After an entirely uneventful day trekking through the virtual Starchasm Forest, the party sets up camp for the night and attempts to establish an order for keeping watch.

"But being a lookout is so boring! At least when your character is sleeping you can go AFK or watch ads for credit towards the monthly membership fee. Guard duty means you just have to sit somewhere and stare off into space for hours on end." Seamus says, sending a small rock skittering with his shoe.

"Well we could've kept walking if you and Kohl didn't waste all your special abilities dueling each other," Adam replies as he tries to use his 'Survival' skill to light a campfire. "I don't even have any healing spells left. We need to re-cooperate or just a group of goblins would pummel us."

"Fine, fine. I call the last watch!" Seamus cries, not wanting his sleep period to be interrupted.

"I call first!" Kohl says. While navigating her 'Inventory' screen, she clicks a button to attempt a 'Survival' check in order to break down the bird she previously caught into feathers and meat.

Kohl swears like the sailor she is when she fails miserably, the fruits of her labor turning into a useless pile of mangled flesh and fragmented bones. She turns to Seamus and demands some of his stolen rations to eat instead. He acquiesces immediately.

The four sit around the cozy fire, enjoying the golden sparks and fabricated warmth it emits. Hundreds of little pinpricks of white light illuminate the midnight sky overhead, and the game plays a peaceful melody for all who have their music sound setting enabled.

"You okay with taking third watch, Orianna?" Adam asks. "I'll get the second and wake you up when it's time."

"O-oh, yeah, that's fine with me, thanks. Is keeping watch really as simple as Seamus said? I just look around?" Orianna gazes at Adam earnestly, inquisitively.

"Pretty much, yeah. Your character has something called "Passive Perception", which is how much they can notice without actually looking for anything in particular. It doesn't work when your character sleeps, but as long as you're awake you'll receive notifications if anything's amiss nearby."

"Make sure to study your spells during sleep time, Orianna," Kohl adds. "We'll definitely need your help when we run into monsters. You're the only one with multi-target abilities."

"Psh, she'll be fine," Seamus says. "Orianna, just don't cast spells that can hit both friends and foes when we're in range, yeah? Don't shoot any fireballs at me."

Orianna's skin turns a few shades paler than its normal pink. "My wizard abilities can hit you guys too?"

"Not all of them, just some. Usually the more powerful ones." Kohl tells the tiefling. She settles up against a nearby tree, ready to take first watch. "After all, it doesn't make sense that an earthquake or something would only hit the bad guys, right?

Adam places a hand on Orianna's shoulder. "Don't worry about it too much. The spell's description will tell you whether or not you can choose who it affects. And you have control over where your spells hit, so this only really matters if one of us is in your way."

Despite the paladin's reassuring touch, Orianna remains distressed. Visions of accidentally incinerating her companions haunt her horned head.

"Well," Adam says, clapping his hands together, "you guys up for reserving one of the dorm study rooms and working on our English essays while Kohl keeps watch?"

Kohl pouts. "Aw, no fair! I feel so exclud--"

"Hell no!" Seamus replies, ignoring the whiny pirate. "I'm gonna watch ads so I can afford to keep playing this game. Not all of our parents send us an allowance. You and Orianna go."

Adam's mouth twists into a grimace. "You really shouldn't keep waiting till the last minute to do your assignments, Seamus. If your GPA gets too low, you're gonna get kicked out of the program."

"Don't even worry about that, dude. I can bang the essay out the night before it's due and still get an A. God, you're like having a mom for a roommate."

"I'll study with you, Adam." Orianna says, her flickering gaze full of hope. "If you're okay with it being just the two of us."

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" Adam smiles. "I'll put my character in 'Sleep Mode' and go reserve a room right now; I'll text you when I get one."

The paladin strips off his armor and climbs into his sleeping bag. His eyes close before his avatar becomes inactive.

Once he's gone, Seamus and Kohl both stare at Orianna, knowingly.

"Could you make your crush on Adam anymore obvious? At this point even Seamus has picked up on it, and he's stupid."

"Yeah, I'm amazed Adam hasn't noticed it himself yet, you swoon anytime he's within five feet of you. or maybe he has and is just being polite. Also, screw you, Kohl." Seamus's eyes shoot daggers at the half-elf.

The pirate just scoffs. "You wish."

Seamus purses his lips in contemplation. "Wish is too strong a word, but I would consider it."

Kohl's face scrunches up, appearing disgusted. "Ew, don't you dare think about me that way, weirdo."

Orianna, impatient to get back to the main topic at hand, interrupts. "Wait, you think Adam might have realized I like him?"

Seamus shrugs. "I mean, maybe. He could just not want to make things awkward in the group. But if it's any consolation, I really doubt things between him and his girlfriend will last."

"What? Why? What makes you say--"

"Hey, guys, we can talk about Orianna's pathetic love life during Adam's watch, okay?" Kohl says. "If your characters don't sleep for at least six game hours, you won't recover your abilities."

Orianna sighs before she and Seamus turn on 'Sleep Mode', leaving Kohl to stare up at the stars in peaceful silence.

The group changes shifts throughout the night with no issue. However, when dawn breaks and warm-colored pixels spread throughout the sky, Kohl, Adam, and Orianna wake to find their camp raided and their belongings in disarray.

Seamus sits over by the tree that Kohl had previously favored, trying to figure out how one can bite virtual nails. His anxiety grows as his friends survey the state of their possessions in bewilderment.

Confusion soon turns to anger, and that anger all becomes directed at the little rogue.

"What the hell happened, Seamus? You were supposed to be keeping watch!" Kohl says, storming over to him with her hands on her hips. "All our food is gone!"

"Looks like they got our money and health potions too." Adam says, strengthening Kohl's complaint.

"I know, I'm sorry. I swear that I only went AFK for just like a sec--"

"You left? You were the sole being in charge of our safety and our stuff and you just walked away from the game?" Kohl stares Seamus down, outraged, looking as if she could cut him down at any moment.

"Why didn't you wake us when you realized what happened, Seamus? Was it that important we slept long enough to regain our abilities?" Orianna asks, disappointed. "Does this mean we can't continue our quest? Should we head back to town and get more supplies?"

"Except we now have no money to buy them with. Seamus, you totally screwed us over!" Kohl lashes out, kicking the tree just to the right of the halfling and causing the poor rogue to flinch.

Seamus doesn't do or say anything in response. He has no defense, and he knows it.

"Guys, stop, look over here." Adam says, breaking Kohl's concentration away from berating the poor halfling as he points to a trail of humanoid footprints leading from their camp into the forest. "The monster left tracks. If we leave now, we might be able to catch up to them and get our stuff back!"

Quickly, the party puts back on whatever gear they took off to sleep that wasn't stolen, throw any meager scraps of stuff left behind into their backpacks, and take off after the bandit.

As the four follow the creature's path, Orianna says, "This seems like a lot of footsteps for one person."

"It's likely more than one. I made a 'History' check on the tracks, and they likely belong to goblins or kobolds: small humanoids which typically travel in packs." Adam replies, his armor chinking from the brisk pace.

"Isn't it a little dangerous to chase these things down then?" Worry creases Orianna's brow as it seems increasingly likely the party is heading towards a fight.

"Nah, goblins and kobolds are weak. A piece of cake for--" A sharp glare from Kohl as they walk silences Seamus. It seems his transgression has neither been forgiven nor forgotten; he lacks her permission to speak.

At a small clearing up ahead, the adventurers spot their target. A goblin, tiny even for its race with over-sized, floppy ears, sits amongst a bed of wildflowers. The little monster is happily eating its way through a hefty pile of rations.

Before anyone can restrain her, Kohl storms up to the miniature goblin gorging itself on beef jerky, bread, dried fruit, and waterskins. She brandishes her shortswords in both hands, pointing one of them directly at the creature's throat. It gulps loudly, looking up at the pirate with wide, frightened eyes.

"Hey, asshole! Seamus and I are the only ones who can steal from people around here -- give us our stuff back or I'll cut you up into pieces so small a goldfish could eat you!"

For a moment, the forest seems aglow with fireflies. Then, the four realize the glowing yellow orbs are not bugs, but many pairs of goblin eyes.

The nature-themed music playing in the game's background changes to another tune, one much more dynamic and engaging.

A red alert pops up in each of the four players' menu screens, telling them what they already know. Kohl and Seamus share dark grins, weapons ready, while Orianna feels like her heart has leapt into her throat. Adam sighs, seeing no choice but to unsheathe his greatsword, intent on defending himself and his friends.

A battle has commenced.

~~~

Word count: 1705

Total word count: 6292

T&T Handbook:

AFK: an abbreviation for "away from keyboard", a gaming term for when someone leaves the game in order to do something in real life

(Note: T&T is a virtual reality game I don't imagine them to be playing on a computer, but I figure the term could still feasibly stick around)

Goblins/kobolds - small humanoid creatures, typically evil, they typically travel in packs

Anything I miss? Let me know and I'll add it in!