Riders of the Midnight Sun (f+/f+) Chapter 19 Posted 2023-04-23

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Shotrow
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Riders of the Midnight Sun (f+/f+) Chapter 19 Posted 2023-04-23

Post by Shotrow »

(I'm taking a bit of a risk with this one. I know it's a lot more "high concept" than most of the stories here. But I had a ton of fun writing it, and I already have a lot of ideas for how to continue it. I've put a lot of thought into this setting. If you have any questions about it, please ask me. The response I get to this story will help me decide whether or not I continue with this setting.)
Chapter 1
Aziyah sat on the edge of the white steel pod, hunched over her tablet. It was bedtime, the best part of the day. "Open AISPA app," commanded the impatient girl.

The device soon complied and displayed its usual splash page accompanied with a catchy but underplayed lyricless jingle. "Algorithmic Incentivization of Societally Positive Actions," it read, "Presented by the National Department of Health and Human Services."

Aziyah tapped her way through the menu options until she arrived at her daily evaluation. The app began to list out her daily activities to the beat of a lively percussion section. "Skip," she commanded. Obediently, the app forewent the fanfare and displayed the entire list. Everything she had done that day, every assignment submitted to her school's website, every exercise recorded by the accelerometer in her ankle bracelet, every meal ordered from a drone delivery service, and even the steps she took to clean herself recorded by the smart mirror in her bathroom was all on display and scored. Her exercise, creative enrichment, and hygiene that day were rated well. Her academic work and socialization were only satisfactory. All combined, the app judged her score to be deserving of a Level 4 prize token.

Aziyah was annoyed. She was earning Level 15 tokens just a few short weeks ago. The more days you maintained a high score in a row, the better the prize. A level 4 would barely be worth the trip to the prize parlor to redeem. But AISPA kept changing the requirements on her. One day it decided to double her shower quota, another day she had to start applying medicated cream to her skin, and another it wanted her to start taking a whole bunch of supplements she had never needed before. It was too much to keep track of, and it wasn't surprising that Aziyah messed up a few days and lost her streak. It would take months of compliance to get back to where she was, and it wasn't easy with how emotionally restless she had been feeling lately.

At least she could take comfort in the fact that her daily tasks were over, and it was now time for free-play. Even the pedantic busybodies at the National Department of Health and Human Services had recognized the need for kids and adults to explore, take risks, discover, and socialize without rules. So they had partnered with some private companies to create virtual worlds where they could do just that. As soon as Aziyah lay down inside the pod, the neural pathways otherwise used for dreaming would be manipulated by the pod's machinery, transporting her mentally to another world while she slept, all with relatively little risk of brain damage or psychosis. Fourteen hours of trying her best to be a good, responsible citizen earned her ten hours in an imaginary world where she was free to do whatever she wanted and redeem the prizes she earned by complying with AISPA's instructions.

Before long, Aziyah was fast asleep in the massive steel pod and wide awake in the world of Happy Trails.

----
In the world of Happy Trails, Aziyah was a completely different person. Her name wasn't Aziyah, but Sweet Becky Marigold. She might have felt silly bearing that name if it weren't for the fact that everyone in this world had a name like that. At some point, someone somewhere decided that the kids playing the game would be safer if they couldn't choose their own names. So instead, they were forced to pick them from a list of procedurally generated names when they created her characters. Instead of black, her hair was blond, braided into pigtails, and adorned with pink ribbons. She wore a white cowgirl hat with a pink band. Instead of dark hazel, her eyes were a stunning blue. Her upper body was covered in a white blouse, over which sat a cream-colored waistcoat, while her legs were covered by light brown jodhpurs. At her waist was a candy-cane striped lasso, curled up and hanging from her belt, and a pair of pearl-handled revolvers. However, she was still a preteen girl; another brilliant idea the game creators had to protect the players was to forbid them from misrepresenting their age or sex.

Next to her was her equine companion. Everyone in Happy Trails had at least one. Sweet Becky's was a Palomino Tenessee Walker named Briar. Players had a little more freedom in naming animals. Briar had an official name that was almost as silly as "Sweet Becky Marigold," but she only used it when she and Becky were competing in shows. Outside of that, the horse's speech recognition software could be trained to respond to whatever name Sweet Becky chose for her, and what she decided on was "Briar." Briar's mane and tail were braided, like Becky's, and decorated with very similar ribbons. In addition, Briar bore a copper-colored unicorn horn, a feature that had cost her owner a fortune in AISPA credits.

"Hey, girl," murmured Sweet Becky as she nuzzled and petted Briar, "I missed you." The pod's ability to synthesize the sense of touch was still imperfect. Even though Sweet Becky's hands were bare, it felt like she was petting her horse through a leather glove. It might have bothered her more if she had ever touched a horse in the real world for comparison.

Sweet Becky climbed onto Briar's back. The bright and sunny meadow that Sweet Becky and Briar stood on was part of Gingersnap Ranch, owned by Sweet Becky's friend Clever Anne Ginger. Owning a ranch was quite a privilege; you could save for years and not be able to afford one. Fortunately, Clever Anne's real-life father could afford to buy it for her with real money. Every player got a horse for free, but you needed a ranch if you wanted to raise or breed any other kind of livestock. Fortunately, Clever Anne was willing to share the use of her land with any of her friends who would agree to help tend to her own herds in return.

Sweet Becky urged her horse into a gallop and began her rounds. Her first order of business would be to chase off any varmints that had crept into the pastures during the night, which was actually daytime in the real world. The presence of any non-domesticated snakes, foxes, or rats would seriously damage the animals' happiness score, lowering their productivity and resale value. As soon as she neared the mini-panda pen, she heard the tell-tale whimpering that implied the presence of such a pest. If that wasn't enough, Briar seemed agitated and reared up when Sweet Becky tried to urge her a bit closer. "Easy girl..." she murmured, giving her mount a reassuring pat. She slid off the saddle and continued to inch forward through the tall grass on foot.

Finally, she spotted the source of Briar and the pandas' discontent. A coyote pup growled at her menacingly. Without hesitation, Sweet Becky took aim with one of her revolvers. A single shot would send the creature running. According to the game's fiction, the guns were "charm shooters" whose only effect was to make the target friendly to the shooter. Sweet Becky had felt anything but friendly to anyone who had ever shot her with one; since the game couldn't control a player's emotions, hitting a player with a charm shooter had the effect of paralyzing them for 15 seconds. She took aim and squeezed the trigger. A pink love heart exploded from the barrel of her gun to burst against the coyote's body and sent the pest scampering away.

After she calmed down the pandas with petting, grooming, and feeding, she was suddenly startled by the sound of heavy hoofbeats. She held her hand against the brim of her hat and squinted... it was a bay Shire horse, running riderless. One of the few breeds and colors available to brand-new players. She recognized it as Singing Laura Mango's horse, Pippin. Singing Laura was Clever Anne's newest ranch hand. She was young but not as young as most players were when they started the game; she had only recently immigrated to the country and started with AISPA. Sweet Becky had spent most of the previous day teaching Singing Laura how to ride. It had been a joy to see the game through her fresh eyes. But if Pippin was running free, Singing Laura might be in trouble. Sweet Becky quickly mounted Briar and gave chase. It was hardly a challenge; there was no way a beginner horse could outrun Briar. In a moment, Sweet Becky's candy-striped lasso was around the Shire horse's neck. After she calmed the agitated horse, she led him back in the direction he had come from. "Singing Laura?" he called out.

"Mmph! Mmmph mmmph mmph!" came the response. Sweet Becky followed the voice into the tall grass. Still dressed in the plain white calico tunic that all new players started with and positioned so that Sweet Becky had a good view of the equally plain gray bloomers underneath, the dark-skinned girl lay hidden in the grass in a strict hogtie, gagged with a checkered bandana. That either meant that she had gotten on the nerves of one of the other ranch hands or that there was an intruder on the ranch. Sweet Becky didn't recognize the purple and pink striped rope as belonging to any of the other girls, so she quickly loosened her bonds.

"What happened?" she asked.

"That crazy girl came up behind me and hit me with a big stick... it didn't hurt that much, but I couldn't move," she explained.

"That's how it works. Getting hit in this game doesn't hurt nearly as much as real life, but it stuns you," Sweet Becky explained.

"She tied me up and scared Pippin away," the younger girl complained, "And, Sweet Becky... she took the black mallard!"

"Sugar," muttered Sweet Becky. The game's profanity filter limited her ability to express her true feelings. "Don't worry, we're going to find her. Do you remember the way to the kennels? I need you to ride as fast as you can. If Clever Anne is there, tell her that you need to borrow Cwellen, but *don't tell her why*. We don't need to tell her we lost one of her most expensive birds. Cwellen's the maroon-colored hound. Bring him back here as soon as you can."

Sensing the severity of Sweet Becky's voice, Singing Laura wasted no time following her instructions. Sweet Becky rode around in a circle, hoping to get lucky and catch some glimpse of the intruder, but to no avail. She returned to where she started to see Singing Laura waiting with Cwellen. "Ok, come on, boy, find the intruder."

The hound's natural language programming immediately picked up on her instruction, and the adorable pup began to sniff. It wasn't long before Cwellen gave a happy bark to signal that he had found a trail. The two girls followed behind him on horseback at a slow but steady pace as he led them down the intruder's path of retreat.

"What would have happened if you hadn't found me?" asked the shaken younger girl.

"Worst case, you would have gotten free at the end of the ten hours," replied Sweet Becky, "You would wake up and live out your day, and next free-play time you would have been back at your home point untied. You can only keep someone prisoner for longer than that if they've committed a crime against you."

She nodded. "That would have been a long time to be tied up for. Could she have killed me?" asked Singing Laura, "Why are we allowed to steal from and hurt each other like this?"

"We spend all day following those rules AISPA gives us. It's only fair we can enjoy some chaos here. But the game doesn't let you kill another player directly," explained Sweet Becky, "But there is a loophole. She could have carried you to an environmental hazard like quicksand or a train track and left you. It's called 'periling' someone. It's considered bad sportsmanship, so most players won't do that unless they're really mad at someone."

"What happens then?"

"You get sent to the afterlife dimension, the Ghostly Gala, and you have to do some quests to get back. They're really easy for a new player like you. The more developed your character is, the harder it is to get back." Sweet Becky reached across to pat the younger girl's kinky hair. "Don't worry about it. We can..."

She pulled her horse to a halt suddenly, and a moment later, Singing Laura followed suit. "That'll do, Cwellen," Sweet Becky whispered to the eager hound, dismissing him to return to his kennel. The two young riders stood on a hill, looking out over an edge. Below them, dressed in an outfit of purple and crimson, a girl stood by a creek urging her grey pinto to drink.

"C'mon..." the stranger muttered, "Hurry up..." Sweet Becky realized the thief had made an amateur mistake. She had been in such a hurry to make her getaway that she had ridden her horse to exhaustion. She now had to stop to give him rest and care, losing far more time than she would have by keeping a more reasonable pace.

Sweet Becky considered their options. With a more experienced partner, she might have suggested that one of them chases after their target while the other rides around their prey to cut off their escape. But Sweet Becky knew that Pippin wasn't fast enough to get on the other side of the stranger in time, and coming up behind her with the jumpy girl in pursuit was just asking for a friendly fire incident. "Ok, we'll go together. You stun her with your charm shooter. I'll lasso her. Ready? Three, two, one..."

The girls whooped as they urged their horses into a full gallop. Tropical frog charms burst against the rocks and dirt around the panicking thief as Singing Laura fired wildly. She couldn't aim for sugar, and she had no trigger discipline, but it worked to keep the thief off balance. The thief hesitated between shooting back, mounting her horse, and diving for cover behind a large boulder in the other direction before settling on the horse. It was too late. Before the stranger could turn her tired horse around, Sweet Becky's candy cane lasso was around her, pinning her arms to the side and pulling her right from the saddle. She was dragged behind Sweet Becky's Palomino, bouncing against dirt and rocks, until she was utterly disoriented and defeated.

Now that they were close to her, the girls could see the thief's character name was 'Pretty Polly Bluebell.' Sweet Becky had never heard of her, and she was glad the strange girl wasn't anyone important. Her hair was black and tied back in a ponytail with a butterfly hair tie. She was a little older than Singing Laura but much younger than Sweet Becky. Sweet Becky bound Pretty Polly's arms behind her back and her ankles together with her peppermint striped rope with practiced ease. Singing Laura noted with interest that even though they had cut off pieces of the lasso to tie the girl up, it still seemed to be the same size. She quickly checked the saddlebags of the grey stallion, and to her relief that the black mallard was tucked in there safe and sound.

"Give that back! Let me go!" demanded Pretty Polly, "It's not fair! I wasn't ready! You guys have all those rare pets, are so you self-MMPH! MMMPH MMMPH!!" She now found herself gagged with the same bandana that she had used to silence Singing Laura a moment ago.

"What are we going to do with her?" asked Singing Laura curiously as she watched their prisoner mmph and struggle. Sweet Becky couldn't help but hear a bit of excited glee in her voice.

"Pay close attention, kid. You're about to get a lesson in Happy Trails justice."

----

A moment later, Pretty Polly found herself in the middle of a lightly wooded pasture. Each of her limbs was tied to a different tree, leaving her body in an x-shape. She was wearing only a chest wrap and loincloth, as naked as the game would allow her to be. Her gag had been removed and converted into a blindfold. "I want to hear her scream," Sweet Becky had commented to Pretty Polly's great consternation.

"Girls? What are you doing?" she asked nervously as her captors began to rub her body with a slimy substance. There were all sorts of potions and ointments in the game, so she couldn't predict what effect this would have on her. Sweet Becky and Singing Laura departed, and a moment later, the bound girl could hear a distinctive braying.

"Are those honey goats?" she asked, confused. A moment later, she began to put the pieces together. "Oh... oh no! No, please! You can't! It's cruel!" she struggled against her bonds uselessly. Pain was dampened in the world of Happy Trails, but tickling would be transmitted in full to the unfortunate girl's nervous system. Her stomach twisted in fear at the thought, "Please, this isn't funny!"

"Boy, they're really straining against their leashes," she heard Sweet Becky say in a sing-song voice, "Not sure how much longer we can hold on for..."

"I'm sorry!" pleaded Pretty Polly, tears forming in her eyes, "I won't do it again, I swear! I'll give you my AISPA rewards for a week."

"Not sure if that's good enough," came the younger voice, "I have a lot of catching up to do..."

"Fine, a month. W-we can negotiate! Just take the goats away."

"A month... now you have my attention," mused Sweet Becky.

"R-really?" asked Pretty Polly, panting in relief, "So you'll let me go for..."

"NOPE!" cried Sweet Becky in rapturous glee as Singing Laura cackled ruthlessly.

"Wha-?!" Pretty Polly could already hear the hoofbeats heading towards her. "NO! NO YOU BRA-AH-AHAH!" she squealed as the goats' rough tongues began greedily lapping at all the honey smeared on her exposed neck, ribs, armpits, tummy, and the soles of her feet, each lick feeling like a bolt of lightning that made her whole body tense up.

The poor girl's slim virtual body twisted and arched as she screamed, cried, pleaded, and laughed all at once while her two captors giggled and jeered from a safe distance. The last thing she heard was Singing Laura telling the older girl, "I guess you were right. We do deserve to enjoy a little chaos."
Last edited by Shotrow 11 months ago, edited 22 times in total.
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Ovi1
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Post by Ovi1 »

This was a great story, you mixed up a name once but that happens all the time. Would love to see it continued!
I believe you would be a lot more comfortable in ropes
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Post by Shotrow »

Glad you liked it! Could you tell me where?
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Ovi1
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Post by Ovi1 »

Shotrow wrote: 1 year ago Glad you liked it! Could you tell me where?
you find it if you do a ctrl+f for " sweet laura "
I believe you would be a lot more comfortable in ropes
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Post by Shotrow »

Many thanks. Edited.
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Post by Shotrow »

Chapter 2


Pretty Polly lay hogtied on the floor of a small cage wagon. Her bindings were a mix of Sweet Becky's peppermint striped lasso and Singing Laura's plain brown beginner's rope. They had both worked together to bind her for transport. She was gagged again. The game picked up on her elevated heart rate and movement attempts during her ordeal and had given her skin a shinier texture and dyed her underwear a darker color to represent her being damp with sweat. She panted from simulated breathlessness as she stared listlessly through the bars of her cage, mentally and emotionally exhausted.

Sweet Becky had every intention of letting their prisoner go after they got their revenge. However, after Clever Anne had learned what happened, she insisted on sending one of the other girls to ride to the town's sheriff's office to see if there was a bounty on Pretty Polly. It turned out that Gingersnap Ranch wasn't the first ranch that Pretty Polly had tried to steal pets from. It wasn't a high bounty, but it was set by one of the other nearby ranchers. Clever Anne believed in staying on good terms with her neighbors, so Sweet Becky and Singing Laura were charged with packing the girl up and taking her to serve the two-day jail sentence she was due. Singing Laura led Pippin by the rein, and the girl's worked together to hitch the shire horse to the wagon.

"Are you sure we're not going to get into any trouble for this?" asked Singing Laura as she took her place on the driver's seat and urged her horse onward.

"Of course we won't." Sweet Becky assured her. She rode beside the cart on Briar, where she'd be ready to act if the girls ran into any trouble. "Nothing we do here has consequences outside of the game, with very few exceptions. And in the game, she won't be able to press charges against us with the sheriff for attacking her. She was trespassing, so we had a right to take her down."

"Yeah, but we..."

"We didn't torture her. The goats did. So as far as the game's concerned, we're in the clear," Sweet Becky explained with a smile. The verdant countryside rushed past the two girls as they rode down the path with their sullen prisoner in tow. They passed rolling hills dotted with bright flowers and trees heavy with colorful-looking fruit. Once in a while, they'd be passed by a girl on a horse or a cage cart loaded with pets being transported for sale. No one seemed to have any questions about the girl the two of them had tied up in their cart, despite her muffled pleas, just as Singing Laura soon learned not to mind that some of the riders had girls tied up across the back of their horses. "Best not to ask," Sweet Becky explained.

Singing Laura nodded and focused her attention on steering the cart around a tricky curve for a moment. "Hey, uh..." she whispered to the older girl, "Why doesn't she just log off instead of going to jail."

Sweet Becky answered in her normal voice. "Do you see a 'log off' button anywhere? We get logged off when our ten hours are up, no sooner," she explained, "And we have to come back every night. It gives the game world meaning. That's part of the deal with AISPA. You can request a transfer to another game world, but there's all this paperwork and stuff you have to fill out in the real world. It's a lot of trouble. Takes days of planning."

"Huh, so she's just going to have to log on to sit in a jail cell alone for two days? That sounds really boring."

"It is," Sweet Becky answered with a twinkle in her eye. She knew that from experience. "But anyone can come by and talk to you. Or tease you, or worse depending on the prison... But, after how you acted back there, I have a feeling you'll be finding out soon enough yourself."

Singing Laura blushed at the teasing. "Hey, she started it!" she whined, "If she hadn't knocked me out and tied me up..."

"Exactly. You can't let anyone mess with you in this game," answered Sweet Becky.

The path the girls were traveling on soon merged with another path to form the main street of Rosewater. The town consisted of little more than this one street, though Sweet Becky knew that a handful of businesses were scattered around the general area. Along the street, there were the usual town amenities: a telegraph station, a prize parlor, a blacksmith, and of course, the sheriff's office. These were mixed in with a handful of mostly-vacant shops available for players to rent and turn into pet stores, clothing boutiques, grooming parlors, or whatever else. Further on, the street joined with the trail that Sweet Becky knew eventually led to Brightleaf Forest.

"Why don't you stop at the prize parlor? I can take her the rest of the way by myself," Sweet Becky suggested.

"Ok... but don't you have some tokens to redeem too?" asked Singing Laura.

"Nah, I don't need anything I can win with the tokens I have. I'll make the trip some other time. But you'll want to get out of those beginner clothes as soon as you can, and get your horse in some better tack. People will judge you for that sort of thing, you know."

With that, the two girls went their separate ways. After hitching Briar to a nearby post, Sweet Becky lifted the struggling prisoner onto her shoulder and carried her into the Sheriff's Office. The only other people in the Sheriff's Office were the girls in the cells. Their chatter stopped for a moment while they moved against the bars of their cells to see who it was that had just arrived, but it didn't seem like any of them had any strong opinions about either Pretty Polly or the young bounty hunter who captured her. Sweet Becky dropped the hogtied girl in the first empty cell and closed the door. The poor pet rustler would be stuck like that until the reset, unless she managed to struggle free. Sweet Becky picked up her reward at the vacant Sheriff's Desk on the way out.

She caught up with Singing Laura coming out of a hair salon. She was still wearing the basic beginner tunic, but her previously unkempt hair was in neat box braids, which she tied into pigtails at the side of her head using a pair of pink and purple bubble hair ties. It would take a lot more money before she caught up with the girls who had been playing for years and years, but she was one step closer.

"Looking good," Sweet Becky told her with a smile, "C'mon, follow me."

"Where are we going?" asked Singing Laura as she climbed into the driver's seat of the now-empty wagon.

"The horses need rest before we can make the journey back," Sweet Becky explained, "They'll recover much faster in a stable. I know a little place where we can rest them and grab a drink for ourselves."

Although the setting of Happy Trails was loosely inspired by the "Old Western" ideal of pre-collapse America, authenticity was not a top priority for either players or developers. Most stables back then probably did not have a terrace roof. Most cantinas were perhaps not located on a terrace roof above a stable. It was likely they didn't have so much decor in common with an English tea room, either. But Little Jane Pepper's place had all those things. As the girls approached the tall wooden building, they could hear a cacophony of excited chatter and laughter.

"Seems like the place is busier than usual..." Sweet Becky remarked. After the girls stabled their horses and made their way up the wooden steps, she knew why.

There was a time when it seemed like the idea of gendered activities, or indeed the idea of gender itself, might die off. Some people like to imagine that history is a linear march from barbarism to enlightenment, or else from enlightenment to barbarism. However, there are times when the evolution of moral sentiment seems to take on a cyclical quality. Happy Trails was a girls' game. There was no question about that. The only reason it was even possible to make a male avatar in the game is that the developer had other games targeted at boys and so already had the assets ready to go. It was estimated that fewer than one in fifteen players was male. Sweet Becky and Singing Laura were now in the presence of one of them, and a cute one at that.

Smiling Reilly Salt looked to be a couple of years younger than Sweet Becky. The poor boy rushed from one side of the room to the other, filling glasses from a row of barrel taps behind the counter and dodging the girls' "subtle" attempts to keep his attention or pat or touch him. Sweet Becky and Singing Laura soon gathered from the excited conversation all around them that he was Little Jane's younger brother. She was on a school trip to the surface this week ("I didn't know Little Jane was a Morlock," remarked Sweet Becky, a slightly insensitive term for residents of the underground city.), so he had transferred from Razor Fang to keep an eye on her place for a while. Sweet Becky could only guess what Little Jane had offered in return for this act of extreme sibling loyalty.

Now, it's not that the girls of Happy Trails had never seen a boy before. But it was different. You weren't really yourself in the waking world. Everything was scripted, planned, and supervised. Getting to know the opposite sex as they really were, being liked for who you really are... those things could only happen during free-play. Kids who spent their free-play time in a gender unbalanced world like Happy Trails didn't get many opportunities to do that. Every boy who played learned to be standoffish and guarded, much to the frustration of the insecure young girls that formed the bulk of the player base.

"Well, this is annoying," remarked Singing Laura as she and Sweet Becky claimed a table right next to the railing, "How are we supposed to get ser... why is your face so red?"

Sweet Becky turned away in embarrassment. Her heart was pounding. Who knows when she'd have a chance like this again? Boys liked confidence. At least that was her theory. She swaggered up to the counter and rested her elbow on it. Smiling Reilly had just placed a tray full of a half-dozen shot glasses of a reddish-colored drink. "Order up for... hey! That's not yours!"

Sweet Becky downed the beverage in one gulp. It was Shirley Temple, or at least the game's version of it. The pod's ability to synthesize smell was even worse than its ability to synthesize touch, so all the drinks were just sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and savory in various combinations. Sweet Becky preferred it to the real thing. "Oops! Silly me," she said in a sing-songy voice. She hoisted herself up onto the counter, twisting her body to face him, resting on her elbow in a way that she hoped was seductive. "But they won't miss it. Name's Sweet Becky Marigold."

Smiling Reilly grumbled and filled another glass of Shirley Temple. "Well, Ms. Marigold, I hope you have 3 silver bits to pay for that drink."

All Sweet Becky could think of was that paying the boy meant he'd have no more reason to talk to her. "C'mon, is that all we mean to you? Money?" she taunted him. Then, she raised her voice so the whole cantina could hear her. "You've got all the prettiest girls in Happy Trails here, and all you want to do is work? Someone needs to teach you to have some fun."

Several of the other girls had gathered around her. Her cocksure attitude may not have won over the boy yet, but it definitely impressed some of the girls who had their own frustrations with the maddeningly inaccessible boys of Happy Trails. They shouted in support.

"Yeah! You tell him!"

"C'mon, there must be one of us you like.."

"Come sit with me, I'll show you a good time."

"What, are you gay or something?

Singing Laura, along with most of the other girls, watched with horrified fascination, trying not to draw attention or get involved. "What are you doing?" she murmured to no one.

In the face of the mob of girls that had just formed around the counter, the terrified bartender flattened himself against the row of drink barrels. Emboldened, Sweet Becky slid over to his side of the counter.

"You can't come back here!" he objected nervously. The situation was turning ugly for him really fast. "I'm sure you're a lovely girl... all of you... but I have to... my sister... I promised..."

"I'm doing her a favor. No one's going to want to drink at a place run by a stuck-up boy who thinks he's too good for us!" retorted Sweet Becky to a general cheer as she put her arm against the wall to block his exit. Her stomach fluttered. This was it... if she played it right, it could be her first kiss. She was sure he'd enjoy it once he tried it. Boys were always eager; everyone knew that. If she kissed him, he'd actually feel it in real life... and if she just so happened to touch him there... "Come on, kiss me!" she demanded and puckered her lips.

What she felt was not a kiss but a painful fist to the face. Not as painful as it would have been in real life, but then again, it's doubtful that her opponent could have hit her as hard in real life. Sweet Becky hadn't even seen the girl jump over the counter. She was wearing a purple-and-magenta poncho, and a purple mariachi hat low over her eyes. "Why don't you just get lost?" the strange girl muttered. She only spoke out of one side of her mouth. The other was occupied by a lollipop stick.

The cantina was quiet as a graveyard as everyone waited for her response. After the stun wore off, she had some options. She could press assault charges at the Sheriff's Office and put a bounty on the girl. She could hit her back. Or, she could escalate and bring charmshooters into it, which would give the strange girl a chance to press charges against her. Right now, she was too angry at having her romantic moment interrupted to do anything else. With barely a glare, she drew, cocked, and fired.

Sweet Becky was a reasonably good shot. She never expected the girl to sidestep her love heart projectile so easily. She soon responded by sending a shooting-star from her own gun exploding against the girl on the floor, stunning her. In desperation, Singing Laura stood on her seat and fired her frog charms wildly, not hitting her target but hitting two bystanders instead. She was answered with a blast of cactus-flower charms right in the chest that knocked her over the railing and headfirst into an empty barrel. It was Smiling Reilly with a double-barreled shotgun-styled charm shooter in hand.

By now, the cantina was in total chaos. The air was filled with girlish screams of terror and glee as the girls set upon each other in confusion. Charms of all styles flew in every direction. Tables were flipped up for cover. Chairs were picked up and turned into bludgeons. Sweet Becky kept her eye on the mysterious girl who started it all, hoping to gain an advantage against her. Her name, Becky could see, was Shy Sarah Starlight. She moved around the room like a phantom, jumping and rolling from cover spot to cover spot. Every time Sweet Becky thought she had a clear shot, she was already gone. The dashing stranger's lasso took flight again and again, and girl after girl succumbed to her dark blue and gold star-patterned rope. Player combat in Happy Trails was mainly a matter of time management, and this girl was a master at it. She kept her biggest threats stun-locked while slowly eliminating lesser threats and leaving the ones that just added to the confusion.

It wasn't long before every girl in the cantina was tied up except for Shy Sarah. The terrace roof was a chorus of "mmphs" and a ballet of struggles. There were girls tied to the chairs, the tables, the railing, the support posts for the awning, and even one stuffed into an almost-empty drinks barrel. All bound with the same star-patterned rope. Sweet Becky was hogtied in the middle of the room, and soon Singing Laura was dropped next to her. Singing Laura had spent almost the entire fight stuck in the barrel, kicking her legs and screaming for help. Sweet Becky felt a twinge of jealousy when she realized that Singing Laura was tied up with Smiling Reilly's rope and not Shy Sarah's. Sweet Becky could see up the younger girl's tunic well enough to know that the hairstyle hadn't been the only purchase she had made in town today. They were certainly an improvement over the gray bloomers.

Shy Sarah gave a smug look as she surveyed the room. Her beneficiary wore an unamused expression.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful..." Smiling Reilly said cautiously, "But I happen to know this game is made by the same company and Razor Fang. So it shares a lot of the same mechanics. Slow reaction times, lethargy, dyspraxia... that was deathbat venom, or whatever prissy girly thing you call it here."

"Lavender and chamomile tea," answered Shy Sarah. Sweet Becky mmphed angrily when she realized she'd been tricked. Shy Sarah wasn't superhumanly fast. It just seemed that way because the poison affected Sweet Becky's perception of time.

"...really? Ok, not the point," the boy remarked irritably, "The point is you poisoned them. Which means you poisoned our drinks." He rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand. "We're going to have to throw out the entire stock. Who would buy drinks that make you slow and clumsy?"

"Aw, don't worry so much. I looked up some of these girls at the sheriff's office." she answered, "Just three of them should pay for new stock four times over." She walked to the railing and pointed. "Look, someone left a cage cart down there. You can cram 4 or 5 of them in there and cart them to the Sherrif's Office. You'll have to make a few trips, but hey, seems like your day just opened up."

Shy Sarah walked across the bar and nudged Sweet Becky with her foot. "This one's coming with me, however." She lowered herself to a crouching position and touched the gagged girl on the cheek. "Sweet Becky Marigold. Wanted in three counties for stalking, spying, theft, threats, attempted kidnapping... this isn't the first time she's done something like this, you know. You really can't control yourself around the boys, can you? Boy-crazy Becky..."

Sweet Becky flushed furiously. She could feel Singing Laura staring at her in shock, her eyes wide. It was utterly humiliating to have her sordid past brought up in front of her protege. Shy Sarah rose to her feet and walked around the bound girl in a circle. "I'll bet you thought you were safe out here, across the world map from the counties where you're wanted. But you made a big mistake messing with Lady Maybelle's son. She's willing to make it worth my while to drag you all the way back to Fort Mallow to serve out your sentence. Says she's going to teach you the proper way for a young lady to behave."

Sweet Becky whimpered. Lady Maybelle was one of the few adult players and one of the game's wealthiest and most influential players. Fort Mallow was her property, and she would have total control of the prison there. Lady Maybelle was a terrifying woman. Sweet Becky never would have sent that boy those pictures if she knew who he was related to.

Smiling Reilly was back behind the counter, shuffling some papers. "Did you really have to drug and beat up all my sister's customers just to grab that one girl?"

Shy Sarah shrugged. "No. But I wanted to."

Smiling Reilly sighed. "Well... for what it's worth, thanks. I didn't know what I was going to do back there."

"Anytime," she said, "I mean it. If those girls give you any more trouble, send me a telegram and I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Ok, I think I've decided what I'm going to do." announced Smiling Reilly, "I found my sister's notes. Anyone who's been a loyal, paid up customer will go free. After I take care of the rest. Anyone who owes money or hasn't been here before goes to the Sheriff's Office to pay for damages."

"Sounds good," answered Shy Sarah as many of the girls in the second group mewled in protest, "But what if you find one that's not in your sister's notes and doesn't have a bounty?"

"I don't know, I'll figure it out later, I guess." Sweet Becky could hear Singing Laura grow very still. Seemed the younger girl's fate was undecided for now, but she knew her own fate was sealed unless she could escape during the long trip back to Fort Mallow.
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Post by Shotrow »

(I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope some of you will have a lot of fun reading it. But so far it's not getting the reception I hoped for. I realize it hasn't been up for very long, so I may be jumping the gun, but I'm starting to see some problems with it myself. There's a lot of exposition and worldbuilding that needs to be done, and it's challenging to work it into the story organically. My ability to do characterization is stifled by the fact that I don't talk much about their real lives, or even what kind of world they live in, and my ability to describe immersively is hampered by my own decision to make the simulation crude.

I knew that most people here have probably never played the super girly horse games that Happy Trails is something of a parody of. Some of you probably haven't played much in the way of multiplayer video games at all, or video games at all. But I had hoped it would be entertaining regardless. I'm realizing now that this would would probably be easier to pull off in a more visual medium.

I don't want to say I'm done with this world for good. It's fun to write even if most don't find it fun to read. But I may try to think of some more down-to-earth stories in the meantime. Thanks for reading!)
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Post by Ovi1 »

It was a great read, it would be fun to see it continued. I think you indeed jumped the gun a bit when you mention not getting the reception you hoped for. That sounds more like something you would evaluate after a week rather than a few days. I can imagine many ways to go for this story, even taking on a YA novel style when it comes to the connection between the real and the digital world. I wish you luck on all future writing endeavors
I believe you would be a lot more comfortable in ropes
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Post by Shotrow »

Yeah, I guess I was just feeling insecure since it was kind of a silly, off-the-wall concept. As I said, I'm not ruling out that I'll eventually return to it. I really appreciate your encouraging comments.
Ovi1 wrote: 1 year ago I can imagine many ways to go for this story, even taking on a YA novel style when it comes to the connection between the real and the digital world.
That's a great idea. It would mean a lot more worldbuilding, but having the characters connect in real life would be a great way to add depth to them and the world. I'll definitely keep it in mind if and when I return to this.
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Post by Beaumains »

Nice story. Very creative. Both the world building and writing were both good. Definitely among the most creative worlds I have seen on this site.
Shotrow wrote: 1 year ago (I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope some of you will have a lot of fun reading it. But so far it's not getting the reception I hoped for. I realize it hasn't been up for very long, so I may be jumping the gun, but I'm starting to see some problems with it myself. There's a lot of exposition and worldbuilding that needs to be done, and it's challenging to work it into the story organically. My ability to do characterization is stifled by the fact that I don't talk much about their real lives, or even what kind of world they live in, and my ability to describe immersively is hampered by my own decision to make the simulation crude.
Indeed, I agree. The response so far is a little disappointing for such a story. On this site, such creative stories often have trouble gaining viewership: Most people just want to some pretty person tied up and don't care too much whether it is an interesting, creative scenario or the nth babysitter/kidnapper/whatever story. So, by writing such a novel story, you will lose a lot of viewership (which is quite frustrating. I know the feeling). A sci-fi/fantasy story needs a lot more world building,

One solution is to introduce bondage much earlier in the story. When it finally came, I had almost forgotten I was on this site. Maybe have a brief description of the game (emphasizing bondage), let Becky think about tying someone up when she she enters the game or have her check whether there is still rope/gags in Briar's saddle bag in case she is attacked. For most here, bondage comes first, characterization second. Many open a have short attention span and you have to convince them to continue to read your story after the first paragraph.

Another is to write shorter chapters. Most people only comment after finishing reading (so if they are put off by the second half of a long chapter), you still have feedback on the first part), and frequent commenters give more comments.

(This is not meant as criticism. In general, it was very well written. I am just trying to offer advice for further projects)
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Post by Shotrow »

Thanks! I'm really glad you enjoyed it.
Beaumains wrote: 1 year ago On this site, such creative stories often have trouble gaining viewership: Most people just want to some pretty person tied up and don't care too much whether it is an interesting, creative scenario or the nth babysitter/kidnapper/whatever story. So, by writing such a novel story, you will lose a lot of viewership (which is quite frustrating. I know the feeling). A sci-fi/fantasy story needs a lot more world building,
I suppose I get that. I tend to have a short attention span myself when I'm not hyperfocused on something. I see people writing novel-length stories here sometimes, and those don't hold my interest. At least, I haven't found one that convinces me I'm in for something other than more of the same of the first chapter.

But yeah, this had to be long because I had to fit in the world building.
Beaumains wrote: 1 year ago One solution is to introduce bondage much earlier in the story. When it finally came, I had almost forgotten I was on this site. Maybe have a brief description of the game (emphasizing bondage), let Becky think about tying someone up when she she enters the game or have her check whether there is still rope/gags in Briar's saddle bag in case she is attacked. For most here, bondage comes first, characterization second. Many open a have short attention span and you have to convince them to continue to read your story after the first paragraph.
Yeah, that's something I took away after my Hilltop Street story. First chapter had no bondage, and got no comments. I thought I was doing well to include a scene in the first chapter at all this time lol. In fairness, I did mention the lasso almost as soon as she enters the game, but I can see now that might have been too subtle.

Maybe I should have told the story out of chronological order. Start with a bondage scene, then explain how things got to that point.
Beaumains wrote: 1 year ago Another is to write shorter chapters. Most people only comment after finishing reading (so if they are put off by the second half of a long chapter), you still have feedback on the first part), and frequent commenters give more comments.
I think the chapter length came from me trying to fit in world building, plot, and an obligatory bondage scene into each chapter. I'd have to think about how to make the chapters shorter without compromising those things.

Beaumains wrote: 1 year ago (This is not meant as criticism. In general, it was very well written. I am just trying to offer advice for further projects)
Your advice is very much appreciated! You've given me a lot to think about.
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Post by Helena14 »

Wow another great story.
Wild West themed stories, especially parodistic ones like this offer so much. So really, really sad to hear you are giving up on it for now. Think the story works really well.
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Post by Shotrow »

Thanks! After seeing all your comments, I'm realizing that I should have had more faith and waited longer before concluding there wasn't interest. I guess my mistake was assuming that something out of the ordinary would either be a hit or a flop.

I'm more sure I'll return to it now than I was before, and with all the advice and encouragement I'm getting, it'll hopefully be better than ever when I do. Thanks for your support, and sorry for being kind of a drama queen. 🙂
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Post by Helena14 »

Shotrow wrote: 1 year ago Thanks! After seeing all your comments, I'm realizing that I should have had more faith and waited longer before concluding there wasn't interest. I guess my mistake was assuming that something out of the ordinary would either be a hit or a flop.

I'm more sure I'll return to it now than I was before, and with all the advice and encouragement I'm getting, it'll hopefully be better than ever when I do. Thanks for your support, and sorry for being kind of a drama queen. 🙂
Great to hear we could restore your faith in humanity. :P

And hey being a drama queen is only natural for artists.
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Post by RopeBunny »

Great story, loved it.

Such an interesting concept, to invent so much from scratch can be a big ask but in my opinion you've nailed it. Excellant work, and should you choose to continue you'll definately have a returning reader in me.
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Post by Mineira1986 »

Nice story!

Like it was said before, don't feel discouraged by the lack of replies. Sadly, it's what usually happens on this site. Unless there is a lot of bondage happening since chapter 1, most readers don't follow the stories. And even then, if there is no constant bondage, some readers won't reply.

Also, most stories have a short number of replies, so don't feel discouraged by it.

Onto the story...

The premise is really great. I like that there is an antagonist as early as chapter 2, and chapter 1 really helped to understand the protagonist's skills and knowledge. After chapter 2, I'm super eager to find out what's next.

On a personal note (just my opinion and preference), I felt there was a bit of too many exposition of your world building. In one chapter, I needed to understand how this virtual world worked, where the protagonist stands, how is her relationship with others, what happens if you commit a crime, what happens if you get stunned, etc... But that's just me.

Overall, really interesting story. Good work!
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Post by Shotrow »

I should mention to you all that the other reason I stopped here was that this is as far as I planned concretely. I have some ideas of where the story can go next, but they're mostly ideas. I'm thoroughly convinced now that there is demand for the story to continue, but I'd like to take some time to plan it out more and flesh out more of the world. Thanks for all the encouraging words.

[mention]RopeBunny[/mention] Thank you, that's good to know.

@Mineira1986 Yeah, I definitely jumped the gun there.
Mineira1986 wrote: 1 year ago The premise is really great. I like that there is an antagonist as early as chapter 2, and chapter 1 really helped to understand the protagonist's skills and knowledge. After chapter 2, I'm super eager to find out what's next.
Kind of funny things turned out that way, because when I first conceived of Sweet Becky, her only role in the story was to get beat up by Shy Sarah. I thought it would be fun to tell it from her point of view, then switch to someone else (wasn't sure who). But then I realized that introducing the game didn't leave enough room for the bar fight scene in the first chapter, and I also realized with how much exposition I was doing I needed an audience surrogate to explain things to, so I introduced Singing Laura, and now I guess they're kind of the protagonists LOL.

Mineira1986 wrote: 1 year ago On a personal note (just my opinion and preference), I felt there was a bit of too many exposition of your world building. In one chapter, I needed to understand how this virtual world worked, where the protagonist stands, how is her relationship with others, what happens if you commit a crime, what happens if you get stunned, etc... But that's just me.
Not sure I understand what you mean. Do you mean that I took too much time to explain things that didn't need to be explained, or that the story relied on too much knowledge of the setting?

Either way, I could see your point. I did repeat a few things multiple times to allow for short attention spans. I struggled to fit it all in organically. Plus, some of it isn't relevant to the plot yet. Maybe I'll do footnotes next time? And it is a setting with a lot of things that need to be explained, which is why I doubted somewhat that it would work.
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Post by Mineira1986 »

Shotrow wrote: 1 year ago IKind of funny things turned out that way, because when I first conceived of Sweet Becky, her only role in the story was to get beat up by Shy Sarah. I thought it would be fun to tell it from her point of view, then switch to someone else (wasn't sure who). But then I realized that introducing the game didn't leave enough room for the bar fight scene in the first chapter, and I also realized with how much exposition I was doing I needed an audience surrogate to explain things to, so I introduced Singing Laura, and now I guess they're kind of the protagonists LOL.
I mean, personally, I prefer stablished characters and you have done that. It has some interesting plot and can generate lots of tension in the story (will Sweet Becky escape, how will her punishment be, if she does escape, will she get revenge on Shy Sarah? Will Singing Laura help her? How will her relationship with Lady Maybelle...)

The other option, to tell short stories into the same universe, is not bad either. It looks like you have created an interesting universe, so exploring other dynamics and aspects could work as well.
Shotrow wrote: 1 year ago Not sure I understand what you mean. Do you mean that I took too much time to explain things that didn't need to be explained, or that the story relied on too much knowledge of the setting?

Either way, I could see your point. I did repeat a few things multiple times to allow for short attention spans. I struggled to fit it all in organically. Plus, some of it isn't relevant to the plot yet. Maybe I'll do footnotes next time? And it is a setting with a lot of things that need to be explained, which is why I doubted somewhat that it would work.
To have lots of worldbuilding is a gigantic work. But to explain it to the readers in an organic way is an even harder task. Most writers (myself included) tend to drop inmense information about the world because we feel the readers need to know all that information in order to follow the story.

Introducing Singing Laura so Sweet Becky could do some explaining is a clever way to do it. It's just, for me, it was a bit too much compressed into one chapter, the first one. The second one somehow became more natural.

Personally, I love the premise of your universe (and the potential story between Sweet Becky and Shy Sarah). I hope that "completed for now" in the title changes soon =)
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Post by Shotrow »

I can't say how much I appreciate how invested you've become in my work. 🙂 I'm determined now that it will continue, and hopefully soon.
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Post by Quintus09 »

I can see a lot of Red Dead Online here, where there are lots of people.who play female cha haters who walk about barefoot in underwear or jeans or night dresses, and Laszlo and tie each other up. Nice story.
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Post by Shotrow »

Never played Red Dead Online myself, though I've played RDR2. I'm not surprised at all that community exists. Guess you can think of this game as a cross between RDO and Star Stable.
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Post by Shotrow »

Chapter 3


Sweet Becky felt herself being hoisted up onto the back of Shy Sarah’s red roan mustang. Her hands were tied behind her back, and her upper body was wrapped in star-patterned rope. She could feel a cool breeze on her bound ankles, the only part of her that wasn’t covered by either her boots or the brown burlap sack that Shy Sarah had stuffed her into. Her captor wasn’t taking any chances that they’d run into a friend of Sweet Becky’s along the way. In another moment, a few more ropes were tightened around her sack to secure her to the saddle.

The young bounty hunter urged her horse forward, and the horse began to walk, each step making the bound girl bounce slightly in her bonds. “Mmmph!” she cried as the horse took a flying leap over some obstacle and hit the ground with a thud. Sweet Becky squirmed, twisted, and struggled as best as she could but soon realized it was hopeless. By now, even if she managed to get free and slip off of the saddle, Briar would be too far away to help, and Shy Sarah would easily catch her.

Resigned to her fate, for now, the captured girl squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t stop the humiliation she had just gone through from replaying in her mind, and the only thing worse was what was about to happen to her once she reached her destination. There had to be a way to turn this around…

“Gee up, Ranger!” Sweet Becky was suddenly jolted from her musings by the bounty hunter’s cry. The mustang suddenly broke into a full gallop, weaving between and jumping over obstacles. Sweet Becky could hear the sound of hoofbeats in the distance and, soon, gunfire. A shot whizzed past her ear, which was met with several from Shy Sarah’s gun.

Sweet Becky had no way to know who was chasing them. Shy Sarah had made many enemies in Rosewater, and that was just today. Sweet Becky silently cheered them on and redoubled her efforts to escape, hoping to at least create enough distraction to give the attackers an opening.

“Mmmph! MMMMPH! MMMPH!” Sweet Becky screamed into her gag, squirming and kicking. Shy Sarah said nothing in return. The next moment, the feeling fled from Sweet Becky’s extremities as she realized she had been hit with a charm shooter. She didn’t know if it was from the attackers or Shy Sarah, but she hoped for the latter. That would mean she at least got her captor to waste a shot on her.

To Sweet Becky’s dismay, however, the hoofbeats of their pursuers soon began to grow faint until they disappeared entirely. She could hear Shy Sarah reloading her guns. She didn’t seem to be in a hurry, which made Sweet Becky realize the danger had passed. She groaned in disappointment.

“Oh, be quiet!” Shy Sarah chided. Sweet Becky grunted as she suddenly felt the bounty hunter’s hand strike her backside through the sack. Shy Sarah had slowed her horse down to a walk. If nothing else, Sweet Becky reasoned, that pursuit meant that Shy Sarah might have to rest her horse sooner than she expected. A few more delays like that, and the reset might hit before they got to Fort Mallow.

The temperature had lowered slightly, and the ambient audio had changed. The meadow sounds of bees buzzing and herbivores grazing had been replaced with the rustling of leaves and the singing of woodland birds. Sweet Becky realized they had entered the shady Brightleaf Forest.

Something was wrong. Sweet Becky could sense that Shy Sarah felt it too. It was too quiet. By now, they should have run into a Brownskirt. The Brownskirts were the youngest and most junior members of the gang that controlled the highway through the woods, the Summer Campers. The Brownskirts would patrol the trails around the entrance to the forest with saddlebags full of their trademark boxes of cookies, each stamped with the current date. They cost a fortune, but any rider passing through the deeper part of the forest without one was in for a world of trouble from the older Summer Campers.

Shy Sarah stopped her horse. “Hello? Anyone have any cookies for sale?” she called out to the trees. No response came, so she rode on, occasionally stopping to repeat.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by a loud whinny, and Sweet Becky was thrown against her bonds. Something had spooked the red mustang. “Whoah! Easy, girl, easy!” urged Shy Sarah. Sweet Becky heard the girl slip out of the saddle in an attempt to regain control of the panicking horse. Then she heard a set of hoofbeats mixed in with footsteps that were neither human nor horse.

“It’s alright! You won’t have to worry about those robbers anymore!” an unfamiliar voice announced. “I’m the Queen of the Forest now, and under my rule everyone will be safe!”

Shy Sarah said nothing for a moment. Sweet Becky could hear whimpering. The self-proclaimed forest queen had a prisoner of her own. “Well… good.” Shy Sarah finally managed to say. Sweet Becky could hear a bit of nervousness. “That’s quite a horse… and...”

“Thank you. Her name is Vengeance.” answered the stranger, “You wait here for now, I need to hang up this Brownskirt at the edge of the forest so people know the path is safe. Diego, Blackberry, you’re with me.”

“Wait, I need to…” objected Shy Sarah, but a sound of hoofbeats suggested the stranger had already gone. Sweet Becky waited for her captor to mount up and continue, but she didn’t. Whatever spooked her horse still seemed to be in the area as well. Sweet Becky began to wonder what had really happened to the Summer Campers. One girl couldn’t take on the entire gang, even if she fought dirty like Shy Sarah.

The stranger wasn’t gone for long before Sweet Becky heard her hoofbeats coming back again. “Thanks for taking care of the bandits… but I have to go now. Can you tell your wolves to keep back? They’re spooking my horse.”

Sweet Becky noted the plural. Almost everyone loved the idea of a wolf as a pet, but it took so much time and effort to train that having one was a sign of accomplishment. In order to adopt one, you needed a license that cost a considerable amount of real money. One was more than enough for most owners.

“Of course, but… one question. Who’s that, and why do you have her tied up?” Sweet Becky could feel a finger prod her gingerly as the stranger asked the question. “I’m sure you have a good reason, but I have to make sure. I wouldn’t be much of a Queen if I allowed kidnapping in my forest.”

“I… she’s my bounty,” Shy Sarah answered cautiously, “Trust me, she did bad things. She deserves this.”

“I want to believe you, “ answered the Queen, ”Oh… what should I do, Diego?”

“Are you asking your pet wolf for advice?” asked Shy Sarah.

“Of course! Diego’s very smart. That’s why he’s the alpha. He says I should have you take off your prisoner’s gag so I can hear her side of the story.”

The next thing Sweet Becky knew, Shy Sarah had leaped back onto the saddle of her horse and urged it to a full gallop. She didn’t get far before something pulled her right from the saddle. The horse suddenly reared and shied.

“Hold her down, kids! I’m coming!” ordered the strange girl. Before long, Sweet Becky felt herself being cut free of the saddle. She hit the ground with a thud, and the sack was pulled up from her eyes just in time to see the panicking roan horse run off into the woods.

“Get off! Let me go!” Shy Sarah demanded of the two massive timberwolves, one of whom had her right arm and the other her left leg. The stranger held a hand over the stone-faced bounty hunter’s mouth while she began to tie up the girl’s arms in blood-red rope patterned with silver diamonds, which gave the impression of a mouth full of fangs.

The stranger’s name turned out to be Wild Nellie Lupine. She looked a couple of years younger than Sweet Becky. She wore a laurel wreath over her pixie-short red hair. Her outfit was a simple frontierswoman rawhide jacket and trousers. Sweet Becky could count at least six wolves, two of them at Wild Nellie’s side as she subdued the stone-faced bounty hunter, the rest waiting in a circle, surrounding all three girls. Having one or two as a pet was impressive. Six was absurd, and to get them to be so obedient to her commands must have taken countless hours of training.

Wild Nellie’s horse, Vengeance, turned out to be a mahogany bay Marwari with a few cosmetic upgrades. She had deer antlers, which Sweet Becky recognized as being from one of the winter holiday cosmetics packs. The antlers were designed to glow in spots in the owner’s choice of colors. Wild Nellie had chosen to make them all bright red. The creature’s eyes also glowed the same color, giving the impression of staring into the face of a many-eyed alien. To complete the look, Vengeance also had a set of vampire fangs.

The thing that most unnerved Sweet Becky about Wild Nellie, aside from the wolves, is that she wore the same vacant smile on her green-eyed and freckled face the entire time she was tying up Shy Sarah.

“Don’t worry, we’ll go back to my den and get this straightened out.” Wild Nellie promised. Surrounded by fearsome beasts, Sweet Becky was powerless to resist as Wild Nellie retied her arms into a box tie. She rubbed her sore wrists against her elbows with relief as the unsettling girl cut off the star-patterned rope, but she was still trapped. Wild Nellie ran the free end of the lasso between Sweet Becky’s legs and tied the other end to Shy Sarah. The free end of Shy Sarah’s bonds was run between her legs in the same way and finally tethered to the saddle of Wild Nellie’s horse.

“Sorry, but the location of our den has to stay secret.” Wild Nellie informed them as she tied blindfolds around both girls. Wolf-patterned, of course. Wild Nellie climbed onto Vengeance and urged him into a brisk walk. Shy Sarah and Sweet Becky could only mmph in protest as they ran to keep up, lest they be dragged behind.
Last edited by Shotrow 1 year ago, edited 1 time in total.
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Shotrow
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Post by Shotrow »

(Here it is, by popular demand. Your comments are appreciated, but don't worry about me deciding to stop for lack of them anymore. I'm convinced now that this is worth continuing.

I'm possibly going to regret this, but would anyone be interested in contributing an OC to use as an extra? I'm finding there are a lot of crowds to fill and I thought that might be a fun way to do it. PM me if interested, and I'll send you some guidelines and a template. Only girl characters for now.)
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Mineira1986
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Post by Mineira1986 »

Nice!

As much as I would have loved seen Sweet Becky being delivered to Lady Maybelle as she hopelessly tried to escape, it would have reduced the tension in the story. And the most realistic way (even in fiction) for her to be "rescued" was if a third party was involved. Nicely done!

I'm really curious about how Wild Nellie intends to find out about the truth. From chapter 2, we know that Sweet Beck did commit those crimes, so... will our protagonist lie to get out? Will there be a face-off? Does Wild Nellie has some interrogation techniques?

Keep it up!
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Beaumains
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Post by Beaumains »

Interesting continuation and again, and ends at a completely different place than where it started.

The pay-to-win aspect of this story is nice. The paid upgrades (which are ugly at best) and the overpowered wolves are quite realistic for the worst games currently on the market.
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