Hisui's Story

Triangle
At this point, Triangle was really too groggy to notice, and if he did, he wouldn't have really paid any mind the the minute details or the people that they were sharing the mountain with. Anything would just have to be resolved tomorrow after a good night's rest. The mountain air was nice and cool, and there was a soft gentle breeze that powered the nearby bamboo wind chime's hauntingly soothing tune. He should get one of those for the house. The combination of the breeze and wind chimes made him even more sleepy. Since the temperature was nice and cool, he bade everyone goodnight, unsaddled Yfla, unrolled his sleeping pack, and just plopped down to sleep in the open. Soon enough, he was snoring lightly. This was the life, living comfortably, without any care in the world as if he didn't have a rock to break, that he was stuck in a game, or he had a company to inherit.

(ooc: I'm gonna go take a nap and post the rest later.... Another slight reveal at what Triangle's life outside the game is, just in time for the important mother's day quest.^^)

December 5, 2022--9:27 PM
Floor 2, Martial Artist's Hut

As Hisui stood upright once more, the other girl ran a hand through her black hair and responded in kind. "My name is Mirai," she said without sounding incredibly eager to be friends. "And this baka is Triangle," she added, pointing a thumb at the boy, who was looking rather tired for whatever reason. "You know, if you dont want people to know your name.. you should work on.." Without finishing the sentence, she made a motion of zipping her lips shut.

Oh no, she knew what I was about to say after all... But before Hisui could get paranoid about it, Mirai's expression changed to a gentle smile. "Luckily we aren't like that," she asserted, before kneeling before the rock. She lightly tapped it, seeming to know how near-impossible the task ahead of them was, and sighed.

Hisui glanced at her own boulder again, even though she knew she hadn't made any visible progress at all. "Well, ah, I hope you...d-didn't anything important a-any time soon," she sighed.

Just then, the sound of metal rubbing against metal rang out from the entrance to the clearing. Mirai reached for her sword, and Hisui also started worrying...and then it turned out the new arrival was the man who had asked Hisui for money on the night she had gotten the Anneal Blade. He had also been in Hisui's party during the boss battle--Group A, to be specific--but she hadn't picked up his name. She would be happy to see he was still alive normally, but this time, with the paint on her face...

"Well...the more the better," Mirai muttered, watching the man walk into the hut without much more than a glance at them. A moment later, another boulder spawned, and the man was led by the NPC to it. Strangely, the NPC was able to paint his face while he was wearing a helmet. Apparently the creator of this game really went out of his way here...

Adjusting his helmet, the man commented, "I see you're all doing this quest too. Well, you better get comfortable because none of us are gonna be moving far at least a day. At least, unless you mind looking like mice for the remainder of your time here." When he was finished, he walked up to his own rock, gazed up and down at it, and punched it hard. A loud crash echoed through the clearing, while the man stepped back, rubbing his wrist in what seemed like pain. "Yeah... This is definitely gonna take more than a day."

Apparently this was the cue for Triangle to get out his bedroll from his horse and place it in the middle of the garden. "Well, I'm going to bed. Night everyone," he yawned, and before long he was snoring softly, fast asleep.

Hisui stared blankly at him, not sure what to say. "Well, ah, I-I guess we aren't r-really in a rush," she remarked. Walking back to her own rock, she raised her fists again and started striking the rock, feeling jolts of pain rush up her arms with each strike. It would have been nice if she could start talking to the other players, but as usual, she was too shy to start a conversation, so she instead just went back to trying to break the rock while forcing herself to go to sleep sooner.

An hour passed like this, before Hisui finally was too tired to continue. With a yawn, she sleepily told the others, "Ah, I-I think I'll be going...t-to sleep as well. G-good night, everyone..." She didn't have a bedroll, unlike Triangle, so she just lay in the middle of the garden and covered herself with her cape, drifting off to sleep...

Pfft, not a chance. The brown-haired girl groaned when she realized that, no matter how tired she felt physically, insomnia would not stop being so cruel to her at all...

Mirai watched the two go to sleep.. or well one did. Eyeing the other girl, she grabbed something from her inventory, slowly getting up, she silently walked towards the girl and laid a bottle beside her. It was some sort of grey liquid.. it had a status effect on it, allowing any player to sleep. The purpose was to help with pain or one unable to sleep.. Mirai was going to save it but the girl needed it more. 'Long day tomorrow.' With that she walked back to where she was and then found a tree to lean against.. She kept watch.. not very interested in going to sleep.
Also more interested in the moon that was above us.. It was scary to see how.. real the moon was.
She looked down at her fingers, and held them to the moon. "If only this was real." She whispers, examining the details of her fingers, before peering at the armored man who was at a distance.
"Whats with the helmet." She asked bluntly, leaning her head against the tree, as she eyed him with stoic eyes. However she turned away and looked up at the moon. "Nevermind.. you must have your reasons-" Suddenly her hand raced to her mouth and she began to cough- hard. Her eyes widened, and she began to hold back so only stiffing noises were released. She hoped no one awoke. Wiping her mouth, and washing down the taste of iron with water, she began to shake slightly.
'Was life getting to her..?!' She tightened her fingers to a fist..

Triangle
5am
He was having a bad dream, it started all nice because Mirai was there, but then she started chasing him with a knife. They ran around for the entire dream(with the soundtrack of big man's snoring) until she caught up with him, he jolted awake right before she stabbed him. As a result, he still felt tired after running for dear life all night and couldn't return to sleep, the sun wasn't even up yet.. Groggily rubbing his eyes, deciding that it was pointless tho try to get any more sleep in case Mirai with a knife waited for him back in the dream world, he stood up, stretched his arms while breathing in the damp morning mountain air, and turned around to roll up his sleeping bag. He spotted Mirai leaning against a tree, she looked very small and alone with her eyes closed. She didn't have a blanket despite the chilly weather, "Who's the idiot here," he thought. Triangle walked over with a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, careful not to wake the small girl up. He took the opportunity to take a look at her sleeping face, with her soft features illuminated by the moonlight, she looked like a delicate goddess. Triangle made sure the blanket snugly covered Mirai before heading for the trees. Yfla made a movement to follow him, but her stroked her neck and told the horse to remain there as he went into the forest. The wind chimes played a faster song this morning because of the strong breeze.

Leaving the wind chimes behind, Triangle tried something he's always seen in movies but never done, he made out for the roaring waterfall near the clearing. Triangle stripped down his clothes despite the cold weather and dove into the even colder pond. He had misjudged the depth of the pond in the darkness and banged his head on the rocks below. Breaking the surface of the water rubbing his head, he felt refreshed(despite the knot forming on his head), embracing the cold mountain water. The set up was perfect, there were rocks he could sit on beneath the water fall. The magnitude of the pressure was more than he had predicted, and at first he struggled to fight back the force of water that the mountain was throwing at him, but soon he realized it was easier to feel that strength an turn it into his own. Sitting there, the frigid cold water pounded against his body, strangely he felt heat pulsing from his body the more he sat beneath the torrent of water. The heat only lasted for a moment stepping out of the pool of water, and Triangle stumbled to get his clothes on, teeth chattering against the cold wind chill.

The sun was just now reaching it's fingertips over the mountaintops in the distance, as Triangle returned to the clearing to grab a little something to eat. Rummaging his bag, he grabbed a bottle of milk and two apples, one for him and one for Yfla. The horse reached its head for the apple eagerly, but Triangle kept it away, "Sorry girl, not yet," if horses could make a pouty face, then Yfla would. Triangle didn't bother to saddle up, and rode bareback up to the summit. There the chilly winds ripped through his body. The chain Mirai had given to him was becoming colder, he grabbed the emblem in his hands to keep it warm, primarily because it felt uncomfortable against his skin, and he's always felt as if part of her was with him in the necklace. The sun peeked over the treeline, as Triangle chugged down his milk and ate his apple. Satisfied with the view, he fed Yfla the core of his apple, and mounted her for the ride back down to the clearing. A new day has begun, but for some reason he felt slightly uneasy.

Probably because of the rock.

---

Martial Artist's Hut, Time: 10:30 PM, December 5, 2022

---

The sounds of their fists smacking against the seemingly undisturbed surface of the rock formed a sort of rhythm. The beat continued well until the moon was high, exhaustion from the game's feedback on the player's nervous system creating a real sense of fatigue. "Ah, I-I think I'll be going...t-to sleep as well. G-good night, everyone..." The hooded girl finally resigned, retiring to her little corner of the area and settling down. Seeing as he was the only one left up still trying at the boulder he decided he'd call it a night too.

He lacked a bed roll himself, believing such comforts to be frivolous in the pursuit of experience points. Besides, he had to pay the girl off first before he'd consider such luxuries after the rest of his money fell in with his grand scheme. Despite his misfortune with monster item drop rates the Col he had been making was definitely going somewhere. Most of it was spent on health potions and health crystals, most of which were used up by this point.

In order to train the skill Battle Healing one must get his or her health bar down to the red and heal back up. In most of his grinding he had pushed his hp close to IRL brain death levels many times in order to better improved this ability, always skirting that line but still staying right behind the borders of safety while doing so. He wasn't as concerned for his own life as a normal person might be, skirting the fringes of risk with almost the same mentality as a death wish. Meh, if I die at least Chester can eat my corpse.

He propped himself up against a wall of the hut on a side which was more sheltered from the winds. His armor was surprisingly comfortable to sleep in. What helped him sleep was the knowledge than no matter what happened he'd have his armor on and be ready for a bash.

Looking up at the moon from his helmet visor he wondered at what point he had been gaming so much that such that a breathtaking sight like this would not inspire any real kind of emotion inside him. He felt somewhat depressed that he lacked the warranted passion to feel truly sad about it. It seemed that the blue eyed girl had stayed up to look at the moon as well.
In a sense it was almost poetic, two players worlds apart IRL looking up under the same moon.

"Whats with the helmet?"

He looked up at the blue eyed girl, the question prompting a shrug as a sort of automatic response. "It's armor." Was all he had to say in return, not really sure what else she expected from him. "Nevermind.. you must have your reasons-"
She added. Though he never thought about it too deeply he was very self conscious about his appearance. Back in the beta he was not ashamed in any sense over his chiseled jaw, his perfect teeth or any other part of his image really. After Kayaba took all that away from him he's rarely ever had his helmet off, especially in public.

For that matter his whole attitude towards other people was completely different. Before he was bold, proud and almost certainly way too egotistical. Now he was somewhat reserved, bitter, quiet and generally kept his ego on the inside where it could stew in his anger.

The blue eyed girl gave a hacking cough, trying to cover up the noise to the best of her ability. Gagging her cough with her hands she suddenly seemed to have a look of brief mortality on her face as she analyzed whatever had came up on her hands. He recognized the look, all too familiar with sickness and all the awful faces it brought. From the initial shattering of ones own sense of mortality to the crushing despair of hopelessness in the face of a terminal illness, he had seen all this before. Magnus grit his teeth. This game is getting to me. I need to leave this game soon or I might start losing it. He reaffirmed his convictions in his mind as he started making his trek towards sleep.

The next day was going to bring many challenges, the most immediate of which was that bloody rock.

December 5, 2022--10:32 PM
Floor 2, Martial Artist's Hut

Apparently Hisui's insomnia had not gone unnoticed, for Mirai walked up to her and placed a potion of grey liquid nearby, calling "Long day tomorrow" over her shoulder. Surprised, the brown-haired girl reached towards the bottle and tapped it. The name was "Sleeping Draught", and like its name suggested, it would cause the person who drank it to go to sleep faster. It seemed strange that such an object could exist in a video game, but Hisui decided not to question it.

While she raised the potion to her lips, she could hear Mirai making idle conversation with the man--apparently they had all decided to call it quits for the day; the man lay against the side of the hut, while Mirai sat with her back against the tree. They didn't say much, but somehow hearing them chatting made Hisui feel a bit more at ease. But that wasn't to last...

Out of nowhere, Mirai's body began to shake violently as she let out loud coughing noises. Alarmed, Hisui sat up and watched with fear as the black-haired girl tried to stifle her coughing fit, but she definitely looked like she was suffering. Was it possible to get sick in SAO? Hisui wasn't sure what was going on, but...maybe it was best to ensure that Mirai was alright.

Getting to her feet was actually very difficult; the "Sleeping Draught" was already taking effect. Hisui found herself stumbling more and more as she walked towards Mirai. By the time she finally got to the black-haired girl's side, her eyelids were fluttering open and closed repeatedly. While her mind was still slightly functional, however, Hisui draped her hooded cape over Mirai's body, just like how she used it to cover her body a few moments ago. "D-don't push yourself...t-too hard...to...*yawn*...morrow," Hisui mumbled, taking a few steps away. The night air felt far too cold without her cape to cover her, but there was no helping it.

Curling up just a meter away from Mirai, she lay in the garden once more and fell asleep almost immediately.

Mirai squeezed her eyes shut to hold back anything that may slip from her eyes. Dammit. Was real life really getting to her. She can imagine her frail body spazzing out as nurses try to calm her and she shook her head. She never thought on how dangerous her situation was. Her stuck in a world that caused her body stress, and she was already sick..
'Whatever..' she thought, pissed-Snap. A branch- her eyes blink open and she turns toward the 'threat'... It was only Hisui, half asleep. She smiled slightly. 'The drink worked.. good..' Tilting her head, she watched her rub her eyes sleepily "D-don't push yourself...t-too hard...to...*yawn*...morrow,"

She blinks, and grimaced. 'So she saw..' Nodding, she turned away not very much in the mood.. Suddenly she felt warmth surround her, and she tensed. Looking at herself she saw an unfamiliar cloak.. She peered at the girl who just fallen asleep, then threw her hand over her eyes..The kindness just snapped her will of strength.. 'Please dont be nice to me..' She went silent for awhile..
A few minutes passed...
Rubbing her eyes, she got up and grabbed the cloak, before laying it along the girls body. Mirai knew she needed it more.. since the cough wasn't because of the cold. Of course they wouldn't know that.

Going back to the tree, she slid down against the bark, before sighing tiredly.. Her blue eyes closed, and for a moment she felt peace..

Chirp chirp~ It was morning, and all of the players were asleep.. but one.
"mm.." She rolled her body, pulling something warm up to her face, comforted by the smell of..? Her eyes shut tightly in confusion. What? Opening her eyes, she looked down at the.. "cloak" and tilted her head. She swore that she gave it back. Looking at Hisui who was still asleep, she saw her cloak.. 'If it isnt hisuis..' Realization struck her.
She blushed slightly, and hid her face into the cloth. 'Stupid..' Planning to throw the cloak at him, she realized Triangle wasn't even near. "eh." She suddenly felt alert, and so she stood up quickly, only to falter. Her eyes went black for a second, and her mind began to flash- "ugh.." She leaned against the tree, coughing a bit.
She was still effected huh? Giving herself a moment of rest, she felt the pain go away.. 'Maybe my body in real life calmed down.. The nurses must have done something..' Weak, she kicked off the tree and began to make her way to her horse.. slowly. She wouldnt let anyone catch onto her state.. especially not Triangle.

It had started snowing by the time Triangle returned to the hut, the snow was beginning to pile up on the bare ground. Feeling exhausted, he set up his tent, crawled into it, and slept for a while longer. Everyone else was up and around and going about on their own business, and he had not noticed Mirai missing among them due to his exhaustion.

Just as he predicted, Mirai with a knife was still waiting for him in the dream world, dream Triangle started to run, but for some reason, she didn't chase him, but instead dropped the knife and stood still. Dream Triangle inched closer and teased her a bit, but then realized she wasn't in there anymore. He grabbed her hands and flinched, they were ice cold, so cold that it sucked the heat out of him. Now he was cold too.

Triangle sat up and realized he was shivering from the intense cold that swept over the mountain all of a sudden. Lifting up the tent flap, he stepped into the new snowy white environment wearing his black winter coat with a white fur lined hood, black cloak that Mirai had given him, and a gray and black diamond patterned scarf he bought at a shop. Everyone else but Mirai was busy pounding on the rocks in the garden. Where was Mirai anyways? He had forgotten to check on her when he got back because he was so tired, and now it was almost lunch time. Triangle waded through the snow to the duo in the garden to inquire about Mirai.

"Have either of you guys seen Mirai, or have any idea where she could of have gone?"Triangle wasn't too worried about her disappearance, Mirai has proven to be able to handle herself and monsters around these parts were not too strong being so close to the town. Something in his gut made him worry though. What if she encounters a group of player killers?

December 6, 2022--10:31 AM
Floor 2, Martial Artist's Hut

"Haaaaaah...ATCHOO!" Sniffling, Hisui groggily sat up and wondered what was going on. "Ugh, it's so c-cold," she complained, rubbing her eyes. It felt like tiny needles of ice were poking her bare arms, and the air was freezing against her ears and face. When she lowered her arms, however, she realized it was snowing lightly--and had been for long enough to pile up a little.

Looking down, she was surprised to find her cape draped upon the lower half of her body. "Eh...but didn't I put this on Mirai last night? D-did she feel better, then?" she wondered, glancing towards the tree where the black-haired girl had been sleeping last night. To her horror, however, Mirai was not there. Quickly jumping to her feet, Hisui looked around, but she could not see Mirai anywhere. For that matter, even her horse with the gray mane had disappeared.

With shaking hands, Hisui threw the cape over her shoulders and fastened it before walking through the garden, looking for Mirai. "Where can she be?" she wondered, getting more and more worried. There was a tent set up near the hut, but the only one inside was Triangle. And the only one inside the hut was the NPC. The garden had no incredibly good hiding spots, either.

The brown-haired girl was starting to get more and more paranoid about the situation, and she kept looking around the clearing, frequently forgetting which areas she had already checked. Eventually, Triangle came out of his tent and asked where Mirai was, though he didn't seem too concerned. Hisui immediately rushed to his side, the pounding in her chest even worse. "M-Mirai...s-she completely w-went missing! Triangle...w-we should look for her. R-right now!" She was especially worried, after she had seen the state Mirai was in last night...that coughing fit actually looked very serious, in all honesty.

Just as she finished that sentence, however, she suddenly let out a tremendously loud sneeze yet again. Apparently she hadn't prepared for the change in the weather in the slightest. "Ah...d-don't worry, I-I'm just fine!" she insisted, pulling her cape tighter around her body. Of course, looking at Triangle's getup right now, she felt even colder...

Pain?
No numbness.
She felt nothing but the searing pain from her lungs. She saw nothing but snow picking up and hitting her. All white. The only thing that helped her through was her beautiful horse, Rhombi. She leaned against him, taking in the warmth.. "Thank you friend.." The horse only neighed. With that, she went on.. snow leveling on and on.. After some time, the snow reached her mid calves, and she felt her body shiver and her teeth chatter. But she didnt complain.. she was lost both mentally and physically..

Her usually blazing eyes were glazed over and her expression was stoic.. She could bring on conclusion into this.. She wanted to die.
Simple as that. If this world couldn't save her from reality, it would have been her fate in the end anyways.. You may think what she was doing was insane, however she felt so much pain.. Her family couldnt support her with her expensive medical bills so all they could do was to keep her steady.

The fact they had hope made her spill tears. And the thought of all those she has met.. the kindness they gave her..

She looked at the cloak and smiled slightly.. Hisui
Tilting her head, she looked at the house, and then Triangle. Her cheeks felt warm..

It made her feel excruciating pain. Clinging her clothes, right above her heart, she went further. "I dont want to feel pain anymore.."
She cried harder, "Dont be kind to me anymore.." Letting go of Rhombi, she glanced back at him, signalling him to go back.. however she knew the kindness didnt end there.. The horse began to follow.

'Please..'

Triangle
(ooc: listen to this song as you read this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STUBM6yrUqY)

All sorts of situations ran through Triangle’s mind, until Hisui told him about Mirai’s episode. He stood there for a moment, the snow white on his hair and shoulders. Then he ran for Yfla, not bothering to saddle her up, and rode into the forest to search for Mirai

A thick blanket of snow covered the ground. The landscape slept silently under the white sheets, the only sound being Yfla’s hooves crunching through the snow. Triangle’s steamy breath was pierced by the slowly falling snowflakes that fell from the clouds blotting out the sun, creating a gloomy sunset. There was a feeling of stillness in the air, no breeze, no birds chirping, no signs of any movement. Why did Mirai run away? He was deeply worried because she always looked healthy, but Hisui’s story told him otherwise. Remembering the dream, he became even more worried. Her hands... They were like ice, colder than the snow. Images of Mirai’s face since the time they met when he “fell” for her flashed in Triangle’s mind, as if reminding him of the dire situation at hand, once night sets in and the snow falls heavier, it’ll be nearly impossible to find her. He started to panic and urged Yfla on, calling out Mirai’s name.

The sun had dipped halfway below the mountains, peeking a few last looks at the world before calling it a night. “Please stay for a while longer,” he begged out loud, as if a desperate call to anyone who would listen, never before had he feared the arrival of the night so much. Gritting his teeth, he pushed Yfla even more, riding through the trees recklessly trying to find any indicator of where Mirai could have gone. Branches swiped across his face drawing blood, that ran down his face, leaving dots of red polka dotting the canvas of snow. A tree’s limb struck him in the head, resulting in heavy blood flow that blocked his vision. Quickly trying to wipe the blood from his eyes, he couldn’t see the low hanging thick branch and rode right into it, knocking him right off Yfla’s back. Triangle could hear the horse neighing in the background as he lay in the snow gasping for the air that was knocked out of his lungs. It’s so dark, he thought, blood still blocking his vision; it’s so dark, he realized. It’s so dark without her. He quickly stood up and wiped the blood from his eyes, using his scarf to stop the blood flow. He turned back and forth trying to get a holding of where he was. Triangle punched a tree and cursed loudly. Getting lost in a time like this! Mounting Yfla once again, he rode in circles, desperate to find any hoof or footprints that could lead him to Mirai. “No. No. No. This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening. Please no. If there’s anything out there, beyond, please lead me to where she is. Please. I won’t let her go like this. I won’t let her go ever again.” Blood now mixed with tears, and the cold did not discriminate, freezing both substances on Triangle’s face. As if something heard his pleas, Triangle noticed hoof prints that he missed before, and without hesitation he madly followed them as if his life depended on it.

His life did depend on it, his life with her.

Triangle heard Rhombi neighing; the black blur against the white must’ve been her. The forest parted ways to reveal an outlying drop off. There she was. Alone.

Mirai.

She was struggling against the deep snow towards the edge. Triangle leaped off his horse, and screamed, “MIRAI!” She paused for a moment, but continued on. “MIRAI!” She didn’t stop. Triangle stumbled and tripped running against the snow that reached above his knees. Yfla came up next to him, he grabbed her reins and hopped on and chased after Mirai, who was now making an even greater effort to get away. Catching up to her, Triangle dismounted, “Mirai….” He pleaded. Abandoning any restraint he had left, he embraced her from behind, feeling her small frame against his. She didn’t resist, and for a while they just stood there, neither able to say anything, sharing body heat. At least she turned her head and looked up at him. Her clear blue eyes wet from the tears streaming down her pink cheeks. She whispered something inaudible.

Triangle embraced her tighter as if she would disappear from his arms.
“Don’t go Mirai, I need you,” he said, but she had closed her eyes and was now fast asleep. The whole ordeal made him feel worse than the time with the bears. This time, his mind was wounded. Triangle held Mirai closely, wrapping her in his cloak as he rode Yfla back to the clearing, Rhombi trailing closely behind. He left sleeping Mirai in the arms of Hisui,”Please keep her safe and warm, I’ll be back very soon.”

Taking Rhombi, he reluctantly rode back to town looking like a bloody mess, players in the street stared at him as they got out of the way of the silent rider. Not allocating any time to rest, he took out the crystal given by Kayaba during the event and spoke into it.

“Hello Mother, Father. It’s me your son. I know I was ungrateful and ran away from home these past 5 years after learning I had to take over the company. It was very selfish of me. Even more selfish now is that I must ask of you a favor. One last favor, I will willingly return to the company once this game is over. Don’t worry, I’m playing it very safe so your dear only son will definitely return to you. The favor is that there is a player, someone very special to me, she is suffering, but I know with money, her condition is curable. So please take care of that for me, or else I won’t ever return, I’ll even spite both of you for the rest of my life.” Slightly reddening a little under the dried blood on his face, he added, “Also please place her next to where I lay in the real world. Thank you. I’ll return to you soon.”

The crystal dissipated into pixels in his palm.

In the real world, Triangle’s parents received his message and immediately sent their people to the facility where Mirai’s body was sleeping. They transported her to a top notch private hospital in the country that specialized in treating Mirai’s condition.

Back in the game, Triangle sat by Mirai’s side as she lay sleeping in the hut, holding her hand in his. When the night ended and morning came, he could feel her warmth return, as if she was the first rays of sunlight in the day.

Triangle dozed off into deep sleep, but didn’t let go of her hand.

December 6, 2022--2:54 PM
Floor 2, Martial Artist's Hut

As diamond dust cascaded across the mountain, Hisui staggered back into the clearing, feeling exhausted. The moment she had told Triangle about what happened to Mirai last night, he went wide-eyed with horror, jumped on his horse, and rode away as if his entire life depended on it. They must have been very close, Mirai and Triangle...it was kind of touching, in a way.

For her part, Hisui had searched various parts of the mountain trying to find the black-haired girl, but to no avail. She had encountered mobs and dispatched them quickly, but there was no sign of Mirai anywhere. And with the weather worsening, the meek brown-haired girl had no choice but to return to the hut, battered by the storm and depressed.

Just as she got back into the clearing and collapsed against Triangle's stone, an icon blinked in her field of view, signifying that she had received a message. Opening the menu, Hisui was very surprised to see this new message was from Kayaba Akihiko himself. It contained a special crystal that would record what the user said and send it as an email to their parents. Hisui had no idea how he was able to obtain the players' parents' email addresses, but at this time, she felt too emotionally drained to say anything.

Suddenly, she saw a silhouette of a person riding on a horse into view. Hisui immediately recognized it as belonging to Triangle, but when he came fully into view, she was absolutely stunned. His face was bloody and tear-stained, and most of it had frozen on his face, but the boy was carrying Mirai in his arms, hugging her against his body as though she was a precious object whose durability might run out if anything happened to it, no matter how insignificant.

"Y-you...got her back..." Tears streamed out of Hisui's eyes, yet she still seemed to stare blankly at the two while Triangle dismounted, still tightly holding the black-haired girl. Finally, the brown-haired girl let out an overjoyed shriek and hugged the two tightly, startling Triangle at her sudden out-of-character action. Realizing what she had done, Hisui blushed and tried to pull back. "A-ah...n-no, I...uh...s-sorry! I just, um..." Quickly, she pulled her hood down and rushed away from the two, feeling foolish.

But honestly, as Triangle carried Mirai into the hut, Hisui found herself smiling broadly. Since when did she care so much about the two? She had only just met them last night...but, well, seeing Triangle go out of his way for that girl lifted Hisui's spirits so much. Suddenly knowing exactly what to say, the brown-haired girl turned back to the message window and extracted a cyan octahedral crystal. Walking to the edge of the garden so that she would not bother the two players who had just returned, she activated the crystal and raised it to her lips, beginning to speak.

"H-hello, Mama...Papa. It's Hisu...no, i-it's your daughter, Terra Himene. Y-you probably know this, b-but...I-I was trying out F-Fuji's copy of...S-Sword Art Online...w-when the, ah, incident happened. I-I know, i-it was a selfish t-thing to do. M-my grades were...d-doing really badly j-just before I joined this death game. S-so, I r-really shouldn't have, um, devoted m-more time to something so...p-pointless...as an RPG.

B-but...w-well, the reason I decided to pick up SAO...I think I should explain that. W-well, t-this might sound crazy, I know...b-but, I was really frustrated...with the way I was living. I-it just felt like, w-when I was only w-worrying about g-grades, and staying up late e-every night...I j-just felt...you know...like a caged bird. Not able to do anything I really wanted to do, always lonely and secluded, feeling more and more depressed everyday...I just couldn't take any more of it.

So, ah, Fuji suggested that I try out SAO so I could ease the pressure on myself just a little bit. Here, I can interact with other people a lot more often, and I can do whatever I want to do here. It feels like I'm a lot more free, even if I'm fighting for my life. But...all the same, even if this game does what...w-what F-Fuji recommended it t-to me for...I...I s-still want to b-be with you again. So, I-I'll keep fighting on, t-to get out of this prison...I-I'll correct m-my mistake...a-and escape from here. P-please, e-even if she was p-partially responsible for this...j-just t-tell Fuji t-that I'm...s-still alive, a-and...doing w-well. S-so long f-for now, Mama, Papa. I...I love you both v-very much."

With that, the message was sent, thankfully just before Hisui finally broke down into tears again. She longed so badly to see the few people in the real world whom she loved...But at the same time, it's also best that I keep trying to get out for the sake of the friends I make here.

Too tired to continue trying to break the rock, Hisui sat outside the hut, huddling in her cape, and watched Mirai and Triangle rest next to each other. "Sleep well, you two," she whispered, before turning back to watch the snowflakes fall around her, all across the garden. Her lips began to move once again, this time forming the lyrics for a song.

“'No matter what words I try to say,
You don’t smile…'
I wonder if Tchaikovsky, too,
Became heart-rendingly sad and set those feelings to music.

'There are no princes on white horses.'
I want to be the one to kiss you.
The next morning, and the morning after that,
Shall I wake you from your slumber?"

"Mirai!" She tensed. The voice.. His voice. Something she knew in an instance, and that caused her to struggle harder against the snow. Get away! She screamed inside her head, peering back for only a moment, before pushing further. Every cry and plead of his voice, made her go weaker.. though she was ahead of his.. so close to the drop.. maybe she could have escaped from the pain. However having his horse by his side served as an advantage as he was able to catch up to the weak girl in a matter of seconds. When his presence got closer, She felt her heart beat quicken, and when his arms wrapped around her- everything froze. Her eyes widened in shock. “Don’t go Mirai, I need you,” he said.. But those words passed through her ears. The warmth he gave her.. the feeling of love and embracement, it caused her to melt. Everything that hurt seemed to go away, and at that moment she felt true peace. Without her knowing it, her consciousness slipped away and she had passed out from exhaustion...

She struggled, she screamed- a searing cold was eating her away.. and she could only squirm in darkness. However something enveloped her, causing her to calm and warm up slowly.. It felt.. nice. Looking up at the source, she saw eyes, familar ones, the ones she so loved to look at, the ones that made her happy. Triangles.

“'No matter what words I try to say,
You don’t smile…'
I wonder if Tchaikovsky, too,
Became heart-rendingly sad and set those feelings to music. A beautiful voice began to fill her ears.. 'Hisui?'

She reached for him, and suddenly around them were lights.. Christmas perhaps? Holding his face within her hands, she felt a tiny smile pull at her lips, and almost she released three strange words, "I l-"

Her eyes snapped open. She looked around, and realized.. 'Its only a dream..' She felt her cheeks go red. What was she going to say in the dream? 'No.. I wouldnt have..' She reassured herself, but still she went to reach for her bangs like she usually does when she was irritated, but she felt something hold it down. Warm.. hands? She turned to her side and saw triangle.. upclose, asleep. Her eyes widened. (one in a lifetime opportunity!) Leaning a a bit, she couldnt help but examine the details closely.. his neck, jawline.. wait.. Eh.
Was she.. 'A pervert?!' She went crimson thinking about it, however she didnt dare look away, or let go..
Just a little longer. She didnt want to let go of this comfort yet.

Martial Artist's Hut, Time: 12:54 PM, December 6, 2022

---

It was nearing his usual waking time as usual so he started to stir. Tired and stumbling he slowly rose to his feet, his armor making a bunch of noise as he got onto his feet and standing. This game was designed to make the player's life generally more comfortable and it was quite noticeable. Normally even if he slept on his mattress he'd wake up sore with a headache and just feeling all out of sorts. This game removed many of the rigors of sleeping outdoors, not something that made up for the fact the game could kill him but it was still a nice gesture.


Looking around he saw no one around the hut, just a sparkling field of snow right before the treeline to the rocky forest below the mountain. "Hey, they all just packed up and left." He spoke out loud, the only intended audience being himself. Looking over to the quest zone he still saw each of their stones in place. "They didn't even finish their quest. What the heck's going on?" He asked, not really expecting an answer. After a second of waiting to see if they were nearby but just out of view he just sighed, giving up on them. "Nobody tells me anything." He complained, following it up with a depressed sigh as he went on over to his boulder. He started hitting the large rock, finding it almost therapeutic to take his frustration out on this quest object. "If no one cares, I'll make them care! Just wait until I clear level one hundred! We'll see who's laughing then!"
His angry self dialogue grew as did the sound of his fists hitting the rock until both sounds were booming, echoing to all around the mountain.

---

Martial Artist's Hut, Time: 3:00 PM, December 6, 2022

---

He was still hitting the stone though he was no longer talking. In his brooding trance he didn't even notice the cloaked girl arrive until she shrieked. Having lived with his sister he no longer jumped at sudden loud high pitched cries. Her banshee like screams had desensitized him to such noises. He slowly rotated until he faced her and the two who returned in front of her. She rushed over to hug the two. The lazy Triangle dude apparently was covered in blood for whatever reason.

He watched the happy reunion from over where he was, just mostly glaring out from his helmet. He was not really happy for any of them. All of this struck a far too familiar nerve with him. The way he embraced her, the solemn yet happy tone this all set. All of it cried of a word which rarely crossed his tongue. Romance.


Not in all of his twenty two long years did he ever get to drink from that ever-flowing fountain. Everyone he knew and saw all had but not him. Even his sister, which ultimately was what it all came back down to, at least in his head. She had gone through boyfriend after boyfriend in her years. The romances were almost always toxic, short lived and explosively emotional, sort of like plutonium. He had to put up with her wailing in her room for hours, going on about how they totally broke her heart over the phone to her friends in that annoyingly shrill voice of hers.

Family. He remembered the message crystal Kayaba delivered to everyone like the arrogant prat he was. Seeing as the garden near the hut he contemplated leaving a message to his family in the real world. If he died perhaps they deserved to know what happened. Holding his crystal he delved deeply into his own mind, trying to come up with something he wanted to say to them. Before he could think of anything he heard the cloaked girl singing. She was a bit out of the way but the mountain had a way of carrying voices with how open it was.


“'No matter what words I try to say,
You don’t smile…'
I wonder if Tchaikovsky, too,
Became heart-rendingly sad and set those feelings to music.

'There are no princes on white horses.'
I want to be the one to kiss you.
The next morning, and the morning after that,
Shall I wake you from your slumber?"

That's it. He resolved on his decision at last. Walking a bit away from the group he walked over towards the cliff edge overlooking the forest and quite a bit in the distance even the city. He looked across through the blizzard at the spectacularly beautiful sight and took a deep breath.

He threw the crystal, sending it sailing far into the forest below.

Triangle
(ooc: Song is was listening to when typing this up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcfary7uye0)
Oh crap, he fell asleep. Looking all around, he was lost for a moment at where he was. Triangle remembered the dream from last night where he rode through a storm to look for Mirai, found her and brought her back safely, and sent the message to his parents. Feeling her hands in his, he was relieved that her sickness was only a dream, that coldness wasn’t real, and he hadn’t said anything to her… Wait, her hand? He looked down to see a Mirai sleeping peacefully, and panicked. The dream wasn’t a dream after all! Then those things he had said to her… His face reddened.

His face, it was still caked in blood! Quiet as a mouse, he crawled out of the hut, clumsily opening the door and falling out face first into the cold snow. He lay there face down for a bit, the snow melting from the heat coming from his face, and cooling it off. “Alright, I need to pretend all of it was a dream, she doesn’t need to know,” He said to himself. Triangle looked up to find Hisui squatting down in front of him with a curious look.
Ah... She’s a witness.

Quickly standing up and patting the snow from his clothes, he stuttered, “P-Pretend what happened yesterday never happened, she passed out because of the sudden change in weather okay?” It was a shoddy excuse, but he couldn’t think of anything else with his mind all jumbled up.

Hisui stood up with him and said “O-okay.” Triangle didn’t have to worry about the man with the helmet, he would remain quiet anyways, and he always saw him silently punching the rock. Triangle left Hisui for the well, he needed to think of something quickly or else Mirai will realize it wasn’t a dream. The bitterly cold water cleared his mind a bit as he washed the filth from his face. Removing the blood drenched scarf from his head (all his wounds had healed), Triangle thought of something, he needed a blade. He quickly ran to his bags and dug out a machete, since he was a spear bearer, he naturally wouldn’t carry a blade with him, but this was just in case. Looking around in case no one was watching, he hid behind some bushes, with the blade in hand. The blade was exceptionally sharp for cutting through vegetation, and meat. Without looking, Triangle brought it up behind his head, the other hand grabbing his long ponytail, and with one smooth motion, he cut it off. After adding a few finishing touches with scissors and a mirror, he was satisfied with his new haircut. Hopefully Mirai would be too puzzled at why he cut his hair, and think that his erratic behavior was because of the haircut. Even she won’t see through this.

Quickly returning to the hut, he heated up some milk, drizzled some honey, and added a couple of mint leaves. The scent made his mouth water, he’ll have to get some for himself later… Triangle carried the glass painfully because it was so hot; slowly sliding the door open, he stepped in and closed it behind him. Mirai was still asleep, attempting to wake her gently, he moved the glass of milkl back and forth above her nose. His hands were scalding from the heat, and his stomach was growling from the aroma of the milk. Suddenly she bolted up, awake, knocking the glass out of Triangle’s hands, luckily he caught it. Nearly having a heart attack, he said, “Morning idiot.”

December 6, 2022--6:07 PM
Floor 2, Martial Artist's Hut

As soon as he had come out of the hut and ordered her not to tell Mirai what actually happened earlier that day, Triangle walked out of the clearing. (He acted like it all happened yesterday, though...seems Triangle wasn't quite in his right mind, though he couldn't be blamed for messing up which day it was after that ordeal.) Hisui watched him with confusion, wondering why he didn't want Mirai to know about what happened, as well as where he was going now, but she decided not to ask him about it.

Standing up and stretching, she walked back towards her rock at the edge of the garden, and started attacking it once again with her fists. Would the snow have any effect on her ability to break the stone? She couldn't tell. But after spending so much time looking for Mirai, Hisui knew she had to work much harder to finish the quest. So the girl in a black cape furiously attacked the stone without stopping until she saw Triangle returning...

Or was it Triangle? Lifting her hood a little, Hisui saw that he had cut his hair for whatever reason. To say the least, it actually made her think it was a different person with Triangle's face by pure coincidence. What does he need a haircut for? It's not like it'll grow in this game... Before long, however, she thought she could smell something, despite the wind and snow swirling around her. It smelled like...mint and honey...and some milk...

Okay, those weren't things Hisui usually had for breakfast in the real world, but she hadn't actually eaten since she got to the top of this mountain at all. Oh no...now I can't focus at all... Feeling much more frustrated, Hisui tried to ignore her stomach crying out for nourishment and threw herself against the stone.

Martial Artist's Hut, Time: 6:11 PM, December 6, 2022

---

Magnus had returned to hitting the stone, his stone's health lower than everyone elses stone though the end was still far out of sight. Though he was angry, not just at them but at pretty much the world, his anger slowly simmered down into mild moodiness and eventually into simple depression. His hits had less heart behind them than before, the damage lessening as time advanced. He knew exactly why his strength was waning but he refused to yield to it. He hadn't eaten anything in at least two days. All of his scarce amount of money had gone into healing items leaving almost no budget for food rations for his travels. His last smoked jerky ration was eaten a week ago.

He heard the short hooded girl's punches alongside his own since she returned to resume her quest. She had been at it for a little while since she returned with the others. Though her blows were decent, especially for someone of her build and size, she wasn't doing as much damage as him, fatigued as he was. His point allocation was more strictly based around strength than hers so it made a certain sense.


There was something else though. Something lacking from her strikes which was slowing her progress. It made itself clear as she basically threw herself into the boulder at a weak attempt to harm it. She was probably hungry too. He was mostly guessing this but it was informed by the assumption of a similar mentality to his towards progressing. Though he normally would of tried to push through the weakness and force himself to go even harder seeing her do the exact same thing gave him an outside view of what he was doing. Yeah, it's probably best we take a moment to eat.

By we he meant he tags along while she goes and gets something to eat and hopes he can snag a bit out of her being a generous soul. He already felt owing her two hundred and fifty Col though, something which still plucked at his mind like a determined beginning harpist with no ears. He knew he'd have to do something to pull himself out of this debt sooner or later because it wouldn't cease to bother him until he did.


He stepped up to her after a minor duel with his own sense of guilt. "Hey." He addressed her, walking over right by her boulder. "The boulder isn't going anywhere. How about you and I go get some food from the town?" He asked her in a rather straight forward manner. He never much for beating around the bush in general, only ever tailoring his words when it was strictly necessary.

He looked out from the point on the mountain they were on to the woods below. The closest town was still a decently long distance away. They would probably be back after dark if they left immediately, any later and they'd be back in the pitch black hours of morning. "I know it's a bit of a walk but think about it like this: Your DPS* is at a 0.2 decline and dropping. If you want to be done with this quest in time to get ready for the Bullbous Bow fight you'll need all the damage you can muster against an object which basically has the highest durability in this game so far as I've seen."

He waited for what was no doubt going to be some questions about what he had just said.

---

(*Damage Per Second)

December 6, 2022--6:29 PM
Floor 2, Martial Artist's Hut

Clutching her shoulder, Hisui lay on the ground groaning. Ramming the rock with her shoulder had not been a good idea in the slightest. Granted, punching it wasn't a good idea in the first place either, but she hit the rock at an awkward angle when she used her shoulder, and she was regretting it immensely now as such.

"Hey." Just as she was getting up, the armored man walked up to her and began talking. "The boulder isn't going anywhere. How about you and I go get some food from the town?" The man turned to look down towards the woods further down the mountainside. "I know it's a bit of a walk, but think about it like this: Your DPS is at a 0.2 decline and dropping. If you want to be done with this quest in time to get ready for the Bullbous Bow fight you'll need all the damage you can muster against an object which basically has the highest durability in this game so far as I've seen."

"Eh...the Bullbous Bow? W-what's that? And...h-how do you know, ah, t-that I-I'm dealing less damage? A-and, well..." Hisui's voice trailed off, one finger moving upwards to point at the painted whiskers upon her face. She didn't need to explain why she was so conscious about that part at all. "I-I wouldn't mind, ah, g-going to town, though...I-I mean, I could use some, y-you know, thicker clothing...a-and food, of course, but..."

Not sure where to go with what she was saying, she glanced at the open door to the hut, wondering if she should ask Triangle and Mirai if they felt like going to town as well.

(OOC: Quick note, Zalgo. When it comes to objects such as our weapons and clothing, or the rocks--basically, any mortal object that isn't a player, NPC or enemy--it has Durability, not HP. I corrected that part in Magnus' dialogue, as such.)

Martial Artist's Hut, Time: 6:32 PM, December 6, 2022

---

"Eh...the Bullbous Bow? W-what's that? And...h-how do you know, ah, t-that I-I'm dealing less damage? A-and, well..."

We would of been a bit more irritated with her seemingly stupid questions if he wasn't expecting it already. As it was he just sighed a bit. "The Bullbous Bow is the field boss for this floor. It's a giant bull that wanders the area out west past the savannah. As for the damage just look at the boulders durability counter. It ticks one damage less every five hits and you're not doing a lot of damage to begin with." He educated her to the factors of the game like a teacher to his student.

"I-I wouldn't mind, ah, g-going to town, though...I-I mean, I could use some, y-you know, thicker clothing...a-and food, of course, but..."

She glanced over to the hut where Romeugh and Julidiot were being nauseating last he checked. He figured thicker clothing would be handy for her since she wasn't wearing much armor or any really from what he could see. The cold didn't bother him as much since the padded cloth supporting his armor so that the making sure the metal links didn't pinch him was rather warm. It wasn't arctic fur coat warm but it sufficed for a mild temperature floor like this one was. "Right, it's settled then. If you want, I'll invite you into a party for the trip in case we get attacked or something.
If you're gonna invite those two love birds go do it now." He proposed the makings of a party for mutual safety on the road which wasn't a bad idea since there could always be PKers trolling the main roads for passerby's to jump. Another risk was monster attacks of course.

Looking up at her boulder he figured out a way to make it up to her later. It wasn't going to much right now since they needed to get going but it was a small gesture of good will. "I'll work on your boulder, catch you up a bit while you
talk with the other guys." He offered his help. With that said he threw a heavy hook right over the cloaked girl's head into the boulder. He knew it was a bit of a waste to be punching this boulder while he had a rock of his own to crush but smashing his own stone wouldn't alleviate his sense of guilt over the debt he owed her.

December 6, 2022--6:33 PM
Floor 2, Martial Artist's Hut

"Right, it's settled then. If you want, I'll invite you into a party for the trip in case we get attacked or something. If you're gonna invite those two love birds go do it now." Apparently Hisui's embarrassment over the face paint completely went over the man's head...ah well, there wasn't really any helping it. "I'll work on your boulder, catch you up a bit while you talk with the other guys." With that, he turned to Hisui's rock and started punching it.

Was this really okay, though? Would the system penalize her for having someone else work on her rock? Well, there wasn't really a way to put her worries to rest, so Hisui said nothing and walked towards the hut, gently pushing open the door...

...only to be greeted by the strange sight of Triangle holding a glass of milk while sitting above Mirai, who seemed to have just woken up. Somehow, the atmosphere in the hut seemed that much more bizarre. "U-um...h-hi...g-g-guys..." Hisui stuttered, looking around at anything in the hut other than those two. "U-um. W-well, t-the man, er, w-with the armor...y-you know, t-that other person d-doing this q-quest with us?...a-anyway, ah...h-he was t-thinking of, uh, g-going to town. A-are you two, eh, i-interested in coming?"

This totally wasn't awkward at all.