More Than A Rat
Author's Note: I do not in any way own Sword Art Online or it's characters.
It was a cold, yet bright night in Aincrad. Argo, mainly known as "The Rat" stood against a bench talking with one of her regular customers. To her, he wasn't just a customer, he was a friend, a savior, a hero. This customer's name was none other than Kirito, better known as "The Black Swordsman" due to his power and the fact that he plays solo on the front lines.
"I hear someone's been taking risks with their level lately." Said Argo
"Got any new info for me or what?" Asked Kirito
"Nothing worth charging you money for." Argo joked
"You give info brokers a bad name" Kirito noted
"Hey! This wasn't in the beta test, it's a first time event. How am I supposed to know what's gonna happen? All I know is that tonight on Christmas Eve, the event boss is gonna appear. He's called 'Nicholas The Renegade' and he's gonna show up under a fir tree somewhere. The major guilds are searching for the tree as we speak. " Argo informed
Argo noticed Kirito get up off the bench
"You wouldn't happen to know where it is, would you?" She asked.
"Maybe." Kirito replied in a depressed tone
"Are you thinking of going solo on this one?" Asked Argo
What Kirito hadn't known was that Argo actually cared a lot for him. More than either of them knew. Argo had actually liked Kirito more than she thought. As he walked away, Argo had started to panic.
"Kirito, at least let me help you!"
Kirito stopped in his tracks. Did she just call him 'Kirito'? That was something that she rarely ever did. Normally she would call him "Kii-bou" or Kiri-bou". For her to call him Kirito instead of Kii-bou or Kiri-bou surprised him.
"Please? I just want to go to get some experience in combat. You can keep whatever drops."
After minutes of begging, Kirito finally snapped.
"Alright fine, but promise me one thing."
"What's that?"
"Whatever you do, listen to me and don't die"
"Kii-bou I'm not that bad you know, I can probably hold my own without your he-"
"Please just listen to me Sachi. I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you"
Did he just call me Sachi? Who is this "Sachi" person he's talking about?
Realizing what he just did, Kirito quickly said goodbye and sprinted past a crowd of people to the inn he was staying at.
Sitting on his bed, Kirito wondered if bringing Argo along would be a good idea. He didn't want something to happen to her like what happened to Sachi.
Meanwhile, Argo was still outside trying to figure out who this "Sachi" was. Her closest guess to who she was based on how Kirito reacted to the subject of death had her wandering to the Monument of Life on the first floor.
Much to her dismay she had found the girls name on the board
Name: Sachi
Level: 20
Status: KIA
Cause of Death: Mobs
Guild: The Moonlit Black Cats
Guild Status: Disbanded due to death of all members
Guild Members: Keita, Sachi, Tetsuo, Sasamaru, Ducker , Kirito (had not died. Left guild after all had died)
Argo, but confused and worried wondered why her friend had joined a guild and why the rest had died. She had decided to search for the rest of their names.
Name: Tetsuo
Level: 22
Status: KIA
Cause of Death: Mobs
Guild: The Moonlit Black Cats
Guild Status: Disbanded due to death of all members
Guild Members: Keita, Sachi, Tetsuo, Sasamaru, Ducker
Argo had scanned each name and the rest of the details.
They all died from mobs but one? How did he die then?
Forgetting how the last member "Keita" died
Argo searched for the name again
Name: Keita
Level: 23
Status: KIA
Cause of Death: Suicide
Guild: The Moonlit Black Cats
Guild Status: Disbanded due to death of all members
Guild Members: Keita, Sachi, Tetsuo, Sasamaru, Ducker
Suicide? But why would he commit suicide? Why would anyone ever think of committing suicide? Other than the false thought that they were stuck here forever, why else would someone commit suicide?
After finally putting 2 and 2 together, Argo had realized that Kirito had actually been "taking risks with his level" by lying to the members that he was around the same level as them so that they would welcome him. By doing so, they hadn't listened to him and were all killed except Keita who had killed himself when he learned what happened to his guild.
Rushing to Kirito's inn, she quickly located his room and was surprised to hear him crying in his room.
"Kirito, you okay? I'm worried because you just ran off after making me promise not to die"
Kirito was more than surprised to hear someone talking through his door. He knew of one person with enough skill to listen and talk through a door without knocking. Opening the door, he wasn't surprised to see Argo there.
"Hey Argo, I'm fine. Really. Just thinking about being stuck here in this death game"
Kirito tried his best to be calm but he knew that Argo had noticed that he called her Sachi. Knowing how she worked, she probably did some snooping around and figured out that I'm a monster and came to confront me about it.
"Stop lying Kirito, I know what happened. I'm more than sorry about what's happened to you. I have one question though. Feel free to not answer as I know that this personal but, why did Kieta commit suicide"
"It happened after the rest of the guild died from that trap that was set up to go off by a chest. I had gone to tell him about what happened. I told him my actual level and that I was a Beta Tester. He yelled at me saying that I was a liar and a murderer. After that, he jumped."
Kirito stared into nothingness, crying as Argo stood there.
"Kirito, we should probably go find the tree now."
Kirito had almost forgotten all about it.
"Alright then... Let's go Argo."
About 10 minutes later, Kirito and Argo had arrived in an opening where Kirito thought the tree might be. Suddenly, 6 figures, most of them dressed in red, had appeared in the distance. Kirito squinted to see that it was Klein and the rest of his guild.
"Kirito! What are you doing out here?"
"Hey Klein, I'm about to go find Nicholas the Renegade with Argo here."
"Nicholas the Renegade? You mean the event boss"
"Yeah... Wait a minute, how'd you find me anyway?"
"We saw you running out of town into the woods and we followed."
"Looks like you were being followed, too."
Far in the distance, Klein could make out 20+ figures all dressed in gray looking armor.
"Is that the Divine Dragon Alliance?" Asked Klein
"Yep, it is. We better find that tree, and quick" I heard that once you trigger the spawn for Nick, a barrier then appears on four sides allowing people to only exit." Said Argo
"Like a one way door" mused Kirito
"Let's get moving then, we don't want them stealing the loot that drops"
"Hey, Kirito, we're only in the for the experience and Col, so don't panic about the drops"
"Alright, thanks a lot Klein."
As they ran to where Kirito thought it would most likely be, they caught sight of a glowing fir tree.
"This must be it"
Kirito noticed a button on the tree figuring that it was the button to start the fight.
"You guys ready?"
Everyone nodded.
"Let's do this!"
With that being said, Kirito pressed the button.
Author's note: Hey guys, if you've enjoyed this chapter, don't expect much from me in the future. School's about to start and I probably won't have time to do updates frequently on this story. It will be updated but over long periods of time. If you spot any grammar/spelling errors, feel free to point them out as this is my first time ever attempting to create a successful fic. Anyway, I'll see you I the next chapter!
Word Count (For those that are curious): 1280 without author's notes