Haven Online

Looking at the transparent map in front of him, Zixuan could see that they were making a good time, but if he wanted to get Melting Snow to his meeting place before dark he had to go faster. With that thought in mind, the black-haired man pressed the green button that was just above the throttle.

This made the motorcycle ripple, becoming visible to the crowd of players and NPCs walking along the streets for a moment, before disappearing once more. Once it was invisible to the naked eye again, the bike surged forward, going speeds so fast that if this was real life Zixuan knew he would be locked up. 

Hearing a delighted whoop of excitement from the adventure junkie seated behind him, Zixuan smirked feeling the exhilaration himself. This had always been his favorite transportation device, if only because he worked so hard to make it perfect.

And it was perfect because no other transportation device in the world of Haven would be able to bend the space around its immediate area. This would make it so that nothing could get near it once it was in motion. He bet that if he auctioned it off it would go for thousands of gold coins.

However, that was one thing he would never do, he would never sell his baby for anything. As he was checking the map to see how much farther they had to get to their destination, he suddenly felt Melting Snow's arms loosen from around his waist. 

Taking his eyes off the road, Zixuan quickly took a glance at his side mirror. Only to see Melting Snow with his eyes closed, leaning back, his arms spread out wide.

With the swiftness of a lion grabbing its prey, he reached one arm behind him and grabbed Melting Snow by his armor, pulling him back close to him, while sternly yelling, "Kiddo have you lost your damn mind?! If you fall off this thing at this speed you will die!"

"I'm sorry Soul, I got lost in the moment," the furry-eared boy said apologetically. He didn't really understand how harmful his actions were, he didn't know that players could die from falling off transportation devices. "I won't do it again."

"You better not. Now hold on tight we are almost there," Zixuan said, turning his full attention back on the road. 

Nodding his head, when he felt the boy wrap his arms securely around his waist, he revved the engine once more, pushing his bike to go faster. He was glad that he had his map because the world around him was completely blurred. 

They were now on the last stretch of their ride, the pavilion was just ahead. Pressing the green button again, he slowed his bike down so as to not overshoot the designated stop.

As the pavilion came into view, Zixuan could see two people sitting on a bench in front of it. Although he couldn't make out their features as of yet, he could assume that these were the kiddo's friends.

So after zipping over there, he shifted the gears of the motorcycle and with a quick maneuver had the large chopper squealing to a fast stop. Parking his red and black motorcycle right in front of them.

~

One minute Wei was talking to Wandering Sound about the best way to get to their first destination, the town of Dewsbury. And the next, she was being startled out of wits by a gleaming black and red bike appearing out of nowhere before her.

At first, she thought that maybe it was one of those special NPCs that roamed around the world only to reveal themselves once in a while to give quests. However, she realized that wasn't the case when she caught a glimpse of Melting Snow sitting behind the muscular man who she assumed was an NPC. 

"Hey guys, I'm here," Melting Snow announced, waving excitedly at them. He then proceeded to hop off the bike he was on with the agility that only someone of the beastman race possesses. "What are you doing just standing there?! Come over and meet my cousin."

'So he is snow boy's elusive cousin, he is a lot more handsome than I thought he would be,' an intrigued Wei thought as she along with Wandering Sound moved towards the duo. 

It was a good thing that Wandering Sound couldn't read Wei thoughts at this time, if he could he would have been feeling a little self-conscious. Because the man before him could be the definition of handsome. 

From his curly black hair that seemed to somehow sparkle in the light, his chiseled jaw that seemed hard enough to break diamonds, his glistening muscular chest that was semi-exposed, to his long sturdy legs that were straining against the black leather jeans they were in.

Although he was a little enviousness of the man's appearance, he also knew that players can make their avatars look any way they want. With that realization, any insecurities went away, since he knew that besides a few minor tweaks his avatar was exactly what he looked like in the real world.

~ 

Getting off of his motorcycle, Zixuan watched as the elven woman and male siren walked towards him. They looked quite different from what he expected, but then again he wasn't really expecting much. 

Not in a mean way, it was just that when his little cousin talked about his friends, besides some passing words, they weren't really mentioned. Melting Snow mostly only went on about his other friend the Dryad.

"Roaming Wind, Wandering Sound," Melting Snow began when he saw that his friends were only a foot away from them. "Meet my cousin, Soul."

Sticking out his hand to the elven woman, Zixuan said, "It's actually Nascent Soul, only the kiddo here likes to shorten it." 

"It seems snow boy, can dish nicknames but can't take them," Wei teased while grasping the man's hand and shaking it. "I'm Roaming Wind, Melting Snow's best pal."

"If that's what you want to think," the boy muttered, almost snorting loudly at the woman's delusional words.

While pulling a face at the boy, she yelled, "I heard that!" 

"Well, that's good that you did!" Melting Snow said, pulling an ugly face right back at her.

Ignoring Melting Snow's and Wei's usual bantering, Wandering Sound stuck out his hand to the black-haired man, saying, "It's nice to meet you Nascent Soul I'm Wandering Sound." 

After firmly shaking the siren's hand, Zixuan stood there and watched Melting Snow and his friends interact with a smile on his face. He could see now why they got along so well. 

The curvaceous elven girl who looked about his age was as childish as the kiddo was. While the siren who looked as though he was a complete pushover, was trying to stop the bantering between two of them but was hesitant because of his presence. 

As the teasing between the two of them went on for a couple of minutes, he was about to chime in and to break up the childishness, when he suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from behind him.

~

Xinya had been walking to the meeting place for about 15 minutes now, and he was almost there. It was unbelievable since it took him way longer when he was going in the opposite direction.

It seemed that without too many people on the street, this town was quite easy to traverse through. He made a mental note to himself, that if he ever needed to come to town and do some business he would make sure to set off when it's late afternoon.

As he got nearer to the pavilion, he started to hear the voices of his friends. He smirked, shaking his head a little when he heard the teasing voice of Wei.

The two of them acted so much like siblings that it wasn't even funny. He felt like he should warn her not to keep teasing the boy because everyone knows what little siblings do to big ones when they annoy them too much.

Quickening his pace, Xinya walked until his friends were in sight, only to see a stranger among them. He was dumbfounded, he couldn't figure out why Wei would be acting like this around some random player, and why wasn't Wandering Sound wasn't stopping her.

"Roaming Wind, what did I tell you about teasing Melting Snow," Xinya said, as he walked the last couple of feet towards the group. Bringing a halt to the ruckus that was going on in front of him. 

A bright smile lit up Melting Snow's face when he heard Drifting Cloud's voice. He completely stopped goading Roaming Wind and bounced over excitedly towards the man, "Drifting Cloud, did you get it?!"

"If you mean my farm," Xinya began, patting the boy gently on the head, "then yes, I did."

"Really?! I can't wait to see it!" the boy exclaimed, imagining all of the cows and horses he would be able to play with soon.

Suddenly a snicker was heard from Wandering Sound, as he watched the boy become so immersed in talking to Drifting Cloud that he completely forgot about this cousin.

"Melting Snow, did you forget about someone?" Wandering Sound asked while gesturing to Nascent Soul, who was observing Xinya and Melting Snow's interactions with interest.

"Oh, right," Melting Snow laughed sheepishly. Grabbing Drifting Cloud's arm he pulled him over to Zixuan saying, "Come, meet my cousin! I think you two will get along really well."