Another chapter of my SAO fanfiction!

Hope you guys enjoy!

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I came into awareness when I felt the brunette approach, leaning over my still figure and promptly poking my cheek. "They call him a monster when he's this adorable?" She said aloud, mostly to herself as her voice echoed slightly off the walls of the cavern.

Mentally scoffing, I sat up abruptly, startling the brunette into yelping like a wounded animal and jumping away. Combing a hand through my wavy brown-black hair, I jumped to my feet, holding the sleeping Brelic to my torso. Not bothering to say anything, nor grace them with a glance, I moved to the food storage and pulled out a few water bottles and tossed them to the group.

"Now get going." I grunted briefly, narrowing my eyes when the brunette stepped forward boldly.

"May I request that you lead us to the forest lining? We are not aware of our position in the forest." I raised an eyebrow at the respected, stiff, polite tone of voice and speech.

"Hm." The Brelic held onto me without my help, so I reequipped my sword, latching it to my waist band. The tamer watched me patiently, with a reserved air around him.

"The hell? He didn't even answer you. Rude bastard-" My venomous green eyes bore into him.

Striding away, I grasped the Brunette's forearm and muttered, "Nights empty grasp." Gasping, the other three struggled to find their way over to the brunette and clutch onto each other. The blonde girl, stumbled and hugged me from behind. Stiffening, I looked over my shoulder and growled lowly through my throat, the sound vibrating through my body threateningly.

Fearfully releasing me, the blond trembled and took hold of the brunette, whose smoky blue eyes were as dazed as the others, yet by the twitch of her eyebrow and firm expression, she was obviously angry. Unperturbed, I led them out of my 'man cave' and took them to the clearing I 'rescued' them from the monsters.

At my familiar scent, the beasts avoided the group, passing with only a slight growl. The tense brunette held my arm in a death grip, placing her feet carefully in front of her. An hour from the forest lining, I stopped where the lower leveled monsters of this forest were gathering and trying to snuggle up against my feet or fly onto my shoulders.

"Disable." The four sighed in relief of their returned vision, eyes greedily taking in everything around them, including the sight of the monsters gathering with me. A Renin ruffled its feathers, showing agitation upon the four being too close for comfort and the programing in it to attack. Resting a hand on its beak, the bird settled on my shoulder, its massive body surprisingly light as it rested its head atop of mine.

"Go that way for about an hour and you will be on the dirt path to get out of my forest." The tamer was first to recover from the odd sight, examining the very monsters that would more than likely attack the moment the 'Night Monster' permitted.

"T-thank you, Night Monster." The blonde stuttered, holding the tamer's sleeve anxiously. At a flick of my wrist, the Renin took flight into the tree above and the animals parted off. Shifting back, I turned my back on the players and took my leave towards a training ground I knew of.

"Wait!" I heard the brunette call, her footsteps on the grass clear and loud to my sensitive ears. I paused, but did not turn around, hoping to discourage the girl and leave without any problems, but the girl was admitting brave and bold enough to continue.

"We're team AlHes. I'm Estiel, rouge. The tamer is Sai, our 'leader' Alex, and the mage is Lestina." Her voice grows in confidence until she finished. I looked over my shoulder at the group, at the girl's hopeful expression and glared.

With my hands in my pockets, I strode away without a word, refusing to acknowledge a group that I knew nothing about, or cared the least about. Growling underneath my breath, I leapt onto a high tree branch and through the trees as a blur.

My sword sung, particles of monsters scattering around me at the training ground. The sun shone down from my right, illuminating parts of the forest into a beautiful sight to behold. The monsters I didn't attack continued their programed life in harmony.

"Hm."

OoO

Lying in the tallest tree of my forest, I closed my eyes and left the dawn breeze carries my skin and let my mind wonder into nothingness.

No regrets

No pain

No fear

No responsibility.

My Brelic huddled against me, unafraid of the height and its dark eyes twinkling with the mischief of a cub. The bark easily crumbled under its strong claws and its powerful jaw. My fingers brushed through the bear's warm, soft fur and scratched behind its ears.

This is real.

This Brelic is real, it's warm and it's living. It follows its own natural programing decided by nature.

It's REAL.

SHE'S REAL.

The cub rubbed its furry face against my chest, making growling sounds, urging me to pet under her chin. As I did so, I allowed a slight smile to crawl onto my features. The smile was odd, awkward, and unfamiliar. As the smile faded, my features relaxed to the peaceful sounds around me. The sway of the trees, the ruffled leaves, the sound of the monsters- the animals-, the bugs and the waterfall not too far away.

This world is my world.

OoO

March 6th, 2024 Floor 56: Pani

I stood off in the back, leaning against the walls and ignoring the large crowd of players discussing around me. With a huff, I remembered the only reason I was here was because Kirito dragged me along with him after finding me in my forest. With my Azurel Shadow's cloak shadowing my face, my identity and my presence was unknown among the players.

I opened my eyes when Asuna slammed her hand down on the table with the map, "We'll lure the field boss into the village." Murmurs and various arguments rose from the crowd of players, Kirito stepped forward to voice his own thoughts.

"W-wait a second. If you do that, the villagers…"

"That's the idea." Asuna cut him off, "While the boss is killing the NPCs, we'll attack and destroy it."

"NPCs aren't just 3-D objects like trees or rocks. They're…"

"Alive? Is that it?" Asuna glared at him, making me chuckle. With the air was so tense around them, I would almost think it was sexual. "They're only objects. Even if they're killed, they'll just respawn."

"I can't go along with this." Kirito said firmly. I wasn't sure whose side to take, but I believe if Kayaba had made it so the NPCs could be killed and won't return, this situation would be different. My Brelic, Rel, purred and rubbed against my leg, nipping at my ankle.

"I, Asuna, Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath, will oversee this operation." She glared at Kirito, standing straight and defiantly staring him hard in the eyes. "You will obey my orders."

I whistled lowly under my breath, snickering when her glare shot to me in annoyance.

OoO

At the end of the meeting, Kirito and I left the cave in sync. Kirito ignored my amused chuckling at his expense as I walked with him, Egil stopped him. "Hey! Another fight?" Egil walked over to us.

"Egil?"

"Why are you and the second-in-command always like that? And dragging the supposed 'Night Monster' with you all the time too." He grinned and nodded to me. "Hey kid." I waved lazily in return to his grin.

"I guess we just don't get along." Kirito shrugged and I snorted. "'You'll be really strong. So is someone you trust ever invites you to join a guild, don't turn them down'." Kirito sighed and looked down. "That's what I said, but I never expected her to start clearing floors with a top guild."

"Asuna isn't one to lay low." I snorted, Kirito's eyes flickering over to me as he smiled. "She's way too much of a group player." I shrugged and sighed as if she was a lost cause. "It's too late to bring her to the dark side. Too bad she'll miss all the cookies."

"Don't forget us hot men." Elgin joined in, making the three of us trade glances and laugh.

OoO

Kirito and Asuna visited me in my dense forest sometimes, but when they came running and rambling a whole story about some person being killed in a city, telling me the whole story of what happened and then staring at me for a reaction, I simply snorted. Asuna smacked me on the back of my head with a wooden spatula – for whatever reason she carries that around to hit me with, only Kami knows-, upsetting my Rel and earning a bite mark on her leg.

Kirito laughed at her when she screamed and tried to kick Rel off futilely, as the Brelic let go and seemed to grin before climbing onto my lap. "Kashin! Don't teach your pet to do that!" She scolded, whipping out her wooden spatula threateningly. At this, Rel growled and snapped at her, though it was obvious that the Brelic wasn't trying to hurt Asuna.

Looking over my shoulder at where Kirito had fallen asleep under the shade of a tree, Asuna dodging Rel's lazy swipes I tiled my head when she glared at me and softened my eyes, pouting.

Silence

Amused, I turned back around like nothing happened and snickered. A shrill squeal made my ears rung and Kirito wake up with a yell of his own when Asuna latched herself to me, torturing me in her bear hug. "Ah! That was so cute, Kashin! Just think of how you would look if you would actually smile!" She cooed like she was praising a little kid, lifting my face up with her hands.

"Tch." I clicked my tongue and looked away from her hopeful stare. I glared at Kirito who was laughing behind her, whipping his eyes free of tears.

"I'm not a kid, Asuna." I growled, glaring at her. Hugging me, she completely ignored me in favor of hugging the living soul out of my avatar. I swear I could hear my health bar dwindling. "I'm fifteen." Abruptly, she pulled away, staring wide eyed at me. Behind her, Kirito had fallen over in shock.

"But you're so short!"

Damn this women.

It's not my fault I'm only 5'0".

At this, she opened her menu and shoved a bottle of milk in my hands. "Here, this will help you grow." She smiled happily as I growled at her.

OoO

I was walking through the condors of Reighn Palace towards the Regimes boss, whom had the metals I wanted to upgrade my wakizashi's. The metal can only be found on the cloak of the boss, which only ever appears in game during the winter in the Reighn Palace, yet many players avoid the palace due to the monsters that spawn are triple the normal, all ranging from levels 40-80.

The lower level monsters ignored me, whereas the higher level monsters seemed to flock around and attack me in a group. My eyes scanned the fortress of black ice, slivers of silver imbedded in the walls and floors, making the palace a giant maze fortress. A familiar scream pulled me from my studies as I tilted my head in the direction.

To my absolute horror, the girl who has been tracking me the past few months showed up for the millionth time. But in this case, she was screaming like a lunatic and running frantically in my direction. Close on her heels, a mob of monsters chased after her in a frenzy, seemingly able to sense their soon-to-be prey. Glancing in the other direction, I realized it was swarmed with other monsters, and the only way out would be to take my path. Frowning, I realized this also meant I couldn't avoid her.

Stepping out of the shadowy corridor, I noticed her blue eyes spark with recognition, then her whole face lit up in hope and joy. A heavy sigh released from my lungs as she quickly lunged forward. Side stepping, I watched her face plant in amusement, unsheathing my blades and the blades hummed in my palms.

The monsters surrounded us, lifting their gleaming crystallite claws for the kill. "Hn, weaklings." Swiching my Wakizashi's I felt them roar to life in a red glow. "Crimson Overcast." The red glow flew out and spread like a cloud overcast. "Roaring Cloud needles." The hazy overcast sudden switched to millions of thin needles, cutting cleanly through the beasts.

Sighing, I checked my mana. Humph, more than half of those were lower monsters and it made me waste mana. I flipped my wakizashi's, I sheathed them and looked over my shoulder at the blonde-haired girl. "Kashin! Thank you for-"

Rolling my eyes, I left her on the ground and proceeded to the boss's room, cutting down monsters as I went. "Kashin!" Startled, I felt one of the monsters claws rake down my back and I hissed, angrily running my thrumming blades through the clawed monster before taking out the others. Heavily breathing, I glared at his stalker as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. Resisting the urge to kill her, I calmed his breath and walked more slowly to my destination, allowing my health to restore over time.

My ear twitched at her footsteps as she fell into step just beside me, holding her chakrams nervously to her chest. Ignoring her was hard when she lightly kept ahold of my sleeve, constantly huddling near me in fear when the monsters came by.

After a few floors, I decided I was fed up by her lack of confidence and fear. Halting in place, I wasn't surprised as she walked into my side, squeaking slightly at my sudden movement. Turning to face her, I studied her expression intently, mentally rolling my eyes in exasperation when she blushed. "Where did your confidence flee too?"

She jolted, as if smacked. "I…I-"

I glared, "Don't bother talking if you stutter. Gather your words first, then speak. Don't be irrational and emotional like all women are and stop acting like a scared child. I don't help the weak." Though it was harsh, she seemed to realize something and hug her head in shame.

I waited, suddenly feeling patient and old. Ancient. She mustered up some courage and a bit of her old light lit in her eyes, "Sorry, Kashin. For always having to save me and tolerate me always follow you around." Well, at least she understood that it irritated him.

"What level are you." He asked, the question coming out as a statement.

"56…" She murmered, nervous again as she scratched her cheek.

He felt the strong urge to kill her once again. "Are you stupid? Coming to the Reighn Palace at only level 56?" He couldn't help but face-palm, wearily wondering why he seemed to attract idiots.

"I came because my tracking skill lead me here, I knew you were going to come here soon because the blacksmith said you had an interest in the one-in-a-game-life chance of getting the metal for your swords." She explained, her eyes watching him curiously. Well, it seems like Fervidium is an idiot too, that stupid blacksmith. I'm going to kill him.

He looked behind him, where the boss room was nearby, and knew there would be no time to lead her out and then make it back her in time. The boss's metal is only obtainable on the 15th of December, when it is created by the heat of the monster, the frost from the palace and the crystallite and ice on the walls of his chamber.

Resigning himself to his fate, he cursed the world. "Follow me, but stay out of the way. I don't have time to lead you out of the palace." He continued on his way, ignoring the wide smile on the blonde-haired girls face as she confidently followed near him.

Well, at least she wasn't fearfully hiding behind him like a rabbit anymore.

OoO

The two of us walked through the heavy crystallite doors and my eyes flickered behind us as they slowly slid shut. The girl shuffled uneasily beside him, shivering from the cold even while she wore her fur coat. "Hide somewhere, I don't want you to distract me or become a damsel in distress. I'll kill you myself if you do." She squeaked and darted off to the side behind the mounds of crystallite and black pillars of ice.

The floor started to rumble underneath my booted feet, icicles falling from the ceiling as the boss floating into existence. The Regime boss screeched loudly, making me flinch in pain at the shrill tone and cover my ears. The fog swarmed out around the boss and I flipped to the side just as a huge clawed hand crushed into the ground I was standing on a second ago.

Fast and strong.

A dangerous combination, but Kashin also was speed and power based. I lurched forward, my wakizashi's swarming in red lights as they hummed. "Twilights gale! Scissors madness!" My eyes searching through the fog, my skill won out and I caught its health bar. The fog disbursed from my wind, the red incisions on the monster glowing as it shrieked in anger and pain. Skillfully swinging my wakizashi's in sync, sparks and flint flew as they collided with the metal cloak on the monster.

My wakizashi's bounced off, proving that the metal was just what I was searching for. A wicked grin made its way onto my lips as I laughed, surging at the beast with my wakizashi's switching and flipping in my palms.

A fire appeared in the corner of my eye and I dodged to the side, narrowing my eyes when the girl came out with her chakrams ablaze in flames. "I'll distract it!" She yelled to me.

"Idiot." I hissed, jumping down in front of her and slinging her over my shoulder in time to dodge the monsters quick claws. "You're too slow and low leveled, just hide until I kill it."

"But you could die!" She yelled.

"Exactly." I grinned, feeling as if adrenaline rushed through my body and I felt blood lust following with it. Cackling, I ran my wakizashi's under the arm of the monster, the unprotected flesh cutting easily before my blade and the monsters high pitched screams falling on deaf ears. I ignored the wounds I was accumulating, enraptured by the fight. My health bar dinged in warning as it reached the yellow, they nearly red.

"Humph, I'm taking that metal of yours. Skarmoring Rupture!" My wakizashi's gleamed and turned red with the attack power, blurring in speed as my blades split into the monster, its howling thundering through my body as it burst into pixels. I leaned over with my hands on my knees as the message window popped up.

Congratulations on beating the special Regime boss.

Reward: Hood of Fulkhorme metal and Fulkhorme metal crystallites.

Grinning triumphantly, I nearly jumped when a figure leaned over me. The girl watched me in concern, her hand held out with a healing potion. Taking the potion, I downed it and felt my wounds close over and blood vanish. Searching through my inventory, I equipped my hood of Fulkhorme and smirked at the style as it matched my black clothes and cloak. Pulling the cloak over the hood and the hood's mask over the lower part of my face, I felt content.

"That was fun."

"Fun!? Are you crazy?" I looked at her but she cut me off, "Don't answer that! Also, what handsome man would cover his face! Take it off!" She whined, reaching for my hood.

I stepped out of reaching distance and dodged when she tried running after me. Snickering, I knew there was a teleport crystal in the back of the chamber to teleport out of the palace near the Town of Beginnings. So I ignored the girl and touched the crystal, directing it where to teleport me.

"W-wait! Don't leave me here!" She growled in irritation. "I'll find you! I'll track you till the end of the world!" I rolled my eyes and she huffed, freaking out when I started to glow with the teleport crystal. "I'm Abilene, don't forget it!"

I huffed and vanished in the glow, my eyes meeting with the familiar trees of my forest.

Home.

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You know, Kashin sometimes pisses me off too.

(Glares at the boy when he snorts in his place in her mind, ignoring her other OC's and Shiharu/Ember as she drank a milkshake beside him passively.)

All my OC's drive me crazy sometimes to update, Kashin was growing impatient, but he's a brat. (Mentally gets hit with the handle of Kashin's Wakizashi) OW- He's flippin rude too.

Anyways, Night Fire's next up and is coming soon. Maybe within this week if I feel motivated enough…

Comments are a pleasure!