Pesky Pests and Vegan Ventures (Private)

Small birds cooed on the ground ahead of him, pecking at the ground for morsels of dropped crumbs. They closely resembled the pesky pigeons Ruben was so used to in the real world, if only by their annoying behavior. They swarmed like flying cockroaches as he walked slowly towards them, stepping over their drops of shredded crackers. They mumbled softly in their frustration before landing on a nearby lamp post. They hovered for a moment, staring impatiently at the ground, the lights of the city reflecting in their black marbled eyes. As he passed, they fluttered just above his head and nestled themselves back on the cobble, back to their normal squalling. They would be there until the ground was clean and then would continue to grovel for more crumbs for the rest of their pitiful lives. Ruben scoffed, peering at them from the side of his vision. They were just as annoying as the pigeons. He wondered to himself, "They could have gone without those if you ask me."

A sharp smell filled his nostrils. Ruben paused his step, lifting his nose and whiffing at the strong stench. It was an unmistakable smell. Real world or in-game, the smell of smoke was unmistakable. His eyes lifted to the sky, scanning for any sign of smoke. Gray wisps rose from about two blocks ahead towards the edge of the massive city of Stokbon. It edged just close the tree lines to the Brisshal forest. He had just come from that direction. For a moment Ruben hesitated. It was none of his business. If the smoke had been black he would have been more worried.

The hesitation lasted several seconds before curiosity caved him. The teen sighed, stuffing his hands in pockets before slowly making his way towards the tree line. The smoke began to rise more quickly, and another smell began to pierce his nose. It was another very recognizable smell as well. His nose wrinkled in response. It was the smell of cooked meat. He suddenly found himself unwanting to go in the continued direction, but still curiosity drug him.

As he rounded the corner of the square, a small open field sat before the tree line and the nearest building. Three males and one female sat around a small campfire. Between them something was cooking in the flames. Ruben frowned and wrinkled his nose. Poor creature. It was something he couldn't quite understand. He was never a big fan of meat. While he was not entirely a vegan, he preferred to stick to fish and white meats like turkey and chicken. This was a heavy red meat and it was so fatty he could see it sweating as it cooked on the fire. With each lick of the flame it drenched and in response the flames raged higher.

Ruben stood there and watched, the four beings laughing as they bit hard into it.

And then he saw it...
The rest of the creature was set to the side, and half of it sat there wasting away. Ruben's disgust turned to anger, and anger to rage. He could see flies beginning to lay on it, feasting away at its wasted flesh. It was poorly butchered. He stepped closer, slowly, and again his rage intensified. There were several slashes along its side. Either they played with its corpse or tortured it. He could barely tell what kind of animal it was. It looked to be some sort of boar. It didn't matter. Ruben couldn't stand the thought of someone wasting or playing with their prey. His blood boiled...and then his heart sank.

He could do nothing. There was literally nothing he could do. He lowered his head and began to turn away, but found that he couldn't take the step.

"You know...you shouldn't play with your food." He said, turning to them. His eyes showed the devil and reflected the anger similar to his wrath. They looked at him quietly, their chewing halted and a silent pause emitted a potent tension. And then they laughed.

"Funny...you think this thing can actually feel anything?" They laughed, one of them throwing the meat at the boar's corpse. Ruben stood there, unsure of what to say. He was a shy and quiet person, and the moment he tries to stick up for something he was completely lost for words. Just what had he gotten himself into.

 

Alpha had never been one for large, crowded cities like Stokbon, having to keep track of so many tiny creatures and having to maneuver deftly through the city to avoid being stepped on herself. It was simply a matter of utmost necessity that brought her here; she wanted to visit that Sweets Emporium of Stokbon that was rumored to have all sorts of treats. She drooled thinking about it, the slobber landing straight on Terry's head as the dingo groaned in disgust, scooting away from her and trying to use a paw to wipe her spittle off of his head fur. The others seemed to take notice as well, Corn and Luna scuttling farther away, Juno removing herself from her shoulder to instead perch atop her head, and Fish tightening, almost constricting, around her neck and pressing into himself, as if hoping that, if he compressed himself enough, that stray bits of drool wouldn't touch him. She cooed at how cute they all were but, at the moment she opened her mouth, they all edged away further. Nobody wanted to share Terry's fate. And so she skipped her way down the streets and turned a few corners, completely unable to navigate through the place and with no idea in her mind as to where the Sweets Emporium may be. Oh, she could just imagine and taste it! Sweet and sour taffy, creamy vanilla frosting, and maybe a hint of chocolate mocha-flavored corn flakes or something! Why she thought about corn flakes, she didn't know, as Fruit Loops were much sweeter and more to her liking.

"Almost there!" she sang, hopping along the road. In truth, she had just said that to reassure her companions on her directional and leadership abilities but they didn't seem to be the slightest bit convinced. In response, she simply puffed up her cheeks and looked behind her, pouting at the trio following her (and nearly causing Juno to stumble off her head at the sudden movement). As she gave them her best attempt at a disappointed, disapproving mother-glare (as she called it), she failed to notice an oddly-placed tree in the middle of the smoky city. "Gah!" she exclaimed in shock as she slammed straight into the trunk, falling down and barely managing to land somewhere other than Terry's surprised mug. "Ow, really should be paying more attention guys," she groaned, rubbing her aching back. Then she opened her eyes and looked around to see a group of five around her. Four guys and a girl and, after her mind registered the white-cloaked man's appearance, her eyes shined and sparkled with curiosity. She immediately bounced back up and gave him a poke, ignoring the other four.

"Where did you get that super cool outfit?! You look like a superhero or something! Are you a superhero? And how did you get hair like that?! It looks so cool! And what're you doing here, is it fun, can I join?" she rambled on and on, a wide, toothy grin on her face as she hounded the shy man. She failed to notice Terry sniffing around, happening upon a brutally mutilated corpse of an animal that was unrecognizable. At the sight, Terry gave a low rumble from the back of his throat and barked loudly, staring the four down with a displeased glare. Despite not knowing what was going on, Luna and Corn followed suite (the both of them making silly clicking noises with their tongues to appear threatening). Juno, however, just continued sleeping as usual and Fish was kissing her chin. She ignored the dingo in favor of her object of interest. "What's your name? Mine's Alpha; Alphabet Chocolate, but just call me The Dark Lord Evil Voldemort Darth Vader Alphabet!" she looked up at him expectantly, hands closed in a tight fist and placed on her chest in excitement.

@Ruben Day

 

Ruben felt a tap on his back. He turned around to see an excited young girl looking brightly up to him. His face was red and flustered, still quite upset about the boar. The girl before him though bombarded him with odd and silly questions.

"...A...superhero?"

Ruben paused for a moment and let the words sink in. A cracked smile took to his face, he covered it with one hand and chuckled softly at the thought of him being a superhero. It was true that he based his outfit on a mix between a hunter's cloak and his favorite colors. He had never thought about just how flashy it might look though. The purple and yellow weren't exactly hunter material. Perhaps it was a good idea to change the colors later anyway. He stood out like a sore thumb.

He was taken aback by the girl and the sudden change of atmosphere. The tension in the air died with the silliness the girl had brought with her. She continued to ramble, and Ruben found it difficult to keep up.

"...Alphabet...Chocolate?"

He stared down blankly at her, trying to grasp whether she was being serious or not. Was that truly her name? He manage a small chuckle again. She was totally serious. In fact, he she almost seemed proud of it. It was a unique name. It had a innocently childish ring to it, and in a way Ruben kind of thought it was amusing.

"Hey, if you're gonna start something you should finish it bird-head," one of the boys called out to mockingly.

Ruben continued to look at Alpha for a few seconds. He had calmed himself to the point of rationalization thanks for her. He turned back to the group of strangers at the fire pit and spoke softly. "Perhaps not, but as a beast tamer I hope you can see my view of things. We make friends with the beasts in the game. Contrary to what you might assume, boars..." he paused looking at its mangled corpse, and looked away in shame for the ones who had done it. "Boars can become good friends and they are strong and protective."

It was odd, Ruben didn't want to bring up a fight in front of the girl, and as he thought about it perhaps he had been overreacting. He was a beast tamer and his love for animals was deep and unwavering. These others didn't have that bond with the creatures and thus couldn't fully understand the effect. To them they were just holograms. To Ruben, he would make friends with them some day. It was unfortunate that the difference in perspective was so huge. He could easily come to the conclusion that there was no way he would be able to change their minds on the matter. They simply weren't that kind of player.

"Just...next time try and be more humane...They may be holograms to you, but to beast tamers they are companions. To me, you just mangled a potential friend." Ruben's words were no longer filled with anger. His voice was soft and sympathetic. Perhaps the way he approached them was unnecessary. It turns out it was that change in tone that was needed. The four guys and the girl looked at the corpse and lowered their heads.

One of the boys looked up. "I guess we didn't think of it that way. We were just having a bit of fun. Not like you can do this kind of stuff in the real wo--."

"Don't you dare give me that excuse! You play with that attitude and what you do here will carry over. You know how these games affects you. You'll play until you can't realize game from reality. That boar will be a real life dog and then what! You think the barrier between game and real life makes that behavior acceptable!? Don't fool yourself."

They looked away in shame again and began packing their things. Ruben crossed his arms and stared them down quietly as they left.

He stood there quietly for a moment and then turned to Alpha. Rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, he spoke softly to her. "Sorry about that...I got a little carried away. I'm Ruben, by the way. Ruben Day."


@Alphabet Chocolate

 

Alpha had watched in fascination, and then in horror when the mangled corpse was pointed out, at Ruben's invigorating speech. The man's care for the creatures was palpable and the shame that spread throughout the group at his words showed that it had at least some effect on what they had done. Alpha tore her blank stare at the remnants of what seemed to be a boar after the man had addressed her and given her his name. "That's a nice name, sounds like Ruby so I'm just gonna call you that from now on!" she cheered with a heavy heart. The sight she had just witnessed was burned into her mind and, despite her attempts to make a jovial conversation, the image persisted and branded itself strongly. She twisted her frown into a downturn smile and gave a small giggle as her little beast friends began to comfort her. "Thanks guys," she whispered, giving Terry and Fish both a pat for their efforts. Sometimes she wished she had more appendages to pet them all with but she had to make do with what she had. Not wanting to continue their friendly conversation amidst the sea of strangers who Alpha had now marked as cruel, she tried her best to ignore them as she took Ruben's sleeve and attempted to drag him elsewhere.

"You're so cool, Ruby!" she enthused, diamonds in her eyes. The incident had given Alpha a newfound respect and admiration to the man who, despite his soft words and that adorably embarrassed face, had stood up for the animals in Terrasphere. It was decided that he'd be her first friend no matter what. "Starting from today, you'll be my second best friend!" she declared so in a way that left no room for argument. Juno, waking up from her perpetual drowsy state, gave a croon in approval before, once again, slipping off into her dream world. And then she thought back onto the words he had said before and, with a flourished stretch of her hand for a proper greeting and shake, she cleared her throat. "So, you're a beast-tamer, right? I'm one too! We could get you a parrot or something like Juno!"

And then she waggled her finger, shaking her head. "But first off, I was on my way to this candy shop and I was wondering if you'd wanna come with?" she suggested, excitement shown in every hopeful skip she made. Terry glared at Ruben, as if threatening him. Although Luna and Corn followed his example, they weren't the most intimidating considering they were a bunny and a hedgehog respectively. In fact, the only ones in her group that could actually harm a fly would be Terry and Fish (maybe Juno if she was hungry). Alpha bounced along the road, oblivious and with Ruben's sleeve still in her grip. "You know what?" a look of serendipity crossed her face. "I'll just take you with me anyway! You'd love it!" she cheered and, with that, she attempted to drag him to the Sweets Emporium.

@Ruben Day