Brightshade's brows seemed to furrow deeper the longer they looked me over. I had made myself known to these two random adventurers and suddenly there was a pang of doubt; And the longer they went without replying, the more I felt on display, nakedly being observed, judged.

Great, I thought, on top of the doubt, now I felt self-conscious too. Just by the context of what little backstory I had, I'd guess I couldn't have looked older than seventeen, maybe sixteen? I knew my hair was a dark reddish color, maybe better categorized as an auburn. My hands didn't seem too pale, but I certainly wouldn't think I'd fare too well in direct sunlight either. Weirdest of all, even though I knew all this about myself, I didn't necessarily feel this about myself. Honestly, I don't mind that I didn't get to pick this body, it's just that I didn't get to live this body either. 

Enough about me. What about them?

It was shocking, the number of details you lose over distance. From as far away as a few feet, even after they removed their helmet, the best I could make out was a dark-haired, reddish-brown individual in purple-ish armor. Swallow that distance and suddenly, little accents come into view. For instance, their eyes, which I hastily assumed were a default brown, were actually hiding a layer of violet. Only by chance was I able to catch the hint of color, briefly, in between a moment when they darted their eyes from side to side. Their eyebrows, thick, neat, and also shades of violet, were just a precursor to their hair. Their long, braided, woven-like-strands-of-rope, hair. Speaking strictly in regards to their avatar, it even looks like they chose a female base. Things were starting to feel like a comedy act; How can these two polar opposites stand to get along? 

Whereas Brightshade appeared to have gone with a much more au natural appearance, only indulging to tint their hair, xXDarkKizuKunaiXx went in a markedly different direction. Some may find a striking familiarity between his face and the face of the protagonist from Century Quest III, and those people would be found correct. While not quite a secret, it isn't publicly stated anywhere that the default Avatar Glamours are all based on famous characters from the franchise's long history. They take a little bit of the user's true 1:1 digital mapping and find a nice, comfortable medium between this and the Glamour. I take it the real xXDarkKizuKunaiXx is a blonde since we usually take hair and eye color cues from the user. Still, something about him definitely evoked that standard, almost mythical, look that I'd expect any gallant hero to look. He even set his hair to have a near-permanent windswept appearance. I'm not sure if that's a mark of vanity or just a sign that he has a sense of humor. Still. This kid has that classic "Noob" smell. 

"Next," says the Lancer.

"Er. Excuse me?" 

"Accept Quest. Accept. Skip." They sounded so bored, "I accept whatever the quest is, let's get it going."

Now it was my turn to furrow my brows. "What are you talking about? I don't have any quests to give!" 

Releasing a heavy sigh, Brightshade kneeled down on the ground and closed their eyes; Then their avatar muted their colors, as if someone dialed down their saturation. 

"Rajani?!" shouted their friend, rushing over to assess the situation. They must be faster than I originally thought because I don't remember seeing them unsheath their sword, yet here it was, inches from my neck. "Rajani? Speak to me! What did they do to you?" 
Turning to face me, they shout, "what did you do to her?!"

I slowly shake my head, "your friend, Rajani, is just out-of-character. It's okay." Slowly, I try to back away, trying to keep my out and clearly visible. "I know you guys probably have, like, full-on Dive Suits, right?" I ask, rhetorically, "well sometimes you gotta check something out. Like, say, the Game Wiki, or something. When you do that, your game-self has to go idle. Without an animation, you'd just gawk into the middle distance with your jaw hanging out. So everyone was given a random idle emote. Clearly, theirs was the kneeling meditation one."

After taking a few seconds to process everything, they seem to accept my answer, "Well, that does make sense." Putting their blade away, they give me their hand to shake. "Sorry. It's my first time in a game like this. I'm more of a puzzle game kinda guy. I'm only playing because she's made me." He said, gesturing to Brightshades. "By the way, you can just call me Kunai! My game-name was sort of an in-joke w/ Rajani. I mean—" Kunai covered his mouth quickly, their eyes widening in complete horror. 
"Please. She gave me three rules and, literally, the first one was to never call her by her real name. Wow. Please forget I said that! Don't tell her I said that to you!"

"Said what to them?" On cue, Brightshades, aka Rajini, has returned to the game. 

I could feel the electricity in the air, and I swear you could see the hairs on Kunai's neck stand on end. 

"Nothing!" we both say in unison. 

Brighshades wastes nothing more than a second to give us a skeptical look before turning all her attention on to me. "Okay. Spill the beans, kid. How come you're coming up as an NPC. How'd you spoof your title like that?"

"Well, it's pretty simple, you see," I shrug my shoulders and give a what-can-you-do gesture with my palms turned up, "I'm an NPC. No spoofs required." 

"No, be real. I just checked the guides, this forest is all creatures of wandering salesmen. There's no NPC here. What did you say your name was again?"

"Rynne." I say, not sure how to respond to the rest.

"Well, Rynne, there's also no NPC with that name either. Do you want to try again?" I swore their eyes were a more noticeable violet, as though something had come alight inside them. 

"I don't know what to tell you, Brightshades. I'm not a player. I'm an NPC. The End." 

This was clearly unsatisfactory to the Lancer. They paced a few steps away and spun on their heel. "It just makes no sense then, Rynne. I couldn't find anything about you online. NPCs with a name are always part of a questline somewhere, otherwise what's the point. Too many NPCs in this world to name after-all." 

"Rajini. Shut up." 

I don't know if it was because I used their name, or if it was because I told them off, but I had their attention. Better not waste it.

"Thank you. So here's everything I know, so far. Hang tight, some things are a little fuzzy." I made sure both Brightshades and Kunai were listening. "I used to wake up in my home. My bed was an island of familiar comfort..."