Floor 1. Tolbana, December 19th, 2022. Late morning.
"You let her run away?" Ruby exclaimed to Winter, A small look of frustration forming at her lips, though she pushed it away before it could solidify her complexion.
Morning came as everyone gathered at a table for breakfast, awaiting the black cat shinobi to awaken so they could all introduce themselves. It had been a long night. The NPC's guarding the entrance wouldn't allow the black haired girl to come in so easily due to her orange cursor, so they had to enter through a more seclusive route in order for them to get her inside the safe zone. Once they were in, Ruby sacrificed her bedroom to allow the girl some rest, intending for her to sleep there for the night. Once the morning arose small talk was made about finally meeting the woman, only for Winter to finally tell them the unfortunate news as Ruby's long-awaited anticipation soon morphed to anger.
"Not exactly," Winter testified. "I told her I wouldn't chase after her, and that we were responsible for rescuing her. I had hoped it would persuade her to stay longer. But she claimed she wasn't safe here, and that she was always being hunted by someone."
The story sounded plausible, though Ruby didn't look all-too satisfied as she took a swig of her coffee. "Did she say anything else?" The redhead inquired, hoping to get the full gist of it all.
"Not much. We talked for a little bit. At first, she questioned my trust, claiming I was after her head, like the rest of them. I told her I would've had her prosecuted, but you had ordered us not to, to hear her side of the story. We made small talk for a moment, I told her what I fought for, and I asked her what she was gonna do now. Her only goal was to hide away, claiming that nobody was to be trusted, and that everyone was a witness. She said her past and the people she knew would come for her, and that she would pay the price for her justice. That was all she told me, and she disappeared the moment I stepped foot outside."
The group made sounds of acknowledgement, all except the leader, who donned a pensive look to her. "This is why I wanted to rescue her. I knew she was in danger the moment I laid eyes on the flyer," The redhead spoke, earning the group's attention. "There's an underlying motive that no one seems to pay attention to, and I think the massacre of that murder guild brought too much attention to her."
"It's too late to do anything now," Yang piped in. "She's gone now, and we have no clue where she could be now."
"Perhaps we should look for her," Weiss interjected. "Maybe we can convince her that we can help her."
Ruby shook her head in objection. "Searching for someone who's already being searched for is exactly what she's prepared for. We have no chance in finding her." She shot down, though looking like it was projected towards herself than the others.
"So, what should we do-" Winter spoke, though was interrupted at the end by a large commotion that sounded outside of the inn. The group looked to the window as the noise grew more and more, until it became clear as a large group of protesters marched forth towards the inn, shouting and chanting as they did.
"What? What're they…" Winter tried to form a sentence, but was too overwhelmed by the size of the crowd.
"They're here for the black haired girl," Weiss spoke, staring at the crowd as they finally stopped at the front of the inn. "I guess the small speech yesterday didn't deter them the least."
"They think we still have her here," Ruby told, making sure that everyone in her group was looking at her. "Let's keep them under that impression. We have to stall them for as long as possible."
"You have a plan?" Yang asked skeptically, not sure how to approach the situation.
"Not exactly, but we'll improvise." Ruby told, before turning back to the window.
A sudden shift in the situation caught their attention as the black swordsman and the red haired girl walked out of the crowd, looking to be the leaders of the protest. They made their way to the door as a couple knocks rung through the interior.
"There's no turning back," Ruby told. "Just keep calm, and make sure no one tries to sneak past the door."
The group all nodded in unison, steeling themselves as if preparing for a battle. Ruby grabbed the doorknob as she twisted it open, the group all stacking up behind her as the protests from outside had now hit them with full force. They stepped outside as the last person closed the door behind them. Everyone was looking at them, a wave of unease filling the redhead, though she pushed it aside as best she could as she stepped forth. There the red and the black player's stood in front of the pack; the latter's arms were crossed, and both donned a stone-cold complexion to them. Ruby cleared her throat as the protests died down eventually.
"I told you once already, you're not going to place a finger on her until we hear what she has to say about the incident." Ruby commanded, sounding more confident than how she truly felt, if she was honest with herself, the scrutinizing looks made her wanna sink through the pixelated floor.
"We're not here to kill her, we're here to prosecute her," The black clad swordsman spoke first, pulling out a big teleport crystal as he did. "We all want justice, ever since the massacre, the floor's been running rampant with pker's and other murder guilds alike. To the point where you mustn't go alone or at night."
"Everyone here agrees. We won't harm her, but she should be held responsible for her actions." The redheaded woman piped in, stepping towards the younger leader as she did.
"You think locking her up simply because she didn't want to be hunted down again is just? She's a DLC user, just like me and my sister. They go after people like us," Ruby defended, looking genuinely upset for a moment. "She knows pkers and murder guilds look for people with DLC, and she was scared. So if you think that detaining people for just trying to protect themselves from being a target is just, than I think you're judgement is biased. Hence why we wanna make this right."
"Look, we're not leaving here until she's put in jail. We will hear her side once after," The redheaded rapier wielder argued, looking frustrated over the ordeal. She went to walk forward again, only to be stopped by the swordsman. "You can argue all you like, but she's coming with us."
"I stand by my word, I'm not letting you near her." Ruby told, summoning her weapon as the black and red clad gripped their blade's. Though a sudden sound of footsteps halted the ever-growing hostility.
"Okay. this is getting out of hand," Yang spoke now, stopping in-between her sister and the two leaders. "Instead of arguing a valid point, how about we settle this the old fashioned way: duel to settle the score."
The rapier wielder released the handle of her blade as she relaxed again, looking towards the blonde now. "What do you propose?" She asked.
"We both want to see justice, one way or another. If we win, you leave us be and go home. We will take care of prosecution," Yang weighed in, the duo donning pensive looks soon after. "If we lose, you can take her. We won't hold up a fight anymore, and we both go our separate ways."
They both looked to be weighing the pros and cons of it, turning around to speak privately for a moment before turning back to face her. "Okay, we accept," the black haired man spoke, giving a nod in agreement as he opened up his menu. "You and her versus us."
It didn't dawn onto Ruby until now the full effects of human conflict, let alone in a digital world until now. Her hand started to shiver drastically as she tried to calm herself down, but her nerves were getting the better of her. The Schnee sisters saw it, the eldest holding a sympathetic complexion as she looked to her sister, whom had the same look as she gave a nod in signal.
"No," Winter spoke, walking forth as they all turned towards her. "I would like to humbly replace our team's leader with me, should she allow it."
Winter looked to the young scythe wielder, said girl nodding in agreement as a relieved look formed on her face. Winter gave a small smirk as she nodded, before turning back to the group. "Yang and I versus you two. A fair fight if you ask me." She told, the other two nodding in agreement.
"Very well," The black swordsman nodded in compliance. "We'll make it simple: basic sword skills only, no specials. You may use whatever weapon of your choice."
With the match rules out of the way, the duo nodded as they moved to a more open space near the inn and accepted the duel prompt. The timer appeared above their heads as they all readied their weapons. Yang adjusted her bracers as the older Schnee took out her blade, as their opponents did the same.
"I've got the redhead." Winter spoke, getting into a fencing stance.
"Then that just leaves me with tall, dark and edgy." Yang joked, though the swordsman didn't flinch the least as they all readied themselves.
The timer ticked down to the last 10 seconds, both parties donning stone-cold complexions as they awaited. The last 3 seconds appeared and everyone readied to charge. As the 'FIGHT' prompt came up, everyone raced forth as the clashing of metal rung throughout the streets…
Meanwhile, on Floor 3...
"You... you were the quiet girl," Blake spoke. Her eyes widening to its fullest as her grip loosened on the shorter girl in front of her. "The mute girl with heterochromia."
Upon finally piecing it together, the black clad woman started to slowly walk backwards. Her eyes not betraying the familiarity of it now as the memories started to come to her again. Her hands started to shake as her breath quickened. "You… I," Blake tried to speak, but was too overwhelmed by it all. "How did you know? How did you find me?!"
Rational thought started to leave her as Blake felt like the room was closing around her. "Y-you're with them, aren't you?! They told you to come find me!" She shouted, panic starting to set inside of her as she frantically checked both sets of windows around her, as if it was the only logical explanation to her. Neo, on the other hand, looked at her confusedly as she tilted her head to the side.
"Them? I'm not with anybody. I am here on my own whim." She spoke, but Blake looked to be in denial.
"Liar! How could you have known where I was?! How could you have just 'coincidentally' found me!" The black clad exclaimed, her shaken voice sounding more and more paranoid as she spoke. The shorter woman simply stood up as Blake glared at her like a madwoman.
"I told you once already. I was after your bounty, but now I just wanna talk," Neo spoke sincerely, holding her hand up in peace. "I'm not gonna hurt you, Blake."
Blake looked down at the ground as she grabbed her arms, shaking her head slowly as she started mumbling something, her voice growing more and more. She closed her eyes, as if to snap herself out of her own conflicting thoughts. "No, no no nonono… I-it's not safe here." She managed to utter, looking on the verge of bolting through the nearest window. That was until her eyes jolted upwards as a set of hands rested calmly on her arms.
"Blake, calm down. You can trust me." Neo told, though the last sentence seemed to trigger her more as she swatted away the arms.
"Trust? Trust!?" Blake parroted back, almost manically sounding. "I can't trust anybody! All of you are just after my head! What the fuck is trust when I'm a target to EVERYONE-!"
Blake froze up as her eyes widened, as if betraying what she saw. The warm feeling enveloping her, Neo's arms wrapped around her firmly, keeping her from prying her away this time. She autonomously stepped back as she fell onto the couch, though Neo didn't budge as she now straddled the black clad, rubbing small circles in her back. Her arms were pinned by the smaller girl's legs, though she stopped trying at that point as she simply took in the other girl's scent, which seemed to help calm her down.
"Blake…" Neo finally spoke, her voice was calm and kind. "I know you've been targeted, but not everyone is after you. After our fight, some random girl came to your rescue, and even managed to persuade the groups coming after you. They don't know you, but they still protected you, even in the midst of a group of angry players."
"Why should I believe you?" Blake argued. The multicoloured girl simply rose up, looking Blake square in the eyes.
"Because you're still alive," Neo replied, which seemed to sink in with Blake as her eyes widened again. She blinked a couple of times as her mind raced with questions, the same ones that she brushed off when she left the inn last night. The ones she pushed away as her survivalist instinct told her not to trust anything, to hide away from everyone and everything. "If she didn't step in, I wouldn't have realized who you were until after, and you would've been dead."
Neo finally released Blake as she rested her hands on her shoulders, looking in her eyes to show her dead seriousness. "I'm not denying there's nobody looking for you. The uprise in murder guilds is a prime example," The multicoloured woman told, before coursing her hands down to the black clad's arms as she gave them a firm squeeze. "But if you keep pushing away everyone you come in contact with, you're gonna end up losing yourself too, and that path is dark and cold."
Neo's hands then slid down into her lap, though keeping her grip on the latter's arms as she continued. "I'm not saying trust everybody, Blake. But I am saying learn to trust the ones who want to help you, because true friends will help you through anything."
Finally, Neo got up off the black cat's lap as she opened her menu, tapping a few things on the screen as a prompt came up in front of Blake. "I'll help, if I were to guess, you left Adam behind, didn't you?" She spoke, Blake flinching upon mention of his name as the former nodded in agreement. "I thought so. And no doubt he's still looking for you. I'll keep watch of him, and try to my abilities to keep him at bay."
Blake stared at the notification pensively, trying as rationally as possible to think it through. She looked back up at the shorter woman that simply stood there. "C...can I, trust you…?" Blake almost mumbled, Neo looked to be taken aback, but brushed it aside as she gave a nod.
"At first, I was after you. But now, I want to make amends," She told Blake, giving her utmost serious face. "I trust you, if that means anything. Can you trust me?"
At first, there was a lot of confliction inside of Blake. But after Neo's speech, it started to make light of understanding the true impact that was a bond. So with a new determination, she accepted the request as it popped up on her screen. The shorter woman smiled as her head tilted to the side. "Thank you, Blake. You can count on me-"
Before she could finish her statement, Blake fell onto an impulsive maneuver as she hugged the shorter clad woman, resting her chin on her shoulder as she did. "Thank you." The black clad spoke as she tightened her hold on her. Letting go of her uncertainty and her timidness towards others was going to be a bit of a challenge for her, but she was ready and willing to start, with a new perspective to look upon.
Neo was still at first, but slowly reciprocated as she returned the gesture, before they released each other as the former gave a smirk. "Thank you. I'm glad to have finally met you." She spoke, Blake nodding in agreement.
"I am too," Blake replied. "I… I needed that, a lot more than even I knew."
"Good," Neo spoke again. "I'm glad I could help you. If you ever feel the need to chat, just shoot me a text. I'll be here."
The black clad nodded, and soon after the shorter girl made her way to the door.
"Oh, and Blake?" Neo spoke, Blake looking over to her. "Don't fret too much, your friends are waiting for you." She told, before opening the door and saying her goodbye. Blake stood for a moment. Knowing what she wanted to do next, she grabbed her blade and made her way out. She stopped at the door for a moment, her primal feeling of hiding coming back to her, but she pushed it aside as she knew what she needed to do.
To make right her wrongs.
Yang slid back as she kept her posture, until finally stopping as she breathed heavily. The blonde had fought countless times even before the game, and was pretty good at fighting monsters with ease, but dueling against a blade was a different story. While she dodged and blocked every swing successfully, she couldn't quite reach as far as a sword and found herself getting hit every time she landed a blow. Her health was starting to stagger between the green-yellow point, and she knew she'd have to do better if she was gonna win it. Charging up an attack, she bolted forward as her gauntlets glowed a fiery hue. The black swordsman charged up a sword skill too as he ran forth, until the duo clashed at midpoint as another loud hum of clashing metal rung through the streets again. Both were at a stalemate as they struggled to hold their ground, before finally, they relented as the two were blown back.
Winter was also struggling, but kept her ground in the fight. Years of fencing and close quarters combat training in the military kept her on her toes, and was possibly the only reason how she was still holding up as the redheaded rapier wielder was a LOT faster than any regular fencer. One flash was met with five more as she struggled to try and block and dish back fast blows as well. And they both looked to have dealt the same amount of damage to one-another, judging by their yellowing bars, though upon closer glance, the redhead seemed to have just a little more than her. Cursing her luck under her breath.
Yang and Winter met up again as they stood on their side, panting from combat as they stared down the red and black clad on the other side. They didn't seem as fazed as they were, by the looks of their bars it dawned on them they were slowly losing the duel.
"We don't have to do this anymore, just let us take the girl. This doesn't have to happen." The black swordsman spoke, a calm complexion to him as he walked up. Yang started to grow frustrated as she caught her breath finally.
"I'm not letting you take away an innocent person, and I'm a woman of my word," Yang told again, activating a skill as she smashed the ground, the ground breaking in a line headed for the man as he simply jumped back from it. "I won't give in so easily, not to you people."
Winter gave a snort at the stubbornness of her partner, whom gave a confused look in return. "Now I see where my sister gets it from," She spoke, almost making the blonde chuckle, though remembering where they were as she cleared her throat. The woman tapped her shoulder as an idea came to her mind. "Listen, I have an idea."
The blonde hunched over to her as the ivory haired woman whispered in her ear, the blonde nodding a couple times at random, until they separated. "Okay," Yang agreed, giving a single nod to solidify the plan. "Let's do it then!"
With a new plan of action, the duo readied themselves as Yang's ability flared to life, her bracers glowing like fire as they raced forward. The black and red clad both readied for another clash, though Yang and Winter started to zigzag before they could charge forth. Their confusion was clear as they both charged forward. The redhead attacked first as her blade made contact with Yang's gauntlet, though it did little to nothing as the blonde kept her from freeing her blade. Before the rapier wielder could react, a slice came down the entirety of the red clad's right side as Winter flew over top her and landed right behind the duo.
The black swordsman went to attack the ivory haired woman, though a heavy attack stopped him as he turned back to Yang. He went to swing, only for her to block it with the other bracer as she hit him with a charged swift uppercut, sending him back. The crowd all gasped as he tumbled backward, staggering to get up again.
Before Yang could register it, the red clad flashed forward as she sliced the blonde's cheek. She went to attack again, but was met with a thrust of a sword as Winter came to her partners aid. The black clad finally got up again as he rushed forth with a sword skill, his partner catching on as she charged up a skill and rushed after them. Before they landed, Yang moved in front of the older woman and braced, taking the brunt of both attacks as they were sent back and hitting the wall behind them hard.
Winter panted as she checked both hers and her partners health, the only damage she received was from the impact, while Yang was looking bad as her health indicated the near-end of her duel.
Winter held the unconscious blonde in her arms, watching as the duo strode towards them. It wasn't hard for the older woman to see the outcome as she glared at the duo. "Last chance. We both know the ending to this, just give up and we'll have mercy." The man spoke again, standing in a readied posture as did his partner.
"I stand by my word, for it is all I have left," Winter spoke, resting Yang gently on the wall as she walked forth and pulled out her rapier. "We protect our kin, no matter who the opponent."
The last statement seemed to touch a nerve in the black clad as he stared at her frustratedly. "You don't even know her, and yet you continue to protect this murderer. Are you really this stubborn?" He spoke. Though it didn't faze the ivory haired woman the least.
"I'm standing up for what is right. Don't play it off like you know exactly who she is. A person strives by what they deem is right to them," Winter replied as she held out her free hand. "I've fought in a couple battles when I was in the army. When there was conflicts in camp they didn't bash one and praise the other, they talked it out, and settled whatever the problem was. So I ask you; do you think what you're doing is right?"
"I'm doing what I think is just," The man replied, before he charged a skill up again in point blank range. "Now I'll ask again, forfeit and hand over the woman."
The woman didn't budge, simply chucking her blade to the side. "Do it, for justice." She spoke. The man giving a scowl in return, before he charged forward, and Winter closed her eyes.
In the next moment, a clash of metal reverberated off the walls as Winter slowly opened her eyes again. What she saw shocked her beyond belief. The very woman they were protecting was now protecting her, as she pushed him away. Winter looked over to the side, her entire team donning the same flabberghasted looks as her.
"Attacking a disarmed woman," Blake finally spoke, walking forward as she did. "Have you no mercy?"
"You," The man replied, ignoring the question. "You're the one we're here for. This duel was for a fair bet, and she lost."
"What bet?" Blake asked quizzically, turning her head back to the alabaster woman.
"We… we were trying to keep them from taking you," Winter told. "If they won, we wouldn't fight them about your prosecution."
"I see," The black cat replied, rubbing her chin in thought as an idea sprung in her mind. "Then double or nothing, me versus you two. If I lose, you can take me to jail."
Blake soon turned her gaze to the crowd beside her. "But if I win, everyone goes home, and you don't come for me no more. To bury the hatchet and be done with it."
The black clad looked over to the redhead as they seemed to contemplate it, though it didn't seem like a hard debate as they both nodded. "Okay. deal."
Without further hesitation, Blake pressed the duel prompt as the timer ticked down. Ten seconds showed as the duo readied on their side. Meanwhile, the black cat shinobi stood motionless. She knew exactly what was gonna happen, and she steeled herself as she knew what to do.
As on que, the duel initiated as they both charged forward with their sword skills, Blake finally grabbing the hilt of her blade. With lightning speed, they charged forward, both hitting her in the mid with success. But what they didn't account for was for her body to disappear in a shadow clone, as the real Blake swooped down from the sky, hitting the redhead with a spinning aerial attack that sent her flying backwards.
The black swordsman had little time to react as he swung his blade, only for it to get deflected off of Blake's own cleaver blade as he rebounded for another, The black shinobi saw through it as she simply hopped over it. And when he went to swing again, she blocked it completely before wedging the blade in the ground with her feet and kicking him back. The redhead recovered quickly as she made to hit her with a fury of strikes, which was easily blocked with the cleaver. Once the attack finished, Blake grabbed her blade as she unsheathed it, hitting the woman with quick slashes before cutting her upwards. With that, the redhead was out as it left just the black swordsman.
The man made a break for his sword again, though was caught midway as Blake hit him with the pommel of her blade. He tumbled back down as he staggered to get back up again, though the black cat shinobi held him at the end of her blade. "Now give up, and leave me and my friends alone." Blake instructed as she sheathed her blade back in it's cleaver. The man looked at her exasperatedly, before finally nodding as he brought up his screen, ending the fight as a 'winner' icon displayed over Blake's head.
"Do you know what you caused? More and more people have been dying in the forest thanks to you," The black clad spoke. An angry complexion to his face. "Because of you, murder guilds are rising everywhere. The third floor is not safe, thanks to you."
"Because of me? Or because my actions spurred them to?" Blake replied, confused looks on the crowds face's. "I confess. I killed that murder guild because they were gonna come after me. I knew I wasn't gonna be safe with them hunting me down, so I dealt with it. I never wanted it to escalate, but death sparks people like them. My DLC weapon is like a prime trophy to murderers, and they'll stop at nothing to kill me, should they get the chance."
Blake walked over to the man, whom still held a frustrated look to his face. The black shinobi stopped a fair distance away as the crowd grew silent. "You aren't the first group of people to come for me, and they didn't start killing because of me. Even before the massacre, the people I thought were friends turned corrupt, more and more each day. Understand that this isn't just a game, this is survival now. And those same people that I called brothers and sisters are after me, just like you people are. The only difference is they don't have mercy for players, only revenge and hatred now," Blake spoke in all her honesty, which seemed to open the rest of the crowds eyes as they all looked one another, as if processing it together. Blake wasted no time, though, as she walked closer to the man, whom tensed up as if expecting another blow. But Blake pulled the unexpected as she simply held her hands out, expecting him to put her in handcuffs. "I won't deny my actions, I am an honest girl. I'm a killer, a thief and a mercenary. But I'm also a survivor. And I do what I think is just, that's why I came back; to right the wrongs I have done. So leave these girls alone now, take me away."
The man's eyes widened as he simply stared at the woman before him, deep in thought. Before anything else, the redhead placed her hand on the black swordsman's shoulder, shaking her head as the former seemed to agree with her. The redhead simply placed her hand on the black cat's wrist, Blake looking up confusedly. The rapier wielder shook her head again in statement. "If what you say is true, then prosecuting you wouldn't be just," She told, Blake's turn now as her eyes widened in realization. "You are a strong, independent woman, and it's clear your real friends are here for you. They had us under the assumption you were still in the building, and were very protective about us taking you in."
The raven haired girl simply let out a small laugh. "Actually, I don't know these people. But I owe them my life." She told, The redhead gave a chuckle at that as she nodded.
"We'll leave you be, we won't come after you no more," The redhead continued, doing a respective bow as the black clad man followed suit. And soon after, the crowd all reciprocated. Blake looked around in shock, blown away by their change of heart. "We apologize for our actions, you were simply fighting for what was right. We mistook you for a murderer, when you were simply protecting yourself."
It was Blake's turn now as she did a bow. "Thank you for forgiving me. I am glad we could settle this." She spoke, the duo nodding in agreement.
"I don't think we've formally introduced ourselves. I am Asuna." The redhead spoke, holding out her hand as Blake shook it.
"Kirito." The black clad spoke, mimicking the gesture as Blake shook.
"Blake." The black cat replied.
"You are a really good fighter, Blake. You should join the frontlines, your skill is unlike any I've seen." Asuna told, with Kirito nodding in agreement.
"Thanks, but I have a priority I have to amend." Blake told, looking over to the small group as the duo followed her gaze over to them.
"I understand. You are free to join whenever, should you choose to," Asuna replied. "Anyway. If you ever have any problems, or anyone coming after you, don't be afraid to call us. We won't hesitate to help."
"Thank you." Blake responded as she bowed. She gave a smirk afterwards as the duo reciprocated.
"We'll take our leave now. We apologize again for drawing up assumptions. You're a good girl, Blake." Asuna spoke, before motioning Kirito as they returned to the group. Some small talk later, and they all left peacefully as the group was left standing at the door.
"That… was…." Weiss spoke dumbfoundedly, unsure of what just happened.
"All according to plan." Ruby concluded, turning her head to Weiss as a big grin stretched on her face. It caught Weiss off-guard for a moment, lost in the moment before she realized she was staring.
"T-there wasn't a plan and you and I both know it." Weiss deadpanned as Ruby giggled.
"Okay, it was an improvised plan," Ruby replied, before motioning her to follow. "Come on, let's go check on our sisters."