Chapter 16: The USJ: Part 2

I still remember what happened, though it's more like bits and pieces of what happened. I remember how it haunted me for months afterwards. I remember how it took just about everyone I knew to help me get over it. My dad said that what I did was normal, especially for people like us.

It's probably odd to hear, but the thing about Nordic mountain regions is that we have five seasons instead of four. Well, at least that's how it felt back home. We had the usual spring, summer, fall, and winter, but for us, winter was divided. There was the normal winter that everyone gets for the first two months, but the last two we got what everyone called, 'devastating winter'.

We called it devastating winter because it got much colder and we constantly got hit with blizzards, snowstorms, and even hail during those months. It was very hard for us to do things like farm, hunt, train, or work on our various crafts. We also couldn't fish since it was basically suicide to set sail. Instead, we'd use the frozen lakes to ice fish.

Needless to say, it was a difficult time for everyone. If we didn't adapt the way we did, our village wouldn't have been the great place that it is. I know I'm getting off topic, but to understand my story, this needs to be known.

It was during devastating winter that the incident occurred. I was nine at the time and Nikolas had just joined our family. I won't lie, back then I wasn't as close to him as I am now. Call it instinct, but when I first saw Nikolas, I was pretty territorial. He was an outsider to me, despite being just over a year old. He also took a lot of mom and dad's attention away, so I was more than a little jealous.

I should probably clarify this, but Nikolas wasn't a part of what happened, at least, not directly. As I said, this was during devastating winter and that year it was particularly bad. We weren't as prepared as we usually were and we had gotten a new family member.

There was some good news though. There hadn't been any snowfall for three days, which was essentially a miracle during that time of year. Dad and I were able to go hunting while mom stayed home with Nikolas. I love hunting with dad, so being able to go with him and stretch my legs made it seem like Christmas came early.

We were in the middle of the forest, trudging through the snow. We'd just bagged a deer and managed to catch about seven fish, all of which were tied to our sled.

"We really got lucky today, don't you think dad?"

"Yes we did" he said with his tail wagging happily. "You really have a talent for fishing, Alexander."

I could feel my own tail swishing from the praise.

"Hehe, thanks. But wait, you were the one who caught five of them!"

"True, but I've been doing this for a long time while you've only been fishing for less than a year. You can't expect to have the same developed senses I do."

"Yea, I know. Still, it's amazing how you caught all those fish, not to mention the deer. You got him with one shot! I bet you're the best archer in the whole village."

"Now Alexander, you know full well there are better archers than me. Besides, it's less about the bow and more about your skills as a tracker. You can be the greatest archer in the world, but it's pointless if you have nothing to shoot."

"That makes sense."

As we kept walking, something came to me.

"Hey dad, what you just said, is that why I've been training my senses and why you've been focusing on my tracking skills? I've asked you to teach me how to wield a bow and other weapons, but you have me hunt, meditate, and practice martial arts instead. Not that I mind of course, I just thought I'd ask."

I understood that there was a method to my dad's madness, but at the time I couldn't help but question him. I was just a pup after all and there were some things I didn't really get. It also didn't help that I was working as a blacksmith's apprentice. When you're surrounded by cool weapons all day, you can't help but imagine wielding one.

I still remember the smile dad gave me to this day. He had answered all my questions with that smile alone. Now, most would think a wolf's smile would be intimidating, but for me, it was the most reassuring thing ever. My tail couldn't help but wag. The look in his eyes filled me with that much confidence.

After reassuring me, we continued going home. It was right around that time that the snow started to fall. I got worried as both dad and I could smell the water in the air.

"Daddy?"

"We need to find shelter," he said as he looked back at me. "Come on, there's a place where we can make a snow cave. Hopefully we'll be able to get it done before the worst of it hits."

I didn't even bother responding. When dad took that tone, his word was law. I nodded to him and we both picked up the pace. The sled slowed us down, but I knew we couldn't afford to abandon it unless we wanted to starve. It was just another thing we had to deal with.

It took us about ten minutes before we made it to the area where we would make our snow cave. Dad had me watch the sled while he started digging.

"Hey dad, let me help!"

"No, you stay with the sled!"

"But-"

"No buts!" dad said sternly and with a small growl.

That made me flinch. Dad never growled at me unless it was important.

"Son, you should know that we aren't in our territory anymore. I trained you for this exact situation."

"I don't-"

"Alexander! You said yourself what I've been training you for. Now put those skills to use."

Dad gave me one of the most intimidating looks I've ever seen in my life. I didn't want to make him angrier, so I did what he said. I closed my eyes and opened up my senses just like he taught me. As I felt the world around me become clearer, I sniffed the air and that's when it hit me.

"I smell… snow leopard!"

Dad nodded to me.

"That's right son. We're in red claw territory now."

The red claw tribe. It was a tribe of snow leopards whose territory neighbored ours. They were one of the more aggressive tribes, especially to outsiders. As a result, our village didn't even try to make a trade agreement with them. We were able to make a non-aggression pact a year before our family left, but it was clear they still looked for any excuse to start a fight.

"Now you understand. If they're out here hunting, then they'll no doubt smell our kills. We can't afford to lose those supplies, so I'm trusting you to watch the sled while I make the cave."

I nodded my head in confirmation. With another nod, dad got to work while I went back to the sled. As soon as I did however, all hell broke loose.

Just before I got to the sled, an arrow landed right in front of me. When it did, I stumbled back and even fell on my butt, something I'm a little embarrassed to admit. Of course, it wasn't after I shook my head and got my bearings that I realized what happened.

"An arrow, with a red tail? No! How are they already here?"

Looking back, that was dumb question to ask. We were in their territory. For all we knew they could have been tracking us from the beginning.

"Looks like we found some pups."

I looked up and saw three snow leopard animal folk perched up on a tree. I won't lie, I was scared. I was just a pup and they were three fully grown hunters out for blood. Still, I knew I couldn't show them any weakness so I just growled at them.

"Hehe, listen to that little pup, trying to act all intimidating. I've heard rabbits with better growls than that," the snow leopard on the left said with a cocky smile.

That smile really pissed me off. I still don't know why, but that sense of being looked down on frustrated me. Dad always told me the prideful get killed first. That's why even back then I tried to stay humble, but that air of superiority the man gave off rubbed me the wrong way.

I wanted to charge in and beat that smile off his face, but two things stopped me. The first was their bows. They'd shoot me long before I got close. When you've seen the effort hunters put into their craft and what they can do, you learn it's best to stay out of their range.

The second thing was dad's orders. He ordered me to stay with the sled and his words were law. He was counting on me to keep the supplies safe and I wasn't going to let him down.

Since I didn't have any real options, I hid behind the deer dad killed and used a call sign to get his attention. It was the chirping sound of a snow bird, something mom taught me. She told me that chirp was how the pack communicated danger while out hunting.

"HA! Look at him now, hiding behind a piece of meat like a coward. What did I tell you guys? When it comes to canines, they're all bark and-"

Everything went silent. The snow leopard with the loud mouth got quiet, my curiosity took over and I looked to see what was happening. Looking back, it was a really stupid thing to do. They could have shot me the moment my head popped out, but I couldn't help myself.

I took a small peak at the branch the three hunters were standing on and saw they were gone. This helped steady my nerves, but not as much as you'd think. If anything, it made me more on guard. Still, I needed to know what was going on.

After taking a moment to gather my courage, I stepped out from behind the sled. It was a little hard to see because of the falling snow, but something caught my attention. I focused and that's when I saw the loudmouth feline collapse in the snow.

"Alexander, are you alright?"

I turned around and noticed Dad coming with his bow at the ready.

"Dad, did you-?"

He nodded his head.

"Yes I did, and I'm sorry you had to see it."

There was silence between us for a moment before dad spoke again.

"Listen, it's not finished, but the snow cave should be good enough to support us and the supplies. Let's head inside and you can help me finish it."

I nodded my head in understanding and followed him into the cave.

Once inside, I put the sled to the side and looked around. It wasn't much, but it would definitely shelter us. Meanwhile, dad took one of the lanterns and lit it. He put it in the center of the cave and started digging again. Without saying a word, I helped him as best I could.

It took a good twenty or so minutes, but we managed to make the cave comfortable enough to spend the night. I doubted we had to, but it was always good to be prepared.

"Hey dad?"

"Yes, son?"

"Do you… do you think they will be back?"

"Hard to say. Those red fangs certainly like their trophies and I wouldn't put it past them to come after us."

"But why? We're just two wolves passing by. I know we're in their territory and all, but still."

Dad shrugged his shoulders.

"I can't answer that. The red claws have always been a battle hungry tribe. They love the thrill of war and the scent of blood. It's why almost all the tribes are so wary of them. Truth be told, I didn't expect them to retreat like that."

"Do you have any idea why they did?"

"It could be any number of reasons. I know I said they love war, but they aren't mindless beasts. They probably thought that we were an easy mark but after losing a man so quickly, they could have reconsidered. Another reason is that their group was a simple scouting party and decided it wasn't worth it after seeing me. I do have a reputation after all."

I was gonna crack a joke at that, but then the wind picked up. Dad looked outside and saw the storm had gotten worse. He poked his head out a little more and looked at the sky where he saw the clouds slowly moving away.

"Alright, I'd give it an hour before it calms down enough for us to make a break for it." He said as he came back inside. "Fortunately we are close to the border. Once we make it over, we'll be home free."

"Are you sure, dad? What if they come after us?"

"As I said Alexander, they aren't fools. If they come after us, it will cause more trouble than it's worth. We just need to make it back into our territory and we'll be alright."

I nodded to my dad and we just watched the fire in comfortable silence. As we waited for the storm to pass, we kept talking about everything and about nothing. We talked about my training, how things were going on the farm and at the blacksmith's store. We also talked about dad's job and I found out a bit more about what he does.

When the hour passed, the storm calmed down just as dad predicted. It was still snowing, but it wasn't as bad as before the storm really hit. The wind had died down and we could see the path we took to get here.

We grabbed our stuff and ran as fast as we could. We could still smell those animal folk and we didn't want to take a chance of running into them.

It was about a half hour later when we finally saw the edge of the forest. Once we made it through, we'd be back in our territory. I let out a breath of relief when I saw we were almost home. I turned to dad so I could give him a smile, but that's when I saw how tense he was.

"Hey dad, are you alright?"

Dad didn't answer, he just kept walking with a serious look on his face. I later found out that he wasn't ignoring me, he was just keeping watch. I knew it was childish, but I wished he at least said something at the time.

Before I could say anything else, Dad suddenly lunged at me. I was too surprised to do anything but let him tackle me to the ground. He didn't even let me ask what was going on before we rolled over to the side. That's when I finally noticed all the arrows piercing the ground.

"They're back?!"

"Yes they are, and they brought some friends," dad said as he stood us both up.

"We finally found you!"

I turned my head where I saw ten snow leopards staring us down, all of them brandishing weapons.

"You're gonna pay for killing our comrade," the one who I assumed was the leader said.

"Get behind me son."

I ran over to him without a second thought.

"What do we do now?"

"Run!"

What?! But dad-"

"Go now!" dad yelled as he tossed me towards the Forest.

As I flew through the air, I saw the snow leopards fire their arrows at us. Before they made it anywhere near us though, Dad put up an ice wall that blocked them.

I landed behind the treeline just in time to see dad let out a battle howl and send ice shards towards the enemy tribe members. He gave me one last glance before he charged them. I wanted to help, but I knew I'd just be in the way. So I ran. I ran as fast as I could while praying that dad would be ok.

I ran for what felt like forever before I suddenly heard something fly through the air. I had never been more grateful for my training than when I instinctively ducked whatever it was that went over my head. I thought it was another arrow, but to my shock I saw a burn mark in the snow.

"I must admit, I wasn't expecting you to get so far. Too bad your effort was a waste," a voice filled with malicious intent said.

I quickly got up and turned to see a large hooded figure walking towards me. I knew they were a member of the red claw tribe because of their smell.

"Who-Who are you? You weren't with those hunters."

"It seems that even your tribe's pups are more perceptive than I thought. It seems our leader was right to tell us not to underestimate you."

The figure removed his hood to show the face of a human with ram horns. He showed signs of aging and had an air of power surrounding him.

"You're a half breed. Yet you have the scent of the red claw tribe? I thought the red claws only accept feline animal folk into their tribe."

"Ordinarily you'd be right, however, even savages like them understand how useful someone of my caliber is. As for you little pup, I'm afraid your life ends here."

"Why? I haven't done anything to you! I- I'm just a pup!"

"Oh, it's not about what you did, it's about what your tribe did."

"My tribe?"

"I'm not surprised you don't know. You see, you savages leveled my entire village during one of your raids. Your ilk killed every last man, woman, and child you saw with no remorse. I was one of the few who survived and now will have my retribution."

"That's a lie! Yes my tribe goes on raids, but we've never hurt innocents. That's one of the rules set by the village founder and anyone who disobeys is banished."

"You truly are naive. Do you honestly believe that in all the time your tribe has existed, they've never ruined lives, destroyed families, and pillaged whatever land they've trespassed on?!"

"I can't speak of our history, but the tribe I know now would never do such things. The people of Norway are honorable and they wouldn't hurt anyone without a good reason."

"While it's admirable you have such faith in your homeland," the man said while he pointed his fingers at me. "The opinion of the dead matters little."

The man shot what looked like a lightning bolt at me that I was barely able to dodge. As I saw it fly past, the bolt impacted a tree and completely destroyed it. I was completely terrified by the power of the attack and almost didn't see the next volley of lightning bolts rushing towards me.

Knowing I wasn't fast enough to dodge, I instinctively put my hands up in defense. I thought I was gonna get hit, but when I looked up, I saw a wall of snow get hit instead. I was so shocked I created that defense that I almost didn't see the next attack.

I tried to scramble into the thicket, but one of the lighting bolts hit me in the back and sent me flying deep into the forest. I ended up being flung into another tree before I landed in the snow. I tried to get up, but I couldn't move my arms or legs.

"Amazing. A direct hit and still alive. You're quite resilient aren't you."

I looked up just in time to see the man getting ready to hit me with another blast. I still remember how scared I was. I really thought I was going to die. I tried desperately to move, but it was like my body wouldn't respond. Not even my tail, which I don't doubt would've been tucked in between my legs, was responding.

Still, I couldn't give up! Just as he shot his lighting bolt, I managed to roll out of the way and ended up falling into a hole the snow had covered.

I don't remember what happened next. I think I might have blacked out when I landed. What I do know is that when I opened my eyes, the sky was above me.

"Where am I?"

"Oh good, you're awake."

I tried to look up, but my body was stiff and heavy. It wasn't the same numbness I felt when I got hit by the ram-man's attack, but I was still on edge. I only calmed down when I realized it was my dad talking to me.

"Dad?"

"Glad to see you remember me." he said with a small laugh, his tail wagging happily.

"What happened?"

"After we separated, I managed to fight off the red claw tribe. The leader of their group was impressed enough to have a talk with me and I managed to convince him to let us go."

"We then heard an almighty crash in the direction of the border. I demanded to know if they had anyone else out there that would be attacking you. The leader said everyone was accounted for and decided to follow to see who else was invading their territory."

"That's when we made it just in time to see you roll into that hole. That ram half breed was captured and detained by the red claws and I was able to dig you out."

"Oh, that's good. How long was I out?"

"Not long, five minutes actually. Of course, that's not including the time it took to find you. Let's just thank our lucky stars that you didn't land anywhere too deep."

I looked down, dejected. I was completely useless through the whole ordeal. Even when I accidentally used my quirk, I was too scared to do anything. All I could do was fold my ears back in shame.

"I'm sorry I wasn't much help."

"You have nothing to be sorry about, son. None of this was supposed to happen. Besides, that man caught all of us by surprise. I still don't know how he was able to hide not only his presence, but his scent as well."

"I know that, but you taught me to keep calm in situations like that. Instead, I forgot all my training and froze. Even when my quirk activated on its own, I still couldn't do anything. I'm… I'm so useless."

The sled stopped. I looked up as best as I could and saw dad's tail bristle, and heard his deep growl.

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL YOURSELF USELESS!" he snarled, frightening me so much that my ears and tail shot up.

"Alexander Talbain! You are my son and a fine young wolf. You may be weak now, but you will become a strong predator! If you're so frustrated by this, then do something about it! Use this experience as a reason to get stronger and STOP FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF!"

"Dad…"

"One day you will have the strength to protect the village. Until then you must work hard and overcome whatever obstacle life throws at you. Remember, it's when you are protecting someone important that your true strength emerges. So never falter and when the time comes, protect all that is precious to you!"

That day still lingers in my mind. I trained harder than I ever thought possible and became a proud fighter who would keep everyone safe. Now here I am, at the greatest hero school in all of Japan and what happened? I get sent away like I'm not even worth fighting.

When I opened my eyes again I saw where the portal was taking me. I was headed for a sunken ship with its splinters ready to impale me, only one thought ran through my mind.

"LIKE HELL IT'S ENDING HERE, JAEVEL!"