CHAPTER 1
The sun glared up above the skies, throwing its rays through the various holes of the wooden roof above my head. Despite that, I felt no warmth. Cold, freezing stings were the only sensations left on my skin. Not even the fur coat of whatever it had been from helped my situ-
"ARGH, D-DAMMIT! WHY DID I HAVE TO LAND IN A S-S-STUPID PLACE LIKE THIS!?"
Okay, it was official. I've been doomed ever since I arrived in this goddamn wasteland of snow and mountains, not even being able to tell where in the world I ended up. No map of my world (if I remembered any) could've helped me out of this.
But regardless, circumstances were more than confusing.
Picking up a broken mirror shard lying next to me with my gloved hand, I stare through the reflection at a face that wasn't my own. The silver hair woven into locks and going down the back of my neck, the rich skin color combined with a youthful face and freckles under my eyes...
Oh, and the actual iris being a seething tone of bright orange. ORANGE! Not even some kind of special brown, but instead it glowed at me li-
'Okay relax, relax! I'm obviously freaking out and this cold is not helping,' my mind reminded me before I would shout again. Down the list of odd occurrences would be me waking up inside this...abandoned temple-thing out of wood and stone in seemingly the middle of nowhere. Many scrolls and other notes were strewn around this place, walls and roof damaged plus an unfamiliar stench of copper hung in the air.
'Luckily I wasn't entirely butt-naked when getting here, else I'd already been an ice cube.' My memory is also kinda funky. No, not amnesia-level bad but definitely a few gaps up my head. Shaking in my boots from the temperatures occupied a lot of my mind, though some stuff I could salvage.
My original name of Lenton. Lenton...something. Deverah? Duke? Dunk? Something with 'D' as the first letter anyway. I was a pretty unspectacular high-school student before the great freeze (yes, I already gave this dilemma a nickname) happened. Someone who wasn't exactly known for his morals. I would do bad stuff, yes, but nothing too mayor or the like.
...I can already feel the head shake from everyone. And in case you're wondering why I'm talking to myself? Think: Would you like to stuck in a blizzard all by yourself without anyone to keep you sane? Didn't think so.
My life could've been described as boring but happy. I didn't particularly wish for any big change-
"ARGH! C-C-COLD!" A gust of air just blew down under! This is so not cool! Perhaps seeing my own breathing ahead of me was entertaining but DEFINITELY NOT THE AIR!
C'mon Lent, keep talking before your mouth freezes shut as well!
Where was I? Ah yes, boring life. My hobbies, friends, and family were all pretty much the same. Read a lot, rather scrawny but didn't become totally useless myself. Pretty much similar to 70% of all common backstories out there, if I'm not wrong.
Now thinking about it...one thing I did like was borrowing things. From unimportant stuff to perhaps personal goods, just having it as my own felt special to me. That's why I always used to borrow DVDs and video games instead of buying them. Kleptomancy, was it?
That's also why I have bills racking up each month from unreturned stuff. Not the smartest of things I did in my life...
Back to the situation at hand, my body's been covered in what seemed to be the only undamaged corner of this temple, certainly not warm but it kept the harsh weather away. I tried scouting out the place for any sheets or other clothing I could warm myself up with, though it seemed to have been ransacked from head to toe. None of the stuff that actually belonged to me was to be found as well.
Though for once I was lucky to have been wrong at least. Underneath one of the floorboards that had been partially ripped open (and I was indeed this desperate) held a small package, wrapped in neatly stitched cloth.
Inside of it had been a knife. Double-sided blade, cool material, sheathe made out of some animal's skin and a pretty handle out of ebony and wrapped, black strip. All of it seemed like one flowing piece, like a wave. My inner child had to test it at least on a few of the boards and that thing was quite sharp!
The knife went into my pockets, the cloth was used to cover up my face from the weather. Still, nothing to keep me warm, however. Isolating any source of heat seemed impossible in here and my clothing offered minimal resistance.
Ugh...
Hm?
"Oh hey, w-would you look at that," my mouth unconsciously commented as I could hear the sound of harsh wind silence down. Standing up felt like a challenge with numb legs but I made my way towards the entrance door. It was still freezing, yet the gusts of air wouldn't make this moment worse.
Double doors, huge engravings of moon-like symbols and a set of handles out of brass to open them made them stand out quite a bit. Definitely also a hassle to open them! "GET OPEN YOU STUPID ENTRANCE!" Had to push my bodyweight against them for the thing to budge. Albeit all the so-far existing exhaustion, I couldn't help and just stand there once my eyes met the view ahead...
And stare...
And stare more.
I definitely was somewhere high up, judging from how the dozens of different mountains and plains past them stretched out in the horizon. There was a small path ahead of me, though it looked very rough and dangerous, breaking off at multiple places and nowhere offering protection from falling off. Survey says I'd die a painful death if I were to drop down.
Turning my head back, old wooden beams and a damaged front greeted my eyes. Whoever had lived before here was certainly a victim of a harsh attack. I felt bad for that fact alone, since my idiocy led to damaging the place up, even more, a few moments ago. First I wake up in perhaps a dead person's home, then I cause property damage. Go me.
"...Can't take back personal stupidity anyways," were my final words on the matter before I looked down again. Road or not, it seemed to lead to a deeper main road quite a bit down. This seemed more like something a mountain climber would cherish, from how steep the rock formations went. 'And I don't even have a rope on me. Just that coat, gloves, shoes, hood, facemask and knife. What odds.' A silver lining was how, despite me being unable to see what lied past a curve on the road, much of the terrain under my position wasn't covered in snow. Sharp rocks, yes. Very pointy, deadly rocks-
"Ugh, are those faces on there!? What the fuck!?" Inspecting the individual side of that mountain again showed strewn around sets of...golden-ish armor with quite a few skeletons in them. And perhaps those weren't just bones, seeing how I could make out the eyes, teeth and ugh, those looks of horror in their features. Whatever happened to them definitely scared the wits out of that bunch. Backtracking once more, there at least wasn't much snow, meaning I could get a proper breather downstairs.
'Well,' my mind began. 'That road ahead seems like the only safe passage. Semi-deadly and dangerous indeed, but better than diving down the cliff of a wooden hut's position.'
...Fuck it. I don't want to starve and so far nothing has gnawed at me. Might as well be productive and not sit around until I become an ice statue. With my feet moving ahead, I carefully made my way towards that corner in the distance; a slim section in the middle of the rock that seemed to angle downwards. Adrenaline, don't fail me now!
Step by step...move inch by inch, don't look down-
"And there we...go, oh you gotta be kidding me." More pathway, which seemed perfectly clear of white, cold dust (not that kind) at the side. Speaking of which, it was rather odd how everything was decked in untouched snow, safe for the one pathway ahead.
"Right, this will be fine! Just need to get over that one tiny hill. No sweat."
"This...is not...FINE!" You may call me crazy under the proof of me talking to myself. Just to myself? Please only be me.
But despite having lost track of time, I walked over that supposedly tiny hill 8 times now and ended up on the beginning of that stupid corner tunnel EVERY TIME! Either I've gone insane or some mysterious superpower is playing tricks on me.
"Huff...I need...a break..."
Noticing my legs growing weak and the aching sensation of my muscles, I threw myself onto the sheet of snow to my right, limbs stretched out from my back. This new...face, body or whatever seemed to have at least some advantages. My current stamina was better than my self when I climbed that stupid brick wall once.
Mom never let me live that down. At least we were able to laugh about it now.
Aah, the cold felt nice now. How the winter under my body cushion muscles and body, how the calm winds seemed so chilling yet peaceful. I felt warm right now. Even that sensation of a tongue licking my cheek made me chuckle-
Waaaaaait.
Surprising how my eyes closed without me noticing- GOD WHY IS EVERYTHING COLD AGAIN!?
"F-F-F-FUCK! I-I FELT A-A-AT P-PEACE!" I whipped my hooded and half-covered face towards whatever cruelly ripped me from the slumber-
Only to have every bad and dark word promptly choke in my own throat as my eyes made contact with...presumably the cutest ball of fur in existence. Those round eyes staring up at me, a pair of stubby horns poking out on top of its head and then this white fur covering everything-
"Mieh!", bleats that tiny creature in my face, watching how it stuck that perfectly round tongue out of its mouth and...AND...
"Awww, aren't you adorable!"
In the end, I gave up on my wrath, instead smiling like an idiot as I ruffled the little furball's...uh, fur. The thing seemed to quite enjoy it, judging how they leaned closer into my hand's touch. "Mieh! Meh!"
Wasn't he just a bundle of adorableness? Regardless, whatever just happened seemed to have cost me quite some time. The horizon's sun was beginning to set, hulling everything in a gentle orange. Clouds were almost trailing in the blue ocean like boats, all different yet following the same direction.
"Hmm...guess my nap took longer than I thought." Perhaps I should make my way down the road before night settles in. So standing up, brushing the little firm of frozen water off my body and stretching my freezing muscles from the cold, my feet moved once more towards the hi-
"MIEH! Meh meh!"
"Hm- WHOA!" From behind me, a sudden weight almost made me topple down towards the steep side, though I managed to save myself easily.
...By helplessly flailing with my legs before I could flop down to by rear. It took me a moment to realize how the sudden weight was moving past my shoulder into my hood until my neck was filled with the sensation of fluffy warmth. 'Oh. Ohhh, that feels good.'
"Seems like you want to come along, huh?"
"Mieh!", came out in a muffled noise from my hood, filled with a tiny wiggle that caused me to be tickled. "Heh heh! Alright, alright! You can come along, I guess," my mind quickly relented, inwardly being quite happy to not traverse this stupid weather all on my own.
Yet all happiness of the moment vanished as I looked at the tiny ahead of me causing the worst muscle pains during my time on this mountain. Chance was I'd just land at the beginning and exhaust myself in this stupid cycle.
'Should we really risk this stupid repeat of events again?', my mind complained. Perhaps it was the silence of air around me, the annoyance of the situation or that bundle of cuteness hiding out in my hood...but I unconsciously made my way towards the steep path...
Surprisingly, this time there wasn't the same, boring road ahead. Instead, I could make out a new pathway going down to the snowless layer, details of a few buildings coming into view. Looked rather rural but considering the place it was located at, who was to blame?
Jackpot.
"Buddy, seems like we aren't alone on this mountain." / "Meh!"
Here's hoping to a peaceful first contact.
...
(This is a small idea that came up thanks to a few friends discussing lore. Here's to you, guys.)