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Project: TheirWorld – Chapter 006 - Part 1

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More Home Than Home

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TheirWorld

After a short time, the fog cleared, and the world was no longer black and empty. Guin found herself in a little, one room house. A green-grey screen popped up into her view:

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[Channel] --> [Channel: Tutorial – Public(1-7)] once you enter the main village. Be advised that villagers may react differently to you on different channels. Your home will always be instanced, and the channel will always be changed back to private upon reaching a certain point in the zone.>

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With a casual wave of her hand, she sent the window away. At this point, she really didn’t want to have anything more to do with warnings and notes from the game. Her new environment was much more interesting – especially with how impressive it was. She could have easily forgotten that this was a game.

Looking around the house, she saw that there were two beds, tucked away in a small alcove that was separated from the house with a shabby looking, powder blue sheet. Each bed had a worn, thickly woven blanket over top of it. There was a modest kitchen to her left, herbs hanging upside down from a wooden dowel that ran along the ceiling, and there was a functional stone fireplace that shared a wall with the sleeping alcove. The fire was crackling, filling the house with the smell of burning pine and whatever was cooking in the pot that hung over it. It was rather warm, and looking out the window told her that it was probably summer. In the center of the room there was a small table with two chairs, a clay mug of wild flowers placed upon a small red cloth with two bowls with spoons waiting to be used. Glancing behind her, she saw a set of armor and a weapon on a stand that bore a sigil which Guin recognized that the seal of the imperial army.

The house was simple, clean, and somehow it felt like home – but where was her mother? Would she have one?

Guin went to the front door and pressed on the simple metal latch. The cool breeze that came from opening the door felt nice – the house had been a little too warm with the cook fire going. Exiting the building, another window popped up:

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Guin looked out into the forest that surrounded the little house.

It seemed that she wasn’t just on the outskirts of the town, but in a clearing in the forest. The White Fox Forest? She wondered. It would make sense, given what the Fate had told her. It was a rather large clearing, with a little garden with some cabbage, lettuce, and tomato plants growing healthily on one side of the house, and closer to the edge of the forest were patches of strawberries and wild blackberries. Ducks wandered around in a fenced area that had a small, murky pond, and a solitary cow was watching her from a small barn, chewing sod in an absent minded fashion.

Smells of farm life and mud mingled with the scent of balsam that was being carried in on a gentle breeze. It reminded her of back home on Earth, up in the mountains and deep in the woods. Everything around her was an amazing green color. Emerald grasses faded into deep jade mosses at the edge of the clearing, and ferns and saplings grew in great numbers. The gentle sound of running water echoed through; perhaps a brook or stream that was just out of eyeshot.

She went closer to the edge, looking for the sound’s source, but instead she found herself marveling at the world between the branches. Light streamed down through the leaves and branches of the trees, falling softly on the dried leaves, pine needles, vibrant fauna, and fluffy moss of the forest floor. It was what danced in that light, however, that made her heart rush in excitement.

Edging closer, she could just barely make out bodies and tiny wings flitting from dozens small, colored orbs barely larger than the palm of her hand. Faeries! Her brain exclaimed. She giggled as she watched them dance in the streams of light.

“Guin?” came an unfamiliar voice. Guin threw her attention back in the direction leading out of the clearing. A hard looking woman with short brown hair was walking over to her swiftly with a basket full of onions and potatoes in her arms. She was rather forceful as she asked, “Is something wrong? Did the boys in the village say something to you again?”

“Um-” Guin started, wondering if this woman was supposed to be her mother. “N-No, everything’s fine!” she smiled.

The woman didn’t look like she believed her, but shrugged with a sigh. “Very well, I won’t press – but you better not be lying to me, young lady. Here -” She shoved the basket into Guin’s arms. “Take this in the house for me, and wash them while I tend to the food.”

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When you complete all 22 chores, or wish to drop the quest, speak to your parent for your earned rewards.

This quest is optional. It can be skipped.>

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Stumbling with the weight of the basket a bit, Guin nodded. Sparing one last glance for the place where the faeries were, she followed the woman back into the house. With the woman – who Guin felt was safe enough to call ‘Mother’ – tending to the fire and the pot that was stewing over it, Guin put the basket on the ground near a basin and searched for something to wash the potatoes with. Finding nothing, she thought about what might have been done in a situation like this in this sort of fantasy setting. Short of magic – that she, at least, did not posses and figured her mother didn’t either – Guin settled on grabbing a nearby pail, and wandered outside. She didn’t get yelled at, so Guin felt it was safe to assume it to be the correct choice. Though she didn’t recall seeing a well earlier, she figured there must be one close by. Wandering around to the back of the house, she found what she was looking for. She drew some water, and went back inside to see Mother scowling at her. Guin giggled innocently and set down to the task of potato washing.

As she started scrubbing the dirt and grime off the potatoes, she was shocked to hear a loud “ding!” and with a jump knocked the basket over – and almost knocked the pail over too.

Potatoes and onions went rolling all over the ground, and the floor was partially covered in water.

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Guin stared at the box.