Hiraeth

Chapter One

<---Amaka--->

I felt the colorless snow softly crunch beneath my boots with each step I took. The wind bit at my skin despite my thick fur coat. I had been walking for almost a year. I left home when I was around sixteen. I'm not sure what I'm walking for anymore.

Originally I was searching for towns or even just people. However, I'm starting to doubt the reliability of the stories I was told as a child. Some said that humans were real and some contradicted that. I guess there must be some truth to it, as I myself am a human. Though I was raised by snow yetis so I've never actually met another human. I was told my mother died during my birth.

I didn't realize travelling through the snow would be so dangerous. I've been walking for so long yet the snow just never seemed to end. I spend my nights huddled in a pile of furs next to a small campfire. Fire has always fascinated me. How can something so hot exist in the same area as something so cold as snow and ice?

Perhaps the biggest issue was my passivity. I struggle to find food as I absolutely hate to kill and eat the native animals. You would assume I would be fine, but I never even had to skin animals till now. Raw food had been provided by the snow monsters and I would only have to cook it. I mostly gathered berries and wild-grown fruits and vegetables, with the exception of a rabbit on rare occasions when plants were scarce. Despite the fact that I'm looking for humans I am scared that I will not know how to talk to them. I do not know what language they speak or how they act.

I had grown up never having a friend. I heard a lot of stories about the humans from the snow monsters. Some stories said they were creative and built big towns with everything you could ever want. However, the majority of the stories depicted them as vile and destructive beings. Originally I had believed the first story, yet now I was starting to doubt their existence at all.

At first, I had started going in just one direction so that I would know which way home was. Except then I had to start taking turns and now I fear that I have strayed too far to be able to turn around. That's why I haven't turned around and gone home in the last year, though I have considered it multiple times.

Something far off on the horizon caught my eye. The snow seemed to just drop off. Maybe it was the end of the snow. Excitement filled my body. This was it. This was what I had walked all this way for. I started running towards the drop, my mind imagining all of the different wonderful things that could be hiding behind the snow. I saw something else through. I skidded to a halt and observed the distance. It looked blue. I took cautious steps towards an edge and carefully peered over the edge of the cliff.

I saw what appeared to be water.

I had heard about this thing before in stories. It was an ocean. It seemed to go on forever. I felt crushed. There was no way I could cross that water. I'm starting to believe that maybe only snow exists at all. I moved away from the edge. This had been a mistake. I never should have left at all. I turned around, disheartened and disappointed as I started to walk the way I came from.

That's when I heard a low rumble echo through the landscape until it reached my ears.

<---Taffeta--->

I was playing a fun round of hide and seek with my little sisters. All 13 of them.

They were hiding all around the long strands of kelp. I could see Marina further down near that long strand of seaweed, towards the seabed. She was making high pitched humming noises, and in response started to chase. She made a squeal and swam. We were weaving in and out of the seaweed as fast as we could go, unfortunately for her, I was faster, and grabbed onto her tight. We both squealed as she tried to wrestle out of my grip, eventually giving up and hugging me.