[PP-F1] Music for the Soul

[Garou 0]

The Chained Werewolf shoved Shanok with a glowering look towards his friend. He sighed and stepped toward the bustling women, taking off his black hat and speaking again. "Excuse me if I made have started off on the wrong foot, gentleladies. I am Garou, and this is faithful ally Shanok. We come in search of-"

"SHUT UP, WEIRDO!" One of the girls shouted, interrupting him. She had brown hair and was the shortest of all of them. Her words sent a crash of anger streaming through his mind. Garou was feeling a bit violent today.

[Shanok 0]

Shanok couldn't help it anymore, he burst into uncontrollable laughter. "Garou, let's just get out of here, you know they won't tell you or sell you anything" he said, trying to control his laughter. He then headed for the door, "Garou, you coming?" he asked the purple haired boy, still laughing at bit.

[Garou 0]

He frowned in reply, looking back at his companion and turning with him. "Alright. Looks like we aren't required presence here..."

Another girl, this one taller, perhaps mature and blonde as well, started yelling. "THAT'S RIGHT YOU PLAYER KILLING TRASH! TAKE THAT BOY TOY WITH YOU AND GIVE US BACK THE MENTOR!"

Garou craned his head back. "Wait! Wh-what!?"

[Shanok 0]

Shanok was already outside, waiting on a bench. "Garou! What's taking you so long?" he asked, not even knowing if Garou would hear him or not. Not seeing Garou get out, Shanok got up and went to the stores door. "Garou, what's going on in here?" he asked, looking around the room.

[Garou 0]

As Shanok walked back into the crummy shop, the third of the trio of girls began explaining. "Please excuse my friends' rude behavior. A group of Player Killers came in here a few minutes ago and kidnapped the owner of this building." She paused, falling short of her own expectations to fully convey her point.

"Because of you PKers, we can't learn new music!" The short brunette yelled across the entrance hall. "You better give her back!" The obviously youngest girl picked up a musical score bound in leather and threw it at Garou. He frowned and drew his longsword just in time, dispersing the pages before they hit him square in the jaw with a single swipe.

"Fine. We'll bring the person back."

[Shanok 0]

"Wha...Whaaaaat?" Shanok mumbled. He looked at Garou, puzzled, then he understood what was going on. "Yea, sure, we'll bring her back!" he said confidently, "Did you notice anything particular about the kidnappers that might hint where they were going to take the owner?" he asked the girls.

[Garou 0]

The girls simultaneously shook their heads. "No. There was no trace left by them. But maybe if you hurry, you can catch them."

Garou nodded and grabbed Shanok by the arm. "Alright. I understand. Let's go." He pulled him out the door, back onto the pavement from which they came. He continued to drag Shanok down the road that led to the city gates.

[Shanok 0]

Shanok shook of Garou's hand that was holding his arm, "I can walk by myself you know?!" he said, he looked around to see if there were any player killers carrying a woman with them, "Look around to see if anyone's carrying a women or a big bag with them!" he told the purple haired boy. He looked at the alley to his left, he saw 3 players carrying a woman into what seemed like an abandonned house. "Hey, I think I found them!" he told Garou, he quickly turned around and ran towards the alley, "Follow me!" he added.

[Garou 0]

His ally nodded, taking off in the same direction as Shanok. He then skidded to a halt about halfway through the alley, speaking to his friend. "I'll take the high road, you take the low!" He then clapped on his black hat and began scaling the cobblestone walls, onto the tiled rooftop in about seven seconds. He dashed towards the edge of the roof facing the house and watched the unsuspecting villains slink into the old, dark-wooden two-story house. He could make out cobwebs inside the second floor, since dusty but translucent windows faced him.

Garou perched and gazed down at Shanok, awaiting him to make the first move.

[Shanok 0]

Shanok nodded at Garou. He went up to the door, and tried to listen to what the kidnappers were saying, his hearing skill wasn't really high, but he still could make out some words. "She...fun...body...beautiful..." as he heard those words, Shanok signaled to Garou that he was going in, he opened the door quietly and went inside. He could hear them clearly now. He couldn't take it anymore, those people that thought this was just a game and did whatever they wanted to do, they weren't allowed to do that, he would make them pay. As he unsheathed his sword, he charged into the room and quickly hit the three men, since they were in a safe zone, they didn't take any damage, but they were knocked back several meters across the big empty room. He quickly went up to the girl, "You're gonna be okay now, get out of here as fast as you can, run away" he told her as he untied her arms. "Th-Thank you!" she managed to say, trying to hold back her tears, she then ran towards the door and escaped.

[Garou 0]

One of the PKers charged Shanok, smashing him against the wall. Of course, no HP was lost in the city. But it wasn't pleasant being knocked about. The other two players began to swarm the boy, giving no room for escape.

[Shanok 0]

When is he going to arrive.... Shanok picked up his sword, which was no longer in his hand after being smashed against the wall, and he swung it from left to right, after activating his sword skill, to make sure the PKers would at least be pushed to the other side of the room, which is exactly what happened. "I already called my friends" Shanok told them, even though it was partially a lie, because only his friend, Garou was coming. "I'm blocking the only exit, you guys are done for!" he added confidently. The PKers then started to run up the stairs, to get to the second floor, what they didn't know is the fact that Garou was going to appear on the second floor really soon.

[Garou 0]

Garou waited for them to ascend to the second floor. Once they reached the top of the staircase, he launched himself from the rooftop he was kneeling upon, performing a dive through the window of the old building. He rolled on top of the shattered glass of the window he tore through, drawing his gold, shining sword Heaven's Beam as fast as the chains would permit him to.

He stood slowly with the two-handed blade, glistening in the streaming sunlight, slung around his shoulders with a single hand. He smiled slowly, and with a tad of ferocity he whispered loudly: "BOO." The men scrambled back slightly except for the strongest looking one, who simply froze before attempting speech.

"Y-you're that annoying twerp who ruins people like us' fun!" He held out a grubby finger. The man seemed to be fairly rotund but with a layer of muscle as well. The boy frowned at the mention of player killing being fun, slowly taking a step forward. The enemy raised his own sword and buckler, racing towards Garou with a zany look in his eyes.

The purple-haired lad reacted immediately, jerking his body to the side and kicking his assailant to the side. "Weakling..." he muttered, twisting over to the enemy's position. He swept him off his feet with a low kick, then charged his sword a neon-purple colour. "CATAPULTAM ICTUS!!!" He did a sort of uppercut with his glowing weapon as he activated the sword skill, sending the chubby man upwards and crashing into the ceiling. On his way back down, Garou slammed his sword's flat side onto the man's stomach, maximizing his impact back onto the second story floor. The boy twirled the massive blade between his fingers, smiling when he saw his friend. "Alright, Shanok. Clean-up time!"

[Shanok 0]

Shanok nodded to Garou. He looked at the PKers, "Hey, you wimps over there, turn off the pain absorber if you are confident that you can beat us two! We won't duel to death don't worry, just regular no damage town fighting" he told them. He pointed his curved sword at the PKers, "Hurry up!" Shanok told them, on an angry tone.

[Garou 0]

The men looked nervous, slowly beginning to cycle through their HUD menus. Their leader finally called out, struggling onto one knee. "Don't do it! It's not worth it! These kids are higher level than us... It will just be a mistake..."

Garou looked at Shanok in disbelief. I didn't know his bloodthirst was even greater than mine... He piped up. "That's right, neanderthals! Remove your weapons and allow us to escort you to the city's jail! Otherwise, we'll be having some fun with SAO's ragdoll physics with your bodies!"

They did as they were told, looking down at the floor as all three kidnappers fell silent.

[Shanok 0]

After Garou and Shanok had escorted the player killer trio to the city's fail, they wandered around for a bit, "Hey, do you think we should return to that music shop?" Shanok asked his friend. "You might be able to buy what you were looking for, since we saved that girl and all" he added as he was going through his inventory, looking at the items the trio had given to them.