"Hey, get up. Hey... wake up!" A tall and slender boy spoke in an overly authoritative tone through lengthy, ice-laced hair. It was a wonder that the boy could even see through his long mane that left no corner of his eyes unveiled.
"Stop shaking her so roughly, Arton! Are you trying to help her or make sure she's dead?" Another boy with spiky hair shouted at the first.
"Uhh, I-I think we should just wait for Tetsu to get back here with an elder, guys. S-she could be dangerous..." Spoke a third boy that cowered far behind where they both kneeled.
"Rafal... don't you ever get tired of being such a wuss?" The spiky haired boy turned to question him.
"S-shut up Roan. Elder Souan says that sometimes cowardice is just cleverness in disguise." Rafal said as his face contorted to one of displeasure.
"Well if the village elders were all as 'clever' as you Rafal, we'd all be living as slaves to the forest boars just so we don't incur their wrath." Roan joked.
"Ugh" The girl awoke to a throbbing pain in her head as she forced open her tired eyes. Finding herself awaken once more in a pit of snow she laughed aloud in a self-deprecating tone.
"L-Look guys, I-I told you she was dangerous. She's laughing like a d-demon would." Rafal said as he slowly retreated away from the other two, pointing indicatively towards the girl.
"Man, calm down. She probably was just laughing at my awesome joke." Roan said with a somewhat shaky voice as he looked suspiciously down at the laughing stranger.
"Or maybe she just saw your face when she woke up. Actually no, if that was the case she'd be screaming now, not laughing." Arton said to Roan as he himself laughed at his own cruel joke.
"S-shut up." Roan said in a very similar manner to his cowardly brother as he began to run his fingers over his face. 'Am I really that ugly?'. His self-examination was interrupted, however, as the stranger lying down in the sharp and uneven snow next to him rose lifted up her torso to look up at him, then spoke.
"Where am I, kid?" The girl's coarse voice resounded harmoniously in the cold mountain air. Now getting a better look at her face, Roan noticed that the girl sitting so elegantly in the snow was not just some girl, but rather must have been a princess. Her flawless clear skin shone from freshly melted snow as her clear, golden eyes struck a piercing gaze into his own. Roan could do nothing but freeze up and gawk at her as she looked at him expectantly for an answer to her question.
[https://i.ibb.co/m4pmg0M/Elvi-First-Look-Gold-Eyes.jpg]
"Aw, uh..." he struggled with his words for a few moments before turning away from her, his face flushing red.
'Huh?' the girl looked confoundedly at the strangely acting boy in front of her as he turned away his gaze. 'Is there something wrong with me?' she wondered before feeling around her face and looking her body up and down once again, finding nothing wrong. 'OH SHIT.' the girl's face lit up with an extreme shock as she recalled the events which had transpired just before her awaking here. Quickly, she shot up to her feet to examine her now surely mangled body after that monstrous fall from the mountaintop.
"UAHH" Rafal was immediately sent fleeing backwards with a jump as the stranger in front of him suddenly shot to her feet. Arton and Roan simultaneously took a step backwards at the stranger's abrupt actions but soon decided against fleeing in terror as quickly as their cowardly counterpart.
Nearly as quickly as she rose, the girl fell sideways into the cliff face. Just barely raising her arm up far enough to prevent her face from smashing against the frozen surface. "Ach..." The girl audibly groaned in discomfort as she felt her blood slowly sift back into her legs. 'Maybe suddenly jumping to your feet after laying in the snow for god knows how long isn't the best idea' The girl criticized her rash actions internally.
Taking the moment she had while still standing to inspect herself, she noticed that apart from a few tears and slits on her leggings and boots, there was hardly a scratch on her. The revelation shocked her as she took a moment to recall her previously treacherous situation. '"To think that after all that..." The girl struggled to explain her situation as she rested more of her weight into her right hand that rested firmly on the cliff-face. "Right! My hand!" The girl pulled her head upward to see her perfectly whole hand that rested strong against the cliff-face. Forget a missing finger or two, there was not so much as a gash on the outstretched hand in front of her. This only served to further confuse her as she tried to drum up an explanation of this phenomenon in her mind.
Could it have all been fake? Was she perhaps dreaming? 'No, in the first place where the hell even was, she?'
"Hey, are you okay?" Arton suddenly asked the stranger, to both Roan as well as his own surprise. Despite openly mocking his cowardice, they both knew that Rafal was right in that it was best to wait for Tetsu and the village elder before engaging with the stranger themselves.
The girl turned to face Arton and Roan, the former of which looked fearlessly back into her eyes. By the short untrimmed hairs on their faces, they must've been around 16 years each, the kind of teenagers you'd see making a scene at the mall or playing around at a skatepark. Except for the way that they were dressed of course. They each wore thick and bristly fur jackets which would be expected of anyone living in this arctic environment. Underneath their jackets were equally uneven leather tunics and leggings that seemed to have also been stuffed haphazardly with fur for the purpose of keeping warm. Roan seemed to have noticed her scrutinizing eyes as he stiffened up even more at her gaze.
"You guys... who are- ... No, before that. Did you see anything else fall down here with me? Some kind of large creature, it was dark blue and had a trunk like an elephant." The girl asked Arton without answering his question.
"Elephant? I don't know what that is. But if it's big and blue I'm guessing you must be talking about a troll. And yeah, I'm pretty sure I did see something like that sticking out of the snow over there. Arton answered back in a lax tone, pointing out towards a large mound in the snow a little way north of where the girl had fallen.
"YOU SAW A WHAT!?" Roan shrieked out in audible fear at the words of the two conversing in front of him.
"Thank you." The girl responded with an awkward smile as her face was still frozen nearly stiff. She looked intently at the mound that the long-haired boy had just pointed out, taking a deep breath before lifting up one leg and planting it firmly in the snow ahead, making her way slowly towards the mound while keeping one hand on the cliff-face to support herself. She reached the suspicious pile of snow in a few short moments, quickly falling to her knees before beginning to shovel away the snow with her bare hands.
Arton followed behind the girl before asking "You want some help? Doesn't seem like you'll find what's under that anytime soon at the rate you'll be going." The boy spoke again as if talking to an old friend rather than a complete stranger.
The girl paused for a second as if contemplating before looking back up at the boy. "If you wouldn't mind." The girl responded briefly before returning to her task.
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"Sure." Arton responded as he began to dig away at the snow with the girl one handful at a time.
"..." Roan stared blankly Arton and the girl as they began slowly excavating the snow. "HOOOLLD ON A MINUTE" He shouted loudly, making his way towards Arton.
Crouching down beside the long-haired boy, Roan began to whisper loudly in his ear. "Hey random stranger! Are you okay? No answer? Alright. Oh, you want help digging up a troll? And oh, you won't even bother explaining who the hell you are how you survived falling off a cliff, and why the hell you want to dig up A GODDAMN TROLL? NO PROBLEM!" Roan spoke with unbridled sarcasm as he berated Arton for his direct and blunt actions. At the same time, he snuck glances at the still digging girl ensuring he wasn't speaking loud enough for her to catch wind of his words.
"Does that make any goddamn sense Arton!? What the hell are you doing!?" Roan continued his whisper-shouting.
"Calm down Roan." Arton responded in a suddenly serious tone. "Did you not see her face just now? I doubt there's much she'd be willing to discuss before we dig this thing up."
Roan stared Arton down as he contemplated on his words. Arton was a very sarcastic and taunting person by nature, but it was always in times like this when he became very blunt that he usually was right about whatever it was he was saying. Roan looked back towards the girl who despite her clearly impaired movement was now single-mindedly digging away at the snow beneath them.
"And, either way, she doesn't seem like she wants to do us any harm. Neither will this thing down here if the fact that it hasn't gotten up to kill us yet remains true." Arton added on as Roan continued to study the stranger.
*PAAT* Suddenly, Roan felt a sharp sting on the back of his neck. He turned swiftly to face the culprit that kneeled down in the snow next to him. "What the hell, Arton!?"
"Quit staring at her and help us dig this up, are you stupid? You look like a complete pervert." Arton responded, making sure to speak loud enough for the girl to hear his words.
Roan's face immediately flushed red with embarrassment and shame at Arton's words. "Shut the hell up idiot! I wasn't-" Roan struggled to find the words to exonerate himself of Arton's entirely truthful allegations.
"Whatever! You want me to dig? I'll dig. And much faster than you in fact you damn mosshead." Roan shot back as he got his knees to help the two excavate the pile of snow below.
Arton smirked wordlessly with his head still facing down at the snow, a small chuckle escaping his lips.
"What was that?" Roan asked in an offended tone, lifting his head to look at Arton.
"Wow, are you still looking for an excuse to raise your head and stare at her? Sometimes enough is enough man. You're even making me uncomfortable now." Arton responded in a fake disgusted tone.
Roan flinched with at his words. "You..." The boy took a second to think before looking back down and continuing to dig up the snow below, deciding that he had fallen too far behind in this verbal battle to keep going on.
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"Rafal! What's going on here? Are you all alright?" A little way down the path leading up to where the three others were digging at the snow, a man wearing an intricately complicated warbonnet upon a regular fur-stuffed winter cap walked hurriedly towards the boy fleeing the scene in a terrible panic. Beside him stood a man nearly twice his size that stared out at the boy with a piercing gaze from his dull grey eyes.
"V-Village Chief!" Rafal shouted in surprise as he hurriedly bowed his torso in what seemed like both respect and fear.
"Easy boy, there's no need for such things. I don't remember doing anything so great to garner such respect. Just tell me where Roan and Arton are." The Village Chief spoke in a soft tone with a warm smile spread on his face. Such a quick and unnatural change from his earlier alarmed state was worthy of a politician that had lived his whole life through lies. But it didn't seem like the boy picked up on any such thing. As he looked up in respect and admiration to the Village Elder.
"Y-Yes sir! They're right over there." Rafal said as he pointed far behind him towards the two boys and a stranger that sat in the snow between them.
"Roan! Arton!" The two boys quickly stood up and ran over towards the Village Chief as he called their names, lining up in front of him. The Village Chief sighed heavily in relief at the sight of them alive and healthy. "So, what happened exactly?" The Village Chief asked again, now much calmer.
"T-There's a demon! It d-disguised itself as a girl though..." Rafal quickly spoke up and pointed towards the strange girl who continued to dig away at the snow beneath her.
"Stop spewing nonsense Rafal!" Roan shouted again at his brother with thinly veiled anger in respect for the Village Chief in front of him. "We found her lying by Ice marrow's Drop Village Chief." Roan spoke to the Chief with his hands twitching at his sides. "S-s-she's too pretty to be a demon." He spoke again but in a much more hushed voice.
"What was that?" The Village Chief asked Roan, knitting his eyebrows in confusion and bringing his ear closer to him.
"A-Anyways! There's no way she's a demon. She just fell from up there, so she probably hit her head or something!" Roan said, pointing up at the cliff that stood nearly 200 feet above the ground they were standing on.
"From there?" For the first time the tall, grey-eyed man spoke, sporting an incredulous tone as he raised his eyebrows, pointing out the absurdity of Roan suggestion.
"Yes, from up there! Don't get all sarcastic just because you're tall Tetsu, I'm still older than you, where's your respect for your elders?!" Roan shouted back at Tetsu's remark.
'That little chibi is older than that giant?' The girl thought in disbelief at the prospect as she listened in to the arguing tribesmen in front of her. She had many questions on my mind at the moment: 'Where the hell am I? What happened to my body? Who the hell are these people in front of me?' Only the last of which could be answered right now. But there was no benefit to lose herself in what she could not answer so she decided to just focus on what was in front of her. Digging away at the last remnants of the snow that began to reveal a familiar scaly, blue skin. One that was much paler than the last time she had seen it.
Freezing for a second, she took no more than a moment to process the death of her ex-predator. A wave of relief spread over her body as she began to turn away to focus on the other situation developing just beside her for a while now. With the knowledge that the damn thing was dead and gone, she finally felt free to turn her attention to what really mattered right now. Finding out what the hell was going on.
"Um... hello?" The girl spoke in a voice so small and broken she questioned herself as to whether they'd understand what she was saying or not. It seemed as though her wanton focus on digging up her deceased enemy sapped her of more strength than she had time to notice. As she walked forward with my question, the body she was still unaccustomed to walked jaggedly and imbalanced. It wasn't long before she ended up falling ungracefully face-first into the snow, tripping on her own feet. The feeling of being buried in it was shamefully familiar.
"You fools! Do you not see how much she's struggling? Go help the poor girl!" Seeing the pitiable sight of that young woman speaking in such a frail voice before falling over struck a heavy sense of guilt into the hearts of the boys and Village Chief who spoke leisurely beside her for so long.
His commanding statement immediately sent the four boys running over to her side, however the extra three were unneeded it seemed, as the large grey-eyed boy lifted her simply with one arm before whipping her over his shoulder like a meat sack before running back towards the Village Chief.
"N-no.. you don't have to..." Was all that came out of the young woman's mouth as she hung over Tetsu's shoulder like a bag of potatoes.
"Easy child, there's no need for such modesty! Let me and these young n's here take you back to our village, out of harm's way, for now." The Village Chief spoke to her in another warm voice. But this time with much more sincerity. He beckoned towards the other three boys who stood with mouths agape at Tetsu's coarse handling of the girl.
"Come on then, we don't have much time before nightfall. Back to the village, you three!" The village chief ordered.
It was just moments ago that the girl was violently pulled from her limbs and swung around like a rope before landing chest first on a steeled shoulder, knocking all the wind out of her. As she lay there, nearly unconscious, she begged the feather-hatted man in front of her to let her go but was met with a beaming smile and generous response as if the man was doing her a favor. 'You're the ones harming me right now dumbass!' She shouted in my mind, struggling to get loose from the boy named Tetsu's arms. But his grip only tightened on her back at her resistance, causing her even more pain.
"oogh" She groaned out in pain as she relented to the tribesman's determination to take her away. "Poor child, you must have been left out here for quite a while.. Hurry up boys! We have to get her back to the village quickly!" The Village Chief's words were like a Judge's sentence to her as the pace of the group quickened and her face contorted in pain at the increased repetition of shoulder strikes to her stomach...
'God, please let their village be close.' She prayed; hands raised to the sky in her mind. Her prayers, however, were left undelivered as the stomach blows persisted for another hour before the group finally reached their destination.