The frost continued to sting, the wind whistled, and the snow raged. There were no light winds. They were large and hostile, with Kyora pushing through the deep snow while carrying Tim.
"I've never been up here before. I can feel the difference in temperature between the region's lower areas and its higher peaks."
The wind pushed its weight against her as it blew into her body. She had to steel herself to bear Tim's hefty body. "Drat... This wind's slowing me down. The worst part is that I'm scared no one will be up here to help, and I can't even get down without abandoning him at the top."
It became more difficult for her to advance the further she traveled, and the lengthy journey to find a location for aid was another issue she would have to deal with, despite the annoying weather that continued to slow down her entire path.
Eventually, she stumbled over a larger snowdrift, which pieced together a nearby building in her eyesight. It was composed of packed ice, which could resist higher temperatures without melting.
"Whoever lives there ought to be able to offer support. Even though the weather gets worse as I go, I must still reach it." She claimed to be aware that only that residence might offer her some treatment while also relieving Tim's lifeless condition.
"Hang on, please." She ended.
Fuji had just fled, so Natan set out to find her. He sped down the hill in an attempt to catch up to her, but he was unable to do so because Fuji was a phenomenal runner.
"Lady! Stop running! I just want that pendant back!" he called to her, but Fuji kept moving down the slippery slope and started to pull away. "I'm not catching up. I would need my pistol to have a better chance." He was moving quickly, but Fuji was getting close to the cliff she would jump off from.
She was leaving tracks in the snow when she made the decision to change directions and jumped between the trees that were lining either side. She avoided leaving footprints to lose him, but she would soon come to the cliff, which was only a few feet away from her.
After cautiously stepping on one foot after another to prevent falling down the slope, Natan ultimately decided to take a new course of action. "If you don't want to listen to me, well, I'll go with the second option," he said. His violin, kept in the case, was taken, transformed into a cannon, and he could shoot it from a distance.
He stood on the edge of the slope, bent his knees, and started boarding down the snow, being careful to avoid boulders, piles of snow, and other impending hazards. "Death Sonata."
Fuji leaped off the trees, landed in the center of the descent, and sped off in that direction.
He used the nearby snow ramp to launch himself into the air while keeping his target in sight. When the cannon was fired, an explosive was launched, speeding through the air and preparing to detonate behind Fuji as it descended the slope.
Fuji moved to the side in response to the bomb going off close, but the avalanche threw her out of control and forced her to roll down the slope.
After landing and preparing, Natan got ready to fire the second cannon.
She reached the cliff she would utilize to fell from it by regaining her equilibrium while pushing forward.
Natan yelled, "Can't lose her!" and followed her off the precipice. Leaning his cannon on his shoulder, he focused it forward, knowing he had only two more shots before the cannon needed to cool down. "You are in my line of sight. I simply have to time it perfectly so I can shoot it without killing you." He kept an eye on Fuji as she fell, waiting for the appropriate moment to shoot the snow-covered ground beneath her.
Fuji prepared to land as her hood ruffled off from the speed of her descent, but she was interrupted by the earsplitting sound of a cannon getting fired behind her.
"Damn you! Get off me!" she yelled as she drew a red dagger from behind her cloak and extended her arms out like wings.
Turning back, she drew a crimson line behind her with the dagger, cutting through the cannon's projectile, which exploded upon impact, setting off a series of explosions that tore through the cliff's wall.
It prevented the bullet from impacting the snow under her and suddenly startled Natan by creating a smokescreen. He dropped through the haze while protecting his eyes and nose to discover that Fuji had thrust the blade into the wall to stop her descent.
Natan's mouth froze in terror. In order to slide down the wall, he pressed his soles against it. He thought for himself, "She seems to be a flexible assassin," and said, "One more bullet..." He knew that the third bullet would have to hit her, or she would almost surely escape, so he needed to be as accurate as he could be while coping with the cannon's knockback.
As she pulled the dagger out, Fuji rebounded off the wall. She then flipped back into the air, landed on the ground, and launched into a straightforward charge.
Natan knelt, aware that doing so would make it simple for her to flee since he couldn't move, but his shot needed to be accurate.
To get the ideal time, he factored in the distance, her rate of movement, and the bullet drop. "Here goes nothin'." He fired his cannon after slightly aiming it in the air.
Natan was knocked back toward the wall when the bullet blasted through the air with a much greater force. As it continued to travel at a fast rate of speed, it raised the snow and threw it about like pebbles.
Fuji was prepared in case the bullet was fired from behind, but she hadn't anticipated that it would curve down and plummet to the ground with the velocity of a comet.
She kept moving forward in the hope that she could evade the bullet, but she was duped at the last second.
Instead of the bullet striking from behind, it fell to the ground from the front, creating a far larger explosion. It prevented her from progressing.
She was thrown back by the explosion and had to let go of the pendant. It was launched into the air and buried deep in the snow.
Natan was successful, and he caught Fuji, tied her hands, and leaned her against the rock before she could get up and run away.
Natan put his violin back in its case and bent down in front of Fuji's bound body, extending his right hand. "If you had just given back what you stole, we wouldn't have had to go through this. Hurry up, give it to me right here, and I'll let you go." He spoke up after seeing Fuji lowering her head. "I won't," Natan exhaled and rested an arm on his erect knee.
"Do you want me to let you go? If so, then give it here." However, she refused Natan's advances no matter how hard he tried. "I said, I won't," She turned her head aside as she made an effort to speak in brief sentences.
"You want to do this?" he sighed, "Fine then." He rapidly caused her to become red in the face by slipping his arm between her shirt before waiting much longer. "Hey! What the hell are you doing?" He kept rummaging through her garments while getting pretty close to her legs and chest, but the more time he spent looking, the less he turned up except hearing Fuji laugh. "Stop! It tickles!"
She couldn't stop laughing, and her cheeks started to get hotter. "Stop! Please!" he kept going. "Okay, fine. Fine! I have no idea where it is. Your bullet caused me to drop it! I have no idea where it fell!" that was sufficient to cause Natan to pause as he pulled back his arm.
Once he realized Fuji needed to breathe to calm down, he started to take her seriously. "I see, then... You're going to help me in looking for it because you dropped it." His order was not followed. "And why should I? Go looking for that pendant yourself if you want it."
In order to free her of her ropes, Natan moved behind her. "You know, I'm very sure that finding it will be much easier if we search for it jointly. Of course, if you don't help me, I'll make sure to capture you and get my bounty." Although Fuji continued to disagree with his choices, she realized it would be prudent for her to assist.
She grasped her wrists when she was seen. "I could kill you right now." Natan didn't care, though. "Would you? You should act morally upright, right? Assassin and things, you know." She couldn't disagree because she was aware that it was her responsibility to remove any threats to the global government, so she made the selfish decision to assist him.
"Tsch... Whatever." She finished, looking away.
To be continued...