Mountain Flower

Hatching

A muffled sound echoed through the room, ricocheting against the thick wooden walls, extricating from its torpor the mass wrapped in the bed, warmly covered with blankets. An ear emerged, but barely out, the freshness of the morning snatched a grumble from its owner, who hastened to hide under her protection.

After a few minutes, and a long sigh, she finally found the courage to get out of the bed, step by step. A small head surmounted by two large ears appeared, before finally deciding to go out entirely. She jumped out of bed, it had to be said that as a yordle, she was naturally small. Although her young age partly justified her size, it was still a source of discontent. She slowly approached the wooden table, on which a few belongings were placed. She looked through the window, set with icicles, observing the landscape. Outside, the mountains were covered with snow, as usual, and the large conifers were bending under a screed of pure white. Still white she thought with a sigh, as the first rays of the morning sun were reflected on the snow.

She quickly brushed the fur on her ears, and her hairs, all as white as the snow outside, before tying them into a ponytail behind her head. She put on her clothes, which were tight clothes meant to be worn under a warmer outfit. Those clothes were drawing a muscular silhouette, covering her skin, white too. She would have to put on thicker clothes to face the cold outside. The altitude and the eternal snows of Freljord have no mercy for living beings.

She pushed the heavy door of her room and entered the corridor. On the sides, many plants were enthroned on shelves, while the walls were covered with frames containing various leaves and inscriptions. Father should sincerely take care of his damn plants thought the girl by passing under a little too developed ivy.

She quickly passed the curtain that separated the corridor from the main room, in which the silence was disturbed only by a slight sound of breath. On the main table, littered with remains, various documents, and plants again, a person was asleep. Unlike the young girl, whose fur covered only her ears, the person was much more hairy, grey and very sleepy. Indeed, male yordles had the particularity of having an integral pilosity, unlike female yordles.

The fresh air of the room reminded the girl what she had to do, so she went to the large wood-burning stove in the middle of the kitchen and put some logs in it, before igniting a fire. The sound of the wood uprooted the one on the table from his sleep, who mumbled a few incomprehensible words as he raised his head.

- You fell asleep while working again, Father.

- Oh? Good morning Edelweiss, have you slept well?

- Rather yes, since I was in a bed, sighed the young girl.

The father stood up and pretended to put his things away, although he was twice the size of his daughter, he too was relatively small. Fortunately, much of the furniture in their home had been modified to match them.

- What are you working on that requires sleeping on the living room table? she asked her father.

- Well, I most likely found a plant that could help the villager's animals withstand the cold.

- That's exceptionally good news," his daughter mumbled.

- Plants are particularly good allies, you know!" he replied.

Edelweiss walked towards the entrance of the cottage, an imposing wooden door, which separated them from the biting cold that reigned outside.

- I am going to chop some wood, our reserves are empty," she said with a weary voice.

She put on thick blue, padded clothes and large boots with notched soles, allowing her to walk through snow and ice, before heading towards the door, which she opened with a movement.