It all goes downhill
1282 Words
The group ploughed through the snow, making gradual progress towards their destination. The summit of the hill was barren land, except for the conifers which dotted their path. There were no more caves or hollows to take shelter in.
Though they didn’t openly oppose each other, there was an air of mistrust between them. Being compassionate as ever, Aaron had saved the very players who wanted to kill them. However, he didn’t feel like those two girls were on Gilbert’s side. In fact, it seemed like they were just trying to survive.
“Hey, it’s gonna be a long way down. I’m Aaron, by the way. And this right here is my best friend, Zachary,” Aaron spoke out, trying to break the ice.
The blonde-haired girl made no reply, but kept walking. The younger one looked at her companion for approval, and then, unable to control her urge, broke the silence.
“I am Isabella. You can call me Izzy. The grumpy-looking berserker is my older sister, Madeline. She is not always this annoyed, but she doesn’t like talking to strangers. Once you get—”
“That’s enough, Izzy...”
Hearing her sister’s voice, Isabella hushed up. But it didn’t take long for her to start speaking again. “This is boring! Do you plan on keeping quiet all the way?”
“What?”
“Aghh, you’re such a hard-ass. They saved us both, Maddy. The least you can do is thank them.”
“I’m sure they have some vested interest in saving us. You’re too inexperienced to understand how competitive games work.”
“Yeah, Aaron’s planning on dating you right after we get back home,” Zach passed his snide remark right as Isabella was about to make a reply.
“What?” Isabella cried out in surprise.
“He’s just joking,” Aaron calmly replied, before turning to his friend. “Can you stop making this anymore awkward than it has to be?” he whispered.
“Phew, I was just trying to lighten the mood,” Zach replied, throwing his arms back. “Vested interests! As if they can lead us to a hidden treasure!”
After this brief exchange, they continued walking in silence, till they reached the other side of the summit. It was a steep climb to the foot of the mountain, with snow covering the entire path. Getting down from such a height called for specialised climbing equipment. A grappling hook or a pair of ice picks was ideal for this situation, but neither Aaron nor Zach had any mountaineering gear in their inventory.
“Wanna share your climbing gear?” Aaron asked Madeline.
She looked at him all puzzled and replied, “I thought you guys had your own equipment.”
“Jesus! Stop being so stingy!” Zach scoffed. “Ya’ll would’ve been buried alive if it weren’t for us. The least you can do is share your gear with us.”
“We don’t have any!” Madeline responded firmly.
In their rush to get to the T-Rex before the other teams, both of them had started their journey without any preparation. While Aaron and Zach had taken the help of a summoned Troll, the girls had used a magic gateway to teleport directly to the summit. That’s how they had ended up inside the goblin cave.
[*Warning!*]
[*Nightfall approaching!*]
[Daylight remaining: 35 minutes!]
“We gotta hurry.” Aaron marked a waypoint on his digital map, before turning to Zach. “Can you summon something to help us out?”
“Not unless you wanna kill someone. All the remaining summoning scrolls are only good for battles.”
“Fuck...there’s gotta be some way to get down.”
“Maybe we can look for another path,” Isabella chimed in.
To this Aaron shook his head. “I’ve checked out the entire mini-map. There are no climbing trails or steps here and we don’t have enough time to search for a hidden gateway or portal.”
“I can try using my special ability to get some equipment,” Zach said.
“That ability is based purely on luck. There’s no way you’ll be able to get climbing gear on the first try. And even if you do, we’re gonna need 4 sets.”
Aaron looked around searchingly, while simultaneously racking his head for ideas. His eyes fell on a couple of snow-covered fir trees in the distance. “Do either of you have any lumbering skills?”
“No, but I can chop down the trees with my abilities,” Madeline replied, focusing her gaze on the objects of Aaron’s attention. “What do you have in mind?”
“We can build a makeshift sleigh with these trees. They are strong and flexible and won’t break under stress. Your sister’s playing the Defender class. She must have crafting abilities.”
“I do!” the blue-haired girl jumped up with excitement. “I can craft small uncommon weapons and wooden structures in a jiffy!”
“Alright, Madeline, I want you to chop down both the fir trees and gather timber. Isabella, use your ability to craft two makeshift sleighs.”
Aaron could tell that Madeline wasn’t used to taking orders, but she didn’t have much of a choice. Her axes made short work of the trees as she chopped them down with a flurry of powerful hack attacks. Gathering all the timber in her virtual inventory, she returned to Madeline.
“Just so we’re clear, once we get down from this mountain, we’ll go our separate ways.”
“So you wanna re-match, is that it?” Zach grimaced.
“We won’t attack you if you don’t get in our way,” Madeline replied, giving Zach a cold, hard stare.
“Hey! Don’t start fighting again!” Isabella cried out. “I’m trying to craft here!”
Zach and Madeline both backed away from a direct confrontation, but their expressions suggested they still harboured tremendous animosity towards each other.
Isabella removed her shield and opened her inventory. Madeline transferred the timber to her and she stacked them in a single slot. Isabella’s special ability allowed her to access the crafting menu once a day. All she needed was the materials. She already had ropes and nails in her inventory and now, with the lumber added, all the needs were met.
“Access wooden structures menu: craft makeshift sleigh, quantity: 2.”
All the lumber was instantly used up, along with the ropes and nails in her inventory. The Z-band on her wrist buzzed with a dim yellow light for a few seconds, before turning bright green.
[*Crafting successful!*]
[Mount acquired: Makeshift sleigh!]
Once the announcement was over, a couple of shoddy looking wooden sleighs landed in front of them. They were simple and plain, carved out of wood and held together with the help of nails and ropes.
“These do not fill me with confidence!” Zach exclaimed.
“Then make your own sleigh,” Madeline retorted sharply.
Aaron stepped in once more to diffuse the situation. “It’s all we got, Zach. These are makeshift sleighs meant for single use. These aren’t built to last.”
“And you’re sure these will take us downhill safe and sound?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Aaron said, climbing into the sleigh before him. “We have 20 minutes left until nightfall. There’s no time to look for better options.”
Zach looked at Aaron and shook his head. “Team Aaron: chances of survival: zero percent,” he muttered under his breath as he climbed into the sleigh.
- Writer
