Day Two

The sun streamed in through the window and lit the room brilliantly, but Eve opened her eyes to total darkness. Sitting up slowly, she tried to look around her but saw nothing but dark. She felt the warmth of the sun on her skin and heard birds chirping outside, all signs of morning when she was out camping, but saw nothing. She reached a hand up, felt around her eyes and found out why she was blinded; she had a blindfold on.

"Ronim?" she asked aloud.

"Yes dear," his soft voice answered.

"Can I ask why I'm blindfolded?"

"If not, then you'd see me."

She felt for her linen gown, still covering her and sighed quietly in relief. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. "Why are you here, Ronim?" she asked.

"To see you," he replied, a touch of sass when he says "see."

"Well, I have things I need to do today that involve sight." She stood and carefully walked to the foot of her bed. A strong hand gently took hers and gave her a woolen dress. The hand then slid up her arm and cupped her cheek softly.

"How could I leave you alone for so long?" he asked softly, his lips brushing on her cheek as he spoke.

Containing her urge to draw his face closer, she stepped backward into the wall and said, "Relax, Cupid, you never leave me alone."

"Cupid?" he asked, curiously. "What is a Cupid?"

She smiled to herself and spoke, "I'll make you a deal; if I blindfold myself at night and tell you the story, will you come at night?" She didn't hear an answer but felt him step closer, his body pressed against hers and she felt more than she did the day before.

His frame was perfectly formed, full muscles that rippled with every movement, his hand strong and gentle against her skin. He took the dress from her hands and slipped it over her head, smoothly dressing her without a second thought.

"Deal?" she asked, trying to keep her mind off the bulge against her hip.

She felt him bend down, heard his breath slow as he inched closer to her lips, felt the warmth of his power and body engulf her again. With his lips barly touching hers, he whispered softly, "Deal." And placed a ginger kiss on her waiting lips.

'Thank god for this wall,' she thought, feeling herself melt into the kiss. She kept her hands at her sides but Ronim's hands slowly grasped hers and gently placed them on his cheeks. Trying to imagine his face through her hands, she felt his high cheek bones and chisled jaw with her finger tips. She felt him disappear from in front of her and slowly lifted the blindfold, looking at the floor in front of her to see nothing but the morning sun shine through the window.

Taking the blindfold off, she saw a bow and quiver of arrows laid out on the bed then looked over at the empty pot that once held a wonderful stew the night before. 'Hunting it is,' she thought and picked up the bow.

She slung the quiver over her shoulder and strode out the door, ready for anything small like a rabbit or a fox, something easy for a level 1 "noob" as her brother Shawn called her.

'If this isn't my new life, if I can leave at anytime, I'm gonna kill Shawn,' she thought.

After walking for an hour or so, she stopped when she heard rustling behind her. She froze, unable to think of what to do; she can't draw an arrow or grab her dagger, those both involve moving at least one arm. She turned her head slowly and saw a man stalking toward her. His hair was brown in a choppy bowl cut, his armor was mismatched and he had a long sword at his side, hand on the hilt but not drawn.

"Friend or foe?" he called to her, stepping closer.

She gripped the bow tighter, afraid, but swallowed her fear and spoke, "Friend enough to know a bow would beat a sword but not drawn an arrow." She turned slowly, careful to keep an eye on him, and watched him stop as the wind picked up. His hair ruffled on itself and his jaw fell slightly, the long grass around them bending slightly in the breeze. She stepped forward slowly, curious why he was staring. His eyes darted around in her direction but he didn't move or speak.

She stopped just steps away from him and asked softly, "And what about you?"

His entire body shook as he looked into her eyes and asked stupidly, "What?"

She looked at him curiously and cautiously reached a hand out to him. "Friend or foe?"

He stared down at her hand and slowly reached out, grasping her wrist gently. They shook slowly and he spoke timidly, "My name is Markium."

"Eve," she said and slung her bow over her shoulder with her quiver.

Markium looked her up and down and grew a little red in the face. "I've never met an elf before."

"Still haven't," she replied, matter of factly. "I'm a half-elf.

"What about you, you're from southern U.S.?" Once she said it, she immediately regret it. 'What if he doesn't know what America is? What if that's just how people sound here? 'Damnit Eve, think first!'

"Georgia, actually," he answered and smiled. "Didn't think I'd find someone else from Earth here."

She smiled in response. "So what are you doing out here?"

"Just looking for some food, you?"

"About the same, I've never been hunting before." She blushed red but her skin didn't show it.

Markium smiled, reached into his sack and pulled out two freshly killed rabbits. "Just got these a bit ago, you wanna come back to my camp for some chow for a bit?"

She giggled and sounded like a little school girl in a movie. "How about you help me bag a few of those for myself and I'll cook dinner at my home?"

"Deal," he responded and put the rabbits away.

She watched them disappear into his bag, curious but didn't speak. 'I don't want to look like a complete tool,' she thought and followed him further into the open field. 'I don't play these stupid shoot-em-up games. How am I supposed to hunt for something?'

Markium stopped and gestured for her to kneel down with him. He pointed ahead of them at a large fox chewing at a dead rabbit and she drew her bow and arrow.

She drew the string back to her cheek, lined it up slowly and released the arrow. It flew through the air and landed ten feet from the fox, causing it to notice their presence, pick up it's kill and run off.

Markium looked back at her and asked quietly, "You know how to use that thing?"

Before she could answer a box covered her vision

You have learned the skill Archery lvl 1

"Well," she whispered and looked away. "I know HOW but I don't know how, you know?"

He smiled. "You've never played this kind of game, have you?"

She felt the blood rush to her face but the color never showed. "My brother got this for me, he thought it would be a good first game to try but we didn't know I'd get stuck here..."

"Well, I can teach you how to do a few things. Archery, simple blades, hunting and trapping, easy stuff. A noob like you could catch on." He chuckled and pat her on the back like that was supposed to be reassuring.

'Well, help would be... helpful,' she thought. 'And calling Ronim every five minutes for help probably won't help if I keep wanting to jump him. Maybe this Markium guy could help.' Suddenly, a box appeared in front of her.

You've made a friend!

Markium, lvl 6, has become a friend to you and will remain so as long as your views remain the same

Markium smiled, meaning he must've seen the box, but Eve wasn't going to go off blind faith.

"What?"

"I got a prompt saying you accepted me as a friend," he sang teasingly, putting an around her shoulders.

'Prompt? Makes sense.'

He stood and pulled her up gently. "Here, see that tree down there?" He pointed at a tree 50 yards away.

"Okay?" she said and grabbed a bow from the quiver.

"I want you to do exactly what I tell you. Now knock the arrow... closer to the middle... good. Okay, pull it back... more... I want your thumb to touch your cheek. Alright, lift your arm a bit... bit more... good, good. Line up the sight, the wood of the bow should cover the middle of the tree. Alright, when your ready, release and let her fly."

She instinctually squeezed her eyes shut and let go of the arrow. After a while she opened them to see Markium covering his mouth, silencing a laugh. She looked forward and didn't see the arrow anywhere.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You missed the tree completely!" he shrieked laughing. After he calmed down to see her glaring at him. "Okay, okay, I'll stop. Just, try again, draw another arrow, but this time, don't close your eyes, okay?"

"Don't laugh at me, I can wrestle my brother to the ground without breaking a sweat."

"How old was your brother?"

'15...' she thought but didn't answer, just drew back another arrow. "Like this? Am I standing right?"

He stood in front of her and put his cheek on hers, looking forward. "Realign your fingers here, around the arrow, not on it... now shift your arm a bit, don't lock it... and keep your eyes open."

She felt a heat rise in his cheek and shifted her eyes to look at him; his face was red from embarrassment. "Should I fire?" she whispered softly. With her new voice, it sounded like she was flirting.

He stepped back quickly, coughed a bit and shook his arms, saying "Yeah, yeah yeah, go ahead."

She chuckled slightly, looked back to the tree and breathed slowly, waiting for her arms to stop shaking.

Markium stood behind her, placed both hands on her shoulders, and whispered, "Relax, it's okay. You'll get it."

She let go of the arrow and watched it fly, it felt like it was flying in slow motion. She watched in anticipation as the arrow broke the bark and imbedded it's self in the tree. "I hit it!" she yelled, happily and screamed. "I did it, I did it! I fired an arrow!" She started jumping up and down, screaming excited like a child and hugged Markium tightly. His armor was a little bulky with her hug but she didn't care; she just accomplished something she never even imaged she'd do! "I can't believe it, I actually did that!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Markium laughed, wrapping his arms around her slender frame and pulling her close, thanking every god he could think of for his armor covering his excitement.

She pulled out the hug and exclaimed, "Can we do that again!?"

"If you promise to keep your excitement levels to a minimum, we'll see if you can get a rabbit or something," he laughed and they walked together further into the field.