[SP-F1]Feeding the Beast

[BlackBell 0]

With nothing in particular to do on this beautiful, sunny day Hikari wandered though the streets in hopes of find some sort of entertainment. After several minutes of passing shop after shop and finding nothing she decided to sit down on a nearby bench.

That was when something interesting happened.

An NPC who wore a white mid-drift top, a ruby red flowing skirt and head piece sat down next to her. Her hair was black as midnight and the women had eyes warmer than a mid-summer morning. At first the young girl had no idea what was going on. Normal NPC's didn't do this. But then the women spoke.

"Young one," She started in a velvety smooth voice,"You look lonely. May I suggest a beast companion? If you feed a beast of any kind a random food you can tame then. And I do mean any beast."

And then with that said the women--whose NPC name read Gypsy--walked off into the crowd and disappeared.

[BlackBell 0]

If what the Gypsy had said was indeed true then that meant that Hikaru had quite the decision to make.

What is best to pick a monster that had healing abilities, or one that fought by your side? What about a monster that was smaller as compared to bigger? Maybe even on that leveled up with you, if that was even possible.

Sighing, and slouching slightly, she ran though the monsters that were in the current area. Boar. No. Wolf. No. Weasel. No. It had to be something unique, something that not every one had seen. Or heard of. And the best place to find information like that was within the bindings of a book.

"Well," Hikaru murmured to herself while hopping off the bench, "To the bookstore."

[BlackBell 0]

"Hello,"The male NPC greeted upon Hikaru opening the shop door, "And welcome to the Book Store. Let me know if you need any help at all!"

Just simply nodding toward the NPC she made her way though the shelves of the shop. Having only been her once or twice since getting suck in this game, it took her awhile to find the book that she had been looking for. It was one titled "Monsters of Sword Art" and it gave players info on some of the monster located on different floors. Selecting the book she took it to the NPC and proceeded to check in out.

As soon as she exited the shop she opened the book and begin to read. Dodging in and out of people while scanning though the pages, she suddenly found herself stopping on page 152. There was a picture of a animal about the size of a cat. It appeared much like a owl and griffin mixed together with brown and white coloring. The name was an "OwlGriff." They were support creatures that lived in the forests of level one.

Snapping the book shut Hikaru made several stops before heading out toward the wooded part of the level.

[BlackBell 0]

By the time she was ready to leave the town it was Midday.

Exiting the walls of the beginner city, Hikaru started walking in the direction that the forested region of Floor 1 was located. In order to get there one had to travel though the grassland region; where it was possible to run into an abundance of monsters. Wolves, boars, and even beetles. Ever since getting past level one Hikaru had been finding that defeating the monsters on level one considerably less harder.

But even before getting into the forest Hikaru knew that she it was going to be challenging. Never before had she fought in a domain with so many obstacles. It would be easy to trip or run into one of those enormous trees that decorated the forest floor.

As the sun began to set, there was a rustling behind her. Crouching down within the grass, she grabbed her sword in perpetration as to what might come.

Investigate: Odd number

Run: Even number

[BlackBell 0]

Whatever the noise had been, it didn't get any closer.

Taking the assumption that whatever had made the noise didn't notice her; Hikaru started to slowly back up. In took several minutes of careful stepping, but eventually she made it a safe distance away. Righting herself she then took off in a light jog toward a more lengthily route to the forest.

By the time she had made it about halfway there the sun had begun to go down. Night's in SAO were more dangerous than the days in SAO. Especially when traveling in the middle of the grasslands. Yes, she may have been tired, but making to the forest was safer than staying in the middle of an open field.

Sighing, Hikaru took a deep breath and then started once more at a light jog. If she kept this up then she could maybe make it to the forest by the next morning.

[BlackBell 0]

It had been a long night of constant jogging with very few rest breaks.

By the time the sun was rising over the horizon, Hikaru had made it to the beginnings of the forested region of SAO's first floor. Breathing heavy the girl plopped down under one of the nearby trees and just laid there, completely exasperated and out of stamina.

Still from her position of laying under the tree the young girl pulled up her menu screen and selected various types of food for her breakfast. Some of that food included sandwiches, fruits, veggies and milk. Bringing herself to a sitting position Hikaru set out the meal in a neat fashion, and then began eating.

Once finished with her meal, Hikaru felt the beginnings of tiredness seep into her bones. Right out in the open, on the ground and by herself, was possibly the worst place to fall asleep. Taking a quick glance around she found herself looking up into the dense, coverings of the leaves on the trees.

Perfect.

[BlackBell 0]

Not even second later Hikaru was making her way up the tree by crawling on the branches.

More that a little ways of she found the perfect branch to relax on. It was wide enough to safely sit on. Thick enough to securely hold her body weight and smooth enough that she didn't get any splinter. Not that she was even sure that was possible in this game, but that was no point in risking it.

Leaning her back against the trunk of the tree, she then straighten her legs out and rested her hands on her lap. No, it was not as comfortable as the grassland below, but it was much safer and that was the selling point. Tilting her head back on the tree trunk Hikaru's eyes automatically fell shut and sleep overcame her.

Since it was daylight now there was not many sounds in the forest, but as soon as night drops, all that would change.

[BlackBell 0]

Several hours later the moon had come out of hiding bring with it a veil of darkness that covered the world.

Hikaru, who was still asleep up in her tree, was woken by the stream of moonlight that shined down though a spot right into her face. Blinking her eyes repeatedly in order to adjust to the brightness she tried to roll back over in an attempt to go back to sleep. The only problem was, she had forgotten where she was sleeping that night and rolling right off the branch.

Hitting a couple branches on the way down Hikaru finally landing on the forest floor with a loud 'thump', grateful that the game did not feature a sense of pain. Sitting up and focusing on her HP bar she found that it had gone down a few points. Sighing to herself at her own stupidity, the girl got up and stretched. It was now time to start the hunt of this owlgriff thing.

[BlackBell 0]

Summoning the book out of her inventory Hikaru found the page with the owlgrif on it and began to re-read. The book stated;

OWL GRIFFINS AKA OWLGRIF

"These creatures are a hyprid between a barn owl and a griffin. They thrive in the forested region of Floor 1 during the night hours. They are extremely hard to catch due to their ability of silent flight and night vison. Not much else has

While they are not known for their power, their healing abilities are that of compared to a legendary Phoenix Tears. Only these creatures do not use tears to heal. When wishing to heal someone a down feather will be shead and then asorbed by the player.

"Well, It a good thing I waited until night then."

Pulling the sword out of the sheath Hikaru then started into the dark forest with her head on a constant swivel.

[BlackBell 0]

There was so many sounds that Hikaru had never heard before. Squeaking. Squawking. Clicking. It wasn't long before her nerves went on edge and every noise made her jump.

The most stressful part was the fact that there was not pathway that lead though the forest. It was pretty much an at your own risk type of deal, which was in a way much more terrifying than anything. Not per say that Hikaru was afraid of the dark or anything, but at the same time she wasn't such a big fan of it.

She was so up tight that she even drew her sword, which was not normal at all. Normally, the young girl would wait for a monster to strike, but this time she was afraid that she wouldn't see it before being able to respond. Sword out in front of her she managed to cut though some leaves when suddenly she froze on spot.

There it was.

Perched on a high branch and casually cleaning it's feathers. It was definitely a lot cuter than the picture had seemed. Now, all she had to do was feed it....