In Shakespeare's play The Tempest, a character named Caliban once said,
"Be not afraid, for the isle is full of noises."
Today was no exception. But this time, it wasn't an isle. It was a snowy mountain that was full of noises.
The local chickadees and sooty grouses sang their songs, as they did every day in the treetops above. The glacial water sent its noises flowing downstream. The howling winds rustled the intimidating Douglas firs, creating the illusion that the natural towers were going to fall over.
Just by a stream of water was an open area not covered by the trees. In contrast to the rest of the mountain, this place was eerily quiet. Not a peep from the usual suspects (other than the winds and the stream itself.)
However, this silence would not last for long…
Trudge. Trudge. Trudge.
A strange sound, foreign to the birds, the trees, and the rushing water.
Trudge. Trudge. Trudge.
Despite the clouds covering the sun, a bit of light began to reveal a mysterious figure coming out of the woods. Seemingly, this was the source of the trudging. It continued to do so across the thick snow; each of its steps creating sizable footsteps.
Finally, the light fully shone on this mysterious figure.
A girl of below-average height and with short bleached-blonde hair hidden underneath a royal blue cap with the letter K on it. She was donning a long white parka, blue track pants, and grey hiking boots. She slowly walked into the open area; her face glowing red from the cold winds. Slung over her shoulder was a leather satchel and a rather unusual sight for a girl of her height: a canvas rifle bag.
The trudging noises stopped as the blonde stood still and inspected the area. Looking around her surroundings, she took notice of the stream of water passing by. And, mixed with the fact that her feet were getting somewhat cold, she realized that taking a break would be wise.
The blonde sat down by a large rock and put her rifle bag down, letting it lean against the stone. She put her satchel on her lap and began rummaging around for something, finding a thermos filled to the brim with hot water. As she put it down, the blonde continued to search the bag.
Finding what she needed, she got out a jar of white fibres akin to cotton candy and began to sprinkle some into her water.
This weird and fibrous thing was called Old man's beard; she had been introduced to this type of fungi via a fellow friend. A rather cryptic friend in the blonde's eyes, however.
After a bit of shaking, she drank the concoction.
Minty, with a hint of rosemary. Not bad.
The fresh taste of the tea made her remember how skeptical she was when she first tried it. Her friend insisted it was safe to drink, but because of the absurdness of the things she spouts, the blonde countlessly refused every time. Yet, one day, she decided to give it a shot.
It was a choice she didn't regret. And it definitely helped today, because it was just what she needed to get by. As she continued to sip the tea, she took off her boots and removed the foot warmers from within. As expected, they were completely out. She placed the boots to the side and began to look for replacements in her bag.
All of a sudden, in the woods in front of her, she heard a faint rustle. She was alarmed by this weird noise at first, but ignored it and continued to search her bag.
However, it happened again.
The shrubs began to jostle around. This made the blonde a bit jumpier than before and she began to open her rifle bag. Once unzipped, it revealed a Finnish M28/30 'Mosin Nagant', a wooden rifle whose length was almost equal to her height.
The blonde promptly removed it from the bag and quickly put on her boots. Bringing up her rifle and resting it on her shoulder, she began to walk slowly into the woods.
To many, this would be an unnerving experience. Entering a quiet and somewhat pitch-black place like this would be a death sentence for some.
But not for the blonde.
Tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe…
Trying her best to not step on the snow too loudly, she quietly moved into the dark. It would seem the eerie silence would strike fear in her eyes, but it didn't.
Until the rustling was heard again.
Removing the rifle from the holster on her back, she gripped it tightly and readied herself to fire, the butt of the rifle resting firmly against her shoulder. Peering through the ironsights, she began to scan the area for the source of this noise.
Rustle, rustle, rustle…
The noise was hidden somewhere in the area, but it was too dark to tell exactly where it was coming from. However, after a few seconds, she thought it wasn't too big of a deal. Relaxing herself, she lowered her rifle and reached into her pocket, grabbing a silver Zippo lighter with a blue school emblem on the front. She flicked it open and clicked the ignition wheel, causing a small fire to start burning. The blonde began to look around her surroundings, the small blaze being her only source of light in the blackness. Even so, it wasn't very bright, but it did its job. She reholstered her rifle and began to walk forward ever so slowly, careful to not make any noise.
The slight blast of heat radiating from the lighter was noticeably growing fainter by the second. This concerned her to a degree, but she pressed on.
Suddenly, she heard a noise from the bushes. Turning to her right, she saw the bush violently shake. Putting the lighter down on the snow, she readied herself for whatever this could be.
Unholstering her rifle once more, she squinted her right eye towards the sight and zeroed in on the bush.
Anticipation mounted as the blonde continued to focus on it. The moisture of her breath began to condense in the cold air as she began inhaling and exhaling quietly. After a few seconds, the noise stopped and something came out.
A snowshoe hare. Surprising.
However, this hare seemed a bit off. It was moving slower than usual and it was limping. It began to sound distressed as blood began to stain the snow behind it.
As she began to approach the injured animal, another sound was heard from afar. She couldn't tell what or who made it, but it put her on edge. As she backed up from it, the worst possible thing occurred.
The Zippo lighter went out.
With the blonde's only source of light now gone, the surroundings around her were now barely visible to the naked eye. As she began to pace around in the dark, the noise from earlier was heard again, but this time, it was louder.
Awhooooooooo!
Immediately, she froze in place and her eyes widened, as she saw something in front of her that made her feel threatened. Red eyes slowly approached her, as did the sound of a snarl and a growl; the crunching of snow was growing louder. The mysterious thing slowly inched closer.
Stumbling back, the blonde holstered her rifle and immediately bolted out of the area. The darkness secluded her vision as she ran back to the rest area. Occasionally, she would stumble on some well-hidden rocks, but it didn't affect her speed too much.
Until she hit a tree and fell on her back.
BABOOM!
Now, you would think she would fall peacefully on the soft snow. But, the mountain plays its own games…
As she fell back, the back of her right leg slammed into a rock. Upon impact with the snow, she let out an agonizing scream.
It was absolutely gruelling for her, almost as if her leg was being squished by a weight. She began to cringe up as she tried her best to suppress the pain. But then, the blonde abruptly stopped, for she heard a familiar noise.
Grrrrrrrrrrr…
Oh shit.
The growling made her decide that she just had to deal with the pain and began to focus her energy on getting out. Using the tree as support, she slowly tried to get up, struggling each time.
GRRRRRRRRR…
The growls grew closer as she continued to struggle. She finally realized that she wasn't getting out of this anytime soon. Taking a deep breath, she squirmed to a tree and rested her back on the bark. She brought her rifle upfront once more.
Handgrip, set. Sights, set. Bullets… there aren't any.
As she checked her pockets, she only could find two bullets; Hornady 3120 bullets to be exact. Promptly jamming it into the chamber, she wriggled upright into position and turned off the safety.
Looking down at her sights, she lowered her breathing to a minimum and concentrated on the sound of the snow. There was limited visibility due to the darkness.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, CRUNCH, CRUNCH-
The crunching grew louder by the second. Aiming forwards, she readied herself when suddenly-
ARF, ARF, ARF, ARF!
Something lunged towards her in a quick motion. She barely dodged it by forcing herself to the right and rolling onto the thick snow.
Now laying down, there was only darkness and calm for a second, before the same thing that lunged towards her jumped on top and began to bark furiously in front of her face.
ARF, ARF, ARF!
The mysterious force that had provoked the blonde and stalked her for the last few minutes was an aggressive mountain coyote on the prowl. The drool from its mouth began to drip onto the blonde's face as she resisted the coyote's attempted bites with her rifle.
Quickly, she hit its left jaw with her rifle's butt, which caused it to get disoriented. Now with an opening and still laying down, she returned to a shooting position and aimed towards the coyote's head.
BANG!
The shot lit the forest up for a split second. As the blonde relaxed, she cocked the rifle quickly and crawled backwards; her leg still feeling like hell on earth.
However, after a few seconds…
The coyote jumped back on top.
Turns out, the first bullet only grazed the side of the coyote's snout, leaving a scar on it.
Blood dripped onto the blonde's face as it looked down upon her. It went in for a big bite before it was promptly struck with the rifle's butt again. It swooped in for another bite but was stopped by the entire rifle itself. The coyote's jaw was now suppressed by it and it began to sink its sharp teeth into the wood.
The strength of this vicious animal continued to be a challenge to the blonde. As she held her ground, she let out a deafening scream and kicked the coyote back. Having only a few seconds to readjust herself, the blonde sat upright and gripped her rifle tightly, ready to fire.
Once again, she heard the snow crunching, growing faster by the second. In contrast to her silence, the coyote ran towards the blonde at full force. Finally, the two met face-to-face as it lunged once more at her.
ARF!
As the two connected eyes, the blonde's world went to a standstill. The mountain's noise went silent, from the birds, the trees, the wind… everything went quiet. Her left hand gripped firmly onto the handgrip as she slightly lifted the rifle. Her cold breath began to blur her sight, but as it cleared up, her target became more apparent. With her eyes on the prize, she exhaled and pulled the trigger.
BANG!
After she cocked her rifle, there was a noticeable silence in the air. The only things that were audible were the rustling of the trees and her breathing. No crunching, no growls, no noises at all.
Although she could barely make it out when the blonde looked down, it became apparent to her that she defeated the coyote. A sense of relief came down upon her as fell back onto the ground. Although her leg was still hurting and her feet were frozen, she didn't care.
She did it.
And, as she looked up to the sky…
She fainted.
A few minutes had passed and someone with a flashlight entered the now pitch-black woods. It was another girl wearing a blue tracksuit and identical pants to the blonde; the light from the flashlight barely illuminated her reddish-brown hair.
As she looked around, she shone the light on the dead coyote.
"Ah sweet," the girl exclaimed. "Free fur for us!"
Just then, as she panned the flashlight up, her heart stopped. The blonde, seemingly dead, had greatly concerned the girl. She dropped her flashlight and ran towards her.
"YOUKO!" she exclaimed as she rushed over. Her face was filled with fear. "YOUKO, YOU ALRIGHT?! YOUKO? YOUKO?! EARTH TO YOUKO?! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"
The feeling of frigidness, the occasional noise of cars passing by, and the smell of tomato soup…
With these tantalizing and almost endearing sensations, Youko slowly opened her eyes. The first thing the blonde noticed above her was a celestial sky full of shining stars.
Beautiful… she thought. However, she began to shiver slightly.
Youko noticed that she was still wearing her parka, but she noticed that her track pants were replaced by blue shorts as she looked down at her legs. Not only that but there was also an ice pack tightly wrapped around her leg, the source of the cold she was feeling earlier. She was laying down somewhere, but she couldn't tell where.
Not long after, a familiar girl appeared. She climbed up a ladder with a steaming mug in hand.
"Ah, so you've awoken," the red-haired girl spoke up with glee. She walked over to Youko and placed the mug beside her. "Tomato soup, fresh from a can. Drink while it's hot!"
Suddenly, someone called out for the redhead.
"Mikko!" the voice exclaimed. "Come down from the van! I need your help with something!"
"Gotcha, Aki!" Mikko responded with enthusiasm. Then, she smiled at Youko and jumped off the side of the van.
Youko sat upright and grabbed the warm mug that was beside her. A quick sip and almost instantly, she felt warm inside. As she took another sip, she scooted over to the edge of the van and let her legs dangle.
Her vantage point from the top of the van offered the blonde a breathtaking view of a city by the water. Below the viewpoint, she saw a quaint little town full of highrises, suburban homes, and what looked to be some sort of shopping area. Right by the town was an emerald green suspension bridge, illuminated by lights and spanned across the water, right into a largely forested area. Contrasting with the tranquillity of the non-lit forest, just behind that was a magnificent skyline that sparkled across the inlet. Filled with a multitude of tall glass buildings, the electric cityscape draped with lights bounced off the water, as it glowed brightly among the starry sky.
As she looked on the horizon and appreciated the view, another sound was heard. It was… a peaceful sound. Almost melodic…
Taking her view away from the city and to her immediate surroundings, Youko saw a familiar girl with brown hair and a weird sauna hat sitting on the edge of the low stone wall that separates the cliff from the parking lot. Carefully dropping from the roof to the ground, she slowly limped her way towards the lone figure.
"Life hasn't been treating you quite well," the brown-haired individual said with a soft tone. She continued to strum some notes on her kantele. "Are you sure the wind has been on your side?"
Youko tilted her head, confused about what she said. The girl spoke up once more.
"Life is full of noises. Some noises heal us, while others hurt us. However, the sound of the wind will always guide us on the right path. Wouldn't you say so?"
Youko looked towards the horizon again, contemplating the statement. After a while, she did something she doesn't usually do…
"Mika, I don't get you sometimes…" Youko said with a soft tone.
"Ara," Mika remarked. Quite astonished by the blonde speaking up for once, she stopped playing and looked at her. "The White Witch has spoken up. That's a noise I did not expect to hear."
Hearing her moniker made Youko feel irritated at first. But, she decided to let it go just this once. Mika redirected her vision towards the city and strummed on her kantele yet again.
"We may be far from our families, but with the wind and the waves by our side, nothing can halt us," Mika said with confidence. "This city is our new home, and we have the wind to thank for that. Don't you think that too?"
Youko sighed. "Yeah, I guess so..."
"People call us many things. Thieves, homeless bums, NEETs… but that is not the case. We are people who are carried by the wind. We are people who float along the waves of night. We are people who the Earth provides. We are-"
"Nomads. We are nomads." Youko interrupted. Mika sighed as she began to strum some notes on her kantele.
Yes, I guess you could say that…" she said as the two looked over the horizon and towards the brightly lit city.
The journey has just begun for Mika, Aki, Mikko, and Youko, for they are…
Jatkosota Nomads.