Prisoner 636

Chapter Two - Astral

The winter wind beat down on my back as I trudged trough the thick and heavy snow. I shifted my bag on my back, tightening the leather straps. The cold wind whipped my hair left and right, stinging my cheeks as I walked. I payed the gale no heed, as I had grown used to the cold over the years of my childhood in the North. I reached up to my face, pulling my scarf around my nose.

"The wind's really starting to pick up, Ral!" My friend, Blake, shouted from behind me. I turned to face him, although I could hardly make out his frame in the blizzard. Two more people stood behind him, my other guild members, Cassius and Hayden. I raised a hand against the biting wind, shielding my face from the burn of frostbite.

"There's a cave up ahead, we can rest there!" I bellowed over the constant howl of the air. I waited for the boys to catch up before pressing forward once more. I helped my friends into the cave, falling to the ground and panting with the effort. I lowered my scarf, shaking stray flakes of snow from my hair. Hayden huffed behind me as his body hit the ground, coughing and sneezing. I unclipped my jacket, wrapping it around the brunette's shoulders. Hayden mumbled a 'thank you' with whatever breath he had left, leaning his head against the cavern wall.

Hayden had never really liked the cold, even though, like me, he grew up in such a climate. He would always refuse to come outside and play with me when we were children, claiming that he was an 'indoor person'. In addition, he didn't exactly have the physical build to be dealing with such extreme temperatures. Hayden has always been scrawny, comparable to a twig. He shivered as he drew my coat tighter around his shoulders. His nose and cheeks were a rosy red, his breath leaving his mouth in cloudy, frigid puffs.

"Lord, that was a close one," Cassius remarked from behind me, I turned to face him. He shook a heavy layer of frost from his raven hair, the snow falling in a ring around him. He sniffled, wiping his nose on the sleeve of his thick jacket.

Cassius, on the other hand, didn't mind the cold. He had always enjoyed the white sheets that blanketed Feras, the country in which I grew up in. Even though he had grown up in Ciel, the country to the far South, he never minded the cold, ergo, I often brought him with me on my weekly excursions. He had the physical build to withstand the freezing climate here, after all. Cassius was fairly burly, being able to lift Blake, Hayden and I at the same time without even breaking a sweat.

"You can say that again," Blake mused to himself, slipping his shoe from his foot and dumping a pile of snow onto the ground. He coughed, clearing his throat.

Blake had always been a good friend of mine, as he also grew up with Hayden and I in Feras. He would always accompany me on any sort of adventure that my mind could conjure up. From searching for lost treasure, to exploring large caverns of ice, to hunting down whatever beasts we could find. I had grown very close to Blake over the years, being able to recognize his blond head of hair and toned frame anywhere. I had grown to completely memorize all of his features, even the small things. From his strong jaw, to the small freckles speckling the bridge of his nose, to the golden flecks in his brown eyes, to the seemingly eternal smile he bared day in and day out.

Blake sighed loudly, dusting flecks of snow from his shoulder. "Okay, Astral, how far are we from Feras?" he asked, repeatedly tensing and relaxing his hand in an attempt to regulate the blood flow. I slipped my backpack from my back, unclipping the top and pulling out several rolls of parchment. I unrolled them on the floor, ensuring that they were visible to my team. I tucked a lock of ginger hair behind my ear.

"Well, we've been travelling for about four days," I said, sniffing and crossing my legs. "We should be back in Feras tomorrow, if we make good time."

Blake hummed in response, running a hand through his ash blond locks. He sighed, I could see the fatigue weighing him down. His upturned eyes were lidded and trite. I huffed.