"Why is it so cold!?" Yuna complained as we trekked up the mountain.
"I don't know maybe because it's a snow-covered mountain" Jun sarcastically replied, barely seeming phased by the cold.
"You're the one that didn't buy a coat while we were in town," Christa said, not feeling all that sorry for the smaller girl.
"That is true" I pointed out and Yuna continued to pout.
Upon realizing that we needed to climb over Ariana Peak. A frozen, snow-covered, mountain to get to The Veiled Forest we decided to stop in town and get some appropriate clothing.
Yuna however insisted that she was fine and didn't need a coat. She was regretting that decision now.
"How are you guys not cold," she asked and Christa spoke up.
"We are," she said as she pulled her hood tighter around her head, a few strands of her red hair covering her forehead.
"Here," Jun said, tossing his coat to the girl
"What? Jun? Don't you need this too" she asked and Jun shook his head.
"Even without it I'm more suited for the cold than you, I tend to wear extra layers. Besides I happen to like the cold," Jun explained, pulling up the hood of his white jacket as he continued up the hill.
"Let me do this at least" Christa offered before pulling out her spellbook and a torch "entzünden"
Suddenly the torch lit up and Christa handed the torch to the thief and he took it gladly.
"Thanks," he said as he brought the warm fire closer to him.
"Hey Loki, how much further is that tavern," Christa asked and I sighed.
"It'll be about another hour until we get there" I replied and everyone groaned at that news, it's not like I was happy about it either but onward and upward right.
Suddenly we heard a bit of growling and immediately drew our weapons.
"Yuna?" I asked and she turned to me.
"From the sounds of it it's a pack of wolves, most likely about 8 of them but there could be more" she announced and Christa stepped forward as the wolves jumped out.
"entzünden!" she yelled and three of the wolves were instantly incinerated. One more wolf jumped from behind only to get shot by Yuna.
The next four came in quickly and I nodded at Jun, he drew his daggers and sidestepped one wolf and stabbed the next one in the neck, the wolf he side-stepped came back but was swiftly killed by an arrow, courtesy of Yuna.
The next two came towards me, I drew my sword and pierced one through the face before slamming its corpse into the other wolf.
I then threw the dead wolf off of my blade and stabbed the still living one, killing it.
"Is everyone okay?" I asked and they all nodded before suddenly I heard more growling.
"Look out!" Jun yelled and I turned to see a wolf diving onto me. Suddenly I felt someone tackle me to the ground.
The red hair immediately tipped me off that it was Christa that saved me.
An arrow killed the beast and we all breathed a sigh of relief. Until I noticed that Christa was still on top of me.
"Uh Christa," I said, my face as red as her hair "can you get off now"
Suddenly her face had a similar color to mine as she jumped off of me and began trying to sputter out an apology.
"Aww you two are so cute" Yuna gushed as Jun snickered at us.
"Shut it Jun" I ordered but he only seemed to laugh more as if I'd just told him the best joke he'd ever heard.
"Shut up!" Christa and I both embarrassedly yelled at the same time which only made him laugh harder. Yuna joined in on the laughing at that point as Christa and I both calmed down.
After a little while longer we had gotten moving again, the cold still bothered us but we were at least in far better spirits now.
And before we knew it we were at the peak of the mountain.
"Why would someone build an inn up here?" Christa asked, confusion clear on her face.
"It's meant for travelers, this is the only way to The Veiled Forest and Izuna" Jun explained and Christa just looked more confused.
"Izuna?" she asked and I decided to jump in.
"The neighboring country to the south. it's one of the major four kingdoms along with Valiheim, Setsuna and Aria" I explained and Christa nodded.
"Yeah, I'm actually from Setsuna myself," Yuna said and I raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" I asked and she smiled and nodded.
"I thought so, the accent is a dead giveaway," Jun said with a small laugh "I'm a foreigner too, I'm from Valiheim"
"That one I expected," I replied and Jun laughed, Valiheim was known as the Land of Thieves for a reason. Chances are if you're a thief that's any good you were once a member of the Valiheim Thieves Guild.
"So were you a member of the guild?" Yuna asked and Jun nodded.
"Yeah, but that was a long time ago. I don't much like talking about it so could we drop it?" Jun asked and we all nodded. I wanted to know more for sure but I also didn't want to force him into anything.
We finally entered the inn, the first thing that stood out to me was the bard. The song he was playing was an old favorite of mine, Kaia used to play it for me when I was young, it reminded me of simpler times. But Kaia was dead, I could never get those days back.
"You guys stay put, I'll get us checked in," Christa said and I moved towards the back of the room, we were on the outskirts of the country but we were still in Aria. I was still a wanted man so I didn't want anyone to recognize me.
I wasn't doing a good job though because someone recognized me immediately.
"So you're Prince Loki?" a man quietly asked, he was leaning against the pillar right next to me. A smirk was plastered on his face.
I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword and looked him dead in the eyes.
"Who the hell are you," I asked and he laughed lightly.
"Just a humble samurai from Izuna, my name is Sasaki Kojiro" he offered with a wink. He had long blue hair tied into a ponytail, a white yukata, and a dark blue haori with a cloud pattern design. One thing about his attire that stood out to me was his shoes, who the hell wore sandals while hiking up a snow-covered mountain?
Strapped to his hip was a sheathed katana with a blue hilt. The sheath was also blue and had a black line running down the length of it.
"Alright then samurai, what the hell do you want?" I asked, shooting a glare at the blue-haired man. He simply laughed a bit before answering.
"I'm simply saying hello," he said with a smile and I sighed, simply unable to understand the man I had the misfortune of encountering.
Suddenly another man pushed the doors open with a terrified expression on his face.
"Aldon? What's the matter?" the bard asked as he stopped playing.
"The Snow King is here!" Aldon announced and everyone froze up before a roar brought them all back to their senses.
"W-What do we do?" one of the patrons asked
"I don't know, it's never come up this high before" The Bard replied
"What is this snow king you guys keep going on about," Jun asked and everyone looked at him incredulously.
"You seriously don't know?" Aldon asked and Jun shook his head.
"I'm a traveler, I just got here" Jun explained and the bartender placed a hand to his head.
"Nobody knows exactly when it happened, but one day a large fur cover beast appeared on this mountain. It attacks any travelers that get too close to it, after a few attempts to kill it was proclaimed The Snow King." the bartender explained.
"We could kill it for you" I offered and everyone gasped.
"It's too dangerous, countless good men have died trying to slay that foul beast" the bard explained, trying to sway us from taking it on.
"If I let a beast like this stop me then I'll never be able to accomplish anything" I argued and Yuna smiled at me.
"Well I'm in, there's no way I can let a monster like that live. Not without tarnishing my pride as a hunter", she said as she grabbed her bow.
"Well I can't exactly let you two do it alone," Christa said with a sigh as she removed her hood, revealing her red hair to the world.
"Well now if I don't join in I'm gonna look lame, so what the hell, there are worse ways to die," Jun said and Yuna smiled at him.
"Stop being so negative Jun," she said and Jun just sighed again.
"If none of you mind, I'd like to offer up my sword as well," Sasaki said "I may not look it but I'm quite proficient with a sword"
I can't say I was trusting of the guy, but I was still grateful for his help.
"Alright, let's go," I said as I led our small party put the door and into the snow.
And we were greeted by a hell of a sight.
"That's a big yeti" Yuna offered as we exited the inn and came face to face with The Snow King. Indeed it was big, it was well over forty feet tall and covered in white fur. It had long arms and appeared to be hunched over. Its teeth were what had me freaked out though, each one of them was razor-sharp and could easily tear a man to shreds.
"A yeti!? I thought it was a giant!" Christa shouted in confusion.
"No that's a yeti, it's far too hairy to be a giant," Sasaki said as he drew his katana "but I never knew Yetis could get that big"
"Get ready everyone," I ordered and everyone else drew their weapons. "Yuna and Christa, support us as best you can. Take shots from a distance and focus on healing!"
"Got it," Yuna said as she drew back her arrow.
"Just leave it to us," Christa said as she opened her spellbook.
"Jun use your stealth skills to try and find an opening!" I ordered and Jun nodded before I turned to Sasaki. "I don't know you very well, but I trust you enough to be with me, we're gonna take that thing on head on"
"Oh what a daring strategy," he joked and I glared at him. I wasn't in a joking mood.
"Everyone, let's go!" I shouted as Yuna quickly opened fire on the massive beast, her arrows bouncing off and barely phasing the massive creature.
The beast did notice however and it slammed a massive arm where Yuna was standing, Jun acted fast though, and tackled her out of the way as Christa prepared to attack.
"Feuersturm!" she shouted and the beast recoiled.
"It's weak to fire" Sasaki pointed out as he jumped back.
"Yeah, definitely" I agreed as I shot a look at Christa and she readied another fire-based spell.
"Explodieren!" she shouted and a large explosion shook the entire mountain, and knocked the monster on its ass, creating another loud shockwave.
"I have an idea," Sasaki offered and I turned to him.
"What is it?" I asked and Sasaki gestured to his sword.
"My sword is made of a special metal that's highly resistant to heat, if your mage were to light my blade on fire I should be able to finish it off" he explained and my eyes widened.
"Let's give it a shot," Jun said as he dodged another swing from the massive beast that was now on its feet.
"Got it!" Christa said as she focused on Sasaki's katana "entzünden!"
Suddenly the blade of Sasaki's sword erupted in flames and he held his sword over his head, preparing to strike.
Suddenly he brought his blade down and it almost appeared as though three blades were present instead of one.
At first, nothing happened, but Sasaki sheathed his sword and the massive beast fell to the ground, it was dead. Sasaki had killed it, and we all fell to our knees and breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was certainly something," Yuna said as Jun began to laugh.
"They won...they killed it!" Aldon cheered as he exited the inn and stared at the corpse of the beast in astonishment.
I had a strange feeling this was gonna be an exciting night
____________________
I was right, the patrons and staff insisted on throwing a party in our honor. I had tried to refuse but Yuna's voice overpowered mine. Even though they knew I was the wanted prince they didn't care, as they had said.
"We don't believe that a rightfully accused traitor would do so much for us"
So that's how I ended up attending a party instead of going to sleep early. I looked to the upper rafters and saw Jun passed out with a bottle of rum in his hand.
I'm pretty sure he was only 19 and as such under the drinking age but I didn't care either.
Actually, now that I think of it Jun was the oldest of our group, which seemed kinda weird to me.
"Not gonna join in on the festivities?" Sasaki asked as he approached me on the balcony overlooking the mountain.
"Nah, I'm kinda tired" I replied and he laughed.
"I can relate," he said as he leaned against the railing next to me. "so what are you gonna do from here"
"I've been looking for someone for a while, I'm going to meet up with him," I explained and Sasaki raised an eyebrow.
"Do I dare ask who," he asked as he took a drink from his bottle of wine, I stared at him as he did this and he quickly followed up with "hey I'm 21 alright, I'm of age"
"An exiled knight of Aria, I believe he may have been framed as well" I explained and Sasaki stared out at the stars. He gazed up at them longingly, stretching his hand out as though he was trying to touch them.
"We're very similar you know," he said and I looked at him weirdly.
"What do you mean?" I asked and he chuckled.
"I'm not a samurai...I'm actually a ronin" he said and I frowned.
"I figured, I mean you don't have a master so that makes sense, what happened to your master?" I asked and he clenched his fists.
"He abused his power to control people, so I repaid him by taking his head," Sasaki explained and I shuddered.
"That's dark," I joked and Sasaki laughed lightly.
"But I feel as though I may have found an interesting new master," Sasaki said as he knelt before me.
"Sasaki?" I asked, wondering what he was getting at.
"I know I have not known you long but I ask one thing of you Loki Leonhart, Second Prince of Aria, would you do me the honor of allowing me to serve you?" Sasaki asked and I stared at him in shock before smiling.
"Very well Sasaki Kojiro, in that case, I expect you to serve me with your life," I said and Sasaki nodded.
"I wouldn't have it any other way master," he said before turning to the door. "now then, I believe you have a visitor"
I turned to the door and saw Christa standing there waiting for me to finish up with Sasaki.
"I'll be taking my leave then master," Sasaki said as he left me alone with Christa.
"Hey, Christa, what's up?" I asked and she walked over to me.
"Just wanted to talk," she said as she stretched "what a day huh?"
"I feel like a day like this is pretty normal for us at this point," I pointed out and Christa laughed.
"Yeah, that's true" she admitted. And then I heard it again, the bard was playing the same song that he had played when we first got here.
Christa must have recognized that I was familiar with it because she turned to me and smiled.
"Do you know this song?" she asked and I nodded sadly.
"Yeah, my attendant would play it for me often when I was younger" I explained and Christa smiled.
"Why isn't your attendant with you now?" Christa asked and I froze for a second.
"She...died," I said sadly and Christa frowned.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories," she said before it was silent for a moment "what was she like?"
"Actually a lot like you," I said and she looked shocked "she was strong and capable, she always seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. And she taught me everything I know about swordsmanship."
"How does that sound like me?" Christa asked.
"Don't sell yourself short, you're plenty strong," I told her and she blushed lightly as we listened to the song.
"Hey, Loki?" Christa asked and I turned to her "may I have this dance?"
She offered a formal curtsy as she asked and I blushed before composing myself.
"You may," I replied as I took her in my arms.
We slowly danced to the music in silence, simply enjoying each other's company. It stayed like this for a bit before Christa spoke up.
"What's this song called?" she asked as we stopped dancing, continuing to hold each other in our arms.
"A Starry Sky" I replied, gazing into her green eyes.
"I like that name," she said as she gazed back, and after a moment more I finally replied.
"Yeah...I like it too"