It was slightly breezy and the flags fluttered. Except for the flutter that tried to give sound to the breeze, the entire camp was silent. Fists clenched, Nerves stretched, Teeth gritted loudly and as though foretold, of a time that everyone knew was up, every Sword swung up as war cries boomed across the grasslands.

The Leader with his captains, led the charge against the incoming army. Fatalities kept rising, the morale was on a free fall. The defense crumbled upon the mighty wave of the offence. With the dwindled few, left to stand ground, the inevitable was pronounced by the enemy blowing their trumpets of victory. The leader was captured with his handful of loyal band of followers. It was game over for The Knight as he was led away by The Darkbob.

The Knight

Cathy looked at her watch, and smiled, as she kept down the mobile phone. The game had consumed the exact estimate of time, that she had in mind. The Knight would be resurrected in the next game anyways, but that was for later, right now, she had a bus to catch and an office to go to.

She sent a message to Darkbob – Good game. Teach me how to win next time… 🙂

She felt good that she lost the game, as her thoughts wandered back to Darkbob.

DarkBob

Ben laid back in the bed, staring at the ceiling wondering whether The Knight had deliberately lost this game or not. The game had been tough. The intelligence reports received. hadn’t matched the strategies used during the war. The information on the strength of the army was also a total farce. The game was good. It was hard fought and he had won. The secret was a cunning boost he has kept hidden for emergencies like this. Yes, he had won, and that’s all that mattered. The phone pinged and he saw that The Knight had messaged him.

He smiled and replied – Sure… 🙂

He lazed for half an hour more before heading off to class.

The Meet

The conversation started in one of the chat rooms and it had felt good. The Knight seemed to be a nice guy to Ben, and somehow they connected and there was an uncanny understanding of each other. Infact, The Knight was one of his best friends even though they had met in the virtual world. He was a complete mystery, but there was an amazing connect. The Knight just trusted him and his instincts during the play of a battle, and many a time, the untold understanding, won them so many games.

Guilds kept calling them to part take in battles, raids and fests and some even invited them to be a part of their clan. Whichever clan they went, they would prioritize and discuss with each other before taking any decision. There was an implicit binding rule that they had for each other, and that was, that they always went together. Soon they were known as the F2 (Ferocious 2). It had become close to two years that they were friends and neither of them ever initiated the possibility of a meet in real world. He had met almost everyone in all the clans in some party or the other, except for The Knight.

The birds chirped and the Fall was round the corner. His college was also over and he was back home. On an impulse, Ben pinged The Knight – Hey, how come we haven’t met till now? Care to catch up sometime?

Cathy was in the middle of the meeting when the phone came alive with the message. She smiled and pinged back – Why not? Would this Sunday sound too soon?

Ben read the message and said, breakfast at my house at 10 am and he keyed his address in.

The Next Day

Ben rushed down and tidied up the house. He had told his parents that he was expecting a friend to join in for breakfast at 10 am, during dinner time the previous day. The mother and father had exchanged curious looks, but didn’t ask him much, and the dinner got over in an awkward silence. Somehow, they seemed like a whole world apart from him now, talking and doing stuff that he didn’t relate to anymore. His world was the virtual world and he felt good to be in it. He was powerful, wealthy, superior and smashed clans and guilds that didn’t follow his lead. He was merciful to his compatriots and savage on perpetrators and attackers. He was THE ULTIMATE DARKBOB.

When they Met…

Ben was excited. Under normal circumstances the door bell that normally shrieked, today felt like a chime. He rushed to the door even before the chime got over. It was the sweetest music he could hear as he bounded to the door. He opened it in excitement and saw his mom standing there. His mom had just returned from her jog. Been a Sunday, she usually jogged late.

He was disheartened, slouching his shoulders he turned away from the door and thought – oh, maybe The Knight wasn’t coming after-all.

Cathy’s heart went wild and she couldn’t contain herself any longer as she called out – Hey, Darkbob.

Ben whirled round and was stunned…

His mother was smiling broadly at him as she waved at him, and she came forward, giggled and hugged him saying – Hi, I am the Knight. You must be Darkbob. How have you been?

He heard his dad laugh from the kitchen and hot blood rushed to his face. Why would his parents play a prank like this on him? Why?

He felt his father’s gentle hands lead him back to the dining room and his father whispered – hear me out Ben. It felt like a trance and he was too shocked to respond anyways.

Ben nodded, and looked at them expectantly.

The parents held each other’s hands, looked at each other, and then looked at him, smiled, and said – We did this, because we missed you.

He felt like a ten year old once again as he rushed into their open arms even though he was blinded by the incessant flow from his eyes.

Yes, their worlds had finally merged…

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