"So have you visited the peaks before?" Ne il asked, trying to start small talk with Amelia.
"Some." That was all she responded with.
Picking up that she didn't want to talk at the moment Neil instead opted to study the women some more as she raced ahead in front of him.
The armor she wore was a strong purple that matched her eyes, she ran upright with long strides each of them carrying her quite far. Her skin was completely clear and evenly colored. She moved with an air of strength and pride as it seemed no one could stop her as she made her way towards her goal, whatever it might be.
Neil quickly grew tired of this though and instead tried to start a conversation yet again, this time on the topic of the weather.
"Just stop talking please, we aren't close enough to talk," Amelia said harshly to Neil, without looking back.
Neil was slightly hurt by the comment though he did understand it. Nonetheless, he would not be deterred in his goal of becoming closer to Amelia and thus decided he would annoy her until she decided to talk with him some. A risky strategy indeed as she could just leave him entirely, but Neil had hope that it would work.
"How about we make another deal then?" Neil asked Amelia as she continued sprinting ahead of him.
"And what would this deal be?"
'Success' Neil thought, as he finally got her to give an actual interested response, now he just needed to think of a deal.
"How about, I'll give up on small talk for the rest of this voyage if" He began, thinking about what would be worth this quietness from him.
"If you answer three of my questions truthfully and completely" He finished, now he could only hope that his trap would be able to entice her.
"I'll make that deal with you if only to save myself from having a headache" She responded.
'Time to come up with some questions' He thought to himself forming a list of questions that would require long answers that could potentially bring up a topic that they could bond over. The end goal was to have a good conversation without needing any leading questions, and while this would be quite difficult Neil knew it was the first step to forming a strong relationship with the women in front of him.
"So what are your questions?" Amelia asked with curiosity in her voice.
"First, why are you here, in the Great Blue Sands?" His first question hoped to learn some of the backstory behind Amelia's life.
"Well, a few reasons, would you like to know my reason or the task that brought me here?" Amelia responded after some time
"Both if you would be willing to tell me" Neil answered her question, he wanted to learn as much as possible from the three questions he had.
"My reason for being in the beautiful desert is partially my love for it, as I find the desert to be breathtaking. Also, I have been driven from the southern parts of this continent by pursuers already so the sands are a safer place for me. Don't even talk to me about the Beastmen kingdom or the swamps that lie to the north. As for my task for being here, I'll have to keep that a secret from you, as that's something for only me to know."
Neil accepted this answer and thought of where to go from there. He had learned a decent amount though it was all quite vague. 'As to be expected by a dark elf' he thought to himself he knew getting closer to her wasn't going to be easy.
"Do you have any family or friends?" He decided to be blunt with his second question as he tried to learn about any relationships she might already have.
"Absolutely none, sadly I have lost all of them with time" She answered in a more somber tone.
Neil knew he had struck a more emotional topic and would use that to his advantage, it might seem dumb to bring up such a touchy topic to someone he just met, but he knew that because she had no one else to talk to she'd have to be itching to share some of her life. Elves like humans are built to be social creatures and have similar difficulties as humans when isolated.
"Who was it that you lost," Neil asked softly, hoping she would trust him enough to answer his question.
He saw her twitch a little at her question and became worried that she was going to get mad at him, but then he heard her voice answer softly.
"My younger brother, older sister, and mother were all killed by people who were persecuting us because we were dark elves. My sister died while I was still young so I hadn't felt much grief over her loss, sadly that was only the beginning. The rest of us tried our best to move across the continent and find a safer place to live but it seemed that wherever we went someone was waiting to attack. I lost my mother after that, she gave me the bow I currently use and taught me how to use it, she died protecting my brother and I as were being chased yet again. After that my brother and I lived with each other and relied on one another, he was even able to begin building a family with the kind women we had met who took us in and protected us. This safety would only be temporary though as we were eventually found out and the nearby town came and burned the entire house down along with all of those within it. I was the sole survivor in the end." She stopped, not looking back.
"This is when I gained my love for the Great Blue Sands as I wandered alone for many days until I came across them, they acted as a sanctuary for me as the local Myatheans were accepting of me and provided me with good hospitality. The damage had already been done though and I no longer wished for relationships of any kind, they brought me too much pain. So I journeyed and continued journeying, becoming strong enough that I would not be hunted and forming a life for myself within the various battlefields and dungeons of the world. This age of chaos is a blessing in my eyes, it means I get to continue doing what I love and can fight against stronger enemies than any I've ever seen before." She finished her backstory and continued to sprint forward through the desert.
The atmosphere was quieter and somber now.
'How depressing' Neil thought to himself about Amelia's backstory. He knew dark elves had very difficult lives due to the persecution they faced but never imagined it would be this harsh. He still partially held on to the fact that he was in a game causing him to simplify the people and other creatures of this world.
"I'm sorry that you've faced so much loss in your life up until now. I'm not going to mince my words though, I do hope that we can become good allies, even with the tragic life you've faced up until now" He told Amelia, he did not expect a response to this and readied himself for a quite journey from here on when he Amelia's voice again.
"Well that's funny to hear from someone as young and inexperienced as yourself, you'll have to try quite hard then, do you think you'll be able to get to me?" She asked in a slightly happier voice.
"Definitely" Neil replied with confidence.
He swore he could hear a soft chuckle from in front of him but decided not to mention it, and instead just enjoyed the moment.
"I told you all about myself, now you have to tell me about yourself" Amelia's voice cut through the expected silence and upon hearing her question Neil was full of glee.
The questions had an even greater effect than he had imagined and caused her to begin asking Neil some genuine questions, something he was very happy with.
From there he began to make up a story about living as an orphan within the Cline kingdom to the south. He continued with his lie on the meteors being an awakening of his abilities and used his orphan status to explain his lack of any relationships.
"It seems that we're both lonely souls," Amelia said to Neil in a slightly amused tone.
"Yes, it does" responded Neil in the same voice.
Both of them now wore a slight grin and continued forward to the peaks that lay ahead, it seemed that Neil was able to better their relations, even if only slightly.
After about 2 more hours of travel, the two had gotten to where they would be taking a quick stop, they had traveled 60 miles in the three hours they had been moving, and Neil was impressed with his new body and what it was able to accomplish. It was around 10 and he wasn't hungry so he decided he'd eat later on.
Throughout their travel, Neil had talked with Amelia some more about various topics including the Krang Peaks and the two human kingdoms to the south. He realized though that he still had yet to tell her what exactly they were getting and where precisely they'd find it, he had only ever told her the general direction, and now that they were nearing the mountains it was information he could not keep to himself.
But it seemed that Amelia had run off somewhere in their brief break so he'd have to tell her once she returned. In the meantime, Neil explored where they currently were.
They had exited the desert at this point and were now in a small forest that sat between the desert and the mountains. It was similar to a deciduous forest and was currently very alive and green with their being trees, shrubbery, and flowers all in its makeup.
'It must be Spring currently' Neil thought to himself looking at the beautiful scenery.
Neil decided he was going to look around some while they were stopped, Amelia had told him to be careful as the forest held some dangerous predators but he was too entranced by the beauty to remember her warning.
He wandered off of the meeting point towards where he felt he could hear the sound of running water. He had to pass through a thicket that seemed to surround the area but was able to do so rather easily.
Once through he came into a magnificent clearing which made him stop to fully take it in. He felt as though he was in a romanistic painting with how beautiful and large the landscape around him was.
In front of him was a small field of flowers which was cut through by a river that was being fed by a waterfall coming down off of a small rocky cliff.
The flowers were a light blue and seemed soft to the touch, Neil began to be lulled in by the scenery
When he suddenly remembered the description of a scene similar to this.
"Bright Wolves!" Neil sputtered to himself in a shaky voice