Sword Art Online - Alternative Reality

Christmas Snowdown CHP. 5

According to Asuna, after I had sent out the gifts to everyone she had 'a bad feeling' and the memory of the fir tree had appeared in her mind. After excusing herself from the rest of the group, she made her way down to the 36th floor and found that the blizzard had started to dissipate the closer she got to the fir tree. When she was by the entrance she saw some sort of gnome/elf hybrid with green skin and candy cane pickaxes start coming out of the woods and charging towards the entrance.

Despite being outnumbered, she charged straight in, dispatching everyone that appeared until she heard a roar and they had stopped popping. She couldn't get through the entrance for some reason, so instead, she set up a campfire and waited for the barrier to come down. The candy cane pickaxes had stayed behind after defeating the elf thingies and after pulling off the head of one of them, a small piece broke off and she had been eating it ever since.

"So, do you mind explaining to me what you are doing here?"

The only bright side about this was that she didn't seem mad, but that could quickly turn depending on my answer which I still didn't have. So the best thing to do was...

"Um...yeah, sure, but how about we get out of the cold first?"

Raising her eyebrow at me as she finished off her candy cane, she sighed before turning around and taking a few steps before suddenly stopping.

"So, are you coming or not?"

"Ah, yeah I'm coming."

I was thinking it was better if I walked a bit behind her, but she didn't start walking until I was right at her side. Even more surprising was that she grabbed my hand and forced us to walk while hand-holding, not that I was really in a position to complain.

Grabbing a piece of candy cane while we walked by the graveyard of 'kelfs', I was surprised by how accurate the taste was, and we continued to walk silently through the forest. Despite the blizzard that was raging earlier, it had been reduced to light and beautiful flutter and we ended up stopping to take in the sights of the town once we reached it. I wasn't sure how long we stood there, but eventually, we both looked at each other and smiled, before making the silent agreement that it was time to head home.

It was 1:30 in the morning, but the guild house was still empty, although that wasn't too surprising since all of the guild members would be out and still partying. We made our way to the room where Asuna let go of my hand and made her way over to one of the couches before plopping down on it and removing her hood, her KoB uniform glowing in the moonlight. Instead of turning on the light, she folded her arms and pointed with her chin towards the other couch. Despite the time I had bought myself, I still had no idea what to say as my mind had been preoccupied with simply enjoying the moment, so I sighed in resignation as I trotted over and awaited my sentence.

"So...according to Argo, the other groups that were hunting the event boss came up empty-handed and went back home when the blizzard started kicking in. Considering the circumstances I found you in, I believe it's reasonable to assume that you had figured out its spawn and fought it solo, am I right?"

Looking into her eyes, the powerful light of resolve shined brightly, but the hints of pain beneath it caused my guilt to constrict my throat...but I couldn't exactly jump out of the balcony and take a horse and ride it into the night, although some of the guild members had filled the stable with a few horses they probably wouldn't mind me borrowing...

"Ki-ri-to..."

"Um, ah, yeah... I guessed it off the hint that it would pop at a fir tree, and that was the only one I've ever seen while here so..."

"I see... I'm curious how you knew the difference between trees, but we'll leave that for later. So, now you've fought a campaign quest boss and unique event boss on your own. Are you trying to make your way up to fight a floor boss on your own?"