[OP-F3] Nothingness

[Kotori 0]

As the cold dark night began to settle into place to indicate the changing of phases from day to night, a female with the hair the color of oak was only just beginning her little adventure outside the safe zones of Delilah Village and into the Forest of Wavering Mist. This player was fully aware of the all the dangers and possible outcomes of this trek and still decided to go ahead with it, simply because this was one of the only ways she could her minds off recent events. There was no other way besides combat and exploring to do this so here she was. The other reason Kotori was giving the okay signal for this was because she no longer cared about her safety and well-being, so if she died, well so be it. Of course she wasn't suicidal or maybe she was, she hadn't fully decided on it and probably was not going to attempt it, but she just couldn't care much if that health bar dropped to zero. Nothing was going to stop her and she was going to do this.

Light footsteps dissipated into pixels as the pale girl continued onwards, her dainty little fingers grabbing her dagger tightly although her palms did not become sweaty as they had become accustomed to the tight grip-hold. Her grim frown lingered on her face to reflect her current outlook, there wasn't ever anything to be happy about. Not anymore. Kotori didn't feel any pity for her current situation, this was only to be expected in her life and it would never change, it was just how it was. Moping around did nothing but make her weak and crying wouldn't change anything except for people who temporarily seemed to care. Bottling emotions seemed to be appealing to her as she could just ignore her feelings and her days wouldn't be spent idling doing emotional actions. It didn't matter what others said, this is what she was doing.

There wasn't much action going on inside the forest, odd since she had recalled being told mobs spawned more at night although it could've been just a rumor or she just happened not to run into many. Then again she wasn't really searching for monsters at all. Nevertheless, there had to be a reason for the lack of feral animals to fight although she couldn't put her finger on it. Although, the night was still early and she had plenty of time before the sun rose and the influx of players began to flow throughout all the floors. Time. She had lots of it. Hopefully tonight wouldn't be a waste and she could keep her mind off things permanently. 

[Golden 0]

I've really done it this time haven't I... Golden thought with a swipe of his hair. Sure, he'd expected to return to his shop on floor one later than expected but this late....? The night had already bestowed upon the world of SAO and material gathering haven't been of great success. Golden sighed in disappointment as he looked up from inside the forest of wavering mist to see the big, beautiful white moon, reflecting light across everything in the world. I cannot help but admire the sheer beauty of it all. Golden thought as he continued following the path that will (hopefully) lead him out of the dreaded forest at night. He'd had a tiring day and more action might take him to his limit, thus, he plans to return as soon as possible back to the safety of the first floor where his shop lays.

Golden had killed off a lot of mobs on that floor early that morning and it was creepy... seeing that there were no mobs around as he walked. With a shudder, Golden could hear strange bug and bird noises... but... he could possibly be imagining it all. What a drag. He thought, quite frustrated at himself for making such a cruel and vital mistake of staying out in the forest too long, but that was also to blame on the fact that he'd gotten himself lost deep in the forest beforehand. Now, he finally found the path, yet he was still long from reaching the exit of it all.

Golden skimmed his eyes as he could see the outside of the forest. The night wasn't as late as he'd expected it to be maybe because he practically ran out of the forest... however, as he exited the piles of bushes and crowded trees, Golden saw a lady standing outside just in front of him. Well... this isn't eerie at all. Golden thought with a nervous smile and a scratch on his head. "So... uh... why are you up so late." Golden said when he realized that the lady was someone he knew from a long time ago.

[Kotori 0]

Kotori would be lying if she had said she wasn't expecting any players to find her at all, it was something that couldn't be avoided when a game had nine thousand something players scattered in eleven floors, in fact she would be surprised not to have been seen. Of course, now it seemed she would rarely meet new people as she heard the voice of another person speak towards her. She turned around to find herself gazing at a boy that left off with her on bad terms, which left a sudden queasy feeling her gut as she now had to apologize for actions. However it seemed the boy was more interested in why she was up at the current hour it was. There wasn't really anything to it at all, she just was awake at these hours. Sleep was something she seldom did often as it wasn't as if fighting was tiring at all, so she found herself awake for many hours on end. "I'm always up this late.." She answered with a hint of melancholy underlining her answer. She could've brought up the fact that he was walking around this late, but there really wasn't any point in doing that.

Now that Kotori had gotten that out of the way, she decided to speak once more since there were words that needed to be spoken and if she didn't say them now, she would regret it for years to come. "I'm sorry about that day when I yelled at you, I didn't really mean those words anyway, I just was scared for that girl's life. I honestly understand if you don't want to forgive, I hate myself too so don't worry about that. I just wanted to apologize." She finished before staring back down at her hands. It wasn't as if she could save anyone and Oikawa knew that as he was dead now. She blamed herself for his death as she could've been a bit more proactive in helping him in battle and then he wouldn't have left her behind. She could only assume that he died in battle, he wasn't one for suicide. Brushing those thoughts aside was what she decided to do next as dwelling on what could've been doesn't make anyone feel better, she had to focus on the boy in front of her at the moment.

[Kiru 0]

I had been asleep for a good six hours since I laid down in the tall prairie grass of floor three. No one interrupted me, I wasn't uncomfortable yet one thing disturbed my slumber. The only thing wrong was the nightmare I was having. I was in the Town of Beginnings, walking at Keith's side. No on was in the shops or the streets, everything was empty. Out of nowhere a whistle was blown and in front of us were sprinting guards. The look on their faces were full of hatred as they charged this was. Confused, I looked towards the blue haired male beside me. He lifted his hand towards my face and removed the bangs that shielded my eyes. He smiled and stood in front of me. Suddenly spears came from all directions, aimed at Keith. I knew what he was doing but I wasn't about to allow him to. I attempted to push him out of the way but he got farther and farther away from my reach until finally the spears- "KEITH NO!" I screamed as my eyes flashed open and my arm extended in front of me. I looked up at the night sky and focused my eyes on the twinkling stars. With an inward sigh I closed my hand into a fist and frowned, bringing the fist back to the ground. "Just a dream...chill." I said, calming myself down a bit. For a little while longer I gazed at the stars above. "Tch." I stood up slowly and made my way towards the Forest of Wavering Mist. I had only been in there about three or four times but from my personal experience it was nothing to be afraid of. Sure it was dark and misty but there were barely any monsters that lurked in the forest. If on the rare occasion that there happened to be one then it would be equivalent to a field boss of a boar. Once I reached the entrance I looked left and right, normally there would be a guardian that you would have to fight but it wasn't here. Which meant that they was someone already in there. I frowned and equipped my dagger, stepping into the woods. 

My footsteps were loud, I wanted the player in here so late at night to either be afraid of me and run or come and fight me. It was a little twisted but it was better than trying to be quiet and getting attacked while trying to cover up my noises. I chuckled slightly. If Tristan found out about this crazy little adventure at night I wouldn't hear the end of it. Surely he'd scold me for being an idiot and damaging my health. Not that I cared so much about a trek into the woods but he would make a big deal of it. The forest wasn't even that dangerous, night didn't even increases the risk of dying. Or at least I wouldn't die in such a stupid place at a time like this. I continued to move along, making noise, until I could slightly hear a conversation. It wasn't just one person here, it was two. Someone was apologizing, the other was asking why they were up so late. After confirmed that they weren't dangerous I stepped on a twig and called out to them. "Oi, make yourselves visible before I assume you're a Player Kill and pursue you." 

[Alex 0]

Alex was ready to go on his first day exploring in the night, and his first day off floor one. Alex wondered up to floor three and was gonna venture in the night. Probably not a good idea, but hey, when doesn't a human usually have a bad idea? Anyways, Alex wondered around on the floor, in search of something. A player. A friendly monster. A NPC. A monster. A anything. Alex walked into the night, looking up at the moon as he walked. The stars were just like the real life starts but even prettier, the game made them beautiful.

Alex continued to look up until he finally decided that he would go star gazing. Alex grabbed out a piece of bread and some water as he layed down in the grass, staring up at the sky, getting tired. The stars seemed to keep getting brighter. It was almost like someone, in the real world, was sitting in a control room, changing each stars individual brightness settings. But it was more likely that the stars were changing brightness due to a code using a 'random' module. Thinking about coding makes me happy.... Helps me find my happy place. Alex slowly drifted off until he heard noise from far away. "Oi! make yourselves visible before I assume your a Player Killer and pursue you!" Alex took a moment to think. That meant the person who said that is not a PKer. That's a relief. And it also sounds like a girl.... Maybe we could become friends? Alex ran to catch up with her, trying to figure out where she was. Alex ran up to the strong looking player and said, "Hey, um.., who might you be? um..., My name is um...Alex!" Alex stared at the female player with eyes unmoving.

Edited August 14, 2015 by Alex

[Golden 0]

"Don't worry about it." Golden said simply. It'd been quite a while since that event took place and Golden had already forgotten about that incident. He could obviously tell that something was on the mind of the girl. I was quite weak and immature back then. Golden thought, remembering when he wasn't able to hit boars at all. Golden smiled, realizing that he'd been stupid and weak back then and getting yelled at probably helped him out a bit in realizing that he'd been incredibly childish in the past. Now, he's realized that mistake... and he's changed his personality and habit to adapt to the challenges of this world.

As Golden prepared to leave the forest for his shop, he heard a ruckus in the bushes when a player introduced himself to another player. Well... seems like we're not the only ones around. Golden thought before turning towards the two players and watching them. Seems like one of them is quite low-leveled judging from the fact that he would introduce himself to a random player in the middle of night. Golden sighed before deciding to stay in place. This night will be amusing.

[Kotori 0]

This outcome was to be expected, her a little bout of solitude was nothing but that. A small temporary moment till the next time a group of people formed. There really wasn't anything to it, although she still felt a bit of an annoyance. This was especially because she had temporarily forgot that people were still a bit quirky in their own rights and it was just their personality to do so. A female voice ordered the two players to make themselves visible to her and although Kotori was tempted to respond that the girl could do the same and the problem would be solved, it would be easier to avoid conflict. She knew who was speaking, it was a certain girl with a few quirks inside her as well and had an issue with others being friendly simply because in her view being high-leveled meant being dangerous to confront, although there was a few truths to that viewpoint. This too however would cause conflict if brought up and gave another reason as to why keeping her thoughts to herself was just pure bliss. The girl stepped forwards as her eyes began to start adjusting to the darkness to see a younger boy running up to Kiru with the intent of knowing who she was. "Hey." was all she could offer as a sort of greeting, the two of them didn't really have much of an friendly relationship, at least from Kotori's side. Still, she could only assume that's how the other felt about them. Moving past relationship problems, the young boy who introduced himself as Alex seemed to be a bit high on the naivety and awkwardness scale which Kotori deducted from speech alone. She could only assume he was a low level himself as there wasn't much equipment on him, maybe he had decided that being scared on the first floor wouldn't do anything for him and was looking to become stronger. She would need to step him aside and talk to him about a few things if Golden and Kiru didn't so first. 

[Kiru 0]

I waited for a response from the two of them but there was yet another player coming into focus. It was a male player, presumably lower in age and level. He was obviously quite new to this whole sense of danger out of the safe zone. "Hello Alex, pleasure to meet you. I'm not someone to screw around with, mind if I drain your HP?" I asked innocently and tilted my head. I scoffed and in a flash pulled my dagger from it's pouch. I pointed the blade at the forehead of the blonde and smirked. "Just kidding." I laughed and put the weapon away before crossing my arms over my chest. "Don't approach people at night, like at all. Almost every time I've wandered around at night I've been attacked. Though it was mostly my status' fault for being targeted it was still quite often that I got hurt. It's been groups up to six or just one but for some reason I attract idiots who want their butts handed to them. I'm at a pretty decent level so I'm okay to run around getting stabbed all night. You on the other hand need a party or something before you seriously get injured. I recommend Velvet Room, maybe even aim for Azure Brigade? Your choice." I stated, giving the lower player advice. He was actually quite lucky that I was not in a bad mood right now. If I was I probably would have actually stabbed him for being so stupid. I moved my hands to my hips and craned my neck to the right. I couldn't see very well but I could tell who addressed me. I couldn't remember our current relationship with the girl so I just played it cool until she would say otherwise. "Yo, Kotori. How's Oikawa? He's not trying to fight an immortal statue again is he?" I said and smiled towards the brown haired girl. I could tell something was bothering her but I wasn't one to pry about stuff like that. 

[Alex 0]

Alex watched as the dagger was flipped at his forehead in an instant and could have put an end to his life. But it didn't. That was all that matters. "But the thing is, your not one who would kill me. And I have thought about joining a guild.... It's just that... Everyone would make fun of me because of how scared I am of stupid boars and stuff like that. I'm not scared of people, as you could just  see, I'm just scared of these monsters. " Alex sighed. he looked at the moon which you could now see pretty well, and thought of how beautiful it was. 

 

Alex listened to the player as she talked to one of the other players. It seemed her name was ..... Kotori . It was a neat name. But when Alex heard about the immortal statue, he quickly asked, "Wh-Wh-What immortal statue? Wha--What floor are they on?" Alex asked like the scared little baby he was. He had defeated a boar the other day with another player but.... He was still scared of every monster in Aincrad. "Hey are you in a guild?" Alex finally asked.

[Golden 0]

Golden sighed, feeling left out but he didn't really mind. He'd learned that having attention on him was generally a poor idea so he stood behind Kotori, listening to the conversation that had started to rise. He wasn't familiar with the people in front of him at the moment but judging from the unknown girl's expression and language, he could tell that she was over-confident, and quite high leveled. It's not safe giving away so much information to someone. He thought, letting his thought direct to the new boy. It seems as if the boy, Alex, was completely focused on Kiru. Perhaps it was the fact that Alex knew that Kiru was high-leveled and was seeking guidance... or perhaps it was for a different reason. He smiled as he looked above into the night full of glistering stars. This world is amazing. He thought, completely astonished at the scenery. Really, he didn't know why he was still up and running about instead of sleeping in his comfy bed located in his shop... but he found this group of people extremely interesting and sticking around to miss sleep didn't sound like a bad idea.