Secret of SAO

A New Hope

Kazuto's motorcycle ran out of gas, so they had to it behind. They trudged through the bush for what seemed like forever.

Varina held herself tightly, as if she was moments away from falling apart.

"What is this supposed to accomplish, anyways?" Asuna dreaded the possible answer.

Kazuto and Varina remained silent. They didn't have the answer to that either.

They made a campfire and chose to rest for the night. They didn't bring anything to sleep in, so they slept directly on the cold earth. But before they slept, they sat around the fire.

"Isn't the fire going to give us away?" Vari asked a perfectly reasonable question.

"Who's watching? Everyone is logged into SG. Besides, they are a great distance away." Kazuto assured her.

"Guess, you're right." Vari looked with envious eyes, at Asuna cuddling Kazuto, like a Sweet Little KITTEN! A sigh escaped her lips. 'I'll leave it for now... We have too much to think about.'

Kazuto slid his head down onto his fist, with a downcast expression. "...Sugu..."

"I can't believe we just left them there..." Asuna felt the same way.

"We didn't have a choice. You know that." Vari could understand how they must be feeling, but now wasn't the time to think about it.

"Doesn't make it any easier..." Asuna leaned her head on Kazuto's shoulder.

"What happened to them, anyways? They were acting so weird." Vari had to ask, didn't she. No one had the answer, nor did they want to think about it.

She was greeted with silence.

"We will be back for them... so don't worry." Vari felt really awkward, because she was usually the one that was comforted, not the one doing the comforting. She was a little bit rusty.

They still remained silent.

Vari wanted to fix it, which frustrated her, because she knew, she couldn't.

After a while, they went to sleep.

______________________________________

A few days went by, same old, same old. They hadn't seen kept trekking through the forest, until, something moved in the bushes.

Asuna and Varina grabbed one of Kazuto's arms, to shelter them from their unexpected guest. How that was suppose to help Kazuto protect them, he would never understand. His arms were restrained, that doesn't provide him with much movability.

Then a few men came out from the bushes, with guns trained on them. "Don't move! Kirito! Shoot him! Let his legacy die with him!"

Kazuto froze in fear.

"NO!" The girls formed a barrier in front of Kazuto. "He was a victim, just like the rest of us!"

The man lowered his weapon. "We shall see about that." He ordered his men, "Take him! The girls too!"

Before they knew it, they were being shoved around with their hands tied behind their backs. They were taken deep into the forest and then inside a rather large cave. As they entered, they notice that it had been fortified. They saw women and children... families. The men were stationed everywhere, like a security team. As they walked past these people, they heard gossip, that mostly was about Kirito, when their eyes met his.

Asuna felt Kazuto's pain, or at least shared in it.

Kazuto felt like the whole world saw him as an enemy. He had never felt so alone and betrayed.