Preparation For The End II

The frost-cracked stones of the training yard reflected the dim sunlight, but it barely touched the heaviness pressing on Noel's chest. Soldiers moved through drills, the clash of weapons echoing in the courtyard. Seren and Caldris demonstrated coordinated attacks, their swords cutting through the air with precision. Noel tried to focus, but a knot of unease tightened in his chest, memories threatening to drag him under.

Then a voice cut through the rhythm of training, smug and familiar.

"Ah, Noel, it's you! I see you're still alive. Is the north treating you well?" One of his father's subordinates leaned casually against the fence, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "I'm Darius Althier, if you remember. Everyone's been whispering about why you're here. Your little fiasco in the south... the deaths... the blinding. Truly deserving."

Noel froze, gripping his training sword too tightly. Memories slammed into him - friends lost on a failed patrol, his older brother pointing fingers, the unfair punishment, and his father’s silent approval of his exile. Panic seized him.

"No... not here," he muttered, turning on his heel and running, boots skidding across the icy ground. Heart pounding, breaths short and ragged.

Akari's soft padding followed immediately. "Noel! Wait! Don’t run! Come back!" Her voice was calm but urgent, ears alert, tail high. He barely registered her presence.

Behind them, a sharp thud made him glance back. Caldris had landed a solid punch on the smug recruit. "Once you're here in the North, your past doesn't matter. It's what you do once you're here! If you were sent here, it wasn’t because you’re good," he growled, "it’s because your master or captain or whoever didn’t want you anymore." The man crumpled, the grin wiped clean.

Noel didn't stop.

They reached a quiet, snow-dusted corner near the armory. Noel leaned against the wall, chest heaving, eyes darting. Akari padded closer, tail brushing the stone, waiting silently.

"I... I have to tell you," Noel said, voice low. "About why I’m here. Why I was exiled." He swallowed hard.

"It's okay, Noel! Take deep, long breaths! One, two, three," Akari guided him.

After a few breaths, he began.

"My older brother... he wanted me gone. We were stationed together in the south. I led a mission. Friends died. I... I was blamed. Everyone believed him. No trial. No words. Nothing. My father... he was ready to discard me, ready to let the blame stick and send me away. My mother never softened, never changed her attitude. My siblings largely avoided me, afraid to take sides or get involved, except my older sister. She demanded a fair trial, but her voice was drowned out, unheard."

He paused, swallowing again.

"The friends who died... we trained together for years, shared meals, and shared dreams of serving honorably. Most of us weren't heirs or were commoners. I remember each of their faces, every word they spoke, every laugh, every plan. I should have protected them better. That day, I made a miscalculation during the mission. The information wasn't correct, but I should have double-checked. It was a slip in judgment."

"My father, always stern, had no words to defend me. He claimed I was a liability and allowed the punishment to proceed. My mother continued to look away as if I had ceased to exist. My siblings ignored me, save my older sister. She argued for fairness, for justice, and for a chance to prove I was not at fault. Her pleas were silenced. And I? I accepted my exile because it seemed easier than fighting for recognition that would never come. Until you, Akari, I didn’t care if I lived or died."

His eyes clouded, distant, before he continued. "The blinding ritual... They said it was because I was blind to the truth, blind to faith, duty, what it means to be a knight. They took my eye as a lesson to never forget my failures. A constant reminder. I carried the weight of the dead with me, every breath heavy with their absence. Every step I took felt like walking on shards of ice."

He exhaled shakily. "My friends’ faces haunt me still. Their laughter, their final moments... I should have noticed the signs, the traps, the errors in our plan. I almost welcomed death as an escape."

Akari tilted her head, ears flattened slightly, tail twitching. "Noel... that’s horrible. But it’s not who you are now. You know that."

He took a shaky breath. "Does that mean I regret anything? No. At this point, regrets would only weigh me down. I must focus on survival, on protecting you, on as many people as I can. I can't bring back the dead. I can't protect everyone who will die soon. I can only do what is in front of me."

Her presence anchored him, warm and steady. She stepped closer, nuzzling gently. "I accept you, Noel. Every part of you. Flaws, scars, all of it. We've got this unspoken pact from the day we met. Right?"

He exhaled slowly, some of the weight lifting. "Then... not just friends?" he asked quietly.

She nodded, eyes glinting with determination. "Well, if you think we're family... that's what I've been thinking. We survive this together. No one's left behind."

Snow swirled softly around them, sunlight catching the icy tips. The fortress beyond the walls continued its bustle - preparations, patrols, murmured orders - but here, in this quiet corner, a bond had been forged sharper than any sword. Noel and Akari, side by side, vowed to endure the coming siege and whatever horrors awaited beyond the snow.

Noel straightened, hand brushing frost and dirt from his robes. "Let's get ready. The North doesn't forgive hesitation, and neither will we. Together."

Her tail flicked once in affirmation. "Together. Always!"

For the first time in a long while, Noel believed it. Here, with Akari at his side, he could face the shadows of his past, the ghosts of fallen friends, the harsh judgment of his family, and the uncertainty of the battles to come. He would survive - not just for himself, but for her, for the people of the fortress, and for the promise of a future they would fight for together. He carried the memories of his friends with him as both a weight and a guide, a lesson in endurance, courage, and the value of loyalty. And now, anchored by Akari’s unwavering presence, he knew he could face the snow, the wind, and the coming storm with renewed courage.