Standing up, I continue to walk forward, the bone wolves following me. I am extremely surprised that they aren't just completely hostile, they seem to understand that they can't do anything to me, but I also was helpful to them, so maybe they are just curious? I don't know, they seem more alive than they ever did before.
I can tell we are starting to get close to the exit, a musty smell from the swamp that surrounds the dungeon creeping in. I take a deep breath in, the moist air causing me to cough again, breathy and hollow. I swallow again, unable to help my dry throat still. I start to hear voices from outside, echoing through the dungeon as the bone wolves crouch down. I let out another scratchy sigh, understanding that this is probably not going to end well.
I made my character in hopes that people would avoid me, and, I made them what I thought would be boring. It's a dragonkin with black hair and scales, black horns with rich yellow spiraling up them, and very vibrant, glowing yellow eyes. I can't say it wasn't just one of those 'edgy teenager thinks it's cool moments'. I still didn't really want people to care about me, so I picked something I 'thought' was going to be common, seen as cringe, and avoided... Turns out, many people hated the racial discrimination that you get as a dragonkin, making the whole game harder as it takes longer for people to trust you, pay you less, and hate you, just for being a dragonkin. So many players just made new characters, overriding the old one because they didn't want to deal with the difficulty spike. In the end, dragonkin players became extremely rare, making me more of a walking museum exhibit than a player.
The hate isn't really unjustified in the lore though, as the dragonkin were considered pillagers, rapists, slave drivers, and tyrant rulers. They would take over an area single handedly, then would do whatever they wanted with the people. They eventually were driven out, or killed. Their offspring, what you are considered by the games lore, have taken the fall for it. People assume that they are the same as their parents/predecessors, or are still part of the remaining tyrants, so they don't want to give them anything.
If these are what my mind considers 'players', then it should be a quick exchange, but... If it is npcs, I could have an issue, as they probably wont be friendly, most npcs don't react kindly to you being dragonkin.
I get to the edge of the dungeon, a small amount of light peaking through from the night sky. I hear their voices stop.
"There is something coming!" A man yells, causing me to stop.
I turn back, finding that the bone wolves are still following me, so they must be seeing their eyes.
I continue to walk forward.
"I'm, not going to... damnit." I try to speak up, but my voice is still too weak to call out to them.
"Get ready!" Another male calls out.
I finally am able to see out enough to see the people. There is two human males wearing leather armor, swords drawn and pointed in my direction. Props to them for being cautious.
I get to the entrance, grabbing onto the edge of the wall to support myself.
"Shit..." The one on the left says.
I take another step, taking a deep breath before pushing off of the wall, immediately falling on my face... Damnit... I grunt as a get up onto my knees, letting out a sigh. I try to stand up unsupported again, only to fall to the side.
I really wish this dream didn't feel so real, maybe then I could walk around without issue.
I hear one of them chuckle, so I look up at them.
"What's wrong with you?" The one on the right asks with a smirk.
"Maybe they are just weak and got tired fighting the wolves inside?" The one on the left says.
No, but whatever.
"Oh, is that the case little one?" The one on right the asks.
Little one? Really?
"Are you mute?" He asks.
I just don't want to talk to you dumbass. Is that technically calling myself a dumbass?
"At least she has a nice face, and her race makes her a rarity too, we could make a decent amount of money off of her." The one on the left says.
Wow, this is a little fucked up for a dream.
The one on the right lets out a laugh, "First, we have to have some fun ourselves, right?"
Huh?
"True! We can't let others have their way with the merchandise before us!"
"The armor looks expensive too, just another bonus from a rich girl."
"Do you think we could hold them for ransom?"
"Fuck no, you know how those things are, I don't want to do that. Let's just sell em, the parents probably won't go after us unless this bitch decides to run her mouth about it."
"Then we will just have to break her so she doesn't speak."
They both have a disgusting expression on their faces. I am not into this type of shit, why is this happening in my dream? This is the first time I have ever had a dream like this.
They walk forward, chuckling maniacally. They get to me, picking me up from either side by my arms. What the actual hell, this is the most fucked up dream I have ever had, am I really this fucked in the head?
"This bitch is heavy!"
"Must be the armor, maybe that is why she is so weak. Let's strip it off of her so it's easier to move her."
One of them attempts to reach under the breastplate, pulling up causing it to push up against my breasts. It's very uncomfortable, the feeling from the new areas being a very weird part of the already fucked situation.
"The hell is this armor made of, damn thing doesn't want to come off!"
"You are just weak, I'll get it." The other says, walking over, pushing him out of the way and trying the same thing. "The hell?"
They look at each other confused for a moment, then one of them gets right up next to my ear.
"You will take off the armor, or we will kill you." He says, in a weird and forced voice that tries to sound intimidating. I can only let out a dry and wheezy laugh at how cringe and cliche it sounds.
"What's so funny?"
"You..." I let out a raspy voice, I swallow to try and speak louder.
"So the whore can speak, but you are going to need to talk louder than that for us to hear you."
I look into his eyes. "You are, an idiot." I chuckle.
The man looks at me as his face starts to heat up. Is it really that easy to piss them off?
"You know it doesn't matter right, we are going to break you. We will have you begging to die by then end of all of this."
"Could you, lose anymore, brain matter?" Did my subconscious just not have the brainpower to make these guys smarter than this?
"Fine then." He says, his voice laced in anger, grabbing the back of my neck. "We will get someone to take that armor off for us, the first ride of you should be payment enough."
They pick me up again, dragging me towards a carriage that they have on the road. They throw me down next to it, making me land on my tail again. Goddamn it, again?! Why!? It's so damn uncomfortable...
"What about the wolves?" One of them asks the other, pointing to the entrance where 2 sets of glowing green eyes hover just inside the darkness.
"She will be enough money for us." He crouches down and puts a hand on my thigh.
"It's going to be so much fun-" His throat is completely sliced open, causing blood to splatter onto my face, disgusting, but whatever. He quickly grabs at his throat, his eyes roll back, and he falls onto my lap, ew.
The bones from the bone wolves whip arch around my head, looping back around and landing next to it's paws. The horse attached to the carriage panics, pulling it hard and causing it to bounce along the rough road. The second man starts to look around, his eyes settling on the wolves.
"The fuck!?" He yells as they stare him down. The carriage colliding with a tree and flipping, causing the horse to get thrown to the ground with a crunch as the restraints break, allowing the horse to run free. The two wolves surround the man, circling him as he points his sword at whichever one he considers the bigger threat at the moment. One of the wolves strikes, causing the man to react and deflect the whip with his sword. The metal ringing as vibrations run through the sword, and the man winces from the blow.
The man's hands start to shake, his sword rattling as he quickly looks between the two wolves. The man rushes to the closest wolf, striking at it's head with his sword. The wolf stepping back, dodging the strike as the wolf behind him lashes his back, slicing it wide open. He yells as he falls to his knees, the wolf he swung at hopping over him, locking its whip around his neck and pulling him back. His eyes widen as he drops his sword, reaching at the whip as it starts to choke him. The wolf choking him quickly spins, pulling the whip through his neck as he is decapitated, his head flipping and falling to the grass while his body goes limp, holding in the kneeling position for another second before falling forward.
This dream is a whole new level of absurd...
The wolves look at each other, then walk over to me. One of them drops their whip and walks closer to me, starting to lick my face of the blood. I can't help but giggle a little, scratching it underneath the chin, being careful with my new, claw like nails.
"Thank you." The other walks over and I do the same to it. "You too." Why am I even talking to them..? Whatever, they're cute and I am going to enjoy this dream as long as I can.
I shift the body off of me, rolling it to the side and wiping what blood I can onto the grass. I push myself over to a nearby tree, using it to brace myself as I stand again. The wolves walk over to me, nudging my leg and looking up at me. Is it checking on me?
"I am, fine, thank you." I swallow again, I really want some water now, as I wasn't really feeling thirsty earlier, but now I am. I take a quick look at the bodies, but don't find anything. I don't have any water in my inventory, as that was never something you could collect, it was just something that had to be in the area for you to use in crafting. The only question I have is, why the hell do I feel thirsty in a damn dream, like, could my mind not have just taken a step back and made it less real?
I look over to the carriage, supply boxes scattered about, though they are all undamaged. I push off tree, almost falling over again as I take a few steps to the next closest tree, slamming into it a lot harder than I thought I would. I steady myself, pushing up against the tree. The wolves come back over to me, looking up at me and tilting their heads. Yeah, I am disappointed about my movement too.
I push off the next tree, only getting 2 steps in before falling to my knees. I growl a little, getting surprised by the sound I just made as it didn't really sound human. Forcing that action out of my mind, I crawl over to the boxes, inspecting them to see if any of them could possibly have water. None of them seem to have any damage beyond some splintering on the edges.
Damnit...
I pick up the closest one, taking a close look at all sides of it, finding no damage. I sigh as I drop the box to the grass, starting to tap the top of it, trying to figure out how I am going to open these up. I could grab a knife from my inventory I guess... but I don't want to damage the contents possibly, and I don't think I have something to pry it, thought I guess I could just grab a sturdy enough weapon...
I look back down to the box I am tapping on, a hole chipped out of the wood where my nail was striking. Huh...
I pick back up the box, pressing my nails from one hand into the seam, attempting to pry it open. The second I pull the top breaks off faster than I expected, causing me to fling the lid off behind a tree as the contents spill out, a mix of fresh fruit and bread. One of the wolves dashes after the thrown lid.
This will make it easier...