The snow is so pretty…
What is she doing?
Where is she going?
Reena. Take shelter.
Don’t want to freeze to death after all Ikko’s hard work.
Hehehe
Her cloak held her as she moved through the deep snow, keeping the harshest of the winds at bay. The cold continued to permeate her core as she dredged her way up the mountain.
She’s going home.
They’re waiting!
It’s too far.
Hurry.
Make a fire.
She won’t make it.
Doubt mixed with encouragement as it often did in the voices that plagued her mind.
The voices gave sweet words in soft tones as amused laughter fluttered, fading like a rolling wave.
Some found sickening entertainment in her struggle, but what would you expect from stolen souls.
The voices grew in number since the first six, and they have been her source of insane sanity since.
Home. She’s almost there!
Why is she looking there? Is she lost?
Just a sheet of snow slipping from the branch.
More should join it.
Scream until your lungs give out, and cascade with the snow.
Just a bit further.
A stump of a large tree stood just taller than she, with its corpse propped against it. The thick briars that had once tasted her blood bordered the yews that were lashed to the fallen tree with a small opening facing her.
She made it.
He’s going to be there.
Focus on what needs to be done.
Bailey, Bailey, Bailey!
Make a fire Reena.
What about food?
She couldn’t deny the pain in her stomach, but she had been gifted a small tin of crackers by Ikko.
Right! The tin! There’s crackers in there.
And leaves. Dry leaves...
Strange magic coats the box.
It reeks of another… place? World?
There’s an other world?
How many moons does it have?
She made her way to the primitive shelter, crawling inside to its warmer cold than the world outside. There was little to nothing within the small space, just what appeared to be a bedroll made from furs, and a burned-out pit of charcoal that a small pile of sticks sat beside.
Start a fire, Reena, it’s getting colder.
The sun is setting.
Silence in the world around us. Just the mesmerizing silence of the snow.
Not that she’ll ever know... Hehehehe
Where is he?
He’s here.
She shuffled her way over to the pit before sitting with her legs crossed. She reached into her pouch, pulling out the tin and setting it beside herself before retrieving the bookmark knife. She picked one of the sticks without bias as she took her small blade and began carving pieces out of it for tinder to start her fire. The knife moved through the wood without effort, it was no match for the blade that looked impossibly detailed, with its lines toying with their existence as they feathered out from its center like leaves of nightshade.
Typical. Boring.
Use it for its purpose.
Just a bit more tinder.
Soon we’ll be warm again like in the shop.
Here comes the bitter cold.
Here comes the company to distract you.
She carefully returned the blade before she strategically placed the tinder, and she retrieved the resin from her pouch, applying it to the nest she fostered. Then she took up her flint and steel, striking it several times to get a spark that ignited the resin.
‘Don’t forget ventilation.’ his voice was disembodied, condescending, and only for her ears while a chill persistently ran down her spine, and she nodded.
Do you hear the judging in his voice?
He hates you. He’s only pretending. He knows you’re useless.
He’s helping. He’s helpful.
He won’t be any different than the rest.
He already is. Seven years he has been at her side.
Seven years he has haunted her. He’ll never forgive her.
The smoke started to haze the shelter as she blew life into the fire before moving the yew above to create a hole for ventilation.
‘What’s this?’ he questioned, and her eyes flickered to see his ghostly hand pointing to the tin before she redirected her focus to the fire.
“A gift.” she answered.
‘A gift?’ he scoffed, ‘Who would give you a gift?’
“You.” she hummed, making him huff.
‘You know what I meant…’ he grumbled as she breathed more life into the fire.
“Ikko.” she nodded to him.
‘Ikko?’ he tilted his head while she added wood to the young flame.
“Ikko.” she nodded again, making him grumble before a hint of a smile tugged on her lips, and he gently shoved her, “He has a tea shop.”
‘On the mountain?’ he blinked, ‘No one else is crazy enough to live on this mountain.’
Crazy or cursed? Heheheh
To leave everything…
She didn’t choose her family’s slaughter.
To be hated.
She didn’t have a choice. She was born as a necromancer.
Poor little lonely Reena on the mountain with only a ghost for company, and us.
“He’s gone already.” she answered as the ghost raised an eyebrow.
‘What do you mean he’s gone already?’
“Just that.” she placed another piece on the maturing fire before looking over her shoulder to him.
His appearance toyed with its existence, giving a view of the world behind him like glass that had been frosted by winter’s chilling breath. Two pointed horns protruded the top of his shaggy-haired head to threaten those behind him while his goatish ears listened to the woman before him. The details of scales coated his broad shoulders like armor, leaving him to look of a devil who was offspring of a human and a dragon.
‘You are a pain in my tail, Reena.’ he growled as it flicked against the ground to have no effect upon the floor.
“Love you too, Bailey.” she gave him a small smile that threatened to warm his ghostly heart before he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
‘If you want affection summon that rat of a familiar.’ he grumbled before his eyes flickered to the fire. ‘Put more wood on.’ he ordered as she did so, ‘You’re going to need more for the nigh-’
“Wood! Wood! Wood!” a voice chirped excitedly, perfectly echoing the ghost’s, before snow fluttered down the chimney.
The familiar is on the roof!
The fire! It’ll be smothered!
If you do nothing it’ll fall and burn…
Then you’ll freeze.
What is she doing? Burning, searing pain!
Poor little Reena… What a mess….
Reena bit her lip, ignoring the pain of her now seared hands before she smiled softly at the sight of her familiar safely sitting in the palm of her hand with wood scattered about. She carefully set her familiar in her lap before reassembling the fire she had guarded it from.
‘It could have de-summoned itself.’ he scolded the two of them.
“Wood! Wood! Wood!” the familiar chirped happily in his voice, earning his ire.
“Leave Libby alone. They were just trying to help,” she sighed as she refused to acknowledge her burns just yet until his cool grip wrapped around her wrist forcing the back of her hand into her line of sight. Her pale skin was now red and blistered, and she could not deny the stinging pain of the air or the way the warmth of the fire inflamed it.
‘Treat it now.’ he frowned.
Another way to die, and another way for you to suffer…
Cool it in the snow, Reena.
He hates that he cares, and she loves that he does.
The familiar causing trouble again. Just like Reena. Heh heh
Do you still have honey and bandages?
She does… She’s gained some skills in treating herself. Nearly done...
She took a deep breath, breathing through the pain as she had long since learned to do before she pulled her bedroll closer to the fire for the night, and her familiar plopped beside her. She wrapped her fur cloak around herself as she stared into the dancing flames.
“Help? Help? Help?” the familiar chirped its disembodied voice that mimicked hers perfectly, and she looked to it with a warm smile.
“Yes, you helped.” she gently reached out, patting its head and making it purr as it lifted the bends of its wings to its chest as though to fold non-existent hands together.
The familiar jumped to its birdish feet before zipping into her lap to nestle against her warmth, happily chirping while she closed the cloak around them. Her eyes fell back into the fire, watching the flames dance before retrieving a cracker from the tin to nibble on.
She’s thinking again…
About what?
What if this, what if that. Boring and pointless.
Hope for what could happen. What if things change?
Not too much change.
We won’t change.
They’ll continue to join the beacon.
What will tomorrow bring? What if it brings a new friend?
What if the pain fades? What if we find happiness?
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