Sword Art Online: Desert Army
Partners
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Tree…
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Vine…
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…
Another tree… weird leaves… what's this? Kirito stopped momentarily to brush a grouping of blue flowers away and out of his path. Pretty… but never trust anything in a jungle… He pulled them back and held them, eyeing the area ahead of him as his partner stepped through the thick foliage to his side.
Letting go once she was through, Kirito heard a satisfying brush of soft petals sweeping through the air before it settled back into its virtual place again.
"Who would've thought there was an enclosed jungle out here…" Sinon commented in a breathy voice, looking up and around the leafy canopy above.
With a shrug of the shoulders, Kirito moved forward. "We haven't really seen most of the island yet. Who knows what else there is out here."
The mountains were too high to fly over. And considering there were mountains surrounding the entire heart of the island, as well as creating segments that ridge all the way out to the sea, there's no flying anywhere long-distance here.
This meant there was no way to scout out the next town without actually making the venture out to it.
And from how the first two towns went, that venture was usually pretty dangerous.
"It was pretty lucky we spotted this place." Kirito continued. They had just started their little solo-run together after meeting with Vel, and now they've found themselves in a desolate enclosure. The entire setting was tucked into the far north-eastern side of this section of the island.
"Luck had everything to do with it. The entrance was practically hidden." Sinon responded, following close behind the spriggan.
True to her words, the entrance actually took a few tight turns through a split in the mountains. Nearly invisible at all the wrong angles, but at the right one, it's clear as day.
Of course, that right angle happened to be a few meters shy of the actual entrance.
And it could help to be chasing a desert fox at the time.
"What? The little guy stole your quiver." Kirito smiled and looked back at the archer, "I had to get it back."
A small smile tugged at Sinon's lips as she huffed in annoyance, "The fox was quick. If I had at least one arrow in my hand, I would've got him for sure."
"Mhmm." Kirito nodded with a hum, "I don't doubt it."
Sinon sighed and walked up to be in line with the swordsman's side rather than behind him, "S-still though, thanks for chasing after it."
With a cheeky smile, Kirito swung his sword and cut away a few hanging vines in front of them, "Sure thing. It led us here anyway."
Here being a thick expansion of trees in every direction up until the abrupt root-ridden walls cut off the dirt and toward upward, creating the walls of the sunny cove around them. Looking up, there was a thick jungle canopy that hung lusciously over the trunks and underbrush, the tops of the trees molding together to create a sky of green.
All across the roof, there were gaps, cracks, and webbed openings that let in the golden rays of the sun. The shimmering glimmer of light stopped at nothing as it cascaded down to the forest floor, rendering it in such a way to enchant the eyes and illuminate the particles that lingered in the still air.
There were no paths nor was there dirt to walk on. The faint traces of sand still presented themselves on the wood of the trees and between the blades of grass at their feet, but it was all a welcome contrast to the world outside.
Still though, no wildlife could be found anywhere in this large cove of trees and roots. The plant-life was luscious and abundant, but the natural animals that came with it seemed to be non-existent.
"Do you think… that maybe… he hasn't found this place yet?" Sinon asked quietly, a noticeable emphasis on who she was referring to.
He… he knows this island better than anyone. "It's likely that he's the reason why there isn't a soul in this entire jungle." Kirito said. His words subtly reminding Sinon of the significant lack of bugs, chirps, scratches or even any sort of signs of movement.
It was all devoid of any of that.
Sinon pressed her lips into a thin line as she thought about it, "It's cruel."
"He's a bad guy, well… from what Vel told us…" Kirito responded as he looked over to her.
"His name is Blaido."
The sound of heated metal rapidly cooling in a burst of steam emphasized the name spoken.
"I know you're kind Kirito, but this isn't the place to play hero." The steam plumed up and around Vel's goggle-clad form. Her sky blue eyes and visage were just barely made out through the thick storm of heat.
"I'm not a hero." Kirito responded dully, standing opposite the small master blacksmith; beside him stood Sinon, her blue tail flicking idly back and forth.
"You say that… but you don't act like your ideals. Never hesitating to help someone. Never faltering in your endeavors to save a life. You're a protector Kirito…" Vel sighed and lifted the cooled metal from its watery confinement. Trails of steam still drifted in its hot wake as she moved it through the air. "…there's a lot of worlds that need more people like you."
Her eyes cast their glances to the two fairies in her workshop, "The truth is, you can't do this one alone. Not without help."
"What do you mean? Is this man really that powerful?" Sinon asked.
The pink haired girl's eyes then transitioned to her and a small grimace contorted her young face, "He's like a demon. His presence alone holds power over the creatures of this island, and subsequently, all of its inhabitants as well."
A resounding clang settled across the walls and dome of the top-most room in Vel's central tower, her cooled blade now lying atop her metal workbench. "They say it's in his eyes… some sort of lurking power that causes his eyes to glow."
"How does a man obtain so much power?" Kirito asked.
Vel sighed and crossed her arms, giving the two in front of the blacksmith her attention. "People don't think he's a man to begin with. In fact, people seem to think he's not even a fairy."
"Is he human then?" Sinon spoke up, trying to understand what Vel was suggesting.
"Unlikely." Vel responded in an exhale, "However, it's only speculation right now. He gives the appearance of a simple man… but beneath that, no one knows for sure. The only thing we do know is not to defy him. Of course… we weren't expecting visiting fairies from the mainland."
"Why are we so important though? Is that fact really that much of a game changer here?" Kirito crossed his arms, his face remaining indifferent but his voice laced with an edge of unease.
"Simple really." Vel lifted here goggles and rested them loosely in her pink hair, "With you comes the sword strength and magic power of an entire world. If you haven't noticed already, Blaido is building an army. With that though begs an important question."
"Why?" Sinon inferred.
Vel nodded her head and flashed Sinon a thumbs up. "Yup. Why is this man building an army?"
"Do you know his reason?"
With an extension of her arms, Vel opened her small palms and shrugged her shoulders. "Global domination. World extinction. Total control. Power. I don't know. I'm just a master blacksmith."
"So… we don't know then." Kirito confirmed with a sigh. "Great…" This world quest was beginning to get interesting, however they still didn't know much about their enemy.
"Can you tell us anything more about Blaido?" Asked Sinon.
"I wish I could. He's a concealed man. Most of his endeavors are completed by his Daevas."
"Daevas?"
Vel pressed her hands against the edge of her metal workspace and pulled herself up, sitting on its surface as she began kicking her legs idly. "Yeah, that's what they call themselves. It's an elite group of three of Blaido's closest warriors."
She took a deep breath and picked up her sword, the metal now fully cool and simply warm to the touch. Her hand wrapped around the handle as she reached around with the other for her handle dressings.
"Bound by certain traits, the three warriors of the Daevas have distinct personalities. Rage… Greed… and Lust; three paths that all subsequently lead to theft, violence, or murder. They are Blaido's sins, and they are only loyal to him and him alone. They will fight for him, kill for him, and die for him." Her voice was losing its luster of careless naivety and innocence, even the speed of her hands slowed noticeably as she wrapped the thin metal handle in her hands.
"The sin of Rage, otherwise known as Deliare is known for his strength, brutality, willpower, and cunning strategic tactics. His strength is second to none and his anger is even more so, so… try not to get him angry." She finished her dressing of the sword and set it aside. "The next warrior is the sin of Greed, his name is Valdric. Quicker than most, he has the lightest of touches but the most precise of attacks. He is the most deceptive and slippery of the three, the moment you let your guard down is the moment you fall to his blade."
Vel sat back and rested against the wall behind her, "And finally, the sin of Lust. Her name is Lucifa. She has the charm, the tact, and the manipulation. Once she gets inside your head, there is no escaping her forward actions or silver tongue. She's the kind of woman to always get what she wants, be sure not to give that to her. Well, try to anyway."
Three elite fighters need to be defeated. And then there's Blaido. Who knows just how powerful he can be, let alone all the Daevas in the first place. This may have just gotten a lot tougher than I thought it would be… Kirito stuffed his hands in his pockets as he mulled over the information. "It's not much to go on."
"That's all I know. You might be able to find more on the Daevas in the next towns, but if you're really unlucky… you might just meet one. They've been active lately." Vel said from atop her perch.
Sinon shared a look with her bathing partner, "Do you think it's time we got the word out?"
"About the island?" Sinon nodded her head to Kirito's inquiry, causing him to sigh and rub his neck. "Maybe. We're not too far in yet, and word is spreading pretty quickly on its own… let's wait on that."
There was still a great deal of searching the island to be had. They passed up a bunch of markers on the map just from traveling between the first and second towns, but the markers around here seem fairly promising. Maybe he could finally get Sinon a rare sword.
"Alright, we'll wait then." A light breath escaped Sinon's lips as she shifted her weight.
"Whatever his reasons, whatever was in this jungle, that man's already plundered it. So, hopefully we won't have anything to worry about here." Kirito brushed aside a few more groupings of leaves and flowers, carefully stepping atop overgrown roots as he took them deeper into the coven.
"Do you think there's anything left for us to find?" Asked Sinon.
"There might be something he missed. Maybe there's some loot that he didn't care for."
Upon slicing through a couple more dangling vines, Kirito's eyes took in the tell-tale signs of a clearing coming up. The trees were beginning to space out more as they walked, and his cautious gaze took in the increasing amount of light beginning to shine through.
"What's that sound?"
He heard it too. There was a light whirring noise coming from up ahead. It sounded like an enchantment of sorts, humming with circulating energy with a small trace of a resounding but continuous gentle tone.
"I'm… not sure." Kirito responded, placing his hand on a tree as he passed by. There was a very faint rumble in its bark, almost as if it was coursing with some trace amounts of energy. "…magic?"
"What else would be causing it?"
Kirito took his hand off the tree and moved on, "Good point."
As the trees thinned out, and the roots began to become sparse beneath their boots, the two fairies stepped out of the tree line and entered a grassy opening. All around it spanned a loose wall of tall trees.
The sun above glowed brightly down upon them through the wide opening in the canopy, and beyond the edge of the leaves the two could make out the ridge of mountains surrounding them on all sides.
"There." The whirring became more prominent the second they stepped into the clearing, the light humming replacing the once silent trek and soothing the trees around them into a still animation.
At the center of the clearing glowed a pale white glyph. It pulsed and rotated in a swirling disk of intricate patterns and segmented designs. Its slow almost hypnotizing pace spiked Kirito's curiosity. And so, he began walking forward.
"W-wait, what if it's a trap?" Sinon reached out, tugging at the sleeve of his arm to stop him from proceeding. She looked past him, suspiciously eyeing the slowly spinning glyph.
Kirito gave the worried girl a reassuring smile, giving her a glance over his shoulder. His collar just covered his chin and he tilted his head in such a way to warrant a small sense of confidence and security.
Damnit… y-you don't have to be so cool all the time… Sinon lightly blushed, her fingers losing their grip on Kirito's sleeve as she dropped her hand down to rest on her quiver.
"It's most definitely a trap… that's why I'm going to trigger it. I'm the one with the health after all." Kirito pointed up to where his health bar was displayed on Sinon's HUD. He was right, in a way. He did have more defense and more health than Sinon's stats gave her.
If anyone were to trigger that trap, it was going to be Kirito. But… he didn't have to. "If we know it's a trap, why should we activate it?" She voiced her thoughts in concern.
Kirito moved forward again and let the tip of his blade brush over the tips of the waving grass at his feet, "…so no one else has to." He responded quietly, but Sinon's cait sith ears picked up his words nonetheless. "Where's your sense of adventure Sinon? Let's see what happens when this thing goes off!" His voice picked up in volume and tone; as if to brush off any worry she still had weighing on her shoulders.
"J-just… be careful!" She called back, subtly drawing an arrow from her waist and notching it on her Bane of Shadows bow. The projectile glowed subtly, its cobalt blue tip glimmering softly in the sunlight as she eyes her swordsman carefully.
With the gently swish of grass beneath the spriggan's boots, Kirito's form approached the edge of the circulating glass-like image. It was thin, delicate almost, and it intrigued him as to what it would do. He extended his hand out in front of him, the mere presence of the ones and zeros in his digits caused the glyph to glow brighter.
Albeit only slightly.
He quirked an eyebrow as he held more of his arm above the rotating design, causing that white glow to shine just a little brighter.
I don't think this is a trap. He turned halfway and gave Sinon a crooked grin, sheathing his ancient blade as he did so. Sinon gave him a confused look, tilting her head slightly as she stared back at him.
Before she could say anything, Kirito turned to face the magic circle again and stepped fully inside. Immediately, the glyph spun faster and its white light erupted in intensity. The strong beam of energy fanned out through the trees before casting upward and engulfing the teen in a sea of energy.
"K-kirito?!" Sinon ran forward, shielding her eyes from the light. She could just barely make out the spriggans shrouded silhouette… but in the next moment… it was gone. The light died off and the glyph slowed to its previous pace.
…Kirito was nowhere in sight.
For a moment, Sinon came to a stop and frantically searched for his purple flame; the only evidence of an avatar's death. But as her eyes searched throughout the surface of the intricate glyph, the air above it was completely empty.
Kirito wasn't dead.
She breathed a sigh of relief, saving her resurrection item for when she truly needed, and unequipped her bow. Worry was evident in her features and shaky breathing, but she needed to see what happened to Kirito.
Her map was devoid of his player icon, and he was nowhere in her immediate area.
But he head to be somewhere…
Without any other thoughts tying her down, Sinon stepped up to the glyph's edge and immediately walked in. Her HUD became engulfed in a blinding white light, much like what happened to the spriggan, and she suddenly felt herself lift into the air.
It was only for a moment, because before she knew it… her feet touched ground again and the light faded from her vision.
Slightly disoriented, her reflective blue eyes dashed around to take in her surroundings.
Stone walls? Everywhere she looked, she was completely surrounded by stone walls. They were decently tall, about three to four meters high, and the curved in a wide circle around the center of the apparent stone courtyard.
The stones were cracked in places and webbed with growing masses of vines and green leaves. She couldn't see too far beyond their peaks, and when she tried to spawn in her wings an icon blinked softly in her peripherals.
Something she hadn't noticed before. Taking a look, it was a small image of fairy wings, but it was faded and grayed out.
She was grounded.
A dungeon? Looking up again, the bright blue sky spanned brightly over her position. She could now make out the distant mountains, the same ones that surrounded them before in the jungle. Am I… still in the jungle? I have to be.
"Looks like a maze."
A familiar voice called out, and she whirled around to see Kirito walk toward her from an opening in the walls.
She smiled, her worry quickly being extinguished as she fought the urge to embrace the spriggan, "Another one? Weren't we just in a labrynth?" Instead, she tossed out a sarcastic response.
"Yeah, well this one seems much easier. We may be grounded, but we should be able to make it out pretty easily." He spoke again, further easing the archer's tension.
Now that her eyes weren't searching for the swordsman, they began to wander and take in the details of the walls. The ground around her seemed cracked in most places, and everything else just seemed plain.
The central area of the maze wasn't very large, just eight meters in diameter, so it wasn't too expansive. However, her eyes caught a glimpse of something behind the covering of vines.
Kirito hummed for a moment as he saw Sinon's eyes trace something behind him, and he turned to take a look too. Beside him, Sinon made her way over to the nearest wall and pulled away the old strands of green.
"Pictures. The walls are painted with pictures." She said, pulling the vines completely off the wall as she ran her fingers over the rough surface of the wall. The images depicted a beast.
"Think they tell a story?" Kirito asked, stepping up to Sinon's right side and pulling off more vines.
"Like cave paintings?"
Kirito tugged away the net of vines and nodded his head, "Archaeologists call it parietal art. Some can date back to 40,000 years ago, but this could be a depiction of something similar. Maybe there's some sort of civilization that used to live in this jungle."
"Or still lives here." Sinon added, not wanting to rule that option out.
After another nod, Kirito shrugged his shoulders and began making his way around. There was a chance of that, but it was likely the fairies who lived here were an older race and might not be around anymore.
Sinon walked the opposite direction, knowing what Kirito was up to, and the two began pulling the vines off the walls as they worked their way around the edge of the room. As more and more vines came loose and bunched up dryly on the stone floor, it was more apparent that the images foretold a linear story.
Each picture had a relation with the next one over, and so on until the story would end.
A few minutes passed, and Kirito and Sinon's shoulders bumped lightly against the other as the last of the vines fell free from the wall.
"S-sorry." Kirito apologized, shaking his hand free of the brittle leaves.
"N-no, don't be." It may have been just for a second, but Sinon was finding herself more and more pathetic with the accidental moments like these. It may have been because, just earlier, they had been sharing a hot spring together.
But it seemed that her suppressed feelings for the one next to her were getting stronger. If that were even possible.
Clenching her hands into fists softly, Sinon turned away and cleared her throat, "A-anyway, let's take a look at the wall."
Walking away from Kirito, she heard an audible 'Sure' from him before she heard his footfalls on the stones as well. Going to where the images started, the two fairies approached the right side of the only opening in the walls. Drawn there was the detailed image of a town, in it were crudely drawn depictions of the people happily thriving in the jungle they inhabited.
"They look so… happy." Sinon noted.
"Yeah, they do. But…" Kirito's voice trailed off as his eyes moved onto the next image. This continued, the two remaining mostly silent for the entire reading. The two fairies experienced various emotions, facial expressions, curiosity, and some moments of confusion as they slowly put the story together of what happened here.
From what they could make out, the previous civilization here were herbalists. They were known in the trade world as the best medicinal item makers and potion brewers, however… their village hid a dark secret from the rest of the world.
Whether out of fear or shame, a large beast began to show up at night. It would go on rampages, destroying the carefully grown herbs and eating whatever food it could find. Since the villagers had no fighters who could go against the monstrosity, they began leaving it weekly offerings.
Some villages ventured out to find this beast. But no matter how many times they searched, they always came back with nothing. How can a beast this size, disappear so easily? It would always leave a trail of unmistakable destruction. And yet, no one had ever seen it. And tracking it was no use. Despite coming in like a hurricane, it would always fade into the jungle like the morning mist.
Giving up the pointless hunt, they decided on an alternate option. At the end of every week, they would set aside a portion of food for the monster. It was at least fifteen percent of their total stock, but they were more than relieved that it was enough to satisfy the beast.
This appeared to work for the majority of a year.
But one day, the day before the weekly offering, a stranger appeared in town. His appearance was tall and thin, his facial features were left shrouded in darkness as his ear length white hair was drawn in an unkempt careless look.
The only thing that was drawn in detail about the stranger was his eyes. His irises were colored bright red. Kirito and Sinon weren't sure if the painter's hand slipped, but streaks of red trailed behind the man as he walked forward; each trail originating individually from his piercing eyes.
This stranger spoke to the village elder, and without any struggle or disagreement, the man walked out of town that very night. All of their food, their herbs, all of it was taken with him.
Even the offering.
Frantically, the village scavenged for food. They had barely enough to fend for themselves, let alone please the monster that would undoubtedly make an appearance the next night. It was then that the village elder made a decision.
They needed to leave the jungle, go somewhere else to grow their herbs without the constant fear of being eaten at night. So, before darkness fell on the people of the village once more, they all left. The tribe ventured out into the vast expanse of the desert.
"The story ends here." Sinon said softly, her hand placed gently against the final picture.
Her words lingered in the air for a couple seconds, both their minds stringing together a similar thought, "That was Blaido… wasn't it? He was the stranger that showed up." Spoke Kirito, being the first to turn away from the wall.
"It could've been… yeah." Sinon let her hand fall, turning her head to Kirito, "At least we know they could still be alive."
"If they survived for as long as they did in the jungle, they probably found another place to settle down. So, yeah, still alive and kicking." Said Kirito as he stepped away and looked around the room one more time. "I wonder if the beast is still alive then…"
"Doubtful, it probably died off with the lack of food." Sinon offered.
"Or, it survived on hunting the rest of the animals in the jungle. If it was a great hunter, it'd explain the lack of wildlife." Kirito responded offhandedly.
Sinon's ears perked up for a moment, and the cait sith's head snapped to the opening. Kirito followed her gaze without missing a beat, his own senses going off as a dash of orange fur disappeared just around the wall.
"Did you see that?"
"Yes…" Kirito dashed out of the central room and skidded around the corner, seeing the blue tip of a tail flip around one of the turns up ahead of him. "Want to follow it?"
His question was answered as Sinon grabbed his hand and pulled him after the creature, "Of course! Now pick up the pace."
Kirito found his footing and ran slightly ahead of the archer; if there weren't so many corners he could easily cover a distance in no time at all. But as the two turned the next corner, they had to immediately slide around another bend as they caught a glimpse of that furry tail again.
They could hear the scraping of small claws, and with every corner, they seemed to be getting closer. Finally, they came across a straight corridor and they caught site of the small animal.
It was around the size and body structure of a fox with a cutely big head. The small creature looked over its shoulder with large alluring dark brown eyes, and atop its head was some sort of small bone skull.
It was previously owned by a bird or creature with a snout, seeing as the beak of it curved down to the center of its furry forehead. Two bone-like antlers protruded from it and angled backward. This accessory was nestled between two large pointed ears, the fur transitioned into a small portion of purple before fading into blue all the way to the tip.
A wide toothy grin appeared on the creature's face, two of his bottom teeth sharply protruded out and rested on the outside of his upper jaw. His furry cheekbones gave his head an innocent and adorable appearance, but there was still that glint of mischief behind them.
Aside from the half-ends of its tail and ears, the rest of the creature's fur was light orange. The occasional streak or accent of white fur was prominent as well, but it was hard to tell exactly where each patch was located.
However, Kirito's observation of the animal was cut short as the creature held out a small bone boomerang. Its tail flick for a moment as it tossed it to the side, bouncing it off of a loose stone and causing the embedded rock to sink into the wall slightly.
"Oh no…"
The two noticed the walls release a dusty blast of air before slowly pulling together. Their pathway to this creature was quickly closing as the two opposite walls began to try and block off that corridor halfway through.
"Time to speed up." Without thinking, Kirito tightened his grip on Sinon's hand and surged forward, dashing in between the sealing walls just in time to see them close behind Sinon's kicking boots.
Sinon's eyes went wide as she caught her breath, "Watch out!"
Kirito turned forward again and planted his boots hard into the ground, but his speed was more than enough to throw the two over the edge of a recently opened pitfall.
Losing all sense of relation to the ground, gravity took hold of the two fairies and pulled their flailing forms down into the somewhat deep rectangular hole.
"S-spikes… spikes!" Kirito called out as he let go of Sinon. "We can land in the gaps… just be as accurate as you can!"
"Who do you think you're talking to?!" Accuracy was something that came easy to Sinon.
It was amazing how the two shared that brief conversation, maybe the pit was deeper than Kirito thought. In the end, they had just finished screaming words by the time two dull thuds sounded out from the deepest part of the pitfall.
All around them, time-worn bone spikes protruded from the ground and littered the floor and walls of the trap. The spacing between each one was random, and varied in distances.
But it was still barely enough to avoid impalement.
However… that wasn't the current issue.
Breathing heavily, Kirito was becoming increasingly aware of the soft curvy body pressing fully against him. His dark eyes were wide as he stared into the depths of sapphire orbs… which were already staring right back at him.
They had somehow contorted their bodies in an effort to avoid getting stabbed to death, and ended up being pressed flush up against one another.
A heavy blush settled across both their faces, their noses were already close enough to bump each other and neither of them could stop thinking about how short the distance was between their lips.
"…y-you okay?" Finally, after minutes of sharing each other's hot breaths, Kirito spoke up.
Sinon bit her lip and gave the swordsman a tiny nod, her eyes occasionally glancing down to Kirito's lips every few seconds.
The spriggan however, smiled in relief and relaxed a little.
That proved to be a mistake.
He felt something sharp pierce his leg and back, causing him to immediately straighten up again and push further into Sinon's body. The blush dusting her cheeks intensified as Kirito rested his hands against her lower back, looking for support to regain his balance.
When he was sure he was clear of the spikes behind him, he began removing his hands. But before he could pull them back, Sinon quickly reached down and stopped his movements, pushing them back into place.
"D-don't move… w-we need to keep o-our balance." She explained in a shaky voice, a small shudder ran up her tail a moment later as Kirito put some pressure against her back.
"Alright, b-but we still need to find a way out of this trap." Kirito responded distractedly but with an equally red face, trying his best to look away.
They both carefully cast their gazes upward and saw the creature from before sitting at the edge of the pit. It stared down at them before sticking out its tongue and babbling at them, "Shugi shugi shugi!"
It shook its tail tauntingly before disappearing over the edge, an annoyingly satisfied smirk settled across its face.
When they looked down, they once again bumped noses and caused Sinon's next breath to hitch quietly.
"Sorry, looks like we lost him." Kirito apologized, eyes adverted as he looked to the side.
Honestly, that was the last thing crossing Sinon's mind. Who cares that we lost him! J-just… please don't find a way out any time soon. Sinon's entire body tingled; the only parts of herself that weren't pressed into Kirito's form were her shins and head.
She was more than certain he could feel her heartbeat getting faster, but it was impossible to distinguish hers from Kirito's own rapid heartbeat anyway.
"Think we can climb out?"
N-no… "Maybe." She wanted to say no.
Taking a very shaky breath through her nose, Sinon began to focus on her breathing. She could feel her body begin to want to pant, that was something she needed to avoid. She was already feeling flustered and light in the head.
Part of her mind was vaguely aware of her tail beginning to move, but her heated thoughts didn't think anything of it. It wasn't until her fluffy appendage wrapped around Kirito's waist and pulled the two tighter together that she realized what she was doing.
"I-I'm sorry… I'm just… not used to this…" Sinon spoke sheepishly, but her tail retained its tight embrace around their waists.
"U-used to what?" Kirito's voice nearly cracked, his eyes flicking between her eyes and her tail.
"O-of contact… of t-this feeling… o-of you…" She was beginning to let her mouth run without thinking, and she was desperately trying not to give into her feelings right here and now.
"O-of me? What do you mean? Didn't you used to hate me?" Kirito's voice came across as sheepish and cute, and her ears flattened slightly against her hair. Sinon tilted her head with a pout and an intensified blush, finding it harder to voice her thoughts.
"N-not anymore, a-actually I kind of like you now." She shut her eyes tight and flushed a little more red. She needed to come up with something, anything, "I-I haven't r-really had much contact with anyone i-in my life. S-so, with what happened recently, I've been trying to get used to the feeling of other people's touch again."
There was a long pause between them, causing Sinon to crack her eyes back open and see Kirito's face.
"Oh."
He sounded… disappointed? Was it something she said?! Did he… want her to say it was because of him that she was acting like this? "I-it's because… it's because I-I… because I lo-"
"Sinon."
Sinon yelped a bit and snapped her eyes back up to Kirito's onyx irises, embarrassed and unsure of what he was going to say.
"Why didn't you say you needed help? I'd be glad to help you get over your human contact problem." Kirito said kindly, giving her a warm smile and leaning his head away slightly.
Part of her was screaming in frustration, but another part of her was relieved. She wanted to finish what she was saying, and she was angry that he had cut her off. But what would have happened if she had said it?
Maybe… she'll confess to him later. Right now, she was glad that he wanted to help her.
"T-thanks, I'd like that." She finished instead, her flustered face settling down.
"Great, well for now, let's get out of here." Kirito said as he leaned carefully to the right, avoiding a couple protruding spears and having a look behind Sinon. There was a little room behind her to move, but she would need to step around a couple spikes to do it.
"Try to make it to the wall." He pointed behind her, and she got the idea of what he wanted her to do.
"I can't turn around. You'll have to guide me." Sinon pointed out. Turning around will take time, effort, and a lot of risk considering she has a couple spikes digging into her sides.
"That's fine. I'll get us out of here. It'll be like dancing, although… with a higher probability of death." Kirito spoke with a cheeky smile, settling his hands just above Sinon's waist as he peered around her again. "Stand on my boots."
Just as Sinon thought she'd be getting over her blush, it quickly came back with added heat as she slowly shuffled in place. After a few moments, she rested her boots into a comfortable position and held herself against Kirito's chest; ducking her head out of the way to give him a line of site.
"C-can you see?"
Kirito answered her question by moving forward, being sure to keep his steps slow to allow Sinon time for adjustment to his movements.
It was awkward, and painstakingly embarrassing, but the two carefully maneuvered out of the thick cluster of spikes and found themselves with a little wiggle room.
"Alright, let's see if we can scale the spikes up." Kirito said, prompting the cait sith to unwillingly step off of Kirito's toes and settle herself back onto the ground. The two still had to stick close to one another, but she was now able to stand at Kirito's side rather than nose to nose.
With Sinon safely on the ground again, Kirito reached up and grabbed hold of the end of a sharp prong. Pulling downward on it, he tested its ability to hold his weight before tightening his grip. "Follow my lead, use all the spikes I do and we should definitely make it up just fine."
"Got it. Makes you wish you could fly doesn't it." Sinon replied as she looked up.
"Yeah, it does. But I've climbed plenty of things before without wings. It's not that bad."
"So have I."
"Awesome! So this should go smoothly." Kirito reached over and scratched Sinon's cat ears, causing her tail to go rigid and the tips of her ears to bounce.
Kirito pulled himself upward and gave her a cheeky smile, "See you at the top."
Leaving behind an adorable red-faced Sinon, Kirito used trial and error to determine the strongest hand and footholds as he climbed his way to the top. His fingers reached the edge of the pit in no time and he pulled himself over.
Before doing anything else though, he swung around and lied himself down at the edge. Sinon was halfway up, so once she was within arm's reach Kirito stretched his arm down and took her hand.
He then pulled her up over the edge and away from the pitfall.
"You alright? No extra holes anywhere?" Kirito asked, eyeing Sinon up and down.
"N-no, just the ones my body already has."
"Cool." Kirito smiled his approval and turned around, looking around for the little creature that put them through all that. Whatever it was.
He wasn't complaining though.
The animal wasn't in sight at the moment, however Kirito might just be able to use his tracking spell and find out where it went.
"Dýr… reip." Kirito spoke two simple words of power, causing the golden text to snap in front of his body before activating. The power of his magic caused his eyes to glow and his HUD to tint green as well.
"See anything?" Sinon asked.
Kirito let his vision adjust and noticed faint green pawmarks littering the ground. The brightest ones eventually branched off from the rest, and as he traced their path with his eyes, he saw which corridor the creature took.
"Yeah, let's go see what this thing is." Kirito began following the trail, leading Sinon through the maze and attempting to relocate their target. Surprisingly, following the creature's footsteps actually led the two fairies out of the maze entirely.
Leading them out into a grassy opening by the jungle's edge. A dirt pathway extended across the ground and extended into the tree line, but the pathway the creature took didn't leave the area.
He followed the glowing footprints with his gaze and looked to his right, spotting the creature scratching its ears by the tree line.
"There he is." Kirito said, his tracker spell wearing off in that moment as well.
"What do you think he wants?" Sinon asked, eyeing the creature as well.
"Maybe he just wanted to have some fun?" Kirito offered with a shrug of his shoulders. If his theory was correct, then that was most likely the reason.
However, if that was the case and his theory was indeed correct, then they were in a lot of trouble.
Kirito stepped off the trail and headed for the fluffy animal, "Let's go say hi."
Sinon caught up to his side and gave him a quizzical look, "Are you sure about this?"
"No, but what's the worst that could happen?"
"Dying and losing some of our items."
"I can live with that."
The creature's ears perked up as the two approached him, his big eyes taking in our presence and causing his large tail to brush back and forth.
"Hey, any chance you can understand me?" Kirito spoke up, crouching and bringing himself eye to eye with the creature. Unfortunately, that resulted in Kirito's forehead getting whacked by a boomerang as the animal hissed at him.
"H-hey!"
Sinon crouched down as well, causing the creature to turn toward her and tilt its head. He deftly caught his boomerang out of the air and pounced at her. Surprisingly though, the creature simply landed in Sinon's arms without a twitch of hostility and licked her cheek.
"Oi… that's… that's not fair." Kirito complained, eyeing the creature again.
Upon hearing the spriggan's voice however, the creature's ears twitched again and he whacked Kirito once more; giving him a decent hissing as well.
"Awe, I think he likes me." Sinon giggled, cradling the small animal in her arms as it snuggled into her chest.
Pervert… can't you see what it's doing?! Kirito screamed in his mind as he got up. Whenever he took a step closer to Sinon now, the creature would hiss and claw at him. The simple territorial acts were frustrating him to no end, and he didn't know why.
"Someone's feeling jealous." Sinon laughed a little harder, watching Kirito's angry displeasure.
The teen threw his hands in the air and growled, getting into a ferocious glaring match with the creature soon after. The two held their gazes, the intensity of the atmosphere growing slightly stronger as the two slowly began to growl.
Sinon was half-expecting a bolt of lightning to crash between the two, but that sadly wasn't a feature of the game.
However, before anything else could happen, Kirito broke their glaring match and took a step forward. The creature then threw its boomerang once more and Kirito's head and forced the teen to snatch it out of the air.
Then with a frustrated grunt, Kirito threw it aside and embedded it into the nearest tree; higher than the creature could possibly reach.
The small animal let out a whimper then a growl before hopping out of Sinon's arms and pawing at the base of the tree. It made several attempt to jump and reach for its bone boomerang, but all of them landed him just out of reach of his weapon.
"Serves you right." Kirito smirked triumphantly as he crossed his arms.
Sinon stood up and gave Kirito a teasing grin. "Were you jealous that you couldn't get close to me?"
Kirito's eyes turned to Sinon and realization suddenly dawned on him, "N-no… y-yes… maybe… I don't know."
Sinon couldn't help the sweet smile growing across her lips. A small ray of hope sprouted in her mind at the possibility of Kirito feeling the same way about her. That simple idea caused her to feel a little giddy on the inside, her mind feeling a little more at ease with confessing to him in the near future.
With an unnoticeable spring in her steps, she made her way over to the whimpering creature and kicked up the tree. She easily plucked his boomerang free from its bark confinement and landed gracefully back down on the grass.
"Here you go little guy." She spoke sweetly and rested the curved object between his front paws. Her hand then found its way between the animal's large ears and began petting him, causing his ears to flatten in bliss.
She quickly turned her head and glared at Kirito, his own eyes instantly adverting and staring off innocently into the distance.
"He was just having some fun Kirito, no need to be so mean with him. It's okay to feel jealous, that just means you care." Now, Sinon just wanted to see just how much he cared.
Kirito crossed his arms with a huff and kicked the grass, "You're not the one who got hit by a boomerang."
Beta: demonic1556
Editor: Allix Stowe
Schooooooooooool. I feel like I've been in hibernation for the past month and a half. With the Holidays rolling around and school packing work in before Christmas hits, my motivation has taken a significant hit.
Sorry for the wait. When I said this wasn't going to be updated too often, I didn't mean on a monthly basis. I'll be trying to update both stories somewhat frequently, but not enough to occupy all my time. Hopefully.
Also, I think I've made a ton of things very obvious in this fic with the information given. Let's see if anyone can find them all…
…starting with this creature. Let's see where the LoL fans are…
And I'm not just talking about this chapter by the way.
One more thing, have any of you seen 'The Seven Deadly Sins' (Nanatsu no Taizai)? Great anime. The Daevas titles were inspired by that. I also took a little inspirations from the Jaegers in 'Akame Ga Kill'.
Review! Let me know if you have any questions, comments, things to be said, thoughts to be heard, anything really. I look forward to all of it. Favorite and Follow the story, hopefully some information on the antagonist will wet your taste buds. Oh, and of course a little Sinon and Kirito development as well XP.
Cya XD