A Song for Winter: Flirting

    William knew from a young age that he would be betrothed to the foundling lynx girl, Julia. The two had always been good friends and training partners but the thought of marrying his best friend always felt weird to William. He didn’t think he loved her or that one day he would. This was an arranged marriage after all so it wasn’t like it really mattered after all. All that really mattered was that Julia bear a child to strengthen the clan and ensure the survival of future generations. So William went along with the arranged marriage to his best friend out of duty.

 

    One day after returning from a hunt Julia surprised William with the gift of a chain shirt that she painstakingly linked together herself. This was an unusual sign of affection from her as neither of them had ever actually discussed their real feelings for each other before. William was so touched by this gift that he realized that he was developing feelings of love for Julia. With this realization, William decided he needed to find a gift to return the affection. With that in mind, William set out on a trip to the valleys to the south of the frozen plains.

 

    The trip took several days of hard travel through frigid winds and knee-high snow. Along the way, William ran into a gnoll hunting party that wasn’t exactly thrilled to have an outsider traveling through their territory. Outnumbered five to one, the odds weren’t in William’s favor especially since the gnolls in that arctic plains were known to be more vicious and ruthless than average. Ax and witch knife in hand William was surrounded with no way out when an idea struck him. Whistling a descending series of notes while making a series of downward slashing motions with his witch knife. Thinking this was their opportunity to strike, the gnolls leaped at him only to be knocked flat on their stomachs by a sudden increase in air pressure. Stuck to the ground by the downward wind current the gnolls were quickly finished off by William.

 

    Arriving at the southern valleys, William was greeted by an uncommon sight that far north. Green grass and colorful flowers as far as the eye could see. Moving carefully the folf looked for only the best, most perfect-looking purple flowers. Taking his time, William assembled the most lovely-looking bouquet. Packing the flowers away carefully, William set back towards his village. The journey back was gnoll free and relatively free of danger. Upon arriving back in the village William immediately went straight to Julia. From his pack, he presented her with the bouquet of purple flowers he had picked in the valley. As Julia looked at the flowers her eyes began to fill with love as William smacked her about the face with the bouquet as was clan tradition. Fragrant petals filled the air as William and Julia shared their first kiss confirming their love for each other. Julia became the greatest love of William’s life and he became hers.