Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

*Flash*

A figure lay on the ground, blinking up at the sky. What just happened? She was playing Elder Tale a moment ago... why was she outside? She could feel a soft summer breeze ruffle her fur, and she could see greenery in the edge of her vision.

She stood up, and immediately tripped over her feet, putting her paw out to stop it- wait, paw?!

She got up and looked down. Her feet were almost normal, but distinctly smaller and more paw-like. She put a hand to her face, and felt the fur there, her pointed ears. "What the funk is going on?!" she said, starting to panic.

She twirled around again, and realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She was in Akihabara. She was in the game. What the heck was happening?!

She started to breathe heavily, then forced herself to calm down. It wasn't the end of the world. She was alive, at least. In a different world, a different body, but alive. She chuckled weakly. "At least I'm in the city," she said.

She closed her eyes and recalled where she'd been. The Depth of the Palm farming the rat-man living there. She couldn't get any experience as a level 53 Assassin, but she'd been playing with her alt., a level 38 Druid who desperately needed some extra help. 

A shooting pain ran through her skull when she thought of Maya, her alt., and her vision suddenly blacked out.

*Flash*

Maya lay on the ground, blinking at the harsh sunlight. Dwarves aren't supposed to be in the light she grumbled. Wait, dwarves?!

Her eyes flew open and she stumbled to her feet. Wait- why was she so short?!

She looked down, and saw a round, portly body, barely the size of a child. What was going on?!

She looked up and around at the moss-covered ruin, and it hit her. Akihabara. She was in Akihabara.

What was going on?!

She stared around her, struggling to control her breathe. Okay. Okay. She could do this. She put a hand to her head and thought. 

Right, she'd been playing Elder Tale, farming in the Depth of the Palm. She tilted her head, wondering what her HP was. It was nearly gone a moment ago...

Thinking hard, she tried to remember what story characters always did to activate the menu. Swipe down...?

Instantly a menu appeared in front of her. To her relief, her health was back up to normal. She checked her inventory next- yep, she had everything.

She looked around, and say hundreds of other players freaking out at the sudden change. Oddly enough, a strange calm was on her. So what if she was in the game? It was better than her regular life...

Something was bugging her, tugging at the back of her head. Hadn't see been playing as Amaya when the transition happened...?

Suddenly a flash of pain blinded her, and she felt herself slipping away...

Amaya came to, stumbling a bit, holding her pounding head. OW, that hurts! she thought, rubbing her head. She looked around, trying to orient herself. Yep, she was in a random street- but a different one. She looked around, trying to find a landmark. She needed to meet up with... herself... and figure out what the bloody hell was going on. 

She lurched to her fight, trying desperately to walk without falling. But in only a moment she tripped over her feet and fell face-forward into the moss stone, accidentally opening her menu at the same time. She looked at it- yep, same old menu. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. She had an extra staff in there! It'd been a drop she'd kept and kept forgetting to put in the guild bank so Maya could use it.

She smiled when she glanced over at her guild name. The Problem Solvers. Not entirely accurate, but hey, it worked. A guild of two, existing solely so she and Maya could trade. 

Well there worse reasons she thought with amusement.

She selected the weapon, and used it to help stand up. It'd take her some time to get used to walking on her toes and balancing with her tail, and for now a walking stick would be helpful.

She peered around, and decided to go to the Silverleaf Tree in the center of town. It was an easy enough landmark, and easier to see than the Guild Hall. 

She reached the Tree without incident, dodging the freaking out players. She did frown when she saw some of them harassing the People of the Land- from their responses, they were obvious some level of sentient, much more so than NPCs. She knew enough programming for that...

Eventually, she reached the tree. She spotted some other players gathering there as well- an armored man and a mage. They didn't look like they were freaking out either, which was good. Amaya was glad at least some of us were keeping a level head. 

She walked around to the other side of the tree, sat down, and closed her eyes. She wanted to appear to be sleeping, instead of just staring off into space. Mentally she reached out, and felt a familiar shooting pain...

Maya opened her eyes, and looked around. Her head pounded, and the bright sunlight made the migraine even worse. She hoped switching like this wouldn't always cause this pain, but she didn't know...

Looking around, she spied the Great Tree in the distance. Far distance. She was nearer the outskirts of town, surrounded by abandoned and falling apart buildings. Making sure she could see the tree, Maya started off towards it.

She walked along, oblivious to the world, until suddenly a player ran into her. "Oy!" she said, "Watch where you're going!"

The guy simply leered at her, then said, "Hey there little lady, where you going?"

"Uh, none of your business?" she tried to walk around him, but he moved to block her. "Hey, get outta my way!" 

He shook his head. "Naahh. I think I wanna get to know you a little better first," he said, leaning down to be at eye level with her.

Maya started to swing her arm to punch him, then stopped, remembering the guards. They would kill her if she fought... and who knew if dying was permanent here? It wasn't worth the risk...

The guy just straightened up and laughed. "That's right, you can't fight! So just come with me," he said, reaching out to grab her arm.

Maya dodged to the side, then darted past him, tripping him as he tried to turn. He fell over, then cursed her out as she ran away. "Just try to run you bitch, you can't go far!"

As she ran away, she thought, That was close she thought. Good thing trips aren't combat...

That fact surprised her. What was combat in this game? The attacks? Or would a regular punch count? ...it wasn't worth the risk to check. She'd have to keep her eyes out....

She ran through the rest of the city, amazed at her character's endurance- it was far greater than her own. Her short legs annoyed her greatly though, as she covered terrain much slower than at home. Ah well, win some, lose some she though. At least I'm still human... well, human-ish.

Eventually she reached the Silverleaf Tree, and circled around it to find Amaya sitting there, eyes closed, barely breathing. Maya stared at her for awhile, feeling so odd looking at... herself. Yet it felt like... not herself. Like another person.  Even in her mind, she couldn't help but think of her as a separate person. 

Hesitantly, she reached down, and grabbed Amaya by the hand.