This Alliance

Chapter 3: No change

Naomi didn't know exactly where she was. Sure she was in the Myre, swampy forests and sky high trees covered in moss gave her that much, but she couldn't tell which part. The only thing she could do at this moment was walk. It was better than sitting around waiting for something to happen.

The ground felt strange beneath her feet. It felt soft and mushy as what she expected mud to be, yet it was also cold. Icy even. How was that possible? This place was only warm and humid. Naomi glanced at her feet to find that hard ground replaced the watery substance. Confused, She then looked around her surroundings, suddenly aware of what was happening.

It was snowing.

Small white flakes drifted through the air like a sacred dance of the cold and fell onto the clear, hard ground. Mountains replaced the trees that blocked out the sun and clouds loomed in the sky overhead. The land was covered in a white blanket, from the shores of the south to the tips of the mountains in the north.

Valkenheim? What was she doing in viking territory? Any and all Samurai found within this territory were to be killed on sight.

Naomi blew out a breath of air, which came out as though it were a huff of smoke, and began to walk towards the mountains. Why she chose them she didn't know, after all, to get back to the Myre she would have to turn around and go the opposite way, towards the shores of Claw Island or the Lookout Bluff. Yet on she went, ignoring her better judgment.

The ground didn't feel cold beneath Naomi's feet. Not as cold as she would have thought, but the continuous crunch with each step she took was very well in place. The mountains themselves didn't seem to be getting any closer. Sure she didn't walk very far, but their size did not change or shift at a very slow manner at all.

Naomi huffed out a breath, hot steam escaped her lips.

What am I doing? This is pointless.

A sudden change in the ground beneath her feet made her stop. A light crunch of the snow, barely noticeable yet still there. A change in texture.

She dared herself to look down.

Blood.

Lines of blood within the snow that led into the direction she was going. Little bits of snow clumped up with the blood, leaving bits of odd shapes that hardened.

That wasn't there before.

Naomi looked up from the ground once more, though she did it more cautiously now. The lines of blood led away from her, occasionally swerving a little from the path but never ceasing. It flowed like still water to a man, standing utterly silent with his back turned towards her.

A samurai.

Naomi wasn't alone after all.

She took time to notice the features. His back armor consisted of blue and red colors. The red was painted as a fan, similar to the ones that she would use to practice manners, with the rest of it being covered in ocean blue. His helmet loosely wrapped around his head with metal like water sticking out from the frontal sides.

This was an Orochi. Deadly assassins that served both the empress and Daimyo, even the corrupt ones.

Seeing his katana sheathed on his side confirmed this. A blade that was covered in blood. Most Likely the same blood as the trail that led up to him. It dripped in tiny droplets at an agonizing pace off his sword and onto the white floor.

Naomi wanted to call out to him, but every instinct in her body told her not to. It was too risky. A samurai out in viking territory? It was impossible. Yet here she was, doing the same thing.