[moonchill] Snow Date

Karma awoke to the sound of white noise. They laid in bed, pondering how the sound of nearly faded silence could sound so distinct. The pink eyed symprite rolled out of bed and tiptoed to the window where they found the answer to their question. Freshly fallen snow glinting in the sunlight cast a hush over the morning, thus the muted soundtrack of the world stirring under its beautifully frigid blanket would sound like white noise.

It was, in a word, way too early to be waxing poetic. Karma shook their head, slicked their hair out of their face, and started their morning routine. The motions were familiar and repetitive, Karma had plenty of time to mentally plan their day while coasting through their routine.

Karma had a mental checklist all thought up and ready to execute. They would spend some time in the kitchen doing meal prep for two. This year, instead of joining in on someone else’s Moonchill Festival feast, they invited Eden over to have a personal celebration for just the two of them. The menu would be ‘seafood six ways’, a bold attempt to prepare various fish and shellfish in distinctly different styles.

After prepping ingredients to cook, Karma would set out seasonal decorations. Over the years they kept and collected all the handmade Moonchill Festival gifts they’d received. The impressive collection of curious made for wonderful décor, an anyone who came over got to reminisce over fond memories of years past. Eden, for one, had contributed a lot of gifts with lovely personal touches.

The clock in the sitting room chimed and roused Karma from their thoughts. Right, they murmured to themself, better pick up the pace. The day would be packed full of things to do. There was cooking, cleaning, decorating, and all of this on top of going out for a romp in the snow with Eden starting at sunset.

Eden, such a lovely symprite, one who was often the center of Karma’s thoughts. The purple horned symprite wondered why Eden took the initiative to reach out to them first, asking in their lovely voice if they’d be interested in a modest but close Moonchill celebration for two. Absolutely nothing would get in Karma’s way of this evening’s plans, this year’s festival would be one for the history books. Or at least the photo album.

Speaking of Eden, Karma thought aloud, they were going to pick Karma up from home this evening for their walk. Karma hustled over to the door and cracked it open, peeking their head out from behind the door.

Winter weather, it turned out, was pretty consistent. It was exactly what Karma expected yet feared: cloudy, windy, and bitingly cold. Yes, the clouds were supposed to clear up by later afternoon, but Karma still feared for the worst. The worst being that the sun never got a chance to shine on the crystalline snow and give the air some semblance of warmth when the wind wasn’t seeping its frigid fingers into one’s bones.

Karma shut the door with all haste, then marched double time to their closet. Where was all their winter gear again? Yes, yes, they thought, the hats and coats were nice and all but this was Moonchill! It would be the most meaningful to wear some of the handmade gifts they’d received in previous festivals. Some symprites were just so crafty, gifting tons of knitted and crochet things. Karma received an adorably stylish set of knitted thigh high socks, gloves, and a scarf from Eden. Today would be the perfect occasion to wear them, if only they could find them among the stacks of other gear.

The morning went by in a flash, and it wasn’t too long before Karma was bidding the afternoon goodbye. Around the whirlwind of festival preparation, the pink eyed symprite hardly had a moment to rest. It wasn’t until the clock chimed that Karma realized that Eden would be stopping by soon. They quickly finished up what they were doing, putting the last of the Moonchill decorations up in the sitting room, then hustled over to the front entrance to don their winter gear.

The scarf went first, winding loosely around Karma’s neck and settling with a comfortably soft weight. Next were the gloves, a little odd to wear over paws, but nonetheless an essential part of the set. Last were the thigh high socks. It occurred to Karma that they didn’t need to specifically cover their hooves, yet the benefit of having toasty warm calves and thighs was too good to pass up.

Karma slid on the first sock and was just fitting their hoof into the second when a knock at the door caught their attention. “Eden? The door’s open, but I’ll be there in a sec!” They said loud enough to be heard through the door.

Eden, of course, wasn’t held back in the slightest and had no hesitation in opening the door instead of waiting to be welcomed in. “Karma!” The curly haired symprite cheered, check it out, I’ve got tons of fire flowers for us to play with!” Eden had fire flowers stuck in their hair, clutched in their hand, and even wedged in their mouth to mimic saber fangs.

“Oh Eden!” Karma was beginning to dissolve into chuckles, “In your hair? Don’t let a stray spark catch fire.” Karma joked in good humor, fitting the last sock snugly on their leg and standing. They offered Eden their arm and gestured to the still open door. “The sunset looks beautiful, are you ready to go on our walk?”

Eden nodded and reached past Karma for the doorknob, pulling Karma outside while neatly shutting the door in one fluid motion. “Naturally! I’ve got a good route planned that’ll end up at a clearing in the woods where we can enjoy the full moon. I can’t wait to tell you all about what I had to do to get these fire flowers. Yeah, they’re easy to get, but sometimes the universe just sends you on a wild quest, you know?”

Karma smiled, murmuring just loud enough for Eden to hear “I do know, but I’m also dying to hear about your day. Tell me all about it”, and fell into step by Eden’s side as they walked.