“Your hands seem fine,” Blanc muttered as he checked her wounds, “Only the skin opened, no bones seem to have shattered.”
“That’s good,” said Celine, looking down at the bloody wounds on her hands.
She opened her mouth to speak further, but was pulled into a hug by Blanc before she could speak.
“Thank the Vita, you are fine,” Blanc sighed.
“Of course I am, Blanc. I have you all to save ,” she returned the hug, her fists bleeding, “Never doubted for a second.”
Blanc pulled away from the hug, a warm smile on his lips, “Let’s bandage your hands and have you get dressed.”
To which Celine nodded, but as she removed her bag and turned to grab so clothes, a teary-eyed Miyanna stood in front of her.
“You almost fell,” Miyanna said.
“Yes,” Celine nodded, “But I did not.”
“How are your hands?” Miyanna asked, grabbing them gently.
“Nothing worth ntioning, thanks to you all,” Celine said, offering her a comforting smile.
To which Miyanna replied with a hug, “My heart stopped when I saw the path break. Thank the Vita, you are safe, sister.”
Celine’s eyes went wide with surprise at being called a sister by Miyanna. This was the first ti she called her that way.
But she couldn’t help but giggle, “You won’t be rid of that easily, sister.”
“I never said I did,” Miyanna muttered.
“I know,” said Celine before offering Miyanna a kiss.
“What was this about?” Miyanna asked, embarrassed, after Celine removed her lips from hers.
“I should get dressed,” Celine said with a grin as she crouched down to get so clothes.
Once she donned warm clothes and put on the jaguar and lynx pelts, she approached Kael and Lune, who were keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.
“Sister Celine,” muttered Lune as she looked to see who was approaching.
“Thank you for helping , Kael, and Lune,” Celine said, bowing lightly to the two.
“Please stop that,” Kael waved her bow off, “It’s the least we can do for you.”
“But I don’t rember doing much for you two,” Celine replied, confused.
“Not for us,” Lune whispered, looking behind Celine, only to see her older brother prepare the bandages for Celine, “But for Blanc.”
Kael nodded at Lune’s words, “Yes, he is happier now than before he t you, and Miyanna, even before all that happened with our parents and the Domain. That is reason enough for us to want to help you, sister Celine.”
Celine’s warm smile returned as she heard their words, “Know that I would do the sa for you two.”
To which the twins nodded.
With that, she turned on her heels and went back towards Blanc, who had everything prepared to tend her wounds.
“You brought it up?” Blanc asked, seeing the lynx pelt on Celine’s back.
“Does it look good?” Celine wondered, doing a spin in the snow, making the lynx’s tail move around in the wind.
“It looks wonderful on you,” Blanc replied, grabbing the waterskin from his bag.
“Hehe,” Celine giggled, moving towards Blanc, “I’ll have to thank you properly for saving later tonight, husband.”
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“Let’s tend to your wounds first,” Blanc replied, his cheeks a light crimson.
He only hoped it was from the cold and not Celine’s words.
But he slowly poured water over her wounded hands, washing the dirt and blood away before tying bandages around her hands.
“It’s done,” Blanc spoke, tying the last knot.
“Thank you, my love,” Celine said, offering him a kiss on the lips.
“Will you harvest the moose now?” asked Lune as she and Kael approached.
“I intend to, yes,” Blanc nodded.
“But, Brother,” began Kael, “Don’t you have a Black Mark for that already?”
“The Mark of the Stag, yes,” Blanc replied, “However, though a moose, which is a close relative to stags, deer, elk, and the like, in essence, they are all different, with a Mark of their own.”
“Just as jackals, dogs, and wolves. Different in food, location, climate, or size,” continued Celine.
“I see,” Kael replied, lost in thought.
“It makes sense when you put it that way,” Miyanna nodded, “But are two different types of, let’s say, wolves, the sa way?”
“No,” Blanc shook his head. “It’s believed that two different types of the sa animal are considered the sa by the Vita.”
“Which ans that it would be dangerous if you tried to harvest the wolves in this Garden, right?” Lune asked.
“Correct,” Blanc replied, going to his knees in the snow, “Even if that were not true, I don’t plan on risking it. We’ve risked enough getting here, I don’t plan on playing with the Marks themselves on things we do not comprehend fully.”
“I’ll answer their next questions, my love. You start your harvest, then let’s begin moving further in,” Celine said.
To which Blanc nodded as he placed his right hand over the headless moose’s chest, his mind going below the surface of the world.
After the harvest was complete, Blanc received the outline of a moose antler on each of his triceps as the White Mark of the Moose.
Soon, they finally began walking deeper inside, leaving the gap and the moose’s carcass behind, which, without a proper shelter to protect them and their prey, would only make them lose ti trying to defend the carcass from predators.
A pity, but one that was required of them to travel safely, especially in this new Garden.
And only after all that was over, did they begin taking in the new sights of the taiga, as well as its harsh nature.
The taiga was covered by a coniferous forest of large evergreen trees that towered over most of the sky, with empty patches here and there that showed the sky of the outside world.
The Gardens, though open to the outside world from above, which allowed the sun’s rays and the moon’s light to shine inside the Gardens, did not affect the Gardens themselves.
Though outside the Gardens was spring and the sun shone brightly, the sun rays did not lt the snow below their feet.
As for the snow itself, in the books that Blanc read in the past, it was described as a natural occurrence, one that happens every night, regardless of the outside world's interference, such as rain or hail.
This Garden, the taiga, was just as fascinating as the rest of them were, full of elents that imitated the outside world in ways that were difficult to understand but which worked regardless of the source they ca from.
It was fascinating, and as they walked, Blanc muttered that word over twenty tis, as he looked at the trees, snow, or while lost in thought, which made the others giggle as they tried to guess when the next one would co.
“Fascinating,” muttered Blanc as he broke a small branch full of pine needles and began chewing on it.
“You won this one, Kael,” giggled Lune, as she dragged her feet through the snow.
“How could I not guess when I saw him start chewing on pine needles?” Miyanna whispered to herself, frustrated that she had lost.
“Blanc, do tell , what’s so fascinating about pine needles?” Celine asked, holding back a laugh.
“Hm?” Blanc asked, being pulled back to reality by her question. “Oh, we can make tea out of this, and it’s pretty good as food as well.”
“All the pray beasts he harvested are taking a toll on his mind,” Kael sighed, “I thought he would grow antlers or hooves, but it seems he likes grass now.”
The others could not believe their ears, but the laughter that followed resounded through the entire forest.
“Bastard,” chuckled Blanc, unbothered by the joke as he broke another small branch full of pine needles, “Co on, taste it.”
“Sisters,” said Kael as he hid behind Celine and Miyanna, “He is forcing to eat leaves off of trees.”
Blanc’s eyes narrowed. “You dare use my wives against ?”
To which Kael only lowered his tongue.
“I would run and beat your traitorous ass,” Blanc started walking again, chewing on the new needles he had in his hand, “But it’s too cold.”
Which prompted another round of laughter from the rest of the witnesses.
But it was as much a joke as it was truth, for the cold in this Garden wasn’t the cold Blanc was used to.
It felt as if it crawled in on one’s skin and burrowed itself deep into their bones.
And if one were to take it lightly, the taiga will too, take them lightly, and their lives for it.
So, as they walked and joked around, Blanc and all the others were focused on their surroundings, where they stepped, as well as keeping themselves as warm as possible while they looked for a good place to rest for the night.
They tried to respect the taiga and all it had to offer them, be it food, beasts, or the elents themselves.
And in doing so, it was natural to hope that the taiga, too, tried to respect them.
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