4 Scorching Rivers

Katsumi had just began his journey towards the capital city of the Ophealum Kingdom. From Erith city to Aterno, the distance was roughly 90 km to the South. But unfortunately there is no road that leads directly to Aterno. Katsumi had decided to listen to the merchants advice and take the road that led out to the east of town. Once Katsumi got to a river that lead south he would have to follow that river until he reached the Windward Plains.

"Damn… its so hot today. I finally reached the river, I figured it would be cool near the river but it's too damn hot!" Katsumi complained. He continued trudging dispiritedly for hours until he couldn't take it anymore more.

Katsumi had finally reached a small lake that the river had led to and the temptation to rest was to much. "Ahhh screw it, I'm taking a break." Katsumi leaned underneath the shade of an oak tree. Sweat dripped from his chin down onto his shorts. He only brought one pair of clothes, some flint for a fire, bandages, a flask, a pot to help him sterilize water, as well as other basic necessities for survival. The more Katsumi looked at the lake the more he felt like taking a dip to cool down.

"No reason not to I guess." Katsumi stripped himself of his clothes and let his red hair in his ponytail loose. He didn't even feel out the water he just dived in headfirst. It was warm, really warm. Much warmer than any river fed lake should have felt, he swam up to the surface as quickly as he could. He gasped for air, the heat was so unexpected it completely bewildered him.

"Whew, that was hot as hell!" Katsumi said as he wiped the water off of his eyes. He was about to get out but the longer he was in the water the more accustomed to the water he felt and he quickly lost the urge to leave. The water was so soothing he had lost track of time and hours went by as quickly as the swing of a sword.

"Damn I guess I lost track of time, well it's not like im in any rush or anything so it should be fine." Katsumi thought to himself as he trudged out of the water shivering from the cold of a sudden gust of wind. He kept walking shivering in the cold. He almost reached his clothes when an arrow landed next to his foot.

"HALT!" A man shouted from a distance making Katsumi stop moving entirely. He was terrified.

"Why are you in our forest intruder!" The man said while hidden in the trees.

"I'm just trying to get to Aterno city, whose forest is this?" Katsumi asked timidly

"You clearly aren't in any position to ask questions little boy!" The way the man finished that sentence really pissed Katsumi off, but it also made him very aware that he was naked and became a bit embarrassed.

"Oh shut up, says the man too afraid to show himself." Katsumi challenged the man that was hiding. Katsumi heard tree branches rustling from above him. Then someone put a blade to his throat from behind.

"You mean me" the man cockily said from behind.

"Ha ya got me." Katsumi said with a nervous chuckle.

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"So uhhhh, are you guys elves?" Katsumi asked as he looked around at all of the people with pale skin and white hair. No one was listening to him. He was tied up, with at least ten people surrounding him. He wasn't naked anymore because the man from before at least let him put on some pant before tying him up. The man from before was apparently the commander for their villages defense. His name was Kinto. He was a skilled warrior best with a spear but was also a jack of all trades. He was by far the most built man of all of the elves in the room. He towered over Katsumi at over 182 centimeters tall. Everyone in the room was yelling at him and trying to interrogate him like he was some sort of terrorist.

"What did I ev-" Katsumi was interrupted by someone who stormed in the room. It was a woman, she had a fierce aura around her and everyone in the room fell silent. Her hair a perfect white and it flowed around her shoulders and down her back. Her face was so perfect she looked like a doll. She had a transparent blue cape with a blue shirt that had a heart shaped opening right at the center on top of her breasts. She had a skirt that was way to short to go out in public with. Her sleeves ran down her arms and opened to gloves that covered her hand but left her fingers out and open.

"What is this Kinto?" the woman said , she was clearly angry.

"Lady Shihara, this boy was trespassing in the woods by the lake where we get our drinking water from." Kinto got down on one knee as he spoke. Apparently she was someone important in the village as everyone in the room got down to a knee. Shihara turned to Katsumi, she brought her face close to Katsumi and was staring him dead in the eyes.

"What were you doing there?" Shihara's gaze was powerful, he couldn't lie, he knew she would see straight through it, but honestly he didn't have any reason to.

"I'm on my way to Aterno city, I was tired and so I decided to take a break. It was so hot outside i figured I would take a dip in the lake, when I got in it was really hot and I was confused but it was soothing so I stayed in and lost track of time. Sorry I didn't know I was trespassing." Katsumi explained with a little chuckle at the end. He was embarrassed being this close to a woman. He was only 16 after all.

"Let him go, he is telling the truth." Shihara said as she motioned for the guards around him to untie him. "And return his belongings."

"But miss, he could be a spy, or he could be trying to poison our drinking water." Kinto protested but it was all to no avail.

"And his weapons too, and don't make me repeat myself!" Shihara was firm, she knew Katsumi felt no malice within him towards her village and so she decided to let him go.

"Thanks!" Katsumi said with a smile as he stood up and rubbed his wrists where his hands were bound. Kinto looked at him disapprovingly as he walked out of the room following Shihara's lead.

"So Katsumi was it, why are you going on this journey of yours?" Shihara asked katsumi with a seductive gaze. She was interested in him, he seemed different than any other person she had met. When she looked him in the eyes she saw a great sadness but no hatred.

"Well there is so much I need to learn about myself, as well as how to control something within me." Katsumi explained with a lighthearted smile, though Shihara could tell through his voice that he was in pain.

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Katsumi had been staying at the elven village for 3 days since he was taken prisoner by the defense chief Kinto and then released by Shihara who actually turned out to be the next in line to become the village leader after her father who is the current village chief. It turns out that the reason the lake was so hot was because of the strange rivers in the area. The elves call these rivers the Scorching Rivers, the water for the rivers is heated from molten rock underneath the rivers themselves. If Katsumi had jumped headfirst into the river like he did the lake he would have either been burned alive or had gotten severe burns all over his body. The lake wasn't directly heated like the the rivers so that's why it was so soothing to Katsumi.

Shihara bent over and looked up towards Katsumi with her arms crossed underneath her breasts. "Katsumi, how long exactly do you plan to stay at our village?" Shihara had gained an interest in Katsumi.

"Well I don't know, I'm not in any rush to leave or reach the capital city, but it's not like I can stay here forever, ya know." Katsumi said with a little laugh at the end.

"Well I guess you have a point the-"

"Shihara!" a boy was running down the road calling out to Shihara. He ran right up next to Shihara. They boy was short but not much smaller than Katsumi. He had short white hair and pale skin with a face that resembled Shihara's.

"Oh hey Taki." Shihara said as she patted him on the head.

"Quit it don't treat me like such a kid, whatever but can you please train me today, you promised remember." Taki said as he pleaded to Shihara.

"I did promise but I wanted to see if Katsumi would spar with me, if that's all right?" Shihara said as she looked back towards Katsumi fo approval.

"How about we all go and train than." Katsumi said to the both of them.

"And don't call me Taki, its Takanashi."