"That sounds insane!" Sahara said. "I'm not gonna be target practice for a bunch of archers!"
"If you don't, Van might die!" Sang replied. "Now, you've got a choice – you can get over there and distract them, or you can let me risk getting shot and dying. Unless you've got the mobility to climb around up here with me, I think the choice is obvious."
Sahara grimaced. "You really think this is the only way?"
"If you have a better idea, we'll go with that," Sang said. "But this is all I got." She had reached the top of the tree and now took a deep breath. The ring of speed would increase her jump speed, which was all she needed right now.
"Fine," Sahara said as she shook her head. "I'm going to go in there, I guess. Man, this better work. If I die because of you, I'm going to be sorely disappointed."
"Me, too," Sang said as she gritted her teeth. "Me, too."
Van opened one eye to realize that he was somehow still alive. He felt a friction against his face, however, and also realized that he was lying on the ground, face down. And not only was he on the ground and still alive, but someone was dragging him along. He wanted to move his arms, to grab for a weapon and fight, but his limbs didn't seem to want to cooperate at all. You have been poisoned floated above him each time he tried to move.
"Take it easy," came a familiar voice from above Van. "I just pulled you out of the fire."
Van wasn't able to move his arms, but he could move his head a little. He shifted to see that Peterson was the one dragging him. Van's mouth wasn't functional yet, but he did grunt a little in acknowledgement.
"Now, I'm doing you a real solid here," Peterson said. "Those guys hit us in an ambush earlier, but fortunately we staved them off. We were coming back for revenge when I noticed my good old pal."
Van felt his heart begin to race. He was completely at the mercy of this guy; Peterson's broadsword at his side was actually glistening in the sunlight. Van's life was entirely in the hands of some stranger.
"Now, I know this breaks our distance rule," Peterson chuckled, "but I think you'll forgive me, right?"
There was the loud sound of a man shouting in the distance and Peterson jerked his head up. "I think that's one of my guys – I better get back out there. Good luck, Van."
And with that, Peterson left the paralyzed Van all alone. And while Van wasn't able to move his mouth at all, he still let out a sigh of relief. That had been a really, really close one.
"Ahhhhhh!" Sahara shouted as she ran through a swarm of arrows. The archers were firing on her again and she was covering her head with her arms as she ran in circles. A few arrows bounced off of her armor and she knew she had to keep moving at all costs. She could hear the shouts above her as Sang darted from tree to tree with a tremendous speed; Sahara had never seen the woman move so quickly, as if she were made out of lightning.
Sang leapt on a tree holding one of the archers and slashed hard with her sword, knocking the archer off balance. The woman plummeted to the ground and crashed with a loud thump. The words Lethal Fall Damage hovered above her head. Sang grinned and looked up at the other two who were now trying to fire on her. Sang's speed boost was exactly what she'd needed to defeat her foes, and she moved effortlessly across the treetops, leaping and swinging with ease. The arrows easily missed her, and she made her way to the second archer.
"Oh, no, you don't," the second archer said as he dropped his bow and pulled a short sword from his belt. Another arrow whizzed past Sang's head as she tried to slash at the archer in front of her.
He blocked her blow with ease and the two found themselves in a deadly dance, their weapons clanging against one another as the archer on the other side continuously fired on her.
"Over there!" said an unfamiliar, masculine voice below Sang.
"Crap!" Sahara shouted. "More people!"
"Find Van and get out of there!" Sang yelled as she parried another blow from her foe. The man's eyes were wild, but not with fear. She could see the thrill of the fight on his face, and he looked as if he were having the time of his life.
"Oh, it's you or me!" the man said, laughing a little as he stabbed at her. Sang pulled herself away from the blow, but wasn't quick enough. The short sword nicked her side and the words 10 damage hovered above her. The pain was strong, but it wasn't enough to slow her down. She swung her sword again, but the man was far too fast for her. He blocked the blow and rolled the sword off of his own, lunging forward in a perfect counter-attack.
Things seemed to be moving in slow motion as Sang saw the blade swing downwards toward her right arm. She instinctively fell backwards, allowing herself to flatten out as the sword came down. As she fell, she grabbed her opponent by the collar of his tunic and pulled him down on top of her, forcing his swing to go wide.
They were now wrestling with each other on the limb of a tree. The limb was large enough to support two standing individuals, but it wasn't nearly wide enough for a wrestling match. The man laughed as he tried to get out of her grasp, punching with his free hand against her skull multiple times. The words Nonlethal 5 repeated over her head with each blow, but she held on. Fortunately, nonlethal damage was tracked separately from her regular health. She had to make a choice – she could thrust her entire body over to the side and cause them both to fall off, or she could keep wrestling with him.
"Had enough yet?" he asked as he continued to pound away on her face with one hand. The other hand was holding onto a small branch above him, allowing for him to remain stable. Sang took the blows stoically, but knew that if the nonlethal damage reached a certain point, she'd be knocked out. She grabbed his shirt with both hands and took a deep breath.
"Race you to the bottom!" she growled as she shoved him to the right with all of her might. He lost his balance quickly and the branch in his hands snapped as they both tumbled off of the tree.
"Ahhhh!" he shouted as he fell to the ground, crashing with a hard thump. The words 50 damage hovered over his head as he groaned.
Sang also hit the ground hard, and watched as her health bar dropped from 90 to 40. They both struggled to stand and an arrow zipped right past Sang's head. The other archer was firing on her again. Sang turned to see three people – the same she had seen a while back – entering the fight. Sahara was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Sang's foe was beginning to stand to his feet, as well, damaged but still alive. Between all of these factors, Sang decided that perhaps now would be an amazing time for her to use her ring. She activated the ring and felt a surge of powerful magical energy rush through her body. You are now 50% faster! The display said as she zipped out of the area.
"Come back!" the man yelled, "I was just getting started!" He began to run after her, but his attention shifted once he noticed the three players with leather armor near him. "Ah crap," he shouted as the three charged at him.
Sang escaped from the area and found a tree to hide behind. Only then did she pause to catch her breath. The only downside to the ring was the fact that it drained her stamina at twice the pace. She activated her stealth mode now and slumped down toward the ground. In spite of the moderate success she'd had in fighting those archers, she was still right back where she had started. She was lost and had no idea where her team was.
As Sang slid down to the ground, she felt her feet hit against something hard. She realized that the bush in front of her was moving a little… and groaning. She stood and peered over the bush, to see Van lying on the ground, practically catatonic.