Astrila is a normal girl in her Inuit tribe, but is left alone by her mother's death. She runs to the cliffs that overlook the sea and grieves, before she slips and falls off of the cliff into the icy sea. Something saves her, but what is it? Join h...
The hills are a decent height, but Kyma supposes that it may be from the layer of snow covering them. She can tell it's deep, she sinks into the snow to her calves most of the time. Occasionally her step sinks all the way to the spot on her thigh where the mark from when Dr. James shot her rests. When that happens, Astrila has to pull her back up again. She does it effortlessly, her dark braid barely shifting and her face remaining calm. Her skin is darker than Lyss', darker than the skin of any selkie here. Perhaps because she's part human? Kyma glances over at her enviously.
Astrila's feet barely sink into the snow enough to leave a dent. How does she do it? Even the other selkies sink a bit. Maybe not as much as her and Lyss, but to their ankles at least. Kyma struggles to the top of the hill with Astrila's help, Lyss struggling up just behind her. She shivers at the gust of wind that blows past them, looking out at all the buildings below. They are circular and made of snow bricks. She can see the whisps of snow curling up from the center of each. As they start the descent into the swath of snow houses, Kyma leans towards Astrila.
"Are these igloos?"
Astrila's expression is scandalized. "That is not how you say it."
Kyma winces. "Sorry. It was in a book. How do you say it?"
"One is an iglu. More than one are igluit. Not iglus, igloos, or however you said it."
"Okay."
The group follows the King of the Selkie Community down into the village, where he stops before a pair of igluit. One is smaller than the other, but it's tucked in close to it. The King's igluit, perhaps? He smiles at Kyma and Lyss, then looks to Astrila.
"Would you-"
She cuts him off. "Of course, they can stay with us."
He inclines his head to her and Kyma frowns slightly at Astrila. "Thank you."
Astrila's eyes widen and she shakes her head at Kyma as she leads them away from the igluit pair. "Oh, no. Don't thank me."
"Why?"
"Inuit share things freely. If someone needs something, we provide it without question. You needed a place to stay, so I provided it."
Kyma frowns. "Do all the selkies do that, or just you?'
Kōri answers Kyma before Astrila can. "All of us. It's a manner we picked up from the nearby Inuit settlements."
Kyma nods and loos around the iglu as they duck inside. It's relatively sparse compared to homes in the human world, but about the same as those in the merrow kingdom. There is a basket with some furs poking out of it beneath the lid and two more covered baskets beside it. There are some furs lying across a raised portion of the skin-covered floor, against the wall. A fire sits in the center of the room, it's flames dying down to embers. Kyma watches as Astrila takes a chunk of something and tosses it onto the flames. They crackle and flare. It must have been a fuel of some kind. Not wood though, they're too far north for that. Someone else ducks into the iglu, a girl. She is carrying another basket in her arms, this one also of pelts. She smiles at Astrila and lifts the basket up.
"I heard you were hosting our guests. I brought these."
Astrila smiles back at her. "Thank you, Ainsley."
"Of course." The girl looks over at Kyma and her eyes widen. "I thought you were part of the iglu! Are you made of snow?"
Kyma flushes and shakes her head. "No, I'm albino."
Kōri frowns. "What does that mean?"
"I don't have any pigmentation in my skin or my hair. I have less in my eyes . . . or at least, I thought that was what it was. But merrows only have green or blue eyes anyway, so perhaps not."
They nod and Ainsley ducks out again, her task done. They sit in silence for a few moments before Astrila crosses the room to grab one of the baskets sitting against the wall. She brings it back over to them and uncovers it to reveal what looks like chunks of raw meat. She plucks one out and starts to nibble on it. Cautiously, Kyma reaches in to pick up one herself. It is pale and slightly squishy. She frowns at it.
"What is this?"
Astrila looks up briefly. "Seal blubber." She laughs at Kyma's expression. "Yes, we eat seals. Go on, try it."
Kyma takes a tentative bite. It's creamy and tastes distinctively of fish. But it's not bad, just strange. Astrila hums, causing Kyma to look at her. Astrila smiles.
"Why exactly did you come here?"
Kyma's eyes flicker down to the ground. "My mother told me of the selkies and I found the stories fascinating. So I wanted to see for myself. There was something else though . . ."
"What?"
Kyma glances at Lyss. She hadn't even told her mother this, but Lyss had pried it out of her on the way north. "I was told to come here, to find something and then go to the old land."
Astrila sits up, her interest piqued. "Were those the exact words?"
"No, they were more cryptic."
"Tell me, I've been having some encounters like that recently as well."
Kyma nods and swallows nervously before reciting the message Cenana had given her back in the merrow kingdom, as it was written in her book. "Go north and do what must be done. Take the starlit snow to the old lands and right an ancient wrong."
Astrila's hand freezes in the midst of carrying a chunk of food up to her mouth. Her eyes are wide. "What did you say?"
"Go north and do what must be done. Take the starlit snow to the old lands and right an ancient wrong."
Astrila's voice is quiet, almost a whisper as she breathes out, "Starlit snow."
Kyma frowns at Astrila's panicked expression. "What is it, what's wrong?"
"I'm the starlit snow."
Kyma inhales sharply. "What do you mean? How?"
Astrila's voice is shaky. "That's what my name means. Starlit snow." She turns to look at Kōri. His eyes are wide and worried. Astrila's voice is commanding, leaving no room for argument. "You're taking us back to the history cave in the morning. You saw this, didn't you?"
He doesn't answer, he just nods mutely. ________________________________________________________________________________ Dun dun dun! Who expected Astrila to be the starlit snow? What do you think is happening when they go back to the history cave? Tell me your thoughts!
Here's a picture of Astrila and Kyma for you guys!
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