Duo (A Sword Art Online Fanfic) ✔

Chapter Three

"Welcome to ALfheim Online."

I opened my eyes to see a large room. The guide's voice was echoing throughout the room. I felt a sense of nostalgia. It was so similar to Sword Art Online.

"Please enter your gender and the name you wish to be identified as."

A keyboard popped up in front of me. I quickly input my information, pausing when it came to my name.

I had gone by Harumi in SAO, but I had done my best to distance myself from being immediately associated with the game. But, then again, that had all been shot to hell when the picture was sent to me.

I quickly typed in Harumi.

"There are nine races of fairies to choose from. Please select which race you wish to play as."

A bunch of player choices popped up around me, showing the 9 different races and what came with choosing a certain race. I looked through all of them, pausing when I came to a certain race.

Cait Sith. Beast tamer.

"How fitting." I muttered under my breath.

I chose that one, thinking of my wolves.

"You have selected Cait Sith." The guide informed me, "Your character's appearance will be decided at random. Do you wish to continue?"

I quickly made the affirmative choice.

"You'll now be teleported to your hometown in Cait Sith territory.
Good luck, player."

There was a flash of light, and then I was in a different place completely. I was in the middle of a huge town. The buildings were tall and skinny, and the sun shone everywhere. I couldn't believe how sunny this place was.

After I was oriented, I focused on my appearence. I winced when I saw it. I had dark hair, with fuzzy ears poking out. I had a long, striped tail coming out from beneath my coat. I could feel tiny fangs in my mouth, poking against my lips.

I was half cat.

I couldn't believe the ridiculousness of my appearence. I could see my tail whip in agitation behind me.

I stood there in confusion. I didn't know where I was in relation to a map, and I didn't know how to get to the tree where Rikimaru and Asuna were. And I needed to start from the beginning.

I pulled up my menu to see what I had to work with, but I froze in shock. I had all the stats I had in Sword Art Online. I had my old level, and my old skills. All of my items were waiting for me.

How is this possible?

I'd have to talk to Kirito about it tomorrow.

In the mean time, I wasn't going to complain. With this weird miracle, I was able to become more comfortable.

I changed into my old uniform, which made small changes to fit with the new game. I equipped the waist chain I won when I went up against the boss alone. The red jewel still hung right below my belly button, but it was joined with two wolf charms.

Kuro and Gurē.

I sighed, before getting back to work. I equipped my scythe, hoping it wouldn't cause too much controversy within the game.

Once I was ready, I turned, trying to find some place I could go to get a map. This problem was solved almost immediately when a figure ran into me, causing up both to crash to the ground.

The sound that left my mouth was very cat-like and I couldn't help but grimmace. I had always been a dog person.

"I am so sorry!"

I looked up at the man, my chest feeling like it was caving in from his weight. He quickly rolled off of me, leaping to his feet. He held out a hand, helping me to my feet.

"What's your name?" He asked, looking at me.

I felt mildly uncomfortable underneath his gaze, and I crossed my arms over my chest. I recognized him as a Slyph, the race specialized in wind magic.

"Harumi." I replied, "You?"

"Tenma."

I nodded, moving to back away. This guy was making me extremely uncomfortable and I didn't want to spend another minute with him.

"Wait!" He called, grabbing my arm to stop me. I hissed, my tail whipping.

I ripped my arm out of his grasp, but turned to face him nonetheless. I glared at him, but he didn't seem to take the hint.

"You seem lost."

I froze. I really had two options here. I could either look to him for a map, or keep on walking and risk wasting time. Time I could be spending in my search for Rikimaru.

I sighed and admitted, "I'm new."

His eyes gleamed viciously. This guy was not good news.

"Well, it's a good thing you ran into me, then!" He walked forward, slinging his arm over my shoulder.

I gritted my teeth, and did my best to hide my revulsion. Then he started telling me about the world I had just found myself in. He talked about the races and their abilities, and about quests and navigation pixies.

He really did try his best to help me, even going as far as to give me a map, but every once in awhile, he would send me a funny look or say something that would send off warning signs in my head. I didn't trust him.

"Well, there you go! That's about the basics!" He finished, giving me a smile that gave me chills. And not the good kind.

I nodded, and pulled away, eager to start my search for Rikimaru. I was a couple of feet away when I was pulled back once again.

"You wanna get dinner, kitten?" He asked.

"Not particularly."

"Meow." He teased, "Put the claws away, kitty, I was just trying to be nice."

"Thank you for everything. Really." I said, clenching my fists, "But, I really must be going."

"You have a hot date or something?"

"Yeah. Something like that."

He sighed, releasing his grip on my arm. There was a huge red handprint where he had been holding me.

"Until next time, dear?" He asked, bowing lowly.

I frowned down at him, but didn't bother to answer. I only bowed my head slightly before racing off.

"Wait!" He called after me.

Nothing he could say could get me to stop right now.

"You need to learn how to fly, right?!"

Dammit.