Healing Snow

Inside the thatched cottage, the oil lamp glows dimly. After speaking her refusal, Baion falls silent and only watches the frozen night outside the window. The air grows stagnant, yet no one leaves.

The fire in the stove crackles and spits out a few sparks.

Kokopelli gently moves to sit not far from Baion, holding the teacup with both hands, her voice very soft.

She sighs softly, her smile tinged with just the right amount of melancholy.

Kokopelli blinks, her tone turning cheerful.

Baion does not respond immediately and only slowly rotates the teacup in her hand. Kokopelli's words feel like a warm stream trying to seep into frozen cracks, yet Baion's mind wanders elsewhere.

She sees Shu silently stand up, check the bolts on the doors and windows, and give the spot closest to the vent to Phoebe, who seems most toubled by the cold. She sees Awakener quietly put the kettle back on the fire to keep everyone's tea warm. Taisei is asleep with her legs propped up and ears subtly moving as she listens to the sounds outside.

These silent actions, without a single word of closeness, let a clumsy but genuine warmth flow through the cold air of the cottage. This warmth differs subtly from the heat in Kokopelli's passionate words, which feels carefully measured.

In the end, Baion replies softly and falls silent again. Her gaze pauses briefly as it passes over the teapot.

The next morning, everyone bids farewell to Baion, and the blizzard that has raged for many days has suddenly stopped. The sky is a clear, deep blue unseen for days, and the snow piled on the mountain path reflects the sunlight, dazzling to the eye.

Baion stands at the entrance of the thatched cottage, still dressed plainly, her expression unreadable.

She nods, turns, and goes back inside, closing the door. The soft sound of wood meeting wood rings clearly through the silent valley.

The group descends the mountain along the same path they took before. Sunlight bathes the road, now clear and open, a sharp contrast to the desperate struggle in yesterday's snowstorm.

Kokopelli stretches lazily. Her tone is relaxed, but a quiet relief flickers in her eyes.

Without turning her head, her voice remains stiff and unyielding.

Phoebe looks back at the thatched cottage as it disappears into the forest and sighs softly.

Awakener walks at the end of the line in silence. The empty yet resolute look in Baion's eyes overlaps with the suddenly bright mountain view ahead.

She remembers Taisei's words from last night, telling her to stop the snow that has been falling in Baion's heart for many, many years.

Forcing her to let go is impossible. The snow buries her mother and her trust in the world, and it is not something she can simply release. Perhaps the direction itself is wrong.

She stops and looks down the winding mountain road. Her gaze seems to pierce the mountains, seeing the peaceful sleeping faces in the Teslovik medical room and countless faces struggling from Blissbite.

At Eastrise's temporary safe house, encrypted blue light flickers through the dim room, casting sharp shadows over Stara's frown.

A weak yet steady voice cuts in. At the edge of the screen, Kala guides her wheelchair into view. Her face is pale, her body frighteningly thin, but her eyes burn with unwavering resolve.

Kala's voice is soft, yet taut like tightly drawn silk.

Kala straightens her back, breath uneven but steady.

She looks at Awakener, a faint but unshakable smile blooming on her pale face.

The channel falls silent. Stara meets the unshakable resolve in Kala's eyes and finally releases a heavy sigh.

Several days later, at the foot of Thousand Ruins Mountain, at Serenelle's Tea House.

The prepared vehicles and medical cabins arrive quietly. Under Stara's remote guidance and the close watch of the medical staff, Kala's condition remains stable, though the long journey deepens the fatigue etched on her face.

Returning to the thatched cottage again, the feeling is completely different.

Taisei goes inside first to announce their arrival. When the wooden door opens again, Baion pauses while drying herbs as she sees Kala, carefully supported by Awakener, seated in a specially made wheelchair.

Kala has slightly dressed up today, and added a faint red to her pale lips. She lifts her head toward Baion and offers a dancer's refined, practiced smile, trembling faintly from weakness.

Sunlight falls across Kala, outlining her delicate, fragile silhouette and illuminating the instinctive longing in her eyes, along with the bottomless suffering and struggle hidden behind it.

Baion stares silently. She has seen pain, despair, and numbness in many patients, but the woman before her is different. Within her pain burns a clear awareness, and her longing is not for Pawn's End, but for a futile reach toward an unattainable light.

It is too similar. Just like the eyes of the mad medicine seekers outside her mother's herb garden in Baion's memories. The same core desire, yet completely different.

*CLANG

The wooden pestle Baion has used for many years, polished smooth by time, falls to the ground, rolls twice, and stops beside Kala's wheelchair.

She seems unaware, simply looking at Kala, or rather, through Kala, seeing countless overlapping phantoms. Those her mother failed to save, and those greedy faces that ultimately dragged her mother into the abyss, twist and overlap, sharply contrasting with the pale yet unyielding face before her.

Baion's voice is so hoarse she can barely form the words.

Awakener bends down, picks up the medicine pestle, and gently places it on the nearby stone table.

Kala looks at Baion in silence. She says nothing, but the plea and desperate trust in her eyes are stronger than any voice.

The mountain wind blows, rustling the herbs and leaves in the garden. Baion's gaze shifts from Kala's face to the quiet pestle in Awakener's hand, then back to Kala.

Before the thatched cottage, all is silent. Two women, reshaped by different ''medications'', face each other in stillness. One has sealed herself away from the world; the other has been scarred by it. What binds them is a cruel plant called ''Heartless Orchid'', and an unspoken resonance called ''Salvation''.

Inside the thatched cottage, the scent of herbs grows heavier than usual. Kala rests on a cushioned chair with a thin blanket over her knees. Baion does not retreat to the back room but quietly brews fresh herbal tea, each slow motion carrying immense weight.

Baion's voice is barely louder than a whisper.

Baion grips the wooden plaque until her knuckles turn white. She looks at Kala, and Kala meets her gaze with clear eyes, free of pleading, holding only quiet understanding and patient waiting.

Awakener steps forward, his gaze resolute.

She pauses, speaking each word clearly.

A long silence follows.

The medicinal tea boils on the stove, steam lifting the lid with a soft puff. Baion seems to wake from her thoughts, slowly setting the plaque aside and walking to the quiet corner of the herb garden by the window, where young Heartless Orchid endure the cold, glowing faintly with raven-blue light as they sway in the wind.

She crouches, gently brushing the icy petals with her fingertips.

She draws a deep breath, holds it as if letting it echo within her, then exhales.

She stands and turns to Awakener and Kala. The emptiness in her eyes is gone, replaced by a trembling calm born of resolve.

The downhill road narrows into a mountain pass. The wind suddenly dies, and silence falls.

Almost at the same moment, several inconspicuous snowdrifts on the stone walls loosen, and gray shadows dive down like hawks, targeting Baion and Kala with swift, precise movements.

However, strange things begin to happen one after another.

The gray figure leading the group suddenly slips on the packed snow beneath her feet, loses her balance, and tumbles forward. A crossbow bolt fired by another attacker is deflected by a sudden, treacherous side wind and embeds itself in the rock wall. The third attacker, about to break into the group, is forced to retreat as a loose stone coincidentally falls from a crevice above her head.

Their assault is repeatedly disrupted by unseen forces. Their rhythm collapses completely, as if the entire mountain stands against them. The leader, Grey Shadow, scans the surroundings with suspicion but sees only silent rocks and motionless trees.

She makes a swift decision and releases a short whistle. The remaining attackers immediately throw smoke bombs, their figures vanishing into the spreading gray smoke without hesitation.

The mountain wind disperses the smoke, and the pass returns to calm, as if nothing happened, leaving only a few shallow, scattered footprints.

Baion murmurs, her hand tightening on the medicine case strap.

Not far away, behind a concealed rock overlooking the pass, Phoebe opens her half-closed eyes as the faint aura around her quietly dissipates.

Shu retrieves the diamond-shaped dart she never needed to throw and turns away without hesitation.

The two figures drift into the forest as silently as they arrived, leaving no footprints, no words, and not a single snowflake disturbed. The mountain wind through the pass feels gentler than before.

Medical Observation Room, Teslovik Base. It is almost New Year.

After careful adjustment and a refined prescription based on Baion's mother's notes, color returns to Kala's face. The constant, bone-deep pain eases greatly, and though her body remains weak, the light in her eyes grows brighter each day.

The New Year gathering is simple but warm. The small lounge is decorated with holly and colored paper, filled with the smell of food and soft music.

Kala wears a plain white long dress today. It makes her look even thinner, yet there is a lightness about her that has long been absent. She slowly walks toward Baion, who sits quietly in the corner, still a little out of place among the lively crowd.

She bends her knee slightly and gives a simple yet graceful dancer's bow.

Kala extends her hand, palm up, in a gentle invitation. Her fingers still tremble slightly, but her smile is clear and bright.

Kala gently shakes her head, her gaze settling on the fingers that once curled in pain and now barely straighten.

Baion freezes. She looks at the hand Kala offers, at the pure gratitude and joy in her eyes, and sees something called hope truly take root and sprout within the medicine she prepares with her own hands.

The surrounding sounds fade away. She sees only the light in Kala's eyes and hears her own heart, silent for far too long, starting to beat again, heavy and unsteady.

The frozen lake inside her finally breaks, and a warm rush fills her eyes.

She lets out a soft sound, her voice thick with emotion. Tears fall without warning, one drop, then another, burning hot as they hit the floor.

She does not reach out to take the hand, but nods hard instead, tears streaming down her face. This is the first time since her mother's death that she cries not from sadness or fear.

Kala pulls her hand back, smiling as light flickers in her eyes. She hums softly and slowly turns in place, every movement careful and serious, the hem of her skirt spreading in a gentle arc like early spring frost breaking apart.

On the first morning of the New Year, the light is still faint.

Baion officially signs the documents to join the Teslovik Research Department. She now has her own lab bench, her mother's carefully written research notebook filled with frantic revisions resting beside her, along with several Heartless Orchid samples brought from Thousand Ruins Mountain under strict monitoring.

Kokopelli reports through her earpiece.

Kokopelli twirls a strand of hair between her fingers, an amused smile forming that does not match the seriousness of the report.

The communication cuts off. Kokopelli stretches lazily, the lively spark returning to her expression. Humming softly, she heads toward Awakener's office.

She knocks on the open door, showing her familiar bright smile.

She strides to the table and plants both hands on it, her eyes shining.

Kokopelli turns to Awakener, her voice playful and confident.

Kokopelli snaps her fingers, her smile brighter than ever.

Outside the window, the New Year's sun shines freely, lighting up the busy Teslovik Base and outlining Thousand Ruins Mountain in the distance, where the last traces of fog finally fade away.

The journey through the snowstorm in search of medicine comes to a temporary end, and a new story, a new stage, quietly begins at dawn.