Chapter 3

Grandmother Autumn Leaves for Wintris

After a day, a week, a month, six more, and finally a year, it set into old Autumn that her beloved husband was never coming back out from the mountains. She had grown weary waiting for him, and the harrowing weather of Frostis was slowly becoming too harsh for the elderly Christmas Aisha. Autumn finally gave in to her older daughter's offer to move to Wintris, where the weather was not as ruthless. She was resilient to the idea for a long time, and even a little bit now, out of fear her Hershel would find her gone.

On the day she was to head out across the mountains with the help of a travelling band, she spent some time with her younger daughter's family.

Pluuma, her eldest grandchild and only granddaughter, was about five years old. Her soft baby fur had little ice crystals in them, natural to an Ice Aisha of her age. Golden, curly locks of hair came down from the top of her head, flecks of ice glistening through the strands. She was a lively yet reserved child, playing quietly to herself and enjoying the explanations people gave her about the things she wondered about. At the moment, however, she was showing Hershel how to play with his toys in the middle of their living room floor.

The day before was Hershel's first birthday. It was a small event, with close neighbors coming by to give them their hand-made gifts. Some of the older folk were mesmerized by the baby's resemblance to his grandfather, a few even prompted to stay a while and recount the old Chocolate Aisha's many misadventures from their youth.

While Autumn was still in a mixed state of mourning and denial, she found herself enjoying the stories people recounted of her late husband, even recognizing instances in which she was present for his tomfoolery. There were even some tales where she learned something new about him; never in her life did she think he'd wagon race over the mountains; she smiled at the unexpected thought that he would try carving his own totem pole; and was dumbfounded to hear he'd discovered the little Dandans that ran about the forests by Wintris.

It was almost a bit saddening how much about him she wasn't there for.

All the time being, baby Hershel sat comfortably upon his grandmother's lap. While not too loud of a babbler, he was incredibly talkative that day. The infant Aisha was certainly not unlike his modest older sister, fussing little in the hands of his neighbors. Unlike most of his kind, however, his eyes were large and full of wonderment, or to put it bluntly, wide open. His entire family had their eyes shut and squinted like typical Aishas, so it was a merry interest to those visiting as well. They could only imagine his mother's surprise when they first opened.

The friendly personality and eyes that looked about a room, became fascinated by an object, incited more comparisons of him and his grandfather.

Old Autumn saw it, too.

Which made it all the more difficult when it was time to travel to Wintris and leave her husband's likeness behind. It worsened as she heard him begin to cry after her, the long and whimpering call reverberating about her mind.



"How do you like it, mama?"

Autumn set herself on the warm, downy bed. The journey across the mountains had made her incredibly weary. A Tonu walked to the foot of her bed and gently placed a large pack of her belongings onto the floor, turning and nodding towards the Halloween Aisha at the door before leaving. She proceeded to walk to Autumn and sat beside her, taking a blanket and settling it across the elderly Aisha's shoulders.

There was more silence before Autumn responded. Adjusting the blanket, she took off her shoes.

"I think I'll take to it in time. It's been difficult, not having him with me..."

It wouldn't be until more than a decade did she see Hershel again.