Survival

Acquaintances pt. 2

It was night was approaching quickly but thankfully the group had made camp near the same river, the space being a little smaller than the place Emilio and Quinn camped at but it was just big enough for everyone. As Emilio threw in the last few pieces of wood for the night, Atticus served dinner. It was cooked fish with edible mushrooms and some berry sauce on the side for a bit of dessert. "Man, Atticus, you really know how to cook." Atticus blushed, happy at the compliment that Quinn gave him. "Thank you Quinn. Does everyone else like their food?" As if on cue, everyone said 'yes!' in unison. As Quinn had spent the rest of the day with the new group, she noticed that Atticus was a very shy and reserved person who blushed very easily. He looked pretty frail compared to everyone else, but his cooking skills and intellect made up for the lack of strength. 

Riley was a bit bossy but that's what made her great. She feels strongly about the decisions she makes that, from what I've seen so far, are correct most of the time. She's seem to take a bit of a liking to Emilio... [An hour earlier] "Quinn... Emilio is actually, really attractive, don't you think?" I look over at Emilio and see him carrying some stuff for Atticus, his biceps flexing ever so slightly. "Yeah, he is pretty attractive, I never noticed.." Riley gives me an exasperated stare. "What? If you haven't noticed, I've been too busy trying to be alive." Riley gave a little, 'oh, right?' before going back to looking at Emilio.  

Liam and Kou. A very dynamic and adorable duo. They care for each other like siblings and never go more than a few yards away from each other. Liam would practice boxing with Kou and Kou practiced his Kendo with Liam. They got tons of bruises after that which made Riley mad, for good reason too. We need everyone in top notch shape so that we all have a chance of surviving. They are both very cute and fierce kids.

Emilio. Well, Emilio was just being Emilio. Helping out, being generous, going out with Atticus to eat some extra berries they would find along the way. He came back with purple lips due to the berry juice that stained his mouth, he looked like a little kid. 

Back to the present time, everyone finished eating and huddled up close to the fire getting ready to sleep. Riley passed out, drool already dripping from her mouth...gross. Atticus sleeping soundly. Liam and Kou resting beside each other. The only two who were awake was Quinn and Emilio. A few minutes after the rest had gone to sleep, Quinn saw Emilio climb up a near tree. 'Hm. Wonder what he's doing.' Deciding to try and ignore it, she laid her head on top of Emilio's cape. He's made it a habit of giving it to her so she could sleep more comfortably. Quinn was drifting away to sleep but she felt a slight nudge on her shoulder. It was Emilio.

"Hey... What's wrong?" Quinn said, struggling to stay awake. "I wanna show you something. Don't worry, it's worth loosing sleep for." Emilio helped her get up and climb the tree that she saw him go to before. They were more than halfway on the tree and Quinn was getting tired but Emilio was forcing her to climb with him. At least he gave Quinn helpful little lifts up onto some of the branches. 

"We're finally to the top. Here, this branch has the perfect spot." He was right. The view she saw from up on the tall tree was incredible. There seemed to be thousands and thousands of stars in the sky, all with their own beautiful glow. "Beautiful right? I could stay up here forever. Next time we could see the sunset." Quinn smiled at him. "Yeah, that would be really nice Emilio." We spent a few more minutes in comfortable silence, sitting next to each other on the wide branch, admiring the celestial beauties. Quinn broke the silence with something she remembered. "Hey Emilio, before you said  that you were gonna explain some features about the game right?"

His eyes brightened, "Oh, yes, you're right! Ok, so basically, if you tap on that little bag I told you about, it'll show you what you have on at this very moment, it might be empty for you since you left everything in the camp." Quinn looked at her inventory section and in one of the small boxes, there was a picture of a small knife. "Oh wait! I'm actually carrying a knife on me, from the ones we made remember? Can never be too careful." Emilio looked impressed and gave a smile of approval towards Quinn. "Good job Quinn, you're very prepared. Next, you can go to the menu and press the stats button. There you can see your weaknesses and strengths. A lot of random things can help boost those stats which makes it easier for us to get stronger. For example, when we made the stone weapons, our attack stat raised up by a few points. Remember when I showed you some basic defense moves? That should've helped boost up your defense (obviously)."

"This system will help us a lot in the longshot when we fight the Forest Master. We should start doing more exercise to improve our stamina and overall strength, we'll definitely need it." After Emilio finished explaining the stats system, Quinn notice a number flashing at the top left of her screen. "Emilio, what's this? On the top left of my screen I see some numbers. Did the guide tell you anything about this?" He looks to where the numbers were blinking. "Oh! Right, the most important thing in this game is the game currency which we gain by surviving each phase of a specific biome. Currently, me and you have 10,500 points. Depending on your strategy in which you pass each phase, you will be rewarded a certain amount of points. The lowest amount of credits you can get is 1,000. It can be used for shops to buy armor and weapons, food and water, basic necessities, ect. Though in the preview of the game it showed the shops scattered around the map but, I haven't even caught a single glimpse of them since entering." 

Quinn looked confused. "How do you get 1,000?" Emilio answered shortly after. "Well, if you barely manage to survive once the phase is over. In all honesty, we're in a pretty good position compared to others in the game, and it's all thanks to your smart and quick thinking. Those survival videos you'd watch really paid off yesterday. I'm glad you're my partner Quinn." He gave Quinn a pat on the back to show his gratitude. His clear blue eyes shimmering in the light of the night sky. 

"Well, I think it's about time to finally get some rest Quinn. We're gonna have a long day ahead of us. Here, I'll help you get back down."

They both descended safely from the tree and walked to their sleeping spots. Quinn and Emilio laid facing each other. They exchanged quick goodnight's before drifting off to sleep, using Riley's snoring as background noise.

Tomorrow was gonna be a difficult day for everyone.

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OMG WHATTTT??? Lucius finally updated??? Why yes, yes I did. It's been a while since I updated because of two reasons. I didn't know how to go about this chapter after Quinn meeting the new characters and two, I procrastinated. In all honesty, I might make a few more chapters and then procrastinate again.  If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to dm me!