February 16th, 2029

The forest was large, and despite the group's mounts, the terrain was difficult. They were able to move quickly through clearings but for most of the journey, their horses were moving at half speed or less. And on top of the trees and the shrubbery, the Ring Forest was filled with small mountains, cliffs, rivers, caves and waterfalls. They would go one way, only to find that they would have to circle back and go around some obstacle that they ran in to.

Because of this, the group made more stops. Every time they stopped to rest up, eat and sleep, Sinon and Silica would go out into the forest to scout ahead. Sometimes they stayed together, sometimes they went out alone. Silica was by herself, climbing a small cliff face to see what lay on the other side. When she got to the top, she found herself in trouble.

Growling got her attention once Silica got to the top. Looking around, she could see a small pack of wolves, five of them in all, brown and gray of fur. She pulled her dagger, and stayed still. "Nice doggies…" she muttered. Taking one step back, her foot brushed dirt from the ledge, and she looked back behind her. She could survive the drop, she believed, but… might not be able to walk once she hit the bottom.

One of the animals charged her. Watching, Silica prepared herself. It jumped up, and she ducked and rolled off to the side. The wolf howled out as it found itself fall to the bottom of the cliff, and with a thud, it squealed out, terribly injured and unable to move. The rest of the pack came charging in, staying on the ground to keep from copying their brother's mistake. Silica ran for it, dodging a few attacks and then stumbling to the ground. At least now she was away from the cliff.

The wolves kept up the attack. Silica thrust her dagger upwards and gutted the first to reach her. After throwing it off to her side, she rolled out of the way of another, and picked herself up. One of the animals came in, and bit at her ankle. Screaming out, she retaliated with a wild stab at the ground, only nicking the wolf. Her health, she read, was at ninety-one percent.

When the wolf came to attack again, she swung with her dagger, and slashed its face. Hurting, the animal stumbled back, and shook its head, blood dripping from its jaw. Another wolf leapt into the attack, and as it did, Silica crouched, and thrust her dagger up, slashing the animal's throat. When it landed, it dropped to the ground and squirmed as it started to bleed out.

The cut wolf ran back into the fight, and tackled Silica to the ground. It bit her shoulder, her arm, her face before she managed to land a hit with her dagger. Now she had a light bleeding effect on her, her health at sixty-eight percent and falling at a rate of one-percent every five seconds. One good strike with her dagger critically wounded the animal, and it stumbled away before bleeding to death on the ground.

Silica gasped, and got up. She heard a snarling, and one wolf remained. Her health was still dropping, and she hurt. After turning to run, she felt pain grip her bitten ankle, and she hit the dirt. On her knees, she turned back to the slowly approaching wolf. The animal was being cautious, after seeing her lay to waste four of its brethren.

"Beast taming…" Silica mumbled. She dropped her knife, and held out her hand, open-palm, to the wolf. "Don't fail me now…" The canine approached with a little more confidence, licking its lips hungrily. Silica went into her player inventory, and pulled out a piece of cooked pork, and held it out to the animal. "Come here, boy… or girl..."

Once close enough, the wolf licked at the meat, and then snatched it from Silica's hand. After it ate, it looked back up at her, and sniffed at the open palm for any more traces of the pig meat. Silica opened her inventory once more, and took out another one to feed to the beast. The animal quickly became friendly with her, and soon, she was petting its brown mane. A pop-up appeared, and Silica nodded, and clicked a check-mark at the bottom. The wolf's name changed to one of her choosing, "Fluffy."


Sinon explored the woods the same as Silica. She had climbed up a tree to look out ahead, and once she got sight of a good path through the forest, she started climbing back down. Once on the ground again, she opened her player menu, and opened up a new message to send to Kirito and the others. With the window opened, she noticed something behind the translucent object, a mark on the tree in the shape of a wolf paw. Between the claws it read three letters: B. B. W.

While she was looking at the symbol, she heard something. Quickly, she drew an arrow to her bow and turned around. Then, surprise swept her as she saw herself facing thirteen players, all with red player cursors over their heads. "B B W," she said. "Who are you?"

The players all wore ragged clothing, and mostly leather armor though two of them wore bronze chainmail. Their weapons were mostly iron. "Big Bad Wolves," one of them spoke. His in-game name read as 'Retnik.' Retnik was a tall player, standing at six-foot-five, and he had a scruffy beard to go with his unkempt, brown hair. "We're player-killers."

Sinon nodded. She could start shooting, but she was alone out here, facing way too many enemies. "I gathered," she said. "So am I going to have to fight?"

"Who were you going to send a message to?" Retnik asked her.

"Kirito," Sinon said. "The hero of Sword Art Online, and his party. If you kill me, they'll come find you. You'll regret it."

The group all laughed at that. "Kirigaya Kazuto," Retnik said, walking closer. "No doubt Yuuki Asuna is with him, along with all of the rest of his gang?"

"Good," Sinon said. "You know them. You know how good they are."

"Yeah, well… we'll see about that." Retnik walked past her without touching her once, and leaned against the tree. "You shouldn't fight. You should send him a message. Tell him you're in trouble, and you need help."

"Seriously?" Sinon asked, cautiously lowering her bow. "What kind of player-killers are you?"

"Just send the message," Retnik said, watching her.

Sinon put her bow down, and opened her player menu again. She typed out the message, saying exactly what Retnik told her to say, and then sent it. "Now what?" she asked. "Are you going to make me fight?"

"You can fight if you want," Retnik said. "But we've no intention of killing you, not yet."

"You're using me as bait," Sinon said.

Retnik nodded to her, and walked over. He picked up her bow, and tossed it to his guild mates. "You're catching on," he said. Hands free, he opened his inventory, and pulled out a rope. "Give me your hands…"

"I'm going to kill you," Sinon said. "I'm going to put an arrow through your head."

"Woah," Retnik said after binding her hands. "A lot of hostility in this one, huh boys?" There was a short laugh. "No, you're not going to kill any of us. You're too scared, I can tell. I can smell it." As he spoke, he leaned in and sniffed her hair, but… not in the manner of a pervert. He rubbed his nose against her, and growled, trying to act like a dog sniffing her. Sinon cringed, and tried to pull away. He didn't take it any farther.


The rest of Kirito's group was eating a lunch of deer meat around a small camp they had set up. While they were eating, a gray wolf intruded on their meal, and tackled Klein to the ground. The vicious beast was met with a hasty response. Everyone grabbed their weapons, but then, the animal started licking at Klein's face, being extremely friendly.

"That wolf's name," Kirito said.

Asuna nodded, and put her short sword away. "It's probably Silica's."

There was a whistle, and the wolf left Klein to go to Silica's side, who limped into the camp. She had some bandages she used to stop the bleeding, but was still in rough shape. Leafa rushed out to her, and started casting healing spells to bring her back up. Asuna was next to go to her aid. "Silica, are you alright?" she asked.

Silica brushed her off, and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a run in with a few nasty wolves. Got a new friend out of it, though."

Klein wiped the slobber from his face, and glared at the beast. "Yeah, I met him…"

While they talked, Kirito got Sinon's message. He interrupted their conversation. "Guys," he said. "We have a problem."

"What?" Agil asked, getting up from his spot.

"Sinon sent out a message. She ran into some player-killers, and she's in trouble. We can track her with the frie—" Kirito blinked as Sinon's radar signal suddenly vanished. He went through his friends' list to find her again, but she wasn't there. "She's not on my friends list anymore…"

"Mine neither…" Sampson said. "Do you think—"

"No." Tex shook her head. She flipped her player screen over for everyone to see. On it was listed her friends, and one of them was labeled 'deceased.' "Dead players aren't removed from the list… she removed everyone as friends."

"Which means the player-killers forced her to," Kirito said. "That means whatever they're doing with her, they don't want to be caught…"

"Which may be even worse," Asuna said.

"How do we find her?" Lisbeth asked.

Silica opened her player menu, then went and looked at Fluffy's abilities. "Fluffy has a tracking ability. We need something that belongs to her."

Tex pulled a wooden bow from her inventory, and held it out. "This was her before she upgraded to the elven bow," she said.

Silica took the bow, and held it up to Fluffy. The wolf sniffed at it, and then started sniffing the ground. It headed out of the camp, and Silica walked after it. "Looks like we got a trail," Silica said.

Kirito nodded, and tapped on a tent. A menu appeared, and he clicked a button that caused the tent and everything inside to compile into his inventory. Everyone else was doing the same, quickly packing up. "Let's get moving. The longer we wait, the more danger she's in."


Kirito's group made it to the tree that Sinon was captured at. Silica stopped her pet from keeping up with the trail for now as she examined the surroundings. The first thing she noticed were the boot prints. "Players," she said. "Or at least I'm guessing it's the player-killers. And there were quite a few of them. Sinon would be able to say how many and where they came from, but she's not here…"

"All we need to know is who they are and where they're going," Kirito said.

Asuna spotted the marking on the tree, and pointed it out to the group. "B B W," she said, reading the markings. "It's got to be a guild insignia. What do you think it stands for?"

"Big Bad Wolves," Sampson said after a few seconds of thought. "At least that's my guess, judging from their symbol… which I'm only guessing is a wolf's paw."

Silica nodded. "It is."

"Well BBW could also stand for Big, Beautiful—" Klein started off, but Agil flicked his ear.

"Well, considering the fact that we're not in a porno," Kirito said. "I'm going to guess Big Bad Wolves, too."

"How do you know what that means?" Asuna asked, staring him down.

Kirito looked at her, and shook his head, holding up his hands in a defensive gesture. "No, no, I learned it in passing!"

"Can we bottle this discussion for later?" Agil asked. "Silica, put Fluffy back on the trail. This is kind of important."

Silica nodded, and pointed for her wolf to head out. Fluffy followed the command, and ran ahead, leading the group onward.


Soon enough, Kirito and the others reached their destination. A clearing in the woods where the sun shined. Sinon was sitting on a tree trunk, bound and gagged, struggling to break free. Silica was the first to reach her, and used her dagger to cut through the ropes.

"What the hell are you even doing out here?" Kirito asked her.

Sinon, now free, pulled the gag from her mouth, and yelled out to all of them. "Trap!"

Kirito blinked, and then everyone quickly drew their weapons, realizing the implications. They turned around, and all around them were the player-killers. The Big Bad Wolves proved to be a large guild, with about forty of them waiting for the ambush. "There's a lot of them," Kirito said.

"We're going to have to try and run," Sinon said. She stood up, and looked around. "They took my weapons though."

"Did they hurt you?" Leafa asked, checking her vitals.

Sinon shook her head. "No, they were only using me to get Kirito."

"Why?" Kirito asked.

"Can't we worry about that later?" Lisbeth asked.

"Kirito," Retnik called out to them. "We only need you… and Asuna. Come quietly, and we let everyone else go."

Sampson didn't wait any longer, he charged for the players, and swung his axe around. The killers were on the agile side, and all ducked and maneuvered out of the way of the broad axe. Once Sampson was separated, they surrounded him. The rest of the Big Bad Wolves charged in on the group.

Kirito and Asuna fought back to back. The Big Bad Wolves though didn't come in one at a time. Two of them immediately attacked each of them, and two more waited just outside of their reach. In those groups of three, they would swap in and out of combat, cycling their positions. As they moved, they each led the two lovers apart from one-another, and then another moved in on each of them.

Leafa stayed center with Sinon, who was weaponless, and Tex, who wielded a bow. Being the only healer, Leafa did her best to throw out healing spells when needed, but the wolves weren't trying to kill them, so it was hardly necessary. Realizing this, Leafa switched over to damage. She prepared to cast her mass disarm, but as she did, one of the wolves, a larger one with heavy armor, rushed in, and tackled her to the ground, interrupting her spell. Tex tried to stop him, but her aim was horrid, and she was panicked.

Sinon grabbed Tex's bow, and pulled an arrow from the girl's quiver to shoot the player, but it was too late. Another wolf jumped in with a sword, and cut her at her calves. She cried, and fell to the ground, the arrow shooting far wide. They left Tex alone, who was too paralyzed with fear to fight back.

Silica and Fluffy stayed together. As she saw the group getting led apart, she decided to make a run back towards Leafa and Sinon. They seemed to be in the most trouble. Fluffy leapt at the player keeping Leafa at bay, and snapped at his head and neck. The brute got up, and whipped around trying to grab the beast until he succeeded in getting it off of him.

Agil and Klein were fighting off in the other direction. They stayed together for the most part, but just like the rest, the Big Bad Wolves were simply trying to separate them. Once those two were far from the group, they split them up. That just left Lisbeth. Lisbeth was making her way towards Sampson, but the closer she got, the more desperately she fought, and it got harder and harder to block the incoming blows.

The player attacking Sinon had left to aid his brethren, and so Silica focused on the larger player attacking Leafa. He was still distracted with the wolf, but a quick thrust of Silica's dagger into the back of his leg left him in much worse shape. He fell to a knee and cried out.

Leafa looked around, and most of her allies were beyond her sight. She cast a healing spell on Sinon, and then whistled, calling her horse. "We have to get out of here!" she shouted.

Sinon mounted up next, then Tex and Silica. The four of them started riding off in Klein's direction. As they rode, their horses forced the wolves to dodge an incoming charge. In that time, Klein managed to mount up as well, and rode out with them.

Meanwhile, behind the tree line, Retnik had retreated and was waiting with a group of players wielding bows and arrows. "We got the ones we need," he said. "Let those few go and let's wrap this up. We'll be long gone before they track us down again."

With that, the archers, snipers and rangers all stepped forward. Once they got within range, they each fired an arrow. The arrows were dipped in a poison that, when hitting a player, would paralyze them. There were two or three heading for each player still in combat, and Sampson was the last one to go down. But the wolves got what they wanted.


Sinon, Silica and the others made it back a good distance before stopping and dismounting. Fluffy followed along with them, and the group took a moment to calm their nerves, and figure out what to do.

"Half of our group is gone," Leafa said. "And we don't know where the wolves plan on taking them."

Sinon shook her head. "No, we do," she said. Letting out a breath of air, she took a seat on the ground. "While I was their prisoner, they told me their intentions, as well as a number of their disturbing crimes."

"So what's going to happen to Kirito and the others?" Klein asked.

"They're going to try and sell Kirito and Asuna," Sinon said. The players looked at her with mild concern. "To Laughing Coffin…" Then, there was a gasp. "They think Laughing Coffin will pay them with some in-game benefits of some kind. The rest… based on what they told me about previous victims… it doesn't sound good. They're not just killers. They capture players and keep them for weeks, starving and torturing them, having their own sick, twisted brand of fun with them until they finally die."

"That's awful," Leafa said. She sat down next to Sinon. "So what's the plan? How are we going to get our friends back?"

Sinon thought for a moment, and then went on. "I overheard where they plan on meeting Laughing Coffin. We'll go in while they're negotiating for Kirito and Asuna, and rescue the rest of them. Then, we'll ambush the negotiations. Tex…"

"Yeah?"

"I want you to stay back," Sinon said. "No offense, but you totally froze up back there, and we can't afford that when we go in."

Tex glanced down at the dirt, and let out a sigh.

"Don't be so hard on her, Sinon," Leafa said. "She's young, she got scared. We both know you've had your fair share of that."

Sinon looked at Tex, and then to Leafa and shook her head. "I know," she said. "But there are lives on the line, here. Not just any lives… the lives of our friends… your family, Leafa."

"I think we should give her another chance," Leafa said. "There's only five of us. We need everyone we can get."

"I'm with Leafa," Silica said. "You should take the bow, but give Tex a knife. At least she can get in and cut the others free when we find them."

Sinon looked at Tex, and nodded with a sigh of her own. "Alright, fine. You're in." Tex gave a little cheer. "But if we get in deep and you freeze up, we might not be able to save you. Your life… and our own is in your hands." After that, she looked up to the sky. "We're losing daylight." She got herself up, and summoned her horse. "We should get moving quickly."


The group came up to the Big Bad Wolves' camp. There were quite a few of them there, but they were all enjoying themselves, drinking, eating and telling jokes. Sinon and the others lurked back, watching the camp and assessing the situation.

"Alright," Sinon said. "We go in quiet… free as many as we can before we fight."

"Wait," Leafa said. She pulled out her spell book, and flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. "Here… I have a spell. I can use it to create a really loud bang. I could go off a ways, and distract them."

Tex nodded. "Yeah, that could work… get them to go check out the noise."

"What? All of them will go?" Klein asked. "Maybe a few…"

"Better than none," Leafa said.

"Agreed," Sinon said. "Get to it." Leafa nodded, and headed away from the group. Turning to Klein, Sinon continued on with her plan. "Klein, I want you to go in with Tex. If any of them spot you, start fighting and give use time to finish the job. Silica, keep Fluffy by your side, have him guard you while you cut ropes. Tex, move in and cut ropes. I'll be staying back and provide ranged support if you need it."

Then, there was a loud bang, like a bomb going off. The wolves all looked off to the west of camp. Sinon waved her hand. "That's our cue. Go."

Silica and Fluffy were first off, and got to work finding their friends and cutting them from their bounds. Tex went with Klein, and did the same. As they went in, the wolves gathered around a campfire, and talked with one-another.

Silica reached Lisbeth first, and after cutting her free gave Lisbeth a spare knige. Lisbeth went along, heading for Sampson and cutting him free. Tex cut Agil free, and then the three of them met up with Silica, Lisbeth and Sampson.

As the sun was setting, they started to all leave the camp when Sampson stopped them and pointed to the fire. Three of the wolves were returning to camp, dragging Leafa with them. Sinon saw it from her perch, and cursed under her breath. Without hesitating, she drew her arrow, and launched it. One shot, one kill, a head shot on one of the wolves. They all turned around to see the group of players, now free.

There was a moment's pause for everyone, and then another arrow went through another player's head and he fell to the ground. The wolves ran into combat, drawing weapons. Sampson grabbed a fallen tree branch to use as a club. The others all went for whatever near-by weapons they could find. Tex drew her dagger, and waited for the players to approach. Just as one came up on her though, she screamed, and ran the other direction.

As the brawl ensued, Sinon ran ahead, and to Leafa, who was bound and gagged. "Please tell me you've got a spell ready for this," Sinon said.

A few moments later, Leafa was casting another spell on the cluster of fighting players. The muttered enchantment came to a close, and all of the players in the chaos, allies included, were suddenly knocked to the ground, and all stumbled as they tried to get up. While the players stumbled, Sinon got three more shots in, and Leafa was throwing bolts of magic. As the wolves started losing the battle, they all ran in different directions, leaving the players alone.

Sinon looked around, and gritted her teeth. These player-killers were good. They would run in different directions so they couldn't be chased. Furthermore, another attack could come from any direction.

Once all the players gathered together, they discussed the next step of the plan. They went through the weapon caches and whatever was on the ground after the fight, and armed themselves to move ahead with the plan.

"No time to explain," Sinon said as she started heading to her next objective. "Kirito and Asuna need our help, and fast. Expect heavy resistance." The group looked at her, and she stopped as she didn't hear them following. Turning around, she snapped at them. "Guys!" she shouted. "Come on! We don't have time to wait around!"

"Sinon, please calm down," Lisbeth said as she started walking.

"Calm down?" she asked. "Are you even here today? You see what's happened to us? We run into our first player-killer group and they make fools out of us. They capture half of our group and some of us can't even stand and fight."

"Sorry…" Tex said. She had come back to the group, and stood behind Sinon as she addressed the crowd.

"Sinon," Klein said. "Kirito and Asuna will be fine. They're resourceful."

"Yeah," Lisbeth said. "They survived one death game already. If anyone's making it out alive, it's them."

"You're usually not like this," Silica told her. "What's gotten into you today?"

Sinon laughed at her, and shook her head. She pointed out to the woods. "What's gotten into me?" she asked. Quite dramatically, she drew both arms into her chest, and clenched her first. "I was kidnapped, threatened, saw half of my friends kidnapped, and I just killed like… five people! Killed!" Her breath was fast, panting, and she was afraid. After that, she dropped to her knees, and hanged her head low.

While the rest of the group stared, trying to figure out what to say and do with the shocked woman, Tex sat down next to her, and wrapped an arm around her. "It's okay," she said in a soft, but equally frightened tone. "You know you did the right thing, right?"

Sinon shook her head, and punched a fist into the ground. "I killed someone before, you just don't get it," she said. "I'm… it was awful. And today I killed five people in just a few seconds without even thinking twice about it. I'm a monster." At that point, she reached for Tex and buried her face into the teen's shoulder, starting to cry.

The rest of the group sat down with her, then, except for Klein and Agil. While the group tried to console Sinon, the two of them discussed their next step. "She is right about one thing," Agil said. "We should be going to rescue Kirito and Asuna."

Klein nodded to him, but then looked to Sinon. "Earlier, she snapped at Tex for freezing up. Now… she's losing it over a body count."

"Can you blame her?" Agil asked. "We've not been in this game three months and we've already all had to fight, and kill. It's not like Sword Art Online, this one… it's brutal."

"So what's our plan?" Klein asked.

Agil thought about it for a moment. "Sinon is our best weapon. She rarely misses, and when she hits, her target goes down. We need her in a good mental state before we go on."

"Right…" Klein said. "And Sampson too… but I think Sampson is fine."

"I can be a strong man, too, you know," Agil said, feeling rather emasculated by the comment.

Klein snickered. "Hey look, buddy," he said. "You know how, on the playground, there was always that bigger, tougher kid that nobody ever messed with, not even the other tough kids and the bullies? Well Sampson is that bigger kid. Don't get me wrong… you're intimidating, you're strong… but Sampson. He's the incredible Hulk."

Agil rolled his eyes, and the two of them approached the rest. "Sinon," Agil said. "You're right."

Sinon looked up, and tilted her head. "Right about what?"

"We need to hurry up and get to saving Kirito and Asuna," Agil said. "Your guilty feelings aside, our friends are still in danger, and we need to do everything we can to rescue them, even if they're the best and can recue themselves."

Sinon nodded, and got up. "Alright," she said. She wiped the tears from her eyes, and looked out to the forest.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Tex said.

"What I want to do," Sinon said. "… Is everything I can to save my friends."


"Kirito," a member of the Laughing Coffin said as he examined the two bound players. "And Asuna…" He looked to Retnik, and the Laughing Coffin surrounding him all looked to their group's leader. "Good job," he said.

"I was thinking such a high value target might be good currency," Retnik said. "To buy some… advantages with."

"What kind of advantages?"

"I don't know. Levels… special gear—"

The Laughing Coffin player laughed at him, and shook his head. "And what incentive do we have to give you anything? Much less something that would break our game…"

Retnik was taken aback, and shook his head. "We captured the two players who ended Sword Art Online," he said. "I thought you had a hard-on for them or something."

He shook his head and laughed again. "We know what you do," he said. "How you rope your victims up and make them scream… make them hurt for days and days. You're not killers… you're animals. And we only bargain with human beings."

"Not killers?" Retnik asked. He stepped forward, trying to be aggressive, but was immediately taking a step back as the Laughing Coffin drew their weapons. "Look here. We're player-killers. More than Laughing Coffin ever was! You couldn't get Kirito, could you? We got Kirito! And we're far more dangerous and feared than you were. You're not killers either, I know how you used to work… luring players out to kill them and steal their stuff. No, that's not a murderer… that's just a lowly thief!"

"What is it, exactly, that you were hoping to accomplish? What made you think we would give you anything for capturing our enemy?"

"Everything!"

"Not so." The Laughing Coffin turned his back, and started walking away. "We want Kirito dead… but Kirito was never yours to kill. He's our target. And if you were real player-killers, he'd already be dead."

In that moment, one of the wolves fell to the ground with a grunt, an arrow through his left eye. He died instantly, and everyone else turned around. The Laughing Coffin started running while the fight started. The next arrow hit a player right next to Retnik, and after that, the rest of the group charged from the bushes, and attacked the player-killers. Retnik snarled, and waited to hear the sound of an arrow whooshing for him. Then, he ducked, dodging the arrow, and made a run for it. Many of the wolves followed him, and the players didn't bother chasing them off.

Kirito and Asuna were freed shortly after, and Asuna shook her head, spitting at the taste of the rope that had been in her mouth. "Thank god," she said. "That guy… so annoying."

"Tell me about it," Sinon said as she stepped up. "I missed…"

"He's got like jacked up super senses or something," Kirito said. "And what a creep."

"Shouldn't we go after them?" Sinon asked.

Kirito shook his head, and waved his hand dismissively. "Let 'em run. I think we've all had enough of player-killers for one day."

Sinon sighed with relief, and nodded. "I couldn't agree more…"

Kirito took a look at Sinon, and noted that her level was now higher than his own. "Sinon," he said. "How many of them did you—"

Klein grabbed a hold of Kirito, interrupting him to drag him to the side. "Nice to see you again, buddy!" he said. Sinon bid Klein a silent thanks, and then put away her weapons. "What would you do without us, huh?"

"Actually," Asuna said. "The way the meeting between the wolves and Laughing Coffin was going, I think we might have been able to escape on our own."

"Now that that drama is over," Klein said. "Are we finally ready to leave this zone?"

At least half of the party let out a grunt at that. "Klein," Agil said. "We've been in the forest for a long while now. How is it that you're always so optimistic about our leaving it?"


The next day, in the forest, Sinon was away from the group again. She sat on a tree stump and with her right hand, she drew onto her left arm with a magical ink, drawing tattoos on herself. She was finishing up with it when Silica came by. "What are you doing?" Silica asked.

Sinon's arm was painted with three coffins, and seven wolf paws. When Silica came up on her, she dropped her brush, and kicked it into the dirt to hide it, and pulled her arm back to hide that as well. "Nothing!" she said.

"Well don't wander off on your own again," Silica said. Fluffy came running up next to her, and Sinon petted him. "Kirito's new rule, remember. No one alone."

"Good rule," Sinon said. "I like it." As she spoke, she grabbed a roll of linen, and wrapped it up her left arm, all the way to her shoulder. As Silica was starting to head forward again, Sinon grabbed the brush and dropped it into her inventory.


February 22nd, 2029

Kirito's group had a camp set up in the forest. It was morning, and everyone was getting up to start the day off. Sampson was on watch, along with Lisbeth, who'd volunteered to take the watch with him.

Kirito left his tent with a yawn, and a stretch. He took middle watch so he had the most disturbed sleep schedule. "Morning, Asuna," he said. When he looked to his side though, Asuna was staying in her sleeping bag.

"Good morning, Kirito," Sampson said as he approached. "How did you sleep?"

"Good."

"And your lovely lady?"

"She's fine, Sampson, just start packing up."

The rest of the group had already begun doing just that. It was easy mostly, just tapping each item and storing it in their player inventories. "So what's the bet today?" Klein asked.

"You keep making bets, and you keep losing. I will bet you my first watch tomorrow against your cleaning duties," Silica said.

"You're on!"

"Klein," Agil said. "Every day, you bet on whether or not we'll reach the edge of the forest, and we never do, so you keep losing!"

"Your point?"

"Klein… you have a serious problem."

"Klein needs an intervention guys," Tex said. "Everyone gather around." She sat on a log, and held Klein's hands. "Klein… how does your gambling make you feel?"

Klein took his hands back. "I'm just trying to keep up spirits! We'll reach the edge of the forest eventually!"

"Klein does make a good point," Sampson said as he mounted up. "We've got to pass the time and keep our hopes up! More of the game is out there somewhere, and we have to find it!" He charged forward. The rest of the players followed soon after.

After about half a day's worth of travel, they stopped to rest again, and to eat. Kirito prepared a fire pit, and Asuna started cooking.

"What's for lunch, chef?" Lisbeth asked, sitting down.

"Deer meat. Deer meat and roasted apples." She started cooking her dish up, and a few moments later, they all had their food, and were eating happily.

"Feeling better, Asuna?" Kirito asked, quietly so as not to worry the others.

"Hai," she said. "All I need now is some gravy… and ice cream. I could really go for a bowl of ice cream right now."

Everyone let out a sigh in unison. "I miss ice cream," Klein said. "And pizza…"

"Don't we all," Tex said. "I tell ya, what I really miss is my ma's home cooked food. Every thanksgiving, she cooked up a huge meal and all our friends at church came. The stuffing was delicious. Afterwards, we'd all go out to this local ice cream place where they served vanilla ice cream right on top of a hot, fudge brownie. No greater combination of flavors has ever been discovered."

"That does sound good," Kirito said. "Sure puts deer meat and roasted apples to shame." Asuna glared at him. "Not that this isn't good." He threw up his hands defensively. "It is! It's delicious…"

"I think we all miss the foods we used to eat in the real world," Agil said. "I haven't seen any beer or ale in this world yet. Maybe I should try brewing some!"

"I haven't had a drink in a few years," Sampson said. "I stopped because I didn't want to worry about my health. But in this world, I doubt alcohol has long-term effects. I could go for a drink or two."

"I never drank," Silica said. "Not even in games, it just tastes gross."

"Well, you don't drink alcohol for taste, you know," Kirito said. "Besides, aren't you a little too young?"

"Suit yourselves, more for us!" Klein said. "Agil, let me know if you do that, I'd like to help if I can."

After they all ate, they relaxed for a bit. "I'm hungry," Asuna said after a few moments of silence. "Maybe its feelings from the real world bleeding over, and I'm sure our stomachs are all empty there, but I really really want more food right now."

"Maybe that's why you felt sick this morning. Just real world hunger," Kirito said.

As the conversation went on normally, Sampson stopped listening, thinking for a moment. Mid-conversation he stood up, and spoke up. "Asuna," he said. "If you're hungry, let's go look for more fruits, I will help you find some!"

"Sure!" she said, getting up. "I'll be back in a bit, guys."

"Hai," Kirito said. "We'll be ready to go when you do."

Asuna and Sampson headed off into the forest a short ways away. Once they were a good distance from the group, Sampson spoke up. "Asuna, I needed to speak with you privately. I am sorry for my rudeness in doing so."

"What about?" She was mildly confused, and watched him curiously.

He sat down, and beckoned her to sit as well. "Asuna. Forgive me for this bold question, but it is relevant and I'll explain why in a moment. But… did you engage in sexual intercourse before going into the game?"

Asuna's face went beet red. "Th-that's personal! W-why would you ask that?" She was even a little creeped out by the question, and started to get up.

"You don't have to answer that to me. I'm sorry for embarrassing you, but I've noticed some things about you as of late. You've been craving food more, and at odd times. You just ate, and now you want ice cream."

"Y-yeah, but it's not unnatural to want desert after a meal."

"Then Kirito said something that caught my attention. You were sick this morning?"

Asuna nodded slowly. She wasn't following.

Sampson sighed, and looked at her, and just waited for the pieces to fit together in her mind.

Suddenly, Asuna's eyes opened wide, and she stammered incoherently. "I… I'm… I'm…"

Kirito suddenly came over to the two of them, and she shut silent at his voice from behind her. "We're heading out. Any luck?"

Sampson looked to Asuna before answering. She shook her head frantically, and shot up like a spring. "Nope, no luck! Let's get going, we have to get out of the forest today, remember!"

Kirito blinked, and nodded. "Uhh, yeah, let's go!" He turned around and headed back to the group. Everyone was ready and waiting.

Before following, Asuna turned to Sampson. She let out a deep breath. "Thank you for your concern… and for putting the pieces together for me. Now please… don't tell anyone. I want to be sure… somehow… before anyone knows. Okay."

"As you wish, m'lady." Sampson and Asuna then headed back to the group.

A couple more hours passed. As they rode, the trees began to thin, and the sun shined bright over their heads. "There," Asuna said, pointing forward. "There's a clearing, a big one!"

The rest of the group saw it soon after, and they raced forward at top speed towards the edge of the forest and into a new zone. They all stopped at the forest's edge, and looked out. But what they saw wasn't the most inspiring sight to take in.

"Desert…" Klein said.

Nothing but a sea of sand for miles and miles, and tall mountains in the distance beyond the dunes. To their south the forest seemed to continue on for a ways, the trees getting bigger and taller. To the north, the forest extended and got thicker.

"Our horses aren't going to do us any good here," Tex said. "They'd be fine if it was flatter, and the sand was packed down more, but this." She hopped off of her horse, and stored it in her inventory. Kneeling down to the ground, she picked up some sand and sifted it through her fingers. "This is loose sand. It's going to be a hard road ahead."

Everyone else dismounted and did the same, storing their horses, and they stood there for a moment, none of them wanting to go on. Kirito stepped off the grass and into the stand. The rest of the group followed him into the desert.