Leaves swayed gently in the breeze. The soft wind carried the scent of ripe flowers and fruit. In the tranquillity of the beautiful forest, filled with a terror that no one had ever known, only a few had witnessed its beauty and horror. An arrow appears, slicing through the wind between the dense treetops, flying straight and true towards a four-horned animal, muscular and walking on all fours. The animal's body is covered in purple and bluish-red markings.
"I get it?" a voice called from within the dense bushes filled with small fruits. In his dark brown leather clothing, he easily blended into the forest. Immediately, he emerged from behind the bushes, revealing a man's face with a scar on his left cheek, jet-black hair covering part of his forehead, and a slender yet imposing yet strong physique.
The man searched for the arrow he had just released. He advanced further into the forest, where he had targeted his prey. Not far from where he had released the arrow, his prey had fallen, and the arrow had pierced its hind leg.
"It turns out to be a Nothens, today seems like I'm lucky ahhahah" he looked at his dying prey "Alright alright I'll end this very soon." He took out a small sword from his right pocket, thrusting it into the creature's neck, ending the false suffering. He began carrying his prey on his back, transporting it to the edge of the forest near the river where he settled temporarily. A small hut consisting of a pile of river rocks and tied tree branches, simple but very useful during the hunting season.
On his journey, he discovered something strange: the door to his hut was open. The man was waiting by the riverside, stealthily skulking through the bushes and trees. He placed his kill in one of the trees, and he and his bow were ready for what was to come.
A person in a brown robe that covered his entire body came out of his homemade hut. The man immediately released an arrow that he had aimed at the strange person with full certainty. The arrow went straight through the afternoon wind, with a loud sound. Instantly, the strange person who was there without any warning, took out a long sword from the hand and split the arrow that was aimed at there into two parts. It seemed that the person had an Ability that meant that strange person was "a special person given power by God." When the person split the arrow, the face covered by the robe was clearly visible, her long, silver-white hair, slender hands and body and eyes with a firm gaze. A girl who was agile and full of power.
"Don't messing around with me!" the girl said, reappearing a sword from her right hand and throwing it towards the riverbank, narrowly missing the man's face. Her gaze was filled with seriousness and caution. As the girl watched trees from afar, she began lowering her sword, shattering it into tiny particles that returned to her.
"Well, to be honest, I don't want to fight…" The man walked out from behind the trees, revealing himself with his arms raised at chest level, his smile filled with a hint of anxiety and awkwardness about what had happened earlier. He stood on the other side of the river, keeping his distance from the stranger he had just met.
"With that robe, I thought you were a member of a heretical sect, I'm sorry if I attacked you, after all that hut is my place, hmmm you look like one of the Askendarians, the silver white hair color, the way you use your Ability, the pattern of the clothes under the robe-..." right before the man finished speaking, his words were cut off by the girl from the other side of the river, her words were calm without any unnecessary emotions.
"I understand… you're from the Ataraxians, right? From the shape of your hut and the notes inside, it's pretty obvious." The girl sighed, looking at the riverside where the man stood like a fool. She immediately turned around and sat on the side of the hut and opened a small bag from under her robe, she wrote something in it and blew a small whistle, soon after a small bird came, the girl tied the letter to the bird's leg and released it to fly away carrying the letter.
The man approached closer, not forgetting to carry his prey, which he carried on his back, along the river to his hut. He placed it on a rock near the riverbank where he usually skinned his other prey. He turned to the girl, who watched him from the side of the hut where she usually rested after hunting, sighed, and walked over to her side.
"Huh, what business does an Ascendarians like you have in this forest, you don't realize you're crossing our kingdom's borders? Well, even though our kingdom has been through a war…well atleast now our kingdom are in peace treatment." the man asked casually, sitting beside the former campfire where he often cooked his prey while lighting a fire with a piece of wood found there.
"None of your business…" the girl replied in a calm but firm tone. She looked up at the sky where her bird had flown away, making sure the message had arrived safely, and continued to open the folder inside her robe, mapping something out.
The man took a deep breath, unsure of what to say to the girl. Even though they didn't actually know each other and were clearly of different nations and races, there was something that made him feel drawn to her, not obvious love, but something else, like a predestined necessity.
"Well, consider this my apology for shooting you with an arrow without any clear reason, although you were also wrong in my opinion for entering someone's hut without proper manners, but let me introduce myself clearly and politely here, I am Arve Soth'orn, that is my true name, I am a hunter, nothing more and nothing less." Arve bowed before her, his right arm lowered and placed on the left side of his chest, showing the formal Ataraxia salute.
"Arve... I Kikya Osvalt, watcher knight of the Alexandrian kingdom. I will consider this a fitting tribute, honor being repaid with an honor." Kikya bowed to Arve's level. She conjured a silver sword with a white coating on the hilt, holding it in her right arm and pressing it to her chest, her words firm yet gentle. Her silver-white hair fell forward as she bowed respectfully to Arve.
Both of them saluted, a moment they would never forget. In that forest, fate had brought them back together. Dualism would rise again, leading those who were destined to be together, until the time came, until the end of this cycle fell. They both straightened their faces and heads, Arve smiled proudly, he felt that the girl, Kikya, had indeed kept the code of ethics properly as a knight, although at first Arve was suspicious of her because it was rare for female knights to appear in a kingdom that culturally made women second-class citizens.
On the other hand, Kikya was in awe of Arve. In the many rumors circulating within the Alexandria Kingdom, the Ataraxians were often associated with their fierce and brutal fighting style, seemingly barbaric, and their sometimes over-the-top use of their abilities. But before her, she found only a hunter with a code of ethics who was honestly worthy of respect. Kikya stood there, a slight smile on her lips, even if only for a moment, it was beautiful.
"May we see flowers bloom between us," Arve said with a relieved smile, knowing that the person in front of him wasn't an enemy he needed to fight. He laughed softly, scratching the back of his head with his left hand. His laugh was light and honest, indicating that the person in front of him was someone he could let talk to.
"What do you mean by those words?" Kikya looked confused, shifting her head slightly to the left, her face still calm and stoic.
"Ohh that's an old saying from my people, it means hopefully we'll meet another time, under good conditions, without conflict, without anything hidden." Arve explained by showing a flower near the river, it was the Polefeile flower that the Ataraxia people often use for arrival and farewell celebrations. Arve explained a little of his people's motto to Kikya, it made Kikya laugh a little and decided to say the same thing as what Arve said.
"May the light bless our meeting." Kikya walked away, entering the forest. Before disappearing, she waved to Arve with a sweet, thin smile on her lips. Kikya closed her cloak and disappeared into the dense forest, leaving Arve there with his prey waiting to be taken home.