[SD:M/H] Moving Hills - Chapter 8

The first signs of being in a new territory was the thinning of underbrush. Though once that happened, it didn’t take long for Gem and June to spot a new variety of monster, deer with rocky antlers. So, of course, Gem ran right towards them.

Those first deer ran away up on seeing the boar chasing the two.

“Get back here! I’m a juicy freshly made character! Fight me!” And came flowing out of Gem’s mouth as they chased the fleeing herd of deer.

June grimaces at that, “I think we might have a disturbed an area boss.”

Gem hums for a second before nodding. “Yep! Seems to be the case, or at the very least, an above average specimen. I wonder what the normal boars look like?”

June, “Ignore that! How are we going to get rid of the thing? Your plan was to distract it with another monster, but these deer clearly won’t do.”

Gem laughs, “Obvious answer is obvious. If we’re being chased by an area boss, fight fire with fire! Quick! Back towards the low level area!”

June almost stumbles, “What? Wouldn’t that fire with fire mean finding another monster like that boar? Shouldn’t we head deeper to try and find one?”

The two hurdle a fallen log and the boar smacks into it. This sends the log flying to the side, but stuns the boar, giving them a bit more wiggle room.

Gem, “Whew! That was something! Anyway, of course we want to go towards town. If we go even deeper into the forest, we’ll actually die. What we need to find isn’t any equally dangerous monster, but another area boss!”

June, “I’m sure there are area bosses deeper in and if we go that way, we won’t get in trouble for leading a monster to town.”

Gem shakes their head, “Nah! I’m not saying we go to town. I’m saying that to keep people like us out of the deeper areas, the area bosses will be on the edge like this slab of mobile bacon was.” And they point their thumb backwards at the boar. 

June can’t think of a response to that, their logic making a perverse sense. Why, of course the area boss would be on the edge! How else is it supposed to keep the noobs in check?

Though it probably helped that the edge of the new player forest was closer than the deep forest. The boar wasn’t that far behind, after all. So they ran and the closer they got to the edge, the more they had to speed up, just to stay ahead. It was to where even Gem was running out of breath, to say nothing of June.

But they made it! A close thing, for sure, but all that matters is the big ol’ deer with stone antlers where the tips have taken on a metallic look. A deer that wasn’t running away, but in fact running towards them.

June, through gasps manages to get out, “I don’t think it’s charging the boar.”

Gem grabs her arm, “Stay on target!”

June screams as the two monsters rush towards the pair. Then, as they’re moments away from disaster, Gem side tackles June, and the two go tumbling out of the way. It isn’t pretty, but it works.

What doesn’t work is Gem’s plan to aggro the two bosses on each other. Oh sure, they crash bang into each other just fine. They even deal a decent amount of damage to one another, being about equal and designed for the same task.

But it is that task that causes the problem. Whoever set them up, made that the priority over all else. So, are they mad at one another? Certainly! But they aren’t mad enough to ignore the pair of players in a heap at the base of a nearby tree.

Gem sighs, “Well, that sucks. Time for plan C!”

June side eyes them, “I doubt there was ever a plan A or B to begin with, let alone a C.”

Gem laughs as they pick June up in a princess carry. “But at least we’re having fun! Whatever other game could we experience this?”

June, “Who would want to experience thiiiii–”

Gem jumps straight up in the air as the boar crashes into the tree right where they had been moments ago. Then they land facing backwards on its back and clamp their legs down. “Get ready for the ride of this lifetime!”

Suffice it to say, the boar does not like this new situation. However, the deer doesn’t have a problem with how things are and goes right on the attack, which sort of short circuits the boar’s decision making. In theory, it should stay aggroed on the players.

Except the deer had done damage to the boar and seemed to be going to attack the deer. So nevermind the baggage on its back, they could wait, it was the deer that mattered. But oh wait! Since it no longer was perma-aggroed on a player, the normal decision-making snaps back into place and the boar isn’t doing too well in the health department.

All that adds up to Gem and June getting a first row seat to the deer chasing the boar. Well, the deer is technically chasing them and so not backing down like the boar, but it means the same thing. The boar running around randomly with the deer close behind. Never gaining on them, but not falling behind either.

This gives the pair a chance to catch their breath. At which point June asks Gem, “So, have you run an Analysis on it?”

Gem shrugs, “Pretty certain it’s a bit high level for me. I didn’t even bother trying to check the boar when we were in the tree.”

June shakes her head, “No, I mean the boar. You get bonuses and penalties to your attempt. I guess that isn’t something the guide would mention to prevent new players jumping on a monster to try and ID it.”

Gem laughs, “I resemble that remark! Anyway, let me give it a check, [Analyze]!”

{

Species: Hillback Boar

Tags: [Adolescent], [DemiBoss], ???

Level: ??

}

Gem frowns and snaps their fingers, “Aw shucks, it isn’t a full boss.”

June thwacks them on the back of the head. “That’s amazing news! Be better if we got to see the things level, but now we don’t have to worry about its stat ranks counting for, like, five of the things added together. It only has the strength of two boars. Heaven forbid it was a higher tier of boss!”

Gem laughs, “As if we could have stayed ahead of it for as long as we did if the beast was even more dangerous!

“I wonder if I can get anything on the deer? [Analyze]!”

{

Tags: [DemiBoss]

}

Gem, “Huh, just DemiBoss showed up? Anyway, I’m going to assume it matches this boar. Wonder where it is taking us?”

June scrunches her eyes closed, “This wasn’t how I expected to spend the time getting used to this body.”

Gem, “No, seriously, I wonder where it is taking us. We’ve taken a turn towards the deeper forest. Like, we’re down pretty bad, but this isn’t assured death quite yet.”

June cranes her head to see behind Gem, “Oh.”

Gem nods, “Yep!”

June looks back at the deer chasing them, “I don’t think we’re getting out of this.”

Gem, “Meh, they’ll hit something else up to their standards soon enough!”

And Gem was wrong, they soon came across a bobcat that stood its ground. However, not before a bunch of other critters ran away from them as they didn’t have the same logic about players.

Gem holds June closer, “Get ready! This is where we bail.”

June, “Why would we bail?! We can’t fight any of these monsters!”

She gets no response as Gem focuses entirely on the bobcat, head turned so far it is painful. The legs tense on the bobcat, but still they wait. Almost there. And. Now!

Gem releases her legs and tumbles forward off the back of the boar, directly at the deer’s legs. Their body rotating in the air to move June away from any potential impact. Except the only impact is their back on the ground, the deer having lept over what it perceived as an attempt to trip it.

At the same time, the bobcat flies through the space formerly occupied by the pair and right into the deer.

As the pair roll uncontrollably, Gem focuses on a nearby fallen log and ignores the chaos behind them. Then, as their roll slows down, they take control and when their feet are next under them, do a small hop. Though it is enough to get behind the log.

Gem lands flat on their back, keeping June above them. Though once they stop moving, June scrambles out of Gem’s hold and gets into position next to them. She didn’t know the “plan”, but hiding behind a fallen log is better than nothing.

June can feel bruises all over their body and the sting of scratches on their hands and face. Not the most comfortable of situations. Then Gem pulls up a blue screen and draws her attention to it.

{

Debuff: Fractured Left Foot

}

That wasn’t good! They didn’t have any healing items and besides, the ones in their price range wouldn’t heal that anyway. Though what worried June more was that her new friend still had that smile on.

All the while, they hear the enraged bellows and howls from the other side of the log. A few times, the log even shakes as one combatant brushes up against it. Then a new sound could be heard.

Neither was sure what it was, but it certainly wasn’t one of the extent threats. Though such a noisy fight was going to inevitably attract attention, so not unexpected. What was unexpected? What happened after the first monster fell.

The boar, already having suffered damage in its earlier crash with the deer combined with carrying the two all this way meant it was the weakest. But that death squeal! And worse, there was a response.

Yeah, that adolescent tag wasn’t just for show. It had grown up relatives deeper in the forest. June went to get up, but Gem held her down, so she mimed her helping Gem walk.

Gem tapped their own wrist and shook their head. June couldn’t help but roll her eyes. It seems there was another “plan”.

And there was, but it wasn’t all that complex. The moment Gem heard the deer die, it was go time! Though by that point, they could hear something in the distance making quite a racket.

At least their foot was only fractured. Gem wasn’t feeling all that well, but June’s assistance is enough to get them moving towards the new player section of the forest. Though they take one last glance back and shudder. Above the treeline, though just barely, they could see the tops of hills. Hills that are moving towards the fight.

Unaware of the danger, the bobcat and a large fox fight over the two bodies. They don’t even look at the retreating players, preferring the food at their feet to a potential challenge in the distance. Though not long after the duo get away, both turn their heads in the opposite direction, before abandoning the fight and food, running off in opposite directions.

Back with Gem and June, they’ve made decent time. It is almost as if everything had just gone into hiding. Well, not “as if”. It is exactly that. Even the two of them can feel an oppressive sense of foreboding. All of their instincts are telling them to hide somewhere and to weather “the storm”.

At the same moment, they both glance at the other. Yeah, no, that wasn’t going to be a viable solution for them. Everyone is on about how well dogs and wolves can smell, but pigs are amazing at it as well. Chances are, the boars will be able to track them.

Gem, “Well, I can’t go into the city.”

June nods, “And neither can I. Got my own problems.”

Gem shrugs, “Eh, either way it would be a bad idea as they’d certainly pin the blame on us. Worse, it is a city, so a good bit larger than we can expect to cover before trouble shows up.”

June, “What? So no crazy plan to solve this situation as well?”

June shakes her head, “Wait, that came out hotter than I meant it to. This has been fun, just not how I expected to spend my day.”

Gem sighs, “Fair enough, it wasn’t exactly in my schedule either.”

June nods, “It was an exciting day, to say the least. Anyway, since you’re tapped out of plans, let me give it a spin.”

Gem glances over her shoulder, “What have you got? I don’t mind dying, but I would definitely prefer not to. Much less be responsible for getting you killed.”

Tongue Too Twisted - Chapter 7

Ejection Completed Without Error - Chapter 9