Seli off the Beaten Path

Seli touched down upon the net quietly. A door opened downwards about six feet above the floor of the net, releasing an opaque beam of light from its interior. Once the door closed and disappeared, Seli could be seen, standing where the beam of light had been.

She glanced down to make sure she had landed on the path, and happily headed along her way. She enjoyed being left to her own devices sometimes. It gave her time to think, time to relax, and time to truly appreciate her surroundings. She looked around and observed the virtual abyss that formed the net equivalent of the sky surrounding her. She looked off her path to make out figures in the distance. It was a very enjoyable day for a walk.

She kept a good pace, and was fairly well coordinated, but still it happened. She had been looking up and around when the perfect smoothness of the ground faltered and she stumbled upon a chip in the pathway. Narrow as it was, this chip was all she need to trip and fall right off the edge of the path.

She tumbled down, eventually settling at least twenty feet below her original path. This brought her off the safety of the well beaten path, into a region that could be infested with viruses. She had made it back onto the path before, but she didn't think she'd ever been this far off the path before. And heaven forbid she encounter any unsavory characters; she wasn't built for fighting.

So Seli brushed herself off, stood up, looked around, and began running back to the safety of the well traveled path.

"You can do it," she reassured herself as she ran, "This is no worse than usual; just because you're this far out doesn't mean you'll always be ambushed by viruses. You'll be fine." She reassured herself of these thigns, and she really hoped they were true.
Unfortunately for Seli, sometimes viruses DID ambush Navis. And this was one of those occasions, as three flying viruses began circling her, seemingly waiting for a chance to strike. Why that was so wasn't clear, as it seemed obvious that this was as good a time as any to attack. But they weren't, which was fortunate for the Navi.

FishyA: 90 HP
FishyB: 90 HP
FishyC: 90 HP

Seli: 100 HP

===== BATTLE ONE, READY. SOMETHING'S FISHY! BEGIN! =====
It wasn't long before the poor girl found herself circled by three green viruses, which were apparently named Fishies. This fact didn't interest her much, as she had bigger issues to deal with. However, she did commit it to memory, like everything she dealt with.

Meanwhile in the real world a resting Nikki found herself somewhat startled from her break by a vibration in her right hand, which now clutched her PeT. She discounted it as some sort of spam e-mail or text or the like. If it was important, Seli would have called for her by now. She returned to staring at the back of her eyelids in boredom, ignoring what she couldn't have known was her PeT's way of telling her its Battle Routine had activated.

Seli did not call for her Operator though. Nor did she really change her course of action at all. Glancing over her shoulders she took in the viruses that floated over her and continued running.

She watched where she stepped as she attempted to leave the ring of birds, ready to swoop down upon her at any moment. She kept her head low and her hands over it as she made her way out of their circling formation.

Once she escaped it, she began running faster. It was a straight dash now; if she could keep going faster than they could, she could stay safe. As long as they couldn't catch her they couldn't hurt her, and eventually they had to either tire of chasing her or she'd get to the NetSquare portal where they couldn't follow.

She ran normally now, leaning forward as if to pull herself through space. She didn't plan on allowing these birds to catch her. There had to be easier prey for them: the kind that didn't fight back, or the kind that stayed where it was and tried killing their friends. She hadn't done anything to anger them and was actively resisting now.

"They can't give chase forever." She smiled nervously as she assured herself of this.

Battle Summary:
1. Run out of central circle [DODGE]
2. Run from battle [ESCAPE]
3. Run from battle [ESCAPE]
It was true that Fishy couldn't give chase forever. Unfortunately, as Seli discovered, they could give chase, as one broke formation and flew straight into her, knocking the Navi over and preventing her escape. On the plus side, the other two didn't even seem to notice she wasn't within their circle anymore...

FishyA: 90 HP
FishyB: 90 HP
FishyC: 90 HP

Seli: 85 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal
Unfortunately Seli's plan hadn't worked. She had escaped from the circle, but found herself knocked to the ground by one of the Fishies. She let out a sharp exhale as she was hit. Unused to the pressure of fighting that simple blow had surprised her and knocked the wind out of her, preventing any further noise from escaping her lungs.

She recovered quickly though; she may not have been built to fight, but she was spunky. And she certainly wasn't built to lose. She propped herself up on her elbows, then went into a kneeling position. She waited for the Fishy to turn back to her, breathing deeply in the aftershocks of the last attack.

Once the moment came, when it looked like the Fishy would strike her, she pressed off her hands and knees and flew once more into a dash away from the Fishy, back on her original trail; towards the path, towards the NetSquare, and towards safety.

She was still running full speed away from the battle, but she was definitely feeling the strain of battle now. She was breathing more heavily and her heart had started pumping from the adrenaline. She wasn't worried about the pain of her last hit; the rush she was feeling was propelling her forward with little time to dwell on past injuries.

Seli was looking a bit more serious now. She remained positive though; there was no chance she'd let these birds catch her. Especially if they could only attack in broad sweeping dives like that, and especially if only one was still on her tail.

She hoped her legs could carry her fast enough this time.

Battle Summary:
1. Dive away from incoming Fishy [DODGE]
2. Run away from battle [ESCAPE]
3. Run away from battle [ESCAPE]
Seli once more tried to flee the Fishy and its even more idiotic partners...but the bird-like virus was able to attempt another attack. While it missed, it curved enough to block the Navi from escaping in that direction. Meanwhile, a second Fishy realized that there was no one inside its circle of doom, and started heading for the first. However, it still seemed unaware of Seli's presence...

FishyA: 90 HP (in front of Seli)
FishyB: 90 HP (behind Seli, moving towards her)
FishyC: 90 HP (still circling Seli's original location...)

Seli: 85 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal
Seli found the flying opponents catching up to her. She grinned with determination as she glanced at the one ahead of her. "Sorry, bird, but I have better places to be than here with you."

She turned sharply about forty-five degrees to her left and continued trying to run from the battle, avoiding both of the Fishies that had approached her. Once she found herself reasonably further along the line, she skidded sideways and turned forty-five degrees back to the left.

After this smewhat awkward half diamond had been completed Seli adjusted her turn a bit more, now once again making a beeline for where she figured the portal to the NetSquare was.

"There's no way these birds can keep after me forever." She kept running, kept pushing herself. She wasn't one to give up when the going got tough, and it wasn't even looking difficult yet.

All this action had remained unknown to Nikki. She rolled over on her bed, leaving her now face down in the fluffy down comforter. She cursed her boredom and the world that provided it, and wished her Navi would hurry the hell up so she could find something a bit more exciting to do. Seli meanwhile was wishing she herself could hurry the hell up so she could escape her excitement and find something a little more boring to do.

The irony of it all couldn't be appreciated by either one of them; Seli because her mind was busy with the matter at hand, and Nikki because she still hadn't been alerted to the whole mess her Navi was in.

Battle Summary:
1. Run away from battle [ESCAPE]
2. Run away from battle [ESCAPE]
3. Run away from battle [ESCAPE]
As Seli attempted to run some more, the second Fishy approached the first, and started to 'talk' to it in a Fishy language. After a moment of heated discussion, the first followed the second back to the circle, and all three resumed their activity around the spot. Needless to say, this made escaping much easier.

FishyA: 90 HP
FishyB: 90 HP
FishyC: 90 HP

Seli: ESCAPED

===== BATTLE ONE, FINISHED =====

=REWARDS:
Seli: 0z, Inability to proceed further
Finally, she escaped. She had overshot her escape a little though, and found herself running through a door into a beam of light, and reappearing once more inside of her PeT.

Now, though she would have had time to more fully appreciate her injuries, the PeT's systems fixed her up well and she didn't need to. One of the many luxuries of being a Navi was the ability to recover from any injury near instantaneously.

"I better get to the NetSquare though, or Nikki won't be very happy with me." It was with this in mind that she didn't waste any time in re-entering the Net. This time, though, she wouldn't be falling off the path.

She Jacked herself back into the net, and this time made it to the NetSquare safely. She smiled in her happiness all the way there. She had survived her first ever encounter with viruses. It may not have been what most would consider a victory, but Seli was positively glowing in achievement.

[END]