness. Gradually picking up speed with his walk and walking past the many doors the floor lights offered. Faintly making out a solid wall at the very end of the hallway, the red one grunted loudly. Forming his right paw into a fist, he heavily slammed the wall, shaking the building and shattering the barrier.
The remnants of the wall fell down with the beast, along with a very heavy rain. He found himself falling outside of the building, trying to correct himself before hitting the ground with a massive impact that caused the rain nearby to splash loudly. The slight crater it made looked like it should've hurt the dragon, but he got up off his side with ease. Just a little puzzled with the rain.
While up there, he remembered seeing something in the distance. Looking down the empty streets filled with many tall, windowless buildings, he slowly got up. A large drone with a single lens hovered around him, then several others came near the red one, almost frightening him. Before they could stop him, he ran forward past the machines.
The rain stun his face slightly. Pulling a bit on his long whiskers and making his furry ears a bit on the heavy side. However, somehow his spikey mane remained upwards. Bouncing to his every step and splash his hind paws made on the strange concrete street. Up ahead, his golden eyes made focus to another large wall. One that seemed to captivate the entire city. With another loud grunt, he leapt at it when he was close.
Another straight-forward heavy slam into the wall caused it to crack and shift loudly. Allowing him to see the faint golden light behind it. Feeling a strange warmth that beckoned him to keep trying. Opening with a heavy knee, two body blows, and fierce Straight, the wall began to crack and break down. One heavy hit leading to another, getting the red one to speed up and almost leave a faint trail of after images of himself behind with every movement. With a hard kick, he pushed himself off the wall a few feet and took a few breaths while the rain still poured down on him.
With a faint roar that could barely be heard over the falling water, the beast did a heavy pivot. Throwing everything he had into one last punch against the wall. One that seemed to stop the rainfall before it even touched the arm, giving off this large, Bullet-shaped cone within the heavy rain before it impacted the wall. For a moment, the rain seemed to stop as the wall exploded outward with the hit. Letting the dragon bathe in the golden glow of a warm sun before getting splashed harshly by the rain.
But he paid little attention to the wet. Breathing heavily, he took a few steps out of the wall and out towards the remnants of an older civilization. One that didn't seem to be clouded by the darkness from before. It felt welcoming, empowering...
Free...
Chapter 1
A few hours of this, and she was still half struggling to understand it. Trying to control her breaths and focus, the young woman took her stance. Slight bent knees that could barely be seen through her black Hakama, a slightly wide foot placement to insure balance, and her opened hands in front of her lower chest. While most kept their hands enclosed and strained in a fist, hers remained opened.
She kept her focus on the rabid wolf in front of her. Hearing the snarls of it nearly forced her instincts to turn the other way. But if she showed her back to it, it would attack her. A few more breaths, and a fainting step forward caused the wolf to attack with its jaws. As it leapt at her slightly opened throat, the woman grabbed the beast out of the air. Pinning it down, and then breaking the canine's neck with a loud crack that she was still getting used to.
She took a few breaths as the wolf shattered into thousands of bright red pixels, and a small UI [User Interface] popped up before her. "Last one." She sighed in relief. "This is harder than I thought it would be."
"That's because you're playing your profession wrong." A rather short young man offered to help her up. Though she politely passed and he shrugged. Scratching the back of his really black hair. "Tamers are not meant to be Melee characters. They're supposed to be spellcasters."
"You've told me that a hundred times by now, Miles." She grumbled, accepting the items the wolf left behind, including the last of her current Task items. "I'm all done here at least. I'm guessing you've got your pelts?"
"I've had them for a while. I was just watching you." A sharp glare from those slightly orange eyes. "I-I mean, I was just watching your... Technique, is all. N-not your... Um..." The woman almost growled as she began to walk past him and into the large fields. Seeing other players dealing with many of the creatures and beasts that casually reappeared spaciously. The thought of actually fighting two of those wolves at once almost scared her. "What do you think of the structure system though, Trisha?" Another sharp glare at him. "I-I mean, Sarious?"
She looked at a nearby creature for a moment. "It's... A bit more real than I thought. Especially with the sound and slight... Vibration, I guess." She said, studying her gloved hand. "I like the fact that the game responds where I strike and grab. I mean, it's physics are unreal. But it's the sounds that really..."
"Make you uncomfortable?" The woman nodded. Feeling the light red hair on the back of her head raise up to those snaps and pops of bones. "Well, the devs [Developers] really wanted to make it realistic."
"They succeeded." She grumbled. "But I'll get used to it. Just a matter of experience."
"Speaking of experience, I'm almost level 4. How about you?"
"After I hand in this task, I'll be 5." The man double-taked.
"Five!? How? We were the same level twenty minutes ago!"
"That's what you get for just taking on the lower level mobs." He whined in defeat, getting her to smirk a bit.
"I thought I was too squishy for them, so I didn't risk it. I still don't know you were able to survive. You're in cloth armor, aren't you?"
"Light Armor." A faint grumble from the black haired one. "Don't you give me that. I told you what I want out of this game."
"I know, but... Cloth will make your magic stronger-"
"I don't want to use magic." She folded her arms across her Aikido uniform. "I want to fight side by side with a creature."
"There's just no class that's like that though. The closest thing is a Tamer, because they're the only ones that can have very offensive pets-"
"But that style is just Tank N' Spank. And TNS is horribly boring."
"But very affective and welcomed in the Factions. As well as raids." Yet another sharp glare. "I-I know you might not care about the social part of the game too much Trish-Erm... Sarious-"
"Miles-"
"Seriously. If you get too invested in a bad character, you won't be accepted later on in the game. It can't be soloed, no matter how much money you throw into it." She rolled her eyes.
"You know I don't believe in Cash Shopping."
"Yet you charged twenty bucks for that outfit." He smirked at her rather annoyed look.
"I briefly looked into the future designs of the Light and cloth armors, and they're mostly skimpy."
"That's MMOs [Massive Multiplayer Online (Games)] for you, and Skyline is no exception."
"Precisely why I bought an outfit that will hide my current armor. At least I could wear it at level 1. Many require you to be at about level 10 or 20 before you can equip them." Sarious grumbled again. Clearing her face and taking a breath before walking up to a Tanner. "Here's those Pelts you wanted." She said with a smile.
"Just in time! I ran out only a moment ago. Thank you very much Serious!" It made the woman double-take at the elder looking man.
"I-it's... Nevermind. You're welcome Peppin." Another UI popped up and she accepted the reward. Seeing a bright glow omit from her body faintly and a faint design that seemed to circle around the ground below her feet. The feeling of the Level Ups were rather empowering. Refreshing your entire body and getting a nice clean aura as she seen her friend do the same.
The younger man chuckled. "I guess they never did perfect the Vocal part of the Names."
"It doesn't matter too much." She let it slide as she motioned her right hand across from her to pull up her HUD [Heads Up Display]. Going into the Character Menu and seeing her new abilities for that level. "Finally, I get to choose a Companion." She read the little detail about it.
"Good. You should go with a Walker though. They have the best defense for Tanking and soaking up damage." Her face went a little cross, but she didn't respond. "But they're tamed quite far away. How much Credit do you have on you?"
"A few hundred thousand." She said rather calmly, getting a rather surprised and speechless reaction out of him. "What?"
"How!?"
"I had some money left over, and I did some research. Sold some Champion Runes to a player shop and made some extra money." A faint whimper from him. "Pay to Win, huh?"
"Pay to Win." He grumbled.
"It doesn't hurt to support the game, you know."
"I know, but I really need to save up for University. By the sounds of it, I'll need every penny I can get." Sarious was a bit quiet. "Anyway, I wouldn't advise taming anything around here."
"Yeah..." She half looked at the direction of the wolves. As much as she wanted something aggressive for a companion, she didn't really like the look of them. There was just something off in their eyes.
"So, maybe we can find something at the Animal Shelter. There should be tons there, even Walkers-" Another grunt, and she set her Map Tracker. Seeing a faint sparkly dust leading the way to the first city. "I know, I know. But they're good pets."
"They also look dumb as hell. I don't want a Golem for a companion. I want something that can decide for itself a bit. Not just take orders."
Miles just shook his head while he followed her. "You're expecting too much from the system. That's what companions do: take orders. That's all they really can do. Though, I'm not sure how so many of them get attached to their pets."
"Well, in a game with Permanent Death, I can half understand. You'll do everything you can to survive sometimes. And that creature that's constantly risking its neck for you... Well." She shrugged as the black haired one looked at her. "Maybe I just want something that won't stupidly die. I want something that doesn't act like a robot. Not caring about its own life, even if you send it to its demise."
"Sounds like an inconvenience really. I mean, back in the day when gamers still used controllers and them not responding well to the games? That's what it sounds like to me. You don't want something that will refuse your commands."
"Why not though? I almost want one that I can communicate with. Talk and discuss strategy, something that will understand what I mean by flanking, tripping, block and disarm."
"Sounds like you want a player-"
"I don't want another player." She said a bit sternly, getting that faint whimper from him again. Sighing, Sarious looked at her reflection in the water below the bridge they were on. Seeing her brown hair with a rather harsh red tint lightly blowing in the warm breeze, and getting the tail end of her bandanna around her forehead to flutter on her shoulder. "Sorry, but you need to realize..."
"That you got hurt once. I know. Some players are dicks, that's all there is to it. But it's been getting better and better with the newer games. The more realistic games." She made a noise to answer, but didn't really respond past that. With a faint sigh, she began following the trail once again. "I know I won't be on to show you the ropes much longer, Trisha." Almost a growl that time made him smile. "But try not to get sucked into this game like the last one...s..." It made her lightly smile at the plural.
"When do you leave again? Two days?"
"On the weekend, yes. And I can't bring my visor. Odds are they won't have the ports to support it. And after two weeks at the university, I'll be back. Then you can powerlevel me." He teased, getting the woman to shake her head. "The Animal Shelter building is over there."
"Yeah. Let's see what's around."
Chapter 2
Browsing through the UI was horribly boring to her. Many of the already tamed creatures were either too low in stats, too high level for her to use, or a Glacial Walker. The Gemstone Golem looked alright in the Data Icon, even up close it was quite impressive in detail. But it wasn't what Sarious wanted. "Find anything yet?" Miles asked, coming in with some new light armor. It still looked rather crude, but for his level, that was expected.
"Not really." She replied lackadaisically. "I feel like I've been at this for an hour." She grumbled, scrolling through the interface from one Companion to another.
"I guess alot of people are just Taming creatures themselves. But the game has been out for about a year." The man sat down across from her table, and started browsing himself.
With a heavy sigh, she scrolled through one almost too quickly. Making a noise in question that slightly puzzled her and getting the attention of Miles. "This is... Strange." She said in a bit of a whisper, getting him to close his UI and look at hers.
"What the?" The two looked at a Companion that had unknown stats. The name was a series of scrambled characters that were not even a programing language. Even its Data Icon was missing. "It must be an error."
"But there's a price on it." She exhaled. "300k. That'll be most of my money right there."
"Just go with something else." He shrugged, going back to his seat and opening his browser once again. Hearing Sarious ponder to herself.
"Excuse me, Ma'am?" She got up and went to the Vendor NPC [Non-Player Character]. "What can you tell me about this Companion?"
After a few moments, the Vendor responded. "What Companion do you mean?"
"There's no name on it, so he probably didn't recognize it. What about Entry 18867?"
Another few moments. "That item is on sale for 300,000 Credits. Would you like to purchase it?"
"Can you tell me who is selling this item?"
"I cannot give you that information Serious. My Apologies."
"It's alright." She half grumbled at the incorrection of her name. With a faint sigh, she looked down at the data once again. "I'll take it."
"Wait-what?" Miles jumped out of his seat. "What are you talking about? Don't waste your money on a gamble! It might not even be a pet-"
"If it isn't a Companion then it's not able to be sold in this building. Whoever put this in here probably tried selling it everywhere else. Maybe it's just an item that got leaked from a future patch." The woman confirmed the payment, watching the numbers remove an entire digit and gain one new item in her inventory. "Besides, if I don't like it, I can just attempt to sell it again."
The man sighed heavily. "Well, can you at least place it in your companion slot?" He looked into her HUD and watch as it equipped with ease. "Alright, let’s go see your first pet then." He lead the way out.
"Thank you for coming." The vendor said, giving it a soft smile as Sarious left.
The two went off in the alley between buildings. Though the first City was quite barren as it was, Sarious preferred not to be seen or gawked at while looking at the Companion. "Well... Here goes nothing." She took a deep breath and touched the Summon button on the HUD. Making a bright light before them on the ground and shaping it into a small eastern red dragon about two feet long.
"...Kinda small." Miles stated, looking at it from afar as it began to uncurl and stretch it's limbs out a bit. "And cute, really."
"Yeah..." Sarious said, a bit disappointed. Kneeling down to get a closer look at the small critter with a spikey grey mane with orange tips, and getting greeted with big golden eyes as they started to focus on her.
A faint grumble came from it as it yawned and snapped it's jaws a few times. "Morning already?" It mumbled, getting a rather surprised look out of the players. Another quick stretch and it laid back down, closing its eyes. "I'll have two eggs: one over easy, one over medium. Three sausage links, a cup of cottage cheese with a drizzle of honey. A fruit cup, unless it's mostly honey dew melon. And in that case, skip it and make it half a grapefruit. A glass of whole milk over ice and a side of toast: barely brown. Closer to bread than toast, I am not joking. If it's closer to toast, I will burn down your restaurant. I'm serious. I will track it down and burn it. Also, I'll have a bloody mary."
"...What?" The young man said, getting a glare from the small red one.
"You heard me. And don't you send that creepy freckled goblin thing to deliver it again. If you do, I will see to it personally that it will never deliver food or anything again."
"I didn't know companions could talk." Sarious said, kneeling down once again and poking the little one with her finger. Getting it to hiss and swat it away.
"I knew Ravens could, but nothing else." The woman raised a questionable eyebrow at him. "They're mostly ranged spellcasters."
"Right. So that means he's probably..."
"A spellcaster too." Another sigh of defeat from her. "It's alright. I mean, he doesn't seem to combat worthy-"
"What exactly do you mean by that?" The dragon growled. Finally getting up and looking at the two more closely. "Less talky, more getting my breakfast...-y."
"Breakfast?" She asked.
"Yes. Breakfast. Your breakfast menus are still active for another two minutes, so it's still a valid command. It's not my fault you're incapable of cooking in the appropriate time, now get to it. I'm hungry."
"It's possible that he is hungry, actually. You do have to feed your pets." The man shrugged.
"I guess I should give him something to eat then. I'm getting quite famished myself."
"Alright." Miles pulled up his own HUD. "It's five after, I should really sleep. Gotta get up early and start packing."
"Okay." The woman said, picking up the grumbling dragon as it fought against her hands. Eventually climbing on her shoulder and resting there. Though the tail of it felt a little weird on the back of her neck, she managed for now. "I'll see you in two weeks then."
"Yeah. Take care, Trisha." And the man went his separate way. Heading towards an inn.
"...Trisha?" The dragon half questioned. Trying not to sound actually interested.
"You're not allowed to call me that. I'm Sarious to you." She tapped him on the nose and it grumbled. "Do you have a name? Most of the ones I looked at already did, but your data is a mess."
"4NX7." He answered, still looking at the black haired thief in the distance.
"What kind of name is that?" It made the little one double take.
"A better one than Sarious." He snorted, motioning her to go forward, and then get used to her walk.
"You... Said it right."
"Of course. I said it how you said it. How could you possibly mispronounce your own name?" He curled his neck.
"But the others...?"
"What others?" He grumbled, feeling overshadowed by something large behind them. As the woman turned around, she was met with a large navy-blue thundercat mount. Half glaring at her, while a large man in heavy plate black and red armor was looking at her.
"That's a different pet." The man said, leaning to get a closer look. "Where did you get it?"
"Just found it in the Animal Shelter. But it seems like the only one." She answered a bit coldly. There was a strange tension the dragon could feel within her.
"Definitely don't see these at endgame. Hmm..." A little bit more studying. "I like dragons. How much for it?"
"Excuse me?" The two answered, getting them to look at each other, then back at the Blackguard.
"How much for it? I'll buy it off you."
"I'm not a possession to be bartered with!" The little one hissed, getting a bit of a surprised chuckle from the man.
"It even talks? Interesting... How about 4 million?"
"Four Million?" The number actually stunned her for a moment.
"Five?" The man asked. "I'll go no higher than Seven. That'll probably set you for life here. Even buy yourself a home."
"A home...?" She looked around the town for a moment. Just now realizing that you could probably rent or buy some property. It actually sounded quite appealing. Perhaps even buy another pet that's more suited to her liking. But the look on the dragon's face, seeing her actually consider it almost hurt him. Making his ears unwillingly fall a bit. "Sorry, but he's not for sale. I'm sure you could put that money into better use."
"You sure?" The man asked, seeing the woman nod. He sighed a bit, but shrugged. "Alright. I'll just have to find another then. But just one more offer." A bit of a glare from Sarious. "Did you want to join a Faction?"
"...No thanks. I'm not looking for one right now." Again, her reply was a bit cold, but the man took no offense.
"Alright. But if you change your mind, send me some mail." The woman stood her ground until the thundercat passed. Sighing quietly, she walked on.
"...So, I'm more valuable to you than seven million Credits, huh?"
"It was my mistake to adopt you. He shouldn't have to pay for it." That one actually made the little one whimper. "That's... Not what I meant-"
"Too late. The damage has been done." He snorted. Trying to look offended, but it actually made her smile a bit. Seeing it, he double-taked. "What?"
"I need to find you a different name."
"What do you mean? My name is 4NX7."
"But that sounds like a model number rather than a name." While walking, she pulled up her HUD into the Companion Menu. "There's gotta be a way to rename your companion here."
After a few moments of searching with no luck, the red one exhaled loudly. "Put that away and bring up your keyboard." She looked at him and he tossed his snout. "Go to the options menu and do this." He lifted his paws, palm down, and she did. Seeing a virtual keyboard pop up. "Now type in Skyline:Item/system managing/config/animaldata/tamer8669105-Sarious." She looked at him, after doing it. "Now you see your pet options in the list? Hit the first one."
"You mean: 4891276645-4NX7?"
"Yes. Now hit enter, and then option four."
"Delete?" She questioned, getting him to double take again.
"That's option five!" He hissed, getting her to chuckle. "Just hit Rename."
"Now, what to call you?" She studied him for a few minutes, until his ears went back. A loud grumble and he snorted at her.
"Whatever you wish, Master." He said sarcastically.
"You sound like a male."
"More male than female, yes."
"And you look like a Chinese dragon."
"A what dragon?" He tilted his head.
"It's a Region in the real world." The little one studied her for a moment while she was lost in thought. "I'm thinking either Long or Jinrei. Both are Chinese fighters from other games." Once again, the dragon tiled his head and perked his ears, getting the woman to smile.
"So, you're planning to name me from someone else’s identity?" He half grumbled.
"Maybe. You don't like them?"
"My only opinion is on my state of hunger. Call me what you wish." It made her chuckle.
"Think I'll call you Jinrei for now. Maybe I'll think of a better name for you later. You can always tell me how to rename you again anyway." He snorted at her, but didn't reply. As she typed it in and hit enter, it took a moment to process it. Hearing him lightly grunt almost got her concerned. But he just shrugged it off. Seeing the name above his healthbar almost made her smile as those golden eyes focused on her light orange ones.
"Happy? Can I get something to eat now?" He grumbled, and she nodded. Taking him to a nearby restaurant.
The loud slurp echoed through the entire empty restaurant, as Jinrei finished the last of his red drink and sighed in relief. "Much better." He mumbled, laying back in the cushion seats.
Looking over at the pile of dirty dishes, Sarious just shook her head. Half smiling, even though she knew the bill for it was going to be massive. "At least your hunger meter is full now."
"Yes. It's been empty for a very long time."
"How long were you in storage?"
"Storage?" He questioned seriously. Yawning and laying out on the seat.
"Yes, I bought you out of the shelter. I'm guessing you were in some sort of stasis in there."
"Just felt like a very long nap to me." Another yawn and a few snaps of his jaws as he started to groom his long whiskers a bit.
A UI appeared before the woman, allowing her to scroll through the payments. "Total of over ten thousand Credits." She rolled her eyes, but half smiled.
"A minor inconvenience for someone like you, I'm sure."
"Well, don't be thinking you're going to feast like that very often."
"Please. I cannot possibly take another bite for a few hours."
"That's going to have to last a few days." He made a noise in question. "I can't afford to pay this every few hours." She sighed, accepting the bill and watching the UI disappear. Only to see the dragon's rather surprised stare over the table. Getting Sarious to chuckle.
"Days!?"
"Yes. Days. Until then, you'll live off of Peanut Oil."
"Why? I thought you were rich." The red one snorted loudly, thumping his tail on the seat actually made a louder impact than she was expecting.
"Not that rich. I just had a starting bonus." Seeing the little one's massive snout toss, leading him to laying back down, made her smile fully.
"Peanut Oil is pet food."
"And you're a pet."
"I'm a Companion. An Ally. And I should be treated with respect and dignity. Not like an animal."
"Well, your intelligence bought you this meal. Keep impressing me and Maybe I'll buy you another." She took a close look at the dishes, just now shattering into blue pixels. "Emphasis on the maybe part."
"I suppose you should find some way to make some money then." He grumbled, stretching and coiling himself up into a small ball. Only to be picked up by the woman as soon as he got comfortable. Growling at her.
"Enough of that you. Tomorrow we'll look into your abilities. The data doesn't even state that you have any."
"I have abilities. Like my ability to sleep, which is now being interrupted by a certain someone." Jinrei snorted.
"I mean combat abilities. You're going to be earning that meal I just bought you." An annoyed whimper came from him, but he didn't argue past that. "But first, I need to sleep. So I'm going to the inn, and logging off."
"Logging off?" He half questioned. It almost sounded sarcastic.
"Yes, because watching you eat reminded me that I should eat something in the real world." He exhaled loudly, but didn't respond. "So you're going to be stowed until then. Okay?"
"As if." He grumbled. Hearing her pull up her HUD and the pet menu.
"What the...? The Unsummon button isn't optional."
"That's because the game cannot allow you to go without a pet, being a 'Master' and whatnot."
"Yes it can. I've seen people even use their pets to pull large groups of enemies by unsummoning the pet after it strikes."
"Well then, your HUD is broken."
"Well then," She mocked him. "Fix it."
"Do I look like Tech Support to you?" He snorted. "And what you probably seen was the Masters summoning a different pet. You get another slot at level 15, 25, and 35. Then you can buy them from the cash shop."
"I suppose that makes sense." She half grumbled. Putting on a smile while talking to the Owner of the inn. "Could I get a room, please?"
"Sure thing. It'll be 10 Credits per night. Do you wish to stay?"
"Yes. Thank you." She said, accepting the key and the bill for one night. Walking off out of earshot and noticing Jin trying to look at the NPC from behind.
"Why are you so nice to them?" He sounded half offended. Giving the woman a puzzled look while she rolled her eyes.
"It's some new system they put in about seven years ago: If you're nice to the NPCs, they can give you a discount or additional rewards. Including more Experience [XP], Credits [C], and Ability Points [AP]. If you're mean, sarcastic, or snarky to them, they will reduce your rewards or even charge you more. They can even reject some of your later Tasks and refuse to give you a reward. Whereas there's no way to harm an Immortal Object in Skyline, there's no way to punish them."
"Sounds..." He grumbled, but didn't finish. Feeling her nod in response.
"I know. But way back when... People were getting out of hand. Not knowing common courtesy when it came to interacting with other people. For a long while, gaming was banned through many countries, even fined harshly if they were caught hosting servers for them. Only a few decades ago, they started to come back with Virtual Reality Systems [VR]. Only if they reward players for being a good person, even to something lifeless as an NPC. After a while, you learn that it's rewarding in its own way. You just need to tuck away your antsy or cynical feelings and just be a happy school girl towards them."
"That's an oddly specific description." Again, Jin looked back, replaying her voice towards the innkeeper in his head and seeing the similarities.
Walking into the room, the dragon glided onto the small bed for one person. Laying right in the middle of it, only to be shoved aside by the woman and hissing at her. "When you pay for the room, you get to sleep on the bed." He growled at her, but didn't argue. "Alright, I'm off. Good night, Jinrei. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes, exhaling loudly. Hearing the UI disappear and notice her ceasing to move. It was almost like she was dead, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. To the point where he climbed up to look at her closely and check her vitals. "She would've shattered of she was dead, like the rest." He mumbled to himself. Walking forward on her chest to feel something oddly comfortable.
Thanks for getting this far, and here are the links again
You can find the novel on:
FurAffinity (rtf file) - https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery...../Light-Escapes
SoFurry (No download required, some formatting) - https://www.sofurry.com/browse/fold.....p;folder=45417
Weasyl (pdf download, best read) - https://www.weasyl.com/submissions/.....olderid=100548
Inkbunny (rtf file + some story, little formatting) - https://inkbunny.net/submissionsvie.....o&success=
Category Story / Fantasy
Species Eastern Dragon
Gender Multiple characters
Size 571 x 1062px
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