DotHack: Rejoinder
A DotHack fanfiction by Renfro Calhoun

Disclaimer: Project .Hack and attached concepts are property of Bandai and Cyber Connect. They are used without permission, but with the utmost respect.

Notes: And so it begins in earnest. This story will be something of a departure in terms of chapter layout. Namely, there will not be clear boundaries between Kite's and Dean's halves of the story. Both characters will get equal screen time, to be sure, but they won't be separated as they were before. One character or another might not appear in a chapter, but this time around the two 'halves' of the story are more closely intertwined. Apart from that, nothing particular to point out for now. Just sit back and try not to think about more important things you could be doing right now :)

Jaunt

"There, that should be enough for now."

Gesturing to a transparent blue menu, the massive, muscular swordsman danced effortlessly around the shop interface. Bare-chested and painted aqua like some Scottish berzerker, he looked almost comical as he pointed and prodded at seemingly empty air, completing his purchase of a sizable amount of potions. The menu was for him alone, and with a flick of the wrist he dispelled it and turned to his companion. "We should be set. You said he has Phal Repth, we probably won't even need this many."

The shorter fellow was a scrawny, scrappy looking youngster decked out mostly in red-orange; baggy slacks and a vest covering a white shirt, with a matching cap messily matting down his light blue hair. Despite being a full foot shorter than the Blademaster before him, the short swords at his sides and satchel over his shoulder suggested he was more than ready for trouble.

"Yeah, but you never can be too careful," said the Twin Blade. "Plus, he's a few levels behind us."

"Good point."

The Twin Blade looked away from his friend - a box of text near the swordsman's head helpfully identified him as 'Orca' - and out at the sky below. The shop was one of many, all built beneath the shadow of towering rock spires, which jutted up from the clouds like the teeth of some colossal beast. Old, but sturdy bridges connected the 'islands' of rock, somehow wide enough to carry scores of players as they scurried about. Above and around, nothing but empty sky and shining sun.

Kite smiled, quietly checking out every texture, sprite and polygon he could see. That upgrade was worth it, he thought, referring to a recent purchase of a new video card for his computer. Offline, said computer whirred happily on the floor by his player's feet, ones and zeroes doing their dance to send the images to the headset and visor he wore; images sharper and slightly higher in resolution than before.

The player briefly set his controller down on the desk and wrung his hands together. "So what else is going on?" he asked, directing the question to Orca's player.

"Not much," came the reply, Orca's deep voice sounding not at all like the teenaged boy who controlled him. "It's been kind of a slow day."

Kite gave a short laugh. "Yeah... heh, yeah, my mom's working the late shift tonight, it's too quiet over here. I had to turn on the TV in the other room."

Orca grinned. "Yeah, I know that feeling. There's peace and quiet, and there's too quiet."

"Isn't that always what they say just before something happens?" Kite asked with a good-natured smile. He dropped his voice, feigning suspicion as he deliberately scanned his surroundings, and muttered, "It's quiet."

The Blademaster didn't miss the cue. He crooked an eyebrow and threw a faux-worried look over his shoulder. "TOO quiet," he hissed.

The two barely lasted a second before breaking character and sharing a laugh. "One of these days, something's actually going to happen when we do that," said Kite.

"Law of Averages," Orca replied in agreement. Changing the subject, he then asked, "Anyway, I haven't seen you online in about a week. What've you been up to?"

The question struck a tender spot, though Orca didn't know it. Hiroshi, Kite's player, swallowed uncomfortably, cursed with a dilemma he wasn't sure how to share.

"And how's BlackRose doing?" was his friend's follow-up question.

And there it is, Hiro thought with an unseen cringe. As if to mock him, a scantily-clad female warrior carrying a huge blade dashed past the two of them; she didn't look remotely like the girl Orca had just mentioned, apart from the overall 'lack of armor' bit, but the class was similar enough to remind the boy of the particulars of his problem. Facing Orca again, Kite answered, "I haven't been up to much myself. But Akira started applying to colleges, and..."

Orca nodded. "Yeah, I remember you telling me before. She was looking into a local school, wasn't she?"

"Right. She's going to take an entrance exam in a few days. I forgot the name of the school, but it's not too far away."

"Good for her! I hope she makes it." Orca was silent for a second, and then asked, "How about you?"

Kite didn't bother asking what he meant; he knew, and he knew his friend knew. "I'm just... a little worried."

The Blademaster grunted softly in understanding. "She's moving on. Sometimes I forget she's two years older than you."

"It's easy to forget, in here," Kite motioned broadly to the city around them. He inhaled deeply and deliberately, and then added, "I don't know. We've been through too much for me to feel..."

"Doubt?" Orca suggested.

"Maybe. I just don't know what's going to happen," the Twin Blade sighed, appearing the epitome of uncertainty. "She might be too busy to play, or I might go somewhere else when I graduate, or... or who knows what we'll end up doing."

Orca folded his arms over his chest, a strange, sad smile on his face. "That's life, or so I'm told. The not knowing, I mean."

"Yeah," Kite murmured. "I guess all I can really do is try not to think about it so much."

The older character put a hand on the younger one's shoulder, patting him reassuringly. "Don't worry too much about it. Like you said, the two of you have been through plenty together. And trust me, she likes you a lot. Not that you need me to tell you that, of course."

Kite and his player felt the beginnings of a blush, and he silently cursed that he did that so easily when it came to girls, to say nothing of one in particular. "Of course," he meekly replied, nonetheless bolstered by his friend's encouragement.

"Then there you go!" exclaimed the taller swordsman, perhaps a bit too loudly. "C'mon, we've got work to do. We'll mop up this boss and be out of your hair in time for your girlfriend to log on."

The teal-haired fighter's blush became a bit more pronounced. "Y-yeah, this shouldn't take too long," he said with embarassed confidence.

Orca repressed another grin, and let his friend off the hook. "Let's wait by the gate. Stolls sould be here any minute now."

Kite let out a small noise of agreement and started on the nearest bridge, his muscular friend in tow. The bridge quickly led them to another, larger one, serving as a main street of sorts. The short hero ducked and dodged his way past a thin, but steady stream of fellow adventurers, all garishly dressed in every color under the sun. Far ahead, just within sight, sat the rock ledge which held the server's Chaos Gate - a spinning blue portal, framed in gold, large enough for three to walk in abreast - and the two quickly made their way over to it.

They stopped off to one side of the gate, giving the path back to the bridge a wide berth. Orca turned and gazed off into the horizon, quickly losing himself to thought, as Kite contentedly sat down on the rocky, grassy ground.

Nearby stood another group that looked to be waiting for someone, a trio of men varying wildly in size and equipment. They were just close enough for Kite to pick out bits and pieces of their conversation.

"So what does that mean for the company?" asked the first one, a tall, lanky man in loose blue clothing, wielding a spear.

A fully-armored axe wielder, colored grey, answered him. "It's hard to say. It's just a rumor, after all."

The third man, a magician in a tacky purple robe, spoke up next. "But are they going to keep The World going?"

Kite blinked. Huh? What are they talking about?

"Of course they are, don't be ridiculous," said the axeman. "The game's a gold mine. All the hard work has been done, all they gotta do is pay for upkeep."

"Maybe," the spearman began, nervously tapping the bottom of his weapon on the ground. "But what if they have to actually move all the stuff to another building? Would we still have our characters?"

"I spent two years getting all this stuff," the magician griped. "We damn well better get to keep it!"

The Twin Blade was tempted to ask what they were talking about, but was interrupted when a soft chime sounded from his left. A cascade of golden rings swirled down along a character as it faded into view, said character quickly taking the shape of a young, gray-haired, black-robed Wavemaster.

A cheerfully deep and familiar voice preceded the man's identification by Kite's display. "Heyyyyy, guys! Kite, Orca, good to see ya!" he exclaimed with a bright smile.

Orca quickly joined the two at the gate, bowing his head in greeting to the speaker. "Hi, Stolls!"

Kite, standing up, quickly lost track of the group's conversation as he faced the Wavemaster. Smiling back at the disguised detective, he deftly worked the keyboard offline and sent an invitation to join their party. "Hey there!" he warmly greeted alongside the invite. "How was your flight? Did you get everything unpacked already?"

"About as comfy as a half-day of air travel can be," answered Stolls with a dry chuckle, his voice clearly mismatched with his young visage. He craned his neck left and right, up and down, as if testing his eyes. "Almost unpacked, I'll finish after I log off. Damn, but this place has been looking sharp lately!"

"There was a big update a while back," said Orca. "Lios said their development team was working overtime on it. Added a bunch of new items and stuff, too."

"Where are you staying?" Kite asked.

"Max hooked me up with a nice joint on the edge of Shinjuku. Better than my apartment back home!" Slinging his staff over his shoulder for a moment, the gray-haired Wavemaster leaned back and locked his hands behind his head, stretching out leisurely. In a sing-song tone, he added, "I could get to like it here!"

The Twin Blade grinned at the Wavemaster's sunny demeanor. Either jet lag hasn't set in yet, or he's really happy to be here. I wonder why, he thought playfully, recalling the detective's own relationship quandaries. Come to think of it, I haven't seen BT or Bear and the others in a while, either.

"Anyway, I'm probably gonna crash soon, so let's get this show on the road," Stolls continued. "We can catch up along the way."

In his heads-up display, Kite saw Stolls' face and stats appear on the bottom, alongside his and Orca's. With a smile, the Twin Blade took the lead and stepped towards the gate. "All right then, let's go!"

With a distinct lack of grace, Orca sidestepped the swing of the axe and barreled forcefully into the reptilian warrior, knocking it onto its back. A mighty growl ripped out of his throat as he brought his blade down expertly on the creature's neck, striking hard enough to sever the head and finish it off. The World didn't even bother to display damage indicators, instead simply registering the critical hit and allowing the monster's body to fade and vaporize.

"So as I was saying," he grunted, spinning on his heels to face the next lizardman, "they're supposed to be rolling out a new class soon, some kind of ranged fighter."

Kite deftly slipped between a pair of spears, landing simultaneous blows on his two opponents in one fluid move. He slid and spun around, steadying himself for a second pass. "What does that have to do with this boss?" he called to his friend.

"Balmung said this is one of the monsters they tested the class on," Orca replied, parrying a hard sword strike to his chest. He exhaled sharply as he pushed the weapon back, breaking the lizard's block and snaking in a glancing blow to its right arm. "They're considering him for an admin, and he got a sneak peek of this thing in action. He said it was nothing you've ever seen, ridiculously tough."

"Hyaaaah!" A hearty crack echoed from Stolls' weapon as he smashed it roughly over his target's face, and then followed up with a short-range blast of fire. Above the crackling of leathery skin and the monster's eerie hiss of pain, he asked, "So why, again, are we checking this thing out?"

Orca's lizard managed an awkward crossing slash to the chest, stunning the Blademaster for a second. "Heh! Morbid curiosity?" he offered, hopping back a step and leading with his blade.

"Works for me!" Stolls shouted back, raising his staff skyward. "Phal Repth, boys! These guys got nothing on us!"

A showy sparkle of a green aura soared up around all three fighters; above them, one shy of ten-thousand in green letters, signalling the party's full recovery.

Rejuvenated, Kite and Orca pressed the attack. The Twin Blade triggered an elaborate and deadly dance of sword strikes, bouncing between his two targets like a bladed pinball. A deep slash to one of their sides spilled its last few hit points, and Kite quickly pounced on the other. Likewise, Orca chopped down roughly on his enemy's sword and immediately lunged forward, running the lizardman cleanly through.

Within seconds, all was quiet. Bodies and weapons dropped to the gritty, dry earth, the three now-dead monsters quickly dissipating into the air.

Stuffing his staff under his arm, Stolls dusted his hands together. "Light meat or dark, fellas?"

Orca snickered. "Getting used to it again?"

"Just like riding a bike, or... or something else just as easy, I guess," Stolls fumbled, hefting his staff again. "I dunno. But the answer is 'yes'."

The group formed up, Stolls and Orca taking flanking positions behind Kite as they resumed their trip to the dungeon. Clouds rumbled menacingly overhead, as if tantalizing the otherwise arid, earthen field with the promise of rain. Small clumps of rocks and the occasional dirt hill did little to break up the monotony, while animal bones, carved stone obelisks and green cactuslike plant life added the only non-brown hints of color.

All eyes were firmly focused on the horizon as the massive cave entrance appeared: a massive hunk of rock, carved in the vaguest shape of a man's face, with mouth open wide and a smooth, ramplike 'tongue' of rock feeding into the darkness.

"Hey, Dean," Kite suddenly said, deciding to drop the pretense of character names for the moment. "Have you heard at all from Miku?"

The Wavemaster faltered briefly in step, but picked up the pace quickly. "Well, she wrote back when I first told her about the trip. She sounded happy, said she'd love to see me again - direct quote - and I dropped her a line when I figured out where I'd be staying." He inhaled deeply, holding his breath for a moment and releasing it slowly. "That was about two weeks ago. Haven't heard from her since."

"Nothing?"

"Not a thing. Not sure what to make of it," said Stolls, sounding vaguely frustrated, though he kept a guarded look on his face. "Frankly we haven't seen that much of each other lately."

Orca glanced at him. "Because of the trial?"

"Pretty much. I was busy for a while, though we still kept in touch. Gradually, though..." the Wavemaster shook his head, and Kite could distinctly picture his offline self doing the same. "I'd... I'd like to believe that..."

Before he could finish, the trio arrived at the cave entrance. "Ah, I'll tell you some other time. Let's check this out."

"It's no big deal," Orca objected, stopping to speak before entering the darkened maw. "It's just another dungeon, the only thing we have to worry about is the boss. "

One by one they disappeared into the cave; their vision collectively faded to black, and then came back after a quick loading screen.

The detective swallowed, as did his character. He looked around at the rough, jagged cave walls that now surrounded them, getting his bearings. Beginning weakly, he said, "Well... I guess I just feel like we've drifted apart. We basically had to part ways at the end of it all. I'm sure it sounds kinda dumb, but..."

"Yes?" Kite prodded gently, the words 'part ways' ringing deep within his own mind. Dean... you too?

Stolls frowned, shaking his head again. He shifted his stance, his posture guarded. "No... I-I'm sorry guys, but I got a few things about this to sort out yet. I'll tell you later, okay?"

The Twin Blade lowered his eyes to the cave floor, nodding reluctantly. "I understand," he softly replied.

Offline, Hiroshi covered the mic on his headset, his eyes still trained in concern on the Wavemaster. "Me too," he whispered. "Me too."