Koga

After having greeted the newest partygoer to his home, Koga ventured over to the snacks table and helped himself to one of the sodas she had brought. Root beer flavored. A classic. Content to sit back and watch, man found a spot next near the backdoor and propped himself against it, gently sipping at the sweet, bubbly beverage as he observed those present. From the corner of his eye, he spotted NIGHT sneakily slink off to do...whatever it was that NIGHT usually did...honestly, that woman was a complete and total mystery to Koga. Luckily, most everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Music, c

"It's Koga," the blacksmith replied, suddenly feeling far too exhausted for it not even being noon...actually, that was pretty normal for him, he was always exhausted. Of course, this talk of 'friends' was only making it worse. 'Wait, she thinks we're friends!?' Blueberry continued to chide Koga about something or other, as he tried to process how the girl thought they were friends despite only sharing passing words on a couple occasions. Also, 'train him'? What? "Blue, you can't 'train' people," he told the girl, crossing his arms. "And I'll have you know, NIGHT has cooked for me on

Koga stepped into the shop once more, eyes keenly alert, searching back and forth for the mysterious vendor who had so unceremoniously dropped their wares upon his head the last time he'd made a purchase. Not that he was upset about that, more so just...intrigued. "Hello?" he called out. Unsurprisingly, he got no answer. The floorboards creaked as he approached the count and produced a slip of paper from his pocket, and placed it face up on the counter with a sack of Col. The coins jingled musically in their rough burlap home. "Uhm, I'd like to make another purchase, please?" Koga t

Koga gave Jomei an appreciative nod when he realized that the player was marking their path for them. A (not so) small oversight on his part. Another pair of players rounded the corner before either Koga or Jomei could start moving in the other direction. "We better be quick," Koga said with a nod, before starting to move along the Labyrinth wall. "Whatever's going on, it doesn't sound good." With a hand loosely skimming the wall on their left, Koga kept an eye out for the spiral symbol the other two players had been using. "Do you guys know what that girl's level was?" Koga asked, h

In Koga's hands, Tsuki no Hikari moved almost on its own. It took Koga a moment to realize that Hirru had gripped his blade, tight enough to bite into his flesh. The rapid flickering of their indicators, sent sounds of static cracks through the air between them. Hirru's thorns fought back, lacerations appearing and disappearing across Koga's body, as both their health bars drained slowly. Koga's eyes were wide with shock as he looked back into Hirru's own emerald greens. In them were a void he was all too familiar with. At Baldur's request, Koga's weapon disappeared entirely, gone in

k o g a the elder wolf The loud sound of the shop's front door bursting open saw Koga crashing through the back of his shop, his weapon in hand, and ready to beat some punks ass. And then he saw a familiar face he literally thought he would never see in his shop again. "Blue?" he said incredulously. And then realization dawned on him. She was trying to bribe him with food for some more gear, wasn't she..."My name isn't 'Frying Pan Boi'" he reminded her. "Now what do you want?" he asked dryly as the woman entered the shop with a bag of what appa

k o g a the elder wolf Bubbles began to form in the center of the pool. Only a few at first. And then more, until suddenly the water broke, and exploded in all directions as a dark haired man burst up from the center, shaking his hair free of the water, and wiping his face. Something, something Floor 21. Honestly, Koga didn't really know how he had wound up anywhere these past few days. Everything had been a blur since the the last boss raid. What should have been a victory ending with a celebration had only resulted in a long and arduous

A roar of outrage shook Koga to his core as he felt a weight press against the tip of his blade. Although the two had only recently met, the anger behind those cool blue eyes stung. As evenly as he could manage, Koga spoke slowly, carefully. "I'm not about to attack you, Oji-san." Crimson eyes stared back, a degree of remorse in them. "But I can't let anyone touch Gabrandr. Not until a decision is made." The man's gaze drifted past the samurai to the others, still arguing over the fate of the boss. "I made mine, but if it's decided that Gabrandr's life is forfeit, then so be it. I can't s

That made a lot more sense to Koga. The use of a distinctive drawing to mark a path, it was probably the most sensible thing Koga had heard of in a long time. Penguins though? The piecing screech that filled the air interrupted any thoughts or words Koga had, and the man immediately drew his weapon in response. Was that an NPC or a player? Koga nodded in response to Jomei's questions. "Yeah, let's go," he said before running towards the direction of the cry. Hopefully, they would not encounter too many twists and turns along the way. Slate and glittering gold markings rushed pas

Too much was being said to keep proper track of it all, but it was clear who favored violence over mercy. At least there were some present who Koga knew what to expect from. The Wolf could, at the very least, understand where each player was coming from to some degree. To them, Gabrandr wasn't real. He was at worst, lines of code, programmed to kill them, and at best, a pawn in a grander game, with no agency, no will, and no soul. Once upon a time, Koga had felt the same way. The mobs of other floors were singular in their purpose, straight forward, and objective. But NIGHT's little compa

Koga followed beside Jomei, his own hands going to the pockets of his coat, as they passed between the massive grey stone walls. The horizon disappeared behind them, and soon they were entirely surrounded by the grey sentinels. Koga looks over at Jomei as he tells him about the last time he'd been here. The Wolf never realized Koga had been in the party that took on the Labyrinth boss. He couldn't say that he had envied them. Navigating this place sounded difficult, despite the..."Wait, penguins?" Koga asked, incredulously. "There were penguins...guiding you to the boss room? What?" His v

A familiar voice called out to Koga, and the man turned to look at the speaker. Koga took a moment to put a name to the face, before returning the greeting. "Hey Jomei, right?" the man said, recognizing the man from his Christmas party. "Yeah, pretty much." The swordsman looked back at the gaping maw of an entrance. He wondered for a moment how many players had gotten lost in there, and either were forced to teleport out. The ill-prepared, who knew what happened to them. "I was just planning on exploring it, see what's there to be seen and what not." "Would you care for some company?" Kog

"I didn't actually know that," Koga replied, "I just saw the DVD version, and that was just a single ending, so I've never had the pleasure of seeing the other two." To be completely honest, he hardly recalled the ending that he did see. Something about the character dreaming being safe, and waking back up in the room again? It had been years since he'd seen that film, but that did sound about right. Koga almost cringed at the mention of that particular quest. How long had the four of them spent just punching that stupid boulder? Way too long. But, Koga wasn't even sure if that's how the

k o g a the elder wolf Lately the late hours of the night had become Koga's preferred time to hunt. He could lie to himself and say it was because he enjoyed the cool night air, or the way the moonlight shone or some other sentimental notion, but he'd be lying to himself if he did. The truth of the matter was simply that there were fewer players out this time of night to see him agonize over his own demons. Failed relationships, those he cared about but wasn't able to protect, all those he'd lost, the kind of self-flagellation only those who had yet t

In his head, Koga sighed. He did not literally mean that no one else was out, moreso that he hadn't expected to run into anyone, but he wasn't about to try and argue semantics with this girl. Not when she was looking at him like she was about to do to him what she did to those skeletons. 'Well, it'd be a quick death, at least,' Koga thought before answering. "I'm gonna go with neither," the man replied, figuring the first answer made him sound like a serial killer, and the second, some low level idiot who didn't know his ass from his sword. Either seemed liable to earn him that quick deat

"Eh, don't worry about it," Koga replied as they started to walk towards the town outskirts. The man looked into the horizon, trying to gauge how much daylight they'd have left for their little training run. Thankfully, days didn't get longer or shorter in Aincrad, at least not noticeably, so Koga figured they still had at least two hours before it got too dark to see well. And then words popped up in his face. Koga's expression rapidly changed from surprise, confusion and then amusement. He still wasn't really used to the whole subtitles thing, but the question itself seemed rather...out

k o g a the elder wolf Just outside the Labyrinth, 10:13pm So this was floor 25. Koga hadn't quite had the pleasure of exploring this floor yet. Although, based on what he'd heard, actually exploring the floor was a pain in the ass. A giant maze that seemed to never end. How the Frontlines had ever managed to find the boss room in that thing was a source of endless amazement for Koga as he stared up at the massive stone walls that surrounded the construct. Kayaba was probably getting a kick out of watching people wander around aimle

The sound that of bones striking the ground was like that of a crate of glass bottles. A great clattering crash, nearly musical, if not for the lack of any composition. But a conductor stood among the symphony none the less. A girl, she couldn't have been older than his sister. And yet, she spoke without any of the fickle temperament that one might expect of someone her age. "You're one to talk," Koga replied flatly. The cold, acerbic tone glanced off Koga like a pebble, but the irony of a lone girl telling him to not be here alone not lost on him. "What are you doing out here?" the man a

A break in the fighting. Koga's grip on his katana didn't slack. Not until he looked at the boss. Gabrandr had paused, his arms falling to his sides. Without sound, his armor slowly dissipated, drifting away on unseen currents, revealing the man beneath it all. The King fell to his knees, vacant eyes staring ahead, and Koga knew that the fight was done. He sheathed his weapon, the quiet rasp of steel rubbing against wood following by a soft click. This didn't feel like a victory. Although Koga hadn't paid attention to whatever the boss had been saying throughout the fight, he'd heard

Another flash of blue, Koga's eyes followed the trail of light as closely as he could. The fast moving stream was little more than a blur, and yet, he was still able to catch a singular glimpse of long silver hair. The sound of frost crackling and encasing its targets drew Koga's attention to the four mobs who were now little more than living ice sculptures. Whoever this person was, they were an incredible fighter. With four more down that left eight to go. Alright, maybe Koga would live to see tomorrow. A steady exhale as he brought the point of his sword level with his eyes. The gr

A quick tracer of blue light has Koga readying his weapon in an instant, as he turns to face whatever player had just executed an Art. Instead, a headless mob shambled, stumbling forward before disintegrating. "What the..." Koga murmured as he looked around for the culprit. And then he heard the clattering of bones. Of course that wasn't the only skeleton around. Koga's grip tightened around his weapon as the Wolf at his side raised it's haunches, growling with killer intent at the growing horde. One step, two, slash. Block, the echoing ring steel clashing against steel. Step to the side,

"It's dampened, without doubt," Koga informed the snowy-haired girl. "Getting stabbed still hurts, but not anywhere near as much as in real life. Can't say I've broken a bone in-game yet, so I can't really give ya a good comparison, but the game goes pretty easy on you, I think." Koga didn't really have a single a thought when the girl mentioned death and dying. It was an omnipresent fact of life outside of the game. More present, perhaps, in Aincrad, but if anything that forced Koga to be more accustomed to it, at least when it came to the threat of his own death. His friends though...th

More words flashed between the two players as Ghost continued to make unfamiliar gestures with her hands. Koga had to admit, it was a little strange. It was like reading the subtitles on screen, except this was real. Well 'real' in terms of the game. "Well, 'realistic' is a loose term around here," Koga said with a chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck. "The combat system kinda...takes over once you queue up a Sword Art," Koga explained. "Its a little strange, and it takes some getting used to, but that's about as much input as you get during that part." A shrug. Unfortunately, SAO di

k o g a the elder wolf Floor 21, The Grand Necropolis, ??:??pm The clatter of steel echoed off the the grey-brown stones of the Necropolis. Tonight, the city of the dead was quite alive. Sweat dripped off of Koga's brow as he quickly glanced up at his HUD, confirming his health was still in the green and ticking up before returning his gaze to the three undead wraiths before him, smoke coming off their ghostly bodies and seeping out between the seams of their armor. "Okami, go." A quiet command, and the Wolf lunged forward, fangs bare

The loud reverberating clatter of the backboard smacking the wall seemed to hang in the air, long after the noise had faded into silence. Kasumi practically shook at the same frequency, as if she were ready to spring away to some hidden place of safety. Small, meek words carried on that same broken wavelength, no single world quite complete by the time they made it out of the girl's mouth. "You're glad?" Koga questioned, the bemused, teasing tone quickly returning to his voice as he took a sidelong glance at the girl. "Glad I'm a dork like you? Or glad I think you're cute?" Was that most