CHIBI LAMB 

A.O.T.L GUILD BASE:

Himari stepped out of the dancing rays of light in the same clothes she had when she first logged in: a plain white shirt and loose light blue pajama pants. She glanced around the room that seemed unfamiliar to her.

"Where..."

"My office. And your dad's as well." Abs interrupted.

Himari noticed Abs seated behind a desk with Carl and Jason seated opposite her. An odd-looking high chair stood on Abs' left-hand side behind the desk.

"You have a baby in here?" Himari's eyebrow shot up while she asked.

"They just asked the same question," Abs responded, nodding at Carl and Jason.

"This is going to be good." She added as she leaned back into the chair, chuckling heartily.

"Friends of yours?" Himari asked while casting a quick glance at Carl and Jason again.

"No, this looks more like an interrogation scene. They can barely even sit up straight in their chairs. Is she threatening them?" Himari thought.

"No. I just rescued them. I brought them back here because your dad and I would like to ask them a few questions and they obliged. Man, I wanted them to show me what they are made of, but they both panicked and opted for alliance," Abs answered.

"Wait... and you made an alliance with them? Why didn't it work with me?" Himari asked

"If two or more players of the same team select the alliance option upon encountering another player, their request will be granted," DD answered after popping out of thin air.

"Oh, it's you again," Himari responded with a droopy-eyed frown.

"Good morning to you too, Himari."

"Wow, you actually called me by my name! Did I wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"Maybe I'm just in a good mood today."

Somehow, I don't like the sound of that. Spill it. What did you do?"

Just then Carl opened his mouth. But Jason swiftly elbowed Carl in the gut, locked his head in a choke-hold, and covered his mouth. Himari and DD turned their attention to Abs' guests while Abs snorted.

"Your guides are back, right?" Abs asked Jason.

"Yeah... But I just got a bad feeling this idiot was about to say something stupi...OW!!" Jason was interrupted by a sharp pain in his pain that was covering Carl's mouth.

"You bit me!" He yelled as he instinctively removed his palm from Carl's face.

"You elbowed me in the gut! What was that for?!" Jason responded

"Boys..." Abs calmly drew their attention.

"If you're going to fight in my office, my offer still remains open. I'd personally like to see what you're both made of." She added as she leaned forward and covered the lower half of her face with her clasped hands. Her calm but piercing gaze was more than enough to silence them and call them to order.

"So, I guess they aren't your friends then. More like prisoners or hostages?" Himari broke the silence.

Jason shot her a gaze that seemed to scream "CAN'T YOU READ THE ROOM?"

"I thought I just I just explained it to you. Just what kind of image do you have of me in my mind?" Abs sighed and leaned back, resting the back of her head in her clasped palms.

Himari proceeded to answer...

"A very very..."

"I don't want to know." Abs cut her short.

"I don't know why, but I'm surprised you didn't somehow work your way around the rules just to fight them." Himari continued anyway.

"I really don't want to know what kind of monstrous picture you've painted of me in your head. I'm not a lawbreaker, you know?" Abs chuckled while she sat up again and turned to Himari.

"Your existence in this game has definitely got to be breaking some laws somewhere," Himari muttered under her breath.

"And I heard that." Abs smiled, causing Himari to flinch.

"You know, if you channel all that wit into your battles, you might soon knock me off my spot." She continued.

"Do you go around giving people false hope like that all the time?" Himari retorted.

"The white-haired girl just read my mind. It's as if Silver Braids is oblivious to how strong she really is. Even the second highest-ranked player is about 500 levels behind her. Does she really believe that just anyone could knock her off her spot?" Jason thought.

"I guess it would take a lot of convincing to make you believe." Abs sighed as she relaxed in her chair again.

"I don't know if I'm ready for your method of convincing me," Himari complained.

Just then, a panel appeared before her with a message that read:

Abs has invited you to join AOTL guild.

Accept

Decline

"Oh... I thought I was already a member." Himari whispered while her finger hovered over the 'Accept' button.

"Not officially. And definitely not dressed like that." Abs replied.

"So, she's a new member. Are we about to witness one of their cultish initiation ceremonies?"

Just as Himari accepted the invitation, her body from the neck down was covered in white light. The same thing happened with DD as well. When the light disappeared, they both found themselves wearing AOTL hoodies, combat pants, and boots.

Himari gasped as she inspected her new clothes. When she noticed DD new appearance, she exclaimed:

"You too?!" She turned to Abs for an explanation.

"Even though you're both considered as one entity in this game, you're both now official members of the AOTL guild. That reminds me. How did your training session go today?" Abs explained and asked.

"Oh! It was more fun than I expected. For the 15 minutes I spent there, I think I gained a whole lot of revelation and insight. It was like seeing The Word in action most of the time. I really enjoyed it." Himari responded.

"What are they talking about? Some kind of ritual initiation training ceremony?" Jason thought.

"Good. You'll be applying all that you learn there in this game. What's taking your dad so long?" Abs asked.

"He should have been here by..." Just then, Himari was interrupted by the dancing rays of colored light that appeared right above the high chair beside Abs.

"Oh. There he is!" Abs announced, turning toward the high chair.

"Huh? Wait.. Hold on. Who?" Himari asked.

When the lights disappeared, there on the high chair, sat a literal chibi lamb in the AOTL guild attire.

Himari stood still for a few seconds like a robot that had suddenly ceased to function. The whole room was just as silent. Then, as if the life that had been drained out of her started flowing back into her, her eyes started widening as she yelled...

"DAAAAAAD?!"

Abs broke into loud rippling laughter.

"Yo." Chibilamb responded with a smile.