The following morning, the snowfall had subsided, and what was previously a modest blanket of snow on the forest floor had become a sizable layer. The eating hall was populated with the scouting team, plus Hannick, Lianna, Freyja, Elenora, and Samuel.

“So, Surveyor Hannick, if you happen to run into any interested parties, do remind them we tend to celebrate the new year, so arriving shortly before would be advised,” Elenora said.

Hannick acknowledged this, and Elenora went and found a seat by Leon to talk with him. Hannick, seated with Lianna and Samuel, turned to face them. He had a few things to say to Samuel before he left.

“Hey, Samuel, I’m not sure how aware you are, but… I’m glad you’re okay,” he said.

Samuel looked back at Hannick.

“Okay… thanks,” Samuel said.

“Are you really not taking him back?” Lianna asked.

“No, I’m not. You see, the captain of the caravan told me that I had to find Samuel, that’s all.”

“Then why aren’t you taking him back?” she asked.

Hannick leaned forward, and looked intensely at Lianna.

“Well, I found him, and made sure he’s safe. My job is done. If he wanted me to bring him back, he should have told me to do so, right?” he said.

Lianna furrowed her brow at the rather literal interpretation of the directions.

“But didn’t he mean to--”

Samuel, to her surprise, interrupted her follow-up question.

“Hannick doesn’t like Captain Gillan’s idea of management, so I guess this is his way of… uh, how do I put it?”

Hannick leaned back and gave a hearty laugh. Regaining composure, he said:

“Well, I’m not sure I’d be so blunt about it, but I guess that’s about right. If there’s something he lacks, it’s tact. Samuel, I’m not sure how much you noticed this, but most of the people of the caravan aren’t fans of his. To say I’m following his orders is as true as I’m trying to help Samuel here.”

Lianna leaned back. To say she didn’t understand what was going on would be misrepresenting the situation, but she didn’t understand why. Still, to her she seemed to get that Hannick was on Samuel’s side, so she didn’t probe further.

“Well, I’m going to be heading out soon enough. I should probably find the guide who’s going with me.” Hannick added.

He stood up to find Leon. Before he fully left the table, he took a look at Samuel.

“I haven’t seen you smile like that in a long time… I think I like this version of you more than the one before, Samuel.” he said.

Hannick left to find Leon, leaving Lianna and Samuel sitting at their table. After watching Hannick leave, Lianna looked at Samuel.

“What are you going to do now, then?” she asked.

Samuel looked ahead into space, thinking about the question. After a moment, he responded:

“I don’t know…”

After his non-committal response, Mai came over from parts elsewhere to sit on the table. She sat up, and looked at Samuel, slumping in his seat.

“What do you want to do?” Mai asked.

Samuel looked at Mai.

“What do I want to do?”

He looked upwards into space, lost in thought. Mai looked on with a somewhat worried look.

“Have… you not thought about this before?” she asked.

Samuel looked back down at the spirit, his concentration broken at the question.

“Wh-- uh… I wouldn’t put it like that, I think more… no one asked me that,” he said.

While Samuel was being pressed on what he wanted to do, Freyja had snuck over behind him. She knelt down slightly and gave him a hug from behind. He let out a slight eep in surprise and looked up to see who had hugged him.

“Well that’s sad, but look on the bright side, now’s your first. C’mon, trust yourself on this one.” Freyja said.

Samuel looked at Freyja by tilting his head back, to marginal success.

“But… what would I even go abou--”

Freyja put her finger on his lips to signal him to quiet for a moment.

“Remember when you asked if you could try cooking with me? Like that. That’s all it is.”

She released her finger, and waited for his response.

“Then… could I do that again? Cook with you?” he asked.

Freyja smiled.

“Why not?”

She stood back up and looked at her little sister.

“Hey, if you don’t act now, he’s going to be my little brother at this rate,” she smirked.

Lianna, unenthused about her older sister’s smark, let out an exasperated sigh. She stood up and started to stretch.

“You do realise that would make him our little brother, though? What’s the difference between sisters?”

Her nonchalant tone paired with blunt reasoning threw Freyja off-guard. Freyja’s posture slouched as she realised her little sister got one on her.

“I… okay, you’re right on that one,” Freyja said.

Lianna looked at her defeated sister and gave a smug grin. In this battle of siblings, she won this round.

“Well, if you’re willing to put in that work, I’ll let you do that then.” she said.

Mai giggled after watching the exchange from the table. Freyja looked at the spirit with an annoyed look.

“I’m sorry,” Mai said, “You three look like siblings already. Can’t say that I object to this,”

Freyja pouted.

“Hmph.”

She wasn’t over her sister’s victory. She walked back to where Samuel was sitting. She hooked her arms under Samuel’s shoulders and picked him up entirely from his seat.

“Phwa--”

“Well if you wanna cook, let’s start now by planning out lunch,” Freyja said.

She began carrying him over to the cooking area. Mai followed the two, while Lianna looked at the scene with a soft smile.

“You seem to have grown fond of him,” said Elenora.

She had moved beside Lianna while Freyja was picking up Samuel.

“It’s a shame he’ll have to go back eventually,” Lianna lamented.

Elenora crossed her arms.

“I’m not entirely sure about that… call it a hunch of mine,” she said.