MA: 102. The Fated Reuinion

“It’s been three months since the disaster.”

An old woman recited to the wind. Her voice was frail, and the fragrant winds swept it away. No one behind her heard her speak.

She stood alone on a wooden balcony that oversaw one of several streets of Aire’s residential district. Her hunched posture made it hard to watch the streets over the tall handrails.

The Village Elder – Elda – had been observing the streets for the last three months in hopes of catching the pale, red and black strands of the only people who were not present. The entirety of the village resided within a shared estate graciously offered to them by the Green Rangers.

It was large enough to house well over fifty people: more than enough for the villagers to live comfortably. But it was not given for free. This estate was an orphanage meant to shelter stray children. In exchange for looking after the children, the villagers were generously accommodated.

Of course, food, water, heat and supplies had come from their own pockets. The men worked during the day as farmers and gathers, whilst the women maintained the estate and assisted with gathering requests as per the town’s bulletin board.

Life was comparatively easier compared to Hearth Village, but no one could shake off the lingering weight of grief. Living in a temporary home also induced anxiety, as no one knew how long until they would be asked to leave.

Still, the villagers smiled.

They went on about their days living as best as they could to survive and earn coins.

“Sister Sani. What are you making?” One of the orphans asked one of three young women.

“Snacks~” The woman with vibrant and wavy blonde hair exclaimed. Her green eyes dazzled alongside the children as her lips made a :3 look.

She was stirring a pot of heated sugar. It would be poured into a baking tray and left to harden.

Then, children would use a rubber mallet to shatter the sweet treat into bitesize pieces.

“Sis. Got a second to lend a hand, or are you stuck stirring?” Another woman, whose hair was as blue as the sea struggled getting the children to behave.

“Sorry, Moona. Try asking Talia. Taliaaaaa~!”

The third woman – who had black, short hair and dark brown eyes – shook her head and grunted.

She couldn’t speak due to her holding five needles between her teeth. Instead, she communicated with her eyebrows, saying: “Go ask one of the other ladies. Surely, they’re not doing anything too laborious.”

Sani and Moona were sisters, whilst Talia was more of an honorary sibling. The trio were Snow’s closest friends and had known her ever since she first joined Heart Village. The mere reminder of Snow’s absence caused the women to momentarily freeze.

They still couldn’t believe she was gone.

The villagers of Hearth lacked people around their age, so it was only natural that they’d become close. Sani and Moona didn’t have any parents, and Talia’s mother left her to fend for herself at a young age.

Likewise, Snow didn’t have family of her own when she joined the village.

Talia dragged a thumb across the blazar she was in the middle of stitching as she reminisced on the peaceful times. Suddenly, the flames of the fireplace took the shape of their homes.

She still couldn’t believe that they had lost everything that night.

“Ugh…” She pricked her thumb. “Again. Tch.”

And her eyes watered at the memory of Snow.

If she were here, she would have hastily used her precious Mana just to heal her.

The commotion stirred the estate. Clammers of pots, the creaking of old wood, and the chatter of children warmed Elda’s soul as she kept her gaze onto the street. Her hands tightened around her rounded walking stick; her crimson eyes narrowing as she watched the shadow of the Nexus sweep closer towards Aire.

“The Second Night comes. I pray, once again, for their safety.” Her voice trailed off. All fell silent, as though the world lulled into a tranquil state.

But that silence quickly shattered.

“You always pray. Every damned day and night. It hasn’t changed anything, Elda. Prayer will do nothing.” Heavy footsteps announced a young man’s presence.

He had remarkably blonde hair and sky-blue eyes.

A sheathed sword swung dangerously by his hip as he fumbled a silver helmet onto the balcony. Thin fingers unfit to wear armor, let alone handle a blade, clumsily scooped it from the ground.

The little rail where the ivory sliding door ran nearly tripped him. He brushed his fine apparel – which had been purchased from a rather expensive store – and asserted himself in Elda’s presence.

This man’s name was Erick.

He was one of the only men around Snow’s age.

His body was unnaturally thin and lacked the same musculature as those expected of his age bracket. This was because Erick had lived a relatively laid-back life in the Village of Hearth.

He had never joined hunts or had ever taken Theron’s lessons. They were unnecessary as far as he was concerned. As a result, his body saw little development. Even children had more callouses than him.

A thumb bled from the mere scrape of the sharp edges of his helmet. But he hid this with a look of scorn as he proudly raised his chin.

“Snow shouldn’t have brought that thing to us. Prayer hadn’t never helped our village.”

“Yet it is better than doing nothing at all.” Elda’s tranquil voice contrasted his wrath. The wisdom woven with each word seemed to ridicule him for his ignorance. “Erick, my boy. If you truly believed in that, then you would not have taken the sword.”

“It’s to slay that devil! Red hair. Abnormally strong. She was a Thrum for all we know!”

“Erick.”

Her voice hardened, and the man’s face went pale. An ominous weight fell upon him as he instinctively held his breath.

“That child helped us. You were once lost too. Let us not blame others for this tragedy. Not the one who sacrificed themselves to let us flee.”

“Part of its plan. And now Snow’s dead. That wicked thing dragged her to her grave. And Theron of all people trusted it.”

“Complaining will not bring anyone back. Ease yourself, my boy. When petals fall, they best be left undisturbed, less they scatter in the wind. You will find it difficult to build an identical pile of petals.”

“Old age catching up with you? Elda–!”

“That’s Village Elder to you, skeleton!” Talia pricked his butt with a needle, causing him to yell and drop his helmet again. “Have some respect! And don’t you dare talk about Snow and our little savoir that way!”

Plink

Fresh tears dripped onto the floorboards.

“Sniffle Little Red helped us… How can you say she killed us when we’re still alive?”

“Snow… damn this.” Erick grabbed his helmet again and uttered Snow’s name with a sense of longing.

He didn’t have any notable connection to Snow, aside from coming from the same village. In fact, the man had barely spoken to Snow outside of small greetings here and there. Despite this, he believed he had every right to worry about her.

“My children should not fight amongst themselves in times of grief. We’re all suffering. We should support each other. Do not let your emotions take hold of you.”

“How can you be so lax and stand watching the street when we should all be taking arms!”

“We arrived two months ago and a bit. And you’re still as scrawny as ever. Cunt.” Moona only cursed after she had cupped the ears of the girl she was feeding. “You don’t even hunt with the rest of the guys! The uncles think you’re floundering around!”

“Because I train! Hunting animals didn’t save–!”

“Snow…?” Sani wore a confused look.

Her head snapped in several directions, as though she had heard something. There was a whisper. Immediately, she turned down the magical burner and hushed the children. She began wandering around the run-down kitchen following a trail that no one else seemed to hear.

She placed her ear against the counter, the drawers, the cabinets – as if a tiny version of Snow was hiding in there.

And then, she heard another voice.

“Drats. ‘Drats’. Why teach kids to say ‘drats’ instead of the real big words? No one’s gonna take a minion seriously if they don’t say fu-”

“Fun. Don’t swear here. There’s lots of children… Oh, are they upstairs?”

Footsteps thumped along the staircase.

“Shhhhh! Shhh!” Sani hushed everyone on the second floor. “I think… is someone coming?”

“The aunties are back already?” Erick scoffed.

“SHHHHH!” Sani threw a spoon at him. “Shut up! I hear…”

Then, they saw it.

A silhouette moved past the curtains that served as a door to the second floor.

And then, they heard it.

“We only saw children on the first floor. But they said there were people upstairs. It feels a bit unsafe to leave the doors wide open.”

“Yeah, well, imagine how inefficient it is to have to get checked in every time. I told you. Minions down there? Could be great fodder!”

“No way…!” Talia was the first to move.

Thump Thump Thump Thump

Thump Thump Thump Thump

She dropped everything and ran towards the curtains.

As soon as a fair hand slipped through and parted the fabric, she was met with a pair of sky-blue eyes.

“You…!?”

“Ah! Talia!” Snow smiled, but before she could say another word, Talia’s arms engulfed her.

“Snow! Snow! Snow!” Talia sobbed.

“Snow is here!?” Moona screeched. “Snow! You’re… You… Thank the stars…”

“I knew I wasn’t hearing things!” Sani dashed out of the kitchen. “The voices in my head weren’t lying to me!”

Immediately, more than fifteen figures crowded Snow as she was brought into the second floor. There were very little furnishings outside of two mismatching tables and an assortment of chairs, so there was plenty of room to gather around her.

Jubilation cut through their lament like a knife. Elda shakily walked past the balcony threshold, her narrow eyes widening before mellowing out the moment she saw Snow and…

“My prays were answered after all. By an angel, no less.”

Erick didn’t say a single word.

“Bwa!” A wolf ran into the crowd, and the children of the village immediately recognized him.

“Three Paw! You’re alive too!”

“The big Rock Bug is downstairs! Lemme through! I wanna see it as well!”

For obvious reasons, Rockie was not allowed upstairs. The estate was poorly built and frail. Even lingering on the ground floor was bound to break something.

“How did you survive!?”

“You’re not hurt!? This is real, right!? You’re really here!?”

“Snooooow… I’m so sorry… I made a small grave outside… I thought you were dead… I didn’t want to believe it… I’m so sorry…”

“It is not a story of the duckling finding its pack. Were that to be the case, then Snow would have returned weathered.” Elda’s voice cut through the commotion.

She didn’t approach Snow, as she didn’t want the others to let go of her. Instead, she remained a few meters away. But her soft, motherly smile was more than enough to convey exactly how she felt.

Then, she shuffled towards one other person that the room had forgotten about.

“We only have Red to thank.” Elda brought a hand to Red’s cheek. “How are you, dear child? Look at how much you’ve grown.”

Red’s heart ached. It was her chance to puff out her chest and proudly announce her heroic deeds to capture their hearts. But seeing that Elda was more conmcered about her wellbeing rather than her heroism caused a surge of unknown emotions to flare inside of her.

And it unexpectedly took the wind out of her sails.

But in a pleasant way.

It felt like she was drifting on a boat following a calm current.

“… I’m fine…” Red awkwardly said. “But good. Very good! Lots of good! Too good!”

“I’m so happy to hear that, child. Your eyes still shine as brightly as they once did. I’m proud.”

Proud? I should be proud of myself. It’s not like they had to expect anything out of me. I just did it because I needed to protect them. But…

Elda’s hand moved up, but she couldn’t quite reach Red’s head.

… Proud. I did something good.

She presented her head, and Elda gently patted it, like how a mother would praise their child.

A part of Red expected the reunion to be far more explosive.

But all she saw were tears and heartfelt gestures

Just like when they had defeated the Queen of Sweet and Bitter Thorns.

She cherished this feeling, and before she knew it, various hands had taken hold of hers, and she was dragged into the center of the stage.

“Reeeeed!”

“You’re safe! Thank you for coming back!”

“You’re also not hurt too, right!?”

Red stiffly smiled.

“You mean ‘thank you for saving Snow and Three Paw’. Yes?”

“… Don’t… Don’t say that…” Talia embraced her.

“We care about you too, dummy!” Sani joined in.

“You… probably had it just as hard as Snow. Fighting all by yourself.” Moona granted her the last embrace.

Red was engulfed in plush warmth. If it weren’t for their heartfelt affection, then she would have reveled and considered this a victory.

But she surrendered to them, and her smile blossomed out into one of appreciation.

“… I wasn’t alone.”

Silence.

“… Yeah… You weren’t… M-Mister Huntsman… Is he…?” Talia turned to Snow.

And Snow could only wear a pained smile as she retrieved a piece of torn cloth.

It belonged to Theron.

“… He… For us… Theron…” Snow couldn’t hold back her tears, and before they knew it, a wave of tragedy had gripped their hearts.

The Village of Hearth collectively mourned for the loss of one of its own.