Following the unknown stars

“I do see, my gem, how she isn’t one of our Alfar.” Grandpa spoke up, after the nosy people had gone back to their preparations, leaving us alone until night had fallen in a few hours, making our own preparations while the elf rested in the common house.

There was still a lot of conserve to prepare with the last harvest, alongside the storage of grain, onions, beans.

There was also more meat to salt and smoke, alongside the fishes and the game.

So it was just us, being Grandma and Grandpa, Ingrid and the foolish elf in the common house, having done almost all what needed to be done for the coming taxes and winter.

Erik had also gone for quick repairs after Laki had broken down the wall between her and Svadil.

Or at least making sure the wall would stay up with a horse sized hole.

I was rambling mentally, returning to the matter at hand: “I thought that it was already a given fact, and due to how I appeared, and how you said a lot of other things, people and sometimes even building appeared in this world, Grandma.”

The night outside was chilly, and the elf was beside us, nursing the hot infuse given by Grandpa.

“But it could still be another, more mundane reason. Amnesia can be caused by many things, and spatial displacement is an easier explanation, if just due to it being an easier reason.” He rebutted, Grandma grunting beside him in obvious disapproval.

“I could still be from-” The elf started to hope, only to stop and look down, while Grandpa to rise a hand to stop her, and asking her, his deep voice soothing in the now warm house, a frown under his long beard: “It’s improbable now that I see what you wield. While you could from a far off land under the same sky, magic has been found even in the farthest reaches of Medgard, from the cold shards of the always winter to the southern points, where the ocean stands immense, to where the sun is born to where it dies. And my gem didn’t feel it in you, right?”

He turned towards Grandma, who nodded and spoke: “I did more searches while waiting, and the explosion you came with is similar to the one the boy came with, if far stronger. It’s not surprising, but I wanted to be sure, so that I could give you something more for when you would move for your quest.”

I rose my brow at that, and tapped the table while asking, slightly surprised and slightly irritated, alongside slightly disturbed and slightly awed, alongside many other slightly that would be too many to count: “I thought you were quite sure of that already, Grandma. Did you act that way without having any kind of proof?”

I also heard a subtle crunch from the elf, but I made sure to not turn.

If something broken was not seen, it was not broken, fallen tree in a forest after all.

Neither did the two old dwarves, but Ingrid did turn, only to immediately shoot her eyes back to Grandma, who, after sipping her own tea, went on: “I was sure, but my dear bulder here,” And she shot a glare at Grandpa, who simply chuckled and rubbed his beard: “prefers to have a look of his own always. Which most of the time is simply annoying, dear.”

“It is also quite useful, like when you almost exploded the laboratory. Or the wytchhall. Or-”

Before Grandpa continued his amused tirade, Grandma coughed in her fist, unheeding to the elf becoming more and more furious, her lips starting to part like an animal growling.

Or maybe she did, and didn’t want to add gasoline to the fire, for which she continued: “But returning to the question, you will probably be here for at least seven months, either due to the snow or the mud, young alfar.”

“I thought as much.” The elf grunted, annoyed but understanding for now, her slinged arm being rubbed by the mostly free one, which had some splinters of wood and some blood.

Which I would need to clean.

“Can I get out? I will accept whatever you offer, not like I can do much else due to my condition.” The elf asked tiredly, her eyes almost spent and, without waiting, she got up and almost dragged herself out the common house, her feet leaving behind a clean floor, a cooler room, and an annoying silent.

It was expected, after all.

I did say that she would need to wait, and at least she reacted well enough, unlike the last times.

So I could do something humanly kind and get up myself, and go out in the cold.

I could have done that.

…I would have had do that, would I not?

I sighed, but at least Ingrid was kind and threw two heavy pelts at me, the good but annoying friend she was.

Grandpa and Grandma continued to drink, but seemed a tad more tired than before while I passed, the crackle of the fire and the whispers of the winds outside enough to choke any other sound.

They knew that kind of reaction, and last time they let the moron who did that run around and almost die during the winter, all for his stupid pride.

Which is why I went out, the warmth taken from my lungs the second I came out, the warm pelt being extremely good for that.

And the fool hadn’t gone far, she had just decided to lie down and look up to the stars, the river near the hamlet on her right flowing silently, close enough that, even from the waning light of the waning moon, I could make out her silhouette on the grass and rocks.

I walked towards her, content that she hadn’t run away, like a moron had done when even the little hope had dashed.

It had happened before her, to be honest, but the moron had far more immediate clues than her, it seems.

“The stars.” I heard when I was close enough, and when she noticed I was close enough: “They are wrong, Peregrino.”

I looked up, billions of billions of stars lightning the night sky, a spectacle that I had been able to enjoy only when I went on the mountain near my home.
“I would not know, I was not that good at mapping the stars.” I answered truthfully.

I had noticed that as well, but only after I tried to find the polar star and was not able to, after using all my limited knowledge to try finding it.

The elf points upwards, towards one star, and she muttered, emotionless: “The seven oxes aren’t there, nor is the Aquarius, or the Aries, or any I was trained to find.”

There was silence for some time, when I sat down and covered her with one of the pelts.

“I…I will try to go back home, I have to do that. But there was still the chance that it was just a dream, or that I was far away, or that…I hadn’t seen the night sky. It was just strange powers, that could be explained. But not the sky.”

“I apologise for that.” I did cringe slightly at how she hadn’t been able to move around, but we were not on a paved road, and preparations-

“No, I understand the reasons, and I was not a good example of virtue. But…After this winter, I will go out. I will go towards the biggest city and find a way. I have to. I have to.”

There was pleading in her voice, and it tugged my heartstring, above all when she hid her face with her arm, trying to now show she was crying..

After all, pride was the only thing she had right now, like I had. I needed to make sure it would not be a “had had”, and so, I remained there, under an unknown sky, beside someone for which it was the final proof of her situation.