ENTER: Houndras Furrer

the trio made their way through the town bach would babble on about what not to do when entering the caves and how not to draw attention to themselves.
the big thing was not moving too quickly, they'd have codes set up to sense any speed charms. if one wasn't authorized then someone would attack. also magic spells of high levels weren't advised, flashy charms and spells would draw attention and attract more then one attacker.
after a while of walking the group finally made it to the specialized warp portal for the sea caves. "now....you both have to stay close, these caves are huge...and they branch off into smaller intricate caves."he finally explained while looking back.
shin dismissed this with a wave while checking her items and shoving past the two and sighing. "I can't be expected to slow down because of some weak *ss gang members that MIGHT attack me."

"Oh Shin." Aggea started, "You couldn't be expected to slow down if a heard of rhinos were coming at you." And she hurried to catch up with her friend.
Turning back to Bach, Aggy shrugged. "You can keep advising her if you want Bach, but you might end up getting left behind. Speaking of... do you know which route we're taking? Cause I'm pretty sure she doesn't."

"y-yes...I will have to keep that in mind. we're heading toward the east tunnels. thats where the last report I received was from...they spoke of something that could physically hurt us. itns terrifying to think of..." he muttered to the girl before moving up from of the group and leading.
tunnel after tunnel the maze seemed to go on forever, however with each turn there was an echoing cry, like that of an animal caged and tormented.
stopping shin looked over to her nephew, "do you hear that? oh god...it sounds like they're hurting someone." the canine muttered.
"someone? it sounds more like a monster or mob to me..." bach responded.
"shhh no...someone's hurt."

Aggea face was hardened by the noise. "I feel like we're walking into some kind of occult movie." The words were ment to be a joke, but she forgot to add the proper toning to make it so. Nethier of the others seemed too enthusiastic about her attempt to lighten the mood, and the brown haired female herself regretted it.
There was a part of Aggea that she was trying to hide behind the humor. The part where she looked focused, and even it dare be said, familiar with the noise, or noises like it.
It would be wrong to say that the female was mentally preparing. Rather, she was already mentally prepared for what lay ahead. And it was almost certain that that was not a character trait of the Aggeathat Shin knew.

shin pushed on first, against the protests of bach. moving under the cover of the rocks she looked closer only to see a massive mess of white fur struggling against heavy chains while several members of the offending party beat it down.
  "release me!! I want no part in your schemes!" the monster howled angerly before itns cries where muffled by hits.

It was an awful sight. The party smacked down on the monster without mercy.
Aggea came up behind her companion questionably, not knowing the scen that was playing out, not daring to look up, thinking she might blow her cover if see was scene. Aggea could only hear the muffles and give Shin a questioning look, hoping for some explanation.

"leave him alone!!" she screamed while firing off a spell she kept ready, blasting the small area with a cloud of smoke. hearing the coughs and warnings of bach screaming for her to get back so the party could flee before anyone else came shin rushed out, unsure on if anyone would help with the chains.
finally getting there she fired off another spell card to put up a ward around the monster and herself. working on the chains she could hear bach screaming varous spells.
"damn it shin!! what the hell are you thinking?!" the reptile shouted while taking out an enemy with a ray of light.
"hens hurt! we need to get him out of here!" she cried while slamming one of her blades into the metal repeatedly until it shattered into bits of data.
the monster fell to the side against shin with a huff. "they'll wipe this place...they'll destroy this place and everyone here." the monster said softly in a soft and tired melodic voice.
looking up shin looked to see if bach had heard. he hadnnt from what she saw.

Aggea hit one of the players with her staff, shifting her footing so she came around the player and smashed him from the back. While he was falling forward, she gave him another good wack and pked him. A few players that survived scrambled down the tunnels. "There's no point in scolding her now Bach, we need to grab it and get away from here. We'll be surrounded by players in no time flat."

struggling to hoist the massive beast onto her shoulders shin let out a soft cry why crumbling under the weight of the monster. "f*ck!! my ankle!!" the brunette screamed catching the glance of bach whom had been fighting off another enemy.
slithering over to her the reptile frowned before examining her model and then moving to hoist it onto his back, with a little more success then shin had. "we're leaving, now!"

With Bach carrying creature, the second female was left to support Shin'yuu if need be. "Shin!" Aggea rushed to her friends side.

whincing shin held her ankle, the area around it was already starting to swell and become sickly looking with digital corruptions happening around it. "it...it hurts. it's like before."
as simple as her words were soft and hollow, all wrapped up in an unspoken fear. it was just like before. without even knowing it she'd thrown herself back into the slate and as far as she was concerned inches away from vacation(s).
it took a while to realize she was clutching onto aggea's outfit while the other girl watched with an expression shin couldn't quite place. was it fear?? oh god was she scaring her? when did she even clutch onto her like that?
letting go of her friend she scuttled to the side clumsily. "s-sorry. I'm sorry." the fox began to mumble while shifting to get up. "I, I can walk."

"S-Shin wait." Aggy's hand came out from under the cloak. "Lemme help.." Her face hadn't yet twisted back to normal, but it flickered a new emotion, just for a short moment, then went back to the way it had been. Meanwhile, Aggea grabbed Shin's right arm and wrapped it around her neck. While the young female had never helped a friend walk before, this was how it was done in movies. And if she took the time to ask Shin'yuu how to help her right, the older female would just protest the help.
So Aggy didn't give her much of a choice.

at this point shin wasn't even thinking about what help she did or did not receive, little by little she was grasping the reality she didn't want to admit to grasping. this game was something no one should be playing, yet the only time she ever felt remotely okay was when she was logged on with the sensors and head gear hooked up.
"we need to get going now! I think there's a way out through this tunnel path here!" again bach yelled back, still keeping his distance and pointing to the left side of him. it was obvious that the reptile models moved faster then the mamalian models.
shifting slowly shin worked with aggea to get moving, her leg throbbed every so often, causing her real to twitch or writhe in pain making the model stand still with a blank look of pain before regaining motion and moving again.
again the trio was moving through winding tunnels, these however were covered in a thick slimey looking moss indecating water was close. the further they got in the more vibrant and green the moss grew and sea shells and decorative sea organisms littered the walls and floors of the cave.
had shin not been in pain she would have appreciated the glowing moss and detailed shells and creatures.

The ocean server was one of the more beautiful servers in the game. If the tunnels themselves didn't represent that enough, what lay outside of them could be easily defined as breathtaking. Soon, the rock of the cave began to turn more and more into sand. First, there was only sand sprinkled on the ground that grinded under the feet and tail of the group. But the further they went, the more the sand engulfed that rocky ground, until it was all pure compressed sand.
As the caves cleared, the moss and shells continued up a Cliffside located right next to the exit. the minerals that made up the Cliffside gleamed in the sunset, where it could be seen below the decorative, natural décor. The beach that now sat below them expanded for miles, both down to the water and across as far as the eye could see. The water itself was a deep, crystal blue in some parts, but the further the water got towards the sun setting in the distance, the more that blue warped to the same dazzling colors that were painted in the sky.
The ocean looked like it could have been made of glass, still and calm. The occasional ripple, the occasional wave, would surf through the water onto shore and break that glassy illusion. Then, it would take flawless form again.
High above the sunset stretched darkening blue in the sky that indicated one thing, night was nearly ready to fall upon the area.
Shin'yuu and her party exited the caves in time to be washed over by the sunset, Bach, exhausted from carrying the heavy creature, set it down gently. The beast appeared to be resting, or so the party assumed. How long it had been like this was unknown to all of them.
Bach suggested to the girls that they break here, given some time to rest and recover. Both him and Aggea could see Shin's face contort with pain, distracted by her thoughts and fears. No one objected, and Aggea gently helped Shin to the ground, kneeling down with her. Once Shin'yuu was sitting, Aggy let go of her arm and sat next to her, the young female's entire body engulfed in that raggedy old cloak.

the scene before them was breath taking indeed, however bach moved to examine the creature they had saved totally unmoved from the sunset. "monsters spawn around this area at night...but we should be safe for now. so this is one of those weapons? I expected something more....theatrical to be honest" muttering he lowered himself down more to examine it as it slept, "I thought we'd find more players as well."
it easily towered over player models like shin's or aggea's but it was still light weight and compact under all the aromatic fur. touching the nape of the neck gently one would feel small dorsal spikes and at the base of the head a small set of horns, all of which covered by itns thick coat of fur.
moving aside bach lifted one of the clawed paws up, it was human in design while still having the padding of an animal. it's back feet were cloven with black tips at the end of each hoof.
"jesus...I've never seen anything like it. it looks like a hybrid dog. have you ever seen anything like this aggea?

At first, she hesitated, thinking about the question very carefully. Then, she shook her head in response, "Um..". Her eyes peered away from the others, "No, no I don't think so."

"the church..." the words left shin easily and slowly. "not this one specifically....but there are others like it."
thinking over shin's words bach and aggea looked at eachother for a moment then back at shin, each bearing the same expression. "so what you're saying is this is based off of the statues of grief? aren't those just decorations though?"
"not really?? I'm not sure..I asked someone today if he had any info on what's going on and he just told me the statues had something to do with it." she was lying but only partially. pulling her knees against her chest she hugged them tight. "it's alittle too furry to be a weapon, donnt you think?" she croaked.

"Now that you mention it," Aggea got up and shifted over to the sleeping creature, "it's weird that they would use an NPC as a weapon. Especially if it's a pet class or has it's own consciousness."

"not even pet classes make the decisions that npcs can make. our technology isn't up to the standard par I saw with this. it's very strange indeed" looking over to shin "what's more is shin heard it speak. pet classes do not speak. they have a set range of actions, vocals and triggers. however I heard nothing...which is troubling. I'd also like to know why I can feel it, and why when shin'yuu tried to carry it her ankle deformed like it did."

Shin didn't respond to Bach's statement, so Aggea interjected instead, "We're asking too many questions at once, Bach. We need to focus in on one thing at a time. Lets start with listing what we know about the situation. Firstly, the game is screwed up."

"I'd assume it's common knowledge by now. causing comatose in otherwise healthy indeviduals isnnt exactly normal." his response was more like an attack then anything else. had shin been up to it she would have smacked him.
"this has happened before, though." now shin chimed in. "we also know the admins are behind this...or so it seems. some sort of cover up is going on if areas keep getting wiped clean."

Aggea sent Bach a hard look. "Monsters are appearing in areas they shouldn't, players are started to act up... And Shin..." Agge went over to her friend and knelt down, she reached out and lightly touched her friend's distorted ankle.

speaking again shin'yuu was more adamant about the situation then she was before. "things are wrong here. I'm not sure what he is but he's something they wanted kept away." she was gruf in how she spoke, like she wasnnt sure what she was saying. "or worse they wanted to use him for something. he said he didn't want to do anything they told him to."

sender:p@rk@
to:aggea
you're the one from before...you were in the castle zone with the bat boy

with a grunt the beast was awake and eyeing the group. yawing and releasing a soft melodic whine like that of a whale he shook his weary body while moving to sit up.

"That's true... so we're not sure with the creature is, but we can assume he's important..." Aggea mumbled, closing her eyes in thought. After a moment she opened them. "Shin, your ankle actually hurts, doesn't it?" the female started, "That's not suppose to happen. But this isn't the first time it's happened. It happened at least once before... remember when we saw that party during the event?"
The notification of a message being received played on Aggy's computer, interrupting her train of thought. Turning around, Aggea opened her message window. Her eyes widened at what she saw.
It was the same username. She glanced around the area quickly, frightfully. Was he around? If only she could send a message back. That was when Aggy noticed the beast sitting, looking at the group.

sender:p@rk@
to:aggea
pardon my lack of verbal communication...I'm unable to speak with those partially corrupted. I will speak to the other girl for the time being. not that I plan on staying in this place much longer
ears twitching and gleaming orange eyes examining the group before turning to bach and shorting slightly."smells like fish here..." he said motionint his head towards the ocean. "I suppose a thanks and congratulations is in order. thank you for freeing me and congratulations on not dying. you know there was quiet alot of chatter about you on the admin channel. I expected more from the girl who woke up"
"excuse me??"shin blurted out while staring at the beast like it had three heads.
"why does everyone look at me like that? I know this model is no longer in use but please spare me the looks. I'm a fragile flower after all. you might hurt my feelings."
"kill it. kill it now."shin growled while struggling to stand, only to be held down by bach. "that little bastardns being cheeky with me!"

"Hey!" Aggea pointed at the beast with her good arm, "That's  discrimination, I take offense to that!" She yelled in a pleasantly exaggerated manner.
Bach, still holding back the raging, injured Shin, turned his head towards Aggea. "You can hear him too?"
"No! That's the issue!" she pouted, making her frustrated face, which coincidentally looked like an angry fish face.

"she looks like a fish...that's hillarious" a snorted chuff signalling a sort of laugh was made before it directed itns attention to shin. "perhaps I have been too rude. my name is parka, or rather it was. may I ask if you'd be so kind as to translate for me? the others aren't as lucky as you to have a grasp on this game."
pausing shin glared at him before huffing and looking away. "he said hens sorry. his name's parka."
now tearing his attention from aggea whom distracted him with her pouting the snake man stared long and hard at the creature. "well 'parka' what the hell are you?"
"in lame man's terms I'm the mental manifestation of a deceased beta tester. I'm afraid I couldn't tell you how though."
"he says he's a [4filter] guy that tested this game." shin muttered earning a hiss from parka. "thatns more simple then what you told me."

"You're [4filter]?" Aggea interjected, "Like died, vacation(s), gone? But you're here?"

"that's what he told me."
"you're way too blunt. yes I am [4filter], I function much in the same way comatose players do, with the exception of the time I spent honing my craft. is there anywhere else we can be then here? I didnnt even want to be here. I was following my brothren."
"whoa whoa whoa, hold on. there are more of you?! how many?!" there's the million dollar question. shin's ears folded back against her head. "there are more things out there that can hurt players like you can?"
"I'm afraid so vixen. there are about five of--
"five?!"

while the two where bickering bach slouched down beside aggea. "you know what's going on kuz I sure don't..." he muttered while checking his messages. it seemed that the gruff nature ran in the family, even with bach.

"Not a clue." Aggy muttered. A couple seconds later, she let out an exasperated sigh. "But I guess it's good to see Shin in good spirits again. Kinda good spirits. Annoyed and alert is at least something, right? Plus, she's extracting information for us."
The sunset was becoming smaller and smaller with time, shrinking below that flat ocean. It was very flat, as if there was nothing else out there but water, just miles and miles or water, and then the world stopped. In real life, that ocean would go on and on, but here in the game, it was what it looked like - a flat, honest piece of land.
The bunny-girl blew her hair out of her face. "So, what's next oh great adventurer?"