Origins: Ice Climbers

A bugle's call sounded through a crisp, winter's sunrise in Nakasuka Village. The sound didn't register with Nana at first, rolling to her side and putting a pillow over her head. Only did a second bugle melody bring the world into clear focus for the young mountaineer. Bolting out of bed, hastily throwing on her clothes, cursing in the old language all the way, he stumbled outside of his cabin. The entire tribe of a hundred was gathered, but the hunk in the blue parka was the only one that mattered.

"And so she awakes," Popo joked, "Thought I was going to have to come up and..."

"The bugle," shouted Nana, "What does it…?"

And then, casting her gaze into the distance, she saw it. The mountain that the village sat at the base up at was floating several feet of the ground.

"Chief thinks it's Topi magic," Popo dryly explained as they elbowed their way through the worried crowd.

"Of course it's Topi magic. What else could do this?" Nana snapped.

Nana immediately regretted putting that thought into the universe. As soon as she was in range of the now-floating mountain, she sniffed the air. Topi magic had a scent, the smell of a cooked bird, as the magicians of the tribe oft burnt their hands severely as a cost for conjuring their vile magic, but this wasn't it. This was a more natural smell, of roots and dirt. As much as she loved bashing Topis and their backward, warmongering culture, this wasn't their fault.

"Go, all of you, now!" Nana ordered.

The people of the tribe immediately began to hustle back to their homes. Popo battled the emotions of finding Nana's direct attitude attractive, and concern that she was suddenly concerned for their onlookers' safety.

"No, not Topi magic," Nana edged closer, whispering in Popo's ear.

"No? But you just said…"

"I know what I said," she snapped, "This is…new."

Popo's forehead wrinkled in thought, the muscled boy rubbing his barely-existent chin.

"If that's the case," he declared, suddenly triumphant, "Then I'm taking point!"

"This is the most eager you've ever been to take point," Nana observed, "What's gotten into you?"

"How many eligible men would you say there are in this village? Thirty? We can't afford to lose a woman, at least, that's what Chief would say," Popo explained.

"Would you get your head out of your ass?" Nana growled, "I know you're the one the old man is grooming to be the Chief, but now's not the time to think like a chief."

"Even so," barked Popo, "I can sleep easier if I give you a chance to get out."

Nana, bit her lip, blinking away immediate hot, angry tears.

"Popo," growled Nana.

"Look, are you going to argue with me, or are we actually going to stop the condor from eating our food?"

Nana blinked, all of the emotion washing away in an instant, clutching the wooden mallet on her shoulder. This was business.

"You ready?" she asked.

"Always," Popo responded.

"What about the time you forgot your hammer?"

"Hey, we all have bad mornings," mumbled a blushing Popo as he leaped through the air onto the first rung of the mountain.

Nana silently followed after him. The ascent had begun.

Jumping onto a small, hovering piece of earth and immediately jumping onto it, the next few runs were nice and spacious fragments, which the two jumped from with ease. Simultaneously, the two looked up. The browned muddy earth gave way to pure ice soon enough, and above that, a dense fog blocked their view of the rest of the mountain.

"Hey, do you think those clouds are dense enough to jump on?" asked Popo.

"One would assume," Nana explained, "But I don't know anything about magic that isn't Topian."

"Right," Popo nodded.

The Ice Climbers jumped up to the next rung. As their feet met the otherworldly solid ice, they both breathed anxious sighs. One more jump and they would pass the oddly long hanging clouds, further into the unknown.

They parted past the first layer of clouds, jumping with the howling wind to skip off of a cloud that was being shoved away from the mountain. A jump up two more small hovering bits of ice so solid that their hammers, blessed by Uemura himself, could not break it. Nana squinted her eyes, putting a hand on Popo's shoulder.

"It looks like regular snow and this magic ice are mixed together in the next couple sections. If this is Topi magic it's the must amateur attempt at it I've ever seen."

Popo mirrored Nana's gesture, also squinting to look up and ahead. The two sat in silence.

"I'm going ahead," Nana barked, leaping past Popo as she ascended further up.

"Nana wait!" shouted Popo as he leaped after her.

Popo jumped as fast and as exactly as he could, but Nana's visage disappeared into the fog. He could hear her say something but the wind, which only became frostier and mightier with each step in their ascent up the mountain, blocked her warning cry. Popo leaped, feeling watery slush give out from underneath him. Before Popo could even scramble to recover, or even process impending doom, a gloved hand interlinked with his. Nana smiled warmly down at him.

"Man, I wish near-death experiences weren't the only times we got to hold hands," Popo joked.

Nana rolled her eyes, using her other hand to point up, "See it?"

As if the universe was looking out for them, a familiar, shrieking bird call pierced the already chaotic air. A red, bestial form flopped lazily in the air. That was a condor, the holy bird of the Topi, and seemingly always after the Nakasuka Tribe's freshly grown produce.

"So what?" Nana asked, snapping Popo back to reality, "You wanna fastball special it?"

"I mean, I'm already in position," Popo reasoned

Nana nodded, tossing Popo through the air with all her might. Flying through the air, the condor couldn't even react as Popo connected with its jaw. Popo landed at the mountaintop, grabbing the giant pumpkin that had been in the greedy condor's talons, as the limp form of the hungry beast fell out of the air off the other side of the mountain.

"Good work, both of you!" a posh voice echoed through the air.

Popo blinked, and Nana was beside him. She looked just as confused, examining her surroundings.

"Who said that?" Nana's voice shuddered as the words left her.

"I did," said the new voice.

A gloved hand appeared in the sky.

"Itah!" both Ice Climbers shouted, striking simultaneous defensive stances.

"You misunderstand Popo, Nana," gently coaxed the hand, "I come to invite you to a tournament. Uemura recommended you lot to me personally, and this was just a test to see if the old coot was correct."

"Uemura? As in, the god Uemura?" Popo asked, his head tilting.

"Yes. I know the gods of your realms and many like it as well as you know your next-door neighbors," Master Hand explained.

"Even if I believed you," Nana spat, "We can't leave our village behind."

"Your chief, Mursasat I believe, gave you permission. Think of this as a training exercise. As the future leaders of this village, you'll need to learn how to address fighters who aren't Topis or condors. That's reasonable to say yes?

"Well, you do have a point," Popo considered, once again rubbing a mittened hand on his chin.

"Who'll protect the village then?" Nana snapped.

"My tournament exists outside of time and space. You'll be dumped back in this exact moment."

"Sounds good!" Popo announced.

"Popo!"

"What?" shrugged the boy, "It'll be a vacation! We can even share a room!"

"Hmmm," Nana pondered, "No, you know what? You're right. Let's go!"

"Wonderful," said the hand.

As Master Hand snapped his fingers, opening a portal, Nana shouted, "What should we call you?" over the howling wind.

"My name is Master Hand," said the hand smoothly as the three stepped through.

(AN: Special thanks to my friend Plissken the Serpent for allowing me the use of his OC Chief Mursasat)