"All the Trainees in one sector?" Hado asked, as they stepped outside the hotel from a back door, now clad in the outfit they bought, "Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"It's the safest one. The path back here is easy, and Ezogard is also within the sector. They will let you stop there if you are too far to make it back." Agent Chikugo replied, "No offense, but only Agent Uno of your group has any experience with the mountains up here. Your species, I believe, would survive fine, but since now we have three Trainees, we need to take god care of them. I have the most experience with this kind of mission, and Kanamoto has been training with me, so I'm sure he is well prepared." He shrugged, "Plus, it's also the least likely to be the sector we are looking for. Ezogard has not reported any attack." With that, he pointed toward a group of three snowmobiles, and showed three kids, "Who knows how to drive one of these?"

Kanamoto and Agent Uno nodded, while Shishikura, Hado and Izuku looked at each other. Hado sheepishly scratched the back of her head, "I know how to drive normal cars and bikes though, maybe it's not so different?"

"You might want to learn eventually. For now though, Kanamoto, take Hado. Uno will take Shishikura. Midoriya, you are with me. We will use the snowmobiles to reach our sector, and from there we will go on foot to be harder to spot. We will leave them at a shed."

"Won't that alert the target?" Izuku asked.

"They are particularly silent state of the art Alien tech from Hatsume Industries. If you can hear it, it's because it's broken. Either way, it's not like we have much of a choice, if we want a way to move back and forth."

Izuku nodded, and the other split up on the various vehicles, as he followed Agent Chikugo on his. The snowmobiles started, and as the Agent had said, they were completely silent. Izuku lowered the snow goggles the man handed him, and they started moving, the machines taking them through the snow with almost no sound. The low buzzing of the motor and the snow being displaced were pretty much the only sounds.

Izuku looked behind to Hado, who sent him a thumbs up. He nodded, before turning forward. "Can I ask you something, sir?"

"Sure son, what's up?" The man asked.

"What do you think about the case? Any theory, or idea…"

"Several, actually. That's the problem. Currently, I lean for an escaped Alien animal."

"Does that happen?"

"Sometimes." The man shrugged, "Hokkaido has the least Alien crime, but it's not like we have no crime whatsoever. Someone bringing an Alien animal to Earth might have hidden it in the wild and then left it there too long, so it escaped."

"Who would do that?"

"All kind of people, but primarily Aliens that want to make a quick buck. You can convert Earth money in Galactic Credit at a very good rate, so even selling a few Alien animals as 'Quirked Animals' to rich people here on Earth makes you the money to make the journey worthwhile."

"That can't be good."

"Oh, it's not." The man grimaced, "After all, Alien animals mean alien diseases, alien biology with alien behavior… It's never a good idea. That's why we do our best to catch that kind of criminal as soon as we hear about new 'Quirked Animals' popping up."

Izuku nodded. He had studied a number of Alien animals investigations with Hado, after the Kingmaker Virus mission, because he wanted to learn as much as possible about similar 'no real clue' incidents. It seemed this one was on the same list.

-x-

The snowmobiles were left behind at an old barrack on the edge of what was to be their search zone. Izuku stepped down, and Hado joined up with him, while Agent Chikugo looked at the other five members of the team. Snow was starting to fall slowly now, and the Alien frowned as he looked up. "Well, let's hope the weather holds." He said, "Alright, let's get down to business. This building is about one kilometer away from the track the disappeared mountaineers would have been. We already searched that area thoroughly of course, so instead we will move further north and west, keeping away from both Ezogard and the common paths used by its inhabitants."

"Why away from… Ezogard?" Shishikura asked.

"Because they didn't report any disappearance. There is no need to go there if they aren't being targeted." The Agent replied, "Any other question?"

"What is Ezogard?" Izuku asked. The name had already come up the night before, on the journey to the hotel.

"A community of Nords." Agent Chikugo replied. Izuku frowned, the name familiar but not quite something he could place.

"You don't know what a Nord is?" Kanamoto asked, surprised.

"That's normal." Agent Uno said, "This is about as far south as Nords usually live, so an Agent operating on Honshu wouldn't have a reason to know them. In short, Midoriya, they are human-like Aliens. Blonde hair, light blue eyes, usually very beautiful by human standards."

"Oh, right!" Izuku suddenly realized why it was familiar, "Japan hosts the largest community of Nords in Asia, that's why I remembered!"

"Indeed." Agent Chikugo nodded, "Ezogard has over three hundred Nords living together. Don't worry, we have Agents there to keep an eye on it, and make sure whatever this monster is it won't attack the place unnoticed." He looked at Izuku, "Any other question?"

"No, sir."

"Good, then we can leave now. Shishikura and Uno, ten meters behind Midoriya in the back. Kanamoto, ten meters in the front with me. Use your heat vision mode and tell me if you spot anything that could be a threat. Agent Uno, Shishikura, eyes behind us so we don't get ambushed, but also to ensure we can double check on each other. Agent Hado, you should fly above us and keep an eye on the surrounding area, We can't rule out the option this is a flying or floating Alien. Midoriya, you will be our center. Follow me, keep your guard up and be ready to intervene if anyone needs support."

Izuku nodded, putting on his sunglasses. Instantly, the right side of his vision was flooded with information. He had downloaded general information on Hokkaido, and in addition had requested and obtained permission to download the HASC's database content pertaining Hokkaido-native Aliens on the glasses for the mission. The database was really heavy, but whatever software Hatsume had used for the glasses wasn't even stuttering.

He smiled, promising to tell Hatsume how her 'baby' was doing, and then stepped forward, following the others through the snow.

-x-

The path they followed was barely visible through the woods that quickly surrounded them, the crunching of pine needles under their feet and the calls of various animals hiding in the underbrush or high in the tree canopy the only accompanying sound. The mountainous terrain meant they were often climbing up or down, following the mountainside as it went up and down. The weather, thankfully, turned for the better.

"Tracking is a difficult job for the inexperienced, but there are some hints one can use for it." Agent Chikugo explained to Izuku and Shishikura, when he noticed their curiosity at his work, "Of course the snow lets us spot clearly recent tracks and even animal paths, but it's not the same everywhere. For example…" He showed them several tricks, when he could. Izuku could see why the main was an Instructor.

Sometimes they stopped as Chikugo inspected some animal tracks, Uno perceived something with his sonar or Kanamoto noticed something with his heat vision. The latter happened twice, once for what Hado quickly identified as a deer. The second one, instead, was a large wolf, that stared at them for a moment before disappearing back into the deeper portion of the forest.

"You know, in pre-Quirk Japan wolves were extinct on Hokkaido." Agent Chikugo said as they stopped to rest and eat in a clearing. "After the Dark Age of Quirks, though, suddenly a population of wolves popped back up."

"Someone reintroduced them?" Izuku guessed.

"Probably. We know they are actually Siberian wolves, but they make for a good tourist attraction, so they are now just Hokkaido wolves." Chikugo sighed, "I don't get humans sometimes."

"I don't think humans understand themselves." Agent Uno commented, finishing to eat a bag of raw fishes he had nonchalantly pulled out of his backpack, "First they kill off an animal, then they cry about it like they weren't the ones doing it in the first place."

Shishikura sighed, "It's a shame, but we can't just undo it."

"No, you can't." Agent Hado sighed, "My planet also had its problem with nature preservation for a while. I'm sure they drove to extinction several species too."

"Wouldn't surprise me of the Faedians…" Agent Uno muttered, just loud enough everyone could hear it. Hado sighed, but surprisingly she just ignored the comment rather than talking back.

"I'm sure it was like that on any planet, at some point. Right?"

"Oh for sure." Agent Chikugo replied, two of his arms busy breaking apart the stone he was casually munching on accompanied with some bread, "I'm not saying that causing the extinction of a species is a uniquely human trait."

"Then what is?" Izuku asked, confused.

"The instant regret afterwards." Agent Uno casually replied, "Animals driving animals to extinction is natural, so… Why the regret? Humans are the only ones that feel like that. Most Alien species just think it was unlucky and move on."

Izuku didn't have a convincing answer, he realized when he tried to answer. And even if he had, he was almost as rattled by the comment as he was by the fact that both Hado and Chikugo didn't dispute the fact.

-x-

Izuku would have liked to say that, after spending the day searching, they had found their target and taken it down. Unfortunately, what happened instead was that after more searching, Chikugo led them back to the shed, and they took the snowmobiles back to the hotel. After hours and hours spent on the mountains, the hotel felt like a sauna even before Midoriya got his turn in the onsen. He sighed in relief as he laid in the pool of warm water, the steam floating lazily around him.

Shishikura was close by, also enjoying the pool – though still not losing his constant scowl, making for a rather fun image – and Kanamoto had joined them too, sitting on the side of the pool with his legs dangling in it and a towel around his chest. Being the Trainees, they had gone last, showing respect for their seniors, but frankly Izuku found that enjoyable, considering this meant they had the pool for themselves.

"Sometimes I forget we are partnered with Aliens." Kanamoto said, breaking the relaxed silence. "Then they say something like 'Oh well, if you drive a species to extinction you could at least not regret it later like us' and they remind me there is a difference."

"Come on, I'm sure they didn't mean it like that." Shishikura said, though even to Izuku he sounded unconvincing.

"How did they mean it, then?" Kanamoto asked. Izuku and Shishikura looked at each other, but neither could come up with an answer, and the Hokkaido trainee sighed, "Look, I'm just saying, sometimes we have to remember that our partners aren't humans. Better knowing their way of thinking than being surprised by it."

"I agree." Shishikura said, "My father always says that we have to show proper respect and understanding of our fellow Aliens, while also keeping in mind their native culture can be… well, alien." He smiled, "It is a good lesson one has to remember in our line of work."

"You think that's true for everyone? I actually met only two Aliens that weren't born or raised on Earth." Izuku said, thinking of the old man he arrested for his first mission – and wondering how he was doing now – and the Alien crab colony he met during his second case. Every other Alien he knew was either born on Earth or had been raised there since they were young.

"I mean, all of them will have unique opinions as individuals. It's just a good rule of thumb." Kanamoto replied, before sighing, "Either way, you are teaming up with a Faedian, and you heard how casually she mentioned her species 'causing a few extinctions'."

"W-Well, she probably didn't mean it that way…"

"I wouldn't be so sure." Kanamoto replied, "Faedians are-" He stopped himself, "Right, info non-Agents can't have."

"Wait, you have restricted information on the Faedians?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah, my only mission before this one was arresting one that entered Earth illegally." Kanamoto raised an eyebrow, "You never looked into why everyone seems to look warily at your partner?"

"It's not my place to pry into her life…"

Kanamoto looked at Shishikura, "What about you?"

"Hado is a friend. I would never break her trust by searching for something that might upset her."

The blonde teen looked at them both, then just raised both hands, "Fair enough. I don't have the right to push you but let me say this: if I had a friend that everyone stares at, I would question why she causes such a reaction."

Izuku didn't have an answer to that.

-x-

An hour later, Izuku was laying on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. Hado, next to him, was reading a book she had brought with her. When Izuku had asked what it was about, she had enthusiastically launched in a rather complex explanation of something called 'Three Body Problem'. He understood what it meant in physics, at least, though when she tried to explain the plot of the book he got a bit lost.

"I guess I should just read it." He finally said when she got to picotechnology and and 11-dimensional supercomputers, and Hado grinned.

"Absolutely! It's a super interesting story. Of course, we know our universe isn't quite as cutthroat as the one depicted in the novel, thankfully, but it does deal with several interesting concepts." She chuckled, "Although, the author couldn't know about all the powers and forces that exist in the universe that the science of their time hadn't discovered yet. It's a pre-Quirk era book, after all."

"You like sci-fi books, don't you?"

"A lot." She nodded, "When I first arrived to Earth, I figured I would try to understand the culture, and decided to read several, but Isaac Asimov was the first author that actually caught my interest. And from there I started reading more and more books, and I saw all the way humanity imagined their first meeting with Alien species, from the utterly bizarre take of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to the horror of Who Goes There?!, those books were a way for me to see what humans thought Aliens would be like. It's super interesting to see the difference."

"The difference?"

"Well, usually Faedians tend to imagine first contact as being between equals, or with the Faedians discovering a planet inhabited by less advanced species. Earthlings, on the other hand, seem to prefer the concept of the invading Aliens completely outwitting and outgunning humanity. It's a really interesting difference."

Izuku nodded, noticing Hado's excitement and smiling in return. "It is. What else?"

"There is also a difference in… I guess you could say imagination. Faedians imagine Aliens usually as looking like animals, or identical to Faedians. Humans come up with all kind of shapes and sizes, from minuscule to gargantuan, from bugs and reptiles to humanoid. It's fascinating to see what they thought the first aliens they would meet would look like." She chuckled, "I guess 'Alien girl with antennae hair that shoots spiral energy beams' wasn't on the list."

"Wouldn't Lum be close to that?" Izuku reflexively asked, before covering his mouth.

"Lum?"

"Nothing!"

"Oh come on, is that a book I haven't read?"

No it wasn't. It was a manga, an old pre-Quirk one that had become a classic, helped by the fact it had survived through the Dark Age of Quirks, unlike many others. A manga about a floating alien girl with horns on her head and the ability to shoot electric beams falling in love with a boy from Earth. Izuku really didn't want Hado to think he was hinting at anything.

"It's nothing, just a character from a manga my mom read when she was younger." Izuku said, "Just that."

"Uh, I never read a lot of manga, but I guess there have to be sci-fi ones too, right?" She grinned, "I guess I could check some out."

Izuku sighed in relief, taking the change of argument, "I'd help, but I really don't know that many." Then he paused, "Say, if you like sci-fi books so much, why did I not notice before?"

"Because I only read off-work. On the job, I have to be super focused, right? Professional and all." She leaned back on the bed. "What about you Izuku? You like Heroes, but is there anything else?"

"I…" Izuku tried to think, "I'm really getting into Cryptids and ghosts, I guess. The guys in the forum are really fun to talk with."

"Uuuh, like what? My planet didn't have ghost stories, but I've read a few here on Earth. What did you find?"

For the next hour, they exchanged ghost stories for sci-fi novels summaries, and Izuku laughed, smiled and talked sincerely. He felt some of his worry pushed back. Alien or Human, Faedian or Earthling, Hado was Hado. His partner, and his best friend – her and Hatsume both were he really didn't want to rank friends – and a person he trusted.

That was enough, even if the words of Kanamoto did still rest in the back of his head.

-x-

"We have an extra day." The Chief announced the following day, during their morning meeting. "The Pussycats have been urgently requested due to a landslide in Aoyama, to help with their Quirks. They are going to miss a day, at least, and we need to use it well. Anyone has anything to report?" When no one spoke up, the man groaned, "Seriously? This thing can't be that slippery."

One of the Agents stepped forward, "There is just nothing. We followed tracks here and there, but it's always bears preparing for winter."

"Actually, there was also what the native hunter said." Someone else pointed out.

"A native hunter?"

"An Ainu." The Agent explained, "We met him in Sector Three. He was hunting bears, but said recently the bears look afraid."

The Chief frowned, "The bears look afraid?"

"The bears are the most noticeable, but all the animals look the same, according to him. The deer are alert, the wolves try to stay closer than normal, and the bears have become harder to take by surprise. According to him, there is definitely something dangerous in the mountains."

"Mh…" The chief tapped the desk, "All over the mountains?"

"Seems so, sir."

"That's unfortunate. Fine. Keep up the search but keep an eye on the local wildlife. If you notice anything, report back."

-x-

The second day of search went similar to the first one for most of the day, just hours spent exploring the woods, until the snowstorm hit. Izuku had heard before that weather on the mountains changed fast, but this was ridiculous. It went from a sunny sky to the wind picking up and the snow descending on them in less than five minutes. "What do we do?" He asked.

Agent Chikugo seemed calm, so he supposed things were fine. "Don't worry, we have an easy way out. The snowmobiles are too far, so we will go to Ezogard and wait out the storm. It could also be a useful way to gain intel. If the animals around here are behaving weirdly, the hunters should have noticed."

There wasn't really any room to argue, nor any need to, so the whole group started to move south-west. Izuku was, admittedly, pretty excited. The idea of seeing an actual Alien community was extremely interesting. As the light dimmed, they continued forward, until they finally started to spot smoke in the distance.

What Izuku hadn't expected was a large village of wooden buildings. As the village came into view, Izuku made out the shape of fifty or so houses of various size. Some were built in a more western style, mostly with two floors and stone used along with the wood. Others, the majority, were larger but simpler constructions of woven reed. The glasses identified them as traditional Ainu houses, known as chise, and as Izuku observed the village he noticed there was also a larger central building, though the snow made it hard to see the details, except for the fact that it looked almost metallic. When they got closer, though, his glasses identified the western houses as 'European-influenced Nord architecture'. Curious, he activated the glasses.

Nords first established Settlement A, later renamed Asgard, in Norway in the year 19-. As they did so, they were requested to remodel their houses to be less conspicuous. In the process, they devised what is known as European-Nord Architecture. This style of construction takes heavy inspiration from traditional housing of northern countries, including steep roofs that prevent snow pileups, and the traditional Nord costume of decorating each piece of construction with unique markings, giving each house a completely individual identity. This form of-

Izuku turned it off when they saw a lantern wave towards them. "Hi!" Agent Chikugo waved.

"Who goes there?!" The voice shouted back.

"Well met!" Chikugo shouted back, "We are looking for lodging from this storm, and we ask the ruler of Settlement E!"

Now the man had walked close to them. His face was covered by a red scarf, and he wore a heavy blue winter coat with a white pattern that looked embroidered on it. His blue eyes were the only part of his face that was clearly visible, along with some strands of blonde hair. He held an electric lantern, and studied them all before nodding. "HASC?" He asked.

"Yes. Three Agents and Three Trainees."

"Well met then. Ezogard always welcomes those that protect our people. Follow me, the Lord will want to meet you." The man said, leading them toward the town. As they walked through, Izuku noticed the differences from what he would have expected in a normal village like that one. Each house had glass windows, even the cise, and each of them also had antennae and other electric appliances, oddly at odd with the old-timey appearance they all shared. At the same time, he also noticed the markings each house had. From the doorframe to the stones and logs used for the house, each one was decorated with complex patterns. Izuku watched intricate creatures that looked monstrous, delicate or grotesque, and wondered if those were actual animals from the planet of the Nords, or if those were different fantastic creatures. Maybe both.

They were taken to the central building, and Izuku blinked as he looked up.

"… This is a wooden castle." He said out loud.

The Nord chuckled, "Nah, just a Jarl House. We mixed our traditional architecture with what the Earthlings of Norway call 'Stave building', and mixed it with what we usually construct on Valhalla for the Jarl."

Izuku looked up. The building was something alright. It was a wooden construction, made of logs intersected with each other and covered by largen roofs in sections, demarking three floors one on top of the other. The roofs were also covered with reeds – or maybe were made of those. The difference from a wooden building, tough, was that when Izuku examined them, he realized the logs seemed to be covered by a covering of transparent, smooth material. He doubted that was glass, and when he touched one lightly, the sensation felt more akin to touching a cold metal through the gloves. That explained why Izuku had seen the tower shine.

When he got close enough to touch them, though, he saw the etching on the logs, and stared in awe as he realized each depicted a complex tapestry of various creatures facing each other. There were depictions of flying ships – he had expected Viking ships, but they looked more akin to a Chinese junk for the sail, though with different shapes for the vessel – carrying the people through the stars. It wasn't hard to guess what it represented, and he wondered how many of these logs were etched like that one. All of them? It seemed impossible, and yet.

"I'm glad you are enjoying our history, my friend." The Nord said gently, "But you should come inside and properly meet our Jarl."

Izuku stammered a moment, trying to say sorry, and then rejoined the others. As they were walked inside, Izuku didn't know what to expect. Once again, it wasn't what he got. In his mind, he had imagined the inside would look like the depictions he had seen in fiction of a medieval hall.

Instead, what he found was a large room, similar to a normal house's, though the walls were of course made of the same metalized wood of the outside, though in this case it was made of planks, probably to even the walls. Two large glass window – actually, maybe it was the same transparent metal, Izuku realized, allowed the light to enter inside, but the main source of light in the dark room was a massive tv screen. A couple dozen people were sitting or standing in front of it and… watching football?

"Consadole olé olé, Consadole olé olé!" They were cheering, shouting at the top of their lungs as the players on screen ran back and forth.

"I forgot there was a game tonight…" The Nord that had accompanied them muttered, taking off his scarf and lowering his hood.

Izuku looked at him. He was… beautiful. There was no other way to describe him. Izuku had never seen a man before that made him think 'here, this is a beautiful man'. His traits were delicate, like a porcelain doll, and almost feminine, but not to the point they felt they didn't belong to a man. It was the perfect balance of beauty that made Izuku almost gasp.

Looking around, he noticed similar reactions from the others. Shishikura was staring with his mouth open, and Kanamoto was… licking his lips, wow. Even Uno and Chikugo seemed somewhat taken.

"Izuku, are you ok?" Hado asked. Strangely, she seemed unaffected.

"Y-Yeah, just, he is…"

"A Nord." Chikugo muttered, "There are… some abilities they have."

Izuku nodded, and quickly turned on his glasses.

Nords. ID. Code: 045. First official encounter: 1953. Suspected encounters date as early as 1946.
Nords are Aliens from the Planet -, codenamed Valhalla due to their cultural and superficial resemblance to people of Scandinavian ancestry. Nords are…

He pushed forward, deciding he would read the full page later.

Nords are all of incredible attractive appearance. This is notable because this attractiveness seems to 'outpower', to an extent sexuality or even the presence or absence of traits a given Alien species would identify as 'attractive'. Sapient species seem to almost universally identify Nords as beautiful. The effect on Quirked Earthlings and Quirked Half-Aliens is particularly strong, but even Earthlings and Half-Aliens are affected, to a lesser degree. This form of attraction has been shown to not be sexual, rather affecting the subject's behavior in patterns similar to that of esthetic attraction. Note that this is not a form of mental control: the 'attracted' person is still in full control of themselves, and will behave normally save for the obvious interest in the Nord. The attraction does not persist after the two individuals separate.

The cause of this attraction appears to be the Nords' nature as eusocial Aliens. Nords all look mostly identical, and distinguish one another more by smell and touch than by sight (experiments have shown that Nords actually find it very difficult to distinguish a person from another through sight alone, even when faced with individuals of species that look nothing alike). The sweat and skin oils of the Nords emit a powerful odor that seems to be the source of the 'attractive effect'.

Nords can also control-

The lights in the room turned on, and Izuku realized that while he was reading, the guard that had accompanied them had walked up to the crowd. The man that came forward was the spitting image of the guard, save for being taller, with broader shoulders and longer ears.

"Welcome, friends." He said with a smile, "I am Toruske, Jarl of Settlement E, also known as Ezogard. I welcome you all to my abode. The HASC is always welcome here. Especially in those times."

"Those times?" Chikugo asked.

"Indeed." The Jarl nodded, "We just received news from one of our hunters: there is a beast prowling our woods and hunting our wildlife. We were planning to inform the HASC, but it appears fate has already led you here."

"What is it?" Agent Chikugo asked, almost frantically.

"We believe it is a Cursed One." The Jarl said, "Or, as you call it, a Cold One. And judging by this sudden storm, it's growing stronger."

(XX)

An important aspect of writing Alien species, in my opinion, is keeping in mind they will have their own cultures, and those should go beyond just the surface level. The Nords here are our first dive into native Alien culture (though influenced by two centuries of Earth Settlement), and I really want to show that we can do more than just make Aliens 'humans but in space', even when they look almost identical. That can come with their opinion on a particular issue or set of issues (as an example, the extinction of wild species discussed here) or in other forms of cultural and social behavior.

Also, a lesson on pheromones: They aren't all sexual. Pheromones are chemicals that affect behavior. Ants use a form of pheromones to form trails for their workers to follow, or to inform other ants about dangers. I think fiction uses too much this idea that pheromones only serve a sexual role, when I find it more interesting to depict Aliens having pheromones that heighten different reactions. The Nords, for example, make people see them as beautiful and attractive. This is because their pheromones are primarily a way to tell each other apart, creating a whole new concept of 'beautiful' and ugly based on smell and touch rather than sight, that is however lost on other alien species that end up identifying them as 'beautiful'.

Do note that Nords would also be traditionally attractive by Human standards, though a bit creepy as they all look borderline identical.

Nords are of course based on the Nordic Aliens, probably one of the most famous kinds of Aliens, though they eventually fell by the wayside as the Greys became the most common depiction of what an Alien might look like. As for their settlement, the main building is meant to appear like a Norwegian Stave Building (look up Stave Churches on Wikipedia, they look amazing). The metallic covering is of course another symbol of the cultural mixture of the inhabitants of the Nord Settlements).

Yeah, the Cold One mention and Ezogard last chapter were a bit of foreshadowing.