This story is part of the Wanderer series.
A little ways from the camp, Green found more footprints in the snow that tracked further up the narrow mountain path. The footprints were alone, not overlapping with the other fresh tracks that traced back and forth from their overnight camp. Blinking, her gaze followed the tracks up until where it wrapped around the mountain, appearing to head towards nowhere purposeful. Reaching up and pulling her cloak tighter around her shoulders, Green stepped forward, following the tracks as they snaked along the mountainside, along uneven footing buried by a season’s worth of snow, until she reached an overhang that looked out across the jagged mountain range. There stood Blue, feet rooted in place and her cloak swaying with the bitter wind as she gazed out.
She turned her head to face backwards as she heard the snow crunch from Green’s approach. She did not pay her any more heed than that, turning to face the landscape again, even as Green joined her side. Clearly, she wanted to be left alone. Green, though intent to speak with her friend, did not say anything either. She did not know what to say. She knew the day’s events were still troubling Blue, knew she had to divert the conversation away from Blue to get her to talk, but did not know how; what words to present first. And so she stood there in silence, seemingly in silent vigil with her brooding friend.
Blue eventually picked up on Green’s silence, becoming slightly agitated. “I don’t need you to watch over me.”
Green turned her head, surprised Blue spoke first. “I’m not… Well… I—”
“I know why you’re here. I need some time alone.”
She went silent for a moment, but gathered herself to speak again. “I am not going to sit idly at camp while a friend is suffering alone. I committed enough inaction in my lifetime.”
“Go help the camp.”
“I did my part already. I am free to do what I wish.”
Blue did not respond. Eventually, she sighed, dipping her chin and closing her eyes, furrowing her thick brows. “You were always stubborn, even for a pacifist sheep.”
Green smiled, taking her remark as a compliment. Seeing Blue lighten, she ventured to turn the conversation around.
“You did what you could. You cannot win over their hearts in one day.”
Opening her eyes, Blue straightened, maintaining avoidance of eye contact. “I know.”
“Do not walk away from this thinking your journey was a failure. They acknowledged they knew you were coming. Words of your deeds are spreading. Even if they choose to confront them with a harsher light, they cannot deny the other’s pledge to your mission.”
Blue stayed still, her character veiled like the snowy mountain faces.
“It might not be the outcome you wanted, but the effects are visible. The people can see: the empire is ready to atone for its misguided persecution. That alone must account for something.”
“To them, that is not enough,” she muttered. “They will seek more.”
Green paused for a moment. Having said what she prepared, she had to adapt.
“Then… let them seek for more. And… provide to them what you can… however much you are willing. They cannot, then, in good faith, say you were not honest. You were at the crossroads, willing and waiting.”
She paused again, leaning forward, waiting for Blue’s response. However, she did not speak. She did not even appear to have heard her. Her gaze turned melancholic, lost and wandering over the horizon.
“If only I were as good of a speaker as my brother,” she eventually lamented. “He always knew how to turn around the spirits of the people.”
Leaning away, shoulders dropping, Green became uncertain again.
“I was always better suited as a warrior… a shinobi… to walk in the shadows rather than the broad daylight.”
Green dipped her chin as she listened to Blue cast her thoughts out to the wind.
“It was foolish to believe I could take his place and fulfill it with the same mastery as a reconnaissance mission. Instead, I perhaps destined his next campaign to be more fraught with danger.”
Her mind furiously scrambled to come up with something to say. Blue was at least speaking her thoughts rather than remaining silent, but too long of a silence from herself could shatter that delicate window.
“But you care, right?!”
The voice from behind startled the two. Taking a step to the side and turning around, they saw Yellow, a few meters away, who had walked out a few steps past the cover of the bending pass. Seeing the two girls suddenly turn briefly tempered her confidence, her face flashing a glance of nervousness as she clearly caught their attention. But her wide, sincere eyes held. Furrowing her brows and pushing past her fears, she leaned in again.
“You care for your brother, your family, and the nation they built. That should count for something, right? At least, if no one else acknowledges you, you would have done something for your family…!”
Her voice abruptly stopped, lips still parted, as if realizing something. Slowly, her eyes dipped down, and she retracted back. Her voice became a murmur against the mountain howl.
“That’s… at least… more than I can claim… with my family.”
Blue kept her unflinching eyes on Yellow as she receded, her expression transforming back into the shrouded, scrutinous gaze she gave everyone. Green covertly eyed her, anticipating her reaction.
Slightly raising her chin and without altering her expression, Blue finally responded. “You really do have a habit of sneaking up on people, don’t you, princess?”
Eyes widening, Yellow glanced up, taken aback. But Blue did not wait for a response, simply dipping her chin and closing her eyes. Then, she turned back towards the mountains.
“Go back to camp, both of you,” she directed to Green without a second glance. “I will finish my part in our overnight preparations and return when I’m finished.”
Green briefly judged the truth in Blue’s voice, then dipped her head to leave, a subtle smile breaking out under the shroud of the cloak wrapped around her neck as she carefully navigated down the rocky path towards Yellow. The lightning princess gave Green a worried stare as Green prodded her to turn around with her and follow her back.
As they retraced their steps back down the mountain, Yellow uncomfortably fidgeted, eyes staying clear of Green. Blue’s words clearly stung her.
“I’m sorry… I thought I’d follow you… and…”
Green shook her head, smiling. “No, I thank you for coming. Your second opinion helped sway her thoughts.”
Lightening her shoulders, she looked at Green with relief. “Really?”
Nodding, Green strengthened her smile to assure the younger girl. “She may not have allowed it to show, but our harmonious efforts casted doubt in her heart over whether her single-minded appraisal of her deeds was reasonable.”
Yellow did not look quite convinced yet, but eager to believe. “She didn’t look too happy that I was there…”
“She has a way of hiding her emotions,” Green breathed. “But she did not outright reject us. That, I believe, is a step forward in the right direction… and a step towards getting her to believe in herself and her mission once again.”
When Yellow said no more, steps slightly slowing as she thought, Green again prodded her along with her words.
“Come, let us return to camp and ensure a hearty air for when she returns.”