[PP-F1] Stabbing Things in the Wilderness (Astrid.)

[tr1ck 0]

Today is the day I make something of myself.

 

For Nat, SAO was the last hurrah before he gave up gaming and 'made something of himself' in the 'real world' - that is, he had a job all lined up and was considering moving out of his parents' house and everything seemed dandy. Which is to say he wasn't particularly pleased when he discovered that his last hurrah was more like his permanent state of being, because his first reaction to being told 'you win or you die' was 'I'll just meander around aimlessly then'. There was no harm in wandering around - he couldn't be killed by a freak roof tile or a hole opening up in the ground and swallowing him - but there was plenty of harm in trying to stab things that were infinitely better at stabbing him instead.

 

But even wandering around the starting area loses it's charm after a couple of days and Nat was becoming more and more convinced that maybe stabbing things was a viable career choice. Which put the man, dressed in simple starting gear of brown and forest green, wandering around the starting area with a little more purpose. Not a quest, or anything, just a desire to act rather than not, and see what came of it. After all, no one died on the first floor, right?

 

With that (hardly) reassuring thought, Nat put out a simple message to anyone on the first floor interested in grouping up with a complete n00b.

 

[07:14] tr1ck: Level 1 hopeless case LFG - let's talk

existential crises and practice stabbing

things in the wilderness <3

[Astrid. 0]

Astrid wasn't scared, at least, not any more. The first day was filled with shaking limbs and tear filled eyes, the thought "it was too good to be true" repeating itself over and over again in her head. Sure, she had gained her sight, but now she was stuck in the game where, if she died, she'd be dead in real life as well. Wonderful, leave it to life to just hand her a new batch of lemons. But she got over it, or at least, as over it as you could get when you were trapped in a game. Now, a small smile was evident on her face as she strolled through the town, keeping a watchful eye for anything dangerous. She was still a very low level, so it wouldn't take much to lower her health, and she would very much like to get through today without any accidents. But she was feeling restless. She had done nothing these past few days, avoiding everything, and now she wanted to go out and do something. Meet people.

 

Despite the first day filled with dread, it did bring something good. Astrid finally knew what she looked like: auburn hair that reached her chest, which was now in a pony tail to keep out of her face; chocolate brown eyes framed by long eyelashes; thin cupid bow lips; small ears, and a round face. She was pale, as if she hadn't gone outside for months, which wasn't too far off from the truth. She was skinny and short, but she didn't mind it. She donned her simple starters clothing of blacks and greys. She was different than she had imagined herself, with black hair and blue eyes, but despite that she liked the way she looked. She had taken a few more steps before a notification popped up. Being the curious person she was, she opened it up, a smile making it's way on her face as she read the message. It was a player, looking for a companion, by the looks of it. They seemed friendly enough, she didn't feel like they would be a danger to her, especially seeing as the player was also at level one. She was going to message them back, but opted to just enter the wilderness and meet them there face to face. With a quick check of her inventory, she was off.

[tr1ck 0]

It was a bit disheartening to see no one reply within five minutes, but not enough to shatter Nat's (admittedly frail) resolve. He steeled himself against the silence, the lack of notifications, and considered his options instead. His first thought was to remain in the safe embrace of the Town of Beginnings and it's wonderful lack of freak accidents, monsters or PKers who find it fun to fry the IRL brains of low level players.

 

Coincidentally, he still found it absolutely staggering that millions of people's lives hung on their ability to play a video game. The thought faded from the forefront of his mind sometimes, but it always returned full-force - millions of people's lives hung on their ability to play a video game. He thought of other MMORPGs, or FPS games. Where trolling and hacking and griefing were rampant. It was absolutely bewildering to consider the situation he found himself in. So, more and more often, he tried to push it out of his mind. And he supposed that engaging with everything Aincrad had to offer was a suitable distraction... as long as he didn't come too close to death (but he didn't want to consider that).

 

So without waiting much longer for replies, and for the first time in his SAO career, Nat headed out of the starting town - his expression concerned and nervous (maybe making him looking vaguely constipated) and his grip tight around the handle of his dagger. He was certain that if it was possible, his hands would be so sweaty as to make it concerning.

 

To his great surprise, he managed to go a good way out and find a relatively quiet place to sit down and rest. With the added aim of figuring out just what exactly his goal was because he didn't really spare a moment to do that before he left town - and it was even harder to concentrate out in the middle of nowhere, where anything could happen. 

 

It turned out he didn't even have to do that! Movement to his side caught his eye and a turn of his head revealed a fellow adventurer, dressed in the same starting gear as him and armed with the same low-quality weapon. A nervous smile, brimming with bravado, graced his lips and he called out, "Good morning! Are you here for the existential crises, or do you just want to stab something?"

[Astrid. 0]

She thought it was only going to take her about five minutes to make it to the wilderness, but given her small stature and the fact that she was in the slightly crowded part of the city, it took her longer than she planned. After ten minutes of speed walking, to try and avoid bumping into anyone and delaying herself even more, she started to regret not sending an answer to the message; but it was too late to do so now, seeing as she was only a few minutes away. She slowed down to catch her breath, not wanting to look like she had gone out of her way or ran just to get over there. Plus, if they were going to "practice stabbing", as the player had put it, then she would need to have as much energy as possible. After all, she didn't want to make a fool of herself or burden the player in any way.

 

As soon as she entered the thick brush, her hand lowered to the hilt of her rapier, ready to pull it out in case anything comes to attack her. She hadn't gone out this far on her own before, so she didn't know what creatures lurked there, or if there were any player killers. She shivered slightly at the thought of meeting one of them, people who take the lives of players for their own amusement. Their situation was bad enough as it was in the game, they didn't need any more threats, especially from people who were supposed to help.

 

She continued to walk forwards, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw a male sitting down. She would have been wary, had he not have spoken. "Is it okay if I came for both?" She called back as she made her way towards him, lowering her hand from her hilt to her side, relaxing.

[tr1ck 0]

Nat watched the girl come closer, until his head was tilted upwards to look at her, his hand rested against his forehead to shield his eyes from the mid-morning sun. That smile was still there, but brighter now - more confident as the other replied with a jovial tone similar to his. His eyes were crinkled at the corners and the jade irises sparkled with humour - his whole posture slumped slightly as he relaxed in her presence. "Certainly!" He declared, springing to his feet. "It's pretty early to get too dark and grim, though, especially since it's such a wonderful day." He ignored the fact that on the first floor, the weather was always wonderful. "I'm Nat - thank you for responding to my message, I start brooding if I'm left alone too long. It's grim." He finished the sentence with a quick wink and rested his weight on the balls of his feet, tilting his head as he waited for the girl's response. It seemed staying still for too long, however, was beyond him - soon he was swaying lightly forward and back, that bright grin still on his face.

[Astrid. 0]

The petite auburn haired female couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she heard him speak. His voice was light and cheerful; he seemed like someone who enjoyed to look at the positive side of situations. His smile was bright, and as she squinted, she wasn't sure if she was squinting because of the bright sun, or because of how blinding his smile was. She looked up at him when he sprang up, surprised by the sudden action. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Astrid!" She bowed politely to Nat. "I'm sorry I didn't send any message back though. I thought I would be able to get here sooner, sorry you had to wait so long." She apologized, scratching the back of her neck in slight embarrassment. She truly felt bad that she didn't let him know in advance. Who knew how long he had been waiting for someone to show up?

[tr1ck 0]

Nat's eyes widened as the girl started to apologise - he knew he hadn't waited that long, it was a nice day, and besides, nothing had even happened to him! He quickly placed a gloved hand on her shoulder and smiled again, raising his other hand as a calming gesture. "Hey, it's alright. Honest! I've been sitting here, what, five minutes tops. Really, no time at all. It's wonderful to meet you, Astrid." Stepping away, he let his hands fall back to his sides and looked out into the fields, dotted with the occasional boar. "Really, it's great that you're here - maybe I'm not level 1 anymore but wow, some of these vicious little pigs can really pack a punch!" Maybe he didn't have to share how a runt had taken off a third of his health in one hit earlier - instead he turned towards her again, with another warm smile. "Have you been doing much adventuring, then?"

[Astrid. 0]

Despite the guilt that seemed to linger inside of her, Astrid felt relieved that he hadn't been waiting too long for a reply, and had arrived at their current location only a few minutes before she herself did. "Thank Gods." She whispered, giving him a small smile. "They do!" She nodded in agreement to his statement about the small boars being vicious. She remembers her first few encounters with them, and how they had reduced her health fairly quickly with very few hits, due to her lack of experience and low level. Now she was able to at least hold her ground and fend off one or two on her own without losing too much health. The red haired girl scratched the back of her neck sheepishly, her head tilted to one side. "Ah, no, not really. I mean, I've tried it but I never got very far, and I don't find the appeal in doing it by myself." She admitted. "But! I would like to do more. I want to improve myself and hopefully be of use in leaving this game." She knew it sounded silly: a player with a very low level wanting to help in the front lines, especially someone as weak as she. By the time that it would take for her to bring up her level to one that would be of help, they probably would already be finished the game and everyone would be home and safe. But despite that, she couldn't help the itching feeling she got every time she thought of it, as if she were meant to be there helping, instead of allowing them all to risk their lives for her and the others.

[tr1ck 0]

Now that they were talking, Nat decided to sit back down in the grass, long legs splayed out in front of him whilst his arms propped him up. Shuffling over, he nodded for her to join him - still smiling, surprisingly. Why shouldn't he, when the weather was so nice and he was A) not being killed and B) making new friends? As he listened to her speak, he shifted his weight so he could idly pluck out strands of grass, tearing them down the middle as many times as he could before picking new ones.

 

"Well, I gotta say, trying it all alone is pretty, uh, disheartening. Especially when you keep getting your ass handed to you by wildlife- by the way, did you know that the deer in this game are massive bastards? Anyway, I'm all for self-improvement too, though I don't know how I feel about the front lines, it all seems a little..." He paused suddenly, as if he'd become aware of how long he'd been speaking. With a slight blush high on his cheeks, he firmly turned his eyes towards the strands of grass between his quick fingers. "Uh. Dangerous. Anyway - maybe we could train together? A little? Safety in numbers, right?"