Scars to Your Beautiful (New)

Winter Wonderland

That day marked the beginning of a new routine. I trained with Tomas and Artigas in the mornings, learning hand-to-hand combat and weapons. My afternoons were spent with Nyko learning the healing arts. My evenings were split between Indra and Ava and her mother, Sursha. With Indra, I was taught logistics and strategy, war and politics, how to run a clan and village, and how the Kongeda operated. When I was with Ava and her mother, I learned about Trikru, the land surrounding our town, and got to know the villagers. On the days I had off, Ava and I would spend them alone, getting to know one another as she showed me her favorite places outside Tondc's walls.

Days and weeks passed as my world became my new home, and I rarely thought about the people I had left behind. And all the while, my feelings for Ava grew deeper and stronger, taking root in my heart as I fell for the brunette tattooist.

As time passed, the weather started to change. Growing colder and wetter as the days grew shorter. I still trained with Tomas, but I started helping Nyko out more. Nyko needed it since the change also meant people became sick more frequently. At first, I was wary of helping him out because of an old history lesson that resurfaced in my mind. Stories of how colonizers and the indigenous people would contract illnesses from one another. They would be inadvertently exposed to new ones that their immune systems couldn't handle. It was how villages and entire groups were wiped out in the past.

The Ark was an enclosed system; while not many illnesses could easily be contracted, colds, cases of flu, and others still happened. Due to the radiation, Earth had recovered with new mutations and strains of just about everything alongside the original species. That included new diseases and illnesses that I'd never been exposed to. So, it made me leery of helping Nyko when people started to get sick.

When I mentioned my concern to Nyko, he readily had an answer. And it was an answer we'd come up with centuries ago; face coverings and frequent washings, including our clothes. It did a lot to ease my worry, but I became a tad hypervigilant in ensuring Ava and I stayed clean and, by extension, her mother and Nyko.

And so, time went on, but nothing prepared me for the first snowfall. It was one of the most beautiful sights I'd ever seen. Not even seeing Earth from orbit compared to watching the world slowly become blanketed in pristine white. I could've watched it for hours wrapped in a thick fur and Ava's arms with a fire burning merrily away, but I was only given until a few hours past dawn before reality asserted itself. Then, I was not too fond of it when Tomas made me train in the snow. It was as bad as training in the rain and mud but worse because it was so damn cold. Not even a vigorous workout could warm me once my training leathers became soaked and my fingers were frozen. I strongly began to suspect that if there was a hell, it was training in a frozen, snowy landscape. When I got home, my clothes and hair had ice crystals forming, and it felt like I was carrying a block of ice in my chest. And Ava, sweet, sweet Ava, had to reheat the hot stones for the bath three times before I finally felt warm again. Pruney as all get out, but warm.

That evening I had just finished going over the winter stores with Indra. Harvests had provided a high yield, and with the Bounstoka's demise, the animals had recovered; the village and several others were in no danger of starving this winter. But as I pulled on my woolen gloves and adjusted my scarf, an unbidden thought entered my mind, followed by a pang of guilt.

I cleared my throat and turned around to face Indra. She curiously glanced at me, and I took a steadying breath before asking, "What...what about Skaikru, Indra?"

Indra straightened before leaning on her hands against the table as she regarded me, "What about them?"

I shuffled closer, playing with the end of my scarf, and avoided looking at her, "Have...has there been any, um, any...developments regarding, regarding Skaikru?"