Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Sword Art Online.
Chapter 4: Stand
The scarlet inferno leapt higher and higher, its crackle engulfing Medali. Houses erupted in flame on either side of the cobble path as Naruto's feet rapidly carried him from the bridge.
The path, its cracked cobble bricks growing darker with each step, wound to and fro. It was all he could do to stay upright, as the conflagration around him erupted.
Stamford… I am so sorry. Tears streamed from his eyes, leaving wet trails down his soot covered cheeks. I guess I really can't do this after all. Maybe I really am a coward.
Naruto could hear the screams in the distance. Kobolds, their shrieks endless, pounced upon the innocent Medalian NPCs. Naruto could not bear to listen, his head swimming with the caterwauls of the dying. It was over, it was all over. And so he ran.
Ran past the apothecary, the tavern, the inn. Ran past the houses, their windows pressed with hands and feet and faces as their thatched roofs began to smolder. Ran from Stamford's smile, from his corpse where he knelt on that Godforsaken bridge.
Naruto ran, his feet pitter-pattering, his vision tunneling, his breath shortening.
And then he tripped.
It was really a simple mistake. Something he should have seen. A loose tile, off one of the disintegrating rooftops. His already orange health bar trickled down, Naruto watching, to a burnt amber. It was a millimeter of HP, but to Naruto it may as well have been a mile. There he lay, panting and shivering, hunched over a crumbled marble pillar that had broken loose from Medali's desecrated town hall.
"Craaaaww!"
Naruto heard rustling behind him, and scrambled to his feet as the kobolds pulled their scimitars from their scabbards. Their swords glinted in the firelight, and Naruto swore he could see a red tint other than flame dripping from their steel edges. Gulping, he steadied himself, facing the trio of red beasts.
Lunging, the kobold closest to him slashed through the air, its blade narrowly missing Naruto's nose as he fell backwards. He kicked his feet out as he moved, his sandal clipping the kobold's snout. The creature reeled, claws clutching its face in pain. Naruto watched the bar above the kobold's head slowly tick down, roughly a sixth fading away.
Damn! He cursed to himself. This would not be easy. As the other two kobolds approached, Naruto wracked his brain for something, anything that could help. Think, damn it! What can I do? Like a thunderbolt, he remembered his utility tool - that small iron knife he'd been given before this game became a hellscape.
Naruto equipped the kunai, its slender frame materializing in his hand. The rough bandaged hilt met his touch well. Brandishing the blade, Naruto feinted left before sinking the blade into the disoriented kobold's neck. It shuddered, and he watched as its HP - its lifeforce - drained into nothingness. Shimmering, the kobold wasted away. Naruto pranced back, staying on the balls of his feet.
No sooner had he done so as the other two kobolds screamed, their twin growls matching their infernal charge. Naruto met them head on, dodging and weaving as they sliced and diced with their twin swords. Up, down, left, right. Naruto fell into rhythm with each cut, his iron kunai slowly but surely whittling down their defenses. The kobolds' HP bar fell, first from green to orange, then from orange to amber, and from amber to red.
Naruto spun in place, his obsidian blade dashing from one kobold's throat to the other's. As the twin monsters burst into pixels, he fell to his knees, breathing heavily. He'd done it. He was alive. He looked up at the sky, the smoke from the burning town swirling lazily around the dying sun.
Hearing shuffling noises around him, Naruto glanced back down at his surroundings. Kobolds, large and small, came from all corners of the dying town, surrounding him. His reprieve over, Naruto got to his feet. They numbered in the tens - no, maybe hundreds? Naruto couldn't tell. His lip trembled. Would he die here, like this? Naruto gritted his teeth.
"I'm not gonna die," he muttered to himself. The chittering grew louder as the kobolds closed in, the gauntlet tightening. "I'm not gonna die!" He screamed. The kobolds pounced, and Naruto found himself once more among the fray.
He would make his stand in front of the Medalian town hall. A last stand? Naruto stabbed his kunai in and out, its point goring kobolds into pixellated much. If this is my last stand, I'd better make it count!
Slowly but surely, Naruto struck down the kobolds. One after another they died, and yet more took their place. His health bar drained, every slight nick from a scimitar or spear point taking small yet noticeable chunks from his life.
A great trumpet call cut through the din of battle, stopping both Naruto and the kobolds in their tracks. Like a wave receding from the shore, the kobolds slunk away, to the edges of the town center's light. Naruto slouched, his hands finding his knees. Panting, he looked around, taking in the glaring red eyes that beamed from every corner of the warzone.
What now? He grimaced. He could only take so much more. His eye wandered to his health bar - its amber tone had dipped into red. He had a sliver of life left, and he did not want to lose it.
From the darkness came a great hooked talon, and then another. A hulking figure stepped out from the shadowy blaze, emerging from the vermillion hordes. Its gnarled hand slipped out from underneath its cloak, one crooked claw pointing at Naruto. The giant kobold's jagged teeth slipped into a grin, its red eyes glinting underneath its tattered black mantle.
"What do you want?" Naruto growled, clutching the kunai. He heard a chime, and looked up above the giant cloaked kobold's head. Two health bars appeared, as well as a name.
Khivre the Knave, huh? Must be this event's boss mob. Naruto mused to himself. A loud screech interrupted his thought process, and he shuddered. Looking at Khivre, he considered briefly whether the kobold had made the noise with his mouth, before he saw the kobold dragging a broadsword from a metallic scabbard underneath the cloak. Readying himself for Khivre's onslaught, Naruto took a deep breath in.
I can do this.
"I can do this!"
Roaring, Khivre charged, bringing his blade down. Naruto leapt back, somersaulting away as the sword dented the ground he'd just occupied. The cobblestone flew, splintering like drywood under the force of Khivre's blow. The creature shrieked, spittle flying from its maw as it dragged the broadsword along in its chase after Naruto.
Naruto turned to face the beast, ducking under a swipe before digging the kunai into its chest. Khivre hissed in pain, punching out and knocking Naruto away. He watched, dazed, as a quarter of the giant kobold's first health bar faded away.
This is winnable! Naruto grinned, prancing away from another slash. Once more, he found his rhythm, dancing around Khivre's broadsword. It felt like a game! Naruto realized with a start. This was a life-or-death experience but he'd never felt more exhilarated. He giggled, slipping his kunai into a chink in Khivre's chest. The kobold's first health bar fully dissipated. Naruto began to push off, tugging the blade. A scaly hand gripped his wrist, stopping him. He looked up, suddenly very nervous. Gleeful ruby eyes greeted him, and Khivre's pearly whites flashed, nipping at his face. Naruto gasped, his health rapidly depleting. Khivre released him, letting Naruto fall free.
And then Khivre backhanded him.
Sent sprawling, Naruto gasped for electronic air, stars dancing across his screen. No, nononono! I can't die like this! He pushed himself backward, on his hands and knees. The hulking kobold moved slowly yet deliberately, its every step measured as it approached the fallen boy. Naruto watched as the monster threw its broadsword to the side, the weapon disappearing into thin air.
Khivre reached behind its back, claws grasping, a long, wooden pole appearing in its hands from behind the spread of its tattered cloak. Naruto could only watch with horror as the creature produced an enormous polearm from thin air. Khivre stood flat footed, swinging the spear level with Naruto's face. Dread filled Naruto's stomach.
A polearm.
Stamford had been killed by a polearm - a spear, actually. Naruto's breath caught.
A spear. A spear. That spear. Khivre's spear. Khivre'sspear. KhivrekilledStamford. KHIVREKILLEDSTAMFORD. KHIVREISGOINGTOKILLME. I AM GOING TO DIE.
The kobold heaved, thrusting the spear forward. Naruto screamed, his eyes rolling back into his head. And the world bathed in crimson.
Kibaou wiped beads of sweat from his brow as the dark skies above Medali receded. He listened, and sure enough, the telltale fourth trumpet rang out across the village, signifying the end of the event. He chuckled, before beckoning over the other member of his raid party.
"Come on Yajirushi, let's head to the town center! I bet the other groups are also there!"
Kibaou and his partner followed the road into town. The buildings sagged with each step they took, soot covering the (temporarily) mortal objects. Kibaou started to hurry, sharing a worried glance with Yajirushi. Into the town center they came.
"Taka! Sodoyuza! What happened?" Kibaou yelled, coming to a stop. But he could see the problem.
Four players stood around a downed body - the runt, what was his name again? Naofumi? Nagato? - "Is that Naruto?" Kibaou asked. "Where's Stamford?"
Orpheus looked at Kibaou, a grave expression plastered on his face. "Kibaou, we can't find Stamford. But when we got here, the entire town center was a complete wreck. It looked like a hurricane came through it."
Kibaou looked around. While the objects had begun to repair themselves, he could see the havoc wrought upon the village center. Giant tears were etched into the cobble street and man-sized slashes embedded the wood and stone structures rising above them.
"What the hell happened here?" Kibaou mused. Stamford was gone - dead, by the looks from it. He looked down at the unconscious kid.
His health bar was at full HP.
A wave of fury struck Kibaou.
"You mean to tell me - YOU MEAN TO TELL ME!" He started screaming. Orpheus stood up, his alarmed eyes darting to Kibaou.
"THAT THIS LITTLE SHIT LET STAMFORD DIE, WITHOUT EVEN PUTTING UP A FIGHT?" Kibaou fumed, clenching his fists, his spiky hair bobbing up and down. Coane put a hand on his shoulder.
"I know, Coane," Kibaou calmed down, "I know." He glared at Naruto's unconscious form. "I'm just so angry. Scum like this ought to die on the first floor." Taking one last look, he spat on the boy's prone body. "Come on, Aincrad Liberation Squad. We're leaving this hellhole."
The ALS players, long gone, had not noticed the boy's battered hands, wrapped tightly around his chipped kunai. Clutched in a death grip, Naruto unconsciously wrapped himself around the little knife, his one protection against this hostile new world. It would be many days before he would reawaken.
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"Your own positive future begins in this moment. All you have is right now. Every goal is possible from here."-Laozi
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