Sword Art Online - Alternative Reality

Christmas Snowdown CHP. 2

Renting out a large Camargue, Kirito helped me into the front seat of the saddle before jumping on the slightly elevated back seat. Handing him the reigns, I noticed he was looking through his map while tracing a route I had never seen before.

"So, where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there. Now hold on tight!"

"Wait do you even have the ridin-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Kirito had set us off at full speed, pushing me straight into his chest as I held onto the front portion of the saddle for dear life.

"Ki-Kirito, slow down!"

"Speed up? You got it!"

"You idiot!"

As we speed along the gravel path Kirito had outlined earlier, the trees blurred past us and I could hardly make out anything. While we were still going slower than our top speeds when in a full sprint, the fact that I was having trouble keeping up with our surroundings was a testament to how fast Kirito was riding and how much he's improved with the controls. The only thing I could make out clearly was that we were heading towards the eastern edge of the floor, but as far as I knew there wasn't even anything pleasant to see. Screaming over the wind, I called out to him.

"Kirito, where are we going!?"

"You'll see in another minute, patience my lady!"

Well, despite having matured over our time together, it seems his irritating nature hasn't changed in the least!

Continuing to hold on, I finally saw a sort of hovel that led underground. With a terrible premonition, I grabbed onto Kiritos's right hand.

"He-hey, don't tell me-"

"Yep. Please keep your arms, legs, and feet within the boundaries of the horse at all times and avoid any major movements. Here we go!"

"Kirito, I'm going to kill you for this!"

"I can live with that!"

Diving straight into the hole, I yelled and closed my eyes as my body felt as if it was floating. I was half expecting us to hit the ground and go flying off the horse, but even after a minute of waiting, the sensation of being mid-air never left.

"Asuna, you can open your eyes now... and maybe ease your grip a little?"

Opening my eyes, I noticed that at some point I had turned over in my seat and was hiding my face in Kirito's chest as I held onto his shoulders with my hands. Feeling a wave of embarrassment I was about to let go when I noticed the strange flooring beneath us.

"Wait... what is that? What is this place?"

"It's a shortcut that opened up between the first town and last town. Thing is, to use it you need to apply a certain liquid towards the soles of your shoes, or in our case, the horseshoes on our horse. Otherwise, when you touch it, it sticks to you like glue and it takes forever to get through. I still remember when Orlando tried going through it saying 'Nothing stops a true hero!'"

"Really? And what happened to him?"

"Some say he is still walking in these caves, and that late at night you can still-"

"Kirito!"

Punching him in the shoulder before he could continue his gh- clearly made-up story, he began laughing as he began moving the horse forward again.

"Haha, sorry, sorry. I went and got a horse and picked him up so that he wouldn't be stuck down here the entire day."

"Hah...seriously, why are you guys always getting into some sort of trouble? Still, this place looks incredible."