Masks Of Destiny: Lost and Found

Chapter 9: The K Stands for...

"And that's pretty much all of it." Toru was currently explaining the situation to find others like him and the prophecy of the disk that he had heard back in the village of fire. "This must be fate then..." Gumi said cheerfully. "Me fastbefriending Squishy or you surprise-encountering us?" asked Lee. "Both" Gumi and Toru responded.
"So I assume you are now heading to find a fourth person to add to the party?" questioned Gumi.
"I guess so. I'm hoping to find someone up there in the ice village." said Toru.
Gumi had agreed to join their little quest while Lee was petting Squishy. Toru noted she had two spikes that could be used for climbing the rest of the way up the mountain. Unfortunately, Lee had to leave his pet walrus to continue the journey. "Bye bye, my fat friend! I will deepmiss you very much!" Squishy let out a few somber whimpers before returning to the pool of water from whence it came. After letting out a defeated sigh, Lee somersaulted off the side of the mountain. Gumi turned to Toru in shock, which the latter shrugged off. "Hehe" Lee smirked, "Gotcha didn't I?" The floating jokester was waving his hand through the blinding blizzard at the annoyed Gumi. Ignoring Lee's moment of comedy, Gumi jumped right outside of the cave, slamming one of her spikes into the side of the mountain. "Okay, I'm good here! Your turn Toru!" Nodding, Toru copied Gumi's movements on the opposing side. The trio continued their way up through the cold and snow.

"Finally!" cried Toru. "We made it! YEAH!"
The freezing climber raised his hands in triumph. Lee and Gumi followed suite. "Now all we have to do is find our mystery man or woman." commented Gumi. The three tried their best moving forward, but the thickness of the snow hindered their walking. "How can people live up here? I barely have enough energy to lift my leg!" complained Toru.
"Aren't you currently living in a lavahot village?" remarked Lee. Toru glared at him. "Enough you two!" interrupted Gumi. "If you two are done squabbling, can we get back to focusing on our real pr-wait...who is that?" Gumi pointed to the figure she saw ahead of them. The silhouette appeared to be carrying a longsword on his right hand and a shield on his left, but that was as much detail that Gumi could make out through the blizzard. "You don't suppose they're strangerfriendly?" asked Lee. Before anyone could make a reply, the ground violently shook and the wind let out deafening wail. *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE* Gumi could see large boulders of ice and snow tumbling down the slope ahead of them...and behind the stranger. "Look out!" she cried. The figure in the distance stopped moving. Turning his head, he raised his sword. Suddenly, everything froze in place. The wind stopped howling, the masses of ice stopped falling, even the blizzard became surprisingly visible and quite calm. The figure then turned his head to the group and said in a cold and calculated voice, "Move."
Lee, still in awe, was grabbed by Gumi and Toru. The trio moved out of the path of the paused avalanche and turned once again to face the stranger. The stranger nodded, turned to face the avalanche, then dropped his sword. The wind started to howl again, the blizzard blurred everyone's vision, and the avalanche collapsed in on itself. "You know, you could've just kept the blizzard halted!" argued Toru as he tried to shield his face from the projectile snow. The figure approached the group, "If you can't handle a little snow, I suggest you turn back."
Turn back? Turn back!? Who does this guy think he is!? Toru stood to his feet to meet the stranger. "We've come too far to turn back now!"
"Oh really? Then pray tell, why have you travelled all the way here then?"
Toru snickered "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Gumi interrupted the both of them "Enough Toru! He just saved our life! We should at least be grateful to him." Toru attempted to protest, but remained silent to respect her wishes. The stranger couldn't help but smirk behind the mask he was currently wearing. "Pardon my friend here...we were just looking for the village of ice." said Gumi.
"The village you seek is two miles north from here. If I were you, I would hurry before sundown. This region during the day is as dangerous enough as is."
"Then we will be on our way." responded Gumi. She placed her hand on Toru's shoulder. Toru clenched his fist and begrudgingly nodded his head. "Pardonexcuse me, but may I ask what your name is?" asked Lee. The stranger replied, "It's Kotaro . Kotaro Nuju." Kotaro then turned away from the group and disappeared into the blizzard. "What a pleasant fellow, don't you think friend-Toru?" commented Lee. Toru scoffed, "Yeah, pleasant."