Private Tales Falling Snow..

[Willa]

Willa saw them too and she tensed. Where there was one, there was likely a pack, and she looked to Ivar with a frown in confusion. Wolves didn't normally follow like that, if they'd wanted to attack they'd have crossed their paths.

Her eyes followed the moving shadows to find more eyes staring up at them. Willa took a step forward and drew in a deep breath, holding a hand out and focusing. Her eyes blinked and their colour gave way to pearly white orbs that stared blindly ahead.

Animals didn't tend to be all together comfortable with her use of magic, they knew that the drop in temperature wasn't natural, the sudden appearance of frost and ice normally warded them off, and Willa formed a ring of frost around she and Ivar both that spread down the hill toward the forest and climbed into the boughs of the trees, freezing the leaves that slowly fluttered to the ground.

 

[Ivar]

Ivar knocked an arrow as Willa stepped forward and did her magic.

He had seen her do it once before, but a frown pulled across his lips as he watched the more...ostentatious display of it. He watched her, a breath filling his lungs and his eyes settling on the ring of frost that formed around them.

A moment passed, the Wolves did not move.

What the... Ivar thought to himself as the beasts lingered, and then they slowly turned around and began to pad away.

There was something...unnatural about it. It made Ivar's stomach turn and his instincts suddenly ring with alarm bells. Lips thinned for a brief second and he looked over towards Willa.

"We're building a fire." He told her. "And you're sleeping close."

An odd sort of protectiveness entered his voice. Not possessive, not commanding, but concerned.

 

[Willa]

A plume of misty breath escaped her lips as she dropped her hand and blinked a few times to regain her vision. The frost had crept all the way from her toes to the tree line, and still the yellow eyes stared out at her. Willa's brow furrowed and she turned to look back at Ivar, apparently sharing the same feelings on the matter. Something wasn't right.

She watched as the beasts slowly retreated, but she had a feeling that they wouldn't be going far. She sighed and hugged her arms underneath her cloak and turned back to him, giving him a quick nod in agreement and a subtle hint of a smile crossed her lips at his tone. Even surrounded by wolves she felt safer with him close by.

Willa started picking up what twigs and branches she could from the hill, keeping an eye on the ominous tree line the closer she had to get to it. Soon she dropped her armful of firewood at the top of the little hill and dropped to her knees to start pulling it together now that he'd taught her how.

 

[Ivar]

While Willa prepared the fire Ivar dug around some of the supplies he'd bought in the town.

From his pack he pulled some dried and salted meat, as well as a few bundles of what the locals had called 'caf'. It was an odd sort of ground up powder one could add to water, apparently it flavored it quite well and gave one a jolt of energy. He frowned at the bundle, then slipped it back into the pack, keeping out the meat for Willa and himself.

His bow he placed nearby, keeping it strung and an arrow free of the quiver just in case the wolves decided to make their return.

Once that was done Ivar gathered some of the larger branches from around the clearing. He quickly built a small lean-to on the side of the large fallen tree in the corner of the clearing. It was not enough to give any protection against wolves, but no rain or wind would touch them at least.

Something they'd need soon by the looks of the cloud. "Well done."

Ivar said as he finished the lean-to and turned to see the small fire Willa had started.

 

[Willa]

Willa smiled up at him with a silent laugh under her breath as he praised her efforts. She was a quick learner and determined to pull her weight. She dipped her chin, and got up to sit between the shelter and the fire, hugging her knees as she soaked in the warmth from the flames.

She cast her eyes over the darkening tree line and sighed uncomfortably. She most definitely would not be sleeping tonight. Her eyes closed and she tried to comfort herself by nicer thoughts to chase the darker ones away, her mind drifting back to their room, the warm bed and bath and food.

 

[Ivar]

Ivar sat himself down right besides Willa, gently nudging her a bit. "Into the lean-to."

He told her as he motioned towards the odd structure.

It was close enough to the fire that they would still catch it's warmth, but he didn't want to take any chances with the rain. On a trip like this if your clothes got when you would quickly find yourself freezing to death. Though with her magic he wondered if that was even a possibility.

"So…" Ivar said, once again striking up conversation. "Magic, huh?"

He'd never asked before, but felt comfortable enough to do so now. "Are you...part frost giant?"

The old legends said that the Frost Giants were the ones who threw the blizzards down from the mountains and onto the Tundra. Ivar did not know if he believed that, but he had seen their tracks in the snow and certainly believed them capable of shifting storms.

 

[Willa]

Willa looked up as he nudged her and she nodded, pulling her cloak tightly around her shoulders. She settled under the lean to and looked up at it, pursing her lips as though impressed with his efforts. The only concern she had was the view on one side of the hill being blocked.

Her eyes narrowed in a smile at his question about frost giants and she shook her head, and then a brow arched and she quirked a brow with a smirk and a shrug that said 'Maybe'. Her parents had not had such abilities, but her grandmother was an impressive sorceress and she supposed it had skipped a generation.

She held out her hand palm up for a moment and her eyes were once again a milky white. Frost quickly formed on her hand, layering and growing until the blue of her eyes returned and she smiled and blew gently over it, sending the pile of snow flakes fluttering down over him and swirling whimsically. She shrugged. It was a simple cantrip really, she'd watched her grandmother do far grander things, but she'd died before she could teach Willa very much at all.

 

[Ivar]

Ivar chuckled.

He'd not much experience with magic. There was the Witch back in Kjos, his meeting with Sylvian, and...well his time in the Blightlands. The latter did not bring back any pleasant memories, but Willa's trick brought none of them back in that moment.

"Funny." He mused. "Though I do miss the snow."

His last few months had been spent in Alliria and other warm places, even in the northern part of this continent it didn't really snow. Not in the same way that it did in the Tundra. He missed the silence of it. The quiet that freshly fallen snow brought with it.

Like the entire world had fallen still. "My father used to say my mother could do magic."

His mother had been an outlander, though just where she's been from his father had never said.

 

[Willa]

Willa's lips curled into a smile as he laughed and she hugged her arms back around herself, trying to soak up the warmth from the fire. Each time she used her magic she seemed to get just that bit colder. Her shoulders fell in a sigh and she stared at the flames with a light nod in agreement. She missed the snow too.

She looked up as he spoke of his mother and her brows rose. 'Oh?..' she mouthed and shifted to face him as though making herself comfortable for a story. She couldn't do much talking, but she could listen and it was already taking her mind off of the fact that they were currently surrounded by strange wolves.

 

[Ivar]

His head shook for a moment. "I do not know if it's true."

He knew little about her, and even less so if what his father had told him was actually true. There was a furrow in his brow for a moment as he considered best how to tell her this. Ivar had never been much of a storyteller, at least he'd never thought so.

"My father said that she could bend and control the earth." Ivar said as he looked at the fire. "Told me that she was the one who had set the foundations of our hut, not him."

He smiled faintly. "He told me that sand was her favorite."

The Barbarian shifted slightly.

"That she could make it flow like water." Something he could not even really picture.

 

[Willa]

Her head tilted as she listened and a soft smile played curiously on her lips. Her brows lifted and her lips pursed as though impressed by his mother's alleged gifts.

She nodded in understanding. Willa knew she could do more than she knew how to, her magic had become more powerful than it was a few years ago, there was clearly progression, but she needed to learn how to properly control it and for that she needed someone who had similar abilities.

Her white eyes stared blankly ahead again and she lifted her hand in a motion, picking up the flakes of snow she'd made and making them flow along the ground like water and then pulled them up into the air in a swirling motion before they fell softly back to the ground and she blinked.

'Have you ever tried?..' Willa mimed and pointed a finger toward him, her head tilting in mute question.

 

[Ivar]

He smiled for a moment, watching the display in silence.

Briefly he wondered if his mother would have done such magic for him, if his father had been telling the truth. There was something...that made his heart hurt to that, an ache in his chest that he closed his eyes for briefly to try and push the pain away.

A second later he looked back to Willa, smiling slightly and letting out an amused scoff. "Me? Magic?"

His head shook.

"No." The Barbarian protested. "I think if I had any sort of magic it would have come out long ago."

 

[Willa]

Willa's gaze narrowed and she bit down on her lip, sensing that she'd caused him some painful memory. She hadn't even considered that it might have been difficult for him to speak about his mother, and she frowned apologetically at him.

She shrugged at him as though to say 'you never know' and smiled. Her gaze cast across the growing darkness and she settled down a little more when she neither seen nor heard anything nearby, but she pulled her dagger to keep it by her head should she need to grab it quickly.

'You sleep. I'll watch.' she told him silently with added hand gestures.

 

[Ivar]

He frowned for a moment, but decided not to argue. "Wake me if something happens."

Ivar had long ago learned that sleep was as important as food on these journeys.

The first trip he had taken into the wilds of the Tundra he had hardly slept, and after only three days he'd barely been able to speak when he'd found the small village he had been trying to reach. If he had the opportunity now he would take it.

If only so that he was stronger later.

Laying himself down the Barbarian shifted slightly, letting his weight settle against the ground and beneath the lean-to just as it began to slowly rain.

 

[Willa]

Willa was glad of Ivar's building skills as the rain came down. Thankfully it was light enough that the fire was safe enough for now, and every now and then Willa crawled over to add another log when it started to die down. The ring of light around it only made the forest even more difficult to see. It was quiet and eerie, and Willa shuffled a little closer to Ivar for warmth and comfort.

The silence was deafening, and no matter how much she tried to keep her mind focused on reality, her mind played tricks on her. Shadows moved, the sound of rasping breaths caused her to flinch and her pulse to pitch to frantic. Panic set into her mind and she tried to control her breathing and tell herself it wasn't real.
Rhist was gone, but not from her mind or memory, nor would he ever be.

She wasn't sure how long she'd closed her eyes for when she felt the heat of the fire suddenly extinguish and darkness devoured them. Her eyes opened in confusion and quickly widened at the sight of yellow eyes staring straight at her a mere few feet away. There were more behind it, and it took a step forward. Willa pulled in a breath.

"Ivar!" she called out, her voice as loud and as clear as though she'd never lost it at all.

 

[Ivar]

Ivar's eyes suddenly snapped open.

His hand reached out for the bow in an instant, but before he could even touch the weapon he felt cold steel suddenly press against his throat. Hand stalled in an instant, lips thinned, and as his eyes adjusted through the darkness he saw what Willa had.

Women stood all around them, women and wolves.

Each of them wore a garb the likes of which Ivar had never seen. Dark leathers and coverings that were shaded green as to blend with the trees. Their eyes seemed to hold an odd glow, not dissimilar from that of the beasts that stood at their feet.

One lurked to the side of Ivar, holding a knife to his throat as three others stood around the clearing and looked down at Willa and her Barbarian companion.

Ivar simply froze in place, scowling and looking at Willa to ensure she was okay.

 

[Willa]

Willa swallowed, a little surprised to have made a sound at all but too preoccupied to give it much more thought. She gasped as the woman's weapon shot out toward Ivar's throat and she reached a hand toward her.. "No wait! ".. She'd had quite enough of her companions' throats being cut open.

The sudden movement caused the wolf closest to her to snap its jaws toward her with a guttural snarl in warning and Willa flinched, recoiling her hand and sitting herself up to pull herself as far into the lean-to as she could.

"What do you want?.." she asked, her voice shaking slightly, but she lifted her chin in attempt to look somewhat calm and confident.

 

[Ivar]

Ivar felt like most eyes were on him even though Willa was the one talking.

Her voice sounded like a bare rasp, as though someone had struck her in the throat. The Nord frowned for a few seconds, fingers tightening for a few seconds and he took a deep breath as the women that surrounded them seemed to shift.

"You know this man?"​

It was the one slightly in the middle of the others that spoke to her, the blade not moving an inch from Ivar's throat.

"She fu-" Ivar felt the knife press harder on his throat.

"Quiet!"​

The woman besides him hissed, blood starting to trip from the edge of the knife. Ivar let out a quiet hiss, but remained silent as the women expected Willa's answer.

 

[Willa]

"Yes, yes! I know him, please.." she'd been about to reach her hand out again but eyed the wolf nearest her and thought better of it. "He helped me." she explained feverishly. "Please, there's no need for weapons, we don't want trouble." her brow rose and she let her gaze wander over the women and their wolves curiously.

"Who are you?" she asked quietly, swallowing the pain in her throat with obvious discomfort.

 

[Ivar]

The women all seemed to ease some of their tension for a few seconds, but they still stared at Ivar as though he were some sort of monster. He couldn't help but feel an unease about the situation, his spine tickling slightly.

"We are the Leanli."​

One of the women said.

Ivar, of course, did not recognize the name in the least. The Barbarian frowned for a moment, but he finally felt the knife ease off of his throat for a second. Fingers tightened in the dirt, but he dared not move just yet. They could still change their minds.

"You have wandered into our forest. What are you doing here?"​

He opened his mouth to speak, but decided Willa would do better.

 

[Willa]

Willa's gaze narrowed slightly and she eased a little as the knife was removed from Ivar's throat. She glanced at him and sat up a little and shook her head gently at the woman who spoke.

"Forgive us, please. We're far from home, we didn't realise that we were trespassing. We only wished to stop for rest.." Willa frowned and reached a hand to her throat as her voice cracked painfully.. "We won't be of any trouble, you have my word. My name is Willa Sørenson, this is Ivar." she gestured to the bleeding man, hoping he'd make peace.

 

[Ivar]

"Does Ivar not have another name?"​

The Barbarian looked over towards Willa for a moment, frowning and then deciding that it was probably best if he was the one to answer this particular question. "No. My father was an exile."

For a brief moment the women looked at one another, but none of them commented any further than that. The Wolves at least seemed to relax a little, something that Ivar took as a positive sign for whatever was about to happen.

"You will come with us."​

The lead woman said, gesturing to both Ivar and Will. The woman who had been at the Barbarians side peeled himself away and stood, looking down at him expectantly.

 

[Willa]

Willa returned Ivar's gaze and pressed her lips thinly as he answered. She looked up at the women, uncertain of how exactly they'd respond to that. She had hoped they'd accept their presence for the night and let them rest, or that they'd tell them to move on and let them be on their way. Their demand however caused her to tense and she let out a soft sigh, her icy gaze narrowing slightly.

She looked to Ivar, deciding it best not to argue, and she crawled from their shelter to pull herself to her feet, ready to follow. "Where are you taking us?.." she asked as calmly as she could, her tone a soft and slightly broken cadence.

 

[Ivar]

Before leaving Ivar moved to grab their things.

Both he and Willa had fought hard to get those supplies, and he'd be damned if he was about to leave them behind. For a moment the woman besides him looked as though she was going to interfere, but after a few seconds she simply ignored the Barbarian.

Ivar pulled on his back and grabbed Willa's as well as they walked, a frown touching his lips as he wondered briefly about Willa's voice.

"Our village."​

The woman answered curtly.

"How de-" Before Ivar could finish his sentence one of the women elbowed him in the ribs. Hard. An 'oof' passed from his lips, and he grimaced slightly as he sucked in a breath.

 

[Willa]

Willa tucked her dagger discreetly inside her cloak should she need it. She'd been about to reach for her pack from Ivar when he was elbowed and she flinched at the sound it made. She bit down anxiously on her lip and looked to Ivar with a shake of her head and mouthed the words 'don't speak.' Assuming he'd had to lip read her enough to understand.

She cleared her throat.. "Can, I ask why?.." Willa grimaced slightly, half expecting an elbow to the ribs too.