A couple weeks ago all was peaceful, until the new Ruler of the East knocked down the first domino that caused the whole war. His father before him signed a treaty agreeing to help other kingdoms in time of need. After the father died his son took rule. He supposedly had shredded the treaty and closed the gates to the East. His intensions were to become isolated, but the West and South were outraged from the closed off East and attacked the boarders. Then the East responded with a declaration of war against all of them.

Cross and his apprentice Allen, were touring the Kingdom of the South at the time. Once the war broke out, they were forced to flee back to The Kingdom of the North. To the safety of their home Kingdom.

-One week later-

Allen and Cross were traveling along the border of the east and west kingdom leading up to the north kingdom. It was risky, but the north and south were on top and below of the east and west. So they had to pass through the East and West territory to get back home. They just had to be sneaky and avoid being caught by both sides. They traveled through a thick evergreen forest and kept a good distance away from the road to avoid contact with the enemy. The West territory had mountains on their border and the ever green forest was below it and spread across into some of the East territory. Cross relied in his compass to show them the right direction. The weather was warm and musky with a slight chilled wind, perfect for jeans and a sweatshirt. Allen wore his old hiking boots and tucked the ends of the baggy jeans into them. He wore a plain black long-sleeved shirt and a faded green jacket and loaded backpack slung across his shoulder. In the backpack was camping gear, hunting gear, and whatever else you needed to survive out in the wilderness. Cross wore something similar but his hiking boots and jacket were a lot more fancy and new than Allen's. Whenever Allen had mentioned getting new things cross would give him the same reply of "There is nothing wrong with what you have, wear your cloths until they are rags and use you gear until it breaks."

There was no point in arguing with the man, he was somehow always right. Allen came close a couple of times of buying some new gear and cloths but fear of his masters words triggered him into thinking the worst to happen. What if the newer gear didn't work or the cloths were destined to be completely ruined right after the purchase. Or what if they ran out of money and Allen used whatever amount they needed few day prior to the new things. Every time the fear of something going wrong took hold of him, and every time he put the items back on the rack.

Cross's little golden golem, Timcanpy, rested on Allen's head snuggled up between his silver hair and the hoodie. Cross told Allen to pull his hood up when they fled to hide the bright colors of his hair and Tim's golden color. It would make them an easy target if spotted and the whole point of traveling through the forests would be pointless. Allen tried to step around the thin sticks scattered across the forest floor. One crack and it would echo up to the Western mountains acting as the fence for the territory. Tim rustled in Allen's hood and tugged on his silver hair. Allen let out a small giggle, but it was not small enough. Cross whirled around and held his finger on his mouth signaling him to shut up.

Oh yeah, that's right.

Allen remembered earlier that Cross mentioned to make no sounds. The South Kingdom's Army was close by, but they were traveling on the road closer to the East side. So that means if they were caught then they were done for. If the army got them there was nowhere to run but west, and their path was blocked by mountains. Allen followed close behind his master and was careful to watch his step.

They traveled in silence for about another twenty minutes when Cross came to a halt. Allen peered over his master's shoulder and his heart sank. About 10 meters away was a foot soldier. He wore a yellow scarf; yup that's a South Kingdom soldier. The north was green, east is blue, west is red, and the south was yellow. Each soldier was required to have some sort of color to tell who they serve. Cross knelt down and searched for a hiding spot. He spotted a thick tree to the left and began to crawl. Allen followed him. The tree was only thick enough to hide cross. Allen spotted a bush to the left of the tree and motioned to it, signaling to his master his intensions. Before he could move Cross grabbed his arm and pulled him over behind him. He whispered "Allen do not move any farther, see that wire?" Allen looked at him dumb folded but looked over at the direction he was about to head in. Then he saw it, a patch of sunlight reflected off a silver bell hanging on a thin wire that stretched from his bush to the soldier. The more Allen focused on the wire he observed that the wire was all over the place around the soldier. That poor guy was bait. But they were not killers, they travelers returning home.

The only way to avoid it was to go back the way they came and hide out in the mountains. Cross turned to Allen and signaled him directions.

Allen took one step back.

Snap.

Crap, he triggered a wire. There was a loud crack as he felt vibrations from the tree limb splitting from above. It was a double trap. They set up an explosive from above in a tree that sent the poor tree's arms falling down towards the ground behind Allen and his master. Cross grabbed his shoulder shoved him "the mountains" he said "flee, I will catch up soon." Allen obeyed his master and ran as fast as he could. Of course the wires and bells were a problem too, he reached in his back pack and took out a knife to cut through any wires he could get tangled in. he kept it sheathed for safety. He heard more cracks and looked back. He could see that his master had taken out his pistol and was engaging in combat. He was about 5 meters away from the edge of the forest and could see the steep side of a mountain blocking his path. His eyes darted left and right to find a path way, then he saw it. A small split in the mountain. He could squeeze in there by standing, but if the caught him he was done for. He was running out of options. He glanced around his shoulder, he could no longer see Cross. But he did see the South's Army spreading across the forest.

Bloody hell

Allen was running out of options. The distance between him and the mountain chain was growing shorter and shorter.

Okay. Option one, run like hell. Option two, climb like hell.

He was about a meter away from the base of the first mountain

Oh my god make up your mind, think. If you climb, then that gives them a good target and you will be dead ten seconds flat. If you run you'll have a better chance, but then again they set up traps back there. Who's to say they won't be waiting up ahead?

At the last minute Allen decided to run North alongside the base of the mountain chain and hope the enemy was not up ahead. He ran as fast as his feet could allow him. Every now and then one of his feet stomped on a rock. He was wearing down fast. The sound of whistle is what caused a halt in Allen. He stopped running and froze.

It didn't sound like a bird, nor did it sound like a whistle you could hear a cop use when directing traffic. It was soft, long, and the tone was even. It continued to whistle; with every whistle was a pause that was filled with silence. After a minute or so it seemed like a calm and comforting sound. He relaxed and let his fear melt away.

Pop

The sudden sound of a gun caught his attention. It forced him out of the tranquil state.

The whistling had stopped and panic took over. Before he started to run he felt a sharp pain bite into the back of his right leg. He fell onto his right knee and turned to see what was behind him. A row of foot soldiers were behind him. Each had some color of yellow on them. There was about three of them hot on his trail.

They were closing in on him. Allen tried to stand but fumbled back down on one knee.

Pop

Another bullet took a bite into his right shoulder. Adrenaline took hold of him.

Move

The Southern foot soldiers were closing in

MOVE DAMN IT!

Allen broke into a sprint. His heart pumping, feet pounding on the ground.

Remember what Mana always said…

"He's getting away! Shoot you asswipes!" called one of the soldiers.

Pop, pop, pop.

A few bullets flew past him, inches away from his ear. His hood began to flop out of place, Tim was holding into his hair and the task was becoming more difficult to maintain. Allen pulled his hood into place and pulled down on the draw strings. Tim loosened his tight grip on Allen's hair and relaxed in the now secure hood.

Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.

More gunshots sounded off. Allen flinched and waited for more bullets to hit him. But none came. For the sounds of gunshot did not come from behind him, but from above. Allen glanced behind him and the three soldiers were gone from his field of vision. He stopped running and came to a standstill. He fully turned around and examined the area behind him. The south foot soldiers were collapsed, none of them were moving, and none of them were speaking.

Then he heard it again, the soft whistle. He looked up to the mountains and saw people. The mountain was very close to him and he examined them more thoroughly. There were several of them lined in a row perching on the edge of an opening on the mountain. It looked like a dent made between the highest and lowest peak. There were man made bridges and construction built in the dent, the architecture nearly merged in with the texture and color of the mountain.

"Heeyyy" One of them waved to him. He was too far away to make out the facial details, but he had orange hair and wore no color to mark who he was fighting for. But then again, neither did Allen. He wore a dark green jacket, but that was just camouflage. The man that waved at him took what looked like a board and stood on it, and then he began to slide down the side of the mountain on it. As he came closer Allen saw that he wore a green bandana. He sighed in relief.

Good, he's from the North. I'm safe.

Allen couldn't help but smile, he waved to the man that came closer and limped his way to greet him. Allen focused more on him as he slid closer. He wore an eye patch on the left eye and had a…orange scarf? Was that a fashion statement, color choice, or did it represent another purpose in the war?

The man jumped off his board before it collided with the ground and landed a few feet in front of Allen.

"Ah hah!" he said, "didn't fall this time!" the man grinned and turned to Allen.

Allen could now see that he was only a boy. Probably a few years older than him and Allen himself was only sixteen.

"I couldn't help but see you were in a bit of trouble there," the orange haired boy held out his hand, "please to meet you. You can call me Lavi." Allen took his hand and smiled, "Thank you Lavi, my name is Allen."