Please go to chapter 19 if you haven't read those chapters already because I've finally uploaded them! The next chapter should be on the 26th of July.
Marie returns with a basket full of somewhat dainty looking shoes. Sakura is fitted easily with thick socks and wool lined flat shoes with the slightest heel in a shade of pink which almost matches the trim on the clothes she's wearing.
"Comfortable?" She asks the girl though she's already turning to me, pulling the basket closer.
"Would it be possible to get some kind of boot? Something hard wearing?" I ask, looking down at the top of her head.
Marie looks up, wrists crossed as they fall over her knees.
"It would be daring." She says, expression revealing little.
"Please." I ask again.
Marie nods, refilling the basket and returning Sakura's current shoes.
After quite a lot of deliberation from Marie, and less from Sakura and I, we manage to leave. Fai's bag of coins is lightened considerably but it's worth it for the warmth and comfort of the new clothes. I seem to have escaped a little of Marie's wrath in the form of fewer petticoats than Sakura, supplemented by an extra thick pair of trousers, cinched in with ribbon at the waist.
If I could feel it.
The snug fit of the corset makes it quite forgettable.
More than anything though it is warm and less strange to the people living here. Even Fai's clothes, perfectly suitable for the weather, are stored away by Mokona for now in the pursuit of fitting in.
"All we need now is a way to get there!" Fai says.
From beneath his cloak comes Mokona's muffled cry of excitement.
Before long we are seated on four horses, Sakura and Syaoran sharing.
I've never ridden one but thankfully it seems content to follow the trail, Kurogane first, Fai and Mokona second, then myself. Syaoran and Sakura keep an even pace behind me.
The landscape is barren, plains of white aside from the sky and the path of hoofprints I follow. The horses walk far more easily than I do in the snow even in my new shoes.
Thankfully the skies remain mostly clear and, aside from a small scattering of snow, we don't have to travel through conditions anything like last night.
The thick gloves I'm wearing keep the cold from my fingers, curled around the lengths of rope I've been given which attach to various things the horse is wearing.
The path cuts in and out in indeterminate stretches, cobblestones echoing under thin crusts of ice, a slurry of frozen mud where many have been through, thick blankets where drifts of snow have settled.
Occasionally we pass through trees, barren or evergreen, through small valleys between hills and between fields, fenced off from us with scatterings of shivering, grazing animals.
It all seems to condense into one as we stop for a break to stretch our legs, or for Syaoran to adjust Sakura, fallen asleep, or to eat bread and cheese from a small farm house that we passed a while back. The horses eat when we stop near any kind of foliage growing through the snow, not seeming to care much about the temperature in their thick fur coats.
Conversation is sparse, mostly initiated with Fai, grinning beneath his hat. He asks about seasons in everyone's countries and I learn that Syaoran and Sakura are from a desert land and that nights are very cold there, that Kurogane's seasons are the closest to mine with cold winters and hot summers, that Fai's land is always cold, far colder than even here, that Syaoran has lived in all sorts of places and not just the desert, and that where Mokona is the seasons are strange, one day spring and the next a deep winter.
They say it's because Yuuko-san's shop is between dimensions and there are doors from all sorts of places.
I think it's a strange name for a world but Mokona is very strange so I suppose it makes sense.
Eventually we reach a cobbled path, bare and protected by a thick border of trees.
The horses' hooves clop against it, echoing in the windless quiet.
It rises incrementally and nobody speaks as the sun slowly starts to slip from the sky again.
There is little snow here, less than earlier in our journey in this world anyway, but the air bites cold as I breathe it in.
Mokona cries out and the noise scares a flock of birds who scream as they scatter. I follow them with my eyes, feeling ice up my spine which has nothing to do with the temperature.
"Look! A sign!" They call. I see it when I look down again, right in front of us with a sturdy wooden fence behind it as if it is stopping the trees from reaching beyond it.
We speed up.
The ground around it is a little more open and we cluster a little closer to try and read the sign.
My horse dips, reaching for a tuft of grass poking through a thin covering of frost.
"Spirit?" Syaoran asks as I read the word.
The boy looks to me.
"I think that's how it's said." He says as if it's a question. I nod in response.
"You can both read it?" Fai asks, the quiet of our surroundings seeming like a solid thing behind his words.
"It's my language." I tell him as Syaoran says that his dad taught him on their travels.
"That's amazing!" Sakura says, beaming at us both.
I smile a little, watching Syaoran blush at the praise.
"This isn't the time to be talking." Kurogane hisses, standing closer than any of us to the crest of the hill which overlooks the village below.
The birds cry overhead as we see doors and blinds close, dark figures watching us from below, eye glinting in the fading light from the sun.
We descend slowly into the town, the sound of hooves against cobblestone echoing in the otherwise complete silence. The horses cluster a little closer together.
"I feel like we might not be welcome here." Fai murmurs.
Kurogane grumbles his assent. Beside me Syaoran nods, wrapping himself a little further around Sakura who looks around nervously.
A small child is standing in an alcove with a limp stuffed animal. Her dark hair is tied up in pigtails and she stares at us in wonder.
I smile a little. We lock eyes for a moment but she turns, shy.
"Hello," Syaoran says gently, leaning down from his horse, "We have a question about this place." There's a clattering from inside and the child looks to the door, frowning. It bursts open and a woman, panicked, puts her hand through the door, grabbing the girl's shoulder.
"You know you can't go outside!" She cries out, not looking at us as she pulls the child back in.
We hear multiple bolts slide into place and the sound of footsteps.
The lights inside go out.
Syaoran and Sakura stare at the door for a while longer.
"It must be because of the legend." Fai muses, "People must be too scared to talk to strangers right now."
Syaoran frowns, turning back to us. Footsteps echo against the paving and the horse I'm sitting on grows tense.
"All I want to do is find out where the princess' castle is." The boy says, fists clenching a little around the rope he holds.
The footsteps stop and there's clinking as we're surrounded by men with guns. The horse I'm on makes a horrible noise, rearing up as I cling on for my life, arms around its neck.
"Who are you?" Shout a chorus of voices. They come from all sides and I'm stuck trying to catch sight of all of them and clutch at the animal I'm sitting on.
"We're writers- we write about the myths and legends of every town we travel to and the buildings there. We heard about a town called Spirit a while ago and decided to come and visit." Syaoran says as my horse decides to settle down a little, still nervously picking up its feet and snorting hot breaths at the people around us, turning slightly to keep a better eye on as many as possible at a time.
"What do you do with this writing?" A man in front of us asks, face red and grip tight on his gun.
"We're going to write a book." Syaoran says, seemingly completely at ease. Kurogane twitches out of the corner of my eye.
"Children like you are going to write a book?" The man asks, confusion seeping in around the edges of his anger.
Syaoran smiles awkwardly.
"Ah- sorry. Not me- him." The boy says, pointing at Fai and looking the most empty headed I've ever seen him.
"Yes!" Fai picks up, as if the two had planned this earlier and told none of us.
"We'd like to feature your town in our book, as my assistant said. This lady is my sister," He says, indicating Sakura, "This lady is her chaperone," The mage says, pointing to me.
I smile as much as I can despite the anxiety boiling in my stomach.
"And this man," He says, gesturing to Kurogane, "Is our hired help."
The warrior is not pleased with Fai's designation of him but keeps his mouth shut, jaw clenched tightly.
"Stop right there!" Cries out another voice.
Footsteps come running from behind the men in front of us and several of them move aside, other jostled as someone pushes through them to stand between us and the bulk of the people.
He is somewhat short, though still taller than me, and immaculately dressed compared to the other townsfolk. There's a bag in his right hand, round and clasped shut by two bars at the top.
There is no tension in his shoulders as he faces the guns, arms outstretched.
"How dare you point your guns at innocent travellers?" He shouts.
Several men shuffle around, trying to keep their guns on us despite the man in the way.
Fai's horse, extremely calm given everything that is happening, leans down to chew at the bottom of the man's long coat.
"But doctor!" One of the crowd cries as the man whisks his clothes away from Fai's horse, "At a time like this letting outsiders in-" He continues, faceless among the many.
"That's precisely why we should not point guns at them!" The doctor emphasises, "How could travellers have anything to do with problems we've been facing before they got here?" He asks.
"They said they were writing a book so that means they'll be doing some research. Maybe that means they'll be able to find our missing children!" The doctor says to the men around us.
Several shift awkwardly but just as many remain unmoved and it keeps those hopeful few in place. A few people murmur and it's enough that the doctor turns to face us.
"Please forgive us for our welcome. Welcome to Spirit, travellers. I am the town's doctor, Kyle Rondart. I have a large house at the edge of town. You can stay with me while you research." He tells us. His face is pretty, soft and gentle.
"Follow me?" He asks, gesturing for us to come with him with a delicate gloved hand.
The crowd parts for him and, begrudgingly, for our horses.
I don't think they'll make our time here easy.
It isn't far to the outskirts of such a small village but we are quiet the whole way, feeling the hostile stares on our backs.
We put the horses in a small stable tucked around the side of the biggest house I've spotted in the town so far. Each is put away into its own little box with food and water and a blanket. At the far end are a few other horses, waiting in their compartments patiently.
As we walk back through the garden to the front door Kyle juggles a large ring of keys with a lantern, lit in the stables, to combat the dying light.
"I'll make some tea in a second. You must have travelled quite a way to get here." He says, slotting the key into the lock and turning it until it thunks loudly.
We wait awkwardly in a large open living room while the doctor disappears into another room, coat hung near the door on an ornate stand.
The fire burns hot in the grate, enough than we all gradually take off our coats and place them on the stand too, but little otherwise can be said for the room, bare except for a rug, a coffee table, a sofa and a spartan chandelier hung above us.
I stand close to the fire, relieved by the warmth.
It feels unhomely and unlived in. It's no surprise when his answer to Fai's called out question of whether he lives with anyone is that he does not.
Mokona emerges from Kurogane's clothes, much to the man's relief, and sits on the table. They're glad to be out, despite having apparently been napping for most of the journey, and make up for lost time teasing Kurogane immediately about him being warm and comfortable to sleep on.
Before it can escalate too far and Kyle finds out about Mokona I cut in.
"Mokona-san, can you feel a feather here?" I ask.
The small creature hums, turning to face me and instantly becoming still as they focus. Kurogane still bristles with carefully restrained anger, stomping over to the fireplace just to be a bit further away.
"Mokona feels a feather that way." The mokona says, pointing further out of the town, out the side of the house.
Syaoran straightens up a little, fists raising as if he's going to run outside right now to get the feather back.
"Do you think it's far, Mokona-san?" He asks.
Fai puts a hand on his shoulder, chuckling a little.
"Why don't we wait until the morning, hm? It's only going to get colder and Kyle-san is making us some food." The mage says, "Sakura will wait until then. Won't you, Sakura-chan?" He asks.
The girl nods sleepily, doll-like in the many layers of frills and with her eyes drifting closed.
"I'll be just fine." She murmurs.
Mokona hops over to sit by her head, stretching either way to observe her face.
"Sakura-chan is sleepy!" They declare as if it were a revelation.
Syaoran inexplicably blushes at this but sits down again, beside the girl and nods.
"Ah- yes- we can wait."
We hear Kyle coming luckily and Mokona scampers under the layers of Sakura's dress as she blinks back to being barely awake.
"I'm sorry about the villagers." He says, walking slowly so he doesn't spill the mugs on his tray, "They're just worried for their children. They don't really mean it." The doctor tells us.
"They did point guns at us." I point out and the man cringes in response as he bends to over a drink to the princess.
"Ah- I'm sure that they wouldn't have done it." He says awkwardly.
I hear Kurogane snort under his breath and can't help but smile a little, taking my own cup on its small plate carefully.
There's silence as the man finishes serving tea.
Fai grins out of nowhere, perching on the edge of the couch.
"Thank you for letting us stay." The magician offers.
Kyle takes it gladly.
"Don't worry about that. I have more rooms than I could use. This place used to be an inn." He reassures Fai.
The door bursts open with a force that makes me jump.
"What is this supposed to mean, doctor!" Shouts an angry man with a thin moustache. His clothes are ruffled, trimmed with gold and the black cane in his left hand shines. An older man follows, back hunched slightly.
"Are you mad? Inviting wandering strangers into your house at a time like this?" He continues, brows deeply furrowed.
The man following him reaches uselessly for his shoulder, not touching him.
"Please calm down, Grosum-san." He asks, voice wheezing,
The taller man starts to advance on the doctor.
"How can I be calm in a situation like this?" He asks, "We haven't found a single child!"
"That's exactly why I took them in." The doctor says, completely unclear.
I look to Kurogane who lifts one eyebrow back at me, arms crossed.
"These people have been investigating myths and legends across the land. They must have so much insight into these kinds of things." The man says, continuing to be extremely vague.
The other man clearly thinks so too, casting a disparaging eye over all of us.
"A group of useless travellers from who knows where? What could these people possibly know?" He shouts, glaring at the doctor as he points over at us.
"I'll show you useless." Kurogane sneers under his breath, folding his arms but doing nothing otherwise.
"They could know things that no one who lives here knows." Kyle challenges him, as if that were not obvious.
The man grits his teeth but appears to think it through.
I can see us getting ran out of the village or being put in some kind of confinement in the seconds we wait for him to respond.
"After everything that's happened here whatever they could know it would be too late." He growls and then storms off.
I can't help but stare after him in disbelief.