What Was Lost Can Be Found Again (Intro/Open)

Life had been… interesting for Silver these past few months. Because according to his now very firm beliefs the time between leaving Fiore and getting back never happened~. But his home country had changed since he was gone. Maybe it was because he’s looking through it from the eyes of an adult rather than a child and young teen now. Wiser. Worldly. Aware of important stuff and shit. Because damn, did all Fiore girls become hot while he was away? The occasional guy was also damn nice to look at, but for some reason, it seemed every girl within the age range of 50-18 was smoking. Mostly the mage girls~. Literally, the only mage girl he met that wasn’t some degree of drop-dead gorgeous was Noir- er, Maddox. You can’t even tell she’s a chick (he only knew because they lived together once) with that creepy outfit and deep voice, and she had some sort of ongoing skin disease as a kid, right? Not that he’d ever brought that up with her, he chooses life thank you very much.

But it was mostly because thanks to Noir – fuck, no, it’s Maddox now - that not only had contacts in the country again but limbs and a potential job. Silver has the vague idea that his old friend is now sorta sketch with creepy contacts, the scientist who gave him his new robo limbs for one was weird as heck, but this situation was still off.

“Go to the Phoenix Mountains~.” He said, mimicking Noi-Maddox’s low flamboyant voice. “This place I heard of is hiring~. Promise it’s not some dark guild or an assassination attempt daaaaarling~.” Silver mocks ruthlessly as he trudges through a freaking blizzard on some random ass mountain, no pretty girls he thought of earlier insight. She didn’t actually say that and even mentioned they might be able to help him find Serenity. Honestly, without her, she would still be a jobless half-blind idiot with bad prosthetics. But couldn’t she have been clearer about the location of this guild, what was its name? Oh right, she never told him.

Damn, he wished he was still in the tavern in Beanstalk Village, chatting up a cute guy. He only got the vaguest directions to this guild, and while he was wearing mountain climbing gear Silver keeps forgetting that he’s no longer a super strong and trained mage. Just a nobody with freezing limbs and near frostbite from where his robo limbs are attached to him.

“DAMMIT!!” He yells into the howling winds of the blizzard. “Where the hell is this guild?! I’m supposed to run from storms not get caught in them!” He had avoided yelling up to this point since supposedly the area was known for having some strong silver wolves, but he was losing patience. Maybe a silver wolf could lead him to this stupid guild. All he wanted was to join a guild so he would no longer be broke, homeless and jobless. But most importantly, to help find his twin sister.

“HEY!!! IS ANYONE OUT HERE!?”  He yells into the air, gloved hands cupped around his mouth. “I could use a little help! A bit lost here!”

There was a pause after Silver yelled, then a distinct silence with only the howling wind for company. Of freaking course, what did he expect, a beautiful ice maiden to walk out of the snow and lead him to her warn palace? Silver was starting to find that Lady Luck and him had a rather fickle relationship. With a groan Silver stopped to consider his options, go back and maybe ask around town more or keep searching before he heard it.

The deep, soulful howling of a wolf, vibrating the very snowflakes falling through the air and the wind itself with its howl. The swordsman knew how his hair going on end was not from the cold, but from the pure timber of that howl, echoed by the fallen snow around it. No wait, that was the other wolves. Shit.

Straightening himself up Silver calmly looked around the clearing. Yup. Those were probably the fabled Silver Wolves the villagers talked about. Great hulking beasts with beautiful fur of spun silver and platinum and glittering eyes of sapphire. Even from a distance, the swordsman could tell they were huge majestic creatures with sharp eyes, long claws and pointy teeth, as dangerous as they were beautiful. Silver could only sigh, he didn’t want to hurt these beasts. Mostly since he loved canines. But he found it hard to hold back at times, and while how the wolves were circling him like prey it didn’t seem like they were here to play… So, it was time to fight. Trying not to feel too excited at the impending battle, Silver reached toward his sword-

-Only to find his hip empty. Then it all came rushing back to him. A series of swear words flittered through his mind. Left hip, right arm. Old habit. It was right hip, left arm now. And he wasn’t strong enough to even kill a pack of magical rabbits, let alone a pack of ginormous wolves.

… Silver was about to die, wasn’t he? For all that he had lived through this was a very anti-climatic way of going. But there was no way in hell he could run from these beings, he had no teleportation spells and no way to hide. But like a good warrior, he didn’t panic. Just thought a quick ‘Sorry Serenity…’ before preparing to draw his sword properly this time. Because he wasn’t going down without even a bit of a fight, ya?

But just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. The wolves, the snow, hell, the freezing cold, all of it stopped. Silver had barely shaken out of his ‘I’m going to die fighting’ haze he was under before an elegantly masked and robed figure stepped forward into the amber dome the swordsman now noted to be in existence. He bounced back quickly. “Honestly man, I didn’t think anybody would hear me. If a tree falls without anybody to hear it kinda feel, ya?” Silver says in near bliss as the man, who despite his rather intimidating appearance seemed friendly enough, cast a spell that warmed the near frost-bitten man up. “And ‘dry heat’, huh? Useful spell you got there, mon héros d'or.” Silver says with a flirty tilt to his voice, still reeling from losing his adrenaline rush so suddenly and hitting on the man from pure habit. Then Silver remembered the wolves and looked around in a rush. They were gone. Wait, the masked guy mentioned they were the guardians of the mountain and led him (her? Ambiguous gender situation like Maddox?) to Silver. So, he misread the wolves, they were there to help. Damn, maybe he’ll hunt some meat for them later. Do mystical guardians like dinosaur meat…? “Sorry, what did you just say? I zoned out a bit there.” Silver says as the masked person called out something, but despite not hearing the word he had a chill go up to his spine. What did he say…? But was distracted by the eerie howling again.

Silver tilts his head toward the other, eyes distant. “These wolves of your definitely have a way of singing to your soul huh, mon héros masque? It’s Silver, by the way, the wandering swordsman. And you would be…? Unless you want me to continue to call you mon héros, cher chanteur de loups? I would be happy to if you’d like, you did save me after all.” Silver says, giving the man and teasing grin, keeping an eye on the reaction of the other from the corner of his vision while also trying to catch a more friendly look of the wolves, with no luck. At the very least the flirting was helping Silver regain his mental and physical footing.