IV

You raced through the walkways of the city, not having to worry about your hoodie situation any longer. You were now dressed in more appropriate clothing for a mid-day walk in the middle of the city. Your previous clothes were tucked neatly in the crook of your arm. You were stuck holding them until you got a bag, but you didn't want to get a nice, durable one from Miss Blanchard until you could properly afford it.

What you had to do now, was something you didn't realize until the money crisis, you had to get a job. There was no other way to provide for yourself! You couldn't just make time move forward, you couldn't sleep out in the woods (your survival skills were shit), you didn't have a friend you could mooch off, and you didn't have your own portable realm. You'd have to become slightly responsible and rent an apartment.

For now you'd have to settle for an inn. You didn't have anywhere near the amount of money to rent an apartment. You had to sign up for the adventurers guild pronto, it wouldn’t tie you down to Monstadt, no matter how much you loved it here, like other jobs would, and it paid pretty well given the mora you were able to stack up by just doing your daily commissions.

And there you ran into another problem, you didn't know how to fight. Honestly you should've figured life in this world would be harder but you got a little over excited. You truly did want to do that exploring you never got to do in the game, now mostly because it wasn’t boring as hell anymore, you were really here. And you wanted to meet your favorite characters, be involved in the cool story, and possibly fuck someone - you didn’t know where life would take you!

Strolling through the city taking in the sights, you turned to Ariel who was still grumbling about the heat. “Hey Ariel? Do you know how to fight?”

His face was riddled with suspicion as he looked at you. “Yes, I do. Why?”

You set your hands on your hips, puffing out your chest as you proudly proclaimed “I wanna learn how to fight and you’re gonna tea-”

“Absolutely not.”

“Wha-” You sputtered “Ariel come on! You gotta teach me how to fight!”

“No I don’t! If I teach you how to fight you’re going to think yourself as some big shot and go do something stupidly dangerous, like fight a dragon or whatever.”

You put your hand to your chest in mock hurt. “Ariel I would never! How could you think me so reckless? Besides, there are slimes on the road in this game. Hilichurls are everywhere! I need to at least know how to defend myself.”

He grumbled and crossed his arms. “Why can’t you just stay here? This place is nice, it looks calm.” He sighed at the deadpanned stare you gave him. “Okay.”

You smiled, clapping your hands together. You two had made your way over to the fountain near all the small food shops in the center of the city. Different smells wafted through the air making your stomach grumble. You guys walked over to the edge of the fountain, sitting on the stone rail. Ariel’s clothes fluttered around him and he had to gather them to make sure none of them fell into the water.

“So, what can you teach me?”

Ariel sighed again, a resigned yet disbelieving look on his face, as if he was unable to comprehend how life brought him here. You guessed he’s never gotten isekaied into a video game and then had to teach his charge how to fight to defend themselves from monstrous creatures before.

Amatuer.

“I’m skilled with a bow and hand to hand combat. If you’re looking for something else, it’s going to have to be elsewhere.”

You clicked your teeth. “A bow? Man bow users suuuuu-” You trailed off at the scathing glare Ariel was giving you. “Uuuuch delights they are!” You chuckled nervously. “They’re truly so so so great!” You punctuated your last point with a trembling thumbs up.

“Okay, I’m not teaching you.” He made to get up, his draping fabrics falling around him elegantly. You reached out and grabbed his wrist.

“Nononono wait I’m sorry! I’d like to learn how to use a bow!”

Ariel’s eyebrows pinched and his lips pursed. “Fine. Find a bow, and I’ll teach you.”

You blinked. "Like right now?"

Ariel's eyebrow twitched. "Isn't that what you wanted?"

"W-Well," you stuttered. "I thought it would be like a tomorrow thing ya know and we could explore today. I don't even know where to find a bow so yeah…" You trailed off giving Ariel a sheepish smile.

Ariel took a deep breath and for a moment you thought he was irritated but his lips smoothed into a soft smile and he chuckled. "Fine." He relented. "We can go exploring today, but then you're picking up a bow first thing tomorrow, understand?"

You jumped up from your spot and gave him a corny salute. "Yes sir!"

He sighed again but followed as you rushed around the center, checking out the shops you had seen so often in game, yet we're that much nicer in real life, or at least, what felt like real life.

Though you had accepted Ariel’s explanation of death and transportation quite easily, a part of you still felt like this whole thing was a dream. It didn't truly hit you that you were here until you got to the City of Wind.

Everything hit you all at once. The clicks of heels on the stone streets, the shouts of low prices, the crack of metal against metal, and the sway of the dandelions in the sweet breeze brought you down to your new Earth. In the forest you went through the motions, irritated by the sunbeams that peeked through the cover of the trees and the lack of bird song leaving the air stagnant and cold.

But now, surrounded by the life of this world, you felt here, well and truly here.

Checking by the stores, you met the employees and took note of what they were selling for future reference (as you never put too much attention into doing it before). Everyone was friendly, seemingly uncaring of the fact they they had never seen you before, just like Ms. Blanchard, and had greeted you with a smile, waved when you took your leave.

Ariel was by your side the entire time, smiling at your enthusiasm and laughing when you looked at him with the excitement of a golden retriever. You noticed his complaints of the heat died down, despite it being hotter out here than in the forest, and asked him multiple times if he wanted to call it a day and go to the inn. He waved you off every time, saying that it was fine and that you could continue to explore.

When the sky began to darken, the heat of the stone left and in its place was a cool evening. Orange intertwined with pinks and spread across the sky like a painting made to adore the setting sun.

You and Ariel made your way to an inn you had seen during your outting, prepared to flop on your bed in exhaustion. Your limbs felt heavy as you drag across the streets, eventually making it to the well kept inn, a shining sign hanging over the door.

Quickly paying for a room, giving the inn owner a tired but grateful smile, you practically threw yourself onto scratchy sheets, shocking your boots off with your face smashed into a pillow. You heard Ariel laugh behind you and turned over to give him the meanest glare you could muster. You supposed it wasn't enough since all Ariel did was laugh harder.

"You should probably take a shower before you go to bed. You smell like the outside."

"I wonder why. It's not like we trekked through the woods or anything." You muttered, but got up anyway. Picking up the other white button up you had received from Ms. Blanchard, you opened the door to the small, dingy bathroom.

It was fairly clean, but tight, with wooden counters and a dim little light swinging from the ceiling. You turned on the faucet to the bathtub and undressed, stepping into the gathering warm water.

Your bath wasn't that long, doing everything quickly so you could finally pass out. Buttoning up the shirt up to your neck and letting it hang down to your mid thigh you walked out of the bathroom.

You saw Ariel laying peacefully on a cloth loveseat in the corner of the room which was right under the only window. His eyes were shut and breathing even with his hands placed delicately in his lap.

You didn't go over to him, thinking it better to let him slept after the, frankly, tiring day the two of you had, and took the opportunity to look at the room. It wasn't much, simply the loveseat, the twin bed, a dresser pushed to the opposite wall of the bed, a nightstand, a small desk, and a chair for the desk. Unfortunately, the chair was not a swivel.

Throwing your dirty clothes on top of the dresser, you stumbled towards the bed, eyes fluttering shut once your head hit the pillow.