Why people don't like spirits

[shardofwinter]

The weather has been irritatingly unpredictable this year. Sunny one day, a blizzard the next. It's almost impossible to plan for. Today Reynard has made sure the Nexus is smothered in a thick blanket of snow, and it's nearly perfectly smooth. The Nexus might as well be a different landscape. It's hard to tell what a person is stepping on until they take the chance to wade in. Bins, boulders, benches, street curbs are all probably the most normal things a traveller might find themselves cracking shins and toes against.

At a very strategically chosen point however, some poor people find themselves in a bit of a bother. After getting this far all it takes is one step and they find themselves chest deep in the snow. Struggling will only testify to how packed tight the freezing blanket is. Digging themselves out might be possible, but slow.

It doesn't take long before a sing-song voice comes through the air.

"A house for a five headed creature,
A tool that carves rock and earth,
A measure against misadventure,
A gift often owned from birth."

Reynard walks on top of the snow with his usual confident stroll. He crouches in front of his unfortunate victim, tilts his head and asks, "What am I?"

Comments

[shardofwinter]

Reynard inhales and exhales slowly as he looks at the brilliant white scenery around them. The silence is heavy, interrupted by distant, muffled sounds and the slight crunching of the snow around Caspar's small motions. Finally he looks back to Caspar.

"Do you think you'll remember the day you got stuck in a hole and had to dig yourself out? The day you were stuck listening to me pester you with riddles that you got half-right?"

[fiveofnone]

Caspar stares at him, unblinking, his only movement a more careful grip about his PINpoint. The small bag of groceries he dropped earlier is a lost cause, but at least he can blame it on Reynard. That makes him feel a little better, and keeps him from outright sneering at the winter spirit's reply.

"I have the memory of a machine. I'll remember this as well as I remember anything else." He licks his lips; they're getting a little chapped in the brisk air. "You're telling me that you did this for the memories? The notoriety?"

[shardofwinter]

"Good."

Reynard's grin widens. There's a strangely soft edge to it, even if there is a mischievous glint in his eyes. He can't resist it. He knows Caspar won't understand immediately, if at all, but he still can't resist it. Where's the fun in being straightforward? "I did it for love."

[fiveofnone]

Reynard's answer sounds like another riddle, and like the ones before, he hasn't got a clue. Not at first, anyway. The wheels in his mind turn as he thinks over what he knows about the Winter spirit. What Adia has told him, and what he now sees for himself.

"And this..." He gestures with his chin to the snow around him, his hands still firmly planted within his jacket. "This is how you show your love?"

[shardofwinter]

"This..." Reynard gestures around them with a large sweep of his hand that finishes with his finger drawing a circle in front of Caspar. "Is how I show my love."

[fiveofnone]

"I see."

Caspar's eyes narrow, briefly, as if seeing Reynard for the first time. And then he bares his teeth in a vindictive smile.

"I'll remember that, too."

He presses the button on his PINpoint and teleports away. The powdery surface snow lazily slides into the vacated space, leaving only the spilled coffee and the bag of sundries.