Chapter 4: The Lost woods Alfheim style

"OUCH! Stop stop stop stop STOP!" A pained yell invaded through the quiet forest.

"Kirito we have to get your w-wings back in place!" Asuna paused hoping he didn't catch her stutter, when all she received was a pitiful whine from the...so called fairy, she continued, "You don't want them to heal all wrong right? Besides we've wasted enough time arguing about letting me touch them as it is. So just sit still and let me bandage them." Asuna stated with a huff, it was truly a good thing that she held on to her bag on the way in, and with it the first aid kit she packed.

"First off aren't you an Undine? Your race is supposed to be super talented at healing magic right? …So why the basic first aid crap? Secondly you'd be super paranoid about other fairies touching your wings if someone almost ripped them out too!" Kirito responded through gritted teeth, clearly aggravated and very much so in pain. The two of them had finally outrun the resistance members a couple hours ago, but they had to run for hours to accomplish such a feat, leaving both of them absolutely exhausted. Now they were in the middle of an unfamiliar forest by both their standards and neither had a clue as to how to get to the nearest town or if there even was one within a reasonable walking range.

Not that they really had a choice but to keep walking even if there wasn't one.

In such situations Kirito normally would have just flown above the trees to gather his bearings, good lord he wouldn't even bother walking in the first place but instead just fly his ass out of there, but that was not an option for obvious reasons…When he suggested to Asuna that she should do so, she had listed off weird nonsensical reasons as to why she couldn't. Though the weirdest part to Kazuto was the strange shock and anxiety the question had seemed to bring up for the fairy.

"Remind me again why you can't just fly up there and figure out where we are?" Kirito questioned with irritation.

"umm…I have a magic disorder and I'm scared of heights?…" Asuna squeaked pathetically, not at all convincingly hence why Kirito kept asking. They were really just going in circles at this point. All kinds of circles: circles around each other's questions, circles around the resistance trying to kill them- or really just him...though they might kill Asuna just for the sport of it. He wasn't an expert on what they did with their free time so he wouldn't know.

But really the circle he hated the most was the one he was almost positive they have been going in throughout the forest for the past couple hours, that weren't spent running for their lives, until they finally decided to take a break.

"Is there even such a thing as a "Magic Disorder"? It sounds like something a human would come up with, they seem to like making up disorders, if the books in my family's castle has any truth to them." He answered with a snort, crossing his arms as if he was making some important argument and just won.

Asuna laughed in response, it was a rather black and white view on the matter but it held some truth which made it somewhat amusing to her, "Of course it exists and I happen to have it, Ok?" She stated the rhetorical question with false irritation. "I'm done with your wings by the way…"

"Ahh…thank you." And there it was; that smile he did when she first met him only a couple hours ago, the one that made her heart feel like it had stopped.

"Asuna? Are you alright?" his concerned voice almost seemed to echo off the trees, and next thing she knew he was much too close for her comfort reaching out a hand to check if she was unwell. Right before his hand almost reached her face, she smacked it away with a false scowl, on the inside her heart was racing a million times a second. 'Honestly this is all too much, where has my logic gone, or for that matter when the hell do I get my reality check? Is this really real?'

"I'm fine thank you."

"You don't seem to b-"

"Did you say something about a castle?" She interrupted effectively changing the subject.

"Oh…yeah, I'm the prince…future heir to that god awful throne."

"Um…" the poor girl really wasn't sure how to respond to that, "That's quite the way to put that…What kind of throne?"

Kirito stared at her in awe for a long moment. Ignorance was bliss for the occupant and a nuisance for everyone else who encountered them. Really, was that even a question?

"What? You want me to explain the entire government system to you? Didn't you go to school? Have you been living under a rock your whole life?" Kirito stated half sarcastic and the other half amazed that she had managed to survive this long.

Purposefully ignoring the jabs at her pride, Asuna got up and dusted off her pants before walking towards one of the many trees surrounding them, making sure to pick one large enough for two to lean against side by side.

"That would be absolutely wonderful if you could, thank you for offering." She responded with a dangerously sweet voice as she settled against the tree, it was a voice that clearly stated to men that their lives were at risk and to make for an escape as soon as possible. Too bad that just wasn't an option for Kirito.

'It's been a short and boring life' he thought to himself over dramatically as he crossed the clearing as well and took a seat next to her against the tree to accept his fate.

Now Kirito knew he was exhausted, he was making stupid jokes in his head that weren't even close to funny.

"Well, let's see…where to start?"

"The beginning." Asuna stated as if this should be obvious, it was obvious in fact.

Kirito just sighed, "Well…I guess the obvious thing to state would be that it's a Monarchy."

"Right…and you are the heir to this monarchy?"

"Damn you really have been living under a rock." Kirito stated with a roll of his eyes while shaking his head like he was scolding a child for poor grades.

"The commentary on my life is not necessary Kirito." She responded in kind with a glare.

Kirito was amazed to find her glare could definitely compete with his; there really was a first for everything. Subconsciously he wondered what horrid experience she had to have been through to gain it, after all no one was born with glares like that.

"Fine fine…Yes I'm the heir to the throne." He answered with a dismissive sigh.

"And...Just how much power does this Monarchy have exactly?" Asuna continued to question, curiosity slowly lighting up her eyes. This really was a whole other world, a place where things were frighteningly different and yet in some ways similar. Actually if she was honest with herself the only similarities she had witnessed were in language and that the so called fairies looked for the most part like humans.

Then again she hasn't been in here for very long.

A small part of her wondered why she wasn't more concerned about finding her way back home, but upon further thought Asuna realized it might have been the fact that there wasn't really much waiting for her back there. She decided she could just figure it out as she went.

"A lot." He finally answered his face a vision of exhaustion, and he wasn't even ruling yet.

"So you're running this entire country?"

"I will be some day…If I live that long." He mumbled none too excited.

"…What's this country again?"

Kirito whipped his head in her direction immediately, looking at her with blatant disbelief. How could someone not know the name of the country they live in?!

"Unbelievable, are you serious?!"

Asuna yelped at his outburst, "Don't yell at me! It was a legitimate question!" she responded in frustration.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to raise my voice, but… really where have you been going to school?" He spoke mostly rhetorically as he brought a hand down his face in exasperation. "Because I need to make sure it closes down, ASAP."

"Will you just tell me already?" Asuna nearly growled. He really was making this a lot harder than it needed to be. Well in retrospect she shouldn't be surprised, he did say he was royalty.

"Alfheim, the country is called Alfheim."

"What's the class system like?"

"Just how many more questions do you have up your sleeve?" Kirito spoke sounding utterly exhausted.

"This would be a lot faster if you just answered my questions instead of spending ten minutes each whining like a baby." She bit back, glare of annoyance strong as ever.

Though in reality the glare didn't quite work right on Kirito because all it did was intrigue him. It was a weird form of relatable material to him like; 'Hey you can glare? So can I!'

"You have my family; the Monarchy, then there are the upper class nobles, followed by the lower class nobles, and ending with the common civilians."

"I see-" Asuna was about to ask more questions when a particularly cold breeze blasted at the pair, causing her to shiver violently. "Do you know how to build a fire per chance?"

"We are absolutely not building a fire."

Asuna was about to protest for a moment when the obvious reason dawned on her, "Oh right…people trying to kill us…or more like you, which would indirectly screw me over…" she shivered again before grabbing her bare arms and starting to rub them like it would make much of a difference.

Kirito sighed for what seemed like the millionth time now, before shaking off his long black coat and practically tossing it on her.

Asuna pulled it off her head and stared at him surprised.

"What? I won't have you freezing to death on me now." Kirito answered with a mask of indifference to the situation, looking anywhere but at the girl staring at him.

"Thank you, but...What about you?" she smiled genuinely, concern quickly took the smile away though, much to the Spriggan Prince's disappointment, it was a sight to see and completely worth freezing to death for in his opinion.

Nights were hellishly cold during this time of year in Alfheim.

"I'll be alright; we fairy-men are not so weak as to let something as small as cold weather bring us down!" Kirito joked sarcastically before smiling, "I'll live." He continued more seriously.

"Bull-crap. We will share." Asuna answered in a short commanding tone.

All Kirito could do was stare at her before shaking his head, "It's one coat. There's no way that will work"

"It's one very decent sized coat, and we'll just have to sit close is all." She replied stubbornly as she scooted over till her body was pressed against his and then she proceeded to drape the coat over them sideways. "There." She stated as if everything was perfectly fine.

Silence, very very awkward and uncomfortable silence filled the clearing.

"Well…G-Goodnight" Kirito stated so badly wanting to run to the other side of the clearing, but fear of offending the gal and freezing to death kept him glued to the spot.

"Y-yeah goodnight…" she replied and silence once again feel over them both.

It was going to be a long night.

"Asuna, wake up."

"Five more minutes, mom."

"I most certainly am not your mother, I'm not even a girl damn it!"

"Kaaay~ have a nice day at work mom~" she continued completely oblivious.

Kirito really was at a loss for words here, he's been trying to wake the sleeping girl up for the past ten minutes. Not only did he want to get moving and find the nearest town before next night fall, but the girl was sleeping on his shoulder like there was no tomorrow and he was starting to feel uncomfortable again. It was a miracle that either of them fell asleep in the first place, what with how uncomfortable they had been with being so close last night.

"Ok well I tried waking you up nicely." He mumbled to himself as he jumped forward causing Asuna to face plant the ground marvelously.

"What the heck!" she yelped leaping to her feet (very much so awake now) only to falter as she looked around, it really wasn't a dream…She was really in another dimension where fairies exist.

A snicker brought her attention to the fairy standing nearby. The glare she sent his way only served to make him more amused with her reaction. In a weird way he was kind of starting to love that glare.

"Hey, I tried to wake you up nicely but you just kept calling me mom and sleeping on." He continued with a laugh.

Asuna turned bright red, "Well whatever, it was still mean." She mumbled.

"Meh." Was his only response, "So…How well are your tree climbing abilities?" he continued casually.

"What the heck does that-"

"To scout out the nearest town…possibly…" He interrupted as if the answer was obvious.

"Why can't you-"

This time the interruption came from a guttural roar filling the clearing and making both of their blood run cold.

Kirito lunged forward so he was protectively in front of Asuna as he pulled out his dagger and readied himself for the large troll charging their way.

Cursing under his breath, he turned to Asuna," Maybe you should start climbing that tree now…" He stated his face stoic.

Asuna just shook her head, "I suck at climbing trees, do you have another weapon?"

"If I had another weapon do you really think I would choose to use a tiny dagger against a giant troll?" Kirito stated half sarcastic and half irritated as he swiped in a long horizontal sweep towards the Troll which only served to piss it off more at the seemingly tiny little paper cut on its belly. Anyone could clearly see Kirito was at a big disadvantage here; he was unable to fly (which was like breathing to a fairy) and he only had a little dagger. Most of the time something as simple minded and clueless as a troll would be so easy for him to take down he'd barely bat an eye…but the odds weren't in his favor this time.

The troll on the other hand was perfectly fine as it towered over them and wielded a very big wooden club. Not to mention it was very clearly pissed and probably hungry as well. It's only disadvantage was its stupidity, which was only so helpful…

'We are so screwed.' Both teens thought to themselves as it raised it's club over its head aiming at them while letting out yet another roar.

A/N: Thanks to all you wonderfull people who have Favorite, Followed, and or Reviewed; I love you all!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please don't be afraid to tell me what you think! :D