The Reach of Winter

Pnuma seemed a bit peppier as the days went on, mostly due to having someone to follow around and talk to. He had spent most of his days as a traveler alone, though speaking to the occasional wolf he passed. It was nice having someone he could reliably return to whenever he wanted to talk. The spirits offered some social relief in desperate times though they could barely hold a conversation, their voices mingling and merging into an indecipherable mass of white noise as they all spoke at once. They didn't seem to acknowledge other spirits resided in his mind, though he could sometimes catch a short exchange of words if he was listening close enough.

He obediently trotted behind Circe, now brave enough to put pressure on his injured leg, the splint offering extra support as we walked. Pnuma was excited to be brought on a foraging trip. With winter here and freezing all the herbs, he thought it was a good idea to find whatever still worked before it too succumbed to the frost. Though Pnuma wasn't the most familiar with the plant's healing properties, he knew what Elderberries looked like and focused on trying to find the black berries through the thorns.

"Thank you," he said, giving a brief nod of gratitude as he pressed through the now open tunnel of thorns, thin legs expertly avoiding the barbs that littered the ground. His scrawny frame allowed him to dodge most of the thorny vines, able to squeeze through gaps in the thorns with relative ease. However, Circe's help was much appreciated. He sought to return the favor, though he was much too small to make a dent in the barbs large enough for his friend to enter comfortably. It didn't stop him from trying though, grabbing a vine in his teeth as he exited the passage, pulling it aside to hopefully prevent at least a few thorns from scraping into Circe's pelt. Small needles grazed his cheek as he did so, but he was so eager to help he didn't care. The woman had done so much for him already, fixing his leg and offering him a band; he wanted to show he was thankful in any way possible.

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