Meeting Rinslet
I heard a familiar twinkling sound I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I knew I had heard it, even played with it, but in the grogginess of sleep, I couldn’t recall exactly where it was from. I didn’t try but I couldn’t quite open my eyes either at that single song. It was so peaceful and soothing. It lulled me back to sleep even as it asked me to wake up.
Then, a violent bassist plucked a deep bass note.
My eyes snapped open. I found myself in a familiar field and yet entirely alien. I had gone to sleep in the comfort of my city apartment but somehow found myself in a mountainous region surrounded by tall cliffs. These were not the triangular type mountains I was used to but the sheer cliffs of mountains carved away by wind and water. They were easily as tall as the skyscrapers I was used to. Grass and a sparse number of trees were growing in this space. There was a thin river right in front of me with a small waterfall to my left. I knew this place well. I was in Yangxia, a location in Final Fantasy 14, the game I’d been playing for most of my life. Only I wasn’t seeing it through a screen this time, I was somehow seeing it with my own eyes. I was in the world.
I thought I must by dreaming but knew I wasn’t. It was too real. The world around was me to clear, too sensical aside from being in Eorzea. I didn’t need to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I quickly examined myself and found I was still wearing the clothes I’d went to sleep in. Sweats, a t-shirt and a hoodie. No shoes or socks. Nothing too complicated but certainly not the type of clothing to travel through a mountainous region in. I took stock of my situation.
I had limited survival skills and thus, staying in this area was a non-starter. I needed to find my way to the nearest settlement. I didn’t know if I could speak the language and I had no currency here but at the very least, there would be people. As for how to find them, the river was a likely guide to civilization and so, with my course of action decided, I stepped warily towards the river, one foot in front of the other.
Despite the ease with which I settled into my course of action, I was utterly taken back by being in Eorzea. I had fantasized about being in this world as I imagine any player does but feeling the grass beneath my feet was a far cry from fantasizing about it. It was also painful: grass and rocks are sharp after all. There was also something in the air. It wasn’t just the clean, natural air of the countryside, there was an invigorating quality to it. With each breath, I felt something new course through my body. I assumed it was the world’s aether.
Then I heard it: the steady pounding of a large creature running on a road. I ran forward, forgetting for a moment that I was barefoot. I easily jumped over the thin river towards the sound of the footsteps and saw a road hidden between the hill I had been standing on and the plateau on the other side of the road. I could have simply followed the road if I had seen it before. I turned to look at the source of the sound and was both completely surprised and not surprised at all when I saw the chocobo’s rider: Rinslet, my warrior of light.
“Woah!” Rinslet called out, pulling on her chocobo’s reins to stop the stead. She pulled up beside me while I stared at her in jaw-dropping wonder. I had fantasized about meeting Rinslet as many times as I fantasized about being in Eorzea. It made a certain amount of sense for her to be real if this world was too. After all, Rinslet had long been the avatar through which I experienced this world’s story.
The Auri Raen had shoulder length dalamud red hair with pink-white streaks. At her back, part of her hair was tied into a thick central braid with each braid framed with her pink-white highlights. She wore a matching red Lucian jacket, fingerless Thavnairian black gloves and black kupo trousers. She also wore combat boots under her trousers accentuated with yellow laces to match the gold yellow trim on her trousers. Topping it off was a dark red rose perched over the bone white horn above her left ear. If there was any doubt it was Rinslet, the pinkish white limbal rings around her dark purple irises removed it.
“Did you hear me?” Rinslet asked curiously, waving her hand in front of my face. I was so caught up in seeing her in person, I must not have heard her. I shook my head to shake the cobwebs from my mind. This was real. And I needed her help.
“Sorry. I was just…” I hesitated. Where should I start? I wanted to tell her everything but more than just overloading her with information, I didn’t know what was happening. This was a problem I would need to solve but there were more pressing matters at hand. Surviving, for one. Before I could answer, Rinslet placed a hand on my shoulders, forcing me to look up at her. She had dismounted while I was stuck in my head and now stood at eye level with me. Somewhere in my mind, I was shocked and happy we were the same height. She smiled gently at me.
“My name is Rinslet. I’m an adventurer!” She said proudly. “If there’s anything I can help with, just let me know and I’ll do my best to help you.” She left me at a loss for words yet again. She said those things so simply. To a stranger she knew nothing about. In my world, I would have been suspicious, cautious. I would have shrugged her off and found my own way. But this was the warrior of light. This was an adventurer. This was Rin.
“I’m lost. I’m not from around here.” I finally managed to say.
“Hmmm. Where are you from? Maybe I can help you get back home. I’ve traveled to a lot of places you know!” Rin leaned to her right and pat her chest. A motion I’d seen her do a million times before to show how reliable she was. I smiled, almost breaking out in laughter. That single motion was so comforting in so many ways.
“I don’t think you’ve been where I’m from.” Rin cocked her head to the side curiously. “And to be honest, I don’t think I want to go back. I’m not really sure how I got here but if you don’t mind, I’d like to tag along with you until I can get my bearings.” Rin placed a finger on her chin, seemingly lost in thought as she tilted her head from side to side. In truth, I never wanted to leave her side but for now, it was true I needed to get my bearings. I needed to gather information to solve this problem. I could hardly blame her for saying no though. I was a stranger she’d met on the ro—
“Sure! Why not? You seem interesting.” Rin smirked at me. Another emote I’d seen a million times. I loved that expression on her and I’d frozen her in place time and time again to catch her in the perfect pose with that smirk. Now, seeing it live, seeing it directed at me, my heart melted. My eyes almost teared. “I’m on my way to meet an old friend. After that, I was going to wander around until I found some trouble. But it looks like trouble might have found me!” Rin giggled at me and I found myself laughing with her.
It wasn’t as if the stars aligned and suddenly, I felt cured and better. It wasn’t that being in this place, this environment I loved to play in had fundamentally changed me somehow. You can’t run away from yourself. No matter where you go, no matter how much distance you put between yourself and your problems, they’ll always be there within you. But standing there with Rin, laughing with her, it felt good. It felt real. And perhaps more importantly, it felt honest for the first time in too long.
“But I do have to wonder.” Rin started curiously. “Where are your shoes?”
