New Life Online: The Red Shadow

A Monstrous Transformation

Alethra sprinted into the forest, the only sounds audible were the sounds of birds chirping, fluttering wings, and the breeze drifting throughout the place. Alethra slowed to a stop, and sat down underneath a large tree to rest. She searched through her list of items, and tapped on the apple. There was a small flash and a dull blue glow as the apple appeared in her hand. Alethra bit into it, juice running down her lip. She wiped it away with her hand, and continued to munch hungrily on the fruit. When she was done, Alethra clicked on the water pouch in her item list, and trickled some into her mouth, thirsty. Then, she checked the time. Her eyes widened as the time was now past twelve. 'Crap! I already missed breakfast and lunch!' She thought. Alethra hurriedly opened up the menu screen, and scrolled down to the logout button. She quickly pressed it, and everything filled up with a sparkly blue. And before she knew it, she was back in the real world.

Even if you eat some food in-game, it doesn't satisfy your hunger outside of the game.

Alethra took off her gear, and quickly rushed downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs stood Alethra's mother. Alethra's family was a small one. It was only made up of three people after her father had died. He had only passed away when Alethra was five. She was fifteen now, and she had gotten pretty used to living with just girls. But even if she was around dresses, makeup, and other girly habits, Alethra was always more of a tomboy. She always wore shorts, and a uniform shirt of some sort whenever she left the house. But even if she was more tomboy-like, she did have her girly side. She never wore too much makeup. She only did the tiniest bit, and like all girls, she could have an attitude at times. The only thing with Alethra, though, was that she mainly tried keeping her attitude and feelings to herself. And only on rare occasions did they come out.

"Goodmorning." Alethra greeted her mother. Alethra hopped off of the stairs, and rushed to pour some cereal for her breakfast.

"Goodmorning. You know, you should probably spend more time outside with other people, Alethra." She responded.

Unlike most players on New Life Online, Alethra was one of the few who played with her real name. For some reason, she refused to play with a different one.

"I know, but you know I'm not social, mom." Alethra complained, pouring milk into her bowl full of cereal.

Her mother raised an eyebrow and laughed. "Well you should probably change that."

Alethra picked up her bowl and placed it onto the table, pulling a seat to it for her to sit on. Alethra glanced at her mother. At the moment, her mom was distantly staring at a picture of Amy-- Alethra's little sister. "She'll come back, mom. I promise you." Alethra told her, putting on a soft smile to reassure her mom. Her mom looked back at Alethra, uncertainly. "I-I know, it's just... I wish she would come home... sooner." She slowly finished.

Alethra looked down at the ground, quietly. She didn't know what to say. She understood her mom completely. She wanted Amy back right away, but Alethra knew that the only way to do that was through New Life Online. Alethra's mom didn't know who took Amy. Nor did she know that those people were threatening Alethra to do things for them in order to get Amy back. But... Alethra couldn't tell her about all of that. If she did, the situation would only become worse. Alethra finished up her breakfast and gave her mom a hug before making her way back up the stairs.

"I'm gonna play some more!" She called out before entering her bedroom.

Alethra's mom distractedly nodded in her direction.
"Dinner is at six."

And with that, Alethra was back in bed, her NLO gear on, the power button blinking.
---
She was back in the forest, and in one second, she was back on her feet, running. She stealthily slunk from shadow to shadow, avoiding any sunlight that shone into the dark forest.

Snap!

Alethra spun around, one sword gripped tightly in each of her hands. She pointed them nervously in the direction that the sound came from, her heart pounding with fear. About three yards away, a small brown bunny hopped out of the bushes. Alethra sighed, and sheathed her swords. She picked up a small rock, and threw it at the bunny to scare it off. It smacked the bunny on the head, and the bunny barely even flinched. It's head turned to look at Alethra, it's nose twitching. It's bright red eyes shone as the bunny began hopping closer to Alethra. Alethra raised an eyebrow in curiosity as the bunny stopped barely three feet away from her.

Bam!

Red sparks flew everywhere as the bunny monstrously transformed into a monster. It grew to be over six feet tall, and any cuteness it had before was completely gone now. It had monstrously huge teeth that stook out of its large mouth, and it's curious red eyes were now large bloodthirsty ones. It's soft brown fur was now as black as the night.

Alethra's eyes widened in fear. She swallowed down the lump that was caught in her throat as she stared at the evil monster. "You have got to be kidding me." She mumbled as she unsheathed her swords once again.

"Arhaaaaaaaaaaaah!" The beast shreaked, sending shivers down Alethra's spine. The inhuman cry sent birds flying away from the forest. The beast jumped at Alethra, saliva dripping from its fangs. Alethra dove out of the way, summersaulting before standing up on her feet. She twirled around to see that the creature was already attacking a second time. It's large fury hand wacked Alethra, sending her sprawling to the ground five yards away. Alethra groaned and quickly stood back up. "Dang it I lost my swords." She hissed angrily. She scanned the area. Laying fifteen feet away were her swords. Not only that, but they were laying right next to the creature as well. Alethra narrowed her eyes, and looked above her for a way out. The closest branch was nearly thirty feet away from the ground. Alethra bit her lip and looked back at the beast. It was hungrily staring at her, shifting it's feet anxiously. Alethra took at deep breath before stretching her arms.

She seriously stared at the beast before flashing a quick smile on her face. "Come at me you ugly furball." She said, her eyes twinkling with courage.

"Arhaaaaaaaaaaaah!" The evil bunny yelled. The comment seemed to work, because the monster was even angrier than before, and it began running straight at Alethra. Alethra smiled even more before running at the beast. It was now four yards away... three yards... two... one! Alethra jumped to her left, kicking a tree trunk to give her a boost. She was falling towards the creature's head now, and before the beast could react, Alethra landed on its head, sending it's face into the dirt. Alethra ran off of the creature, sprinting at full-speed towards her swords.

The furball soon recovered from the attack, and started bounding after Alethra. The ground trembled as the beast's feet pounded on it hard, sending dirt flying into the air. The monster was gaining speed. It was only six feet away, five, four, three... Alethra dove into a summersault before kneeling next to her swords. She quickly grabbed one of her swords, and spun around, bringing the weapon through the evil bunny's heart. The creature exploded into pixels of blue and white. A small notification appeared in front of Alethra, and she distastefully stared at it. It read, 'congrats! You've gained forest bunny fur!' Alethra presses the 'keep' button before collapsing tiredly onto the ground. She layed down on the ground, and stared up at the tall trees that were looming over her. Alethra sighed, and checked her health. 1/4 of her hp was gone from when the insane bunny hit her. She sighed and stretched her hands into the air. "I hate bunnies." She mumbled.