The Bay
"This one is done!" Dani said. She slapped the back of the cart with a smile and started to load boxes up into it.
"We're moving today! Remember, everything you want to bring needs to go on one of the six carts we have. Everything else is being burned here." I said out loud, putting my singular box onto one of the carts.
For the most part, everybody was already packed up and had nothing left to bring, but of course, some individuals in our big group had more possessions that the rest of us. Carl and I went over to Domin's grave one last time with Dani and Red following closely behind.
"Hey Domin, I'm not going to be able to visit you every day now," I said to the stone. I put one dandelion against his grave. The group of rotting dandelions I was supposed to clean yesterday dirtied the display, so I quickly cleaned it up and smiled.
"If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be alive today. I owe my life to you, I wish I could've protected you a month ago, I regret it every day. I promise you I won't mess up anymore, I'll make you proud." I picked myself up and Dani began talking to Domin. On my way back to Carl, I could see Ullr slowly approach, checking his surroundings.
"What are you doing?" I asked him. Ullr turned to me and then looked back towards Domin's grave.
"Going to pay my respects. What about you?" I responded with the same thing and Ullr passed me and crouched near Dani. Ullr placed a wooden stake sheathed on his back next to the tombstone.
"Boss, can I talk to you for a moment?" Ullr asked me, guiding me over with his hand. I reluctantly followed him back to our base, where Charlie and Mandi sat with oil poured everywhere.
"I want to know how I can help better when we arrive at our next home. Here, I did nothing but hunt. I want a job that keeps me involved and one I can be proud of." He told me. I tilted my head. What happened to Ullr? Did he bump his head?
"Why? Isn't hunting an important job?" I asked, but he shook his head.
"No, I know why you tell me to hunt. I'm a barbaric, bulky man who's only good for his strength. I get that, but I don't want my life to just be a hunter. Listen, I respect you, Bossman. Ever since that day so long ago, I've slowly learned to respect the things you do, so please consider me for a job that means more than just hunting for animals." I was stunned, thinking he was lying, and this was some elaborate joke, but on the off-chance that he was being serious...
"I've learned to respect you as well, Ullr. If you want to prove to me that you're good for another job, which I already believe you are, I need to see it. Please, prove it to me." I held out my hand and he smiled, shaking it with a firm grip.
"You won't be disappointed, Bossman," Ullr told me. Carl came up behind me with his hand on my shoulder.
"We're getting ready to leave after Red is finished with Domin. Is that alright?" I nodded, dropping Ullr's hand after the handshake.
"Alright! Listen! The plan is we'll traverse this frozen-over bay in order to stay west and as far away from the east as possible. The bay has frozen over, but we'll be taking this as slowly and carefully as possible by throwing rocks in front of us to check out the toughness of the ice. If at any point the ice grows weak, fall back to the beach and we'll figure out something else. Does everybody understand?" I yelled out. I got nods and affirmative statements from everybody, and we proceeded forward.
We stepped onto the ice sheet covering the vibrant ocean and slowly moved forward. Red, Dani, Carl, Ullr, Charlie, and I took the lead, throwing rocks in five different lines to keep everybody at a safe distance and spot on the ice. We are all twenty paces from each other, which should mean that there's enough weight spread out to keep us all safe.
The idea to keep us as far west as possible was supposed to be met with a boat that we would sink after getting here, but the frozen ocean stopped that plan, so we had to burn the boat with the village itself. Saying our goodbyes wasn't easy, but we couldn't stick around any longer. Our enemies know where we sleep at night, we won't ever be safe again.
"Hiya!" Dani yelled out, throwing her rock forward. It slightly slipped forward, and the other four leaders looked at her, including me.
"What, it was heavy?" I said while smiling, but I was the only one to do so.
"We still have so far to go… this fog doesn't make it easier either," Red grumbled.
"That's why we have rocks to guide us. It'll be over before we know it." I told her.
The snow that accumulated on the ice sheet overnight wasn't slippery for our shoes. We could move the carts on it without trouble and walk without slipping at all. The rocks hitting the ground caused them to slip for some reason. Every time it happened, it made me nervous.
"I see the fog clearing! We still do have a long way to go!" Carl announced. I squinted my eyes and surely enough, he was right.
"Eh?" I said out loud, not noticing the words coming from my mouth.
My body felt extremely hot and my breathing began to accelerate.
"Is it… hot, to anybody else?" I turned to everybody and the sweat falling from my forehead started to hit the floor.
"No, what's wrong with you?" Red asked. I could feel my muscles tightening, only in my arms… rather, than my left arm. Sweat was beading up under my chin and falling onto the ice now.
Why do I have a bad feeling right now?
"Sky! Put your shirt back on!" Dani began to yell at me, but she didn't understand this heat. It felt like standing on top of a fire.
"Seriously, what the hell is this?" I quietly said. I wiped tons of sweat off of my forehead and panted, falling to the floor.
"Sky? What's wrong?" Red asked, beginning to approach me.
"Stay back! We can't clutter on the ice; it'll make it weaker… I just feel really hot right now, I'm okay." I grabbed some of the clumped snow on the ice sheet and rubbed it over my face, but the heat didn't subside. That meant the heat was internal, but why? Did I have a fever of some kind?
"Should we stop?" Carl asked me, but I shook my head. The increased heartbeat began to pound against the inside of my chest, was I dying or something? I took a sharp breath in, reading the message-
[SYSTEM ALERT: DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!]
I pushed my body to the right and a swift projectile flew past my old position, skidding on the ice and slamming into the cart. Once it connected, the fog completely blew away in front of me and some of the cart's boxes exploded in the process.
I stabilized my footing and looked towards the origin point of the projectile, feeling a mysterious gaze lock onto my body. A familiar feeling of malice was piercing my composure right now. When I looked up, past the ice and snow and the cylindrical, perfectly cleared portion of fog in front of me, I began to connect the dots.
The other White Stones. They are here.
"Sky?! What the hell?! Who are they?!" I drew the sword from my hip and readied for combat. I can kill if need be… this will be okay, right? The fog began lifting more and more, revealing five people standing on the other side of the bay.
My singular eye widened… all five of them, they were here. And the one I don't recognize… that was Orion.
"Guys… retreat… run far from here, find a way to get around this bay, I'll deal with this!" I yelled out. I turned to everybody with a concerned look and they were only confused. I couldn't blame them for that.
"Corrupt White Stone! You die here!" One of the voices shouted.
Just as I feared… we weren't fast enough; we were cornered again. A familiar rage began swelling deep in my stomach.