Frostfall felt familiar to me a in a way that none of the other seasons did.  I had no way of knowing that I’d been born in the endless winter - the winter that had refused to release its hold on Helovia for nearly twice as long as was was considered normal.  My childhood had been spent amongst snow drifts and leaves encased in ice.  The winter seemed to bleed into Birdsong too, especially north in the Basin.  It wasn’t really until the full heat of Tallsun that I experienced the true changing of the seasons and experienced just how much the world could change. And venturing south with Papa and Virga? Well, it was overwhelming to say the very least, but in the best way. There was just so much to see.  So when Frostfall came again, and snow fell again across Helovia, it was a profound comfort.

I found I quite enjoyed exploring with even though now that Virga and I had had our first birthday, we were old enough to spend more time on our own now.  I know it made Papa nervous when we went too far - and whenever Virga was too far it made me nervous too - so I was eager to leave the Edge earlier this morning. But after a day of wandering, and no sign of her brother, Papa and I found a warm spot to sleep for the night - under the stars just like we had before we’d made the Edge home.  

Papa’s voice is what pulled me from sleep from where I lay curled up against his side - tucked away under his large wing.  I blinked furiously in an effort to clear the sleep from my eyes and the fog from my mind as I struggled to understand what it was that Papa was even saying.  ”Mmm? Follow what?” I asked, confused, looking up at Papa with still groggy, silver eyes. I wasn’t sure what Papa had seen, but there was certainly nothing there now.  Papa seemed to be intent to follow something and it was all I could do to keep from pouting when the warmth from his wing was gone and he had found his feet. 

But then I could hear it and in the span of a single heartbeat, I, too, was scrambling to find my feet. “Oh! Oh! Yes! I think we should,” I managed, in a still groggy voice that was tinged with excitement, peeking around Papa just in time to see one of the lights flicker and disappear. I pressed myself against his side, both excited and apprehensive about the mysterious lights, before peering up at him - waiting to see what he did before moving any closer to what I knew had to be magic.