It’s supposed to sci-fi and fantasy, so I hope an SAO-version of GamerTale will suffice. ^^
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The sun had long begun to set on the horizon, its final red rays peeking past some nearby mountains. Tucked away in the hills laid a noble but small village, with most of the lights starting to appear out of the windows of homes as evening began to settle down.
Merchants soon packed up their shops and started to head back home while children who ran around the marketplace all day grew weary and tired. Soon enough, some of the older children and maids who accompanied them carried the little youngsters on their backs as they too headed for the path back to the orphanage.
All in all, it was a peaceful, quiet evening. Not a single beast-like creature was stirring near the village. Even if one of them were to approach it, there were guards keeping watch all night, stationed at the battlements on the walls surrounding the town. This was the usual routine of many warriors and soldiers who decided to drop by the village or had a home there.
And yet here she was. Stuck in a cave deep in the mountains. Somewhere much too far away from her warm, comforting home.
As a swordswomen, her battle gear was simple and sufficient. In her right hand, she held her silver sword that bore red designs on its hilt and in her left hand, her silver shield with the Delta Rune engraved at its front. On top of her usual outfit which consisted of a blue and red battle skirt, a long-sleeved purple shirt, black tights and brown combat boots, she wore a chest protector, arm bracers and leg protectors, all shining within that dark cave. On her back was a grey knapsack she brought with her for her explorations and a light shield holder made of porous stone and on her waist was a belt with a scabbard for her sword.
Although her stature was short in comparison to other female warriors, she definitely was not weaker than anyone else by any means. The girl had been raised in the orphanage all her life, and would often hear the stories of old, tales about heroes fighting Monsters and claiming their victories. For weeks, she dreamed of becoming one of those heroes of legend.
But this wasn’t how she wanted to go down in history.
She had been cornered by another mercenary, a fast one, she would add. Someone who was cunning and smart enough to drive her into a cave. She blamed her bad luck for stepping on a loose stone and falling deep into a crevasse. At least there was somewhat of an air pocket in there, and she still had some kindle and matches in her bag, along with a torch, to make a fire to keep herself warm. In fact, there was a lit torch at her feet, ignited merely seconds ago.
But the minute she strike her match against the wood, she heard the nearby sound of footsteps. It was faint and very quick, only lasting for a few seconds, but she could still hear it from a mile away. It was one of her special skills. As soon as she heard the foreign sound, she unsheathed her sword and shield, looking around very cautiously. Her brown eyes darted left and right every few seconds, her mind alert for any other sudden sounds and movements.
Soon enough, the sound of footsteps returned, sounding faint and faraway. This time, however, they were slow and steady, almost as if someone was wandering around the small cave as well. As the footsteps approached her, she adopted a defensive stance, holding her shield in front of her body and her sword above her head.
Before long, she could catch a glimpse of the person even in those weak rays of light coming from the torch. The figure in front of her was about the same height as her, and as he stepped closer to her, she could see that the figure wore a white tank top underneath a blue jacket with its sleeves ripped off, a pair of ripped jeans and hiking boots. In his shaggy snowy white hair was a navy blue bandana and he wore black half finger gloves. Around his waist was a scabbard for a curved sword, a holder for a slingshot and a pocket for what she would assume to be rocks as ammunition.
He had the appearance and the demeanor of a thief, if she were to be very honest with herself.
“What’cha up to, little girl?” He slurred his words, staring at her with mischievous and cheeky eyes, his hands in his jacket pockets. “Lost your way, huh?”
The female warrior gritted her teeth. “No, I think the proper words should be ‘you cornered me to this crevasse’,” She spat at him, her voice laced with sarcasm.
The boy laughed in amusement, his face sporting a wide grin. “Sucks to be you then,” He spoke, not even answering her words. “Either way, we’re both stuck here, in this cave,” He continued in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Great,” She muttered under her breath before facing him again, pointing her sword at his face before he could take another step forward. “Don’t even try to rob me and beat me up, you bandit. I am NOT as weak as you think I am,”
Her words sounded as if they could pierce through stone and her tone could have made knees crumble and shiver. But deep down inside, she was rather scared. And this thief could tell.
He took a step forward despite the fact that a sword was pointed at his face. Out of instinct, she took a step back, clearly intimidated by his bold act. “Look, there isn’t a reason for us to be at each other’s throats, yeah? We don’t have to fight like savages-”
“Says the man who chased me into this damn cave!” She snapped at him, cutting him off. “If you hadn’t, maybe I would spare you from your tomfoolery,”
He laughed again. “Tomfoolery? Is that what you think I am? A thief?”
How the hell did he know what I was thinking?! Perhaps this was a special skill that thieves had, a way to interpret language and classify it under a category. Whatever it was, he was good at it.
He stepped closer to her and she stepped back again, the torch no longer at her feet but at his. “Well, if you must really know why I was chasing you into this cave, I’ll tell ya,” He said before narrowing his eyes at her. Any traces of a jokester in him had disappeared in an instant.
“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you, little girl?”
She was baffled. “What?”
“You know what I mean, swordswoman,” He continued, trudging footsteps closer to her, not stopping after a single step this time, and the girl had no choice but to step backwards every time he came near her. Soon enough, the fire from the lit torch was about a metre away and she was almost cornered to the walls of the crevasse.
Meanwhile, he had kept talking. “Or should I call you, ‘Frisk’?”
She hitched a small gasp in shock and surprise. “How do you know my-”
“Name? Heh,” He clicked his tongue as his hands were removed from his pockets. “Let’s just say that I have my sources,” He replied, a smirk on his face once more.
As soon as her back hit the wall, she knew that she was in for a bad time. Before she could react, his lightning fast hands had grabbed her arms and ripped her shield and sword out of her hands. It wasn’t very helpful that her hands were in cold sweat too, probably because the cave was cold as hell. In fact, now she couldn’t help but wonder, how could this boy wear clothing without sleeves and still have warm hands?
As soon as she was disarmed, the boy planted his hands on the wall, right next to the girl’s head, to support himself as he leaned in closer to her. A few minutes ago, she wasn’t afraid of this boy at all. But now…
“Who are you?” She asked timidly, half expecting an answer, half afraid of receiving it. “What do you want from me?”
His sky blue eyes bore into her brown ones as he dipped his head to her neck, his hot breath against her skin sending shivers down her spine. She shut her eyes tightly, frightened for her life.
There was a silence in the cave that seemed to last for ages. Until…
“Knock knock,”
At this, her eyes snapped open, a flabbergasted expression on her face. She felt inclined to not answer, but she figured out that the choice to do so was not smart. She wasn’t armed, and he was.
“Uh… Who’s there?” She just replied, uncertainty in her voice.
“Dishes,”
“Dishes… who?”
“Dishes a bad joke,” He finished his joke with a hearty laugh, and at that she could feel the gears in her head turning. This joke… I’ve heard of it before… !
“S-Sans?” She murmured to herself, her eyes widened in shock. “Is that… you?”
He stepped away from the wall, stuffing his hands into his pockets again. “The one and only,” He proclaimed proudly, winking at her. “Didja really think that you could hide your ‘little secret’ from me, sweetie?”
She bit her bottom lip while smiling, an embarrassed, shy look on her face, but she felt much more relaxed now. “Maybe…?”
“Right,” He looked at her with a knowing face before staring at her at eye-level. “Gonna have to work on those skills, kiddo. It ain’t working on me-”
He didn’t have time to finish before she leaned in and pecked his lips, holding it there for a long while. Slowly, she wrapped her hands around his neck and tilted her head to the side in order to deepen the kiss. Soon, he coiled his arms around her figure as well and closed his eyes as he enjoyed every second of the kiss.
As they broke away, Frisk winked at him. “You know I think it’ll be a lot better if I kiss you in real life, Sans,”
Sans nodded back in reply. “Sure, little girl. Anything you want,”
~~~~~~
In the real world, Frisk slowly took off the VR headset on her head, shaking her head slightly to readjust herself back to the real world, to remind herself that she was not in a cave but in her own room, on her comfy bed. As the seconds ticked by, she raised her fingers to her lips, gently touching them as she remembered the incident that had occured merely moments before.
Just then, the door opened and a familiar grinning skeleton sauntered into the room, sporting a cheeky yet caring smile.
“You didn’t tell me that you started playing Delta Kingdom, Frisky,” He smirked at her, a knowing look written all over his face.
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” She replied, as sly as a fox. “But you just had to go change your appearance and ruin it like that,” She complained, though she was smiling.
The skeleton strolled over to her bed and sat down, crawling to the teenage girl’s side. He wrapped his left arm around her petite figure while his free hand rested on her chin, cueing her to turn and face him. “Aw, I’m sorry for ruining the surprise,” He chuckled before leaning closer to her. “Mind if I make it up to you?”
Frisk had attempted to pull of a pouty face at him, but she was silenced as soon as he leaned in closer to her. She sighed softly as her cheeks turned beet red. “You’d better,” She giggled as she closed her eyes and felt his lips against hers for the second time that day. It felt as if hours had passed before they pulled away from each other.
There was a glint of excitement in her eyes, and a bit of competitive spirit in his.
“Game on, Frisk,” He muttered to her in a low voice. “Game on.”
