I

An old man, Mr Yamato - as he introduced himself, sitting in the shelter I was kept in, told me how I was brought back to the tribe.

While he was escorting the woods and other necessary things back to the settlement, he saw me, with the child he was familiar with, lying on the layer of snow. He said, the child was tightly wrapped inside those layers of clothes and I held him close to my body.

The weather was freezing, and there were no signs of the snowstorm stopping. The person got off the deer cart he was riding on and kept my and the child's unconscious body in the cart luggage. The cart moved, making its way through the layer of snow and the stormy currents of chilly wind.

When I first gained back consciousness, the cart was still one valley away from the settlement. Weakness and the cold took over my body and I felt unconscious again. When he realised that the storm would increase soon, he stopped the cart and tied my and child's body with ropes, to the block of woods inside the cart and drove the cart and the deers across the valley as fast as he could, and escorted me and the child back to the settlement.

The old person, who saved us, was kind enough to convince the people from the settlement to keep me after explaining to them the whole situation. The people took us in before the storm got worse. The child was taken to his family who was a part of the settlement and I was taken to the general heating place.

The leader of the people in the settlement, and a person who knew enough about medical herbs and living organisms accompanied the man to the place.

"Itsuki," The leader of the settlement said. "You sure this man is no threat to my people, our people?"

The man, Mr Yamato nodded. "I do. I have a feeling."

"You know, the history of Himians has not been easy." The leader said. "In the past... my people, our people trusted the outlanders and saved them when they were lost in these deadly valleys... But how did they treat us in return?"

The leader looked toward the fire, burning fiercely in the fireplace.

"People learned our arts, our skills... and then betrayed us. Outlanders broke the people, they broke the tribe. They just come here in search of that herb, the flower of life."

"Somehow..." Mr Yamato paused and looked at my unconscious body. "I feel, somehow... he's different."

"Why?"

"I found him in the northeast valley, lying on the layer of ice with the child, which belonged to our people." Mr Yamato said. "Nobody ventures in that part of the valley, that means, he didn't know about the herb... he was probably lost, just like the child was after being separated from the tribe."

"That still doesn't explain his motives."

"There was a long trench coat, wrapped around the child's body which gave him the necessary warmth to keep him alive. The coat belonged to this person and he removed it away from him to keep the child alive." Mr Yamato looked back at the leader. "He had no connection to the child, yet he chose to save the child instead of himself."

The leader stood quiet and kept looking at my unconscious face.

"When I found him," Mr Yamato continued. "he was unconscious and left with no strength, but he still held the child closer to his own body, so the child could be saved from the harsh winds and accumulating layer of snow on their body. There's a chance I could trust this person."

"I speak for the better of the tribe and my people." The leader said. "If he makes any mistakes, you will have to pay for those mistakes with him."

"He won't make any mistakes." The person who was sitting down, inspecting my body, said. "He can't make any mistakes again."

"What? why do you think so?" Mr Yamato turned his eyes toward the person.

"Because the person is dead." He replied. "I took his pulse and checked his body in different ways. The person is dead and his body is getting colder soon."

Mr Yamato looked shocked, listening to the man. He stood quiet for a while, kept looking at my unconscious, or should I say, dead face and looked back at the person who inspected me.

"His life force was much denser than any ordinary human." Mr Yamato said. "He should not have released his inner consciousness so soon."

"I'm afraid the results I came up with tell the other possibility."

Mr Yamato crouched down and sat on his knees beside my cold body, taking my hand in his. My skin was colder than ice. He, in the sitting position, took a step back and touched his both palms on the ground. The tribe leader and the medic person were observing him. He concentrated his energies on his palm and pushed his palms against the wooden floor.

As he pushed his palms, small rays of energy emerged from the wooden floor and travelled inside my body. Those small sparkles travelled through my palms to my neck and head and to my stomach through my chest. Soon, they faded away, showing that it was no use.

Mr Yamato stood up and looked toward the tribe leader. "The blue herb, the flower of life from the depth of the surface. It can save him."

The tribe leader shook his head.

"Even if there's a possibility, I can not allow the blue herb to be used on the outlander."

"Why not."

"How many times do I have to remind you Itsuki, he is an outlander? And outlanders do not care for the preservation of the tribe. They divide us, they destroy our unity."

"If you can, tribe leader, I wish to call the council of all five members." Mr Yamato said. "Till then, I wish to keep the outlander near the fire for warmth."

The tribe leader nodded and walked away. The medic person followed the leader back to his house and Mr Yamato kept looking at them both till they entered their houses and closed the doors.

The following night, as requested by Mr Yamato, all five members of the tribal council were summoned to the meeting area. Mr Yamato entered the small hall of wooden walls and noticed all five members present inside, taking their seats.

Mr Yamato walked forward and stood in the circle, in front of all five members.

"First of all, I appreciate your efforts to attend this meeting with just a small request." The tribe leader said. "My friend, our friend Itsuki Yamato, had some things to discuss regarding the outlander he brought with him."

All the four other members of the council nodded their heads and allowed Mr Yamato to speak up about his thoughts. He waited for a while, looked at each member and bowed for respect and started.

"Today morning, when I was out fetching the dry firewood and some herbs," He started. "While returning, I noticed a person fallen unconscious on the ground in the storm. I would have not hesitated to leave him there - if you don't have what it takes to survive, you should not jump into that situation - but my cart stopped when I saw he was carrying a small child with him. Looking at his clothing, it was easy to conclude the child belonged to the tribe.

Mr Yamato glanced toward the leader of the tribe but he didn't show any particular interest in how this story was progressing.

He continued. "Long story short, the person I rescued from the storm in the mountains saved the child who was from the tribe. The child, otherwise, would have caught a cold and suffered till death."

"And what do you want us to do about it?" One of the members of the council asked.

Mr Yamato glanced toward that member and looked back at the tribe leader with hope. "He saved the child from dying in the storm. But he is not breathing now, his heart has stopped. The person died saving that child who belongs to the tribe."

As Mr Yamato said, he noticed some of the members exhaling their breaths in satisfaction, hearing the situation with the outlander.

"So, in return for his service," Mr Yamato said. "I propose, you allow me to use the 'flower of life', which was brought from the depth of the surface, to bring this saviour-person back."

When he said that, a wave of discomfort rose among the members of the council as their faces showed their disapproval of the proposal while they talked to other members.

"Itsuki, you know we can't approve your decision," the leader said. "We saw and experienced the consequences before, you know what happened when we helped an outlander before."

"Tribe leader, you know this time it's different." Mr Yamato said. "This person is different."

"He chose to save the child and didn't care for himself." One of the other members said. "It was his own choice."

"That person wrapped his own clothes around the child to protect him." Mr Yamato protested with a little loud voice. "He could have just left the kid to die and saved himself, but he did not choose that. It shows how different this person is. Each and every person in the tribe owe it to him. We need to save him."

He completed his whole suggestion and stood quietly in the place. The members of the council looked astonished after realising how much effort Itsuki Yamato is putting to save the person who he didn't even know for long.

The leader stood up and looked toward Mr Yamato. "Answer my question, Itsuki."

Mr Yamato looked into the leader's eye.

"Why are you so desperate to save this outlander?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that." Mr Yamato replied. "I can just say, it has something to do with the prophecy you and I once heard when we ventured inside the depth of the abyss."

The leader stood quietly and glanced at the other members in the room. He walked toward the door, passed beside the old man and stopped at the exit.

"You have my permission to treat him with the blue herb - the flower of life." He said. "But if this outlander turns out to be a threat to my people. You'll lose all the respect and your place from my people."

Other members stood up from their seats asking for an explanation for the leader's decision, but he stopped them. "I am the leader of my people, and my decision is made."

A faint smile appeared on Itsuki Yamato's face. He turned toward the leader and nodded his head. "He will be my responsibility."

~~

A group of people, who had experience with the radioactivity of the blue herb - the flower of life, was gathered in the isolated chamber. It was in the cave, some distance away from the settlement. The cave extended deep inside the surface of the land. At the end of the cave, there was a chamber with enough space for many people to stand. In the middle of the chamber, there was a big, square-shaped, man-size container filled with blue sand.

"Keep the body there." One elder-looking person from the group said.

Mr Yamato lifted my body from the trolley and kept it on the blue sand, inside the container. Two people walked aside and removed some material from their bags. The elder person walked toward Mr Yamato.

He extended both of his hands. "The blue herb."

Mr Yamato removed a small box from the trolley and handed him a glowing dark blue-coloured flower. The elder person walked back and handed it to his two people. The people used their tools and a dark blue fluid was, soon, extracted from the flower and the flower lost its colour and glow, turning black.

The other two people walked toward the blue sand container, removed a transparent pipe from their bag and placed it in my mouth. They looked back at the elder person. After a while, the elder person waved his hand signalling them and they started filling the container with more sand.

"What are you doing?" Mr Yamato objected.

"The container needs to be filled," The elder person said. "The person will be buried until the process is done."

"I have already witnessed how the healing process works," Mr Yamato protested. "The face is not buried."

"Those were living breathing people." The elder person pointed toward my body. "He is not breathing and his heart has stopped."

Mr Yamato stopped objecting and stood quiet, looking at the people. The two people near the container continued filling it with the blue sand until only the mouth of the transparent pipe was seen above it; my body was buried inside.

After processing the dark blue fluid extracted from the flower, the elder one brought the bowl of fluid toward the container. Mr Yamato doubted the process and wanted to object, but he resisted after sensing the elder person's life force, which had no intentions to harm.

The elder walked forward and started pouring the dark blue fluid slowly into the pipe, which was connected to my mouth, buried inside the dark blue sand. The bowl of fluid was emptied and the elder person looked toward Mr Yamato.

"Two of our men will stay here with you." The person said. "Observe the sand and once it turns black, remove the outlander out of it."

Mr Yamato nodded and the elder one walked out of the chamber taking his men with him, only keeping the two of them with Mr Yamato. The two people and Mr Yamato waited in the chamber, now and then, constantly observing the dark blue sand inside the container.

After some hours had passed, one of the men noticed a movement in the sand. He signalled Mr Yamato, who was waiting outside, to come inside the chamber. After some movement of sand, a growling voice started coming from the sand and my body came out of the sand. I do not recall the details, but as Mr Yamato later described, I woke up shouting and growling in pain, like a beast.

I do remember that feeling. My body was resisting the change that the dark blue flower's fluid was bringing inside me. It was hard, painful, like, my body was burning all over and the hot boiled water was running inside my bones and blood vessels and every cell. Mr Yamato, hitting his hand on my neck, knocked me out and my body went unconscious again.

"Check it." Mr Yamato said, looking toward one of the men.

The person walked forward and checked my body. His hand went over my chest and stomach, he took my pulse, observed the lungs functioning and turned back.

"He is unconscious," he said. "But the outlander lives."

Mr Yamato nodded toward him with a smile and walked toward my body. He tried to lift my body and realised my body had gained a significant amount of weight. With the help of two other people present in the chamber, my body was lifted and kept in the trolley and I was escorted back to the room where I woke up later.

II

Mr Yamato explained the whole story and I realised the reason behind that cryptic dream, and the sudden change felt inside my body. My body felt more strong, bulkier and more active from the inside and I was able to feel the constant flow of energy inside my muscles, blood and my bones. This was a new feeling.

The door knocked. "Master Itsuki," the voice came from outside. "the people are leaving."

"Yeah, sure. Coming." Mr Yamato replied from inside.

"Did he just call you master?" I asked. "Are you a teacher or somethin'"

Mr Yamato stood up, breaking his resting position on the chair, and opened the main door. He looked back at me. "We can have that talk later. Come on, join me."

I gave a questioning look. "Where?"

"Did you not hear the person outside? We are going for a hunt."

"Is there an option to say no?"

"This settlement didn't have had a good past with the outlanders." Mr Yamato said. "Before your treatment, I promised the tribe that once you are cured, you will be my responsibility and I will make sure you will do no harm to these people. So, you have to join me anyway."

I said nothing further - I was, for some reason, not able to find an answer for his words - and joined him. Looking at me joining Mr Yamato, people gave some strange, or should I say... more cautious faces, but they trusted him and allowed me to tag along with them. There was a cart standing at the end of the settlement, and big deers were attached in front. The size of the cart was a little bigger than the one Mr Yamato rescued me in.

A total of eight people, including the driver, Mr Yamato and me climbed on the cart and the deers started pulling it. The nights in the region were most chilly and most beautiful at the same time, on the other hand, days in the mountains were most dangerous and harsh for anyone to walk out. I was surprised to see how fluently the driver directed those strong deers on the right path.

"What are we hunting?" I asked while the cart was still on the way to its destination.

"We are looking for a white ice leopard," Mr Yamato replied. "To make things clear, these people call that animal snow-wild-cat."

"These people look strong. I don't see the reason why you wanted me to come. I saved the child, it's not like I was going to hurt the people back at the settlement."

"I believe you won't hurt them," Mr Yamato said, looking toward the road. "I asked you to join me 'cause I want you to hunt the animal down."

"Woah, Woah. And why would I be doing that?"

"You see, these people - the whole tribe, do not trust the outlanders." Mr Yamato explained. "Even if you saved a child who is one of them, after what these people suffered from the people from outside these mountains, these people can't believe in outlanders. So you have to prove to them you can be trusted."

"I was planning to leave this shelter," I said. "You see, I'm from the capital and someone asked me to visit a certain place in these mountain ranges. I should not stop here, I need to keep searching for it."

"Well, these mountain ranges are spread across two nations," he replied. "I don't see how you can find him while still being alive with so less resources."

"Him?" I shot a confused glance at him. "How do you know it's 'him'?"

"Just a feeling," he looked back toward the road. "or an intuition if you may."

I continued staring at him with my confused eyes and the cart moved ahead. After travelling for a while, the cart stopped in the area. The trees were scarcely dense and I could see for some distance ahead until the land touched the mist cloud.

Everyone got off the cart and started walking ahead.

"Why are we hunting it?" Mr Yamato asked looking at the other person with us.

The person from the tribe waved his hands while saying, "The snow-wild-cat kills the travellers... it's a danger to people."

We nodded and moved ahead, following the other people. The person leading the other five members stopped and so did we. He looked behind and signalled us.

We've arrived at the place.

I looked around to see if I could see anything - of course, I did know, that the animal won't just show itself directly, but if it was a strong beast, the eight people were more like a feast of fresh meat and warm blood for him - but my eyes caught nothing.

"Are we at the right place?" I asked Mr Yamato.

"I won't doubt these people's senses," he replied. "These people are surprisingly great at what they do and they're never wrong."

I looked around and tried to sense the flow of energy and life force in the area. The weather could hide one's physical form, but it can't hide their life force.

As I looked toward the person who led us to this place, a feeling struck my mind and an intense spark appeared in my head. Some distance away, in the dense mist cloud which touched the layer of snow on the ground, I saw a spark shining. The shine inside the eye of the beast.

Before I could know it, my body subconsciously rushed toward the person with a speed I could never expect myself to run with. I felt something wrong around him and the eerie feeling kept increasing. As I approached closer, the beast revealed itself from the dense mist cloud, rushing toward the man.

Before it reached the person, I reached its white body and my fist smashed under its face. An air pressure was created, tossing him away for some distance. I realised what I had just done but was confused about why or how was I able to do that.

The man backed off and the beast stood up again. It growled and then roared. The animal rushed again and my body refused to back off. His claws struck my blade, applying great pressure on my body. After taking a few hits, the beast dashed closer to me and my body dodged his claws, my left hand went on the hilt of my jade dagger, hanging on my waist, and swivelled around his neck.

The white Ice-leopard, the beast, fell to the ground and I got on my knees, wondering whatever just happened in these few moments. Looking at the scene, Mr Yamato ran toward me.

"Are you okay?" He said as he came closer and checked my body temperature.

"What just happened with me?

He looked toward the beast, fallen on the ground. A person from the tribe, cautiously, walked toward the white body of the animal and checked him. He looked up and declared the beast as dead.

"Outlander killed the threat to our people."

Mr Yamato looked back at me. "You just did the work I brought you here for."

The people from the tribe chanted some words standing around the beast in a circle, and shouted at the end with a feeling of satisfaction inside their voices. I inhaled and exhaled some deep breaths and calmed myself, calmed my life force and the flow of energies inside my body, which felt like boiling water running in my body.

The people dragged the body of the beast behind them while I walked idly with them. The walls of the cart were opened and fixed horizontally, making it like a platform on strong wooden wheels with even more space. The animal was loaded on the platform and the cart was pulled back to the settlement.

People at the settlement looked surprised and simultaneously satisfied at the scene of people, bringing the body of the dead beast with them, which was proof they are safe now. The body was unloaded in the very middle of the open area in the settlement, and Mr Yamato and I were called to the council of members.

"I was told that outlander was the one who bested the snow-wild-cat?" The tribal leader asked looking toward Mr Yamato.

"He defeated the beast, who was a threat to the people who travelled in that area... and he saved one of the other six people you sent there with us." Mr Yamato explained in a way to clear the whole situation.

"The outlander has strength, I see."

"The flower of life, the blue herb, has resonated with him . . . from inside." Mr Yamato confirmed while I stood quietly looking back and forth between the two. "Do you still think he is not capable of being one of you, one of us?"

"I will give a thought to it." The leader said. "Till then, the outlander can stay with the tribe."