"Huh?" I must not have heard her right. There's no way that she actually wants to fight that thing. That's impossible. No one's that stupid.

"Um, did I say something wrong?" She asks.

"Do you not fear death?" That must be it. She gives me a confused stare.

"I mean, if we die, the reinforcements I called in will finish the job for us. So death doesn't really mean much here." I can't think of a rebuttal to her point, besides the fact that I don't wanna die.

"I'm in." Roxas finally speaks up. I sigh.

"Screw it, I'm gonna die either way." I agree to help and the girl points at the creature's head.

"I've been given shakily reliable info that the top of that thing's head is free of scales. In short, it's just waiting to be shish-kebabed."

"I assume that'll involve climbing. Who's gonna be the distraction?" The girl smiles at me and shows off the sniper that has been leaning on her shoulder this whole time.

"You two go. I'll keep it distracted with some high-grade firepower. Just try to be quick. I only have so much ammo." I see her hand heat up once she grips the trigger. She motions for us to slide back down while she takes aim. We begin our descent and the first shot rings out. The giant lizard screeches with a force comparable to an earthquake and begins making its way forward. Each step it takes sends us a few inches off the ground, making the run difficult, though thankfully not impossible.

I decide to go first, taking hold of a scale and pulling myself up. Despite being ice, the feeling of the scale is comparable to cold water, which is good, because I don't know how long I could last if it felt like I was burning my hands every time I grabbed something. Still, I do have a long way to go.

I look down and see Roxas beginning his ascent when he seems to notice something. "Martial, your right!" I grab my sword and turn to face a serpent made of ice coming from under one of the thing's scales. I reach out and slice off its head. It shakes and then goes limp. "Martial, there's more!" I look around and see hundreds of them starting to come out from under the scales.

"Martial keep going! I'll cover you!" Roxas yells up before sending a bolt of electricity at a serpent just above me. "Just try not to die, okay!" I hold in a groan and nod, continuing to climb. I can see gunshots in my peripheral, reminding me of my soft time limit. I speed up, occasionally shifting directions to avoid suspicious-looking scales.

"Ahh!" I look down and see Roxas being ripped away from the leg and thrown around by a couple of speedy serpents. I take out one of my canisters and throw it at one of them, sending them into a dying fit. Roxas grabs hold of the other and uses it to swing back to the leg. Enraged, the serpent bites his side, making Roxas weaken his grip. The serpent slides out and wraps itself around his neck. "Keep...going." He mouths.

"Not happening!" I decide to try getting its attention by slamming my sword into the lizard's leg. It works...a little too well. The serpent let's go of Roxas, who barely manages to grab onto a scale during a brief free fall, and turns its attention to me. "You know what? Fine." I get back to climbing, this time much faster than before. I do my best to avoid the serpents appearing above and below me. A few of them are decimated by some bullets from my new friend atop the hill.

I finally reach the top, trying to keep my balance atop its back. I see my goal just ahead. Thankfully, it isn't another climb, so if I can carefully make my way forward, I'll be okay...yeah, of course not. A giant cloud of cold air bursts out of the thing's back as another serpent makes its debut. Oh, and it's bigger, too.

"Why?!" The thing shrieks at me before zipping forward at lightning speed. I dodge and grab one of my last two canisters from my pocket and shove it into my sword's hollow hilt. I hit the button at the top of the hilt and fire springs forth, covering my blade with blazing heat. "Alright, come on you speedy fuck." It lets out another powerful roar and charges forward. I swing my sword before rolling away, managing to hurt it with the flame's trail. It turns around quicker than I expect and snaps its teeth around my arm.

I take the opportunity to slam my sword into one of its eyes, turning it into small fragments. Black blood oozes out and it lets go of me to run and recover. Upon inspection, it appears it froze the inside of my arm, making it useless. The serpent turns to look at me. Its rage is clear to see.

I come to a decision and get ready for it to charge again. I hold my sword in my armpit and pull out my final canister. I throw it up and return my sword to my hand as it begins charging forward, screaming out with all its might. I swing my sword...and cut through the canister. The fire explodes into life, sending me flying backward. I force myself to sit up, hoping I have finally done it in.

The icy layer around the snake's body has been destroyed, leaving me the fleshy insides. Blood oozes from its form, but It's still alive. I grab my sword, flames brighter than they had been before, and try standing up. My legs are wobbly and I can hardly hold my weapon, but I have a chance. Thankfully, I don't even need to try.

Before I can move to attack, a person flies over me, slamming their sword into the creatures exposed insides.

"Go, kid! I got this!" I hear the figure yell down to me. I take the opportunity and run down the lizard's neck. It seems the lizard is catching on to what's going on atop its body and begins shaking. I fall and grab onto the scales. I crawl forward, seeing the exposed skin just inches away. I push myself up and jump forward, jamming my sword into the creature's skull. I feel the sword slam through the bone and into the brain.

The lizard screams out, thrashing about violently. I and my sword tumble off the things head and I fall onto the ground below. "Agh!" Thankfully, the only things that seem to be damaged are the bones in my already frozen arm. I see Roxas slide down from his spot on the leg, running over to me.

"Where the hell were you?" I ask, not sure if my tired body can even manage to get up off the ground.

"Sorry. It turns out getting strangled is a good way to get tired out. Can you get up?"

"I don't know." We both turn our attention to the lizard, letting out its last breath.

"Well, you did a pretty good job up there, Martial. Hats off to you." I look up to see the girl with the sniper giving me her praise.

"Well, thanks. Could I also ask for some help up?" She extends a hand. I take it, somehow managing to stand up.

"Ahh...we did it!" Roxas cheers with celebration, laughing up a storm. I join in as well, and so does this friendly stranger.

"Apologies for calling you an ass, by the way. If you hadn't bumped into me I probably would have missed out on all the fun." Upon inspection, I realize her figure does look similar to the person I'd bumped shoulders with on the way.

"Well, it's a little late, but I think I forgot to ask you your name." Now that I think about it, I don't really remember telling her my name either. She seems surprised by my question.

"It's Sarah. I guess a girl with cat ears is gonna be easier to remember though, huh?" I feel my heart stop. She cocks her head at me. "Hey, you okay?"

"...It's a pleasure to meet you."