Chapter 21 Snow, Snow Everywhere! Part 3
After the elf had warmed himself up, we said our goodbyes and went outside again.
*Swoosh*
A snowball flew past and narrowly missed the elf’s face; children’s laughter could be heard. They ran around and tried to hit each other with the snowballs, not noticing the elf at all.
As he looked in their direction, he stared at the small creature flying next to them that excitedly played with the children, “This is!” he exclaimed in surprise.
Fay observed them as well, “Oh! An ice fairy!” she said in an innocent happy tone.
The spirit was similar in size to Fay, tiny, but in contrast had no wings and their hair was white with a tint of blue, the same was the case for their skin color. Its eyes looked like they got replaced with blue crystals that reflected and broke the light, leaving one unable to see what lay behind them.
I looked up to the elf who was still observing the children and the fairy, “Might this spirit be the cause for all this snow?” He looked at me “Was that the reason you said it’s not dangerous?”
I replied in an indifferent tone, “Why don’t you ask them? But Fay might have beaten you to it already.”
The elf with a confused expression looked up; Fay had already made her way to the other fairy. “Hi! Are you playing? Can I join?” She asked excitedly flying around the children.
“She gets so easily distracted…” I thought and let out a sigh.
We observed how both spirits joyfully talked and then started to play with the children…
The elf, with a loss for words but already used to Fays behavior, stood there for a moment lost in thought before voicing them aloud, “It looks like all the children can see them; is that even possible?”
I had already sat down in the snow and had begun to build a small snowman with my paws, “Well, even if they don’t have an affinity to see spirits, children tend to see us when they are younger but lose that ability as they grow older.” I explained earnestly while carefully starting the next snowman, this time in a cat shape.
“Is that so? I never noticed.” He continued to observe.
“You grew up surrounded by elves, so it’s no surprise you didn’t know.” I wagged my tail in satisfaction, looking at my masterpiece.
“Should I make one with wings or pointy ears next?” As I was contemplating over live altering decisions, the elf already walked to Fay and the others, who were innocently playing in the snow… “Didn’t she not long ago complained about the cold… Whatever, I will make both!”
The elf kneeled down in the snow in front of the ice spirit and asked without hesitation, “Did you cause all this snow?”
The ice fairy looked at him with their crystal eyes and flew in excitement, “Do you like it too?” they replied in an innocent and pure tone.
“Don’t you realize that you make the lives of all these people harder if you let it snow all of a sudden?” He said in a calm voice, aware that the fairy did not think this through.
They tilted their head wondering, “But they are all happy now.”
“The children might be happy, but did you take a look at the other people?”
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“Don’t bully Snowy!” The children jumped on the elf in protest.
The fairy still looked confused at the elf. “Wait, calm down. I’m just talking to them.” He was clearly at a loss for how to deal with the children.
“Should I get involved or watch a little longer…?” I pondered as I completed my snowman collection.
“Snowy let it snow because we asked them!” one kid screamed while the elf plucked it from his clothes.
“Is that true?” He looked at the ice spirit, who was seemingly confused about the situation. Then Fay chimed in, “Snowy told me that the children wished to see snow, so they granted it for them!” She made a proud expression. “See! I didn’t just play around!”
“Then can you make it stop?” The elf asked while still fending off the children, but the spirit looked even more confused at him, “But I only made it snow a little bit.”
“You call that a bit-” Before he could voice his objections I interrupted them, “Think about it; could a lesser spirit like them really cause this?” I stood relaxed next to them.
“Right, right! The most they can do is make it snow on a few meters of land!” Fay exclaimed in shock for not realizing it sooner.
“Right...” He rested his head on the palm of his hand, then looked at the ice fairy again “How long are you here, in this village?”
They looked at him with big eyes, not understanding the situation, but nonetheless answering, “Since a few months, I think?”
Their crystal eyes changed in my direction, and so did their expression, from confused to joy. “You are Nox, right!?” They flew excitedly towards me and began to inspect my appearance, “Why do you look like a kitty?” They flew from side to side… “Your normal appearance looks cool, but this one is so cute!”
“Right! They look really cute!” Fay nodded in agreement, and both started flying around me…
“Enough!” In annoyance I caught both of them with my paws, “If you continue, I will make frozen fairy out of you.”
They both quickly shut up after hearing my irritated and impatient voice.
“Don’t you have something else to say?” I asked the ice fairy, who didn’t seem to understand. I rephrased my question, “Didn’t you feel any presence when it started to snow?”
They looked at me with big eyes until they remembered and excitedly flew back in the air, “I felt that another spirit was near, way stronger than me!”
“What!” the elf exclaimed.
I expressionlessly looked up at him. “Are you interested? Didn’t you want to go home as fast as possible?”
He contemplated and then asked me. “You knew all along that another spirit is causing all this mess, right? That would explain your strange behavior.”
I stared at him, not answering. Fay not able to read the mood exclaimed shocked, “You knew all along!”
“Wasn’t that obvious?” I looked at her tilting my head. She assumed an overly serious thinking pose, “I don’t get it.” And quickly gave up, reverting back to her cheerful self, “Now that Snowy’s innocence is proven, let’s play some more!”
Fay and the other spirit took the children and started to romp around again, while the elf let out a deep sigh…
“Aren’t we in a hurry?”
He looked back at me, “So I should just ignore it?”
“It’s not like someone is dying or in grave danger; the people know how to handle it.” My voice was monotonous.
“I could be wrong, but I get the feeling you want to prevent me from looking into it further…” he said in a concerned voice.
I looked him in the eyes, not giving away anything, “I’m just trying to say that you should focus on your priorities. Aren’t the elves in quite a dangerous situation?”
“…” he silently stared at me; a gust of cold wind accompanied by snow blew at us.
He then spoke up calmly, “My mother always says a good ruler needs to prioritize their people and assure their wellbeing, and then they can think of lending others a hand…”
“So doesn’t that mean we should go?” I said in an unusual earnest tone.
“She also said, what is equally important is that you are happy: “You do have to make difficult decisions, but you can’t lead people if you sacrifice yourself for them.” That’s what mother told me.” He observed the spirits and children and continued, “And I have faith that she and the others will hold out; after all, we have a strong barrier protecting the capital.”
I looked at him a bit confused, as he saw this, he added, “To make it short, it’s just my own selfish desire to find out what’s going on here.”
“Hmm…” Deep in thought, I let my gaze wander from him, to the quietly falling snow, to the people who cleared the roofs and walkways from the snow.
“What if you can’t solve this?”
“I will see for myself.” He answered resolutely.
“…”
“Fine, it’s your decision…” I got up and started to walk, “Aren’t you coming?”
He had a surprised look on his face, “What about Fay?” He walked after me.
“Let her play; it’s better if she doesn’t come with us…”
The elf was seemingly concerned by my remark and behavior, but I didn’t care.
Together we walked away from the village into the white, our silhouettes quickly vanishing in the falling snow…