Snow's journey: Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Claw returned to Snow's house and found the girl still awake. Claw, though slightly surprised, finds it a relief that it no longer needs to bother itself in order to wake up the girl.
"I have something to tell you." The Claw started.
Snow smiled as he looked at the enigmatic Claw. "What is it?" The young lady inquired.
Despite her cheerful appearance, Claw noticed that the girl's smile was depressing. The mysterious creature frowns slightly and looks at the girl with golden eyes.
"I see you're not as ignorant as you appear." Claw sighed silently.
Claw deduces from the girl's expression that she has been aware of her situation for some time.
"When did you find out?" Claw enquired.
Snow paused before speaking. "About three years ago. "I discovered the truth when my best friend, Pina, went missing one day." The girl responded truthfully.
"When I asked her mother what happened to her, she told me she ran away." Snow continued. "I didn't believe what she said. I know Pina wouldn't leave without telling me. At the very least, she would have said goodbye..."
Claw did not interrupt the girl and quietly listened to the side. Claw learned from the girl's mouth that after the girl, Pina, vanished, food was suddenly distributed to all the villagers, allowing them to survive the winter that year.
It wasn't the first time that food was distributed to the villagers during the winter months. It happened every year. But before the food was distributed, a child or two would go missing. And the reason given by the parents of the missing children is similar to Pina's mother's: the children ran away.
Pina and Snow were suspicious, but didn't think much of it at the time. Their community was impoverished. Getting something to eat for the day was difficult enough. With the hard work in the fields, it was not surprising that some of the children would flee.
"I secretly investigated what happened and discovered the real reason when one of the adults slips of the tongue."
Snow stopped talking at that point in the story. Her knuckles were white from clenching her fist so tightly. Claw could feel the girl's heart pounding. How difficult must it have been for her to keep everything inside her?
It took Snow a long time to master her emotions. "Before any of the children went missing, a mysterious man wearing a black cloak would always visit the village and stay at the village chief's house. He'd stay for one night and then leave the next day. After he left, one or two children would also vanish from the village."
Snow's eyes were already red at this point, but she continued to pour her heart out. "The mysterious cloaked man also visited the village on the day Pina went missing..."
Claw sighed softly after Snow finished speaking. She's not going to say anything else. And, to be honest, there's no reason to. The fate of the girl named Pina and the children who had gone missing before her was obvious: they were all sold as slaves.
When Claw looked at Snow, many of the things that had previously perplexed Claw about the girl's behavior were finally clarified. Her sickly appearance, her ability to lie and make up stories on the spot, and her quiet and obedient personality at home were all just a front for the girl to protect herself.
She believed that if she appeared sickly, the villagers would reconsider sacrificing her. Her lies and obedient personality were used to create a cloud of obscurity. The higher the tree, the more wind it would catch. The same can be said for Snow's case. The less she stands out, the less likely she will be chosen. And the fact that she was the only young person left in the village proved that her plan worked.
Unfortunately, what was destined to happen will undoubtedly occur. Snow, as the only young person left in the village, could no longer avoid her fate. She, like the others before her, would be sold into slavery and become the tool that would give the village another year.
"What a dingy village. It's no surprise that its good fortune ran out. Almost all of its inhabitants are idiots." Claw was harsh in his criticism of the villagers. As the old woman said, when the villagers began selling their children, they forfeited the village's future.
"You should leave." Claw spoke up unexpectedly.
“Huh?” Snow was taken aback by what the mysterious creature said and could only stare into Claw' golden eyes.
"What's with that perplexed expression? If you stay here, you'll be sold to a slave trader. You don't intend to give up now that you've come this far, do you?
Claw' words made Snow's heart flutter. She did not want to be sold as a slave, as Claw had stated. Although she was grateful that her aunt took her in after her father was killed by a wild beast, she isn't happy about being sold so that the village can survive another year.
Claw didn't push the girl any further after seeing how quiet she became after being told to flee. It is entirely up to her whether she flees or accepts her fate. Claw would assist her if she decided to fight her destiny and flee. But if she chooses to stay and accept her fate, Claw will abandon her that night and no longer care about the girl's well-being.
Snow remained silent and hesitant. Despite how the villager treated her, she grew up in the village and has affection for it. If she didn't leave, she'd be sold, and the village would only be able to survive for another year. But if she flees, many of the villagers will freeze and starve to death because there will be no money to buy food and warm clothing.
The girl remained in this position for several minutes before raising her head. Claw had been quietly watching her the entire time. Her eyes are determined.
"I'm going to leave." Snow stated firmly.
"Was that your final response? "You're not going to change your mind?" Claw enquired.
“Yes.” Snow answered without hesitation. Although she has feelings for the village, Snow could still not forgive the adults for selling their children just like that. Even if the villager did that out of desperation, what they did was still unforgivable. The fact that they continued doing it year after year proved that the villagers choses the easy way out of their predicament.
It was immoral and wrong. Even if slavery was a common practice in this world, it would not change the fact that it was immoral and wrong.
Even though she's feeling guilty to leave the villagers to their fates, Snow still decided to be selfish for once.
After seeing the determination in the girl’s eyes, Claw nodded its head. It was satisfied with the girl’s decision. Claw had always appreciated people with strong will. Those who tried fighting their destiny despite the overwhelming odds are always pleasing to the mysterious creature’s eyes.
“We should leave now.” Claw said in a matter-of-fact manner.
“Eh? You mean, right now?” Snow was stunned by the suddenness of the situation. She thought that Claw would give her a little bit of time to prepare. She didn’t expect that she’ll leave without preparing anything.
Claw gave the girl the side eye, “Why? Do you want to stay her until the slave trader arrives?” It asked bitingly.
Snow shook her head and quickly explained that she hasn’t prepared anything yet. She was especially worry what to eat while on the road. After all she didn’t want to escape slavery only to die of starvation!
“Is that all? And I thought it was something serious,” Claw glanced at the girl somewhat disdainfully. “I’ll be going with you too. Do you think I’ll let you starve? Surely you haven’t forgotten who caught the fish you ate at supper, right?”
Right! How could have she forgotten about that? With Claw ability, acquiring food would be easy!
Snow hesitated no longer and immediately change to a much warmer clothing. Following Claw’ advise, she packed light, carrying simply things that would keep her warm like a blanket. After placing everything in a sack, she wore her old, worn-out sneakers and nodded at Claw.
“Let’s go.” Snow said.
Claw and Snow carefully sneaked out of the house while trying to decrease the noise they’re producing as much as possible. The house was small and a large noise could wake up the girl’s aunty and uncle which could make escape more complicated.
Not long after the two found themselves on the road to the nearest town which was around 2 days or so away on foot. The snow has already started accumulating the road making it impossible to walk. Coupled with the freezing weather, the travel was far from pleasant.
After an hour or two of walking, Snow was already feeling exhausted but she did not complain. Since she decided to run away, she’s determined to get through with it.
“There’s something that I must achieve so I’ll be leaving you for a short while.” Claw spoke out immediately. “You keep walking, and don’t wait for me. If you found that someone are after you then run. No matter what don’t get captured.”
Claw leaped off of Snow’s shoulder after issuing some orders and went into the woods before the girl could even react.
“W,wait! Where are you going?!” Snow beginning to panic after watching the bizarre thing leaved. She tried calling to it but received no reaction.
Dumbfounded, the girl could only stare blankly into the dark woods where the odd creature, Claw, disappeared to. After recovering from her shock, Snow intended to follow Claw into the woods but paused after recalling the creature’s instructions.
Feeling irritated and depressed, Snow could only continue going along the road. Even though she’s afraid to be alone in the midst of nothingness, the girl could only believe Claw’ pledge that it’ll return after completing what it means to do.
“Stupid Claw… How could it just leave me like that after getting me to flee away?” Slightly offended, the girl could only swear behind her breath. “Hmph! Simply just wait. I’ll disregard you when you returned.”
While Snow was groaning to herself, a sizable group of males are noticed wandering just a few kilometers behind her. These men came from the direction of Snow’s village and they all looked quite sorrowful. One of the men was someone Snow knew very well — her uncle!
The reason the village men almost caught up with the two so easily was related to some event.
Not too long after the Claw and Snow started their cruise, the girl’s aunt checked on her but found her room vacant. At first, she didn’t find anything unusual and only thought that she went to the restroom. But after waiting for quite some time without seeing the shadow of her niece, she got suspicious and decided to visit her room again. This time she spotted some missing belongings including the girl’s blanket, an old coat, and a sack.
She was astonished and realized that her niece had run away. The aunt promptly woke up her husband who, after understanding what transpired went to the village chief’s place.
The old village head was flummoxed and felt frantic. He instantly ordered for a massive team of men to pursue the girl. The slave trader was expected to arrive tomorrow noon and without Snow, they can’t get the money to buy the vital commodities to tide over the winter. She must be caught no matter what!
Due the contrast in their physiques, the men swiftly caught up with Snow was scared after noticing the village men less than a kilometer apart from her!
Snow makes her hardest to escape away from her pursuers. But the contrast in physiques and stamina between her made it impossible to outrun the males. What’s more, the girl had been travelling for more than an hour under the winter sky when the village men caught up with her so she was already exhausted.
Although she had a head start, the males soon caught up with her. Terribly exhausted, Snow finally ran out of energy and stopped jogging. The males got closer to her but halted when they’re roughly 15 feet away from her. A figure, that Snow was familiar with walk towards the front.
“Uncle…” Seeing the person who walked forward, Snow’s expression grew difficult.
“Have you had enough causing trouble? If you have, you should return to the village with us.” The man, Snow’s uncle reprimands.
Snow shook her head and looked straight at her uncle — her expression full of anger. “You want me to return to the village so that you could sell me to the slave trader? I’m sorry uncle but I have to refuse.” The girl said with determination.
Snow’s uncle and the other village men were taken off guard by the girl’s charge and didn’t know what to say. The girl’s uncle wanted to refute but couldn’t and could only let out a sigh.
“So you already knew, huh… No, considering that all of the youngsters save from you disappeared, it wasn’t surprising that you knew.” Snow’s uncle stated with a tinge of guilt in his voice.
“Was it worth it? Selling the indigenous youngsters and forcing them into slavery? Is it really worth it?” Snow asked in a voice full of malice.
Another man moved out of the group after Snow’s uncle didn’t reply to her niece’s question. It was someone Snow was familiar with. Before Pina was sold to slavery, Snow also called the guy uncle.
“What do you know?! Do you think we want to do this? If we didn’t sell our children, the whole village would have starved a long time ago!” Pina’s father stated with a concerned voice.
“We tried everything we could but there’s just no other way. We’ve asked support from the local administration but they told us that we’re on our own. The most that they could do was not tax the village. There had been an ongoing conflict since several years ago; paired that with the unending drought that threatens the kingdom, we could only turn to selling our children in order to survive.”
Snow listened to everything that Pina’s father said. Claw earlier told her everything when they were on the way but it didn’t alter her determination. No matter the reason. What they did was wrong.
“Let me ask you this. What are guys going to do after selling me?” Snow asked with a sad face. “No children have been born in the village since you started selling them. After I’m gone, who are you guys going to sell next? Are you going to sell yourselves, or maybe you’ll sell your wives next?”
Snow’s words were full of barbs and caustic, stabbing the men where it hurts the most and leaving them with no means to react. When it seemed like that the silence would continue; another villager stepped out of the group.
“We don’t know what will happen next. But what we do know is that you’re coming with us!” The man threatened.
Hearing the man’s comments, the other villager woke up of their reverie. Although what Snow spoke made them ashamed, the die had already been cast and they could no longer halt.
The village men with the exception of Snow’s uncle and Pina’s father started surrounding the girl. But as they’re preparing to take the girl, they heard a voice that made their souls tremble in fear!
To be continued...