Walking through the forest was actually a nice change of pace from all the sitting and paddling, although it was considerably slower. They continued to follow the river, because for whatever reason, it seemed like whenever they ventured too far from it, the frost bite in the leaves disappeared. So clearly the dragon had followed the river too.
It occurred to Anaya that they didn't know if it had followed the river upstream or down to the town, but she decided to not voice this concern.
Every now and again a strong gust of wind blew past them, usually accompanied by teeny tiny snow fragments. The first time Anaya got a faceful of that she was taken aback. The snow was so small but it really stung! But the sensation didn't last very long and when the next gust came in, she was already prepared for it.
Snow was weird. It was soft but it was sharp. It was cold, but her grandma had once told her that little creatures who lived high in the mountains where there was a thick blanket of snow made their nests inside it. Because it kept them warm. And while snow was loose and malleable, ice was hard and rigid, even though they were both water.
It really was weird. She really wanted to learn more about it.
~x~
They found their second waterfall as the sun was beginning to set. This one was taller than the previous, though not by much, and it cascaded down into a deep, dark pool. It would probably be dangerous to try climbing to the top in the dark so they decided to make camp for the day there. A fire was lit and Kimo managed to catch a pretty big fish which they cooked for dinner.
Anaya was tired. Based on the looks on everyone's faces they were all tired. It had been several days of almost nonstop physical exertion, with a simple diet and sleeping in the woods. And while her hammock was the same wherever she was, Anaya found herself missing the room she shared with Tiu. The security of walls around her, the soft noises of a house filled with people, the warmth.
Why had they even come here? Why couldn't they be at home? Because despite all its annoyances, all the overbearing staff and the strict rules of the Madam, the school was still her home. The other kids were her family. With grandma gone, they were all she had, and before she might've said that in a dismissive way but right now... she really missed home.
"It's the eve of giver's day tomorrow," she said quietly. A full week they'd been gone.
"Oh," said Tiu.
They sat in silence for a long while.
Then Madiza started to sing again.
Quiet at first, but slowly picking up in volume. Her voice was clear, carrying across the lake. The melody was simple and slow. It sounded familiar, though it was not one of the songs commonly sang around the school. It was in a language Anaya didn't recognize, but the tone seemed melancholy. Nostalgic. She was squeezing her necklace in her fist as she sang.
To Anaya's surprise, Kimo joined in on the chorus. Madiza seemed surprised as well, looking up sharply at him, though she did not stop singing. He had a sad smile on his face and her expression softened considerably.
At the top of the second verse, Tiu let out a soft "oh" and added her voice to the choir. She wasn't singing in the strange language though and with the familiar lyrics, Anaya finally recognized the song.
It was a lament. A rememberance song for things past, for people gone. She'd sang it at grandma's funeral, when she had been laid to rest under the uroxoo tree, like all the town's people one day would be. She had cried then, a lot, but she knew that as long at the uroxoo tree stood, her grandma would watch over her. She was one with the spirits now, a part of the tree.
Anaya didn't know when she'd joined the song, nor when the tears had started falling. All she knew was that they were just children, far away from home, and they had all lost so much.
Eventually the song came to an end and the forest fell quiet again. Anaya sniffled, rubbed her sleeve across her face to dry the tears. There was a soft jingle.
"I feel a bit better now," she said, trying for a smile.
"Me too," said Kimo. His face was covered in tears and snot. Another jingle.
"Ugh, Kimo," Madiza sighed, sounding slightly grossed out as she pulled out a handkerchief. "Here, clean your face."
"What language was that?" asked Tiu as Kimo took the handkerchief and blew his nose loudly. A quiet crackling.
"It was my mother's language," Madiza said, looking wistfully down at the necklace in her hands. "She came here from the north. Father didn't think it necessary for me to learn it since no one else here speaks it, but she taught it to me anyway."
"I speak it," Kimo said, raising his hand. "That's the language my cousing Zuzun speaks with his family."
A jingle. A tinkle. A crinkle.
Anaya stood up to grab some more wood from the pile to add to the fire when from the corner of her eye she spotted something shimmering. She looked over to the lake and gasped.
It stood there, the water frozen where its six legs touched the surface. Its wings were tucked away and the long whiskers on its face swayed in a nonexistent breeze. A film of fog rose from the lake and swirled around it and it seemed like it was glowing.
They had found the ice dragon. But what now?
Its emerald eyes bore into Anaya as they stared at eachother across the lake. She was distantly aware of the other three moving behind her, but she could not take her eyes off the magnificent creature. Not that she wanted to.
The dread that had filled her the first time the dragon had seen them was suddenly nowhere to be found. Instead, she only felt an overpowering sense of wonder.
The dragon took a step closer, the water freezing under it to give it a platform to stand on. It sounded like a glass bell as it froze. It took another step.
Anaya took a step as well.
"Anaya, what are you doing?" hissed Tiu behind her, grabbing at her sleeve.
"No, it's--" Anaya said, swatting absently at her hand. "It's fine."
In synch Anaya and the dragon both approached the shoreline. A coldness rushed over her in waves as she got closer, but she kept moving. She had to keep moving.
It was bigger up close. Of course she'd known it was big, or at least long, but as it stood in front of her, it was a whole different experience. Its long neck held its head easily twice as tall as Anaya stood, if not more. It could probably eat her in one go, if it so decided.
The dragon cocked its head to the side and brought it down a bit. It's eyes looked over every millimeter of Anaya. Its breath hit her face like a gust of wind, freezing her eyelashes. It smelled of salt and magic.
"What do you need?" Anaya asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She gasped as a mental link snapped into place and the answer echoed in her own mind.
'I need a way back home.'
_______________________________________________
You were expecting this part to be written by Oona, but it was me, PEDE! (lol)
Yeah, so unlike me, Oona is a functional member of the society with like an actual job and so she didn't have time to write this today and we decided to switch turns, ie she will write part 12. Then we'll go back to our regular order. Although, can you really call it "regular" when we're only writing 4 parts? Does that count as a pattern? Anyway what I mean is we'll go back to the order we originally meant to write.
I hope y'all are enjoying this little story! It seems like things are really starting to pick up which is fun! Also I love dragons with telepathy, so the dragon has telepathy now. In any case, I'll stop rambling, see you in part 18!
Next topic is "Promise".
Pede out.
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