Telihiem Ch. 02: Fox and The Wolf

Telliheim

I like to thank you for choosing to take the time to read my stories.

Next, I want to tell you this will be a monthly chapter Isekai-style story.

I'm a big fan of anime and D&D they have inspired this story.

The world in which this story takes place is my creation, along with all the characters within.

If you have played any MMO or online game, you know the following. People will name their characters after movie, TV, and book characters they aspire to be like or similar to. I have taken that into account and added it to this story.

Lastly, as for spelling and grammar, I am not the best in that department.

I will be using Grammarly and spell check. I am hoping it is not too bad.

I hope that you enjoy it.

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Chapter 2

Elijah woke feeling something soft and warm curled up next to him.

In his haze, it took him a second to realize Ava had crawled into bed with him again. She had been doing that more often lately, not that Elijah minded. Yet it was just a bit confusing. He put his arm around her, and she snuggled a little closer.

"Sorry, I couldn't sleep, so I brought my gear over and set it up," Ava whispers.

"What time is it," Elijah asks.

"A little before five, I have an alarm set for seven," Ava replies.

"You ok," Elijah asks. Ava had been acting oddly lately, more hand-holding and sleeping in the same bed.

"Ya, I just needed company to help me sleep. Sorry if I woke you," Ava says.

"No, no, it is fine. I always love having you close," Elijah says.

He did love having her close. Ava was a beautiful woman.

She was a short, petite ball of energy that lit up any room she entered.

She was funny and intelligent, and she cared how Elijah felt.

She was never mean with her words, even when angry.

Her eyes were soft and loving, and she had the ass of a gymnast.

Elijah loved long hair, and Ava had long black hair down to her ass.

Yet when he met Ava five years ago after escaping from his dysfunctional family, she had been dating a female named Kimberly.

The couple had become his first friends in the city.

At that time, Kimberly and Ava had been a couple for about three years.

They became friends with Elijah through a local game store they all frequented. Elijah had been a frequent guest at the pair's place over the years.

About two years after Elijah had met them, Kimberly received a promotion. She worked for a major pharmaceutical corporation. The only problem was that the promotion required her to move to England.

At first, it was all amazing for the couple, and Elijah was sad he was losing the only real friends he made sense leaving home.

About two months before the set date to leave, Ava started having second thoughts. She was close to her sisters and mother, and the idea of being across an ocean from them set in. The two had a lot of long talks, and in the end, Ava stayed behind.

In the weeks and months that followed, Ava and Elijah bonded.

They would go out together weekly and hang out often.

About a year after Kimberly left, Ava invited Elijah to her family's for Thanksgiving.

The two had driven up to her family home Wednesday and stayed through Friday. The trip was great. Ava's family had made Elijah feel welcome.

Yet it had also been the first time the two had shared a bed. Elijah also felt that Ava had not corrected her family when they thought they may have been more than just friends. From that weekend on, it had become common for Ava to spend the weekend at Elijah's place, with them often sleeping together. Yet nothing sexual had happened.

The closest to anything was a kiss the two had shared on New Year's Eve.

Ava kissed him on the lips as the Ball dropped. It had lasted much longer than just a peck and had left Elijah speechless. Now they were moving in together. Yeah, Elijah understood why on paper. Ava could not afford the rent on the place she and Kimberly had got together. She even took on a roommate and still struggled. Another thing was Elijah's place was closer to Ava's job and had better internet. Setting all that aside, Elijah decided to let whatever happens happen. He knew his feelings for Ava needed to be kept inside for now. Elijah closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep with Ava curled contently up in his arms.

A few hours later, Elijah awoke with something tickling his feet. He shot up, and there stood Ava, her hair up in a towel with a second wrapped around her naked body. Steam still rising off her bare shoulders.

"Hey, it is 8:30, and the shower is open. I left you some hot water.

Also, food from Dennys' is on the way," Ava spoke as she rubbed Elijah's foot.

"Thanks, Denny's sounds wonderful," Elijah says as he tries not to stare at the angelic figure of Ava standing in front of him.

"I figure we would eat, then login and really get to see what this game has to offer," Ava says as she undoes the towel she had holding her hair up.

"You sleep well," Elijah asks.

"Ya, I always do when I am in your arms," Ava says as she finishes drying her hair. "I will just be glad to get the move done. I hate scraping by, and that place's high rent is killing me," Ava says as she sits on the bed and starts brushing her hair.

Elijah grabbed some clothes and headed for the shower.

The room smelled of Ava's body spray, and Elijah had to keep himself in check. After the shower, the two share a pleasurable breakfast. They chatted about the game and their early thoughts.

"So, how did you get past the combat tutorial," Elijah asked Ava.

"I had to kite his ass around the tavern," Ava says. "He was a real bitch,

took like five good arrow hits to bring him down," Ava then adds.

"The registration form was massive. Did you not find that odd," Elijah asked as he finished his coffee and got up to pour the two a refill.

"No, not as odd as Alison, that whole thing about her being a, what she call it," Ava asks as she accepts the fresh cup of coffee.

"A reflection is what she called it," Elijah replied.

"Well, it is creepy she seemed so real, but then so did the drunk swordsman when he tried to cut me in half," Ava says.

"So, what race did you go with," Ava asks.

"I will have to show you. I do not think you would believe me otherwise," Elijah replies

"Did you still go with the magus, gambler idea we talked about," Ava asks.

"Sure did, and with my rolls, it worked out great," Elijah says.

The two quickly finished their breakfast and cleaned up.

They then headed to the living room, where their gaming computers awaited them.

"I 'll set the alarm for 3ish so we can stop and eat lunch," Ava says

"Sure, sounds good," Elijah replies as he picks up his headgear off the table.

Ava walks over and hugs Elijah from behind. Elijah turns around in the hug so he can hug her back.

"You ok," Elijah asks again.

"Ya, thank you for being here for me," Ava says as she leans up and lightly kisses Elijah right on the lips.

She then quickly breaks the hug and slaps Elijah on the ass. She then puts on her headgear and falls into her gaming chair.

"Last one in has to buy lunch," Ava says as she reaches up to hit the manual close button on her headgear.

Elijah hurriedly put his headgear on and pressed his button as he spoke the words to launch the game.

Once again, Elijah was falling through a multicolored tunnel of lights.

Then his view changed, and he was flying high up in the sky.

Below was a crisp blue ocean. Warm air blew into his face, and the first rays of the rising sun were breaking the horizon.

Ahead of him down, on the water, was a great wooden ship with three masts that came into view. Then another appeared, and then there were several more. They were all moored or docked in a large dock.

People of all races, ages, and genders moved around the docks.

The narrator then came on.

The voice was a male. It reminded Elijah of a teacher he once had. It was calm, steady and clear.

It welcomed him to the game and then to the city of Exordium.

The synced dialog of the narrator matched the area that Elijah was over.

From the order and structure docks to the busy, bustling Great Central Markets. Then on to the serene gardens and the majestic Central Plaza of Magic where the Tower of Reflection stood.

The great tower was a work of art. Constructed to resemble a circular cathedral with high round archways. These archways were at least fifty feet tall and served as the tower's points of entry, with each archway softly lit in blue light. The base was over four hundred feet around, with marble stairs leading up to its entryways. The tower was roughly four hundred feet tall. Each of its four sections is slightly smaller than the one below.

From there, Elijah flew out over the city's east gate. Then he flew over the fences of Grimview Crypts, the city's main graveyard. He then flew out to the edge of the dreaded Umbra Forest.

Then it turned to the north and flew over the Fields of Spero, then back into the city through the North gate or the Mountain Gate to some called it.

Across the guild districts and crafting halls, across the Caeruleus River that cuts the south side of Exordiums from the rest of the city.

Then he flew out the South Gate into the vast Shimmering Meadow.

Then up he flew so he could see the whole city.

Out of it suddenly appears the Hurricane symbol then roses up at him and then plays the Hurricane intro.

Then Elijah was at the login screen.

It was now Alison's voice that greeted him.

"Welcome Kain, please choose a character to enter Telliheim with or choose to create a new character," Alison says.

Elijah chooses Kain and presses the enter world button.

Kain materializes in a garden at the end of what seems to be an alleyway.

Looking at his map, he could see that he was not far from the adventures guild hall and also that he was facing west.

He quickly looks around and notices a sign pointing west saying South Road ahead.

Kain quickly checked his gear and activated the friend finder on his mini-map. He saw that Awen was not too far away and was making her to him.

Looking around, Kain saw that the area was walled in on three sides by tall brick buildings. The garden was well-kept and had several blooming trees and flower beds. The sights, sounds, and smells were so realistic it was hard for Elijah to believe it was a game.

A few minutes passed, and finally, Awen came into view.

He was stunned at her beauty, grace, and mere presence.

He had watched Ava spend hours during the Beta perfect Awen's look.

Her hair was pure white and reached just past her ass. She kept it in a single French braid with a golden cord wrapped down its length. Then there were her eyes that were the perfect green. Her face was angelic, pulling off the high elf look to a T.

She was wearing her long black leather coat she got as a drop from a bandit leader she had killed. Under it, she wore her basic leather armor, with two elven long knives tucked into her belt.

Beside her walked an almost entirely black panther with yellow eyes and a steady gate that was unnervingly realistic. The big cat had a single tuft of white fur atop its head.

"There you are. You owe me lunch, and I want the burrito place that starts with a Q," Awen says. "So this is where you spawned in," Awen asked. "Not a bad place, peaceful," Awen adds.

Kain answered as he looked around, "Ya, isn't this an amazing little spot, perfectly tucked out of the way, yet peaceful."

As the large cat approached Kain, it seemed to catch a scent and let out a soft growl.

"I thought you said your race was something special that you had to show me to believe," Awen says. "All I see is a very suave human male that looks like he could charm the pants off of anyone," Awen adds.

Kain looked around to ensure the coast was clear and nobody else was around or on a rooftop. With a thought and a grin, Kain shifted forms into his Kitsune fox form.

"What the hell, you rolled a kitsune, that even a thing," Awen gasped.

Awen stepped forward and ran her hand through the fur of Kain's muzzle. Then she caught sight of his tail.

"You have a tail, this is such bull shit, how did you cheat your way into this," Awen asks.

"I rolled nature double 8s on my first role. Alison said that was the only way to unlock the Kitsun race," Kain replied

"You lucky fuck, I now wonder what other races are locked away," Awen said.

Kain shrugged his shoulders, "hard to say, but I knew you would never believe me unless I showed you," Kain said

Kain quickly shifted back to his human form. Then he looked at the large panther standing near Awen.

"You decide on going druid first," Kain asked.

"Ya, you know I love cats and did not want to wait, plus he will help in combat," Awen replied.

She reached down and rubbed the cat's head.

"Her name is Tovah," Awen says.

Kain nods his head in agreement that the cat would help in combat. "We should get going," Kain says.

"Wait, I cannot keep Tovah out in the city. I have to store Tovah in this tattoo," Awen says. She then shows Kain her tattoo of a panther on her forearm.

"Reditus," Awen says as she is looking at Tovah. The large cat is suddenly just a swirl of colors and then is gone. "That is handy," Kain says.

With that, they set off to explore the large city.

They saw a few other players around, but there were not yet that many. Over the next several hours, the pair walked the streets, taking in the sites and trying to get a feel for the city and the game. It was all just so real and alive.

The pair walked by a storefront with the symbol for leather armor on it.

In the shop's window were four stars. Awen stopped in front of the shop.

"Hey, I bet this is The Shady Shawl. It is a four star leather shop in the city.

That means they sell the best leather in town.

According to the sites I read, the more stars a shop has, the better.

There can only be one four-star gold leather shop in town.

There are only seven four star shops in the city.

Each of the other shops specializes in a different craft," Awen declares.

"We should check it out," Kain replies.

Entering the shop, they saw the front was a single room of no more than fifty feet by fifty feet. Covering the floor were rugs of the finest quality. Up on the walls were stretched pieces of leather. Each denoting the creature type it came from.

Several glass-covered display tables were around the room. Each showed off a type of armor or leather item the shop offered. At the counter stood a large human, who must have maxed out his height because he was at least seven foot tall. On his back was a wicked-looking double-headed axe. His blond hair was long and wavy. He wore black chain armor with wicked shoulder spikes. The large man had been yelling at the shop-only employee, an older-looking man with short gray hair.

The older man wore a simple leather apron over his work outfit. The two were going back and forth about something.

At first, they thought it had to be another player, but then they saw it was the shopkeeper.

The dialogue was rich and could easily be mistaken for the real world.

The brute was yelling that he wanted to buy a magic leather pouch.

The older man was trying to explain to the brute that he could take orders for such an item but could not sell him one till after the official launch. It seemed this was not going over well with the big man. The large man seemed very disturbed by the man's answer.

"You have to have something better than this beginner crap," the large man said as he lay his gray beginners bag on the counter.

"You did not ask that you asked about a magic pouch. Yes, I have larger pouches or backpacks," the old man replies.

"Finally, yes, I want a larger one with a lock or something," the large man said. Then added, "I do not want to lose my shit to some sticky-fingered prick,"

"Let me go in the back and get you a few samples to look at," The Old man replies. He then disappears through a doorway covered in a purple cloth.

At about this time, the brute realized he was not alone and turned around. First, his eyes fell on Kain. He looked him over with disdain, like he was looking at a bug or a piece of trash. The look alone told Kain all he needed to know about this big blow heart of a brute.

Then the big man's eyes fell on Awen, and a smile came to his lips.

His eyes traveled up and down her alluring form.

"Well, what we have here, what's a fine lady like you doing traveling with something not worth the gravel in your boot," The big man asked.

Awen did not even seem disturbed by the man's comments.

"There is more to a man than the size of his arms or the weight they can lift, or how much he can drink or his length," replied Awen as she made the universal short symbol with her fingers.

The big man laughed at her words, a deep growl of a laugh.

"Come lass, there is nothing to fear from giving into temptation and dropping the looser," The big man said as he once again gave Kain the once over.

"You could come, let loose with me and my pack. We could howl at the moon together. I am Lucian, fighter, monster hunter, and tracker," Lucian said. "My group is thirty-strong, and we will be at the top of this server soon enough. We could use a druid, especially a druid with your curves," Lucian spouts.

As he speaks, he turns and faces Awen, who was to his left.

His movement puts the big man's bag, which was still on the counter behind him. Lucian was paying no attention to Kain. His eyes all over Awen. Of course, this does not go unnoticed by Kain as he moves to Lucian's right and up to look at a display on the counter.

"Lucian, as in the werewolf from the Underworld films," Awen asked.

"Yes, we all rolled werewolves as they are, powerful, fast, deadly.

You will hear about us soon enough. We will dominate this server, then the whole game, and I am offering to let you join us," Lucian says as his eyes focus on Awen.

For her part, Awen was not shutting the big man down and was moving in a way to keep Lucian's eyes on her. She was only slightly flirtatious. Yet she was standing in such a way to give him a good view of her ass.

With Lucian looking away and completely occupied, Kain made his move.

Slowly, he slid one of his hands into Lucian's bag. With the other, Kain undoes the single latch. The bag effortlessly popped open. Inside, Kain feels several items, of which four stick out. The first three were easy to slip out. The last was a small leather pouch. Kain effortlessly opened the second bag. Feeling the contents, Kain could tell this new bag held coins. He quickly collected four and then quietly closed both bags. He was into Lucian's bag and out again within seconds. Kain then moved away as if he was never near the unguarded bag.

About a second later, the older man returns with items for Lucian to look at.

"We have these I could sell you today," the old man replies as he enters the room. He then looks up and notices Kain and Awen, "I will be with the two of you as soon as I can," the old man says.

"We are just looking for now," Awen says. She then turns to the door and glances at Kain. "Yes, we heard you can not sell magic items till after launch. We will be back then, thank you," Kain says as he heads for the door.

Lucian turns towards Awen, "If you change your mind, my pack and I will be hanging out under the north watch tower near the entrance to the kobold dens," Lucian says, making one last try to lure Awen into his pack.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I like foxes, not wolves," Awen says as she leaves.

Her reply leaves a confused look on Lucian's face. The big man then turns to Kain and glares at him before returning to the older man. Kain could swear that Lucian growled at him as he turned. Kain then heads for the door himself.