423. Meeting anew, 8

(Rose)

Leaving the alpine landscapes behind, the weather became kinder to me. I ate a lot and stood longer times in the sun to warm myself up some more.

After a few days, the cuts and bruises had changed to mere bad memories. The sick feeling remained however.

I didn’t wait to get all better and perfect and pushed further north through the woodlands and urban ruins.

~

A new land to discover for me, now farther north than I’ve ever been.

If the forest grounds are slightly less lush with shrubs than in the previous lands, the trees and woods are similar looking.

I saw a deer one day. A normal one I think.

My makeshift bow broke whilst hunting rats at dusk, along the shores of a river. No meat for me that day.

I’m still feeling a little rough, but I’m getting closer.

As I reached large empty fields, Yaelun caught up with me.

At first I only saw a shadow passing quickly by. Far above me, the feathery dragon was flying again.

I’m sure he saw me in that field, and chose to meet me a little further, so I kept walking, now with a little more energy. A good friend is near.

~

As I reached hills and empty roads, Yaelun flew back and high above me, twice. He may have troubles recognising me? Since I got hurt, I probably smell different and it troubles him. My imaginary smell also is likely to be hard to recognise now.

I called out to him as far as my voice could reach. I waited for him atop a hill then.

He eventually landed close to me and confirmed more directly that it indeed was me. With a tap from the tip of his big tongue onto my forehead. That made me smile.

His wounds as well look much better, though scars will remain. For me too.

I happily laughed, enjoying the show of Yaelun eating a whole tree once more. I actually missed that!

Seeing that giant lizard head chomping trees is somehow something really cheerful to me.

It’s nice to see a good friend eating with a healthy appetite.

~

Yaelun took a nap, not really sleeping, while night passed. I did so as well. Our half closed eyes could notice each other in the dark. Not that we were suspicious of anything in any way, but we re-accustomed ourselves to the other’s presence.

We weren’t exactly what we used to be before, but still the friends we were, without the need for much words.

On the next morning, the first real morning we truly had together again, we stretched in front of the dawn and orange sky.

The air was still fresh. All was still and quiet.

I gently tapped Yaelun’s side.

It was a question. Should we go again?

He lowered his usual segment of abdomen for me to ride.

I softly, quietly, climbed on, passing a new strap of cloth around his belly for me to hold.

I held on tightly, as I saw the immense wings unfolding themselves.

One swift triplet of shockwaves later, we were gone in that deep rainbow sky.

~

Rapidly, the dark bluish colours of the west vanished, and the warm reddish lights of the east became sunlight.

We were flying above different woodlands, marshlands and dead cities intertwined. The clouds swallowed us for a while as the clouds ceiling was very low.

We were above an infinite lush and mint area, with woods, lakes, and few cities kinked by now empty trails.

Over there in the west, I could see snow in the distance. On the north as well.

In the sky as well, all was turning blurry and white.

A wall was seemingly ahead.

A translucent wall of air, vaporous, uncertain, although it delimited where the climate would change.

It was a meteorological boundary, frontier between two distinct climates over this land and at this time.

From the ground, it would be harder to notice, but from this height in the sky, it was visible.

We reached the wall and pierced it without noticing right away.

Then it suddenly felt like Winter. Yaelun was shocked physically and now had to rely on his wings a lot more to fly. He also had to lower his flight altitude a lot. It was too cold for him up there.

After a day above the snowy fields blurring the landscape in white, flying only a few metres above the trees and ruins, I understood it would soon be the limits for him.

Beyond there, he wouldn’t quite be able to fly anymore, or only for shorter times and at greater costs.

We landed in a park or square in the middle of a now frozen village. A white, wide empty space, surrounded by a dozen of buildings half buried in the land now.

My feet pressed the snow as I walked.

I haven’t felt that sensation in so many years. I remember being with lots of snakes last time, as they sought warmth from me or my fires.

Now my friend spits his own fire to warm himself up. And he is I think the second biggest snake I’ve ever encountered, if he can be considered a snake.

I tried to make clothes for him, with what I could spare, but it doesn’t really help. I would need to find a truck load of wool before it could be useful. And I can’t knit nearly as well as anyone from my family on their poor days. I’m not the shrewdest artisan.

We curled up for the next night inside the only building he could get into.

Fills it like an egg, but it’s not so bad.

We slept that night, a little cold under the howling wind hitting the walls, but alright.

Yaelun slept much longer than usual, far into the day. And he ate three full trees for his meal.

I was looking around when he began eating. I stopped to enjoy watching him eat with an earnest smile. He’s weirdly cute.

Around us, all has turned white. It hurts my eyes even.

There’s wind, and clouds covering the sky in an even pale grey colour. It’s a strange landscape you would expect more to see around the Arctic circle. We’re yet still very far from such colder parallel latitudes.

It’s a strange cold land.

I begin to wonder if it’s unnatural, with all the weight it can carry nowadays.

It begins to feel like here starts the eerie domain of a daiûa.

A very wide one. Silent and cold. Immense. Stretched beyond hundreds of kilometres wide.

But I can feel again, we can feel, that we’re getting close.

It’s like another glow radiating in the sky, bringing some scattered light everywhere in these clouds.

It’s likely the domain or the consequences closest to our senses, of the source of T.I. on Earth being nearby.

That source is near, lying quietly maybe just half a day away in this white mist.

It somehow carried or installed an eternal winter in the area. A small ice age?

A land now even quieter than usual, below this clean snow.

All seem to disappear in here.

~