Amber Coals's Story

The ditzy black head wondered around the town watching as people began to panic, maybe she should be panicking to? But she just couldn't, this was her dream. To live in a world of fantasy and danger, maybe the fear of being able to die just hadn't set in yet... Maybe she just didn't care...
"Im hungry" She mumbled as she walked down a dark ally way looking for a meat stand. Now in retro spect, walking down a dark ally wasn't the best idea in the world generally and now in a game where everyone is killing each other it was probably her worst idea yet, but hay when she is hungry, she is hungry. So when the dirty man dropped down in front of her and tried to plung his sword through her chest she shouldn't of been surprised, but she was.
"Why did you do that mister, you can hurt someone swinging your sword around like that." She commented innocently while dodging the mans next swing, "If you keep doing that mister I am going to have to hurt you." She commented again, the innocence in her voice never left. Once again the man ignored her warning and swung his sword at her, this time instead of blocking he found his sword hitting another one, this one flaming as the alleyway caught fire. Staring at the sword her turned to look at the young girl who held it.
Long gone was the sweet girl with long dark hair and pretty brown eyes, in her place stood a girl with flaming red hair and amber eyes, cold as steel as they glared into the mans own, "What did I say mister, don't swing swords around like that or someone's going to get," Her sword was gone from his own as she plunged it into his shoulder, twisting and getting ride of half his health, "Hurt." She said before pulling a small dagger out and plunging it into his brain.
Staring at the dead man, the red haired girl put away the flaming sword and slowly her red hair bled to black and her amber eyes turned brown again. Looking down at the man again, the girl shrieked in surprise before kneeling down and looting his body all the while apologising.
After she found a few coins and compass and map on him she turned away and began to walk towards the next city, looking at her map she noticed that there were two routes, one was shorter and being naive she assumed it would be the best and safest way to go.

The young black head began to hum as senseless tune as she walked down the abandoned road, there were no monsters or other players and it was actually quite peaceful, even through she wished she had her IPod so she could at least slips ten to some decent music, as it appeared that she would be doing a lot of walking in this game and alone that wasn't a lot of fun.
"Lonely little girl, lost in a lonely little world," She began to sing the random words to her random tune, not really paying attention to her surroundings.
"You have to keep on fighting, keep on fighting." She saw some light in the distance, probably a campfire. Switching back to her humming she opened up her status menu. She hasn't looked at it yet and now was the perfect time.



Name:Amber Coals
Gender: Female
Specialty: Katana
Favourite Weapon: Flaming Katana, {shufne~Hackejrnjndcojnjs}

Stats:
STR 47
DEX 37
END 51
INT 18
SPE 4

Closing the menu, she arrived at the fire. She was right it was a camp but no one was around which means...
Spinning around her katana exited it sheath just in time to block somebodies surprise attack, "You know it's cowardly to attack from behind." She whispered out, before her amber eyes meet the young mans blue ones.

"You know it's cowardly to attack from behind."

Time seemed to have stopped once Akira and the girl had locked eyes for what seemed to be hours but was only a few seconds. "Aye, it's your fault for taking this path, I'm only doing what my instinct tells me, would you not follow what your brain and your heart tell you to do?" Akira jumped back, distancing himself from Amber. He took this to not only chance to size her up, looking at her stats to try and detect if she was a viable threat but to check his surroundings for a viable escape method in-case he had to flee. His analysis showed that she wasn't a problem, but also shouldn't be taken lightly, as for the visual analysis the trees were bunched together and he felt he could easily outrun the girl if he had to. Then again, Akira wasn't one for killing females, or killing innocents at all. He only aimed those that had a special aura about them, one that screamed 'I'm rushing to floor 100 and nothing is stopping me!' Those are the ones he felt were deemed unnecessary to live, and the ones that HAD to be eliminated in order for his life in Aincrad to be permanent.

"Look, I'm not for one killing, despite my orange player cursor. I kill for a cause, and you don't fit the bill. So do us all a favor and move along and pretend this never happened. Or are you going to be the savior of SAO and kill me so other players won't have to worry? Try if you will, but I can't guarantee your success, and besides it would be a shame to kill someone that has beautiful amber eyes such as yourself." He readied his sword and took a defensive stance, ready to parry a blow if he had to.

"Aye, it's your fault for taking this path, I'm only doing what my instinct tells me, would you not follow what your brain and your heart tell you to do?" The young man jumped away, and amber pulled herself into a defensive stance as she watched the man judge her ability. If he attacked she wouldn't go down easily, the man was on pare with skills but amber knew how to fight dirty and wasn't against it if it meant her survival.
"So your heart makes you a coward, you should face you enemy head on. Through I must say your brain is right, an ambush would of worked if it wasn't me you were attacking." She smiled sarcastically up at the man as he decided his next move.
Look, I'm not for one killing, despite my orange player cursor. I kill for a cause, and you don't fit the bill. So do us all a favor and move along and pretend this never happened. Or are you going to be the savior of SAO and kill me so other players won't have to worry? Try if you will, but I can't guarantee your success, and besides it would be a shame to kill someone that has beautiful amber eyes such as yourself."
Amber smirked when she heard his comment about her eyes, "Ya, I have no desire to kick you ass. Through I am going to stick around because you have a fire and a camp and right now I could use both, so your stuck with me. Names Amber, and what, may I ask, is you?" She grinned up at him, mirth in her eyes as she slide her katana back into its sheath. In a second her red hair was black again and her 'beautiful' amber eyes became their usual deep brown.

For some reason Akira had blanked out, not paying any attention to what the girl was saying, his mind and heart were in two different places, his mind drifting out into the world of SAO and its life-like beauty and his heart trying to keep this girl at bay without harming killing her.

"So your heart makes you a coward, you should face you enemy head on. Through I must say your brain is right, an ambush would of worked if it wasn't me you were attacking."

"Ya, I have no desire to kick you ass. Through I am going to stick around because you have a fire and a camp and right now I could use both, so your stuck with me. Names Amber, and what, may I ask, is you?"

It seemed he didn't snap back in into reali- errr...virtual reality until the girl, who's name was now presented as Amber finished speaking. Her hair and eyes were now a dark brown, it seemed that katana of hers was where all the power was, that wasn't to say Amber didn't have any abilities of her own.

"Akira....my name is Akira. So if what you say is really true, and I'm stuck with you, how do you know I won't slay you when you are not looking, and how shall I sleep soundly knowing you won't do the same to me?", His words came out soft but held no innocence in its tone. Akira found no trust in this girl, then again he didn't find trust in most people, those that he told his story to usually felt sorry for him, and that only fueled the fire inside him. By now he had held his blade at his side, still wary of Amber's motives and unable to trust her enough to fully sheathe his blade.

"Akira....my name is Akira. So if what you say is really true, and your I'm stuck with you, how do you know I won't slay you when you are not looking, and how shall I sleep soundly knowing you won't do the same to me?" Akira said softly.
"Trust me? I'm not asking you to trust me, we have a mutual agreement I won't kill you and you won't kill me, but if you really want some security than this is it, when I have black hair I am just my useless real self and when I have red hair I can kick your ass ten times over." She grinned up at the boy, he wasn't really paying attention but who cared, it would be his downfall someday not hers, "And I guess I'm justing going to have to believe you won't hurt me, huh, Akira?" She began to walk towards his camp and took a seat next to the fire. "You going to come down or what?" Amber yelled out as she began to watch the flames.
She always loved fire and that was one of the few reason why she was stopping to camp with Akira, he had fire and she wanted it. They way fire danced and looked so beautiful and yet could easily kill or harm someone if not treated properly were things that just blew Amber's mind.

"Trust me? I'm not asking you to trust me, we have a mutual agreement I won't kill you and you won't kill me, but if you really want some security than this is it, when I have black hair I am just my useless real self and when I have red hair I can kick your ass ten times over."

Akira was bewildered! Did this girl not fear for her life when around him? Or was it that her pride and determination that had not allowed her to to be manipulated by fear. Or worst of all, did Akira not invoke the fear he had had originally thought he would? He blanked out again, running scenarios through his head until the girl spoke again.

"And I guess I'm just going to have to believe you won't hurt me, huh, Akira?"

He was about to answer her question but within a blink of an eye Amber was already enjoying herself at the fire.

"You going to come down or what?"

Akira sighed deeply, Amber was not only a handful but a thorn in his side, not that he would allow her to know this. He sat down across from Amber with his blade at his side. He took in the crackling of the flames and the heat that resonated from it, his eyes grew heavy and he closed them for a few minutes, looking back on those he had killed. "I have to get to the front-line...That is my goal...sabotage it and stop them from completing the 100th floor." As he had began talking to himself he had completely forgotten that Amber was there most likely listening. He opened his eyes and felt calm, perhaps it was the fires effect.

"If you want to sleep you can use my sleeping bag, its the only one I have but you may use it, I'll keep watch anyway. There are some nasty forms of PK'ers out that play far dirtier than I ever would. It's pathetic really is what it is. Dueling someone in their sleep...if you can't fight the person face to face on a near equal player field then you don't deserve the title of PK'er. That's not the only other exploit either, but easily the most cowardice one I know of."

Akira sighed and than came and sat across from Amber, before his eyes glazed over and he began to talk to himself, "I have to get to the front-line...That is my goal...sabotage it and stop them from completing the 100th floor." She heard him say and she felt her curiosity digging its way into her but she refused to ask this guy his past, he had his reason and if they stuck together long enough for amber to find out than that would just have to satisfy her.

He opened his eyes and stared into the fire before beginning to talk again, this time looking at amber, "If you want to sleep you can use my sleeping bag, its the only one I have but you may use it, I'll keep watch anyway. There are some nasty forms of PK'ers out that play far dirtier than I ever would. It's pathetic really is what it is. Dueling someone in their sleep...if you can't fight the person face to face on a near equal player field then you don't deserve the title of PK'er. That's not the only other exploit either, but easily the most cowardice one I know of." amber couldn't help but grin when Akira mentioned cowardice, he was right an assassination in ones sleep was cowardly... And extremely effective, she suddenly found herself grateful for Akira through she would never let him know that, to him she was probably an annoyance but there was nothing she could do about that.

Nodding her head she slipped into the sleeping bag and turned to look at Akira before smiling, "Wake me when it's my turn to watch, I'm not letting you do all the work!" She then rolled over and forced herself to sleep.

"Wake me when it's my turn to watch, I'm not letting you do all the work!"

Akira hadn't planned on waking her up as the longer she slept the better for him. Even if he were to doze off, he was a light sleeper so any idiot that would be stupid enough to attempt to raid their camp wouldn't live long. Even once he knew Amber was asleep he still walked over to check on her before he left to hunt for food. He slightly dimmed the campfire, not wanting the smoke to attract too much attention. His stomach rumbled as he opened his inventory in search of food, he had bread and a few spices, and that definitely wasn't going to cut it as breakfast. Not many animals spawned at night, and those that did spawn wouldn't be a presentable meal which meant he had to go vegetarian for awhile till they reached the next town.

He picked up his curved-blade and headed for the trees in search of anything really. Bird-eggs were a common find in this forest as were the fruit that the trees dropped. Venturing too far from the camp wouldn't be an option so he scavenged the tree branches among the trees that were next to his camp. He managed to find some ripe fruit, but it wasn't much. No doubt this area was one of the first place to be scavenged by merchants and hungry players. He was lucky to find these. The fruit looked like a combination between a mango and an apple, the texture was smooth and the taste was as sweet as sugar. He loved the fruit with a passion and he had only been in the game for as long as everyone else. After scavenging about for a few minutes he returned to the warm embrace of the fire and laid up against a tree that was near Amber, his mind too active to sleep he stayed awake merely keeping watch. Perhaps another player would drift onto this path.

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" Amber screamed, her whole body jolting up from sleep.

"Shut up! SHUT UP!"

Akira was in a nice sleep, he had dozed off for awhile while keeping watch and that wasn't nessacarily a bad thing. Sleep wasn't usually a bad thing, that is unless you are woken up from loud screams merely feet away from you. Out of sheer reaction he had drawn his sword with inhumane speed and was already next to Amber, prepared to attack her assailant. His heart was beating so fast he could feel it trying to push its way outside of his chest. His eyes scanned the area vigorously for imminent danger.After analyzing that there was no imminent threat he sheathed his sword and sat next to Amber in an attempt to comfort her.

"I'm going to assume you had a bad dream and didn't scream just to give me a heart-attack." He chuckled a bit and looked up at the sky. It took him awhile to register that he was still in a game, yet the sky was just as beautiful, if not more beautiful than real life. Stars were everywhere, and the moon was glorious white, oh how this was a beautiful world, much more-so than the one he was originally born into.

"So, what was the nightmare about?" Akira felt particularly nosy at the time. For he usually wasn't into delving into other peoples problems and lives but he figured it would be a good idea to know more about Amber.

She jumped as she noticed Akira was next to her holding his sword, quickly masking her fear she smirked up at him, "Aww, you do care." She said before chuckling.
"I'm going to assume you had a bad dream and didn't scream just to give me a heart-attack." Akira chuckled a bit and looked up at the sky. It was nice to hear him laugh, it showed that he was loosening up a little.
"Definatly the latter, I get a kick from waking people up in the middle of the night." She commented sarcastically, drawing his attention to her again.
Obviously ignoring her comment, Akira apparently felt nosy, [b]"So, what was the nightmare about?"
"If I tell you why I have nightmares that cause me to scream bloody murder will you tell me why you are trying to stop this game from ending?" She knew it was a long shot and that he would probably say no, but she was just as curious as he was and in all honestly it was fair.
She would tell him her past if he would tell her his.
"What do you say Akira? Feel like a bit of story time?" She sent him a smirk but it was clouded slightly by the trembling that still racked her body from the nightmare.

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"Aww, you do care."

Akira smiled and waved a dismissive hand."I don't necessarily condone violence against women in real life, and now that this game is no different from real life my morality carries over to here. So for a short answer? Yes I care, only due to a morality point. Also, It would be good to have a friend to travel with."

"If I tell you why I have nightmares that cause me to scream bloody murder will you tell me why you are trying to stop this game from ending?"

Akira had to ponder this idea as he hated telling his life story, but perhaps it would be for the best if they were to travel together.

"What do you say Akira? Feel like a bit of story time?"

"That is a fair deal, thing is you go fir-"

Akira stopped in his tracks, he felt a presence of someone else, it wasn't hostile but that was beyond the point. In one swift turning motion he had unsheathed his sword and now faced Jin, their swords were about an inch away from each other. Then surprisingly Jin simply sat down and began talking to himself, well he was talking to Akira and Amber but Akira had cared little for Jin's status.

"Ahh it seems as though the poor girl had a bad dream..too bad. I've had no food for days, possibly weeks. Not as though it is real..I assume you know of me. I am Jin. Hacker. Beta Tester. And the slayer of the great Game Master...in time that is."

"Never heard of you, and your status means nothing to me, feel free to stay but if you plan on being hostile, I won't hesitate to end you here and now, and for a level 70+ your stats are pretty low, I could detect you quite close. Perhaps the Cardinal-System reset your stats?"

Akira scooted over closer to Amber and had his sword resting on his legs for easy access. "Anyway, if you don't mind telling your story in front of, Jin was it? I won't hesitate to tell you mine."

Amber glared at the man, had he just called her 'poor girl?', 'POOR GIRL?!?!'
"Don't you dare call me poor girl again, I don't care if you hostile or who you are I will stick that stupid katana of your right up you butt!" She growled out sending the oranged haired man a glare.
"Anyway, if you don't mind telling your story in front of, Jin was it? I won't hesitate to tell you mine." Akira suddenly said and amber was remind of their deal, sending one late glare at carrot top she sent Akira a smile.
"Sure, it's not that amazing anyway..." Amber sighed and stared at the remaining fire as it slowly died. "In the real world, I have never been confident or popular or anything like that, I was bullied from a young age all the way through till I entered SAO. Bullying, that's what makes me wake in a cold sweat every night of my life. Kind of pathetic right." She sighed again, she hated how weak she was in the real world and that was probably was she had no problem being stuck here, "I was an accident child, neither of my parents really wanted me and I was ignored by them for most of my life. When I entered school I thought it would be a chance to make friends but I was wrong, it started then, stupid things like calling me ugly because I didn't have the latest cloths or stupid because I couldn't do a maths equations. I became a weirdo and an outcast, eventually it got worse and the children would push me into puddles and beat me up if I didn't steal things for them. I got depressed and no one was there for me, it just got worse as I got older, I was told to go kill myself and that no one would ever want me." Amber gave a cold smile, her past, how she hated it. "Than I found this world, and I could escape from my reality, I was free from my weak bullied self... But I guess now that this world has become my new reality the dreams will just follow me here..." Amber was silent for a moment, watching as the last of the fire died out leaving behind a trail of smoke from the burning coals.
"So how about you Akire? Why don't you want to leave SOA?" Amber asked, drawing herself back to reality and turning to look at the boy sat next to her.

In the real world, I have never been confident or popular or anything like that, I was bullied from a young age all the way through till I entered SAO. Bullying, that's what makes me wake in a cold sweat every night of my life. Kind of pathetic right."

"I was an accident child, neither of my parents really wanted me and I was ignored by them for most of my life. When I entered school I thought it would be a chance to make friends but I was wrong, it started then, stupid things like calling me ugly because I didn't have the latest cloths or stupid because I couldn't do a maths equations. I became a weirdo and an outcast, eventually it got worse and the children would push me into puddles and beat me up if I didn't steal things for them. I got depressed and no one was there for me, it just got worse as I got older, I was told to go kill myself and that no one would ever want me."

Than I found this world, and I could escape from my reality, I was free from my weak bullied self... But I guess now that this world has become my new reality the dreams will just follow me here..."

"So how about you Akire? Why don't you want to leave SOA?"

Akira listened to Amber's story, he personally couldn't relate to it at all, except being the outcast part as he wasn't invited into many things after being paralyzed, nor could he feel sympathy for her; not because he couldn't, but merely because he didn't want to. After feeling so much sympathy being placed on him and him hating it he just couldn't shove those emotions on other people.

"I never had to deal with bullying, just pity and sorrow. In the real world I've been practically paralyzed from the waist down since eight years old. I've had physical rehabilitation for awhile now so I can somewhat stand but its still nothing. You couldn't even imagine my surprise when I realized I could actually walk in this game. I want to live in this world forever since I can use my legs, I only punish those that are on the front lines, specifically solo-players. I won't hesitate to stop anyone on the front-lines from proceeding given the chance."

Amber grinned, Akire didn't look down on her or judge her for her past and the way her just seemed to shrug it off made her feel like it didnt really matter anymore that the person she was in the real world wasnt who she was now.
"I never had to deal with bullying, just pity and sorrow. In the real world I've been practically paralyzed from the waist down since eight years old. I've had physical rehabilitation for awhile now so I can somewhat stand but its still nothing. You couldn't even imagine my surprise when I realized I could actually walk in this game. I want to live in this world forever since I can use my legs, I only punish those that are on the front lines, specifically solo-players. I won't hesitate to stop anyone on the front-lines from proceeding given the chance." Akira said, telling her about his reasons for trying to keep the game going.
"Well I guess than you and me are just going to have to live life to the fullest in this world." She grinned at Akira, he hadn't shown her sympath so he would receive the same treatment, "Ours pasts are our pasts now, might as well forget them." She smiled at Akira befor turning to Jin.
"Hay carrot top, want to join in on our story time?" She asked, already forgiven the guy for the little girl comment.

"Well I guess than you and me are just going to have to live life to the fullest in this world."

"Aye, well that just means I will have to try even harder to stop people from advancing. I still need a plan to sabotage the Front-Lines however, and I need to act fast because the real beta-testers are probably on the third floor by now already. Luckily I have a few trump cards that I can use."

"Ours pasts are our pasts now, might as well forget them."

Akira laughed a bit at Amber's words, only if she knew how much his past dictated the way he lived in Sword Art Online. Unable to think of words he looked up into the sky for answers. After he found the right formula of words he finally began to speak. "I wish I could forget my past Amber, but I must remember my past as it is the reason why I'm fighting so hard now. But you can forget your past without a care in the world. As for me? My past is what made me the person I am today."


Akira stared at the pile of ash and charcoal that was once a beautiful crackling fire that provided heat only a few moments ago. It was philosophical almost, as the mood died down the fire did too, was this a passive effect of the flames or just coincidence mixed with Akira's imagination? He had been studying Jin since the moment he sat down, had he really been a hacker he would have been killed immediately, right? The Cardinal system was implemented to correct any form of anomalies within the system. Or at least that's what the rumor was around the forums. Jin could've easily been a beta tester, that was believable, but a hacker? That was bit farfetched for even Akira to believe but then again the coding behind SAO itself was a giant mystery so anything could theoretically be possible.

He had already met seven other players so far out of thousands within only hours after getting in-game, then again he had killed five out of those seven with the other two being Amber and Jin. Regardless he had to lay low so perhaps some friends wouldn't be a completely bad idea. By now he had turned his full attention to Amber, who was waiting for Jin, or Carrot-Top in her words to explain his backstory. That was when a magnificent thought popped into his head! He could use this girl...No doubt she was strong and seemed to care little for his history of killing players. Hypothetically, say Amber did go with him...how would she make use of herself? He would not have her kill players, he wouldn't dare stoop to that level. But he had already been assaulted twice before meeting Amber due to his status, even before it was permanent. Akira knew he would not last long without a coverup to why he was a "red player" and he figured that Amber would be his key, that is if she agreed to party up with him.

"Hey Amber?" Akira had asked in an innocent tone, "We should party up together, no doubt we could get far." He then turned to Jin with a wide smile on his face. "You can come too Jin! We could use someone with good expertise!"

"Hey Amber?" She heard Akira ask in an innocent tone making her slightly suspicious, "We should party up together, no doubt we could get far." He then turned to Jin with a wide smile on his face. "You can come too Jin! We could use someone with good expertise!"
Well that explains why she felt suspicious, amber smiled and nodded her head through. Akira was a nice guy once you looked a little deeper and he would have her back so she could sleep safely at night without worrying about someone trying to kill her in her sleep.
"Sounds fun, it's always boring to play these 'games' alone anyway." She said, putting quotation makes around the word "games". Anyway it might be fun to annoy mister high and might carrot top if he agrees to come along, she didnt want the game to end like Akira did but when the game did end she wanted to at least be alive when it happened and have had some fund like she intended to when she had gone into the game.
((Sorry it's a but short))

((Don't worry about it, it's understandable
"Sounds fun, it's always boring to play these 'games' alone anyway."

Checkmate, thought Akira as Amber had fallen directly into his plans, he hoped this partnership friendship would last for quite a long time, if not indefinitely. He now had an ally, someone to use as a scapegoat for his reasons for being marked as a player killer. Not that Amber knew this, yet.

He had ran the plan in his head a couple more times, Amber was going to be something, he hadn't gotten that far yet to assign an actual named role to her. But nonetheless she was something or someone more so that was a key target for certain people. Some wanted to capture her for their own reasons and some just wanted her dead. That is why Akira was here, he would fight off the assailants and kill them thus acting as a guardian for Amber. He was no player-killer, he was just a guardian that was just merely serving his duty. That would throw most people off...and as for the others? Well they would be disposed of rather quickly.

Akira opened up the [User Interface] for the game, opening up a large variety of options. He navigated his way to the [Social / Community] section and within a few swift hand motions had sent friend requests AND party invites to both Jin and Amber.