Chapter 5: Past Pains and Rescuing Cousins

The Troll roared another guttural yell as it raised its club over its head poising to strike down the two beings at its feet.

"Asuna?" Kirito started his voice deadly calm

"Y-yes?" she stuttered in fear but still managed to respond.

"Run to that big tree over there and hide behind it." Kirito commanded as he pointed to a random tree at the other end of the clearing, he needed her out of harm's way fast. He had the sinking feeling that this fight wasn't going to go over well.

"What about y-"

"Now Asuna, Run!" he yelled impatiently cutting her off as the troll begun to swing its club down, hitting only the empty earth below where the two had once stood.

Kirito gritted his teeth before leaping forward and stabbing it in the leg to stop it from pursuing Asuna, who was currently dashing like a madman across the large clearing towards the tree as fast as her legs could carry her. The troll roared again in annoyance before swinging its club down to smash Kirito; however it only hit the empty ground again as it felt yet another stab on the back of its leg.

It swung around using momentum to speed up its slow pace and hit Kirito; yet again missing as the teen had already leapt away, leaving the troll to almost lose its balance when it didn't hit its target. As it stumbled for a moment the teen took the time to catch his breath before dashing forward again to continue his bombardment of attacks.

Yet the damage to the troll was far too small, like pricking your finger on a needle…its rage only growing with every stab. Kirito had no idea how long he could keep this up but he knew if he didn't effectively take out the troll soon…No..he didn't want to think about that.

It was starting to seem like they just leapt out of the oven and into the fire, a bunch of puny fairies out for blood seemed a whole lot more inviting than a giant troll at this point, at least in that situation the dagger was useful.

The troll slammed the club on the ground again, the resonating bang making Kirito's ears ring as that time he was barely fast enough to avoid the hit, resulting with it only being an arm's length off from hitting home.

An idea flashed across Kirito's mind in that moment as he kicked off the ground into a leap and landed on the creatures arm before it could even take the time to lift it back up for another swing. If he could just get to the neck…maybe he could take this thing out.

The troll bellowed out a low screech in frustration as it swiped at the fairy, much like a person swatting at a mosquito on their arm. It failed to hit its mark though as Kirito was far too fast for its sluggish mind to keep up with as he ran at top speed towards its shoulder, as soon as he was there he plunged the dagger in the side of its neck.

He was horrified to realize it wasn't deep enough to cause much damage at all; in fact it was practically no more than an annoying thorn in the side of its neck. Kirito practically growled in frustration as he tried to pull the dagger back out only to find it impossibly stuck. His eyes widened, what the hell was he going to do without any weapon at all?! He was already having trouble with just a little dagger as it was.

The troll screeched in annoyance as it punched Kirito off its shoulder before he could figure out what to do or react. The punch sent him flying across the clearing only to crash into one of the many large trees near Asuna.

Asuna hated being useless and helpless in any situation, especially a situation such as this, but the girl had never lifted a weapon in her entire life, and even if she had; there were no weapons for her to wield as Kirito had very clearly stated all he had was the little dagger.

The dagger which was as of now stuck in the trolls neck as it fumbled around for the moment trying but failing to pull it out with its chubby fingers.

"Kirito!" she screamed as she dashed to the tree he had crashed into, only to find the limp form of the Spriggan prince on the ground and unmoving. She moved forward in alarm, taking him up in her arms in panic, "Kirito wake up, please wake up!" she cried desperately. Not only did she not want to see harm done to her new and only companion in this strange world but even more so that troll would only be distracted for so long before it gave up on removing the dagger, and then what would they do? Asuna couldn't fight it; she could barely manage to run half a mile in gym before she was out of breath let alone take down a troll.

She started to drag the hopefully just unconscious fairy with her behind one of the trees to hide, hoping against hope that the creature just wasn't smart enough to find them when they were right under its nose.

Leaning him against the tree she looked at his face for only moment, "Kirito wake up!" she tried again more quietly as she wiped the blood streaming down the side of his forehead away in panic, before placing her head against his chest to see if his heart was still beating.

It was faint, but it was there, much to Asuna's relief. However they were both still very much in danger and Kirito's condition could only get worse at this point.

The troll roared as it finally seemed to realize it wasn't getting the dagger out; it was stuck in its neck and the creature was so very pissed about it. It began sniffing the air like a blood hound trying to relocate its prey, growling in rage at what's been done to it and hungering for both a meal and payback.

Asuna's kicked up a whole new speed in terror.

Could it smell them out?

It turned its head to the tree and almost seemed to stare directly into her eyes as she peeked around the tree to watch for its next action, if that wasn't enough of an answer for the girl…

It growled as it began to make its way to the two, dragging its club behind it. A beastly smile spread across its ugly face, its prey was truly cornered and it knew it.

Asuna began to really panic as it drew closer and closer.

'What do I do?!' Her head seemed to scream to its self over and over again like a mantra as it continued to become closer and closer. She couldn't run and leave Kirito behind, and she certainly couldn't out run it with an unconscious Kirito dragging her down.

WHAT DO I DO?!

"Kirito! Kirito! God, KIRITO PLEASE WAKE UP!" She screamed tears running down her face as she shook her companion desperately. He wouldn't wake up.

A loud crash and suddenly all that remained of the tree they were hiding behind was splinters. Asuna looked up in alarm; shaking like a leaf…deciding that if by some miracle she gets out of this alive she's learning how to fight.

It was finally towering over them raising its club.

This was it, they were about to be smashed to death…this was how they would end. Asuna stared up at it as it prepared to bring the club down on them; she was frozen and so very scared. Trembling she hugged the unconscious Spriggan to her chest, burying her face in his hair for comfort. She didn't want to look; she refused to watch her own death.

Silence filled the clearing as she waited with bated breath.

But instead of being attacked, the troll suddenly screamed in pain as it staggered sideways. She looked up immediately in confusion.

Asuna eyes only widened as she watched a flash of green hit the troll causing it to careen the opposite direction than what it had been previously swaying towards, no the "flash"...it was a "someone" instead…another fairy?

Either way they were so fast her eyes couldn't really follow their movement; she just hoped whatever or whoever it was… was friendly.

One last hit and the troll came crashing to the ground before the being who took it down landed nearby.

It was a fairy.

A girl fairy with long blond hair tied up in a ponytail and mostly green clothes. She turned, green eyes meeting Asuna's wide and tearful ones.

"Are you alright?!" She practically yelled in alarm as she raced towards the poor girl.

"I-I fine but…but K-Kirito" she managed to stutter out as she began to wonder if she was going into shock. If not for this fairy…they would both be dead right now.

The fairy girl took one look at the Spriggan in her arms before her eyes widened in disbelief, "Cousin!" She cried in alarm and concern as she knelt down to take in the damage dealt to the young prince.

Asuna was baffled. Cousin? Was this a strange tradition of fairies to call each other cousins or…was this girl actually related to Kirito?

To further add to Asuna's confusion the fairy began to chant strange words before a flash of green seemed to cover Kirito, when the green cleared Kirito seemed to be in better condition, but only by a bit…

While that was alarming she was all out of shits to give after almost being killed by a troll, Asuna was pretty sure she was in shock.

"Um..w-who are you?" Asuna started her voice shaking at first but steadied once again by the time she finished talking, "-and what did you just do?" she finished off in tired curiosity.

The fairy looked up at Asuna and smiled kindly, "My name is Leafa, I'm Kirito's cousin from his father's side" she paused as she looked down at Kirito for a moment as if deep in thought, "I haven't seen him in years though… and to meet him here of all places" she mumbled more to herself before looking back up to eye Asuna curiously, "You are?"

"I'm Asuna… you could say I'm a new friend of his."

Leafa nodded, "I cast a weak healing spell on him, but I'm afraid that's the best I can do… there's a city nearby where we can find a more proper healer…" She trailed off as she took in the sight of his broken wings, frowning, "Did the troll do this to his wings?" she asked in concern as she examined the handy work of the Resistance.

Deciding to ignore the magic bit for now, Asuna just shook her head, "Someone else." Was her only answer. Not that she could really answer anyway seeing as she wasn't quite sure on the whole story herself.

Leafa just nodded in response, though the look in her eyes clearly stated that she would get a better answer on the matter later, "Can you fly?" she asked.

Asuna froze before shaking her head no.

Leafa only frowned confused but she didn't question it, her main focus at the moment was getting her cousin to a proper healer, she'd worry about everything else later. She pulled one of Kirito's arms over her shoulder and hoisted him up so she could support his weight, Asuna took the other arm.

"Looks like we're walking then." Was the only thing she said as they began to move forward slowly.

"Leafa?"

"Hmm?" the fairy gal turned her head curiously towards Asuna.

"Thank you for saving us." Asuna said with a genuine smile.

Leafa just smiled back before simply stating two words, "Your welcome."

"Kirito!" A Sylph fairy, most likely in his mid-twenties -early thirties, called as he entered the little boy's room with a large smile stretched across his face, "Wake up kiddo we got things to do today!"

The little boy opened his bleary eyes to look at the fairy before him for only a moment before a wide smile stretched across his face.

"Daddy!" He practically screamed in joy as he leaped out of his bed and raced into the man's arms.

The sylph fairy laughed at his son's antics, scooping him up and lifting him high in the air, receiving a fresh batch of giggles from the little boy as a response. After lowering him to just hold him in his arms he smiled again, "Guess whose birthday is in one week?" he spoke, smile only growing.

"Mine, mine!" The boy yelled excited all over again.

"Yes it is!" his father yelled back with a laugh as he proceeded to start tickling the boy, whose giggling increased tenfold.

"Now guess what we're going to do today, because of that?" the father continued placing the boy back on the ground.

"Learn to fly!" Kirito yelled again, hopping up and down with his smile only growing the more his father talked.

"Yes we are, so get ready for the day so we can head out." The father said as he turned towards the door.

"Kay~!" the boy replied as he raced over to his dresser.

"Kirito, don't forget to brush your hair and teeth young man" He called over his shoulder, pausing at the door to hear his son's reply before leaving once he heard a small "I won't!" from the little boy.

His son was always so happy and bright; he doubted he had a negative bone in his body, were the thoughts of the king as he walked away.

How unfortunate he didn't know that that innocence wouldn't last beyond the day.

Kirito blinked his heavy eyes open with a groan and turned his head to take in his surroundings, only to find himself lying on a small bed in an unfamiliar room.

"Kirito?" Kirito looked to the other side of the bed to find Asuna curled up in a chair and smiling in relief, "You're awake." Was all she said.

"Where are we? And how did we get here?" he asked, his voice sounding dry like he hadn't spoken in years.

Asuna got up and opened the curtains covering the window on the nearby wall, allowing Kirito to see the green city beyond it.

"Swilvane? We're in Swilvane?" Kirito just groaned, "That just means the journey back to the Floating City will be ten times longer then I originally thought." He whined.

Asuna looked confused as ever.

"You know…the Floating City? The capital city of Alfheim? Where the royal family's castle resides?... You're hopeless." Kirito finished as Asuna continued to look at him blankly.

"Why is it called the Floating City?" she asked in curiosity

"It's on top of the world tree…it's a giant tree. You have to fly to get up there." Kirito stated bluntly, "So how did we get here?"

"Your cousin."

"My…Cousin?!" Kirito's eyes widened as he immediately sat up, only to fall back over when a wave of dizziness hit him. "My cousin? Leafa?! Where is she now?!" he asked in panic as he tried to get out of bed again.

Asuna walked over a pushed him back down, "Don't get out of bed, you need more rest… and she's making dinner."

"Did she sound pissed off when she saw me?" Kirito asked anxiously while looking up at the girl.

"No… she sounded worried…why?"

"Because I purposefully avoided her for years…and I'm sure she knows it." He mumbled looking away guiltily.

"Why'd you do that? She seems like a really nice girl…" Asuna asked with a puzzled look.

"I didn't want her to see how I changed after my father died."

The two sat in silence for a long moment before finally Kirito broke it again.

"We used to be really close when we were kids… then my father died and I guess you can say I was never able to just go back to being the way I was…I used to just smile and laugh all the time…" he spoke a look of reminiscence written across his face.

"Really?"

"Yeah…hard to believe isn't it?" he laughed, "We used to play out in the castle gardens all day together, just being kids…"

Asuna smiled at thought, "Well, You know…I think she'll understand if you talk to her and maybe even apologize…" she said as she sat down in the nearby chair again.

"You think so?" Kirito asked after a long pause.

"Yeah." She answered confidently.

After that a comfortable silence seemed to fall over the two for the next hour or so before they heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Hey Asuna, Dinner's read-Kirito your awake!" Leafa spoke with a bright smile upon entering the room.

"Yeah…" Kirito answered awkwardly in return.

Leafa's smile faltered for only a moment at the lack of words between them, it was to be expected though she supposed, she sighed to herself as she turned to leave, "Well then join us for dinner as well…its ready." she said over her shoulder.

Kirito flinched at the hurt in her voice "Hey Leafa…" Kirito called to stop her before she could walk out the door, she turned back to look at him curiously. He smiled at her for the first time in years.

"It's good to see you again." Was all he said.

The smile that stretched across Leafa's face couldn't get any bigger as she enthusiastically nodded her head.

"Yeah…It's good to see you too cousin." she said as she practically pranced out of the room elated.

"Told you." Was all Asuna said, after watching her leave, with a playful smile, Kirito just smiled back in response.

"Yeah…You know what Asuna?" he began

"What?"

"You're not so bad after all." He said, his smile growing.

"Hey! Just what is that supposed to mean?!" Asuna called back at that remark, Kirito just laughed, Asuna joining in after a moment of trying to fight off the temptation to.

After they had both gone quiet again; she got up from the chair with a shake of her head before looking back at him still smiling, "You're not so bad yourself, Kirito." She called over her shoulder as she left the room before he could respond.

A/N: That's all folks! For now….anyway thanks for reading! And leave a review on what you think plz :D have a nice day~