Snow

The tall and uneven silhouette of the mountain looked as if thought it could touch the clouds, Inei covered his eyes from the sunlight as he gazed ahead.

He took a step, then another, then several. Inei began to continue forth at uniform speed. His eyes wandered through the white expanse of the snowy ground.

His hands instinctively went inside the long sleeves of his Kimono. Inei's teeth trembled, he quickly hid under the hood of his cloth for warmth.

'Cold... R-Really cold'

Not wanting to freeze to death, Inei scanned his surroundings in search of shelter. Alas, his luck was most unfortunate, even if he wanted to, the snow turned his sight misty, unable to locate anything good.

'I miss Mom's special hot tea'

Inei's mother used to brew him a tea made from special tea leaves, it carried a tinge of mint and a taste of bitterness, he could still feel the taste of it even after so long.

However, she only made the special tea during winter. Why? Inei had absolutely no idea.

His mother was a religious person, she might have had several reasons due to being a devoter, but maybe it wasn't related to her religion at all.

'What was the god's name mom used to worship?... Hmm... Indrath? Yeah, I think that's the name'

The image of a small picture hanging on the walls of his old home sprouted inside his mind, trying to recall the memory, he failed to notice a pit right before him.

His feet slipped at the edge, but somehow was able to hold onto the edge with his right arm. Sighing, he glanced down to meet several sharp wooden spikes pointed at the clouded sky.

'A trap?'

Inei felt his fingers losing their grip because of the weight of the supplies he carried, with a bitter taste in his mouth, Inei abandoned the heavy bag to climb up.

He sat on the edge and stared at the bag of rations with a frown, Inei shook his head and stood up.

"Hmm?"

Inei twisted his head behind to see a man with an average build and short stature approach him, the guy looked puzzled by the unfamiliar visitor.

"Hey, what're you doing so far from the village?! Did you get lost?!"

Inei was as tall as the man, amidst the veil of snow falling heavily, the unknown man couldn't figure out if it were a child or a man.

Using the opportunity given, Inei quickly ran away to the north.

"Hey!"

The man's voice fell on deaf ears as Inei quickly escaped, he glanced to see if the man was pursuing him, luckily, there was no sign of his chase.

Sighing with regret, Inei gnashed his teeth from the chilling cold, his arms instinctively wrapped around himself.

The blizzard-like snow kept getting heavy, his limbs felt numb, a throbbing pain pulsing from his thighs.

'I'll get a cramp soon...'

"Achoo!!"

Sniffing, he cleaned his nose with a spare towel and walked ahead. His throat felt dry and bitter, his tongue drying and aching from the cold.

'Urgh... C-Cold'

He kept on walking aimlessly for almost an hour, his eyes felt like they'd been stabbed by needles. Tired and hurt, Inei trembled.

However, purely by his steel will and tenacity, he dragged his legs through the milk-white snow.

'So... much for rede--'

Hope ignited in his heart as he spotted the silhouettes of buildings in the distance, a smile made its way through his face after so long.

Stabilizing his breathing to empower his body, Inei staggeringly made his way toward the figure of a village.

After almost half an hour, he reached the outskirts of the village. Feeling lightheaded and dizzy, Inei lost his footing and crashed onto the ground with an audible thud.

***

"Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~..."

Humming happily, a petite girl in her early teens strolled through the edge of her village.

Black hair with yellow highlighted tips, deep brown eyes and a round face, reddish pale skin, and a thin build, Sora held her basket of flowers close to her waist.

She was a young girl with a normal family of flower sellers, she would often go out to their garden at the edge of the village to pick up flowers to fill their stocks.

As usual, Sora was coming back home with her basket full of different types of beautiful flowers, a small smile was present on her face as she hummed.

"To all the days we were together~"

Singing, her melody-like voice echoed through the empty, abandoned outskirts of the village. However, that soon died.

She halted in her steps, she looked as though she was focused on something...

'Is that breathing I hear'

Puzzled, she put her basket of flowers down and tracked down the source. Walking behind the walls of the village, she searched for the sound.

Looking around, she spotted something in the corner of her eyes. Her pupils shrunk at the sight of a person... No, a kid lying on the ground, looking almost dead.

Running toward the laying body, she touched the kid.

'So cold!'

Her heart skipped a beat... Was...he dead?.

'No! He's still breathing!'

Trying not to panic, she quickly unwrapped his clothes for warming him. Her hands, however, stopped when she removed his jacket.

Sora's breathing momentarily stopped, her hand flinched before caressing the hilt of a black-sheathed Katana.

'A-a... S-s-sword'

Her mind went blank. What was this kid doing with a Katana with him?

Gazing at the body of the pale kid, a thought crossed her mind. 'Is he... a vigilante?'.

Scared out of her wits, Sora quickly turned away and ran to her basket of flowers, she held tightly to its handle and quickly marched.

However, the image of the laying body of a young boy repeatedly flashed through her mind.

Her steps slowly came to a halt, biting her lips, she put the basket down and ran back toward the laying cold body.

'W-Why do I have to be so sentimental!'

'He's just a kid like me, how can he be a vigilante?! No... He must be carrying that weapon for self-defense! Yes, that's it!'

Reassuring herself, Sora approached the body. Her eyes fell on the Katana, biting her lips, she hesitantly lifted the blade.

'S-So heavy!'

She dragged the blade across and left it inside a bush. Taking a quick glance at him, she ran toward her home to call her grandpa to help her in aiding him.

She barely had the strength to lift that blade of his, she knew without help she would not be able to drag him across the other side of the village to her home.

So with haste, Sora quickly decided to ask her grandfather for help.