"Where are we actually heading?"
Out across the vast, unbroken snowfield, FrostNova watched the group ahead of her trudge forward through the drifts. Intrigued by their erratic path, she finally voiced her curiosity.
Truth be told, she had originally slipped away from the staging ground to escape her own subordinates. The Yeti squad members were the sort of scoundrels who would nod submissively during a lecture and immediately cook up a new prank the moment her back was turned; punishing them a dozen times did nothing to curb their energy.
But observing the route they were charting now, FrostNova was entirely at a loss. She couldn't deduce the purpose of this sudden winter march.
"Where are we going? Don't ask me!" Talulah replied, turning her head slightly. "Jeanne suddenly announced she was leading us to a specific destination, but looking at her expression, I doubt she even recognizes these landmarks herself!"
Talulah was highly perceptive; she had already caught the subtle hesitation in Jeanne's gaze as the saint scanned the ridges. It was blindingly obvious that her companion was navigating this terrain for the very first time.
"A first-time journey... If I didn't trust Jeanne implicitly, I would suspect you brought me out into the barrens to quietly dispose of me," FrostNova remarked, marveling at the young saint's sheer audacity. Leading a party into completely uncharted territory during a winter freeze required an incredibly thick skin.
Then again, whenever you traveled alongside this particular circle, bizarre occurrences became the standard.
"Have faith! With Jeanne leading the march, we have nothing to fear," Talulah chuckled. "Her tracking instincts are so sharp that even a bloodhound from the imperial guard would look clumsy by comparison."
"True enough," Alina agreed with a quiet smile.
"I can hear you two back there!" Jeanne snapped, puffing her cheeks out in irritation. "How dare you compare my navigation to a common hound!"
Alina merely watched the playful bickering with the patient, maternal warmth of a schoolteacher, keeping a firm grip on Fafnir's hand. While she hadn't been told the destination, she had already deduced Jeanne's true intentions.
In fact, Talulah had likely guessed the secret as well. The Draco had deliberately chosen a set of fresh civilian attire for the day rather than her standard combat tunic; her feigned ignorance was merely a shield to hide the nervous fluttering in her chest.
Among the travelers, only young Fafnir and FrostNova remained entirely in the dark. The Cautus warrior genuinely believed this was a simple afternoon excursion to escape the barracks.
However, the distant shadows trailing behind them suggested the outing wouldn't remain private for long. The Yeti squad was far too inquisitive to let their captain slip away without investigation. Predictably, a small scouting party had formed to shadow their movements from afar.
The trackers maintained a cautious distance, darting between the frost-laden pines to avoid catching Jeanne's eye. The thrill of the clandestine mission had their hearts pounding.
"Are you certain this is safe? If Big Sis spots us, we are going to burn in her frost arts!"
"Quiet! If you are afraid, turn back now. We are technically acting as an independent vanguard to guarantee our leader's safety. We can easily use that as an official excuse if we are caught."
"Can you say that with a straight face? Have you no sense of shame whatsoever?"
The bickering ceased abruptly when Big Bear reached out to steady himself against a pine trunk. His leather glove brushed against a peculiar indentation in the bark. Looking closer, he discovered a pair of distinct charred markings scorched into the wood.
It was a primitive signal from their own manual: Keep up.
The scouts froze. They couldn't tell if Jeanne or Talulah had left the scorching, but one reality was undeniably clear—their stealth had been compromised from the very beginning.
"Save your breath," Big Bear muttered grimly. "It is far too late to beat a retreat now. If we abandon the trail, the reception waiting for us back at the tents will be far worse than a standard lecture."
He pointed toward the scorched bark, and the remaining trackers instantly fell silent, quietly cursing whatever slip-up had given away their presence.
The party continued their march, the sun climbing from the morning horizon until it hung high in the midday sky. Finally, the stark white of the snowfield was broken by thin, twisting ribbons of grey smoke rising in the distance. A small settlement lay nestled in the valley ahead.
FrostNova immediately recognized the village as their final destination. Still, she couldn't comprehend why they were visiting a random homestead. Was there a rogue faction to suppress, or some lingering supply matter to resolve?
The moment the smoke columns came into view, the lighthearted banter vanished from the front of the line. Talulah, Jeanne, and Alina grew remarkably solemn, pressing forward in absolute silence.
"Jeanne... is this the place?" Talulah asked, her voice trembling slightly as they drew closer to the perimeter fences. It was a rhetorical question, yet she needed the reassurance.
"Of course it is," Jeanne replied with a confident nod, attempting to ease the palpable tension. "My direction is never flawed. Unless... well, there are no uncalculated variables here!"
The brief hesitation in Jeanne's voice didn't help; the sudden pause made both Talulah and Alina catch their breath, a brief flicker of uncertainty dancing in their eyes.
"Halt! Who goes there? Our gates are currently barred to outsiders... Jeanne? Wait, how did the three of you trace your way back here?"
Before the group could cross the threshold of the lanes, a weathered figure emerged from behind a low snowdrift, brandishing a heavy iron spade like a makeshift weapon.
It was an elderly Ursus villager, his hair completely silvered by the harsh northern winters. He leveled the tool at the newcomers with intense suspicion, but the moment his vision cleared and he recognized the faces, his defensive posture softened.
"It has been a long time, Elder," Jeanne called out warmly.
The old man was none other than the headman of the tiny settlement where they had spent their earliest days, making their purpose here beautifully transparent.
"Merciful heavens... it truly is you children," the headman gasped, his face lighting up with genuine emotion. "You look remarkably healthy! The old couple has been fussing over your absence for months. I kept telling them that with the raw talent you three possess, you would easily carve out a good life for yourselves in the wilderness..."
Seeing the girls safe and prosperous brought an undeniable wave of relief to the old leader's heart. They had been deeply cherished during their stay in his village, right up until the tragic events that had forced their sudden departure.
"But... this little one..." The old man's gaze drifted down to Fafnir, who was clutching Alina's skirt, before snapping over to Talulah's flushing face. His train of thought stalled completely.
Watching the old man's jaw drop, Jeanne felt a phantom line of sweat roll down the back of her neck, while Talulah leveled a murderous glare in her direction, clearly wishing she could vanish into the snowdrifts.
"Good day, Elder. I am Yelena, a companion of Jeanne and Talulah," FrostNova interjected smoothly, steping forward with a polite smile to salvage the interaction.
She quickly put the pieces together. This hidden valley was the sanctuary where the trio had found shelter prior to founding their movement; meaning this was the soil that had raised Alina.
"Ah... greetings, young lady," the headman blinked, recovering his manners. Years of governing his people allowed him to recognize that this white-haired warrior was a figure of tremendous authority. "I must say, I never anticipated Talulah possessed the social grace to expand her circle of friends."
"What is that supposed to mean? Your assessment of my character is downright slanderous, Elder!" Talulah huffed, her pride wounded.
"Yes, the weather has been splendid indeed! My joints haven't ached once this week!" The old man chuckled, pretending not to hear her sharp retort and changed the subject. He assumed she was offering a polite blessing and nodded in satisfaction.
"Very well, do not waste your breath conversing with a withered skeleton like me," the headman waved his hand, stepping aside from the path. "Your true business lies further down the lane. The old couple has spent many an evening staring at the horizon, wishing for your return."
With their hearts pounding at the prospect of the impending reunion, the girls didn't even stop to explain Fafnir's draconic heritage to the gossipy elder. They hurried past his post, their boots crunching rapidly against the packed snow of the village lanes.
"My word... To think Talulah returned with a child in tow," the old man muttered to himself, scratching his chin as he watched their departing figures. "The girl isn't nearly old enough to have birthed a youngster of that size, though. Could her father have gifted her a younger sister out of nowhere?"
Had Talulah overheard his solitary musings, she would have sprinted back to correct the record instantly, knowing the old headman possessed a notoriously loud mouth among the neighboring valleys.
But the trio was already moving at a breakneck pace. FrostNova had to quicken her stride just to keep up, while Fafnir's short legs were practically forced into a full sprint to maintain her grip on Alina's hand.
Finally, they halted before a modest, weathered timber cottage. Sitting on the porch was a familiar, elderly woman. Her gaze drifted over the five approaching travelers, and she froze mid-motion.
For several heartbeats, the old grandmother simply stared, as if refusing to trust her own failing eyesight. Before Jeanne could even form a greeting, the elderly woman bolted out of her chair and scurried back inside the cottage, slamming the heavy wooden door shut.
The sudden retreat left Talulah and the others completely bewildered. Then, through the thin timber walls, a frantic, echoing shout shattered the silence of the lane.
"Old man! Get out of bed this instant! My senses are finally starting to fail! I could swear I just saw Jeanne and the girls standing in our lane, and they've brought a young child to see us! Hurry, tell me if I've contracted a fever!"
The five figures waiting outside: "..."