Chapter 15: “Whirl”ing Snow Flows into “Stream”

"Where the heck are we?" The question resounded vividly in the vast space and slowly faded into the empty air. No reply was given.

The young man with green hair peeking out of his thick cotton hood weighed down by snow was breathing out white fog as he heaved and trudged in the near-knee deep snow. The pure white snow sparkled in the sun and whistling gales, looking untouched by filthy things in the world. A long trail of footprints can be spotted behind this green-haired young man, and beside those pairs of footprints were another similarly long set of tracks.

The inhaling and the exhaling of the person next to Arlo was distinctly less chaotic than Arlo's. The young man's face was covered by his large hood but it could obviously be observed that he did not appear haggard like Arlo.

Next to Arlo was Abner who, similarly, was bundled up in thick clothing and draped in snow. Right now, his condition in this horrible cold and heavy wind was like eating cup ice cream without a spoon. Although the freezing wind hurt his face when hit, he could endure it. If it was before, then this might not be the case now.

Before he fell into an unconscious state and being bathed again for a second time by the bright, warm light, his new body had still been weak which wasn't surprising from how it never exercises until Abner came along and took over.

Originally, Abner was planning on strengthening his body as it was incomparably weak compared to his previous strong and powerful body that had experienced much forging and scarring.

Now with the nurturing of the second light, his body mysteriously became stronger and tougher, able to have a powerful endurance and stamina. So something like braving the iced wind and high snow was way easier than it should've been to Abner.

Though that doesn't mean Abner's given up on training his body to become even stronger. Right now as he is, he was still too weak, not even worth Ash's pinky finger. If it was before, he could easily defeat Ash. But now...

Let alone talk about it, he shouldn't even think about it.

While on the side, Arlo's pace was increasingly slowing down in the heavy snow. To Ash, Arlo was only worth as much as dust. Poor Arlo can only suffer. Who told him to only have a fast and flexible body but lack strength and muscles?

Though it has to be mentioned that the village men who lives in this frozen land dares not to walk in these thick layers of snow. Even the most daring and courageous men were not foolish enough to try.

It's not just because it's hard to walk within the tall and thick snow, but because of what would happen if they do.

Avalanches and snow storms.

In this place, they come at the most unexpected times. Those natural catastrophes happen unpredictably, so unpredictably that it could be clear skies one minute and snow falling in batches the next second.

That's the number one concern of the village people and they would worry any time someone would go out in the snow. Majority of the time, the people who do go out when snow has bunched up would never return.

That's why this frozen land is called one of the Lesser Danger Zones. The Lesser Danger Zones are areas and places that are considered disastrously dangerous for people and animals alike to live in. Usually those that pose immense harm to a life are marked as one of these Lesser Danger Zones, and as of currently, there are 20 such places in total.

But here's a curious question.

In this snow- and ice-dominated land considered as a Lesser Danger Zone, what could these two possibly be doing here?

Simple. What else could it be besides them finding another clue? But really, what would an immoral and evil group be doing here in this iceland?

Abner suddenly stopped in his tracks and stretched out an arm to block Arlo, successfully stopping him. Arlo came to a halt at the sudden sight of an obstacle in front of him, he looked at Abner, wondering why he stopped.

Without speaking or making a sound, Abner placed a finger on his lips as he looked around vigilantly. Curiously, Arlo followed along and looked all around him but all he could see was a vast landscape of white. He couldn't tell what was strange.

Arlo just couldn't figure out what was wrong, he had faith in his sharp senses but he could sense nothing wrong, so out of frustration, he asked Abner in a quiet voice, "What is it?"

Abner temporarily halted his scanning of the area and turned to Arlo, his violet-purple eyes shined yet at the same time glinted with an ominous feeling.

"I sensed something unusual about our surroundings but I can't pinpoint where exactly I felt something off," Abner explained seriously to Arlo. A moment ago, his sixth sense had suddenly made his heart sting which caused him to stop and check his surroundings for any abnormality. Just like Arlo, he too didn't find anything dangerous around them.

Seeing Abner so serious without a hint of falsitude or insincerity, Arlo's state of mind also became serious as he surveyed his surroundings once more. Even when he still couldn't find what was amiss, he didn't relax.

As a great thief who had experienced many hardships and life-and-death situations, and had encountered many types of situations in the past that could kill off any regular thief if he were to loosen his guards, Arlo would never make the amateur mistake of dismissing even the slightest ominous feeling.

Suddenly.

Rumble! Rumble! Shaww!!

The noises that had originally been whispers of the wind amplified higher and higher until the rumbling sound and the trembling of the earth became as clear as a day without clouds. What was once a whisper became a loud shout.

Both Abner and Arlo became intensively alerted and wary. Their bodies tensed up, waiting for the first sign of the disaster that was about to hit them.

Abner's violet-purple eyes were dark and deep, as if they could understand everything about the world with a linked mind that was as vast as the sea. He hadn't felt this much danger in a while. The last time he was like this was before his death. Although Abner's body was tense in preparation for any surprise, his mind was surprisingly and abnormally calm.

That was how he noticed it.

There was one thing off about that loud, disturbing noise---it sounded distant. It was loud, loud enough to reach the very far away duo because of its devastating impact that could flatten big villages and towns.

The snow beneath Abner's feet sparkled as if it had sensed a close comrade of theirs.

The noise lasted on for some time, as for exactly how long, neither Abner nor Arlo would know, but it definitely didn't take that long for the sun did not much time during that period of time.

Roll. Roll. Fall. Roll.

Snow rolled up to Abner's feet. It glistened prettily in the sunlight.

Abner looked at the large amounts of snow that had ended up here where he was at, that was far away from where it came from. The long distance traveled had to at least be miles, and if not, hundreds of miles. Basically, one can easily image how terrible the avalanche must've been for it to end up miles and miles away from where it originated.

"Phew~ It must've been a false alarm," Arlo sighed a breath of relief as he rubbed his chest to comfort himself. During this time, he nearly gave himself a heart attack from the anxiousness and iffy feeling he had.

Abner had also wanted to say it was just a false alarm, but for an inexplicable reason, his heart clenched and was filled with an even stronger feeling of danger and misfortune than previously. He couldn't tell what it meant, however, he did know that his sixth sense has never been wrong.

And it was true.

Arlo did not even have a minute to relax and rejoice before a powerful wind arrived and nearly knocked him off his feet. He was even stuck in the snow yet that wind had nearly blew him over!

This time, even when during the last time his danger senses hadn't warned him, Arlo also felt it. Felt the same as Abner.

They were in deep danger.

The once clear sky was decorated by dark clouds of all sizes and shapes. The strong cold wind became more powerful with each blow, with its fangs becoming icier and icier. The weather had mercurially changed out of the blue.

Snow began to fall in drips and drops. Slowly accumulating, slowly falling, slowly gathering together into a colossal maelstrom blizzard.

The wind blew snow into Arlo's eyes that were wide open in shock and disbelief. Shocked because of the powerful and extremely destructive snow storm. In disbelief because of how fast the weather changed from sunny clear skies without a single dark cloud to a dark iceland filled with numerous falling snow.

In the blink of an eye, the near-knee high snow became thigh-high! The rapid pace at which the snow piled up was like nothing anyone has ever seen.

With the way things are progressing now, Abner and Arlo would be buried in a mountain of snow in no time!

Withstanding the violent wind's merciless whipping of his face, Abner turned to Arlo with a solemn gaze, "This is bad. This blizzard is too strong, the amount of snow it brings down at once is enormous."

Arlo agreed hastily, "Yes, yes, this is real bad! I don't think it's really to stop any time soon! What are we going to do?! This great thief can't think of anything!! My brain is frozen from this cold and ice and snow!!!" He was obviously freaking out. If his brain was truly frozen, he would be dead now.

"We must find shelter soon!" Abner proposed the only solution to their hopeless and desperate situation. Other than that, there really was nothing else they could choose to do.

Man. In the face of natural disasters, they get blown away so easily. In comparison to nature, they are nothing but a speck of dust.

However, that's only because they were not protagonists!

Arlo promptly nodded his head, he was so young and still full of so much uncovered potential, there's no way he'll die like this!

But out here in the middle of nowhere, where only snow as far as the eye could see exists, where could they hide from such a huge snow storm?

However, unfortunate for these two heaven-blessed men, situations change faster than they could catch up.

All of a sudden, the mighty tempest came to an abrupt halt. The raging blizzard went serene.

It was like the hand of a clock came to a brisk stop. Time had suspended within this period as a second dragged into eternity.

The pause was brief, but the resume but briefer.

All at once the storm came down upon them like a terrible monster that wants to drown Abner and Arlo in a world of snow. The wind grew fiercer and malevolent as it attempted to sweep them away again and again.

Helpless in the face of nature, Abner grabbed onto Arlo so they wouldn't be separated. If they stayed together, when they survive this unrelenting downpour of snow and ice, they won't have to waste time to find each other.

As if with the same thought in mind, Arlo also grabbed tightly at Abner. His grip was so tight that his knuckles turned whiter than when the freezing cold frosted his hand.

Together, they faced both the monstrous blizzard and ferocious wind that's continuously growing larger and larger head on.

All they could see was a mass of white before their eyes. All they could feel, besides the cold permeating into their body to the depths of their soul, was each other.

The horrendous behemoth made of nothing but snow and ice with a slap of its hand, blew Abner and Arlo away.

"Urg!" Abner felt like he was punched in the guts, air was knocked out of him as he flew along with the snow in the air.

It was an out of this world experience. Being able to fly without wings nor the ability to do so, is truly an unique experience. However, how fun could it possibly be when they kept getting tossed left and right? So much so that even the most powerful of stomachs feel like vomiting?

The answer: very fun. Just ask Arlo who is having the time of his life right now.

"Burgh! Agh..." The poor Arlo who got motion sickness from being tossed around by the chaotic wind was nearing his limit. His feet were off the ground, he felt like he was floating. Tightly, he held onto Abner tighter. Abner could feel the tightening of Arlo's arms around his waist, his body which was still somewhat soft from insufficient training hurt from the amount of strength Arlo was unconsciously using.

Soon, the freezing cold made both of them lose their consciousness. Their body froze up and were carried away in the stream of wind and snow.