chapter eleven/ shipil
So Far Away
(011)

Our first destination is a city named Kasai. Before we were trapped inside of the game, we could've easily teleported to the city, but now that the first boss resides there, access to the city has become a bit more strict. Everyone that owned a home inside of that city was evacuated. Teleportation to that area has also been cut off. The fastest way to get there is by air train, but even that won't take you all the way there. The last stop is five miles from our destination. The rest of the way, we'll have to walk.

A small hum sounds from the train racing along the tracks. The air is cold and stale in here. Since we left so early, we were able to grab seats on the train before the morning rush started. As the hours passed and the train stopped to pick up more passengers, the inside of the train has become quite packed. Every seat is filled, and all of the poles for people to hold onto while the train moves have been taken. I keep my eyes glued to the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with any of the strangers aboard the train. I'm glad that I chose a seat inbetween the boys, that way I wouldn't have to sit next to a stranger.

Since we got such an early start, and there isn't much to do on our trip, mostly everyone has fallen asleep. Taehyung, who sits to my left, has his mouth wide open as he sleeps on my shoulder. Whenever the train comes to a halt, or makes a sharp turn, I make sure to hold his head in place so he doesn't fall over.

To the right of me is Namjoon. He's one of the only few that are still awake. He's been studying the map that we received to help us on our journey. I'm sure by now he knows it like the back of his own hand. I watch him, his forehead scrunched in careful concentration, his mouth silently forming the words he's reading. The sun behind us shines through the window of the car, reflecting harshly on the tall glass buildings that pass by in a blur. The train rocks slightly back and forth, occasionally causing us to bump into each other. At first, I would try my hardest to hold myself perfectly in my seat so as not to invade Namjoon's space, but he's so focused on the information on the map that I don't think he would even notice if I fell into his lap.

As we get closer to our destination, more and more people leave the train. It's obvious that not many others share our goal, if any at all. I guess most are too afraid to face the video game defenses. I don't blame them. The longer I sit in this swaying train car, the longer I have to dwell on all of the possible outcomes, most of them ending in our failure.

There's only about two more stops until we get off the train. Only a handful of people remain, including us. A girl sitting opposite of me stares holes into my virtual body. I shift uncomfortably under her gaze. I can't help but feel inferior compared to her, especially since she seems to be studying every feature I have. She's tall and slender, her hair falls beautifully in thick, emerald ringlets, her eyes are big, almost like an anime character's eyes, and her skin shimmers like the way the sun shines over a body of water. While she stands out, I certainly don't. She's magnificently beautiful, like the northern lights, or a field of sunflowers. I'm plain, I fade into my surroundings, I'm nothing special. I try to remind myself that it would be impossible for her to look like that in the real world, no one has sparkling skin, or eyes that round, but this is our reality right now, so at the moment, that body is more real than the one sleeping in the real world.

The girl finally stands from her seat, her black leather pants crinkling as she strides towards us. Namjoon finally takes his attention off of his holopad once he notices someone approaching us. He takes in her image, and visibly gulps as his eyes widen. I try my hardest to suppress a frown, but the way he's eyeing her is making me annoyed, like my blood is boiling.

"You're going to Kasai to try and defeat the first boss, aren't you?" She gives a friendly smile, and I can swear that my tongue has actually been tied in a knot. Even the way she speaks is amazing, it's like silk is rolling off of her tongue

"Y-yeah," I stutter, cringing inwardly at my nervousness, "Are you?"

"Of course! Why else would I have stayed on this train for so long?" She laughs and I bet that the sound gave birth to a fairy or something because it was so magical. "My name's Luna-" Great, even her name is better than mine, "What's yours?"

I hesitantly shake the hand that she's extended towards me. "Wren," I mumble, then look to the idiot beside me that's gawking at Luna, "and this is Namjoon." I narrow my eyes at the way he smiles at her, slightly annoyed that he's showing off the dimples I love so much to anyone else.

The intercom turns on, a voice slightly covered over by static announcing that this is the last stop before it goes back in the opposite direction. We're in Kasai.

"Good luck," she chimed, waving us goodbye as she walked through the sliding doors of the train. I thank her, absentmindedly, since I'm trying to wake up all of the sleeping boys next to me so we can get out. They all groan and grumble as I try to shake them awake.

"Come on," I desperately try to get them on their feet, "this is our stop." Namjoon and I manage to get everyone out the door before the train starts moving again. A sleepy Taehyung still leans on me lazily, looking slightly like a zombie as we step out into the open air for the first time in hours. Jungkook rubs his eyes and tries to lean on my other shoulder, only to have Taehyung push him off, then wrapping his arms completely around me. Jungkook sends a glare at Taehyung, but the sleepy boy couldn't possibly be bothered.

Namjoon takes the lead. Since he spent most of the trip studying the map, everyone follows him without any doubts, if anyone knows where to go, it's him.

Eventually, Taehyung wakes up a bit and stops hanging onto me. He skips ahead of me and stops directly behind Jin, placing his hands in front of the boys eyes, to cover them, and then giggles. A warm smile spreads on Jin's face. This must be something Taehyung does often, because Jin laughs out his name, to which Taehyung widely grins in response, showing off his teeth.

Now that I don't have a sleepy koala attached to my side, Namjoon slows down a bit to walk by my side. I pretend not to notice, and slow down even more to walk side by side with Yoongi. I feel slightly guilty when I notice the corners of Namjoon's mouth turn down in a frown. Maybe he noticed that I was purposefully avoiding him because he just continues to walk in the front of the group.

"Are you using me to get back at him for the emerald goddess on the train?" Yoongi questions.

My eyes widen. "N-no, I-"

"That's a shame." He puts an arm around my shoulder and leans in to whisper in my ear, his warm breath causing goosebumps to rise on my skin. "I had a whole plan to get Joon worked up. I didn't like that he was the reason for that hurt look on your face earlier."

My eyes soften. "Was it that obvious?"

"To everyone except for the one person who should've noticed," he chuckles. I lower my head in embarrassment, as I'm sure my face is flushed. I didn't think he was awake to see that. "Laugh like I said something really funny and call me Oppa," he quietly directs me. I do exactly as he says, giggling and cuddling myself closer into his embrace.

Once I see that Namjoon's attention is on us, I go all out. "Oppa," I laugh cutely, "Don't say stuff like that." I try to stay in character, pushing the vomit I feel rising in the back of my throat back down. Not because of Yoongi, it's because of me, this performance is absolutely cringe worthy, but apparently, Namjoon is buying it. I smile triumphantly when I see his jaw clench. Even though this is embarrassing, it puts some ice on the burn I felt earlier when Namjoon was drooling over the girl on the train. I don't know why it bothered me so badly. Since I've met him, I've been the only girl he's paid attention to, but having that attention shifted to someone else, it left a bitter taste in my mouth, one I was eager to spit out. Even as I act on my pettiness and jealousy, I know it's not right. I shouldn't be punishing him for thinking someone else is pretty, he's my friend, and I doubt he even knows why I'm giving him the cold shoulder. I want to walk next to him, I want to have that warm feeling I get when I talk to him, but I can't seem to push away that annoying feeling of jealousy that ravages through my bones.

Yoongi stays linked to my side, his fingers intertwined with my own, but I can't stop myself from wishing it was Namjoon's hand I was holding. As we walk down the deserted streets of Kasai, he continues to whisper random things in my ear, a few comments making me blush a bit. Our hushed tones and soft giggles are abruptly cut off by Namjoon.

"Why don't we take a break?" His voice sounds very strained, and the way his teeth are clenched shows me that he's had enough. Does that mean I'm gonna stop? Probably not.

We sit along a water fountain that no longer operates to eat our lunch. I look at all of the Eleuro coins that people have thrown into the slightly dirty water, the metal now rusted as it sits at the bottom. I take out my lunch and begin to eat, but then an idea sparks through my head. I grab my spoon of rice and feed it to Yoongi.

He grins widely. "Thanks, Jagiya," he mumbles through his mouth full of food.

"Jagiya?" I tilt my head, confused by the unfamiliar term.

"It means darling, or honey," Jin announces, his eyebrows knit together because of me and Yoongi's sudden fondness for each other.

Namjoon abruptly stands to his feet, taking his meal with him as he takes long strides to the nearest building.

"Where are you going?" Taehyung questions, alarmed by him suddenly leaving.

"I'm going to eat somewhere else," he responds in a low voice, "I think I might lose my lunch with those two love birds." He swings open the door to an abandoned convenience store, quickly stepping through the entrance and disappearing from our sight. Yoongi gives me a cocky smirk and gives me a fist bump.

After we've all eaten, we continue our journey. Since we're getting closer and closer to where the first boss should be, Namjoon goes over all of the information we have on it, preparing us for the coming fight. Apparently, the first boss is a large, fire breathing dragon that lives in a tall castle. Because of it's scales, it won't be easy to kill it.

As we walk further into the town, I start to notice signs of destruction, most likely caused by the monster nearby. Scorch marks are shown on the sides of the houses that still stand, the rest being burned down, only charred pieces of the foundation remaining. Trees are knocked down, large limbs are littered everywhere. Random belongings lay abandoned on the ground. I guess since the town has been evacuated, there's no point in cleaning up the damage that's been done here.

I start to wonder how many people were here when the dragon first attacked. Were they able to escape from the heat of it's flames? Did they make it out safely?

Walking through the empty town, we start to see broken signs. They're either all bent, snapped, or burned beyond all recognition. The only one that still remains in a big enough piece for me to read, is one that says to go back. Most of the letters are faded, but it's not hard to piece together what it means. The wreckage surrounding us warns us better than the signs do.

Surrounded by a canopy of trees, stands a tall, grey, brick castle. The rounded edges and windows peek up above the forest. Parts of the roof have been crushed in, like a plane landed directly into the structure.

We all freeze when we hear rustling inside of the trees. Branches snap and leaves crack. We all ready our weapons, waiting for the worst, but once the source of the noise finally runs out of the darkness of the forest, our guard is immediately lowered. It's only two boys and an android. Though I can't read any emotions on the robot, I can see well and clear the expressions the other boys wear on their faces. Fear.

When they catch sight of us, they don't stop, they don't even slow down, they just breathe out a warning.

"Run!"

Hoseok tries to stop the boys to ask them questions, but they aren't stopping for anything or anyone. What happened to them? Were they able to get far?

I'm not able to think about it for very long, because a loud growl shakes the ground under us. I stumble and search for my balance, but once I find it, another loud noise causes the earth to tremble. The noises are regular now, and it doesn't take me long to realize what it is. It's the thump of the creature's footsteps.

With each stomp, the ground rumbles, the trees shake, almost as if they're quaking in fear for what's coming. I see a black, pointy tail just above the tops of the trees, and with every second, it's getting closer to us.

A loud, hair raising shriek sounds through the air as the large beast breaks through the edge of the forest. It's black scales glimmer in the sunlight. It opens it's jaw wide and breathes out flames, the searing heat so strong that I can feel it from where I stand. It's eyes shine a bright yellow, and two intimidating horns grow out of the top of it's head. I try to muster up all of my strength and courage, just so my knees don't buckle from fear. I can't back down, there's too much on the line, and I'm not gonna let this dragon stop me from getting what I want.

"I don't know if you gentlemen pray," I speak over the horrid sounds of our enemy, "but if you do, now would be a good time."

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A/N -

Guys, I'm quaking!!! I know 100 reads isn't a lot, but I'm so hyped. The last time I updated I only had like 90 and now it's up to 120 and I feel like it's growing more now!!!

Idk why but I've been so obsessed with making book covers lately. I've made almost 40 in the past few days someone help.

I hope you've all had a fantastic day. Sorry for the shortish chapter, but I really wanted to have it end here. The next one will probably be longer since they'll be going up against the first boss.

Until next time. Peace out my chicken nuggets ✌🏻