Snow's Journey: Chapter 3
Chapter 3
The enigmatic voice commanded, "Stop!."
After hearing the voice, the men's minds blanked and they felt a crushing weight on their spirits. The sheer weight of the voice was enough to send the men tumbling to the ground, and it also contained a force that made them tumble.
The men were thrown to the ground, with the exception of Snow's uncle and Pina's father, who had not joined the encirclement.
Thankfully, the mysterious interloper was merciful and did not intend to seriously harm the men, instead punishing them for bullying a girl who was not even half their age.
It's Claw!
Hearing that familiar voice made Snow extremely happy. She almost yelled Claw' name, but paused at the last second after receiving a message from him that only she could understand.
“Who's there?!” Someone yelled.
"Hmph!"
After hearing the man's question, Claw snorted, seemingly offended by his impoliteness. This was no ordinary snort; rather, it was charged with an unknown force that sent chills down the spines of the men who heard it. There had been a warning...
Dear Lord, please control your wrath. This young lady is local to our community. They were only interested in retrieving her after she ran away. Neither you nor I have any desire to harm her.
In the face of the rapidly deteriorating situation, Pina's father overcame his fear, came forward, and begged for mercy. In the event that the misunderstanding spirals out of control, he does his best to explain what's going on. From the looks of things, whoever interfered was a master magician.
Exactly what did magicians do? They were influential people with unusual abilities. Typical folks wouldn't stand a chance against them, as they were capable of almost anything.
Despite being far from civilization, the villagers of this village knew all about magicians. The villagers had some sense of wisdom; they knew better than to provoke the magicians.
Pina's dad was afraid of what would happen if he angered a magician. That's why he addressed him as "lord" and treated him with such deference.
It looked like one of you still has some common sense. Whatever your motivations may have been for going after the girl, good luck getting her to come back. I liked her a lot, so I brought her along. Have any problems arisen?
The arrogant and dominant manner of the mysterious "person" left everyone speechless. Some of the men in the village were initially angered and prepared to retaliate, but upon reflection they decided to keep their mouths shut.
Can they do anything else? The intense pressure from the unknown "person" squashed any notions of rebellion before they could take root.
"Excellent lord. That’s…” The man Pina had called "dad" didn't know what to do. Somehow he had anticipated that the magician would abduct the girl, but he was holding out hope that they would be able to bring Snow back with them. Unfortunately, the great magician seemed intent on safeguarding the girl and removing her from danger.
We need your advice. We need the girl to get through the winter, but there's no way we can beat the great magician and rescue her. The great magician might bury all of us if we try to forcefully take the girl from him.
The father of Pina had run out of options. The village may perish in the winter if they give in to the magician's demands. However, if they argued with the great magician, they could all meet an untimely end.
What is it?" Do you feel discontent? Quick, share your thoughts! Due to the villagers' hesitation, Claw has decided to increase the pressure. Claw must get to the bottom of the issue in order to avoid further complications.
Snow must sever all ties to her former community if she is to begin her new life without fear. Therefore, Claw enjoys playing the bad guy. As it happens, it has a wide range of knowledge, and it found acting to be a breeze.
After hearing what the great magician said, the men of the village, including Snow's uncle and Pina's father, could not help but groan silently to themselves.
Unsatisfied? Yes, they still feel something is missing.
Let our thoughts be known? A fool is anyone who dares to challenge a strong magician.
"It's nothing, your highness. Get that girl to go with you..."
The men of the village saw that there was no way to change the great magician's mind, so they conceded. They were at a loss for options. That was a pretty hopeless situation they were in. They wouldn't risk their lives for Snow, even if they had to decide between him and them.
“Hmph! You've obviously figured out what works best for you. Do not worry, though; I have no intention of stealing the girl without offering a ransom. Propriety is something I'm familiar with. The men's decision pleased Claw, who was acting as a fake magician. As a climax, it was Snow's top choice.
“Compensation? "Great lord, what do you -"
Bang!
Pina's dad is mid-question when something huge and heavy crashes down in front of the villagers!
When the massive object landed, it made a deafening "bang." As a bonus, it also kicked up dust and snow, which turned into fog.
The question "WHAT WAS THAT?! " is posed.
Snow, like everyone else, was taken aback by this unexpected turn of events and could not help but make a loud exclamation. It wasn't until the fog lifted that they realized what the massive 'object' actually was.
A monstrously large animal! That boar is monstrous!
No, "huge" may actually be too small of a word to describe it. That monster was as big as a hill! It would be more accurate to call it gigantic.
This humongous beast could be a boar. It looks and feels like a boar, so there's no mistaking that it is one. It had two tusks originally, but one of them was missing after being neatly severed at the base. White in color, the remaining tusk is longer than a spear and wider than a man's thighs put together. Just hearing about the tusk gives you an idea of how big the animal was.
"Ah, yes, that's the ruler of the woods!"
The sight of the enormous beast caused one of the men, a middle-aged man by appearances, to scream out loud. It would be unreasonable to expect him not to scream. The apocalyptic beast was the dreaded "king of the forest," a monstrous creature so powerful that it ruled the entire forest. Snow's father was one of many villagers killed by the monster.
"Who is the lord of the woods?"
Snow stared fixedly at the mountain-like beast that lay motionless before her. Both her body and mind shook with fear. She had no doubt that the so-called "king of the forest" had killed her father.
Could the feared "king of the forest" she'd heard so much about when she was younger be the same as the one lying in front of her?
Suppose that were the case; would that mean that her father's death had been avenged? Snow is at a loss for action. Everything happened so quickly, and she wasn't prepared.
Her uncle, who had a bewildered look on his face, wasn't too far away from Snow. He glanced at his niece and saw that she was staring down the beast. He sighed but held off on going up to her anyway.
The Great Lord... A monstrous creature... So, tell me, where did you locate it?
Pina's father looked at the self-proclaimed "king of the forest" and gulped, "Where did you find that beast?" he asked Claw. Sounds casual, but Claw explained, "I was taking a scroll in the forest when it suddenly attacked me." I decided to put an end to it because it was bothering me.
The faceless Claw then turned to the men and asked, "Is there a problem?"
When the men of the village heard that the creature had died because it had attacked and annoyed the mysterious "magician," they all let out a collective gasp. All of the men collectively shook their heads no when Claw asked if there was an issue. Cold sweats broke out on the men's faces despite the subzero temperature as they remembered how one of them had been rude to it earlier.
The situation, thankfully, did not escalate. If that had happened, they might have met the same end as the fabled 'king of the forest.
A tusk was my memento, but the rest of the beast as payment for letting me take the girl. Clarification of the Claw. But there's a catch: if you take the beast, your relationship with the girl will end. Understand?” In addition, it.
The men of the village, including Pina's dad, Snow's uncle, and the rest of the guys, could only nod their heads in assent. They would be silly to make things difficult for the girl while the great magician was watching out for her. Nobody is willing to speak up about the complicated emotions they're experiencing.
"Since we came to an understanding, I'm taking the girl with me." The men of the village were relieved of their duties when Claw, whose form was still invisible, appeared. He then sends Snow a message in confidence, urging her to abandon the mission and return to safety.
Snow gives a feeble nod upon hearing Claw's hidden instruction. With a puzzled expression on her face, Snow averted her gaze from the self-proclaimed "king of the forest." The attention of her uncle, who was standing nearby, drew her gaze. They locked gazes for a moment, broken only by the Renne's uncle lowering his head.
Snow didn't speak a word, but she bid her uncle farewell silently in her mind. Snow had emotionally cut herself off from them years before, knowing that she would be sold into slavery.
The village sent a group of men to watch the girl leave, but all they could do was watch as she walked farther and farther away.
Several days have passed since Claw and Snow fled the girl's village. They had traveled for days before reaching Robac. Both were exhausted, but Snow more so than the other, so they decided to spend three days resting in town.
The three days the two spent in Robac weren't wasted, of course. While in town, they also sold the furs and meat of the animals Claw caught as they travel. They used most of the money to afford lodging at the local inn and to buy some of the things they’re lacking for their journey.
The two actually bought quite a few things while in town. After all, the village that Snow was from was extremely poor, and has nothing good to offer. Well, even if the village has anything to sell, Snow didn’t have a penny on her so there’s that too.
Speaking of which, that was the first time the girl bought anything using her own money. Ever since she was born, everything she owned were handouts given by her aunt, and some of the kinder villager. As such, shopping was a new experience for her.
To ensure that the girl doesn’t embarrass herself too much, Claw has to constantly remind her not to gawk at every new thing she saw which was unexpectedly more difficult than it should be due to the fact that many of things sold at shops and stalls are new to the girl.
Thankfully, her being from the boondocks didn’t attract too much attention or cause too much trouble. After buying everything they needed and having rested sufficiently, the two; a village girl and a mysterious creature left Robac for the next town on foot.
The town of Robac have carriages that the two could rent to get to the next town but in order to teach and train the girl, Claw suggested that they travel by foot. Snow having never ridden a carriage all her life have no problem with that.
Having cut off all ties with her old village, the girl no longer have to worry that people would constantly chase after her so there's no real hurry to get to their next destination. Besides, Snow also wanted to take advantage of the situation to settle her emotions...
While traveling to the next town, the two did not follow the road that’ll lead them straight to the next town. Instead they took the long way and went into the woods.
Why the woods you ask?
It was so Claw could teach the girl how to fight, how to procure her own food, and how to survive on her own. Having not left her village ever since she was born, Snow was completely ignorant how the outside world works. If left alone on her own device, who knew what might have happened to her. This was especially true since she was a girl.
Claw wasn't looking down at Snow for being female. Unlike the modern worlds that Claw had traveled to, Snow’s world was considered a backwater world. Beliefs, ways of life, technology, and governance; all of them are still considered primitive.
And in a primitive world were the concept of equality has yet to be invented, women are considered inferior to men. Compared to men, women in this world have fewer rights.
If Snow grew up in a “normal” peasant village, she would have been married early, bear children, work at the fields and lived her whole life following the will of her husband. She would not have a chance for education, be in position of power, or even decide what she wanted to do in life. And if she were to be sold to slavery, her fate could have been worse.
Even if she were to be born in nobility, her life still wouldn’t be in her control. Her education, marriage, and pretty much everything in her life would have been arranged for her. Although she didn’t have to worry about food, clothing and shelter, she would still have no freedom.
Having experienced and seen pretty much everything in life, Claw would not allow the girl it had saved to remain ignorant her whole life. It would teach her everything she needed in order to have full control of her destiny. And as for how far she could go on the path she had chosen rely solely on her.
Claw looked at the girl not too far away from it. Compared when she was still living in her old village, Snow looked much healthier. She was also not as skinny as she once was. It's obvious from a glance that Claw took really good care of her.
It also gave her a blessing with lots of effects. The effects of the blessings grants the girl great health that would prevent her from catching diseases or falling ill. It also grant her great comprehension, allow her to use magic, and so on.
With the blessings alone, the girl was set to walk the path of being able to control her destiny.
That said, before the girl could even think of controlling her own destiny, she must first get through the very first obstacle to that path: Catching a cute-looking rabbit…
To be continued...