Parallels

Chapter 1: First Meeting

Location: Deep in the lesser virtual reality of the game "World"

The sound of metal clashing against metal rang true through the canyon settlement known by the various area warrior tribes as Hell's Abandon, where those of the higher character classes came to clash, and those of the weaker came to seek the treasure thought to be found there. As it was among those that gathered, it was true that many were esteemed warriors who fought for the glory and the hope of level advancement… but at least one was of the foolish, a pony-tailed girl, slight and nimble. One that clearly did not belong among the dueling fighters—and as it was unspoken law that the weak ought to perish; it wasn't long before the blades had turned on her.

However, it was just as the young girl began to quiver in fear that a mighty beast rushed forward to her aid taking the blades meant for her, but to little effect. At once, the fox eared humanoid howled in rage as he took the nearest warrior and wrenched him free of his armor, before taking the sword arms of the adjacent ones and using their momentum to kill each other. The last he knocked unconscious and left for the others, before rounding on the shaking girl.

"Feng Xiao Xiao!" He yelled out in exasperation. "Just what were you thinking?! Didn't I tell you not to come here?"

"You did…" said the girl with a cowering expression. "But the rumors of treasure here! And that if you take from Abandon's Guardian deity, you can buy levels!" She lowered her eyes to the ground. "I was just thinking of making myself less of a burden for you."

The beast form of Zhuo fell silent. Xiao Lan… That she was thinking of herself in such a way—it hurt that she had felt such even though it was merely her company that he enjoyed the most.

"Feng Xiao Xiao…" Zhuo began with a softer tone, "You don't need to pursue such reckless stories to find a way to level faster, there is no hurry and we can do it together."

The girl Xiao Lan looked at her beast husband. "Okay." She then turned her eyes to the greater battle before them that seemed to move at a pace that was set in a separate world from their own. However, it wasn't so much the battle before them that had her attention, but the canyon walls and their many tiers that were occupied by combatants, mercenaries, and horrible beasts that would surely block their ascent.

Thinking back to it now, she couldn't even remember how she had gotten here.

All of a sudden, a loud drum beat began to sound, which echoed loudly against the stone walls and floor, one loud enough to stop the activities of the many levels up all the way towards the top of the great divide.

"What's going on?" She asked with worried words to her companion.

The beast character of Zhuo looked to the skull-like rock face far before them at the opposite side of the chasm. "I do not know…" he stated as he kept his eyes unmoving from that image, "but I think the answer lies with that."

Nearly as perfect punctuation, the beats stopped and the skull-rock split apart at a previously invisible seam. With a grinding noise of stone against cold stone, the skull broke open towards them… two doors riddled with clever fascination in runes and decorative treasures that practically pulled one towards it with a feeling of glee and lust for treasure. As it was, it took the character of Xiao Lan everything she had simply to resist its pull.

Past the opening, a deep abyss of the densest of lightless worlds laid tucked back within the wall, one that reeked of boundless death and anguish. It was from this world that a sound of chain mail emanated, with the dull sound of metals sliding against other metals, and the soft footfalls that placed even the most hardened faces among those of the paling. It was then that he appeared at last, like a phantom from the darkness, as his armor was of the blackest of the metals made, which all the more blended him into the darkness he had emerged from.

Without pausing a moment, he strode forward from his cavern, and out onto a long and narrow strip of raised earth until he came to a stop at is circular end. Although Xiao Lan could not make out his appearance from the distance, he did not appear to her as an unattractive man, just a very intimidating one. It was at that point he spread his armored arms and addressed those gathered before him in a loud, clear voice.

"Warriors, thieves, and those others foolish enough to challenge my domain, I bid you welcome! Let your battles pause and try your fury against he who has crafted this domain as his own, let this humble executioner have his blade touch against your lives and allow my senses to partake of your final aggressions, before you join with the rest in Abandon's hold. For I am Abandon's Guardian and I invite you to the bloodbath!"

Finalizing his declaration, he drew a large jewel-encrusted double edged broad sword from his sheath and raised it high above him. Then at random, he quickly lowered his arm and leveled the sword at one of the many warriors before him. It wasn't more than an instant later, that there was blood in the air, and the great genocide had begun.

Momentarily mesmerized by the bloodshed, the character named Feng Xiao Xiao had completely forgotten where she was or why it was such a bad idea to remain as such. It wasn't until she received a hard shoulder tug from her companion that her mind came back to her. Though she was horrified by the deaths around her, she was scared by an aspect of herself that longed for it, to experience the lifting of lives by her own hand. Pushing that side away from her mind, she followed her partner against the cold rock face as numerous warriors and beasts vaulted from higher levels above them - over their heads - and joined in the fray.

"Feng Xiao Xiao! Don't separate from me!" Zhuo cried out as he tried to hold her hand tighter in his, but the pounding of jostling bodies against them threatened to break them apart.

"I—I can't hold on!" Xiao Lan cried out in a panicked voice as she was torn away from her only source of security, jostled along with the many bodies until she came to a stop that threw her forward into a clearing. It was odd that there should be anything but stampeding fighters, but it wasn't until she looked to the ground that she knew why. Beneath her slender fingers was a ground saturated with the blood of many that had been there before. Only the bodies of the few Hardcore game characters remained, while the others slowly erased to where they could be restored by the game servers later.

Horror-struck and uncertain, she looked up just as one of the rampaging fighters was torn asunder before her, a crimson blade jutting through what used to be the chest of a man—just before it was wrench free with a torrent of blood spraying against her. In the distance she felt as though she could hear her name being called again and again, but could not turn her head away from the man in the black armor now streaked with red lines across its entirety. And with her barely raised upon her knees and cowering before him, was there any hope that she could break away?

Although the game was running at normal speed, it seemed like the reality lagged as he strode forward, clearly acknowledging her eyes with his own—a predator with his prey before him captivated by his menace yet powerless against it. It was truly a primal fear he evoke about him, and had she had hold of her senses she might have felt a tinge of jealousy.

"You." He addressed her simply with neither malice nor disrespect. "Such a den of wolves is no place for a timid doe, nor is it worthwhile for me to deprive you of your life." He placed the tip of his blade beneath her chin and tilted her head up so he could see her face. "You have good eyes… but they are not eyes meant for battle. Earn that, and then come back to me. Fight me!" He smiled as he withdrew the sword and used it to decapitate a passerby. His eyes bore into hers, and she felt as though her soul had been branded.

His smile faded slightly as reality seemed to return to real-time with the battle fully raging. "Fight me… or fear me completely—never to show your face again before me. Your choice."

"Feng Xiao Xiao!" Zhuo finally broke through the ranks and stabilized her sides, freezing as he realized who it was before them. "Abandon's Guardian…"

"Beast." He said simply. "Take her from here, and do not return. For this is not your place at all. Do that… and send me the strong you encounter." He lifted the blade a moment in their direction. "Or die here."

Zhuo's eyes narrowed as he focused on the bloody blade. He knew there were fewer enemies around them and the path had opened. It was enough for tonight.

"We shall take our leave."

With that, Zhuo gathered his partner into his arms and dashed into the openings between battles, as the Black Guardian of Hell's Abandon returned to the fray.

Feng Xiao Xiao… he thought to himself. I'll remember you.

*****

Two months later, the infamous Guardian found himself with fewer and lesser opponents as those that frequented the game "World" moved on to the newer "Second Life". With more reality and better game play of real life, it was by far the better game from the things he heard in the real world. Besides, it seemed life here had become too repetitive. However, there was one problem.

Over the systems message, as the only true infamous player, he had gained such a negative reputation that there were already many warrior guilds within Second Life that had sent him a warming. Should he enter they would make it their only mission to make sure that he never had a chance to advance to the next level, by hunting him down before he could set foot out of whatever town he appeared in.

But all the same, he couldn't let that stop his intrigue. He would enter Second Life and find the better players, and he would build his fear just as he had here.

It was on that night, the Guardian announced that the throne of Abandon was empty. He was moving on, and his destination was Second Life.

Coincidentally, it was the very night that Prince and Gui first met (which promptly resulted in Gui's death by Prince's hand).