Online Lifeline

(I'm going to use their real names for this part, but once they're in the game, I'll use their game tags. :) Also, sorry this is short and it probably sucks. x.x)

Ryoutarou eagerly paced his apartment room, looking to the clock, then back at the nerve gear a few times. He was eager to get the game started, to say the least, and he was beginning to feel like he couldn't wait any longer. Thankfully, he didn't have to. As the appropriate time came close, he moved to place the nerve gear on his head and laid down on his bed. The moment the clock struck the right time, he said, "Link, start!" The next thing he knew, he was blinking and looking around at the virtual world of Sword Art Online.

---

Mizuki stared at her clock, waiting for the time for the game to launch to flash across the small screen. When it got closer, she grabbed the nerve gear and moved to the bed. Placing it over her head, she laid down and stared up at the ceiling while she waited for the right time to approach - and, as soon as it did, she announced, "Link, start," before drifting off and diving into the virtual reality game.

@ momentai.

Kazuto was eager to dive back into the new and improved world of SAO, a game he'd been lucky enough to test a few months earlier. As the clock ticked down he readied all of his things, his pillow and NerveGear sat patiently waiting for him on his bed as the smile on his face grew. This was going to be good, the graphics and gameplay of the NGMMORPG had been pretty spectacular when he was a Beta tester, but he was sure it would blow him away even more than it had the first time. He slipped on the helmet, laid down and launched himself into the game with a smile on his face, "Link, start!" He was right, after he'd properly uploaded his beta-test character data he was launched head first into SAO. The world set atop the floating castle was even better when he logged in the second time.

---

Manami scarfed down a quick snack in her family's kitchen, she had set her whole day so that she could spend time playing the new and improved public version of SAO, as the Beta testers called it. Just from slang alone, Manami knew she'd be able to tell who was a Beta tester like herself, who was just a gamer and who was a complete newbie. Personally, she figured she'd help out a few newbies get the hang of the game before she met up with some Beta testers and took on the floating castle, Aincrad. "Alright," she said to herself as she rushed to her bedroom and made herself comfortable with the NerveGear. "Here we go! Link, start!" She uplaoded her beta-tester information, she had previously designed her character to look like a completely different of herself, with short pink pigtails and bright pink eyes to match, but named her Mana, her nickname. She was blown away at the updated scenery laid out before her as she logged into the wonderful world of SAO. "Let's get this party started."

Ryoutarou was pretty sure the most difficult part of his decisions in his character was the name. Eventually, he settled with Klein and it didn't take long to choose how he would look after that. Mostly like himself, save for a few differences. Regardless, once he was ready and done and in the world, he was eager to explore, eager to play. "Well, this should be a blast," he decided with a grin before he proceeded to wander around. Maybe he could search for some of his friends later, once he talked to them in the real world and learned their game tags. Until then, though, he was free to do as he pleased - and maybe he could find somebody to teach him the ropes so that he could enjoy himself to the fullest.

---

Miza. My name is Miza in here, the girl thought, almost giddily, grinning as she looked at herself once she had chosen what she wanted to look like. Short, blue hair instead of her long, black hair, and bright blue eyes to match rather than her caramel-colored eyes, a little taller, but not dramatically. Looking around the world of SAO, the girl rested her hands on her hips. "Now, comes a learning process," she muttered before she let out a sigh. That part wasn't going to be fun - but how else was she going to have fun in the game if she didn't know how exactly to play it? No, she could handle this, she told herself . She just had to learn the basics first; the tougher stuff could come later.

@ momentai.

Kazuto flexed his in-game fingers and grinned, "Hello world." He looked up into the virtual sky as the Town of Beginnings began to come to life as Kirito took over his senses. "I'm back!" Kirito smiled brightly as he turned to take it all in with new eyes. The familiar chime and shimmer of other players teleporting into the town's square, logging in for the first time for most, filled the air around him. Kirito felt like he was returning home, the virtual world of SAO was a home away from home, and one that he felt he belonged in more than the one he had IRL. With a great breath and a laugh taken by the wind he began racing out of the square. He wanted to get right to it, training that is. He had to get past the eighth floor, he was confident he could do it now that he understood the basics of the game from the Beta testing round. As he raced the virtual wind through the market stalls he heard an unfamiliar voice shout from behind him, once he got down an ally he slowed to see if the shouting was directed at him. When he saw the form of a red haired guy chasing after him he stopped, "What's up?"

---

Manami opened her arms up wide to the in-game sky and let out a victory shout, "Alright!" She felt the connection develop as the pixels became crystal clear and she became one-hundred percent Mana. The town square looked just as it had before, wide and beautifully decorated, the only difference was the excess of bodies within the stone square. A boy not to far beside her dressed in dark blue beginners clothes rushed by her with excitement vibrating off of him. She smiled in the strangers direction, she could understand the enthusiasm, Beta tester or newbie, the world of Aincrad was something to be excited about. If she was going to help out some newbies though, Mana realized she couldn't just shout out that she was a beta tester willing to help. Not only would that maybe cause a little chaos, but she could only help a few players out at a time. So, she decided to head to the market place and check out some stalls to kill some time and check out what new items had been made since the Beta Test.

(should we put their starting ages up along with their names too? For reference later, I mean)

(Yeah, if you want to! Also, I'll finish replying to the others tomorrow~. And I'm not entirely sure how the conversation between Kirito and Klein went, since I watched the first episode a while back and ended up watching way too much stuff in between, so I'm totally guessing here.)

Klein had spotted the kid running around easily - and he seemed on a beeline for somewhere in particular. A beta tester, Klein had thought immediately, a broad grin forming on his features. What better way to figure out this game than to make friends with a beta tester and see if he would teach him a bit? Without thinking too far into it, he had rushed after the guy, calling out to him, though he was thankful it didn't take long to catch his attention. Halting to a stop, he rubbed the back of his neck, a grin on his features still. "Oh, it's just that you seem to know where you're going, so I figured you're probably a beta tester, huh?" he said, tilting his head to the side, though he didn't really give the guy time enough to answer. "I was hoping that you wouldn't mind helping me out a bit, maybe teach me the ropes?" Maybe that was an odd request from and to a stranger, but he was more eager to learn the game than he was worried about how the guy might perceive him.

---

Miza looked around at the other players and couldn't help but to enjoy seeing everybody so eager. There were a few running around as if they knew where they were going and such; she assumed that they were beta testers, as there wasn't any other way that somebody could be so sure of where they were heading. Lifting her shoulders in a shrug, she figured that she would wander around for a bit and try to get used to the game. Her feet carried her quickly to a random area and she mostly paid attention to what others were saying. In honesty, she was hoping to overhear a beta tester or two talking about the game in hopes of making it easier for her to figure out how to go about playing it. Before long, though, she realized that she was in the market place and she blinked. Curiosity taking over, she wandered around, checking out the stalls they had to offer.

@ momentai.
(Basically they trained all day and at sunset, around 5:30 I think because Klien ordered his pizza lol, everyone was forced into a teleport back to the Town of Beginnings main square)

Kirito raised his brows, it was probably painfully obvious that he was a beta tester not that he thought about it. "Hm..." He pondered it, it wasn't like he had anything better to do, and he could get some leveling done while he helped the guy. "Sure, why not," he chuckled and stuck out his hand to the guy. "I'm Kirito." He seemed like a nice enough guy, so Kirito figured it couldn't hurt. "Let's get started," he said nvr they shook hands and the guy introduced himself. "We'll head to some basic training grounds outside the town."

---

Mana smiled as she spoke to the NPCs, happy that they didn't treat her any differently for having beta tester data. A lot of the items were the same as they were from the beta test but now there were nearly a hundred different style and color variations set up at the stalls. Most of them were EXP boosters because it was only the first town, but imagining all of the other items waiting throughout Aincrad made a huge smile appear on her face. "This is great, once I get going I'll have to get me one of these to power up later for the Boss fights..." She mumbled excitedly to herself.

(Yeah, I knew that much - I just couldn't remember the exact conversation, haha.)

Klein nodded in response, grinning broadly when the guy agreed to help him. It meant a lot to him, that was for sure. If he could get the help he needed in figuring this game out, then maybe he would enjoy it a lot more than having to figure it all out on his own. "Alright, let's do it," he decided with a nod before gesturing for the guy to lead the way. "It's nice to meet you, by the way, Kirito." Because it was always nice to meet new people - especially since this guy seemed nice enough. Maybe they'd be good friends in the end, who knew?

---

Miza busied herself with wandering around the market, easily spotting items that looked like they may be of help later. Maybe she'd look at them in more detail later, when she had enough to get them. Spotting somebody nearby who looked nice enough, the girl smiled and made her way over to the blonde. "Hi there," she greeted, figuring it'd be smart to make friends while she could. And, besides that, she'd have to make friends, anyways, if she wanted to fight bosses. She doubted it was a smart idea to take them on alone, after all.

@ momentai.
(do you want Mana to teach Mizu to fight, find Kirito and Klein in the feilds and train with them until warp time?)

Kirito walked quickly and easily through the cobblestone streets of the Town of Beginnings, making full use of the shortcut alleyways. "So Klein," he said once they got to the training grounds. "These are called Frenzy Boars," he motioned to the somewhat scarred and ugly boars scattered in clumps in the meadow. "Go ahead and attack one so I can see your attack style." Kirito figured it'd be easier to help Klein learn the controls of battle once he knew what kind of moves he would naturally use. Kirito has a tendency to strike quickly and hard, results of the lessons he took many years ago in kendo. Before Klein could protest Kirito charged at a Frenzy Boar only to divert its attention to Klein, "Alright, watch out! Here it comes!"

---

(Mana's got pink pigtails right now, they didn't undergo the mirror change yet haha)

At the sound of an unfamiliar voice beside her Mana looked up to see a pixie-like blue haired, blue eyed girl looking back at her. She laughed, their avatars looked pretty similar other, the only difference was that Mana's avatar had pink pigtails and pink eyes, and the stranger's had a short blue bob and blue eyes. "Hi, Blue," she laughed. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were my in-game sister." She stood up from her position of leaning over to look at the stall's EXP booster necklaces, mentaly checking off which one she wanted for later when she got enough in-game coins.

(Yeah, that would probably work. :o Also, sorry Klein's part is so short, omg.)

Klein wasn't really sure how to react when Kirito wanted him to fight what he called a Frenzy Boar. But, he nodded and reacted as quickly as he could to the Frenzy Boar - it didn't seem to be good enough, though, as the Frenzy Boar was still up and charging at him.

---

(Ah, sorry, I was half-asleep when I typed that, I think. xD)

Miza blinked slowly, the greeting taking the girl a moment to process, though it did bring amusement to her features. "Ah, yeah, possibly," she hummed out, folding her hands behind her back and rocking back and forth on the soles of her feet for a moment. "Maybe, like, opposite twins? Yin and yang?" She was joking, slightly, though it wasn't an easy thing for her to do. IRL, she usually kept to herself, aside from a small group of friends. But, in game, she could try to be a bit more social, she decided.

@ momentai.
(Sorry mine are so short X( )

Mana smiled brightly and laughed, "I'm game for a yin and yang sisterhood." She extended her hand, "Nice to meet you, Blue. You can call me Pink, Yang, or Mana, or whatever." The girl seemed a little shy, it was a good thing Mana opened their conversation with a joke, she decided, otherwise it might have been awkward to call the stranger by a nickname already. It was funny how with all of the options to customize an avatar on SAO, or on any kind of online multi-player game, you could still end up with an exact twin or sibling-like avatar to another player you come into contact with. "Are you new to the world of Aincrad or gaming?"

---

(I'm just going to play this like I remember the episode going. I only remember so well because i laughed so hard when Klein was hit by the Boar and Kirito was just like, "Bro, you can't actually feel pain here."

"You have to wait, watch for the right moment! Don't just blindly attack it, the NPCs and monsters have a type of thought process too. Treat them like you would IRL, not like a gam-" Just as Kirito was speaking Klein was hit by the Frenzy Boar and his HP bar flickered down a few points. "Game." He shook his head and laughed as he drew forth his starting weapon as Klein put on a melodramatic show and took out the boar.

(No worries~ Also, yeah, I'm telling you, I forgot half of the first few episodes due to watching so many shows between them and the rest of the show. xD Also, this is so short, I'm sorry.)

It was almost an immediate reaction for Klein to start complaining when he landed. Maybe it was from surprise or shock or maybe it was actual pain, but it still bothered him and he gripped at himself with a yelp.

---

Miza smiled slightly, shaking the girl's hand as she nodded slightly. "I guess that means that I'm either Blue, Yin, or Miza," she decided with a lift of her shoulders. It didn't matter to her either way; they knew who each other were at this point, at least, and that was what mattered. "Oh, yeah. First time gaming. Everybody was making a big deal about the game, so I was a little curious."