Tea for Two at Terror Mountain

     I hoped it wouldn’t because I wanted her to see this. She probably missed views like the one outside my cottage window, like a Day of Giving postcard. Though she may have experienced winters elsewhere, there was no doubt that winters in Terror Mountain were the best.

     The kettle on my stove whistled, and I tore myself away from my window to pour the water into my teapot of Strawberry Spice Tea. I knew she wasn’t fond of sweet things, but I found a Honey Bearog just in case my tea turned out to be a little too spicy. I took both the Honey Bearog and the tea to my table, already set with my favourite tablecloth with snowflakes, the cups and saucers, some forget-me-nots in a vase, and a plate of scones with butter and jam. A folded letter was under the vase, which I picked up to read – or rather, re-read.

     Dear Khione,

     You’ve already read this in the Neopian Times by now, but I’m back in Terror Mountain. I’m writing this letter at my house – you can tell from the food stains and the crumples. My siblings were so happy to see me again, and I can’t blame them, because I’m just as happy to be back.

     It was one exciting adventure after another, what with the fate of the world constantly at stake, but now I’m looking forward to having a normal life again. Somehow. I’ll be dropping by your house on the tenth; I can’t wait to tell you everything.

     Let’s have tea again, like old times. I missed our tea together, but more importantly, I missed you so much, Khione.

     Always,

     Talinia

     I sighed wistfully and tucked the letter into my apron pocket. After a second of thought, I remembered the drawer in my bookshelf where I had carefully stored the rest of her letters.

     * * *

     I still remember the day I first met Talinia.

     Her parents and mine were part of the same hunting band that controlled a territory close to the mountain top, and one day, they came to visit our home, which was close to the Ice Caves. While our parents were talking, I pretended to be invisible. After all, whatever they were discussing wasn’t important to me. Talinia, on the other hand, was listening – a young green Eyrie tall for her age, already toting a bow and a small quiver of arrows, dressed warmly in a coat and leggings. I watched her; she was allowed to carry a bow, while the only weapon I could wield was a kitchen knife, and only with adult supervision.

     Suddenly, the conversation became a bit more relevant. My father, a heavyset Christmas Chia, mentioned me by name and I wanted to be truly invisible.

     “Khione? Oh, she hasn’t really learned to fly yet.”

     “Dad!” I wailed, my voice climbing two octaves. “I know how to fly!” Then I paused. “Um, a little…”

     “Really? But the last time you tried, didn’t you – “

     “Herbert!” Mom, a cloud Zafara who was as gentle and wispy as the clouds on her fur, shook her head and said, “Let Khione take her time. Only she can tell us when she’s ready.”

     I grabbed the nearest book from the shelf and buried my face in it; I was sure I was blushing with shame. Surely flying would come naturally to a Christmas Zafara, but it felt so difficult. Almost wrong, since most Zafaras shouldn’t be able to fly.

     As my mother expertly steered the conversation back on track, it was the green Eyrie’s turn to watch me. She approached, with wide, curious amber eyes.

     “Is it true?” she asked.

     “What?” I whined, wanting to disappear between the pages of my book, literally. “Me not knowing how to fly?”

     “Well…” She stroked her chin in thought, peering at my wings. I folded them instinctively against my back. “I can teach you if you want.”

     I opened my mouth to protest, but I didn’t say anything. Something about the way she talked to me and offered to teach me to fly…told me I could trust her. Besides, she was an Eyrie. No doubt flying came naturally to her.

     “I taught my brothers and sisters.” She smiled and held out her hand for me to shake. “I’m Talinia.”

     “I’m Khione,” I answered as though my parents hadn’t mentioned my name before, and shook her hand, realizing that she had quite the strong grip. Then I blurted out, “I’m sorry if I’ll be hard to teach…”

     Talinia shook her head. “You can’t be any worse than Victoria. She kept climbing up onto the roof to try and fly off it when she was a kid.”

     “W-what?!”

     She laughed softly. “Yeah. You don’t seem like the type who’ll want to do stunts right away.”

     I made a face. I just wanted to know how to use my wings properly, not show off.

     “So, when do you want to start?”

     * * *

     I sat at the table, craning my neck to look at my window, and then my door, not seeing any flash of green aside from the pine trees some distance away. I stood up and walked over to the bookshelf to put away Talinia’s latest letter, raising my eyes in case she was already on her way and nearly tripping on my carpet.

     When I opened the drawer, I saw all the other letters and postcards she had sent during her travels. A scroll from the Lost Desert, a postcard from the Haunted Woods, even an envelope with stains that looked like mud. At least, I hoped it was just mud. I slipped the letter into the drawer, taking care not to rumple it or any of the other letters. Once that was done, I gazed out the window, and let my mind take flight.

     * * *

     Talinia hovered in the air, her wings buoying her several feet above the ground as she extended her arm toward me. I was standing on my balcony, my jacket and scarf drawn tightly around me and my own wings trembling. I knitted my hands together and tried to focus on the green Eyrie instead of the view below. While the thick layer of snow ensured a soft landing in case my lesson went sideways, I really didn’t want to experience the curious feeling of falling from the second floor.

     “Just take a running start, jump over the railing, and let your wings do all the work.” She chuckled, her gentle laughter creating wispy clouds of mist in front of her face. “You can do it, Khione.”

     Could I? Could I, really? I swallowed.

     “It only seems hard until you try it yourself,” Talinia reassured me, flying closer to the balcony so her arm was over the railing, and closer to me. “We could take it slower, if you want.”

     “I-I don’t know,” I said, rubbing my arms.

     “You were able to lift yourself off the ground, remember?”

     “But that was only like…a couple of feet.”

     “It’s still something.” She smiled. “You were able to fly off the last few steps on the stairs, too. You got the hang of that quicker than I thought.”

     I blinked. “I did?”

     “Yeah. So come on, do you trust me?”

     Staring at her offered hand, I pondered her words. Did I trust her? Well, I did trust her enough to allow her to teach me how to fly. She was lucky, having parents who could teach her. Unfortunately, both of mine were not made for flight.

     “Yes, but…” My voice trailed off. But what? I just said I trusted her, didn’t I? I took a deep breath as though preparing to dive into the sea instead of diving into the air. “Okay. But I want to do it the way you told me to. With a running start, jumping over the balcony…I-I trust you.” I trust you to catch me, was what I didn’t say, but it went without saying. I stepped backwards before sprinting toward the railing, and as I jumped, remembering that I was jumping off my balcony, I let my wings flap as hard as I could.

     When my feet left solid floorboards, I screamed and felt gravity pulling at me. I fought back. I focused on Talinia and stretched out my arms toward her, throwing them around her neck.

     “Ah – “

     “I-I’m sorry!” I screamed again over the sound of our wingbeats. Though at first the Eyrie looked embarrassed and surprised, she laughed, hefting me easily through the air.

     “You did it!” she said, her eyes gleaming with pride. “You flew off the balcony!”

     Glancing over my shoulder, I did in fact see the balcony some distance away. I was in the sky. I was with Talinia.

     I was flying.

     * * *

     I was back at the table, literally and figuratively, after letting my mind wander through my memories of flying lessons with Talinia. Reaching out, I felt the teapot; it was warm, but no longer hot. But the sun was already beginning its descent below the horizon, tinting the sky a darker shade of blue – one of Talinia’s favourite colours, I remembered.

     After each lesson, we would return to my house, where Mom and Dad set out scones, sandwiches, or pastries – or any combination of the above, or even all of them – before us. At first, it was Mom who prepared and poured the tea, but as I grew older and more adept in the kitchen, I began to insist on more duties. I started with setting the table and bringing the food to it, until I graduated to knowing how long to steep the tea and baking my own scones.

     It took a while for me to fully get the hang of flying, but even as my lessons were over, our tea parties weren’t. I sighed, staring at my scones. Even without touching them, I knew they were getting colder by the minute.

     Talinia had said she wanted to have tea with me again. But teatime was almost over, judging from the splashes of colour that had begun to light up the late afternoon sky.

     It reminded me of the last time we had tea.

     Frowning, I sank into my seat and stared at my humble table spread as though it would have the answers I wanted.

     * * *

      “You’re leaving?” I asked incredulously, gaping over my cup of tea.

     Talinia nodded solemnly as she spread orange jam on her scone. “The Snowager has gone missing. This is more than strange – something’s happening, and this mystery has to be solved.”

     “But the Terror Mountain authorities are already on the case!” I exclaimed. “I’m sure they can figure out what happened to the Snowager.”

     “If they could, we would have a lead by now. And you know how Terror Mountain is – it’s beautiful and it’s our home, but it’s also dangerous.” Her amber eyes narrowed. “They need all the help they can get. A second pair of eyes and wings can’t hurt.”

     When she returned the knife into the jar of jam, I reached out and grabbed her wrist as though she was about to leave at that very moment.

     “Talinia…” My voice wavered. “I know you’ve been hunting for years, but you yourself just said it. Some parts of Terror Mountain are more dangerous than others. And whoever caused the Snowager to disappear…”

     “Must be exposed, and stopped,” she finished, but she did not pull her hand away from mine. “Khione, I can’t stay here in our village and do nothing. I have to try. But I promise, I’ll be back when it’s over. Who knows? The Snowager might just be the beginning. I don’t want anyone else to vanish. Not my family, or my friends…and not you.”

     Those last two words left a ringing in my ears. It felt like a wind had just blasted into my cottage, drowning out all other sounds. I stared at her, and I could see the resolute look in her eyes, the way her brow was furrowed. Whenever Talinia puts her mind to something, she always saw it through, like teaching a skittish Christmas Zafara how to fly. I could try to convince her to stay, but deep in my heart I knew it would be a lost cause.

     I opened my mouth; nothing came out. I tried again. “W-Well…I guess it’s like all those times you had to search for someone out in the snow, right?”

     “Only ten times harder, because you’d think the Snowager would be easy to find.”

     I grimaced but managed to relax when she squeezed my hand tightly. Her expression softened when our eyes met.

     “Just…please, take care of yourself,” was all I could say.

     “You know I will. And when I come back, we’ll have tea again, just like this.”

     Those words were enough to make me try to smile again.

     “Don’t forget to write.”

     “I won’t. I’ll have so much to tell you, Khione. I promise I’ll come back in time for tea.”

     * * *

     The sky was more purple than blue now, and my scones and tea were probably more cold than hot. I rested an elbow on the table and rested my face in my hand.

     Talinia was not the type to break her promises. Whenever she said she would do something, she did it – whether it was teaching me how to fly or figuring out what happened to the Snowager. But she didn’t return right away; the rest of Neopia, it seemed, needed her. From stopping desert storms in the Lost Desert, to solving the mystery of the sun that would not set in the Haunted Woods, to saving Fyora from Terask in Faerieland…no doubt, the fate of the world meant more than any promise she could make to me.

     In any case, she had promised to come back. I didn’t know when, but I knew she would. I just wished I knew when.

     Straightening up in my chair, I watched the purples and blues in the sky begin to meld and darken from my window. The snowdrifts were still intact, still picturesque among the pines and firs. My stomach growled, and I considered taking just one scone, but it felt wrong to do so without my guest.

     The chair in front of me remained empty. Would it remain empty as the dusk ushered in the night? Would Talinia fail to keep her promise, this time without Neopia needing her help again? I was already thinking of putting away the pastries and the tea, consoling myself with the thought that if she would not make it today, she would be here tomorrow. Perhaps in time for breakfast, with something she hunted or gathered along the way for my table.

     But what if she couldn’t even make it then? A terrible little voice spoke to me in the back of my mind, and I tried to put it away, instead focusing on tracing the outline of the Honey Bearog. There was still time; it was not yet truly night.

     And as I gazed at the blank but cheery smile of the Honey Bearog, I heard a knock. My heart leapt into my chest at the sound, and I jumped to my feet, nearly knocking my chair over. I thought of peering through the window, but instead, my feet carried me straight to my door.

     When I opened my door, the green Eyrie standing there caused my heart to leap again – harder, higher. I flung my arms around her, blinking back tears. Any thoughts of her breaking her promise or failing to show up vanished into the cool air that wafted into my house.

     “I’m sorry I’m late, Khione,” she whispered, patting my back. “I was – “

     I broke away from her and shook my head, gesturing for her to come inside.

     “It’s okay, Talinia,” I said, smiling so widely I thought my cheeks would hurt or I would burst out laughing at any minute. “I’m just so happy we can finally have tea together again.”

      The End.