Sand and Snow

Chapter 30 - Iron and Frost

Chapter 30

Iron and Frost

The winds slapped the thick cloaks they wore as they travelled through the never-ending land of white.

The Land of Iron was a vast country of snow, ice, and tundra. A mountainous peak named 'The Three Wolves' claimed the land, where the country's small population of civilians and their armed samurai warriors resided. Due to their reluctance to be a part of the shinobi world, the land was often used as a neutral ground for the Five Kage to meet. If the meeting is here, no doubt it is for good reason, Gaara thought.

The land shared borders with the Land of Frost, a country equal in all things cold and treacherous. The only thing the two did not share was the neutrality of nation. Nestled between the Land of Iron and the Land of Lightning, the Land of Frost was a country very few dared to trek. Home to Shimogakure, the village hidden amongst the ice, the land declared any who dared to enter an enemy. Somehow, they managed to stay close to their neighbours and favoured democracy over the years, but war ensured they enact a law of secrecy. Criminals were rumoured to roam those lands of ice, as were the mysterious direwolves of legend. The Land of Iron and their sworn samurai maintained order along their shared border, ensuring the lands stayed as silent as the falling snow that blanketed the land in white.

As they passed through thickets of frosted pines, Gaara could not help but remember the first snows he witnessed in the Land of Rivers, or imagine what Nomasaki's homeland in the far north in the mountains might have looked like. It was a strange realm of silver, bitten by a brittle cold that claimed dominance over all live that dared to enter. Much like the desert, whoever trekked through the land of snows alone would be a certain fool. A frozen fool, at that.

"I-It's s-so cold!" Kankurō shivered. "The climate here is so different than back in the Land of Wind!"

"Get over it, Kankurō! It's just the snow." Temari tsked, unbothered by the winds. "Honestly, from someone who's been on missions as far as the Land of Snow -,"

An eerie sound echoed from beyond the thicket surrounding them.

A howl.

Coming to an abrupt pause, the three Suna-nin stood in the clearing below. "Did you... hear that?" Temari asked, preparing herself to grab her fan if need be. "Something is close."

"Hear what?" Kankurō grunted. "I can't hear anything other than my teeth chatter!"

Another howl sounded from the north, then another soon followed. The fourth howl was close, erupting amongst the pines and shattering the brief silence that preceded it. Beasts would be soon amongst the humans who intruded their lands. Gaara turned towards the sound, his eyes wide. "Wolves."

Kankurō scoffed, his struggle to keep warm aggravating him further. "Just what we need! I'm too cold to fight, let alone deal with those things..."

A sudden presence from the underbrush alerted Temari's senses. Whipping out her fan, she opened it to its second star, preparing herself to cast a wind-release jutsu. "Wait – someone's coming!" A faint rustle in the thicket pattered amongst the cool winds. She spat her words through her teeth. "Reveal yourself! Who dares attack the Kazekage?!"

A dozen figures clad in porcelain masks descended upon them.

Their allegiance to their village and country was hidden, but their intentions were made blatantly clear. Kunai were drawn katanas were drawn, and hand-signs were being formed. An ambush. The animal-masked invaders fell from the white skies above, preparing to draw blood from the Suna-nin in their sights.