(PP-F1) New Beginnings (Ryuma, Koumori) [Completed]

[Ryuma_ 0]

Ryuma had decided that if he was going to be stuck in this world, that he would make the most out of it. Having such a terrible life in the real world may affect his personality, but no one can judge him in here. He didn't want to waste anytime getting to know the land, so he began to make his way around Starting City. The place had been full of intriguing buildings that had been very easily identified, and full of various kinds of people. He had never seen so many people in his life!

Having all of these people around had been kind of unsettling, but he would just have to deal with it if he was going to survive in this world. Now that he had been thinking about surviving in this world, he began to think about weapons. Earlier when he had checked his inventory, he had realized that he only had a simple dagger. That definitely wasn't going to be enough for him to survive throughout this entire game. If there was one thing that he had known for sure, it had been that he was going to make a living in this game and live a life that he can be proud of. The easiest way to get a start on this would to be to try and see how much a better weapon would cost. 

He began to glance around the area, spotting no weapon shops of any kind. It had been quite odd for him not to find one, especially in such a big area like this one. "Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough.. " He then began to survey the area in a unique way. He would slip through the crowds of people, surveying the scene, while also listening to what people were saying so that he could pick up on anything pertaining to a weapons shop. After looking around for several minutes, he had finally found one and began to approach it.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Ryuma_

[Koumori 0]

The Town of Beginnings was practically my second home. Or home away from home would be more accurate. Despite my relatively accelerated level I always came back to this place? Why? I didn't even know. Maybe it was the familiarity. Or perhaps that it was where everything all began. Bottom line, that's where I was. But this time I wasn't on the streets, I was on the roofs. I barely came up on the rooftops like this, but I wanted to see the familiar city from a new perspective. I was right to do it, the place looked pretty different from where I was sitting. It was also a great place to people watch. So I sat up there with my legs dangling from the edge of the building just watching. Eventually I spotted someone who was definitely a new player. He weaved through the crowd like he had no end point in mind before he verged off and walked to a shop that was a few buildings down from where I was. I looked at the sign and saw that it was a weapons shop. I figured he was trying to replace his starter weapon, and I was going to stop him. I stood up and ran across the roofs of the buildings until I reached the shop. I got there before he did and sat on the edge of the sign. When he passed under I called out to him, "Wouldn't do that if I were you!" I pushed myself off and fell to the ground in front of him. I got up from my crouch and smiled. "Never buy a weapon from an NPC shop. That's never the right choice." When I saw him up close I knew my initial appraisal was correct: he was definitely a new player. 

[Ryuma_ 0]

Ryuma had been surprised as a man had shouted at him from above. He looked up to see the man and watched as he had leapt off of the sign and down onto the ground in front of him. He had listened to the man's advice and raised an eyebrow while thinking to himself, 'Who on earth is this and why is he talking to me so freely? Is he out to kill me already… Damn, I just started to.' He laughed a bit inside as he had said that but then took a step back. "W-why do you s-say that mister?"

He had been scared of this man and felt as though he could possibly attack him and take him out since he had been new to the city. This was at least until he had remembered that in every game, the starting city is always player friendly, and that he can't be killed in an area like this unless it had been some kind of agreed upon pvp duel. This thought had relaxed him a bit, his body features showing him beginning to relax.

[Koumori 0]

...Maybe I shouldn't have made such a grand entrance. When the player saw me I could see the terror in his eyes. I don't mean to say that he was deathly afraid of me but he was clearly unsettled and scared for himself. He shakily asked me what I meant as he took a step back. Usually new players were more "guns blazing" and ready to go, this guy seemed to be pretty far out of his comfort zone. I'd have to do my best to calm him down. "No need to be worried, I'm not here to hurt you. Besides, I couldn't hurt you if I wanted to. You're new right? I'm just trying to give you some advice" I said all this with a smile and my hands plainly in the air so he could see I wouldn't try anything. When I opened my eyes he seemed a little less tense. That was good. He must've calmed down from the initial surprise. I still felt like I should be a little careful with what I said. "Anyway what I meant was NPCs only have generic weapons. All the good stuff comes from player owned shops." So this is what it felt like to be I higher level. I remember when I was in that guy's shoes just like it was yesterday. No weapons and no friends, just trying to figure out what was going on. Sure I was much more sarcastic and wasn't afraid to get out there but we were still in the same place. It's funny how things change. Hmm. Where at Mack and Takao gotten themselves off too?

[Ryuma_ 0]

Ryuma had calmed down as he listened to the mans words. 'Just giving me advice huh? Thats different…. Maybe I can trust this man.' Ryuma had then took a step closer to the man to fill the gap that he had placed before. He elevates his hand and motions it towards Koumori so that they can shake hands. "Thanks for the advice… Anyways, I don't even know why I bothered trying to find this shop. I don't have any form of currency yet anyway." He let out a small nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly. "My name is Ryuma… Im sorry for how I had acted before… I just have a hard time trusting people."

[Koumori 0]

The guy settled down as I spoke to him. He reclosed the distance between us an extended his hand, albeit shakily, for me to shake. I accepted the gesture and returned his greeting. "Pretty formal huh? Yeah, you kinda need that. It's pretty important." I said with a smile. He let go of my hand and nervously laughed while scratching the back of his head. Hey, that was my thing. He calmed down a bit but I could still hear the embarrassment in his voice when he spoke again. He told me he had a hard time trusting people. That was perfectly understandable. Many people here had that problem, myself included, but I had become much more easy going. "Don't worry about it. Tons of people are just like that. It's hard to trust people when your life depends on it. But it takes a lot of weight off your shoulders when you do." I tried my best to give him heartfelt advice. It was better to learn important lessons up front rather than stumble into them later. I had lots of good experiences when I started out so I was looking forward to provide that to others. That was all part of what I wanted for myself, what I wanted to become. I looked at him one more time and decided what to do. "It looks like you could use some help figuring things out. I'd like to offer my services."

[Ryuma_ 0]

Ryuma had raised his eyebrow once more as the man had offered his services. "Y-your services huh? Sounds interesting. W-what are your services though? Sorry if I'm being rude by asking …" As he had said this, he kinda flinched about as though he was about to be smacked. His father would always hit him when he would speak his mind, so he just reacted as he normally would. "S-so, what is your name mister?" He had been wondering this mans name since he began speaking to him but just hadn't been able to speak his mind until now. He had been ready to duck incase the man had swung at him, but tried not to show it.

[Koumori 0]

Ryuma flicked up an eyebrow at my offer. It seemed like he didn't really understand what I meant. He stuttered a bit as he asked me to explain and caped off with an apology. I motioned my hands a bit to start to explain but I stopped when I saw him visibly flinch. That was odd. What did I do to make him flinch like that? Did he expect me to hurt him again? I was going to pull out my sword and do some tricks with it to illustrate my point but I gave that idea a second thought. It would probably only put him more on edge. "Rude? You're not being rude. I just meant that I've made my rounds around this place so I can help get you started. That's all." He spoke up again, perhaps more frightfully than the last, and asked me for my name. I usually didn't start off conversations by throwing out my name like some people did, but since he asked id tell him. "I'm Koumori." There it was, he flinched again. What was going on with him? Was I really doing something to freak him out? I decided not to let it slide and ask. "Hey is everything alright? You seem on edge? Is it my face?"

[Ryuma_ 0]

Ryuma couldn't help but let out a small laugh at what Koumori had said. "N-no, its not that. I just don't have a very good history with people…" He then realized how much he had been worrying the man and decided to try and straighten out. He didnt want to upset the man, who he could possibly call a friend. "S-so Koumori, what kind of advice c-can you give me? I might need it so that I don't die." With this, he let out another small laugh but then stopped abruptly when he had realized how awkward he had been acting. 

[Koumori 0]

Ryuma laughed at what I said, at least he wasn't too far gone. "I see. I won't pry." He seemed to look down a bit before straightening out his posture. He talked again when I assumed he built his confidence back up. He asked what I could teach him. Woah don't jump the gun there guy. Do you realize where we are. "Right but maybe we should, you know, go somewhere else for that? We are kinda standing right in the middle of the road." I pointed behind him at the crowd of people walking by and occasionally looking our way. It would be weird to give someone serious advice whilst standing in the middle of traffic. "Come on, let's go find someplace to sit." I started to walk off so he would follow. 

[Ryuma_ 0]

Both of Ryuma's eyebrows had raised as he had realized that he had indeed been blocking off the entrance of the weapon shop, leading to a bit of traffic. He maneuvered his way out of the crowd whilst still following after Koumori, trying to make sure that he doesn't lose him. "So where do you think we should go and sit to talk ? I don't know this place very well and wouldn't want to get in anybody's way." He continued to follow after the man with a weird feeling in his chest. Was he actually beginning to become happy for once? Could this game really give him another chance at life?

[Koumori 0]

Ryuma almost jumped when he realized what I meant. He quickly followed after me as I weaved through the crowd. "I figured as much. Just follow me." I on the other hand knew the place almost too well. I took us down a few streets before stoping in front of a cafe. This cafe had a large outdoor seating area so I walked through the entrance and took a right and sat in a bench seat in the corner of the fenced in area. I waited for Ryuma to sit down before I spoke. "So! Where should we start? Fire away."

[Ryuma_ 0]

Ryuma had followed Koumori throughout the crowd and through all the sharp little turns and cutting of corners until they had came to a small cafe. He had seen Koumori sit down and decided to follow suit by sitting next to him. "That's a good question actually. What exactly is going on here and how can I stay alive until the end? I've heard of groups of people getting together and fighting against these so called floor bosses. What are floor bosses? Are they hard to fight?" Ryuma had been full of question but didnt wanna put to much on Koumori

[Koumori 0]

Ryuma's eyes practically lit up when I asked him what he wanted to know. He leaned forward and rattled off a volley of questions that I lost track of in the middle. I raised my arm and started shaking my hand in the air with my head. "Hey, slow down dude. One at a time haha." I just went ahead and answered his first question. It was a tough question to answer though. Instead of thinking about it I just said what came to me. "Well we're all trying to fight and get out. The front lines especially, but we're all fighting hard every day so we can go back to our families. It's dangerous but it's what we have to do. In order to fight though you need to be strong. But strength in here doesn't come from the body it comes from the mind. You have to be willing to sacrifice yourself at any moment. You have to be willing to change too. To change for the better and not stay stuck in the past. That's how we'll really beat Kayaba. If we play into his hands and destroy ourselves we'll never win." When I finished my impromptu speech I realized that at some point I started gazing into the sky and tilted my head back down to Ryuma. I had turned his simple question into a long winded speech. I didn't do that often but whenever someone asked a fundamental question about SAO I couldn't help but give them my personal ideology. I should probably apologize. "Sorry for going off like that, haha. I don't usually go that deep."

[Ryuma_ 0]

Ryuma had been pretty interested in this topic and everything that Koumori had been informing him on. "Don't worry about okay? I honestly and glad to hear about all of this since it helps me understand this place better. There is only one problem though … What if I don't want to leave the game..?" Ryuma had been hesitant when asking this question. He understood why others had wanted to leave the game, but he didn't feel the same way as all of the others. To him, the real world was practically a living hell and he had known that if he were to go back, he would be thrown back into disarray. "Im sorry for asking about it … I just don't wish to go back to the real world … I can be a truly amazing person here, but…" With this, he had cut himself short. He didn't want to nag this man on with his own problems. "I-im sorry … P-please just forget about what I had been saying."

[Koumori 0]

My first impression of him was definitely right. He thanked me for my words but said something very unexpected. "Huh?" He sat there in awkward silence for a second before he tried to explain himself. He started to say something about being an amazing person here but he stopped himself. The only thing I could think was that his real life was horrible. Something definitely happened to him. That would explain why he was so flinchy and insecure. I had to say something to him. But I had to play it right. "I know some other people feel that way too, but it's a minority. Most people are fighting to leave so we will get out eventually, there's not much you can do about that. But you can use this as your chance. I don't know what your life is like, but you can use your time in here to change. Become strong here so when you go back you can fight stronger than before. My goal for being in here is a hero. I think that when I get out I'll feel more fulfilled. Maybe you will too." I paused for a second before looking him in the eye. "Just don't give up. It's only just started."

[Ryuma_ 0]

Ryuma had listened to his words carefully and began to think about everything that h head been saying. His thoughts ended up causing so many conflicting emotions to awaken inside of him, his heart beginning to go a flutter. Was Koumori right or would he just end up getting himself killed? Being a hero sounds amazing and all but you never know what will happen until it does. What if he goes back to the real world but ends up having to go back to his terrible life without any change in himself? His mind had been full of questions and he had no idea what any of the answers were. "Y-your right … I should at least try and make a change in myself if I want things to change for me. I won't give up!" He had felt a weird feeling that he hadn't felt in a very long time. Was this confidence? Well, whatever it was, he had known that he had definitely missed this feeling.

[Koumori 0]

Ryuma seemed to take awhile to think about what I said. I could see the pain behind his eyes when he reflected on his old life. Eventually he came to some sort of conclusion and told me he'd try his best to do what I said. "Good. I think you'll be fine. All it takes is a leap of faith, everything else comes later." I straighten my body in my seat to change the atmosphere. "Well that was heavy. So, back to the game. Any questions about not getting curb stomped by boars or stuff like that?"

[Ryuma_ 0]

Ryuma had to actually think about it. Was there anymore advice that he could receive from this man? "Well, I fight with a dagger. Do you think that it could be a good weapon against a boar? Im not very sure of how everything will work with me fighting them since I'm new to the game and all, but I plan on being fast and making my strikes unexpectedly. Do you think it'd be a good plan?" He knows that he had just let out a lot when speaking to the man, and then stopped so he wouldn't bombard him with more questions. He enjoyed talking to this man, surprisingly, so he had no problem asking all kinds of questions.

[Koumori 0]

He seemed cheered up a little bit and thought of anything else to ask. What he eventually decided on was weapon choice and battle strategy. Now that I could help with. "Every weapon is good. There's no wrong choice you just have to use what you're most comfortable with. With a dagger you could make that happen. But in order to use it you have to get up close so don't leave yourself too open." Maybe I should tell him what my strategy was. He could obviously see my sword on my back so that much was a given. "I like to use a straight sword but I'm also in on the speed. My evasion is through the roof. Relatively speaking."