Gifted Pelt

Chapter 31

She glances over to see Kōri frowning, trying to puzzle it all together. "What was the message?"

She hesitates for just a moment before she opens her mouth to tell him, but her magic stops her. "Wait. Go to the lagoon. Swim, then pass it on."

Her brow furrows for a moment but she doesn't argue, instead telling Kōri, "I'll tell you later. The lagoon first."

He hesitates. "Alright, but are you sure?"

"Yes and no, but we should go."

"Very well."

Kōri starts walking towards the lagoon, Astrila easily keeping pace beside him.  Her thoughts are whirring, and she has to hide her distress from him. What is coming? What journey was the wind talking about? What does it want her to learn? Why did her magic want her to go to the lagoon first? Above all, why could she understand the wind?

"Astrila. Astrila."

At last, Astrila turns her head to look at Kōri. His eyes are filled with confusion and hints of worry. She smiles weakly at him and pushes her swirling thoughts and questions aside.

"What is it, Kōri?"

"Is something wrong? You're very distracted."

Astrila shrugs. "I don't know yet, but I do know that I'm quite tired from that healing if nothing else."

He stops. "We don't have to go to the lagoon if you're too tired."

Despite the cheery tone to his voice, Astrila can see the crestfallen expression on his face that he's trying to hide. He's doing a good job of it, but it lingers in his eyes.

Astrila shakes her head at him. "I'm alright, Kōri. I'm not too tired to go to the lagoon. I want to go."

His gaze is sharp as he analyzes her for a moment. She continues to stare at him, letting the truth of her words show in her posture. At last, he looks away from her, nodding, and starts walking again. She smiles slightly to herself at his concern and steps up to his side. They walk in silence, calm and comfortable. A short distance away from the lagoon, the wind starts up again, swirling and whistling around them. It doesn't sing this time, not as it did before. But if Astrila listens hard, she can hear the faintest strains of music floating by her on the wind.

Eerie and strange, but it's the loveliest thing she's ever heard. It's so faint that if she wasn't looking for it, she would never hear it. Astrila smiles as she follows Kōri to the lagoon, still listening to the music. The crunching of snow drowns out most of it, but a few notes make it through every so often. Astrila is so focused on the music that she barely even notices when they reach the lagoon. The only reason she does notice is because the snow beneath her feet shifts, angling down towards the ice. Astrila's eyes clear and she pulls her attention away from the music. She grins when she sees the ice covering the lagoon, and has to restrain herself from bounding down the snowy hill. Kōri laughs at her and lapses into silence for a few seconds before speaking.

"You're excited now, but what was distracting you before?"

It only takes Astrila a heartbeat to decide that she can tell him about the music. "I heard music, on the wind."

"I didn't hear anything."

She shakes her head laughing. "You wouldn't have heard it."

"Why?"

"A couple of reasons. It was so quiet that I couldn't even hear it over the crunching of the tlacringit. You also didn't hear the music when we were standing on the hill. I think I'm the only one who can hear it, maybe because of my ancestry."

"What is the music like, Astrila?"

She smiles. "It's the most beautiful music I've ever heard. But it's strange. I've never heard anything like it. Eerie, ethereal, wisps of a song on the wind."

Something glimmers in his eyes as he motions her onto the ice. "Don't let it distract you."

Astrila nods, smiling, and takes a careful step. The ice is solid beneath her feet, and she steps forward once again, her feet shuffling. She has almost reached the seal hole in the ice, frozen over with a thin layer, when the ice beneath her groans and creaks. It shifts, and she stumbles. Silence falls, and Astrila can hear the blood pounding in her ears. Her eyes are wide with fear, but she relaxes when the ice beneath her remains stable and solid. She slowly shuffles forward another step, only for the ice to groan again. She gulps, wishing she had brought the ice stick with her, and twists towards the shore, raising her wide-eyed gaze to look at Kōri. He has his hand stretched out toward her.

"You're alright, Astrila."

She swallows, her face pale. Or it would be, if her dark skin didn't hide it. "The ice . . ."

"The ice isn't breaking, you're fine. You can shift."

Her voice is barely a whisper. "I'm scared."

"I know, Astrila, but you're alright. Can you take another step?"

She nods shakily. "Which direction?"

"Back toward me, or towards the seal hole. Whichever you're more comfortable with."

Back towards the safer, solid ice, or forward, towards the hole in the ice where she can shift and slip through. Safety or discovery? She'll have to go to the seal hole anyways to get into the water. She makes her choice and shuffles toward the hole in the ice, only for the ice to creak again, louder than any other time. She stills entirely, her body not moving even to breath. Kōri takes a step towards her, his eyes wide and his hand outstretched.

Astrila's mouth opens into a cry, "Don't!-" just as a sharp crack of splitting ice slices through the air and the ice sheet beneath her gives way.
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I forgot again, sorry guys!

What do you think is going to happen now that she's fallen through the ice? Why do you think her magic wanted her to go to the lagoon? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.