Snows of a feather

A few days later, we were back to moving across the heavy snow… We began descending the mountain.

Before we departed, I feel like they enjoyed themselves too much to the point where they even begged to stay in the capital.

But unfortunately, all good things have to end.

Along the way, I began to feel drowsy, yawning as I wrapped my arms around Marieka from behind, letting my body weight be transferred to her.

She jolted, looking over her shoulder. “Huueeh??! Eilise, what are youー”

“ーI'm a little bit sleepy….. Please carry me.” I asked.

Astrid and Annaliese in front of us all turned behind glancing, confused.

Marieka was reluctant at first, but eventually gave up and held my arm around her shoulder despite me being taller than her. “ーIt can’t be helped…!! I don’t know why you’d get sleepy here, that’s quite unusual.”

Dragging me behind her back as we walked, she got curious and decided to ask me. “Eilise… About what happened a few days ago. During the Avalanche, I heard people around me speaking your name… And I’m guessing, you used Fleurdelys right…?”

I nodded sluggishly, my eyes closed. “Yeah… That was the magic I used…”

She smiled, taking a deep breath. “That means the spell doesn't only affect grass, but other materials too, right?”

“....Not exactly true, I modified it to do that…. It’s gonna take a long time for you to do that…”

“Mmmm… But… What about your presence…??! What are we gonna do about it…? Are you sure you’re okay withー”

“ーIt’s fine… I let Lotea handle that… I… trust her to contain it… And regardless… I don’t mind at all… I can’t do anything about it, so I’ve decided to not be bothered at the moment.”

Marieka jolted. “Ehh? But, I thought you said you wouldn’t to let anyone hear of yourー”

I slumped my body and slept in an instant. Surprised, she looked over her shoulders to see me dead asleep.

She exhaled heavily, pouting. “Hmmh… You’re avoiding explanations!!!”

Regardless, she continued carrying me along the way.

⇔ ⇔ ⇔ ⇔

“ーEilise! Wake up!” Marieka’s voice echoed, getting louder and louder by the minute, until I woke up.

“....What now, Is the situation dire…?” I sluggishly wiped my eyes, yawning, my eyes fluttering. “....I hope you didn’t wake me up for no reasonー”

“ーIN THE DISTANCE… ARE THOSE… MOUNTAIN DRAGONS!!???” She yelled.

My brows furrowed, I looked over her shoulder, and there I saw Astrid and Annaliese frozen from the scene.

The sun glared from above, and in the distance, we could see the whole forest of Vanhaert from atop, and there laid mountain dragons, a few on land and in the sky.

Huh… They’re a lot bigger than I thought they were…

Considering I’ve never been in Vanhaert; based on my knowledge, there are a few currently sleepingーHidden, blended with the surroundings having been hibernating for thousands, if not hundreds of years. While the more visible, smaller ones were awoken recently, most likely decades ago.

“A… are they friendly…? I’m not sure if one is hostile… I didn’t even know how big they were, I just knew they existed…” Annaliese asked anxiously.

I had to assure her it wasn’t a big deal, and besides… If the worst were to come, that guy would handle it on his own. “Worry you not… Annaliese, they wouldn’t attack… mountain dragons exist as if they were land itself…”

“Really? Then I’m glad.” She exhaled, scratching her cheek.

I yawned again before looking behind, staring at a distance and seeing the tip of the capital’s tallest building being covered by the mountainsーSmiling, my cheeks fluttered red. “....This journey has been fun, I guess…?” I muttered quietly, chuckling softly.

“You whispered something? Eilise?” Marieka turned to her shoulder.

Shrugging, I shook my head. “Just talking to myself…”

“Really huh……?? Well, anyways… Eilise… Are you gonna keep bringing your chest to my back? I’m starting to get jealous…” She pouted.

“....Just a bit longer, I haven’t been able to sleep like this in a while…” My tone drowsy, pulling my scarf upwards before slowly closing my eyes. “Now… for our trip, It will take two weeks minimum to get back on the ground… And getting to the capital, a two month journey…”

Astrid’s ears perked, frowning. “So… Two weeks from now… I’ll be officially departing from Vanhaert…”

Hearing this, Annaliese and Marieka frowned, saddened that Astrid will be leaving now.

“Astrid, you’ll be heading somewhere important? Like your remaining beastfolk people…?” Marieka asked.

“Oh uhm not really… It’s somewhere that’s all, sorry I still can’t tell you!” She replied.

Well, regardless of where she’s going… I will be missing Astrid… I didn’t really expect anything at first from her but she has been a great company… I scoffed softly under my breath.

I turned to her. “We will be missing you Astrid… Including me. You’ve unexpectedly been a great companion…”

Her eyes widened before her tail waggedーbiting her lip trying to hold her cries, covering her mouth with both of her hands.

…..It may not seem like it, but we wouldn’t be able to see each other like this for a long time… Everyone will be back to their own ways. And I’ll be in my house, handling paperworks once more after this journey’s over…

Annaliese coughed trying to lighten the mood. “Astrid, maybe… save it till we get to Vanhaert… Let’s focus first on leaving Friedenswald. Alright?”

She nodded, wiping her cries with her scarf, her ears flat… From the looks of it, Astrid must’ve been happy being part of a party, and perhaps… We were a fun bunch to be around is what she probably thought… It’s not easy to leave something once you’re attached to it.

I let go of my grasp from Marieka, stepping backwards and stretching my arms. And then I thought to myselfーI never realized how much I’ve been shouldering… It’s nice for a change of pace, being relaxed and carefree and embracing that we humans are imperfect as it is.

Just as Lotea said… And like what Marieka told me, maybe I’ll just try to be who I am…

Crouching down, I scooped a chunk of snow onto my hands, forming it into a ball before gently throwing at Mariekaーhitting the side of her head.

“ACK….?!!!” She recoiled from the hit, before turning to me. “H.. HEY!!!”

I chuckled, covering my smile. “I thought of testing the wind, maybe it would’ve flown past you is what I wanted to see.”

“Liar!!!” Pouting, she crouched to scoop the snow and threw it at me, retaliatingーunfortunately for her, I didn’t have to move a muscle to stop it; freezing the snowball in mid-air.

“ーToo bad….” I threw another snowball at her and she blocked it with both of her arms.

Then at that point on, it became a projectile throwing battlefield, except I was on the winning endーWith not a single snowball to graze me.

“CHEATER!!! YOU’RE CHEATING!!!!” Marieka sulked angrily, frustrated. She took a snowball and walked up towards me to hug me.

I was confused at first, but regardless allowed her to do whatever this is… And after something had hit my back, which felt like a ball of snow that crumbled upon impact, I immediately knew what she did…

I exhaled, in disbelief of this girl. “What you did just now was cheating you know…?”

“That’s because you cheated first! And now we’re even!!”

“Fine, okay. You win…” I chuckled softly, shrugging it off.