Snowed In!

Angfand muttered something obscene under his breath. "I swear, if we have many more people holed up in here with us, I'm killing one of them for food."
Njall rolled his eyes. "It'd better not be me."
Angfand wrenched the door open. "Who're you?"

Sarah

"Uh, hi," I started, "I was here earlier. So, er, yeah..."

Right, this was the one who wasn't so pleasant. I hoped he'd let us in... I didn't know what I'd do otherwise.

Angfand sniffed. "Oh yeah. You. Get in, then." He gestured for her to enter with one meaty paw.

Sarah

"Thanks..." I stepped through the doorway. "Uh, is there anywhere I could set him down...?"

Angfand pointed to the fireplace. "Near there. It's warm."
Njall smiled. "I'll get you some warm broth to give him."

Sarah

"Thanks." I set him down, then stretched my back. "No idea how long he's gonna be out, though..."

I knew the warmth of the fire wouldn't affect him, but at least it could help dry his clothes. I was far too tired to do it myself, anyway.

Sorrel pushed Sesria up against him. And now we wait. He sat back.

Yup, now we wait. At least I knew things were going to be alright now.

Njall chuckled. "It's no problem! We're happy to help you in this kind of weather."

Sarah

"Thanks. Oh, by the way, is there anything you could tell me about this place? My friend and I are totally lost..."

Njall thought about it for a moment. "These are the lands of Kraf Godwin. In case you hadn't noticed, the winter is closing in and the pass is snowed under. This is a longhouse on the edge of the Godwin lands."

Sarah

"Funny, I thought it was summer." I gave a bit of a wry smile. "What are the lands like?"

"Cold, mainly," cut in Angfand. Njall glared at him for a moment.
"Angfand is right, but there's a lot more to them than that. The house of Godwin is one of the noble houses of Skatha, which is in turn one of the provinces of the Norlan empire. The Godwin lands have been known for centuries for their mead, despite having to import most of the mead from warmer climes. The lands around here in particular are mountainous and bleak, but have been our homes for many years."

Sarah

"Huh, interesting." I sat back against a wall. "Yeah, we're from...far off. I mean, really really far off."

Njall was silent for a moment. "...Dzan Kobat?"

Sarah

I wasn't sure how much I should say. But...they didn't really seem to be phased by the presence of a fairy, so maybe they had magic here...?

"We're from a different universe, actually."

Angfand snorted into his broth and began coughing. Patting him on the back, Njall spoke again. "Hmm. That is a long way away."

Sarah

"Yeah, pretty much. We came here to escape some people who were attacking us. We won't be here for too much longer, hopefully."

Njall chuckled. "This is the best place in the world to lose yourself. Nobody will find you out here if you don't want to be found. The danger is that people won't often find you even if you do want to be found."

Sarah

"Heh, well, at least there's that. If I could barely even find him, there's no way our enemies could find us." I paused. "Sorry, I've forgotten my manners. I don't think we were ever actually introduced, were we? I'm Sarah."

"My name is Njall. The clothed bear is Angfand."
Angfand nodded curtly and raised a hand in greeting before returning to his stew.

Sarah

"I'm Sorrel," my companion started, "and these two are Peter and Sesria." He indicated with his tail. "Well, now we all know each other. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, what he said."

Njall stared at Sorrel for a moment, then looked back at Sarah. "Am I losing my mind?"
There was a faint, metallic noise from Angfand's direction.

Sarah

"Nope," I said. "He's my soul, just like Sesria is Peter's soul. Lives and souls are separate where we come from."

Njall frowned. "How very bizarre. Are they physical creatures?"

Sarah

"No. In fact, without their bonds with us, they wouldn't have any ties to the physical world at all."

"How very strange indeed," murmured Njall. "Do they need food?"