The Bird and the Garden 3: The Final Adventure

Chapter 19: Red Snow

The snow fell as it always did, caking the streets of the city in a frigid white powder. The tall, muscular and tomboyish elf was counting the contents of her wallet, a bag of groceries dangling from her wrist.

"Блин... ненавижу эту экономику," Sasha muttered. After eight years of living in Alida again, she had returned to her native language.

Nevertheless, she tossed her wallet back into the pockets of her trousers, her boots crunching against the snow. In the streets, drunk elves lounged about, some participating in street gambling. One of them waved, catching her attention. "Здравствуй, Саша!" He called.

"Привет," Sasha greeted back. She approached the elf, staring down at him. "Что ты делаешь?"

"Пьет водку. Она была со скидкой," he replied. "Хочешь немного?"

"Да спасибо."

Sasha took the bottle of vodka from his outstretched hand, twisting off the cap and taking a sip. Her house was coming into view. As she trotted up the driveway, she took another sip. Knowing her brother, he'd be upset if she drank it all. Things weren't cheap. She pushed her way inside, spotting Nikita stoking a fire. He looked up when he heard her, his green eyes locking onto hers.

"Ты принес еду?"

"И водка. Здесь."

Sasha tossed him the bottle, leaving Nikita to drink away. She had forgotten how terrible it was to live in Aldia. The currency was hard to come by, and they were practically in poverty. The biggest source of income was from Nikita and Sasha being in the guard. Most of their time was spent drinking, though. Not many travellers came to Aldia. Not just because of the snow, but because it was filled with elves. Occasionally, a human adventurer would stop for supplies, pick a fight with a former slave, then get the snot kicked out of them by a pissed off drunk who was waiting to die.

She sighed, cutting up a beet for stew, listening to Nikita hum a soft tune to himself as the fire began to crackle. The warmth of the flame heated up the cold house, and served as the place they cooked their food. Sasha threw the vegetables into the cast iron pot, setting it above the fire.

Aldia wasn't a very nice place to live. Not only did the city own everything they had, but owned their wealth, too. This made it hard to afford much food, so they usually ate what they could. Beet stew was considered a cuisine here. They had the Church to thank for that. Whereas human cities had a mix of theocracy and monarchy, Aldia was stuck in communism, led by a human. Luckily, the human leading them, James Ironwood, tried to give them as much freedom as he could get away with. He only took their money when the Church grew upset. Sasha knew he wasn't a bad guy, just a guy stuck in a bad position.

Sasha partially regretted coming back to her homeland, but having her brother with her made it a bit easier. When she lived alone, it was more difficult to afford even firewood, leaving her to cut down trees herself. Now she had someone to cut trees with. Picking up her sickle, she glanced back at Nikita.

"... Я иду на ферму. Я вернусь."

"Отлично. Возвращайся скорее."

Sasha sighed as she took a bottle of vodka, gulping down half of it as she stepped into the snow. With how cold it was, it was very difficult to grow crops, and the cold made it difficult to stay out for too long. But with alcohol to warm her up, she could manage with the few crops they had.

As she slashed away, she groaned. She'd definitely be visiting Oobleck's bar tonight.

...

The bitter wind swept over the adventurers, the snowy mountaintops coming into view. The horses hooves clopped against the stony ground, the steeds huffing in the growing cold.