The Masked Bird

Where do the birds go?

Where do the birds go when they fly away? Dad says they are going to where the weather is warmer, but then why don't we follow them? Wouldn't it be warmer where they go? Dad says it isn't possible. He says that sometimes when someone goes away, it's better to not try and follow them. He got that far away look in his eyes like he always did when talking about home. Maybe birds and people are alike in those ways then? There were people who you shouldn't follow too, and then there were those you should. We'd heard of a few groups of people that would follow herds of caribou around, not expecting the world to get better any time soon. Maybe they were right - it might be for the best to prepare for things to not go back to normal. But where would we settle down? I think we should set up in the next town we find, build our walls and fix everything up as we need to.

85, 48th day after first snow

Thomas returned at some point, but he had seemed to be a little bit quieter than normal. Of course, that did still mean he was boasting and showing off, and I think I was the only one who noticed it - but noticing things was what I did best. I found Leon relaxing by the fire, and sat down, showing him a broken bolt. He took the cracked piece of wood, raising an eyebrow. "Do you want me to try and fix it?" He asked curiously, to which I nodded. He glanced over it, and then said "I can save the tip, you'll need a new shaft though. We could probably find something that works though." I nodded, reaching into my bag. I had a few spare shafts we'd picked up in town, but I'd need to make some more, for sure. I handed it over to him, letting him do the work for now. "So, what's up? I get the feeling you could've done it yourself, no?" He pointed out, as he began to slowly undo the band that kept the head pinched onto the bolt. I simply shrugged, glancing down into the fire to think. It was nice to be able to think, but there was definitely something to be said about getting lost in work. Why did we do so much work? Apparently back in the old times, they got everything for free according to some of the traders' stories. They just hit buttons on magic rocks and things came to them for free. I couldn't imagine how something like that worked, to be honest. But the stories said it, and they were all true according to the elders - the old ways were magic. That's what they said.

I was roused from my thoughts by Leon gently poking me in the side with my newly repaired bolt. I tossed the broken shaft into the flames, refletching the new shaft and slipping it into a small quiver. I glanced up at Leon from the crackling fire, nodding appreciatively, though I made no move to get up. Neither did he, it seemed to me. So we sat together in silence, appreciating each other's company as the camp lazily moved about its daily tasks. People don't seem to realise how nice it is to just relax in silence with a friend, always trying to fill a familiar kind of silence with some sort of conversation. Sometimes it's nice to just listen to the white noise of a fire crackling, and people chatting in the background, with another person's company. Leon was the first person in this camp I met who seemed fine with the silence. He didn't look like it was getting awkward - though he also probably couldn't tell I was watching him. The mask was good for a few things, this was one of them for sure. Sitting there was nice - I didn't know how much I was going to miss it in the near future. But the rest of our time spent drying out the meat would pass without much event. Thomas didn't try anything funny which I found to be a bit odd. I hung out with Tom and his devil stick more often, and whenever Sorna needed it I'd help resharpen her equipment.

When we finally got back on the move again, it looked like we were going to get some clear weather, which was a relief. The storms were never fun, and a little bit of sun was always nice. We pulled our sleds over the ice and snow on the black paths, eyes open for the telltale bumps in the ice or snow that would show the presence of the cars, which always held goodies that other people might've missed if it had been scavenged, or if we were even luckier it could be completely untouched. Though they were getting more and more rare every year, even as we moved further and further south where they should be more common. I heard someone saying that it was a good sign, but I didn't see how it was. It meant there were less things to sell in town, didn't it? I didn't know why it'd be a good sign, but they were usually right. While we walked, I ended up pulling the food sled alongside Sorna. Pulling it wasn't any harder than usual, especially since there hadn't been any fresh snow in a few days, so what was there had a chance to either be blown clear or compacted down into something easier to walk on. Granted, the phrase 'not harder than usual' didn't translate to 'easy', as it was still tough going through the snow. It was good that our clothes were waterproofed - it was a common practice now to use animal fat and wax traders would sell to protect clothes from getting wet. A bit of oil in the fur of our coats and pants went a long way. But the food was lasting us surprisingly well - we were making better time than I think anyone was expecting. However, I doubt any of us were expecting what we saw when we got there.