Sword Art Online (Silica)

[Hygge]

So I just started watching SAO... I'm only at like episode 7, so my knowledge of the show is only up until that point. Sorry for spoilers or unintentional plot holes haha.

This is about Silica (age 13), kind of inspired by when Kirito and Lisbeth went to Floor 55 to get the rare material from the dragon... I mean, snowy realm where you have to trek and battle a giant crystalized dragon? Great place for someone to fall ill

I woke up in the plain, white bed of my room in the inn, the daylight dimly spilling across the floor. It was freezing, the wintery breeze blowing drifts of snow through the open window. I shivered and gripped my arms to my shoulders. Where was my blanket anyway?? I glanced at the floor, spotting its corner peaking out from underneath my bed. Just then, a solid knock rapped at my door.

“Silica? It’s me.” Called Kirito’s soft voice. “I wanted to ask you to come on a journey with me…” He began, pushing the door open slowly.

My eyes widened. I looked down at my body, which was only minimally covered by my tidy-whitey’s (actually they have pink lace, let’s not forget). I grabbed the blanket quickly and wrapped it around myself. “H-hi Kirito! Of course! Where are we going?” I said, giggling nervously.

“Floor 55, Lisbeth needs some more rare material for her blacksmithing.” Kirito said simply, not even seeming to notice my fluster and embarrassment.

“Heeheeheeyeahhh okay I’d love to come!” I stood up from my bed, immediately feeling dizzy and wobbly. I groaned quietly as I swayed, trying to fix my eyes on something steady, but everything looked like it was in a rippling wave. I blinked hard, trying to settle my fluttering surroundings, but when I opened my eyes, all I saw was Kirito’s face, held perfectly straight, yet completely rotated to the side, and his arm was cradling me.

“Are you alright?” Kirito asked, looking down at me.

I blinked in confusion, realizing that he wasn’t sideways at all, I was. I was crumbled on my side in his arms, the soft fuzzy blanket revealing me awkwardly. “O-oh, uhm, ohmygosh, my, blanket…My… I’m sorry! You didn’t see anything did you?” I grabbed my blanket again, still feeling slightly dizzy. Ugh, why was my head so spinny and heavy?

“Errrm…” Kirito grumbled, shrugging. “I’m sorry I must’ve woken you up.”

“No it’s okay, I was awake, just uh…not prepared… I just need to get ready, I’ll come along.” I grinned, turning my blanket-draped back to him while I grabbed some clothes. Kirito nodded and stepped into the hallway.

I put on a soft pink dress with long sleeves and ruffles and hurried out after him, followed by my Feathery Dragon, Pina. Kirito and I met up with Asuna and Lisbeth at Lisbeth’s blacksmith shop. We stepped into the warmth of the shop, the cold snow biting relentlessly at our ankles before the door shut behind us.

“You came!” Lisbeth cheered happily. “Thank goodness, Kirito and I did this once before but it was kind of a risky (or did she say risqué?) experience with just the two of us.”

I returned a smile to the group. I was usually very talkative and bubbly, it’s just that the long walk here left me so out of energy. Pina sat perched on my shoulder, nuzzling its soft, pale blue nose behind my ear. It was so cold, I had forgotten my cloak during the rush of becoming decent. Floor 55 was cold as it was, and now in the winter season….how could I forget my cloak?!

“I’ve never seen you this quiet.” Asuna took notice.

“Don’t get used to it, I’m sure she’ll be babbling all of our ears off in no time.” Lisbeth was only poking fun of course, but it made me wonder if I was an annoyance to the group…

The four of us made our way to Floor 55, all of them dressed in warm cloaks with fur trimmed hoods drooped over their heads. We trudged through the snowy land toward the crystal dragon’s nest. Lisbeth explained that she wanted to make us all weapons from the crystallized ingots that were actually excrements left behind by the stone-eating dragon.

I swiped at my nose with the cuff of my dress. “Heh-chiiew!!” I attempted a sniffle but my nose was so blocked that I could only breathe through my mouth. “Ugh it’s so cold…” I muttered, Pina cooed, flying beside me.

“You should’ve been prepared, why didn’t you bring a jacket?” Kirito pointed out bluntly.

“I don’t know, it slipped my mind…hahh…heh-chiiih!” I held my cuff to my running nose, trying to keep my hands warm with my breath, and trying to sniffle back as much of the liquid dripping from my nose that I could. “snnkkf.. hih’shieww!”

“Silica, you shouldn’t be out in the winter with nothing to keep you warm.” Asuna chastised gently. She pulled up her menu, selecting a fuzzy red cloak from her inventory and giving it to me.

“I-I know, sorry…” I accepted the cloak graciously, pulling it around my body and letting the hood smother my head. “Tchiiih!!” A couple of weak coughs slipped out of me. My head felt like a watermelon. “Snnlff.” I tilted my head back, attempting to keep my runny nose from flooding all over Asuna’s cloak. My hood slipped off and my eyes met the dim light of the sun, obstructed by clouds but still…sssooo…b-briiight… “Heh..hihhh..” My eyes became slits and my nostrils quivered with every intake of breath. “Hiih…Heh’IICHIEWW!! Snnff! Hik-SSHIIIH!! Hiiehh…TSHIEEW!!” My nose was gushing down my face. I quickly put the palm of my hand to the underside of my nose as it streamed, creating a river that ran down my arm, inside my sleeve.

“Wow, you okay Silica?” Lisbeth, still walking ahead of me, turned to face me.

I could feel the misery being displayed in my eyes. I nodded once, feeling utterly embarrassed about my mess. “S-sorry…” I whimpered.

“You need something for your nose.” Kirito’s words were more of a statement than a question. But I nodded back timidly. He opened his inventory, taking out a velvet jacket. He pulled his longsword from his back and sliced off one of the arms. “Here.”

My eyes widened. “I…” Hand still clenched to my face, I stared back at him, feeling guilty about him destroying his item for me. He pushed it further to me. I reached my free hand out to grab it. My nose was a prickling flame, I quickly drew my hand back to myself, unable to grab the torn sleeve in time. Both hands clasped over my nose, I felt my eyes flutter and my vision blur. “Hnngt-SHIIEEWW!!!” My hands filled with the surge from my nose. I could feel my face turning bright red, I didn’t dare remove my hands from my nose, though the mess was dripping down my wrists. I moaned, high pitched and embarrassed, my eyes staring down to avoid contact with anyone.

Asuna glared at Kirito, as if he could have prevented my shame, and grabbed the torn sleeve from his grasp. She placed one hand on the back of my head and held the other to my nose, covering my soppy hands with the velvet sleeve. I quickly adjusted my grip to take it from her and began mopping my face and hands with the material. At first it felt like I was just rubbing in the liquid, spreading it over my face until the sleeve absorbed enough to make a difference. I folded it in half again, and again, and unfolded it and folded it a different way searching for an unsoaked edge. I continued to wipe, sniffling repeatedly.

“Blow your nose.” Kirito instructed. “It’ll help.”

“Okay…” I let the torrent fill the sleeve until the rush of liquid turned into a soft honk. “Excuse me…” I mumbled, my face still red with embarrassment.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Joal 555
added age of character in intro