Winter

Bard sighed as he felt the deep chill close in on them. Storm clouds would come, and with them, snow. They had been on the road for two days now. Not even halfway, or a third of the way to the next Elder. Winter would overtake them. Sen’s hair was also turning white at the roots, just like she had told him. It still was a marvel to him.

Their supplies would hold out for a time, but there were many things he couldn’t do to prepare for the long winter without the right tools. It was late enough in the season that he doubted the Catfolk caravans would be around. So they would either trade directly with the humans, chance getting caught by them and hunted down. Or, they could explore the cities, navigate the rubble and decay, and hope they wouldn’t get hunted by shades. Either way, they could get hunted, it just depended on who he would take the risk with.

Bard felt he had better chances with the shades than the humans, so he would need to guide Kai that way.

The forests gave way to plains full of tall grass and giant animals. At least Kai wouldn’t be without food in this fertile hunting ground. But they were without forest craft materials for now. That meant fire sticks and light sticks were more precious. He kept his eyes out for heavier materials they could burn through the night. He found them, though he wasn’t exactly pleased.

He explained to Sen as they set up camp, and her face scrunched in displeasure at the idea, but she listened and did as he instructed.

This continued till they were supposed to see the mountains.

Snowflakes began to loosely fall, though at this rate it wouldn’t do much. Just reminded him how close the real threat was.

Bard scratched at his head as he stared at the map in the waning light. He would need to see the stars to double-check his coordinates, that meant staring the shades in the face in these fields again. He groaned and Kai stretched.

“The piles are ready,” Sen said chipperly, pulling him out of his thoughts. Bard looked at her and noticed the way she still gingerly held out her hands. He chuckled and shook his head. Piles were the only fuel source in abundance on the plains. Even if they came from an unsavory source, they were abundant and everywhere.

“Want me to start them this time?” he offered, and she readily accepted. They were following the rivers to the east, even farther from her home. The lands would become more harsh as they tried to get around the mountains.

“Wash up, and I’ll tell you another story,” he promised, and Sen eagerly headed back to the river’s edge while he drew out a bow and string. He placed it under a rock and begun drawing it back and forth against a twig.

He paused once in his task before getting the bow drill to work. The feeble glowing embers were cradled and protected as he put them in the little downy bed. His gentle puffs gave them strength, and soon the kindling was lit. He then placed it on a smaller pile and kept adding the small straws to it to get the heat high enough. The smell began. The very reason Sen hated this task. He covered his nose with his sleeve and kept getting the flames bigger and stronger. Soon he could add the larger piles and the fire would burn the smell along with it.

Once it was done, Sen appeared. He was certain she had stayed back, as even her hair had been washed a bit. Its movements were still uninhibited as it moved, belying the fact that it was wet, a discouragement at the idea that they could tame it into a braid and blend in with any humans. Sen sat next to him and helped move a burning pile to another stack they had set up. They needed at least three stacks to keep their shadows away from the shades, and there was no boulder here to hide against. She quickly ran back to his side and he moved over to make sure it was raring to life, covering his nose.

After getting all the piles going, they settled into the middle, with Kai acting as a smoke block. Bard grabbed the blankets and kept one fire stick nearby in case he didn’t respond to Kai’s warnings in time. Tonight he grabbed a flute and played a melody before finalizing with the twirling of the Father Tree’s token.

“Story?” Sen asked and Bard chuckled. This was her favorite before bed. It also helped him teach her new words.

“Let’s see. Have I told you about the stars?” he asked. Sen shook her head. “According to Watcher, the trail in the sky is from the moon when it shattered. The stars that we could see tonight include the four oldest siblings of the sky. We have the constellation for the healer, the hunter, the warrior, and the guide. They walk above the moon path and guide the thirteen suns along their path in the day.”

Bard began to explain. As the first stars began to show, he named them to her and pointed out the brightest stars of the constellations.

“How did you learn this?” Sen asked.

“Watcher. She’s on old Elder that we are going to meet in this journey.”

“And who are we meeting next?” Sen asked.

“Pathfinder,” Bard answered, reminiscing of the bright petals that glowed on that Elder.

“Pathfinder? What is he over?”

She held out her hand to catch a snowflake and shivered before cuddling closer to him.

“He… well, he helps you find a way, a path. He was one of the first I met outside of Father’s forest.”

Sen turned and looked at him before shivering again and cuddling even closer to him.

“Winter is too cold,” she grumbled. “It sounds like he was a good one to meet back then.” Her simple appraisal of Pathfinder made Bard smile in amusement. Well, she would learn with time.

He wrapped his arms around her, helping her stay warm as the shades began to swarm on the outside of the fire’s light. No sign of a large shade out there, so he would be just fine to observe the stars tonight.

Bard smiled as he pulled the blanket up around his neck. Sen’s head poked out.

“So, Sen, tell me about your past.”

“Hmmm. How about a happy one.”

“Say it in Dryadic. I don’t want to have troubles trying to remember how to talk to your family.”

“Thank the wood,” Sen muttered with a sigh of relief. “Teka is hard.”

“But you are getting better.”

“Sure. It’s just hard to figure out how to say things. There are words that seem unnecessary, but you say them anyway.”

“Sure. Because to our ears it sounds better or makes more sense.”

“I wish I had learned more from Grandpa Elwood before this.”

“It was your choice. But back to the story. You said it was a happy one?” Bard encouraged. The smell of smoke going foul stirred him and made Sen hide under her own blanket. Bard quickly added more fuel and stoked the fire, avoiding looking at the unwanted company of the shades that circled around the edges of the light.

As he returned, Sen poked her head out of the blanket as if out of fresh snow.

“Better. Thank you.” She said, and Bard muttered an agreement. “So that happy memory was playing in the lake in the forest with mother. She had a way with trees, and dad said she could move dozens on her own with her voice. She also was against fighting with the humans. So most days we played in the forest together. She found an especially strong and tall tree and had it take us out on the lake. It was a fun ride.”

“Wow,” Bard vocalized, imagining as she explained it in detail. Her childhood seemed so serene compared to his own. If not for the conversation with Amir and Elwood, he would have likely been jealous.