Day 10, Week 1 - The Step One before the Step One

[Corporal Light]

Ballad cautiously raised his right foot, placing it a few feet forward, testing the strength of the ground beneath him. Once he was certain it was safe to move forward, he would raise his other leg and place it near his right. He had repeated this painstaking process for about an hour though given the nature of the fields it was unlikely he had gone very far in that timeframe. It was also equally possible that it hadn't been that long at all; given the lack of a visible sun, it was a possibility. It was around the thirty-minute mark that the prospect that he was practically moving at a snail's pace started to creep up, especially since it seemed as if he was no closer to getting out of the snowstorm than he was a while earlier. He turned his head to look over his shoulder, trying to discern how far he had gone.

As he turned his head back around, he caught a glimpse of a small creature bounding towards him. He quickly stopped moving, instinct telling him to reach for his gun. Just as he pulled it out, however, the creature was out of sight, kicking snow up onto his pants as it hopped past him.

The gunsmith growled, swiping his hand across the clothes on his legs. He twisted his head, glaring towards what sounded like a high-pitched, squealing child a fair distance behind him. He shook his head, stuffing his revolver back into the holster inside his coat as the cacophonous yelping grew distant. Whatever the thing was, it howled like a dying snow cat. Shuddering, he kept moving forward.

Thirty more minutes later, the wind finally seemed like it had exhausted all of its energy, calming down. The snow in the air was no longer as thick as it was minutes prior, allowing Ballad to view the new land without hindrance. Not that there was much to look at. To his dismay, it was just more of the same: A desert made of snow. It reminded him of home much more than he would've wanted to. Flatlands as far as the eye could see, with the only variation to the repetitiveness of the land being occasional frozen lakes and oceans. Or at least, it was like that near Frozen Over. One could've easily gotten lost mining for ice out in the wilderness of his world, and be subject to the fate of the predatory snow cats. Very few people were brave enough to venture out and risk facing one, let alone a pack of them.

"I do not think you will test your mettle against any such predators, dear miner. Such a likelihood is astronomical, at best." He told himself, calm and reassuring. He grit his teeth, frowning. He forgot he was sharing memories with a logic spirit.

"Thanks for the kind words. I really need it right now." He responded, his voice oozing sarcasm.

"My apologies. I could not help but be... agog apropos the specimens of your planet. I shall say, for an ice planet, it's ecosystem is comparable to most successful orbs. From observations in your memory banks, it has all an ecosystem could desire. An apex predator, multicellular eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae, motile organisms anatomically and physiologically dependent on such autographs, obligate carnivores, and-"

"Oh my god, do I need a dictionary just so I can TALK TO YOU?!" Ballad said, raising his voice almost to that of a yell. His eyes glowed white for a few moments before quickly reverting back to yellow.

"My apologies once more, dear companion," He said, with no hint of harm in his voice.

The gunsmith's mouth hung agape, stunned at the complete lack of annoyance or even real emotion in his voice. He was about to respond when his ears caught the sound of yelping once more, this time drawing closer.

"Shit.," he muttered to himself, smoke rising from his arms as he pulled out his gun. He whirled around, pointing it at the animal making the shrill, banshee-like howls.

The small mammal bounded towards him, stopping just a few feet away. It barked incessantly at him, leaping on its hind legs for a second. Its fur was snow-white, and its eyes were stark black. The gunner aimed his pistol at the mammal, thumbing the hammer back. He yelled at it to run along, which caused the animal to flinch, but it made no other movement indicating he was going to leave.

"SPB, what is this thing?" He asked, smoke wrapping around the barrel of his gun as he took a step backward. Even though the tiny animal appeared to be no threat, he had thought the same thing when he met Desco. The last thing he wanted was for the creature to be some vicious beast that could rival a snow cat.

His eyes switched to yellow for a few moments, the smoke dissipating. He chuckled, pulling his gun back as he explained.

"Ballad, you paranoid tomfool, stay your hand. It is merely an arctic vulpine."

"Arctic Vulpine?" He repeated, this time with a hint of uncertainty.

"A winter fox, if you will. It is an omnivore, and it preys on various eukaryotic elements of nature, from berries to fish. It has keen hearing, and it is able to survive in the harsh weather of the Fields thanks to an extensive pelage and low surface area to volume ratio."

"Okay, but why is it shrieking at us like a damn harpy?"

He hesitated, cocking an eyebrow.

"Great... you don't know. Guess there's one way to get it to leave." He said, pulling the trigger.

A loud crack banged from the barrel of his revolver as the bullet sank into the ground near the fox's feet. It hopped backward as it whirled around, fleeing from the soldier while whimpering in fear. Ballad slid open the revolving cylinder of his gun, reaching towards his belt to pull out a bullet. Just as he slid one into a chamber, however, his eyes narrowed as they followed the fox. A fair distance away, a figure was kneeling on his knees, as if to greet the fox like a pup. He had black hair, and his coat resembled that of a typical gangster. That could only mean one thing.

"Koal... Koal fucking Lynch." He muttered, part of his lips rising up to form a smile while the other lowered to form a scowl.