A/N

Yeah, so most of this seems like fluff, but it's very important to the plot of my story. Hope you like the OCs I've started creating. To YuliKoiiLiam, you're right that they were always in Japan, I forgot. Again, sorry for time skips.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online, or the Hunger Games reference.

~Floor Ten: Town of Wandering Forests~

Deep in the meadow, under the willow

A bed of grass, a soft green pillow

Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes

And when again they open, the sun will rise.

Here it's safe, here it's warm

Here the daisies guard you from every harm

Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true

Here is the place where I love you.

Asuna sang softly, running her hand through Kirito's hair. He chuckled and brought his hand up to hold hers.

"We are not in a meadow," he pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter, you baka. Don't you get the message of the song?"

"Umm..sleeping outside is safe?"

She slapped his cheek lightly. "You know what it is."

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I do. I love you, too." He sat up to give her a quick kiss.

They had been resting in the shade of the the trees, which were mostly beech and aspen. Napping and wasting time was all they had done that day so far. Not very productive.

In that moment, a dove flew in front of Kirito and Asuna. The bird landed on the short grass and folded its wings against its body. Asuna leaned foreward, cooing softly.

"Aww, you're so pretty," she murmured, reaching her hand out towards the bird.

It flinched away before moving closer to Asuna. The dove pecked at her hand, and jumped onto it. Asuna slowly brough the small animal closer to her body, until it was sitting on her lap.

"Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly," Kirito commented. The statement was fitting.

Asuna smiled and held her hand out so the small creature could soar away.

"Quoting poetry now, are we?"

He shrugged. "This place is full of dreams that I wish could always be."

After saying this, Kirito stood up and offered Asuna his hand. She took it and pulled herself up, her momentum carrying her past him a bit.

"We should go find Sinon. Since Leafa-chan and Klein-kun aren't going to come today, we promised her we would help with the quest she wanted to do," Kirito reminded her.

Asuna thought for a second. "Where did Sinon say she would meet us? I don't remember."

Kirito shook his head. "I don't know."

"I'll sent a message, then."

To: Sinon

Hey, where do you want to meet us?

From: Asuna-san

After sending the message, she chuckled slightly. "I have the strangest feeling of déjà-vu."

Kirito smirked at her. "Do you want to wait here until she replies?"

Then, a ping sounded and interrupted Asuna as she started to answer. "I guess we are not going to be waiting long," she said, opening the message.

To: Asuna

I'm by the lake in the center of the forest.

From: Sinon

"Let's go, she must be by the pier."

It was a particularly sunny day on the tenth floor, though it was always warm. People were splashing in the shallows of the water, while others were laying on chairs and tanning.

When Kirito and Asuna walked up the the edge of the water, a girl stood up and skipped towards them. As Sinon got closer, they could see the beaming look that covered her face. She was obviously excited for he quest, whatever it was for.

"I'm so glad you guys came to help me. Thank you so much!" She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.

"It wasn't a problem," Kirito said. "What is this particular challenge for?"

Sinon smiled secretively. "A special weapon that I have to get."

She reached up and brushed her light blue hair out of her face, slightly embarrassed by her excitement. But she was so anxious to go, that she could not step quiet for any longer. "Do you two want to do anything before we go, or can we start the quest now?"

Asuna shook her head, and looked at Kirito. "Nope, we are ready to go."

Sinon grinned childishly, then scampered away from them and into the forest. They chased after her, calling to slow down. She finally stopped about 100 paces from the lake and waited for them to catch up.

"The quest starts at Angel Falls," she explained.

Kirito looked at her, surprised. What kind of weapon was she going to retrieve at a waterfall? But he didn't asked, he would find out soon enough.

The Wandering Forest was huge. It was called that name back of how easy it would be to get lost if there was not a map in the menu. It was also very green, packed right with trees and bushes. There was also the occasional stream here or there.

Asuna, Kirito and Sinon walked mostly in comfortable silent. After half and hour of walking, they started to hear the sound of the waterfall.

"We are almost there!" Sinon exclaimed, and increased her speed.

Soon, they reached the wall of thundering water. It was flowing down into a large pool, which was bubbling and frothy. On the side of the falls, there was a small path that lead behind the cascading water.

Sinon immediately headed towards the dark path that led into the cave. Kirito rushed after her, with Asuna following.

The inside of the cavern was a silver color, with the only lighting shinning through the waterfall and gaps on the side. Kirito looked around and waited for something. Sinon stared in the direction they had came from, watching the entrance.

Suddenly, a group of players jumped through the stream of water and into the cave. Or maybe they were programs, and not actual people. Either way, the virtual people started attaching the small party of three.

Asuna dogged a dagger thrown at her head, while Sinon jumped over a spear thrown at her. Dodge, jump, run, duck. This continues for a few minutes before Sinon managed to get close to one of the programmed NPCs. She pulled out her own dagger and quickly stabbed the non-player. It disappeared into shards of light along with the other members of its group. The only things left were the weapons lying in the ground.

Sinon jogged over to a pile of weapons by the edge of the cave. She bent down and picked up a long, thin stick.

When she walked back towards Kirito and Asuna, he could see that she was actually holding a bow. It was silver and strung tightly, ready to be used.

"This is the reason I wanted to go on this quest," she told them.

Kirito frowned. "I thought you only made it to Floor Nine. How did you know this was here?"

Sinon grinned sheepishly. "I was not certain it was here, actually. This whole battle could have been for nothing. Sorry," she apologized.

Asuna shook her head. "Don't apologize. This was pretty fun, and we had nothing to do anyway. It was nice to spend time together in a smaller group."

Sinon stared at her, slightly dumbfounded. No one had said something so kind to her ever.

"I'm so glad I met Kirito last month, and didn't tell him to shove off when he asked directions."

The black haired swordsman snickered. "Aren't we all. I would probably still be wandering around lost on level one," he mumbled. "But most importantly, we would have never made another amazing friend."

~Meanwhile~

The scrawny teenager looked left and right in the shadows before slipping into the office building. He took the stairs, moving as sliently as he could in the dark.

Finally, he stopped after the fourth set of steps, and opened the door that led from the stairwell to the workspaces. Most lights in the rooms were off, except for one at the end of the hall. The boy crept down the passage to the bright light shinning underneath the door. He knocked twice before opening it and slipping into the luminescence.

"I am back, Sempai."

The room was sparse with only a lamp, desk, and chair. The person who the young teen spoke to was sitting the chair and had his back to the entrance. Only the top of the man's head was visible.

"What did you find, Kazuki?"

The boy shifted his weight from foot to foot excitedly. "I saw some Knights of the Blood Oath guild members. They came into the same bar I was at."

This made the seated man turn around. He looked at the boy with warm eyes, as if they were related, though they did not look at all alike. The younger boy was thinner and had chocolatey brown hair. Even though the older one only appeared to be about 17, he was tall and strong with dull red hair and an intelligent disposition. He gave off an aura of brilliance.

"Are you certain that you have found the right people. Did you talk to them?" the crimson haired man asked.

Kazuki hesitated. "I talked to them, but I think I scared the girl. I can't complete confirm that they were in Sword Art Online."

"Don't ever say the name of that death game," the older teen hissed, his face pained. "We have to be certain that they were part of that backstabbing guild before we take action."

He stood up and walking in front of the shorter boy, who looked at him with idolizing eyes.

"You must follow them until you are certain that they are cowards who broke apart our family."

Kazuki nodded determinedly. "I will, Senpai. I will find the truth."