[f05][SP] Killing time

[Hinatao 0]

Hinata’s day started by waking from a dream. She was interrogating someone. Was that really it? She only recalled so little in the vast strangeness of the dream. She was standing next to someone who she assumed to be on ‘her side’ and was staring at a man who was tied up. The person next to her asked, “how good are you at interrogations?” “Interrogation? Well let’s find out,” she said with a furrowed brow. She was not actually a mean person. She was kind and gentle at heart. If this had been a more adult setting she might have tried a little seduction or something of the like. But this was not the right time or place for anything like that. She walked up to the guy and smacked him on the cheek. “Yeah! Tell us how many others are after us.” “No!’ he shouted. “Then here, have a slap!” she shouted back as she slapped him again.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Hinatao

[Hinatao 0]

The man looked at Hinata’s partner or whatever she was with teary eyes and asked, “HOW CAN SHE SLAP?” only to get slapped again. This would continue for about a minute before the guy finally said, “there’s three of us. Jeeze just let me go!” In this dream they were travelling for some reason. They began their journey and they came across a trail that was all over the farm, and led to a city as well, but there was one trail that went off completely away from the city, and it was alone. "Did you ever take the path to the west?" someone asked her, who blinked in surprise and shook her head. "Then I have my trail. I will return as soon as I have proper word." she said, her tone gentle before she started off in the direction of the single trail. Who knew why dreams were what they were.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Hinatao

[Hinatao 0]

The trail lasted for a long time, far longer than Hinata had expected it to last. With some partner at her side and birds up in the skies above, Hinata had expected to hear of any number of possible places that she could go next. Yet while Hinata had heard of many places, they passed them without the trail veering towards any of them. "Whoever is after us has a clear destination in mind." Hinata said as she let out a sigh. That fact alone had Hinata on edge, since it meant she was liable to run into more trouble than she initially thought. One did not take the job of hunting someone down unless one was prepared for possible trouble over it.

As they walked, she mulled that over for a bit, her eyes never leaving the trail. In truth, it was possible that criminals within the world tended to be more prepared than those in other lands

Edited April 30, 2020 by Hinatao

[Hinatao 0]

As the world had significantly more danger than made sense, meaning their noses could be put on the trail at almost any time. Taking a puff on her pipe, Hinata’s partner considered the possibility that this criminal would be less prepared than the ones she was used to dealing with before shrugging the problem off. She would treat this particularly nasty task as if they were the most dangerous and well-prepared of criminals. If they turned out to be less than her expectations, she would enjoy the pleasant surprise. If they met her expectations, she would be prepared for it. The group continued on the trail and eventually Hinata signaled that there was a vineyard ahead of them. Hinata considered the ramifications of that as they continued on the trail. A vineyard would make an ideal place to hide an abduction victim, as there was plenty of room to hide whatever they were imprisoned in.

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Fortunately, between someone’s keen nose and her eyes, they would have no trouble finding some bad people, if they were indeed kept on the plantation.

 

And it seemed they were, as the trail veered towards the plantation with, going straight up to the door of the house ahead of them. Hinata paused for a moment and wiped her eyes, then stepped out of sight of the vineyard windows. Wiping her eyes with her hands to try and clear the strange effect on her vision, Hinata thought for a moment. She was fairly certain the people after them were in there, and she had no moral inhibitions about breaking into the house and nailing every suspect to the wall with blinding fury. But she also had to consider the possible legal ramifications of her actions. She'd be trespassing, there was no doubt about that, but did she have legal reason to do so.

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The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became. Her experience came in handy here, as it allowed her to look at the legality of her actions from the viewpoint of one. So, with that in mind, Hinata knew she didn't have enough evidence to acquire a meaningful reason behind breaking in, if they even gave them to her. She could go for probable cause, but she didn't feel she had enough evidence for that either

Granted, she didn't know how long the guards would take and she was considering taking the risk when someone spoke up. "Hinata, weren't there two other groups that were hijacked and stolen from not too long ago." the girl asked. Hinata considered for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. I almost went for them instead, but I decided to take that case since I feel I had a better chance of solvin' it than most." she said in thought.

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"And I got where they lived." she said slowly, before looking up at the others. "Hey, look around for a farm about a mile or two to the north of here." she said, before she looked at someone else. "You, go up to the door and get every scent you can while she looks about." she said as she ruffled her hair. If the people who were robbing people lived here then she could just get rid of all threats right here and now. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about getting mugged all the way to her destination. All signs all led to the same vineyard, it would be plenty of evidence for probable cause. Why was she caring so much about that today?

It wasn't long before someone called back that she had found the farm, and she returned shortly afterward. "All right, lets go." she said as they headed out according to that directions.

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She hurried this time, as eager to continue this thing as everyone else was. As they traveled, she sent out a silent thought. "Thanks everyone in my past for training me so that my strength not falter until I get these people home safely." It wasn't a prayer, not exactly, but rather a sincere showing of gratitude. When she stood face to face with the area, she realized how accurate her childhood had been. She had set into her mind long ago, product of his memories of youth, and yet she found it to be almost identical both in mind and reality. It wasn’t smaller than he remembered, nor did it have a different tone to it in his mind; it was an exact reproduction to what he recalled. Because of it, there was no disappointment in finding something other than expected. At the same time, that same lack of disappointment was, paradoxically, a disappointment in itself. It was as if her mind had no changed in all these years, remaining as bitter and angry now as it was in her youth.

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They continued on their way after Hinata grinned since her methods had worked just fine. They were going to get to their destination soon, she thought but they still had to worry about the two others that were promised. Lucky for them they showed up shortly after they left the first criminal buried chest deep in the ground with no way of escaping. “Kakawww,” it was more flying birds. Two of them this time. They swooped down but this time Hinata was able to latch onto one of them with her hands and slam them into the ground. All this violence suddenly made her stir and sit up in her bed. “Was I just dreaming if being a crime solving detective that fought birds by catching them out of the sky and slamming them into the ground? She didn’t even want to go back to sleep after that. Else she might cry.

[Hinatao 0]

 

She soon drifted back to sleep though all the same. In her dream she picked up a little bit later than when she last remembered. She spotted one of the enemies and she made quick work of them while they slept. That was easy. She moved to the next sleeping quarters and got rid of three more. That meant that only the ones that weren’t here would be troubling her later on. She and the rest of her group broke for the night and went to shelter. Before she knew it the next day had started and she was wandering around. She felt like crap. Regardless, it felt good to know her mental faculties were trustworthy, even if only useful to bring disappointment. The streets were busy, even if the climate wasn’t exactly favorable. The spirits were high, both figuratively and literally, for many dilated pupils spoke of the drug use some of these specimens had ingested.

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As one man limped through the wide streets, helping himself with the use of his cane, the former soldier in him severely judged the armed forces of the area. Such conduct he would’ve considered inappropriate for a professional, which was a rather hypocritical judgement coming from a former alcoholic. Well, he though, at least I was entitled to it. Some of the women, those that apparently were not working today, also seemed to be quite drunk, laughing and hugging their friends in corners, tables, and within the dozen taverns encountered in a short walk.

 

The severely overweight male – obese being a word he would never allow to describe his frame - was the target of many gazes, some of which he returned with a scowl, and others which he simply ignored. Those curious and somewhat surprised eyes inspired him to limb faster, somewhat, for he feared stopping would lead his personal space to be crowded.

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This man was somewhat of an interesting specimen but Hinata wouldn’t get a chance to dream anymore. Her alarm was going off that she had set for herself. She hopped out of bed and walked around down the streets of real life which to her was just SAO. It was strange, to dream but then wake up in a video game. It was like she was still in a dream in some ways. She didn’t have any objectives today except for walking around and burning time. She needed a bit more SP to level up again so she was just killing time. She did not stop anywhere in the street, nor took any turn. Those options weren’t even considered. Instead, she did what her gut told him, or what it would say if it wasn’t currently growling in hunger. She walked forth, tall and proud, being dodged by the crowd the same way a carriage would.

[Hinatao 0]

 

It wasn’t every day that she got to take it so easy. She had quite a time before now but now things were all handled and she could relax knowing that there wasn’t much else to do. She needed days like these really, so that she could stop being so worried about danger and combat and just enjoy life as it was meant to be. “How many more days do I think we’ll have left in SAO by the way,” she asked herself while thinking about how skilled she had gotten with weaponry as well. She didn’t want to pry into the details of the future but she felt like it was an acceptable question to ask. It wasn’t like she was thinking she would somehow beat the game any time soon but you know, wishful thinking and such. There was a looming question among all SAO players as to when they’d beat the game.

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Hinata walked along and met a disabled player. She got to know him a little. Being partially disabled had not humbled the man, nor had instilled him with a sense of satisfaction by doing something he should be struggling with. For him, walking large distances was something he was capable of doing in the past, and he’d conform for nothing less than what he was capable of doing when his lower leg was made of flesh rather than fancy metals. Almost an hour must’ve passed the moment he found himself leaving the town once again to prowl for something to do. Hinata tagged along with him, curious as to how it affected his gameplay. Others had been sent to just rot away if they had no ability to even play the game properly. That’s where he came in. He was so to say one of the few that remained head strong.

[Hinatao 0]

They didn’t do much of anything. Hinata walked with the man and talked about all the struggles he had on a day to day basis. He said that if mobs came at him then he’d handle it. He could still nagivage the menues he was just kind of slow at it. If it wasn’t coming then he would assume others had taken care of it and he could take the day off. In front of him, to the south, he found the freedom of the plains and farmlands, with its trees and its birds, and every little creature that hid in them. He also found people, obviously, scattered in stables, on roads, on carts, or in their homes. And in some of the carts was the caravan he would look at. He would’ve often considered himself a creature of civilization. Busy streets and loud crowds is where he thrived, where he could think clearly.

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Nature and emptiness, on the other hand, he detested. Hinata couldn’t relate to him not liking nature. It was the only thing that reminded her of real life. However nature had caused the man’s disability so he hated it. It made him feel exposed, alone, and without a purpose. Looking over his shoulder, he found no interest in the crowds. As such, he and Hinata kept walking. This landscape was slightly annoying to traverse, but eventually it too was left behind. Surprisingly, he had not been stabbed, robbed, or murdered himself three qualities he had long ago associated with going where mobs could get him, other than nisery. Now, it was only the vastness of nothingness what greeted his eyes. The path forked, and every new direction it took broke off the sense of security found in the previously wide main road. Looking left and right, not much thought was given as he simply picked a direction and advanced.

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They’d reach someplace, eventually, and maybe then they’d rest. This was an awfully a lot of backstory to a simple person that was going to probably never hang out with Hinata again. But it was going to be worth it in the end because of all the time it took to form a bond was good for the both of them. "That's the forest there off in the distance," he told Hinata and pointed straight ahead of them, not long after they'd left their most recent resting spot on foot. It was only for a couple stops on the journey after all and she'd have plenty more opportunities to get some food and water before wandering off again. "It's the forest I told you about," he added with a grin while adjusting his equipment. Hinata said "You know, this reminds me of the one I spent a few days in alone when I was little”. 

[Hinatao 0]

Having little to nothing left to do for the day she went back home and started reading about some of the lore in the game. She found one particular NPC that was supposedly bred to divide and conquer, and just by looking at his picture she found that he was a rather fierce fighter. He showed no mercy and only seeks to gain for himself. Ever since a young age he has seen himself as better than most others around him and isn’t afraid to let them know about it unless they are clearly superior. As such he has become quite an interesting person compared to some of the other NPCs that she had read about because this is where the strongest thrive. His dreams are to become the best in his family and to topple all the player characters with displays of sheer might. She smiled as she kept reading, this was someone she wanted to meet someday.