FSE

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What Trygrr talked about with the snowstorms of Sofreze, he must've forgotten about the other severities.

He storied about snowstorms that would obscure the majority of their vision, not of those that would obscure all of it.

And Isamu was glad he's having a cloak on him, not used to the cold of Sofreze. Trygrr, true to his own words, weathered the snowstorm without so much as a shiver. Of course, he would wipe a snowflake out of one of his eyes every now and then, but he was otherwise disinterested in the storm around him.

But Fidel was the worst out of all of them.

The ever-present cold made him lethargic, therefore slowing them all down. And the snowstorm made it even worse. And they wasted the last of their firewood just three nights ago because they thought that they would make it to a town within a day, the prediction meaning that they would arrive in a town two days ago.

Isamu made his nodachi a makeshift walking stick once more. Partially to help him, but more to help him keep Fidel walking, his other paw keeping the cloak he wore together to stay warm.

They came to a split in the road, where Trygrr knelt down to look at the stone runes placed into the ground before him, swiping off the fresh snow so he could get a better look. An action that Isamu thought a fruitless task, but was proven wrong. He stood back up and went down the path to the left. Isamu and Fidel followed him, not sure where they were being led.

"You know when we are going to reach a town before Fidel freezes to death?!" Isamu yelled over the roar of the snowstorm.

"Within five minutes down this path at this pace!" Trygrr yelled back, still unfazed by the storm.

"Fidel may not make five minutes!" Isamu yelled, keeping an unhealthily shivering Fidel moving, although the tortoise was slowly becoming more of a weight than anything else.

"And if he slows down even more, all three of us will freeze! And I will be the last to do so!"

They trudged through the snowstorm for what seemed to the cougar and tortoise to be hours. But, thanks to Trygrr's directions, they made it to a town. No walls, but the guards here stood fast against the snowstorm. One guard glared at them as they trudged past, seemingly knowing what they are despite the sight-obscuring snowstorm.

Trygrr quickly guided them to a building, which both cougar and tortoise were wishing under stars and the like was a warm place. When they got through the door, Trygrr snuck in after them and closed the door to the cold. Isamu quickly guided the tortoise, but at this point it was more like dragging him, to one of the three fires that burnt within the building. Both of them were extremely glad for the fire.

Isamu turned to where Trygrr was, seeing the wolf talking to who must be the owner of this property, which is most likely a tavern of some kind. He could see an axe sitting on the top of the bar, which the owner was glancing at every few seconds. And either Trygrr didn't know about it or he purposefully ignoring it.

After another thirty seconds, Trygrr walked away from the bar and sat down alongside the two others, who were sitting as close as safely possible to the fire. When he took a seat, he took one where he could keep an eye turned to the door.

"We can stay here for as long as the snowstorm can happen. Only problem is that we don't know how long this snowstorm would last." Trygrr explained.

"Have snowstorms ever been this bad before?" Fidel asked, shivering slightly.

"There's been worse, but there has always been shelter nearby." Trygrr answered.

The door burst open once more, a whole group of anthros walking into the tavern, the door being slammed shut after the last one entered, and sat around a fire. While Isamu eyed the others themselves, Trygrr looked at the green insignia displayed on the left pauldron on some or just dyed onto the armour itself on others.

Trygrr stood and walked over to them. He lightly punched one of them, a female cheetah, on the right bicep, gaining her attention. She turned, thinking it was a threat, but saw the insignia on his left pauldron, instantly recognising who it was.

"Trygrr!" She exclaimed, lightly punching the wolf's arm. The rest of the other brother-band all cheered at who it was.

"Tilde. Everyone. It's good to see you again." Trygrr responded to them all.

"Hey, Trygrr, where's the rest of the Dalgaarding?" One of Tilde's band-brothers asked.

Trygrr's features darkened. "They're dead. Haven't you heard or at least thought about that at all?"

"We overheard some talk about it at the Severed Peak Arena roughly three weeks ago, but we thought that it was absolute hogwash." Tilde explained.

"But who are those two you're travelling with? Surely they cannot be new band-members for the Dalgaarding." Another one asked.

"Friends of mine, despite being foreigners. And if you harm them, our alliance is moot."

Tilde chuckled. "We know that you are hard to kill, considering your style. We will not, for the sake of our alliance. They look deadly, and, if alongside you, there will be two brother-bands that will be wiped from existence. Where are you heading after the storm?"

"Severed Peak Arena."

"What for?" Yet another.

"The tortoise is a paladin. We are going there for his sake."

Tilde looked at Trygrr deeply. "There's a second reason for that. I can tell."

"That brother-band that killed the Dalgaarding. I hope to find at least one and find a name for them."

"If they're going to be your enemies, then they will be ours as well." One of Tilde's band-sisters proclaimed

Tilde nodded her affirmation to that band-sister's proclamation, placing her closed paw over her heart. "Give us the word when you've found a name for them. We will fight them alongside you."

Trygrr responded by doing the same gesture, accepting the help, then walked back over to Isamu and Fidel. He sat back down at his spot, still keeping an eye on the door.

"What was that all about?" Isamu asked, motioning over to the other brother-band.

"Brother-band that my own has an alliance with. Just politics between the brother-bands, not something that you need to concern yourself with." Trygrr answered.

Isamu hummed, leaning back into the chair. The tip of the sheathed nodachi he held was planted on the ground, basking in the heat of the fire. Fidel was way too busy warming up by the fire to even bother.

____________________________________________________________________________________

It took hours for the snowstorm to die down, finally allowing the two groups to continue on their ways well within the afternoon. The snow from the storm has laid itself down among the roads, which the townspeople are already trudging through.

But now without the snowstorm to obscure their vision, they could see something that looked like a split mountain top in the far distance. However, both Isamu and Fidel weren't sure if it was the mountain they were seeking or just two mountains side by side with a gap between the peaks.

Either way, they followed Trygrr through the rest of the town, getting needed supplies on their way past, using the money that bounty hunters had on their persons after they tried and failed to capture Isamu. They had glares from the townspeople and those that guarded them. And just one had to make their day worse.

A sword came out of nowhere on their way out, which Trygrr very quickly deflected with his shield. Trygrr kept his shield raised, glaring over the rim of it. A fox guard walked out from behind the tree he struck from, a second sword hung on his waist.

At this sign of aggression, but knowing of consequences, Isamu held his sheathed nodachi like a makeshift club. But Trygrr's outstretched paw stopped the r?nin doing anything drastic.

"You came here just for shelter?" The fox questioned, the hostility pungent in his voice.

"Not just that." Trygrr answered, his shield now half raised at this point.

"Ah, yes, firewood, among others. Of course. Well, I hope that you and the foreigners you brought with you get killed by either the berserkers or the wildlife out there. I'm certain that they'd need it more than you three" The fox said, walking past and ramming shoulders with Trygrr. Trygrr made some obscene gesture towards the fox's back.

All three saw the fox's tail swish in anger, but Isamu and Fidel saw Trygrr's doing the same thing.

"Trygrr....." Fidel began, glancing between the stage where the confrontation took place and the wolf himself.

"That huscarl wishes us to be dead just for using a tavern to keep warm, just for you two being foreigners and me being a part of a brother-band." Trygrr explained.

"And these.... what were they called?"

"Berserkers. Anthros who can touch their inner ferals. The only sect of Sofrezans that is actively hated by all. And, as a result, they harbour a small hate for the rest as well, unless they can find a quality in others that they like."

"And what are the chances that we happen upon one on the road?"

"Very rarely do berserkers appear on the road. They usually attack those on the furthest outskirts or in forests."

"And what's our chance of surviving an encounter with one?"

"Very slim."

With the morbid talk and explanations out of the way, they finally made their way out of the town and onto the roads once again, this time without the snowstorm to slow them down further. The fresh snow was compacted beneath their feet, adding a satisfying crunch to their steps.

Trygrr tapped both Fidel's and Isamu's shoulders and motioned to the split mountaintop or mountain tops in the distance.

"The Severed Peak is right there." He pointed out with absolute certainty.

Fidel nodded, accepting what was said, but Isamu was dubious about it. He knew the tone, but he wanted to see for himself.

That's when they got over the hill they were climbing.

A plain stretched out before them, snow covered the vast majority of it with only a few patches of grass here and there. A lone mountain stood in defiance in the centre of the plain, the peak split in two. Fidel and Isamu stopped to gawk at the scenery before their eyes.

It reminded Isamu of the times he shared with his father when he was training, overlooking the countryside of the province of which Lord Ichotsuke now rules over.

The three continued their trek, marvelling the view of the Severed Peak with the afternoon sun set atop the split peak, as if the mountain was the source of all light itself.

They barely got one quarter of the way over the plain when the sun sunk below the horizon, the three quickly setting up camp. When Trygrr warned them once a few nights ago about the random overnight attacks, Fidel set up a barrier to prevent that happening while they slept, doing so once again for the same purpose.

After dinner and other usual activities, they decided to sleep. However, it took Isamu a bit longer to sleep. He felt safe with these two, and yet he spent more time keeping some weapons on him for keeping his own paranoia in check. Feeling disgusted with himself, he untied the rope that kept his wakizashi and tant? over his waist, placing them next to his nodachi. Now feeling somewhat relieved, he finally got to sleep, although it has been filled with the same nightmare that he's had for a week now.

____________________________________________________________________________________

They got up earlier than normal, a time where the sun wasn't even shining over the horizon, to continue their progress over the plain.

It was colder than normal, but Trygrr was hoping that at this temperature, Fidel would get used to the slightly warmer temperature of the day.

The terrain began to rise on them again, making Fidel and Isamu realise that they weren't just walking over a plain. It's like they were walking to a seat for a ruler.

When the sun reached its peak over the plain, the three were two-thirds over the plain, the Severed Peak dwarfing them in its wake.

"We won't rest out in the open tonight." Trygrr announced, much to the surprise of the other two.

"Why?" Fidel asked.

"Because, if we trek this final piece, then we get soft beds." Trygrr responded.

Isamu laughed out loud. "The one thing we all like." He said.

It took them to the night, but they made it to the base of the Severed Peak itself, two anthros standing guard at the path. One of them stopped the three, looking Isamu and Fidel over, completely ignoring Trygrr. So, he had to step in.

"What's taking so long?" He asked.

"Why are you bringing two foreigners into the Severed Peak Arena?" The anthro asked back.

"Me and the samurai there are currently guides. The tortoise there is a paladin. If you hold us back even more, I may have to challenge you." Trygrr answered.

"Fine, you all may enter. Except the foreigners must know that they cannot fight in the Severed Peak Arena, accept a challenge from or challenge someone else."

Trygrr nodded, accepting the terms which Isamu and Fidel overheard, and they continued their trek. When they came to the mouth of a cave, they were hearing cheers echoing from within. Without any apprehension, they entered, although a bit slow due to Fidel being more lethargic than them again.

They spent ten minutes in the cold and dark, but there was the light of fire at the end. And when they reached the firelight, the Arena stretched out below them. And from the looks of it, a battle was happening right now.

And so, Trygrr brought Isamu and Fidel to a bunch of seats at the back, where two anthros were currently locked in combat. One was a skunk and the other was a polar bear, both female. The skunk had only a sword while the polar bear had two axes. Both were nearly top naked, save for a bra for the skunk or a band of rough leather for the polar bear.

(If squeamish, jump over this paragraph)

Speaking of which, the polar bear hacked off the skunk's paw. Throwing her axes away, the bear moved in, lifted up the skunks head to expose her neck, and bit down, causing the skunk to scream, blood to spurt and the crowd to cheer, even Trygrr himself a little bit. When the bear pulled her head away, still clamped down on the neck, while she pushed the skunk away, the throat was ripped out of her neck and the skunk's corpse just falling onto the dirt. The blood of the skunk soaked the polar bear, who just spat her opponent's throat out onto the ground and exposed the blood on her chin, neck and upper chest.

(Ok, you can look back now)

After the ending of the battle, the crowd cheered and horns were blown through, including Trygrr's own by the wolf himself. When he was done, Trygrr guided the other two through a set of halls to where they'd be sleeping. They came to a room full of singular keys, with more guards keeping watch. Trygrr picked up a key which held a rune on it, coming to a door where he slotted the key in, which displayed the Daalgarding insignia on the door itself.

Unlocking the door and opening it, a guard went on through and lit all of the lanterns in there before leaving and the three entered. An unlit stack of wood was placed in the centre of the room, the beds a safe distance away from the possible embers of a possible fire. Only when the door was closed did they speak once more, and a question burst forth.

"Who the hell were they?" Isamu asked, motioning to the door, most likely towards one of the guards.

"They're the Attendants. Servants and guards mixed as one." Trygrr answered, not looking at him.

"And why haven't they thrown Fidel and myself out?"

Trygrr looked at Isamu questioningly, as if he hasn't figured it out already. "It's a mixture of Fidel's pilgrimage and myself. They wouldn't dare interfere with his pilgrimage and they wouldn't dare interfere with a brother-band's business. I explained that my business was with Fidel and yourself, and that they should better be wary of either ending or interrupting the pilgrimage."

Isamu's eyes widened. "Maybe having an acquaintance in a Raider has its perks."

"Having an acquaintance from anywhere has its perks."

Trygrr pointed to Isamu and then the stack. When the wolf received a knowing look from the cougar, who took his tant? and flint out and lit the stack of wood to be a fire.

"Since, as you know, Sofreze is really cold at night, the Attendants will walk in and place new logs onto the fire to keep us warm overnight." Trygrr explained.

Absentmindedly, the wolf began to look around the room, seeing the amount of beds here. At least one for each band-member back in those days. Small tears sprung to his eyes, remembering his final duty to the dead, and his paw reached up to the amulet.

He softly cried himself to sleep that night, a satisfying dream of him chasing down and killing Løgner, along with Fidel's dreamless sleep and Isamu's nightmare.