When All You Have are Embers

XIII

Sin

Oracle had been sleeping for most of the time they had spent in Snowdell. Whenever Sin needed him or couldn't find him he would always be in the same room, with the same blanket on the same bed. 

As far as Sin knew they had been in Snowdell for nearly a month now. He and Oracle had grown not only familiar with the temperature but fond of it as well. And the storm outside of Snowdells walls was only getting worse with time. 
    Sheila kept on telling them not to worry, and that the storm cannot reach past the walls, but Sin still feared the blizzard he had to spend days trudging through. Sometimes he gets chilled in his sleep because of the memories of the storm he can't let go of. 

And the nightmares were worse than ever for Sin. Now combined with Haku's untimely passing, Sin can now barely get a full eight hours of sleep a night, and has to take naps throughout the day, like Oracle. 

Oracle's reason for sleeping, however was different. The nights are longer up north as the sun sets earlier, and Oracle, being the night owl he is, stays awake most of the night researching, and sleeps during the day. 

Sin often asked him what he was researching all those hours in the libraries, but he never told him. He only ever said to never go inside by himself. Oracle pissed Sin off at times. Not because he was bossy but because he was always right to be so. 

He'd scold Sin, and almost care for him, making Sin have a child-to-parent annoyance towards him. Sin thought about it for a while and eventually said to himself,

     "I suppose Oracle is like a father to me in some ways after all."

And that was enough for both of them to be moderately content. 

Today was a day Oracle couldn't spend napping, because Sheila was bringing him and Sin to the Leader. 

Normally when anyone visits Snowdell they were gone within the week because of the cold. Sin and Oracle were different, they wanted to stay. Not one single outsider had ever stayed with the Snow Elves, so Sheila was bringing them to ask for permission from the Leader. 

As Sin walked behind Sheila he noticed the finer details of her. He coat was a navy blue dyed rabbit hide, and was lined with the whitest fur. Her hair was straight and pure as it bounced with her as she walked. 

As he scanned her body more he realised he had never noticed that she had horns sticking out of her shoulders. They were a part of her body, there was no mistaking it. They were the same shade of blue her skin was and her coat even had holes so they could stick out comfortably. 

He looked down and thought of her face, and smiled. He had never felt so attached to someone he'd just met. He knew it was silly for him to feel this way, he hadn't been here that long, and God knows he hadn't talked to her that much. 

Nevertheless, he liked just being around her. And that was enough for him. 

Sin knew somewhere in his heart why he truly wanted to stay, but his mind remained oblivious to this fact, for until it was brought to his attention he would never truly understand himself.

Sheila stopped walking when they came to the largest structure in the village. Made entirely out of ice, this building glistened in the daylight. She opened the huge doors and stepped in before them. 

At the other end of the room sat a Snow Elf that looked as if he was days away from his death. He held onto a staff as he sat, and his long white beard nearly touched the floor. He had long blue thin and frail fingers that shook as he gripped his staff. His nails were sharp and pointy, as was his nose.