Winter arrived with a beast of a storm that lasted three days. The snow fell sideways, thicker than I knew was possible- I went out on the first day, convinced it couldn’t be that bad, and quickly realized that when I turned my head to the side I could not even see my own body. I quickly- well as quickly as I could, given the situation- made my way back to the shelter of the court, Furfur leading the way, and once back we nestled our cold, wet bodies in the warm embrace of our pack. Avesta and Foras, Isra and Eik. I was so delighted to have them back, so at peace, sometimes I almost forgot I had ever lived without them
(But I would never really forget.)
By the end of it we were all restless and snippy. I wouldn’t say we were sick of each other, but when the weather lifted we all went our own ways, at least for a little bit. Each of us treasured our solitude- the funny thing is that I think we each had a different reason..
The day the storm passed, Aunty Morrighan was busy with something... official court business or a date or something, I don’t know- it didn’t matter to me. The point is, she was busy, so Maeve and I were going to spend the day together. This wasn’t particularly eventful for us, as we often hung out. There weren’t many others my age, and although at the grand age of two I felt more adult than child, I would always take joy in Maeve’s youthful company.
(To be honest, I would not have minded being alone that afternoon, running wild with my wolf through the snow-blanketed mountains. But we had a date, and I was not about to cancel without a solid reason.)
“Hey Maeve!” She was already waiting for me at the court walls. I grinned and immediately set off in a lope through the thick snow to the heart of the prairie. "C'mon!" I did not look behind, knowing that she would follow.
a s p a r a
@Maeve I figured they can make snow animals a little closer to home <3
It's a new world, it's a new start
It's alive with the beating of young hearts
I'd never seen so much snow before until the crazy storm hit. Momma and I had to stay in the castle for a while until things calmed down. Even when we came out, it was hard to walk. It was all the way up to my chest! I had to trudge through it and barely made it far. Of course, Momma was bigger than me so she could just jump. For me, I just had to make all these awkward movements and got frustrated at myself. It wasn't until Momma used her fire to melt a path for us to get through that I could finally put one foot in front of the other. I kind of wanted to figure it out myself, but I appreciated her helping me. I also liked seeing her use her fire for good for once.
Thankfully, I didn't need Momma's help to walk around today. The snow had melted just enough for me to make normal steps again. She went off to do some important court business and told me to meet up with Aspara by the court walls. So, that's where I stood for a few minutes, wondering what my bestie had planned for us today. Or is there no plan and we would just wing it? That would be fine too.
I hear her call my name while bounding over to me. Before I can respond, she's already heading off to the prairie and telling me to follow. "Hold on - wait! I have little legs!" I yell back while attempting to gain enough speed to catch up with her.
I still haven't mastered the ability to walk through all this snow, let alone race through it too. I get maybe a few feet distance before I fall face first. "Oof," I mumble with a mouthful of snow. At least it didn't taste bad. I don't want to lose Aspara, so I just get up and go again, but a little bit slower.
"Where are we going?!" I ask, hoping it's not too far. I don't feel like falling again, although I'm thankful there's no one else around to see.
I had forgotten she was younger, smaller. Bodies are such strange things, if you think about it. I tried not to think about it. When I thought about Maeve, I did not think about the boundaries and limitations of her body. I just thought of Maeve, my friend. She inhabited a body, but she was far more than it. Anyway, when she told me she had little legs, I couldn’t help but laugh a little. I slowed, of course I slowed. Even though it made my spirit chafe, I would not leave Maeve behind in the thick snow. “Sorry, sorry! Just feels good to be out!” I turned and waited for her to catch up.
“Well, I guess we don’t have to go further... we could just stay here.” I was inclined to run until my heart couldn’t take it anymore, stirring up flocks of birds and howling at the bright blue sky. But that wouldn’t be fair to Maeve, and I could find other ways to amuse myself. “Hey, let’s make snow animals! Later Avesta can animate them.”
I began pushing and batting the snow into a lumpy ball. I envisioned a bird, rising in flight, but when I tried to form wings on its back they kept crumbling down. I took a step back and frowned, running through possible ways to make, at the very least, an animal identifiable as a bird. “This is harder than I thought,” I admitted to Maeve, looking to see if she had made anything other than a shapeless mound of snow.
It's a new world, it's a new start
It's alive with the beating of young hearts
So often I wish I had wings. I remember Leonidas and Moira (Rory too, although his are much smaller) and just how beautiful the feathers had looked in the light. I never touched any of them, but they looked soft. Oh and the wings, they were beautiful and spanned so far. I imagine they take them both up really really high, then they can do that thing where they glide through the air and spin in a circle. If I had wings, I would do that. Rory and I could race each other in the sky. I could look down and see what he sees. I can already imagine it and it's why I don't blame him for being away so much. I think eventually Momma would miss me because I'd be up in the sky all day.
It's when Aspara is slowing down for me that I wish even more that I had wings. Even though she doesn't have them, at least I could probably fly faster than I could run. I could keep up with her, or even better, we could race. I'd be more evenly matched then.
Some day. Maybe I'll come across a magic potion that will help me grow wings.
For now, I just shake off all the snow that clung to me when I fell and catch up to Aspara. "It is! Beats being stuck in the castle listening to Momma rant about Moira," I say with a giggle at the end.
She suggests we stay here and I'm curious where she had been thinking of going before. Before I can ask, she says we should make snow animals and my face lights up with a huge grin. "Yeah!" I realize I've never done this before, but how hard could it be?
Well, the answer is very hard.
With wings and flying on my mind, I decide I want to try and make Fable out of snow. Except when I try to shape out a long dragon body, it comes out looking more like a noodle or snake (noodle snake?). I cringe as I take a step back to look at my work- it's terrible.
I feel a little sense of relief when Aspara says what I had been thinking. When I look over at her creation, it also looks like a mound of snow, although a bit smaller and fatter with the sides crumbling apart. Then I just start laughing. I can't help myself because both of our things are just that- things. Things from snow that we tried to make look like real things.
"I wonder what would happen if we asked Avesta to animate them like this. Would they turn into abominabbable snow monsters?" I don't realize I've completely butchered the word, but she'll probably figure out what I mean.
To be honest, I did not entirely understand the relationship between auntie Morr and Auntie Moira. Most likely this is because they are both creatures of flame; and of all the elements, I was least like fire and most like ice. It was not at all straightforward-- did they like each other or not? Could it truly be both? I laughed at Maeve’s admission. “Sometimes I like to think they love each other,” I admit, “they’re just too proud to admit it.”
(I flushed to think of Leonidas, and Caspian, and even Maret. I knew firsthand how pride made one bristle at the mere thought of affection.)
Each of us crafted our snow creatures, and each of us failed remarkably in giving them wings. “I wonder what would happen if we asked Avesta to animate them like this. Would they turn into abominabbable snow monsters?”
I laughed- hard, which I don’t often do; I even snorted, a quirk of mine I’m certainly not fond of. Not because of Maeve’s vocabulary, but because there was just something so funny about the thought of these ridiculous piles of snow being animated. It went against every aspect of Avesta’s magic: the delicateness, the nuance, the sense of masterpiece when something stagnant is brought to life… it just seemed so wrong to think of that beauty applied to our hideous little snow gremlins.
“Oh certainly. It would be terrifying!” I said between bouts of laughter. ”Imagine if that was your bonded!” The thought of Furfur replaced with a lumpy, ambling piece of snow was too absurd. I reached out to carve a little face in my lump- a silly little expression, two eyes and a swoopy, overly large smile that somehow implied a sort of daftness. “I would name mine Caesar.” I erased the smile and carved a pout in its place, then I looked to Maeve’s monstrosity. It was slightly more dignified than mine, but not by much. “What’s yours named?”
It's a new world, it's a new start
It's alive with the beating of young hearts
As I try to save what's left of my snow monster blob, I think back to when I tried to make these with Elli, her mom and Momma. Somehow, it seemed a little easier to do it the first time even if it didn't turn into much of anything then either.
When Aspara suggests Momma and Moira love each other, it just makes me laugh harder. They did have a weird relationship and at least Momma seemed so obsessed about talking about her. Maybe she's on to something. "Sounds like Momma," I agree, knowing just how stubborn she can be. I love her all the same though.
I'm happy to have made my friend laugh, so it makes me smile even bigger. I'm laughing too at the thought of one of these replacing Rory. If he were here, I'm sure he'd be looking at me with narrowed little bird eyes. I don't know what I would name my snow monster though, so I take a moment to think about it.
"You know, its mouth kind of looks like a frown. Maybe I'd name it after Momma since she's always so grumpy," I say, laughing again. I know Momma too would be looking at me all unimpressed if she were here. "But then she'd probably just melt it with her fire." I'm joking of course, I know Momma wouldn't do that to something I've made. Still, I start making it look like there's hair on the snow blob's neck as if it's Momma's mane.
I erupted into laughter again when Maeve proposed naming her grumpy snow creature after her mother. Once I could breathe again, I began to add wings to my monstrosity- or at least try to. “Gods, I love that. If that’s the name of yours, I’m changing mine to Moira Tonnerre.” I drew back to examine my masterpiece and frowned. It was not recognizable at all. I crafted a plate of cookies to accompany it, knowing what I did of auntie Moira’s sweet tooth.
It all just looked like a lumpy pile of snow. “Your mom’s too nice to you to melt your creation, but I think she’d happily annihilate mine.” (I had recently learned the word annihilate, and used it every chance I got.) To be fair, my snow creature did not deserve to live. I had neither the patience nor the natural talent to be an artist, but I was okay with that. Let the painters paint, and the sculptures sculpt, and I would do the things I did best- running and laughing and feeling. I believed youth was meant to be spent free-wheeling, for that is what felt the best to me.
I huffed, dissatisfied with my creation. “Um, do you want to do something else?” I eyed Maeve carefully to judge her reaction, not wanting to tear her away from the activity if she was really enjoying it. We had barely even started, anyway. “Literally, anything else. You name it, I’ll do it. Promise.” I tried to keep the whining eagerness from my voice- I was the older one, and I generally tried to act that way.
