The Concept of a Heart-
Chapter Three-
Cold Diving

Xen was too excited to sleep last night. He didn’t care if he was like a cub on the night before inauguration or some other important day; this was his first real mission! He spent all night wondering how long it was going to take, what he was going to do, and who he was going to meet… Most of all he was excited to see what lied beyond the depressing deadly mountains he’s seen his entire life. He really hoped that this time he was not going to let anyone down. But even that worry was overshadowed by his sheer delight at finally being chosen! What would have happened if he had never run into Aerobolt at that time…? He may still be here… depressed as ever… just yearning for a chance. And now he has gotten it! At long last.
When dawn finally broke, despite hardly any sleep, he dashed down into the Crossroads to meet his traveling companions. He couldn’t help but think the fountain statue of the Goddess of Life was smiling at him, like she was proud of him. He circled around the fountain in apprehension, anticipation and animation. He watched Shade Spire, Nereid Spire, and Sylph Spire for his companions anxiously. His excitement turned to boredom then impatience after a while. Did they not say meet them at Crossroads in the morning? Perhaps he was too early still. Then he remembered something drastically important. They would have to travel through the frozen mountain landscape in order to get where they were going. He remembered just how cold it was when he was guarding the ramparts and that he dreaded having to deal with it. Then he remembered how some Guardians had to dive out the Spire windows in order to leave. Remembering how he gracelessly fell off the ramparts, he knew that repeating such a thing could be disastrous. But the lowest Spire windows were not nearly as high as the ramparts, were they? Xen doubted they were, but it still scared him, nonetheless. The cost of being a Guardian, he guessed. The sound of the fountain also influenced his need to relieve himself. But dare he leave for a moment and miss the opportunity to be on time as he should, and he’d be seriously contempt towards that.
He was practically dancing in place by the time the first Guardian of his party showed up. It was Aerobolt. Good. It was not Touda. Xen was too grateful for that as he let out an audible sigh of relief.
Aerobolt smiled. “You really do not like Touda do you?” he asked. Then he noticed Xen’s emergency. “You’ve waited here and you needed to relieve yourself all this time? You are one dedicated cub. That is an excellent quality. Go relieve yourself. I’ll wait for the others and tell them where you’ve gone if they come.” Xen nodded, grateful to be let go. He sprinted down the commons where the bathrooms would be. He barely made it in time. Then he realized that Aerobolt had complimented his dedication. Such a thing made Xen feel more hopeful that he was not a totally useless scrap of fur all along! As he returned to the Crossroads he saw his mentor standing with Aerobolt looking disapprovingly.
“You’re late, Xen!” he said sternly.
Xen felt anger flare into his face. “But YOU just got here so doesn’t that make you late too!? And besides! I was just at the bath--!”
“Silence!” yelled Aerobolt. “The pair of you needs to get along! Touda… Xen was here the whole time, but he needed to use the bathroom pretty badly when I got here.” Aerobolt looked into Touda’s eyes wearing a serious but not unkind expression.
Touda stammered out, “V-very well. If what our hero says is true, then I must apologize for my assumptions, Xen,” he said. Xen was surprised. How did Aerobolt get an apology come out of this fox?
“And besides. If anyone is truly late, it is Cloud,” Aerobolt went on. Xen then realized that not everyone in the party was there. Where was Cloud?
“That cub has always been pretty late to missions. I wonder why Fielra does not wish for his mentor to join us,” Touda said shaking his head.
Aerobolt shrugged. “If I remember correctly, which I doubt, Fielra wants to try having apprentices venture out on missions without their mentors at the end of their apprenticeship. But I am not sure.”
Touda was thoughtful. “Hm… perhaps. That did happen with me too…”
Just then there was a sound coming from the Sylph Spire. It was Cloud. Finally…
“There he is! What took you this time…?” Touda asked infuriating Xen by not sounding impatient like he usually does with him.
The apprentice was a month or two older than Xen, but he seemed so much younger. His cub-fat took the longest to melt away, so that may be why, but Xen could not identify any other reason. He just does. But it did make him cuter… Xen shook his head. Why was he thinking about how cute cubs can be? They have a mission to focus on!
“My sister kept me up all night with her ranting at the fact that I got chosen for this mission and she didn’t!” Cloud complained almost irritably. Oh Iridescence. If Xen had a sibling to compete with, that would be even worse. He is so glad he is an only cub at least…
Touda shook his head. “That is an excuse…” he said but Aerobolt shouldered him out of the way.
“Okay! Better late than never! We are all here! Now. Are we all ready to go? I had already gotten the supplies we needed from Fielra and Seraph before you ask. Seraph, the cantankerous Arch Guardian of Light, and Fielra both run the Medical Wing and cafeteria together. Need to go on a mission? Just ask these two for supplies and everything is set! But Seraph has always had that reputation for being very easy to set off. She was like a very sensitive land mine. Step wrong, and she’ll blow up.
“We shall,” Touda confirmed.
Cloud piped up before Aerobolt could speak again. “Where are we going, might I ask?”
Aerobolt looked at the cub. “Hydyraen,” instantly, Xen noticed Aerobolt’s eyes were flooding from emotion of the past. Going back to where he was raised must hurt him substantially. Xen felt momentarily sorry for the hero. But the thought quickly shook from his head when he realized he was already being left behind. So the journey begins.
There was still a huge snow mound blocking the front entrance to Castla nu Craara. Then Xen wondered, why haven’t they considered melting it? He brought this up to his companions.
“It would take too long. It would tire us out before long. And it would quickly be blocked again by snow from up the mountain. It just is not worth it,” Aerobolt answered. Xen nodded in understanding.
“So does that mean we must jump out a window to get out there? Why isn’t there more than one way out?” Cloud asked nervously.
“There is a way out in the Commons, but it leads in the wrong direction. We will end up traveling form much longer if we take that route,” Aerobolt answered with a hint of regret. “If we have too many ways in and out of this citadel, that could give our enemies an advantage to break in. Likewise it will give us a disadvantage for escaping, but that is unfortunately how it is in this citadel,” Aerobolt continued. “It is a compromise, and we chose to have fewer ways out in the end.”
Cloud was aghast. “But that is ridiculous!”
Aerobolt shook his head. “That’s the way it is, and we just have to accept it. Come. The lowest Spire, Gnome Spire, is where we want to go.” He indicated the archway with the emeralds studded in it and led the way in. Xen felt apprehension slide down his spine. The moment he dreaded most regarding missions was upon him. As Aerobolt led them to the first floor of the Spire, he noticed that the ground floor windows were completely blocked by snow and was cold and dark as a result. Xen’s fur fluffed out against it. He knew this was nothing compared to Myunae nu Eira’s downright cruel winters.
At the end of each hall in each Spire are large windows, flat bottom, and curved top. Much like what you’d see in a castle. Castla nu Craara is like a castle, but definitely built like a citadel. Castla nu Craara has often been called a castle and a citadel, even a combination of the two. When Xen saw the window at the end of the hall he faced now, he had flashbacks of his major blunder three days prior and widened his eyes in further apprehension.
“Do not do what you did three days ago Xen. Learn from that mistake and be successful this time,” Touda said to interrupt his thoughts. Xen looked at him with obvious fear in his eyes. Touda was not sympathetic. “The more you fear, the more you hesitate. The more you hesitate, the higher chance of you screwing up there is. Just go!” Touda exclaimed.
Suddenly Xen was furious again. “Easy for you to say! How easy was it for YOU to conquer a fear of yours!?”
But Touda did not answer; he kept looking at his apprentice with a look of contempt on his face. It was obvious to Xen that he had no clear answer to that retort.
“Oy!” came Aerobolt’s voice from next to them. “I thought I told you to get along! This mission I refuse to be hampered by your constant bickering! Xen, Touda is right though. The sooner you get it over with, the better. All you have to do is make sure you fall paws first. You’ll be fine as long as you know that, okay?” Aerobolt added with compassion, placing his handaw on his shoulder. Xen was instantly calmed by the hero’s kindness. How he wished Touda were just like him!
Xen nodded. “I-I understand…” And for once he felt sure enough that he did understand Aerobolt. The incident with the ramparts, he fell headfirst. Had the snow been any shallower and he’d have cracked it open and died instantly. Then he thought of what Touda had said. Think of what went wrong, and strive to avoid it in future times! Suddenly Xen understood exactly what both of them meant. Staring at the window with determination, he went first. He heard Touda call his name with uncertainty, but Xen blocked it out. He knew Touda’s lack of faith was part of why he had so little. He kept his focus firmly on the window. He knew it would be all over if he slipped up now. Upon reaching the window he jumped up onto the sill. He was vaguely aware of scraping his toes along the stone. He did not let it distract him; he couldn’t. Without looking back, he jumped and glided out the window with as much grace as he could muster. As the cold air once again rushed up from below him, he had the confidence that this time, he was not going to let it deter him. It felt… oddly warmer than usual today than three days ago. And brighter. The sun must be out today. The first time in weeks that was the case. Could winter finally be drawing to a close? Xen hoped so.
As Xen fell, he kept his eyes glued to his paws and the ground below them. Made sure that they lined up well enough for his landing. The whiteness below did not seem to get any closer. It was all white. Not a hint of gray stone to be found. For a brief moment before he landed, he wondered how they were going to trek through this mess. Then his paws hit the cold. Then his legs. Up to his waist. Arms. Neck. Head. And snow flew in all directions. Xen was momentarily buried. Until he found solid ground under his paws he did not stand. When he did, he found the snow to be up halfway to his chest. The snow was that shallow and he survived such a fall? It was a shorter fall than last time, but Xen was still amazed.
He looked around at the desolate white covered mountains around him and shivered. The frozen environment was threatening to penetrate his fur and chill him to the bones. After a few seconds he heard his companions land beside him with more grace than he had. When Cloud surfaced, he burst out laughing, his frozen breath billowing out of his maw as he did.
“Hey look at you! You are a snow-fox!” He pointed at Xen. Xen realized that what little was above the snow was completely encrusted in it.
“That is not necessarily a bad thing, Cloud. The snow could help insulate him from the cold winds as well as help disguise him from dactylons on the prowl. We may take opportunity to be like him, you know,” Touda said. Xen blinked in astonishment. Did Touda just praise Xen? How is this even possible!?
Cloud blinked too, surprised that something so ridiculous in appearance could possibly save their lives. “Is that so…?”
Aerobolt nodded to Touda in approval. “Right! We should make sure we are covered in the snow for the reasons Touda just listed. It’ll be cold, yes, but it will be colder dealing with the brutal winds that set in at night.” With that the hero dived under the snow. When he surfaced a moment later he was unrecognizable. The only indication Xen had for his surfacing was the snow that flew from him and onto him and his other companions. As Touda dived under to do what Aerobolt did, Cloud looked on with a look of disgust.
“I am not going to cover myself in snow and look like a total fool,” he snorted.
Aerobolt looked at him. “Okay then enjoy freezing to death or getting carried off by a dactylon.”
Cloud rolled his eyes, but realized that the reasoning was too valid for him not to follow and he too eventually dived into the snow.
When Touda and Cloud resurfaced, Aerobolt nodded approvingly. “So we shall get a move on northbound towards Thalda?” Xen nodded with the other two Guardians. “Alright then. Let’s move.”
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