There was bows and arrows in the light reflected by the portrait.
"Aernas"
That was what one arrow had engraved on it. Kaori decided to check the nation after being tempted for days.
He packed warm clothing and a dagger he made, later then went off. As he left, he felt a cold, freezing breeze of air as if the outside was warning him about something. He ignored it and continued to his new journey.
On the road, he discovered many little creatures. They were all soft and kind to him, but some of them were a little intimidating. He discovered other things like fruits and new species of plants and insects.
It was a long way to Aernas, so he made multiple stops. He stopped by many gigantic trees and many broken down carriages. He stopped by in caves and by waterfalls and spent the night in the forests. The stars greet him as the night falls, he smiled at them. Before dawn hits, he had counted maybe half of the stars... he wants to believe he can do such thing.
On the second day of his journey he was getting near... near halfway. People pass by him going from one village to another. Every one of them had a carriage, some were also walking. He tried to say hi to them multiple times but he was treated as if a ghost. He smiled at them and greeted them but some almost run him over or some would ignore him and walk away. "Is this how humans reply yo greetings?" he thought.
Humans had such an image to him before he met one or two face to face, now he thought that maybe books do lie after all.
He stopped by a village and into a bar he went. He didn't know anything about bars or liquor so he wanted to try some beer. The lady behind the counter gave him a glass of beer, just the smell of it made him give the face of pure disgust. It took him a couple sips and later told the lady that he will be drinking outside. As soon as he stepped outside, he threw the beer to the ground along with the glass. All the men in the bar watched him as he scoffed and brushed off imaginary dust off his fur coat.
Kaori then grabbed his bag and left to continue his journey to Aernas.
The town had drunkards in the bar and some on the streets. Women came to him offering services but he gave them a rather forced smile and walked away from them. Some young boys attempted to snatch his bag, but his body was hard as stone, none of the boys were able to push, pull, or attack him without getting their own body injured. All he did was stand and wait for them to stop.
On his way out of this town, little girls stopped him by tackling him. Why? Their reason was because they wanted him to be their "doll" or just play with his hair a bit.
They finished styling his hair into a long braid, and Kaori was forced to like it and smile. He finally got out of that town by sundown and as soon as he got far enough, he took the braid off and replaced it with a high ponytail. Kaori was getting irritated with humans.
On the third day, he came across a "tree house"
Will he climb it? At least, will he check it out?
He ignored it and went towards his destination. He figured that there might be humans up there, so he decided not to do anything.
On the road, he recalled all he knew about Aernas and its culture. He often stops if he knows he got something wrong or when he doesn't understand a thing about their practices. He did this until he reached a cliff where at his east, he can see a tornado like barrier surrounding Aomori. This is the first time he knew about the snow storm surrounding the land, all his god left safe is the central town.
How did he not feel that? How did he even go through a whole snowstorm like it was a walk in the park...?
"What a discovery..." he whispered to himself as he stood there, shocked and confused, remembering all the frozen statues around the land.
"That must be the reason..." His face became more and more horrified as he out all the puzzle pieces together and looked at his body.
"I'm different... my body, my mind... I am definitely not human... not even a single bit..." He sat down on a rock, watching as the storm circulates around his homeland.
"What am I...?" He looked around "Where... am I?" He looked down on his arms and saw the word "regret" carved on his skin, reminding him about the first statue he saw, comparing it to the portrait. If his memory was correct, What he saw was the ruler and god of Aomori. He felt terrified, not knowing why.
Shaking, he stood up and continued to the Entrance of Aernas.
He looked around to see... moss, trees, vines and weed... the buildings were all ruined and destroyed. Is this even the right place?
He hurriedly brought out some of the pages he ripped out of a book.
"Divine looking and full of natural beauty"
"Its full of natural beauty alright..." Kaori stayed in his place, looking around. Its full of wild birds and wild flowers. Somehow, the scenery was calming and peaceful. The sun peeking through the trees, birds singing... but there was no sign that this was indeed, Aernas.
Kaori took a deep, deep breath, and walked deeper in the ruins.
Something was watching him, Kaori didn't notice and he didn't even feel it, but there was eyes behind him. The bushes ruffled as the wind blows. The golden rain dances along the wind, as the seal of Aernas glowed emerald green.