“Somewhere in this direction…” a soft voice spoke. The voice belonged to an isolated woman, currently scouring a small map. Her delicate hands trailed the map as if simulating herself within it.

    “Potential shortcut through the forest,” she said to herself. Each word spoken was gentle—almost like snow. For each breath she took, there was an enticing trail of frost following along its wake. She stood taller than the average woman, but that wasn’t necessarily her defining point; in fact, it was far from it. For one—she possessed unnaturally pale skin.

    Concluding her decision, the unnaturally pale woman began embarking on an insignificant journey through the forest. Although insignificant in the sense that it wasn’t anything noteworthy, it would save the pale woman some time: an opportunity she was more than willing to grasp.

    For each step she took, the grass only became cooler, succumbing to the strange aura of frost emanating from her body. Although alone with no companions, the woman was level-headed and didn’t appear rushed at all; in fact, she strided forth in a manner reminiscent of seasoned travelers.

    With each exhalation, more frost emerged, permeating the air with a frosty-but-gentle breeze. The forest was thick, providing newcomers with solace in the form of shade; although, there was little difference for the frosty woman. Incidentally, her hair was also reminiscent of frost, although it didn’t really mean much. Really—it didn’t mean much.

    After some more walking, there came the obstacle of a wildly tangled barrier of foliage, sticks, and branches—all of which hindered her path forward. It was a small ordeal: she’s ran into such situations plenty often. In mere moments, the cluster of obstacles shifted colors, transitioning into white. They froze into statues of untainted ice. The shockwave of what coincidentally appeared to be frost was sent forth in a calm flurry, freezing all in its path. This was all achieved through the use of her frosty breath. Like extra-fragile pieces of raw spaghetti sticks, the frozen branches and foliage disassembled at her touch, and the frosty woman was on her way just like that.

    For those who’ve yet to grasp it—all those frosty descriptions weren’t entirely coincidental!

    Currently, she was draped in an elegant apparel colored a frosty light blue, almost as if forged from the very essence of winter itself; it had several other intricate indents of color, all of which belonged to the “cool” side of the color wheel—predominantly blue. Similarly, her skin wasn’t simply pale—it was pale beyond natural comparison, matching only that of the purest soft snow; it as if she recently awoke from a deep, frozen sleep. Complimenting everything else, her waist-length hair was pristine; an appealing site of beauty bathed in the most gentle tone of frosty white, dazzled with a slight tinge of blue. Finishing it up, the two mesmerizing eyes embedded on her alluring exterior were yellow—a radiantly enticing yellow, which greatly contrasted with her ghostly pale exterior, but did little to take away from her overall appearance.

    It perhaps might’ve been strange to witness someone clad in such snug attire during the heat of day, but one might admit that it matched her well. The single robe she wore was sashed at the waist, reaching down to her ankles. In an elegant manner, her sleeves extended downwards superfluously beyond the actual length of her arm. Indeed, the apparel was rather exotic—but who’d deny the elegance?

    The frosty woman stopped, peering ahead in slight displeasure. “River’s too long to hop…” she calmly noted to herself. More frost parted from her lips.

    Almost as if on cue, she continued forth again, creeping closer to the river until finally pausing. It took only a brief moment’s time until an encompassing spherical aura of ice formed from where she stood. Having summoned it, the aura resembled a mini-blizzard, swirling around her in an entrancing dance of ice and snow. She soon allowed herself to walk forward slowly with leisure, ignoring the coursing river beneath her feet.

    No longer was each step only an effort to cool down some grass, for as of using the technique, it was now able to freeze over the water completely as she walked on!

    Truthfully—she didn’t enjoy resorting to mid-tier magic in such a manner. Back then, she had used ice magic of a lower tier, but it was simply to break through an obstacle made of leaves and sticks. By freezing up the river’s path, she certainly didn’t feel as if she was going green for the environment, nor did she think any environmentalists would approve of her actions.  

    She was on the other side now, stepping once more on the lively green grass of the earth. Little—if any—water was currently passing through the newly formed sheet of ice in the middle of the river. The ice itself was thick, but it wasn’t overly surprising considering fourth tier magic’s involvement.

    Of course, she wasn’t going to let her guilty conscience linger. Out of tradition, she’d break the ice afterwards to rejuvenate the river. Not withdrawing from that tradition, she turned around, preparing to undo the effects of her spell; that is, if she wasn’t flabbergasted by what she saw.

    It was slow—almost like a feather gracefully gliding amongst the gentle breeze of the wind. Such an analogy would’ve been perfect, but if only in different context; for, of all things, the subject wasn’t a feather—and it certainly wasn’t graceful.

    It was a body. Seamlessly flowing across the river in all its disglory was—of all things—a body. Thunk, it went as it made contact with the unbroken ice. Bright, golden eyes stared widely at the spectacle, and soon the woman moved to disassemble the ice. But first—

    “...Surprisingly heavy,” she noted. Before, a list of priorities had flashed into her mind, and she settled on them. Firstly—work on putting strength towards retrieving the body, then drag it back to land. Secondly—destroy the ice, of course.

    There was a pulse—the body was still alive. Of course, no one knew exactly how long that’d last: the river’s temperature was nearly freezing due to yours truly, and it was unknown as to how long the body was left afloat. Soon afterwards, she shattered the blockade of ice, and proceeded to tend to the body.

    “Seems I can’t just leave them alone this time,” she said to herself. Her voice was lackluster compared to how she usual spoke—it was missing her usual impassive tone as she realized the situation.

    As a matter of fact—this wasn’t the first time she had encountered bodies in the wild. For each encounter, there was the usual routine of tending to the person’s wounds and giving them directions to a safer place. Most of them were uneventful, but there were some rare cases where it had backfired. So what if they were actually injured bad guys? What if they were faking it? What if they were bandits? What if they were wounded for having attempted something with malicious intent? It didn’t matter, for the woman’s logic followed something simple—anyone inexperienced or weak enough to fall prey to the wild or highwaymen couldn’t possibly pose such a large threat to herself. There was also something else.

    “...I’ll hear your story once you wake up, then,” she said.

    With some minor trouble, the wintry woman slung the taller, limp body over her shoulders like a worn-down sack of potatoes, and treaded off in search of a clearing. From there, the construction of fire should be an easy ordeal once the task of acquiring firewood was fulfilled. Speaking of heat, she wondered—it probably wasn’t the best idea moving forward like this: after all, her body was naturally frosty, and the rescuee was making direct contact with it. There was no choice, so it had to be done. It shouldn't be too bad, hopefully...

    Time after time, event after event, and time had flew by. What was originally a sun-drenched day was now a cool orange evening with the sun setting low against the horizon. There, in the small clearing of a forest, lied two bodies: one awake, and one laid down slump on the ground. Both were positioned near an open fire, with the two parties opposite to one another. Truthfully, setting up the firewood took longer than expected—and not for the reasons one would think. Up until now, the frosty woman had neglected paying too much attention to the actual person she was rescuing, and simply ventured off in search of firewood, coming back to the body afterwards. When she returned, curiosity had overrode her.

    The original plan was to set fire to the wood gathered; that is, if she wasn’t flabbergasted by what she saw. Clearing away some of the long black tendrils of hair from the body’s face—she was rather impressed. If it wasn’t for some grime here and there, the person’s pale skin would’ve otherwise been unblemished—smooth to the touch, like the frosty woman’s own. Long, graceful lashes embellished their way along what appeared to be calm, but alluring eyes. Even from these simple features shown through an unkempt state, the frosty woman had to admit—she was rather eye-catching.

    Kept next to the conscious woman’s side was a basketful of unassorted wild fruits and berries, specifically chosen with care so as to be edible (and at least somewhat fulfilling). For all of that food, however—it was only for herself. It was strange seeing such large servings for a single woman, but if one considers it—the frosty woman exhibited only features of uniquity; she’s permanently frosty, after all! With that said, the cover of night was quickly closing in on the two women; it was time to cease all action and wait for the break of day to rise upon the horizon once more.

    For most, the emergence of night was an opportunity to sleep it all away. For the chilly woman, however—it was boring. While an extremely beneficial trait to inherit, the fact that she only required two hours of sleep per day had always left her with little to do during the night’s dormant slumber. On the contrary, she felt somewhat special in the sense that she’s been able to witness events and phenomenons only displayed during the peaceful, dark canvas of night; plus, the stars were always an enchanting sight to behold! At times like this, she would either lay down and rest, or travel on if she didn’t feel that progress was substantial. Right now, she had no choice in the matter.

    The fire had burned out. What followed afterwards was the shuffling of a certain frosty woman positioning herself to lie down on a newly-formed roll of blanket, without any other blankets covering herself. Although the opposite woman was cocooned in a cozy sleeping bag, there was no need for someone as frosty as herself to be comforted by simple blankets, although they did feel nice to the touch.

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    Presently, the frosty woman was laying low—resting, if she’d say so herself. During times like these, a plethora of various things would come to her mind, creating boring—but sometimes interesting—distractions to take away some of the time. Speaking of time, today was an interesting day. What would the woman have to say once she wakes up? How did she end up in her situation? Where was she from? What was she trying to accomplish? All this was for an interesting story the frosty woman was simply curious about, and then she’d guide her to a nearby city or town and continue on with her travels, like usual.

    About two years ago, she stumbled upon an inanimate body while trodding through an arid desert. There, she provided the man with sufficient supplies including lighter white garments to protect from the sun’s rays, and plenty of water. In the end, the man was actually a no-name wanted criminal who barely escaped arrest and attempted to flee to another country through the desert. Given the size of the desert, it would’ve been an uncomplicated ordeal to partake if one was properly geared for it; ultimately, however, the man wasn’t geared, and so he suffered the consequences. He was hostile and malign, but the man was weak and foolish for having been so incompetent as a criminal to be chased through the desert by the authorities, and for thinking it was a decent idea to pass through such an unfriendly wasteland without the means to survive it. In the end—the man lost an arm to frostbite for attempting something truly foolish.

    There was also another time within the past year when, on an airy night like this, an unexpected little girl approached her with teary eyes. At the time, the woman was walking through the dimly-lighted streets of the city shortly after having been done with restocking her supplies for travel. The little girl was hard to comprehend through her sobbing, but the woman patiently played out the situation with care. The little girl was was lost; far too young to remember anything complicated like addresses, and within such a large city, finding her parents would prove to be wearisome. The frosty woman was naturally alluring, and also gave off a dependable cool-headed aura; most likely, the little girl was too scared to approach anyone until someone as gentle in appearance showed up. Hand in hand, the little girl was guided the entire way through with the wintry woman questioning anyone she could. Luckily, the enforcement didn’t have to be called for a search initiation as the two of them eventually found their goal. She remembered the tinge of relief and indescribable humanity in her frozen heart as she witnessed the reunion of the family—of daughter, mother, and father, all hugging each other in a tight embrace. That night, she felt somewhat moderately good about herself for once. Little did the frosty woman know, however, that there was another reason the little girl approached her—she reminded her of her mother.

    This continued on for a while, and before she knew it, the night was nearly over as the slightest streaks of blue revealed itself upon the edge of the horizon. Phlegmatic bright yellow eyes moved towards the scene of a figure enclosed in a sleeping bag across from the burnt ashes of the firewood.: not much to worry there. Perhaps she had stayed up longer than she had intended to, somehow delving deeper into her trance than usual. It’d be best to sleep for now. And so she slept.

    Less than two hours later, and the sun was almost fully exposed amidst the vast skies of morning. One pair of eyelids freed themselves from slumber, and so one pair of bright yellow eyes revealed themselves to the newly lighted world. It was usually like this—waking up peacefully and ungroggy as naturally as blinking. She had many unique characteristics, and to her fullest enjoyment, she didn’t need to take showers often due to the fact that she naturally produced less waste, chiefly sweat. Of course, there were some downsides to being what she was; although, such things couldn’t demean her in any way, for she wouldn’t let them.

    It was strange. Even after waking, she’d still preserve some of her wandering thoughts from the hours before. Amidst these thoughts, she remembered that she had brought company along with her; the same company who delayed her journey to instead spend the night in the middle of the forest. As for that company—they were gone.

    Bright yellow eyes expanded wide as the frosty woman darted her eyes around to search for the missing woman. The sleeping bag was currently empty, and even more strange was the fact that her food basket was missing. This was mysterious indeed. If she was planning to ditch her rescuer like that, why bother with the empty basket? What condition was she in to be able to move like that already? For such a flabbergasting turn of events, she didn’t actually know where to go from here. Just as she was thinking that—

    “Yo, frost lady,” a voice spoke. The voice most certainly belonged to a woman, but nonetheless sounded masculine. It was deep; quite deep, and—to the frosty woman’s surprise—carefree.

    There was an immediate response. Slightly shaken, the wintry woman gasped briefly, her eyes expanding all the wider as she backed away from the source, turning around to meet the voice’s owner in a grand surprise.

    Surprisingly, the newly emerged woman was also surprised. Vibrant, deep sanguine eyes stared back and opened in astonishment.

    “Eh? Did I scare her?” she muttered quietly to herself.

    “W-what are you doing?!” the frosty woman exclaimed. She instinctively brought her long sleeves up to her mouth, covering her soft, cold lips with the smooth, silky fabric. Truly, what a preposterous woman! After having saved her from the verge of death, only confusion and an unexpected wake-up call was received in return!

    “What am I doing? Now that I think about it…” She trailed off. There seemed to be a moment of focused thought as she pondered the question, but the thought was quickly dispersed as the next question came through in a split-second.

    “W-what were you doing while I was asleep?”

    “Oh—I went fishing,” she answered.

    Casual. A response so casual, it’d make one question her state of being. So many questions to ask, and many more things to figure out—yet so little basis as to where to even start! Firstly, there came the issue of how she was able to move around in the first place, not even considering the fact that she spoke as if last night’s near-death experience had never occurred. Secondly, there was the part about fishing.

    “F-Fishing?” she began. “But you…how are you… feeling?” she found herself asking slowly. She had regained her cool, no longer overly surprised by the woman’s presence. If anything—it was the least she could do after taking care of her to ask about her well-being; although, an explanation from the woman would be a satisfactory reward in return.

    “Heh? So you really did stand watch all night and morning for me,” she said. “I don’t feel any different, except…”

    Composure really seemed to be her strong point as far as the frosty woman could presume, followed by slipshod displays of breeziness which rivaled the chilly woman’s own imperturbable persona. Truly—if she were anyone else, she’d most certainly never bring up the topic of fish immediately following her recovery from near death.

    “...I have all these fish, but there’s no fire,” she finished.

    Up until now, the snowy woman had thought she could preserve her endeavor towards remaining calm and collected; that is, if she wasn’t flabbergasted by what she saw. There, upon the slightly taller woman’s hand, was a familiar-looking basket, but no longer was it empty! Instead, there were piles upon piles of what was most certainly—fish!

    “I don’t… understand,” she said, eyes wide in amazement. “Why take the leisure time in catching… fish?”

    “Oh, it’s because I was hungry,” she said, breaking into a smile. “You didn’t seem to have anything on you to eat, so I went and caught something for us.”

    Again—her naturally casual demeanor was almost too down-to-earth. The frosty woman caught the other woman’s smile, and she observed her. Matching her deep voice, the woman’s stature was slightly taller than the frosty woman’s own, of which the latter happened to be taller than average. And then there were the eyes—filled adequately to the brim with sharpness and power; although, the frosty woman found it arguable that it made her looked lazy. Bright yellow eyes found themselves becoming accustomed woman’s character. Usually, people like her brought trouble along with them...

    “Caught something? There’s more than plenty, though; excessive, if I’d so add,” she said. “Without any tools either… I suppose you must’ve used magic, then.”

    For self-explanatory reasons, ice magic remained extremely inefficient for tasks such as fishing: the water would freeze over, leaving the prey stuck in chunky blocks of ice. It also didn’t help that fish were cold-blooded, rendering it futile to slow them down through the ways of the cold. There was fire magic, of course, but it didn’t leave any desirable aftertastes. Interestingly, there were some slight scorch marks on the fish, which only served to increase the snowy woman’s curiosity. But wait—even more interestingly, the other woman had said she went and caught something for us. Were they this well-acquainted already? Such a question raced through the frosty woman’s head, but with the way the other woman was acting, she might as well be convinced that they were.

    Footsteps paved the grass, making each strand of greenery all the more frosty as they approached the woman. “Hey,” she began softly. “are you... really feeling perfectly fine?”

    Bright yellow eyes peered at the opposing woman’s own crimson ones. Her superfluously lengthy sleeves remained on her brisk lips, blocking out any frosty breath that’d otherwise cause others discomfort. After asking, the frosty woman realized something—

    “Oh, I forgot,” she said. Shuffling, she moved slightly closer to the woman, staring into her eyes. “You can call me Alice—I’m the one who took you in. What’s your name?”