[PP-F1] A Violet among the Tulips (Manta Gaul, Koumori) [COMPLETED]

[Vayrin 0]

Vayrin silently stood at the edge of the safe zone. Gazing off at the large expanses of grassy hills, while a bustling city erupted behind her. This was the Town of Beginnings. The place every player in Sword Art Online started in. The place that started it all. She looked down at her feet, a depressed look on her face. The idea of being stuck here made many terrified, especially when the catch for messing up is death. Her hand clenched into a fist as she thought back to the day the game creator: Akihiko Kayaba announced the big twist to SAO. She stood there, among 10,000 other players in that enormous plaza, watching in shock as the giant hooded figure spoke. His words rung in her head. "Clear all 100 floors and clear the game." 100 seemed impossible. Yet to others it didn't seem so. She thought back on the players who left and were fighting not only for their freedom but for everyone else's. She lifted her head, a serious look masked her previous one. She continued to silently stare out into the first floor. Not realizing how long she had been doing so.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Vayrin

[Koumori 0]

It was just like any other day in SAO. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining brightly, and the wind was gently blowing across the plains. Well, I suppose that weather is more specific to the first floor but I spend a good amount of time there so it doesn't make much of a difference. I had just went through a long day of fruitless material gathering and was headed back towards town. Everytime I did this I swore to myself I would never do it again yet I always did. When would I learn that no matter how many times I tried id always come back almost literally empty handed? Apparently I hadn't learned yet. As I walked up the final hill before the gate I saw a lone figure standing right inside it. It was a girl, a girl who I had never seen. She stood there simply stating out into the distance like she was deep in thought. As I continue walking closer she didn't move an inch so I figured she must've been really thinking hard about something. Under normal circumstances I would've let her be but she was practically standing exactly where I wanted to go so I had almost no choice but to say something to her. I violet hair was gently blowing in the wind as I was finally within conversational distance. I noticed her eyes were purple too, just like mine, something that was pretty rare. I smiled at her and said, "Hey, something the matter?"

[Amira 0]

Manta was on the first floor, like normal. It was where her potion shop was located, as well as just being a nice place to hang out. She usually hunted for materials on this floor, but recently she'd taken to traveling up to the fifth or sixth floors to hunt monsters there with Koumori. She was walking towards the exit gate when she saw him. It looked like he had just arrived, and was saying something to another girl. Manta smiled mischievously. He hadn't seen her yet. She kept to the shadows, growing closer to him.Finally, when she was within ten yards she sprinted towards his back, attempting to tackle him in a hug. She didn't pay much attention to the other girl, as all of her attention was focused on tackling Koumori as a joke.

 

[Vayrin 0]

Vayrin thoughts were interrupted for a moment. "Huh?" She shook her head quickly and turned toward the figure who had spoken to her. It was a player that looked about the same age as her, and surprisingly the first thing she noticed was his eyes. They were just like hers...Purple. She shook the thought and tried to remember what the player just said to her. "Oh, yeah I'm fi---!"  She was interrupted once again. In the middle of her sentence, a White haired girl just tackled the player she was speaking to. She stepped back in surprise and observed the two.

[Koumori 0]

The girl was startled when I spoke to her, like she hadn't even seen me when I walked in front of her. That only confirmed my suspicion that she was totally lost in thought. She shook of her surprised look and examined me for a second. I couldn't tell what she was thinking but she was probably sizing me up. Maybe she noticed that we shared the same eyes. She finally began to speak but suddenly stopped. I wondered what was wrong when I heard fast footsteps from behind me but when I did it was already too late. I felt something crash into me from behind and I was sent tumbling to the ground. The impact was so unexpected that I wasn't even sure what had hit me until my head stopped spinning from smacking into the ground. It felt like a person, and they were still on top of me. I turned my head as much as I could and saw Manta smiling down at me. I let my head fall back to the ground as I smiled too. Was I cursed to meet girls who greeted me by tackling me? Seriously that was the third time. "Manta I don't know if you noticed but I think you might've ran into me." I felt bad for the girl I was just talking to. Undoubtably she was even more startled by what just happened then when I had talked to her. I thought maybe I should address what just happened so I turned my head to her. "Don't worry this isn't a normal thing."

[Amira 0]

Manta grinned broadly and got off of Koumori. "Yeah I noticed. My bad." She stated completely and utterly insincerely. She hadn't meant to knock him all the way over, only to jump on his back and hug him. She did feel a bit bad for his head knocking into the ground, but he seemed all right. She must have had a bit more momentum in her jump than she'd originally thought. Manta turned to the girl. "Don't worry, it's not. Your boyfriend isn't cheating on you, at least as far as I could tell." Manta said, automatically assuming that Koumori had been meeting up outside of the starting city gate with his girlfriend.

[Vayrin 0]

Vayrin silently watched the two on the ground. Vayrin slowly relaxed from the startle the action had given her. She didn't need anyone's help telling her this was not normal. Not very many people randomly tackle their friends in the middle of a town. She stared at the two for another moment as they spoke to each other. She then replied to the boy's comment. "Friend of yours?"She had not seen either of them before, but they seemed to be acquainted.  She couldn't help herself from smiling a tiny bit. What she had witnessed was amusing. She turned towards the white haired girl as she began speaking to her. Vayrin's face turned a little red from her comment. and her smile disappeared. "I don't know this guy..." She started, "I assumed you two were together." Her voice sounded nervous.

[Koumori 0]

Manta got off of me and apologized in the most unapologetic way I had ever heard. "Haha, sure" I threw back equally as sarcastically. Once she was standing I got up too and dusted myself off. When we were both settled the violet haired girl spoke up. "Yeah she's a-" but I was cut off when Manta interjected. She told the girl not to worry because I wasn't cheating on her. I watched as the girls face shifted to bright red at the thought of what Manta just suggested. I could've easily been just as embarrassed but I only shook my head. The girl piped up to deny it and I backed her up. "Yeah that's right a just ran-" but I stopped when she went on to say she thought that Manta and I were an item. This time I will admit I was a little flustered but only because she was standing right there. In any case, I denied it with a laugh. "Me and her? When I met her she said if I asked her out a grim fate awaited me. I'm good." That was all true of course, but I did also have someone else I was interested in but there was no need to say that. 

[Amira 0]

Manta raised an eyebrow, looking at Koumori. Shed never said anything of the sort outright. At the time she had met him she had heavily implied that she would do something if he asked her out, but shed never said it. She was over Sousuke now, and at the time she had implied that she hadnt been. If Koumori asked now shed probably just politely decline instead of putting a crater in his head.

"He wishes." She said to the girl jokingly, smiling in a friendly manner.

[Vayrin 0]

Vayrin shook her head. "Sorry for assuming." She replied to the white haired girls comment. Not really knowing where to go from here, Vayrin decided to introduce herself. She was rather afraid of awkward situations like most people. So she spoke up before it got too quiet. "Well, I'm Vayrin."  She said to the two of them. She chuckled as she replayed the tackle in her mind. "I guess you two must be just friends then?" She said, giving off a small smile. 

[Koumori 0]

"He doesn't wish." How was it that I always ended up in situations like this. First it was tumbling down hills and accidentally kissing/groping now it was being mistaken for someone's boyfriend not once but twice. Was there something about me? Was there some joke I wasn't in on or was I just, unbeknownst to me, super attractive? Heh, I'd be kidding myself to think it was the second one. The girl apologized for assuming to which I shook my head. "Don't worry about it." We stood there in silence again before the girl interrupted it once more. She introduced herself as Vayrin, interesting name. I smiled and put my hand up in a wave. "I'm Koumori" I said before looking over at Manta "..and this trouble maker is Manta. Sorry for freaking you out." Vayrin smiled at us admitted that the two of us must've just been friends. "Yeah, actually we met not too long ago."

[Amira 0]

Manta grinned and gave Koumori a soft punch on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you don't have to admit it. And yes, I'm Manta. I guess the game technically counts us as friends, but I feel like we're more like rivals? But if friends can be rivals than I guess we are friends." She said, rambling a bit. "But anyways, what were you two foing before I politely and discreetly interrupted?"

[Vayrin 0]

Vayrin paid attention to the boy's introduction. His name was Koumori, and the white haired girls was Manta. As she suspected, they were both friends. Or rivals, as Manta explained to her. A weird relationship between the two Vayrin thought. She'd never heard of "Friendly Rivals" before. She was caught off guard when Manta asked her what they were doing before she came in.

"Hm? Oh.. I was just.." She paused for a moment and gazed behind her at the open expanses of green fields. "Thinking..." She continued, not taking her eyes off the green landscape. She was about to add that Koumori spoke to her, but now she couldn't remember what he said, due to Manta's sudden tackle. 

[Koumori 0]

I laughed at Manta's comments to me. Friendly rivals we were indeed. "Oh sure. If I wanted you I'd have you falling all over me. Oh wait...didnt you just do that?" I said with devilish smile on my face. Oh how I loved making jokes like that. I had to be careful around some people but I felt like I was good in her company. Manta asked what Vayrin was doing and she looked surprised by the question. She said she was just thinking. That's what I had thought but the way she said it added unexpected weight. I decided to step in and help explain what happened. "Right. I saw her standing here and wanted to see if something was bothering her. Which, in retrospect, might've made it worse." I said as I remembered Manta's entrance. "So, what were you so deep in thought over. You looked pretty serious."

(and he wins the record for quickest response)

Edited October 24, 2015 by Koumori

[Amira 0]

"Im sure you could. Only I might have a sword in hand next time." She said, wiggling an eyebrow. The only way she would fall all over him would be if she was knocked unconscious and thrown off a cliff. Probably. She wasn't going to go down that path. "Yeah, whats up? Unless you don't want to talk about it." Manta said to the girl. She was just going to call her Violet, for her hair and eyes. She expected the typical, trapped in a virtual reality, gotta get out and see my family thing. It was a serious thought, but Manta had heard it so many times that it no longer carried the same weight it had before.

[Vayrin 0]

"I was just debating..." She turned back towards the two. She then continued to pull out her sword. She smiled and gave it a few flicks. She had been thinking for that past week about leaving the safe zone. Doing everything she could to become a strong player, and help those who were fighting for her, and everybody else's freedom. The idea of being trapped here didn't scare her as much as it did to everyone else. It was actually kind of thrilling. She'd think about it, and the more she did, the more she came to this: She'd rather die fighting for a cause. Rather than dying from sickness in the real world, being nothing but a burden to those around you in your last moments.

For a moment, she had forgotten the two were still there. "I think I'm going to leave soon." She said.  "Yes. In a couple of days I should have enough information to leave the safe zone, and help those who are too afraid to fight." She looked back at Koumori, and Manta.  "I'm not sure if that sounds weird to you, but that's what I was thinking about..."  She felt comfortable talking about it out loud. Even though lots of the players in SAO were depressed about being stuck here, she was happy to know some were still joyful. 

[Koumori 0]

I listened as the girl explained what was on her mind. From the sounds of it she had never left the starting city at all. She was on the process of gathering all the stuff she thought she needed to leave. It was interesting to see when the people in SAO decided to take action. For some people it was immediate while others took months. I smiled when she finished, it was a good thing she ran into us. "A few days? Why not today? We know a thing or two about this place, we can help you out!" I was making an uncharacteristic offer. Yeah I wanted to be nice, but very rarely did I put myself out there. Maybe hearing what she said reminded me of my original goal here: to be a hero. It seemed like she wanted to do something similar so of course I'd want to help her. And I knew Manta would too. Just in case I turned to her to see what she'd say. 

[Amira 0]

Manta smiled. She felt it was her duty to help out the lower level players, and more than that, she just wanted to help out. "That doesn't sound weird at all. And I agree with Koumori. Why not today?" The other girl appeared as if she was planning to start leveling. Odds were, if shed never left the safe zone, she still had that starter weapon that everyone got at the beginning of the game. She swiped her hand in the air and pulled up her inventory. With a few taps she materialized a sword in her hands. It was a weapon called the Anneal Blade that she had received in a quest a few days back. She had no use for it, and it had an accuracy boost, so it might be best to give it to someone who could use it. "This is a sword I got in a quest a few days ago. It has an accuracy enhancement on it. Even if you don't want us to help you out, its yours if you want it." She held it out, hilt first to the girl. 

[Vayrin 0]

Why not today? That was a question she hadn't asked herself yet. Now that she thought about it, the most obvious answer was she was only level 1. Any creature would have no problem killing her. But then again, these players all managed to level up. They were all level 1 once too. If they made it, so could she. Right before she was about to give a response, Manta was swiping through her menu. Vayrin halted her answer and watched curiously. Suddenly a sword appeared in Manta's hand. Shortly after this, she explained to her that the blade had a name "The Anneal Blade" Vayrin knew it wasn't a starter weapon.

"You're giving me a sword....?"  Vayrin sounded slightly confused when Manta held out the blade to her. She didn't think anyone would just openly give another player weapons. It apparently had +1 Accuracy. Vayrin hesitantly reached out for the hilt of the sword. "Why the offer?"  She finally said as she took the blade from Manta's hand. She then gave it a few light swings in place while observing it.

[Koumori 0]

Manta was all to happy to agree with me, clearly wanting to help the new girl out as well. To my surprise, she even went as far as going through her inventory to pull out a sword and offer it to Vayrin. Vayrin looked at her with skepticism before taking the blade in her hand. She must've had problems believing people would give away swords no strings attached. "You should take it. Believe it or not, people do this a lot. In fact I know a guy that practically hands stuff away to any girl he meets. Actually, he might have another reason for that...but I doubt Manta has the hots for you so you're safe." I almost showed a frown when I thought about Mack. I still didn't like the guy but he was the only example I could think of. I just wanted to reassure Vayrin that we were there to help not trick her. "Id offer you something too but all I've got is what I use." I wished I could be of more help in that department, but I knew I'd be able to teach her at least a few things so I took stock in that. 

Edited October 25, 2015 by Koumori