Mamoritai 4 - A Llorumi story

9. The Forest of Discontent

Notes: School started again today, so if I have some inconsistency in my uploading, I apologize! I'm also going to warn you guys already, that after this book, I'll probably go on a break for a while, because I have these huge student exams coming up in September!

Words: 1621

We continued our journey deeper. "So tell us about the Keytana, Okino. You said it's in a maze?" Nya asked. "Hai, guarded by a fearsome beast. A dragon!" Okino said, dramatically. "We've faced plenty of dragons before." Lloyd answered. We have? "Not like this one. They say its teeth can rend any armor, its breath can melt steel, and its scales are impervious to even the sharpest of blades!" Okino explained. Ookay, that does not sound like a picnic to be honest. We continued venturing onwards. Suddenly, Nya screamed behind us! "Nya!" Jay said as he ran to Nya, who was getting eaten by the ground?? It was like she was in quicksand, but it had teeth?! "Get me out of here!" Nya yelled as Cole and Jay tried to pull her out, unsuccessfully. "Fucking hell!" Nya said as she respawned and checked her lives. 3/4. "What the heck is that!" I yelled out as I stared at the quicksand monster. "Swamp-teeth." Okino answered. "SWAMP-TEETH?!" Nya yelled out. Okay this forest is on steroids. "Even the ground cannot be trusted." Okino said. "Well yeah, not apparently!" Jay freaked. "I'll say one thing. Milton Dyer has a twisted imagination!" Nya said. "Fucked up is more like it." Kai filled in.

We had walked for at least two hours by now. I couldn't be sure though, cause you can't see the sun in here. Oh and also, we're in a video game. "No I'm telling you, he's totally fruity in some way!" I whined to Lloyd for the fifth time. "Really? Dareth? Are you sure he just doesn't have a big ego?" He asked. "No, I kinda see it too." Cole said. "See, Lloyd?" I said confidently. Suddenly Okino stopped before Lloyd could answer me. "What is it Okino?" Lloyd asked instead. We were standing in front of some vines. "Those vines, I think they are Strangles Vines." Okino said. "I do not like the sound of that!" Kai said. "Strangler vines? Great." Lloyd said, with such apathy. He is so done. "Lloyd, you should check it out." Cole said. Lloyd glanced at him with a "seriously" look. "It's your turn!" Cole whined. Lloyd rolled his eyes and took out his sword. He swiped one of the vines. Nothing happened. Lloyd turned around to face us. "Guys, they're just normal vin-" He was about to say, before something attacked him! Vines don't do that, right! Even if they're made by a crazy game developer!? We turned to look and Lloyd was attacked by a... rat-person?! What the fuck is going on! Lloyd kicked the rat thing off of him and it flew against a rock. It quickly jumped up and started to scratch itself. We all glanced at each other and nodded.

I took out my Kunai knives and we started to approach the thing slowly. Then, a small bomb exploded behind us! It made me fall down on the ground. I quickly tried to get up, but one of the things jumped on top of me. I quickly stabbed it on its side. I rolled around, so that I could now see it. I stabbed it again on its chest and kicked it off of me. I jumped up and looked around. The rat things gathered and ran away, screaming. "What the hell were those things?" I asked. "I have no-" Kai was about to answer me. "Lloyd!" Nya interrupted. We turned around and saw that Nya had tied one up. Then I turned over to look at Lloyd, who was standing up. "Are you okay?" I asked as I and Nya helped him up. "I'm fine." He scoffed. Lloyd was angry, you could sense it. "Who are you?" Lloyd asked the rat, with an intense tone. The rest of us gathered behind Lloyd. The rat laughed. "I am of the Brotherhood of Rats! And I am sworn to silence! Do your worst, you'll get nothing out of me, nothing!" The rat spoke. "So you're working for Unagami?" Lloyd asked. "You're trying to trick me into giving away that Unagami ordered us to ambush you! Well it won't work!" The rat answered. "Yeah he's not the brightest, is he?" Cole whispered to me. I chuckled. "Clearly not..." I answered. "So Unagami's cheating? To make sure we don't win the game." Jay said. "Oh, that makes me so angry!" Nya said, clenching her fists. "Uuh, game?" Okino said.

Ooohh, shit. "Yeah, Prime Empire." Cole shrugged. "Cole, he's an NPC and he's a part of the game!" I quickly whispered to Cole. "Uhhh, never mind." Cole quickly said. "What game?" Okino asked, with more worry in his voice. We all glanced around at each other. Are we really about to ruin this guys' life? "Okino, I know it's hard to believe, but this world, the forest, the traps, all of it, it's... it's just... It's only a game, Okino." Lloyd explained as he walked over to Okino. "It's not real. We're all stuck inside a game and Unagami is the guy calling the shots. He's the one who made this whole place." Lloyd continued. Suddenly Okino started laughing. "A game! You are testing Okino! You think I'm so easily fooled." Okino laughed. "No, Okino, we're telling the truth." Kai said. "He's not programmed to understand that kind of stuff, Kai. He's part of the game." Jay explained. Okino continued laughing. "So what do we do?" Nya asked. "This doesn't change anything. We already knew Unagami was trying to stop us. Now we know he's playing dirty. Let's keep moving!" Lloyd ordered. "Oh no! No, no, no, no! I got an itch! You gotta help! You gotta do something! You gotta, you gotta scratch it!" The rat started suddenly yelling. "Give me one reason I should?" Lloyd said. "Okay, okay! I can help! I know a glitch!" He blurted out.

"A what?" Nya asked. "A glitch! A glitch in the game! A shortcut, oh, jeez it itches, to get past the forest! Oh come on, you gotta help! You gotta cut me down!" The rat continued yelling and squirming around. "Huh, what do you think?" Cole asked Lloyd. "Well, he could be telling the truth. Game's do have glitches." Lloyd wondered out loud. "Yeah, like 'fist to face'! Remember that game? Where you can step right through the wall." Jay explained. "If he's telling the truth, this could save us a lot of time." Kai said. "What means this word 'Glitch'?" Okino asked. "Um, it's hard to explain..." Jay said. "If we let you down, you have to promise to lead us to the glitch." Lloyd said. "Ooh, yes! Yes, I promise! Just get me down!" The rat squirmed. Lloyd glanced at us. "Come on, let me down, let me down!" The rat begged. Lloyd took out his sword and cut the rat loose. It started to scratch itself vigorously. "Now, show us the glitch." Lloyd said sternly. It was close to... his bedroom voice... We followed the rat from a distance. "Come on, this way! Hurry!" It suddenly yelled. "You sure this is a good idea, Lloyd?" I asked Lloyd. "What do we have to lose?" Lloyd asked. "You want a list?" I asked him. "There, see it!" The rat pointed to a glitching rock. "Now, jump in, like this!" The rat said as it jumped in. Okino gasped. "What devilry?" He asked. "It's okay Okino. You don't have to follow us. This is the glitch. We can survive alone from here." Lloyd reassured him. Then we all ran in as a line. It was very bright after the dim forest, so it took a minute for my eyes to get used to it. The space was very white and it seemed to continue endlessly. Suddenly, Red Visors! "Look out!" I yelled out, as I put my hood on and took out my knives. "It's a trap!" Lloyd yelled. There were at least 20 Red Visors! They had surrounded us from all directions. They started shooting at us. I tried my best to dodge their lasers, shooting some back at them. "You lousy rat!" Cole yelled. I guess he took off... Fucking hell we should have known!

I turned my head to see where the rat jumped, but then... I got shot. Everything went dark and it was like I was falling through a dark pipe. Then, I was back. "Fuck!" I yelled out loud. 3/4 lives... I tried my best to dodge everything. "Lloyd! There are too many!" I yelled. We really need help. Then, I got hit again. REALLY! I fell through the dark pipe again and respawned. Ugh, 2/4 lives... As I opened my eyes, something whooshed right before me. What the-? Okino?! Okino was kicking the Red Visors! "Okino!" Nya yelled out in relief. "Go! I will hold them off!" He said. "After the rat!" Lloyd yelled. We quickly fought our way through to the other glitch, but it started to shrink! Fucking hell! Lloyd stopped to wait for us to get through. I quickly jumped into the glitch and then, I was falling from the sky! I fell down onto the ground. As I opened my eyes, I realized we were no longer in the gloomy forest. We were lying right outside it. "We made it!" Kai's voice said. I got up and looked around. We were on a path that went through a meadow. It was kind of beautiful actually. "We actually made it!" Kai celebrated. "Yes!" Cole yelled. "Okino, thank you." Lloyd said. I turned around to see that Okino was sitting on the ground. "You saved our lives back there." Lloyd said. "Most of them, at least!" Jay yelped. "Are you okay, Okino?" I asked.