Mirov ran through the snowy wonderland his village had become since winter's arrival. He kept a brisk pace through the soft snow, staying away from the few patches of slippery ice. In his bright red winter coat, he was a strawberry that glowed under the noon sun.
Getting close to the village's edge, he greeted a few of the villagers he knew. His parents always told him to treat his neighbors with respect, especially those he knew. Remembering this, Mirov gave a wave to old lady Runova, a smile and good-day to Talanov the shopkeeper, and a cheerful greeting to Vasil the blacksmith.
Vasil returned his greeting with a wave of his own. "Hello Mirov! Ready to find the Decorimp?" Once he saw Mirov's enthusiastic nod, Vasil chuckled briefly. "Head on to the forest then! Kasaty and Surikova just left the shop only a minute ago."
Hearing this, Mirov waved goodbye as he continued on to the forest. The cold wind bit at him as he thought, with as much enthusiasm as a twelve-year-old could manage, about how exciting this trip into the forest would be. The village elders didn't allow that many Decorimp chases in a winter.
The village was worried about chasing the Decorimps out of the areas close to their village. If the Decorimps felt threatened enough, they would just flee deeper into the forest. Once they were there, it would be too difficult to find a Decorimp. Which meant that the village elders decided when a Decorimp chase could happen.
Mirov felt really fortunate to be allowed in one of this year's Decorimp chases. It might not have been the first, but he didn't mind that much. He consoled himself with the fact the group he was put with was good. He had heard stories of Decorimp hunts, alongside stories of the ancient heroes Bluthsky the Fox and Bartok the magnificent, and wished to join in on the fun.
As he went past the village's edge, where the buildings ended, he saw them. Across the white canvas of snow, they were waiting by the trees with some bags and big rattlers. There was Runova, who was loosening up her own bag; there was Surikova, who was playing with her rattler with a grin; and Kasaty, who was supposed to keep watch over their group.
This wasn't just because he was older than the rest of them, who were either ten or twelve, at fifteen years. It was because at one of the village meetings, he managed to convince some of the elders he could be responsible and take care of the group as they went after the Decorimp. Mirov wasn't sure how he did it, since he didn't attend the boring village meetings if he didn't have to.
Still, even if Mirov didn't know him that well, he always seemed kind and confident in the village. That was enough for Mirov.
When he got to the group, Kasaty welcomed him with a grin. "Great! Mirov, here's your bag and rattler." Mirov grabbed the items Kasaty handed him, slipping the rattler into the bag. While he held onto the bag, Kasaty turned to the rest of the group.
"Alright everyone, now that Mirov's here we can head out. Runova, do you remember where you saw a Decorimp last?" She saw a Decorimp a few days ago, when she was out gathering sticks and berries. Since she wasn't ready to chase it, she just quietly left before she could aggravate it.
"Yep," she replied with a nod. "It was a short walk away, in an area with a bunch of stumps. If we get there, we should see the Decorimp."
"Yippee!" cried Surikova with a short giggle. "This is gonna be fun!"
"It will be Suri," Kasaty confirmed for his little sister. "Once we find the Decorimp, it will be fun. Now let's head into the forest! Runova, lead the way!" With that, he let Runova get in front of the group, so she could lead them to where she saw the Decorimp.
Inside the forest, as Runova led them past tall oaks covered in snow, Mirov gazed around the forest in wonder. He didn't often go into the forest during the winter, since kids weren't normally allowed to. Seeing the forest like this, so empty of the flowers and the leaves, was alien for him.
Usually, the forest was alive with sounds. Sometimes in the summer, he could hear the birds sing in their trees and the foxes dash through the bushes. Now, he could only hear the crunch of their boots against the snowy ground.
As Mirov continued to compare this winter forest to how it was in the summer, he was shocked out of his thoughts by a sudden cry. "Hey Kasaty!" Surikova asked, her shrill question echoing in the woods, "do you think we'll find a unicorn here? I remember mama and papa talking about how someone saw one in the forest during summer."
"I don't know that much about unicorns Suri," Kasaty answered quietly. He had spent most of the walk at the back of the group, keeping his gaze on either the children or the forest surrounding them. "I can't really say for sure."
"I don't think it's the right season for unicorns," Mirov guessed. He had also heard about that woodsman, since it was so rare to see a real unicorn. "They probably go away when it gets this cold."
He didn't mention that the unicorn was seen in the deeper part of the forest. None of the adults liked the idea of children going into that part of the woods, which was something Mirov could understand. If the stories of what lived there, where the forest's magic was stronger, were true, then he didn't want to give anyone the idea of heading there.
Surikova mused on what he said with a fascinated look. Mirov wondered how long that would distract her. He didn't want her to talk so much that the Decorimp would-
"Runova!" cried Surikova, so loudly she interrupted Mirov's thoughts, "Do unicorns like forest berries? Would they work as bait?" While Mirov wondered if she would continue to warn the Decorimp of their approach, Runova began answering her question.
Mirov paid only brief attention to Runova's quiet answer. He figured out, by the way she began wandering from unicorn bait to unicorn history, that she was just talking to keep Surikova from asking more questions. The fact that this helped pass the time was a nice bonus.
Listening to Runova talk about unicorn history also made the surrounding forest seem lively. If only for a short while, the sound of life seemed to remove the forest's silence. It comforted Mirov, making him feel like the forest was less empty.
Soon, they approached the clearing that Runova had mentioned earlier. When Mirov had heard it was a clearing full of stumps, he expected them to be the result of the village's lumberjacks. When the group had the clearing in their sights, even the young Mirov could tell that was not the case.
Even if his parents had never allowed him to touch a wood saw before, he knew that they weren't supposed to smash trees into splinters. The trees in the clearing looked like signs that were kicked down, with some of them leaning up against other fallen logs. If they hadn't fallen down entirely. The scene would have made Mirov more worried, except for Kasaty's sudden, urgent whisper.
"Everyone stop," he ordered firmly. "Over there," he said as he pointed towards a stump to the group's right. "The Decorimp's sitting there."
Looking to where Kasaty pointed, the group saw it.
Sitting on a stump that had somehow been partially ripped from the ground, it seemed to be scratching its fur for some reason. It reminded Mirov of a monkey he once saw in a picture book, with a tail and a body the size of a child. The only differences were the thick blue fur, the thin horns curling around its forehead, and the magic it had.
The group, knowing what to do in this situation, walked as quietly towards it as they could. Distracted by its scratching, the Decorimp didn't notice them as they stopped behind a tree trunk that had fallen over. They kneeled behind the tree trunk, where Kasaty briefly reminded the rest of them what to do. After the short reminder, the rest of them split up, although Surikova stuck with her big brother. Once they got far enough apart, they got started.
Kasaty went first with Surikova. The two of them took their rattlers out and shook them at the Decorimp, screaming at it as they did so. The siblings' cacophony filled the clearing, irritating the Decorimp from its scratching.
Disturbed, the Decorimp reacted as if another rival had entered its territory. It stood up and jumped up and down, screeching at them in return. When it saw the siblings, who were still rattling and screaming at it, were not backing down, the Decorimp got serious.
It held up one of its clawed, furry hands in the air. From the palm, as a brief light flashed, an object shot forth like an arrow. The two siblings, who were still keeping the noise going, hid behind one of the fallen logs in the clearing. Soon after, the object landed behind them, sending up a small cloud of snow.
Kasaty revealed himself briefly to grab the object, while taunting the Decorimp, that had landed in the snow. Then he got behind the log quickly, to avoid the Decorimp's continued assault. Soon after he got back behind the log, several more objects were launched to where he picked up the object. Kasaty and Surikova continued to irritate the Decorimp, enough so that it would continue to send those objects flying, until Kasaty suddenly yelled out "Runova!"
From where she was, Runova yelled back "Understood!" After Kasaty and his sister stopped making noise, Runova took up the task. Mirov was surprised be how much noise she made with her rattler, compared to how quiet she had been on the way there. The Decorimp, now irritated by Runova, sent several more objects flying towards her.
For a few minutes, she continued to irritate the Decorimp with her rattler. Mirov guessed she was going to pick up the objects later, because she just focused on dodging the Decorimp. She weaved and ducked, dodging the Decorimp's objects while she made comments on its aim. Between the rattler and the Decorimp's screeching, the only one of Runova's comments he could hear clearly was that it couldn't hit a barn's broadside.
Then it became Mirov's turn. When Runova yelled out "Mirov!", he was ready. As Runova quickly hid behind a fallen log, Mirov stood up and began attracting the Decorimp's attention.
He shook his rattler while yelling out, "Bibbl! Bibbl! Bibbl!", a bit of nonsense that he hoped would irritate it. He was briefly happy to see it worked, as he was forced to dodge about five objects that went towards him. As if he was just in a regular snowball fight, Mirov ran to the left to dodge the other objects that continued to fly towards him.
He continued to run, until one of the objects flew right in front of him. He let himself fall back, landing behind a log and dodging several more that flew over him. He got up quickly, his blood hot with all the activity, and started running in the other direction. He continued to shake his rattler at the Decorimp, the Decorimp continued to throw objects at him, and Mirov continued to evade them.
After a few minutes, when Kasaty yelled to let Mirov know he and his sister would be taking over, Mirov landed in the snow. Grateful for the rest, Mirov briefly enjoyed the feeling of the cool snow while he listened to Kasaty and Surikova make noise at the Decorimp. Then, he decided to get started on picking up the objects the Decorimp threw at him.
He picked up the closest one on the ground, turning it in his hand as he examined it. The object resembled a red glass ball, one covered in swirling patterns that wrapped around the ball. It felt like a thin wine glass to his touch, making him worry that he would break it.
Then he reminded himself why that wasn't a worry. The Decorimp made these glass balls from magic, making them tougher than a normal glass ball would be. Aside from magic, only time could break them. After a few months, when the magic finally wore off, they would fade away into dust.
Until that time occurred, the people in Mirov's village could use the glass balls for holiday decorations. The village would send out children to irritate the Decorimp, in order to make it throw the glass balls at them. The villagers considered it to be a tradition between a chore and a game.
It was widely considered relatively safe, since the Decorimp wasn't really that dangerous. The glass balls, even if they flew fast, didn't hit that hard. Mirov remembered snowballs, packed with some ice, that hit harder than what the Decorimp threw.
Also, each group usually had someone who could take care of the Decorimp if it started to actually hurt someone. Like Kasaty, who was really strong from helping his father out in the forge. He could probably kick the Decorimp clear out of the clearing if he wanted to. That fact usually made each Decorimp chase easier.
Mirov remembered some years where the Decorimp chases worked out well. Then, the whole village was filled with the glass balls hanging from roofs, windows, and trees. It was a pretty sight, especially with all the variety they had.
As Mirov picked up the glass balls from behind the log, he got a chance to review that variety. He picked up a blue ball with trees, a green ball with birds, a purple ball with stars, and many more. They came in many colors, along with many different symbols. The only thing that was uniform was their size, which was just big enough to fit into a Decorimp's palm.
After a few minutes of gathering, during which Runova began irritating the Decorimp again, Mirov felt like he gathered thirty of them. It still amazed Mirov how many of those glass balls the Decorimp could throw out. By the time his group got done, he thought with a proud smile, they would have enough for the whole village.
When Mirov suddenly heard Kasaty yell for him, he turned to get ready to irritate the Decorimp. Then he saw that Kasaty, eyes wide with horror, was looking behind Mirov. Even the Decorimp was staring behind Mirov, frozen with fright in mid-throw.
While that sight made Mirov worried, it was the sound he suddenly heard that truly frightened him. Mirov could hear a thump coming from behind him, which seemed to echo lightly in the clearing's frightened silence. Filled with stories he heard about giants and trolls, he slowly turned his head to see what was coming.
It was not what he expected.
It was like he remembered from the stories. He just never expected to actually see one. It was too ridiculous to imagine, although it did explain how all the trees were knocked down.
The creature was a baba yaga. Some applied a strange word to it that Mirov didn't understand; he thought it might have been a … misnomer? Whatever the case, he knew what this thing in front of him was.
A house that walked on chicken legs, made long ago by an evil witch who lived in the forest; or made by someone copying the evil witch, depending on the story. It tries to find a place in the forest to settle down, where it can sit down and pretend to be a regular house. Once it sat down, in such a way that its legs would be hidden beneath it, the baba yaga would leave its door open. Anything that entered the house would be then eaten.
This explained to Mirov what knocked down all the trees. It wanted to clear them away so that it could sit down and pretend to be a house. Mirov really hoped that it didn't want to eat-
"Look!" screamed Surikova, making everyone except for the baba yaga flinch with surprise. She even managed to cut through the tension as she yelled out "The house has an eye on its butt!" Looking toward the baba yaga, Mirov saw that it had eyes, black orbs with red pupils, open in places he didn't notice before.
There was an eye in one of the windows, staring at the group now. There was an eye on the side of the house, which also stared at the group. Finally, as Surikova said, there was a house behind its legs, where its 'butt' would be. That eye just seemed to just spread its gaze across the forest as it loped towards the center of the clearing.
It loped through the fallen trees, stepping over some of the logs fallen in its path. When it got to the clearing's center, the Baba Yaga stared at the logs laying in the center of the clearing. Then it surprised those in the clearing by what it did next.
It balanced itself on one leg, while bending the other back. Mirov could only compare the sight to that of a fat man losing his balance on stilts. For a moment, he expected the baba yaga to trip over itself and fall in the clearing.
Instead, the baba yaga kicked its other leg forward. The chicken leg, which looked like a thin tree, was stronger than it looked. Its kick sent all the logs flying away, sending them crashing into the trees outside the clearing. With the logs cleared away, the creature kneeled down on its legs.
With its legs now hidden beneath it, the house closed all of its eyes. They seemed to vanish, leaving it looking ordinary; or as ordinary a house in a clearing filled with fallen trees could look. After a moment, the seemingly ordinary house opened up its door, as if to invite anyone inside.
"Mirov!" Someone whispered excitedly, shocking him out of his fascination at the strange event. He looked towards the whisper, seeing Kasaty with everyone else gathered near the edge of the clearing. He saw Kasaty stand there with a tense expression, signaling Mirov to come over with a wave.
He went fast, careful to keep himself silent and avoid the Baba Yaga's attention. Mirov figured that the Baba Yaga wasn't that hungry, so he just had to avoid irritating it. Unlike the Decorimp, that thing's irritation would be much more dangerous.
When he reached Kasaty and the others, they silently crept out of the clearing. Once they got out of the baba yaga's eyesight, Kasaty ordered them into a short run. No one in the group argued with him, considering what they were getting away from.
Besides, the run was short. After a minute of going along a forest trail, they stopped to take a breath. They all knelt in the snow, while Kasaty congratulated them.
"Great job everyone. Aside from that Baba Yaga, I'd think we did well. Let's open up the bags and see how many we got." They opened up their bags and poured out all the glass balls. They slowly set the glass balls into sets of ten, making it easier for Kasaty to count them.
When he finished counting, he exclaimed happily "147! That's not too bad, considering we got interrupted." That surprised Mirov, but he couldn't deny the evidence of the orderly lines of glass balls. They had done well.
Satisfied with their haul, they returned to the village together. When they reached the village, each person took 20 of the glass balls for their families, while Kasaty would bring the rest to the village council. They separated happily to bring their spoils home.
For a moment, on his way back, Mirov let himself enjoy this minor victory. He might not be a great hero like Bartok, who slayed witches and dragons long ago. That didn't stop the young boy from imagining himself as such a mighty hero.