[PP-NK-F17] On the Trail We Blaze

[Kooh 0]

As Kooh's feet were planted on the ground, the grass beneath her boots softer than the stone floor of the labyrinth they had been traveling, her legs nearly began to ache. Though the pain wasn't real, it was as if her avatar was telling her that it couldn't stand much longer, and at the mention of sleep she was tempted to curl up right there. Ignoring the whim, the blonde walked across the field, slowly putting distance between herself and the brunette. When she felt she was out of earshot over the light winds and the sound of waves crashing against the side of the land mass, she let out a long, heavy sigh.

Where the labyrinth had let out, they were only paces away from the edge of the island, the border circling around in a generously-sized plain. While Aereth had moved to a nearby tree, the girl walked slowly. She removed a hand from her pocket to pull down her hood before peering over the edge at the waves beating against the earth. Kooh tensed up a moment, adjusting a few inches farther away from the edge as she walked. Before long, she was finally tired enough to stop, crossing her legs as she sat down and stared out over the ocean. "How are we even getting to the next floor?" She mumbled the question to herself, placing her palms on the ground behind her as she leaned back. Her chin tilted up, watching the stars while she allowed herself some time to think. "Why do I always end up making things worse?" Her eyelids fell, taking in a deep breath. "Even if I get back there..." The girl bit her bottom lip while she felt her heart sinking to her stomach. As much as she wanted to treat this like a game, to continue to do whatever she wanted and live a life freely on her own terms, the weight of reality was finally beginning to push down on her. "What do I do?" After all this time, her actions were bringing consequences that she couldn't run away from. After so long in this game--the death game that thousands of other players were forced to live in--the feeling of despair was beginning to wrap itself around her.

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

Closing his eyes for a couple of moments, Aereth then fetched two neat sandwiches from his inventory and silently made his way over to Kooh and was just about able to hear what the blonde player was mumbling to herself. Stopping in his tracks Aereth took a moment to process everything she just said. She really seemed to be desperate about the whole situation. Understandable, but why did she always want to tackle things completely alone? Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Aereth now completely closed the distance between the two of them, and sat down besides her. "We're gonna swim, of course." Aereth said with a small smile on his face ."Hey. Don't be so hard to yourself." Aereth told Kooh in a gentle voice, while offering her the second sandwich. "Even I would have punched the face in of that sick b*stard." he added with a chuckle. After that though he turned serious again, while slowly unwrapping his sandwich. "You wanna know why I'm even doing this? Helping a complete stranger? Risking my life in order to get you down?" Aereth asked before taking a bite off his sandwich. She looked vulnerable, weak, defeated.

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Kooh's eyes flew open at the sound of Aereth's voice. The girl's head whipped around to spot the brunette taking a seat beside her. After staring at him a moment, the girl turned her head back towards the ocean, picking her hands up from the ground and leaning slightly forward with her arms pressed against her knees. Her expression quickly shifted, the look of surprise from the man's unexpected approach being quickly removed. She resisted the urge to let out a frustrated sigh. 'What, he heard all of that?' She closed her eyes to focus on calming herself. Getting irritated with herself for letting her guard down would surely only serve to make things worse. If might have just been the mental wear of all of the day's events pushing her harder, but Kooh's temper seemed to be getting worse lately.

"We're just gonna swim. To that island way over there?" The girl forced half a smirk on her lips, staring out at the water. A part of her desperately hoped that the man was joking, but another part knew that he was completely serious. Contemplating the plan caused her muscles to tense up again, but she gave a small shake of her head to disperse her thoughts. The blonde opened her eyes again, giving Aereth a sideways glance before her gaze was drawn to the sandwich he was holding out to her. Her bottom lip twitched into a frown before she eventually accepted the item, wordlessly taking the sandwich and holding it in both hands in front of her. She listened patiently to his words, facing forward again with a blank expression. "Actually, yeah." She said simply in response to his question.

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

"Not exactly. This island is only where the main settlement is located. We need to go even further to the island behind that one." Aereth replied before taking another bite off his sandwich. "If we start to head away early tomorrow, we should have reached the labyrinth at around lunch time." Pleased that the woman accepted the sandwich, Aereth had offered her,she then told Aereth that she was indeed interested in his reasoning and motives. "Well, you see... A couple of weeks after this nightmare started I lost somebody really important to me, because I was simply too weak to protect her. And what made things even worse, was the fact that all the other players didn't care. They only looked away and pretended that they didn't see anything. Pathetic sheep..." Aereth explained to Kooh in a cold voice. "That was when I swore to myself that I would never end up like them. Never look away, never refuse to keep out of others business when their lives are on the line. And that orange cursor." he said while yanking his head upwards for one short while. "You could say that I'm hunting down player killers and their comrades to rid Aincrad of this plague. And belief me, I'll find the guys who killed her, and then I will make them pay for everything the did."

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Her fingers tensed around the item in her hands when he explained they would have to travel to another island even after crossing the water to the main land mass. She frowned before pulling the paper wrapping down to reveal the sandwich inside, taking a bite of it to give her something else to focus on. 'Ahh, so that's what it is.' Kooh thougth as the brunette began his explanation. A wry smile pulled at her expression as she contemplated his words. She wasn't sure if she should admire his determination and resolve, or scorn him for having such vengeful ideals.

A short, breathy chuckle escaped her before she spoke up herself. "So you would really deal with all that," she referred to the complications she herself had caused over the past day, "just to be a nice guy." Again, she wasn't sure whether to think of him as heroic or foolish. While she was beginning to surmise the cause of the orange cursor above his own head, Kooh tried to pay little mind to his ideology. His quest for vengeance, though noble and respectable on paper, was a concept Kooh was unsure how to feel about. With his explanation, Aereth sounded like some kind of mercenary, hunting down the bad guys and bringing them to justice. Instead of putting some ruffians in jail, however, it was more like putting a sword through a murderer. At least, that was the gist of it as she understood.

Finally choosing to refrain from commenting on the matter, the blonde took another bite of her sandwich. A few moments passed in silence with only the sound of the rolling waves before she would let out a small sigh. "I'll stop, by the way." She continued staring out at the ocean with another neutral expression, adding on to just slightly clarify her vague statement. "Causing trouble."

@Aereth

[Aereth 1]

When he saw Kooh finally unwrapping the sandwich he gave her earlier, Aereth couldn't help but to crack a small smile. Unfortunately the smile started to vanish as he began to talk again. "Not really because I'm a nice guy... To be honest I'm far away from being a nice guy, and you would think differently of me if you were to see me when I go all out on somebody..." Aereth replied while slowly turning his head to face the virtual night sky. "It's more to keep a promise I made some time back. If I can, I will protect. At all costs." Thankfully the small smile came back to Aereth's lips when the blonde mentioned how she would stop making trouble from now on.

"But enough of me, unless you have some other question... But why did you look so devastated when I found you back in the labyrinth. And you didn't talk at all when we made our way down here." Now Aereth was looking back at Kooh, interested if she would give him an answer to the question he just laid out to her.

@Kooh

 

[Kooh 0]

Kooh didn't answer the man for a while. Her eyes drifted from the rolling waves to the starry night sky as she seemed to be deep in thought. 'So, what're you doing, Luna?' She asked herself. His question wasn't so prying, and so she could probably get away with another vague or misleading answer and leave it at that. But how long would they be doing this? Was it really the end of the world if there was just one person she didn't lie to? The girl leaned forward, her forearms pressing against each of her knees as her gaze drifted back down to the main island visible in the distance. Finally, after a silence that might have suggested the blonde wasn't going to answer the man, Kooh spoke up.

"Would you believe me if I said it was because I hated you?" She looked over to Aereth, the words leaving her casually while a serious expression rested on her face. "And even though you keep going out of your way to help me, you're nothing more than a killer and I can't help being afraid of you?" Her head turned to face forward again, staring out over the ocean as she went silent. She expected the brunette to snap, assuming her harsh words were enough to push him over the edge and lash out at her. She braced herself for the reaction, if he would give one; even if he were to threaten her, she wouldn't let it faze her this time.

However Aereth responded to her cruel words, Kooh would wait another few moments before opening her mouth to speak again, expression just as blank as she continued to stare out over the sea. "Or, it was because I finally gave up." The corners of her mouth finally shifted as they turned up into a wry smile. "No matter how I tried, I couldn't get you to give up on me. So, since you're apparently more stubborn than I am, I guess I'll take the loss." The girl brought the sandwich to her mouth and took another bite, letting the silence creep over them as she chewed. She brought up her free hand, palm facing up as her shoulders raised in a shrug. "I've been lying to you for most of the day, though, so you're better off not believing a word I say."

[Aereth 1]

"I would most probably believe you. But not really." Aereth simply answered in a cold tone. "I deal with players that hate me for what I do, for what I am and for that orange cursor on a daily basis. I've seen hatred and fear many times in the past, but what I saw something different in you. You didn't fear me when we first met. You just stared at my cursor for some time, not knowing why it had a different color than mine. I'm just a hunter and sometimes a protector that follows his own rules. And for sure I'm just another killer that will face judgement one day... But until that day I will follow the path I choose. And that includes keeping you safe, until you loose that cursor." Aereth said while looking back to the night heaven. By now he was done with his sandwich, and just about to get up again and leave her alone, but then she suddenly continued to speak.

Aereth was silent during her little speak once again, and started to think about a proper response. When he found it, Aereth slowly got up again and stood there for a moment, before a chuckle escaped his lips. "You are quite a handful." After that he pulled back the hood of his cloak and fixed is hair with a couple of swipes from his left hand. "What do you gain from lying to everybody? It doesn't really matter, because you sooner or later destroy yourself with that behavior. Every person needs one or two other person he or she can be honest with. Otherwise you will mentally break. And from what I saw when I found you back in the labyrinth, you may be closer to that breaking point than you think..." Aereth said in a calm voice, before he slowly started to head back to the tree he was sitting under before...

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Kooh picked up her knees, placing the soles of her boots flat on the ground as she leaned forward against her bare legs. She held what remained of her sandwich lazily in front of her while her arms wrapped around her knees. If it weren't for the system's regulation, she probably wouldn't even feel hungry right now. She listened to Aereth's responses, first a bit surprised that she hadn't caused his temper to flare up again. His last words, where he repeated his goal of assuring her safety, had caused her chest to tighten, feelings of guilt and self-doubt beginning to build up inside of her.

Trying her best to push them aside, Kooh couldn't stop a frown from crossing her expression after he had spoken up again. 'A breaking point, huh?' Her thoughts were lined with skepticism. The brunette turned to leave her be, and Kooh wouldn't be trying to stop him. She only mumbled out a small [n]"Maybe so."[/n] in response to his judgement. When they had separated again and the girl was left to her thoughts, she took her time finishing the rest of the sandwich she held. "Tch." After a few long minutes in silence, the blonde let out a small scoff while the empty wrapper in her hand burst and dissipated, registering the item's lost durability. 'Destroying myself...' The words echoed in her mind, first with skepticism and doubt, but as her mind continued to wander she began to consider the accuracy behind his words. With her hands free, Kooh hugged her knees close to her chest. It wasn't long before the mental exhaustion finally caught up with her and she felt herself threatening to drift off. The girl lay down on her side, looking out at the vast ocean before giving in to the temptation of sleep.

[Aereth 1]

Aereth was barely able to make out the mumbled response of the blonde, and was pleased that she at least seemed to think about what he just said. When he then sat back down he started to think about what he just said himself... Who was he to lecture her about things like this. He himself was on a more self destructing path than probably any other player in Aincrad. Hunting down killers on his own and bringing them to justice... There were only a handful of persons he trusted, and that knew about what he was doing. But he still worked alone. Up until now he may as well be one of the most dangerous players in Aincrad, even though he was far away from the levels the front liners had. His kill count was nothing to joke about, and Aereth always went for the immediate kill, if possible... Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Aereth saw how Kooh had fallen asleep while he was busy thinking about that stuff. A small smile creeped its way over Aereth's face, as he got up, took off his coat, and after silently walking over to Kooh, placing the big coat over her body. After that he made his way back to the tree and watched the peaceful scenery in front of him as the hours passed by...

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

It was the bright sunlight pressing against Kooh's eyelids that finally caused the girl to open her eyes, squinting as they registered the surrounding area. A light breeze mixed with the unmistakable smell of seawater brushed against her cheeks, and her mind foggily wondered why the rest of her body was so warm in contrast. Sliding her arm underneath herself and propping herself up on her side, Kooh rubbed at her eyes with her free hand and spotted the coat that had been draped across her. The blonde blinked a few times, the tiredness preventing the gears from fully turning in her mind. When the realization of who's coat it was and how it got there finally hit her, she twisted her body to look over at the brunette. He had stationed himself under a tree, and seeing that he was awake had Kooh wondering if he had woken up before her or if he simply hadn't slept all night.

Turning away and sitting herself up, Kooh frowned. She had no idea what time it was, but judging by the sun hanging in the sky, she assumed it was much earlier than she would normally be awake if she had the luxury of sleeping in Halcyon's Keep. The girl ran a hand through her blonde hair before remembering that thankfully, bedhead wasn't a thing in Aincrad. Hey body was surprisingly free of loose bits of grass, dirt, or other nuisances that one would expect from sleeping in a field on an island. Kooh finally got to her feet, still brushing off her clothing out of habit as she held the collar of Aereth's coat slung over her shoulder. Letting out a small sigh, she turned back and walked over to the man before holding the item out to him. "Thanks." She said bluntly, gaze averted to the side while she waited for him to take the coat back.

[Aereth 1]

Seeing the as the woman that accompanied him was starting to wake up, Aereth also started to prepare himself for leaving. In the night he had unequipped his armor, and he was only sitting in his casual clothing, but now it was time to get ready for continuing their journey. When Kooh then handed the coat back over to him, Aereth cracked a smile and took it back. "No prob." he simply said before storing it away into his inventory. "Hope you slept well." he then added and got back up to his feet. After some basic stretching he felt himself ready to go on. No doubt, he was still tired, but it was nothing that would put him at a major disadvantage in combat. 

Slowly walking over to the waters, Aereth turned to face Kooh and said. "I hope you've got some additional clothing with you, since we're gonna get pretty wet while swimming to the main island." And that was the exact reason as to why Aereth still hadn't put on his armor yet. He had only his normal clothing and his armor set with him. So he would have to swim in his normal clothes..

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Feeling some semblance of her normal, carefree attitude still inside of her, she willed a comment to escape her as Aereth stretched."I don't know how you can function right now, let alone survive the whole day." A small smirk played on her lips. She assumed the man had just stayed awake through the night, and given that Kooh still felt plenty weary with what sleep she did get, she continued to assume the brunette's mind and body would start feeling the lack of sleep at some point today. Maybe some people could adapt to surviving on less sleep.

As Aereth would walk over to the island's edge, Kooh felt her stomach drop, the playful expression quickly erasing itself from her features. He turned to her, and the girl forced her legs to carry herself forward. The approached the edge of the land, garnet eyes glancing down at the open water and felt her body freeze up. After a long silence, Kooh spoke up in a mumble. "That really is the only way, huh...?" She hadn't expected a response from the brunette; she already knew the answer. Forcing herself to roll her shoulders, she shrugged off her signature hooded cardigan, leaving her in a sandy-colored tank top, light blue jean shorts, and black knee-high combat boots. The greaves that typically rested over her shoes were already unequipped, resting in her inventory since they had arrived on the sixteenth floor.

The blonde player continued staring down at the waves that crashed against the edge of the small island, unable to will herself closer to the water. She had considered opening her mouth to speak, to tell Aereth that she couldn't do it, that even if she knew how to swim she was too scared to tell her body to move properly. The thought of admitting that, however, was more humiliating than letting herself drown.

[Aereth 1]

Aereth simply shrugged once Kooh let out her comment about how he could funtion properly after a night without sleep. Back in the real world, the right amount of sleep was very important for Aereth. But ever since he was doing his shady things, he had gotten used to the permanent lack of sleep. One night was no problem, but they would need to find an inn on the next floor, outside of the safe zones, so that Aereth wouldn't have to stay up two nights in a row... "Let's say you get used to it..." 

When Kooh then asked if this really was the only way to change the islands, Aereth looked over to her from the corner of his eyes, and noticed the tension in Kooh's body as well as her reluctant movements when she stored away her cardigan and said these words. Slowly even Aereth noticed what was going on inside of her. "Let me guess. You don't know how to swim, right?" Aereth asked in an almost defeated tone. "Well things, just got more complicated..." he then added mentally and removed his shirt. "What a beautiful day..."

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

The blonde felt a pang of guilt hit her with Aereth's words. After accepting her fate of tagging along with the man for however long their journey would take, one thing she wanted to avoid was being considered extra baggage. If Kooh wasn't already struggling to keep herself calm, she would have quipped back at the Aereth with a sarcastic retort to distract from her incompetence. Instead, she felt her fingers curl as her hands balled into fists at her sides, jaw tightening slightly as her emotions swirled. "Sorry." She said with forced indifference in her voice.

The girl steadied her breathing, trying to make herself accept that now was the time she needed to overcome the fear she had pushed away for years. 'You're not a little kid at the beach anymore, Luna. That can't happen here.' She reminded herself, taking a couple of steps closer to Aereth and the island's edge. She continued to stare at the waves, a bit calmer now than they were when they had first arrived on the floor in the middle of the night. "I can figure it out, yeah?" It wasn't clear whether she was reassuring herself, or actually asking the brunette if it was possible.

[Aereth 1]

Sighing, and mentally debating if it would be easier if he would just walk back up to floor 17 and try to remove the group that followed them or continuing to travel with the blonde, Aereth started to slowly rub his temples. They wouldn't have the time to wait until Kooh would have learned to swim, because then the head start they gained from making it through the labyrinth in the previous night would be gone. 

Aereth then removed his shirt and stored it away into his inventory, before turning back to Kooh. He wasn't the most muscular man in the world, but due to his everyday exercise, back in the real world as well as here in Aincrad, he had at least some muscles at the right spots. "We haven't got any time for that. You'll have to jump on my back, and I'll carry you to the other island." Aereth then looked back at the water, and gulped at the distance he would need to cover with the woman on his back. "I'm not sure if we'll still be able to make it through the next labyrinth, but I at least we gotta make it to the entrance by the end of the day."

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

'Tch.' Kooh mentally scoffed. It was painfully clear that she was becoming more of a burden, and she hated it. The girl hadn't realized that Aereth had removed his shirt until he turned and spoke up, catching her attention. She suppressed her slight surprise, focusing instead on his words that brought a scowl to her face. 'No way. She wanted to say, but held her tongue as no alternatives came to mind. She couldn't rightly argue with his plan if she had no counter-argument of her own. Silent and defeated, Kooh opened up her menus once more, pressing a couple of buttons to banish her boots to her inventory as well. As much as she liked them, they were heavy and would only be a nuisance.

Continuing to focus a portion of her attention on steadying her breathing and keeping herself calm, Kooh took a couple of steps to lead herself to the island's edge and crouched down, her chest pressing up against her knees while she balanced on the balls of her feet. The water's surface was only a few feet beneath the land, meaning the girl would be able to safely lower herself down if the handholds were kind to her. She wasn't sure what exactly Aereth had wanted her to do from here, but she was much more partial to this idea. Taking in a breath, Kooh placed her hands firmly against the earth, twisting her body and planting her right foot against the rocky surface leading down to the water. She was careful to climb downward until she soon felt the rolling water brushing against her bare feet and legs. She tensed up when the waves crashed against her knees, partially from the fear and partially from the tingling sensation that Cardinal so loved to make them feel. "It's cold!" She thought aloud, letting out a breath she had been holding before continuing down.

It only took the girl a minute or so to enter the water, though it had felt much longer for her. She held onto the rocky edge of the island to keep herself afloat, resisting the urge to climb back up and pull herself out of the water. She had forced herself in, but reminding herself of the distance they had to cross through the open water nearly had her trembling.

[Aereth 1]

"It's all good. As soon as we made it over to the island, we can put on dry clothes again." Aereth said while also slowly walking into the water. Even though he lived on the fourth floor, and was pretty much used to the cold, even Aereth couldn't help but shake once the water reached his abdominal region. Slowly getting used to the temperature, he walked over to Kooh and turned his back to her. "You can jump onto my back, and I'll get us over there safely, that's a promise. Just trust me." Aereth said in a warm and calm voice. He had been watching Kooh very observantly, and even though she tried to keep up her poker face, noticed that not only didn't she now how to swim, but also that she was seemingly afraid of the water. He then lowered his body so that she could climb on his back and waited until she would decide to trust him as well as accepting his help. "I already went so far just to keep you safe, and so I can't let you drown here. Right?" he then added with a small smirk on his face.

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Kooh stared back at the man, reluctant to loosen her grip from the rocky cliff side that kept her anchored to land. Despite his reassuring words, the girl still waited a few long moments before a breath escaped her lungs in a sigh. 'Already made it this far...' The blonde was a bit surprised by how calm the man was in the situation--then again, she was likely overreacting compared to the average person. Of all the outlandish obstacles they had to deal with, of course swimming across an ocean would be right out of the gate.

"Sure," She forced a quiet response to his rhetorical question. She tried her best to ignore the vast stretch of open water laid out before them as she extended an arm towards the brunette. With both of the players in the water, Kooh gingerly brushed her right hand over his bare shoulder before allowing herself to shift the weight of keeping herself afloat. Pulling her body over to Aereth's through the water, her torso pressed up against his back while she held onto his shoulders. An awkward feeling quickly washed over her, from both her unavoidable dependency and the closeness of their bodies.

She only hoped that Aereth wasn't being overconfident. With something--or in this case, someone--to hold onto, Kooh could allow the water itself to carry some of her weight, but she couldn't comprehend how anyone could manage to swim with another person in their way. Still, she tried her best not to worry herself over it and just tried to allow herself to be useless for a bit, as much as it irked her.

Edited June 5, 2017 by Kooh

[Aereth 1]

Feeling how the woman slowly was getting on his back in order to let him carry her to the other island, Aereth cracked a smile. "Don't worry I got this. Even though I haven't been swimming with someone on my back since..." Aereth was just about to say 'since Alice died.' but stopped in mid sentence and dropped his smile. It wasn't the most comfortable thing for Aereth to think about his deceased lover. To be honest, it still was one of the most painful things, thinking about her, remembering how she died. Why she died... "Never mind." Aereth mumbled in a low voice. "It's been some time, but I promised you to get you over there so don't worry. Confident that I can do it."

And with that he pushed himself away from the shore, and the two of them started to make their way over to the main island of this floor. It was somehow uncomfortable to carry another person through the water, but besides from being uncomfortable and somewhat slower that if he would swim alone, it was fine and Aereth didn't say another word until they reached the other shore...

@Kooh