I Heard Tea Soothes The Soul

Snow and bitter-cold took a once colorful landscape and wiped it clean. It felt much like a reflection of her life, bleak or simply just unwritten. She had sacrificed much with the promise of a fresh start. That was exactly what she got, but never did she imagine it would be so difficult to move on from the past. A harsh breeze whipped into her back like an icy razor. Rather than take shelter inside a clammy castle where the air was packed with dust that irritated her sinuses, she found reliable shelter just outside the castle walls. Beyond the ruin and open field that surrounded its borders lay a grove of trees. Their tops remained bare, but their roots would still provide ample shelter. If nothing else she was eager to explore and maybe find something pretty to stick between the pages of a book. Despite the harsh-cold, winters here were tolerable even with the short bursts of daylight. It was more than she could ask for given the few sunless months back in Candenta. Thankfully the sun stuck around and she could bask in its rays till the clouds hid it from sight.

Nox kept a watchful eye on the trees in the distance and soon the barren plains disappeared, and she entered a densely wooded area, dotted with various shrubs and bushes. Some of them bore no berries at all but others had a handful or so of variants likely hardened to the winter air. She was not knowledgeable enough to differentiate which were poisonous and which were edible. Although she determined a few of them might have been elderberries though she dare not eat them without being completely sure. However, the birds seemed to like them just fine. She watched a colorful one swoop down and land on the branch of an oak tree. It tilted its head and puttered on either foot before swooping down to pluck a berry with its beak. Once it was satisfied it fluttered off with its bounty. Nox determined that beneath the outstretched arms of that same oak tree would make a fine place to rest. The wind still nipped through the cluster of trees but it was less-so. At the very least, she had somewhere peaceful to lay as she decluttered her thoughts.