Side

He didn’t find it.

Trudging through the snow, Akira grumbled as his stomach growled. The fight had left him hungry and out of energy. And considering he had no previous experience hunting anything at all, he quickly lost his way, unable to find his prey.

The only good thing was the fact he could not feel the cold. Looking at the scenery around him, the thick layers of snow and the frozen streams, he realised without it he might’ve been done already.

Akira sighed as he stared at the endless white horizon. He had no idea where he was going.

He had lost sight of his prey a long time ago, and the sky had already begun to burn orange, creating a beautiful view. The sunset was reflected in his chestnut eyes, giving them a warm tint that didn’t really match his cold surroundings..

They were his mothers eyes, almost entirely the one color, but with a faint hint of gray. His father had been absurdly happy about that. The man had always hated his own green eyes, hated anything that stood out. There was no place for peculiar features in their family, no unusual hairstyle, no eccentric hobbies and definitely no “unusual” girlfriends. No room for individuality.

What struck Akira as weird was that despite all those rules, his father had never once scolded him for going out at night, gambling, or drifting through life without a care. Maybe the man thought it was just a phase. That one day Akira would wake up reborn as his perfect, boring successor, ready to inherit the family anime and fortune.

‘Yeah,’ Akira muttered as he kicked away a clump of snow hard enough to scatter it across the ground. ‘That turned out great, huh, dad?’

He didn’t need words to understand what the man thought of him though, he’d seen the looks. All of them. Disappointment, anger, sadness, disappointment again, pity, exhaustion, and another one of disappointment just for good measure.

Akira clenched his jaw and balled up his fists.

After some time, the ache in his palms forced him to relax. He exhaled, watching his warm breath drift up and dissolve into cold air, before continuing on.

He trudged onward, each step producing a soft but satisfying crunch. His legs felt heavy, and his chest was tightening up.

Then, when he wasn’t paying attention, the feeling of the ground changed. It went from soft and crunchy to hard and firm.

Akira frowned and looked down.

A road.

Relief hit him so suddenly he almost laughed. He coughed loudly instead, the surprise having stopped his breathing for a moment.

A real and actual road. It was covered in snow, but he could feel the hardness and make out faint lines through the snow. Now don’t lose the outline of the road or you’ll never find your way back.

Hmmmmm… It looks like I can go two ways; I can go in the direction of the forest, or follow the road through the hills.

I’ll roll my dice for it, if I get above ten I’ll go to the forest.

…

Akira followed the road in the direction of the plains. His steps had grown more hopeful after regaining his confidence.

In the end, I rolled a five, and I specified that it should affect my next breath. I should pick something else next time, maybe I won’t collapse to the ground that way. I’ve never had the breath su- Hm?

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw something moving in the distance. He squinted, two silhouettes moved toward him against the fading orange horizon.

One was tall and board-shouldered, the other a bit smaller.

Shit, what should I do? Meeting strangers on a deserted road like this in an unknown world is extremely dangerous!

Akira ducked behind a snow-covered boulder, the plains had changed into hills covered in all manner of rocks some time ago. His fingers dug into the icy exterior as he peeked out. As the figures approached, their appearances finally became visible.

The one in front was a tall man, lean and composed, wearing a navy blue coat embroidered with patterns consisting of gray twirling clouds and streaks of lighting. His hair was dark blue, like the early night, and his eyes looked like they were sparking, he looked like he was around his late twenties. A curved sword hung at his side, its brown sheath decorated with elegant silver lines. Every step he took seemed to stir the air around him, putting it under his command.

Behind him walked a teen, maybe sixteen or seventeen, wrapped in a thick red scarf and a tattered sand colored cloak, a large sack swung over his left shoulder. The only things Akira could see were his eyes and small stature. He looked exhausted and irritated.

Akira ducked back behind the boulder as they got even closer, too scared at the thought of being seen.

‘Fabien,’ the teen groaned, dragging his feet, ‘Do we really have to walk through the middle of nowhere again? If this is another one of your “the wind whispered something important” moments-’

‘It did whisper something,’ the swordsman called Fabien said calmly, not even turning around. His voice was deep and calm, making even the fearful Akira feel at ease.

The boy threw his hands into the air, ‘Great, remind me why I went with you again? Because it’s starting to look like a mistake.’

‘It was,’ Fabien replied, causing the teen to stumble. ‘Wait, what?’

Akira stopped hearing their footsteps. Have they stopped walking? An argument between companions? His skin tingled and he felt some sort of pressure bearing down on him.

The man turned his head in the direction of Akira’s boulder, situated only a few metres away from him. ‘Step out,’ Akira heard his calm and now gentle voice say.

Crap.

The man’s companion blinked in confusion and looked between the boulder and Fabien. ‘Is- is something there?’ The boy asked.

Fabien didn’t answer, still looking at the boulder.

Akira took a deep breath, he knew running from this man would be impossible, he could feel it. He stepped out from behind the boulder, onto the road, his hands slightly raised, trying to look as peaceful as possible.

The teen let out a sigh of relief, ‘Oh thank the gods, it’s just some guy.’

Akira looked at the kid for a moment. Some guy? I’ll have you know I just got some pretty awesome powers! Before he looked at the imposing swordsman, who still hadn’t relaxed.

He could see the man’s eyes clearly now, they were constantly lighting up, and Akira could see the storm within them raging. ‘You’re lost,’ Fabien said, not as a question but as a fact, ‘yet it looks like the cold has no effect on you.’

Akira swallowed his saliva.

This man ain’t normal! He talks…. Wait, I can understand him completely fine… Can he understand me?

‘Uhh, yeah,’ Akira managed to speak out, ‘something along those lines.’

His gaze was still focused on him, but showed no confusion or apprehension, which Akira took as a sign of understanding. I feel like I know the language, but it's not Japanese. Hold up, now that I think about it, I could talk to Auren as well. And if I recall correctly, we were talking in english! That’s weird, I’ve never been all that good at English, because my father wanted me to learn it so bad, yet I can speak it fluently right now.

Fabien’s gaze swept over him, and now he certainly looked confused as his brows furrowed, making Akira break out in a cold sweat.

‘Those clothes,’ he said quietly, ‘I’m not familiar with them.’ He tilted his head and studied Akira from torso to toe.

‘They’re too clean,’ he murmured, talking to himself, ‘the threads are too even. No hand in Helgard can sew like that, no loom can make this fabric, not even nobles wear stuff this smooth.’ His gaze hardened, and his eyes pierced Akira’s. ‘It’s almost… As if it was not made by man, but by machine.’

Akira felt his heart skip a beat as Fabien raised an eyebrow at him. ‘M-machines? You have those here huh?’

Fabien didn’t answer, and instead looked at Akira's watch this time. ‘Interesting,’ He whispered to himself again.

The teen coughed loudly and stepped forward, ‘Dude, stop staring at him.’

Fabien raised a hand and the wind fell silent. Then it resumed, as if nothing had happened.

Akira took a step back, unsettled. But Fabien only smiled at him, as if laughing at him.

‘Where are you from?’ Fabien asked, seriousness having returned to his face.

‘I…’

‘I’m from the, uhm east?’ Akira said, only half-lying. To his surprise, Fabien nodded, as if he understood.

‘Let’s just go, Fabien,’ the kid tried getting his attention.

Fabien ignored him. Instead, he turned around and pointed in the direction where he had come from. ‘If you follow the road for an hour,’ He said, his voice having gained some kindness, ‘you’ll find that it leads to a village called Dega.’

‘Dega?’ Akira repeated. ‘A small settlement,’ Fabien responded, ‘Shelter, food and work can be found,’ he gave Akira another good look, ‘you look like you need all three.’

Right, thanks a lot. Akira responded in an imaginary scenario where he was brave enough to talk to the man.

‘It’s also a good place to stay on the low, keep from getting attention. It’s not close to any other settlements and the only people visiting this place are travelers and adventurers hoping to find treasure in The Great Sunbird Woods.’

‘Okay,’ Akira muttered.

Fabien nodded, then turned around, his coat fluttering behind him before gently wrapping around him. The teen jogged after him. ‘Seriously, you are SO weird, both of you are.’

‘Think what you want,’ Fabien told him without looking back.

‘Next time we go somewhere because you sensed something interesting, which could very well be dangerous, tell me beforehand so I can choose not to go.’

‘It wasn’t dangerous.’

‘How would you know?’ The boy asked incredulously.

‘Because,’ Fabien said calmly, ‘it’s hungry, exhausted and lost.’

The boy turned around to look at Akira. I’m right here you know… Akira thought.

‘I know,’ Fabien said as he raised his hand and slightly waved, never turning around.

The two continued down the road, trudging through the snow with ease, until Akira could see their silhouettes vanish behind a white hill. When they were out of sight, he let out a long exhale.

‘I guess that went well? I’m honestly not sure. I didn't even tell them my name.’ He turned around, looked toward the direction Fabien had pointed out, and began walking. 

‘To Dega.’