Coming Home

Winter, was not one of the ash grey woman's favorite times of the year. Where the warmth of summer was irritatingly too hot and caused her to pant, winter was an entirely different problem. What was once warm air turned bitterly cold, so much so it could freeze the throat. Where greenery and color once painted the land, the canvas seemed to be wiped clean; white covered the world. The mountain she had spent the last two days trying to climb over was now behind her, yet another laid in her path. But between her accomplishment and her next obstacle there spread out an odd yet beautiful sight.

The land that connected the two mountains was, like the rest of the north, frozen solid. Yet it seemed the dwarfed trees were not in fact dwarfed at all, but rather cut off from their roots. Miss Haven tilted her head at this for a moment, wondering what a peculiar thing to have happened. But suddenly a brisk mountain breeze waved over her being causing her to shiver. Annoyed, wouldn't even begin to cover it. Her ruby red eyes scanned the trees for any immediate signs of danger, before she descended into the valley. The icy floor was covered with enough snow to gracefully walk across, and she soon found that even just the tops of the trees was enough to block out most of the winter breezes. It was quite a nice relief.

She spent a few minutes weaving her way through the forest, going deeper into the wood and away from the lands she once came from. Everything seemed fine, until the unmistakable scent of another wafted into her nostrils. Miss Haven came to an immediate halt. She had not noticed the change in day; she had started walking before the sun had risen, and only now cared to notice that the sun was gone, replaced by her sister moon. She had no idea what she would do, if this stranger turned out to be a threat, but her sour mood made her bold, and exhaustion made her desperate. She abruptly spoke out to the shadows, her voice slicing through the silence. "Who is it? Who's out there? Come out here this instant."