Sinon taps her crossed arm as she reads the quest information Jaymes reveals to her. "The Cave of the Silent Sage, huh? It seems like a simple fetch quest, but... Rumor has it there is a unique-type trap hidden inside that dungeon."

Jaymes faces the system menu away from Sinon. "What do you mean?"

"Apparently, if you make sufficient noise, an entire horse of monsters is set upon you."

"Huh? So it's like some kind of alarm. Great. Love those."

Sinon nods in agreement. The pair of them has had their fair share of dealing with alarm traps in the past. Gun Gale Online is full of them alone, whether set by NPCs or by players. This, however, is unique in itself. "Not many players have cleared it. Maybe it is more of a challenge that it seems. I can't see how keeping quiet during a quest would be a difficult task, though."

Jaymes ponders on it. "Maybe there's some trick to it. Something that jumps out and makes you scream."

"You mean like a haunted house?"

"Yeah. Like the monsters pop up the moment you think you're safe."

She frowns in disappointment. "It hardly seems intimidating to anyone of a rational mind. Such deceit would only work on children."

"And Asuna."

"And Asuna."

Jaymes smirks and stands up, stretching his arms. "Well, I'm interested in this quest. Wanna come with?"

Sinon blinks at Jaymes' outstretched hand and scoffs, turning her head away. "I'll go, of course. Haunted houses are fun at times. Consider it a date while we're at it. However, I should inform you ahead of time that I don't plan to cling to you or anything."

"Huh? Is that so? Hmm, in that case, maybe I should find Strea--"

Sinon stands up and angrily glares at Jaymes, grabbing his right wrist to prevent him from touching the menu. "I-I said I'll go and it's a date!"

"Sorry, you damned tsundere."

Sinon releases her hold on Jaymes, takes a deep breath, and smiles. "Heh. Very well then, let's be off. And do not fear. If a certain warrior in red and black gets intimidated or scared, I will be there to hold their hand. Hehe!"

Jaymes rolls his eyes and follows Sinon towards the Teleport Gate of Sword Art: Origin's Town of Beginnings. "Yes, the same me who braved possible death hundreds of times is scared of a little spook..."

Hours later, Sinon notices that they've reached a dead end in their path. They've picked up some good loot, fought a few monsters here and there, but to her knowledge, they've been far from silent. The rumors were true to some extent (there were 'spooky' traps), but the Cave of the Silent Sage has been a breeze for the partnership of Sinon and Jaymes. All they need to do now

But if she accounts for her fallen expectations, despite what she told him, it's the worst date they've ever been on. "This seems like the end. We made it all the way through."

Jaymes cleans out the final chest and turns around to her to lead the way back out. "See, it was just a bunch of traps meant to scare people. I mean, yes it's October, but c'mon, we've seen better."

"Ominous monster sounds, torches suddenly going out. It was all rather cliche."

"Yeah, it was--gah!"

Sinon holds her chuckle in as she grabs her spear and kills the spawning bat that frightened her companion. She looks back at him, seeing him pretending (and failing at that) that nothing happened. "Calm down, it was just a monster spawning. Need me to hold your hand or cradle you in my arms?"

"I was just surprised, that's all!" He clicks his tongue as he resumes walking, this time unsheathing his sword. "Thanks, though, Shino."

"My pleasure, Joshua. But you have to be careful. Next time that might be loud enough to trigger the alarm."

Jaymes stops moving and looks at her. "A monster spawned right in front of me, how was I supposed to not be shaken just a...bit..." His face loosens slowly in tension as his eyes avert away to the left of Sinon's face. "S-Sh-Shino..."

"What is it?"

"Th-The wall right...next to you. Why is it moving?" Sinon turns slowly and freaks out as she catches sight of the moving wall. No, the wall isn't moving...the little creatures on it are, and they're inches from Sinon's body. Just as she squeaks,

Jaymes reaches out and muffles her mouth and holds her against him while whispering harshly. "Calm down! Keep it together!"

"I-I wouldn't have noticed the bugs if you had just kept quiet!"

"...My bad, haha."

"This quest is more tiring than I thought," Jaymes complains as they continue their trek.

Sinon cannot help but agree with him. "I have been hesitating on the edge of action this entire dungeon."

"Well, it seems like the goal room is just through there. At least we're almost done."

Sinon smiles expectantly to herself. "A room with a gushing spring. Yes. Yes, that's it! We did i--Ahem. No, no, keep it together. Don't yell out of joy and ruin the whole thing."

Jaymes nods as they reach the iron doors standing between them and success. "Exactly. We can't let our guard down until we have the goal item in hand. Now carefully and quietly" Jaymes takes a few more steps and reaches out for the door when they both hear an audible click and sounds of something moving. Neither has a moment to figure out anything before darkness swallows them. Sinon feels herself falling but lands on something not quite as hard as she would've

expected.

"Hnng..."

"Hey, Shino, you all right?"

"Yeah. I think I'm okay. Where are you, I think you're nearby."

"I don't know, let me see..."

"EEEEEEP!" Sinon recoils at the feeling of something groping her right breast. She looks as best she can, seeing the faint outline that continues to hold her breast is Jaymes' left gauntlet, and her fury is matched by his innocence.

"Wait! What's going on?"

"YOU'RE STILL-MMHMHMMMMH!" He reaches up and covers her mouth as she begins to muffle obscenities at him.

"Shh... Shhh! They'll find us!"

"Mmmh mmmmhmmh mhhh!"

"We got this far. We can make it. Just keep it in for now!"

"Mmmh..."

"Seriously, what's wrong? You were quiet the whole time and..." Sinon grabs the offending hand with hers and traces it up to where its making contact with her. She hypothesizes his face full of embarrassment and realization as he does remove his hands from her breast and mouth. "Oh! Sorry! Sorry about that..."

"I hate you...for now."

"Understandably... We need to find a way out of this pit. Hey, don't you have a night vision skill?" Sinon realizes she indeed does night-vision and activates it. Glancing around, she sees Jaymes still pinned underneath her, and a passageway to their far left. She stands up and extends her hand.

"Reach up."

"B-But won't I--"

"I'm standing now, doofus. But I can't lead you out if you can't see in front of you, can I?"

"Right." Jaymes reaches up and Sinon connects them. Back on his feet, he tries to let go, but she stiffens her grip. "Sinon..."

Sinon steps close and clings to him, though it is for his own good, not hers. "Come on, scaredy-cat, follow me out of here."

Both of their sight was returned the moment they exited the trap, but Sinon continues to cling to Jaymes. Maybe she did want to cling to him, but he doesn't need to know that. Nor does he say anything about it as he breaks apart from her when they return to the first level of the dungeon. "Okay, we're back up. That wasn't as out of the way as I thought it would be."

"You okay, Sinon?"

"I have plenty to say, but it can wait until we're safely out this dungeon. And I suppose it wasn't an intentional act."

Jaymes shrugs as he inspects the path forward. "I was more focused on not screaming. Guess I got distracted... Damn, there are more monsters spawning in. Not that I don't think we can take 'em, but it won't be easy."

Sinon sighs as she peeks from behind Jaymes' shoulder and sees the monsters spawning in a speedy fashion. "It was right there in our grasp."

"I think we can still pull off an escape. Maybe then we can regroup and try again... Can you run?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"All right. Let's make it happen!"

"Here we go."

Jaymes collapses on the ground, hugging the grass as he pants for air. "That...was much farther...than I thought it would be."

Sinon plants her butt beside him. "You're telling me."

"The dungeon filled up in five seconds flat. What a tough quest. Best call is probably to abandon it for now."

Sinon nods and lets her body rest flat on the grassy plains. Smiling, she turns and taps Jaymes on his hose. "To be fair, I had thought it would be a monster or a trap to make me scream. I had not counted on it being you."

"Thats'what she... S-Sorry."

"No, no I wasn't trying to be mean, just thinking out loud. I'm not mad...mostly. After all, you were right. The moment I felt truly safe was when the surprise kicked in."

"When did you feel safe?"

"When we fell through the pit trap, it got so black that I couldn't tell what was happening. I was almost...scared, but...Then I heard your voice and I-I felt better. I felt safe. And then you had to go and do...THAT!" Sinon sighs. "Actually, maybe I am still mad."

"You just said--"

Sinon scoots over and pecks Jaymes on his lips, shutting him up. "Hehe! I'm just kidding. Promise. However, if you are truly sorry, then you'll come with me when I try the quest next time. I know we can clear it together."

Jaymes heaves his upper body up and looks to the bright, clear sky. "Of course. We got a reputation to maintain, so we're going to clear that dungeon." Jaymes holds his fist to Sinon and she bumps it as she returns to a sitting position and places her head on his shoulder.

"...Just to be clear, if a certain situation repeats itself, I will throw you head-first into a crowd of monsters."

"Then I better make a certain situation worth it."