Aincrad Floor 22: Forest 12:23 AM AST (Aincrad Standard Time)
"Are you sure you're ok-" "YUUKI!"
Yuuki swung her blade with increasing vigour, finally burying the swords gleaming head further between the splintered ribs of a low level field mob; Kirito's scathing voice acting as propellant as she ripped the sword up through the unfortunate monsters chest, exiting with a tearing sound effect followed with a bright burst of blue.
"I'm going back to the frontlines, where I belong..."
Yuuki snapped back to reality as the harsh sting of a dagger edge made itself known along her overcoat clad lower back, draining a pitifully low amount of HP; grunting, she flipped nimbly back over the cannon fodder, swinging lazily as she dispatched the enemy in a similar manner to his doomed comrade.
It had been like this for the best part of an hour, the endless monotony of field grinding never failed to numb the mind; exactly what Yuuki needed. The floor she had chosen for harvesting reflected that fact; Floor 22 was picturesque if dull, featuring cascading waterfalls and endless towering carnivorous forests that hummed and buzzed with the tweets and chirps of nesting birds. Even the Cardinal System seemed to turn a blind eye to this small haven, with the only threats being low level sentinels similar to those found on the First Floor. Easy pickings for even remotely levelled players.
"Or for those of us who just fucked up royally." Yuuki thought with malice that she could only direct back towards herself; her blade careened through yet another set of durability wasters as she wandered aimlessly, lavender boots punching deep ruts into the soft mud of the forest floor.
The trees began to thin the further Yuuki walked, as did the waves of sentinels willing to meet their end upon violet tinted steel much to her dismay; the motions of floor clearing had allowed her to forgo tackling the dark smog that had formed in her mind, with the distraction gone it slowly trickled to the forefront, memories manifesting as dark tendrils that clouded her vision.
"You've done quite enough..."
"Godammit!" Yuuki screamed, her voice dampened by the thick foliage as she turned, slamming her gloved fist into one of the nearby trunks, the impact reverberating up her arm.
The warrior sank to her knees, tears fleeing from bloodshot scarlet eyes as her longsword's length clattered to the floor with a dull thud; she leant back against the assaulted stump and drew her knees up as she recalled with sickening clarity the brazen tone he had spoken with; the undisguised anger that had flashed raw in those Onyx Eyes.
Yuuki began to tremble again, her eyes stung as she did, but no tears came, too many had already escaped for others to join them. Too others she would have appeared to have been drastically overreacting; an uneventful shared night and a few heated words had turned one of Aincrad's most reputable swordswomen into a sobbing wreck.
But Yuuki knew him, she knew that blank and clouded look that had eclipsed his usually bright and humorous eyes and it terrified her; that depth of unbridled fury and pure rage was a primal, almost animalistic trait that the Black Swordsman rarely displayed and when it did show itself it was during the depths of battle.
An airy musical note rung out, jolting her from her stupor; the irritating jingle usually signified a received message. Yuuki raised her head from her paled knees and slowly dragged her finger through the evening air to open the message window. She groaned.
The 'Senders ID' was an incredibly useful feature. The blocking functionalities it gave players prevented most fraudsters from taking advantage of the messaging system and those who used it; still, it didn't prevent the Cardinal System itself from bombarding players with useless trivia, ads and completely random exerts.
Yuuki ignored the compulsion to delete the message immediately, some small, naive part of her still hoped the System would award players with some genuinely useful information on clearing the game one of these days. She tapped the mail icon.
"Greetings players! Floor 1 has just been named as -Floor of the Month!- can you claim the legendary -Mithril Pebble of Pig Smiting!- act fast, a new Floor is chosen each month!"
Yuuki rolled her eyes and closed the window, Cardinal never failed to deliver absolute drivel, hell, it was worthy of an Abridged series once they were freed from this satanic excuse for a game.
Crack
Yuuki whipped round at the disturbance, the quiet of the forest shattered in an instant; she held her quickly rising breath. Gradually more sounds permeated from the depths of the tree line; the quiet rustling of leaves and dry rotted wood grew more audible the longer she listened. As an enormous black silhouette revealed itself, Yuuki quickly moved to draw her sword, finding only empty air; the blade lying uselessly among the debris of the forest floor. In an instant Yuuki regretted ever stopping to open the message.
Kirito deleted his message for the fourth time, his outstretched hand slowly balling into a tight fist, anger towards himself stoking like hot coals; how could he even begin to apologize?
"Sorry for my... attitude?" he murmured to himself, "No... too impersonal." Kirito sighed, one finger erasing his most recent attempt from the message window. Kirito ran a hand through his mop of unruly raven hair; battling increasingly lethal bosses and enemies came naturally to the teen, writing apology letters was a different, and in his opinion, infinitely more daunting task.
The swordsman still didn't know what to make of his companion. Friend? That seemed like a rather lacklustre way to label their bond. Lovers? Kirito didn't know whether he was stable enough to make that daring plunge again.
Taking a deep breath he resolved to take a needed break from his message and he dropped the message board in favour of the friends list. Yuuki's name still stood out in the list, the 'Online' light still glowing it's familiar orange hue.
"Well, at least she hasn't gone and gotten herself killed."
Kirito tapped once on her name and the window expanded and various notes on the lilac warrior were displayed.
Player: Yuuki. Location: Floor 22. Status: Engaged in combat.
Kirito's eyes widened at her unexpected status; the 'engaged in combat' tag that was embossed upon her status window was generally reserved for those battling field bosses or the dreaded final floor bosses. It wasn't uncommon for frontline players to gain the title, but usually it was during group clearing sessions or boss raids, the tag was not something a single player usually obtained without outside assistance.
Kirito scanned through the rest of his friends list, stopping on familiar names:
Player: Klein. Location: Floor 13. Status: In residence.
Player: Schmitt. Location: Floor 33. Status: Dining at La Meat Toboggan.
Various other names came and went, their passive status' giving rise to a panic deep inside Kirito's chest, one that refused to be quelled. Yuuki was powerful, there was no denying that simple fact, she turn almost any other clearer into quivering piles of mince with one flick of her violet blade; but soloing a field boss? That dark thought unsettled him.
Then the Floor... why 22? Kirito remembered his few, blissful, weeks among the forests and walls of his log cabin with Asuna, they shone like gold among a sea of black. The only boss he could remember encountering during those days was the quest triggered -Witch- who was defeated by himself, Asuna and Argo. So what was Yuuki fighting?
Throwing caution to the wind Kirito sprinted towards the nearest teleport gate, a growing sense of dread enveloping him.
Kirito glanced at the in-game clock displayed at the top right of his peripheral vision, 12:46pm AST staring back.
The swordsman's legs bounded over the rough terrain before him; dodging the many tree roots that jutted from the forest floor beneath him. A humid breeze blowing the bangs of dark hair from his troubled face, the memory of Yuuki's pained cry still ringing like a gunshot in his mind. He winced and increased his pace, the map guiding him through the dense undergrowth.
He recognized the area as one he himself had traversed once; the forest an ideal area for relatively low risk levelling. It was during one of those short excursions he had come across the faithful log cabin that had served he and Asuna; he drew himself back to the present as the beeping of the map signalled his imminent arrival to his partner's location.
Yuuki was a mess, Kirito could see that much clearly, even from this distance; her form was coated by a seemingly endless myriad of crimson marks that accented her eyes in a sickly fashion. She had no weapon and her health bar shone worryingly low, the merger tree cover the only thing between her and immediate death.
Her assailant was the stuff of nightmares, an enormous humanoid figure with pale skin and abnormally long appendages, two of which wielded a rusted chain that lashed out with almost superhuman speed. Yuuki fought to keep ahead of the chains reach, but even her incredible AGI stat and Stamina could only serve her so well; with an inhuman screech the Level 83 -Wendigo- brought the weapons length to slam into Yuuki with a deafening bang that sent her lithe figure spinning across the field, her health bar dropping to near empty. Her once bright eyes glinted with defeat, fear screwing her eyelids shut.
"YUUKI" he screamed her name, voice high with rage seeing her broken posture and still looming figure. Gloved hands grasped at the wrapped hilt of a black longsword, launching towards the boss with a deafening battle cry; blade ignited with the scathing aqua flames of -Vorpal Strike- and hatred sparking in his eyes.
Kirito attacked with reckless abandon, the bosses chain useless at such a close range; sword skill after sword skill cast ugly marks into the alabaster flesh of the beast, it's cries growing increasingly feral. He didn't hesitate. The field boss erupted in a matter of minutes, it's remnants fleeing with the gentle summer breeze.
The warrior didn't pause to relish his victory, instead sprinting to the sprawled figure of Yuuki and drawing her into a vice-like hug; burrowing his head into her shoulder.
"I-I thought I lost you too..." he pulled her closer, mind flashing back to Asuna's untimely death. She didn't respond, knocked out cold by the bosses final attack. He lifted her into his arms gingerly.
The walk back to the teleport gate was long, his exhaustion and Yuuki's unconscious weight preventing any speed above a brisk walk; not that he minded, Yuuki's soft lavender tresses and warm heat were far from unpleasant, even after facing down with a mythical bringer of death.
The teleport gate finally homed into view after trekking through yet another grove of saplings, and with a uttered command the peaceful expanses of Floor 22 were swept from view, one less threat left behind.
1:36 AM AST: Village of QROW.
Kirito kicked the door to the room open; his limbs singing with fatigue as he cradled the still limp Yuuki; her health had been restored courtesy of a hastily purchased health potion, her skin regaining some colour much to his relief.
"You really need to rest" he said to his partner, her blank expression offering no resistance.
He lowered her gently to the surface of the bed, her head sinking into the soft haven of quilted pillows.
He looked upon her for a moment before moving to join her on the opposite side of the bed. Kirito quickly unequipped his scabbard and Blackwrym Coat, exhaustion preventing him from attempting to remove anything else, practicality momentarily forgotten.
He moved beneath the bed covers, bringing Yuuki into his side once more, a sigh of contempt exiting her mouth as he nested her head into his collar bone. He smiled warmly at still fully clothed woman, her hair splayed out across the expanse of the bed.
"Goodnight Yuuki." Kirito smiled once more and chuckled slightly as she whined slightly; he took her features in for a final time before allowing himself to be swept to sleep in the warmth of the night.
Authors Note: Yet another Chapter down for the count! This one turned from being a simple re-master into an entirely new piece following drastically different plot points to the original version of this story, and I'm far happier with this as it currently stands. Also, big thanks for all the follows, favourites and particularly the reviews, they help enormously so please keep them coming.
Till next time!