I don't know nearly enough about mythology to say if there are any myths were nymphs are silent, but I'm making them so for the sake of the plot

Often in mythology things are described to look human-like, I'm going more for a 'humans were created to look like the deities' approach

I am aware that trees don't actually die during fall and winter; and I'm not implying that the trees themselves perished, just the nymphs

2. Evan: About the north

Evan was a god of nature, it was nothing to write home about, there were so many of his kin, they all could make plants grow and animals were always at ease around them, nature deities were supposed to be good with living things, and Evan supposed he was, so long as said living things were incapable of speech

Evan particularly liked trees; the nymphs never put him on edge, despite their resemblance to deities, because they never talked past the melodic sounds and pointed looks, and they never expected anything of Evan, looking genuinely happy to see him whenever he visited their trees, tree nymphs were easy, they spent their time dancing and singing to the tune of the winds, and they were thankfully understanding, and fiercely protective whenever he desperately needed to be alone, hiding him from the other deities, it was a perfect arrangement, until it happened

Evan only heard stories about what happened exactly, whispers that were meant to sound like a love story, but it had been horror for Evan. Though he didn't participate in the tale, he remembered the moment it happened vividly, the months in which the tree nymphs he had come to care for died one by one, while he desperately tried to find some way to keep them alive, to save them. Oh, how he cried during his first winter, then spring came again, and Evan allowed himself to hope, what a fool he was. The nymphs that came were different, they didn't know him, and it broke his heart

It was perhaps a rushed decision, running off like that, but he just couldn't take it, couldn't take the nymphs that only appeared to him because he was a god, couldn't take everyone wanting him to socialize, he noticed the border, it was hard not to in such contrast, the snow against the grass, like there was an invisible line, he didn't look back

A crisp white field opened ahead, stretching out way past the horizon line; somehow, everything seemed to be bigger here. The mountains, though scarce, seemed to reach a little higher, the rivers and streams, though frozen, seemed to stretch a little wider, or maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him, it wouldn't be the first time

There was a heavy air that had little to do with the prolonged winter; it was a feeling of wilderness, like the place had been abandoned, normally that would be more than enough to send him scurrying back the way he came, but right now it felt liberating, it felt impossibly familiar

In that scenery of whites, and blues, and greys, there was something that resonated with Evan, something that was very much like him, a kindred spirit of sorts; moving forward, further away from the limit, seemed like the only sensible option

Only then did he meet Connor