Prologue
The Canyon of Solace, and the Frozen Gate
Quilo sat at the edge of the ship as he kept a wary eye on the newest occupants of the vessel. The rabbit women didn't seem to appreciate how cautious they were, but they didn't have much of a choice. He sighed as one of them tried to break loose of their captors again. "Look ya wankers, if ya didn't try to break free so bloody often, we might've granted ya some leniency." They just glared back at him, and he huffed in ever-growing irritation. He got up and approached the annoyances. "Hey, Ice!" He called as he came to stand in front of one.
"Yeah?" Came Ice's reply from the bow of the airship.
"Ya mind if I make an example out of one of 'em?"
"Just don't kill or maim them. I'm not wastin' medical supplies on the vermin on top of the clothes we already gave 'em." Ice responded, his southern drawl prominent.
"Aye, aye!" Quilo waved over two more crew members in order to restrain her until he could actually fight them. After a brief moment to untie the rope, which he covered with his jacket to prevent the others from learning to do the same, the crew brought her to the side of the ship, and released her. Though not before picking up a confiscated sword to keep her at bay.
Quilo walked about five paces from her, and held up his hands in his usual boxing stance, not bothering to remove his heavy winter gear. She seemed to get the message, so she removed the coat she'd been loaned, and got in her own fighting stance; before charging at him, and jumping in the air, coming down with a kick aimed for his shoulder. He stepped to the side, grabbing her by the ankle, and threw her to the cold, hard deck; knocking the air from her lungs. He was on top of the woman before she could stand, pinning her. He could see the burning hatred in her eyes, waiting for a single mistake in his pin. It never came.
"Pathetic." He spat, tempted to break her fragile arm there and then. Ice was right, they weren't worth patching up. He roughly brought her to her feet, gesturing for the two shipmates that had helped him before. They held her in place while he got the rope, tying her hands together behind her back, before leading her to the post the rest of them were tied to, looping the rope around it, tying it again, and using what was left of the end to tie her feet together.
Several hours of silence later, and they could see the beacon in the distance. The helmsman quickly adjusted their course, targeting said beacon. It didn't take long afterward to reach the city, in the midst of a small storm that probably wouldn't last longer than a couple days. Ice turned to their prisoners, gesturing to the open canyon they were approaching. "Watch, and behold…" he started, as they drifted over the edge of the cliffs. "The Canyon of Solace awaits."
Below them, automatons were working diligently, walking between buildings, and running their designated buildings. The populace were chatting amongst themselves, going to and from work, and every so often glanced in their direction curiously. Everyone was either working or eating, judging by the line leading out one of the cookhouses. Quilo allotted himself a smirk as the women looked on in harrowed awe at the sight of so many people living in these conditions. Ice merely looked over the edge, and watched as the massive 'Big Boy' locomotive pulled out of its station, easily pushing the light snow drift off the track, likely heading to Yellow Stone.
As the scout ship touched down in its hanger at the edge of the opposite cliff face, Quilo immediately dismounted, wrangling in the ship with one of the tie-down ropes along with the ground crew. Once they had taken the agonizingly slow walk to the first post and tied it down, they grabbed the next rope and did the same, slowly making their way to the next post. The entire process took an hour at a snail's pace.
Quilo and the ground crew let themselves sink into their knees for a few moments before they got back to work, still in pain despite their best efforts. Once he had enough self-awareness, he locked eyes with Ice, and motioned him to bring down the temperature of the flame keeping the ship afloat slowly, so it could land in its dock gently. He grabbed one of the ropes, and pulled it taught, and the others followed his example. Several minutes and only one slip later, and they had it positioned low over the indentation in the floor that matched the bottom of its hull. It slowly, and gently lowered into its dock, and came to a rest, the deck of the ship level with the ground.
They could see the city nicely from their vantage point atop the canyon wall, the wood and steel structures silently warming those inside. Of course, the cold air didn't relent once they'd entered the city, having climbed down the giant staircase leading up one of the cliff faces. The temperature in the city only improved once they started approaching the generator in the residential district, the warmth exuding from the massive structure finally melting the frost that had built up on their clothing.
It only took another hour to reach the Captain's office, the women were surprisingly compliant, given their situation. Ice knocked on the door sharply, entering after a quick 'come in' was heard, and closing the door behind him. Another hour later, and Ice stepped out, motioning for them to join him in the room. It was a might cramped, Quilo mused, the room only being designed to fit five people, yet here were seven, plus the captain. She glanced up from her paperwork, and nodded, getting the gist of the situation despite the lack of information surrounding the women.
"I take it these are the mysterious mute women you told me about." She stated more than asked, her gaze coming to rest on the group in front of her. Her icy face, and frozen blue eyes betrayed nothing of her emotions; though that was why everyone respected her so much. She could make the tough decisions nobody else would, as she had proven time and time again, and remain as stoic as ever; making herself the supporting pillar everyone in the city needed. Gone was her deep violet hair, turning almost snow white with the stress she was no doubt shouldering alone, the barest hints of a light purple hue all that remained; much like everything else that came to the frozen wastes. Either changed all but beyond recognition, or gone forever.
Captain Frost Snow, she herself had long since admitted her parents had a lack of imagination, stared at the mysterious people before her. "Do you have a leader?" She asked simply. One of the women stepped forward, glancing around the room one last time. On the far wall was a grandfather clock, both the pendulum and hands seemingly made out of ice, atop a warm orange face, and bright yellow markers, all in a bronze case, with blackened steel highlights. On the wall to the Captain's left was a stuffed polar bear's head, one which she had personally killed when it wandered too close to the city; and on her right was a simple microphone which was connected to the city's announcement system.
"Since you're here, and you can clearly understand me, you have two options: either work, and work hard, earning three meals a day, a roof over your head, and on holidays a chance for social interaction, all in the shelter of the generator; or I have these men drag you back out into the wastes… to let you succumb to the ice and snow on your own time." Never once did her face twitch with even the slightest emotion, her cold gaze clearly unnerving the new women, as they shifted uncomfortably in place.
"… Do you not care who we are?" The leader finally said, glancing at the others in the room.
"Regardless of my own opinion, the Captain's decision is final." Ice said, to which the other men in the room voiced their agreements. "She's lead us through thick and thin; and will likely continue to do so for a long time yet to come." Not a twitch, from the Captain, as always, despite the man's high praise.
"How will we be treated?" The woman asked, relenting.
"If you can survive, no different than anyone else. You will be given more appropriate attire. If you grow sick or become injured, we will do our best to help you recover. If you cannot survive, than you will be buried in the cemeteries like everyone else. There will be no discrimination, regardless of who or what you are, nor where you come from. You will become members of society within the Canyon of Solace. However, just like all the other refugees, you will be allotted five days to adjust due to culture shock. Your decision must be made here, and within the next ten minutes."
She didn't seem to like that, choosing to glare at the Captain briefly, before sighing. "Can I see what laws we're expected to follow first?" She asked, frowning.
"Keep in mind that if you break any of these laws, you will be exiled." Frost said, as she calmly took a piece of parchment off of her desk, and handed it to the woman. The woman looked over it slowly, then turned to the others she was with, and spoke to them in a different language. They seemed surprised, given the widening of their eyes, and they looked to each other, continuing to speak in what was probably the same language. They seemed content with what they had decided, as one spoke up, and they all nodded, with determined faces.
The woman sighed, as she handed the parchment back, took a deep breath, and spoke. "We accept. It may turn out better than what we're used to, and we want to take that chance."
"Welcome to the Canyon of Solace, then." She said, her half-lidded eyes returning to her paperwork as she continued speaking. "Quilo, you're in charge of finding them a place to stay, and assigning a new hunting team. Better safe than sorry. Ice, I want you to remain here for the time being. Smoke, you're free to go for the day; I won't be accepting any more visitors today. Gray, I want you to fill in for an overworked foreman in the mines for the next week. Dismissed."
"Ma'am." Was the simultaneous reply from the men present as they left the room, Quilo leading the new arrivals through the city blocks.
He walked up to one of the spare Houses that they always had built, in case of the off chance they found refugees and such. "Inside ya should find…" He made a quick head count, the cold alongside his lack of sleep these past few days were finally starting to catch up to him, there were three of the strange women. "Two spare changes of clothes for each of ya, and two more on top of that. I expect that by the time you're ready to work, all of ya can speak English properly. There should also be a map of the city hanging on the wall next to the door, so memorize that as soon as ya can. Otherwise, it's all up to you. May luck be on you're side."
With that, Quilo was off, heading deeper into the residential district as the women made themselves comfortable.
"Where are Legatus Augustino and his Legion?" King Duran asked, suspiciously eyeing the messenger in the tent.
"Sir. They never returned from their venture through the second Gate. What little we do know is that those few that have returned bring tales of a cold, frozen land, and a freak storm that froze everything in its path, then burring it in several feet of snow. We are still skeptical of their claims, however all of those who did return, had frozen skin, and many were missing appendages."
"Then why have no search parties been sent in response?"
"Several were, though none returned, and currently the enemy from the first Gate has control of the area surrounding Alnus hill, and therefore, the second Gate. I'm sorry to say sir, the legion is likely lost."
"That is… disappointing, and mildly disconcerting. I will look into it myself once I get the chance." He concluded, waving the messenger off.
"Understood, sir." Was the simple reply that the messenger gave, scurrying off to finish his job for the day.
King Duran watched the man leave with a troubled expression, becoming more and more concerned with how thing were going to turn out. First, the unknown enemy all but wiped out the empire's forces on the other side of the Gate, and now he had received word that another legion had all but disappeared off the face of Falmart. It was… concerning that such a large force of personnel had just vanished, or if the stories were to be believed, frozen to death in such great numbers.
He shook his head. It was likely that they were simply held up by a particularly intense blizzard, and they had simply huddled down in a cave. They would no doubt return in a few months time at the latest. He shook his head, returning to the preparations regarding the battle.
Itami shivered as he approached the second Gate, it was genuinely getting chilly as he approached, though he couldn't deny the ominous presence he felt coming off it, either. "Hey, can I get a thermometer over here?" He called back to the personnel setting up camp, still staring at the structure. He noted that the jewel at the crown was a silver color – somewhat reminding him of ice – as apposed to the blue one above the Gate they came through.
After just a few minutes, a private came up to him, eyebrow raised. "If I may sir, why do you need one? It's a good thirty-two degrees, judging from what we measured earlier."
"I don't doubt that, it's just that I want to check something real quick." He responded. The electronic thermometer beeped as he turned it on, approaching the structure. It read thirty degrees twenty meters away, and a mere twenty-five degrees right next to it. "That's strange." He commented, the as of yet unnamed man looking over his shoulder at the thermometer with furrowed brows. Itami turned it off, and looked back. "Let the general know once you have a moment to spare; it isn't urgent news, but don't go spreading it like gossip either."
"Uh… Yessir." Was the man's response, as he took back the thermometer, and jogged back to his post. He was probably just as bewildered as Itami was, if not more so; and it was genuinely baffling to see the temperature drop so drastically in an isolated area. He rubbed his temples, one hand on his hip as he walked back to base; this was going to be a headache to deal with, he just knew it.
"It got warmer?" Frost asked, incredulously. It was the only emotion Ice had ever seen her express on duty. He felt on odd bit of pride swell in his chest at the sight, but kept a smirk off his face.
"Yes, mam. Possibly by as much as five degrees or so." He scratched the top of his head in confusion, it was as strange to experience as it was to explain.
Frost's eyes frowned as she responded. "I'll have to bring this up with the council during the next meeting." The Frozen Council… now that was a subject he didn't particularly enjoy discussing. They all had the best intentions, he knew – as they'd have been exiled (if they were lucky) from their respective cities if their people thought they were tyrannical, as had been proven time and time again – but they were a massive headache, as they couldn't agree on much.
They always met in the same place, a religious town by the name of New Seattle in the crags – he had been told that the port city it had been named after had been wiped off the map by glaciers moving inland early in the now confirmed ice-age they were experiencing – which was a day's journey by locomotive away, and the only things they managed to agree on is that: A) They needed to connect their cities properly – hence the railroad connection – and B) Each captain would continue to govern their own cities by themselves, regardless of the thoughts of other council members.
"Are you sure we're the closest to this odd structure?" Frost asked, as she started writing the speech she'd give the council about the thing.
"Yes, mam. It's only a few kilometers south of 'ere, just north of where the last storm hit. If the spotter would start using his damned scope, he'd be able to see it. Hell, if we wanted to, it'd probably only take a couple days to build the track right up to it." He responded, confident of himself for once.
"Alright." She responded, shaking her head. "I'll have a word with Yas tomorrow about proper procedure. Did you investigate any further?"
"Nah, just took a good, long look at it, I didn't know what it did, so I left it well enough alone."
"Go out with another scouting party tomorrow, I want you to go through, see what you can find."
"Yes, mam."
"And one more thing." She said, dropping her pen, glancing up, and looking at him. He stopped dead in his tracks, looking back. "Be careful. Please." She continued, begging with her eyes.
He sighed, came back to her desk, and held her hand in his for a moment. "I promise." He smiled, squeezed, and left; letting her put back on her frozen mask of apathy as he left.
Ice Snow couldn't help but chuckle at his sister's worry. Whatever kind of threat laid on the other side of the structure, he would be sure to evaluate them long before he confronted them.