Chapter 4 / Sanctuary:
Confusion. The word summed up Adira's thought process as she awoke from the most relaxing sleep she had experienced in an age. Where was she? She looked around, searching for anything recognisable.
"You can relax, you're safe." A masculine voice informed her, as Kirito shuffled into her line of sight. "We're in a monastery hidden away in the mountains. I thought that since barely any players know about it, then with any luck it'll take them longer to find us here."
"I don't remember getting here…" Adira stated, desperately trying to remember, "…we were…walking through the forest when…"
"You passed out…" Kirito interjected, "…probably from fatigue. You must have been exhausted." He continued, locking his eyes to hers.
"You don't look much better," She countered, noting his slouched posture. "How long has it been since you last slept?"
"That doesn't matter now." He replied quickly, changing the subject. "What matters is finding out why the Dusk Demons are after you. What they want. Argo couldn't decipher the why, only the who…I don't suppose you have any ideas?"
"Actually I do…A week or two ago I…uh…I received a special skill…" She paused, unsure of how to continue. "It…uh…it's an evasive skill called Temporal Dash…it's not in the manual…it works kind of like a…a magical teleport dash I guess…"
"Magic?" Kirito repeated the word, utterly shocked by it. "I didn't think there was any magic accessible to players in SAO…"
"Yeah…well…it seems to be a skill exclusive to me." She informed him, intently watching Kirito's reaction. His face seemed to reflect astonishment only for a second, before swiftly settling into a form of acceptance. That didn't take much convincing, she thought, he doesn't seem surprised at the game having skills exclusive to one player. She continued on, "that's what the Demons are after me for. They want the magic that this power contains. My friends menu and status items have been locked off ever since they began their hunt."
Kirito paused for a moment, smiling to himself before speaking. "You've always found it easy to get into trouble." He exclaimed wistfully, chuckling in the process.
"Hey! You're one to talk! You must be rubbing off on me!"
Kirito was fighting to keep a smile off of his face. "You were the one who wanted to be trained, remember?! I can't help if you decided to take my recklessness a bit too literally!"
FLASHBACK BEGINNING! A FEW DAYS AFTER HIS ENCOUNTER WITH THE NICHOLAS THE RENEGADE BOSS:
Adira was alone. She was scared. She had spent so long in the Town of Beginnings, only moving on when she could tag along with big groups of players to protect her. She only knew the most basic of sword skills, relying on the others to move between safe zones. She had never gotten too attached to the other players, as they had always kicked her out of their groups when they got fed up with her uselessness. That was how she had ended up out here in the wilderness, alone.
She knew that it was a mistake, travelling solo. What if a monster attacked? How would she defend herself? The only thing that she knew was that she had to prove her own worth. She had to show herself, and everyone else, that she could survive. The only reason she had bought this game was because she had thought it would be a relaxing escape from reality. Somewhere that she could flee to, where there were no risks, no pressure. Things had really turned out the way she wanted them to, she thought sarcastically, laughing at her own ignorance.
Adira was suddenly knocked to the floor from behind. She quickly scrambled to her feet, attempting to run to find that her exit was blocked by her attacker. She slowly faced the enemy, which growled menacingly. It was a wolf. At least, Aincrad's version of a wolf. The beast was overly stylised, with a sharply pointed tail and ears, jet black fur, and menacing amber eyes. Two more identical looking creatures stood behind the first, boxing Adira in. She wanted to cry. What had she done in her life to deserve this?
The wolves ears twitched, causing them to turn their heads as a black clad figure leapt over them, landing alongside the panicked Adira.
"You know how to fight?" He asked, drawing his dark one-handed sword in preparation for the closing battle. Adira was silent, lips trembling as she fell to her knees, feeling more useless than ever.
The mysterious solo player went to work, falling into a rhythm of dodging and attacking the wolves, predicting their pre-determined strike patterns. Adira watched in awe as the darkly dressed swordsman defeated the enemies one by one, whittling their health down until they burst into polygons. He turned back to face her, taking the time to sheath his sword before walking away.
"Wait!" Adira shouted after him, bringing the stranger to a halt. "Um…if it's not too much trouble…would…would you be able to take me to the next town?" The experienced player paused, deep in thought. "I'm useless, I can't fight. I shouldn't have come out here." Adira continued, suppressed emotions bursting forth. "I know that you've already gone out of your way to help me once, but…" She trailed off, loosing her words as she discovered the look on the swordsman's face.
He looked as if he was in a dark place. Like he was considering her request, but was wary of getting too close people. As if he thought that attachment was a road that led only to pain. She thought she detected a glint of empathy from him, as if he truly felt sorry for her.
"I'll…I'll take you to the next town. But you'll need to learn how to fight if you want to survive this game." He said flatly, stating a fact.
"Thank you! Thank you! I…you're right," she said, steadily getting to her feet. "I'll have to learn. I just…I came out here to prove that I could handle myself, and look where that got me. I…I just need someone to teach me what to do…to point me in the right direction." She muttered, talking more to herself than to the stranger at this point.
He hesitated, eyes boring into her as if he was analysing her potential, before speaking. "I…I could train you." He spoke quietly, his face contorting in surprise, as if he couldn't believe the words that had just come out of his mouth. He realised that she probably hadn't heard him, so he repeated himself, this time louder. "I can teach you how to survive in this game…if you want?"
"You would do that?! Really?!" Adira asked, her voice filling with hope. "Not that I'm ungrateful, but…why?"
The swordsman looked skittish, unsure of how to answer. "I…you remind me of someone. Someone else who I met in this game. They…they also needed help coming to terms with this world. I know it sounds stupid but I could…I could see their potential, and what they could become here…and I can see the same potential in you." He said, opening up to her.
Adira was speechless. Shocked by his honesty. After a long stretch of awkward silence, she raised her hand, extending it to the stranger.
"My name's Adira."
"Kirito."
FLASHBACK END! BACK TO THE MONASTRY:
"Yeah…well…I guess it was worth it. I learnt a lot out of your training, even if I did pick up a few bad habits..." Adira said. After a moments silence, she decided to test her luck, asking about the subject she had been dying to hear about for ages. "So…how is Asuna doing?"
Kirito jumped, taken by surprise. "Asuna?! She's great…um…just great…" He stuttered, his mind drawing a temporary blank. "I…I didn't even know that you knew her?"
"I don't." Adira replied, a sly smile creeping onto her face. "But you used to mention her all of the time. What happened? You haven't gone off of her, have you?"
"What?!" Kirito squealed, his face flushing. "Who said I was into her in the first place?"
"You didn't have to…"
"Wha…" Kirito stopped himself, deciding that responding would just make things worse. Adira was giving him a knowing look, as if she had his and Asuna's whole future planned out already. He liked Asuna, but she was…he didn't have words to describe how he felt about her.
"Why are you so interested in my romantic life?" Kirito asked, composing himself.
"Because you two are so perfect for each other!" Adira exclaimed, excitement getting the better of her. "I've heard so many rumours of the Black Swordsman and the Lightning Flash's adventures, I hope at least some of them are true." She teased, winking at him.
Kirito was speechless. He was too busy processing the information to talk. Rumours? What rumours? Sure, he had been on plenty of adventures with Asuna, but what exactly was Adira implying?
Just as he was about to ask, a notification popped up in the corner of his vision. From the reaction that Adira gave, she had received one too. Kirito opened his menu, accessing his notifications to find a message with the seal of the Dark Elves. Adira was simply staring at her menu, unable to access her notifications. Kirito opened it and read the message. He paused before informing Adira of its contents.
"It's the queen of the Dark Elves. She's called a meeting for all of her forces, including the players aligned with her. They're concerned about a new threat they've discovered…the Dusk Demons."
Just some more notes:
-Felt the need to add a flashback into this chapter, providing some context to the Kirito/Adira relationship by showing that he was training Adira when he disappeared after the events with the Moonlit Black Cats, as the synopsis teases. I feel like Adira is the kind of character that Asuna could have been if she and Kirito had stayed together. Which is not to say that I don't like Asuna's character. I love Asuna's character, she's awesome!
-As I briefly tried to describe, Kirito is in a very dark place after the Moonlit Black Cats. He is wary of getting too close to others to save himself from the pain of loosing them. I felt like this was one of the reasons he acted as he did with Klein at the end of Red Nosed Reindeer, that and the shame of leaving him on the first day of the game.
-I know that the fight with the wolves was quite short, but I felt like Kirito would have found it a lot easier than his fights with the Dusk Demons. The novels always show him using the pre-determined move sets of the enemies to predict and counter their attacks. He uses the game against itself, which is why he is such a powerful player. Also, although this fic has a fair amount of action in the story, I wanted it to primarily be a character piece. Or at least that's the goal anyway…
-I thought that Adira would travel with other players to get to towns instead of teleporting because she hadn't really fought properly before, so she wouldn't have any money or teleport crystals. I couldn't remember whether the teleport gates require some form of payment to active.
-Who could that person who Adira reminded Kirito of be? (Asuna at the beginning of SAO Progressive maybe?)
-I keep trying to write Kirito as this legendary figure. We already know that he is one of, if not the best player in the game, and I feel like other would view his mastery of the games skills in a sense of awe. That's just my personal interpretation anyway.