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Up the Mountain

The sun rose steadily above Holly's head as she made her way up the mountain. It was a warm day but she was kept cool by regular breezes that swept over the face of the mountain.

That morning Holly had woken at sunrise, seen the beautiful day and decided to go for a hike. She had invited Rose along too, but she had already made plans with Midori. Holly didn't mind; she was glad Rose was having fun with her new boyfriend. So she set out that morning with a backpack filled with water and fruit and set her sights on a tree-covered mountain in the East Forest.

Holly was almost halfway up the mountain now and so she stopped for a mid-morning snack. She found a break in the trees and basked in the warm sun as she munched on an apple. When she finished her brunch, she took a swig of water and continued her journey.

As she climbed, Holly was accompanied by the singing of birds and the rustle of small forest life. The wind whistled around her body and teased her hair from its braid. Holly paused for a moment and gazed back down the mountain. At this height, she could see Magnolia sprawled before her, surrounded on three sides by lush green forest. To the east, the clear blue ocean stretched out to the horizon. Holly never felt alone with nature. She trekked onwards.

Alfie cursed as his right foot sunk into yet another patch of mud. He wrenched himself free and wiped the mud from his pointy-toed black show on a tuft of grass. He sighed and resumed his march upwards.

"Stupid Ichiya," he mumbled to himself, "'go fetch ingredients for my parfums,' he says, 'go get them fresh,' he says."

Alfie kicked through some dried leaves, "'Of course, master, whatever you wish.' I must say," he grumbled bitterly.

Because Ichiya wanted fresh ingredients for brewing parfums, Alfie had to take a three-hour train ride to Magnolia, hunt through the forest for various herbs and roots and now he was trudging up a mountain for a single flower that Ichiya could have easily gotten dried at the local market.

It wasn't like there was anyone else who could go ingredient hunting either. Hibiki, Eve and Ren had all retired from the Trimens, Ren to be with Sherry, though he insisted it was her idea and Eve had resumed his career with the Rune Knights, partnering with Lahar and Doranbalt. Alfie's father, Hibiki, settled down with Jenny Realight (now Lates). Besides Alfie, the couple had another child, a seven-year-old daughter named Diarra.

So with none of the original Trimens left to do his bidding, Ichiya had recruited Alfie at a young age to follow in his father's footsteps. At first it had been fun, running errands and learning magic, but as he grew older, the workload became heavier and he had trouble keeping up with Ichiya's demands. Unfortunately for the red headed man, Alfie was not a smitten with him as the previous generation of Trimens had been. But since no one seemed interested in joining his team, for now Alfie was a Trimens of one.

It was nearing noon now and the day's heat was beginning to make Holly regret her expedition to higher ground. She halted in the shade of a tree to squint towards the mountain peak. She couldn't be far away now…

Holly was about to set off again when she heard small trickling sounds. Curious, she followed her ears and soon arrived at a bubbling creek. The water was running fast and clear and looked reasonably deep towards the middle. When she dipped her hand in, Holly discovered it was deliciously cool. She briefly entertained the idea of going for a swim but deflated when she remembered she hadn't brought swimmers.

"But wait," she thought, "I'm on a mountain in the middle of nowhere. No one's going to come by. Surely it won't matter if I swim in my underwear."

The thought was all it took for Holly to convince herself and she was stripping down to her underwear and leaving her boots, clothes and bag on the rocky shore.

"It's no different to a bikini, really," she justified as she splashed into the invitingly chilly water.

Holly ducked her head under the surface and undid her hair from its restraints, teasing out knots as she went along. She stayed underwater for as long as her lungs would allow, enjoying the way the water refreshed her skin.

When she resurfaced, Holly eased herself onto her back and floated peacefully, holding onto a tree root in the riverbed so as not to float away, her eyes closed against the sun.

Almost at the summit, Alfie could say he wasn't a fan of this mountain. His beautiful suede shoes were streaked with mud, as were the hems of his pants. There were numerous rips in his shirt sleeves and his vest had lost a button. He just wished he could find Ichiya's silly flower and get off this godforsaken mountain. He was already daydreaming about returning to his hotel and ending his horrible day with a warm shower and a soft bed.

Alfie shook his water bottle experimentally. The small bit of liquid left sloshed around in the empty space and he berated himself for not packing more refreshments. Now he'd have to find a water source. Alfie took his Light Pen from his bag and wrote a short line of runes in the air before him, a simple water-finding spell. Once completed, the runes morphed into a little glowing bug and took off through the trees. The mage hurried after his spell, crashing through underbrush and clambering over logs in an effort to keep the bug in his sights.

After what felt like a marathon and a half, the magic bug came to a standstill and Alfie caught up to it a moment later. He bent double, his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. The glimmering bug reverted to its original runes and gently faded away, its job done.

Alfie could now hear the sounds of moving water and sunlight blinded him as it glinted across the creek's surface. He was standing on the edge of a clearing, through which a narrow stream ran. The water looked clean and drinkable and there was plenty of shade if he decided to rest. But that wasn't all. A girl in nothing but a black bra and matching panties stood waist deep in the water. She was turned slightly towards him but her eyes were trained downwards looking intently at something below the surface, so he could see her curvaceous profile and heart shaped face with full pink lips and high cheekbones framed with mid length light brown hair. Her skin was lightly tanned, boasting many days spent in the sun.

Alfie blinked, unable to believe his eyes. Perhaps he was hallucinating due to a heatstroke or something (he was wearing a two-piece suit after all) because there was no way such a beautiful girl could be bathing in an isolated stream on a mountain. He took a step forward to get a better look.

...

Holly heard a twig snap and looked up from the riverbed where she had spotted an interestingly shaped rock. She glanced in the direction of the sound, expecting to see a fox or a rabbit or maybe even an inquisitive deer. Instead it was a boy. Holly froze her eyes wide with shock. He was tall, taller than her, about her age and looking a bit worse for wear with leaves in his reddish-brown hair, a thin scratch along his cheek and the long billowy sleeves of his purple shirt in tatters. His large blue eyes were trained on her body and Holly remembered she was wearing close to nothing.

"PERVERT!" she screamed, one hand darting to cover her breasts while the other was flung into a right hook as she yelled, "Earthen Fist!"

A large fist made of earth erupted from the ground beneath the boy and the following punch knocked him into a tree trunk, out cold. As Holly lowered her fist, its earthy counterpart retreated back into the ground. She hurried out of the water to wear she had left her clothes and dressed quickly, intending to leave the creepy boy far behind. But as she was lacing her boots, she kept glancing to where he was slumped against the tree.

Curiosity got the better of her and instead of high-tailing it away from the scene, Holly stood above the boy and emptied the contents of her canteen over his head. He spluttered to consciousness looked around hazily until his eyes locked on hers.

"Oh, it's you," he said, pushing his now wet hair off his forehead and climbing shakily to his feet.

"What are you doing here?" Holly asked coldly, her arms crossed and wishing she had worn a shirt that didn't show off so much of her stomach.

"Just passing through," the boy shrugged, "but if I knew this is what happened on mountains in the East Forest, I would have passed through a long time ago,"

Holly ignored the suggestive comment and the sly smirk that accompanied it.

"Why were you staring at me?" she asked,

"Because you're beautiful, why else?"

Beautiful. Holly had never been beautiful before. Sure, her mother always told her how lovely she was and her father said she was manly (a compliment coming from him) but it was always Rose was praised as the beauty of the two. It was Rose that got noticed by boys, Rose that got anonymous love letters and flowers delivered to her door.

Holly never minded up until right this moment when a perverted stranger told her she was beautiful and she realised what she was missing out on.

...

The girl's hard glare softened when Alfie told her why he was looking at her. He had told her the truth. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, even when she was dumping water over his head and death staring him she looked like an angel.

She was quiet for a long moment before continuing her interrogation, though not as harshly as before.

"Who are you? And why are you here, really?"

"My name is Alfie Lates," he told her, "I'm trying to find a flower that grows on this mountain. It's for my master. And what about you? Do you bathe in these parts often?"

"No," the girl replied tersely, "I'm just out for a walk, that's all."

"You mean you're here because you want to be?" Alfie asked incredulously,

"Of course I am. Aren't you?"

"Absolutely not! The only reason I'm on this mountain is because stupid Ichiya wants stupid fresh ingredients. There's no way I'd come up here of my own free will."

"But don't you think it's lovely? Nature is always lovely," the girl insisted to which Alfie scoffed,

"Please. I've been here since sunrise and the only lovely thing I've seen is you,"

The girl went all quiet again, like she'd never received a compliment before, so Alfie asked a question of his own.

"What's your name?"

She hesitated only a moment before answering, "Holly. Holly Strauss."

"Well, Holly Strauss, it appears you have far more experience in this sort of environment than I do. Perhaps you could accompany me to the top and help me find this flower? If you have nowhere else to be, of course."

"Yes, I suppose I could," Holly's cheeks burned red as she answered him, her tone slightly begrudging. Alfie found it strangely endearing, her unique combination of aloofness and embarrassment.

As they set off together, Alfie decided this mountain was alright after all.

Whew, didn't expect this one to be quite so long... So yeah, leave me a review, as always I love to hear what you think :)