Invisible Strings



It was an average day in Animal Jam, and Cinder sat in her den waiting patiently for her player, her creator, to log on. Cinder's player logged in every day after she got out of school, and although she never played as long as she used to, Cinder quite liked her.

A warmth filled her head to feet, and her eyes lit up with a saccharine glow. ''My player is here, but didn't she log in earlier today? What is she going to do now? ''Cinder thought to herself. She was then teleported to Jamaa Township and surrounded by jammers, also known as activated animals. ''I can't feel my player's thoughts... odd. Cinder peered around ''at all the jammers trading, advertising shops, and such. She waited for her player to teleport her into one of the game-run shops, like usual, to check it, but instead she felt them looking up a username. ''Odd, she must have written it down, but she's typing it too fast. I've also never seen or heard of that jammer before. ''Cinder thought, then was teleported to that animal's den.

A black wolf wearing a pink headdress that had cruel white eyes sat in front of her. Cinder felt a tug from deep inside her. ''So-something's wr-wrong... ''Cinder trembled in fear, so much that her thoughts stuttered. ''I think I know what this is. ''She reached to the back of her neck and pulled off her short pink spike that she won from completing a seasonal adventure many years ago. She felt very cold. ''No! Not my spike! It's mine, you can't make me do it! ''Cinder's mind scrambled, but her paws were betraying her as she slid her spike over to the wolf's waiting paws. Then, she was released from the player's grip and sent back to her den to wait again.

More than half a day later, her true player logged on. Cinder ran frantically around the Aldan server, trying to get a new pink short spike. Cinder knew her player didn't understand, she could feel her thoughts. ''I wasn't connected before, because that wasn't my creator... ''After a little more than half an hour of rampent searching, Cinder traded a jammer who was playing as a penguin, her spare lion mane, masterpiece, and nerd glasses in exchange for their pink short spike. Cinder put it on immediately, sharing a small bit of relief with her player. Then her creator disconnected and Cinder was sent back to her den.

The next day was for the most part uneventful, her player logged in and logged out, only checking the shops for new items that she wanted. However, on the following day, Cinder waited for her player like usual, and was surprised when the warmth came to her early. ''Is it? No, not again. As soon as Cinder spun the daily spin, she knew something was wrong. ''She felt no emotional connection to this player. However, Cinder did feel the player typing up the same username as before, and she was teleported to their den. Cinder stared into the same eyes of the same wolf, fear glitching through her as she opened her inventory. She could now feel the invisible strings that tethered her to the player, as her mind was helpless to stop her body from pulling out her two spiked long collars from her inventory. One spike was purple, which her player, and herself, for that matter, had forgotten where she got it from. The other spike was black, which her player won in a contest. Cinder remembered that day, changing into a skunk and wearing fragrent flowery items, as well as a grass mohawk. Cinder was suddenly pushed back into reality when her paws betrayed her once more and pushed both longs, as well as a black top hat and a spare sheep cloak that the player made her get out when she was lost in thought, toward the wolf. Tears came to her eyes, and her gaze clouded. Her body glitched and disorted, as well as her vision. The wolf glitched in and out as a demonic smoking creature, holding the stolen items in one talon, and the invisible strings that tied her to the hacker in the other.