Klein(SAO)x Reader

Chapter Six

I stare in awe at the person who had jumped in front of a cleaver, and then stopped the man from stealing my sword. I peer through the dimness of the cavern, and I feel my eyes widen when I see Klein throwing the cleaver out of his shoulder, knocking the other man back.

"Klein!" I exclaim finally finding my voice, wriggling as hard as I can, and my wrists slip free from the shackles. Grateful for being small, my sword seems to dart out of its sheath, flying towards the man. Wondering whether he is an NPC or player, I hold my anger back. "Are you okay?" I gasp, handing Klein a potion. He nods his head but pushes the bottle away. 

"Yeah. I thought I told you to be more careful?" His voice hardens, but his eyes widen, and he pushes me out of the way. The cleaver comes down under Klein's arm, and he squirms away from the blade, his own sword pointing at the man. I help Klein up with one hand, squinting when I notice a small dot of moss growing behind the man. Darting at him, I start taunting him in front of the glowing grass. 

"Agh! Stay......Still!" The man shouts, swinging his arm in a large crescent, his cleaver seeming to slice the air around it. Pain ripples from my shoulder outward, and I skid to a stop, panting as I grasp my shoulder.

"That hurt! You.....jerk!" I scream after a moment, sprinting at him. Time seems to slow, and I dart all over the place, jabbing at his cloak, and eventually, his armor. Then, time speeds back up, and the man falls to his knees. I see Klein staring at me in amazement, and I stare back with blank eyes. I notice my energy bar is nearly below two, and at that, I watch as the whole cave tilts, and then my vision goes dark. 

"Skylar......Okay? Hey......" I groan in exhaustion at hearing this, rubbing my eyes to open them, and I see the blurry shape of Klein sitting next to me. 

"Klein? Agh!" I gasp, my hand flying to my shoulder, which glows like a red sash as it runs down my chest. "W-what happened? Where is he?" I jolt up, ignoring the pain from the wound. Gaze darting around the cave, I search for the ominous cloak anywhere. 

"He ran away. But you passed out before that, and he got a good swing at you on his way out." Klein explains, me ripping my eyes from the entrance of the cave to him. 

"Oh, okay. Wait, are you okay? I saw what happened to your shoulder. Where'd you come from? I was at least an hours walk from where you were. Not to be ungrateful, or anything." I pick a small vial from one of my pockets and gulp down the liquid. Soon enough, the red line disappears, and I watch my health-bar climb slowly.

"Well, my friends are still back in that town. I was in my inventory, and then a small dot appeared on the map I was looking at, and it was right next to you, so I thought something was up. Then, I rented a horse and rode here, and sure enough, it was a member of a murder guild. And my shoulder's fine. I healed it a while ago." He answers grimly, showing me a map of his and my locations. The two dots are right next to each other, while a group of other dots is floating on the paler dot serving as a town. 

"Y-you were keeping track of me? Why?" I blink a few times, processing a few reasons why he had me as a marker on his map.

"Uh, I g-guess I just wanted to make sure ya didn't die," he stammers, shrugging uncertainly.

"Klein, I can take care of myself!" I fold my arms, watching the vile in my hand disintegrate.

"Then how come you just got yourself kidnapped? Either way, I'm here now." He retorts with a sigh. Then, he stands, holding a hand out to me. "We should get out of here. No doubt there's back up for that dude coming, and I definitely don't want to deal with them." I take his hand, standing, and wobbling for a few seconds. When I regain my balance, I let my hand slip out of his, suddenly realizing what had happened. I feel my face heat up, so I examine the ground as we walk out. "Huh? What's wrong?"