Fragile Snow

Disclosure

Another fresh snowstorm was thrashing Narshe with torrents of ice and snowflakes. Yes, it looked exciting and pretty as Terra said, but it meant that they were stuck in their little house until it was over. Locke was glad that he had gone hunting the day before the storm fell upon the town. They had fresh venison to eat. And they had plenty of potatoes hoarded in their pantry. It was one of the main foods the people of Narshe used to grow and stock up on before the world was ripped apart. They still puzzled over why many of the citizens disappeared though.

The scholars in the library near the main gates of the town remained and so did the old man who owned the armory. He had told him and Terra that he and his family had lived in Narshe for far too many generations. It was his home and the home of his ancestors. He felt too much pride in being Nashean to leave his life behind.

They all shared what was left of the harvest crops the townspeople planted the summer before where the mild weathered valleys lay at the foot of the mountains.

Locke thought about food a lot lately. The winter months always made him anxious. He was glad that he just had himself and Terra to worry about feeding.

He glared at the gusts of snow pummeling the window above the wood stove as he stirred the broth around in the pot he'd started preparing that morning. If the snow let up, then they could go search around for some cornmeal or flour so they could try to bake something. At least they never ran out of water.

Floorboards creaked and Terra's whispery voice came from nearby, "Hey there."

He turned, still stirring, and smiled, "Hey, think we'll catch some music on the radio today?" She was wearing one of his blue bandanas as a ribbon to tie up her ponytail again.

"Maybe, I'll set it up in a bit," Terra took a seat at the table facing him and sat their magicite on the placemat in front of her. They only had four, but he was glad they had any at all. Before, he could hardly figure out which esper resided in which magicite, but now he could tell just by the size alone. She ran her fingers across the shards one by one, eyelids low, "Anybody able to tell us how long the storm will last?"

Smoke from the nearest candle darkened and swirled in the air and moved to hover above the table. Locke's eyebrows rose. A few sparks jumped out of Siren and rose to mix with the smoke. Terra's eyes followed the sparks and she seemed to consider them for a moment before nodding.

"Two more nights?" They flared as if in answer, and Terra nodded again.

The smoke and sparkles dissipated, and Terra looked at Locke, green eyes glowing with that extra tinge that came from her magic, "There's our weather forecast!"

He'd dropped his spoon in the pot during his slack-jawed stupor, "Since when can you do that?" He grabbed a fork off the counter and went back to the pot to try to fish his spoon out without burning himself.

She giggled, "I've been experimenting."

He plopped his spoon on the stove successfully and grabbed the seat opposite Terra. The broth could wait.

"Can you teach me how to do it too?" Locke hoped that the trick wasn't an esper only kinda thing. He wasn't the best with spells, but it'd be neat if he could talk to them!

"Okay, which magicite do you feel energy strongest from?"

Damn. They didn't have Ramuh.

Locke bit the inside of his cheek and looked down at the magicite in front of them. And of course, the question made all of the tingles from magic disappear completely. Then again, maybe he was imagining being able to feel magic too.

With a quick glance up at Terra, Locke gingerly touched the magicite for Kirin, who had gnarled golden horns encircling the blood red core. Nothing. No weird tingles or tugs from the stone.

He tried to calm his mind and focus like she guided him in the past. Breathe deep, let the world fall away from his senses until it was just him and the magicite.

Still nothing.

He had the same luck with Siren and Shiva. The espers weren't allowing him to feel any energy despite asking several different ways in his head. He let out a long breath through his nose. Terra smiled sympathetically at him.

"Only one left to try," she grabbed his hand and placed it lightly on top of Maduin and didn't let go. "Think of something you really want to know the answer to and nothing else?"

The suggestion threw his focus out the window. Oodles of thoughts raced around in his mind, like whether dinner would be good, or if they had enough wood for the fireplace, or if they needed to gather more blankets, or if Kefka would ever find them in Narshe.

Locke sighed, shoulders slumped, "Ter, I don't think it's going to work," but suddenly a flame whispered up from their hands and flickered at him. It wasn't like a regular fire spell. It wasn't putting out any heat.

"There is a box of tea Terra enjoys at the inn." The voice was barely there. He was surprised he could hear it at all.

He blinked. "Huh?"

"Get her that tea if you want to make her happy."

The flame flashed brightly and went out with a puff of smoke.

Terra smiled, "What did he say?" Her fingers curled tighter around his hand, always eager to learn more from the espers.

"Heh, just where to find something special is all," he gave her a slanted grin. He needed to figure out a good time to slip away and go to the inn when she's too busy to notice. The inn was only a street over, so maybe he could make the short trip later that evening.

Her voice snapped him out of his planning, "Locke, the broth is boiling over!"

A/N: The idea for this popped into my head during work last week and I just HAD to write it! Thanks for reading! :D