Chapter 29
842 Words
29
As promised, the Keeper’s mark brought me to the edge of the forest. A thin layer of snow decorated the fallen leaves and the chilly wind tugged on my short sleeves. I wasn’t dressed for this.
Did anyone tell me though?
No.
I was quickly getting sick of all the riddles and mystery errands. Serving the dead was becoming all the more appealing. Dead people had no demands.
According to Var, nightroot grew on the north side of the mountains where it got as little sun as possible. I had no clue where to start first, but a small path wound upwards which was as good as any.
“What do you think, Hyde?” I reached out to my wolf, making sure he was okay. He was young and while he had a lot of fluff, it didn’t look like a proper winter coat.
“Awrrr,” he whined, pressing his snout against my hand and shivering.
“Are you cold?”
He gave me the saddest look, making my heart hurt.
“You poor thing.” I crouched down to cuddle him, hoping it would warm him. I’d never heard about dusk wolves having trouble with the cold, but he was definitely shivering and shaking.
I needed to do something, but what? It was just me, Pickles, and snowy mountains.
Oh, but the dust bunny was wrapped in my blazer. She didn’t seem bothered by the cold, so maybe I could use my jacket to warm Hyde.
“Good bunny, bunny.” I scratched Pickles’ chin as I placed her down on the snow. “Stay.”
She gave me a confused look as she hopped a circle around my legs, but didn’t seem too to have a problem with the icy ground.
At least that was something.
“Good bunny.”
I unwrapped my blazer and hooked it around Hyde’s body. The sleeves were perfect to tie it around him and before I knew it, he looked like a real gentleman in a suit.
“Don’t you look dapper,” I teased, tickling his ears.
He let out a satisfied growl and looked back to admire his new jacket. “Awrroo.”
“Yes, I thought so.” With a last scratch, I bent down to pick up the dust bunny and… “Pickles?”
Oh no… I turned around my axis, searching for the ball of black fluff and spikes. Hoping she was playing hide and seek or just resting in my shadow. But no dust bunny. Instead, I found small pawprints in the snow from a hoppy animal, leading away from me.
My heart sank as the realisation hit. Pickles was gone.
“Let’s go, Hyde. Track,” I commanded, hoping my familiar knew how to use his nose. It wasn’t something he’d ever been taught, but he was a wolf. Why wouldn’t he know how to do it?
Hurried, I followed the trail of pawprints. With every step, I begged I’d find the mischievous dust bunny sitting behind a rock or under a bush. Just waiting for me to catch up with her little ‘aha’ look.
But nothing… How could one little bunny get this far away without me noticing? I’d barely turned my back.
Damn it… Without Pickles, I couldn’t face Ryoko. How would I explain this to her? Honestly, there wasn’t any explanation good enough. I’d just have to find the bunny and return her home safely.
Stupid, stupid me. Why did I put her down? Why did she run away? She was usually always trying to get closer to me, I assumed she’d be fine being on the ground for five seconds.
“Pickles?” I called, wondering if she got lost. Maybe a wild animal snatched her? “Pickles!”
“Awroooo,” Hyde echoed, his snout pressed in the snow as he followed the small pawprints.
They lead further and further into the mountains, away from the forest. I didn’t know if this was the right way for the nightroot, but that was not important right now. I needed to find this bunny or die trying.
“Pickles! Here, bunny, bunny?” I dug around in my pocket and pulled out the little note that Ryoko had written me. I’d rather have kept it, but if this was the cost of finding the bunny… Then it was worth it. “Yummy food!”
As I waved the little piece of paper around, the wind tugged it from my hands. The note tumbled and danced through the white landscape, fluttering like a butterfly released from a jar.
I ran after it, trying to catch it. Every time my fingers brushed against the paper, the wind chased it just a little further.
Panting and puffing, it took me longer than I wanted to admit before I managed to get my hands on the note. And when I finally had it, I realised the wind had blown fresh snow over my tracks and erased any markers of where I was going or where I’d been.
Pickles wasn’t the only one lost…
The icy wind tugged on my short sleeves, breathing cold air into my shirt until I was shivering as bad as Hyde. I was surrounded by snow, stuck in an impeccable landscape that didn’t listen to the wind directions. There was no North, no West to follow. Just ice and snow, surrounding me from all sides.
What was I supposed to do now?
- Writer
