RWBY 8
Merry Christmas! Here's your present, another longer chapter . Might see a few changes too, particularly towards the end...
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or SAO.
Aincrad Floor 19 Dungeon
"Remind me again why we're on this floor?" Leafa sighed as she once again destroys one of the small scorpions that made up the bulk of the monsters in this part of the dungeon, "It doesn't matter how long we train here, we're never going to gain even one level."
"Maybe, but Argo wants a certain drop." Kirito replied, taking out three scorpions with one sword skill, "These things are supposed to drop an intact tail that can be used to make a high priced whip that apparently Argo needs to get some info on the upcoming Christmas event."
"I get that." Leafa said once the mobs had been repelled for the moment, "But why are WE here? Argo should be more than capable of doing this herself."
"Because Argo knows a way to upgrade our gear without having a risk of losing it." He replied with a shrug, "So I think that it'll be worth it in the end."
"Fine, whatever." She said, ripping through the masses of scorpions that had respawned and surrounded them while they were talking.
"Sugu, make sure you don't let them sting you." he reminded her pointlessly.
"The poison couldn't even get us into the yellow." She said easily, "We're almost twenty levels higher than we should be in this area. You know full well that we can't be killed around here."
"And that's no excuse to not be careful." Kirito reminded her, "The game changes every day. Just last week that dungeon on floor seven opened up, remember? Eight clearers nearly died exploring it. For all we know, this dungeon might also have some expansion we don't know about."
"Fine." She sighed with a slight blush, "When did you become the smart one?"
"Well, I am your older brother." He said proudly.
"And there are a few occasions where you actually show it." She smirked, stabbing the last of the scorpions with her katana. With the mass battle over, both she and Kirito looked through the battle results to see their drops.
"Nothing over here.' Kirito sighed, closing his menu, "You?"
"Two of them." She smirked, "Looks like I'm the winner this time."
"One for Argo, and one to sell then?" He said, sheathing his sword.
"I suppose. Think Agil'd give us a good price for it?" She asked as they started to walk back towards the entrance.
"Nope." Kirito said immediately, and both of them shared a laugh.
With the exit in sight, they both were making final checks to their inventory and equipment in preparation for returning to the front line. However, they both heard it at the same time. A loud scream.
"Let's go." Kirito said immediately, charging down the nearby corridor with her right behind him, both their swords drawn and ready for a fight. The scream only lasted for a moment, but luckily the sounds of a struggle continued past that. As they rounded the final corner, they were able to see a group of players fighting against two cave dragons, the strongest creatures in the dungeon.
"I'll take care of it." Kirito said to his sister, charging forward and cutting off the creature's advance.
"Are you guys alright?" Leafa asked the group, who were staring at Kirito in awe.
"Yeah, fine…" One of them said quickly.
"I thought we were going to die…" The only girl in the group said as she collapsed, dropping her spear on the ground.
"It'll be alright." Leafa assured her, "We'll take care of the rest."
"You sure?" The first guy asked, then turned back to Kirito. The two dragons tried their best to corner him, but it didn't take more than a minute for the first one to disappear. The second didn't even last half that long.
"Everyone alright?" He asked them.
"Yeah, thanks." The leader of the party sighed, sheathing his sword, "You saved us. I thought we were done for."
"It's not a problem, really." Leafa assured them, "I'm just glad that we happened to be walking by."
"Still, we owe you one." He insisted, "I know! Why don't you guys come back to our headquarters on floor eleven? We'll buy you a drink."
"You really don't have to-" Kirito tried to say, but all of them were very insistent. Finally, he and Leafa relented, walking the group to the teleport gate in the nearby town of Crimea.
"Teleport, Taft!" They all said at the same time.
The teleport gate let them out at the Taft town square on Floor eleven, and the group headed into a nearby inn where the leader, Keita, ordered a round of drinks for them all.
"Here's to our new friends, Kirito and Leafa!" He said, raising his glass.
"Cheers!" Everyone else toasted while Kirito and Leafa just looked at each other, feeling embarrassed.
"We seriously owe you guys big." The mace wielder, Tetsuo, said, taking a long drink from his mug, "That second one came out of nowhere. There's no way we could've taken them out on our own."
'We really didn't do that much." Leafa said sheepishly.
"If you don't mind my asking, what level are you guys?" Sasamaru asked, "I mean, you guys didn't hesitate even though it was just the two of you."
"Yeah, well…" Kirito chuckled, looking at the corner of the screen to his own level, thirty-nine. Across from him, he saw Leafa doing the same the thing, then gave him a meaningful look. The entire guild was looking at him expectantly, so he knew he had to give an answer quickly.
"Well, I'm level twenty-one." He lied.
"And I'm twenty." Leafa said, following up his lie even though she was the same level as him, just a few hundred exp.
"Really?" Ducker, the guild's resident 'thief' said with a loud laugh, "You're incredible! You're at our level, and you're fighting without any backup besides each other!"
"It's not that impressive." Leafa tried to argue.
"Still, for two players to be fighting so close to the front lines without a guild is pretty much unheard of." Keita added, "Look, I hate to ask this out of the blue, but I was wondering if you two would be willing to join our guild?"
"What?" Kirito asked in surprise, "You want us?"
"See, Tetsuo's the only tank we have, which makes it pretty difficult for us to switch out and avoid enemy attacks. Today proved that better than anything." He nodded, "See, we originally wanted to put Sachi out front with a sword and shield, but she's been against it."
"Of course I'm against it!" Sachi huffed from the other side of the table, "You can't just throw me out front and expect me to know what to do. I'd be terrified!"
"It's not too difficult." Tetsuo told her, "Just hide behind your shield! You'll take like no damage!"
"What if I'm too slow?" Sachi asked meekly, "I could…"
"That's what we're here for." Keita said, and the others offered words of encouragement as well.
"So, what do you think?" Leafa asked Kirito while everyone laughed.
"I dunno. What about you?"
"It makes no difference to me." She shook her head, "I'll follow your lead, same as always."
"What do you say?" Keita asked them a few minutes later.
"we're grateful for the offer…" Kirito said, trying to quickly make up his mind. The guild was all looking at him with eager eyes, but Sachi's were more pleading than eager. "We accept."
The guild let out a loud cheer while Keita sent them both a guild invite, which they promptly accepted.
"Welcome to the Moonlit Black Cats." Keita said, followed by renewed cheers by the others.
"Well that was unexpected." Leafa said after the rest of the guild had gone to their rooms at the inn.
"What? You're unhappy?" Kirito asked, and she just sighed.
"No, I'm not. Like I said, it doesn't make any difference to me. But I figured you'd turn them down like the other guy." She said, sitting next to him, "What changed your mind?"
"...I dunno." He shook his head, "Maybe I'm just being stupid, but I want to help them get stronger."
"Of course you're being stupid." Leafa said, lightly hitting his head, "That goes without saying. But I don't think you're entirely wrong this time."
"Thanks Sugu." He smiled, "Let's get some sleep. I'm sure the guys are going to want to do some hunting in the morning."
"Maybe, but we'll be fine." She said, giving him a peck on the check, "Night, Kazuto."
"Night Sugu." He said with a small blush while she ascended the stairs.
The next morning, Leafa and Kirito were the first two up, having already ordered breakfast by the time the others came down from their rooms.
"Morning guys." Kirito said, raising a glass of orange juice.
"Morning Kirito, Leafa." Keita waved back to them, "Sleep well?"
"As well as can be expected, I guess." He shrugged.
"Really?" Leafa said, cutting her ham without looking over to them, "I slept like a log."
"You sleep like a log in the wilderness." Kirito reminded her, and she just nodded and kept eating.
"So, I was up all night trying to come up with party combinations, but anyone else have any ideas?"
"I think me and Kirito should be on different parties." Leafa said immediately.
"Really?" Ducker asked, "But why? Aren't you two a team?"
"Not really." Kirito shrugged, seeing exactly where Leafa was going with her comment, "We were in the same party, but we spent most of the time going solo and competing with each other's."
"You sure that's alright?" Keita asked them both, and they traded smirks.
"Oh, we're sure." Leafa answered, "Same deal as always, brother?"
"Most kills wins." Kirito nodded, "Just means we've got a few more players involved in our little game."
With the siblings trading grins, the rest of the guild couldn't help but suppress their shudders at the thought of what they'd become a part of.
"S-So, If Kirito and Leafa are on different parties, that makes things a bit easier." Keita said, "So, me, Ducker, and Tetsuo will party with Leafa. Kirito, you can work with Sachi and Sasamaru. That good with everyone?"
"Sounds perfect." Kirito and Leafa said at the same time.
"The advantage is mine, dear brother." she smirked.
"You could use the handicap." Kirito said arrogantly, then looking at the other members of his group, "So, who's going to be leader? Sasamaru, you want to?"
"No, it's all yours, Kirito." Sasamaru shook his head, "Right, Sachi?"
"Right." She nodded, "Please, Kirito?"
"...Alright." He sighed, sending the two party requests to them both, then facing the leader again, "So, where are we heading, Keita?"
"We're going to move up to floor twenty." He answered, "I don't think we're ready for the dungeon though. So we'll be doing a bit of leveling just outside of the towns. Everyone's got their teleport crystals and potions?"
The guild nodded, while Kirito and Leafa shared a quick look. On floor twenty, they shouldn't have any problem with protecting the others from single spawns. But if something unexpected happened like yesterday, they might not have time to react.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Kirito asked, "I'm just saying, yesterday was a pretty close call. Wouldn't it be better to try and get a few more levels before you advance to the next floor?"
"Our leveling's already slowed down since we reached level twenty." Keita responded, "If we don't take a little risk, we'll never make it to the front lines, will we? I get where you're coming from though. So We're just going right outside the village, into the sunshine forest. The monsters there are about the same level as what we've been killing up on floor nineteen, so they shouldn't pose any more danger than we're used to."
"And besides, with you and Leafa, we'll be fine." Ducker smirked, "Right guys?"
Though neither Kirito or Leafa was convince, they eventually folded and went with the majority. With Kieta paying for the guild's breakfast, the rest headed out the door to the teleport gate and traveled to the first town on floor twenty, Gallia. Checking their equipment one more time while they waited for Keita, Kirito and Leafa broke off from the rest of the guild.
"We'll be okay as long as we don't go near the dungeon, right?" She asked him.
"Probably, but keep an eye open, alright?" He warned her, "First sign that something happens, get them out of the here."
"You too." She agreed as Keita teleported in.
"Let's get a move on." Keita said, his two handed staff already in his hand, and the others roared in approval as they ran for the exit. Kirito and Leafa drew their own blades and followed after them.
"I want a recount." Leafa protested again later that night while the guild combined their profits from the day's leveling.
"Just admit that I won." Kirito smirked, "You heard Keita. I killed one hundred twenty, you killed one hundred twelve. That means I win."
"And ten of your kills only counted because you did the most damage and let Sachi take the exp." She replied, "That means that without those, you would only have a hundred and ten, so I win!"
"On the topic of letting others steal the exp, I seem to recall Tetsuo keeping exp for more than a few kills you were credited for." He smirked, and Leafa blushed slightly.
"T-T-That's not the point!" she stuttered.
"Just calm down, you two." Keita laughed at the sibling squabble, "We'll have another round tomorrow."
"And I'll win that one too!" Both of them said at the same time, much to the amusement of the guild.
"I never thought that two people would make this much of a difference." Keita said in awe once he'd finished sorting through the loot, "We made almost twice as much as we usually do."
"I-I guess that's cause we had twice as many parties?" Kirito chuckled nervously, hoping no one paid too much attention to the amount of damage that he and Leafa were doing.
"Yeah, that makes sense." Sasamaru nodded, "But imagine what we'd be making if we all went solo?"
"we'd be dead." Tetsuo pointed out.
"Obviously." Sasamaru admitted, "I'm not advocating going solo, but the amount of money that solo players must be making…"
"Doesn't do them much good if they end up dead though." Kirito shrugged, and Leafa snorted into her drink.
"Yeah, I guess." Sasamaru sighed, ignoring Leafa choking on her drink "But maybe one day, we'll be strong enough to just live a solo life on a mid-level floor."
"Come'on, guys!" Keita said loudly, "Where's your ambition? We made the guild to clear the game, didn't we?"
"Yeah, yeah." Tetsuo chuckled, "But it wouldn't hurt to have a backup plan, would it?"
"We won't need it in a little bit." Keita replied, "Just you wait. With Kirito and Leafa on our side, we'll be able to make it to the front lines in no time."
"We're not that good..." Leafa tried to protest, but none of them were about to listen.
"Yeah, you're right, Keita!" Sasamaru agreed, 'With the two of them, we're great!"
"Three cheers for our newest members!" Ducker shouted, and the cry was soon taken by the other members while Kirito and Leafa just blushed in embarrassment.
Late one night, as they'd done almost every night since joining the guild, Kirito and Leafa snuck out of the inn and returned to the front lines to keep up with their leveling. On the plains of floor twenty-eight, they took on the waves and waves of Blood wolfs that had spawned while they waited for the Blood Wolf Leader to appear. Though the wolves attacked in large numbers, it wasn't enough to counter the difference in skills, and they fell easily to the blades of the two beaters.
"It shouldn't be taking so long." Leafa sighed after clearing the field once again, "Usually it would've been spawned after two or three waves, but we've taken out eight of them."
"Maybe it's already spawned?" Kirito thought aloud, "Wanna take a look around?"
"You think a noob might've spawned it by accident?" Leafa asked him but he shook his head.
"Maybe, but we won't know until we find it." he answered, "Let's look around."
The Wolf Plains stretched out all around the town, so Kirito and Leafa split to take a look around. Kirito looked along the western side of the village while Leafa searched to the east. It didn't take long for him to find the Wolf Leader.
A massive pack of wolves surrounded a party, but standing out among them was the large Blood Wolf Leader, engaging the very familiar leader of the party.
"Take this!" Klein shouted, depleting the last of the field boss's hp with one final sword skill. The remains of the pack were in disarray at the loss of their leader, and with a word from Klein, the rest of the group started to tear them apart. Klein looked up and their eyes met. "Hey, Kirito!"
"Sup, Klein." he waved, "Not dead, I see?"
"Some things never change." Klein smiled, looking expectantly around, "So, where's Leafa at? Did she insist on coming to see me?"
"Klein, you were here?" A voice said from behind him and Leafa stepped out from the shadows and walked to Kirito's side, "So, I guess it was them?"
"Basically." Kirito replied, looking back to Klein, who was staring at the ground dejectedly.
"Cheer up." Leafa smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Maybe one day you'll have a chance."
"Yes ma'am..." Klein whimpered, looking back up at them. His gaze shifts up to the left slightly and he gasped slightly, "You guys... did you join a guild?"
"Yeah, I guess..." Kirito shrugged nervously, "Nothing too major. We're just helping out a few of the weaker players, ya know?"
"That's so you." Klein sighed.
"We're good to move on!" One of Klein's guild mates shouted from across the field, having finished with the last of the wolves.
"Got it!" Klein called back, "I gotta go. If you guys need anything, message me, alright?"
"Sure thing." Leafa waved as he ran off.
As they made their way back to their previous hunting spot, they each received an identical tone. Kirito opened his menu, and opened the message.
It's Keita.
Sachi ran off somewhere and hasn't comeback yet. We're heading to check the dungeons. Please let us know if you can find her."
"What do you want to do?" Leafa asked after reading the same message.
"Let's get back." He replied, "I'll find Sachi. You want to go check on the others?"
"Will you be alright on your own?" she asked him casually.
"It'll be fine." he shrugged, drawing his sword along with Leafa, "But first we've gotta cut our way back to town.
"Like any other day." Leafa smiled, and they charge the wolves that had surrounded them.
Several minutes later, they warped back to Taft and parted ways. Leafa headed after the guild into the dungeon while Kirito ran up the nearby walls to the top of the tallest building in the city. The searching skill he worked to learn while he and Leafa were going solo proved more than enough to track Sachi's movement to under a bridge. She was silently sitting, hugging her legs to her chest against the wall.
"Hey." He said softly, sitting beside her, "Everyone's worried about you."
"...Hey Kirito." She said without looking at him.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Kirito... I'm just tired of it all..." She whispered, shaking slightly, "I just... want to get away from it all... From the monsters, and the guild, and from Sword Art Online..."
"You aren't talking about suicide, are you?" Kirito asked worriedly, but she just chuckled softly in response.
"I don't have the strength for that." She whispered, "I'm not nearly as strong as she was. If I had the strength to die, I wouldn't be hiding in a town like this. But why? Why do we die for this stupid game...?"
"Yeah, you're right." Kirito replied, "There's no point to any of this."
"I'm so afraid of dying here." She whispered, shivering even in the warm air.
"You won't die." Kirito reassured her, wrapping his arm around her, "Trust me of that, Sachi. I'll protect you."
"You don't think that I'll die...?" She said, her voice shaking like she never even considered the concept.
"I promise." He repeated firmly, "I promise that you'll be able to return to the real world. And I'll protect you until you do."
"Thank you..." Sachi whispered in a voice so soft that he didn't even hear her.
"Come'on." He said, helping her to her feet, "Let's get back to the inn, alright?"
"Yeah..." She said with a small smile as she followed him back to the inn.
After escorting Sachi to her room, Kirito sent Leafa and the others a message telling them that he'd found her before waiting in his room. Leafa sent a message back asking what happened, but he blew off the question. Sachi trusted him with her real feelings, and he wouldn't break that confidence, even for Leafa. Surprisingly, she took his answer in good spirits, without pushing him for more info.
Several minutes after he started to think to himself, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." He said to Sugu on the other side, and the door opened. To his surprise, the one standing on the other side was- "Sachi? What's wrong?" He asked to the girl, who was standing in the doorway, nervously clutching her pillow.
"Kirito, I... I couldn't sleep. Do you think I could stay here, with you?" She said softly, hiding her face in her pillow.
"sure." He said, inviting her in.
She walked over to the bed closest to him and laid down, "Thank you, Kirito." She smiled.
"No problem." He said, "I'll be here until you fall asleep, alright?"
"I appreciate it..." Sachi said, closing her eyes and slowly drifting into a sound sleep for the first time in longer than she can remember.
Kirito sat in silence as Sachi slept soundly on the bed. Once he was sure that she was asleep, he crept silently across the room to the other bed. Just as he was about to climb into bed, there was another knock on the door, the soft tap seemingly echoing in the silent room. Quickly rushing to the door before they could knock again, he opened it to see Leafa.
"Hey." she said, walking into the room, "Good work finding-" Leafa's eyes drifted over to the bed where Sachi was sleeping, and they widened. "Something you want to tell me, brother?" She asked softly.
"It's not what it looks like!" He said in a loud whisper, "Sachi was having trouble sleeping, so-"
"I see..." Leafa nodded, sitting down on his bed, "Then if I wanted to stay and make sure that nothing happened, you wouldn't be against it, would you?"
"Well- Kirito started, and Leafa cleared her throat.
"Allow me to clarify. You won't be against it." She corrected herself, laying back on the open bed, "Good night, Kazuto. And if you try anything, we'll see just how much pain I can inflict before the system stops me."
"Yes ma'am." Kirito shuddered meekly, "But, where am I going to-?"
"There's another bed." Leafa answered, rolling over and closing her eyes, "And if you come near me, I'll show you a new sword skill I picked up earlier this evening."
Nodding his head, Kirito slowly crept over to the other side of the bed Sachi was sleeping on, and thankfully there was enough space for him to slip in next to her. Closing his eyes, he whispered, "Good night, Sachi."
"Good night Kazuto. "She whispered back, making him freeze for a second.
"W-What was that?" he stuttered out.
"Good night, Kirito. "She mumbled with a small blush before falling back asleep.
Two months after joining the guild, the moonlit black cats had improved by leaps and bounds. With each new level, the guild's confidence grew. Keita's dreams of joining the assault team seemed more and more likely every day.
At Kirito's vocal protests, Keita agreed to remove Sachi from her position as forward, returning her to a backup damage dealer with her spear. While the change resulted in slight decrease in profit from kills, the end result was that she was much safer than before, so no one really minded much. This change also left Kirito as the sole tank for his group, but the difference in level made it easy for him to stay safe.
One night, after a particularly good day, Keita called the meeting to order.
"Listen up, everyone! Keita said as he called the guild meeting to order, "With the results of our last hunt, we finally have two hundred thousand col!"
"About time!" Sasamaru cheered with the rest of them.
"Does that mean what I think that means?" Ducker asked him, and Keita nodded his head.
"That's right. Tomorrow, I'll be heading to the town of beginnings to buy us a proper guild hall."
"Congrats, everybody.' Kirito smiled while they all laughed.
"Why are you guys talking like this doesn't concern you?" Sasamaru asked him curiously, "We never would've made it this far without you!"
"Yeah." Everyone else said at the same time.
"Like they said." Keita nodded, "We owe you guys for all the help. Thank to you, our dreams are going to become a realty so much sooner!"
"We didn't do much..." Leafa muttered, though no one was buying it.
"Once we've got a base of operations, we might actually be able to start recruiting new players. Once that happens, we'll be a top guild in no time!"
While the others cheered happily, Sachi looked around nervously until her eyes fell on Kirito. Letting out a small smile, she joined the rest of them.
Kirito and Leafa traded a look and breathed a joint sigh of relief. If that happened, the guild would be secure, even without them. Just a little while longer.
"Alright guys, I'll be off!" Keita said from the Taft teleport gate.
"Find us a good place!" Ducker called out to him.
"You got it!" Keita replied, stepping up to the gate, "Teleport, Town of Beginnings!"
With their leader disappearing into the teleport, the Black Cats group around the gate, "Hey guys, why don't we go get some extra col?"
"That'd be great." Sasamaru nodded, "We'll get a chance to get some new furniture, plus it'd help to have some start-up funds for once we have the base, right?"
"I know!" Tetsuo said loudly, "Let's go to a higher floor! We'll be able to get col so much easier than usual, and at our levels, it won't even be a problem, right?"
"Not a good idea." Kirito and Leafa said at the same time.
"You guys worry too much." Sasamaru said dismissively, "As long as we stay together we'll be fine, right?"
"And since there's six of us, we can make do with one party." Tetsuo added, "I mean, with the three of us tanking, and the others on backup, there's nothing we won't be able to beat, right?"
Ducker and Sasamaru nodded their heads in agreement, but Leafa, Sachi, and Kirito remained strongly opposed.
"Come on, guys." Ducker said eagerly, "Think about the money we'll be able to make."
Kirito started to object again, but instead he sighed, "Fine. We'll go.""
"Yes!" Sasamaru yelled happily.
"Kirito...?" Leafa asked questioningly, while Sachi looked at him in surprise.
"Come on." Kirito said, sending the party requests to everyone. Though they were clearly uneasy, both Leafa and Sachi accepted as well.
"Then I'll take the lead." Kirito said, stepping up onto the teleport pedestal, "Teleport, Ronbaru!"
The town of Taft disappeared with the teleport, replaced instead with the mountainous expanse of Floor Twenty-seven.
Leafa was the first of his teammates through the gate, and immediately, she grabbed him by the coat and dragged him away from the gate. "What's the deal?" She asked simply.
"They'd have gone anyway." He shrugged, "You saw that we couldn't convince them otherwise. It's better that we go with them, for safety's sake."
"...Fair enough." Leafa said, letting go of his coat, "Then let's go."
"Sugu." He said, calling her by her real name instead of her screen name, "If anything goes wrong, get the others out of here. I'll watch your escape."
"Kirito, shut up." She sighed, "Wouldn't it be better for us to deal with the threat together while we protect the others?"
"But that'd be dangero-" Kirito started before sighing as Leafa reached for her katana, "Alright. You win."
"What else is new?" She smirked, "Now let's go."
The afternoon was a great deal more productive then Kirito thought it would be. The combination of the guild mates attacking and the siblings defending, none of them even took any considerable damage by nearly dusk.
"Alright guys, let's just get a bit more before we head back." Kirito said, leading the party down the hall.
"Hey, what's that?" Ducker asked, examining the wall closely. Placing his hand on a slight indent, the wall gave way to a hidden door.
"Holy crap. "Sasamaru said, looking into the center of the room at the treasure chest, "We found a hidden treasure room!"
"No!" Kirito shouted a moment too late. Ducker and Sasamaru had already propped the lid of the chest open. The door to the hall sealed itself, and all around the room, monsters started to spawn.
"We've gotta get out of here!" Tetsuo shouted, pulling out a crystal, "teleport, Taft!"
The crystal didn't break, nor did it give off the blue light of teleport that would lead them to safety.
"An anti-crystal zone." Leafa growled, cleaving a pair of monsters in two to defend Tetsuo and Sachi who were sheltered behind her in the corner of the room
"We've gotta wait it out." Kirito said, parrying a few blade strikes aimed at Ducker and Sasamaru, "Get back to Leafa!"
"Kirito?" Ducker asked, but he ran to Leafa's side immediately. The four weaker members of the moonlit black cats remained sheltered behind Leafa, where at least they'd be safe, but neither of them were fully equipped to deal with a wide scale attack like this.
We've gotta stop the spawning!" Kirito shouted, taking a few hits before he could counter and destroy the monsters. His hp took a small hit, but the many small hits he was receiving were starting to add up.
"The chest!" Leafa shouted, "That's what started the spawn! It should be able to stop them!"
Nodding his head, Kirito charged through the monsters, clearing them out with a sword skill and aiming Rage Spike at the treasure chest. However, as the attack collided, the chest moved and the lid clamped down on his arm. Rather than just some blunt damage, he got a status debuff that he hadn't had since the SAO beta period. Lost limb. His hp plummeted, leaving him one armed against the chest now armed with a row of razor sharp teeth.
"Kirito!" Leafa shouted when she saw that he'd lost an arm, but he couldn't afford to pay her any attention. The chest, now identified as a 'Mimic', lashed out at him again, but he swung his sword to counter attack. The hit did massive damage to the monster, but his sword was caught in the hinge, and its follow-up attack sent the sword flying across the room. Kirito cursed as the monsters around him prepared to swarm.
With only one hand, he couldn't even use his martial arts skill effectively. He had extra swords in his inventory, but the monsters would kill him long before he could get them out.
"Kirito, I'm coming!" Leafa shouted, but the monsters wouldn't let up. Whenever she cleared a path back to him, she'd be flanked before she could make the charge. And Kirito dared not turn his back on the mimic that would have no trouble depleting the last of his HP to zero.
"Leafa!" He shouted in desperation, "I'll take out the mimic! When I do, get everyone out of here!"
"Don't be an idiot!" She shouted back, 'But she wouldn't be able to get to him in time without the monsters killing the rest of the guild.
Kirito's remaining right hand glowed orange, ready to deliver his strongest martial arts skill, Embracer.
"Kirito!" Leafa shouted, but it was too late. The mimic attacked, and he aimed for a counter that would most likely kill him too.
To his shock, a lighting fast spear-tip shoot out from behind him and pierced the mimic straight through the middle, and it exploded into a shower of polygons. The seemingly endless monster spawns stopped immediately, and the sealed passage back to the hall was reopened as well.
Kirito could hardly believe his eyes, but the attack had what could almost be described as a demoralizing effect on the monsters. The string of attack was halted for just a second, but it was enough time for Kirito to regain his composure and bring another sword out of his inventory. Turning around, he saw as he expected, Sachi breathing heavily and clutching the spear close to her chest.
"You saved my life, Sachi." He said honestly, with a small smile, "Don't worry though, this won't take too long."
"Alright..." She panted, collapsing to the ground.
Kirito glanced down at the sword he'd chosen at random from his inventory, his 'Queen's Knightsword +13', the blade he used while leveling on the front lines.
"Leafa!" He shouted, "You take twenty, I'll take the rest!"
"Got it!" She called back to the shock of the rest of the guild. "Sachi, stay close to me, alright?"
"Alright, Kirito." She answered, clutching the back of his coat.
"Then let's GO!" He roared, charging forward with a full powered rage spike. The single straight stab instantly pixelated the dark dwarf miner that got in the way, and the immediate follow-up rendered every monster within a sword's reach of it destroyed as well. Leafa' though still confined to her weaker weapon, was effortlessly destroying the remainder of the monsters. Within a minute, what had been an inescapable death trap was completely devoid of monsters.
"K-K-Kirito..." Ducker gulped, "That was..."
"...Mind-blowing..." Sasamaru nodded, "How were you able to do that...?"
"Let's get out of here first." Kirito sighed at having to be outed in this way, "I'll tell you everything, I promise."
"Alright." Sasamaru said, as he and the others took out their teleport crystals. Then, as one, they said out loud, "Teleport, Taft!"
The light of teleportation surrounded them all, returning them safely to the familiar city center of Taft.
Leading the rest of them back to their usual inn, they found that Keita was already waiting for them.
"Hey guys!" He smiled, waving a key around, "Guess what I got!"
"Great." Kirito smiled, sitting at the bar and ordering a round of drinks for what would undoubtedly be a very tense conversation.
"What's up?" Keita asked after noticing the mood of the guild.
"We were exploring a dungeon and walked into a trap." Kirito replied truthfully.
"Is everyone alright?" Keita asked quickly, doing a count and sighing in relief, "Everyone's alive, so what's the problem?"
"The problem is that Kirito and Leafa dealt with it on their own." Ducker answered, "We were on floor twenty-seven! There's no way that someone at level twenty could fight them off like that!"
"I'm sure there's a valid explanation." Keita assured them, turning to Leafa and Kirito with a trusting smile, "Right guys?"
"The truth is that we're not level twenty." Kirito sighed, "I'm level forty-two, and Leafa's level forty-one."
"W-What?" Keita said in shock, "I must've misheard you."
In response, both Kirito and Leafa opened their stat window and flipped it to the rest of them. There, plain as day, were both of their levels and stats.
"There's no way..." Tetsuo said to himself, "The only players who are that high are-"
"Beaters..." Keita whispered, but all of the black cats heard him clearly.
"Yeah." Kirito nodded, "That'd be m-" Leafa cleared her throat menacingly, "Us." He corrected.
"Why...? Keita asked without elaborating, but he didn't need to.
"Because we didn't want you treating us differently." Leafa answered instead of Kirito, "We really enjoyed spending time with everyone and didn't want it to end."
"Like hell you did!" Sasamaru shouted loudly, "And I guess that's why you let us spring that trap?! Trying to get us MPK'ed so that you could sell all our stuff? Makes sense. That's the only way you beaters can level so fast, after all. By selling out the others."
"That's outrageous!" Tetsuo replied in their defense, "He tried to stop you and ducker, but you guys wouldn't listen!"
"But he didn't try until it was too late!" Ducker said, face red, "And he wasn't even fighting seriously until the end!"
Within seconds, the entire guild was in a full-scale argument, but only Tetsuo and Sachi were talking in their defense. The siblings in question remained completely silent, even when asked questions. The verbal brawl went on for several minutes before Kirito let out a loud whistle that finally calmed them down.
"I'm sorry that we lied to you." Kirito said honestly, manipulating his menu and bringing out all the loot he'd gotten from the earlier trap, as well as a sizeable chunk of his col, and placing it on the table and tapping his menu one more time, "Maybe its best if we go our separate ways."
"Kirito-" Sachi said, stepping forward with a pleading look on her face, but Keita cut her off before she could finish.
"Maybe it would." he said, accepting the request to leave the guild from Kirito, and another from Leafa, "But you can keep all of this."
"Yeah. We don't need your damn charity!" Ducker said, mistaking his leader's good will.
"We won it while fighting with the guild, so it's yours." Kirito replied, turning to walk away, "Goodbye guys. It was fun."
"Later." Leafa said, following behind him. The door to the inn shut behind them, and the cats sat around their table like they always did, short two for the first time in two months.
"I can't believe you kicked them, Kieta." Tetsuo said, shaking his head, "I mean, they might have lied to us, but they both risked their life to save us earlier. And we wouldn't have gotten half as far as we did without them. You can't deny that, Keita."
"Are you serious?" Sasamaru replied, "If we let them stay with us, we might actually die next ti-" he was stopped by a loud slap to the face that left him and every other member of the guild stunned.
"How could you..." Sachi shouted tearfully, turning and delivering an identical slap to ducker, "How could you do that?! After everything that they did for us...?"
"Sach-" Keita said, trying to calm her down, but she just turned and slapped him as well.
"You're no different!" She said, angrily smashing the leave guild option on her menu and storming out after Kirito and Leafa despite the rest of them trying to convince her otherwise. As she walked, she opened her friends list and tracked them to Ronbaru on floor twenty-seven.
"Sachi!" Keita shouted after her, "don't do thi-"
Sachi just tearfully shook her head and teleported out of Taft.
"That sucked." Kirito said for the fifth time since they'd arrived on floor twenty-seven and rented a room at a nearby inn.
"Yeah, I know." She replied for the fifth time, "But it was bound to happen one day, and besides, we were planning to leave soon, right?"
"Yeah, but I was hoping that we could at least leave on good terms with them." he sighed.
"Well, keep them on your friends list." She answered, getting up and stretching, "Anyway, I'm heading to bed. See you in the morning?"
"Sure." He said, ordering himself another drink, thankful for the first time that Aincrad didn't care whether you were of age to order alcohol. Getting drunk did hamper his senses a bit too much for him to actually fight monsters, but he wasn't going to be doing midnight training for a while, so that wasn't a problem.
After a few hours of eating and drinking away his sorrow, he turned back to stagger up the stairs and sleep off his drunk debuff, and saw what he first thought to be a hallucination.
"Hi, Kirito..." Sachi said softly from the table right next to him?"
"Sa...chi?" He said to himself, and she nodded, "How long have you been here?"
"Um... three, four hours?" She replied, "I tried talking to you, but I think you weren't really paying much attention..."
"Sorry." He replied, sheepishly scratching the back of his head, "What are you doing here?"
"I can't go back to the way the guild used to be." She answered with a slight tremor, "And... you said that you'd protect me, right?"
"Yeah." He nodded, "So what will you do now? I mean, it's not like we're in a guild anymore, and what about the Moonlit Black Cats?"
"I don't know." She sighed, "I left the guild, but I didn't really think about anything beyond that..."
"We can think about it in the morning." He yawned, extending his hand for Sachi to take, "Come on."
The next morning, Leafa yawned herself awake and looked around the room for her brother, who almost never woke up before her. It didn't take more than a second for her to find him, and he wasn't alone.
He was sleeping soundly on the couch, with Sachi of all people, both of them leaning against each other peacefully. Smiling slightly at the content look on her brother's face, though not without a bizarre twinge of jealously at having him stolen by Sachi ('Wait, why is this a problem again...?' She thought to herself), she removed the blanket from the queen size bed in their room and wrapped it around the two of them before heading downstairs for breakfast.
So, once again, Merry Christmas! For those Sachi fans, your present is that she stays alive! If you hate Sachi… You shouldn't have been so naughty this year. After all, what did poor Sachi ever do to you?
The next chapter's done and in the trusty hands of my beta (in fact, the next four chapters are with him.) so you can hope to see them soon. Until then, go ahead and review, the same as always.
