The Slayer from Ardougne was still continuing his journey eastwards as he munched on a loaf of bread. Victoros had journeyed for a week or two on limited supplies. Ever since he had left the Ardougne Slayer Force hideout for the gleaming city of Falador, the only metropolis still healthy economically, he felt that he had become a lot lankier from the lack of a diet. His travels had brought him from Hemenster to Camelot, where the Knights of the Round Table had kindly replenished his decreasing supplies. Nevertheless it had been difficult to remain frugal, but Victoros had journeyed quite a bit already; the athletic Slayer was now on the path towards the fishing village of Catherby, beneath the White Wolf Mountain. . He walked past the large flax field, where the flax pickers were still hard at work, but undoubtedly would not be able to make a living still. The Ranging Guild was still buying flax from the pickers when Victoros had last left Ardougne, presumably to fletch even more bows to sell for a profit. However, since the economy crisis, barely anyone could make a profit anymore. Tons of merchants were out of business in hours...flax pickers would surely be at the bottom of the barrel in that sense.
Victoros glanced over the row of Yew and Willow trees bordering the sparkling river. He surveyed the field workers who were still hard at work despite the economic situation. Lumberjacks continued to chop at the trees, their axes flashing wildly, and Victoros could also see several Unicorns dashing behind them playfully bashing each other with bright horns.
Out of nowhere, a squirrel scampered in front of Victoros; he hurled a small nut to the mammal absentmindedly. The squirrel sniffed once, grabbed the nut tightly, and zoomed back up one of the Willow trees. Victoros smiled slightly at the act, envious of how the animals had it easy, turned a corner and followed the fence towards Catherby. He could clearly see the Candle Shop's structure looming.
He was halfway there when a cloaked, black-masked man stepped out from behind the pile of Candle Shop crates, wielding a Magic Shortbow in his gloved hands. Victoros stopped in his tracks and quickly unsheathed his Saradomin Godsword from the great scabbard equipped on his back.
"Halt!" the man called out, notching an arrow onto the bow. Victoros glanced at the man once, decided he wasn't much of a threat, and sheathed his heavy sword back. He held his hands high up in the air, partly out of jest.
"What do you want?" Victoros asked abruptly. The man was quite short in structure, but his eyes were menacing through the Black Mask's eyeholes, forcing Victoros to pay attention.
"Well, well, well. Not many people travel alone these days, and certainly none with the wealth that you have." The man's large eyes observed Victoros closely and hungrily. Victoros could see the man glancing especially attentively at his armor and weapons.
"You gonna try take my possessions by force, or what?" Victoros demanded, taking a step forward.
The man lowered his bow and extended his left hand for a shake. "My name's Valkyrie Dolciban. Where are you heading?"
"I don't see it's any of your business to know where I'm going, mere bandit," Victoros said huffily. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way." The Slayer glanced at Valkyrie one more time and continued walking forward on the path. He came to the end of the fence before Valkyrie jumped in front of him.
Victoros inwardly grunted, stating, "Come now. Don't make this difficult for the both of us."
"Let's not be hasty, mighty adventurer. I'm not a bandit; I'm merely dressed as one to scare unwelcome people away. My brother was slaughtered brutally by bandits a long time ago, and to this day, I still wish to avenge him," Valkyrie explained quietly. "But as you can understand, I'd have to be wary of others, huh?"
Victoros thought Valkyrie's explanation was kind of ironic but remained silent, giving the "bandit" a chance to say more. But when Valkyrie simply stood there, waiting for a response Victoros had no choice but to respond.
"Ah, if that is true, then my sincere apologies, Valkyrie. My name is Victoros, and I am a Slayer from the Ardougne Slayer Force. Well technically, I was, because my organization disbanded a few days ago due to lack of funds. I guess I'm kinda a mercenary like you now then, aren't I? Haha."
"I see i see! Interesting. Let me guess, oh mighty Slayer, you're heading towards Falador, are you not?"
"Correct. That's where all the wealth lies in, and if you wish to go with me, I guess I could use some company." Victoros, who had taken a bit of a liking to Valkyrie, extended a hand, and the young man took it. The two shook hands formally, apparently sealing their partnership.
"Why don't you take off your mask and cloak now, let me see what you look like, eh? Since we're gonna be traveling for quite a bit from now on," Victoros commented absentmindedly.
"Nah."
"Come on, kid."
"No, I don't wanna."
"If you say so, not like it matters."
The pair entered Catherby and were now busying themselves with buying tools and supplies for the journey ahead at the General Store, where thankfully the prices weren't too outrageous. They now discussed methods of entering Taverley, the first village in the kingdom of Asgarnia from the west.
"You haven't won the Fishing Contest in Hemenster, eh, Slayer?" Valkyrie asked. A particular perk of winning the Fishing Contest was that it allowed travelers to traverse the underground passageway of the Dwarves from one side of the mountain to the other. Essentially it meant that the white wolves who roam the mountain could be avoided. However, since many travelers are adventurers who choose to hone their swordplay and not their skill with fly-fishing, not many had the credentials to take such a path and had to trek through the wolf-filled terrain instead.
"I'm guessing that you haven't either. I guess that means the Dwarven shortcut to Taverley is off-limits," Victoros said roughly. He glanced up to see that the sun was still shining brightly in the azure sky. It was still early in the morning.
"Let's make our way past White Wolf Mountain before night falls, then, shall we? I've heard that the wolves there are quite vicious. Not to mention that blizzards frequently start up over there." Valkyrie said, swinging his bow back onto the quiver on his back. He started to walk briskly forward, followed closely by Victoros.
"It's okay. I'm a Slayer; wolves are nothing compared to the firebreathing dragons I've fought."
"Wow, you actually fought REAL dragons before? Why don't you tell me of your past experiences? Enlighten me sir"
"Sure thing, young one. There's this one time when I trekked into the Wilderness…" Victoros proceeded to tell the archer of his battles with Dracenios and other monstrous beings, until the two reached the base of the White Wolf Mountain, having stocked up in Catherby. Valkyrie walked across the sandy Catherby beach, his boots treading softly on the fine sand, towards the grassy base of the mountain. The two nodded and started to walk up to higher elevation.
Victoros and Valkyrie continued their careful ascension of the towering White Wolf Mountain using the mountaineering supplies that they had acquired in Catherby. Soon they had reached the icy area of the mountain, and they changed their footsteps to become more wary to the slippery ground. After the archer almost slipped to his death for the third time, Victoros sighed and plopped onto the snow. The icy feeling the Slayer felt instantly propelled him back onto his feet.
"Why don't we take the longer route around the mountain base instead of going through all those bloodthirsty wolves? Plus there's less ice down there."
"It's all right, Valkyrie, as long as you're careful, the ice is nothing to be concerned about. And like I said before, I can deal with wolves efficiently. And I'd like to spend a day or two instead of a week crossing this thing."
"Still, I'm not too confident about this route, but I shall do what you say."
"Good of you to think that way, Valkyrie." Victoros took a step forward briskly and quickly slipped on the ice.
"Curses!" Victoros exclaimed as he collapsed. His body then continued sliding down the icy ledge which they had been carefully walking up on, since it was far too slippery for his smooth armor and boots to scale. He soon found himself dangling at the edge of the icy ledge, his gloved hands grasping a large protruding rock firmly. Victoros tried not to look down at the sights beneath him, as he was currently hanging off some high elevation indeed. Valkyrie slowly and cautiously walked back across the ledge towards Victoros, glancing at his feet the whole time.
"Give me your hand and try to pull me up, or something!" Victoros ordered Valkyrie hurriedly. The archer crouched down and extended his hand, but stopped as he heard a loud howl somewhere near him.
"I can't you're too heavy!" the archer protested.
"Just try, will you? Do it!" Victoros looked around wildly once more, and extended his hand again.
Suddenly, the howl grew louder and a large White Wolf emerged from around the corner. It looked around with its acute eyes and set its sight on the cowering Valkyrie. However, as it pounced forward, it saw Victoros helplessly dangling over the edge, certainly representing an easier target. The wolf growled once and Valkyrie shivered in fear as he tried to steadily grab his bow out from his quiver. Victoros' left hand slipped at that moment and he was now dangling on only one hand. The sword equipped on his back certainly wasn't helping in terms of weight.
"Pull me up, Valkyrie! Now, now!" Victoros roared, but it was too late as the wolf pounced directly at him. Victoros' right hand lost its grip and he started to fall just as the wolf landed onto his body from the shoulders down.
The wind was stirring up slowly but surely moments ago and now it had whipped into quite a large storm. Valkyrie's cloak and mask were blown away at that moment, and Victoros' eyes widened as he saw that the guy he had been travelling with just now was not a guy after all. Valkyrie was a girl, a girl who was screaming to be more accurate.
The struggling warrior and wolf slid over the side of the mountain until the two of them disappeared beneath the blizzard which had just begun out of nowhere in a hurry. Valkyrie, having processed all this, hurriedly left the icy ledge and began to slowly slide. She eventually rushed over to where Victoros lay at the bottom of the mountain, in a pile of snow. The wolf's body was nearby, impaled by a thick spiky stalagmite on the side of the mountain base.
The blizzard was becoming overwhelming now, and Valkyrie cautiously treaded over to the motionless Victoros, being careful not to slip onto the ground. She leaned over and retrieved the Slayer's Godsword from its scabbard with all her strength, as well as taking several thousand coins and a new cloak from Victoros' pack.
"Well, you won't be needing these anymore," the young girl sighed. The female archer uttered a quick prayer over Victoros' downed body, and proceeded to climb up the mountain again slowly with her supplies, having all the money she needed to continue her journey eastwards. Valkyrie soon went out of sight again in the snowy storm leaving Victoros' body lying on the ground, under a thin layer of snow.
It was a few minutes after Valkyrie had disappeared from sight that Victoros regained conscious. He stood up numbly, brushing off the snow, and glanced around for any sign of his companion. The blizzard had stopped by now, and luckily he did not freeze to death underneath his armor. It was then that he realized his sword was gone. His pack felt lighter for some reason as well.
"Damn that woman," Victoros muttered as he limped towards the mountain again. This time, he won't slip down in the ice…he would have to be more careful from now on, for sure.