[PP-All Floors] A "Stab" at the truth (Miaki & Nikki)

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki was about to respond when her horse suddenly went crazy. Something was underneath them. No, not something, "something's" were under them. Now she had to try not to panic as her horse reared up and tried to throw her. From the sounds of things Miaki's horse was giving him similar problems though she had not much time to look. Left and right her horse kicked and bucked while a pair of shapes moved smoothly under the sand. A loud clicking could be heard, and Nikki was sure it was coming from under the sand. "Down there... Down there..." She shouted as she tried to get control of the horse again.

Her attempt however was in vain as the horse gave one more solid jump and as it landed it managed to kick Nikki off. She hit the ground with a thud throwing up a small cloud of sand around her. She was slightly dazed and was only able to barely see her horse sprinting off into the dessert, probably back to Armadillo. She needed to do something now, needed to get control, needed to get ready. She had no idea what was coming though, so far she had seen nothing. As a default she quickly pulled up her menu and equipped her gear while the pair of creatures under the sand began to circle her.

Moments later she had her armor equipped, as well as Her new spear the Thunder Hawk, as well as a new Shield, The bladed Shield. "Miaki... What are they?" She asked sounding slightly concerned now. Before she received an answer the creatures emerged from the sand, one in front and one behind her. They were a pair of large black scorpions. Large however was under doing it. The pair were probably 10 feet long from tail to claw, and each one looked hungry. She held her shield out in front of her and pointed the spear behind her in an attempt to keep them both at bay.

[Miaki 0]

The two large black scorpions shifted out of the ground and had Nikki surrounded in a sense. Miaki's horse bucked again and this time Miaki leaned back and fell out from the saddle. Fortunately for him his dexterity was high enough that he was able to do a partial back flip and land on his feet. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Miaki drew his katana immediately which gave the familiar bright silver flash.

"Nikki! You're shield! Bring your shield up!" Miaki rushed in from the side between the two scorpions, hoping to out run their pincers while he moved in. Nikki seemed to have gotten the message as she twirled around and knelled with her shield up and at angle ready for him to execute his maneuver. "On my mark! Three... Two... One..." He jumped in the air and twirled his body in the air holding his blade pointing downward with the handle held right behind his right ear. "KYAAA!!!" He shouted as he bore down on the <> below his point in the air.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki hear Miaki yelling to bring her sjield up and she did so immediately, dropping to one kneel and lifting it up over her head. Moments later she felt Miaki's weight along the bladed end as he used his agility to launch himself off of it like an elevated platform. She was impressed with his agility as he moved along the shield, given its thin stature, doing this was no easy task. There was a point where she felt the weight change, this was Miaki preparing to jump, and in response Nikki pressed up against his feet providing extra momentum for him to use to get higher.

Moments later he was in the air and striking down at one of the scorpions. His attack landed swiftly and from what Nikki could hear and see that the attack was fatal. Now it was Nikki's turn as she spun on her heels to face the last beast.

She gave a quick smile as she raised up to her feet and began moving swiftly towards it. Immediately the scorpion struck at her with its tail. She responded by shifting slightly and swiping the jabbing attack to the side with her shield. She closed in another few steps and was met with a pair of swipes by giant pincers. Nikki lifted her shield turning it to the side allowing the animal to grab hold of the shield.

The scorpion pulled on Nikki's blade shield attempting to pull it from her grasp, however it was clipped to her arm and not going anywhere. Instead all the scorpion managed to achieve was to pull her closer to it, and once in range Nikki lifted her arm, the shield, and the scorpions pincers up before driving her spear into its face. It gave a shriek before falling limp releasing its grasp on her and fragmenting into pixels.

She took a second holding her strike pose for a moment, before releasing to a neutral stance again. She gave a little sigh and turned to look at Miaki. "I hate bugs" Was all she could manage to say with a smile. Now they had another issue to address, one horse for two people.

-LOOT ROLL-

- 1to 10 Fail -

- 11 to 18 Poison Stinger -

- 19 to 20 Scorpion Steel -

Loot Roll = 1 Fail

[Miaki 0]

Miaki landed on the <>'s carapace and stabbed his blade deep between two plates where the carapace and mesosoma meet. The scorpion hissed and waved it's pincers violently surely trying to [censored] Miaki off it's body. He began to pull his blade out when he felt the creature shift around. Looking up he saw its tail raised high and then instantly shoot down towards Miaki. He let go of the blade still stuck in the scorpion and stepped forward, crossing his forearms forming an X block. "Shya!" He shouted as the tail slammed into his block and the stinger stop inches from his face.

Miaki knelled, still holding the stinger with his block and when he felt the tension begin to lift, he shoved the tail to the right buying him time to reach back and pull his sword free. Miaki saw the tail come around for another go at his torso. Miaki ducked at the last second and swung his blade in an large arc over his head as the tail flew over. Miaki felt his blade cut through the entire appendage and looked to his left seeing that the stinger had been completely cut off. "HA!" He yelled seeing the stinger vanish from sight. The scorpion began skittering about and threw Miaki off.

He landed flat on his back with his blade just beside him and his hat blown elsewhere. Before he could reach it though the black scorpion was already on top of him trying to pin him with it's pincers. Miaki brought both his hands up holding back a pincer in each hand. He could feel himself struggling as the scorpion opened its disgusting mouth in front of Miaki. Miaki used the reserve strength he had and brought his knees up to his chest and shoved both of his feet into the sternum, lifting the scorpion a little.

As quickly as he could, the <> grasped his katana with his right hand and brought to the scorpion's mouth. He dropped his feet causing the blade to push all the way through the creature dealing a mortal blow. The <> writhed about for a couple seconds but what felt like forever for Miaki before is slowly came to a stop. In a lasting moment, the creature exploded shattered into a million fragments. Leaving the strawberry-blonde haired man breathing heavily with an intense look still on his face.

Miaki heard Nikki's fight was over too and his expression slowly changed to one of relief as he closed his eyes and let his head drop to the ground and letting his whole body relax. He took a deep breath through his nose, held it, then released it all through his mouth. "I'm just gonna lay here for a mome-" A window appeared in front of him displaying the item drop he got from the fight. Miaki rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up. "Never mind. I'm getting up."

Miaki saw his horse moving around about 50 meters from where he and Nikki had fought. He scanned the area looking for the other horse that belonged to Nikki. "Uhhh this is a little problem. Hope you don't mind us sharing. It looks like the Cardinal system hasn't given us much choice in the manner."

-LOOT ROLL-

- 1to 10 Fail -

- 11 to 18 Poison Stinger -

- 19 to 20 Scorpion Steel -

Loot Roll = 18 - Poison Stinger

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki looked on at Miaki's comment. Her horse had not returned, and from what she could gather they were still a fair distance away from the Oasis. She shook her head smiling for a moment before she stowed her shield and spear in her inventory. If they needed to get anywhere with any speed they would have to share, either that or warp back to Armadillo and start al over. She didn't like the idea of starting over. "Well I guess we have to share..." She began to walk over to the horse that had stayed close by. It figured that they would lose one in the dessert, but then again at least Miaki was a decent rider, so this should be manageable.

As she neared the horse another question entered he mind. How would this work... logistically speaking. Who would sit up front, or even how would they sit? Was there even enough room? She knew that there was not much room, so the pair would need to get close, so before she did anything else Nikki unequipped her armor leaving nothing but the short blue dress to cover her. Like this with no weapons or armor she looked almost civilian, she could even be confused with an NPC.

"Alright since I don't know what Im doing I think I should sit in front... And since Im shorter youll be able to se over n around me easier." She knew she made sense in her statement, so she didn't hesitate a second further as she went and climbed up onto the horses back. This time it was considerably easier for her, and once up she scooted foreword so that Miaki would have room to get up as well.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki walked beside Nikki as they approached the horse. He was trying to figure out which seating arrangement would be easier for Nikki since she showed some signs of being uncomfortable with them. He heard the chiming sound of Nikki opening her menu followed by the sound of armor and gear changing. He looked over and saw Nikki in a simple, short blue dress. Miaki stared at her for a moment as she walked ahead. He had never seen her outside of her uniform and ready for combat, atleast he couldn't remember anytime.

"Alright since I don't know what Im doing I think I should sit in front... And since Im shorter youll be able to se over n around me easier." She said as she mounted the beast.

Miaki stepped up to the horse and tried to figure out how he would mount the animal. He'd never done tandem before so he had no idea how exactly to climb on when someone else was on already. He adjusted the stirrup be be closer to the the hind side of the horse since he would be steering. Throwing caution to the wind he stuck his right foot in the stirrup and gripped the horn in front of Nikki with his left hand. He hopped up and managed to place himself behind her with only some minor struggling; mainly making sure he didn't grab hold of Nikki if he began to fall off.

After settling in place, Miaki sat behind the bluenette and got his feet in the stirrup and wrapped his arms around Nikki. He cleared his throat and said in almost a whisper, "I think I'm going to need those reigns Nikki."

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki felt Miaki's arms around her and she stiffened up and turned her head slightly to look at him. She had not anticipated getting touched like this, so close and personally, but given the circumstances it was mandatory. He had asked her for the reigns as well, and for that moment she remained frozen watching him from the corner of her eye, not moving. "Yeah... ok." she said at last as she leaned forward grabbing the leather straps and handing them to Miaki. His arms were still wrapped around her, his hands nearly resting on her stomach. It wasn't an uncomfortable feeling, but it was getting her heart to race.

AS the horse began to move she could feel Miaki's arms and hands better. Given the way the animal moved it seemed as though he would be forced to have his arms pressed against her, and his hand were inevitably drawing in on her stomach. There was nothing she could do, not that she had an immediate desire to stop it from happening. Still she wasn't about to admit that it felt nice.

"So Miaki... Tell me about yerself... What did you do back in the real world?" She asked trying to change her focus to something else.

[Miaki 0]

Nikki grabbed the reigns and placed them in his hands. He felt goosebumps run up his spine. He didn't expect himself to react as he was and he would admit that he kinda welcomed the feeling. This was one of the only times he was so close to someone and he felt happy about it. He wanted her hand to linger for a moment but instead squeezed the horse to get them moving. The sudden movement of the horse caused him to squeeze Nikki the slightest bit.

"So Miaki... Tell me about yerself... What did you do back in the real world?" She asked him.

Miaki hadn't thought about that "other" world so much as of late. The thought of the world feeling so far beyond this one would come at him in waves. He missed it a little on occasion but he relished his time in the world he was in. Being able to live out his childhood fantasies. "Well... Out there I wasn't anything special. A collage student studying linguistics with the dream of being that causal talking professor who sat on the desk in class with a cup of coffee. Im the oldest of three with my little brother entering collage sometime soon. Last I checked he wanted to do something in SWAT. He's alot like my dad. I take after our mother though. The thing I got from my dad was my social skills. My looks and my brains come from my mom and her side of the family." He began to tell Nikki about his life beyond this one.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Miaki couldn't see it, but Nikki was smiling. She liked to hear about the players, to learn who they were. It made them more real to her, fleshed out the person that she was with. Especially here where everyone carried a weapon, everyone killed monsters, everyone had an exciting or heroic story it was nice to hear that people were just real too. Nikki didn't say anything to respond to it, instead she listened in silence trying to picture the people he was talking about. She had wondered how many of these people she would ever meet again after this game was over, how many would simply disappear into RL like so many other gamers do after logging out. After sharing something like this, it seemed like all of them should share some sort of common bond.

A moment or two later and she realized that Miakis hands were now resting gently on her stomach while he held the reigns. She hadn't even noticed it happen until now. It was odd to see someone else's hands on the soft blue fabric of her dress, it was stranger now to feel a touch like that again. She smiled a little more and pretended like she hadn't noticed as she started to talk. "I was a professional gamer. Everyone in my family was. Ive been doing it for years, and I came here to write a column for an E-Zine about it. I guess I never really had dreams to do anything else. I know its not as rewarding as being a teacher, but I like to think its helped me get this far."

[Miaki 0]

This was the first time ever that Miaki talked with someone else about the other world in a personal way. Other conversations went along the lines of, "do you ever think we'll get out of here?" or "what do you think is happening out there in the real world?". He never spoke to anyone about his personal life. Not even with some of the guys he was close to like Clarence or Keith. But here he was with Nikki talking about himself and listening to Nikki tell him about herself made her seem and feel more... Real. Of course every player Miaki encountered in Aincrad was real but his perception of Nikki's existence beyond this world made her seem so much more than the woman known as the strongest tank in Aincrad.

"An entire family of gamers? That's pretty cool. My parents were. Are. Both gamers. My mother does art, she especially loves charcoal work. My dad, he is a photographer and helps my mom with some of her cosplay. They've even done some cosplays together." Taking occasional glances at the back of Nikki's head and the strands of long blue hair she showed off, Miaki was in no hurry to getting them to the Oasis. He wanted this trip to take it's full course. "So are you a journalist! Or do you write for various sources? Cause you know you could work for a gaming news company as a journalist with that kind of work. And had you told me three years ago I would want to be a teacher I would have called you crazy. Before that I wanted to be a Japanese translator for the government or a small business, even had an internship lined up. Before that I wanted to be a camera man. But everything changed thanks to one professor I had." Miaki reminisced to Nikki.

[Nikki Styx 0]

"I work for an E-zine called Gamerz." She stopped for a moment remembering that she was stuck here now. "I mean I worked for them. Ummm I was sort of a journalist/reviewer for them. I would compete in tournaments n give blow by blow reports, or play with new games and products n let the public know what I thought. I had a small fan base and everything" She spoke fondly of her old life now, in truth it had been wonderful, but it was not without its downsides. "I missed the Beta for SAO, So I was sent in for the live launch... I wonder if I had made it to the Beta if I would be trapped here now, or simply working on a new game."

Nikki began to lean back a little now, relaxing into Miaki. She could feel his chest on her back, and his arms around her waist. It wasn't unpleasant, in fact she was rather ok with it. She turned her head to the side now, to look at him out of the corner of her eye. "Those were some amazing ambitions. It shows a lot of character to persue such dreams."

Nikki continued to remain relaxed as she raised up her hand and flicked open her map. They were getting closer now to the settlement. She was getting excited now, maybe an hour or so and she would be searching for more info on her new tactic.

[Miaki 0]

"Well don't mind me saying but I'm rather glad you missed the beta test. I doubt our paths would've crossed if it wasn't for that."As Nikki leaned back against him, he rested his hands on her stomach as they rode on. When she opened her map he peered down at it but ended up resting his eyes on her. It was very comforting to have someone to talk to about more things than just what is going on. He was actually getting to truly know somebody, not like when one hangs out with a comrade in arms or fellow player; but something more. She looked at her long, flowing blue hair at how it brought out her eyes. Her athletic build and beautiful complexion. He thanked the scorpion in his head for scaring off her horse so he could enjoy this moment with Nikki and get to learn more about her.

They rode on for just about another hour until they could see the oasis in the distance. In the back of his head, Miaki was a little saddened by the sight but at the same time knew that their journey would get all the more interesting as they continued on.

[Nikki Styx 0]

In the distance Nikki cold see the settlement. It was still a bit of a way to get there, but drawing ever closer. So far this was proving to be one of the better quests she had been on, not just for the potential rewards, but instead for the company as well. A moment or two passed and she closed her eyes, relaxing a little more as her head turned to the side. She could have fallen asleep like this easily, maybe it was the heat, maybe the excitement, maybe she just needed to get more sleep, whatever it was, right now, right here she could sleep easily if she wanted to. She opened her eyes again now thinking that such an action wouldn't be fair to Miaki. She couldn't leave him to drive while she slept, that was just rude.

She needed something to keep her awake, a new topic of conversation. As she tried to think of one she began to wonder about her new familiar Titan. Suddenly it dawned on her. "Thank you by the way.. I don't think I actually thanked you for coming with me to floor 6. I know it was dangerous, but I really appreciate you going out there with me." She stopped for a moment and smiled again. "And thank you for coming out here with me now... Yer quite the gentleman."

[Miaki 0]

"You can thank my mother for that. She homeschooled me my entire life and I learned a few things about being a proper gentleman. Granted it took a long time to kick into my stubborn head." Miaki smiled and looked down at Nikki partially resting her head on him. "You are most welcome Nikki. It was my pleasure entirely. You've guided me a little before on floor four and encouraged me on the first floor when I was still pulling my act together. Being your companion in the Amazon was the least I could do. And as for now... Well I really appreciate your company and getting to know you better." He looked back up at the settlement ahead of them. His heart beat paced a little as he thought about what to say next. "Things can seem lonely at times and it's nice to have someone be with- around." He corrected himself rather poorly.

They got closer to <> and could see just how large the area was. He didn't realize just how big it was until they got closer. "If you ever need the company or anything at all. I gladly offer my services to you." Since he was still on leave from the Azure Brigade he realized he had alot of time to himself.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki smiled as Miaki offered his services in the future. It was great to have someone to rely on. She only hoped that she could be as helpful to him one day as he had been to her up until now. it was going to be a goal of hers to make it up to him some how, maybe through some help where he needed it.

As the pair progressed Nikki found herself becoming more and more tired, perhaps it was this heat, or just the dry air. either way it was becoming too much for her to deal with. "Miaki... Im just going to close my eyes fer a bit. Give me a nod when we get to the Oasis." She said quietly as she leaned back again into him and let herself drift off.

-END OF THREAD-