Sword and Snow

Demi

I couldn't help but stare at the bandages around my arm. Even having worn them basically all day, every day for several weeks, the dark colored cloth strips with the talismans woven through them kept catching my eye every time I moved my arm. It was still like seeing a mark or cut where there wasn't supposed to be one, and the sight surprising you. Or, perhaps even more accurately, like having colored nails and the bright color catching your attention because it wasn't the same as always.

Weirdly, I was almost positive that it was only the bandages being there that caught my attention, and not the constant dull ache of the arm. Avuri's request - asking me to explain the pain on a more average scale - had been bouncing around in my head ever since. It wasn't something I was fixated on, exactly, but it kept me wondering if we were really so far removed from 'normal' Cultivators that we had to entirely readjust ourselves to see things their way.

I lightly shook my arm. The dull pain grew just a bit with the movement, then settled again when I stopped. I tentatively poked the area on my forearm where the actual wound was, seeing how bad that pain was, too, and I barely winced at it. Which then just left me wondering whether or not that was normal, or just normal for me, as I dragged my finger up and down, tracing the line of the gash under the wrappings.

Part of me felt like it should hurt more than it did, but even with a little pressure, the pain never really got to the point where I felt much need to stop. I did, though. I think because I knew that I would actually just cause more harm to the injury before I actually felt any real pain. And I knew that that, at least, was definitely not normal.

With a sigh, I slumped back into the couch in the house that Emery and let Rylie and I stay in.

"What's that sigh for?" Rylie said as she stepped into the shared living space, completely naked except for a wet towel draped over her shoulders, and the wrappings around her midsection.

I rolled my eyes. "Just thinking. How's your side doing?"

"Could always be worse." Rylie said, completely dismissing the issue. "These bandages we got from Dad really are something. They even stop the water from a shower from getting under them, somehow."

"Well, I'm not about to argue with that, at least." I said, eyeing the bandages again. They really were unusual. I don't think I would even blink at being told they were some kind of ancient relic or maybe even actual magic. "Still though, you know that's not what I was asking."

"I'm fine." Rylie reiterated, even going as far as stretching a bit, putting movement in her torso where the injury was. She didn't so much as wince. "See?"

"Does that really not hurt?" I asked.

Something in my tone was enough to get Rylie's attention, because her eyes narrowed on me in the way an older sister's does when she senses something. "What Avuri really said really got to you, didn't it?"

I looked away, regretting bringing it up to her before bed that night. "Yeah. Yeah it did."

"Why? We've always been a bit weird. So is Emery." Rylie said, strolling over toward the couch. She took the damp towel from her shoulders and tossed it to the couch to sit on.

"Oh, Rylie, come on. Go put some clothes on before you sit down." I complained while scooting away from her.

"I put the towel down!" She said, tugging on a corner of it. "Besides, I literally just stepped out of the shower. I'm clean!"

"Still! Going bare ass on the couch is still gross!"

"It's not even your couch."

"How does that matter?"

"Doesn't it?"

"No!"

"Oh, come on."

"No, you come on! At least go put on bottoms."

"Why? It's not like -"

"Rylie!"

"What?"

"There are children around here!"

"There shouldn't be any in this house."

"You really think kids won't just wander around and come in to say hello?"

"No?"

I looked up at the ceiling and blew out a breath between my teeth. "Please. Just go put something on."

Rylie let out a half-frustrated groan but relented, getting up to go fetch something to wear. When she returned a few moments later, she was sporting short shorts and nothing else, but at that point it was enough.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Anyway," Rylie said, sitting down again on her damp towel, which she had left on the couch. I wrinkled my nose at the idea of sitting on a wet cloth with clean, dry underwear. "Like I was saying, why does it bother you?"

Trying to focus again, my eyes shifted over to the bandages as I flexed my hand. "I'm not sure that it bothers me, exactly."

"Well, you certainly seem bothered by it."

"No, I mean…Doesn't it interest you? How and why we're all so weird?" I asked.

"Hm. Not really." Rylie said lightly.

"Really? Not at all?"

Rylie shrugged, but her expression didn't appear dismissive, only thoughtful. "I think it's because it's not really a mystery to me?" She offered, sincerely. "I don't love thinking about it, but we both know the general 'why' of why we're like this, Demi. There's not a lot to be done about it, so I don't worry about it."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Mean…what?"

"Not 'I try not to worry about it', but 'I don't worry about it'." I said, repeating her specific wording.

"Yeah, I think so. If I understand the question."

I slumped back into the sofa again, letting out a long sigh as I melted against the surprisingly nice cushions. "I wish I could do that."

Rylie gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Sorry."

"For what?"

"I don't really know what to say." Rylie muttered. "Fact is, it'd basically just all be platitudes you've heard before. So, I'm sorry."

I snorted, trying to wrangle my disparate thoughts before I took in a big breath and let it out slowly to refocus. "Well, whatever. It's not like I was focused on anything in particular." I said, trying to shake off the sudden melancholy that had struck me. "Besides, I believe we promised the kids that we'd play with them today."

"We did." Rylie said. "We're supposed to go meet everyone over at the barn shortly, I think."

I eyed my older sister pointedly. "We're going to go play in the barn with a bunch of kids, and you just stepped out of the shower."

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Hey, just because we're about to go get dirty doesn't mean I have to start that way." Rylie said as if that made perfect sense.

"You're just lucky that Em doesn't have a limited water supply."

Rylie let out a happy, boisterous laugh. "I know! And I'm going to take full advantage of that beautiful Array as much as I can. And then the full bath later, too."

"Just go get dressed so we can go play."

Rylie shot to her feet with a mocking martial salute and bow. "Yes, Elder Sister."

I slipped into a more pompous sitting position, crossing my legs and letting an arm perch on the back of the sofa. "Off with you, then," I said, waving her away. She was before I had even finished speaking.

I had known when Dad had sent us toward Emery's place that we would get a warm welcome. From Emery, of course, but Avuri had quickly become like another sister to us when we had stayed for their wedding, and Cierra and Stena had also both grown close enough to us to call us Aunties.

What I hadn't expected was how quickly the newest family members would warm up to us. We had only been in the basin for five days, and they were already treating us like family.

They had been a little skittish at first, but I had fully expected that stage to last for a while, especially after we heard the story from Emery. I wouldn't have held it against them, either. Not only had they been abused by the demonic Cultivators that had kidnapped them in the first place, but the near-stoning in Resin afterward could've made anyone hate people. I hadn't even been there and the story made my blood boil.

And yet, when we arrived at the barn, all I saw were smiling faces. It had only been four months or so, but I supposed for young kids that four months could feel like a lifetime. And they had had absolutely unwavering support from their adoptive mothers and new sisters the entire time, which I was sure must have helped immensely.

"Get it! Get it!" Briar yelled, as a ball flew high over her head. She was pointing after it as it soared well over my head, too. Yaya, their old sheepdog, still had plenty of energy for her age, apparently, as she sped off after the ball, following its shadow.

"I got it!" Avuri said, dashing past me with a competitive little shoulder check. It wasn't enough force to do anything more than make me take half a step back, but the grin and patronizing wink she gave me as she passed was enough to finally kick me into gear.

"No, I've got it." I said, speeding after the icy woman. Enrik had put a fair bit of his child-strength into the kick, because it really had sent the small ball flying - far more than I would have expected.

Avuri was positioning herself well to get under the ball and kick it back to the group, hoping one of them would follow up her save. Seeing her prepping for the ball to fall near her, I leapt instead, angling feet first - almost like I was aiming for a drop kick.

I had put enough power into the jump that my legs were positioned just a bit above the height of Avuri's head. Backed by the whoops from the kids, I spun my weight with a kick from my left foot, and landed a kick to the ball with my right while spinning. The ball sailed back toward the barn and the waiting group of kids, ready to take control of the game.

I tried to twist a bit more in the air to be sure to avoid any chance of landing on my bad arm, but I never even got the chance. Instead, Avuri took a step forward and caught me gracefully in the air with a happy, playful smile.

"Nice kick."

"Thanks." I laughed as she set me back on my feet, and hustled back over to the circle of children, Rylie, and her wife. The ball remained safely in the air, with Yaya jumping around in the middle of the circle trying to snatch it any time one of the kids didn't kick it up high enough.

Emery was very much being herself, showing off every time the ball got near her, doing all sorts of acrobatics that incorporated a kick to keep the ball from the ground. It made me smile, pulling me back to memories of our own later childhood, with all of our siblings trying to one-up each other with a similar game.

Avuri had been a remarkable support for their family team, streaking off after any wild kicks and saving balls that should have really been allowed to drop. What had impressed me more, though, was her control with each pass she made. It seemed like the distance to the wild ball and her angle of approach made no difference to her as she called out a name and made a near perfect pass every time.

Rylie kept going through little stints of being a ball hog, just bouncing the ball between her feet, occasionally knocking it up and over her head in an arc, only to send it back the same way without passing it. The kids happily cheered and counted when she did it, egging her on to see how many times she could keep it up without making a mistake.

It turned out to be pretty high. After the initial attempt stopped at fifteen, every time she decided to juggle on her own, she made it one higher than the last time before passing it off, with thirty-seven being the highest she had hit so far.

I played a somewhat middle of the road game, trying to be a little dramatic with high jumps and acrobatics, but focusing mostly on saving the ball when it was on track to land somewhere a little dicey. Or on keeping it away from Yaya, who had snatched the ball from the air a few times to everyone's laughter, leaving it to Cierra to chase the dog down to retrieve the ball.

The way we managed to basically stay in the circle outside the barn for hours just kicking a ball around was somewhat mesmerizing to me. No one kept score. We didn't have a goal beyond not letting the ball hit the ground. There was no competition, no teams, no direction. But with the way we went for hours accompanied the entire time by laughter and fun, it was hard to argue that there was no point.

The fun and the laughter. That was the point.