[h1]Elder Tales: Chronicles of the West[/h1][i]A Log Horizon AU Role-Play[/i][hr]Life was going pretty good for Fred. College was great, his friends were outgoing and fun, and his girlfriend, Emma, was amazing. He was keeping busy by casually playing intramural sports and joining in on clubs and organizations around campus. But then he found out that his old favorite game was getting an upgrade and update with the introduction of the new expansion pack, [i]Novasphere Pioneers[/i], and he was going to be totally up for that.
[center]==========[/center]"You can't be serious," Emma sighed, attitude and all. "You're canceling our date for a game?" Her hands dropped to her hips as she shook her head in great disappointment. "I even put on the red dress you like!"

Fred turned to his girlfriend with a innocent lip bite, checking out what he was going to be missing out on if he ditched her to play his game. He ran his fingers through his hair, contemplating on what to do. She was glaring at him with her pouty face and doggy-like eyes. Either he could score with Elder Tales or his girlfriend, and that was something that he probably should have answered faster than what he was doing now.

[color=DC143C]"Fine, we can go to dinner."[/color] Fred said, giving in to the temptation of his significant other. He dropped the game, with it still in the freshly, off-the-counter box and got ready for the date night, in hopes of getting lucky. The date was to a fancy Italian steakhouse that was out-of-this-world expensive for a 7oz steak and a glass of their cheapest wine. He had spent almost double the amount of money on the dinner that he had just used for the expansion pack of Elder Tales that day, making both him and his bank account tear on the inside just thinking about it.

After the dinner, the date went on with Fred taking Emma to her favorite ice cream joint for a scoop of mint chocolate ice cream. He himself ended up not getting anything with what he wanted later on for desert instead. Another hour passed by as the love birds continued on with their date, until Fred found himself back at Emma's dorm room. "You know you can spend the night here, Becky is over at Tim's so I'll be here all alone."

That's the thing Fred wanted to hear all night. Ever since recovering from his accident he wanted to live life as normal as possible. He wanted to forget everything bad that had happened to him and start fresh. Having a new, wiped, and clean plate would make his life easier, and Emma made it so much more fun and exciting. [color=DC143C]"Yeah, I can do that."[/color]

"Are you sure? I know how much you wanted to play your game..." She muttered, teasing his face. "You can always sleep over next weekend."

Emma was just teasing him senseless now. This time he didn't really have to think about the choices between her or Elder Tales, he was already there and they both were already willing. The no brainer here was for the comforts and love Emma, rather than the virtual grinding and accomplishment of Elder Tales. [color=DC143C]"There's always next weekend."[/color]
[center]==========[/center]Waking up from his fun night of play, Fred tasted an odd taste in the air. His back was sore, feeling like he slept on a log and not the comforting mattress that was Emma's dorm room futon. Rubbing his eyes for clarity he sat up, drowsy and exhausted, still tasting the odd taste of the air. He noticed a lot of green around him, and paid closer attention to the background noise that wasn't Emma's quiet snoring or the rummaging of people in the dorm halls, it was the sound of birds chirping loudly and bugs buzzing around.

Patting himself on his chest he felt a shirt, having known for sure that he was sleeping in the nude during the night, puzzled him. [color=DC143C]"What the hell..."[/color] He muttered, coming out of his sleepy, drowsed state. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was outside, with clothes, and a pair of metal gloves of some kind. He panicked, and stood up, looking around him. Tress, vines, shrubs, everything around him was either that or ruined and old building. [color=DC143C]"Where the hell am I?"[/color] Fred said out loud. [color=DC143C]"Emma!?"[/color]

There was no response as he shouted for Emma for a few minutes, only hearing the echoing of his own voice. Bringing up his hands he checked out the metal gloves. They were made of what looked like silver steel, but were only as light as a box of new shoes. After his examination of his gloves and new clothing he began shouting again, this time calling for anyone.

[color=DC143C]"Hello? Anyone out there?"[/color] There was still no signs of others or responses, until he heard a growl from behind one of the bushes. [color=DC143C]"Whoever or whatever's there, come out... I'm pretty friendly.[/color]

The growl became much more loud and receptive, and also sounded pretty angry. Fred biting his lips, nervously waited for whatever was behind the bush to jump out. [color=DC143C]"I promise I am friendly."[/color]

A second after a wolf lunged at the red haired man, it's mouth dripping with saliva as it was ready to take a bite out of him. The first reaction of Fred was to swing a right hook, and he did, catching the wolf at the side of the face, sending it flying to the right, back into a bush. [color=DC143C]"Oh shit! I'm so sorry!"[/color] Fred said, apologizing, but it seemed as if the damage was already done way before he even tossed a punch as the wolf lunged again, growling and snarling even louder and blood-thirstier than before. It charged Fred, this time coming in to swipe at the man with it's claws. Fred backpedaled, dodging swipe after swipe before hammering down both of his fists together at the wolf's head. It let out a yelp as Fred roared: [color=DC143C][b]"Dragonfire Claws!"[/b][/color] Throwing down three punches engulfed in flames at the wolf.

That's when Fred took notice of something on top of the wolf's head. It looked like a menu or status screen that you would see in a game. Putting the pieces together he finally noticed what the hell was going on. The menu bar showcased a health and mana bar, and with him shouting out the Dragonfire Claws, it all made sense where he was, but not why or how he was there, in Elder Tales.

[color=DC143C]"I really did want to play the game,"[/color] Fred said as the wolf's body began dissolving into yellow, angelic orbs. The orbs began surrounding Fred and flew into him, giving his body a tiny surge of adrenaline.