The sun was blocked by white sky as the eight huskies trudged through a foot of fluff, a burgundy harness over their chests as they hauled their old owner and his new recruit across soft water. The men stood side by side on a sled, the older one holding the harness to guide his pets. Once the dogs climbed over a small hill, the men were barely able to make out the pikes surrounding the base through their beaver fur head coverings. The pikes were planted in the ground in such a way that the tips pointed towards incomers. The recruit peered through with squinted eyes, and they widened once he realized they had arrived. "That's it, huh?" he asked.

The old man responded with an affirmative grunt. "Sure is." He scanned the by-product of his ambition with his pale blue eye as they approached the gate. "Quite a sight to behold, isn't it?"

"No doubt about that..." the young man replied, his head tilting upwards once the steel plated fortress came into view. It was a wooden tower about twenty feet high, surrounded by a moat that was filled with icy water. The establishment was circular, with four tall, wooden cylinders making up the structure. The two levels at the bottom were the parts of it that were fully reinforced with steel, while the top two appeared more exposed. With the two robust men armed with spears guarding the gate and the large pikes pointed in their direction, the young man did not find the place very inviting. The recruit swallowed back the last bit of his nerves as the dogs slowed down and the sled came to a halt.

"Hey...boss..." one of the guards greeted through chattering teeth. He and the other guard were covered head to toe in fur suits, much like the old man and the recruit, but he was still shivering all over. The tip of his spear was coming dangerously close to his head as he rubbed his arms up and down while having the weapon in his grasp.

The old man's eye squinted in a grimace. "You trying to skin yourself alive there?"

"N-no, sir," the guard answered, shaking his head profusely, "it's just...I've been out here for s-so long..."

The old man got off of the sled and walked towards his dogs while the recruit hesitantly followed suit. He crouched over his frontrunner husky and scratched its head gratefully, scanning the rest of the dogs at the same time. "Good boys," he complimented, reaching over to pat the frontrunner on his right on the head as well, "you've all done a fine job as always."

The young man stared at the freezing guard awkwardly, wondering if he was going to be alright while the old man ignored him. He glanced at the other guard for a split second, shifting his gaze away as soon as he realized the man was shooting daggers at him for some reason. In the brief instance he looked at him, he noticed that the guard was perfectly poised, the flat end of his spear planted firmly in the ground.

Once the old man was done congratulating his entourage, he began to undo the harness from their bodies. The guard who was standing like a statue for the longest finally moved toward a crank attached to the side of the gate and placed both hands on the handle. With a subtle grunt, he started to push the crank forward and backward in a circular motion, chains lifting the gate upwards to reveal a wide, five-foot bridge over the moat. The dogs shook themselves off and barked excitedly once they were free from their restriction, frolicking across the bridge and making their way to the entrance of the fortress. The old man stood upright and watched them go, chuckling to himself.

"S-s-sir," the guard chattered, rubbing himself faster, "it's r-really cold..."

The old man stared at his guard's disposition for a moment, and then he looked at the other guard, who was like a statue with his gaze fixed straight ahead. He looked back at the complaining guard with a gesture towards his partner, scoffing, "He seems to be handling it just fine. What's your excuse?"

"P-please, boss—"

"Perhaps you'll find warmth in Henderson's belly," the old man threatened, stepping up to the pleading guard.

The guard shuddered backwards with a gasp. "N-no, sir, not that!"

"Why not?" the man taunted with another chuckle. "You'd get the warmth you want, and Henderson might actually get full. Two problems, one solution!"

"I-I'm sorry, alright?" the guard responded.

"Are you? Well, then why don't you stop being a problem and do the job I'm paying you for?"

He glanced at the other guard and tried to mimic his stoicism by placing the flat end of his spear against the ground. As he continued to shiver all over, he audibly gulped and answered, "Yes, sir."

The old man stared him down for a moment, and then turned away from him. "Good." He focused his attention on the new recruit, whose eyes shifted away for a second as he tugged the collar of his suit. The old man laughed out loud and began to walk across the bridge. "Sorry ya had to see that, pooch. Why don't ya bring that sled in for me?"

"Uh, yeah, sure..." he replied, still flabbergasted by the interaction he just witnessed. The young man looked back and forth between the chastised guard and his new boss, and then he crouched down to grab the bottom of the sled with one hand and the handlebar with the other. He picked up the sled, holding it at his side, and hurried past the two guards and onto the bridge. As he walked across, he stared into the frost-peppered aqua water, unable to see the bottom of it. He wondered how quickly he would freeze if he fell in.

"As you can see," the old man called, noticing the recruit's fixation with the moat, "I have plenty of ways to ward off intruders."

The young man's head shot in his boss's direction, his husky voice startling him a bit while his attention was on the water below him. "Right..." He knit his eyebrows and asked, "Might I ask why you need so much defense, sir?"

The man's attention was once again diverted once he made it across the bridge and caught sight of the metallic door before them. Engraved on it was the guild's symbol, large enough to cover the full center of the door. With its larger size, the lion looked much more detailed and menacing than how it appeared on their clothing. Its beady glare faced them directly with its colossal jaws opened wide. The lion's mane was wild like fire and its fangs never looked so sharp. He could hear its imaginary roar through the wind's howl, its gaping mouth threatening to swallow its visitors whole.

The old man grabbed the handle to the steel door and snickered, his dogs circling around him panting and barking. "You'll see soon enough," he called. With a firm grunt, he pulled on the handle and moved back to open the door that looked heavy against the air resistance. The dogs rushed inside, disappearing from their sight. Once he had the door open wide enough, he motioned for the recruit to go inside, and the young man did so willingly.

When he entered the building, the first thing that took him aback was the amount of light pouring into the place. Although on the outside of the building the base appeared to be made purely of lumber and steel, the back of the ground level room was built with sturdy glass, allowing the whiteness of the day to fill the room. The pearly tiles that made up the room's floor seemed to reflect said light in a way that gave the room an eerily blank atmosphere. The walls to his right and left were decorated with the mounted heads of deer, buffalos, and bobcats. There was a large fireplace made of bricks alit bringing heat to the room.

Ahead of the entrance was a group of men and women gathered around a pair of kegs that were about six feet tall while they drank from hefty steins. A few people sat at the rows of tables that were set up at the left side of the room, chatting and drinking. They all had their guild's symbol etched into their clothing. Some of them were greeted by the huskies that frolicked through as they crouched down to scratch their ears and welcome them back. They shivered from the sudden rush of air filling the room and turned around to see who was coming in. With a robust cheer, the men and women raised their metallic mugs, one man announcing, "Hey, the newcomer's here!"

The young man cleared his throat and tucked the sled firmly under his arm. He took the greeting as his cue to introduce himself. Pulling his facial covering down under his chin, he revealed an impish face with thin lips and a narrow nose. "Hello, everyone. I'm Joshua." The sled slipped a bit in his grasp and he flinched to reclaim it.

The group laughed at his awkwardness as their leader made his way in. "Settle down, you all," he ordered, walking to Joshua's side and giving him a hearty pat on the back. He took the sled from the young man and set it up against the wall to their left. As the old man turned around, he pulled his own face covering down, exposing his smug grin over a rectangular jaw, his golden tooth almost reflective in how shiny it looked. There was some light brown stubble around his mouth and the bridge of his nose was broad. His most distinctive feature, of course, was the black, metallic orb implanted in his eye socket. His attention went back to his guild as he continued, "We want our latest addition to the guild to feel welcome, don't we?"

"Yes, Eagle Eye!" they responded, resuming their conversations.

The old man placed a hand on Joshua's shoulder and assured, "You'll come around to them eventually, pooch. Follow me and I'll show you around."

"Alright..." the young man responded.

Eagle Eye guided the man through a door several feet to their right, leading them to a flight of spiraling stairs. The stairs themselves were made of sturdy, white marble. Joshua marveled at the smoothness of the walls that were made from the same material as the stairs. Eagle Eye looked back and noticed the recruit's awe, and then he redirected his attention forward. "Impressive, isn't it?"

"It is, sir," Joshua agreed. He knit his eyebrows and murmured, "I just wonder..."

"Joshua," Eagle Eye began, "remind me why you decided to join the Hunters' Guild again."

The young man blinked a bit and focused his gaze back on his boss as he walked ahead of him. He hesitated to answer, since he could not tell if Eagle Eye was the sort of man who would be offended by a practical answer. Not only that, but after seeing how he treated his guard, he wanted to make certain that he did not get on the old man's bad side. Ultimately, he figured that as long as he did not complain like the guard did, then maybe he would stay on good terms with him. With that in mind, his answer was straightforward. "If I'm being honest, I just need to make money to support my family... The Hunters' Guild is really powerful, so I assumed this would be the best place out here to make a living."

The old man let out a high-pitched laugh. "Glad to hear you're not another kiss-up! Seems you'll take the job seriously, eh?"

Joshua straightened his lips and nodded. "Yes, I will."

"Excellent," the old man responded as they reached the door to the second level of the building, looking back at the recruit with a smirk, "now, allow me to introduce you to some of my finest cohorts."

Eagle Eye pushed the door open to a vast room that was made up of a narrow hallway ahead of them, and to their left was a glass wall. On the other side of the wall was a space filled with straw dummies and bullseye targets made of cardboard. There were six people inside of it, four of them being some burly men on the right sideline. They were watching as a woman with long, silver and black hair drew an arrow from her quiver. She pulled it back against the string of her bow with one of her golden-brown eyes closed. In regards to her position, her back was about a foot away from the glass wall, and it seemed like the target she was aiming for was all the way on the other side of the room, about thirty feet away. Without further hesitation, she released her grip on the arrow and let it bolt across the room. The men laughed and cheered upon seeing the arrow land directly in the center of the bullseye. The woman glanced at them with a smirk as she lowered her bow to her side and began to walk over to the bullseye.

"Whoa..." Joshua sighed with wide eyes. He looked up at his boss, who was watching her with a proud grin and his arms crossed. "That's one of the people you were talking about, huh?"

Eagle Eye affirmed his assumption with a nod. "That's Rosa. I've never met another person more skilled with a bow and arrow than she is. Our finest huntress."

"I see," Joshua responded. He looked around the room with a furrowed brow, beginning to wonder about the shapes of the dummies that were set up all over. "Um, sir?"

"What is it?" Eagle Eye raised an eyebrow, noticing the growing concern on the boy's face.

"I hope I'm not overstepping any boundaries when I ask you this," he started, his breathing getting a little heavier, "but why are the dummies shaped like humans?"

Eagle Eye bellowed with laughter and faced the room once more. "I figured you'd ask me that! It's certainly not because we're hunting humans, if that's what you're wondering!" Once his laughing quelled, he explained, "It'd simply be more of a hassle if we designed them differently for each animal we hunt. Plus, they're especially useful for a certain someone..." Eagle Eye turned his attention towards the left side of the room, where a man with shoulder length, snow white hair sat calmly.

Joshua followed his gaze to see the man sitting on the wooden bench. He was wearing a vest made of grey wolf fur and loose fitting, dark pants. Across his lap laid a sheathed longsword with a black handle. The scabbard was a dull brown and appeared to be made of leather. Even as the man sat there, Joshua could tell that he was taller than most with his long arms resting at his sides and his lanky legs bent underneath him. He was hunched forward slightly, and with his bone straight hair, it was hard to see his face. Nevertheless, what really caught Joshua's attention was the sword. Not only did he find it a strange weapon for a hunter to have, but he noticed that there was a symbol of a snake bearing its fangs etched into the material of the scabbard. With the golden circle surrounding the figure, it was clear to Joshua that it was the symbol for another guild. "He...uses a sword to hunt?"

"Not for hunting," Eagle Eye explained, "for fighting. He may not seem as strong as the rest of them, but he's more skilled in combat than most of us combined!"

As if he knew that he was being talked about, the man lifted his head in their direction to reveal a pair of bright green eyes. He had an elegant bone structure with high cheekbones. His eyebrows were straight and thick, while his face was clean shaven. Something that stuck out among his facial features, though, were the distinctive bags under his eyes. They did not appear to be from lack of rest, but from something else entirely. The man had a completely different air about him compared to the others Joshua had seen. It was not just in his physical appearance, but there was something in that perpetual, deadpan expression that gave him chills.

"Think of him as our greatest guard dog," Eagle Eye elaborated. "Back in his former guild, he was known as Arthur the Austere." The old man chuckled and waved at the man.

The man nodded back to his boss and then looked at the recruit. Joshua debated on whether he should wave, too, but the man looked back down before he could make a decision. In that moment of eye contact, though, Joshua managed to figure out what it was that shook him so much upon seeing those eyes of his: Arthur wore the face of a battered soul.

Eagle Eye turned back to face Joshua once more and continued, "So then, I assume you're still wondering why I require so much protection, and how I managed to have such a high-quality facility built, yes?"

Joshua averted his gaze for a moment and answered, "Well...yes, that's true."

Eagle Eye nodded and turned towards the door at the end of the hallway. "Then come along and I'll show you the job you'll be tasked with."

"Yes, sir," the boy responded, following him down the end of the hallway.

Eagle Eye opened the door to a room that branched off into two separate paths, the old man choosing to go down the hallway to the right, which led to more stairs. Joshua could not help but glance at the left side of the room when he heard something that sounded like a low growl in the distance. It was unlike any animal he had ever heard before. Eagle Eye looked back with a reluctant smirk. "Ah, that's Henderson for ya. Always acting like he's starved for food."

"What is Henderson?" Joshua blurted.

"I'll show you once you've earned my trust," Eagle Eye answered as the two of them ascended the next flight of stairs.

"Right, of course, sir," Joshua replied, a little embarrassed by his own nosiness.

"Since you're new here," Eagle Eye continued, "I have to make sure you have the stomach to be a member of this guild."

Joshua's eyes widened at the notion. "The stomach? Do you mean...you have to make sure I'm comfortable killing animals?"

"Please, I know you're fine with that," Eagle Eye scoffed, "it's called the Hunters' Guild, after all." They reached the peak of the stairs and the old man rested a hand on the knob to the door. On the other side, they heard some loud, metallic clanking that seemed to be the result of something being pounded into shape. Eagle Eye looked back at Joshua and continued, "Instead, I'll need to see how well you can oversee the productivity of the work force responsible for creating such high-quality material for our fortress."

Along with the clanking and hammering, Joshua could hear some exhausted groaning as well as some men barking harsh orders. That is when Joshua figured out what his leader was implying about how their fortress was so well made and why he needed extra protection from outside forces. His eyes widened as he began, "Wait, are you saying..."

Before Joshua could finish his thought, Eagle Eye opened the door to reveal what was going on inside the room. Once the recruit stepped up next to his boss, he gasped quietly to see that it was a room full of men who were nearly skin and bones. Their clothes were so filthy that they stuck to their frail bodies. Their hair was unkempt and most of them had long beards. What was most disturbing to Joshua, though, was that some of them were even missing limbs.

He spotted a man who was using his only arm to throw heaps of iron into the furnace at the other side of the room. Attached to the back of the furnace was a large container that poured out the molten metal into the large, rectangular mold that was laid out before the workers on the right side of the room. There were several of these molds on that side of the room, some of which already had hardened steel on the inside that the workers were hammering into shape. What was concerning about the work they were doing was the fact that none of them were wearing any protective gear. The furnace produced so much heat that one would not have been able to tell that it was freezing outside of the building. The workers were sweating profusely being in such close proximity to the machine.

On the left side of the room were workers skinning several different animals and using their furs to sew together pelts, likely for the hunters to wear. The men skinning and sewing sat on a long bench and did their work on a table that stretched from one end of the room to the other. One man sitting on the middle area of the bench only had one leg. The corpses of deer and moose hung on a rack as they were gutted by two of the workers. The innards dropped into a large bucket beneath them, releasing an appallingly humid stench. Some of the fluids splattered on one man's pants as he coughed and scrunched his nose.

Joshua blinked rapidly, trying to shake off his disbelief. "It's...slave labor."

"That's right," Eagle Eye confirmed with eerie enthusiasm. "The source of our production is right here. You must understand now, then. Most of these people were deemed missing, their families still wondering where they even are. They're cheap, but they're being searched for. That's why I need such powerful defenses."

The boy looked around with big eyes. There had to have been about fifty slaves working in that room. "How did you get so many of them...?"

Eagle Eye chuckled slightly and answered, "Most of them lost a bet!"

Joshua's eyebrows shot upward. "What—"

"The details aren't important," Eagle Eye interrupted, "but what is important is for you to oversee the slave work along with them." He directed Joshua's attention above by pointing to a structure attached to the ceiling.

Above the work space were the men barking orders on a steel scaffolding, all of them armed with spears and drinking from steins. One of them looked down at Eagle Eye and Joshua and raised his stein with a smirk. Joshua jerked his head back in a sort of disgust.

"Rather barbaric, wouldn't you say, Joshua?" a sudden, smooth voice interjected.

Joshua jumped with a start to find the source of the voice standing right next to Eagle Eye. It was a short, slender man wearing a white cloak. He had squinted, blue eyes and a pointed nose. His dark blonde hair was tied in a high ponytail, a snide smile on the corner of his mouth. Although he had addressed Joshua, his gaze was fixated on Eagle Eye. Joshua could have sworn that he would have heard if someone was coming up from behind them. He knew it could not have been possible, but with how quickly he appeared there, it was as if the man materialized out of thin air.

The man's eyes shifted over to Joshua and his expression lifted with a sort of friendliness. He reached a hand out to him and greeted, "Hello there! I'm one of Noah's special cohorts: Titus of Time! If you were wondering whether or not I appeared out of thin air, I did!"

Right before Joshua could shake Titus's hand, he jerked back at what he just stated and blurted, "What?"

Eagle Eye grimaced and smacked Titus's arm out of the way. He scolded, "I can do without your cheekiness, Titus."

Titus shrugged and rubbed his arm, his grin growing wider as he retorted, "I just couldn't help but notice how horrified he seemed. I can't blame him. It is pretty awful."

"Yet you've worked with it just like everyone else has," Eagle Eye argued. "Speaking of which, what are you doing here with us, anyway? You're supposed to be tending to Henderson."

"I know, I know," Titus whined, "but he's getting so unruly. He mainly listens to you, after all."

Eagle Eye groaned at the man's complaining. "Fine, I'll see to him myself," he relented. He glanced at Joshua and explained, "That's it for the sightseeing, then. Join the men up there and they'll explain the rest of your assignment to you. That is, if none of this bothers you..."

Joshua could tell there was a hint of doubt in his voice. In addition to that, there was a sinister undertone in how he let the suggestion hang in the air. With that in mind, even though Joshua found the sight gruesome, he knew that there was no way he could object to going along with it without receiving his own punishment of sorts. He gulped and responded, "Of course not, sir."

Suddenly, there was a clanging on the railing of the scaffolding. "Wake up, chimp!" one of the overseers yelled as he poured some of his beer down on a darker-skinned slave who was sewing together a fur. The slave shook himself upright and clenched his jaw, working his fingers faster after getting splashed. The other men on the scaffolding laughed at his reaction.

Eagle Eye noticed their behavior and called, "Hey, hey, now!" The men froze at the sound of their leader's voice, some of them visibly confused by his tone. The old man grinned at them and added, "Let's not be so harsh to one of my favorite workers!"

The men exchanged some puzzled looks, but nodded and replied, "Yes, sir."

Joshua turned his attention to the slave with the brown skin who was still trembling all over. He knit his eyebrows once he realized that the man was missing his pinkie and ring finger on his left hand, yet he was being forced to sew together clothing for them. Joshua's heart pounded in his chest, but he tried not to get emotional. He knew the job was going to pay well, so all he had to do was go along with what Eagle Eye ordered. What mattered most to him was his family.

Eagle Eye took a few steps toward the slave in question and continued, "Brownie here has been working under me for about fifteen years now, longer than most!" Once the old man stood right over him, he leaned so that they were face to face. The slave continued to work frantically on the clothing, though, like he was refusing to look the man in the eye. "I'd say he deserves a little more respect than that!" Then, Eagle Eye slammed his hand against the table he was working over, as if he was demanding the slave's attention. The other slaves were startled, stopping their work and looking over at Eagle Eye. The dark-skinned slave stopped, too, but he kept his eyes forward. The one-eyed man leaned closer to his slave's face and asked, "Wouldn't you agree, Raj?"

Slowly and reluctantly, Raj lifted his head in his tormentor's direction. While the only difference in Eagle Eye's appearance since the day they met was the white in his hair, Raj was merely a shell of his former self. Reduced to skin and bones, his face worn with premature wrinkles, his hair and beard damp from alcohol and dirt, and his eyes blank with hopelessness, Raj responded to the taunting with silence. He could not fight back, nor could he talk back. Any resistance would only be met with cruel punishment. All he did was redirect his attention back to his work, his left hand wobbly with the loss of his fingers. The only thing that ever coursed through his mind those days aside from his impending doom was the image of his daughter he lost so long ago. If he could somehow see her alive and well, then maybe he could find peace.

***