"Red Winter. Operation commencing. Objective: Eliminate Deathless Black Snake." Letting go of the transmitter, he waited.
A few seconds later, a voice comes over the radio in response, though every so often a bit of static could be heard.
"Affirmative Red Winter. The target is Talulah Artorias. She was last seen running north from Duke Kaschey's territory towards the Ursus tundra, where a vast amount of mobile villages are patrolled by the Infected Patrol Unit. You are to investigate her whereabouts and confirm whether or not it has chosen her as its next host. If it has, drag it out by any means and eliminate it."
"Affirmative. Beginning hunt."
Ending his transmission with a curt response, the Red Winter walks out of the bedroom and into the hallway. On the walls are multiple pictures of an Ursus family: a father, mother, and son, all happily smiling and laughing in each photo. Entering the living room, he finds someone on the couch to his right: the mother. She's knitting a scarf. Giving a practiced smile, the Red Winter greets her.
"Good morning Ma'am, I thank you once again for allowing me to stay the night."
"Nonsense, Fenrir. It was the least we could do after you helped us deal with those ravenous Meatbeasts." The woman smiled.
"It was the least I could do," Fenrir shook his head and walked over to the front door, "but now I have to leave. I wish you and your family the best of luck for this coming winter." Fenrir left, giving a bow and ignoring any protest she might've had.
Outside, the sun shined brightly, forcing Fenrir to cover his eyes while they adjusted to the light. Turning his head, he saw the father and son cutting firewood. He waved to them and voiced his thanks before turning his back and walking down the hill that their house sat upon. Avoiding the rest of the mobile village's occupants, Fenrir walked into the Ursus tundra. Once he was far enough from the village, he utilized his Arts to control his breathing as he ran further into the tundra.
Duke Kaschey's territory was vast. Being part of the old nobility meant he held far more territory than the newer nobles. He governed over roughly a third of Ursus' northern territory himself, the rest being divided amongst lesser nobles.
Fenrir had his work cut out for himself as he ran for hours: over mountains, hills, and through dead forests. He now found himself at an abandoned village in the dead of night. The village was in disrepair: numerous burns and dried blood covering the village. Walking over to one of the few intact homes, he cautiously enters. Inside, he is met with the broken furniture of a living room.
Scanning the room, he finds the remains of whoever once lived here: an assortment of bones hidden behind the couch. Ignoring the remains, he investigates the rest of the home. Once he's certain there's no threat inside, he makes his way back towards the living room and lays down on the worn out couch. His twin swords are placed next to him, leaning against the armrest where his head lies for quick access in case of emergency. Wrapping his cloak around his body, Fenrir falls asleep.
When he awakes, it's early in the morning. Not wasting any time, he sheaths his swords and leaves the abandoned village behind, once again utilizing his Arts to help him traverse the tundra without tiring himself out.
Unfortunately, his search lasted for five months. At times he found himself at a mobile village, and at others he found himself taking down bandits and scavengers. This time, he finds himself sat atop a hill in the middle of the night. Fenrir's gaze is locked with the starry sky above. He's going over his mental map of the tundra, remembering which locations and mobile villages he's passed through. He's been through three dozen villages, nine abandoned villages, two small abandoned mobile cities, and more recently a mobile city. From the mobile city, Fenrir was able to gather supplies and new intel from a branch office of the UESA. There are roughly a hundred more mobile villages in the tundra that he has yet to explore.
A frown would've marred the Lupo's face, but it didn't, as he delved further into thought about his time management. Even with his Arts, the distance he has to travel is quite significant. Terra itself is insanely large, and for him to traverse the entirety of northern Ursus is near impossible without taking into account the possibility of encountering a catastrophe along the way.
Before Fenrir could continue his thoughts, the growling of his stomach makes him aware of his body's current condition. Looking down at his slightly shaking arms, Fenrir sighs. He's been working off of the bare minimum for all these months of his investigation. He would have to find more food and water soon, as his current supplies had just run out two days before. Hearing a caw above him, Fenrir turned his gaze towards the sky, finding a black raven flying down to him.
Holding his arm out for the raven to land on, Fenrir hummed, wondering what the UESA had for him. The raven landed on his arm shortly after, a small message tied to its left leg. Taking the message and unfolding it, Fenrir read it while gently rubbing the bird's head. Finding some form of odd comfort in the action.
Target has been spotted leaving mobile city Nazak towards the northwest
After reading the message, Fenrir ripped it and buried it under the snow. Now having a rough estimate of where the Black Snake's host was, he quickly began setting up a space for him to sleep. He would need as much sleep as possible in order to utilize his Arts properly for the busy day ahead of him. As Fenrir wrapped his cloak around himself, the raven who carried the message nestled against his chest. Seeing no reason to deny the bird, he ignored it and closed his eyes.
When Fenrir awoke, he immediately began his search with the raven as his companion who flew high above him. The city of Nazak had been stationary for the duration of his search, as no catastrophe had been reported to be forming, so that made finding it much easier for him. And so he ran towards it. By nightfall he would be able to make it to the city and stop by another branch office of the UESA for supplies.
Arriving at Nazak during the twilight, Fenrir was met by a UESA agent at the city's border. The agent was an adult Ursus man with brown hair. Their eyes met for a brief moment before the agent scoffed at him, an obvious bias against the infected (or him) showing. Did they not know the importance of eliminating the Deathless Black Snake?
"Red Winter?" The agent questioned with a frown. The answer was obvious, but protocol must be upheld regardless.
"Received intel. Resupply required. Lead on target," were the short words he responded with, something that was expected of him to keep information as concise as possible, and ensure that if people overheard them, they wouldn't be able to figure out much without further investigation.
The agent nodded their head and gestured for Fenrir to follow him. Walking through the border and down city streets they arrived at one of the UESA's offices. The inside of the building was more of a clinic than an office. The face of the agent in front of Fenrir changed to a happy smile as he greeted the people waiting for appointments and checkups. The people greeted the agent back while giving looks of slight curiosity towards him. Fenrir gave them a smile and a wave, something they reciprocated. Their walk was stopped by a few patients who struck up a conversation with the agent. Fenrir ignored their talks as he continued deeper into the building.
He already knew the layout of the office since they were all built to have the exact same layout, regardless of which city they resided in. It was definitely a security risk, but the UESA had faith in their agents. Entering a room, Fenrir was greeted by another Ursus man who put various nonperishables onto a counter, along with a sack for him to carry it in.
"The sack already has binoculars and a map of the nearby geography stored inside. By the way, how goes the search?" The man attempted to converse with him but was ignored. There was no need to speak to anyone now that Fenrir had the supplies needed for his search.
"Right…"
After counting his supplies and neatly placing them into the sack, Fenrir left the building without a word having been spoken.
Making his way to the northwestern most corner of Nazak, Fenrir scaled the city's walls and equipped the binoculars, scouting the direction Talulah was spotted leaving in. Unfortunately, that area was filled with numerous hills and dead forests that blocked his view. He would sigh if he was in the presence of others, but performing such an action by himself would have no value.
Scaling down the other side of the wall, Fenrir began his trek northwest, traveling up the tallest mountain he could find. It was midnight when he reached the mountain's peak, so he didn't have sufficient visibility to see anything further down the mountain, even if his Lupo heritage gave him slight night vision. So once again, he set up camp, continuing his journey through the mountains in the morning.
It took him another two weeks until he found tiny trails of smoke rising into the air off in the distance. Taking caution, Fenrir crept his way to the top of a hill, using the binoculars to figure out what he was dealing with. Tracing the smoke to the ground, he found they originated from a mobile village. The occupants of the village were normal civilians, most ranging from young adults to elderly. That is until he spotted a white haired Draco talking to a white haired Elafia. Fenrir eyed the Draco's appearance. The clothes that she wore were consistent with a standard noble's military uniform.
Putting his binoculars away, Fenrir put them back into his sack as the black raven landed on his shoulder. The Lupo pulled out a pen and paper and began to write on it.
Target Identified, attempting infiltration now.
He rolled the paper up, attaching it to the raven's foot with a piece of string and letting it fly off.
Turning back to the village down the hill, Fenrir gauged how and when he should introduce himself. A couple of plans raced through his mind, but the one he thought would give him the best chance would be to appear weakened. Unfortunately, this plan would involve him losing his sack, but that was something he had no issue with. Taking one last glance at the bag, Fenrir threw it down the way he climbed and began walking towards the distant village.
Along the way, Fenrir began to use his Arts, affecting the surrounding area as he walked. The air around him began to feel heated and irritating, like his skin was burning from too much exposure to the sun. Fenrir focused, forcing his Arts to have a wider range, the air now becoming similar to the vacuum of space. It took nearly ten minutes, but eventually Fenrir dropped his Arts, and just in time as well. Standing just a few hundred feet away from the village on another hill, he felt the consequences of the strenuous use of his Arts. His chest burned and his head was spinning. His vision blurred as he involuntarily began to tumble down the snowy hill. The last thing his consciousness saw was the Elafia staring at him in surprise.
—
When his eyes open he's back in the laboratory, sitting in the center of the room and staring at the same wall, when a click is heard from his left and a voice calls out to him.
"Oi, brat. We've got a special day planned for you." It was Ayin who smirked at him. "Keep up the good work and continue to not die, and maybe the big wigs upstairs will reward ya." The brown haired scientist gestured for him to follow.
The young child didn't respond (he never did), silently standing up and walking behind him with a hint of curiosity for Ayin's words. Together, they walked through the same hallways and doors, though this time, they ended up at a new door that Fenrir had never seen. When the door opened, he began to walk in, but was stopped by the scientist.
"I'll give ya a little tip, brat. When they ask about who gets rid of the sickness, use that power of yours. And I'm ordering you. If you don't, I'll make sure your next beating's worse than before." Nodding his head, Fenrir was allowed to enter the room, where he saw a group of three children inside the small room.
The first child was a black haired Kuranta girl with blue eyes and a frail physique. She looked deathly afraid of everyone around her and was sitting at the far corners of the room. She didn't acknowledge him entering the room. The second child was a blue haired Pythian boy with similar blue eyes. He seemed irritated at everything he stared at, and Fenrir's arrival only seemed to make his mood worse. The third child was a blonde Caprinae boy with gray eyes that seemed to be always analyzing something. He gave Fenrir a cursory glance before turning to stare at the walls. The final child was a Lupo girl, eerily similar to himself. Her face lit up at his arrival and she rushed towards him, her body slamming into his as her arms wrapped around him in a tight hug.
Fenrir gazed down at the other Lupo with curiosity. He doesn't remember ever meeting this girl before, chalking it up to being mistaken for someone else. When the girl opened her mouth, he couldn't hear any words coming out of it. It was odd, he could hear the scientists whenever they spoke to him, but why couldn't he hear the words of this girl? Suddenly, a voice echoes throughout the room, causing all the children to wonder where the voice came from.
"Good morning children, if I could have your attention please." There was a short pause as everyone in the room paid attention to the voice. "Good, good. Now, there's something I must tell you of… You're all sick, and we only have one thing that can stop that sickness." There was a choir of surprise that erupted from everyone but Fenrir. He stared at the far end of the room, gazing at something beyond his sight.
Looking around the room, he saw how they reacted. The Kuranta rolled into a ball with her knees against her chest, the Pythia seemed like he was going to shout, and the Caprinae was deep in thought. When he looked down at the girl around him, he saw her eyes fill with fear. Not knowing what sickness they had caused her young mind to think of outlandish ideas. She pushed her face into Fenrir's shirt with a sniffle, looking up at him and speaking once more. But just like last time, he could hear nothing, only getting a weird feeling that he should nod his head once she finished. Her eyes seemed to become brighter and her arms tightened around him after nodding his head. He was curious what he had done to get the girl to trust him so much and why she was beginning to feel familiar–
"Now you must choose between you four. Who gets rid of the sickness?" But the voice stopped him from continuing that line of thought.
Hearing the words Ayin informed him of, Fenrir focused on his power, not wanting to be punished later for not obeying. He closed his eyes in an attempt to focus on whatever power Ayin told him about, but while his eyes were closed he heard something weird. It sounded like the other children were trying to talk, but only noisy and squeaky sounds came out. He didn't know how long he was supposed to use his power, but figured it would be safer to wait until he was told to stop.
However, not even a minute into focusing on his power, it became hard to breathe. Like the air around him was non-existent. It hurt to stay like this, but he didn't want to be punished. He tried with all his might to stay focused, but every passing second felt like an eternity. His entire body felt like it was being hurt, but he didn't know what was hurting him.
Eventually it hurt too much to continue. Hitting the floor Fenrir opened his eyes, his eyes widened in surprise at the sight of all the other children laying still on the floor, he didn't even notice the body of the girl who hugged him lay–
"Fascinating. So these are the Arts of subject six?"
Standing in another room two figures peered through a hidden window into the room. It was the Lupo scientist and Ayin, one staring at the younger Lupo with awe and the other with a small hint of smugness. The Lupo pulled out a recording device and spoke into it with an almost excited tone.
"It would appear that subject six's Arts are that of oxygen deprivation. As shown by today's test, the subject has the capability to seemingly erase oxygen from the atmosphere around him. Whether subject six has killed the three other subjects has yet to be seen, however I hypothesis that–"
"That will be enough, Viktor." A new voice spoke as the two scientists turned around to meet the speaker.
"Oh, your grace, I take it these results have shown our research's worth?" Viktor asked as he paused the recording.
Fenrir's eyes were beginning to close. He felt weak and tired, like he could sleep forever and never wake up. While trying to stay awake, he could hear the voices of people talking, but could only pick up two words that would stick with him for the rest of his life.
"For Ursus…"