Chapter 1 – The Boy with Gloves

Aichi laid in the muddy snow, listening to bird songs and beast growls. Black foliage swayed in the limit of his vision and stray moonlight squeezed through the canopy. A wolf called in the distance. It was comforting, in a frightening way.

If you are no longer scared, that means you are no longer alive. His father's words were never truer this instance in the whole of his life.

Father, He thought. By the time I get back you will be there too, right?

His mother told him the job would take six weeks; Aichi's own deadline was eight days. It was possible – really possible – that his father would have already come back when Aichi returned. He closed his eyes. It was a comforting thought in this cold place.

Something small and bony scurried over his thigh and he flinched sluggishly, curling his leg back in a futile attempt at self-protection. The slushy snow slowed his movement and his head bumped against an icy root. A burst of fear zipped across the back of his eyes. He lifted his head and-

The creature was back.

A clawed foot pressed down on the exposed flesh just beneath his chin, the metallic chill diffused into his skin. Then the shadow of a tyrannous beast loomed over his sight and Aichi gasped. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. Featherless, furless, its body was a concentrate of gleaming edges and sharp lines. As he watched, smouldering ember burned softly from what looked like eye sockets.

"Hey," A voice said. "Are you human?"

Aichi stiffened. The creature breathed out a puff of heat on his frozen eyelids. A sliver of smoke curled out of the gap in its mouth, warming the tip of Aichi's nose. He tried to move his tongue but it caught behind his teeth.

"Overlord, back off," The voice ordered. The beast gave a raspy pant before removing its nails from Aichi's neck. It hopped onto the snow with a soft squelch and its position was replaced by a humanoid silhouette.

"Hey," The boy exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Aichi strained his lips to answer but the shape crouched down in front of him and extended a hand.

"Wow, you must be so cold," He said.

Aichi stared at the up-turned digits. It was smaller than most hands he'd seen and was clad in a dark, fingerless glove. It looked so strange from here. In his memory, there was a much larger hand. It was usually accompanied by a deep voice that said, If it hurts, then don't fall again, Aichi.

"Grab hold," The stranger instructed, a little impatience creeping into his tone. "I'll pull you up."

So Aichi did. He placed his own ungloved hand into the gloved one. The boy tightened his damp hold and heaved Aichi to his feet with a grunt. They both tottered sideways and fell against neighbouring tree trunks.

"You're heavy," The boy said, having regained his balance. "What in the world were you doing, lying on the ground? Had people never told you that you could freeze to death?"

"I-I...," Aichi found his voice but not words. A wave of shame and embarrassment washed over him and he suddenly felt close to tears.

The other boy looked at him somewhat curiously. "It doesn't matter. Anyway, let's find a dryer spot." Aichi once again found his right hand in a warm, wet grip and then he was stumbling behind the taller boy.

"So, my name is Kai. Kai Toshiki." The boy trod forward purposefully. "What's yours?"

"Se-Sendou Aichi," Aichi answered tentatively. The stiffness in his legs loosened up and he let himself be dragged, passively, through the black maze of trunks, branches and bushes.

"What were you doing in this forest anyway, Sendou Aichi?" The boy named Kai said.

"I...," Aichi hesitated. He was not supposed to tell anyone, was he? But he wasn't supposed to meet anyone either. Mark-sensei only gave him a name and a one-sentence instruction before sending him off. "If you die, you fail by default-gozaru, Sendou-kun." He had said. Aichi had nodded and left silently. No one really told him whether he could ask people for help or not.

And just maybe, Kai knew where he could find that thing he was looking for.

Aichi fidgeted anxiously, almost walking into Kai when he stopped abruptly.

"This will have to do," he said, letting go of Aichi's hand. A hiss announced Overlord's agreement. Aichi curled his fingers at the loss of contact and stepped meekly out from behind Kai. Their destination was a small clearing. A little slanted and dark, it was relatively dry, as far as the dim torch that was Overlord's eyes allowed him to tell.

Kai started kicking away sodden branches and Overlord scraped at the slushy mess underneath with its tail. The recent snow had been followed by rain which casted a rather frigid and wet layer over the ground. Aichi bent to help them, feeling completely useless.

"Stop mucking around, Overlord," Kai glanced at the creature and dumped a relatively dry pile of twigs at his feet. "Come light a fire for us."

Overlord hopped towards them energetically. Aichi thought it looked happy, the way a pet dog would, except it had two legs instead of four and metallic scales that cover the full length of its body. If it wasn't moving around, he would have thought it was a piece of armour on display, like those he had seen in Mark-sensei's house. As he watched, Overlord made a rumbling sound and a flicker of yellow flared up on the tip of its narrow muzzle, followed by a blinding flash.

Aichi tripped and smacked his head on the tree behind him.

"Dammit, it's too wet," he heard Kai mumble as he tried to blink the bright blurry blob out of his sight. Before he could manage to, another flare assaulted his vision. This time the light lasted a whole few seconds and was accompanied by a continuous soft roaring. Aichi peeked at Overlord from between his fingers. What kind of Monster could breathe fire? Anxiety caught at the back of his throat and he bit his lips.

The twigs crackled and folded in the orange heat. Overlord stood back proudly and looked at them, smugness reflecting off his posture, as if to say, "See that? It's called perseverance."

Kai brushed his fingers over the budding flame and sighed in contentment. "Come sit down, Sendou Aichi."

Aichi complied with a slight hesitation on the other side of the fire. Kai dropped down heavily and flung his backpack next to him. He stripped off his cloak and gloves and placed them close to the flames, which Overlord continued to nurture with small puffs. Mustering courage, Aichi stretched his now no-longer-frozen fingers towards the heat too.

They sat there in silence, feeling the cold drain away and the tension slacken.

"So," Kai began. "Let's have a formal introduction. This is Overlord," He pointed at the armoured creature.

"What is it?" Aichi couldn't suppress his curiosity. He felt a tad rude right after asking, having referred to Overlord as an 'it'.

"He's a mechanical fire seeker. Actually, he's my master's fire seeker, but I tend to think of him as a very useful lighter," Kai explained. Then he looked inquiringly at Aichi. "What about you, Sendou Aichi? What are you doing alone in this forest? Without gloves too."

Technically, Aichi didn't have anything besides the clothes on his back and a short hunting knife. "I'm…," He mumbled. "I'm looking for something."

Kai frowned. Aichi shifted nervously and continued.

"It's called a lozenge magus. It's a white flower that blooms in the coldest mornings. I have to find it and return to the village in eight days."

Kai stared at him.

"Um, do you know anything about it, Kai-kun?" Aichi asked.

Overlord snorted. Kai laughed.

"Do you need dried ones or fresh ones?" He asked. "If you want them dried, then you have to get to the nearest town with a tea market. If you are looking for fresh ones, you just have to…" He twisted his head to look around. "…wait until morning then pluck it from there." He pointed at a short bush two metres behind Aichi.

Aichi turned to the bush. He felt heat creeping up his face. Embarrassment clawed at his inside and he squeezed out an 'oh'.

Kai watched him. "Is it a test?"

"Huh?"

"Collecting a common flower. Is it a test of your courage?"

Courage. Aichi's heart sank. That was what it was all along and Kai figured it out. This first test, supposedly something that is different for everyone, was to cover the things they were the worst at. Aichi, shy, weak, 'spineless' Aichi, what was better than to make him spend eight whole days alone in a creepy forest? He heard that when the other children fail – which were quite often – the adults tend to find them in horrible conditions. He knew of a girl who never spoke since and a boy whom he had never seen since.

What would happen to him?

The fire cackled and incinerated the little bit of hope and confidence he had.

"It is your first day today?" Kai asked, pushing a thick branch carefully into the fire.

"Y-yes."

"Do you think you will fail?"

Aichi looked down at his hands. "Yes," He whispered.

"Why?" Kai looked at him intently. Aichi felt a lump rising up his throat.

"B-because," Aichi said. "I'm weak and scardy, I'm slow and I can't f-fight."

"Is that what people say to you?"

"Well, not always. But…"

"Then you're not like that," Kai decided. "You just think you're like that."

"Huh?" This was the first time Aichi ever heard something so ridiculous. He didn't know what to make of it. "I'm not…"

"Hold on," Kai shook his head. Then he reached over to undo his backpack. "I'll give you something," He said, digging through the content.

"Um," Aichi tried again. "The other children are all faster and stronger than me. They don't cry when they get hurt."

"Wait," Kai said, apparently given up on the bag because he was now digging through his pockets. Aichi watched him go through his trousers, shirt, jacket and lots of hidden pockets under the many layers he wore. For the first time since their meeting, Aichi examined the strange boy. He knew that Kai was tall, but now that he stood up, he could see Kai was easily a head taller than himself. The firelight highlighted his gravity-defying hair red-gold and his sharp eyes narrowed in concentration.

He suddenly snatched up a fabric wallet triumphantly. "Found it," Aichi's eyes followed Kai's hand as he reached into the pouch to produce a something long and thin. It glinted in the flame.

Kai sat back down. "Come over here, Sendou Aichi."

Aichi got to his feet hesitantly and settled next to him. Kai scooted closer.

"This," He opened up Aichi's hand and dropped the object into his palm. Aichi gasped. "Is Blaster Blade."

Thanks for reaching the end of the page!

I started writing this nonsensical thingamajig because I want to escape my other fic and 'real stuff' for a while. The setting is really confusing, even to me. It's like a warped version of Kung Fu Panda-verse, with people instead of animals, Japanese names instead of Chinese, and approximately 600% higher mortality rate. Other characters will come out soon! I'd like your ideas on them, but I realise I haven't given you enough to start with. Be patient and wait a little while? :3

Next chapter: Snow and a Lie.