Chereads / Frostelle: Dawn of the Frostborn / Chapter 2 - Chapter Two: Whiteout

Chapter 2 - Chapter Two: Whiteout

Third POV

In the middle of the Forest of Ranza, an area constantly engulfed in snow, a brown-haired child could be seen sitting on a boulder reading. This young maiden was Yuki Greyler, adopted daughter of Cameron and Alysia Greyler, and successor of Cameron's supposed fighting spirit.

Standing up, she jumped off of the small boulder, bending her knees to absorb the impact when she hit the ground. She immediately began running east, towards the city she had lived in all her life–whether it be on the streets or in the Greyler household. 

Looking up at the cloud-stricken sky, her face held the expression of worry it had from when she was sitting on the rock. The weather was quickly turning gloomy, with the threat of a blizzard on the horizon.

"Shit, I really don't want to get stuck in another snowstorm. One time was a time too many in my opinion." Talking to herself, she continued on, trekking through the already existing snow. 

After about five minutes, flurries of snow started dancing around her, looking ethereal in contrast to the dull forest. Frowning, Yuki picked up the pace. The piles of powder allowed a concealed root to go unnoticed by her, causing her foot to get snagged.

Tumbling through the freezing snow, she managed to stop herself, get back on her feet, and continue running at a considerable speed. Fifteen minutes later, she found herself at the entrance of the city. 

White clouded Yuki's vision, barely letting her see three meters in front of her. Deciding that it was too risky trying to get back home in this weather, she took confident strides to an inn that stood towards the right of the city gates.

Testing the doorknob, she was glad that the innkeeper was still letting customers in even though the unfortunate conditions outside. Fully opening the door, she walked in.

Almost immediately, Yuki's nose was assaulted with the smell of sweat and alcohol. The fuck? It's not a bar, so why does it reek of laborers and boos? She was rather confused since she had been here once while living on the streets and it smelt nothing like it did now.

"Hello? Innkeeper?" Looking around, Yuki saw no one. Not any guests, the owner, or even cleaners. Suddenly, she heard shouts of excitement from an open doorway leading to a basement. So...do I risk going into the creepy basement and possibly die or should I stay here and wait for the owner to show up? Eh, what the hell. Ya only live once, so why not explore.

Slowly walking down the creaking stairs, she held her breath. About halfway down, the stairwell opened up and allowed her to see what was happening in the room. She saw two people, a male and a female, playing pool.

Looking at their cheeks Yuki noticed they were very red, and upon further inspection, she found a couple of empty beer bottles. 

She carefully continued down the steps until she reached the bottom, where she crouched and hid behind the stairs. Luckily the ceiling light they had on did not reach where Yuki was, so she was completely hidden. Haha, they're so drunk they didn't even notice me. How shameful, intentionally dulling your senses. Bunch of idiots. Out of habit, Yuki searched the two's bodies with her eyes, looking for any hidden weapons. A short dagger was sheathed on the man's waist, right above the tailbone. She didn't see any weapons on the woman, but she knew that she might be carrying a concealed weapon.

Deciding that she should leave, Yuki quietly started going back up the stairs. On the fourth stair, however, the plank broke, causing her to fall backward.

After being alerted by the sudden noise of the stair braking and Yuki's small yelp, the two adults playing pool froze before slowly turning to face the stairwell. The male shouted into the shadows, "Who's der? Show yerself!" His speech came out slurred from the alcohol.

Standing up, she turned towards the two. "I did not mean to disturb you, I'm just looking for the innkeeper," Yuki, walking out of the veil of shadows, put her hands up in a calming manner. "Either of you seen him?"

"Yer lookin' at em', Missy" The man shot her a grin, one that didn't sit well with Yuki. What he said made her confused. I've been here before, and this guy wasn't the innkeeper. The guy back then was young and healthy and looked like he loved his work, so he probably didn't die or retire so...what happened? Racking possibilities threw her mind, she couldn't make any sense of it. 

"What happened to Danny, the person who used to run this place?" Yuki asked, curious about Danny's fate. The man stepped forward, his grin only widening.

"What happened to him ain't none of yer business, las." His voice was becoming much more fluent, making Yuki believe he wasn't that drunk and was sobering up. "Now why don't ya come over er and join us for a while, eh?"

Positioning herself so she could bolt up the stairs if needed, she replied, "Yeah, sorry dude, but I'm going to have to refuse." She gave him a small smile to apologize, while his unsettling grin disappeared. 

Stepping toward Yuki once again, the man said, "I wasn't asking, little girl. Listen to yer elders and get over here." Looking rather annoyed, Yuki sighed.

Yuki POV

"Dammit, Cam told me not to get into any more fights. Well, it can't be helped," After I came to terms with that I'm probably going to have to fight this idiot, I told asked not-so-nicely, "Listen up asshole, if you let me go now I won't have to kill you."

The ugly guy just started laughing, "HAHAHA! You think we will let you go? You know that underground bars are illegal, so why would we let you go tell the police?"

First off, thanks for telling me this is illegal. Now I can plead self-defense since you are already criminals. Secondly, we? Oh...right, I forgot the chick existed. Finished with my inner monologue, I spoke, "If you do, I promise I won't tell the police."

"Yeah right, now die!" He unsheathed the knife on his back, trying to catch me off guard. Unfortunately for him, I noticed it when I first came down here. As he was charging toward me, I jumped to the third stair, using it to propel me up and over him in a backflip motion. 

"I wasn't really in the mood to fight, but who cares? You certainly don't." Sighing mid-air, I landed behind him. When he started turning I kicked the back of his knee, causing him to fall onto his other leg. Before he had the chance to react, I grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back.

Yelling in pain, he dropped the knife to the floor. Putting my hand on his head, I pushed forward, driving his face into the edge of the stairs. Why the fuck is the girl just cowering in fear? What is this anime-type shit? Reaching down I grabbed the knife he had dropped.

It was single-edged, with a silver blade and a brown hilt that had no cross-guard. "I'm surprised. With your fighting skills, why do you have such a well-made weapon?" Looking back down at him, I realized with a frown that he was no longer conscience. "Eh, whatever."

Crouching down, I slid the blade right under his armpit, into the lung. Unlike most people in this era, I don't fear killing. Why should I? I grew up on the streets, where it kill or be killed. If you let your enemy live, they may find you again and harm you or those you care for. This world has no room for hesitation.

 Standing back up, I looked at the woman sitting in the corner. She had long, black hair and alluring eyes of the same color. Her face was rather average though. Tears were streaming down her face, her expression one of terror. "D-did...did you k-kill him?"

"Yes."

Soon, the woman's tears stopped flowing and her face turned neutral. Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, she stood up. "I'd like to thank you for ending him. I was going to even if you didn't."

Wait...what? This is...unexpected. My face morphed into confusion at the turn of events. "Why did you want to kill him? And I thought you were drunk."

"No, I never drank any of the alcohol, that was all David." So his name was David. "As for why I wanted him dead, I'll tell you."

Slightly surprised, I thought, I didn't think she would actually tell me, but why? What would she gain from it? Is she not worried I would tell the authorities? 

Sitting down on the edge of the table, the woman looked straight at me. "I was hired by a man named Doug Ramer to assassinate him. You see, he murdered Danny, the man who used to be the innkeeper." Her gaze peered off to the side, toward David's corpse. "Dan was a good friend to Doug, so he wanted revenge."

"Why did you tell me this?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Looking back at me, she replied while putting her hand behind her back, "Because you won't be alive to tell anyone the reason." I widened my eyes while jumping to the side, throwing the knife I got from David in the process.

As I did this, the lady pulled out a handgun she had hidden and fired. She was able to shoot three rounds before the knife embedded itself into her forehead.

I felt two of the three bullets pierce me, one in my left arm and the other in my stomach. The pain was immediate, instantly engulfing my mind. Pain doesn't normally bother me, but for some reason, this was different. I looked at the wound in my arm, seeing a yellowish-green liquid oozing out of it, I realized. "God fucking dammit, it was poisoned."

After I stuffed the bullet hole in my stomach with a part of my shirt I ripped off, I made my way up the stairs, carefully avoiding the broken one. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to reach a hospital in time, so I started running as fast as could with my injuries towards the Greyler estate. 

The blizzard was still raging on, covering everything in a blanket of snow. I have maybe 15 minutes at best until I bleed out or the poison kills me. At this speed, I doubt I'll make it home. Curse it all! Gritting my teeth, I continued running despite the pain and blistering cold eating away at my mind.

Ten minutes later, something started to change. The snow, once being pulled in one direction by the powerful winds, started swirling. My left arm, which had begun growing numb, suddenly started feeling like it was being submerged in freezing water. Looking down at it, I saw that slowly, deep blue ice was crawling up my arm, coating it in frost. When it reached the bullet wound, it seeped into it, entering my bloodstream.

Unable to handle it, I let out a bloodcurdling scream that fell deaf to my own ears. I fell down into the snow, holding the frozen arm with my other. As I felt the ice enter my bloodstream, it branched off and went onto my right arm, repeating the process. It felt like the very atoms that made up my being were being turned to ice.

Once the ice reached my shoulder blades, it stopped, only for the feeling to begin again at my feet. The process repeated, turning my legs into solid ice. When it reached my waist, it, along with the ice at my shoulders, started spreading to the rest of my body.

Before long, my screams stopped and all I saw was darkness.

Third POV

In the middle of a city engulfed in white, a twister of snow could be seen dispersing, and in the middle sat a lone ice statue in the shape of a young girl.

(A/N: First chapter over 2K words! I'd be glad if any of you give any criticism, it will definitely help with future chapters. Also, first fight scene, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.)