Sweet, somber whispers from the wind flowed through the coniferous forest. Dead leaves slowly falling from the weakened branches, with fresh teal colored buds eventually taking their place. The soft crunching of crisp, frosted, dry grasses and dirt quietly echoing through the cool forest. Azai, adorned with a woolen poncho, and Eiri, with her hood up and a scarf covering the lower part of her face, walk softly throughout the quiet forest, the sound of crunching leaves and frosted grass emanating from their steps.

“Hey, Azai?” Eiri called quietly from behind Azai, slightly pulling her scarf down from over her mouth so her voice would not be muffled.

“What’s up?” Azai continued to walk forward with Eiri, though slowing down so they would be side by side as they talked.

“Could you remind me why, exactly, we’re not taking a carriage? Wouldn’t it be much faster than walking through this forest?” Eiri turned her head to Azai, still being mindful of her steps as she walked on the creased ground formed by wagons and carriages.

“Taking a carriage isn’t exactly in the spirit of adventure, you know. We gotta learn how to deal with walking long distances if we’re ever going to be a proper adventurers.” Azai rebutted, giving a small smile to Eiri.

“Correction; you’re the one going on the adventure here, I’m just here to make sure you don’t get yourself hurt.” Azai shrugged a little bit as they continued down the path for a few more minutes, before Eiri continued her train of thought with Azai. “ Your mom is really worried about you, you know. I have a duty to at least try to quell her anxiety, and make sure you’re safe on this journey of yours.” Eiri gives a somewhat rough pat to Azai’s back.

“Er-..right.” The tone of Azai’s voice quickly became humbled, looking down for a few moments as they walked. Eiri soon followed up her sentence with another; “Secondly, if we’re going to be adventuring, why are we taking the public roads instead of carving our own paths, hmm?” Eiri gave Azai a teasing grin as she leaned down a little bit towards Azai’s level, Azai quickly getting flustered and starting to walk ahead of Eiri.

“W-well.” Azai stammered out. “You can’t immediately jump into adventure, you kinda...you kinda need to ease into it!” Azai said in a bit of a whining tone, a bit embarrassed by Eiri as she gave a sweet giggle, giving a nice pat onto his back.

“I get it, you’re just scared of the really nasty things you’ve read in your history books finding us, aren’t you?” Eiri chuckled again as her voice changed into a sillier, spookier voice. “Soul stealing demons, power hungry wizards, horrific creatures from another world-” Eiri’s fingers wiggled in a teasing, ominous manner towards Azai.

“S...stop it!” Azai’s general demeanor became more of his age, getting flustered as Eiri continued to chuckle. The two’s conversation soon ceased as the sound of a branch broke in the distance. Azai’s body froze up, goosebumps starting to cover his body as he quickly turned around towards Eiri. “This…” Azai stammered a little more. “This isn’t funny anymore! Please stop i-”

Azai was suddenly shushed by Eiri placing her hand against his mouth in a shushing motion, before motioning to get down onto the ground. Azai quickly complied, squatting down onto the ground, his knees bending and quivering as they press against the frosted ground. Azai placed his shaking hand onto the hilt of his blade, the sound of his heart pounding quickly within his ears over the anxiety from this unknown threat.

Eiri reached behind her back and unsheathed her arcane polearm, kneeling down and scanning the grounds where the sound emanated from. Eiri’s viridian eyes carefully watched over the area, making sure the threat had passed. It felt like an eternity for Azai, thousands of thoughts racing through his head before finally, Eiri stood up and motioned Azai to stand, placing the butt of the polearm on the ground, using it as a walking staff. Azai stood up and quickly followed behind Eiri. The crisp air feeling almost like needles against his skin within the tense atmosphere.

“We should continue, and not be nearly as loud. There may be things here that are disturbed by our presence.” Eiri spoke softly to Azai as they walked quietly through the forest, pulling up her scarf over mouth a few moments later. Azai nodded in agreement with Eiri, his body shivering with anxiety, following the tall woman closely, clutching onto one of her arms as they continued down the path.