The sun was still high in the sky, and the cool winter breeze covered the entirety of the Hinterlands. Just up a hill overlooking the cluster of buildings, Aelrich sat on a rock that was protruding from the slope. He had an unusually gloomy gleam to his eyes, and his aura was downcast. Most avoided being around him during this time, no one knowing what had dampened his mood so much. Completely oblivious to the worried and questioning gazes set upon him, his thoughts ran amuck.

     I wish I had a toilet… He lamented. Of all the things he’d faced when coming to this world, the freezing winter day, the dirt built up from the previous Aelrich not bathing for weeks for the same reason, and many other things, the lack of a throne to lay waste upon and the sweet silk called “toilet paper” being nowhere to be found was among the top of the list. He was just now realizing in his lonesome that from now on, he would have to wipe his arse with leaves while exposing his delicate skin to the cold breath of winter as his groin retreated within himself.

     Not only that, due to the exceptionally low temperatures there was no stream he could bathe in lest he catch hypothermia. Along with this, there was no easily accessible water source nearby that he could draw from to pour on himself either. And even tooth brushes weren’t really a thing. The best he could do was snap a twig in half and use the whiskers of the inside to brush, flushing his mouth with his drinking water before spitting out what was removed. Point in case, hygiene was a hard necessity to satisfy this far up north, and this was nearly lethal to someone like Desmond, who was now a warlord stuck in the ever-frozen Hinterlands. The only solace he could find was that a part of him seemed to be used to it, and had some sort of tolerance, but that just made the whole situation much more sickening.

     “What’s gotten you so down Brother?” A voice lightly spoke, seemingly unsure whether it was wise to disturb Aelrich from his stupor.

     “I’m just… Anxious about tomorrow.” Aelrich said whatever first came to mind. It wasn’t this that entirely bothering him, but it was still a truth. Rather, it would be worse if he whined of how he felt uncomfortable relieving himself, something he should be quite used to by now.

     “The fight? You of all people…?” Halstein replied with a shocked expression.

     “Ha! Believe it or not, yes. In fact, it feels like I haven’t fought in a long while, if even once in my life, strange as it sounds.” Aelrich nearly burst in laughter at the irony of the conversation. Though he was sure that his instincts would kick in and he would suddenly fight like the ‘Chief’ he is, should the situation become dire enough, he still wasn’t willing to bet his life on it.

     “Would you care to spar then Brother?” A devious glint crossed Halstein’s eyes before going quickly falling back to concern.

     Aelrich naturally caught this change in expression, and his hair stood on end. He must be really looking forward to this! “Sure, I could use a little refresher.” As he said this, Aelrich stood to his feet.

***

  The two walked side by side under the watch of every man present as they went to the outskirts of the camp. Once they finally arrived, the two came to an understanding as they spread out, searching the area for a three foot and a one-and-a-half-foot stick. Once they found some branches to snap and procured said items, they swapped them, Aelrich now holding the one-and-a-half-foot stick while Halstein held the three foot one.

  The sizes represented the weapons they used. Most found it odd that Aelrich, the Chief of the tribe, would gift his family’s arming sword, meant to be wielded by the Chief, to his brother, while he in turn used a common hand-axe. To this pair however, it made perfect sense. The Aelrich of before was proficient at using his whole body, fighting with an entirely unorthodox style. He would use his free hand to grapple his opponent and hold them still while using his hand-axe to slash away at the now-grounded enemy. He also frequently employed the use of the rest of his body according to the situation, sometimes using his legs, sometimes his shoulders, knees and, on a rare occasion, he would even do a full body tackle or two.

  On the other hand was his brother, Halstein, who liked to take the fight ever so slowly. For his combat style, it was of great help to have a durable weapon such as his arming sword that was capable of parrying and wearing down his opponents. He used a shield and was a remarkably talented defensive fighter. Most often, he would only counter-attack, rarely taking the initiative unless an opportunity presented itself that was absolute. Considering the fighting style of the two brothers, they were polar-opposites, which made them uniquely compatible.

  After recalling this information, Aelrich smiled to himself. Before, he simply had no clue of how to fight, or even how he used to, but now he had a comprehensive blueprint of what and what not to do. Seeing his brother return the gesture, he took one step forward, his brother mirroring his move. One step after another accumulated until he was at a jog before he finally jumped forward in a grip-tackle.

  Halstein was one step ahead as he dodged to the side, swinging down his stick for a clean blow to Aelrich’s back. Ba! Before the rod could land, a shorter stick intercepted at a peculiar angle before deflecting the swipe altogether.

  Aelrich turned to meet his brother’s stance before throwing his left hand forward in a gripping motion while simultaneously sweeping to the right of his target from above, cutting off his escape.

  Caught by surprise, Halstein’s eyes darted around before he abruptly jumped forward, swinging his right foot down and tripping Aelrich with the counter-weight of his charge.

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  Before Aelrich knew what was happening, his face welcomed the earth as he took in a mouthful of dirt. “Blegh! Pu! Pu! Quikpu!” He opened his mouth and repeatedly spat with disgust. “Hahahahaaa!!” In the background, a mocking laughter resounded.

  “You bastard!” Aelrich smirked as he stood to his feet and finally succeeded in grappling his brother, throwing him to the ground. “Oh shit!” Halstein cried as he was caught off guard before taking several lashings to the arm and back.

     Before long, the two finally tired out. Aelrich got back to his feet while Halstein weakly followed, “You didn’t have to beat me so much!” Halstein whimpered while he feigned a grimace of pain on his face.

     “Using my own tactics against me and even humiliating me so, you’re lucky that’s all I did to you!” Aelrich shouted with a playfully forced anger. He was happy that he could fight, and fairly well at that. It seemed that he simply needed to think about what he wanted to do, and his body would follow suit, almost like muscle memory. Regardless, he was now confident in tomorrow’s battle.

     The two joked with each other and went a few more rounds, albeit entirely worn out along the way, before finally calling a rest.

***

     When they returned to the camp, they went their separate ways as it was now getting later in the afternoon. Around this time, all the warriors began consolidating the firewood they’d gathered the past few hours with enough to last them into the night. They then started to erect windshields of cloth, followed by igniting a large fire in front of Aelrich’s tent in the center of the camp, along with many smaller ones spread throughout.

     After around fifteen minutes of preparation, several men withdrew bundles of cloth from their bags. After unwrapping the cloth bundles, it was apparent they had brought along some freshly hunted rabbit that was frozen over from being left in the winter cold for an extended period of time. The various animals, ranging from rabbits to squirrels among others, were clearly gutted and cleaned to preserve the insides, while the animals themselves were left with their pelts still intact.

     As these few men began skinning their meals, several other groups of large men came out of the wilderness with baskets containing a few vegetables. There wasn’t much, but it was food nonetheless. As the fifty-some-odd men worked in unison, they resembled a machine made of several cogs grinding towards a common objective as they quickly finished dinner just before nightfall. However, after dinner was prepared and passed out to each man, the atmosphere shifted, becoming fraught with solemnity. What was an anticipation that filled the air before suddenly became complete silence. As Aelrich began to wonder what was happening, it began to dawn on him, but before he could sort his thoughts, every man began to line up in a row. At the front stood Asbjorn only several feet away.

     He took three steps forward, bowed, gripped his wooden spoon and scooped a generous portion of his meal before throwing it into the fire to the side. While Aelrich gave his utmost effort to maintain his composure, his mind was trembling with marvel as to what was happening. Before too long, the man grabbed a large bowel from his waist and presented it to Aelrich with a lowered head.

     In return, Aelrich accepted the bowl, yet held his head high. He didn’t quite know why he did this, it simply felt right. As he held the bowl in both his hands, Asbjorn took another generous scoop and dumped it in Aelrich’s bowl. “For the Ancestors. For your Strength.” After the big burly bear man finished speaking, up came Halstein, following the same process, excluding the large bowl. Followed by Arne. After fifty-some repetitions of the ceremony, all the men gathered around the large campfire, each of their eyes tightly shut, with only Aelrich looking about.

     Knowing what he should do next, he took his spoon and scooped the bowl that was as big as his chest, taking a whole fourth of the meal and throwing it piece by piece into the fire before taking a deep breath. “For the Ancestors.”

     Once he said this, all eyes opened and looked towards him in pause for his last move. As he scooped yet another spoonful, he bit down, chewing before entirely gulping down the mouthful of strange flavors that rather favored the bitter, tasteless side.

     Finally, seeing him eat his first bite, the pressure in the air dispelled as everyone went back to their own conversations.

***

  By the time the ceremony was done, the sky had already welcomed the two moons. As Aelrich looked to the sky, he found himself breathless. The first moon to touch upon the horizon was nearly blood red, the lower parts colored a shade of crimson. It was fascinating, beautiful, mysterious, and ominous beyond all belief all at the same moment. Strangely, unlike the moon of his previous life, this one was twice the size, and even more strange was the lunar cycle that it seemed to follow. Instead of a horizontal shift, this moon followed a vertical shift, meaning when the moon from earth was covered from top to bottom during some phases of the lunar cycle, this moon that most called Ces was covered from left to right.

  “Brother?” A tone of inquiry sounded out from a distance away. Aelrich had retreated to a small hill just beyond the tree line sometime ago to sort his thoughts, and many others had witnessed him do so. His younger brother had apparently come to check on him.

  “What do you need Halstein?” Aelrich continued to view the stars as his voice was carried by the wind in a soothing tone.

  “I’m planning to turn in soon. I just came to ask if you needed anything of me before I do so.” Halstein wasted no time in voicing why he’d come.

  Aelrich thought for some time. From what he’d remembered about Chief Ebinferr and the crimes committed by his people, Aelrich wouldn’t find it surprising if he tried something fishy throughout the night. And according to anything he’d ever read ever, people like Chief Ebinferr often took advantage of situations like this. Considering a few counter-measures, Aelrich finally came to a decision.

  “Yes, I have one thing,” He paused for a moment before continuing, “Take all the men and have them keep watch in shifts of two hours overnight. This will insure that everyone gets a good night’s rest. To decide on those who start the watch, have them draw lottery or something… It doesn’t matter, as long as there are ten people on watch at all times.”

  “Alright.” Halstein assented right away, “Is that all?”

  Aelrich said nothing, only nodding his head, his eyes not once breaking from the sky as he observed the second moon that was now rising from the horizon and revealing its splendor. As Halstein walked off, Aelrich couldn’t help but hold his breath. The second moon, of which most called Elon, shined with a luminescent blue and green ocean of waves that closely resembled a world of auroras. It was both beautiful and dignified, yet it emitted another strange feeling. One of a mother’s loving gaze as she overlooked her children. Elon seemed to embrace the world with its endless warmth.

  Before Aelrich knew, he’d fallen fast asleep on the hill, wrapped in this endless embrace.

***