The list of items I wanted to bring to this world seemed to increase each time I slept, I think sleep somehow connects to the unlocking of these memories. Since this was the case I often took any chance to nap. But this night was different. I had decided it would be best to investigate the town with Claire so my plan was to return to Godrick to collect her and any information about this forest that the chief might have.

I greeted various tree's as I passed through the forest rapidly, I wasn't sure which were alive but I just assumed they all were and waved awkwardly at them as I bolted past.

I doubt I was more than an hour away from Colgate at this point, I had already made it through the abandoned town and was nearing the edge of the Fall-locked area.

The Ent's had told me their kind didn't exist outside this area of the forest, they said some had once lived in the winter area but they now assumed most were gone, since plants hadn't continued to grow in the winter locked village they had seemingly cut down all the trees surrounding the village for firewood. it seems they had a similar issue to Godrick.

It would really be helpful if there was a consistent supply of lumber so these villages wouldn't have to expose them selves to danger by cutting down their barrier forests.

It seems beasts are more likely to attack village if the forests around them were cut down. The Ent's said it was due to the mana that tree's hold, this large collection of mana would combining with the peoples mana to form a barrier, this barrier was capable of deterring most animals and magical beasts from attacking.

It seemed the village that was cutting down Ents was using them to build a fence to protect from the wolf attacks that had been happening over the past few years ever since their own barrier forest was cut down.

Its one of the reasons the Ents had stayed quiet, they felt it was the right thing to do. If their lives could be used to help protect the village, how could they refuse. But it still bothered me so I wanted to collect Claire and hurry to the winter village.

I attempted to message Claire via 'intent' once again. this time I actually received a reply. I had asked, "Can you hear me now?" in the mental message.

"Yeah! Can you hear me?" Her voice suddenly shouted cutting deeply into my head.

"Ah good I'm within range now I guess." I sent back quickly

She explained that she had actually been able to hear me during my earlier check ups but since I hadn't replied to her questions she had assumed her own range must be smaller than mine. It made sense, I was impressed with her deductive skills.

Claire met up with me by the river and I explained the situation to her including the strange weather and Ents. She seemed amazed when I told her about the Ents she had apparently never heard of such a creature, I sent a 'intent' message to the chief and he shared the same bewildered attitude so I assumed they really were a secretive and rare creature.

Claire was glancing around at the bare trees as we neared the abandoned village. I mentioned this was the place where I had sent the first message and she seemed amazed that I had been able to send it so far, she seemed to quickly understand why she had not been able to reply to my calls.

We continued through the forest towards a familiar bolder that I had used as a landmark, I introduced Claire to the Ent I had first talked to, the Ent greeted her kindly and she replied in turn. The two chatted for a few moments and then we bid farewell to the trees and told them we were off to warn the villagers not to take lumber from this forest any longer.

They seemed thankful and swayed happily in the wind as we headed towards the snowy area.

I wasn't exactly sure how I would convince the winter village. By the way I had intended to find a better way to refer to but the Colgate chief had told me 'Winter Village' was actually the name of the place so I quickly felt silly, and then smart for correctly guessing its name.  

But that did make me realize that this seasonal lock must have been in place for a long time. It all seems very strange and unnatural. In the few moments I was in Colgate I noticed the damage it had done to the forest there as well.

Most of the plants that were flourishing there were plants that didn't require a rest period to produce seeds, this meant they were practically all invasive species. There were large groves of bamboo and raspberry looking bushes, which while beneficial for the town was probably wrecking havoc on the forest, who knows how long it can maintain this constant growing period, its a wonder the soil hasn't lost all its nutrition yet.

Claire and I had been trudging through the snowy abyss for a few hours now, we could barely tell if we were even following the river, where it was once a small icy path in the snow it was now just a valley amongst many hills of snow. We had to back-track numerous times, Claire was somewhat nonchalant about the venture but I was aware of how much danger we were truly in, the wildlife here was starving, and the wilderness was all just vast white emptiness. If a heavy blizzard rolled in we could easily lose sight of each-other, intent would be helpful in that situation but we had to be sure to stay nearby each-other at all costs. I had no choice but to hold her hand, yeah, no choice.

We must have walked twice the distance we needed to until finally finding the village, the Ents had said it was likely within a days walk but after the first several hours I was unsure of the quality of his knowledge.

By the way the Ent apparently knew nothing about the bandits going by the name 'blood hook' it didn't even seem to know of the name so I just left it at that, it was preferable not to be feared.

The village was indeed as its name described, it was entirely blanketed in snow, there were smooth paths carved into the snow, some of the paths even had sturdy hand rails seemingly carved from snow, I quickly realized it was the work of water mages, this was an intelligent use of magic indeed. Perhaps a student of professor mage?

A few elderly men came out and greeted the two of us, it seemed having a new face arrive at the village was a big deal, its no surprise really, being so deep in the bay of mountains I suppose any new arrival would be a rare thing.

The villages population was around one hundred. I was amazed it had fared so well under condition of being trapped in winter, when I asked one of the elders about it he claimed it was always how it had been, it was inconvenient but the only other option was to move from their homes which they weren't willing to do. their ancestors had fought with their lives to build this village and a bit of snow was not going to force them out. It seemed the snow was not in fact a new thing, when I asked them they said most of them had never seen the dirt before. the ones who had had either dug under the snow or collected lumber from the forest to the south. Ah that part has finally come up has it.

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How can I handle this… I want to be polite but I also wanted them to understand why they can't cut down that forest, is it right to reveal the fact that these trees are alive, well I mean of course they are alive I'm not a hippy, but I mean physically alive, possessing consciousness.

But would the Elders even believe me? Colgate's chief was hesitant to believe me, it was only when I told him about the outstanding amounts of mana the trees had that he finally relented that it was possible, he said the mage would likely be interested in them so I was to tell him about them when I returned from winter village.

But I still faced the current dilemma, I asked who the lead elder was, and if he would be willing to take a trip with me into that forest in the morning. The youngest of the group claimed he was the Prime Elder and was willing to go, he seemed curious he said he had never ventured from the village before and that this would be a great chance to go with experienced travelers.

The elders showed the two of us to an unused house and told us we were free to look around until night fall and then it was best to stay indoors, it seems wolves had attacked a woman two nights ago.

Claire and I took this advice seriously as we had just encountered the beasts a few weeks prior. Claire had almost no scar at this point but I'm sure the emotional trauma of letting a wolf get the better of her still stuck with her.

Honestly thinking back on the memory if Claire hadn't pointed me to the witch's camp she would have likely died, we had no horses and were two days from Godrick.

Even with all my knowledge I couldn't have done a single thing to help her. I wanted to make a world where that wouldn't be the case, a world where magic wasn't the only end-all savior.

It seemed this town specialized in textiles, it wasn't entirely a surprise, the elders from earlier had worn thick multicolored robes with many layers of separate intricate fabrics.

I looked at the large looms they were using, they were simple, two chunks of wood with holes for the warp (non weaved threads of fabric) It was all strung in a stiff wood frame. It seemed they could only craft chunks around five feet by eight feet at a time.

I mentioned a method for extending the length by folding the large wood frame and threading the warp onto a roll. The woman looked at me with wide eyes, then began sketching an image on a white scrap of fabric with a feather tipped brush. After I amended the image a bit to show what a semi-modern loom on earth looked like and she quickly ran the sheet of blueprints over to a man that had likely built her current loom.

Well that should help. Baby steps.

It had begun to get dark so not wanting to make complete enemies of wolves, we two returned to our house for the night. 'Our, house huh' I chuckled to myself while sparking my black blade against a rock that was placed next to the fire place. After getting a small fire going and warming chilly house Claire and I sat down, again alone for the first time in a long while.

Sure we had been alone while venturing in the snow earlier but I had been so nervous about getting lost that I wasn't really focused on her feminine company.

Claire spoke first this time.

Well I say 'this time' but it was often her speaking first, I wasn't sure exactly what to say to her, it seemed like she was learning tragic news, or keeping tragic news from me around every corner, I wanted to comfort her but I didn't want to patronize her. I was never sure what to say, but she seemed to handle it with no problems.

"This village is kinda amazing isn't it?" She said with a wide grin as she fell backwards into the chair beside the fire. "I mean with all this snow and still surviving so well. And those fabrics were so soft, I wonder what they were made from?"

"She called it spider silk didn't she? I've never heard of such a thing"

Silk from worms and caterpillars was one thing, but I've never heard of silk made from spiders thread, well technically 'I' hadn't heard of silk even, but 'the other guy' seemed fairly knowledgeable. Honestly I had probably never even said the word loom before today.

"Ah if they can really make continuous rolls of that then I'd love a dress made from it!"

"You wear dresses?" I asked honestly surprised. In the time I'd seen her, she would always wear pants and a linen shirt, it honestly suited her well, the casualness of the outfit seemed to highlight her features and chestnut hair. Thinking about it she would likely be even more beautiful in a nice dress, this is something I must see.

"Of course I do, I'll have you know I was quite popular in Havas, I've even attended a ball in the royal capital." She said with a smug grin

"Have you really?"

"Yeah I'm something of a star amongst the rookie Knights, they are even thinking about raising my rank to that of honorary noble… "

Ah was that really the case, she had seemed to achieved much in the time she had been gone. In comparison I had done basically nothing with my life, all that time I just wasted time training my blade skills with father.

"When I entered training, I was seen as the top student within the first week, I even became unofficial sparring partner for the instructor, he refused to take any of my advice though," She said wrinkling her nose at the memory "but at least he recognized my skill. Honestly all my skill was thanks to your father's training though. He really was a war god incarnate."

That's true my father had basically acquired the skill of hundreds of years of training, I was somewhat jealous for a moment but then an understanding hit me, he had training me so hard because he knew he wouldn't be giving me his mind. I would have no life line, I had to use my own skill from now on, that's why he had trained me so carefully. Suddenly I felt bad for thinking negatively about the training. Forgive me father. Luckily I never turned down his offer to train.

Perhaps I'm better with a blade than I think, Claire is good with a blade but I can easily parry most of her blows, its only her determination that finally breaks through my defense. I wonder how I would fare against her instructor.

Ah I want to go to Knight training. That would be fun. Making friends, rivals, lovers. But I suppose they wouldn't let the Hawk of the Blood Hook Tribe be a knight.

"You really must have been popular, when we get back we will have to go to a ball together. Who knows maybe I can dance." I said beginning to doze off in the comfortable chair. I had run around quite a bit in the last two days I was excited to sleep and begin unwinding some more memories.

Claire tossed another large chunk of coal on the fire and lightly draped a blanket over me with a smile before leaning back into her chair and shutting her eyes.