[PP-F2] Like Fire and Ice... (Cinder/Alciel)

[Alciel 0]

The gentle lapping of water resounded notably throughout the small bathroom as a mist shrouded individual stepped inside for a bath after her recent adventure on the first floor. Truth be told, it was probably unnecessary to do so given the fact of this all being nothing more than an artificial fabrication formulated by a single mans superficial desire to play a god. At the very least, that's what it seemed like to her the more she had come to ponder the logic behind Kayaba Ahiko's motives. Yes at every turn, she drew a blank as one would expect. Sinking down into the tub she stared up at the rather shabby ceiling, thought it was also to be expected for a second floor inn that costed as much Col as it did. She was a rather frugal person after all and she made good use of her «Purchase Negotiation» skill in order to be here instead of on the streets. After her first mob fight coupled with her first ever completed quest, she would have been a liar if she said she wasn't finally getting interested in this game.

She had heard a few things about Sword Art Online's "Player versus Player" system that had intrigued her and she longed to try it -- problem being, she didn't know any other people she could possibly try it against other than Kirito and that wouldn't have been much of a fight considering his level. Though no matter how much she thought of her new found desire for combat, she couldn't shake the fact that this revelation even went so far as to make her blood run cold even despite her steam laden bath. But it was alright so long as it was in the name of sportsmanship -- right? Nevertheless, she gathered her resolve before declaring to herself that she would find someone she could attempt this "PvP" based combat system on by any means...even if she had to make a rival or enemy in the mean time. How easily she gave into her impulses sometimes even amazed herself.

*** Some time later ***

Alciel strode along the well paved road of the second floor town, still wearing the somewhat heavy black «Blackwyrm Coat» she had yet to return, narrowing her eyes against the suddenly spontaneous and robust breeze which tumbled into her, buffeting both her hair and the coat as they fluttered and rippled along it like maddened swaths of tentacles. She had been pacing about town looking for someone who looked roughly around her level and didn't intimidate her -- too much, anyway. Actually approaching the person was not the issue given her personality, though she did wonder by what means she would have to initiate this. She had never really fought anyone before; neither in a game (especially given she had never played any) or in reality. Was it something you just kind of walk up to someone and say: 'Hey, you! Yeah, you! Fight me right now!' or was it something you worked on with taunting and intolerable attitudes? Maybe it even depended on the person...it didn't take much to agitate her per say, but everyone was essentially different in their own way so maybe some take it better than others?

Regardless, she couldn't help but let out a disheartened sigh. Maybe this was a dumb idea...she didn't know the first thing about fights anyway other than her encounter with the Nepent from floor 1. With a frown, she shook the weak willed rumination from her mind before her eyes went ablaze with the renewed inferno of vigor once more; she was going to do it no matter what!

[Cinder 0]

Cinder swirled a kunai type throwing weapon, the ring on the back of the hilt wrapped around his index finger. He watched as the steel whisked through the air, slicing away at nothing. He then placed it back down on the shop keeper's table. "I'll be back for it sometime," he said as he put his hands in his pockets, stepping off down the newly crowded street.

The game only allowed him so many skills at a given level, so he couldn't just be a master at everything, that would make the game significantly unbalanced and boring. He enjoyed the fact that he was forced with strengths and weaknesses, knowing that the game would drag him into a particular role to play in a team battle. What was his role anyway? He was never much of a team player to begin with, seeing as how they'd merely hold him back, or get themselves wrapped around something stupid and reckless. Knowing his luck they'd expect him to save them in a time of need, when honestly, he felt they would deserve the consequences of being as reckless as they were. This is a game of death, and a game he was beginning to thoroughly enjoy.

Following the well paved road in front of him, he noticed a girl let out a disheartened sigh. My my, what could be the matter here? he thought to himself as he walked over to her, his hands still in the pockets of his black leather jacket, grey-speckled fur lining the edge of his hood and handcuffs. He kept his <> hidden, always, as it held fastened to the left side of his chest, underneath the jacket; just over the dark v-neck cotton shirt that covered his chest. There was no point in revealing the weapon, maybe people would assume he was a fabled "martial artist", and approach him as such. A fatal mistake that would be.

Cinder moved over beside the women, matching her steps as they walked. He didn't look over at her, he just kept looking ahead as she shook the fiery spark of a fighter back into her thoughts. He laughed beside her, "I hope you don't expect determination to be the only thing to carry you through this game," he said to her, a sly smile across his face, "you could pound on a wall all day, but the rules will force you through the door." He used the analogy to describe how he felt about blind confidence, and how he saw most untimely heroes meet their predictable demise in this death game.

[Alciel 0]

Seemingly almost as soon as the fires of determination were rekindled in the pits of her belly, boiling up to the point of her imagining steam blowing out of her ears, she heard a set of matching footsteps followed by a well toned masculine voice which laughed before speaking. Her shoulders twitched upwards slightly as she perked with surprise, craning her neck to face the individual addressing her with mildly widened eyes; a dead give away of her astonishment. As her magenta eyes fell on the man from her admittedly pointed side glance, she briefly sized him up. This man was older than her, that much was obvious, though if she had to guess, it wouldn't have been by much -- possibly in the end of his teens to early twenties, even? His fur lined jacked seemed slightly out of place given the season, and she spotted no sign of him being armed what so ever -- perhaps he was one of those people she heard that focused on hand to hand? Though she figured it kind of defeated the purpose of the game being called Sword Art Online even if she had no room to talk as a spear user. Her own weapon, a scarcely used beginners One-Handed Spear clung to her back, fastened in place by a braided yarn sling. Though she made no effort to make it readily available as they were in what she'd come to learn was a "safe zone".

From the mans speech, she wasn't too sure if he was lecturing her, mocking her, or just making idle conversation. Given the sportively roguish sneer which snaked its way between his cheeks, it could have been a combination of all three. Nevertheless, her mind soon flitted back to her initial reason for coming out here seeking someone else in the first place; PvP! And this was a stellar, nay, a pristine opportunity in which to set her plans in motion! She had no idea how she would pull this off, but she always was the type to wing her endeavors anyhow.

Rounding on the man with half hearted hostility, she furrowed her brow, narrowed her eyes and attempted to look as angry as her petite, mocha complexion would allow her. Truth be told, the forced, insincere expression probably looked more like a ridiculous countenance more than anything which would probably make it difficult for her addressee to take her seriously; and rightfully so.

"What're you trying to say, huh? You looking for a fight, tough guy? Huh?!" she huffed before faltering for a moment due to a gap in consideration of what to do next before deciding to to fill in the gap with something in another language that would seem offensive...probably. "Po'o 'olohaka!"

[Cinder 0]

"What're you trying to say, huh? You looking for a fight, tough guy? Huh?!"

Cinder watched as her smaller shape and size straightened in an attempt to make her look more intimidating as she angerly yelled towards him in a robust challenge to what seemed like a duel. He gave look at her with slight suprise as she furrowed her brow. Hm, I wonder what's been going on through her day, maybe she lost a party in an untimely catastrophe, that'd have been a shame, I'd have wanted to watch that, he thought to himself as he put his hands up in submission, not wanting to atagonize a fight just yet.

Her next word group really caught him off guard as she bellowed a language he didn't understand, "Po'o 'olohaka!"

After a second, ensuring she had nothing else to say, he lowered his hands, placing them in his pockets, making sure the balance in his body remained intact. He wasn't worried about how fast she was, it was safe to say he was faster eitherway. Not to include the fact that even if he were to be attacked in the city, the "safe zone regulations" wouldn't allow any damage to come of him, well at least, he might be the only one to go around slashing people for the fun of it, so maybe only so many people have truely tested that theory anyway.

His face grew serious as he stared at her, watching her facial expression and body language, "A fight huh? You know, it has been awhile since I dueled anyone, its shame its just a little girl though," he said allowed.

[Alciel 0]

Surprisingly enough, even for her, everything was going smoothly; according to plan, even -- if she had a plan to begin with, of course. One could hardly call chucking feigned hostilities at strangers while slinging to the sliver of hope that they'd duel you out of annoyance a plan, but it was as best she could come up with on such short notice. She felt the Hawaiian insult may have been pushing it, even if it was comparatively tame compared to the array of others at her disposal but to her jubilation, he received it as she had hoped. She did her best to maintain her rather poorly executed brooding as she stared into the mans eyes, though it was growing increasingly challenging as the proud accomplishment which she felt at actually succeeding with her half baked plan stewed within her chest in a broth of hot blooded anticipation and wishful sportsmanship. She had done it and now she was actually going to try this PvP thing out for herself, though she wasn't too sure of the outcome. It wasn't long, however, before what the man had said finally sank in, having called her a "little girl".

While it was true that she had started this confrontation, this did actually irk her, causing her eyes to narrow slightly as she placed her hands on her hips audaciously, "Rude! I'll have you know that I am seventeen!" Swiping her hand down in midair, she summoned forth the familiar translucent interface which came stock with SAO. Now she had to start this duel...erm...somehow. It was only then that it occurred to her that she didn't even know how to initiate a duel to begin with...and for this, she cursed her technological inexperience! Her passion suddenly simmering down, she frowned with a rather dramatically disheartened expression before turning to her would be enemy. "Uhh....hehehehe, sorry to bother you but, uh, how do you start one of these things?" She could already feel the crimson flushing her cheeks from the embarrassment of, once again, successfully making a fool out of herself when things were going well!

[Cinder 0]

"Rude! I'll have you know that I am seventeen!"

Seventeen...? No way, he thought to himself as she exclaimed her age. "You don't look a day past twelve," he said as he watched her fumble with the menu controls that hovered in front of her. She seemed concentrated enough, he doubted she even heard his rebuttal as she graciously asked for his assistance.

"Uhh....hehehehe, sorry to bother you but, uh, how do you start one of these things?"

Cinder almost fell over at the sudden realization that she really had absolutely no idea what she was doing right now. If he were in a different mood, he'd probably be able to get away with starting a duel to the death, killing her here, but the reaction on her face would've been boringly similar to everyone else's Cinder had seen.

"What's your name?" he asked calmly, still not sure what to make of her blunt disregard for safety.

He pulled his right hand from his pocket, slashing down with two fingers half a meter from his chest as a series of menu options appeared out of thin air, categorized by dots with various symbols filling the inside depending on what menu option was labeled. The top menu was a cog wheel, from there he'd be given a logout button, but the button has since been removed, and just a blank square that no longer works is in its place. Hovering his finger down several dots, he tapped the crossed sword icon. The icon flashed orange before the dots slid left, a larger systems panel opening out of thin air, the button he had just pressed remaining a solid orange. He cycled through the list of nearby names, and then looked up at the young girl, awaiting a response so that he could tap her name, and request a "Half-Loss Mode" duel, meaning that once either of their health bars reach half, then the duel will be concluded, and a winner will be declared.

[Alciel 0]

He could tell instantly that surprised exasperation was written all over her opponent once the question had left her lips. It was to be expected after all as generally those who get involved with these kinds of activities -- these, games -- tend to know how they function, though one could say she was the exception that failed to prove the rule. Being as she'd never truthfully played anything outside of the run of the mill stock computer games like snake, solitaire or minesweeper in between real world activities out of mere boredom. Though since her having been trapped in Sword Art Online, she'd found that she had a decent enough affinity for this kind of thing and truthfully, it made her wonder why she'd never gotten more into these kind of activities. Once the man had recovered from his initial incredulity, she could even feel his brazenly frank gaze burning into her like that of a searing white brand to the back of her neck, though his tone seemed collectively candid whilst asking her name. For a moment, she couldn't help but wonder why it mattered until she realized that he needed it to send her the duel request once he had pulled up the User Interface which flared its usual neutral incandescent glow.

"Alo-" she broke off for a moment as she nearly uttered her actual name, still not used to the habit of referring to herself as her virtual identification. "..Err, I mean Alciel!" correcting herself, she watched as the option for the duel popped up before her, lighting her features as she stared down at her challengers name: Cinder. Repeating it in her head made her bite on her lower lip as her envy momentarily got the better of her, muttering under her breath. "Aw man, he even has a cool name to boot...talk about unfair..."

Pushing these feelings aside with a sigh as she dipped her head, she quickly re-lifted it causing her hair to jerk up sharply as if reluctant to travel in the same direction before pointedly dropping back down. A simple movement which may have seemed pointless, though it was obvious that the fire of determination smoldered in her irises but above all, she would enjoy herself -- even if at someone else's expense...she's just have to properly apologize afterwards, she supposed. She quietly drew her spear as it made a subtle hissing noise until the sharpened ironclad tip was visible and glimmering in the light before she finally pressed at the accept button to initiate the match.

[Cinder 0]

Cinder watched as the systems menu flashed, then closed into thin air, a large counter appearing between the two of them. It counted down from sixty, giving both them ample time to prepare for the engagement to come. As the counter reached fifty-five, he watched as she stood there with her spear drawn, poised to fight. He merely left his hands in his pockets, not wanting to reveal his weapon until he needed to. He was a quick-thinker, faster than most he'd like to believe, and he wanted the edge of surprise when it came to dueling.

Forty...

The counter actually seemed rather slow, as he couldn't help but crack a sly smile towards the young girl. Who was this girl? And what was she doing in a game like this? he thought to himself, enjoying the mystery that wrapped around her. She obviously didn't belong to the VRMMO scene, and certainly not an RPG. He stared at the tip of her iron clad spear, and then examined its reach. It had much more range than his own, and certainly would do more damage if hit, but a weapon like that was useless in close quarters. Once he got inside, she'd be hard pressed to escape.

Thirty...

"What a drag..." he said aloud, referring to how long the time was set for the duel start. He leaned back and stretched, not caring that the young woman had a spear tip aimed at him. Am I really going to enjoy this? he thought to himself, staring up into the sky as he kept the side of his eye on the timer.

[Alciel 0]

Within no time at all, the count down for their soon to be match loomed forebodingly overhead, silently counting down for the moment in which the two would clash. She had to admit, she was rather nervous at how this would turn out, but it was far too late in the game to turn back now. Sliding her gaze over to Cinder, she saw him as collected as ever, having not moved an inch other than placing his hand in his pockets which she found rather curious. If he was a hand to hand fighter, wouldn't he be taking a stance of some kind in preparation? Did he think this would be an easy victory? Or for that matter, she was working off the assumption that it was martial arts which he used and if so, then there'd be no need to do so as his weapons would be his hands...right? Unless, of course, his arsenal included fist weapons which was not outside of the realm of possibility, though regardless, the same result would have been true. She couldn't afford to let him get too close or she'd be in a bind.

As the count down reached forty, she spotted an impish smirk split his face whilst staring at her which caused one of her eyebrows to raise in curiosity. What was so funny? She hadn't done anything to receive any such reaction, she didn't think anyway. As the countdown shrank to thirty, he seemed to completely space out as if showing his blatant disinterest in what was going on which she found mildly upsetting. She would just have to make him interested. As the timer reached ten, the numbers seemed to move even slower as anticipation riddled tension seared through her limbs and her expression to grow much more targeted; quietly twirling her spear in her left hand before tossing it over to her dominant right and holding it firmly in toe.

Duel!

The text appeared in no time and she inched her way in a hemisphere like path around him before taking flight in his direction with her «Sprint» morphing her feet into figurative gusts of wind to close the distance between them. She took the liberty of striking first! Tightening her grip on the spear shaft she lunged forward sharply, though just as she did, a coy gleam crept its way into her eyes before she broke its path in a deliberate feint. Though she may have looked it, a fool was something she was never in the best of times. The feint aimed at getting him to show a bit about himself for her to read, she quietly moved to skirt to his left and jab the tip of her spear towards the mans legs as if to take out his means of movement! However, just as before, she withdrew the attack as it neared its mark in order to get him to show a bit of abilities before quickly attempting to fall back in a hefty leap using her «Acrobatics».

[Cinder 0]

Duel!

Right as the time flashed to duel, Cinder looked back down, his eyes meeting her movements as she went in for the first attack. He wanted to test her speed, her agility. If she was faster than him, then this duel would prove to be a difficult one. As she moved forward, he watched as her <> ability activated, causing her to soar forward at a faster speed than anticipated, luckily for him, he wasn't too far off himself. Using his <> skill, he kept his hands in his pockets as he leaned to the right to dodge the attack, only to find it was a feint. She skirted his left, her <> skill making the movements fast and easy for her as the spear came piercing for his legs. Jumping up, he was hoping to land on top of the spear itself as she struck, but to no avail. Her attacks were feinted. What a clever girl, he thought to himself as her own personal <> skill sent her out of harms way, testing the waters for some insight, are we? Such a shame, I don't plan on revealing anything until it's already too late. Cinder was never an impatient person, and he never did like making the first attack. He much often prefered his opponent to strike first, so he can measure their capabilities, but she seemed to be doing just that.

As she backed off, he turned to square his body towards her. The only thing he knew about her was that she had her <> skill, and <> skill, plus whatever weapon sword arts were included with that spear of hers. This was proving to be a duel worth pursuing.

"Not bad, for a girl," he said to her, trying to antagonize a less coordinated attack, his hands resting in his pockets as he stood fairly distanced from her, his body squared to hers.