I give them both a timid look and try to smile to reassure them. "Hey guys, sorry. I'm ok now."
Rinai and Tilly both surround me in a warm hug.
"Welcome back Afira." They say in unison.
I hug them back and smile for real. I feel some wetness in my eyes but hold it back. Crying now would make them think I'm not ok. When really, I'm just overwhelmed at having someone care for me.
"Thank you both. Is your armor badly damaged Rinai?" We all step apart.
"Yeah, another hit and some of it would have broken. Luckily this type of armor doesn't need anything too extravagant to fix it. Tilly can have it repaired pretty quick."
"It'll be good as new in no time," Tilly confirmed.
"Help please, anyone. Help me. " A small voice was calling out.
We all stopped everything and listened. "I'll go check it out. Tilly, keep at the repairs. Stay here until it's done please Rinai. I'll be right back."
I step outside the stall and see a young girl being chased by a small pack of vortex wolves. I rush at them, passing the girl and unleashing my AOE attack again to stun them. I grab the girl's hand and pull her toward the stall.
"It's safe in here," I assure her.
She's breathing heavily and slumps to the floor as soon as we enter the stall. " Thank you so much for helping me. That was scarier than I expected."
"You're welcome. I'm glad I could help. My name is Afira, it's nice to meet you."
"Hello Afira, my name is Nalia. I'm very happy to meet you."
"These are my friends and party members, Rinai and Tilly." Afira introduced.
"Hello, Rinai. Hello, Tilly. I'm glad to meet you both as well. "
She pulled out a health potion to heal herself after the greetings.
"Sorry to be a bother, I'm pretty new to this game
"Sorry to be a bother, I'm pretty new to this game. I got separated from my brother and then I got flustered and forgot how to use most of my skills. After that, I just kind of ran around yelling." She told us with a small, wry smile.
"I see, separating groups seems to be the wolves main strategy. The same thing happened to us. It's no bother at all. Please stay as long as you need." Rinai said to the girl.
"How is your equipment, any damage? I can make minor repairs if you need." Tilly kindly offered.
"Wow, you guys are so kind! Way nicer than my brother's group. My equipment is in good shape, I outran them the whole time. I'm lucky they never threw any ranged attacks at me." Her smile had gotten bigger and her eyes were bright and pure.
"You said you are pretty new? How long have you been playing?" I asked.
"I made this character two days before the update. This is my first time doing any fighting." She admitted. "I've played games like this a lot so I thought it would be easy, but it's more realistic than I expected. Getting chased by wolves that seem real is terrifying." She held herself around the shoulders and shivered.
"It is surprising how real everything here is." I nod, thinking of Rinai and the rest of the NPC's I've met.
"Have you let your brother know where you are? "
"Mhm. Would it be ok to add you guys to my friend list?" Nalia asks hopefully.
"I'd like that. Please do." Tilly says.
"Yeah, that's no problem," Rinai adds. I just nod and add her.
Nalia's eyes suddenly widen and her head while back and forth from Tilly to Rinai. "You are both NPC's!?"