LINKED | Brothers Online Series | BK #1

Chapter 3: Divine Intervention

November 6, 2022 – Town of Beginnings

Alright. Where the hell is that idiot? Where the heck did he run off to? I've been walking for six whole minutes and that fool of a brother still hasn't shown up. Why, when I get my hands on him...

I sighed. This was not getting me anywhere. I kept wandering in what I thought was westward and still have not made any progress. I swear I've passed that fountain like, five times. This was hopeless. Resigning to my inevitable demise, I took a seat on said fountain and looked around. Maybe I'll be able to find a clue to my whereabouts. That beat asking for directions any day.

To my left lay a row of houses with a bunch of NPC shops. To my right, there were a group of players milling about. I didn't know what was in that direction, and I definitely was not getting involved. That left only one more path, straight ahead.

I looked down the road that I'd recently come from and searched it for any notable features. There were a couple of stalls, but that was pretty much it. I'd come from that way and it just lead me back to my original spawn point. Since I didn't want to get more lost, I remained seated and waited for divine intervention.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my right shoulder. Acting on reflex, I grabbed the opposing limb with my left and yanked straight down sending my attacker straight towards my right elbow. Instead of hearing a grunt of pain, I heard a loud chuckle.

I quickly spun around and looked into the green eyes of a foreign stranger. I noticed that his left hand was a bit red and he was shaking it to get rid of the pain.

So that's what happened. He had blocked my return elbow and with a great deal of speed too. Whoever this guy was, he knew how to fight. I shuffled backwards and got into a fighting stance.

"Whoa! Hold up bro! It's me, Karim," said the stranger holding up his hands in defense.

Karim? Seriously? I studied him and saw quite a few changes. First of all, his hair was blonde, a startling golden color. Second of all, he was taller, by at least five inches. Finally, he had such a handsome face that I thought I was looking at a movie star. That was definitely not Karim. He did not look that good. Snarling, I challenged the imposter.

"Prove it."

"What? Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. Prove that you're my brother." I narrowed my eyes and tightened my fists.

"Um. Right. Well let's see." The stranger frowned and looked at his shoes. He then looked up with a mischievous grin. "Oh! I know! Remember that one time back in seventh grade when you tried to ask that one chick out on a dat-"

I launched myself at my brother and clamped both hands on his mouth. "You have the right to remain silent. What you say can and will be used against you."

I'd gotten my proof. It was my brother. Only he would bring that issue up again. Slowly I let go and backed away. I saw tears in his eyes as he burst out laughing.

"It's not funny you know," I groaned, shoving my hands in my pockets and turning away.

"Dude. It's... freaking... hilarious..." he said coughing out words between bouts of laughter.

"No it's not," I responded still facing away from him. I let the kid have his fun for several more seconds before turning around. "You done yet bud?"

"One... one more sec." Karim gulped in large amounts of air and seemed to settle down. Then he looked at me and burst out laughing even louder than before.

"Fine," I grumbled. "Be like that."

"Alright, alright," gasped a voice mixed with mirth. "I'm done. I'm done."