If you've already seen this, that's because I reuploaded the story. Had to change some things. I'm still relatively new to all this, so please bear with me :)

Disclaimer: SAO belongs to Reki Kawahara, not me.

The Knights of the Blood are pretty much one big family, and you can't tell me otherwise. Mostly, I just wanted to write something about Heathcliff, and making OCs is my hobby, and found family is one of my favorite tropes (along with unrequited love), so this is what came about. This is not a romance story, more of a family story, although Kirito and Asuna do make appearances.

Italics are usually flashbacks or past dialogue, occasionally thoughts. Bracketed italics are system messages from the game.

NOTE: Personally, I like to visualize while reading, especially in fight scenes, so I'll just add that Karma is left-handed.

Meeting: 2/28/2023

Karma flops down on the bench with a sigh. "Why me again?"

"Because besides Heathcliff, you're our best duellist, and he's got to observe your challengers," Kili, a fresh new recruit in his early twenties with a youthful countenance, informs her unhelpfully, and she groans, turning to Heathcliff.

"Aren't any of them good enough?" she asks in exasperation. "Some of them weren't half bad."

"Half bad isn't good enough. We can't accept just anyone."

She rolls her eyes. "Picky."

Just then, someone else steps into the makeshift ring, and Godfree pats her on the back heartily. "Go get 'em!"

With a sigh, she meets her next challenger in the ring. To her surprise, it's a girl, Karma's first female challenger out of twenty-seven so far. Her auburn hair falls to her waist, and copper eyes glint in the sunlight.

"Hi," Karma begins, smiling at her fellow female warrior. "What's your name?"

She looked a little wary at first, but seems to relax a little at Karma's friendly manner. "Asuna."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Karma. Ready to duel?"

Asuna draws her weapon, a slim rapier, and Karma takes that as a yes. She sends Asuna a duel invite, and the brunette picks 'one-strike mode'. Karma draws her own sword, and they assume their stances.

Unlike most of Karma's previous challengers, Asuna refrains from attacking immediately. Her sharp gaze scans her opponent, assessing Karma carefully, and Karma hides a smile.

Finally, when Karma makes no move to attack, Asuna lunges in with a simple Linear attack, her rapier leaving behind a pink light trail. Their blades screech as Karma deflects the attack, but Asuna immediately unleashes a rapid-fire multi-hit move, her rapier moving blindingly fast. Oh, she's the real deal alright.

Light bursts between them like fireworks, and Karma pivots quickly and lashes out. Asuna jumps back first, then is forced to use her sword to block Karma's next few strikes, even as Karma nicks her avatar a few times.

They break apart, and Karma grins. "You're speedy."

"So are you," Asuna pants, a competitive gleam in her eyes, before darting back in.

They continue their match for some more time, and Karma almost doesn't want it to end. She draws it out, ignoring several openings for the fun of it and letting Asuna have more chances to prove her skill. It'll be nice to have another girl in the guild, especially one her own age.

The match ends when Karma finally exploits one opening to slash a deep cut across Asuna's shoulder. She stumbles to one knee, and the winner icon appears over Karma's head. Cheering erupts from bystanders, and Karma helps Asuna up with a smile as the red pixels fade from their avatars.

"So, Asuna," she says happily, "how would you like to join a guild?"

Asuna's gaze flickers sideways, and her brow furrows in confusion, likely noting the lack of a guild symbol by Karma's HP bar.

"We haven't formed up yet," she explains. "We want a little more momentum before bursting onto the front lines. That's why I've been duelling—to find someone to add. What d'you say?" She quickly adds, "Of course, you don't have to make up your mind to join right now. If you say yes, I'll just take you to meet the others, and you can come on a few fights with us, see how you fit in."

Her copper eyes brighten. "Okay, sure. Sounds great!"

"Awesome," Karma says with a grin, clapping her hands together. "Right this way, then."

o0o0o

Heathcliff looks mildly put-off. "I didn't-"

"If you had your way, I would've been duelling for the next six months," she cuts him off, placing a hand on her hip. "Trust me, she'll be great. You're not the one who fought her." To a slightly unsure-looking Asuna, she adds, "Ignore him. Well, don't, 'cause he'll be our leader, but just ignore him when I tell you to." She winks, eliciting a small smile from Asuna, and a vaguely annoyed sigh from the commander. "I'll introduce you to everyone.

"The guy with the beard is Godfree. He's an axe-wielder, and the walking encyclopedia of bad dad jokes."

"My jokes are wonderful!"

"Sure, which is why I'm the only one who pity-laughs, after you explain them. Over there, that guy with the blue ponytail is Uzala, a glaive-wielder and our resident coffee addict."

"Dude, that's Heathcliff, are you kidding me?"

"Nah. He drinks more coffee than you do, but you're the one who throws a hissy fit when we run out of it. The squirt over there is Kili, knife-wielder-"

"Oi, who're you calling a squirt? I'm older than you-"

"And shorter," she reminds him cheekily. Asuna laughs, and Karma grins at her before gesturing at Heathcliff. "And that's our leader, Heathcliff. He uses a sword and tower shield. Don't let him intimidate you, because the scariest thing about him is that he never gets enough sleep."

"Karma-"

She cheerfully overrides him. "The others are off doing their own thing, but you'll meet them soon. They're all guys, but don't worry, they're just dorks, like them." She waves a hand at her comrades, who all look varying degrees of offended, and smiles at Asuna. "So, please introduce yourself!"

Asuna smiles and bows politely. "Hello, I'm Asuna. It's nice to meet all of you."

Everyone choruses a greeting with varying degrees of enthusiasm, and Karma grins. "Now let's go kill something!"

o0o0o

"Giant killer bunnies at six o'clock!"

At Kili's warning cry, everyone whirls around instantly, and Asuna echoes dubiously, "Giant killer bunnies?"

Karma flashes a tight grin. "That's just what we call them. It's not their actual name. Hey, Heathcliff, these ones are ours!"

He glances back at them and lowers his shield. "Very well."

Uzala pouts. "No fair. You got to fight the last ones too."

She winks, gesturing for Asuna to step up beside her. "Gotta test out our new rookie. Next few are yours, though."

The four giant bunnies, standing at around three meters each, lumber towards them on all fours, eyes shining red and fangs dripping blood. Karma grins at Asuna's slightly disgusted expression. "Cute, aren't they. We'll hit the one in front together, then I'll go left, so you take the other one, and we'll team up on the last one. Be careful, 'cause they can pivot and change directions pretty fast."

"Got it."

The two girls, easily the fastest members of the group, take off like bullets. Karma rushes in first, and the bunny's eyes glow briefly as it zeroes in on her. At the last second, she darts to one side, then the other, causing it to falter. It takes a wild swipe at her with wicked claws, and she leaps over it neatly before driving her sword up its jaw. Grabbing its ear, she swings herself up onto its back, forcing it to stop and rear in place, just in time for Asuna to come flying in, rapier thrusting into its chest.

They make quick work of the next two individually, and Karma is pleased to see the brunette's cool, razor-focused composure that she saw before during the duel. In fact, the glint in her coppery eyes seems even brighter than before.

Without waiting for Karma, she lunges for the last bunny, moving even faster than Karma can. Her arm and blade seem to blur as she unleashes a flurry of light, each leaving a gash of red on the creature. It chitters and squeaks indignantly, pivoting and lashing out in a blur with its back foot.

Asuna grunts as she's caught off-guard, but Karma catches her with a tight arm around her waist. "Toldja," she comments, smiling.

She smirks ruefully. "Took me by surprise."

As the bunny pivots and begins charging them, Karma lunges in to meet the monster halfway. It pounces, fangs bared, but she dances neatly to the side with unerring precision. In a blur of steel, she lops one of its paws off and shoves it off-balance with a neat horse kick.

Asuna doesn't need a signal and darts in, charging up a simple linear attack with a shout. The bunny lurches to its remaining feet, but it's too slow. In a shower of light and pixels, the monster bursts into shards.

As Asuna is reading the experience pop-up, Karma suddenly cheers, "We broke it!"

From where the others are watching, Nautilus complains, "Man, really?!"

Asuna glances at Karma, furrowing her brow in confusion. "What did we break?"

"The current standing record in our group for being the fastest to dispose of a group of killer bunnies," she explains cheerfully. "Last one was Kili and Nautilus taking one minute and four seconds to beat a group of three." Her grin turns a touch smug. "We just took down four in one minute flat."

A wide grin spreads across Asuna's face, widening further at the good-natured complaints of the previous record holders. Warmth kindles in her chest as she high-fives Karma, and they continue on their way with a cheerful bounce in their steps.

o0o0o

The other inn patrons are still giving them weird looks by the time Heathcliff gets Karma to shut up, by covering her mouth (or trying to, at least) and placing one hand on her head firmly to keep her from bouncing literally off the walls. She's still practically vibrating in her seat with excitement, though, and Asuna grins shyly.

"As you can probably tell," Heathcliff says, shooting Karma an exasperated look before looking at Asuna again, "we're glad to have you, Asuna-kun."

"I'm just so excited!" Karma squeaks out, and Heathcliff rolls his eyes, lifting his hand from her head.

"Really," he deadpans. "We couldn't tell."

Karma beams dazzlingly at Asuna, whose grin widens. "So, if you don't mind me asking, how did you join the group, Karma?"

For all of a split second, her smile stutters, trips over a crack in the sidewalk, the past pushing up insistently through the present.

"Ehehe...Seems unlikely, huh?" she chuckles, smiling a bit wider. "Actually, it wasn't even really a group. It was just Godfree, Uzala, and this grumpy guy right here."

Heathcliff gives her a look and explains to Asuna, "The three of us formed up when the game started, after meeting out in the fields of the Town of Beginnings. We met Karma later."

"Oh, wow…"

"Yeah." Karma props her elbows up on the table with a long exhale. "I got stuck out in the fields by myself one day. I think it was the fifth day of the game...I'd never been alone out there, and I would've died if they didn't save me. They took me with them, and I've just…" She offers a shrug. "...been with them ever since."

"I can't imagine," Asuna admits, not quite sure herself what she's referring to.

Karma smiles dryly. "Can't imagine what? The almost dying?"

"Well, no, not that." It's a bit sad that 'almost dying' is not something she has to imagine. "I was thinking...well, just travelling in such a small group in general when you're so different from everyone else."

Karma hums, exchanging a thoughtful glance with Heathcliff. "Hmm, I guess you have a point. But the way I see it, we're all stuck in this game. We're all players."

"Yeah, but…You still come from different backgrounds and stuff, right?"

"Well, yeah, I mean...It's hard to explain. But you've seen those little kids in this game, right? Those grade school age kids?"

Asuna's expression sobers, and she nods.

"Right, well, even they can pick up a sword and fight on the front lines if they developed the right skills and got the right equipment," Karma explains with a shrug. "In theory, at least. So things like race and age and gender don't really matter here."

"That's an interesting way of thinking about it…"

Karma grins and adds, "I will say, though, looking back, if I hadn't been so completely out of it for the first few days, I would've found it really awkward. By the time I started getting back to normal, it was my normal."

Heathcliff glances at her with a vague expression of amusement. "Speaking of, I was initially surprised by how willing you were to trust three strangers. Not to mention, we had to room together for a while."

Karma scrunches her face up at him and kicks him hard under the table for good measure, eliciting a flat glare. "When you put it like that, it just sounds weird!" she complains.

Asuna stares at them, blinking. "Wait, really?"

She rolls her eyes. "It was just for practicality's sake. There were four of us, and only three of us had any substantial amount of col. It just made sense to share rooms."

"Still, you had literally just met us," Heathcliff says flatly, and she pouts at him.

"What do you want me to say, that it was a mistake to trust you? 'Cause I haven't seen much proof that it was," she argues good-naturedly.

"I'm just saying, did no one ever teach you about stranger danger?"

Karma grins cheerfully at him, waving a hand. "Aww, come on, I knew you guys wouldn't hurt me. Call it instinct."

He stares at her with an impressive poker face expression. "That's a blatant lie."

"Okay, okay…" She stretches out her arms on the table with a nonchalant sigh before knitting her fingers together under her chin. "I mean, I did almost die, and I was pretty dazed. And you did just save my life."

She glances at Heathcliff then out of the corner of her eye, chin resting on steepled fingers, a soft, lazy smile curling at her lips, and Asuna swallows hard. There's a whole ocean of memories in those eyes, and simple, unwavering loyalty. The scope of her devotion to him is hard to fathom. She might follow him a little blindly, but he hasn't given any of them a reason to doubt.

And there's always a professional distance between the two, but also a friendly closeness that the others don't share with the leader. It's clear that Karma thinks highly of and respects him, but she's definitely not afraid to laugh at him and poke fun at him, as she has multiple times just today. What's even more surprising is that Heathcliff, who always comes off as solemn, stern, and strictly all-business to Asuna (despite Karma's light-hearted introduction of him), doesn't seem to mind it either, and pays it back in kind in his own way.

Outwardly, they only show it in more private settings, but Asuna has seen the two of them hold entire conversations solely through eye contact and microexpressions. On the one hand, it can be really funny watching them just stare at each other for entire minutes on end like they're having some kind of passive-aggressive staring contest. On the other hand, it can be really annoying when they forget no one else can understand them.

The other guys come trooping in all at once, talking over one another loudly and all of them somehow managing to follow the scattered conversation perfectly. Karma slides right into the conversation with familiar ease, chatting with them as if she's known them all her life, and they welcome her with boisterous laughter and enthusiasm.

During dinner, Asuna mostly listens, and makes some slightly awkward small talk with Kili, who, besides Karma, is the closest to her in age. Eventually, the NPC minstrel group strikes up a lively tune, and Karma and some of the guys go cavorting off to the dance floor.

To Asuna, who has spent her whole life being taught social etiquette and the importance of class and how to smile when she never meant it, it's hard to fathom being able to be so close with people who are clearly so radically different, even if they're all in the same situation. She almost sort of envies the ability.

"Something on your mind, Asuna-kun?"

She turns to see Heathcliff watching her with his cool, bottomless gray gaze. "Oh...I was just thinking." Her gaze flickers to the lithe figure dancing literal circles around Uzala and his two left feet, and she mumbles, "She's kind of amazing."

Asuna is surprised to hear a low chuckle come from the stoic commander, and she turns to see him looking at the figures on the dance floor—well, one in particular—with a certain kind of lackadaisical fondness in his gaze. "She is," he agrees in all seriousness, the firelight reflected in his eyes. "I'm lucky to have her." He takes a sip of coffee. "Don't tell her I said that.

The brunette's lips twitch in a small smile. "Oh, I think she knows already."

As if summoned by a magic spell, Karma comes skipping over to them then, face flushed with cheer. "Hey, quit moping around! Let's dance!"

On a whim, Asuna chugs the rest of her iced tea and stands up. "Let's do it!"

She beams, linking arms with her fellow girl enthusiastically. "That's my girl!"

Expectantly, she holds out a hand to the commander, as if giving an order, with bright eyes and pearlescent teeth and rosy red high in her cheeks, brimming with confidence.

With a sigh, Heathcliff reaches out to take her hand, allowing her to pull him onto the floor with a cheer. He is a natural leader, but she is something else.

Reason: 11/11/2022

Breathing is unnecessary in this world, but Karma still feels like she can't drag enough oxygen into her lungs.

The world is tinted red as her HP bar blares alarmingly at her from the corner of her eye, only a tiny chunk of red remaining, and it keeps going down because of DOT from the throwing pick lodged in her shoulder. Through a haze of terror, she reaches around with fumbling fingers to yank out the throwing pick and stumbles up the hill, searching desperately; when she sees a flicker of light in the distance, she throws herself into running towards it. If she can just reach the safe zone-

Her foot snags, and she goes down hard in a shower of dirt, her knife flying out of her hand. Footsteps thud menacingly towards her, as loud as a horse galloping, and she whirls around with a terrified bleat as a huge shadow blots out the moon.

A streak of crimson suddenly slams into the dire wolf, sending it careening sideways. A tall, muscular figure stands between her and the dire wolf, shield and sword brandished protectively, and two more figures are approaching, weapons drawn.

The dire wolf lunges, and the first catches its claws on his shield, barely giving ground beneath the ferocious attack. One of his comrades darts in, slashing deep across the beast's flank with his sword, and it rears up with a snarl.

The first man whirls around to face the third. "Now!"

The third swings his axe above his head, a bright golden sword (axe) skill charging up before he brings it down on the dire wolf's neck with a fierce bellow. The beast throws back its head, writhing, and lets loose a long, reverberating howl before it shatters.

In a clatter of armor, the first player she saw kneels down next to her as he sheathes his sword. He helps her sit up, gray eyes glinting with a solemn intensity.

"Are you okay?" His voice is a rich tenor, with an iron will.

Karma manages a shaky nod, completely wordless and numb, and he picks up her knife, handing it back hilt-first. She takes it automatically, and nausea rolls in her stomach. An awful mixture of fury and grief roars from deep inside her chest, and she holds the weapon close to her chest as a sob bursts out of her, choked and ugly.

The hand supporting her on the shoulder squeezes gently. "Come on. We'll bring you back to the town."

She doesn't remember the trip back. Doesn't recall the respawned monsters on the way that the trio fights off with ease. She just remembers following that man, and his steel gray ponytail and calm, authoritative demeanor.

Later, she'll learn his name is Heathcliff. On a whim, she asks him to help her become stronger.

When he unexpectedly says yes, that's the moment she finds a new reason to live in this world.

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think! :)