[SP-F5] Feeding the Enemy

[Razmor 0]

Angel wandered through the Wild West themed fifth floor. A small sandstorm was blowing so he made his way to the local tavern in Armadillo. He walked inside, out of the sand and sun, and approached the bar. While he sat down and got a drink, he scanned the building. It had its usual amount of players and NPCs, but one of them stood out. It was an old woman, dressed like a gypsy. She was sipping tea by herself. Angel would have thought nothing more of her, except she had a small quest icon above her head, meaning she could give him a job. He got up from the bar and approached her. As he drew near, she looked up at him. "What do you want?" she asked harshly.

Angel took a seat. "You've got a quest available. I'd like to see it."

She glared at him as she showed him the quest. He looked it over and quickly accepted it. Instantly a new item was added to his inventory. He checked it and found, <> sitting there. It was just a small gray ball of mesh. He put it back into his inventory and set out to get his familiar.

[Razmor 0]

Angel made his way through the sandstorm towards the town's teleporter, wondering what he should choose as his familiar. As he steps onto the teleporter, he see's something through the sand. It was a bright blue flame. He stepped off and started making his way towards the light, curious of caused blue fire. But as he got closer, the light fled and started moving away from him. He ran after it, his curiosity growing. The sand was to thick to see what it was but the fire was as bright as ever.

[Razmor 0]

He kept pushing through the blinding sandstorm, which had picked up a little since he left the tavern. The blue fire beckoned him closer as he continued after it. "What are you?" He thought to himself, so to not get sand in his mouth. He took out his shield and held it up so that he could block the wind and gritty sand. As he followed the light, he didn't realize that he had left the safe zone.

[Razmor 0]

As Angel continued after the strange light, the sandstorm around him started to die down. His vision became clearer and clearer until he saw the source of the blue flame. It was a horse, a <> to be specific. It was a stallion, with charcoal black skin, hellish red eyes that seemed to glow, and blue flames wherever there was supposed to be hair. He turned to face Angel and they locked eyes. For a moment, his flames turned from blue to red, meaning that they had cooled down. Angel became to feel a connection of some kind between himself and the monster. They slowly approached each other, each one not taking to big a step. But then a loud BANG echoed across the open field. The nightmare was starled and so was Angel. After looking around, the Nightmare took off towards a strange rock formation. "No wait, come back!" he shouted after the horse but it was too late. The majestic creature was already blazing down the desert, leaving burnt hoof prints in the sand.

[Razmor 0]

Angel didn't know what had happened but he started to run after the horse. His sprint skill was just good enough that he could keep a steady pace as he pursued his future familiar. He followed the tracks to a strange rock formation that resembled a large, jagged hand. It seemed like a proper place for an evil monster like a Nightmare. He walked through a small hole in the palm and found the herd.

[Razmor 0]

A massive herd of horses were galloping around a large bowl in the land. Angel noticed a path leading out of the bowl and into the open floor. Angel crouched next to the rock formation as he observed the commotion that had called his Nightmare away. In the bowl along with the rest of the horses, was a pack of coyotes. There were around 5 of them but they seemed vicious. Angel drew his sword and shield as he saw the stallion rush at the attackers, flailing his hooves and neighing angrily at them. One of the coyotes lunged at him and was unlucky enough to get hit by one of his massive hooves. The coyote was thrown back a few feet as the rest of the pack moved in. Angel wasn't sure it was wise to get involved with the fight but he kept watch just in case.

[Razmor 0]

As Angel watched the fight, he witness the beautiful animal beat the crap out of the invading monsters. The stallion seemed to really care about his group, just like how Angel would have reacted. If people threaten his friends, he'd do whatever he could to defend them. While watching the Nightmare rear and neigh at his triumph over the threat, he smiled. This was an animal he could be friends with. He planned his way down to the bowl to try and get close to the stallion in an attempt to make a connection with him.

[Razmor 0]

He slid down the side, careful not to make to much noise as to startle the animal. Once he was on the ground, he slowly approached the Nightmare. The massive horse hadn't seemed to notice him so far, which was a small prayer to Angel. If he spooked this thing, he could die. The horse would have to take one step to knock him out. He stopped a few feet from the monster and waited to be noticed.

[Razmor 0]

After a few moments, the Nightmare looked over at him. It was chomping on something and when Angel looked closer, he saw that it was meat. Angel was terrified to realize that it was a piece of coyote. Angel didn't even know that was possible but there it was, chomping on the chunk of meat. Angel was actually a little nervous now. Not only could he die, but he could be eaten as well. But something about the fact made Angel want to befriend it even more. The Nightmare was a beautiful creature, even if people thought it was truly evil. Angel wanted to show people that not all of them were bad. He slowly opened his inventory and took out the <>, placing it on the ground in front of him and taking a step back so that the Nightmare could come to him.

[Razmor 0]

The Nightmare watched him carefully, making sure it wasn't a trick. Then he walked towards the cautious player. Angel stepped back to give the animal space as he sniffed the food, curious to see if he could actually eat it. After sniffing it slightly, he takes a nibble of the food. Instantly, the animal's eyes locked onto Angel and it charged at him. For some reason, he didn't jump out of the way. He stood his ground and waited for the animal to come to him. Right before he crashed into Angel, the horse stopped, kicking up sand and dirt in the process. After the dust cloud disappeared, Angel saw that the Nightmare was standing right in front of him, small flames coming from it's mouth as it breathed.

[Razmor 0]

Angel didn't move. He just waited for the Nightmare to make the first move. He stood in front of him, it's muscles pulsing and it's fire a bright blue. It's crimson eyes were flashing as it glared down at the player. Then Angel made a bold move and touched the horse's nose. Instead of getting roasted alive or trampled, the horse approached him and nuzzled it's nose against his shoulder and Angel knew that he had formed a connection.

[Razmor 0]

As the animal snuggled against his shoulder, Angel realized something strange; he wasn't burning up. The first was hitting him but he didn't feel the heat. It just bounced off of him and flowed in the opposite direction. After realizing this, Angel understood that the horse was now his friend. After the Nightmare stepped away from him and went to finish the <> a window popped into Angel's view. It was asking if he accepted the Nightmare as his familiar. He quickly accepted and another window popped up. It was to name his friend. He thought about it for a moment and then typed in, "Lucifer." After pressing the accept button, a bright red name cursor appeared over the horse saying <>. Angel grinned. It was kind of ironic really. An angel riding a Nightmare named Lucifer, the leader of the rebellion against God, was unheard of and it caused Angel to laugh. "The boys at the guild will flip out when they catch wind of this."

[Razmor 0]

Angel spent a little more time watching Lucifer say his goodbyes to his group. They seemed ok with it and a new stallion even stepped up to take his place. I was surprised how everything was running so smoothly. "I guess the system knows that he's become my familiar and is accepting that." He told himself. After a few more seconds, Lucifer walked over to Angel and stood ready. Angel decided that horses were meant to be ridden and Nightmares were no different. He approached the left side of the horse and jumped up, swinging his right leg over the horses back and he was riding bareback (without a saddle or reins). Lucifer reared, neighing triumphantly and took off down the desert. Angel held on for dear life.

[Razmor 0]

The speed was incredible as Lucifer ripped across the sand dunes, leaving burning hoof prints in his wake. Angel gripped the Nightmare's neck and squeezed his ribs with his knees in a desperate attempt to hang on. Lucifer didn't seem to mind as they sped towards Armadillo. Angel could barely see through all the sand and the wind that was blowing around. The animal he was riding was a beautiful creature and Angel knew he had made the right choice.

[Razmor 0]

When they entered the town, Angel could see and he heard gasps of surprise as they came to a stop. Angel dismounted and looked around for somewhere he could by some tackle. Lucifer followed close behind him, his flames dying down to a small red and orange flame. Angel looked around in hopes of finding something he could use. Then he found a small store. He turned to face the Nightmare. "Stay here and don't move. I'll be back in a moment." The horse bobbed his head as if he was nodding and Angel ducked into the shop.

[Razmor 0]

5 minutes. It only took 5 minutes for there to be a problem.

After Angel purchased the necessary equipment, he heard a loud noise outside and a few shouts, followed by a loud neigh that he recognized all to quickly. He rushed outside and saw that Lucifer was under attack. A few players thought it would be funny to try and ride the monster, but they were horribly wrong as they were burnt from the, now blue, flames and thrown to the ground from attempting to rodeo. Now they had their weapons drawn and were planning to attack Lucifer. Angel reacted quickly and drew his own blade, holding it high and swinging it at the players. "Back off! Back off!" He shouted as he swung at the players, but making sure not to hit them.

[Razmor 0]

The players watched Angel now, careful not to get in the way of Dragon Claw's path. The blade whistled through the air as Angel swung at who ever made a move towards him or Lucifer. Then one player called his bluff and charged Lucifer, hammer held high. Angel spun to react but it was to late. Lucifer reared and kicked him in the chest with two flaming hooves, sending the player flying back and crashing into a few barrels. The other players saw this and began to back off. Angel used this time to his advantage and equipped the tackled and saddle to Lucifer, who took it well and seemed comfortable. Then he jumped on the horse and they rode out of town together.

[Razmor 0]

Angel hung onto the reigns as he and Lucifer went deeper into the desert. The Nightmare didn't seem to get tired as he blazed across the surface of the sand. After a few minutes, Angel pulled on the reigns and Lucifer slowed to a stop. "That was close." Angel said aloud. "You can say that again." A strong, booming voice came out of nowhere and Angel looked around. "Who's there?" He asked, scanning the dunes. "Master, it is I, Lucifer." Angel slowly looked down at the Nightmare and sure enough, the horse was looking right at him. Angel got down from the saddle and looked Lucifer in the eyes. "Are you talking to me?" he asked. "Are you talking to me?" Lucifer said right back, his lips not moving but the words loud and clear. Angel was about to check himself for heat stroke but he understood that this came with being a Beast Tamer. They could communicate with each other and they could understand each other's feelings. Angel smiled and went through his inventory. He found a chunk of <> and waved it in front of Lucifer. "Here ya go." He tossed the horse the chunk of meat who ate it greedily. "Thank you master." He said in between bites. Angel pet his head, waving his hand through the fire that was Lucifer's hair. "No problem." He said quietly while the Nightmare enjoyed his treat.

[Razmor 0]

After some time of waiting out the angry players, it gave Angel and Lucifer time to talk. They told each other about their lives and their families. Lucifer was apparently a stray and took it upon himself to protect that group of horses. In time they had come to accept him and he became their leader. Angel told him about his story in SAO so far. It was a long time before either of them were ready to leave.

[Razmor 0]

As the sun started to dip over the horizon, Angel stood up from the rock he was sitting on. At his rising, Lucifer stood up as well. Angel had taken off the saddle and tackle for comfort as they sat talking. "I think it's ok to head back." He said as he equipped his familiar with the equipment. "Where are we going?" he asked, his booming voice sounding threatening and strong. "We're going home. Don't worry though, there's plenty of room for you where we're going. You'll be able to run around and I'll get you some meat and water. Everything's gonna be ok." He reassured his friend as he climbed onto the saddle and lead them towards Armadillo. "That sounds grand, Angel." He said as he took off running. The wind whipped by Angel's ears and the cold air stung his face. He pulled his coat close to his face as they rode towards the town.

Once they were inside the safe zone, Lucifer stopped running and went to a normal walking pace. Then they stepped on the teleporter and Angel said, "Floor 2. Urbus." Instantly they were whisked away, exploding into thousands of pixels as they traveled to the shop.