The four began climbing the snowy mountains with kenji leading the way with the map
"Its cold out here" amaya said as she shivered slightly "yes its cold here since it snows a lot" akari replied as they continued walking
"Looks like we'll have to be careful since there are guards not far from here" kenji said as he pointed to a few guards below them
"There are guards here too?" Kaito asked as he leaned over and looked at the guards below them
"Yes, looks like the king of Solana has sent guards here incase we use this path" kenji replied
"Won't this be harder for us?" Amaya asked worriedly "it should be but there's a village called the ice solstice ahead, just pass the border of Solana" kenji replied as he pointed at the map where the village is
"If we could get there then we'll be safe" amaya said "but why do they live here in the snowy mountains?" Akari asked
"They used to be from Lunaris like us but one of them learned ice and snow manipulation so they moved here" kenji replied
"Ice and snow manipulation?" Akari asked curiously and intrigued "yes its a very hard branch of water manipulation" kenji replied
"Do you think i can learn it?" Akari asked "if you keep practicing then yes" kenji replied
The four continued their journey to the village of the ice solstice while hiding from the guards
After a while they come across a snow storm "the storm is getting worse" kaito said as he used his fire manipulation to make a fire to light the way and melt some of the snow
"I know but we can't turn back now" akari replied also using fire manipulation to light the way and melt the excess snow
"We don't have a choice, we have to keep going" kenji replied as they kept going through the storm while still hiding from guards
When amaya accidentally sneezed loudly causing a few guards to turn in their direction suddenly a guard noticed them and began to tell the other guards to chase them and capture them
"They saw us!" Kaito said as he glanced at the guards who were now chasing them to capture them
"Run!" Kenji said as they all began running as fast as they can towards the direction of the village while guards begin sending many fire balls aimed at them to stop them
Akari then used water manipulation to create ice shuriken and making them fly towards the fireballs, extinguishing them instantly
"We need to lose them" akari said as she kept sending more ice shuriken at the fireballs with speed and precision
Suddenly akari got an idea and stopped "what are you doing akari?!" Kaito said as he stopped and started to come back to drage her
"You go ahead without me, i know how to stop them" akari said as she pushed kaito back reassuringly
"Its too dangerous!" kaito argued, his fist clenched as he looked at her, his eyes showing conflict from following her orders and helping her
"Trust me kaito, I'll be fine" akari said reassuringly as she gave him a warm smile that seem to raise the temperature of their surroundings
"Fine but please come back, cause i won't forgive you if you don't" kaito sighed as he finally decided
"And i won't forgive myself if I lose you again" kaito said one last time before running off towards kenji and amaya but not before glancing back at akari one last time as he left
Soon he managed to catch up with amaya and kenji "kaito where's akari?" Kenji asked despite already knowing what would be the answer
"She stayed behind to stop the guards" kaito said, fist still clenched angrily and protectively
"That girl keeps getting herself into trouble" kenji muttered, shaking his head and already knowing well that akari would do that
Amaya, sensing the tension decide to chime in "don't worrh you two" she said reassuringly, hoping to calm them down
"I've been Akari's partner for years and i know for sure that she'll be fine" amaya said as she patted their backs
"How are you so sure?" Kaito asked as he glanced at her, doubt still in his eyes "because I've to every mission with her" amaya replied reassuringly
Meanwhile akari was left to face five guards "oh look if it isn't the hybrid that the legends were talking" one of the guards said in a mocking tone
"Let's see how strong this supposed hybrid really is" anothe one chimed in "remember, the king wants her alive" the other one reminded
"Don't worrh we won't kill" the other replied as they begin sending many fireballs to akari, hoping they could overpower her
Akari immediately used her ice shuriken to extinguish every single one of the fireballs that were aimed at her
"She's not as weak as she looks" one guard said as he raised an eyebrow, surprised by her skill
The guards start to launch more attacks towards Akari to overwhelm her. Akari then used an ice wall to extinguish their attacks and used a water wave to splash them before freezing some of them in place
"Would you look at that, she actually has skill" one of the remaining guards said as he launched a huge fireball to akari
Akari then used the snow to make it into water and extinguish the giant fire ball before using the smoke from the evaporation to land a sneak attack at the remaining guards
Soon she finally defeated all the guards and activated her lunar mode to use her teleportation power
Meanwhile Kenji, amaya and kaito were walking when akari suddenly appeared out of thin air
"Ahhh! Oh akari?" Amaya said as she jumped from Akari's sudden appearance out of thin air
"Yeah its me" akari said but was cut off when kaito hugged her "don't you over do that again" kaito said as he hugged her and buried his face in her hair
"Anyways, your getting better at your lunar mode akari" Kenji said as he cleared his throat causing kaito to step back