SORA

We reached the nearest village around lunch time and Shae and Gambit went to question some of the villagers about the runestone and also about the creatures that have been plaguing Elvenowl. The villagers claimed that the runestone should still be hidden deep within the heart of the hub city but that nightmare creatures have tainted the town and most likely the area around the runestone.

The village that we stopped by was called Asura, one of the six villages that surround the hub town. The village itself reminded me of Isabella's village of mostly wooden buildings, aside from all the snow and accommodations for the cold weather. Despite that, Gambit told me that the hub town itself is quite different and is actually considered a popular destination spot, which made me excited to see it. Asura itself though is known for its hot springs, which sounded equally as nice. We didn't have time to stop by, but Gambit promised that we could stop on the way home.

The next village that we're supposed to come by is Glade, which is known for its frozen waterfalls and beautiful cliff-sides perfect for climbers. After Glade passes, we'll reach the hub town, which is labeled after Elvenowl itself.

We had lunch in Asura at a Chinese place before we continued on our journey to Glade.

"Man, I wish I had three more layers than this," Isabella shivers through chattering teeth.

"Everyone's cold. We'll be better once we reach Elvenowl," Akari says.

"I hope so," Isabella sighs. "It's beautiful up here but it's really cold."

"On the bright side, at least we haven't run into any creatures yet," Clea adds.

"That's true," Shae nods in agreement. "We'll need to come across them eventually though. We have to help these people."

"Yeah," Isabella breathes out, a frown and a somewhat far away look forming on her face. "It's terrible to have to watch people wither away to nothing. Nobody should ever have to go through that."

We continue traveling for about forty minutes until we reach Glade, which looks similar to Asura except for the fact that Glade hangs over a cliff-side and has more cliffs off to the left where the frozen waterfalls reside.

"Glade is a common area for ice fishing," Gambit says as we walk through the city. "It's the port town of Elvenowl. It's where letters travel back and forth, shipments come in and out, people come to see the waterfalls and they climb the cliffs, they worship and say prayers in sacred buildings, ice fish, and work on herbal remedies and potions. Most of the newer remedies and alchemy recipes from the North are learned here in Glade. For a small village, it's quite popular— almost as popular as Elvenowl itself."

"It looks like we might have to stop here for the night," Shae frowns as he looks up in the sky to see a snowstorm coming in the distance. "Normally, I'd say we could press on, but that doesn't look good at all."

"Shae's right," Gambit frowns as well as she raises a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes as she looks up in the sky. "There's a blizzard coming. We should find lodging and stay here for the night. We'll head out early in the morning for Elvenowl."

"Excuse me, did you say Elvenowl?" A passerby woman stops in her tracks, her hazel eyes focused on us and her dark brown hair tied into a messy bun to match her white and red kimono and white winter coat, a wooden bowl of groceries resting by her hip while a little brown haired boy with wide brown eyes hides behind her legs. "I'm afraid you can't go there."

"Oh, it's quite alright, Miss," Gambit smiles and holds up her hand to show her badge and ID that she pulled out from the pocket of her shorts. "We're Arias."

"That may be," the woman says, her eyes flickering between all of us before they land back on Gambit, "but the entire town has been on lock down for the past two weeks. Nobody's been allowed to enter, not even Arias."

"What?" Gambit frowns and lowers her hand. "On whose orders?"

"On Carmin Netherwoods's orders, Madame," the woman frowns and shifts from foot to foot.

The six of us exchange confused glances with each other before Gambit sighs.

"Alright, thank you," Gambit says and the woman nods before she heads off down the street with presumably her son. "Good for nothing piece of..."

Gambit grumbles and stalks off towards a wooden building in the distance that has a sign hanging above it with the words 'Inn' at the top.

"Why would Carmin send us out here on a goose chase?" Isabella frowns.

"I mean, he gave us the mission. That means he gave us permission, right?" I frown in thought.

"I don't know," Akari shakes her head, "but I don't like the look of this."

"We'll just have to follow Carmin's orders for the time being, I suppose," Shae sighs. "Even if that means disobeying them at the same time."

"Let's just follow Gambit for now," Clea says. "There's a storm coming and we shouldn't get caught in it."

"Well, at least we can all agree on one thing," Akari sighs before she walks off after Gambit, followed by the rest of us.

***

"I can't believe I didn't think about packing extra clothes," I grumble to myself as I stand in the middle of one of the rooms that Gambit rented out for us.

"Don't worry," Shae laughs and summons a suitcase in his right hand. "You can borrow some of mine."

"Being a virtue has its perks, I see," I joke and Shae grins as he places his suitcase down on the white and tan colored bed that has a nightstand to the right of it and another bed with the same colors on the opposite side of the nightstand, a white fur rug in the middle of the room and various wall paintings hanging up.

"I guess you could say that," Shae sighs after a few moments. "But it also has its downfalls."

"Hmm?" I hum.

"I just, sometimes I feel like people expect me to be perfect, you know?" Shae shrugs as he unpacks his suitcase. "And the sins get a bad reputation slapped on them automatically, which isn't necessarily true all of the time. It's hard, having to meet expectations that aren't realistic or having to try and be perfect all the time or to fight against stereotypes."

"Yeah, I noticed you have quite a following," I chuckle and Shae blushes slightly.

"I suppose...but I really don't see why," Shae frowns.

"Man, that's exactly why," I roll my eyes and Shae blinks.

"I beg your pardon?" Shae tilts his head to the side and pauses packing to glance over at me.

"You're kind, humble, smart, and protective. What kind of girl wouldn't dig that?" I shake my head and smirk. "And if you don't even see that about yourself, that just makes it ten times better because people love someone who unknowingly lights up a room. It's more genuine that way, anyway. Just make sure to keep confidence in mind too. You don't want to be over the top, but you've gotta know that you're pretty cool. At least, I think you are."

"Thanks, man," Shae laughs sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck.

"I'm gonna go grab some snacks from the kitchen. You want anything?" I ask as I head towards the door.

"Nah, I'm good. I'm gonna finish packing and take a shower. Thanks, though," Shae says and I nod.

"Alright, see you later then," I say as I head out of the room.

I walk to the right and go down a pair of wooden stairs in the inn that lead to the lobby where we checked in earlier and there's also an open fireplace and two red sofas for people to lounge. After descending the stairs, I take a left to walk straight through an archway and into the kitchen, which is mostly white and creme colored with some silver as well. Upon entering the kitchen, I spot Gambit sitting on one of the counters in a purple and black silk tank-top and black shorts similar to the ones she was wearing earlier, purple slippers on her feet and her long black hair billowing around her shoulders in waves as she raises a mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream on top to her lips, her purple eyes meeting mine.

"Hey," I offer and she nods quietly, her eyes still scanning my figure down.

I head towards the counter where a box of doughnuts rests and I open the lid to pull out a chocolate doughnut whenever Gambit speaks.

"Thank you," Gambit says and I glance over at her, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"For what?" I ask, my eyes flickering across her face in hopes of discerning the meaning behind her words.

"I know you're the one who helped Merrick," she says as she swings her legs back and forth once. "I don't know what you did, but thanks. He really needed that. On the outside, it isn't obvious to most people, but he's stopped drinking as much and he seems more serious, more collected than he has been in a long time. And I know you talked to Raciel, too. Things have been...better than they have in a while since you came. I'll take it as a good omen."

"I'm just being me, nothing special to it," I smile tiredly at her and pick up a doughnut.

"On the contrary," Gambit says as she jumps down from the counter, her mug still in her hands as her eyes meet mine once more, "I'd say you're quite special, Sora Aisawa."

"Hey, Gambit," I start as she goes to leave and she turns on her heel in the doorway to raise a brow at me. "Could I ask you something?"

"What is it?" She asks.

"I wanted to ask you about Alakara and Nightwalkers," I say and Gambit frowns.

"Alakara are dangerous creatures. They're giant cats that are all white with bright blue eyes. They have sabertooth fangs and sharp claws, both of which are poisonous with similar effects to the nightshade plant, and their tails resemble what devil's tails look like," Gambit explains. "Nightwalkers are actually creatures that take the forms of humans, but they move extremely slow. Despite this, they capture the greatest fears of those around them and bring them to life in hallucinations until their victims have no wills left. The only time they're able to move fast is when they use their wings that resemble a raven's wings to fly, which they keep hidden most of the time. In their true form, they'll look like a human made of dark matter."

"That's...disconcerting," I shudder, imagining coming across someone I care about only to realize that they're being impersonated by a deadly creature.

"Are you sure that's the only thing you wanted, Sora?" Gambit asks, her eyes studying my very soul.

"Yeah, I'm sure," I smile tiredly and Gambit frowns, seemingly unconvinced.

"Well, alright. Get a good night's rest then, Sora," Gambit says as she turns on her heel and leaves the kitchen.

I take a few minutes to eat my doughnut before I spot a coffee maker and I decide to make Akari a latte and pay her a visit, hoping she likes coffee. Although, I vaguely remember her having a coffee before at breakfast and I could've sworn it was a latte, so hopefully I'm not wrong.

After making the latte, I head to Akari's room, knowing she's rooming with Isabella, and knock on the door a few times. Isabella opens the door and she smiles upon seeing me, her eyes knowing. She gives me a thumbs up and slips passed me through the doorway, her long brown hair in a french braid and her white fuzzy bunny slippers that match her white tanktop and shorts silently walking along the floorboards. I glance around the room before my eyes land on Akari, who's lying on her bed in a red t-shirt and a pair of black shorts, her hair down as she reads a novel.

I clear my throat and Akari glances over at me before she smiles softly and places her book down on her lap. I smile in return and enter her room after shutting her door, her latte still in my right hand.

"You remembered," she smiles as I walk over and hand her the latte.

"Of course," I tease and sit down next to her as she raises the latte to her lips.

"So, um," she frowns slightly, her eyes conflicted as she slowly lowers her latte. "We need to talk, Sora."

"About what?" I frown, wondering what the more serious tone is about.

"Carmin forbade me from training you..." Akari starts softly, her eyes still focused on my face. "Instead, I have to train Clea. Apparently, Carmin's reasoning behind this is that Clea is...well, apparently Clea is my cousin."

"What?" My eyes widen. "I thought--"

"I thought that too," she swallows thickly and I notice the carefully hidden hurt in her blue eyes.

"Are you alright? I mean, that must be...that's..." I trail off, not knowing what to say.

"It's...different," Akari breathes out. "Finally having family after being without any for so long. I mean, the Arias became my family, but still, you know what I mean. And the fact that it's Clea of all people...I just don't know what to think of it. I suppose I should be grateful that I have a family member left, right? Don't get me wrong, I am. I just...something seems really wrong, either with Clea or with Carmin. I'm just...I'm worried about you, Sora."

"Hey," I smile and reach out to clasp her free hand in both of mine, making her breath hitch. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? I promise. You don't need to worry about me. Worry about yourself for a change, would you? You always put everyone else before yourself. If you always worry about everyone else, who worries about you? Answer is, I do. So, for me, take a break, alright? Focus on yourself for once. Clea may be bad news or she may be good news, but you won't know until you try, and it's definitely worth trying."

"Thanks, Sora," Akari smiles back. "What would I do without you?"

"I don't know," I grin as I stand up from the bed and Akari rolls her eyes. "Alright, well, I'll see you later. Get a good night's rest, alright? I'll be waiting for you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Sora," Akari smiles warmly and I smile back before I leave the room with a small wave.