Slipping into the tent that I share with my brother, I make my way around the table and slip into my bed, that's right next to his bed. We'd been sharing a tent for as long as I could remember, I love my brother dearly.
We'd been each other's closet friends, there weren't that many people that weren't that many people around us. Of course, living in a tribe we're all one big family in a sense, but that didn't mean that there weren't problems.
But now that we'd gotten to meet two other kids our age and befriended them. It felt like our small little world had expanded.
"Brother, did you mean what you said about us being life friends, with Hollis and Silvyr?" I ask him as he also climbs into his bed. We'd left Hollis houses a while ago, promising that we'd come back to see her and Silvyr another day.
It also seemed that our parents had; had a good chat with her parents, and we're allowed to stay camped outside of her mother's city.
Now we're just getting into bed, we have an early morning tomorrow. We had combat training and then training with elders and chores. Because we're nomads and we don't generally stay in one place for too long, we learn to fight early on. Living in a city that was protected by the dungeon tower was a luxury that we didn't have.
"Of course, you'd think I'd just say that all for show?" He asks with a smirk, as he grabs my hand.
"When have I ever let you down?" He questions.
"Never," I say quietly.
"Exactly, I don't plan to start now. Plus, we've now got a new goal, our friends aren't humans like us. That means that they're naturally stronger than us, to begin with. If we want to keep our promise then we're going to have to work harder, way harder than them. As much as I don't want to admit it, they're going to surpass us with ease," he says, clenching his free hand.
I grip his hand tighter; I knew that he was right.
"We can't fall behind! I know that I just turned five, but they've also just turned five, and she managed to send a kid flying through a wall like it was nothing! How are we going to catch up, and keep up with that?" I ask him bitterly.
I was angry at myself for being weak. In the pit of my stomach, I felt anger and anxiousness, I was nervous about what the future held.
"We'll just have to obtain our classes earlier! The way that Hollis was talking about it, seems like she's not going to waste any time on obtaining hers. She's going to try sooner, rather than later.
Her pace and our paces are naturally different, generally, I thought that Vampire didn't worry about things like that since they've got a long life span. But it seems that we've run into an abnormal vampire that wants to do things faster.
Seeing as that the case, then we need to also obtain our classes sooner, rather than later. It'll be the only way to keep up with those two," he says with a faraway look in his eyes.
I open my mouth to say something but close it after a moment. He was right…
"That means that you'll have to learn the 「Winter Dance」from mother as fast as you can," he says a look of determination brewing in those eyes of his.
The winter's dance, a technique that's been passed down from generation after generation to all the women of my Mother's tribe. It was a gift that they obtained from a frost dragon; my mother's ancestors had befriended one of their travel through the many territories.
The story goes…
That when my ancestors had been cast out of the human's homeland, they'd wandered and traversed many lands. Learning and experiencing a great deal of hardship and mysteries. Their travels had taken them into a freeze section of the draconic homeland, where they'd been battered by a blizzard.
The blizzard was so cold and harsh that it had caused them to lose their way in the icy tundra. At the mercy of the elements, many began to fall sick, while also many of them died from the cold.
It was assumed that our tribe would be wiped out from the elements. However, by the will and mercy of a Frost Dragon, my tribe was saved from the brink of destruction. It was through the mercy and kindness of that lone dragon that my ancestor was saved, along with the tribe.
Following that the dragon gave the tribe hospitality and allowed my ancestors to survive the cold. While they lived with the dragon, the dragon in its infinite wisdom and maybe even boredom. Decided that it would teach these humans a dragon art.
Being that the dragon itself was also a woman, it imparted its knowledge to the woman of my tribe. Blessing them with the knowledge to learn an ability to control the frost, similar to the innate skill that's the dragons are born with at birth.
The 「Winter Dance」, only masterable by a woman. It allows us to harness the power of frost. The stronger and more devoted one's dance is the stronger one can become. It's a way to nourish the body, as one progress through the winter dance, the whiter their hair becomes, and the flesh slowly becomes paler, as they channel the frost throughout their body.
Through the execution of this art, one can become as strong as a dragon for the duration they're able to harness the skill. If one can completely master the skill and can get the blessing of another frost dragon, then they are granted the ability to perform dragonification
My mother is a direct descendent from the first woman that learned the art from the kind frost dragon. She's also extremely skilled at the art herself, my great-great-grandmother was able to receive the skill of dragonification.
However, no one's been able to get the blessing of a frost dragon since her. There have only been a handful from our history, that have been able to obtain the blessing of a dragon.
"You know I've only just learned the first few steps so far, you want me to master the dance before Hollis decided on obtaining a class!?" I cry out.
"If you learn the 「Winter Dance」, and become proficient at the sword as well, then you'll be able to challenge a temple to obtain a class. I'll also try to learn the sage arts from father, if we can master each of the family's arts, then we'll be strong enough to accompany them both, and become adventurers together!" My brother says clenching my hand tighter.
A fire is burning deep in his eyes, we'd been a lot of places in our short lives and seen a lot. But this was the first time that I've seen him this excited and invigorated about something. Although I understood because I felt the same way, the moment that I laid my eyes on her, I knew that something amazing would happen.
Something about her was magnetic, and I couldn't help but get sucked towards her. Thankfully, she'd agree to by my friend, I thought my heart would burst at that moment.
Not only that she even protected me!
"Do you think we'll be able to do it? Or is this just a small dream that wouldn't ever happen?" I ask him.
He doesn't answer me right away, but his hand holding mine loosens and then tightens.
"We don't know until we try!"
"Isn't it better to try our best, than to not try at all?"
Mhm. . . he was right.
"We'll just have to try our best then!" I agree.
With that the two siblings made a pact that night, to not be left behind by their newfound friends. It was a child's foolish promise, but they held it close to their hearts. And by chance, a God had been watching. The God of Love, to be exact, Hearth. These children caught his attention, for their devotion and love.
In watching these two children, that are outside of the creatures he created, he felt moved. With that he decided that he would bless these children and give them an extra helping hand in completely their wishes.
With that the stirring of a changing wind began to flow into the heart of the two children.