Chapter 6—Neverending Snow--Arabel
Same Day (Unknown Era)
‘It’s…so…damn….COLD!’
Kain trudged through the snow, trying futilely to forget about the climate. He could barely stand it anymore. Only the thought of getting somewhere warmer kept him going.
‘Think of a fire, think of the sun, ah hell. …Yeah, think of hell…’ he snorted, trying to do anything to forget--
“By the stars, what do we have here?”
Kain whirled around, as fast as his cold-numbed body would allow. The voice had come from his right, a man’s voice.
‘Somebody IS here!’ Hope flushed through him.
He looked over a hill of snow to see a group of six men in heavy black and brown furs, carrying wicked looking long spears. The black haired boy put his hand on the handle of his sword cautiously, hoping they weren’t robbers or bandits…or something worse.
“Ah, hello!” he called up to them, struggling to be heard over the wind. He started to say more, but thought that he’d better stay silent until he knew more about these people.
They drew closer. “What are you doing out in the cold alone, boy? Have you gone starry?” The man who spoke was the obvious leader of the group, towering over the rest, with bulky shoulders and a large sword strapped to his back. Short blond hair curved off a part in the middle, over tired brown eyes and a hard chin. Kain felt a feeling of unease, something that was starting to feel natural to him now: ‘If I get into a fight with this man, he thought, ‘I’d have to be on my guard.’
Kain could think of nothing to say in reply but the truth. “Actually…I’m lost. I’ve been out here for a while, and I don’t know where the nearest town is.”
‘I don’t know if there are even towns in this time,’ he thought. ‘Maybe there are just ruins, or some kind of futuristic castle like I can’t even imagine…’
He received a simple laugh in reply. “Well, boy, it’s a good thing you ran into us, then. You’re headed in the wrong direction…if you’d kept going you would have went straight to the coastline. Arabel’s back that way,” the man pointed over Kain’s shoulder, “about five miles.”
Kain’s feeling sank. The man’s words were amiable, but the meaning was shaking; If these men hadn’t been journeying as close as they were to Kain, he would have ended up dead, left in the snow, far from any town, forgotten by time. The vision that came into his mind took much effort to dispel, and would not go away totally.
“So what’s your name, kid?” asked the man, eyebrows raised. “Or are you gonna thank us for saving your hide?”
“Uh, sorry,” said Kain, embarrased. “My name is…” ‘If I give them my real name, will it change history somehow? …Ah, what the hell.’ “Kain Trigarra. Yeah, thank you for your help…”
“Don’t worry about it. By the way, my name is Riktarin Saranessei, and these men are my subordinates—men of the Arabel Militia.”
Kain wasn’t sure what to say. Luckily, Riktarin filled in the silence. “We’ve still got a bit of a way to go, so we’d better getting tracking. Not much light left, and it’s getting colder. If you’re lost, you’d better come with us.”
‘Colder?’ Kain couldn’t imagine it getting much colder. These men lived in it, obviously, so they could handle it; But he felt like he’d just gotten in a magic bout with his mother, and lost. Which, of course, he would—his handling of magic was poor at best, shameful at worst. He preferred to use his sword.
“Ah, thanks,” he said, reminding himself that he was not alone anymore and didn’t need to spend so much time thinking. But he’d always been like that; His mind was an inner voice that never stopped talking.
“I don’t think I need to warn you not to try any funny stuff, if you’re not who you say you are,” said Riktarin, sounding suddenly very tired. “You look like a strong kid, but you try to rob us and you’ll get more than you aimed for.”
Kain nodded, then smiled. “You don’t need to worry…I’m too cold to even lift my sword. If I tried to fight anyone I’d probably just fall face-down in the snow.”
Riktarin laughed. “Heh, alright. Let’s get going, guys.”
-
They arrived in Arabel.
The city arose out of the snow as it were defying the very earth it was built on. The majority of the buildings were made of a plain, dark grey stone, and looked more like ancient monoliths than anything else. This settled a few of Kain’s questions: Either this was an earlier civilization than Truce, or a very far future one after some sort of cataclysm. He was leaning toward the former; The people seemed healthy enough, and the world didn’t seem any different.
There were a few people out in the streets; Riktarin explained that today was an unusually cold day and people were staying indoors with their fireplaces. The people that were out were all of a taller, leaner type than was normal in Truce, and their skin was lighter. Everyone was wearing some sort of coat or snow-gear; The men wore bulky brown gear similar to Riktarin’s, while the women wore more ladylike long sweaters of various colors and fabrics.
The strangeness, the newness of it, struck him. The environment, the people, the town was so different than anything in Truce. Another idea came into his mind: ‘What if I can’t get back? What if there’s not another portal? Will I have to live here for the rest of my life?’ The thought was very saddening. He’d never see Aubrey, never see his family, never see Lacan—
Then he remembered. The memories were so wrong, so unreal, that it was as if they had never happened.
‘Lacan is dead. My family is probably hunting for me with their army soldiers. And Aubrey never loved me anyway.’
“Hey, kid, what’s on your mind?” said Riktarin, startling him out of his thoughts.
“Um, nothing,” he replied.
“Where are you planning on staying? Do you have any parents? Know anyone here?”
“Ah…” Kain thought quickly. ‘Should have thought that he’d ask that…what can I say that won’t sound crazy…’ He cleared his throat, acting as if his breath was caught. He held his finger up to signify ‘Wait’ as he thought and scrambled over what to say.
He raised his head and said slowly, “Sorry, must be the cold, my throat’s gone…”
‘Damn, if I tell him the truth, he’ll think I’m crazy….I still think I’m crazy. And if I tell him a name, he’ll try to find that person, and they won’t be there.’ He decided.
“I ran away,” he started. This got him a displeased stare, so he continued: “My father was a drunk, he threatened to kill me, and nearly did. I didn’t know what to do, so I left…”
“With no food or water, no warm clothing, and only that sword for protection. Although it is a nice sword, looks like—you’re a foolish boy. Foolish.”
Kain wished that he wouldn’t talk so loudly: People passing on the street were looking and frowning at him. ‘My fault for making up the story, I guess, but what else could I—‘
“So where did you live, before? Where’d you run away from, I mean.”
“Ah…” ‘By the Chrono Trigger, I’m in for it—‘
“--Let me guess, Meridia, right. Not too far from where you were going. Lucky we found you.”
‘Thank the Wisemen…’
“Yeah, uh, Meridia. Never did like it there,” he added for realism.
“I can imagine. You don’t know anyone here?”
“Um, no.”
“And you don’t have any money?”
“Um…” ‘Guardian currency would doubtlessly not be accepted here,’ he thought sardonically. ‘After all that work I’ve done in the castle, my money is now useless. Ironic. But isn’t everything?’
“No.”
Riktarin’s respect for him seemed to plummet at that.
“So, basically, you ran away from home without food, water, company, protection from the cold, money, and any idea where you were headed, across a snowy field in freezing weather. If I hadn’t had to put up with stupidity like that before, I would not have believed it.”
Kain choked down an urge to snap at him. ‘This guy doesn’t know any better, he think’s I’m a moronic runaway kid with nowhere to go. I don’t blame him…It’s still infuriating, though.’
“I had no choice,” he said, acting sufficiently saddened and berated.
Riktarin sighed. “Nah, I guess you didn’t. There’s a shelter near…” his voice drifted off, as if he were trying to take back the words. “No,” he said. “The shelters…they’re horrible, grimy people trying to steal and get into fights and rape you. I’ve seen it.”
‘Doesn’t sound like a place I need to be.’
“Tell you something…since you’ve been real respectful, and honest,” Kain chuckled inwardly at that, his hopes building nonetheless, “…and I feel kinda bad for you since my father used to beat the stars out of me…” he sighed, a man of hard decisions. “…I’ll let you stay at my house, feed you and all that. Just for a little while, until you get back on your feet.”
Kain was relieved: He might be able to make a place for himself in this era, whenever it was. “Thank you, sir, I’m in your debt—“
“No, you’re not.”
Kain felt his heart freeze. Then Riktarin laughed harshly and looked him in the eyes.
“If you’re going to live in my house, boy, you’re going to work!”
To
Chapter Seven