Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online
Co-written by: TheSilentSwordsman
III - The First Battle
What likely seemed it would never come, ended up coming. The sun broke over the horizon, and it was time to face down the biggest threat they had to face yet. "Did you manage to sleep?" The boy asked quietly, the tone in his voice made it sound like he was expecting she hadn't.
If it hadn't been for his voice coxing her further into consciousness, Sinon could have slept in that bed for the rest of her life. She yawned and rolled over, opening her eyes drowsily. Why am I closest to the door? She mused, suddenly blushing bright red when she realized she was in the wrong bed. Luckily, her hood hadn't fallen off during her sleep, so it still hid her face. "Better than I expected to, actually… You?"
Luckily for her, the boy didn't seem to notice, and if he did, he didn't care. "Some…"
She almost asked why. But then she remembered why she was sleeping in that bed in the first place. "I see…"
It was unspoken as to what they were about to get themselves into. He got up and offered her a hand, not really expecting her to take it. She looked at the hand. It looked harmless enough; she figured it couldn't be nearly as painful as what was coming. She reached out and took it with her own, letting him pull her up out of the bed.
A few minutes later they were leaving the room and going into the marketplace. "We should eat something before we go."
A last meal. She thought to herself. "Yeah, probably."
"Anything in particular?" He looked around.
"Well-"
"Sinon-chan? ~Sinon-chan!"
She stopped when she heard someone calling out her name. The voice was familiar, it sounded like… "Asuna?"
The chestnut haired girl ran toward the other female that she had met on her first day in SAO, wrapping her arms around the girl's frame, embracing her gently. The cloaked girl relaxed in the arms of her friend and hugged her back. How Asuna had recognized her she didn't know.
"Sinon, I'm glad I found you! Where have you been? I've been worried sick about you– Who's this?" Asuna stopped her worrying once the black haired boy caught her eye. The boy turned his head to see the girl there, looking at her for probably too long. Sinon could only assume by the stunned expression on his face that he thought her friend was pretty.
"I was at the meeting yesterday, oh– This is… um…" Sinon realized she still didn't know his name. What kind of girl spends the night in a room with a boy whose name she doesn't know? Not a good girl, that's for sure. "He's a friend!" She turned to the boy but realized his attention was still on Asuna.
Asuna's chestnut eyes glanced towards the male, hesitating for a moment. She extended out her hand, smiling a gentle smile. "I'm Asuna. Yuuk–" Sinon pinched her arm before Asuna could finish saying her real name. She glanced at the boy. She thought he looked like a total moron right about then, his mouth hanging open slightly. If he didn't close it soon there was a risk of him drooling on Sinon's shoulder.
Something clicked inside Sinon. "Hey Asuna!" She jumped between them before their hands could meet. Asuna realized what had just happened and put her hand behind her head, laughing, rather embarrassed. "They said everyone should party up yesterday, maybe we should party up together."
"Oh, yes! Of course–we should team up. It would be better against the level one boss, don't you think?" She glanced at the male and giggled girlishly.
Sinon nodded, still trying to keep her friend's attention off the boy behind her. "Yeah, definitely. I'll send you the request."
He finally closed his mouth and managed to say something. "I'm Kirito. A-and yeah… you should join us. Eh heh…" His mouth was closed but he was still staring. This was a professional lady killer right here, Sinon thought.
Something dropped inside Sinon. So he'd tell Asuna his name but not me? Even after we'd spent a night in a room together? Well, to be fair she hadn't told him her name either, but she still felt a little hurt for some reason. She pulled up her menu and sent Asuna the request.
The chestnut haired girl smiled and waved in the direction of Kirito. So that was his name. "Pleasure to meet you, Kirito– oh!" The request came up and she accepted straight away, adding her as the third member to their party.
"Yeah… It's nice to meet you too, Asuna-san."
"Great. Say Asuna, why don't the two of us get something to eat. Uh… you," She was acting like she still didn't know Kirito's name. Sometimes she was too stubborn. "We'll meet you at the labyrinth."
Asuna smiled and nodded her head. Surely she must have wondered why Sinon didn't invited the boy along, but she hadn't said anything. Yet.
Kirito's attention jolted from still looking at Asuna. "Oh, uhh…"
"Alright come on, Asuna." She grabbed the other girl's hand and began dragging her off.
"Ugh–isn't Kirito hungry too?"
"Don't worry about it, he's probably fine."
Asuna looked back towards the male. It was obvious she felt sorry for him. "Oh, Sinon-chan, come on, I mean– look at his face, you can so tell he needs food. Come on, my treat! Also, I'm learning to max out my cooking skills, Sinon, so one day I can cook you all up some delicious grub!"
Kirito did look kind of sad as they walked off. There really wouldn't be much more time for him to get to know either of them before the fight. And he really did need food. She realized she was probably only making herself look like a fool, but she continued to lead Asuna farther from the male. "He can pay for his own food."
Asuna gave Sinon a sideways glance and huffed. "Oh alright then! I guess I can't win with you, huh?"
"Um…" She looked away. "There's a snack shop over there, come on." Asuna followed her as fast as she could.
"Oh, what kind of snacks do you wanna get? Something light for the journey?" She asked as they arrived to the aforementioned snack shop.
"Yeah, probably. I don't think we'll have time to sit and eat a big meal." She looked at the menu, squinting. "I uh… I think this here is supposed to be similar to granola bars..?"
Asuna nodded her head and walked around the stall, picking up pieces of bread, cream, and other drinks. She picked up a mixture of ingredients as well to mix up along the way. "Oh I love those! In the real world, of course. Let's get some and bring them with us."
"Okay." Sinon paid for a few of the granola bar things. "Are you really going to need that many ingredients?"
"Psh–Sinon-chan, I can mix some things up and you'll never know what hit you when you taste 'em! Besides, it's the only way I can get my cooking skill up to the max."
If I live through the day to taste them, I'll believe you. Is what she thought, but what she said was, "I'll believe it when I taste it."
"Oh you will!" She explained proudly. "Come on, let's go and get some Teleport Crystals for the way."
"Alright, good idea." This time Sinon let her friend lead the way.
"And some healing potions too. Those will come in handy."
"Right."
When they arrived to the right shop, Asuna paid for five Teleport Crystals and four healing potions. Hopefully those would help them along the way. "Should those be enough?"
"Mhm, plenty. You'd probably end up broke if you bought more." She said, but she knew that Asuna probably had more money than she did. The girl was better at quests. Sinon was too afraid to be made fun of for her weapon.
"Better to be safe than sorry, but okay! Let's head out!" She said, grabbing a hold of Sinon's hand. Asuna's hand was soft and warm, and gentle to the touch. She was glad that she made a friend in this game. At least there was someone who she could talk to in this game. She knew each day counted within this game. That was what made her treasure each day. They made her way out of the store and into the streets toward their first adventure together. The dark haired girl let the other drag her out of the shop. If this was her last day alive, at least she was glad she got to spend it with someone like Asuna, even if they did have to join up with what's-his-face Kirito again. But she could probably tolerate it for now.
That's mean… Kirito thought, as he watched the two girls walking away. He caught Asuna stealing another sideways glance at him, and he smiled. "What to do now…" He said aloud, sighing. The comment wasn't directed at anyone, so he didn't expect a response. But when a sarcastic voice replied, for some reason, Kirito wasn't surprised. "Oh-ho! Seems like someone's jealous, huh? It must be tough to be popular with the ladies…" Huh… that voice sounds familiar…
"Klein?!" A look of relief came over Kirito's face.
"Hey, Kirito! You didn't think you could get away from me that easily, did you?"
"Haha, maybe I did. I'm going to the floor one boss fight today, and I think I just got excluded from a last meal…" Kirito said, with mock sadness."
"Oi! Don't say that! Come on, I'll buy you a meal. It's the last thing I can do, considering I'm not even going today." Klein said, grabbing Kirito by the arm. "Good luck!"
As they neared the entrance, Sinon was looking for Kirito. There he stood, leaning on a wall, eating an apple and watching as another group went in. Had he been waiting there the whole time? His attention turned to see the two girls approaching. "Hey!" He called out, waving.
Asuna waved back. "Hey, Kirito-kun!" Sinon figured it would be pointless to jump between them this time; she wouldn't have an excuse to anyways. As they passed him, he stood up straight and joined them, to end up between the two girls. The chestnut haired girl smiled and they all walked together to the boss room.
"Did you two eat well?" He looked at one and then the other, taking a longer look at Asuna, however.
Asuna blushed and tapped her finger against her chin. "Yes, we got some great stuff!" She looked at her dark haired teammates. "Okay, you two, are we both ready?"
Sinon tugged on her hood, keeping her head down. "Yeah."
It was time for a strategy. "We need to work as a team." Kirito said, glancing between them. Asuna listened carefully to what he had to say, nodding her head. Of course, that was the right thing to do. "The bigger groups are going to fight against Illfang himself. At least in the beginning." Sinon quietly nodded while Asuna was a bit shocked by this, but carried on listening. They needed to listen carefully to understand what to do.
"The smaller groups, like us, are going to fight against his minions." Kirito explained, then he looked over to the cloaked girl. "Sinon, that's your name right?"
She tensed up when he said her name. "Yeah."
"Asuna-san, Sinon-san, what weapons do you fight with?"
"Rapier. It's a one handed sword." Asuna said, showing off the sheath at her hip.
Sinon was quiet for a moment. Well it was no use keeping it a secret. "A bow." She still felt weird for using a bow in a game meant for swords, but it was the only weapon that she didn't have trouble with, besides throwing weapons.
Judging by Kirito's smile though, he was happy to hear she used a bow. "Sinon-san, target only the minion we're going after. Stay right on our tails, but back far enough to be out of their range."
"Would it be best to take the minions one-on-one? And help each other out when necessary? Oh– Yes, I agree with Kirito-kun. I don't want you getting hurt, Sinon."
"I'll be fine…" She wasn't sure she would.
Asuna placed a hand against Sinon's own hand and rubbed it. "You'll be okay, I'll protect you."
A small smile spread on her face. That had relaxed her a little bit. "I'll protect you too."
"That's what we're going to do Asuna-san." Kirito continued on as if he hadn't heard the other part of the conversation. Asuna nodded anyways, bringing herself back into the zone. "Except, we're going to lead two of them together."
"Alright!"
"The idea is that one of us will create an opening for the other, while Sinon-san hits them with arrows."
"Switching in and out?"
"Yes, one will block for the other, while Sinon hits the target whenever she has a clear shot."
"Got it!" Asuna nodded and agreed, Sinon nodded as well.
"Sinon, you're the most important piece here."
"O-oh." No pressure. She hadn't thought her bow would make her important, she thought she would be a nuisance.
"You'll be able to poison them, maybe? It will make them go down easier." Asuna looked to Kirito for his support on the matter. He nodded.
"If you have status effect skills, now is the time to use them."
"Right…" Sinon knew she had that skill, but would it really be as useful as Asuna's rapier skills that gave her magnificent speed? Speed that gave her a lot of help during battles. Or even Kirito's skills? She hadn't seen him in combat, but she didn't doubt he was a good player. She equipped her bow, holding the grip tight in her hand. Whatever she could do was help enough.
She hadn't realized how far they'd gotten when all of a sudden the entire group came to a halt. She looked up and noticed they'd made it to the door, on the other side of it was the boss know as Illfang the Kobold Lord. The leader of the group, Diabel, made an announcement to encourage the players. Kirito reached out and took both of their hands.
"Are you two ready? We'll do this together."
Asuna kept her pace alongside Kirito and Sinon. The bow wielder glanced and saw as her friend blushed when the boy took her hand. Annoyed, Sinon pulled her hand free so that he ended up with only the other girl's hand in his own.
Asuna grinned. "Come on, Sinon-chan, let's show this boss who's the boss around here!" Asuna ran alongside Kirito, holding his hand. When she saw this, something clicked inside of Sinon. She had a weird sudden urge to shoot an arrow at Asuna, but she didn't quite understand why.
"Let's go!" Kirito shouted, shaking Sinon out of her trance.
The leader Diabel yelled, "Commence attack!" as Illfang and his minions ran toward them. Once Asuna heard this she let go of Kirito's hand and headed for the first minion. Kirito was right behind her, drawing his sword. Sinon charged forward, but stopped short of the rest of the group, nocking her first arrow.
Asuna held her rapier with one hand; holding it outwards and ran alongside the creature, dashing through it and slashing it in half. The minion shattered into a thousand polygons just like broken glass and floated up into the air, the sign that she'd killed it. Using her poison arrow skill, Sinon fired a shot at the next minion, sending the arrow straight through it's forehead. Asuna and Sinon smiled at each other, and resumed battling the monsters.
Kirito had ducked under the swing of one of the minions just as it was run through by one of the female archer's arrows, then charged right through it with a sword skill. Asuna followed him and went along behind him, dashing in and out towards the other minions that came their way. While all of this was happening, the main groups were working away at Illfang, who was losing HP gradually.
By a stroke of luck one of the minions hit Asuna, wounding her shoulder. She fell to the ground and shrieked, but got straight back up, her hand against her shoulder. Sinon quickly shot an arrow directly through the skull of the creature that had hit her friend. It burst into polygons instantly.
Could they do it? Was this working? There was only one more minion left. Kirito ran toward it, keeping in line with the two girls. However, the monster got to Asuna first and struck her with a swift blade, causing her to fall to the ground. She landed hard against the floor, hitting her shoulder. She screamed out in pain as it happened, rolling out of the way as the blade of the minion came crashing down towards her head.
"Asuna!" Sinon yelled, feeling for another arrow. Crap! My quiver is empty! I'll have to get more arrows from my inventory! "HYAAAAAAHHH!" Kirito yelled, as he ran in, and in one fluent motion sliced upwards straight through the monster, cutting it in half, as well as sending the two halves flying.
He's stronger than he looks! Sinon thought to herself.
He knelt down next to Asuna. "Do you have a potion?"
Sweat was pouring down her forehead, and she gasped in pain as it crashed through her body. "Yes…" With a little effort she got up her menu and retrieved the potion for Kirito. He took the potion and gave it to her to heal. Asuna's face relaxed as her HP restored. Sinon sighed with relief, but she couldn't see what was coming.
Kirito looked up and as he did, Illfang loomed over Sinon and began to bring his blade down. He turned and dove toward Sinon. "Sinon!"
"Sinon-chan!" Asuna screamed.
"H-huh?" Sinon didn't have a chance to react. She closed her eyes, waiting for the blow, but instead she felt a sudden jerk from a pair of arms that were now around her waist. "W-what..?" Asuna had run over, grabbing her. She hadn't stopped, and so both Asuna and Sinon were well out of the way. As Sinon looked back, she saw Kirito, who had blocked the blow, but was now struggling against Illfang. She felt Asuna breathe a sigh of relief and let her go, moving out of the way. She didn't see it but the other girl had stood up, extending her arms out with her sword at her side, protecting them.
Kirito, using all of his STR stat, deflected Illfang's heavy attacks over and over, to lure him away from Asuna and Sinon. She grimaced when she saw that with each hit, Kirito's HP dropped by a few points.
Staring at Kirito, Sinon wondered how he could be so calm. His face was still as he met the boss's giant sword with his own. As she noticed she'd been staring at Kirito for almost a minute now, she felt her cheeks heat up. "Are you ready?" Asuna asked. "U-um yeah. Sorry."
"Then let's go! We need to help Kirito!" The determination in Asuna's voice made Sinon want to throw down everything she had to help the boy she had only met yesterday.
"U-um, okay… Yeah!"
Asuna ran head on into the battle, and began to help the others take down Illfang. She clashed with his blade and continued on, hitting him multiple times as best she could. Kirito, relieved of being the decoy, ran over to Sinon, who was still on the ground. "Are you okay?" He asked, when he noticed that in all the commotion, her cloak's hood had come loose. She's really pretty… He thought to himself. "Yeah. I'm fine," She replied, while taking his hand and stood up. Kirito glanced over at Illfang, and noticed that the boss was down to his last HP bar. That meant… "Asuna! Get back!" Kirito yelled frantically.
"Asuna!" Sinon screamed, but it was too late. This time the chestnut haired girl got hit straight in the other arm, and was thrown halfway across the room. Kirito managed to catch her, well more like she landed on him, breaking her fall. Her HP bar had reached the red. She tried to get straight back up and head into battle, but she fell, too weak to go on. Kirito grabbed her arm and Sinon ran forward. "Asuna stop!"
Asuna looked back, and saw the both of them. Kirito kept a hold on her, "Wait… take another potion."
"I-I don't need…"
"Take the potion!" Sinon's voice was frantic and she'd already taken out one of her own potions to give to her. Asuna took the potion from her friend and drank it quickly before she got onto her feet. She leaned against Kirito's arm, hoping to regain herself soon.
Just then the boys attention was drawn elsewhere. "That's… That's not what the manual says! Diabel!"
Diabel had stepped forward to attack Illfang, but the boss's attack was different from what was in the manual. The beast leapt up, jumping between the pillars, and came crashing down on Diabel, sending him flying. Sinon and Asuna looked over just in time to see their leader be fatally wounded. Their eyes widened and they gasped, Asuna's hand on her mouth.
Kirito didn't stand there, he went running to Diabel, who laid on the ground with his health dropping fast. The leader had a potion, and Kirito tried to get him to take it but… he wouldn't do it.
Asuna leaned against Sinon as they watched. "Diabel! Take it!"
The leader refused. He encouraged them to keep going, and not to die in this game. One he had uttered his final words, he vanished from Kirito's arms. The whole group watched on in horror.
"No… why…"
"No…"
"Diabel…"
Kirito grasped at his sword, gritting his teeth. Asuna walked towards him and stood beside him. "That's it… we take the boss down…now!"
"Sinon, can you take Illfang's attention from a distance? Hit him in the eyes." He was already beginning to give her orders but she was way ahead of him.
Nocking her arrow, her face grew serious and she aimed her next shot. "I'm offended you even have to ask." She pulled back the string and fired. Asuna went straight ahead, dashing off quickly, without being hesitant. Kirito ran behind her.
"We take him down together!"
"Right! Let's get 'em, Kirito-kun!"
The arrow connected and Illfang charged toward Sinon, just as the boy had wanted. The boss wasn't watching the other two who were already activating their sword skills. The archer continued to rapidly fire arrows at the boss' eyes and face while he was still at a distance. Asuna went straight ahead and round towards his legs, slashing against his ankle. Illfang fell to the ground, causing the girl to start slashing around its stomach. The monster's HP was dropping rapidly. Sinon was running circles around the boss, firing arrows continuously as she went. Kirito jumped forward and began drawing his sword up his body, the last of the three attacks.
Illfang let out a deafening roar, and then exploded into millions of polygons. They had done it. They all watched the glass like shards float away and disappear, the room filled with a stunned silence. But the silence was broken by cheers of victory. Kirito stared at a message that had appeared in front of him, congratulating him for getting the final attack bonus.
Asuna was breathing rapidly and fell to her knees, "Ha… ha…"
She was alive. Thank god. Sinon held her hand over her heart, feeling it beat rapidly. She was alive. She was shaking but she was alive. "We did it…"
Just then a voice spoke up in the distance. "Why did you let Diabel die?" The player named Kibaou asked. Suddenly the cheers stopped and the room was blanketed with silence. They all turned to look at the man who'd spoke. What did he mean? He began to accuse Kirito of already knowing the boss' attack patterns. Someone else yelled out, accusing him of being a beta tester.
The girls watched on with disgust and confusion. Who would have the nerve to accuse Kirito of such things? And a beta tester? Him? There was no way! Asuna shook her head. But the seed of doubt was already planted in the rest of the group. Someone called out for all the beta testers to reveal themselves, and everyone began to look at one another with suspicion. Someone even accused Kirito of being a cheater, which was complete nonsense.
Just then the sound of laughter quieted them, catching the group by surprise. They all turned to stare at the black haired boy who was grinning, though it looked more like a grimace. He equipped his prize, it was a long black coat by the name of 'The Coat of Midnight'. The ends of it fluttered in an imaginary wind. This was surely different from the innocent manner he had before. In fact, this persona almost suited him. Sinon tried to ignore the fact she felt a little attracted to the sudden change. He does look good in black..
He coldly laughed again. "Don't confuse me with those newbies. Most of the beta testers were so green, they couldn't even equip a weapon. Even you guys are better than them. No, I solo'd all the way up until floor 12. The reason I knew the boss's attack patterns was because I've fought monsters on much higher floors than this with ridiculous katana skills." More cold laughter. He cruelly added, "They could probably kill any one of you with one hit."
Asuna gasped and Sinon's eyes widened. He really was a beta tester? He had gone that far in the game? Had he really been that good?! They all continued to listen carefully.
"So don't get me mixed up with those greenie noobs." He finished.
"That's even worse than a beta tester… You… You ARE a cheater!" Kibaou yelled.
"A beta tester and a cheater… a beater!" A voice in the crowd yelled.
"Beater…" Kirito repeated, seemingly savouring the word. "Yeah, I like that." The crowd was stunned as he turned to leave the boss room.
Sinon's breath was caught in her throat and she stared at him for a moment. But then she took a step forward. "Wait-"
He stopped. She didn't know what to say, she hadn't expected him to actually stop. But then he spoke to the girls. "The two of you will be strong. If anyone either of you trusts invites you to join a guild, then you should do it."
Sinon couldn't understand why he was acting like this. Was he just using them for this boss alone? What was going on? He opened his menu, and left their party. She felt her heart sink. Something felt like it was being crushed inside of Sinon. He was leaving without them. "What about you?"
"…"
He took a deep breath and walked forward through the opening doors without looking back. "Kirito- " Come back… Sinon took another step toward him, arm outstretched, but it was too late. Asuna lowered her gaze. He was gone.
After a moment Asuna looked to her friend and sighed, "We're gonna have to keep going, Sinon-chan. Come on, we can do this on our own."
Sinon lower her arm. "Yeah. We don't need him…" She took a deep breath, her eyes were burning but she wasn't going to let herself cry. Not over this. The chestnut haired girl placed a hand upon her shoulders, leaning her head against her. The only thing that mattered was that the two of them were still alive.
Asuna sighed. "Come on, let's get going."
A/N: I somehow managed to slip this update in today when I'm getting ready to go on an eight hour road trip. I'm also turning 20 tomorrow, only one more year until I can drink away my sorrows. (Just kidding kids, I don't even like alcohol) This chapter, like the two before it, was originally split into two, but why I cannot remember. It's much better like this.
Thank you to my partner TheSilentSwordsman for his efforts in fine tuning this chapter. His help has really made a difference in getting this rewrite done. And you can look forward to the Silica chapter, which is actually being written this time. Don't forget to leave us a review, and keep an eye out for chapter four next week!
