So, what was the point of knowing what a freezer is? Well, this is why.
The blizzard of white rushed past the two who rubbed their arms through their thick coats. Never had they seen something so... so extraordinary! At the same time, however, it froze their skin underneath all the cloth layers just to be there.
"E-Elsword...! It's so...! C-cold!"
The two trudged through the thickness of snow before them. Not only were they freezing to death, the townspeople were living bystanders watching them obtain frostbite. They stared off at the two foreigners as they made their way to somewhere. As the duo looked around, the only things visible were the impending snow and tiny lights accompanied with bulging angles and such.
A young boy, perhaps no older than ten, who had been standing by his mother in front of their house pitter-pattered over. The snow crunched under his feet with every step he made. Brown leather covered the hair of indeterminable color and flapped in the blowing wind. "Who are you two?" The boy asked as he approached the duo.
"W-We're looking... for.. a place to... refuel... Oh gosh it's cold!" Aisha's teeth chattered and she hopped around in place like a kid that needed to use the bathroom— she probably did need to with all the temperature change.
For some reason, Elsword had a gut feeling inside that told him the boy was special in some way. With a shiver, Elsword leaned over to bring his face closer. "Mind lending us a hand, little guy?"
"Hehe, you guys are so interesting!" The boy giggled before taking Aisha and Elsword's hands. "Come with me!" Dragging them along, the boy brought them to his mother's house.
His mom, the lady waiting on the doorsteps, opened the door and let their guests inside to a log house with a comforting fireplace. Two others inhabited the little house, both men, one middle-aged and the other elderly. They both sat back in wooden chairs and sipped from steaming mugs while playing a board game of sorts. As Elsword and Aisha's presences became noticeable, the two men looked up and warmly smiled at them.
"Make yourself at home!" Pronounced the little boy with a hop in his step. "My name's Natsuki; I'm seven. This is my mom, dad, and the chief of the town, Chief Lot."
"Nice to meet you." The duo bowed gracefully to the kind people and hosts.
The chief, adorned with orange, blue, and green patterns on a heavy-looking robe, stood to his feet with a wooden cane that was intricately carved with a snake's head. He was a rather lanky man with barely any hair on his shiny head, yet the aura exuding from him was full of energy and youth. "Haven't seen visitors as young or bold enough to venture out into weather like this as you two have. What brings you here?"
"Well you see," Elsword straightened up, "my friend, Aisha, and I are trying to fly around the world within thirty days. We're stopping here to do repairs and rest."
Chief Lot rubbed his chin slowly. "A flying machine, you say?"
"That's right!" With a jump in her, Aisha gleamed. "He made it all by himself." In the midst of the adventure through the towns, she'd almost forgotten that they were in a competition regarding the plane.
"Metal I'd assume?"
"Yes sir."
After a brief moment, Chief Lot brought his hands to the snake head on the cane. "We may have some... Can you wait until evening?"
"Sure. We can wait until then."
Natsuki bounced around the house with a pair of goggles on his face. He ran around the group with a green scarf flying behind him like a tail. The leather hat that covered his head was pulled over his eyes, causing him to bump into his mother. "Goodness, take your hat off when you're inside!" She pulled the leather from Natsuki's head, red locks coming down. His irises were a crimson that shone brightly with the shape of his wide and curious eyes. Strands of his shaggy hair drooped over his forehead as he smiled at the two guests.
In fact he kinda reminded them of—
"Hey Elsword, he's a mini you." Aisha whispered with a poke of her finger into his shoulder.
Elsword blinked at his younger double standing before him. Natsuki was almost an exact replica of him when he was little. It was like looking in a mirror. A really, REALLY short mirror, actually.
"Ah, you two must be hungry!" Exclaimed Natsuki's mom. "I'll go cook something!"
As the lady retreated to the kitchen, Chief Lot ruffled Natsuki's hair. "Why don't you go show our guests around the city? I'm sure they'd enjoy it."
Even though the snow made the town appear white and empty, it was rather populated. Log houses and shops lined what could have been a road. Some kids were running down hills that were ridiculously tall while others at the bottom placed bets on who would get injured first. There was one kid— a special kid— that gave our duo a nice tour of the winter wonderland.
"And over there is Miss Potter's bakery!" Natsuki tugged Aisha's arm as they traversed through the snow. "She makes delicious pastries! My favorite one is the one filled with chocolate!" His attention shifted elsewhere, "Oh! Over there is—"
Elsword lingered behind the two, smiling at his tiny double. It was striking how much he and Natsuki were alike. Watching the little boy now was like looking into the moments of his youthful and adventurous past— he'd grab Aisha's tiny hand and drag her to some unknown place. They'd explore the town until dusk came and until Elesis finally tracked down the two; by that point, Aisha would be trembling about ghosts in the dark while Elesis pulled Elsword back home with her by tugging his ear lobe. Goodness, he had had an interesting childhood, hadn't he?
During his dazed state, a ball of snow was flung in his direction, pelting him directly in the face. The bits of snow dropped down and hit the ground quietly.
"Nice shot!" Natsuki exclaimed as he high-fived Aisha. The purple-haired girl had a smug look about her as she placed a hand on her Elsword swiped across his face to knock the remaining snow off, Natsuki walked up. "Hey, you've gotta keep up with the tour!"
Elsword was paying to much attention to Natsuki's tour in the first place, though. And now that Aisha had thrown the snowball at him, he really wanted to get her back! The older redhead leaned over towards the other's ear and whispered, producing an amused look from Aisha. "I think we should gang up on Aisha."
"Really? But won't she be mad?"
"Yeah, but she totally deserves payback. And besides, she's way more interesting to attack."
As soon as it was said, Natsuki crouched down and gathered up snow, pressing it into a compact ball between his hands. He immediately stood and whipped it at Aisha, the snow splattering against the fluffy coat. Elsword added in, the two bombarding her with small bits of frozen water turned into a ball. Aisha kinda saw the whole revenge thing coming her way.
"Hey, I surrender! I surrender!" She declared with raised hands. The teamed up boys exchanged high-fives, whooping and cheering. The purple girl plopped herself squat on the ground while they celebrated being little kids.
The sky was now an evening blue, the stars like diamonds planted against a navy velvet material. The snow rushed around inside the stone walls, whistling and whirling. People were progressively fleeting back into their households, bringing their cheerful noises with them.
Natsuki sat next to Aisha and laid his head on her shoulder gently. Elsword sat in front and silently laughed as his friend tinted pink on her cheeks. He touched the snow with his bare hand, the frozen water melting under his hands and leaving traces of water before freezing again and numbing his fingers. Within seconds, his entire hand started going numb and he had to return it to its glove. "Hey Natsuki?"
The little boy lifted his head. "Yes?"
"I wanted to ask," The seventeen-year-old scooped up a mound of snow and held it in between the three, "How did the people of your town create... this? Your people are centered in one of the hotter regions of the world."
"I was thinking about that too." Aisha added. "I never thought a place like this existed."
The little boy loosely crossed his legs, placing both hands in the space made by his legs. "A snow machine. There's a nearby river that we drain water from. The machine freezes it and sends it into the air."
A... Snow machine? "So... where is it?"
Natsuki pointed up randomly into the sky, then waved his hands in a crazy but entertaining way. "Somewhere up. When the walls were built, it was installed."
"Why would you need this snow though? It's ridiculously cold!" Aisha rubbed her sides to show just how bad it was for her. She felt like a Popsicle out here.
"Well..." The boy's voice trailed as he thought hard about it, "Chief Lot told me we had colonized here because our last country melted... Nobody expected the heat, apparently. The tenth chief before him was part of that group, and many died on his watch. The sun burned their skin and overheated them. A man passing by our dying people helped out by creating the snow machine for us. The walls were built to trap in the cold air and snow."
The duo nodded while they listened, fascinated by the story and the fact that a kid like him even knew this. "What happens if it breaks down?" Elsword inquired. Surely, things like that would have happened a couple times.
"Well..." The little boy made a scrunched up face as he thought about it. "We'd all be gone if that happened. But Chief Lot isn't the only big guy around; there's also a person responsible for caring for the snow machine everyday. When the current chief reaches the near end of his life, he appoints a child to begin training as the next caretaker of the machine. Once the chief dies, everybody votes a new one into position. Chief Lot chose me to be the caretaker, which is why he's at my house a lot."
"I'm actually supposed to have my entrance ceremony for the job the day after tomorrow, but..." Natsuki rubbed his head awkwardly, clearly not wanting to admit something. "Frankly... I hate the job and this country."
... There jaws dropped. How could he hate the snow?! There was no way the blazing sun was better than this Winter Wonderland! The two were shocked and utterly appalled by his comment! "You hate your own country?!" Aisha asked a little too loudly.
Natsuki continued to rub the back of his head. "Okay okay, I don't hate this country! It's the routine I hate."
"... Routine?"
"Yeah. Everyday for me, it's play, eat, help, sleep. Play, eat, help, sleep. There's nothing new!" Natsuki's hands flew up into the air as he collapsed backward into the pillow of snow dramatically. "Becoming the caretaker of the machine is just adding to my routine. And we're not allowed outside the walls because it's dangerous."
A brief moment of silence and swirling wind passed by before he flung up. "What's it like outside? Is it scary? Are there monsters?!" Curiously, he asked.
Elsword laughed lightly at Natsuki's interesting antics. "No! It's beautiful outside! There are green trees and blue skies."
"Yeah, and a ton of colorful flowers!" Aisha exclaimed with loud hands. "And so many different people and animals."
"I wanna leave this country... I wanna go see these... trees?" The little boy stood to his feet, crossing his arms with a whine. "And people and animals too! And everything!"
The duo exchanged glances as they realized what was happening. If Natsuki even left the safety of the walls, he'd be seared to death by the blazing sun. "Natsuki, you should stay inside where it's safe."
He pouted before lowering his head. "Not fair... I wanna leave... Like you guys..."
Elsword reached a hand out and ruffled the boy's hair— Natsuki really was as curious and wild as he was. A faint voice called out to the three from a distance. Natsuki's mom stood on the porch, yelling for them to come in. "Hey, let's head in!" Without a response, Natsuki rushed inside ahead of the two.
The rest of the evening went by peacefully. There was a delicious dinner; the metal for the plane had been delivered to the town gates; the two slept well in their separate beds, ready for their travel to the next town. Indeed, things were looking top-notch now.
This was the perfect town, wasn't it?
... Wasn't it?