Level 100: Trost. The Forest of Giant Trees
Erwin looked around nervously, unsure of how to get out of this predicament; with the stakes so high, they needed an escape plan, and they needed it now. The first idea he'd come up with seemed to be the only viable option.
"EVERYONE!" He yelled, commanding their attention despite the loud groans from below, "WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO SCATTER! GET AWAY FROM HERE, BUT DON'T GO ALONE! WHEN YOU ESCAPE THE TITANS HERE, MAKE YOUR WAY SOUTH TO SHIGANSHINA! GO!"
Kimiko looked around nervously, seeing her subordinates from the Knights of the Blood Oath – those that were still alive – scattering in a frenzied panic, splitting off into different groups. She'd hoped, given the situation, that her guildmates would assemble and stick together as one of those groups, protecting each other as they made their way to Shiganshina. Already, Miyu and Taiki had come to Kimiko's side, looking to protect her even amongst the panic. She couldn't be more grateful for their loyalty throughout the game, especially now.
"We really should be moving, Captain." Taiki pointed out tonelessly, coaxing the young woman out from her thoughts.
"What about Yoshiro?" Miyu cut in, worried for their partner. As far as she was concerned, they were a group of four, and that was how it should be.
"What about me?" A booming voice came from behind, and the fourth member of the Elite Team had arrived. Miyu hugged him briefly, glad that they were back together again; she was young and naive, but had come to feel like the four players were her family in the game, brothers and sisters that looked out for one another.
Samuel of the Survey Corps arrived on their tree branch, his demeanour lacking some of its usual friendly charm as fear began to take over. He looked out from below his black centre-parted hair at the four of them, trying to figure out why they hadn't scrambled yet.
"Guys, we need to go!" He rushed the words out of his mouth, before taking off into the trees. Without a second thought, Kimiko followed, knowing that a Survey Corps member can assist them – even lead them – far better than she on this level.
Samuel led the group through the trees, with Kimiko and the others following just behind: they could still hear the Titans following them, and the trees became shorter in the area they were heading towards. That was when Kimiko veered off to the right behind Samuel.
"CAPTAIN?" Taiki yelled; he was possibly the only member of the Knights of the Blood Oath who dared question Kimiko in such a manner.
"LOOK!" She yelled in reply, and her three guildmates – along with Samuel, who'd now caught up to the situation behind him – followed her path with their eyes. They could see trees, Titans, and... two other members of the Knights of the Blood Oath, quivering on a lowly tree branch.
The rest of the miniature group followed, diving between branches at breakneck speed to bear down on the pair of terrified players. Kimiko was just a few metres away from catching them when the branch they were on was snapped in half by a Titan's palm; the player further away from her hung in the air for a second, hovering before falling where the ledge below their feet had been destroyed. A Titan's clamping jaws signalled their fate to the rest of the nearby players.
Kimiko grabbed onto the remaining player, not settling on the branch before reengaging her 3DMG to a higher perch and escaping as another Titan destroyed the rest of the branch they'd been on moments earlier.
"Fernando? What the hell were you doing?" Kimiko probed, stumbling over her words as the adrenaline rush of the past few minutes showed no signs of ending.
"W-we thought we could m-make it." Fernando remained in shock, strands of his long, ginger hair sticking to his face. Kimiko figured he'd probably seen the other young man getting eaten. "I'm s-sorry Captain." He then murmured, bowing his head slightly to Kimiko. Her personal team then arrived on the branches, along with Samuel, who realised that the rest of the people he was with – leader of the Clearing Group or otherwise – were petrified, and he'd need to take charge. He'd also need to swallow his own fear and return to his more cheerful self, but he could work on that as he went.
"Come with us. You'll be a lot safer than on your own." Samuel stated simply, before smiling meekly at the end to reassure the young man. Fernando tried to protest a little about how he'd slow them down and how he wasn't on their level, but Yoshiro gave him a comforting pat on the back, before leading him back into the treetops.
"We'll need to find others," Samuel began, catching the attention of Kimiko, "or some kind of transport. We won't make it far on foot once we reach the edge of the forest."
Kimiko began to think about this, wondering how the rest of the Clearing Group, the Knights of the Blood Oath, the people were doing, and whether they were even still alive. She wondered how many of the horses had survived the night. She wondered and wondered until she was distracted by her thoughts, and she didn't even notice that a 15 metre class had snuck up on the group and launched a long, thin arm towards her as she swung through the trees.
Erwin hadn't even finished when Klein began to move, making his way over towards Sasha before the impending panic began; he saw Asuna and the others joining up to Kirito and Kimiko's team assembling, knowing that each group would be safe, but felt – despite her greater experience of Trost – that he was duty bound to protect Sasha, particularly given her lower stats.
She'd already packed her things into her inventory when Klein arrived, and so they took off into the trees straight away. Klein soon realised that they'd been joined by two others: he could tell the thin, sharp faces of Harry One and Issin after just a glance, and he was quietly reassured that not only was he part of a larger group now, but they were his trusted companions from Fuurinkazan. It also meant he could check up on the other members through them, having been part of various discussions with Survey Corps members and high-ranking Clearing Group members during the night before.
After a few moments, the group was further bolstered; a tall figure shrouded by an emerald green cape led two trainees towards the group from the side, joining up with Klein and the rest. Sasha recognised the trainees to be Eren and Mikasa, while the black bowl-cut that extended beyond the cape in front was clearly that of Marlo.
Marlo began to climb towards a high, thick branch before landing on it, followed by the others of the group; he felt it was important for them to pause and think, rather than blindly tear off through the trees. Marlo, Eren and Mikasa began to scan the lower branches and the ground, seeing an abundance of Titans stalking them from below. Klein had more pressing matters to deal with than the Titan threat though. He'd landed just next to Sasha on the branch, and gently rested his hand on her shoulder as he strode past her towards his Fuurinkazan guildmates. Both looked up from having been scouting below as he approached, warm smiles greeting him happily.
"How are you, man?" Issin called out, holding out his hand to shake Klein's, before sliding it through his hair; the two chuckled, before embracing each other heartily. Harry One then ruffled Klein's hair, as the only member of Fuurinkazan who was taller than him.
"I've been good," Klein began, gesturing comically with his hands as per usual, "I meant to come see you guys last night, but, uh, I was in some meetings and stuff... how are you guys? And what about the other three?"
An awkward expression fell over the faces of Issin and Harry One, while Klein scratched the back of his head. "Ohhh, you guys haven't seen them either?" He continued, before waving his hands in the air to signal that it wasn't to worry about.
"It's not that..." Harry One began, each word tinged with a painful tone. He glanced across at Issin, before returning a pained gaze towards Klein. "We've seen Kunimittz and Dale – I'm pretty sure they ended up following Kirito when we scattered a minute ago – but," He gulped visibly, an impressive feat given the armour he was still wearing over his whole body. "Dynamm... didn't make it out of Trost."
The air fell silent.
Klein's vision of the two men in front of him becoming increasingly out of focus, as the details of their avatars and gear began to blur into blobs of colour. Klein rubbed his eyes on the backs of his gloves, before realising that the visual impairment was actually his tears. He felt a reassuring and on his shoulder, turning to see that it was Sasha. She flashed him a meek smile, but her eyes told the story that she knew what he was feeling; she wrapped her arms around him tightly, trying to banish all of the horrors from the death game with their embrace.
She felt protective over the happy-go-lucky young man, and already wanted to repay the kindness and joy he'd brought to this terrifying world that she'd inhabited for four months. In this moment, there was nothing to be done, but to be there for him. However, Marlo didn't necessarily share the sentiment, having seen many comrades die, let alone heard about it.
"We need to move out." He called simply to the group. It wasn't that he lacked compassion or empathy, but he'd become desensitised to the harsh reality of this game. Moreover, he knew that if they didn't keep moving, there's a high chance they'd end up the same way as Klein's friend.
"If we can escape the forest," Marlo continued, laying out the plans for everyone else, "we can get away from the large amounts of Titans within. We also have a higher chance of spotting others from the wider group, and we'll be on our way towards Shiganshina. Any questions?"
Klein glanced up at him, hating him in the moment for pushing them on so quickly, though he knew it was the best option for everyone. He let go of Sasha, brushed his legs down and got ready to jump again.
He knew, deep inside, he wasn't ready.
The Titan's arm swung towards Kimiko, the elongated fingertips at full stretch to try and connect with her vulnerable body. If they had've been looking, the players would've sworn that the Titan began to grin as it felt assured of the successful annihilation of another target. However, it turned out not to be the one it was aiming for.
Yoshiro came diving into Kimiko's side, knocking her off her previous course; the Titan's palm collided with the young man, sending his armoured body plummeting towards a nearby tree trunk. As he came into contact with the bark, his body exploded into blue crystals, and his screams came to an abrupt end. Kimiko looked across from where she was now hanging from her 3DMG at the spot where he'd imploded, unable to comprehend that such a trusted friend and valued ally was dead, all of a sudden. Because of her.
Miyu didn't take the time to think, to mourn or to lament. She instantly cut back on herself using the 3DMG, turning around to follow the Titan as it carried on with its path. "COME BACK HERE YOU BASTARD!" She yelled while swooping towards it, catching its attention; it turned to face her, at which point she unsheathed the small axe from her back, planting it firmly in the Titan's right eye, before swinging round on it to land on the ear. The axe was stuck, and so she had to tug violently until it was released, pulling the cornea and much of the sclera out with it.
The Titan screamed the most unholy of screams, before lurching a giant hand up to try and swat away Miyu as she climbed over the top of its head. "THIS IS FOR KILLING MY BROTHER!" She yelled, somehow managing to outdo the Titan on vocal volume. She thrust the axe into the other eye of the Titan, before dropping her weight onto the axe in order to pull out the contents of the eye once more and land on the Titan's collarbone.
The other players of the group stood and watched, shocked first by grief and even more so by Miyu's unrelenting brutality. It was how they all felt, losing their brother-in-arms, but they had never seen such action from Miyu. She battled as hard as anyone in the past, but because it was necessary, not out of vengeance or malice.
She didn't just want to kill this Titan, she wanted to hurt it first.
She ran across the steaming skin of the Titan's left shoulder as it tried to brush her off once again; she used her 3DMG to hop over the outstretched fingertips before lunging towards the nape of its neck and driving her axe into the rough tissue. At once, the Titan's movements lulled, and it began to crash to the ground. However, Miyu struggled to free her axe from the Titan's neck.
It went down to its knees, a huge ripple coursing through its lifeless skin as she pulled at the handle of her trusted weapon. 'Why now? Have I not suffered enough here?' Her thoughts were spinning and she was burning with rage, directed now at her trusted axe as much as it had been for the Titan.
It began to fall forwards, careering towards the crash landing that awaited in the form of the grassy ground below; as it did, the axe came loose and Taiki swung across and grabbed Miyu, before leading her up to a nearby branch. He was going to do it whether she'd got the axe back or not, but he quietly was glad she'd managed to. His heart and mind was racing, and he was choking on the guilt of his brother dying.
But he knew there was a time and place for mourning, and this wasn't it.
He continued to lead her on as the group around them continued to move ahead. Samuel took the lead ahead of Kimiko, still stunned by her failure. Fernando continued alongside, saddened by the loss of Yoshiro, but equally in awe of the spectacular power of the Knights of the Blood Oath's Elite Team.
Samuel continued to lead, remaining silent so as to offer those around him time to grieve. He had been surprised at the sudden nature of Yoshiro's death, but soon accepted that even he had been somewhat sheltered from the true horror of the Titans, with the limited amount of expeditions outside the Wall that the Survey Corps had actually engaged in before the Wall was broken through. A wave of guilt washed over him as he realised that, despite this inexperience, he would be looked to as leader of the group – if not by those around him due to their loyalty to Kimiko, then by Erwin and the others from Trost – and he'd already been unable to save two players since the group formed.
Samuel had no envy for Erwin or the Squad Leaders, and the terrible guilt that must wrack at their souls every day. He soon snapped out of such pity, realising the forest around him was becoming thinner; they had made it to the edge of the forest! A warmth arose in him that he had not felt since a time he'd long since forgotten: just for a second, he felt a tinge of hope.
However, something soon distracted his attention from the forest, as he could see that in the fields in front of them was a carriage being pulled by a horse, heading towards their right. Samuel looked to Kimiko as she spotted it as well, both knowing this was their chance to get to Shiganshina quickly.
Klein's emotionally tired body descended through the air, falling without so much as a twitch from his limbs; he drifted downwards, accelerating but remaining oddly serene as he did so, before clutching the triggers of his 3DMG tightly, sending hooks flying faster than him through the air into the trees above. He then swung through the air, feeling weightless as he did so, gliding alongside Sasha. If it hadn't have been for the high chances of impending death or the fact he'd just heard that one of his best friends had fallen to the Titans that now stalked him, he'd have enjoyed this feeling. It felt like flying: maybe he'd feel this again in another game, someday. That is so long as he made it out of this one.
Sasha kept a protective eye on Klein as they continued through the trees, knowing that the loss of his friend had hit him hard: she assumed his close friends had all made it so far, and they'd probably not been split up like this in the lower levels of the game.
'I should've kept an eye on them back at Trost- no. We should've stuck together, like the rest of the time.' He began to criticise himself, feelings of guilt multiplying in strength with every word. 'And I wasn't there for the rest of the boys last night.'
The group could all see that there were Titans below, reaching up with all their might to try and catch them; most were too short, but a 15 metre class stretched as far as it could with its elongated fingers wrapping around one of the players: one certain fun-loving brunette trainee going by the name of Sasha. Her squirming body was wrapped tightly within the steaming skin of the Titan, its emotionless face looking down on her from underneath dirty blond bangs.
Klein hung in the air, stunned, while Eren divebombed towards the Titan's arm. He quickly swiped his sword to cut through the muscles in the Titan's forearm, releasing its grip on Sasha; Klein burst into action to catch Sasha before she plummeted towards the horde of Titans below. He caught her by the arm, before wrapping his other arm around the small of her back and carrying her up to a nearby tree branch with their combined momentum.
Klein glanced over to see Marlo putting the Titan down, before instantly returning his gaze to Sasha; her eyes were glazed over a little with the tears of panic and fear, but she remained perfect to him.
"Are you okay?" 'Please please please tell me you're okay'
"Klei-" 'I can barely breathe'
"Sasha! Please say something," 'Anything at all just show me you're okay'
"Klein." 'I'm not sure how long I've got, I'm scared, I'm gonna die here, I'm scared'
He gave her cheek a gentle caress, clearing away some of tears that had stained it; she took a deep breath in at the feeling of his cool fingers on her blushing cheek: his touch had left her breathless in the past, but it gave her the breath she needed.
"Klein." She called, more sure of her speech this time round, "Good luck. I kn-know you can co...mplete the game." Klein began to protest, knowing where this was going, but she raised a weak finger to his lips, before continuing. "Live a long, happy life when y-you get out of here. I love you, Klein." She finished, and before he knew what was happening, he was leaning in towards her; their lips brushed for a few seconds, but then the person before him disappeared; he opened his eyes instinctively, before realising he would not want to see the truth before his face.
Blue crystals.
His eyes welled up in seconds, tears cascading down his sorrowful face. His heart noticeably sank in his chest – it didn't feel like a movement within the body of his avatar in this virtual world, but felt like his actual heart in his actual chest. His legs filled with the weight of the world, and he could hear others joining him on the tree branch: Harry One and Issin had hands on his shoulders, while he could sense the presence of the other three standing further back, waiting. But he didn't care about them, he didn't care about Shiganshina, he didn't care about Sword Art Online. All he cared about was the simple fact that reverberated through his mind, his very soul.
She was gone, just like that.
A/N: So... I hope that was as emotional for you to read as it was for me to write. Sorry this wasn't up sooner, I've been working loads over summer, trying to figure out my life, planning a follow-up to SS Rated, planning a Tokyo Ghoul fic & beginning to plan a book xD it's been fun but hectic, as I believe the next year will be in general, with college, work & writing! Anywho, the next chapter we'll be returning to the other groups and there's gonna be some flashback to explain more about the Trainees' arrival to Trost, with the mysterious "four months ago" that's been mentioned a few times... OOOOOOOOoooooooooOOOOOooooooooo exciting! :P
Koduka: Thanks as always man, if I could write as well as you review, this story would be much better xD seriously, your feedback & support is amazing and I hope that with future chapters/stories I'll be able to improve as much as I can. (also, I actually managed to spot some things proofreading this, I made like 20 improvements :'D)
dicarten-ice: once again, thank you! :) I hope you keep enjoying, it's awesome when people like yourself tell me you're enjoying what I'm writing, it really gives me a kick to carry on :)