Ramen and Warm Milk - Chapters 1 through 10

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Chapter 12

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I woke up, hand on my face. I was staring at my hand. Why my hand, why not someone else's? Oh well. Anyhow, I was staring at my hand, the little wrinkles which made my life line and such blurred by the sleep in my eyes. Ah, to wake...4

I take it it was a Thursday. I'd loved Thursdays since reading that Douglas Adam's book, and today I felt good, so it must have been. I... really didn't care anyhow, but it seemed like a good guess, as I sat up. Heh, I was still in the same clothes I was wearing yesterday, that leather jacket, those black Dickies, and a black shirt. I'd even somehow managed to still be wearing my socks and steel toed boots... man, what was I thinking last night? Oh well, it didn't matter. It was a new day, right?5

"Stomp," my feet hit the ground. The extra couple of pounds those steel toes added really seemed to change a few things. I rubbed my eyes to wipe away the blur. Ah, what a day, what a day.6

10:00AM. Eh... didn't matter? It appeared it wasn't actually Thursday, or I'd skipped school... So for what point was there to get up? It didn't really matter to me at all, I was just some kid in some world called earth, on at least three dimensions of infinity. What existence was that? I put my thoughts to rest for a minute, my hair scratching at my face. What an elaborate itch, I wondered if everyone who had long, curly hair went through that, as I reached for my glasses. Those seemed to be the only things I took off every night, now. Bleh... life...7

What do you think of me? Am I suicidal? Perhaps emo? It doesn't matter; this is just how I wake every morning. I promised myself long ago I'd never end my own life, it's far too selfish to me, but to each their own, I guess.8

I brushed my hands through my hair and slipped on those spectacles. Everything was much clearer, but there was still some of that blur in my eyes... ah, well. I figured it'd rub itself away as I stood up.9

I threw off my clothes, in some splendid motion, put on a fresh shirt and pants, and booted up my computer. Jeans and a tee, anyone? Blue... and a green shirt with my favorite video game's character on it - Link, if you were wondering... - white socks and some Nike's. Eh, they'd do. Shower? Hell no, it was the weekend and I wanted to get my day started. Started... What do you know... it's Saturday.10

How? Well, apparently my mother knows more about the days of the week than me, and she was wide awake, near-instantly reminding me that all my friends were all worked up - three day weekend or something. My mother was vacuuming in that hallway. Ah, that must have been what woke me.11

"Good Morning, James," she said, continuing her hard work at vacuuming. I doubt she knew it, but I appreciated her and all the work she did, attempting to live with a purpose, being non-existent in comparison to the rest of the universe. "Bout time you woke up!"12

I blinked a couple of times. How late had I been up? One? Two? I didn't remember, but whatever.13

"Sorry, I was catching up on some Zs," I lied. I was sure she knew I'd been up late, but lying was habit by now, it kept her from scolding me as much. She was gullible, but... I guess keeping her from scolding me was my way of being less a burden. Eh.14

"Okay, okay, but you really should go to bed on time," she confirmed my thoughts. Oh well, at least she was laying it down softly and short.15

"'kay, I'll try tonight," I lied. Maybe, wasn't sure yet, I might actually try to sleep well tonight, maybe. "I'm gonna make some chili, k?"16

"Alright, just clean up your mess," she okayed. So I replied "Okay," and went off to make a can of chili, pretty much my breakfast of choice by now. Sometimes I had cereal, or if my mom made something, whatever she made, but today was the generic chili. Ain't I special?17

Opened the can, threw in a bowl, threw bowl in microwave, two minutes, a quick stir, and to the wooden kitchen table. Why bother with anymore details but the basics, hey?18

It was as it normally was, a few small chunks of what might be white meat that I always questioned, but tasted good as a whole none the less. Perhaps it was skin or something, but the rest of the chili just went down in less than five. It was just like any other morning as I went back to my room. I quickly inputted my user name and pass, and was greeted with a black terminal. Ah, the way of Linux. Must people had some sort of graphical login, but I liked it this way. 19

"startx". 20

My GUI, or graphical user interface if you're not in the know, booted up to a blank black screen with a task bar at the bottom, telling me I was on Desktop One, had no windows open, and that it was 10:16. Must have been AM, cause I do Military Time, but whatever. Pidgin loaded itself up, as I had instructed it to. Sorry, Pidgin is my Instant Messenger, handles everything from AIM to Zephyr, whatever Zephyr was.21

I hit the keys "ALT" and "B" simultaneously. I got a pretty background that looked like vector art of a tree on some black platform. The way of random backgrounds, just like I'd configured my *box to do. I was semi-pleased with it, and left it at that, hit "ALT" and "F", also simultaneously, and let Firefox do its thing. Configured hot-keys are great. 22

No new news, no new releases, must be a slow day, but it seems Saturday always is, probably because most people who work take it off. Then I went back to Pidgin. People were on, but I didn't feel like talking to them. Most were guys, and the girls I didn't know to well and didn't feel like talking to them about their little lives at the moment. The way I live...23

I put on some music. Metal? Naw... Prog Metal? Naw... I decided to listen to some Cascada. Don't know what it was, but it always seemed to set me into the mood. I threw on my headphones and listened, browsing some of my favorites, checking my downloads, and stuff...24

I was bored, as always. Wouldn't it be awesome if right now I just got sucked into the screen? Eh. Hey, e-mail! I forgot about that. I hit Gmail.25

Nothing. I looked at the sidebar. Some time ago, I got tired of searching through spam for email from my friends, so I setup some weird thing with Google and e-mail tagging where it would move everything from my contacts outta my inbox... and since then, I just need to look at that.26

"Friends (1)".27

...One new message. Wow, I felt special. Really, this is the first message I've gotten in over a week. I do, in fact... feel special.28

I load messages from my friends29

...30

...31

Ok...32

From... "Zeruda"33

Subject... "Long time no talk."34

Long time no talk? God... it'd probably been about three months... I loaded it up35

....36

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Chapter 238

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So... here is what that e-mail said, in its entirely, unedited, form:40

"Yo homie G, how you been Westside?Hangin' pretty tight I heard dawg. Me, mah white chocolate ass just got dun readin' some hot shiznit on the quantum dynamics of singularities and the probability of a geothermal structural anomaly forming in the realm of space-time if dat no-boundaries principle holds, dig dawg?Black and white holes...fuckin' racist crackas done made my fuckin' homie holes go killin' everythin' and yo cracka holes puttin' shiznit from point A to point B...fuckas...41

Salutations,42

Zeruda"43

I read the message. Yep, typical, sarcastic Zeruda... Girl of a thousand styles, I guess, though a with a few things I'd never heard from her before. "Quantum Dynamics"? "White Holes"? What the heck? I decided I might as well reply, I mean... she did write me, and I'd feel guilty not doing the same.44

"Zeruda... 45

Seriously, what the hell?46

~Moxphar"47

Moxphar was my handle, I guess. I liked the sound of the name and its been the only one to stick thus far, so I stuck with it. I hit submit... loading... loading... submitted.48

For whatever reason or another, I was at the message again. I guess its just a feature of Gmail, though I'd prefer to have gone back to the inbox. Maybe there's some way to change it, but for whatever reason, I didn't care.49

Something was amiss. A new reply, already? I read it...50

"Hey dawg, not cool. I be here, tryin' to explain shits to yo bitch ass, and yo all be up in my 'hizzle like I be jockin'?Not cool, nigga, def' not coo'.51

But look here cracka. I be a forgivin' G, Mox, so I gonna let it pass this time. I ain't gonna do it again tho', so don't be hatin' and take this shizzle serially. With yo' cracka holes, I can be gettin' yo' shit from 1 hizzle to anotha' hizzle, simple as shiz. Yo wanna go or yo wanna go?52

Answer straight up or don't be answerin'.53

Serially,54

Zeruda"55

...God dammit. I decided to reply... again. I didn't like the sound of this, but hey, in this world, what's the worst that could happen? I clicked reply and that little white box popped up, previous message quoted and everything.56

"Sure.57

~Moxphar"58

Submit, and sent. I took a step away from the computer, got a can of Mountain Dew, and sat back down. I checked my instant messenger again, still no one important on, and I guess Zeruda was acting offline or something. I didn't feel like caring. Her respond time had been way too fast to be real and I didn't feel like I'd blacked out, not that I normally black out, so I was frustrated.59

It was kinda a natural thing for me. Anything that didn't sit right with me, or sat too well with me, always made me think. Like gravity, it never made sense to me, but that didn't matter right now.60

How had she replied that fast...?61

"So, you Mox?" a girl's voice said from behind me.62

I turned to it, no one in this house knew that name and I knew no girls on the level of any of them coming to my home, though... now that I think about it, I'm a bit ashamed of that, but that's not important right now, either. Some girl was in my home, and I was turning towards her voice.63

"What? Don't know you're own friends?" thin, geeky glasses wearing girl with long red hair, green eyes, and a thin little face was saying, a few fingers pinching the rims of her slightly-foggy glasses.64

"Not what I'd've thought of you, Mox," she said, glaring with intensity into my blue eyes with a pissy expression on her face as she shrugged. "I'd figured you'd be overweight, though you're still about as pale and pasty as I'd thought you'd be."65

I... guess I was frozen at this point or something. Usually happens when I'm around girls, but I could at least muster one statement - well, inquiry - out.66

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice a bit shaky, I think, but I got it out. I have to wonder what I looked like, at my little computer chair, sitting down in front of my e-mail.67

"Ze-ru-da," she answered, enunciating every syllable as she leaned in, "I gots meself some cracka holes."68

So I guess that was that. I couldn't think of doing anything, so I did nothing except sit there all googly-eyed, looking at this red-head standing there in... Was that chainmail? Yes... she was wearing chainmail over her otherwise generic female clothes... which appeared to be a red Tee and blue bell-bottomed Jeans with a belt... with a denim vest over that outfit, and what appeared to be some sort of sheath on that belt... still rather minimal.69

"So, I take it you're one of those introvertive little pervert nerd anime otaku who sits on the internet all day, looking at pornography and hentai?" she insulted. That... kinda pushed my buttons a bit, I guess.70

"I... I..."71

"Yes...?"72

"I do not sit here all day!"73

"...Well, that's just great, isn't it?" she seemed irritated. "Not all day, right? You get up and go to the bathroom or eat, too, is that it?"74

She then gave out a slight chuckle and fell down onto my bed, sitting there.75

"I'm just screwing with you, Mox," she apologized, I guess. She looked around for a moment. "Dude, it's a mess in here. Typical guy, you are."76

"Eh... whatever. And the name ain't 'Mox', it's James," I told her, though, now that I think about it, I probably should have just let her keep calling me Mox... Aye...77

"Oh, you wanna go all real on me now?" She started, smiling as she said that. "'Kay James, just call me 'Lyn'."78

So I guess that's how this weird chapter in my life started. What the hell is a white hole and why did I have to come to find they existed this way? Oi... Oh well. Just so you know, people on the internet are freakin' weird, so just stay away from them. At least... that's what I should have done a long, long time ago.79

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Chapter 381

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"Lyn..." I whispered to myself. It didn't sit right with me, but right now my mind was crappin' out. Now that I think about it, if I'd have been thinking at about this time, I'd have gone crazy. 83

I mean, seriously, think about it. Some girl randomly appears in my house after e-mailing me nanoseconds after I sent a reply to her, claiming to have used a "Cracka hole". I mean... at this point, I didn't even get the reference, and God knows what I'd've done if she'd said Nigga hole.84

...85

The ways THAT could be interpreted... Oi...86

"So, Lyn, what'cha want?" I decided to state. I don't think I really wanted to know, hand in my face - hey, life line, heh - rubbing my eyes to get the tired outta them. Ten AM. Still too freakin' early. I wanted another can of 'Dew.87

"Eh, just call me Zer, it makes things easier," she begged. No... not begged, what am I thinking? She asked of me. Much better. She asked me to call her Zer, pronouncing it like "Zair", but whatever... man, I'm saying that too much, aren't I? I'll try to chill out on that.88

Back to me, now. She was looking at my clock. She had the damned white and transparent plastic LED clock in her right hand, looking at it like it was some sort of device she'd never seen before. She turned from it, shuffling her hand through other things on my desk. This girl, looking like she was, I dunno, probably sixteen or something, with her chainmail and denim vest... was shuffling her fingers over my little mess of various small dice and figures.89

Maybe I overreacted. Yeah, I rushed at her... and then guess who?90

I was standing there, picking up my little toys and die, with this Lyn girl hovering over me as I picked them up... and my mother walks in. Ehhhh....91

"..." silence except for that vacuum, churning away at the dust in its spot. I felt... kinda... paralyzed, my nose hovering a few inches from Lyn's pelvic area, her arms above me... I wanted to just... fall.92

"Are you two... busy?" My mother, first to react, asked. I'd have to guess Lyn's face was as red as mine felt, cause she seemed less responsive then me until...93

I looked up.94

I don't think I ever took anything I've ever seen on my computer screen seriously. One show I saw had this guy named Keitaro get punched into oblivion every time he accidentally did something perverted around this one chick named "Naru". Well... I think I understand how that feels now, as I watched, sitting there, hopeless, in what was probably the slowest motion I'd ever seen a real thing happen, Lyn's fist come down right into my nose.95

"FUCK!!" I shouted. No... I screamed, kay? I screamed like a bitch. I mean, seriously, I've never realized how much getting hit in the nose hurts, especially when you feel that snap echoing in your skull. I was hoping to God that the pain would just stop, but, alas...96

So I was laying there on the ground, face down, hand in my face again, this time over my nose. I've never had a nose bleed before that point, so... this was hell of weird for me. It was like a runny nose... with acid just drizzling out like a leaky hose. It hurt, though now I know things that hurt a lot more... I think.97

My mother was standing over me now, and I was pretty sure she was shouting at Lyn, for whatever reason she hit me. Suits me fine, really, except, y'know, I'm sitting here, nose broken, repeating "fuck" over and over again, trying to stop the pain.98

I really hate pain, by the way. Seriously.99

I don't remember much of what happened at that point. I think it was about five minutes until I was "sane" again, capable of logic and such. First thing I did? I grabbed my dirty black shirt off of the ground and covered my nose with it. Then I stood up.100

It was at this point, I realized I was being stared at. The first one to decide I might need some assistance?101

"Honey, are you alright?" My mother asked. Well, gee... I dunno. I'm pretty sure my nose is broken, I'm definitely bleeding from my nostrils, and... well, do I look alright?102

"I'm just fine, ma. Just fine."103

I made sure to enunciate on the "Just fine" part.104

This time, she stepped up to the plate, by... stepping closer.105

"Lemme see," she ordered, placing her hands over my own, removing the shirt from my bleeding nostrils, though... it appeared they weren't bleeding anymore, so I guess that means they're just... my nostrils.106

She looked at me for probably about ten seconds, before quickly reaching up and bending my nose back in place. Yeah, remember that snap I was talking about earlier? Now imagine that, but with somebody pinching down on your poor damaged nose.107

"FUCK!!!"108

And... that's about when my mother gave it another twist for good measure. For once, I was not very happy my mother was a nurse, heh. She let go, and the pain slowly went away.109

"So, who's this," She decided at this point to ask. This really wasn't a good start for these two, but at this point, I think my mother was pretty happy to come to the conclusion I wasn't a raging homosexual. Good people, but I wasn't one of them. Kinda proud of that, I guess, but whatever. 110

...111

Whatever. 112

"L..." I started, I think.113

"I'm Zer," Lyn butted in. . . that was her choice, though. "I'm one of Mox's internet friends!"114

Have you ever wanted to bang your head on a wall cause someone said something stupid? Yeah... heh heh...115

"Oh?" My mother began, giving me the most God-awful stare a nineteen year old guy living with his mother would ever want to get, then returned to smiling. "Did he invite you over?"116

...117

I could already tell I wasn't gonna like whatever Lyn was gonna say. Eh-huh eh-huh...118

Not at all, I just back traced his --"119

Yeah, heh, No.120

"Yeah! I did!" I interrupted, putting on the best fake smile I could muster at this point. Crazy stalker much? Yeah... no back tracing whatever it was you back traced. 121

Oh yeah, tech term... should explain. "Back Tracing"... to reverse a trace route to find... I dunno, the source of a message. So, yeah... she used my computer's Internet Protocol address to find me, though... I don't know the plausibility of actually doing that, so there's probably more to it, though... I dunno.122

"Why?" My mother put on her most harshest tone as she glared into me.123

"Heh heh... I... uhh...." ...dammit124

"I've been wanting to move here a long time, and this guy promised to show me around town and help me fit in here," Jesus saves, passes to Lyn... and... TOUCHDOWN.125

My mother smiled, looking at me with calmed eyes.126

"Well, James, how nice of you," My mother pleasantly semi-reminded me of... something I never meant to do. "Now... don't you two do anything stupid, 'kay?"127

She went back to her vacuum, which had run in that same spot for the last ten or so minutes. I dunno, didn't care, time is useless... not really.128

"So, what's her name?" Lyn turned to me, fists on her hips as she stood like some sort of warrior-woman.129

"Tammy," I said simply. And that's pretty much where this story actually starts. God... dammit...130

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Chapter 4132

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Oh, hey... do I really gotta narrate this part, Mox? ... huuu.... fine, fine. Gaaa...134

Hey, guys, I'm Zeruda, or whatever it is he's introed me as. Yeah, I didn't expect this either, but you know what? It's better than listening to that ass bitch. Freakin' monologues... Here goes.135

"Tammy, eh?" I replied, sweeping my hand through the air. "Cute. Real Cute."136

Ugh... I can't believe his MOM thought I'd do anything like THAT with him. I mean, he's not even that cute. Long brown hair, pasty white skin with.. so many red spots everywhere, nothing like my tanned, frail looking frame of beauty. He was a nerd... that had a body that could have been feminine... but without breasts, and with a face that just ruined that idea. Freakin' Cracka-mama. Ehh...137

So, anyhow, unlike our buddy, Mox, at this point I had a goal. My goal? I need to get outta here and get further along before that. So here's what I did, right. I grab lil' Mox-y by the hand and I say to him, "Come on."138

...And he just goggles at me like an idiot.139

"Come on?" he questioned me. Uhhgh. 140

"Like, where?" he asks...141

"To the cracka hole!" I shouted out loud. . . but... the white hole was gone. I mean, look at me for a moment... the thousand mile insta-transporter that I had studied into quantum physics and meta-sciences just to engineer to get to this place and find one of my better online friends, who'd currently appeared to be much more useless than I anticipated... is gone, kay? It's just... not there, gone, poof. Vanished. Do you understand my problem, yet?142

"The... cracka...hole?" he asked me. I mean, seriously, had I or had I not just broken his fu--...... his nose. The Cracka-hole... was gone.143

"My white whole," I started, knees bent, slightly faced forward with my hands out like I was holding a beach ball. I was... yeah, I was freaking out, swinging my arms everywhere, making sure I hadn't missed it or something. Heh, right... I had every right to, though, you hear me. "It's... It's... gone!"144

"It's... gone!"145

I wasn't shouting yet, I'd just risen my voice a 'lil. Just a little.146

And that bumbling idiot had the most horrible look of idiocy on his face. You could tell he had no clue what I was talking about, looking more confused than that one time we... eh heh... that'll be for later, you can trust me on that.147

"Well, can you get another one," he asked. I stop in place. For some reason, this calmed my body down, but my mind was in the frame of kneeing him in the face, then meeting his head with an elbow when it flew up. I kept at ease, though. Zer is a good girl, that way.148

I needed a way out.149

I looked around.150

'Lo and behold, Mox becomes useful. A computer.151

"That logged in?" I remember turning to him and asking. I don't think he could have said no if he wanted, he looked that frightened. What had that mother done to this poor kid, I don't wanna know, but women obviously scarred him shitless. Pffft.152

"Yeah... its on." he told me. He still had my stupid message up and everything, now that I'd looked at it. I remember thinking his voice was a bit more in control this time, though. Computers and guys. Seriously.153

This is where I started becoming interesting to him, I think. I few clicks, a few looks around - hey, Linux - a few website loads, and I already knew where the hell to go to get my White hole setup again.154

...The fact of the matter was... I couldn't do it here. I couldn't do it... well, anywhere near here. Where could I do it? The place I originally found mine, my bedroom. Getting there, my friends, well... that's another story, you see, because right now, I'm in Redding, California. I... live in Ashtabula, Ohio. I'm sure you see my problem. At this point, I'm pretty sure I had maybe twenty dollars on my person and wasn't anticipating that my only method of transportation would just, like... disappear like that.155

My head drooped a bit. Oh, 11:11AM. Time zones and all, it was about One where I lived. I... really am not happy about this fact, but I'll...156

Huh?157

I looked at the screen. I couldn't believe it, my white hole was right there! It was like some sort of God or something loved me. Thank you, dear God!158

...159

hmm?160

...What do you mean "that's the end of this chapter?"161

UGGGHHHH....!!!162

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Chapter 5164

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It's... a little awkward to explain exactly what thoughts were going through my head at this point, but... here I was, standing there, leaning over Lyn as a huge static white-ness engulfed my monitor screen. What God-awful virus had she allowed to infect my beautiful, precious computer, I could only hope was volatile, but I think I was about to just go bat-shit at this point.166

. . .Of course, that'd have been more favorable to me than what actually happened...167

Question: What does going through a cracka hole feel like?168

Answer: It feels like going through a hole that you swear is gonna crack open your skull when you hit that damnation of a rock-bottom. You swear it's going to hurt, you know you're never gonna see your mother again, you think about crying, but don't think your eyes will be able to muster the effort in comparison to watching the on-coming, impending doom that you know is just about to render itself before you.169

By the time I hit the ground, I still had no clue what had happened. Maybe it's because I really didn't fall to the ground, firsthand. Oh, Hi, Lyn.170

You know, fan service usually goes a lot like this. No, really, a lot like this. I land smack-down on top of Lyn, bottom on her stomach, so she's completely breathless, hands on her... well... ...breasts.171

Question: Does God hate me?172

Answer: If he does, he at least has a slightly favorable way to show it. Heh heh... ...ehh hhehheeehhh....173

So, do you know how awkward it is to try to get up off of a girl when she's lied down on her back and your hands are placed firmly on her breasts? Lets just say, your first attempt will involve you pushing down on her... with your hands still well placed on that forbidden spot where they lie.174

To say in the least, being outta breath just kinda stops for whatever female friend you've accidentally fallen onto, though if she's wearing chainmail it feels really strange. 175

"Ehhh ehhh," I recall trying to speak up... as her hands came to find themselves wrapped around my neck, and I found myself becoming the one layed down on my back, and her on my pelvic area, though I'm pretty sure she hadn't realized that yet, or that fist she had risen up over her head... probably would have broken my nose, yet again. The fire in her eyes... I was kinda freaked out about now.176

I miss the times where I could have said, "I've never had a nosebleed in my life". Those were very good days.177

I recall managing to breathe out, "I... did-n't... mean...to". She may or may not have heard me, but Lyn's hand loosened it's grip around my neck. A slightly more favorable situation than dying? Perhaps. I really wish I knew at this point.178

Just a side note; Sane, Single, Attractive: Pick two. Yeah, I know it's a terribly sexist joke, but I'm pretty sure it works both ways.179

Or maybe she didn't hear me. Either way, she was looking around, and I was kinda curious as to why.180

"Where... is this?" she asked, though probably more to herself than to me. I'm not sure to this day, but looking around, I didn't find myself with an answer to the stated question.181

It was, really, not something I would have known. The tendrils of roots and leaves looping around, trees growing, bare wet ground all around, it was really like we'd found ourselves in some freshly dug half-hole, half-forest lush climate place that... I can't really put into better words than that.182

I leaned my head back... hoping to take a second to forget that a hand was wrapped around my neck and a fist primed to strike me... to find myself greeted by some very finely tanned skin... and a steel blade's tip pointed between my eyes. My method of discovery? It kinda... scratched... me, though now there was no hand on my neck. That was a plus, I suppose.183

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Chapter 6185

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I'm pretty sure it only took me a second to realize I was bleeding from my head. It felt probably about what it looked like, vertically down my forehead, missing that small gap between skull and nose, and then into the tip of my nose. Yeah... shame all I felt was the warm blood drizzling down the inclination of my head, into my hair.187

...That tanned skin was nice, though.188

"Hey... I'm bleeding..." I announced to the two around me, feeling some of the blood drizzle into my eyelid. I'm quite surprised Lyn didn't comment on the redundancy of my obvious statement, but... well, I guess she was still kinda my friend, though that relationship seemed to falter easily in real life. Heh. IRL.189

"OHMIGOSH!!", Lyn shouted, putting her hands over her mouth as she reached for that sheath I mentioned earlier. Heh, nice observation I made there.190

I didn't exactly get a good look at what happened, but there was a quick sound of metal clanging together as Lyn ended in a pose with her blade somewhere off to the far left of her head, held firmly in her hand as the figure who'd, quite happily, took a slice into my forehead, quickly found herself unarmed. Oh, hey, yeah, another chick...!! I'm SOOOO enthusiastic, I mean... considering how chicks always seem to screw me. --Errm... not...like...that..!191

But now to the describing, since I seem to be getting a bit better at that. The startled youth -- yes, youth. She looked around... eh... eleven, maybe twelve, kinda toned, though still kinda thin -- had very messy, very vibrant, seemingly flaming red hair, soft eyes, though from this angle, I couldn't get a good look at them, a rather skimpy outfit of what looked to be sewn together skins. It covered pretty much her breast area and her crotch, and from my wonderful view of this situation, was wrapped rather well around that area. 192

Yeah, I got an up-skirt of a kid. Don't I feel... special. She also seemed to have some sort of belt, and holstered in that was a scabbard, probably where her blade, which from the looks of the thing, was about short-sword length. I really didn't get too good of a look at it.193

And... now Lyn was hovering over me, body erect save her knees, which were still on the ground, just under my shoulders, so... to save myself from anything that could or couldn't happen -- who knows anymore -- I decided to close my eyes. Yeah... I don't know what happens here... Lyn?194

...195

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...197

Well, uhh... Hey guys, sup? Why didn't you mention this earlier, Mox?! I mean... why'd you gotta close your eyes?198

...Ehhh.199

So... I had my little dagger pointed at this little girls neck -- she was really pretty, had a great body and a very, very complimenting tan. -And her eyes, they showed so much intent, but... alas, she looked so disappointed, so sorrowful. So surprised! Ooooo~! I got her good!200

Ehem... sorry.201

"Who are you?" I demanded! *I* controlled this situation, and she was to know it. She was to know it, well!202

Until... she started pouting. Little tears started to form in her eyes. She brought both hands to her mouth, elbows faced at the ground and her knees started to bend inwards. I, out of guilt or something, really dunno, lowered my blade... accidentally hitting her top with it, but causing no real damage. I don't think...203

"Are you alright?" I asked her, sounding as comforting as I knew how to be, bending over slightly, putting my armed hand to the ground, as I remembered... him. He didn't seem to be doing anything weird though, so I decided not to bother, though I did take a peak at him, with his eyes jammed shut. Oh... now I remember. Heh....204

But she was silent. Maybe she didn't understand me, or something, but she didn't say a word. She did look a bit better, though.205

And then she tackled me. It was kinda like a dog pile at this point, her hands 'round my neck, me back-down between Mox here... laying there, useless, and her. Needless to say, my lil' blade found it's way to the ground. I think Mox knew what was up, though, cause that fool got up. Yeah, he'd better have gotten up, or there probably would have been hell to pay, later.206

He grabbed her like a paper bag full of potatoes, gettin' her under his arms and prying her off me. For a nerd, the guy was a bit stronger than I thought he'd be -- he could pry little girls off of women. Heh, the puns there.207

They both fell backwards, her still held, very firmly, by Mox, who proved himself either a bit trained by now, or not a pedophile by having his arms completely wrapped around her. Good to know he didn't like feeling up lil' girls. Him holding her there, she made a slight grunting sound - she had a nice soft voice - and made an icky face. It took me about two seconds to notice what was up.208

"...Mox?" I said, very lightly, very monotoned.209

"Yeah - eh - What?" he responded, struggling to hold the poor girl.210

And, with my eyes about as flat-stared as I could get them, I asked, even more monotoned than before, "When did you last shower?"211

Unfortunately, that made his grip weaken, blood "drizzling" down his face, as she elbowed him in the cheek. He was starting to look like he'd lost a pretty bad fight. Needless to say, he let go.212

I, quite obviously, responded with reflex to her escape, grabbed her, spun her around, jumped at both of her hands, and did what seemed to be a smart idea. A... smart... idea...213

"Take off my belt, Mox," I told him. I told him... to loosen... my... belt. And he did.214

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Chapter 7216

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Yeah... Lyn's belt... heh. I don't think I really thought that idea through before I went through with it. So, yeah... I undid her belt, right there while she kept that kid apprehended, though... that girl was still kicking. I leaned over to the right a bit, went around that little girl, got kicked lightly a few times (kids...) and put my fingers to the buckle, pulled the loop, removed the leather belt from it's holstering... thingy, and pulled it through the belt loops in Lyn's pants as it made that little leather-on-cloth sliding noise.218

It slipped out pretty easily, and I'm sure if I had looked up at that point, Lyn would have been very, very red. As a matter of fact, I think I realized this at this point, and - probably thinking of previous events - I kinda... shielded myself, or made some attempt at it.219

"Wh-what are you doing?" Lyn reminded me that I had undid this belt for a reason. Her voice sounded a bit higher, a bit more spaced out. I honestly think, for the first time that I REALLY knew her, she was slightly embarrassed, or at least showing it. But, yeah.220

And I just kinda looked at her, belt in both hands, sorta drooping on both sides, hanging a little bit in the middle. It looked kinda like one of those old rope bridges that you swore would fall down if you were to step on it.221

"I... dunno?" I questioned. The thought really had never occurred to me what she needed the belt for.222

"Well... bound her!" she barked at me. I wonder, if at this 223

point, I should be calling her a bitch... or a very independent, hard-spoken, individual women. Most men these days, seem to think both are the same thing, but whatev- 224

...Oh, yeah, said I wouldn't say that anymore... heh heh...225

So... at this point, I was curious how I should go about this, y'know, with the belt and all. Lyn had the girl by the hands, and the legs were kicking... so I guess I settled with binding her arms together. I sat up a bit, got up on my knees, right up against the little... well... "feisty girl", grabbed her hands from Lyn, twisting them around her back, not really bothering to care much about hurting her as she fell back on me. Lyn kinda grabbed her legs while I looped the belt around her arms, then in between them, then around again, tightened it, looped it through the belt buckle, tightened again, and hooked it. Lyn... might have said a few harsh criticisms while I did this.226

And then I kinda sat back, Lyn still holding the (poor?) girl's legs in place.227

"Hey, Mox," Lyn said to me, no longer struggling much with the girl. I kinda wondered where she planned to go from here, but I was pretty sure she was about to tell me to do something, so I'd have found out.228

"Yeah?" I replied, ready for further instruction, leaning back on my hands... hoping to not have to do too much.229

"Don't..." she started. I think... I knew where she was going, now. "Ever... try to... take off my belt... again."230

I let out a soft chuckle, putting one hand to that gaping cut in my head. It wasn't bleeding quite too bad, actually. It wasn't nearly as bad a cut as I thought, but I thought I should tend it, somewhat.231

"Alright, sounds fair," I agreed, pulling off my shirt and using it to pad the blood off of my forehead and nose. "Just don't ask me to do it again."232

"Eh.." she let out a sigh, "Move back for a sec, kay?"233

I don't think I needed to respond to that, so I moved back without saying much of it. Lyn, I guess, had plans for the extra space, as she let go of that vibrant red haired girl's legs, grabbed her by her shoulder, and in one swift motion, flipped her over and sat on her, placing her right hand firmly on the little girl's head, pushing the right side of the helpless child's face into the ground. The girl... tilted her head towards me and gave me one of the more hateful looks I'd received in a long time.234

"Ouch, Lyn," I criticized, giving the girl a "sorry" look, then looking away, leaning back on the palm of my free hand as I continued padding my wound.235

Lyn just kinda... crossed her legs and glared at my cut, then into my eyes.236

"Yeah, you think I should get up?" she sarcastically suggested.237

"No, not at all!" I exclaimed, waving my bloody-shirt holding hand a little, with a fake lil' smile on my face.238

"Good," Lyn finished the discussion, looking up. I bent down, looking the girl in the face, a curious glance on my face. "Where we at, Mox?"239

"I dunno," I said from where I leaned. The girl was struggling, had a terribly angry face, and was slowly rubbing her face into the moist ground.240

"You alright?" I asked, putting on a more concerned face. She... didn't respond... at all. I was pretty sure at this point that she didn't understand a word of English... as she started to open her mouth...241

And proceeded to scream at me.242

"What the hell are you doing!?" Lyn yelled at me, as I sat up and the girl continued her fit. Her voice, though screechy and high pitched because of her screaming, sounded... soft, sad... though potentially very pleasant.243

"I'm trying to communicate!" I rebutted, a nice, short explanation for my actions.244

"Wait till she calms down," Lyn commanded, looking at me, sourly. She then returned her look to the sky. 245

"This is something my mom used to do with me, when I threw tantrums," she explained. "You just... sit here until the kid is calm, and then you talk, alright?"246

I understood, nodding to myself, then staring at the ground, thinking about it. It sounded pretty reasonable, though not a technique I'd ever use, I didn't think. "I... understand."247

Sometimes, it is best to just agree with a person, even if you have second thoughts. Sure, you could risk your friendship, relationship, family ties and disagree to defend you standpoint, but... sometimes, it's better not to create unneeded conflict.248

"So... you don't know where we are either?" I finally asked, confirming that I, even though I'd already stated so earlier, had no clue where in hell we could be.249

"Not a clue..." She responded, in thought, staring at that blue sky above, us trapped in what appeared to be big pit full of lush forest, and probably surrounded by it, too.250

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Chapter 8252

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We sat there for some time. I don't really remember why, both of us staring up into that endless abyss of a sky. I thought about asking her about her little "cracka-holes", but... something felt wrong about it to me.254

I could hear that little girl trapped under Lyn, kicking and trying to escape. It still kinda bothered me, but something in me had already tried to justify it. I could feel she was calming down, I felt she had started to understand what we were doing.255

"Mox?" Lyn finally broke the silence, lifting her hand from that child's head, only to silence herself again. She... wanted me to respond first, I guess.256

"Yeah?" I asked, looking to her. She was still staring up, still watching. She was... kinda cute, looking up with slightly filtered beam of sunlight gleaming onto her face...257

"I... don't think the white hole is coming back this time," she warned me. I guess... this was starting to become something serious...258

She started to look my way.259

"I'm... sorry," she apologized to me, meeting my eyes, as a look of worry took form on her face.260

"Oh!!" she suddenly exclaimed, putting one hand on the ground as she leaned in towards me. "I'm so sorry!"261

She reached up with her free hand, the one that previously held her dagger, or whatever it was, and touched the cut in my face.262

I jumped back in pain. It really wasn't that bad, per say, but it didn't feel all that great. Lyn leaned over a bit, her feet kinda supporting her, her planted arm taking care of the rest, lifting her butt off the kid. The kid? She ran off. Simple, plain as day. Maybe she'll come back, maybe not.263

"Lemme look at that!" Lyn commanded to me. I really didn't feel up to it, honestly. I thought it was doing much better. I mean, it wasn't oozing blood anymore, and although it was still wet, I'm sure it wouldn't be for long. I arched myself back a bit more.264

"We need to clean it," she explained. Not that I didn't understand that or anything, but... I didn't see how we were gonna do it there.265

"With what?" I decided to question. She backed off, and looked a bit confused.266

"Well, erm..." she started. "Good point..."267

She was silent for a moment, then returned her attention to, well, me.268

"We need to start moving," she told me, standing up. She brushed herself off, and looked around. Needless to say, I stood up as well.269

"That kid's gone," I reminded her, thinking she'd forgotten or something.270

"Yeah, I know," she acknowledged, taking a glance at the ground. "She'll be back, trust me."271

With that, she took a couple steps forward, bent down, and picked up that blade the kid had left a piece of my flesh upon. The blood, by now, had dried a bit, looking like a rust stain on the blade more so than anything else.272

"'Ere," she tossed me the blade. It took one twist in the air, coming at me handle first, and I somehow managed to grab it. A miracle, considering the luck I was having, but... heh.273

Lyn had a rather nice smile on her face, as if she was happy about something. Probably... that I didn't kill myself trying to catch the thing. It was... a rather interesting short-sword, hand guard reminding me something of a coconut shell, perhaps. The blade itself was sharp, though dinged up in places, and had little random patterns in the metal, perhaps from it's smithing process. 274

A couple questions popped into my head about how the little girl had gotten a hold of it, but I really, seriously, wasn't in the mood for thinking about it, because thinking about it would bring me to questions about WHY Lyn had a dagger and some chainmail on, which would make me start questioning her -- ...275

Yeah, I didn't want to think about it. For the time, it felt like a better idea to leave it as some sort of plot hole or something. It was easier that way, I guess.276

Lyn picked up her own blade, analyzed it, then looked at me with a very, very pitiful face.277

"She... she... nicked my blade!!" she cried, holding the thing with two hands close to her chest. 278

"Ugh!!" she exclaimed, then proceeded to place the dagger into its sheath, "Lets get outta here!"279

She started to storm off, rather heavy footed, in some direction. She didn't seem to really care where, I don't think, but... she started walking up the moist incline and I felt it'd be a good idea to follow, blade in hand, facing ground, a few inches from touching it. I liked the idea of having a weapon, though.280

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Chapter 9282

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A weapon. Really, when holding one, you have it for the intention of, y'know, actually using it. Yeah, ri~ght. Like that would ever happen, right? No, when you have a weapon, you have it for the intention of protecting yourself. Quite often, you don't really think of any of the situations where using it would be anything near, y'know, helpful. More of a "bare my teeth" type strategy is usually in order.284

So, we continued up that incline, escaping the little pit we'd found ourselves in, feeling that wound on my head do its thing. Doing it's thing, of course, involved me wiping little drops of drying blood outta my eyes every couple of minutes, a slight irritation and distraction, none the less.285

"She following us?" Lyn inquired. I stopped for a minute. Needless to say, Lyn didn't. I listened, listened for any sounds or oddities within my range of hearing, hearing Lyn's footsteps upon the lush leafy ground, the wind bristling branches together, the sounds of little animals having their grand fun. Again, needless to say, it was intricately irritating, but within that mask of sounds, I heard footsteps cease their fiddling upon the ground, come to a stop. Heh, I guess Lyn was right about something.286

"Yeah, definitely," I replied, starting up my footsteps again. It was a bit odd, in fact, that upon restarting my stepping, my ears locked upon the other steps that followed suit, their little rustling inspiring my hearing to continue it's prod over her movements, perhaps a habit retained from my various play throughs of horror games, or something. God only knows, right?287

Lyn was silent, of course. I don't know what she'd been thinking, but her personality had changed from a, well... charismatic, sarcastic, cocky young woman, to a more withdrawn, introvertive teenage girl, perhaps more like the nerd she'd always portrayed herself as in our internet relationship. Truthfully, I liked her more this way, but I had to worry what caused this change in her, what it'd mean for me.288

"Lyn?"289

"Yeah?"290

"Ya alright?"291

She stopped in place, and I sorta... did the same, blade pointing itself off into the distance, as if to point off the path we were currently taking, trying to change us off this path of desolation. 292

"I'm fine!" she lashed out, her voice full of fire or something, full of some sort of anger, disbelief. Honestly, I seriously doubt she was okay. Honestly, I'm pretty sure she wasn't.293

Of course, I'm a guy, so I just pretended every thing was fine and dandy, like nothing ever really is. We started walking off, again, and time passed so slowly like it always does when things are awkward. I don't think I'd thought about it at the time, but that little girl who'd been trailing us, I'd forgotten about already.294

Bad idea, right? Terrible... idea...295

Of course, I'd have never thought about that at the time. It, of course, sat well with me that there was something in my head I'd already forgotten, cause, y'know, short term memory is one of those bitches you just get used to. You just expect it to let you down, always.296

And we continued on, hoping to not run into anymore trouble; a pretty petty goal, but pretty decent one, too, if that's what would have happened.297

Needless to say, I happened to be the one to fall into a pitfall. No, seriously, some idiot covered up some hole in the ground with a bit of tarp, dirt, and leaves... AND I FELL INTO IT!! I really must be looking pretty fucked up right now... but oh well, right...? Right?298

...I'm gonna die, aren't I?299

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Chapter 10301

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Pitfalls... little holes in the ground for the purpose of trapping someone within the ground, I'd define. So, yeah, I fell into one setup by some idiot or something, my fingertips searching for something to stick to as I fell to those ten feet below, landing on my ass. I think those fingers found something, but it was definitely not sticky. I could kinda tell from the raw feeling that arched it's pain through my nervous system, telling my brain that, "Ouch, I'm hurting!". Raw fingertips and a banged up ass... The connotations... as I found my blade make a "Shlink" sound as it stabbed into the ground a bit to my right. Heh... heh...303

If there's a plot to this story, or even a moral, I'd really like to know it about now, by the by. Wouldn't you? More on that... later.304

I recall hearing Lyn scuttling above me, a soft ruffling, echoing sound that somehow pierced through the priority of my aching ass and burning fingers, somehow.305

"Y'alright, Mox?!" she called down into the hole I found myself in. I slowly glared up, watching each root, stone, or other little thing poking itself outta the ground wall surrounding me, till my eyes found Lyn's silhouette looking down on me.306

"Ow..." I mumbled to myself before shouting up at her, "I'll be fine, but my back-side's a bit banged up. Could ya get me outta here?"307

"I'll-..." she started, and this is about where I started panicking, as I watched her fling her hands through the air once, twice, and then start closing in on me. She... Fell... In...308

I guess since that time I fell out of the cracka-hole, and onto her – such an awkward situation that had been... - I'd been asking for her to fall on me, or maybe not. I made some attempt to catch her, but a man may only do so much with those few moments between two surfaces, especially if he's just and RPG fan boy with not a bit of meat on his bones more-so than required to walk around enough to get to the microwave and warm up some chili at random times in the day, mostly during the Mornin'. Yeah, me.309

So, as she landed on my lap, I became a breathless fool, staring up into that abyss of a sky I could barely see through that opening in our pitfall. Our... Pitfall...310

Or, more exactly, the pitfall of that little lady with flaring red hair and a thin little toned body, who's silhouette I caught a glance of, staring down at us. That little lady who'd pushed Lyn into the hole, onto me.311

So I blew chunks all over Lyn, who'd landed onto me, facing me in some sort of reverse cowgirl position, now with what was previously the contents of my stomach, being blown onto her front side. I felt... pretty broken right about now.312

Whimpering. I heard whimpering, sad little sounds coming from that girl on my lap with partially digested food and stomach acid all over her chainmail, dripping down her breasts and over her stomach, onto both our pelvic areas and parts of the ground.313

...Personally, I was glad that neither of our weapons had killed us on the way down, but... I guess though I wasn't crying, yet, her emotions were a bit more uncontrolled than mine. Perhaps it was because she was a girl? Or maybe at this point, some thoughts I were unaware of were coursing their way through her mind, thoughts that hadn't hit me yet, hopelessness about the current situation that I couldn't bother with at the moment. It hit me that perhaps... she knew something I didn't.314

Somewhere between the recent storm of coughs that had engulfed me and the nasty taste in my mouth, I found the time to ask a small question to Lyn.315

"Are you," a cough, and then, "Alright?" I managed to get out. 316

She looked at me with eyes full of anguish, I'd say, eyes with a temperamental sensuality about them, wet and red with those salt-water tears and a look on her face that screamed to be helped, as she, still covered with that disgusting barf whose taste still lingered in my mouth, wrapped her arms around my upper body, grabbing under my arms as her hands found their way around me, and leaned in on me, placing her head over my shoulders as I just kinda... sat there in some sort of disbelief.317

Right now, for the sake of understanding how I was feeling about this time, I should probably state that not only am I a virgin, but my only ‘girlfriend' I ever had, dumped me because our relationship wasn't going anywhere, most because of me. I guess I'm kinda cold-hearted or something, but... at about this time, I could not remember ever being held in such a way by a woman. 318

Somehow, I found the courage to wrap my arms around her, as well. Perhaps I knew it'd at least be a better attempt at making her feel better than just sitting there as she held me. 319

"We... need to get outta this hole," she whispered to me, her voice shaky, but at the same time, full of a strength I could not say if she'd had a moment ago, so I could not say if I'd helped her recover or not, but at the very least, I now knew she was motivated to continue with... whatever "adventure" we've found ourselves in. Whatever, right?320

"How?" I managed to ask, despite parts of me telling me it was a terrible idea to do so. Well, she shoved me off of her, rather rude-like, and stood up, turning to stare up at the girl who was still staring down at us.321

"Hey, little bitch," Lyn yelled up at that irritating kid, "You'll pay for this, y'know that, right?"322

I noticed it now, the dirt that had caught Lyn's back and hair as she'd fallen earlier. It must had scraped her back up a good deal, though... whether or not that was the reason she'd shed a few tears before me, I was unsure, but it made a great deal more sense to me, at least, though... the fact that I hadn't shed one yet was a bit unlike me, in that regard. I'd, at the very least, broken her fall.323

Lyn turned slightly to look down on me, saying, "Mox, I need your shoulders."324

Well, that was great, wasn't it? She wanted to use me as a stepping stool to get up those couple of feet she couldn't reach. None-the-less, I saw where she was coming from, what she was thinking, etc, etc. I needed to... get on my feet. I brought my legs in, I put my arms behind me, and used them to push myself up a bit and –325

"eh-huh..." I gasped. I felt a piercing pain in my abdominal area, I felt like a knife had found it's way under my skin, and was stabbing into my innards, as I fell back a bit, fondling my stomach with my arms. Oww....326

"...Y'alright, Mox?" Lyn asked, a slight look of worry perhaps passing her eyes as I looked up to respond. If she'd decided to hide it, she'd done a fairly good job, except that I'd already seen it, a serious look on her face there now, stating she just wanted to get outta this god-damned hole.327

"Eh-heh..." I coughed, "I'll... be alright, I think."328

I tried, again, to get onto my feet, but again the same pain struck me, and I fell back a bit, this time my head found its way to the ground-wall behind me, though only softly touching it.329

"Hand," Lyn said, reaching her hand out to me. I reached up to meet it and she grabbed me by the wrist and, with the twist of her body, she shifted her weight to lift me, myself helping where possible by using my legs, of course. The pain came over me again, but... this time I was all the way up, and had no plans of going back down.330

I then heard the sound of, well... rock hitting hard dirt, which was kinda exactly what it was. That little brat, red haired girl was throwing stones at us now. That... little bitch of a kid, I swear it!331

"Mox, I hate to ask this of you, but you think you could squat down so I can get up and teach that fucker a lesson?" 332

"Yeah," I said. I wasn't sure, exactly, but at this point... I was pretty pissed, and I think it'd take a bit more than a bit of pain to stop me from allowing a bit of... well, pain to get that brat. So I squatted down, Lyn climbed onto my shoulders, and I rose up – oww.... – to get Lyn outta that hole.