Me: Well hi everyone! I know I said I'd do one story at a time but-

Aisha: *Slams open door* What the hell are you doing!

Me: W-w-wait! Let me explain!

Aisha: I don't need to hear your excuses! Eve I require your assistance. Please "take care" of this... Girl.

Eve: Very well. I shall do so as punishment for abandoning you're first fanfiction and those who spent their lovely time reading that excuse of a story thus far. *Summons servants*

Me: Eeeeep!*Flees* I'm sorry! I had homework and finals and projects and- Eeeeep! No, Ophelia! Keep your electric bullets away from me please!

Elesis: Elsword do the disclaimer.

Elsword: *Groans* Fine. Mei does not own Elsword...That includes me and the game in general. Nor the pictures in the cover collage.


Isolation, Connection

Chapter 1: Name


Classes:

Ara: Yama Raja

Chung: Deadly Chaser


"Hiya!" I threw my harpoon, stabbing the seal that wandered near the shore. Blood trickled from the puncture as I hauled it onto land. I began striding back to my cave, lugging the lifeless animal with me. My fur boots hardly made a sound as I walked on the ground, moist and wet from the melting snow and ice.

The time of warmth had come to the north. Although not much change took place from the transition, the temperature had surely risen to become somewhat more livable. The ice had thawed just enough to allow low growing plants to sprout over the barren, and occasionally rocky, land. Marshes and lakes formed from the melted ice that was unable to slip into the frozen earth below. Streams and bogs could also be found. Despite the improved weather, strong winds still whip around the land.

I tugged the hood of my thick fur coat, repositioning it to further protect my face from the merciless climate. Locks of loose black hair flew about. The harsh glare of the sun against the surface of the snow was no help whatsoever to my amber eyes.

A few plants grew from the earth, one of which I stopped in front of. Kneeling, I sifted through the tiny sized leaves, plucking out crowberries in the color of black, purplish-black, and the occasional red. Once gathering a sufficient amount, I stored then in a pouch and continued my tread to the snow cave, stopping ever so often to hunt small game and collect edible plants.

When I finally reached the cave entrance, I rested against the wall, pulling out a knife as my hands made quick work of the dead animals, skinning the seal and the other small game I killed. The blood from their wounds had stopped leaking a while ago. I crawled inside the structure with the results of my morning search, if you could even call it morning, collapsing once I got in. As my vision adjusted to the dim light, my hands grabbed the compressed block of snow and shoved it in front of the cave opening. I saved the blubber in case of those rare occasions when I could actually make a fire in this freezing wasteland. I stored the meat for later food along with the berries I found. Immediately, I pushed aside the snow block and headed outside again with some items, sitting down beside a nearby puddle of water. I washed the bones, as I've done many times before, and set to work forming weapons out of them. I ate the marrow from time to time as my hands continued to shape the bones.

Soon exhaustion took over. I grabbed a bowl from the shelter and found another source of water, filling the container with the liquid. Once done, I retreated to my refuge with the bones and bowl in hand.

I stared at the few stick and branches I managed to gather who-knows-how-long ago, as if my eyes could set them aflame. I sighed, rubbing the sticks together in an attempt to start a small fire. In the end, it was all for naught as I could only generate a few sparks, nothing more. To relieve my thirst, I popped several berries in my mouth, piercing the skin in order to obtain the sweet juice stored inside. I stared whimsically at the white walls, the little light in the air holes and cracks poking through. I knew I had to go out again soon to hunt and gather. I'd need to boil water before long, not only to drink but to cleanse myself. It's been at least a day since I've last gotten pure water, but with the sun shining almost 24/7, it's hard to tell.

Swallowing another handful of berries, I picked up a bow, a quiver of arrows, and some food. Pushing aside the snow block, I crawled through the entrance.

My body was met with a blast of chilled air before I even got myself entirely out. I continued to slither through and soon lifted myself off the thawing ground. I slipped on the fur hood and set off.

Within what I estimated to be about 10 minutes, I had found a trail. Paw prints led to my right. I followed them. By the size of it, a polar bear is definitely out of the picture. Good thing too since I had no intention of hunting the species that saved my life, that is, unless it became a life-or-death situation. I don't remember much, but from what I could gather, I ended up on my own in the wilderness. The days were cold and I guess I wasn't wearing the appropriate clothing for the outdoors. I recalled the feeling of being chilled to the core, resembling a human statue as I laid in front of death's door. Then, everything became blurry. The events that replayed in my head were choppy, like there were gaps that needed to be filled in between each memory. White fur, large paws, and warmth were a few of the things I remembered about my savior. What other possibilities were there besides a polar bear? After that, I learned to survive on my own. I don't remember how I did or how I received food and shelter.

Bang! The sound of firing snapped me out of the daze. Instinctively, I darted towards the nearest cover. Luckily, a clump of bushes was close by. I hid in the foliage, peaking my head out to find one of my own kind. Looks like someone else found the trail before me. I've seen them very often for they lived in a village not too far away from my location. I've never made contact with them, but in recent years they have begun using a new type of weapon, similar to the ones that human was using now. The material was different from the bones and other resources I used and it was very noisy once you pressed some sort of trigger. It fired a piece of lead at its target, which wouldn't do much harm, except this object fires it at the speed of sound. Something about it made me despise the weapon.

I heard another shot and rubbed my ears to reassure I wasn't deaf. I would withdraw, except there was no cover in this vast land. With the ice and snow thawing I was sure to leave footprints anyway, so I watched despite my displeasure.

It was a boy. Like all the others I've seen he wore fur clothing, but they were thinner, making him appear less like a polar bear. I wonder how used to the cold he was. The amount of fur he had on was even less than what I wore, but not by much. Because he had his back towards me, his face was hidden, but I was able to make out the blond hair tied with a band, a few locks escaping it. Two noticeable sections of hair were darkened to a coffee brown on the sides of his head. Surprisingly, he kept his hood off, replacing it with a long scarf. Sky blue shown on one side and a velvet red on the other. It extended until it could reach the earth, kept only in the air by the cruel winds.

I never thought about making those strips of cloth, finding hoods much more useful. Besides, the ends would fly in my face while I was hunting, but it didn't seem to faze him. He raised his arms as I identified the pair of weapons he wielded. As I saw before, it was one of those new ones that shot pieces of lead at lightning speed. It was the smaller kind and was colored mostly white. His finger moved, probably pressing the button.

A bang resonated throughout the area. At the same time, a whimper originated from an arctic hare. The projectile had hit its head and it slowly dropped dead, the twitching coming to a halt. Without a word, the boy retrieved the hare. I expected him to leave straight after but it seemed he planned to stay longer.

I sighed, questioning when he'd depart. I stared at him while he skinned the animal with a knife somewhat different from mine. An almost inaudible groan escaped my lips as I was certain he'd be camping here for a while.

Then a question popped into mind. If he did plan to stay here then he'd need to make a fire to cook. Where is he going to get the wood...

Realization struck me. I scouted the area but there was hardly any wood in site, and I happened to be hidden within the closest source. Panic overtook me as I peeked at the boy's location through a gap in the leaves. As predicted, the figure was gradually getting closer. I swiftly ran through my options, all of them included being spotted by the boy. There was no way to escape; all options were rapidly discarded because of that cursed weapon. I denied befriending him for I refused to accept the people's new way of hunting, but it may be the only method.

While deep in thought, I unconsciously rustled a bush. I winced, hoping the boy didn't see or hear it but by the way his eyes narrowed and how his hands reached for his weapons, I could tell he knew. I rubbed my temple and blamed my clumsiness.

Seeing no other options, I silently nocked an arrow and speedily leaped out of the bushes. I aimed at him as his eyes widened, his weapons pointed at me, fingers frozen on the trigger.

I slowly backed away, keeping the string pulled back. He slowly advanced, recovering from the shock as he asked in a hostile manner, "Who are you?"

My brain registered the words, but being raised by a polar bear, I couldn't speak the way the rest of my kind did. I've never spoken to anyone before. I must have picked up a few words from my past or simply being somewhat near the village, but not enough. I remained silent as I continued to back away and he advanced.

Again he spoke, "Who are you?" His cerulean eyes seem to bore holes through my amber ones. I hastened my pace and so did he. I couldn't let him discover the location of my cave, but losing him is basically impossible in such a barren landscape.

I growled at him while he stared at me, frowning. With no other choice, unless I did want to kill him, I reluctantly diverted the bow's aim at his chest and pointed at him with my finger, then to the general direction of the village. He eyed me questioningly, losing his sour expression, as I made a shooing motion with my hands. There was one word I seemed to recall and I let the foreign sound escape my mouth.

"Go," I growled, again pointing to his community.

"So you can talk," was what he said back. I registered the words as well and shook my head. Confusion was visible on his face. Too bad I couldn't explain.

"Go," I commanded once again my finger pointed towards his residence's direction.

"Why," the boy asked. "Who are you? I don't recognize you. Where's…"

A seemingly infinite amount of questions spouted from his mouth, bombarding me with unknown words. I shook my head, trying to indicate I didn't understand. My unfriendly behavior had disappeared who knows when. More words rang in my head as I tried to pronounce them.

"Leave. No come back. No tell."

I could deduce that the boy was even more bewildered. I wish he would just go. I had other things to do before retiring to bed.

"Do you understand me," he finally questioned.

I was unable to identify a word so I cocked my head to the side in puzzlement. I heard a sigh escape his lips. By now, he too had lowered his pair of weapons.

"At least tell me your name," he uttered.

"Name?" I struggled to articulate the new word.

"Oh, you don't have one?" The blonde spoke another foreign sentence.

"Name?" I repeated the word.

"It's something you call yourself," I think he attempted to explain. "I'm Chung." He pointed to himself. "You can be… Ara." He pointed at me.

"Ara," I echoed the peculiar word. Somehow, I think I understood what he meant. This was my "name". "Chung," I reiterated, pointing at the boy. He nodded, smiling the slightest. I produced a friendly smile in return.

"Well, I've got to go. Bye!" Chung waved and began to depart. I returned the wave, assuming it was a gesture used when leaving. I turned around and walking in the opposite direction, checking ever so often in case he did decide to follow me. Turns out he didn't.


Me: Umm... so, anything you say about my second story? I know it is a little worse than the other one, or at least I think so. This was kinda sorta for a project so I decided, why not kill two birds with one stone and make it a fanfic. Compared to the original one for the project, this has gone through some major changes, reasons being that (A) The story needed to be quite short and I would've made it way too long and (B) there was way too fast of a development in my opinion so I slowed it down slightly, I hope. Sadly, I couldn't exactly weave it in with The Esper and the Fox and I already have something else in mind. I apologize for not updating but I'm working on it okay? I'm determined not to break my kinda sorta monthly updates so stay tuned for another update for both of my stories. Thanks!

Rena: So... It's Ara x Chung now eh?

Me: Yup!- Uh oh. Crap. See you guys later! *Runs from Eve, her servants, Aisha, Chung, and Ara* Chung! NO! Don't you dare shoot me with those!