“Hot springs, hot springs, hot springs,” The words were not muttered like a prayer, or a mantra. Rather, the woman spoke as absently and tunelessly as a person might hum, or whistle. In fact, it appeared that she had simply forgotten she was speaking at all, wrapped up in her own musings. Originally, the thought of visiting Pelham Springs had intrigued her. She had a few hours until her friend, Vincent, would be logging on. Considering that she was still “too low level” to do any real tinkering, chasing rumors was as good a way to pass the time as any. Considering she had heard mention of the springs from both players and NPCs alike, Rayleigh figured that this was less hearsay, and more fact. So even if it lacked the excitement of the unknown, she would get a nice soak out of it. And what better time was there? There was no way she would do something like this with Vincent, or even admit to being interested in. The hardass Rayleigh Aston taking a spa day? Not a chance. But the players who she had asked for directions had assured her it was a mere twenty-minute walk, give or take a few. Ray figured she had been walking for twice that, and there was nothing in sight. “I should focus,” she said to no one in particular, and abrupt end to the chant she had been repeating for the past five minutes. As she did so, she became aware of the crunch of dried grass beneath her boots. It stood in sharp contrast to the lush, green grass she had spawned into. And where were the sounds of the woods, the chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves? In fact, even when Ray strained to listen, she heard nothing at all. And had everything had that redish tint before? Must be the sun, she deduced, or the hot springs. She had never been in this part of the world before, and she knew better than to doubt Terrasphere. The game, and its creators, were capable of so many things. So she lengthened her stride. Another twenty minutes before the trees parted, the forest giving way to a large clearing. There, she found a collection of buildings, crafted of wood and stone. There were probably thirty, by her best guess. Most were small, no larger than one room, but there were three larger dwellings in the dead center of the community. Main facilities and rental houses, Rayleigh decided. She had found the hot springs afterall. “Twenty minutes, my ass,” came her hushed curse as she stalked toward the largest of the buildings. @Madison Freebird
Rats, rats, rats, rats, rats. That seemed like the only thing she had dealt with ever since logging on for the first time. Well, there was a couple other forest critters that got knuckles between the eyes, but most everything she punched so far squeaked instead of yipped or grunted. Madison knew that progression in games took time, especially in MMOs; but she was still lurking around in the starter region, trying to get a feel for things. When was she going to "git gud" and start to venture out elsewhere? A whole friggin' world to explore, and she was still cooped up with starter gear and basic spells. Madison longed for her days playing Fallout: New Orleans. Fifty-six minutes from starting her character, she could book it to the Submerged Quarter and get some sweet end-game gear and hit Level 5, easy. Rest of the game would be a snap But here? Nah. It had been a few days, maybe a couple weeks by now. Still only coming up with minor hexes and a patch of weeds here and there... as well as a dull pain in her right wrist that forced her to wear a hand brace at work that morning. Blame that one on a poor roll that saw her punching a cave wall instead of her intended target. It had been a particularly rough day at the bookstore, so a bit of extra stress relief was in order. Madison logged on, muted her meager friends list, and decided to "go for a walk". She couldn't remember where she heard about the hot springs, but they sounded like a very neat idea indeed. The developers make everything else in Terrasphere hurt, sting, burn, chill, and ache--why the hell wouldn't they think to put a nice hot, soothing, steamy bath in it? She just hoped that it wasn't peak hours. Last thing she wanted to deal with was half of everyone else on the server soaking their grimy avatars in her pool. The trek was long, but pretty quiet. No mobs to distract her, no sudden quests popping up out of the blue, no spawning newbies pestering her with stupid questions. Lost in thought, the witch made her way down the road that snaked through the forest. She hadn't paid much attention to the changing scenery as she drew closer--patches of dying grass giving way to a sea of brown underfoot, a canopy of green bleeding into various shades of red. If anything, she attributed it to the sudden shifting of in-game seasons, or a change in biome. ...Does this game even have seasons? Madison dismissed the thought as she drew into the clearing. A couple dozen smaller buildings were neatly arranged around a trio of bigger structures. Perhaps it was a small resort of sorts? She clicked her tongue, disappointed that the hot springs weren't much of a secret. There was something odd about it, though. Madison scanned the area with her eyes. "Where is everyone?" For being such a big deal to those she spoke to, the place was utterly abandoned. She strained to hear anything, but the only sound that made it back to her was the light whipping of shutters against the walls of the spa houses. Pressing two fingers against her temple, she slid into Investigative Mode, hoping to find a couple glowing names popping up in her field of vision. ...Nothing. Not a single soul outside. "Weird," she muttered to herself. Something deep down told her that, hey, maybe it's abandoned for a reason. Maybe she should turn back. But, she did spend the better part of her afternoon walking this far, and it had been such a long and difficult day. Alone or not, she'd be damned if she wasted her time for nothing. Thumbing through her inventory for her cards just in case, the witch started towards the small grouping of buildings in the middle of the clearing.
This was, by far, the worst hot springs that Rayleigh had ever visited. Granted, it was the first and only hot springs she had ever visited, but she still had much higher expectations. She had imagined something akin to a Mexican all-inclusive, with pools, swim-up bars, and frozen beverages with little umbrellas and fruit kabobs. And maybe shirtless, oiled-up men too, while she was at it. But instead, the woman found buildings that belonged in a wild west movie, not a central-American fantasy. They stood silent, abandoned, like soldiers guarding some sacred tomb. In fact, the more she studied them, the more uneasy she became. She felt the hair on the back of her neck rising, and something rolled in the pit of her stomach. In typical Rayleigh fashion, she blamed the former on the hot temperature, and the latter, on the morning’s breakfast burrito. And she trudged on. “There aren’t even any hot springs,” she muttered, the annoyance as plain in her tone as it was on her face. Much to her dismay, and Vincent’s pleasure, Ray always had been an open book. Her expression were as obvious as if she wore “happy” or “sad” painted across her forehead. Her only solace, she supposed, was the fact that those expressions changed instantly, and without warning. Her moods were as dangerous, unpredictable, and ever-changing as mid-western weather. Movement in the distance caught her attention, and without hesitation, Rayleigh jogged closer. That was another character flaw - she very rarely paused to consider consequences, or think a plan through before execution. In life, that occasionally served her quite well; college has a way of rewarding the bold and impulsive. But a game where monsters far stronger than she lurked in abandoned towns? Not so much. It was not a monster that Rayleigh found, but a woman. She was dressed plainly enough, and without an obvious weapon, Ray mistook her for an NPC. And why would an NPC be at a hot spring, if not because she worked there? Jumping to conclusions - flaw number three. “Hey, you there,” the white-haired woman called, waving a hand toward the stranger. “Do you work here or something? Because if you do, we need to have a serious talk.”
Out of nowhere, the rude shouting of a stranger startled Madison. She spun on her heels to find a tall woman with snow-white hair and a flowing blue jacket stomping towards her, waving her hands in the air trying to get her attention. ...and she wanted to know if the cursemage worked at the spa? Madison looked down and checked her ensemble. Black dress, black boots, black panties, black gloves, black bodice. She arched a black eyebrow at the woman. "Do I look like I work here?" The witch made sweeping motions with her hands. "Does this look like a blue polo shirt and khaki ensemble to you? Of course I don't work here!" Maddy gave the white-haired woman a quick once-over. If anything, she looked like she worked at this spa. But with an attitude like that, clearly she didn't. "I haven't seen anyone who has," the witch grumpily admitted. "I wouldn't even know where to start looking. It's just a bunch of buildings in a forest clearing. Have you even seen a hot springs around here yet?"
Rayleigh's blue eyes flashed with sudden anger. Her fuse was short to begin with, and the frustration she had been experiencing over the previous hours had only stoked the fire. Odds are that she would have snapped anyway, regardless of what the woman had said. 'I am here to serve, let me take you to the springs' would have resulted in sharp words about the terrible service. Unless, of course, the woman was actually an exceptionally ripped, oiled up pool boy. Hot spring boy? And if he offered her food. Her tongue was her best weapon, lashing out like a whip at those who did not expect it from such a tiny woman. Or, it had been, in the real world. Now, Ray was not quite as small as she had been. Maybe people would finally stop underestimating her, now that she had boobs. But the sharp retort died as what the woman had said dawned on her. "No," she stated plainly, shaking her head. "I've been walking for ages, and I haven't seen anything. Either this is a really shitty hot spring, or I'm lost. Honestly, both are very possible."
