[OP-F1] New Faces ~Completed~

[Pyro 0]

Pyro sat in a field and pulled her scrawny legs to her chest. She closed her crimson eyes as the wind blew strands of purple hair in her face. 'This world is as lonely as the real one.' She thought before laying back on the grass, putting both arms behind her head. So far she had no luck making friends as she had planned. It seemed everyone came to SAO with a pal already and it would be weird for her to just walk up to them.. wouldn't it? Pyro had no idea how real friends interacted. "Solo player for life." She muttered disappointed, but it came out sounding monotone. There was no frown on her face, she rarely showed emotion. The lake before her glistened, the sun was still high in the sky, nothing stirred in the empty field. Pyro was beginning to think that SAO was a mistake, that at least in real life she had her parents to talk to. Even that stray cat she saw everyday on her way to school would mew at her once in a while. Pyro began to daydream, a dangerous habit of hers', and zoned out everything else as she glared at the bright blue sky looming above her.

 

 

[Sol 0]

Sol ventured out into the fields, hopefully to train a little bit more as he wasn't too keen with his previous encounter with a rare monster. How could he protect and help the front liners advance if he couldn't even defeat a simple monster like that? Dissatisfied with his actions a while ago against said rare monster, Sol had a goal to defeat more monsters in mind. As well as possibly raise a rank or two in skills. 

 

As Sol continues to venture out, he spots a young looking girl sitting in the middle of the fields. "Hrm? What is she doing?" Sol began to think that this could be a player debating on the choice of suicide like he had done before when he started. This thought made him shiver. Sol walked towards the girl and shouted out at her, hopefully his voice would call out to her. "Hello over there~!" Sol said with a bright smile, attempting to brighten her mood before he even reached her. He could even tell she was either depressed, or just lonely. Either way was a terrible way to spend time in his book.

[Pyro 0]

A loud voice echoed in Pyro's head, interrupting her daydream. She came out of her trance annoyed. Though when she sat up and saw someone walking towards her, her heart skipped a beat. 'My first friend... hopefully.' She thought. Pyro stood up and stretched. 'Aw man, it's been a while since I've stood up.' Her bones let out a painful crunching sound as she sighed in satisfaction. The figure was now standing in front of her, watching as she performed her actions. "Oh! Sorry I didn't see you there." Pyro gulped and mentally smacked herself. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and peered at the person standing in front of her with a smile plastered on his face, his arms crossed.

[Sol 0]

Upon walking up to the young girl, Sol blinked as she stood up, the crackling of her bones was making him want to stretch now. Seeing her stretch, he let out a small laugh and began to stretch as well. Pulling his arms over his head and stretching outwards, once his arms was done, he cracks his neck abit and twisted his upper body to pop a little bit of his spine as well. "Ooohh~ You know stretching like that is contagious. But at least it feels good when those bones pop huh?" He said trying to make a bit of small talk before introducing himself. 

 

He smiled as he held out a hand to the girl. "Sorry, My name is Sol. I'm here to make your day a little bit better! Considering the scenario of course." He referred to said scenario as the trap everyone in this world was in. "Though, I suppose its hard to make ones day get better after seeing alot of what we saw.. But I won't let that stop me." He muttered aloud as if thinking.

[Guest]

It had been some time since Alkor had found his way down to the first floor. Moving between the higher tiers of Aincrad currently accessible, he'd lost some degree of touch with the fact that there were still low level players around. The few that made it as far as he usually was didn't remain low level for long, and those that didn't make it... well, Alkor rarely met them outside of Vulcan town.

The Stygian cloak that obscured the higher level, orange cursored player revealed shadowy golden eyes as he skimmed the area just outside of the Town of Beginnings. He had heard, on rare occasions, that Player Killers preyed on the weak in this area during boss raids and events that drew away the attention of Clearers.

Of course, there were no such events currently, so all he could do was search for clues. Possible hiding places, routes used for escape, even the unlikely possibility of anew upcoming target- anything he could use to find them and put an end to the slaughter.

Today, all he found were two young players, unsuspecting and relatively under geared- though, that was not out of the ordinary for this floor. They didn't seem to be fighting anything, nor were they really... alert? He had to wonder if they had even noticed him, yet. Player Killer cursors weren't hard to miss. His was still fresh enough to burn like wildfire in the eyes of anyone who knew what it signified.

Instead of approaching the two- because realistically, what were they going to think if a red player just walked up to them defenseless on the first floor?- Alkor decided to give them a wide berth. He concentrated on the forested area in the distance, heading there to do some searching.

With any luck, he'd avoid detection altogether...

...doubt it.

[Pyro 0]

Pyro giggled like a schoolgirl on the inside, though on the outside she cracked nothing but a small smile, as she saw the person who approached her cracked his bones as she had and make a comment about it to her. 'He's one of those people that makes others happy just by being around... at least that is what it feels like.' Pyro blinked twice as he held out his hand to her. She quickly took it and flinched a little at his strong grasp. As the two let go he said a few words and then muttered the last sentence. 'Sol. His name is Sol. Quick! Tell him your name idiot.' Pyro thought. But before she told him her name she squinted her eyes and inspected him from head to toe. 'What did he say... something about not letting something stop him?'

 

"Pyro. I'm Pyro. I-It's really nice to meet you. What happened I'll never forget for sure, no sane person could. I've been so lonely..." Pyro said in a flat tone, her smile disappearing. Though what she said was true.

 

"Oh! I didn't mean to say that last one. Ignore that please." She looked down and rubbed the back of her neck, a very faint blush reaching her cheeks. Embarrassment was the only emotion that could stand out on Pyro's face.

 

Out of the corner of her eye, Pyro thought she noticed someone moving around. 'Orange? No... red maybe.' She dismissed it quickly and kept her focus on the figure in front of her.

[Arekkusu Sepera 0]

"I've not met any of these people before..." Arekkusu stated to himself the obvious. He didn't stay in the higher of heights, he was too busy with just not explaining things. He wasn't a guy of habits, but seeing a party he never met before, that interested him. However, he didn't plan to startle the group, so he made sure to stay put of plain sight. This was his best way of getting data on players he never even met. Arekkusu being himself was just a spy until caught. Then he could either fight or talk his way out of the situation or in his way into the group. He would approach them directly, but he had no one to say hi to in that group, nor did he have a reason to even say hi. So he decided to lay low for now and watch the news at a distance, but not above them. Instead, he chose to stand around an area populated by trees.

"Let's see what I can find." Arekkusu said to himself, being a man of that bad habit.

[Sol 0]

Sol snapped out of his muttering and laughed. "Nice to meet you Pyro. Yeah Alot of us would be scarred about this. But enough sulking. I'll be sure to keep you company! I don't think anyone should feel the crushing grasp of loneliness. I've been there. Ain't very fun. Trust me on that." He kept on his light hearted attitude.

 

Sol listened to her say something about ignoring what she said and nodded to agree on it. "Noted aaaand Ignored." He chuckled as he saw that faint blush run across her cheeks. "So, What bring a player like you out here? You do know it could be dangerous out here right? I nearly died by some stupid boar not too long ago..." Sol joked around, yet his story was rather true...

 

Sol blinked seeing an orange flash in his peripherals. He looked and searched the tree line. "...?" Dismissing it as proably something else, he looked back to Pyro, then out of his other side spotted another player. He waved his hand to Arekkusu, in hopes he would join in on the small talk. "Look another player! He looks a bit better than I am. Maybe He could help us out by giving us tips of the pros?" He mentioned the idea to Pyro. Her assumption would be correct, he was indeed the type to spread happiness around people he was around.

[Pyro 0]

Pyro was glad Sol chose to ignore what she said, though her expression remained plain. 'I should be more careful...' Pyro told herself. She noticed that Sol was looking around. 'I knew I saw something strange! Wonder what it is..." She thought. Then Sol waved to someone standing near the trees. Sol was right, he looked much better than the two of them did. Pyro was impressed.

 

"Good idea. I haven't even unsheathed my sword yet. I could use some tips."

 

She was surprisingly good at being 'social' and was hoping the stranger would come to them.

[Guest]

Alkor blinked when he stopped not fifteen feet from another player. At the edge of the wooded area, he had to wonder what the other man was doing. He seemed interested in the small group of new players, but his cursor wasn't orange. Was he one of the so called "bait characters" who lured unsuspecting victims to actual PKers? Alkor had to piece it together- non-violently, if at all possible.

"Excuse m-" he was about to simply engage the youth in conversation when the other two players simply started toward them. Alkor let out a sigh, then decided it would be fine- at least for now- to interact with some other players.

"Ahem. Hey," he said to Arekkusu, "what's a high level player like you doing on this floor?"

He asked the question in a quiet voice, and before the other players got to them so that he wouldn't embarrass the man if in fact he had only good intentions. If he intended something less than noble-

Well, Nightbringer was always hungry.

[Exchequer 0]

Exchequer was lost. It hadn't been long since he finally realised that he was trapped in a death game, and what made it worse was that he didn't even know how to react to the situation. He had seen many people die already; Players who he initially thought would have been alright, but considering the atmosphere of Aincrad; the suspense, the fear of even leaving the Town of Beginnings, Exchequer eventually guessed that perhaps the situation wasn't so...playful. 

 

While wandering in the abyss that was his thoughts, Exchequer was aimlessly walking through the fields of floor one. He had to leave the haven that was the Town of Beginnings eventually, for he didn't like to be categorised as a Player who was unwilling to fight for liberation; especially when many others made the ultimate sacrifice already. 

 

Exchequer's attention was soon averted, and his untamed thoughts were halted. He spotted a small group of Players in the near distance. He began to observe them; deducing their intentions and deciding whether or not they were friendly. 

[Arekkusu Sepera 0]

Arekkusu jumped at the eyes all looking at him. How did he screw up so badly as to actually let himself be seen? Oh well, why hide? He was high enough a level to talk to them.

"A high leveled player like me l always hangs here." Arekkusu said. "The other floors are boring, nothing really to do since there aren't many players there. And what about you might I ask? You a seem just about as advanced as I do in comparison to me."

[Sol 0]

Upon another glance around, Sol spots another player closely by Arekkusu once getting a little closer. That glimmer of an orange cursor. Could this be one of those rumored Player Killers Sol heard about? "Hey~!" He shouted at the two next to the tree lines, becoming a little worried about the orange cursor color.

 

"...Hey Pyro, don't take this the wrong way or anything but I think we should keep our distance from over there for the time being... I think one of those Player Killers are over there with that player." Sol pointed over to Arekkusu and Alkor's position. Sol glanced around seeing another nearby player with a green cursor looking about the same as himself and Pyro. "Hey Come here Hurry!" He shouted with a clear warning at Exchequer. If anything he wanted to make sure anyone around was safe. Since Arekkusu looked like he could handle himself, Sol left him be for the time being...

[Pyro 0]

Pyro looked at the person Sol called to, and stopped a few paces away from Sol, as she had already started making her way towards Arekkusu and the other player. 'So many people!' She started to get scared, or at least a bit nervous, yet she made sure to only frown and hold back the trembles she oh-so wanted to reveal. 'Sol will protect me, yeah.' Pyro thought as the stranger known as Exchequer came near them. She kept to Sol's side.

[Sousuke 0]

Sousuke was wandering around aimlessy his girlfriend had gone off to run a few errands which left him pretty bored when he saw Arek on the the edge of the wooded area he was currently walking through, well walking wasn't really the word more like tracking. He was using his military training to track a player known as Alkor, a known player killer. He wasn't after him to engage him in combat he just had a few questions for him regarding the death of his brother. He approached Arek and noticed the man he had been tracking, but had since lost his trail a few kilometres back. He thanked his luck and approached them. ''Hey Arek its been a while hasn't it? and your Alkor I presume? ive been tracking you for a while now.'' he said to the pair.

[Exchequer 0]

"What?" Exchequer blurted out when his intense concentration was abruptly broken by the sudden outcry for him to run to where the Player, <<Sol>>, was with what appeared to be other green icon players. Not wasting any extra expense on time by faffing about, Exchequer's adrenaline moderately kicked in and he sprinted as fast as he could away from the yellow icon player and towards Sol. It was the fastest he had run in a long time, and by the time he had reached Sol, Exchequer realised that his cardiovascular fitness was out of whack...in a video game. He was panting quite heavily, but Exchequer soon found the strength to grip onto the handle of his Rapier; ready to unsheathe it if worse came to the worst.

[Arekkusu Sepera 0]

A player killer? Wasn't Arekkusus cursor green? Or maybe it was just the angling with the other player that caused it to happen.

"I'm not a player killer." Arekkusu said stepping to the side to confirm his cursor being green. "And I am not a threat to you. I don't attack innocent players. And just because a player killer has killed someone, it doesn't make them instantly guilty. This one actualky defended someone who was being tortured... So please don't judge me for how I look. Many high leveled players like me want to help if you let us."

Arekkusu then turned his head to Sousoke. "Hey there Sousoke." Arekkusu said. "I'm doing well, and how about you?"

[Sol 0]

Sol continued to watch the confrontation the best be could. Keeping both Pyro and Exchequer somewhat behind him. Sol knew he was slightly better geared to take a hit than them two. "Listen to me guy, I don't know your name because I don't want to lose track of this PK'er. If anything happens though. I trust you as a man to protect and get Pyro and yourself to safety. Do you understand me?" 

 

Sol directed his instruction to Exchequer, as he drew his assault spear, just incase. Keeping it at a clearly defensive position. "If anything, we will just go and try to level up on our own, sound like a plan?" Sol added, trying to keep morale high.

[Guest]

"Oh look," Alkor muttered, "we've gone and made a scene."

Arekkusu asked him what he was doing here, but before Alkor could answer, another player was approaching from an angle behind him.

His eyes flickered with doubt and intensity. The man didn't seem to want to have it out with him, but the idea of tracking him left a bitter taste in his mouth. "How can I help you," he asked the strange new player in a detached voice that sounded almost hollow. "I mean, if you know who I am, I'm at a loss. There are only so many things you might want from me."

His gaze fell back on Arekkusu, with whom conversation had been interrupted, and then continued. "I'm investigating Player Killings on this floor," he told him, "I thought you looked suspicious, lurking outside of view of weaker players. But, you seem to have friends around, and a Player Killer would be alone. My apologies."

Alkor sighed and folded his arms. "And now, they're all worried I'm going to try killing them."

[Pyro 0]

Pyro listened to Alkor's words and frowned. "I-I trust you." She stepped out from behind Sol and smiled, something extremely rare for her to do. "And I know that anyone could be a threat but I don't see you as one anymore."

 

Then she stepped back to Sol and tugged on his sleeve. "I'd like to stick with you, if that's alright. Thanks for defending me and Exchequer!" Her smile turned into a grin, a small grin, but one nonetheless.