Chasing the Suns

Ice and snow

I arrived at Jjin's in the morning, assuming we would leave immediately.

Instead, he ushered me in, and instructed me to unpack everything I had on me.

Disgruntled, having just repacked at the Inn not twenty minutes earlier, I obliged.

He surveyed my worldly possession with a critical analysis, and began sorting into two piles; things he deemed necessary, and things that he did not.

Picking up my ragdoll, he gave me a gentle but questioning look.

"Essential?"

"Essential."

Call me sentimental, but it was a remnant of a life I'd had, a past I now knew was otherwise lost to me, laid to rest by the cold stares of the villagers there. What farewell would my past receive, if I didn't take the small doll with me?

He made quick work of the rest. What remained were my new warm clothes, the doll, the dried mushrooms, vegetables and my medical kit.

"We'll keep the rest here, you can repack after."

"Won't it get stolen?"

His face showed disbelief. Maybe theft here wasn't a thing. Must be nice, I thought. Mama and I had lost many possessions, mostly insignificant, at worst a nuisance, but the only time I saw my mother cry was when someone stole my father's wedding ring, which my mother had kept in a box under her bed. We never found it, and it was eventually chalked up to someone passing through while we'd been working in the fields.

Jjin helped me repack, demonstrating how to roll clothing tightly, so as to have more room. He then worked his way round the hut, gathering his own things, as well as more food.

His additions included a few small lumps of waxy resin, for starting fires, and several flat discs that he explained were like bread, starchy and full of energy, but made of an oat paste.

"They keep better, and during winter the snow falls really heavily here, and less merchants come by, so we mostly eat these."

At my wary glance, he added

"They don't taste as bad as they look, I promise."

"If you say so, but let's eat those last."

It was one of the rare times I'd seen Jjin smile, truly smile. It transformed his serious, somewhat sullen face into someone you immediately wanted to befriend.

I wondered what he'd been like before he lost his family. His smiles must have been more common then. The thought sparked something within me, and I decided I would try and make him laugh, whenever I could.

I felt something of a connection to this strange man in the mountains, like we were mirrors of each other. Both now orphans, with skills beyond that or most people, and now off on a journey together.

I wouldn't have told him, but I was beyond grateful that he'd offered to accompany me, even though I think we both knew I didn't really need a guide – the path may be treacherous, but it was well worn and obvious.

We set off soon after, the sun still low in the sky, the village waking up around us.

After a while, walking in silence, the huts became fewer and further between, until all around us was harsh stone.

After getting used to the bustling nights at the Inn, and the busy training, the silence was strangely tense. I wondered if Jjin felt the same, and I was about to make an inane comment about the weather when Jjin beat me to it.

"Bet this snow is nothing like your Abbey, huh?"

I smiled inwardly. We were awkward like teenagers, but it was curiously comforting.