Sollar’s shoes dug into the muddy trail. Keeping an arm in front of her face, the Demonfolk girl braced against the rain and wind that was picking up. Drops of water slapped against her arm, bringing with it a shivering chill.

The burlap coat had gradually soaked through with the heavy rain, but the Demonfolk girl kept it on to shield her body from the ice-cold drops that rained down.

“...Cold,” she muttered. Her body shivered.

Despite this, she was going to go onward. She remembered one of the Gen-ralls saying that being in a hard situation built character. While the Demonfolk girl wasn’t too sure on what ‘building character’ was, she was sure it was a good thing!

Regardless, the cold didn’t help.

Sollar kept her eyes on the ground ahead. Water ran down wagon grooves on the trail itself, which at least gave her a direction to follow when walking.

She gave another step forward, and the mud gave way. She almost slipped, but her tail shot out to balance her again.

“S-slippery,” she commented.

After catching herself, the Demonfolk girl continued. She stepped underneath a groove of trees next to the trail, shielding her from the rain for the time it took her to pass it.

Then, she stopped.

The Demonfolk girl could hear something. In fact, the ground was rumbling.

Sollar could feel the shaking of the surface through her shoes. Then came the hissing and clacking of metal, not too dissimilar to the rail engine that she had been on.

But there weren’t any tracks around, so where was the sound coming from...?

Looking at the ground, the Demonfolk girl could even see her shadow being cast by a light source shining directly behind her. A loud, shrieking sound of metal followed, before Sollar heard the voice of someone right behind her.

“Wait, wait! Stop the hauler!”

Sollar turned around as quick as she could, just to see who or what it was. She squinted her eyes at the bright light in front of her, taking a few steps to the side to get the glare out of her eyes.

It was a large machine. The metal surface glinted with the rain that had fallen on it.

It was like the rail engine that she had been chased off, much earlier in the day. However, this one was much longer, and didn’t move on rails. It rolled forward on two front visible wheels, before finally coming to a slow, heavy stop.

The entire machine hissed upon stopping. However, the person sitting at the front had caught her attention.

Sitting on this seat at the very front was a boy, holding a wheel to steer the large front wheels. Rain dripped from his mid-length white hair and down his pale, slightly blue skin. His clothes were as soaked as Sollar’s, but despite that, he did not seem bothered by the rain at all.

His ice-blue eyes peered through a pair of goggles, watching the Demonfolk girl.

“Eh? What’s a lass like you doing out here?” he asked.

Sollar stared at the white-pale young man.

“Ain’t gonna answer?” he asked. “Well, either way, you’re drenched! Lassie, you shouldn’t stay out here for too long, you’re gonna get sick.”

“B-but you’re staying o-out,” Sollar said, through chattering teeth.

“That’s ‘cuz I’m a Snow Spirit,” he retorted. “Cold don’t bother me. Unlike you. Pretty sure Demonfolk don’t really like the cold, either.”

Sollar wrapped her own arms around herself, in an attempt to warm up. “C-cold builds c-character. It’s... it’s good.”

“Who put that in your head?” the Snow Spirit asked. “Sure, a tough guy can handle the cold. But it ain’t all a good thing for you!”

Sollar was about to reply, but a woman’s shout from the rear of the mobile machine interrupted her.

“Hey! Flaker! What’s the hold up?”

The Snow Spirit, who was apparently named Flaker, grunted and then turned around to shout back.

“Aye, wait up! There’s a lass out here in the cold! Just lemme talk and I’ll send ‘er your way!”

After that, Flaker scoffed. “Driver has no patience. But you should go up back. We can give you a lift.”

Sollar simply stood there.

“C’mon, lassie. It’s cold out. Get up back, the boiler’ll keep you warm. Don’t want you gettin’ ill.”

The Demonfolk girl cocked her head.

“Go up back?” she said.

“You’re going to Fort Logger, right?” Flaker replied. “Well, I hope you are. This trail goes directly there. If you’re not, you’re going the wrong way. And it’s a long walk back down.”

“F-Fort Logger? Yes! I’m going th-there,” the Demonfolk girl exclaimed, while stuttering.

“Alrighty. Get to the back of the Traction-Hauler, before you freeze to death.” 

Flaker pointed to the back of the machine, where the cabin of the ‘Traction-Hauler’ was. Sollar’s eyes followed where he was pointing, to see that it was lit from the inside by a warm, orange glow.

“Go on,” Flaker said. He then turned back and yelled again, “Oi! Demonfolk gal here coming up front!”

Sollar’s shoes splashed through the mud as she walked towards what appeared to be a visible sign of warmth. The lights flowing from the windows of the machine were flickering a warm orange.

Sollar stepped up beside it, and the cabin door opened to reveal a Human woman, wearing the same goggles as Flaker.

“Hey, there,” she said. “You’re the one that snowflake up front was referring to?”

Unsure of what to say, Sollar nodded her head.

“Alright,” the woman continued. “You look drenched. Hop in, unless you wanna freeze out here.”

She reached her arm out to Sollar, who grabbed onto it with her own two cold hands. The Demonfolk girl was pulled into the glowing cabin, where a blanket was wrapped around her by the woman.

The inside of the Traction-Hauler was very warm. While it had not been very roomy, Sollar nestled herself in the corner of the interior. Directly opposite of her was another person within — a young man with two distinguishing horns of the Demonfolk. His hair was a solid gray in color.

He was the first to speak up.

“We’re picking up a hitchhiker?” he asked. “What was that ice-brained spirit thinking?”

“Shush and continue shoveling your coal,” the woman replied. She then glanced over at Sollar and smiled.

“Name’s Tila,” the woman said, introducing herself. “Grumps over there is Serclow. We’re part of the Fort Logger crew.”

Sollar nodded, still shivering in the blanket.

Tila then proceeded to ring a bell that was near the front of the cabin. “Hey, snowflake! We’re starting up the engines again, get ready to steer!”

A shout from the Snow Spirit could be faintly heard over the pattering of rain and wind. Tila nodded, seemingly understanding that, before she started to spin a few valves around.

“Anyway,” the woman asked. “What’s your name, Demonfolk girl?”

“I-I’m Soll-ar...” she replied. The Demonfolk girl scooted over a little closer to the blazing fire that Serclow shoveled more coal into.

“Don’t get too close, fire’s hot,” Serclow said. “What’s a kid like you doing out here?”

The Demonfolk man paused his shoveling to glance at Sollar. She promptly smiled and responded.

“I’m going to New Frontier-land!” she said. “To see my brother!”

Serclow blinked, the orange glow of the fire shimmering off his eyes.

“New Frontierland? Well, sorry to tell you, ya missed your chance.”

Sollar frowned.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Meanwhile, Tila frowned at the Demonfolk man. “Serclow, don’t just put it like that. But yes, he’s right.”

She glanced back over at Sollar. “There’s a path that heads down the other side of the hill, but it’s hard to traverse in bad weather. Gets all muddy and everything... we can’t let you go down that way. You’ll need to wait a few days for it to dry.”

The Demonfolk girl pouted as she deflated a little.

“B-but I want to meet my brother!” she exclaimed. “Riss-ar said I can go to New Frontier-land from here!”

Before Tila could talk Sollar out of whatever hasty plan she might’ve had, Serclow spoke up.

“‘Riss-ar’?” asked the man.

Sollar nodded. “Yea! The lady with the boat! Down there?”

The Demonfolk girl pointed in the direction of the river. Or, at least, in the direction she thought it was.

“You mean, Rissle? You met her?” Serclow asked. He paused his shoveling when he spoke to Sollar. “How’s she?”

“Don’t hound the girl,” Tila tried to say. Sollar, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind the questions from the Demonfolk man.

“She is really friendly!” Sollar exclaimed. “She told me how to get up here fast and said... Oh, she told me to tell me about you!”

Serclow had an expression on his face that seemed blank. Then, he turned back to the flames and began shoveling.

“Well, that’s Rissle for sure... if she thought you were good, I’ll give you a pass.”

Tila sighed, then shook her head. “Never seen you content unless you were talking about Rissle, Serc. You never really elaborated what you owed her, though.”

“Is it my business to tell you?” he questioned. “That is between me and her. If she was willing to help me in the past, I am willing to help her in turn.”

“Suit yourself.”

The Traction-Hauler was making its steady way up the hill. The inside rumbled over rocks and pebbles as it steamed forwards. The constant hissing and chug, chug, chug combined to form a cacophony of noise that, if anything, prevented Sollar from falling asleep.

She was starting to get tired. The day had been a particularly interesting one for her. The Demonfolk girl saw so many unusual people, and went to new places.

Sollar yawned, and decided to ask a few questions.

“What is this... thing?” she suddenly asked. This effectively cut into the conversation between Tila and Serclow.

“The metal thing,” Sollar continued. “It’s like the rail engine thing. But bigger, and louder.”

“This?” Tila asked. “It’s Fort Logger’s traction-hauler. They gave it to us recently, we use it to haul lumber.”

“Lumber?” Sollar questioned.

“Yeah, lumber. Wood, for building stuff. Y’know... things like furniture, houses and all. Things are a little easier with this thing around.”

Sollar stared into the fire that Serclow was tending to.

“How does it work?” she asked.

Tila’s facial expressions faltered at that question. “Uh, well... I’m not sure. I think Serclow knows better than I do, even though he’s a Demonfolk.”

The Demonfolk man grunted, giving a glare to Tila for throwing him to the task of explaining the inner workings of this machine.

“I don’t know either,” he said. “I just run the dang thing.”

“Don’t lie, you maintain it also,” Tila replied.

Serclow huffed. “Fine. Sollar, your name was?”

The Demonfolk girl nodded.

“Well, listen up. I don’t wanna explain it again,” he started. “This thing heats up and boils water. You hear me?”

He glanced over at Sollar, to see that the Demonfolk girl was nodding.

“Yep, it just heats water. That’s why I throw coal into the fire, to keep the water boiling. You know boiling water at least, right?”

Sollar smiled, then nodded. “Yes! When you put fire next to water it begins making bubbles and is very hot!”

“Something like that. Anyway... As this thing boils water, it makes steam. Like, the little wisps that you see above boiling water.”

Sollar nodded. She was entirely attentive to the man.

“And when you have enough steam, it can push things.”

“How?”

Serclow stopped at the interruption.

“What do you mean, how?” he asked.

“How does it push?” Sollar asked.

“Uh... I’m... not sure,” he admitted. “It just does. Like magic. Except it doesn’t use any magic... Human witchcraft. I just maintain this thing, okay?”

Sollar retreated back when Serclow got a little defensive.

“Okay, where was I?” the Demonfolk man asked. “Well, you need water to make steam. So this thing runs on both water and coal... or water and wood, whatever burns well enough. It just needs to get heat from somewhere that’s hot.”

“Hot stuff?” Sollar asked. “How hot? I know the sun in the sky can feel hot.”

Serclow shook his head. “Yeah, good luck boiling water with that. No, you need fire, since that’s hotter.”

“So something really hot?” Sollar asked. Being so close to the warmth of the fire was making her groggy. “What about the... magic hot fire?”

Serclow raised an eyebrow.

“That can... work? But that ain’t gonna be easy to keep up.”

“Mmm... maybe have them do more fire...” she muttered.

“Do ‘more fire’? I don’t think that’s how fire works, lass.”

Sollar gave a grunt.

The Demonfolk man glanced down at the girl, who was gradually leaning to the side as she fell asleep. Both of his eyebrows shot up when she basically toppled over directly into the coal pile, the one that he was supposed to be feeding into the fire.

She was now snoring, quietly.

Serclow’s eyes flickered over her, then he looked up at Tila.

“She fell asleep. In the coal pile,” he said.

Tila glanced over. “As expected of a member of the Demonfolk.”

“Huh?” Serclow asked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m half-convinced you Demonfolk can sleep anywhere.”

Serclow shook his head. “I prefer a bed.”

“Of course, you’re one of the rare civilized ones.”

“If you weren’t my friend right now, I’d knock you out,” the Demonfolk man muttered.

“You consider us friends?”

The Traction Hauler continued chugging over the muddy trail as rain pelted the machine on its way to Fort Logger.