The adventure begins...tomorrow!

I wait patiently as my family works through their own tide of notifications. From the glassy eyed stares on every single one of their faces, it’s easy enough to tell that I am the first person to finish. Settling in to wait, I withdraw my brand-new spear from my inventory, grinning with childlike glee as it appears in my hand.

I take a moment to examine and familiarise myself with the weapon, experimentally hefting the weight. The spear is taller than I am at about 2 and a half metres (8ft in freedom units) but still seems light enough for one handed use. The top of the spear is typical leaf-head spearhead made of an orangy metal, at a guess either copper or bronze.

I note with some interest that the spearhead is counterbalanced by a metal spike attached to the butt. The sight tickles my memory, sending me back to a stuffy history classroom. The lesson had been about the Ancient Greeks and their heavy infantry, known as the hoplites. They apparently used a spear exactly like this one, which they called a dory. ‘So, this is a dory! I don’t know what to do with that information.’

Chuckling at myself, I finally take a proper look at our surroundings. We are standing in a rough circle in the middle of a forest clearing. The clearing is level, but the surrounding land is very slightly sloped, with trees stretching off in either direction up or down the incline. The forest floor is a carpet of moss and dead leaves, but small shrubs are dotted around haphazardly, and are beginning to encroach on the clearing.

Experimentally, I scrape up some of the moss and other organic detritus underfoot, revealing flat bare stone underneath. With some interest, I notice that swirling lines are carved into the stone, coming together to create intricate patterns. My intuition tells me it’s no coincidence that we arrived directly on top of this thing.

Head down, I continue uncovering more of the stone. I follow a particular pattern, eventually ending up closer to the edge of the clearing. I hear footsteps approaching behind me, and I realise with a guilty start that I have been doing a piss-poor job of keeping watch over my family. A glace over my shoulder sets me at ease as I realise that it’s Lisa.

She, like me, chose the leather armour, and I note with some approval that her armour isn’t the classic fantasy titty armour, but instead looks like it actually offers some decent protection. I can see the fletching of some quivered arrows peeking out over her right shoulder, and she holds an impressive looking wooden longbow in her left hand in a secure grip. On her left hip sits a sheathed shortsword, the orange of the pommel suggesting that its blade is also made of copper. “Looking good sis!” I grin slightly as she blushes at the compliment, but don’t fail to spot the satisfied smile that briefly crosses her face.

Lisa looks me up and down in return, so I pose heroically with my new spear by my side. Lisa smiles and rolls her eyes at my antics, and an unladylike snort from somewhere off behind her tells me that Ash is also finished with Character management. She walks up beside her big sister, similarly rocking the leather clad look. On one hip sits a longsword, resting in a simple scabbard, and the other is home to a long dagger. She takes up a parody of my hero pose, legs firmly panted, hands on hips, and a dramatic look off into the middle distance that is only slightly ruined by the shit-eating grin plastered on her face.

I can only shake my head at her antics. Movement from the centre of the clearing catches my eye, and I walk past the family idiot (who at this point is flexing her arms and demanding I pay homage to her 'sick guns') to see that both Mum and Em are finished and are both watching the Ash show with varying degrees of exasperation and amusement.

Em, like the rest of us, has gone for leather armour, and is holding a gnarled looking wooden staff topped with a rough-cut clear crystal. Mum looks incredible, and I can’t help but smile as I see her happy little face poking out of her chain coif. The coif looks to be a separate component from the rest of her long-sleeved chainmail coat, which spills down to about mid-thigh. She is the only one of us that got any head protection, but that is balanced by the lack of any proper protection below the thigh. Instead, she looks to still be in her walking boots and trousers. Strapped to her left arm is a banded circular wooden shield and looped into her belt is an impressive looking war axe.

Still, standing round admiring how badass we all look isn’t getting us anywhere. I look up at what I can see of the sun through the trees, which is not much considering how low the sun currently is, the first tinges of a sunset making lighting what I can see of the horizon. ‘It’s late then, far too late to head anywhere.’ I look round the clearing and other than a lack of water, it’d make the perfect campsite. Luckily, we are carrying several days’ worth of water in our Inventories, so that, at least for tonight, won’t be a problem.

I turn back to everyone, about to clap to get everyone’s attention, but everyone is already looking at me expectantly. This only throws me off a little bit, but after a slight pause I say, “As far as I can tell, we’ve arrived late in the day. Night looks like it’s not far off, so we may as well set up camp here. Mum, could you go with Lisa and have a quick look around the area for firewood?”

When they both nod, I smile in thanks, then continue. “Awesome, thanks. If possible, try to stay in sight of the camp, and don’t be afraid to holler if you come across anything nasty. We’ll probably need more than you think as we should keep a watch fire going overnight, so get as much as you can stuff in your inventory in the next half hour or so, if you collect too much, we can always use the wood later.”

“Ash and Emily, you’re with me on tent duty, lets get everything set up for tonight. When everyone gets back, we’ll set up a watch and decide who’s sleeping where.” A thought crosses my mind, so before everyone can wander off to start their tasks, I ask, “By the way? Did anyone get any utility Magic with your starter sets that will be useful, or are your spells all combat based?”

The consensus is that people only got combat based spells. Despite my desire to ask exactly what everyone received, I know that there will be plenty of time for that later when camp is set up. I let everyone know I got a healing spell, and that they should come to me if they get hurt. I then ask if anyone has anything to add, or if I had missed anything important, but am met by another round of ‘nos’ from my sisters, as well as a ‘you’re doing great, honey’ from Mum. Chuckling, I declare our impromptu meeting over.

Lisa and Mum wonder off into the forest, but for the most part stay in view. Whilst they gather firewood, Emily, Ash and I scramble to set up the tents. It’s been a little while since we’ve been camping, so our tent construction skills are rusty, but we eventually manage to get both tents up with only a minimal amount of swearing.

Not long after Lisa and mum return. Soon after, the five of us are sitting in camp chairs around a rosy campfire as the last light of day fades. For a time, we chat about little of import. Despite losing our home, and being transported god knows where, moral is high. Ash, as per usual, is indispensable at this sort of thing, and is always quick with a witty comeback or a joke if she sees anyone is looking down.

Mum watches over the proceedings, a small smile on her face. We all have a bit of a laugh as she takes off her coif, only to discover she now has the worst case of helmet hair ever. After our laughter dies down, I realise with a bit of a start that ever since the notifications appeared; I have totally usurped her authority. Guiltily, I realise that even after the original crisis was over; I had still given her orders without a second thought. ‘It’s probably best if we clear the air, otherwise things may get awkward later.’ Catching her eye, I motion towards the tents.

Once we’re inside, the light of an electric camping lantern illuminating the small space, Mum gives me a concerned look before asking, “Is everything alright sweety?” I take a moment to compose my thoughts before replying. “Everything’s fine, Mum, I just wanted to talk about today. I realised I gave you an order earlier despite us no longer being in crisis mode and felt a little bad about it. I just want to know where we stand is all.”

“if I recall correctly, it was more of a request than an order, plus, it made sense and needed doing.” She hesitates for a moment, her face shifting through a range of emotions. Eventually, she looks up at me, a vulnerability in her expression that takes me by surprise, and asks in a small voice, “What you said back at the house, about wanting to become adventurers with us all. Was that true?”

I frown, confused by the question. “Well, yeah?” Her voice, if anything, is even shakier as she replies, “Even if I’m old? Even though I’m your mother?” My frown deepens even further at the question. “First, you aren’t old. I know for a fact that you are much fitter than I am. Hell, you could run rings around me, and looks wise? If I didn’t know how old you were, I’d think you were at in your late twenties, maybe early thirties at a push. Face it, you’re gorgeous.”

Mum opens her mouth to respond, but I’m not done talking, “As for the fact you’re my mother, so what? You’re a genuinely good person who I enjoy spending time with. I also know for a fact that you’re reliable, and that you will have any of our backs if we need you to. You’re the perfect Party member, hell, you should probably be Party Leader.” By the end of my little speech, she is smiling, slightly teary eyed.

The expression becomes a little strained as, from outside the tent, we hear, “He’s right, you know, we’re all in agreement there. We want you along for our adventure, so now getting cold feet now! Oh, and by the way? It’s a tent, not a soundproof room, easy mistake to make, I know.” I shake my head, chuckling, then reply, “Thanks Ash.”

The relived look on Mum’s face warms my heart. She raises her voice slightly for the sake of our audience, and says, “Thanks guys, it really means a lot.” In a much quieter voice, she says, “As for the Party Leader thing? I meant it when I said you were doing a good job. I don’t mind following you lead, but I’ve got one condition.” I raise an eyebrow as she turns a little fidgety, before she says, “Whilst we’re out adventuring together, I want you and the girls to call me Sandra, would that be ok?”

The request is slightly surprising, but is no skin off my back. With a smile I reply, “If that’s what you want, Sandra.” She smiles back at me and I swear for a moment that I see a blush on her face, but quickly chalk it up to the artificial lighting. Her smile is infectious, and in no time at all both of us are laughing. “Thank you sweety, I was so worried, you have no idea how much this means to me”. She steps forwards, wrapping me in a fierce hug, one which I am more than happy to return.

On a whim, I turn to kiss her cheek. She must have had the same whim, as she turned at the same moment. My eyes widen in surprise as, rather than her cheek, my lips press up against hers. Both of us freeze up, and the sensation of her plush lips against my own burns itself into my memory as our kiss lingers. Then in a rush it’s over, and we separate with a gasp. There is no longer any doubt that both of us are now blushing crimson. Almost in unison, we say, “I’m so sorry! That was an accident!”

There's an awkward moment, a feeling that things could go poorly, then both of us are laughing, and the tension bleeds away. Walking towards the tent flap, she looks back at me over her shoulder, a strange little smile on her face as she says, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you just wanted to get me alone. I am gorgeous after all.” With one last laugh, she pushes through the flap and walks out into the night. I am left alone in the tent, blushing furiously, and well and truly baffled.