A Cold Encounter [Taiga & V]

The veil of winter had set upon the land. And yet, Mount Hakobe looked the same, only much colder, if that was even possible. Thankfully, the tattooed man couldn't care less for the freezing temperatures. It was precisely this type of weather where he thrived. He was dressed in his usual attire, which would normally raise a lot of eyebrows, considering the time of the year. He had his trusted cane with him, which quietly clicked on the stones that made up the road up the mountain.

V was slightly bored and without any muse to keep him occupied in the castle of his Guild. Thus, he decided to see if there was anything remotely interesting happening in the settlements. He didn't think that he would find anything as blood pumping as the last time he decided to gather the muse, but there was no telling what could happen. Soon enough, his steps brought him to the settlements. There were few of the locals going about their business, but nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. Though some of the people who noticed V arriving sped up their pace and looked away.

After walking for a little bit, trying to find something inspirational for a poem, the man did notice something unusual. Or rather, somebody unusual. It seemed to be a young man, sitting in a pile of snow. An ill advised thing to do if one wasn't raised in a pile of snow themselves. With soft steps the tattooed man would approach the other. He seemed to be down on his luck, somehow. "There are better places to sit than a pile of snow." V would say in his typical icy voice, as he flipped his cane. The man would flip the cane so that he was holding the bladed end in his gloved hand and extend the handle to the young man. If the young man took the opportunity, V would pull him up to his feet in a one fell swoop.

V was glad to see that the young man agreed with him. He was also very much glad that the other accepted his help to get himself up. Once the young man grabbed onto his cane, V pulled him up, seemingly surprising the other. V's body felt broken, but pain was his everyday spice of life, so this little gesture of helping didn't concern him much. The other thanked him and V flipped his cane again, the bladed end clicking on the ground as he leaned on it for support.

The young man introduced himself as Taiga as he dusted off the snow that was still stuck to him. Taiga then also asked V for a name and the man obliged. "My name is V. It is a pleasure to meet you." The tattooed man would introduce himself, as he slightly tilted his head to the side, where his mark of Errings Rising was. It was to hint that he was not aligned with the most legal of mages. Still, he was intrigued as to why a young man found himself in a place such as those settlements. They were not exactly a tourist attraction or a house to a famous mage or anything. The most they had going for them was the fact that the area was populated with dark mages, such as V. Though V would call himself a neutral with an ulterior motive, but his motivations were not the main topic. "Say, Taiga. What brings to Mount Hakobe? Out of all the possible places one could go for a trip." He would ask, genuinely curious.

Taiga seemed to like V's letter for a name. There was a first for everything in life. "Thank you." The man would thank the other. The story behind that letter was better not spoken of, however. Not to a stranger, at least. The young man dusted himself off a bit more, before praising V's tattoos that littered his torso. He couldn't say that he particularly liked them, seeing as he had them seemingly from birth. There was no way to check if that was true, but that was his assumption. "...Thank you, again." The man would thank Taiga again, feeling kind of strange. People generally didn't express fondness towards his name or visage.

The young man chuckled and replied to V's previous question about the reason as to how or why Taiga found himself in the settlements. A request was the answer. The tattooed man nodded, though he couldn't fathom as to whom would have placed a request or what it would entail. The young man sneezed, before Taiga turned V's question around to him. "I live up the mountain. I came down here in hopes of regaining my muse." The man replied his reason. He was taken slightly aback by Taiga's lack of reaction to V's guildmark. Was it because he wasn't up to date with dark Guilds? Or did he simply not care about one's allegiance? The man couldn't say.

However, it was clear that Taiga was not doing the best in the cold of the mountain. "Would you care to join me in the inn? You seem like you could use a bit of a warm up." V would extend an invitation to the young man, as he motioned towards one of the buildings. It had a sign that was snowed over, but was still readable to those with good eyesight. It bore the name 'The White Vulcan', perhaps poking at the local fauna. Even though V wasn't thinking of going to an inn when he left the castle, he was fine with connecting somebody new. They could prove useful in the future.