Chilly morning

The air was crispy and the glade was wrapped with snow, darkness and soft silence.

The hare had put several coats on him, his breath was changing in a milky smoke. He approached slowly the “battlefield” pulling a heavily loaded sled behind him. Some shelters have been built for the night but they were thin, and not correctly closed. The cold blow of the solstice wind would make the awakening frosty and probably painful for some of the beeguhs still snoring under theses tents.

He smirked.

The stars were fading away, the sky was turning pale. Morning was coming.

He took from an icy plate one of Boursin’s small gingerbread covered with both sugar and real snowflakes frosting, and ate it as he was stirring the embers of yesterday night bonfire. He added more wood and placed a small cauldron on top of it.

He filled it up with fresh snow.
It started to melt.

Dawn was now blushing and the small Strepsil landed on a branch near the shaman.

- You’re late !
- I am.

Smoke moved gently above the cauldron. As water started to be seen and grew warmer Jacke dove in it a quite big fabric bag full of a very odorous dry plants composition.
Strepsil winced

- Uh ! What’s that !
- For the ones that won’t remember how to speak this morning.
- What ?
- Thoses who will only make animal sounds, keeping their head into their hands, they shall drink this, and more and more water. You’ll take care of this ?
- Yup ! :3

Then, he turned back to the sled and open the biggest bag, filled with bright, fresh and perfumed oranges. He placed them carefully on an empty plate from the party, as a small pyramid. Some oranges has been stitched with clove and star anises in delicate patterns delivering a spicy and purifying perfume.

At last he took the last bag on the sled. A quite small one. He turned between the tents, searching for something, or someone. And he found her, Sydney, the bagder beeguh deeply spleeping.
He extracted from the bag a book. It was a notebook, delicately leather-bound and with parchment, almost white, pages and placed it silently close to her. It was a bit too big for him, but it was the ideal size and shape for a travel notebook for the badger. It has a simple and subtle moon pattern on its brown leather covert.

Strepsil grinned.

- Uuuuh… It looks like a present !!!
- It’s not. I don’t like to be in debt.
- Oooh… I see…  X3

The robin laughed quietly and the hare went out the tent.
It was time.

The great light appeared slowly through the nude trees of the forest, eating all the darkness left and bathing the whole sanctuary with gold and light.

The shaman took the time to salute the return of the young sun, enjoying the crispy first morning of the new year.

And when his long ears heard a bit of movement in one of the tents, he gave a little sign to the robin, and headed back at his place, with the sled.