Snow only stopped running when he reached the old, wooden bridge, his breath catching in his chest. It was exactly like he remembered it, as if, contrary to the rest of the village, time had stopped there. And so he couldn't help hesitate before he gathered enough courage to go down to the riverbank.
For years he had tried to force himself to believe that maybe that woman had lied, maybe Sand wasn't really gone after all. And maybe, just maybe, if he managed to survive long enough, if he manage to escape and find his way back home, she'd still be there, waiting for him, waiting for his return.
Sliding down steep slope, he stumbled on the small pebbles and almost fell on his hands.
Once down there, all he could hear was the roaring sound of the river, as it rushed under the bridge. Back when he'd been a child the sound had been so familiar that he hadn't paid it much attention. Now, however, he found it so loud that he couldn't help wonder how they'd been able to sleep for so many years right next to it. And yet, even though everything looked exactly the same, as he looked under the bridge, there was nothing there, nothing that even remotely resembled what had been their home.
Slowly walking closer, he could see a few pieces of wood, the rest of wall made of clay and straw, things that might have belonged to their small shack. Things that might as well been left there by someone else, or dragged there by the river, years after he'd left the village.
There was nothing left, he concluded, feeling suddenly empty, scanning the ground for something familiar, something that would tell him where they had laid to sleep, where they had sat to eat.
His wandering gaze was caught by a round rock sticking out from the ground and, without a second thought, he quickly ran to it, eagerly digging the dirt around it, until he could finally dig up the rest of the rock. And there it was, lying beneath that rock, the only proof that he had actually lived there.
Snow could hardly believe it. His hands shaking, he reached out to gently grab the small object wrapped in a piece of old cloth. The moment he touched it, the rotten fabric immediately disintegrated into small pieces beneath his fingers. But the small object inside it glistened like a bright, hidden treasure.
Holding it in his hands, Snow couldn't help smile, tears filling his eyes. Reflecting the light of the sun, the small hairpin looked even more beautiful than he remembered. Made of a sky-blue metal that Snow was certain to be considerably expensive, it had been crafted in the shape of an elegant, curved feather.
Looking at it, he remembered that he had been beyond himself with happiness, when he'd been given that precious little thing. It was supposed to feed him for many days, his benefactor had told him. But he had immediately decided that he would not sell it. He had wanted to give it to Sand, had wanted to see her wear it on her beautiful dark hair. He had been sure that if she were to wear something as beautiful as that, she'd certainly look like a perfect lady, and the people in the village wouldn't mock her anymore. And so he had anxiously waited for her return, waited to give her his present. But she hadn't returned. And so, before he left to look for her, afraid someone might steal it from him, he had buried it there, choosing the heaviest rock he could carry to mark that precious place.
Now, even though he still found it innocently beautiful, that small blue hairpin no longer seemed as amazing as it had been, when beheld by the eyes of the child he had been. Because, since then, he had seen many others, much richer hairpins than that one, embellishing the long hairs of the distinguished men and women that had paid for his services.
"Hi there!"
Jumping to his feet, Snow spun around, instinctively hiding his treasure behind his back, reading himself to run for his life.
The boy that had greeted him smiled, a wide smile that somehow failed to reach his black eyes, and the little girl he held by one hand at his side waved happily at him.
"No need to be scared. We mean you no harm," the boy told him but, even so, Snow took a precautionary step back. "My name is RyuXin, but you can call me Xin. It's what everyone calls me anyway. And this is my youngest sister, RimJan."
"You can call me Rim, or RimRim," she instructed, tilting her nose up with an all-important expression on her doll-like face, and Snow looked from one to the other.
The boy looked to be a bit older than him, Snow quickly guessed, but the little girl was probably around five or six years of age. They were both dressed in simple but clean and comfortable-looking clothes. And, even though they had both introduced themselves with noble names, they both had black hair and black eyes. Which was kind of confusing, he thought, recalling MenTar's lessons about how people were named.
Names in the sacred language were only granted to children of noble birth, and nobles normally had either lighter shades of hair, like blond or red, or different eye colors, like blue or green. Like ZenTar and MenTar with their green eye color, or ZaiWin with his blue eyes. Some even had both, like VinWei with her blond hair and purplish eyes. Black or brown were normally physical traits that marked people of common birth, like HawkEye and BigMountain. MenTar had even told him that, in some noble houses, when a child was born with one of those common traits, they would be given to one of the servants, to be raised as one of their own.
Also, no matter how much he looked at them, they were hardly dressed like nobles, their clothes too simple, their hair unadorned, no jewelry or shiny accessories to be seen anywhere.
"What's your name?" the little girl asked, looking genuinely curious, and Snow frowned but still answered.
"Snow …"
"Only Snow?"
He nodded, by now too used to that question.
"Don't worry. We can give him a decent name, later on," the boy declared and Snow took another step back.
"What do you want …?" he asked, now really suspicious, and the boy smiled again.
"We came to pick you up," he openly declared and the little girl scowled at her brother.
"Please don't say it like that! You're only going to scare him!"
"Oh, I'm sorry," the boy quickly replied with an urgent expression on his face. "It was never my intention to scare you. Like I said, there's nothing to be afraid of. After all, you are also one of our brothers."
"Brother …?" he repeated and the little girl gave him a huge, enthusiastic smile.
"That's right! Xin, and me, and you. We're all the same."
Squeezing the hairpin he still held in his hand, Snow quickly decided that it was time to get out of there as fast as he could!
"He doesn't believe us," the little girl declared with a heartbreaking pout and, before his stunned eyes, she started to untie the cloak wrapped around her small shoulders, quickly unbuttoning the simply, plain dress she wore. "Wait. I'll show you."
Turning around, she pulled the top part of her dress down all the way to her waist, and shivered when the cold wind touched her bare skin. And yet, all that Snow could see was the beautiful pair of wings, drawn with delicate swirls on her small back.
Mesmerized, taking a few steps closer as if to see them better, he couldn't help stare in disbelief.
ZaiWin had told him that his markings were pearly white. ZenTar's and MenTar's were as white as snow, while VinWei's had been a beautiful pale-blue color. The markings on the little girl's back were a deep dark-blue, almost black, but they were still the most beautiful markings he had ever seen.
"I also have them," RyuXin declared with a proud grin and RimJan shivered again, pulling her clothes back up.
"It's really cold," she complained and RyuXin patiently helped her button her dress.
"You are … Celestials …?"
"Well, some people do call us that, I suppose." RyuXin shrugged.
Snow frowned. If they were Celestials, where were the supposedly golden hair and golden eyes? Worse! RyuXin was obviously a boy!, wasn't he?
"You seem confused," RyuXin pointed out while RimJan rubbed her small arms trying to warm up.
"I was told … that Celestials are suppose to have … certain physical traits," he carefully tried to explain, not wanting to somehow offend them, and RyuXin laughed as if he'd just heard the most hilarious joke.
"That coming from you? Aren't you a Celestial as well?"
"Yes, but …"
Weren't all the problems he had faced so far exactly because he didn't look the way he was supposed to look? Had ZaiWin and the others lied to him? But why would they lie about something like that? It wasn't as if they needed to make up excuses to get rid of him. They didn't have to lie, they could just bury him on the side of the road and be done with it.
"You're talking about the golden haired, golden eyed ones, right?" RyuXin asked, interrupting his thoughts. "They're Celestials as well, I suppose. It's just that they're not the only ones."
"Not the only ones …?"
"That's right. You and I, we are more than enough proof of that, wouldn't you agree?"
"We have been searching for you for a long time," RimJan declared with a hopeful look. "Even from before I was born."
"We …? Are there more of you …?" Snow asked, trying to quickly organize his thoughts, and RyuXin smiled.
"More of us, you mean," he corrected. "And the answer is yes, there are."
Snow couldn't help stare at him in disbelief.
"Our older brother tries his best to rescue as many of us he can. Because Humans will only spare the golden ones. They will normally kill the others that, like us, look a bit different."
"Humans …" The way RyuXin said that word created an indisputable rift between Celestials and … other people.
"That's right," RyuXin went on, nodding approvingly as if Snow had just agreed with him. "Humans only want us for our power. They imprison us and exploit us, and end up killing us, when they don't murder at birth. We are sent by the Heavens to bless the land, but they are selfish, self-serving creatures that have no respect for anything.
"In the beginning they would help us and support us, but then they started taking advantage of our innocent, naive ways. Now Celestials are nothing more than slaves, there for them to parade around as a way to flaunt a power that it isn't even theirs to begin with! And so our older brothers try to learn beforehand when a Celestial is to be born, so that we can try and rescue them.
"The golden ones, they're weaker than us, they cannot survive without a bond that will connect them to the land. Thankfully Humans also tend not to harm them too much. At least they allow them to live. Unfortunately, that weakness also means that they cannot be saved. But those like you and I, we're different, we're stronger. Our older brother believes that Humans also know this. They fear our power because they know they can't control us. That's why they decided that only the golden ones can be allowed to survive. And so we try to rescue as many of our other brothers and sisters as we can."
Snow blinked, his mind spinning. But the more he looked at them the more he felt that they were being completely honest, that they truly believed what they were saying.
"A shame older brother couldn't reach your home in time …" RimJan sighed with a pained expression and RyuXin nodded in agreement.
"From what I was told, they were too late. Or else we could have been like real brothers, you an I," he added with a smile. "I was rescued just two years before you were born. Luckily you managed to kill them all before they killed you."
Snow took a step back, feeling dizzy at the sound of those words.
"I … killed them …?"
"That's right. All of them. Those despicable, ungrateful Humans!"
Images of white, pure snow covered in bright-red blood flashed in front of Snow's eyes.
"The problem was that afterwords we lost track of you. But we never gave up searching! We knew you were somewhere, out there. And then, approximately a month ago, I heard your song. You were the one who saved that village, right?"
Snow nodded automatically, suddenly to overwhelmed to be able to think clearly.
"You were really amazing!" RimJan exclaimed with a bright smile on her small lips.
"We've been tracking you since then, hoping for an opportunity to finally meet you!"
Snow didn't know what to say.
"A shame RimRim was right …" RyuXin added with a sorrowful expression. "They already tied you up, right? I can sense the unnatural restriction imposed on your inner energy. Some filthy Human has already claimed you!"
"Not completely, Xin. He is still partially free," RimJan corrected, her small face suddenly intimidatingly serious, her black eyes like dark holes, looking as if they could see beyond what normal people saw.
"It wasn't … his fault," Snow found himself arguing, feeling the need to somehow defend ZaiWin from those unfair accusations. "I was the one … Because I didn't know or understand … anything."
RyuXin sighed and shook his head.
"Of course you didn't know! Anyways, I'm sure you'll feel a lot better once you get rid of that annoying restraint."
"Get rid of it …?"
"That's right. You don't want to?"
Snow nodded without hesitation.
"But can it really be done? I was told it was close to impossible," he wondered, hopefully, and RyuXin took both hands to his waist, tilting his head with a proud expression on his face.
"That's because the stupid Humans don't understand a thing about Celestials! They only know how to use us and exploit us, and order us around! It's nothing that complicated. Though I won't lie. I hear it can be a bit painful."
Painful he could handle, Snow told himself with renewed hope. He was more than used to pain.
"If you want to, we can go there right now."
"Really?!"
"No, we can't," RimJan countered, looking up towards the beginning of bridge. "Our time is up. He'll be here at any moment now."
RyuXin followed her gaze and sighed.
"Well, you did very good, holding him back for so long," he declared, gently patting the little girl's head, and turned to face Snow's confused look. "It's RimRim's special gift. She can hide our presence. She's been hiding you from the one that has imprisoned you, but it would seem that he has finally noticed your absence."
Snow looked towards the top of the riverbank as well. Did that mean that ZaiWin would be there at any moment? Well, now that he thought about it, it was strange that he hadn't come to find him any sooner, he considered and looked back at the little girl, who was happily smiling up at him.
"There's a small cave in the forest, south from here. Meet us there, if you get the chance. If not, we will find a way to come to you again. And then we can talk some more. Is that all right?"
Snow nodded enthusiastically and RyuXin smiled.
"It's really good to finally meet you after all these years. I can't wait to take you to meet the rest of our brothers and sisters. I'm sure you'll fit right in."
"We really have to go," RimJan insisted, pulling her brother's sleeve, and RyuXin nodded.
"See you later, Snow," he told him and, before Snow's befuddled eyes, a black rift opened in the air right behind them, sending an unpleasant shiver down his back. It was as if the world itself had been torn open. And then they both simply stepped into gaping opening, as simply as if they were crossing a threshold. In the next moment they were simply gone, the tear quickly mending itself as if nothing had happened.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ah, little Snow is no longer alone 💜😒