Solo (A Sword Art Online Fanfic) ✔

Chapter Seventeen

I paused at the edge of the treeline, doubting my plan.

I looked down at Kuro. He watched me, supporting whatever decision I came to.

Gurē was sniffing at the roots of the trees, no doubt smelling all the wolves in the area. This forest was known specifically for its wolf population.

"What do you think, Kuro?"

He nudged my hip in the direction of the forest, before padding over to join Gurē at the roots.

I laughed. I guess that was that.

"Go find as many wolves as you can. Bring them to me." I ordered.

I watched as they raced into the trees, disappearing in a matter of seconds. I sighed, moving to sit on a log, a couple of feet away from the forest. I laid back, looking up at the moon.

Ironically, it was a full moon.

I closed my eyes, remembering the stories about wolves my mother would make up when I was little to try and get me to sleep.

"Wolves are the bodies human souls go when they pass on from this world."

That one was used a lot after my father passed away when I was 9-years-old. I couldn't think of why she chose wolves for this story. The only explanation I came up with, was because they were my favorite animal.

I didn't miss the irony of that situation either.

Howling broke out from the forest and I jolted upright in shock. I hadn't expected anything to happen for quite some time. I watched the forest carefully, by nothing emerged from its shadows.

I sighed, relaxing once more.

When my dad died, mom was devastated. What they had was true love. She fell into such a despair, that she couldn't take care of me and my brother, so I stepped up to the plate, taking over as head of the household.

Then, I was the one telling the stories.

"When a wolf dies, a part of their mate's fie too. That's because wolves have soul mates. And their soul is connected to another."

In retrospect, that might not have been the best thing to tell a 6-year-old as an explanation as to why his mother never showed up to Parents day. My bother, however, was a fighter. My little soldier.

I wondered what had happened with him since I disappeared.

I shook my head, ridding myself of my thoughts. I couldn't afford thinking about them. I needed to say focused on surviving. It'll do them no good if I died because I was too focused on remembering them.

Still, I couldn't help but wonder if they would be proud of me.

I sat up straight when I heard noises coming from the woods. It's sounded like padding feet, and heavy breathing.

The wolves had arrived.

I stood up, waiting patiently.

Kuro and Gurē were the first in line. They burst out of the forest, tails wagging excitedly. Gurē had a couple scratches, but I wasn't too worried. He was always getting in some sort of scrape.

They bounded over to me, bumping their noses against my hands for a second, before prancing over to the forest again. They raced back and forth between the forest and myself, attempting to convince the other wolves I was okay.

Finally, a massive wolf - bigger than either of mine - stepped out of the woods, looking me over. I stood up straighter, getting the feeling that this first encounter would determine the outcome of the rest.

I held out my hand, palm facing the wolf, giving him the chance to come to me on his own terms.

I don't know how long I stood there, with my arm out, but eventually the wolf touched my palm with his cold nose. I slowly moved my hand around to scratch his ear. He leaned into me, seeming to accept my friendship.

He turned away, towards the woods, and bowed his head. With that one nod, dozens of wolves burst out of the woods, surrounding me. There were at least a hundred wolves, in many different colors and sizes. They all seemed eager to help now that I had the approval of what seemed to be their leader.

"I need your help." I addressed the leader of the wolves, "There's this boss and I need to defeat him with your help."

He stared at me blankly.

"Right. You're a wolf. You don't understand me."

The fact that Kuro and Gurē have been with me so long is the sole reason for how they understand me. A wolf I just met would have no clue what I was trying to communicate.

Luckily, they seemed to have gathered something from my wolves, because they didn't leave when I pulled out my scythe and started leading the way towards the boss's lair.

I had thought through it and I figured the best time to fight the boss would be now. That way, I wouldn't lose the wolves, or chicken out on fighting it alone.

This way nobody could stop me because they were all asleep.

It took a shorter amount of time to get to the lair than I expected. We arrived in no time.

However, our first obstacle quickly revealed itself. The parties I had met earlier were laid out in front of the entrance to the boss room. They, apparently, were perfectly content sleeping on the floor instead of at an inn.

I cursed, before attempting to tip toe around the players, doing my best not to wake any of them. The wolves took my lead and moved around the players.

I reached the door and pulled it open. It was empty inside, but I knew as soon as a player stepped foot into the room, the door would lock shut and the battle would start.

The wolves raced in, silently. Finally it was just me and my wolves waiting outside the door way.

That's when someone woke up.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?"

I whirled to look at the girl who had informed me of the boss earlier. My grip on my scythe tightened as I watched her.

"It's suicide going in there alone! What are you doing?!"

I stared at her. She seemed unable to move, shocked that I would even attempt something like this.

"Answer me." She snarled.

"I'm going to do the one thing you guys are unwilling to do without people by your sides." I finally replied.

"And what's that?"

"Beat the game."

And with that, I turned, walking into the room. The door immediately slammed shut, locking us in, and the others out. Wolves appeared on the other side of the room, snarling with their teeth bared.

In the middle of them stood the boss: a massive blood red wolf at least 5 times bigger than our largest wolf.

With a single howl, the wolves on my side jumped into action, racing towards the other side.

The battle has begun.