Lila Bloome

Her face turned the slightest shade of red. She huffed back, leaning against the trunk of the tree, facing away from Null. She would never say it out loud, but she was a little hurt. Back home, she was the kid sister. Always too loud, always too much - and deep down she really just wanted to be Null’s friend. He seemed nice enough- even if a bit uptight about plans and taking things slow. She took her dagger out and began carving at the tree. At first, she didn’t make any clear markings or obvious symbols, but she carved out her and her brother’s initials. She smiled at it for a moment, before her anger overcame her again and she quickly scratched it out. There was so much silence all of a sudden, and she despised it. Yet, she didn’t know what to say to him at this point. She hoped that maybe he’d be more apt to team up with her once they pulled out all the Boar Tusks...that is, if she didn’t scare him away in the process.

Lila laughed as Null jumped into the tree beside her. 

Lila: “I gotta be honest champ, that was a weak escape measure, however surprisingly effective.” She lightly nudged his arm, sighing in relief. “So, now that both of our pride’s have been shot to dust and ashes...What do we do now? Just wait it out?” She kicked her feet back and forth in the air, letting the air rush between her legs. “Ya sure you ain’t up to tell your life story? It’ll pass the time considering we gotta wait for our energy to kick back into high gear. Might be worth sharing some quality time with your new partner. I think we’ve worked fairly well together thus far...and it’d be safer for us to team up than to just go our separate ways. Things are only gonna get harder after this- and I may not land every hit- but I sure as heck do a lot more damage than you do champ. Not that that’s a bad thing- I’ve just had a little more practice with my blade. I could be the brawn to your brains- ya know?”

Lila sees the Boar Pup charging at her from the group. She manages to grab her satchel and as she dives to get out of the way, one of the Boar’s tusks scraps into her shoulder. However, this didn’t deter the Boar from it’s charge. With all its momentum still at its peak, it barreled straight into the lake, even more irritated than before. Lila takes the chance to book it out of the clearing. Her satchel clutched to her chest as fatigue started to set in. 

Lila: “Damn...damn…” She looks back and sees Null still in the thick of it. She didn’t think that trying to go back in would do any good but she felt so guilty at the thought of leaving him behind. She looks around and sees an easily climbable tree. “This’ll do for now.” She pulls herself up to sit on one of the branches, holding out for Null.

Lila watches as the second Boar Pup that went to attack Null was pushed away from the group. She took this as the perfect opportunity to make another attack. She ran to slice at the Boar’s back but it barely missed and fully dodged her attack, once again, causing her to slide against the ground. 

Lila” God...Jeez...Alright. I will never fight Boar Pups after this quest. They are so annoying! How are you landing every hit?” She looks around and sees the pebbles by the lake. “Hey, keep their attention on you- okay? I’ll be right back!” Lila wasn’t entirely sure what she was planning, but considering both of them were running out of energy and she wasn’t landing a single attack- it was time to move on to some more creative thinking. She ripped open her satchel and starts throwing rock and pebbles into it as fast she could, looking back to make sure no Pups attempted to jump her.

A large grin forms against her face as she looks towards the Boar Pups approaching. 

Lila: “Absolutely. They’re going down.” She draws her dagger, readying for another combat strike. She looks towards the first Boar Pup off to the right side, and she’s immediately found her target. It readies into a battle stance but she notices that it’s a little higher than the other two and with her stature she might be able to dive underneath. She takes a deep breath and rushes for it. She goes for a diving sweep at it’s underbelly but she manages to not get dagger up high enough to make even a single mark on his fur. She quickly gets up and looks at Null, bewildered. “Uhh....Okay they’re going down-but just...in a better way than what I just did. You didn’t see anything! That didn’t happen!” She brushes her hair out her face and looks around to see if there’s any other way she can attack. 

Lila lightly shrugs, looking out at the lake. 

Lila: “I don’t know. I don’t think it’s worth it to go back. I mean, c’mon, you could become a living God in this reality. Sure, there may be a higher percent chance of death here...but I’d much rather be stuck in this game than go back to a world where you’ll be stuck in a small cubicle filing away papers that no one is going to have the energy to read or care about.” She gets up and goes over the lake’s edge, picking up a small pebble. “Have you ever skipped rocks before? It’s hella fun, and it’ll give us a chance to talk before more Boar Pups spawn in. You can tell me your whole life story since we’ll be partying up.” She smiled and picked up another pebble, holding it out for him. “C’mon, they won’t kill you- Cross my heart.”

She looks towards him and with a smile, she nods firmly. She looks at the bucking Boar Pup and goes in for the finishing blow, she slices at its face and its data is scattered into the air: Finally defeated. Once the data has finally settled, she doesn’t see any tusk left behind and her pride is quickly diminished. 

Lila: “Oh...I guess I lucked out pretty bad, huh?” She looks back at Null with a sad smile. “Ah, well, seems we’ll just have to keep killing them...Maybe I’ll get a tusk on the next one.” She sits on the ground, a little out of breath and tired from the battle. “Sit with me for a sec, I think we’ve earned it, don’t you?” She pulls her hair to the side to give her skin a moment to breathe and cool down. “What do you think Lyle needs with these Boar Tusks anyway?”

Lila just stares, dumbfounded at this poor Boar Pup that was idiotic enough to close it’s eyes while charging. However, she knew an opportunity when she saw one. She gripped her blade and smiled to herself. 

Lila: “You wanna be a pain? I think it’s time you got knocked down a few pegs.” She jumps for the Pup and digs the dagger deeply into it’s back, pulling back as data spews out. “Ha! Take that you good for nothing monster!” She quickly pulls the dagger out and leaps back to prepare for another blow. A feeling of pride rushes through her again, creating more adrenaline. “Now this is what this game is all about. Being in the moment, fighting monsters and becoming the best! Man, soon we’re both gonna be so high leveled- these things won’t be able to land a single blow on us. We’ll take them out in an instant, right Null?”

Lila looks back at Null, wincing as some data spurts from her arm. Those pups had some bite to them, hopefully they don’t actually bite. If this is what their claws could manage, Lila didn’t even wanna know what they’re teeth could do. She didn’t know if she’d have an arm left if these monster’s mouths got too close.  

Lila: “Wow...thank you so much for your incredible timing...Jeez these things are faster than I thought. Well, no matter, we’ll still beat em.” Lila turns to the second Boar Pup, a newfound anger bubbling up in her as she swings for another slice at the Pup’s side. Through her rage and wanting to get revenge for the damage they already inflicted, her vision was blurred and she missed entirely, instead of falling onto the forest floor. She pulls herself back up, panting slightly. “Damn...Null why can’t I hit these things?!”

Null may have been talking about some sort of plan, but he didn’t know Lila yet, and she was never one for plans. Without a moment’s hesitation, Lila drew her dagger and rushed towards the Boar Pups. Her eyes locked on her target. She grips tighter onto the dagger’s hilt as she slashes at the Boar Pup’s side, slicing open it’s skin. She watches as it’s health bar instantly decreases by three. She laughs, almost sinisterly and feels her energy decrease slightly as well. 

Lila: “Ha, you think a little tiredness is gonna make a difference? I’m just getting started. Alright ya nasty bugger. I got a friend who needs some of your tusks, so if you don’t mind being good and going down without much hassle, I’d super appreciate it.” She gets into a battle stance, as the Boar Pup turns to her and begins snarling and growling at her, preparing for its own attack.

Her eyes light up as she watches him take off. 

Lila: “H-Hey no fair!!” She bolts after him, laughing all the while. She soon began to catch up a little bit with him. Soon they made it out to the gates of the city and Null was there waiting for her-since he had beat her there. “I don’t think that was a fair race...You took off before me.” She smiled brightly- clearly joking with him. “But I’d still beat you in a fight.” She pulled her dagger, throwing it up in the air and catching it by the hilt again. “Just you wait- We’ll have to spar to see if we’re gonna be the best party! Can’t have any loose ends!” She sheathes it again and takes a moment to regain her breath. She starts to walk towards the woods again. “C’mon slowpoke, we're going to the lake or what?”

She’s panting a little but her eyes are lit up like a kid’s on Christmas morning. 

Lila: “Oh yea, no problem.” After some short explanation from Null about how to move about the menu and how to accept the party invitation, it seemed they were rearing to go. Well, Lila was anyway. It was impossible not to notice how shaky she had become. Her fingers just itched to pull on her blade and get to fighting. ‘We gotta hurry up if we’re gonna get there before other players start cutting down all our prey, huh? I mean, if there are other players doing this quest they’re gonna clear out all the Boar Pups before we even get a shot at them. Man, I love fighting, this is my first fighting quest and I swear I could take down an entire village I AM SO PUMPED!!” Her overexcitement over the act of fighting was almost humorous.

Lila looks down at Null’s hand with a frown. It’s hard at this point to decipher precisely what she’s about to do to this poor, unsuspecting player. Her eyes are cold and steely as her gaze transfers between his gaze and his outstretched hand. 

Lila: “Hmm. I’ll shake your hand once we’ve done what we’ve gotta get done.” She instead goes for his wrist and starts to drag him to the door. “Thanks, Mr. Blacksmith Boulder Man! We’ll get ya what ya need!” With that, she bounds for the door with Null quickly in tow. ‘Hey, if we’re gonna be teaming up, ya gotta learn to keep up with me slowpoke!” Of course, it was hard enough for Null to keep up when he was essentially being dragged by a girl half the size of himself. Through her giggling, she yelled back,  “My name is Lila, by the way, Null!”

Lila knocks on the Blacksmith’s door, package in hand as a tall man answers the door. 

Lila: “Mr. Tealeaf, delivery from your favorite potion-maker!” She smiles wide as she hands the package off to him. 

Lyle: “Ah, I suppose Zackariah already realized my mistake. Thank you, young lady. Please, come in.” She shuffled in and noticed a tall, lanky guy off in the corner. 

Lila: “Hey...you’re another player aren’t you? What level are you? You down to fight? I bet I could beat you like 10 times over!” She lightly punches his arm, laughing, but there was a clear air that she wasn’t kidding. “Oh, by the way, Mr. Blacksmith Boulder, Zackariah said you needed some help with fighting some things! And you are ever so lucky enough to have been graced with the best fighter this town has ever known. So, I would love to offer my services to help you out.”

Lila grabbed her satchel and carefully stuffed Zackariah’s package into the pouch.

Lila: “Alright, off to the wonderful Blacksmith. Lyle Tealeaf...What kind of a last name is Tealeaf anyway? Like...is that real? Or was the developer just that lazy that couldn’t think of any other name to give his NPCs...Or maybe his parents like...combined their names together in some weird joint way. That was probably an interesting conversation to have with the in-laws.” She laughed to herself as she walked further through town. As she looked around at the other players, she realized how alike everyone was. At least in the metaphorical sense. They were all their own main characters of their own stories- but at the end of the day, they were all just as miniscule as the next. Sure some rose to fame and opportunity, but what was the likelihood of anyone else making it before dying a gruesome death? 

Lila quickly came upon the blacksmith’s shop and gently knocked on the door, in an attempt to take heed of Zackariah’s advice. A tall and robust man opened the door. 

Lila: “Mr. Tealeaf, delivery from your favorite potion-maker!” She smiled, holding the package up to him.

Lila: “Aww, c’mon gramps. I got this under control. I’m gonna be the best warrior this entire world has ever seen! I’ll be the greatest fighter ever!” 

Zackariah: “Do not misunderstand. Having a goal and having a dream are not things to shy away from, but if you aren’t careful there could be those who want to take advantage of your gullible and hyperactive nature. Be wary.”
Lila: “I’ll be fine. Cross my heart. Well- thanks for everything!” Lila started for the door, but Zackariah quickly called her back. 

Zackariah: “You know, with your fiery attitude, it could serve you much better in a more combative setting. I have a friend, Lyle Tealeaf, a Blacksmith not too much farther into town who may be able to give you some chance at the combat and fighting you’re looking for. It’s best to start out slow before jumping in and fighting everyone you meet. And while you’re there, could you drop this off with him?” Zackariah handed her a small wrapped package. 

Lila: “Hey, thanks man! I’ll get that right to him!”

Zachariah: “Well...would you look at that. It’s not the best potion I’ve ever seen, but hey, it’ll do in a bind. You’ve done well.” For the first time since they’re meeting, Zackariah smiled at Lila. A fluttering feeling of pride swelled in her chest. 

Lila: “Thanks! Could’ve done it without ya, Mr. PD.” She laughed. 

Zackariah: “I’m never going to escape the notion of being a Plague Doctor, am I?” He laughed softly and took the bottle from her, fastening the lid on tightly to keep the green liquid from splashing out onto the floor. “I must admit, for a moment I didn’t expect you to get very far in this game- but I imagine that you have some hidden talents tucked away behind all that pride. It would serve you well to be careful of what you do and what you say. You could attract the wrong kind of attention and obtain the wrong kind of reputation, young lady.”

At this point, Lila was purely grateful that she had saved some of her ingredients from before the first attempt so she could try this again. She knew that she would never be a potion maker- but it was really important for her to get this right at least once. It might save her life at some point, and she knew it was worth it to learn. She gathered the ingredients together again and wiped the soot from her eyes. She once again started to add each ingredient one by one, and mixed them together well after each addition. With only the mint leaves left, she clutched her eyes shut and let them drop from her fingers. She was entirely prepared for another combustible product to emerge but she felt nothing, heard nothing. She tentatively opened her eyes to see a beautiful green liquid sloshing around in the bottle. 

Lila: “AHA~! I did it! Zackariah look! It’s...It’s like an actual...potion!!”

Lila, for the first time in her life, decided to use only fractions of the materials she gathered in the inevitable case that she ends up screwing the potion up entirely. She took the bottle that Zackariah had given her and began to add the ingredients one by one, making sure they were all combined together before adding the next one just as the instructions had laid out so perfectly to her. However, as she continued, she noticed that Zackariah was nowhere to be found, which undoubtedly made her a little uneasy in her abilities at successfully creating this potion. 

Lila: “Zachariah..? Hey, bud, uh, just wanna make sure I’m doing this right. Can ya come out so I don’t royally mess this up?” She turned to try and find him, but didn’t realize she had knocked into one of his hanging plants, and thus a thyme leaf fell into her mixture turning the liquid black as a puff of smoke blew into her face. 

Zackariah: “I knew you were beyond hope...but you might as well try again…”

Zackariah: “Now then, this here is where I make my potions, I’ve laid it out so simply that even you should have no trouble making a simple potion. I assume you will need no assistance?”

Lila: “Oh yea, no...Nah, I don't need any...uhm…” The instructions looked to her like some kind of voodoo ritual that she had maybe seen in a horror documentary. “I may- possibly require a slight push in the right direction?”

Zackariah sighs as he had a feeling she would say that.

Zackariah: “Very well then, you have all of the needed materials for the potion already, correct?”

Lila pulls her satchel off to place it on the table. 

Lila: “Yep! Got it all right here!” As she dumps the kelp, feather, berries, mint, and vial onto the workbench. 

Zackariah: “Good. Then all you have to do is mix them all together in some sort of bottle, which I have plenty of, and pray you do not screw this up.” He hands her a bottle and prepares for the worst.

Lila strode back up to the little hut that Zackariah called a workshop and knocked on the rotting wooden door. Zackariah promptly opened the door, but a clear look of surprise swept over his face. 

Zackariah: “Oh...it’s you. I must be frank, I didn’t expect you to knock...at all..”

Lila: “Hey! I’m not that inconsiderate…”

Zackariah: “When you first arrived, you barged into my workshop unannounced and began to scream that I was a Plague Doctor as if you owned the place. So excuse me for having the slightest notion that you were not one for politeness.” An embarrassed blush dusted over Lila’s cheeks. 

Lila: “Ehehe….Right...Sorry about that by the way..But! I did find all the items you needed so we can get started with that potion making lesson...Right?” Zackariah sighed and moved out of the doorway to allow her passage in.
Zackariah: “Yes, yes, come in.”

The sun seemed to be brighter and the heat was getting worse as the minutes went on.
Lila: “Geez...I need to get this last material and get back to Zackariah’s workshop before I melt away here like the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz…” Lila began to pant and sweat beneath the heat- even the birds couldn’t seem to fly in this heat. “I should check my parchment list one more time…” Lila pulled out the piece of paper, and the last unchecked material was a white bird feather. “Huh...seems simple enough.” She looked up at the trees, hoping for some type of bird’s nest, and thankfully, she found a dove’s nest stuffed away in the branches. “Alright little buds, I need just...one feather if you don’t mind…” She gently took one of the doves in her hands and lightly plucked one of its feathers from its torso. “Thank you very much!” And with that, she started back for Zackariah’s workshop.

After placing the vial of tree syrup in her pouch with the berries and the wrapped up kelp, she knelt down by some nearby bushes that seemed to have some strange branches hanging off the sides. She had noticed them from her mother’s garden and they appeared to be one of the simpler items from Zackariah’s list. 

Lila: “Ahh, I love the smell of fresh mint in the morning...Come to Mama.” She quickly slices off the branches and scours the mint leaves off of them. “Man….I miss mint ice cream. That was the bomb in the summer. They don’t have anything close to that in this world...Imma find a way to make mint ice cream around here- and I’ll be a billionaire for it….or whatever the billionaire equivalent is.” She shrugged her shoulders softly and started to head back hoping she’d find her last material somewhere along the way home.

She checked off another material from her parchment list and smiled like a lunatic. 

Lila: “I knew I could do this. See! I am incredible! No one could ever be better at finding potion materials than I, Lila the Greatest Warrior this world has ever seen!” She skipped further ahead to some oozing trees. The syrup that dripped from their trunks was a dark maroon. With a swipe of her finger, she tasted the odd liquid. “Heey, this is kinda good...man...tastes like maple syrup from home…Oh hey! This was on his Zackariah’s list too, right? Aha!” Lila pulled out a vial that Zackariah had thrown at her last minute before she had rushed out the door and scooped some of the delectable syrup into the bottle. She fastened the lid and another wave of confidence overcame her. “This may be….the best day of my life.” She sniffed, shedding a small tear.

Lila, with a newfound confidence, set off even deeper into the woods, finding more bushes and trees along the way. 

Lila: “Man, I sure hope it only gets easier to find these materials from here. I hate these woods.” She began to wack at some of the bushes along her way, hoping that maybe something would come of it. Thankfully, it did! With a slash of her dagger, she noticed some red berries fall to the forest floor. “Heey...I don’t know much about berries and stuff but....he’ll find a use for this at some point I’m sure if it’s not a part of my mission.” She would come to learn that it would be a part of the potion that she was soon to make. Sometimes idiocy and impulsivity can lead you down the right path- though I’m sure we’re all well aware it can only get you so far.