Something in the snow

The next day was routine just like the others, Ark got up early in the morning and went into formation. 

They did nothing, simply stood in a straight line while the higher guard walked around, taunting the rest of them. 

Now that their benefactor was lord they could do anything they pleased without as much as caring for the consequences. 

A mature man with a full beard walked close to them, keeping his posture firm and his eyes forward. 

Just yesterday he had been appointed as the chief of the lord's personal guard and was now getting better 'acquainted' with the rest of them. 

As he was about to walk past Ark, he paused and turned, staring at the slightly shorter boy. 

"What are you looking at?"

Ark remained silent, keeping his gaze ahead. If there was anything he didn't want, it was standing out. 

He had to be as inconspicuous as possible if he wanted his plan to work. The chief had other ideas though…

The man's face twisted into a wide grin, he was really enjoying the thought of whatever he had cooked up in his head. 

"Are you glaring at me, soldier?"

Ark had seen enough of these kinds of interactions in the past few days to know what would happen if he were to respond. 

Or so he thought…

Boom!

A heavy slap rocked his face causing him to stagger back and plummet into the snow. 

The lord's personal guards let out a chorus of laughs. As they began to pick fun at him. 

"This one is all skin and bones!"

"The lad couldn't even resist a still breeze if his life depended on it!"

"Best we tie him to a weight! Hahahaha!"

Ark rose to his feet a second later, his face was calm but there was a rage burning in his eyes. 

Unconsciously he had stepped a little closer to the chief, it was only when he felt someone's hands on his belly, that he realized that Michael was holding him back, a pleading look in his eyes. 

The chief pushed his head towards Ark until their heads were touching. 

"It seems the lad is a fighter!" His putrid warm breath waffled into Ark's nose making him almost draw back. 

The chief continued. 

"There have been word of bear sightings all up far north, footsteps so large that you could fit an infant in them."

He smiled like a madman, right now he was having far too much fun. 

"You're a fighter huh?" The chief's hand trembled in excitement. "Go, go get 'em, don't come back until you do."

With that, he shoved Ark backward, the force of the push was more than enough to send his slender body to the snowy floor eliciting another wave of laughs as they walked past him. 

"Dismissed!"

***

"Are you really going? I can talk to the chief for you, all you have to do is apologize."

Ark stared at the small group of soldiers that had gathered around him nonchalantly. 

He pulled out his dagger from its strap and placed his fingertip on its edge. 

'Looks freshly sharpened.' 

He then tucked the dagger back into its sheath and proceeded to pull out his sword next. 

"Are you even listening?!"

Ark turned to face them. 

"Michael is right, you know. We don't really know what's out there and for someone like—"

Ark's brown rose slightly. 

"What I mean is that it's suicide!" The man continued. 

Ark could already tell what he was going to say but decided to let it go. The truth was that in this trial he was just as skinny as he was in the real world. 

The funny thing was that people also noticed how skinny he was, which was weird since he thought they would be seeing the person he was playing instead of his real body. 

'Well, you live, you learn.'

Michael grabbed his shoulder.

"I'll come with you then."

Ark slowly shook his head. He then brought down his voice to a whisper that only those of them around could hear:

"You have to stay and protect others. Who knows what they have in store for the rest of us? They know what they did…"

That was where he stopped before he moved away from them and into the falling snow. 

Ark's words might have sounded simple but that was all he needed to say, he had planted a seed of fear in their hearts. 

And very soon, it would blossom into a flourishing tree. 

Fear made people do foolish things, that was what he would need them to do in a few days…

The only extra thing that Ark had received from the chief was a compass. It was as though he wanted to make sure Ark found whatever horrid creature was hiding somewhere north. 

His orders had been clear, Ark could not come back until he had killed whatever was out there. 

In truth Ark had only put up a brave front in front of the others a few minutes ago, he was not foolish enough to actually fight some sort of mystical snow bear. 

He needed to look competent at least for his future plans to be far more effective but he needed to be alive for those plans to work. 

So why then did he go in search of the beast?

The real reason he had taken on the job was—

'It's all a sham, stories around the midnight fire. There is nothing hiding in the snow.'

No one had actually laid eyes on this fictional creature because it simply didn't exist. 

That was why he was so confident.

All he had to do was figure out a way to disprove their myths and he would be home free. 

Ark had set out in the afternoon but by the time he found the first traces of the beast it was already evening. 

One thing he had failed to take into account was how severe the cold was, it was so cold that Ark felt he might die before ever even encountering their fictional monster. 

Below him was a fairly large footstep, it was bigger than his foot but far too small for a child to fit in. 

Ark bent down to observe it. 

The pattern was all wrong, it looked like an unnaturally large platypus foot. 

He let out a small laugh. 

"They couldn't even draw it properly."

Ark had heard an old man blabber on about those weird animals every time he went to get his father a bear. 

That was how he knew that platypuses lived in temperate climates, they would die in the snow. Whoever drew the footprint wasn't very smart, that was for sure. 

He turned around to observe the environment, searching for any more clues when he saw a small hill not too far from him. 

Just by looking at it alone, he knew how dangerous it was. Just a little turbulence and all that accumulated snow would come tumbling down.

Especially with the strong winds that were currently brewing. 

Ark gingerly rubbed his shoulder letting out a steamy breath. The people who drew the footprint probably didn't even know how dangerous the place was…

He would have begun his journey back to the camp right there and then, but although there was no beast to kill him, the cold was still very much present, so he decided to try looking for shelter.

Not too long after, Ark discovered a cave entrance that had been camouflaged by the snow. He took a cautious glance at its interior, after which he quickly hurried inside, finally happy to be free of the snow. 

Outside, the drifting snow was transforming into a Blizzard. 

He would have to wait it out in the cave. 

The cave itself was rather spacious, the walls were high, more than fourteen feet tall with a wide floor area. Currently, there were no other occupants apart from him. 

'Perfect.' 

The only thing he was lacking was wood, if he even had a few sticks, then starting a fire would have been easy. 

Ark was debating braving the snow once more to get the things he needed when he heard a low growl. 

Although low pitched, the sound bubled like thunder making his fingers twitch slightly. 

A large ominous shadow completely engulfed his relatively smaller frame, and to make matters worse, warm breath washed over his back

Ark turned around slowly to meet the face of his 'visitor.'

Sight, smell, hearing and feel. The five senses were the physical proof of existence, all that was left was taste…

But Ark didn't need that to know that this fictional monster was very much real.