An Unexpected Meeting {NDE}

[Calyco]

Everywhere she looked, there was just this sticky white snow, her goose bumps got worse as time went on. The black haired woman looked right in front of her and mumbling "There should be a road somewhere." she then started cursing the white fox the villagers made her chase. Calyco only dressed in her shining knight armor and a very worn out blue cloak was stuck in the middle of nowhere. She had to use her sword as a stick supporting her every step, her black hair got wet around the edges her cloak hood could not protect.

With every step she grew more tired, perhaps she could hold on a bit longer but her body would almost give up, it was her mind that kept it all-together. Finally a small visible road showed up to her luck although it lead much higher up the mountain, just from looking up made Calyco very uneasy. Checking up on her mana reserves, it was very safe to assume she had only enough for one mediocre spell. With determination in her eyes she kept moving along the road like a robot.

[Hikaru Shinohara]

Hikaru found himself walking up the road near this mountain, Mount Hakobe, to visit another rune knight living there. He was wondering why the rune knight was living in such a place. Maybe it is because he loved the cold very much? Though he was a bit tired, he prodded on as much as he could. He had an urgent question to ask him, about an incident that happened in Harujion a few months back. He must not return to Harujion without answers to his thoughts.

As he walked farther, he saw a woman walking up the road slowly. Her face told him that she was terribly tired, but yet she still prodding on to reach any place that she can rest on. Just looking at her made Hikaru worried about what might happen if she continued moving on. He then looked around for some house or shady area where they can rest, and fortunately he saw a small inn not far off the road. He then went to the woman and said, "Need some help? I can see that you are very tired. I can see a small inn not far off, perhaps I can aid you until we reach the inn?"

[Calyco]

The young woman stopped for a while to rest a bit, the road got narrower and slipper which poses more danger. She thought maybe with some help of her magic she could create a large enough hole inside the mountain creating a cave, it would certainly be of some help. Daydreaming about warmth and food Calyco did not notice a person sneaking up on her, only his voice broke her out to face reality. "Need some help? I can see that you are very tired. I can see a small inn not far off, perhaps I can aid you until we reach the inn?".

His voice sounded sincere and kind somewhat but nobody can know for sure although at this point she had to accept it. Just from the looks at him she could not determine if he was a mage or not but she smiled "Thank you kind sir. If there is an inn you're a real savior." she turned to the direction the man would point the inn is in. "Oh and I am Vermillion." at least she could introduce herself in a manner that didn't reveal her affiliation with her guild, after all the guild has enemies too.

[Hikaru Shinohara]

"Vermillion?" Hikaru said. "I am Shinohara Hikaru. It's nice to meet you, Vermillion." He would not need to mention that he was a government agent, as it would raise doubts about him being the enigmatic figure Darius Kettering. Only those working in the World Government knew as such. He even wore dark-brown gloves for his tattoo not to show. If an outsider would know that he was the famous detective lurking in the shadows, there would be chaos.

"Well then, see that small brown figure there?" Hikaru pointed to the right side of the road that they are viewing. "That's the sign of an inn. We can rest there, and if we are lucky that the inn is not abandoned, we might get to buy ourselves a good warm meal. Though it might suggest that we go there as fast as possible, we must not tire ourselves, or we might find our bodies frozen in the glaciers before we reach the inn. All right then, let us walk to there, is that all right?" He then smiled.

[Calyco]

Calyco nodded in acknowledgement of Hikaru's name. The man showed her the brown figure on the right side of the road. "Ohh! Nice eyes you have, good job." she nodded like crazy because she did not notice it earlier. Hopefully the inn was not abandoned like he suggested it could. She moved on and to strike a conversation she began to ask him questions "So if I may ask you, why are you here in this cold? It is dangerous you know." she talked almost like she forgot she was in a terrible situation herself due to carelessness. The place was not really far away, she still wondered how come it was not noticeable.

When they turned around a large block of ice in the middle of a road the vision of the inn was much clearer, they were in luck as the smell of good food reached their noses. "We're saved!" she yelled just outside the inn. The doors slowly opened in a really screechy noise and an extremely ugly person greeted them. The man was old, his nose was really long with pimples all around his face. "I am dead! Save yourself." she turned towards Hiraku and slowly melted down on him almost losing consciousness.

[Hikaru Shinohara]

"Well...I..." Hikaru stuttered when Vermillion inquired as to about his intention in climbing Mount Hakobe. Telling her the truth would blow up his cover about him being a rune knight. Visiting a rune knight, and a rune knight living in the mountains of all, would mean that he had an extremely huge reason, and he needed a rune knight with an expertise in that matter so that he could continue in his investigations, and that would mean that he would be the primary person suspected of being Darius Kettering.

He then found himself stopping to walk, and seeing Vermillion ahead of him by large degrees, he walked fast to catch up with her.

They then arrived in the small inn, after going past a small glacier that was blocking their path. The smell of food reached their noses as they arrived there to rest after a long walk, or just in the case of Hikaru. Vermillion shouted in joy, and he just smiled while looking at her.

A very loud screech of the door hinges made him look at the direction of the entrance, and he then saw an old man who had an ugly visage, with large pimples dotting his face and an extremely long and pointy nose. Vermillion almost lost consciousness after seeing the old man, but Hikaru was perplexed with another thing. The man looked like as if Hikaru knew him a long time ago. After a long thought, he remembered that he had really met the man, and he had visited this inn a long time ago, when he was still young. He did not know that he was still living this time.

The only words Hikaru muttered is: "Great-grandfather Momoharu, is that you?"

[Calyco]

Calyco still trying to stabilize got yet another dose of nausea after looking at the person again. She slowly caught her breath repeating "Don't look, don't look......" for quiet some time she stared at snow beneath her. Her willpower to live suddenly manifested itself and she as if fully recovered stood up to look at the pimples person, this time she was prepared mentally and could shield herself well. Of course he still bugged her but much less "Food! Do you have it?" she asked him before overhearing the bad news "Great-grandfather Momoharu, is that you?". "Huh?! Are you for real?" Calyco asked her savior in disbelief, so he will look like that in some time.

She better do something or they'll think she was crazy, "Alright." she waltzed inside the inn. Surprisingly the place was very clean, tables were well arranged and there were already a few souls enjoying their meals. The woman sat at the table nearest to a fireplace, her armor made occasional noises as she moved in. "Hmm, what do they have I wonder." she spaced out for a while. A loud noise of the menu brought her back, she immoderately demanded some grog, a drink that could warm any soul in the cold and then a hot potato soup.

[Hikaru Shinohara]

The old man squinted his eyes, seemingly to get a better view of the person at the front of him, but eventually got a pair of glasses, breathed on it, wiped it with a handkerchief, and put the eyeglasses on. He then was surprised. He then called out, "Mizuru! Mizuru! You would not believe who is here visiting us." A younger, but still old, woman, with a much clearer visage, came at the entrance.

"It's Susumu!" the old man said to the woman. Mizuru looked at Hikaru, and then slapped heartily the old man's back.

"Silly, Father, Susumu died two years ago! That's Hikaru, Susumu's and my grandson!" Mizuru shouted, smiling. The old man, caressing his back with his left hand, said, "No respect to your father, eh, Mizuru? Get back to work! I can smell the ramen broth, it's verging to be burnt! Get there quickly!" Mizuru then got back to the kitchen, laughing softly.

Momoharu then said, "So it is my great-grandson Hikaru, eh? I can remember my son-in-law Susumu in you. Well then, if you need to find an inn you can not find anything nearer within half a mile. Come in, you two." The door was fully opened, and Vermillion came in first. Hikaru just shook his head sideways, and then went in after her. He then heard Momoharu muttering, "I'm already 92 and my daughter's still like that?" He just smiled and continued following Vermillion.

He then eased himself on his chair while waiting for the waitress. When the waitress arrived, he then said, "A large bowl of ramen and a warm cup of tea, please." He then noticed the mannerisms of the woman at the front of him, placing her orders as if the waitress was a soldier and Vermillion was her superior. He pinched his nose bridge and thought, "Now how did I end up with this woman. And in the inn of my relatives of all places." When Vermillion would look at him, he would just stop pinching his nose bridge and deliver a smile. He did remember something from his hometown Magnolia by just looking at her, anyway.

[Calyco]

This inn was a weird one and mostly because her savior's relatives were owning it. Come to think of it, he never finished telling her his purpose here and she almost forgot about her own purpose. Was it something about a white fox, she wondered. "Now how did I end up with this woman. And in the inn of my relatives of all places." came from across the table, "Hey! I heard that....." she reprimanded Hikaru. "And stop pitching your nose!". "Anyways, if you were going to just visit your relatives you should have just told me and by the way have you seen a snow white fox when you were looking for this place?" she couldn't describe the animal in more detail since it was just an ordinary fox.

The waitress brought her meal, a good fragrance brought her more to life making her mood much better. "Thank you for the food!" she thanked enthusiastically and dug in before it could get cold. Now that was some food, they obviously had a good chef, maybe she could invite him to the guild later. She gulped on the food and grog as fast as she could, it only took a minute or two to finish the meal. "Well, do you play cards?" not caring if he did she conjured a deck of cards from under her sleeve and began to deal them, each one had 7 cards. "The one who can discard their cards first wins." Calyco explained and put a card from the deck on the table, it played quite like solitaire.

[Hikaru Shinohara]

Hikaru calmly waited for his meal when Vermillion asked him if he had seen a white fox on his way. He had remembered seeing a white furry creature hiding in a bush outlined with frost, but he dismissed it as of no consequence as he was searching for a rune knight in the mountains. Maybe that was the white fox Vermillion was looking for. When his order arrived, he quickly finished it, sweat rolling down his face as he ate, and then wiped his face with a hand towel he carried on the way.

He then was about to say it when Vermillion challenged him to a card game. He then said, "Well that would be fine with me..." He then stopped when Vermillion dealt the cards while explaining the game mechanics. She then took one card from the remaining deck. It was the queen of spades. He then looked at his cards, and then said, "If I would not be mistaken, the card that I should discard is... this right?" He then discarded a card, the jack of diamonds. He then said, "Well, about the fox you're searching for, I believe I had seen it halfway to here from the foot of Mount Hakobe. If we hurry up, we can still find its tracks. If you need my help we can track it down easily."