"What the, hey! Watch where—"

The man who was saved by Ford stopped his words when he saw him in mid-air and about to touch the blank spot. His conscience was telling him to stand up and help the kid who just saved him, but his brain told him to stay and save himself.

The other people around me saw it as well. They wanted to help, but their brains told them to survive. Including Taw't Umbra, he was scared stiff, remembering his fallen comrades who experienced the same death.

Right after a part of Ford's body touched the lake water, he was already frozen stiff. He wanted to reach for the ice surface, which was within his reach, but he failed to do so. He lost control of his body. His body heated up higher than the worst fever he had experienced. He wanted to call for help, but the words weren't able to escape his mouth. He couldn't even produce any sound. His whole body lost its function when that freezing temperature overtook it.

When he sank towards the abyss, parts of his body started to form some ice.

He needed help, but he knew that only those who were in the wrong mind would help him in this dangerous situation. His personal bodyguard, Gori, for example, doubts that he would rescue him with the risk of losing his life in the process; even if it's miniscule, he won't. It's more than his pay grade. The tribe's leader? He would wish he was dead. 'He's probably overjoyed. ' he thought.

Memories of his family played in his head. They're a happy family gathering for their occasional meal together, with the embrace and voices of his parents. His promise to his father and his vow to Eigh felt bitter for him when he realized that his only two promises would be unfinished.

His whole body was submerged. His whole body has lost its function already. Even his breathing has already stopped. The color of his skin lost its life, and his eyes were about to lose their light.

He was thankful that it all happened with his eyes open. He could see the beauty of the Tu'ins up close. They danced in front of him as they swam along the wave he had caused as he sank.

'They're like the night sky,' he thought. 'they're beautiful.'

Slowly, his vision darkened. If he didn't know that he was sinking and about to die, he would mistake this for just floating freely somewhere with fading consciousness.

His body was numb, and his senses were gone. The only thing that remained to him was his power to make thoughts, but little by little, he's losing this too.

I'm sorry, mother,

I'm sorry, father.

I'm sorry, E—,

Suddenly, he felt something grab his hands. He felt the cold water in every inch of his body. His vision is slowly coming back. His ears could perceive another chaos in the water.

'Eigh?'

She could see Eigh atop him, holding his hand and tugging his arms up.

'I must be hallucinating; is this what they call after death?'

The tug kept pulling him up until his body felt the familiar air touching his skin. His face left the water, and immediately his body gasped for air uncontrollably. He felt his body being pulled up and covered in thick cloth.

After half a minute of gasping for air, his vision cleared. The voices that were unclear finally became audible for him to recognize and understand what he was seeing.

"Good God, he's okay."

"Is he really okay? Check him. What about her?"

"She's alright as well. She looks much better."

"Get some hot water and a soup!! Get some soup! Feed them to warm them up."

In different voices, everyone was talking about helping somebody out. Were they referring to me? But 'them'?

He opened his eyes and saw people tending to him. Somebody came with a bowl, probably the soup someone asked for. The bowl was given to a person with blonde hair; he blinked twice to see the person clearly. It's Taw't Umbra. She came towards him and scooped a portion onto the spoon.

"Open your mouth. We need to warm you up."

As ordered, I opened my mouth, and she fed me the soup. I wasn't able to taste the soup's flavor; I had no idea if it tasted good or bad. The hot temperature of the food numbed my taste buds. Does she even know how to take care of someone? Why did she forget to cool down the soup first before feeding it? She scooped another spoonful of the soup, and instinctively, my mouth opened to welcome the spoon to my mouth, even though it was scalding hot. The hot temperature helped him warm up; maybe that's why he didn't bother and just took the hot soup over and over again without complaining.

"Are you alright?" Taw't Umbra asked her.

"Yes... "

"Alright. Keep these around you; warm yourself up, alright?" She patted his head before standing up. "How about her? Is she alright? Good, bring them to that sled."

A man went near him and said, "Kid, curl up. I'll be carrying you to the sled."

"Uhmm. Thank you," he replied.

He picked him up like he was weightless.

"You got a bright future, kid. You would be helping more people."

He nodded in reply. His memory was still hazy. What happened?

When they reached the sled, the man slowly put him down. There he saw Eigh, who's covered in thick cloth as well. But she seemed to be okay.

"Eighh??"

"Are you okay, Ford?"

"Yeah, what happened?" he asked.

She showed him the feather from the gap in their warmer.

"This... When I saw you about to drop after helping the man, I felt this thing warming. No one went to help you, so I risked it and dove to rescue you. I think it's because of this that saved us in there."

"I see, thank you."

"No worries, I would do everything to save my protector."

Ford was shocked by her words. He slowly turned to smile, and he brimmed with happiness. And finally, his smile disappeared as his eyes closed. He fell toward her like a ragdoll. Eigh started to panic and checked him up. She saw his body breathing, and she realized he just needed a rest. And so, she spread the warmer and covered both of them. She hugged him and whispered in his ear,

"You did great, Ford."

...

On the sled where the two slept, it had already stopped its journey. Everyone was on their own pace, doing their prep work for the upcoming rituals. Their noises woke up one of the sleeping logs, Eigh.

She asked herself where she was; this wasn't her room where she got used to waking up. The memories of what happened yesterday flooded her head, and that reminded her of the close tragedy yesterday. It might not show on her face, but she was thoroughly worried. She didn't like the idea of Ford leaving her behind, and so she took what she thought was the best course of action at the time.

Her world almost collapsed when she saw him sinking into the water. She never thought twice about doing what she had done. If it failed, she would die together with him. She didn't know what changed her thoughts regarding him, but one thing is for sure: it wasn't bad at all.

She checked him out and saw that he's currently sleeping with his mouth open and drool on his cheek.

"Eww. Yuck." She pulled a hem from the warmer that was wrapped around him and wiped it off.

She looked around and saw that the expedition was already preparing their things. "Hey, Ford. Wake up."

Ford woke up and scratched his eyes. He looked at Eigh and said, "Good morning." She greeted her back with, "Good morning as well."

When Ford was still adjusting to what was going on around him, they were up close to the veil. Snow rained from the heavens, and each of them was as big as a medium-sized pebble, and their impact was loud. Getting hit by it would definitely take you to a healer.

Suddenly, a man came to them. The same man that Ford helped.

"Uhh, kid, thank you."

Ford looked at this man still half awake and asked, "Who are you again?" Eigh also didn't know who the man was as she curiously looked at the man.

"I'm the person you saved earlier. I'm sorry that I couldn't give my thanks to you much earlier than now. I was waiting for you both to wake up, and so it took so much time before I was able to do so." He put his hand on his chest, right in the middle, and bowed. "I owe you my life. Thank you so much for saving me. If ever you need help, maybe my miniscule farm could handle any sort of small favor."

"No. Noo. It's okay. Hehehehe. I just did what I thought was right."

"Thank you so much, Wonder kid. And to you, miss, thank you for saving him as well." He bowed to Eigh as well.Sorry for bothering both of your time; I have to go now and continue my work now."

After he left, both were stupefied by what just happened.

"Wow, that felt so good, don't you think, Eigh?" He felt like he had done something great. The reward of being appreciated for something you did. He didn't know the euphoria it would bring him.

"Yeah, but... wonder kid? Pshj HAHAHHAHA." Eigh laughed uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just that name. Wonder kid. HAHAHA. Wahh, you finally got your first title. I'm envious."

While the two were busy bantering at each other, they both saw the sky starting to shift its color into a warmer tint.

On the horizon, a light is on the verge of breaking through the darkness. It started with a tinge of yellow until it slowly ate up the darkness and occupied its place with its warm colors. These colors got warmer and warmer as the cold breeze slowly lowered in temperature at the same time. It's beauty mezmerized the two of them, and they stopped what they were doing and appreciated its beauty. But it wasn't as beautiful seeing it up close.

Finally, it broke the shackles of darkness. As if it cleaved the darkness and occupied the sky with its might, warm air followed.

"Give way!!" Eigh heard a voice, a familiar voice.

"Did you hear that, Ford?" she asked. He didn't seem to be disturbed by the voices she heard, so she asked to see if her conclusion was right.

"Did you fart or something?" Eigh rolled her eyes and let him be.

She realized that something was definitely up there waiting for her to discover.

Like a curtain inside their home, the veil opened. Cheers erupted from the crowd. Some kneeled and prayed. Some start bringing their offerings to the mountain. The students started to walk towards the mountain as well.

"Should we go now, Wonder kid?" Eigh said to him.

"Haaa. Alright. I'm starting to hate that title now."