Notes and stuff: I'm not quite sure where the quote is from but it sounded good. This is a sort of prologue to my collection of short stories of Prince Ryohei. Could you call them vignettes? Maybe. Something like that. Anyways, they're short, but I plan to write a bunch. Reviews are always nice. :D

"We are told that humans are made to persist, and thus we may discover our deeper selves."

A young boy trudged through a snow-filled wood, his attire worn from travel. A circlet of gold was nested atop his head, and a headband of silver silk held back an overgrown field of grass-green hair. Eyes that were once bright emerald and curious now were solemn and set deeply into his face. He had the appearance of a small child, but his face displayed the weariness of an adult. Snowflakes settled on the tip of his nose and on his rosy cheeks. He had not the strength to flick them away, and so they melted there, running down his face in streams.

Drifts that were as tall as he was blocked the way, and more than once, the boy was forced to stop and dig a small cave in the snow and rest. During those times of repose, he was never truly relaxed, and remained tense, as though waiting for a hidden attacker. None ever came though, and the boy would press onward through the endless trees.

As days passed, he grew weak, often collapsing in the snow. When that happened, he would lie there for a moment with the wind howling above his head, then lift himself slowly from the ground, and stumble away. Prints in the snowbank left by these falls were the only testament to his journey and his perseverence.

After a time, the snow stopped falling, and the drifts slowly began to melt, only to freeze into ice during the night.

Once, he stopped for a moment, and stopped to stare at the horizon. A single column of smoke rose and twisted about his vision. Even he, such a young boy, knew what smoke signaled; people. There would be people at the smoke, and perhaps there would be someone who could help him. Emboldened by the thought, he broke into a run. His stiff, frozen body protested, but his thoughts were so full of fire that they were defrosted, at least for a while. The column of smoke grew no closer, and his mind realized at once that he could go no farther. Darkness descended upon him, but he was unwilling to give up, and his legs continued to move until his body shut down.