Hanso's Winter

     “Are you all packed now?” Queen Fyora said to Hanso and Brynn.

     She peered into Hanso’s suitcase and shook her head. “You’re going to need a coat, dear. My winter home is located at the foot of Terror Mountain.”

     Hanso looked at Fyora strangely. “Why do you want to go to a cold place in winter? Shouldn’t you consider going to Mystery Island and enjoy the beach? Even Faerieland’s beach is nice.”

     “I can go to those places any time of year and experience the same exact weather. And besides, it’s not so quiet there.”

     Hanso was still sceptical.

     “If you wanted quiet, why did you invite some of us to come with you?”

     Fyora folded her arms and looked slightly annoyed.

     “I mean, you can stay behind if you want to. But I invited some staff because well, they need a break too. Wouldn’t you agree? And besides, I said I wanted to go to a quiet place, but I never said I wanted to be alone.”

     “You have the longest explanations for everything,” Hanso quipped.

     “Well, it’s better than under-explaining something. Anyways, Brynn, could you please grab Hanso a coat?”

     “Don’t do it, Brynn. Don’t cave to the pressure!” Hanso interjected.

     Brynn rolled her eyes as she went back into the castle. A few moments later, she came out with a thick coat that was meant for an individual much taller than Hanso, likely a faerie. Hanso looked mortified and ran to block Brynn’s path.

     “I- I can’t wear that!!!”

     “Why not? It’s just a coat!”

     “But it’s meant for a faerie! It’s way too large. What would the thieves’ guild think of me, clumsily wobbling along with it? Kanrik would laugh at me!”

     “Hanso, you aren’t part of the thieves’ guild anymore!” Brynn shouted.

     “Why can’t you just get me a coat like yours?”

     “I only have this coat, but I can give you mine.”

     “And have you freeze? I could never do that!” Hanso declared.

     Fyora covered her mouth to hide her amusement. She struggled for a few moments before she was able to regain her composure.

     “I think it’s about time we go while the conditions at Happy Valley are still calm. After all, we do need to do some chores before my winter home is comfortable. You know how to chop wood, don’t you Hanso? And I’ll see if we can make a better coat for you.”

     Queen Fyora then slipped into her coat. It was a pure white coat with some floral prints including violets, lavender, and pink carnations. There was also quite a bit of fluff on the edges that resembled the Faerieland clouds prior to the fall of Faerieland. She then floated over to her cloud racer.

     Hanso joined Fyora and Brynn in that cloud racer. The other cloud racer had Casandia and Celandra.

     It was time for the Winter Starlight Celebration. For Queen Fyora, that meant a month-long vacation at her quiet winter home, with a small number of guests to keep her company. Located at (LOCATION REDACTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE OFFICE OF THE FAERIE QUEEN) in Terror Mountain was a large, multi-story, cabin. The exterior looked like a standard log cabin. In fact, you might not be able to tell it apart from some of the ski resort cabins in Terror Mountain. The interior, however, instantly gave away that this cabin belonged to Queen Fyora. Like the castle, it was mostly pink. The wood flooring was painted a vibrant pink. The walls were a lighter pink. The furniture was mostly lavender, matching the colours of Fyora’s wings. And of course, the stones around the fireplace were pink.

     The home itself was cosier than the castle, with smaller rooms. Fyora did not mind though. She often thought the castle was too big for her. Thus, she always looked forward to the winter holidays as a time to get away from all the Faerieland business.

     Hanso and Brynn sat quietly in their cloud racer. Hanso was still grumbling about the coat. Queen Fyora was fine with that though, preferring to concentrate on her flying. Although she was an expert cloud racer pilot, she preferred silence so she could focus on the skies. It was not lost on her that she was also leading Casandia. While Casandia was quite the pilot herself, this was her first time flying into potentially treacherous Terror Mountain weather. Fyora glanced down at a screen that looked like a Faerie Cloud Racers radar to make sure she hadn’t lost Casandia and Celandra. Then she looked at a dial that told her the wind speed and nodded.

     “Looks like the air above the sea isn’t too rough. Hopefully, it will be more of the same as we approach Terror Mountain,” she muttered to herself. Soon, Hanso and Brynn interrupted her peace and quiet though.

     “This coat is too warm,” Hanso commented.

     Brynn put her paw into her face and shook her head.

     “Isn’t that the point Hanso? It’s warm now, but as soon as we land in Terror Mountain, you’ll be cold.

     “Have you ever been to Terror Mountain? How would you know?”

     “No, but they don’t call it Terror Mountain for no reason?”

     “Kanrik has been here and he said it was no big deal.”

     “And you trust Kanrik?” Brynn raised her eyebrows.

     “Uhh, no, of course not. He can’t be trusted!”

     “Then maybe you should trust Queen Fyora?”

     Fyora saw some peaks up ahead and knew it was nearly time to prepare for landing. She quickly interrupted the bickering between Hanso and Brynn.

     “I heard my name…” Fyora said, keeping her eyes up front.

     “It’s nothing, Fyora,” Brynn replied.

     “Uh huh. Do you two mind taking your seats for the landing? I don’t want you two to go flying. Flying insurance only covers flying pets and faeries.”

     Hanso and Brynn shuffled to their seats. Brynn buckled herself into her seat. Hanso appeared to forget though.

     “And please buckle up,” Fyora added.

     “I swear, she has eyes on the back of her head,” Hanso mumbled.

     “Actually, I just looked in the mirror,” Fyora replied.

     Meanwhile, Celandra and Casandia were having their own little conversation in their air faerie cloud racer.

     “Blat! Blat! Blat!” shouted a Faerie Darblat.

     “Casandia, is Sadie always this loud?” Celandra asked, trying to pet Casandia’s Darblat.

     “Hmm, well, she’s a Darblat. They make that noise when they are happy. Why?”

     “Oh, I’ve never taken care of a Darblat. I just wanted to make sure she’s doing alright.”

     “Sadie’s excited to be in the air. Darblats don’t normally fly, even Faerie Darblats with wings. So any time in the air gets her excited.”

     “Oh look, I think we’re almost there. I see peaks ahead.” Celandra said, pointing ahead.

     Casandia followed Queen Fyora’s racer as they began their descent to the foot of Terror Mountain. Queen Fyora’s home was located in a secluded area, away from Happy Valley and the other major locations in Terror Mountain.

     A few moments later, they began their descent. Queen Fyora circled around to find a flat landing spot and Casandia soon followed.

     It wasn’t exactly easy to land near Fyora’s winter home. It was situated in a small clearing within the thick taiga. However, for faeries that were experts in cloud racers, landing wasn’t too difficult. Fyora slowly allowed her racer to glide into the clearing and allowed it to slide gently to a stop in the snow near the house. A few seconds later, Casandia coasted her racer next to Fyora’s. Fyora put on her snow boots and pink gloves and began unloading some of the luggage. Celandra soon joined her. Brynn noticed and turned to Fyora.

     “Oh! Umm, we should get those!”

     “No worries, we’ll be fine. You and Hanso can go right in, I’ll open the door for you,” Fyora replied.

     Queen Fyora tapped her staff against the door of the home. Several locks clicked open before she was able to open the door.

     Hanso waddled into the home with his oversized coat and then promptly took a seat on a Queen Fyora Rocking chair.

     “Gee, she really likes to see her own face! Look at all the Fyora Print things,” he noted.

     “Probably because Fyora lives here sometimes? Hanso, can you please help Fyora with something?”

     Fyora came back into the house with Hanso’s things. She put them next to Hanso and then stared at him for a bit.

     “Hanso, since you still have your coat on, do you mind getting some firewood? There should be some chopped wood on the east side of the house. Near the trees,” Fyora said, pointing over to the east.

     “Uhhh, but I just sat down,” Hanso whined.

     “Do you want hot cocoa?” Fyora asked.

     “Yeah!”

     “We need firewood to heat water. If you want hot cocoa, you’ll need to get some firewood.”

     Fyora reached over with her hand and gently pet Hanso on the head which annoyed him a bit, and it caused him to spring out of his chair.

     “Argh! I’m not your pet. Brynn, can you...”

     “Uhh, Hanso, I’m helping Casandia unpack supplies for her Faerie Darblat,” Brynn said, unloading cans of food for Sadie.

     “Blat! Blat! Blat! Blat!” Sadie said, jumping excitedly.

     “Alright, I’ll get it.”

     “I can come with you,” Celandra offered.

     “Ah, Celandra, sure. Thanks!”

     “You first Hanso.”

     “Fine fine!” Hanso grumbled as he shuffled his way to the door and out toward the east.

     Celandra followed him out.

     “You might want this wheelbarrow!” Celandra shouted.

     She grabbed the wheelbarrow and followed Hanso. They reached a woodpile among some tree stumps.

     “Who chopped this wood?” Hanso asked.

     “Probably Taelia,” Celandra replied. “She comes down sometimes to maintain the house while Fyora is not here.”

     “So, we load this onto the wheelbarrow?”

     “Yeah.”

     Celandra picked up a piece of firewood and tossed it into the wheelbarrow. Then she picked up another one. Meanwhile, Hanso had barely gotten one piece into the wheelbarrow.

     “How are you moving so quickly?”

     “I’ve learned to move quickly. There’s only so much you can do in a day.”

     “Isn’t that stressful?”

     “Well, the faster I get things done, the more free time I have at the end of the day. Fyora and I can enjoy each other’s company then. She’s always so busy so a bit of company helps her feel less stressful. Now that’s enough small talk. Let’s finish this job.”

     She then went back to tossing more firewood. Hanso did his best to keep up. However, as he was doing so, a strong gust of wind suddenly overcame them. The skies then darkened, and snow began to blow violently around them.

     “I think this is enough! We should head back!” Celandra shouted over the howling wind.

     “I can’t! This coat is too big!” Hanso shouted back. “I’m a little stuck!”

     He had walked into a snowdrift and sunk into the snow.

     “Take my paw!”

     Celandra tried to reach out to Hanso, but he was too stuck.

To be continued…