Sword Art Online: Shattered Chains Chapter 4: Shattered Chains, a sword art online/ソードアート・オンライン fanfic

Hey all, latest chapter for Sword Art Online: Shattered Chains! Now that I've graduated from high school *squeals happily like a little girl* Ahem, sorry...anyway, now that I've graduated, I will have more time for writing, I hope, so updates will happen more often. However, I update as the muse works with me. To long I've tried to force it just to put chapters out there, and every time the chapters is total crap that makes me cry just looking at it. So, I will update when I have something worth doing so with.

Now, review replies!

Zefias Ravenwing: I'm glad you like it! I can neither confirm nor deny who will be in harem, but I can tell you that I was pissed when Sachi died...

DanaeMariSkywalker: I'm glad you're still enjoying it! The way I see it, if people had actually spoken up, so much would have been different about the anime after the first boss. Didn't make sense for so many people to stand there with their thumbs in their asses and say nothing.

n0mster: yeah, I wanted to be harsher on Kibaou, but we need him later for the whole deal with Thinker and Yulier. After that, he's expendable ;)

Lavi Arcadia: yeah, it was abrupt. I wasn't sure how to make it smoother since it was the first tiem we se the "outside world", and I tried hard to make it an emotional scene XD

Gaz: Ailyn is mysterious for a reason. That reason will be revealed later on, but suffice to say it may blow minds.

Reaper7: Yeah, SAO has such harem potential, just like Accel World, Claymore, and a half dozen other anime/manga.

People, please remember to follow me on Twitter and Facebook. The links to my pages are on there! Updates can be acquired in those two places, as well as an easier way to get in touch with me.

SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC

Shattered Chains

Chapter Four

Shattered Chains

SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC

"Asuna, switch!" Ailyn shouted, blocking a powerful attack from the boss, and the rapier-wielder called out her acknowledgment as she dashed forwards, her blade lashing out blindingly to lay a dozen powerful strikes of her own.

"Support teams, hold the line! The boss is entering its final phase now!" Kirito shouted to the rest of the raid group as he cut down an add that was trying to blindside Asuna. The sound of a howl from behind him made him spin, to see a Empowered Werewolf mob ready to strike him down. Before it could attack, however, there was the sound of shattering as it exploded into pixels, revealing a smirking Argo, her twin claws gleaming in the moonlight.

"Careful, Kiri-bou~!" she chastised him playfully. "If you died, then where would we be?"

"Thanks, Argo. Let's end this!" he grinned back, gripping his sword's hilt tighter. The assassin-class/informant nodded with a smile before vanishing, only to reappear, cutting down another add as Kirito raised his voice in warning to the raid. "Phase Change now!"

With perfect timing, Were-King Lycaon, the floor boss for the Fifth Floor, howled to the sky. High above the forest clearing that served as the boss room, the full moon was turning blood red, a change mirrored by the boss' eyes. The creature seemed to bulge at the seams, growing larger and blood red letters spelled out the words Were-King Lycaon, Blood Moon Form in midair.

The boss' head dropped back down from its howl, crimson eyes gleaming maliciously, and Kirito shouted his next orders as a symbol appeared over the boss, before the boss vanished from sight.

"Form Square! FORM SQUARE!" he roared, and the DPS players scampered into the center of the clearing, the tanks hurriedly surrounding them in a bastardized version of a Roman legion's hollow square defensive phalanx.

The Were-King's final phase was a dangerous one, the scout groups had discovered. The First Phase, New Moon, was easy. The boss had stats as low as those of the hordes of Weakened Werewolf mobs that he would summon. The second phase, Full Moon, had the boss much stronger, moving faster and hitting harder, with fewer but more powerful Empowered Werewolf mobs. This final phase, however, was truly dangerous. His power and speed was nearly tripled, and all of his abilities had passive Lifesteal, in that successful hits would heal him a portion of the damage done. The Bloodcrazed Werewolfs that he summoned were even faster, and the general consensus had been that he was unbeatable. Until, that is, Kirito and his people took a crack at it. He, Ailyn, Asuna, Argo, and Agil, along with Klein and his friends, had gone in and fought the boss almost until its defeat, being forced to retreat when the number of adds became too much for them to handle. However, the intel they brought back was irreplaceable: the boss self-destructs. During the fight, Argo (being the cute little spy/information broker that she was) noticed the skull and crossbones of an old RPG favorite hanging over the boss' head. Doom. If they could survive the onslaught for three minutes, the boss would die.

Far easier said than done.

"Stay together!" Kirito ordered, eyes flicking about from his place behind Ailyn. "DPS, remember to work together to cut down your adds as fast as possible, before they drain the tanks to much!"

Noises of affirmation and the sound of people, weapons, and armor shifting was his response, and he smiled grimly as he prepared to defend Ailyn. There was dead silence for a long moment, and then a cascade of blood-curdling howls shook the air as the mobs appeared at blinding speeds, unleashing a hurricane of blows at the tanks before being cut down by the DPS.

"Two minutes, thirty seconds remaining! Hold together! Thirty seconds to tank switch!" Kirito barked, just before another wave attacked. Thirty seconds later, he barked again. "Two minutes! Tank Team One, step back! Tank Team Two, step forward!"

The players moved swiftly to follow his order, the first line of tanks stepping back and popping health pots while the second, uninjured line stepped forward to replace them just as another wave appeared. For a short while that seemed to take an eternity, the air was filled with nothing but grunts of pain, clashing steel, and blood-chilling howls.

"Alright, this is it! One minute left. Do not falter! If one of us goes down, we will all die! Protect each other, heal when you need to, and stay alive!" Kirito shouted as the adds dispersed and the boss himself began to attack the phalanx, landing a barrage of blows on a pair of targets before flitting away with impossible speeds to do the same to a separate pair.

"Kirito, we can't hold much longer!" Ailyn shouted, staggering back and falling to one knee as she clutched a red, pixilated gash across her stomach with one hand while tossing back a health pot with the other. "He's too strong, we should warp out and come back at a higher level!"

"No! We only need another thirty seconds! If we break formation to warp out, we will lose people! Just stay in formation!" Kirito shouted back, pulling a heavily wounded tank backwards just before the boss could finish him off. Biting back a scream of pain from the damage he sustained in doing so, Kirito downed a potion and checked the timer. "Thirty seconds!"

"Kirito!" he heard Argo scream, and he spun to see her on the ground, trying vainly to crawl away from the boss, who had appeared from nowhere and struck down two tanks just as they were trying to switch out with another pair to heals. Dispersing pixels told Kirito of their fate, and he bit his lip hard enough that, in the real world, he would have drawn blood. Readying his sword, he charged the boss with a hoarse shout. Lycaon snarled in defiance, his hunt disrupted, and faced the challenger, rushing to meet him as a deadly dance began.

Twenty seconds...Kirito ducked and spun under a swiping claw, laying a heavy strike across the Were-King's abdomen, only for it to heal over again immediately after as a second strike clipped his shoulder, wounding him for nearly a fifth of his health and healing the boss over again.

Fifteen seconds...Kirito dropped to the ground to avoid another blow, before dashing between the beast's legs and stabbing it between the legs. As it howled in rage and turned to face him, he smirked a little and popped a potion. Step One, attract boss' attention and save Argo: CHECK! Step Two, survive pissed off werewolf-king being entirely focused on killing him: Working On It.

Ten Seconds...Kirito screamed in agony as he dodged the Were-King's razor-tipped hands, only for a clawed foot to lash out and catch him directly in the chest, sending him hurtling across the clearing and through several trees before he slammed into another and slid down it, barely alive and totally incapacitated from the pain.

Five Seconds...the boss rushed towards him, ignoring the desperate attempts of Kirito's comrades to distract it, before another group of adds swarmed them, preventing them from helping the swordsman.

Four Seconds...Lycaon phased into being before Kirito's slumped form, growling down at him with what sounded like satisfaction.

Three Seconds...red eyes gleamed sadistically as one clawed hand grasped the inert player and lifted him into the air, towards a mouth that gaped open, saliva dripping off of large, serrated fang-like teeth.

Two Seconds...a dazed Kirito stared defiantly at his death. If he was going to die, it would be with courage, not fear.

One second...just as the boss prepared to devour the young player, a large spear came whistling through the air and slammed into the boss' hand, forcing him to drop Kirito as he howled in rage and turned to face the thing that dared interrupt his hunt again. A young woman dressed in medium chainmail armor stood facing him defiantly, another spear in hand, grey eyes narrowed fearlessly beneath silver-grey bangs, a smirk firmly on her lips as the boss reared back to smite her. An instant later...

Zero Seconds...the boss shattered into thousands of pixels, along with the surviving Bloodcrazed Werewolf mobs. The girl's smirk grew before it turned into an expression of concern and fear as she raced to Kirito's unmoving body. Falling to her knees beside him, she pulled his head into her lap and began digging around in her pouches for a health potion. Her panic visibly grew as her hands came up empty, and Kirito's health continued to trickle ever lower for some reason. She watched in horror as the bar inched inexorably towards zero, only for hands to appear and force a health potion into his mouth, tipping back and depositing its contents into his system, bringing him back from the brink of death.

The girl looked up to see Ailyn, Asuna, and Argo kneeling near her, while the other clearing members milled about nearby, looking on in concern.

"Thank you very much for saving his life!" Ailyn cried in relief and joy, staring at the grey-eyed girl with tears in her eyes and a bright smile.

"Of course, I couldn't let him die." the girl replied, brushing his hair off of his face gently, looking down at him again with a slight blush and warmth in her eyes, something that didn't go unnoticed by the other girls. Any questions or comments they might have made, however, were promptly removed from their minds when Kirito stirred with a groan and opened his eyes. Blinking a little blearily, he looked up at the face above him and smiled.

"So, you saved me, Sinon. I'm glad you decided not to give up." he said softly, and the trio of girls all looked sharply between the two, wondering how they knew each other. Sitting up, Kirito shook his head as if to clear it and looked around before smiling. "I'm glad you girls are all alright. That was a pretty tough fight. We lose anyone other than those two tanks?"

"No, but Kirito, you almost died! Show a little concern for yourself!" Asuna scolded, and Kirito rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and smiled at her broadly.

"Eh, I'm still alive, so not to worry!" he said cheerfully before becoming solemn again. "I just wish we hadn't lost anyone..."

"You tried your hardest, Kirito. No one expects anything less. What you did was noble, brave, and very foolish." Agil boomed, coming over and pulling Kirito to his feet by the scruff of his neck before clapping him on the back hard, nearly sending him to the ground again. "Good work. Now, I believe you and your lady friend should have the honor of opening the sixth floor."

Kirito nodded, still smiling, and looked over at Sinon, who was looking nervously at Ailyn, Asuna and Argo. All three young women were staring at her hard, scrutinizing her, and it was kind of scary. It was like they were a pack of wolves and she was a small animal being surrounded until they decided to pounce.

"Hey now, no need to look nervous, Sinon. Opening a new floor is easy and safe! C'mon, let me show you how it's done." Kirito said reassuringly, totally missing the real reason behind her discomfort. Grabbing the spear-throwing girl's hand, he pulled her to her feet and set off towards the edge of the clearing, where a large archway formed out of tree branches stood tall, an impassable curtain of thorny vines stretched between them, blocking the way to Floor 6. Once they reached it, Kirito looked at Sinon again. "Now, since you got the last hit, you open the door. Just approach the vines and Interact with them. Follow the prompts to open the next floor."

"Okay..." Sinon said quietly, feeling shy. She was normally a rather calm and cool-minded person, but something about Kirito made her feel like a shy school-girl instead of a young woman fighting for her life every day. Doing as he instructed, she approached the door and Interacted with it.

Floor Five Cleared!

Proceed to Floor Six?

YES/NO

Reaching out tentatively, Sinon pressed YES. A flash of light nearly blinded her before the vines began to withdraw from before them, opening the path for the players.

"Well done, Sinon." Kirito said warmly, squeezing her hand before letting go and turning to the rest of the raid group, missing the slight frown of disappointment that crossed Sinon's face when he let her hand go. "All right everyone, unlike other floors, the first city on the sixth floor is right near the entrance, so feel free to go find friends and spread the news. Make sure to stay safe and watch each other's backs wherever you go!"

The raid group dispersed, chattering and laughing with each other as they either headed back towards the fifth floor's main city to spread the word, or forward towards the sixth floor. Asuna, Argo, and Ailyn approached the pair and clustered around Kirito, who looked around at the four girls with a smile.

"Kirito, you really need to stop almost getting killed every boss fight." Asuna frowned at said raven-haired teen, who blushed in embarrassment.

"Sorry, Asuna. I couldn't not do anything though. Argo would have died..." he replied sheepishly, and Argo smiled brightly before grabbing his right arm and holding it between her breasts, giving Kirito a slight nosebleed and bright red face. The other girls, including Sinon, leveled dark glares at the spy, who smirked and stuck her tongue out at them.

"My hero, Kiri-bou~!" she purred happily, and Kirito chuckled a little awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head while the girls fumed in annoyance. Pulling himself free, and missing her pout of disappointment, Kirito crossed his arms over his chest and looked through the dark void of the door, as if he could see the next floor in its depths, his face set in a thoughtful frown.

"C'mon, Floor Six awaits, girls." he said abruptly, uncrossing his arms and heading through the door. The girls exchanged glances of confusion before hurrying after him.

SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC

The Sixth Floor, much like the second, opened onto rolling plains. It's dominating feature, however, was the massive, glittering expanse of water that stretched as far as the eye could see along said plains. Flocks of birds could be seen flying over the water, diving periodically for fish or to harass the NPC fisherman that worked their fishing boats for fish to sell in the main city's marketplace. On the plains, more powerful versions of the beast-type mobs, both passive and aggressive, were grazing, lounging, or hunting.

"Amazing..." Sinon and Asuna, the only non-beta testers of the group, breathed in awe at the beauty of it all.

"Welcome to the Sixth Floor. Most of this floor involves missions along the coast, such as dealing with pirates and the like, but a fair few involve hunting rogue beast-type mobs or what-have-you." Ailyn told the pair, shouldering her lance as she kept a careful eye on the aggressive mobs. Glancing at Kirito, she smirked broadly. "This is also where the Guild Registrar is, so Kirito here can form our guild. Right, Kirito?"

"Ailyn..." Kirito groaned, hoping she would drop it, but no such luck.

"Nuh uh, Kirito. You're a natural leader, and all of us are always together anyway. I think it is the next, logical step to form an actual guild, which has all kinds of benefits, not the least being the ability to get an actual headquarters to sleep in safely!" the crimson-haired beauty said firmly, shutting him down hard, before putting the final nail in the proverbial coffin by turning to the other girls. "You girls agree we should form a guild with Kirito as leader, don't you?"

"Yes, of course."

"Kiri-bou would makes a great leader~!"

"Yes."

"Then its settled!" Ailyn said triumphantly, turning back to Kirito with a broad grin as Asuna, Argo, and Sinon endorsed her plan. "All that is left to do is reach Selam, the capital for this floor, and think of a name. Off we go!"

With that, Ailyn grabbed Kirito by the arm and headed off down the road, half dragging the grumbling raven-haired swordsman behind her, whistling a jaunty toon all the while. The other three girls sweat-dropped at seeing their leader and love interest hauled off like a sack of potatoes by his second in command.

"Um...Ailyn really is...aggressive, isn't she?" Sinon said softly, still a little shy with her new companions. Argo and Asuna exchanged glances before their shoulders drooped and they nodded with twin sighs.

"Yeah, it makes getting close with Kirito hard." Asuna pouted as she muttered under her breath. "I'm never going to get my chance with him at this rate..."

"Oh~? What was that, Asunaaaaaa~? Are you crushing on Kiri-bou~?" Argo said, eyes gleaming with mischief as she dragged the other girls name out over several syllables. The hazel-eyed rapier-wielder immediately blushed and started stammering denials before rushing off after the rapidly vanishing pair. Argo smirked at Sinon before following.

"Oh, what have I gotten myself into?" Sinon sighed wryly, before smiling lightly and setting off at a rapid pace to catch up with Kirito and her new friends.

SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC

"So, how did you and Sinon meet, Kirito?" Asuna asked curiously, wanting to know not only more about her as a comrade and potential friend, but mostly as a potential rival for Kirito's affections.

"Well," Kirito hedged as the strolled down the path towards Selam, hands laced together behind his head. "It's a bit of a long story..."

"We've got time." deadpanned Argo, Asuna, and Ailyn, gesturing as one to the endless road before them, and he sighed before nodding.

"Troublesome." he grumbled, before taking a deep breath. "Ever since we arrived on the second floor, I've been leaving while you girls sleep to go train and find more quests and good farming zones. I've also been doing a little...well, some call it bounty hunting but I prefer to think of it as delivering justice."

"Kirito...do you mean to tell me that you've been going off alone in the middle of the night to solo packs of mobs or to hunt down oranges and reds?" Ailyn asked with deceptive calm, referring to players that have committed crimes and had warrants or bounties put out on them.

"I'm tell you that I did what I had to do to keep you, and Asuna -and Argo, when she joined us full-time- safe and well supplied, as well as protecting other players be removing threats to their safety." Kirito replied with calm and deadly seriousness, none of his normal laid-back personality visible or audible in his body language or voice. His eyes held her own for an eternity before she looked away, worry written across her features, and he continued. "Anyway, on one of these little excursions I ran into Sinon here, who was going to be subjected to a fate worse than death by a pack of oranges on my List for sexual harassment. They were going to...take the next step with her, as she was a solo player and thus "disappear-able". I dealt with them and then had my hands full keeping her from killing herself for the next day or so, before I convinced her to go back the starting city instead of killing herself."

"But not before telling me that even though I had been nearly raped, I shouldn't give up, but keep on fighting. Fight for my freedom, my safety, and to see my family again." Sinon said softly, gazing at him, and he flashed her a warm smile and a slight nod. "After all, if I had killed myself, they would have won. Write, Kirito?"

"That's right." he replied firmly, and the other three girls were silent before all three hugged Sinon tightly, murmuring various sweet and kind things to her, showing solidarity for the almost-rape victim despite not knowing her well. Kirito smiled at the quartet, glad the girls still had the ability to care about strangers. Many players, he knew, were starting to lose that as the months dragged on.

"So, that's the the day you sent us a mail saying you would catch up with us, and to spend the day in the market, ne Kirito?" Asuna asked, and said young man nodded in confirmation. Pouting slightly, Asuna glared at him lightly. "Why didn't you tell us what you were doing?"

"Didn't want to worry you. Besides, when it comes to scouting or bounty hunting, its best that I work alone." Kirito admitted firmly, and Ailyn looked at him sharply, well aware of what he was saying with the last few words: Don't get involved, this is my problem. Stay home, stay safe, stay out of the way.

"Doesn't matter, because once the guild is official, we can all go together." she said just as firmly, and Kirito gave her a hard look.

"Unacceptable. There are few female players that most of them are recognizable, and all of you stand out especially as members of an elite clearing unit. It's easy for me to disguise myself so the criminals can't figure out who I am, but if they recognize you, we could all be killed in our sleep. Leave this to me." he commanded, tone brooking no argument, and Ailyn growled angrily before standing down, even if only for the moment.

The other girls were spared further drama as the group finally came in sight of the main city of the Sixth Floor, the great City of Sails, Selam. A massive port city, it was surrounded by high, alabaster-white stone walls, with ballista and catapults standing poised to drive of raiders by land or by sea at any time, night or day. A massive mercantile fleet was protected by an equally large navy while platoons of armed and armored soldiers could be seen patrolling the outlying fields and small villages.

"There it is. Come on, girls." Kirito grinned, and set of in a jog for the city, the girls hurrying after him.

Fifteen minutes later, the quintet was wandering through the streets of the enormous and bustling central marketplace. Dozens of NPC vendors hawked their wares, and Kirito swore he saw some other players already setting up temporary stalls to sell their own.

"So, where to first, girls?" Kirito asked, and immediately received a universal answer.

"The Guild Registrar." they chorused in perfect unison, and Kirito sighed, defeated, before allowing himself to be dragged along by the quartet. Out of the marketplace and to the city square they went, passing many a player or NPC guard, to stop outside of the Guild Registrar. A large line stretched out the door, and down the side of the building as players waited to form their guilds.

"Oh well, look at the massive line. Too bad, no guild being formed, let's go check the market!" Kirito said hastily, turning to lead the girls away. He didn't know how so many players were there already, but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. However, four hands grabbing the back of his jacket stopped him, and he swore he was crying anime-style tears as they dragged him bodily towards the building.

"Oh my, look at this long line!" Ailyn sighed loudly, a strange breeze blowing out of nowhere as she loosened her armor and pouted outrageously, scarlet-gold hair streaming in the wind like something out of an anime. "Oh, we've walked for hours and I'm so tired! This line will take forever!"

Kirito sweat-dropped with a dumbfounded expression as dozens of male players eagerly threw themselves all over each other to offer her their place in line, all hoping to make a good impression on the red-haired goddess and her friends. Somehow, none of them noticed Kirito until the girls had already secured a place at the head of the line and Ailyn shoved him to the counter with a smirk.

"I'd like to form a guild, please." Kirito caved with a sigh, and the girls squealed happily as the NPC nodded, turning to a fresh page in his book.

"Name of the guild to be formed?" he inquired, and Kirito looked down at the ground thought long and hard before smiling slowly, raising his head to look back at the man.

"Shattered Chains." he declared, and the girls looked at each other with raised brows while the NPC wrote the guild name down.

"Guild Leader?" came the next question.

"Kirito."

"Guild Lieutenant?"

"Ailyn."

"Headquarters?"

"None, yet. Waiting for a higher floor."

"Any other guild members to name at this time?"

"Asuna, Argo, and Sinon."

"Please draw your desired guild emblem on this pad of paper."

"I'm a horrible artist." Kirito groaned, glancing at the girls. "Any of you any good?"

"I am, Kirito. Just describe it to me with as much detail as you can." Sinon said, taking the pad of paper and a pen.

"A forearm with a broken shackle and a clenched fist. Umm, maybe have a chain breaking of the shackle too. Three, maybe four links?" Kirito mumbled, picturing it in his head. "Black and white, of course. Make a stark contrast."

"Like this?" she asked, showing him the picture she had drawn, and he smiled with a nod.

"Perfect, Sinon. That's amazingly well drawn." Kirito praised the now-blushing girl, passing the pad over to the NPC, who accepted it. (A/N: ?pic=vik2kz&s=6. Link to the picture I used for guild emblem.) A flash of light later, and all five of them had the guild emblem on the front and back of their armor, the pommels of their swords and, in Ailyn's case, on the face of her shield.

After paying the guild-creation fee, Kirito and Co. left for the city's biggest inn, messaging the more trusted members of their raiding group to join them. Kirito offered each membership in the guild, though only Agil accepted, as Klein and his friends had already created their own guild, Fuurinkazen.

Thus it was that the group of friends sat eating, drinking, and laughing together. Klein finally got to his feet, raising the mug of ale in his hand, his normal roguish smile on his face.

"To our guilds, Shattered Chains and Fuurinkazen! May we clear this damn game, kick Kayaba Akihiko's ass, and become heroes! KANPAI!"

"KANPAI!" the group cheered, jumping to their feet and clashing their mugs together in a toast.

SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC SAO:SC

There we go. The latest chapter of Sword Art Online: Shattered Chains. The guild is formed, the first players are joining, and the game is really beginning! What will come next?

Remember, Read and Review Please and Thank you! Tells me that updating is worth the effort!