Become The Game

Level 4

With bread and money in hand (and Nate's mouth, he actually seemed to enjoy the raisin bread that Chris forced him to take,) Steph and Nate headed off towards the palace. From what she knew of the game, Melody and John, (Who was now Nate) were supposed to infiltrate under the guise of a father and his daughter, but considering Stephanie wasn't a little girl like Melody, it wouldn't work that way. They had to find another way in. 

They stepped up to the front gates, where they immediately spotted two guards. Just before they were seen, Steph grabbed Nate's hand and pulled him into the bushes. 

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Nate asked. 

"Okay, so maybe if we wait until they leave, then you can climb over the wall and unlock it from the inside, then I can come in, and we can just hide until the guards inside don't see us- wait, where are you going?" 

Nate snuck up behind the guards and stabbed them in the necks. 

"Or... that works too, I guess." She got up out of the bush and came up to the front gate. Nate was already looting the bodies and dug out the keys, which he opened the gate with. The pair was immediately met with four guards. 

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Steph asked. 

"Run." And they turned on their heels and bolted. The castle walls were long and tall, so they ran around it as fast as they could, getting nowhere as the men chased them. An arrow shot from a tower, grazing Steph's arm. She suddenly stopped and held it tightly, sucking air through her teeth. Nate ran back to grab her and keep her going. They reached a slightly wooded area, where Nate had to stop and take a breath. 

As Nate rested his hand on a tree, an arrow shot through it, piercing him to the tree. Nate didn't even flinch, but was clearly worried about it. Apparently THIS Nate doesn't feel pain. Well, he is a companion character in a game where the player can barley do anything. 

Steph ran back and tried to remove the arrow, but Nate held her back. "Back there, there's an entrance to the tunnels! Find it! You'll know it when you see it!"

"Why didn't you tell me that before?!" She shouted. 

"It leads to a dungeon cell. We'd most likely be locked in, but it seems you have no choice. Go! I'll do what I can!" Steph, though reluctant to leave him, nodded and sprinted off into the woods. 

With the guards distracted with Nate, Steph was able to slow down and catch her breath. After only a little bit of walking, she stepped onto a pile of leaves, hearing the sound of wood beneath her feet. She stomped and heard echos of sound. Brushing the leaves aside, Steph found a wooden cover for a hole. She removed the cover, finding a wooden ladder going down. She could just barely see the bottom. 

Slowly, she descended the ladder, but about halfway, on of the rungs broke under her feet. Shocked, she fell to the ground with a hard thud, knocking the wind out of her. On the way down, her foot crashed through several more rungs. Looks like she had to find another way out.