Yang

Taking Eléssar's hands in her own was a bit more embarrassing than what Scarlet had originally thought it'd be. But that was already over with, Scarlet thought to herself as she nodded and blushed slightly. She looked at Nova from the corners of her eye, and noticed something like a ball of pure vice surrounding her.

Uh, I'm sorry? Scarlet thought, and kneeled down, putting Nova in a tight hug. So when Eléssar turned around again to say something about munchkins, Scarlet felt like she was acting really out if character.

Begrudgingly, Scarlet let go of Nova and stood up, walked elegantly to Eléssar's side with her eyes peacefully closed, and coughed a few times, before resuming the conversation.

"Really? Munchkins should be small creatures. As long as you have experience fighting small animals, we should have no problem," Scarlet commented.

[OOC]

"So.. Scarlet, is this going to be your first combat experience? If it is.. I don't think Munchkins would be a problem.. And Nova would protect us anyways," Eléssar said, walking up to Scarlet.

Well, this wasn't Scarlet's first fight, per say, but she had no experience with SAO's combat thing much, so she said, "No, but I would like your guidance, senpai."

That senpai part was largely unnecessary, but Scarlet had wanted to try saying it just once. And she did so while grabbing Eléssar's hands in a very anime-ish way, because she had wanted to try doing that just once as well.

"Oh, by the way, do you know where the Elder Forest is? I forgot to ask," Scarlet admitted quietly.

El, éssar yawned as Scarlet caught up to him. She looked over at him, and thought- She may have just imagined it- a smirk on his face. It was only when he had pointed to Nova, saying "So, any idea about what she wants?" did Scarlet realize that, yes, her was reading her. That day, a flame began to burn in Scarlet's heart, one of embarrassment and an inability to express this embarrassment (through excessive violence) because this man was now a friend, but not closer enough that she could hit him (lightly, LIGHTLY) and get away with it.

"There it is!" Eléssar shouted, and Scarlet turned to look at whatever he was yelling at. It was a store, and Scarlet turned to look for a sign to verify her guess that it was the store of the spices merchant. It wasn't a store for only spices, but a grocery.

"I'll be waiting here while you take the item," he added, tapping Scarlet's shoulder and turning around to dote on Nova.

Scarlet walked into the store, and a bell rung, probably to signify her entrance. The shop was similar in appearance to a grocery store, and was quite busy. Further inside, Scarlet could see rows of tables and chairs arranged in such a fashion that this building could be housing both a store and a restaurant.

Scarlet looked for an aisle that would be labeled as Spices, and went down the aisle when she found it. She looked at the shelf labeled Sugar, and found a package labeled «Lutian Sugar». She took the package to a counter where she gave the NPC the slip of paper from the chef and was permitted to leave with the package. And such was the arduous task of buying groceries.

Scarlet opened the glass door and walked out into the Marketplace yet again. "I have the Sugar," she said to Eléssar. "Let's go to the Elder Forest now. Strawberry Cake, prepare to be eaten."

Eléssar's pet Nova moved quickly and was soon far away. Assuming Nova was running towards the market like Eléssar said she could, Scarlet grinned and said, "Eléssar, let's race. I'll see you there!"

Moments later, Scarlet was breathless and at the market, returning Nova's noble smile with one of her own. Eléssar, who was right beside her, laughed, and said, "She is showing off just for you. I think she wants a hug.. Or something."

With that, Eléssar smiled to Scarlet and walked towards the market.

Scarlet blushed beet red. H-he didn't plan this, did he? Scarlet let Eléssar move further away before suddenly hugging Nova, who was as soft and cuddly as she'd expected. She just as suddenly let go, in case Eléssar happened to turn around and see her embarrassing movement.

"W-wait," she called after Eléssar, getting up and chasing after him, and then looking around for the spices merchant.

"So! What do you want to do first? Exploring or fighting?"

"That's a strange question, Elyth. Of course I'd want to learn how to fight first," Scarlet said, rolling up her sleeves. She touched her sword again impulsively."Why don't you show me how to fight here?"

"That's the exit to the Town of Beginnings, right?" Scarlet pointed to the large gate visible from the town's central plaza. "What's outside?"

"I tottally forgot about her.. Scarlet, this is Nova. My familiar, she is the one who helps me to find my way inside the towns," Eléssar said whilst Scarlet was still searching the road before her. Scarlet turned to catch a glimpse of shining light that morphed into an elegant white lion sporting a lush white coat and sapphire blue eyes. Were it several times smaller, Scarlet might've rushed right over to it and squeezed it so tightly even she wouldn't have been able to let go. Instead, it was a perfect cuddling size. Sadly, the cuddling would have to wait until Eléssar wasn't watching and after the strawberry cake. The only indication of Scarlet's sudden impulse was a faint blush that she successfully hid by turning back to the road, as to prevent Eléssar and Nova from seeing her face.

Scarlet felt Eléssar moving beside her, and peered over at her companion as he spoke. "Anythings fine with me unless we walk under the sun. I hate walking under the sun. As i said, Nova can help us if we ever lose the location."

Thoughtfully, she turned back towards the direction of the road heading for the central plaza, which was really not that far away, and asked, "Nova must be a great traveling companion. Perhaps I'll have a partner like that someday."

After a pause, Scarlet quietly added, "We can get you a sun umbrella if you need one."

Scarlet agreed. It was good to have friends, and people to watch your back for you, and by the time Eléssar had said so, Scarlet was too far ahead to reply. After getting the list of ingredients from the NPC, Scarlet noticed that the NPC was still holding a piece of paper, this one different from the one before.

"What's this?" she asked, surprised.

"It's a note to the spices merchant. The store has already paid him in advance for the , so all you need to do is give him the note," the chef replied. Scarlet nodded and turned back to her companion, who was now at the door of the cafe, flicking at his HUD.

*Ding*

Acquired one

Scarlet started towards the door, and walked past a smiling as she noticed the pop-up before her. It was a party invite. She lightly tapped on the check button as she walked past Eléssar and into the nearby street, stretching, all while beaming at Eléssar.

"Alright, it seems that we have the locations of the necessary items. You lead, i don't want to lead you to the wrong way," Eléssar said, dusting his clothing and stretching.

"Well, I'm not too sure how I got here myself, but... Let's go to the market first. We'll pick up the Lutian Sugar before looking for the Elder Forest," Scarlet remarked, showing Eléssar the papers she had gotten from the NPC at the shop, and looking around for the road she had taken while coming here to the . She had remembered a particular house with a small house cramped between several small one, and also a large building with an insignia on it. Where was that? Well, no matter. They could always use the Town of Beginning's meandering roads, which, somehow, all radiated from the town plaza, at the very center of town.

"Eléssar, let's go this way," Scarlet said, pointing to the wide open road the wrapped around the other entrance of the cafe, and from which she could see the Town's fountain, small but utterly distinguishable. "I'm not entirely sure how to get to the Market from here, but I do know that it'll be easier if we go by the Town Plaza, yes?"

Elyth was good, just not as good as Scarlet, who had trained in martial arts and swordplay for years, who had actually beat up people with guns, who had actually been shot a couple of times. Scarlet simply held down Elyth's sword-wielding wrist, but gravity did have it's momentum, and the two fell to the ground, Scarlet barely avoiding the blade of Elyth's sword.

"I suppose that's all?" Scarlet asked, her own sword poised at Elyth's neck, when she felt Elyth's wrist convulsing to bring her own sword up to Scarlet's abdomen.

"You're not bad," she commented, getting up and releasing Elyth, smiling like a proud mother. "But you still need practice. I'll take you up on that adventuring offer."

This girl, Elyth, was good for a novice, but Scarlet wasn't one. Elyth's movement was predictable, just as Scarlet's stab was earlier, and now Elyth was right in Scarlet's very loosely put together trap. Scarlet could do better than this, but this duel didn't really matter. Either way, she was somehow certain she was going to adventure with Elyth.

With a deft movement of her wrist, Scarlet parried Elyth's swipe.

Duel!


1-4: Miss

5-8: One Damage

9-10: Two Damage

Scarlet looked around, and seeing no one nearby to disrupt them, slid her iron sword out of its sheath. She rushed at Elyth suddenly, and stabbed forward, pretty confident that she had hit Elyth.

Duel!


1-4: Miss

5-8: One Damage

9-10: Two Damage

"Ah.. Thank you, i promise to help you after i eat.. Oh and if we are going to do that together, we should form a party.. I mean, for now," Eléssar said, just as food apparated on the table. "Well.. This is a game after all."

Scarlet wasn't interested in the food so much as the impending expedition. However, this was a great chance to familiarize herself with Eléssar. "A party is a good idea," she conceded. "Thank you for helping me, Eléssar. I hope this isn't too much of a bother."

She cleared her throat. "I'll go see what information the NPC has concerning the whereabouts of the ingredients."

Standing up, Scarlet made her way over to the NPC chef, who was behind the counter. "Please tell me where the ingredients are located."

"Here."

Ingredients:

- Dropped by Strawberry Munchkins in the Elder Forest [F1]

- Found in the Market in the Town of Beginnings [F1]

FIrst impression already proved wrong, defied, and stuffed into a toilet to be flushed away to the sea of "Ah, no, I was so ****ing wrong," Scarlet was unsure how to reply. Then again, what could really happen? What kind of person would stab her in the back after bowing?

"I shall," Scarlet smiled, replying while somewhat amused. "Only if you can beat me in a duel."

What better to test this person's capabilities than a duel? Scarlet wasn't sure how that would work, but she assumed it would be pretty simple.

YESSSSSS, Scarlet thought, slightly out of character, as she listened to Eléssar's explanation. She could faintly remember watching the Lord of the Rings movies when she was a child, and wanting to be Gandalf with his unassailable staff. She smiled excitedly, and touched her sword reflexively.

"Ah.. Everyone makes mistakes..." Eléssar smiled kindly, and continued speaking in a way the Scarlet regarded as "trying to be comforting." "I needed to get a map information to find this place. I always get lost in towns, I really do suck at finding locations.''

His intentions were not left unnoticed, and Scarlet warmed inside, the simple acknowledgement of someone's goodwill relaxing her posture. She removed her hand from her sword, and brushed away some strands of hair from her face, just before she heard growl coming from Eléssar's abdominal region.

"I'm so.. So sorry.. I was here to eat and.. As you can hear I'm really hungry..So, uh yes," Eléssar spoke quietly, just as the chef walked into the room.

Both their attentions were now fully focused on the chef, who looked so sad. Scarlet found two chairs and scooted one over to Eléssar. She plopped herself down, and addressed the chef. "Excuse me sir, what seems to be the problem?"

The chef, a young man dressed in all white except his boots, replied, "We ran out of strawberry cake."

"..." Sitting shell-shocked in her chair, Scarlet felt a tear come out from her eye. "What do you mean by that?"

"We simply ran out of ingredients, miss," the NPC said matter-of-factly. "If we could get some and , we'd be able to make our special strawberry cakes."

"...tell me where to get those," Scarlet muttered, with all the will of a dying man who only wanted to see the stars before he left the physical world behind. She blinked, and smiled again. "After Eléssar eats, that is."

Eléssar, Scarlet thought, turning the name over in her head. It sounded exotic and perhaps even like a name from a fantasy novel. Scarlet was impressed. She nodded in approval, adding, "That's a good name you've got there."

The person before her was now mentioning something about stairs... Turning around, Scarlet realized that yes, there had been steps. The steps were also made of marble-like material, which explained why Scarlet's feet were in and still were, to some extent, subdued agony ever since she had made the mistake of tripping. Scarlet felt a slight hint of heat on her cheeks, most likely out of embarrassment, and felt the pressure on her hand disappear.

She turned back to the man who had helped her get up from the floor and intense embarrassment just seconds before, face still slightly flushed and mouth in a small, unnoticeable pout. He was scratching his head, and smiling, while speaking, all at the same time. Multitasking, Scarlet noted, slightly amused.

"Um... I was here to eat something... Maybe you could join me, I mean if you want to of course," Eléssar somehow muttered aloud.

Scarlet mused over the question for three seconds (she counted) before replying, "Thank you for the offer, but I only want strawberry cake. If they don't have that here, then I must search for one who may be able to provide me with an unlimited supply. Of course, I would enjoy your company on my search."

At that moment, a NPC chef strode into the room, wearing the traditional top-hat of a chef. He looked forlorn and disappointed, and Scarlet suddenly had a very bad feeling.

"Hi! I'm Elyth! What's your name?"

So said a vibrant voice to Scarlet's left. Scarlet turned to face the owner of the voice, realizing in the process that her own long hair moved so fluidly in-game! Amazing. The owner of the voice had a creamy white hair, and silver-gray eyes that seemed to fall limitlessly inside, like a monotone abyss. In contrast, her skin was a warm olive color with a layer of golden undertones, and she radiated a refreshing aura.

"My name-" Scarlet began, moving her hands to her sword, "-is Scarlet. At least, that is my in-game name. Nice to meet you, Elyth."

The floor was like marble- chilling and smooth, and not at all comfortable. Thus, Scarlet was grateful when someone actually tried to help her get up from the floor, and she took the hand willingly.

"He.. Are you alright?" A voice asked as Scarlet looked up to see a garden of red hair, much like her own, yet shorter, atop a face of sharp, mature angles, and in the middle, amber, yellow eyes much like the yellow roses she'd seen just outside. Scarlet looked at him, memorizing his face, because she simply could not remember names, and then realized that she was still holding his hand.

"I am fine, thank you," Scarlet replied to the man, smiling in a way that was not unkind. She was still grateful for his presence. "I'm Scarlet. Nice to meet you, and may I ask for your name?"

The first sensation Scarlet felt was a mind-numbing ache behind her eyes and the second was a static sort of sound resonating in her ears. Vaguely, she could sense her body- artificial body- crumpling to the ground, and automatically felt her hands searching for her wooden sword, which should be at her hip- and there it was. Except that this sword was... different from her own. It felt more... cold, smooth, and didn't have the markings she'd carved into it two summers ago.

Immediately her eyelids flew up, and Scarlet felt the aching again, before it gently subsided into the early morning light of the First Floor of Aincrad. It was quite a lot to take in, but she barely glanced at the marvelous pixels of the Town of Beginnings before inspecting her sword. It was an iron sword, cold and simple. Where was her wooden sword...? Oh wait. Oh. Ohhhh. OH, this was Sword Art Online, not real life, and that was why her wooden sword wasn't with her at the moment. What a relief. Hopefully it'd stay safe at home with her now inert body.

Sighing in relief, Scarlet got up from the ground, and inspected her clothing. She was wearing a light blue tunic underneath an almond vest, forest green pants- capris, and tall, knee-length boots.

Not bad, she supposed.

This was taking too long.

Impatiently, Scarlet tapped at the oval and glazed wood table rhythmically. Atop the table stood one tall and slender vase of water, wherein limped the two green stalks of a certain rose, which, upon closer inspection, was labeled by Sword Art Online's Cardinal system as a , distinctly named for its yellow petals. The vase itself, a simple work, was marked by two words, telling of the shop to which it belonged, the , a NPC establishment on the first floor of Aincrad, floating castle of Sword Art Online. The aforementioned cafe was a quaint place, located near the wall of the Town of Beginning, a perfect location for a shop of its gentle air. It was rare to see more than five or more people walking along the boundaries of the shop, and one would expect that the service would be... faster, if it even existed in the first place.

It was then that Scarlet realized that the was a bit too quiet. She rose from the table, pushing back the ornate wooden chair, and made her way over cobblestone paving and through a row of seats to the inside of the cafe. Pushing open the only barrier between herself and her destination (a door), Scarlet felt her feet trip over something, and she fell to the floor with a solid thump.

Sonata was reading a book nearby, when she spotted her little sister, trailing after what looked like a little blue sprite- no, it was a girl.

The sprite began dance around a nearby person, who seemingly could maintain a poker face even when a girl was orbiting around him. A marvelous feat of... whatever the word was.

Sonata turned back to her book.

"I am Sonata," Sonata said coolly.

"Hmm? Are you talking to me?" Sonata questioned, not looking up from her lance, which she was now wiping blood off of.

Ah, the girl missed, Sonata thought, looking back briefly. She had just knocked out all of the plants, and was now making sure that they stayed on the ground. Like proper unconscious organisms. In 9.8 Newtons of gravity, but that was an unnecessary thought. Sonata shook it out of her head.

The other girl was now commencing a campaign to impale all of the plant mobs on her sword like they were marshmallows, it seems. Perhaps Sonata would do the same.

Sonata watched out of the corner of her eye as the shaken girl got up and swiped at the mob, detaching its head and cutting its maws apart, only to have it drift away on the current of simulated wind as shiny particles. Smiling, she equipped her shield and went for the next target, or targets- the hybrids that had formed a wall of themselves- and barreled through their formation with the shield.

Sonata swung left and right, trying to defeat her enemies with the blunt impact of her lance. They attempted to target her with their measly little tusks, but they were no match for Sonata's lance.

"Tch!" Sonata exclaimed, having located a human figure- a player- among the ranks of the unicorn/flytrap hybrids. Was the person a PKer? Or worse, was it a frail little girl needing help and stumbling smack dab into the middle of trouble?

It certainly looked like the latter. The girl had white hair and blue eyes, and looked disheveled and messy, as if she had just gotten out of bed one morning with extremely bad hair.

Sonata smacked herself in her mind. No stereotypes, no judging a book by its cover, she thought, reminding herself. Then she turned back to the situation at hand. She pointed her lance at the very first hybrid creature, and thrust forward, aiming to pierce at its head.