The Red Player (A Sword Art Online story)

Chapter 8: Cold

Chapter 8: Cold

Piifalo

It's cold; freezing. My eyes haven't opened yet, but I know it's dark. There's not a single sound anywhere around me. The last thing I remember is being knocked out by that Laughing Coffin captain.

I can't believe it, I lost again... I think with pain behind my closed eyes. I'm not sure if I would've preferred just being killed by that guy. My mind flashes back to when Hajime was standing over me with his sword ready to plunge into my heart. What stopped him? Why didn't he kill me?

Suddenly my heart skips a beat. I jump up and look around desperately. Ashas is lays next to me with several slashes across her body. Without giving it another thought I rush down to her side and hold her tightly. I close my eyes to keep the tears from falling.

She had saved my from that attack, and yet this is how she ended up. If it wasn't for her, Hajime would have had my head. "I'm sorry," I whisper softly.

I keep my arms wrapped around her, feeling her warmth until I realize what I'm doing. I let her go gently, and look down at my hands. W-what was that? I rub my eyes with my cold hands.

As I begin to move away I hear Ashas moving beside me. She groans faintly as she sits back up. Her health bar is at a dangerous 1/8, and I notice mine is the same. "What happened?" she asks.

I quickly clear my throat. "For whatever reason, they didn't kill us, but they did take all of our stuff, at least mine anyway. They left my Devotion though."

Ashas checks her inventory as well. "Nope," she sighs. "They got mine too, but they left my knife."

That's so strange. Why would they take our items, but not our lives? Whatever. Next time it'll be him on the ground at my mercy.

"Well that sucks, now we have no money." I can see Ashas crack a small smile. "What are you smiling about?" I ask impatiently.

"Nothing," her smile widens again.

Oh god, was she not asleep earlier? Did she see everything that happened? My eyes widen and I can feel myself blushing slightly.

"Relax," She says still smiling brightly. "I won't tell anyone." She starts to laugh hysterically.

I grab Devotion and start walking. I don't know where, I'm just walking. Ashas continues to giggle as she runs to catch up.

"Where are we going?" She asks as her laughter subsides.

"Well at first I was just trying to get away, but since you're gonna keep following me, I suppose we'll have to stop by the town and find some way of getting some items, or a place to sleep." I check the clock at the top of my screen. "It's 10:00 pm. We should be there in less than 10 minutes."

The air is cold, even through my heavy coat. The wind whistles through the trees, giving the mist life. When Hajime and Ryuga were here, the forest felt so different, and ominous, but with just Ashas, I can't help but feel relieved.

Some time later a lake appears to our right. Fog rises gently over the surface of the water, and we stop to take a look. We sit down by the edge of the water and relax. This might delay us some time, but I don't mind.

Ashas sticks her fingers into the water and smiles. Ripples flow in a perfect circle around her hand. She turns to me, and for the first time I see her in a new light. I stare back into her soft black eyes. I can feel myself becoming lighter the longer we sit along side each other. I stand up slowly and begin to walk away. "Come on, we've waited long enough."

Somehow the air isn't so cold.

In the distance the town's light shines down on the buildings while we continue on our way. 10:30 already. How long did we stay at that lake?

Finally we reach the town's wall. I turn to Ashas and ask if she has any money for a room, she shakes her head regretfully. Just on the outskirts I can see a small overhang sticking out of the wall. I sigh exhaustedly. "I guess it's better than nothing."

I sit down with my back against the wall and breathe deeply. Ashas lies down on the dark green grass. Her eyes are shut lightly, but she remains awake. A few minutes later Ashas begins to speak.

"Will we make it out of here?" she asks delicately.

My heart stops for a moment, as I ask myself the same question. I had never really thought about it before. To be honest I didn't really think so, with all the odds against us players, it was incredibly unlikely. The only way to leave is to beat this game; to beat an RPG, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to tell her that. "Well, all I know is that it's still not my fault if you die here." Ashas laughs a little, but it's not the same as before.

It's 10:45 before I realize that she might have meant something else by "we," but by then it's much too late.

Ashas begins to shudder, and curl up into a ball. Her hands wrap around her arms tightly. I look down at her in silence. Her eyes are shut much tighter than before. The moonlight faintly reflects off of her long dark hair. As quietly as I can, I pull off my heavy black coat, and throw it around her. I watch her body relax as she wraps herself inside it like a blanket. Her eyes soften. Finally, I can see her smile again.

End of chapter 8. Not gonna lie, I tried pretty hard this time.