'A leaf! Find a leaf, I can use it to scoop up some water from the nearby river, and mix it with the soldier's lace!' Nora began searching the area around her, and eventually picked a rather large, oval-shaped leaf from a tree nearby. She then flew over to the river in order to scoop up some water.
With the water in hand, she, incredibly carefully, brought the leaf full of water back to the cave. During the slow walk back, Nora praised herself for being so smart. She had been using similar leaves to give the fox water every once in a while, but now she was using them for something much more important.
After getting back to the cave, Nora looked for a relatively clean area within the cave. She used her wings to brush away the dirt on the ground before she placed the soldier's lace there.
Then she picked up a small-ish rock from the left side of the cave. She grabbed the rock with her beak, positioning it so that it stuck out a decent bit but was still securely in her grasp. Then she began to peck at the soldier's lace with the rock in her mouth.
She watched as the soldier's lace slowly began to crumple, but Nora noticed a slight problem, she was getting a headache.
'Hmm, maybe I should switch tactics.'
She switched the rock from her beak to her talons, and began to crush the soldier's lace with greater efficiency.
It wasn't nearly as fast as it could have been if she had her human hands, but after a few minutes, she managed to crush the soldier's lace into a good paste. She scooped up the paste and slowly began to incorporate it into the water.
Once the soldier's lace was completely mixed with the water, Nora dipped her wing into the salve and she slowly spread it on the gash on the fox's belly.
'Great! Consider yourself healed,' Nora thought, nodding her head approvingly.
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Ding!
Side quest completed
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Ding!
Secret achievement!
Extra rewards unlocked!
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Ding!
New skills unlocked!
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Nora's eyes widened, 'Whoa, that's a lot of notifications for the system to give me at once,' but before she could look at what the rewards were she was brought back to real life. On the fox, where she had spread the salve, a faint glow was being emitted and the wound was closing rapidly.
She watched as the wound completely closed up and the fur began to grow back. There wasn't even a scar left. It was like it never even happened.
Nora saw as the fox was finally able to stand up. It looked at Nora briefly before bolting for the river, apparently incredibly thirsty.
Nora laughed internally at this action, partially from amusement, and partially from embarrassment.
'Oops, I probably should've brought that fox a little bit more water than I did, but that doesn't matter anymore,' she thought, shaking away her embarrassment.
'The fox is better and now I've got some time to look at the stuff that I've gotten!' Nora flapped her wings in excitement, hastily calling the system to look at what she got.
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Ding!
Side quest rewards: Exp+60, INT+5, passive: Forest Forager
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Ding!
Secret achievement rewards: New ability: Basic Medicine
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Forest Forager (passive): Increases the chances of locating useful plants in the wild. Slightly boosts MP regeneration and +5 INT while in thriving forests of any type.
Basic Medicine (passive): When inspecting different plants, gain basic medicinal knowledge on the plant. When crafting salves, you have a higher chance of improving the quality of the salve.
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'Woahh, I didn't even realize that I could get extra rewards for doing better on my side quests. I wonder if that works on main quests too.' Nora nodded in satisfaction, feeling a slight increase in her intelligence.
Over the next few days, Nora and the fox spent their time in the woods together. With the fox now healed, it could now help with getting food, and boy was Nora grateful for it. Being a larger creature, the fox could easily hunt for much larger prey than what Nora could find, and the fox was happy to share some of its kills with Nora.
During this time, they had formed a sort of symbiotic relationship. The fox still had some wounds, but they were very minor, and Nora was still super tired from literally working overtime to feed the fox, so they both unanimously—and silently—decided to hole up together in the makeshift cave that the rock formation provided.
The fox spent every opportunity it could to express its gratitude to Nora. It would bring her small things that it found, gingerly holding delicate flowers in its mouth before presenting them to Nora.
Nora found these gestures very endearing, so much so that when the fox silently offered to let Nora ride on its back for a little bit, Nora agreed.
.
.
.
The fox bounded through the woods at great speeds while Nora desperately tried to hold on. She wasn't expecting the fox to be able to run so fast. She lowered herself on its back so that she was in a more streamlined position.
Despite being terrified, she also felt this thrill from the ride, it was comfortable in a way.
She felt safe with this fox, and for just a moment, she allowed herself to just enjoy the scenery.
To Nora, this felt like something real rather than just a video game—rather than just something fake.
The trees all around her were beautiful. It was the golden hour of the day and the sun cast this beautiful golden light on everything.
As they ran, they passed a stream. Nora looked into the river and her eyes sparkled as she saw all of the small fish swim out of the way of the fox.
She looked around and saw how the golden light filtered through the leaves. Nora felt this profound and overwhelming feeling that everything was just so beautiful right now.
'This is so amazing! I don't think I've ever experienced anything like this before!'
Nora made a mental note. She focused on remembering everything she could, to save the memory for later. She then spent the rest of the ride being in the moment and enjoying this new life.
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.
.
Just as the fox was trotting home from this magical ride, Nora was brought back to the reality of her situation as the system reminded her of the main quest.
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Ding!
Host, remember your quest. You need to get to the city.
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Nora felt a pit form in the bottom of her stomach. She really didn't want to leave the fox behind just like that, especially since she couldn't communicate why.
Nora was wracking her brain for a solution, so much so that she didn't realize they had gotten back to their camp.
Just as she was about to figure out what to do, the fox suddenly took on a defensive stance and began to growl quietly in the direction of the woods.
Nora quickly looked in the direction that it was growling and noticed another group of foxes approaching. She braced herself for a conflict.
Despite her expectations, the fox that she saved stopped growling as the others approached. It looked between Nora on its back and the group.
Nora understood the meaning of the fox's look. The group was there for it, but it was reluctant to go. Nora felt the same way, she had formed a bond with it and she didn't want it to go either.
Despite her unwillingness, she gave the fox a reassuring nod, feeling the pit in her stomach morph more into sadness than it was nervousness.
The fox nodded back, lowered itself to let Nora off its back, then slowly walked towards the group, leaving Nora in the clearing.
It looked back one final time and Nora could see the reluctance in its eyes. Nora stood there frozen, watching the fox disappear into the forest until she could no longer see it anymore. Then she stood there even longer.
Eventually she shook her head. Crows, as an animal, couldn't cry, so Nora just had to find a way to keep all of these emotions in her for a brief period of time.
She had had a friend… and now that friend was gone. Nora felt an overwhelming loneliness.
All of the feelings that she refused to feel because she was so focused on surviving, and all of the feelings that she didn't feel while she was with the fox suddenly resurfaced.
Suddenly she just felt this overwhelming despair and grief.
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.
.
Nora sat in the now empty cave for what felt like ages before eventually deciding that she should probably just head to the city.
She stepped out of the cave, tidied everything up so that it looked uninhabited, and then took off in the direction of the city.
By now the sky had turned dark, but Nora couldn't sleep, so she decided to simply fly through the night. During the entire flight, she flew absentmindedly. She felt numb and she realized that it was so much better to just treat everything as if this was a game and not like this was real life.
'I made that mistake once and this is how it made me feel. It's better to close myself off to avoid getting hurt like that again.'