A brave new world on the gaming frontier has arisen, with the highly-anticipated Sword Art Online Virtual MMORPG's upcoming release. Hundreds line up to play the game, but plug in to a deadly trap... What do you do? Will you rise to meet the challenge the game developers set before you, or will you rest in the safety of our towns? Will you pass bravely into death, or survive the trials of the online world?

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Welcome to Sword Art Online

Welcome! This is the RP thread for A Game of Dreams (/shot), an SAO RP!
Let's have at it!

Grapefruit Wannabe: PrincessKasumi: Libra: blueblackrose:

Sorry for the ping! (/shot again)
I just wanted to be sure you all saw the RP thread was ready, since I didn't make much of an announcement in the OOC.

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OOC Link

The fan blades above her head beat a steady rhythm, the slightest of breezes reaching Eloise as she sat in a curled bundle in the cushions of her favorite chair. Head resting on its back lazily, she stared at the blades mindlessly, relishing the adrenaline that already pumped through her system. In her hands rested her nerve gear, fingers curled around it impatiently as she first tried to calm her nerves. She had been so anxious about getting back into the game that she felt as if she'd burst if she didn't let herself at least try to cool down beforehand. This all for no avail. Sword Art Online was only a few words away, and she couldn't take the waiting-- not with a whole world to finish exploring resting in her fingertips.

Blinking a few times, she lifted her hands and was met with the all too familiar motions of fitting herself in her nerve gear. Only a matter of seconds now, and I'll be back. Biting her lip with the anticipation, Eloise lost her sense of calm and forgot about her attempts to relax beforehand. Her pulse already spiraled out of control, and there was no stopping her now. I'm going back there! I'm coming for you, Aincrad! Drawing in a shaky breath, she allowed her eyes to close and body to rest back into the chair.

"Link Start!" An excitement like the electrical colors dancing around her rung through her as she all but danced through the opening settings of the game, eager to begin again. Finally, she reached the last screen, allowing the acceptance of her beta-testing username and data. Lingering only for a moment, she eyed her username thoughtfully before accepting it.

As such, Elosie entered the game as Elly, before her eyes appearing the magnificent towers and mindless chatter of the Town of Beginnings. A wide smile immediately met her face as she twirled around, eyes wide and childishly excited as she pumped her fist into the air, crying "Back at last!"

"And where have you been young lady?" An woman who looked to be about her 40s or early 50s. Even though her hair was obviously dyed you could still tell the age through her skin. She seemed to be talking to the other woman who just walked into the kitchen. The front door was too far from the Kitchen. "Out.." The younger woman practically looked like a barbie scowled. "Look I told you I was spending the night at Victoria's house studying, Mom." Then someone from the opposite side of the kitchen at the dinner table who seemed to be a troubled teen spoke up. "She was studying alright." He couldn't help but snicker at the end. Then right next him a burst of laughter rang through out the house. He seemed to older then the boy next to him. "She sure was!"

Their mother had a confused look upon her face as she asked "Excuse me?" But before the boys even thought about replying, their sister snarled at them. "You little brats, Guess I should throw this package I found on the doorstep in the trash." She started walking over to the trash in the corner of the kitchen next to the sink. Alas before she could throw it into the trash it was intercepted by the the young man who seemed to be the middle child who had just jumped out of his seat like it was on fire and ran to her. "Hey! That cost more then your plastic surgery combined, give it here." He quickly snatched up, and ran upstairs. Not caring if she had anything to say.

Someone like her wouldn't understand, his brother would...maybe. His sister could be annoying half the time, and don't get him started on his mother. Alexander was pretty neutral/cool with his brother, he didn't really bother him. He couldn't wait until he moved out get away from both of them. But it would take some time before he could accomplish that. In the meantime he had to read up on SAO to see if any changes were made by reading the pamphlet that came with it. He didn't manage to get into the closed beta testing but he was able to participate in the open beta they at E3 where they let a select few come try out the game a few weeks before they were to complete the final product.

Quite abit changed but it shouldn't be too hard for someone like him to get the hang of the game again. Wasting no time he carefully pulled out the blue and red visor. The visor at E3 looked way different from this. Probably didn't like the previous design I guess...either way this is pretty sweet. Alexander quickly stuffed back any packing peanuts into the box where they belong before moving it to his computer desk where there was a empty spot. He looked at the clock, and smiled. He was surely too excited to fall asleep but he'd find a way.

Alexander got undressed until he was in nothing but his boxers, he went into one of his drawers and pulled out some dark gray pajama pants before slipping under the covers his bed. He picked up the helmet and laid back into his pillow. Taking a deep breath to relax he proceeded to place the VR visor over his face on his head into the correct position. Feeling around the front of the visor he found the button he was looking for then pushed it. He couldn't say for sure what happened next, but he felt something before the darkness quickly changed.

------- Welcome To Sword Art Online ... User! --------

Trinity held her nerve gear on her lap, thinking about the fight she had this morning with her brother. He had been sick for the last couple days. And although there was no research on how playing virtual MMO's effect your health, their parents forbid him to play Sword Art Online until he got better.

She hadn't seen him all morning, and their parents were out. Usually she took her chores seriously, but today she decided to just drop the dishes in the sink, and commit to washing them later. Well, not five minutes later than plopping down on the sofa, Matt comes downstairs to get a drink. She didn't even look up from her book to ask him how he was feeling today, and he asked her with an accusatory tone "Why are the dishes in the sink?"

"Eh, I'll get to those later. I've got the whole day to come back and finish cleaning them."

"Oh no, I see what this is, your leaving them for me to wash. I'm not gonna wash your dishes Trinity, this is your responsibilty and you need to clean this up right now!"

Apperently Matt was in a bad mood, and it rubbed off on her. After appeasing him, and stopping what she was doing to clean the dishes, she went up to her room and blarred some music. At this point, she didn't care if he couldn't rest, because he didn't deserve to.

She was debating going for a jog after she calmed down a little, but decided to instead get back at him. Originally, she agreed to start playing SAO after he felt better. It didn't make a difference anyway, she wasn't your typical virtual MMORPG junkie. Now though, she knew it would piss him off if she played it without him, and rubbed it in his face.

Trinity put the nerve gear on, and layed down in bed. She was a bit nervous, but oddly excited. She closed her eyes, and activated the game.

"Link Start!"

The day had started out just like any other. Not long after breakfast Layla and Dawndrea got into a heated argument. The twins rarely seen things eye to eye anymore. Their differences causing the rift that had formed between them to widen.

“Fine! If we can’t settle things this way then we’ll settle them in a different one.” Dawndrea had raised her voice as she stared to her sister. She grinned slightly, picking up the package off the coffee table. “We’ll settle things using this. Layla Collins I challenge you to play Sword Art Online! The winner is whichever one of us manages to beat the game first.”

A smirk played on Layla’s lips when her twin sister announced her challenge. That was just fine by her. “Dawndrea Collins I accept your challenge. To make things fair we will both start playing once the game is online this afternoon.” The young woman took her own package from the table and disappeared upstairs.

“Fair enough,” was the platinum blonde’s reply to Layla’s condition. Her violet eyes watched the raven haired girl with similar features leave the room. At the moment she was feeling triumphant. Sword Art Online seemed like it was going to be a cool game and she couldn’t wait to play it. Normally she wasn’t into gaming, but this game promised to be different from the ones she played before.

The morning passed by quickly for the pair. Finally it was the appointed time. The twins looked at each other, the tension in the air between them was thick enough to be cut by a knife. With a nod the two headed to their rooms to prepare for the challenge to begin.

Layla changed into more comfy clothes before lying on her bed. At first she just stared at the ceiling. I’ll be back soon. I’ll beat you this time. Little did her sister know the true meaning behind the smirk she gave her earlier. Dawndrea had no clue that she had been a beta tester for SAO and would have an advantage. Reaching over to her desk she picked up her nerve gear. It was only a matter of minutes now. With nerve gear on she closed her eyes, her body relaxing. “Link Start!”

It only took the raven haired young woman a matter of moments to navigate her way around the opening settings of the game. Upon reaching the last screen she paused briefly. Yes, she would use the same username as she had for the beta-testing. Accepting her data and username from the beta Layla was able to finally enter the game world.

A wide grin spread across her face as the world of SAO appeared before her eyes. She was finally back and she was ready to get this game started. The area around her was filled with new players and their chatter about various things. Ignoring most of them she went about getting what she would need to start leveling.

Unlike her sister Dawndrea had grown nervous. This game promised to be different, she only hoped that it wouldn’t be too difficult since she wasn’t a gamer. She changed into her soft kitty pjs before laying on her bed. Taking a moment she took a deep breath. Everything was ok, neither of them had played Sword Art Online during the beta-testing so they were starting out on equal ground. At least that is what the young woman thought. Nodding to herself she picked up her nerve gear, placing it on her head. She let herself relax before saying the command that would start her virtual adventure, “Link Start!”

It took the platinum blonde girl a few moments to register as a new user. It felt like it was taking forever to get everything done. Finally she reached the last screen. Quickly she double checked everything, pausing only when she glanced at her username. Yes that name is fitting, she thought to herself as she accepted everything so she could enter the world of SAO.

Standing there she took in the sights of the Town of Beginnings around her in. Her nerves were starting to settle down. She was getting excited, this was going to be fun. Now where to start she wondered as she continued to look around in an attempt to spot her twin sister.

The tutor opened the window and let the cool breeze fill the room. Leaning against the sill she turned towards that young master and watched as he did his studies just as she had instructed.

“Once you finish that our session for today is done.”

Mikoto gave the woman a side glance and nodded his head in acknowledgement. He then glanced at the spot at the end of the bed where there was a pile of pillows and blankets on this otherwise freshly made bed. He didn't want her finding out what was underneath and tell his father. He cringed at the thought of his father finding out. Mikoto then closed his textbook and turned towards the older woman.

"I'm finished." He told her rather bluntly. She walked over to see his work but Mikoto wasn't having any of that. A quick look at the clock told him it was almost time. Instead he handed her his book and papers and ushered her out of the room ignoring her protests. As soon as she was out he closed the door and checked his phone pretending he didn't hear her knocks.

He wasn't normally like this, but this was the first time he had asked his older brother to come over. Haru usually was the one who made surprise visits and forced Mikoto into playing these games with him. His phone showed no new messages.

"Yo!" Mikoto spat out in surprise. He turned towards the window to see his brother climbing in through the open window.

"...why?" Mikoto said in a deadpan, "You could have come in through the front door."

"This way is faster." Haru laughed and sat back comfortably on the bed. "It's rare that I get a call from my cute little brother. Why did you call me here anyway?"

Mikoto lightly pushed his brother out of the way and pulled out a bag from underneath the pile of blankets. "This is an early birthday present for you."

Haru looked through the bag and almost fell off the bed. "Holy shit! Mikoto how did you get your hands on this? I heard it was sold out in seconds!"

"Brother said he was looking forward to this game." Mikoto explained. "It wasn't too hard to get a hold of it. " If you have money that is, but he wasn't about to say that out loud.

"This is awesome!" Haru pulled Mikoto into a bear hug. "We should play it now!"

"Now?"

"Yeah!" Haru pulled out the two games that and two unopened NerveGear consoles out of the bag. "It looks like you were planning on playing as well! It just came out today so now is the best time to start!"

Mikoto opened his mouth to say something but it was too late Haru started booting everything up.

"Come here," Haru waved him over, "The cord only reaches so far." Mikoto sat beside his brother and Haru placed one of the NerveGear helmets on him. "Now to get it started you have to say 'Link Start', okay?"

Mikoto nodded and repeated the phrase just as Haru had instructed, "Link Start."

Trinity got together the typical supplies she'd need to start the game off: a weapon, a couple healing items, and some other supplies. A nearby field held some boars. She tried stabbing them with her lance, but it didn't always hit the creature. She noticed in the distance 2 other people were in the same field, and one of them looked like he was having the same troubles she was having. She walked a little closer, and could hear the two's conversation.

"If you do your initial motion right, and activate a sword skill at the right time, the system pretty much garentees you'll always hit your target."

She could see the man took what he said, and dashed towards the boar striking it down. Trinity turned around, and headed back towards the other field. She didn't want to intrude on their lesson, but she also didn't want them to know she had been listening in either.

It took some practice, but trinity had the idea down pat, she just had to keep practicing.

After she had gained some experience, allowing her to reach level 2, she thought it might be a good idea to quit for the day. After pulling up the main screen, she looked for the logout button.

"Hmm, that's odd. I can't logout here? Eh, maybe I just have to go back to town. Wonder if there's particular areas where we are allowed to save and logout."

Trinity began walking back to the Town of Beginnings.

As a few of those surrounding her in the crowd turned to see her extravagant show of excitement, Eloise shrunk away from them sheepishly. "Oh, right, people..." She whispered softly, having forgotten herself. She caught the whisper 'beta-tester' and a few others, but paid them no mind. Instead, still bursting with enthusiasm, Eloise beamed a full-fledged smile and quickly took off in a new direction. She had anticipated others not quite appreciating that she had been one of the many to test this game, not that the number of a thousand beta-testers even compared to the number of copies the game sold earlier in the day. I'll have to be more careful of what I say... Wanting to get a better handle of playing again, she took a running start, childishly circling through the crowd, weaving carefully between people and yelling quick 'excuse me's as she found necessary.

Used to running around as freely as she could in a game like this, the crowd did prove a bit hard to navigate, but it was for the best if she were to work on her agility as she had her last round here. As a child would recklessly chase a butterfly, she ran about the town, looking over the sights and people as she got herself reacquainted with everything. The sky finally caught her gaze as she ran down a bit of a slope back towards the center of town, seemingly so realistic- no, far prettier than the true sky had ever appeared, but so believable at the same time - when she lost track of her footing. Eyes widening in surprise and anxiety as she skidded, she cried, "Damnit! I forgot that I don't have the agility to navigate this like I used to--" In vain, she attempted to right herself, heart pounding in her chest as she attempted leaning to avoid hitting anyone in the crowd. "Excuse me! Pardon me! I'm so sorry!"

She weaved successfully enough around the first group she came by, but that success was short-lasted. The momentum of her descent ceased with one final skid, leading her to cry a surprised, "Oof!" She had knocked right into the back of someone, toppling over them and perhaps taking them with her in the process. "Idiot! Gah, I'm an idiot!" She exclaimed as she sat up, her health taking a slight blow as she let out a soft sigh. That was a disappointing feeling, as per always. Then, as if remembering what she'd done, she laughed hesitantly and looked up at them. Taking a deep breath to even out her breathing again, she smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry! I-I thought I had my footing, but I was being too reckless, of course my agility from my save file didn't carry over... I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

Haru stared at his hands, man this VR stuff was just looked so real. He could feel himself getting pumped up. Feeling energized he started running around, doing push-ups, and punching the air. Oooh! This was so cool! He didn't even feel the least bit winded! VR technology was so interactive it felt like you were actually doing the actions yourself! Trying to acquaint himself with the controls he unsheathed the lance and shield from his back. Ignoring the strange looks he received from other players he started swinging his lance around in the air.

How the hell do you start a combo? Did you have to be in battle for it to work? With that thought Haru looked around for the town’s exit. There should be some low level monsters around somewhere. "Doesn't this game have a mini map anywhere?" he mumbled to himself and went though the games menus.

"Ouff--" Someone suddenly crashed into his back face-planting him into the ground, canceling the menu he was in. Sitting up he looked back at a girl who was apologizing and speaking so fast he couldn't really catch what she was saying.

"Woah, woah, slow down." Haru said reaching a hand down to help her up, "It's okay, really."

At one of the several armories Layla browsed the selection of weapons available. The girl’s hand ran over the section of swords, lingering over one of the curved blades. She recalled the information she had learned from the beta testing. If she wanted to wield a katana in the future she would have to start out with using one of the curved blades. This seemed to be the nature choice for her since SAO didn’t have scythes and the selection of pole arms were lacking in her opinion. Her hand finally came to rest on one of the more expensive curved blades and as she went to pick it up someone else’s hand landed on top of hers.

“Excuse me. That is my sword.” Layla’s tone was sharp as she moved to pull the blade towards her. Her attempt was stopped by the other person whom she had yet to look at. The voice she heard sounded slightly familiar as the other person began to speak.

“I don’t think so. You were taking too long to pick a weapon. I spotted that one first there for it is mine.” Dawndrea’s tone was just as sharp. Her eyes landed on Layla, though she didn’t know it was her twin sister. Her hand wrapped around Layla’s to prevent her from taking the sword.

Layla growled at the girl who was preventing her from taking the blade she wanted. The glare she gaze Dawndrea was cold. “My hand was on the sword’s handle first so therefore it belongs to me. So go away and pick some other weapon.” She raised her voice further, her tone more harsh. This caused those nearby to stop what they were doing and look over at the pair. Some began to whisper quietly among themselves. A few were already placing bets on whether or not this disagreement would turn into a fight.

Dawndrea shook her head. “I’m not going to. That is the sword that I want so hand it over and then I will leave quietly.” Just as her sister had done she raised her voice as well, but her tone wasn’t quite as harsh. More people began to stare at the pair as they continued to argue back and forth about who the sword belonged to.

After about five minutes or so the NPC who ran the shop came over to break things up. He ended up kicking both of the girl’s out of his shop telling them to not come back.

Outside of the shop now Dawndrea started to laugh due to the NPC kicking them out. “Deserves you right.” She said, pointing at Layla. The girl was about to say something else, but was cut off by the other.

The girl put up a fight as the NPC kicked them out of his shop. Layla picked up a rock and threw it at him as he reentered the weapon shop. At this point she was fuming. The words that the other girl directed at her rang in her ears. “What did you say bitch?” The glare she gave Dawndrea was filled with rage and anger. “You’re the reason we got kicked out. If you hadn’t been so insistent that the sword was yours then this wouldn’t have happened. Rightfully that sword should have been mine. My hand was on it first. So I don’t want to hear that kind of shit coming from you.”

As the pair argued nearby Eloise ran into and knocked over Haru. This went unnoticed by the girls as they continued to argue. Their voices could be easily heard by those that weren’t even that close to them. The whole situation between Dawndrea and Layla was escalating and rapidly. The two were now in each other’s faces as they yelled at each other and called the other names. Soon the two girls were throwing blows and actually fighting each other. The pair grappled, neither wanting to give in to the other.

Layla gave a low growl as she put more strength into her attack. She knew full well that they couldn’t really hurt each other since they were in town, but that didn’t stop her from fighting this arrogant girl who caused her problems. She was going to teach this person a lesson for getting in her way.

Dawndrea grunted as she took a fist to the gut. She glared up at Layla before taking another swing at her. Since she was new to the game she didn’t know that they couldn’t actually ‘hurt’ the other person since they were in town. For a brief moment the way the other girl fought reminded her of her sister. Though she doubt such an avatar would belong to her sister. For some reason she couldn’t picture her twin choosing such a sexy looking avatar for her character. She continued to fight with the other.

A crowd had started to gather as the two squared off. People were taking bets on which of the two would win or give up. Others were taking beats on how long it would take before someone came to break them up. This really wasn’t the way either of the girls had planned to start out their games in SAO.

Cara blinked in surprise up at the guy she had bumped into, who was now coaxing her into slowing down as he offered her a hand. Relief washing over her face, she quieted and instead sent a small smile up at him. "Thanks. Sorry again, about... that..." She spoke a more casually now, though the embarrassment of her actions still took its toll on her. Who just ran through town and sent strangers plummeting into the ground, face-first? Accepting his hand to assist in standing again, Cara shook off the fall and stretched her legs, rocking to and fro on the balls of her feet as she looked around the area she'd ended up in.

"Guess I should be more careful, this isn't quite... what I'm used to." She admitted, laughing a little as she thought back to her last play-through. Her agility had been rather high, so starting from the beginning again-- that was tough to adjust to. Sighing a little, she again stated, "I'll make it up to ya, if there's anything I can do." Again sending a small smile in his direction with her offer, her attention was only after caught by the two voices rising above the crowd's.

Her gaze swayed to where the nearby crowd was centered around two female players. "Fighting in town?" She questioned, shooting him a curious glance before sliding onto his tiptoes to catch a glance of it. Sighing softly at the sight, she shook her head. Of course neither would get hurt, but wasn't it a bit silly to be doing right now? Catching some of what they were yelling at one another, her brow furrowed. All this for a simple weapon. Carefully making her way to the back of the small crowd, she couldn't help but scowl at some of the people making bets.

Cara was always one for trying to solve things peacefully, if possible. Seeing fighting in town was a bit heartbreaking for her, who sought friendship and good vibes in-game, not this. "Hey! Break it up, really! Fighting in town isn't really needed, is it?" She urged, though she had a feeling it may not do anything to help the two. "At least wait until you can fight each other on a different floor!"