Chapter 38: 39-Snow

Snow.

The ultimate playground for children.

At the same time, a nightmare for adults.

Snowballs, snowmen, and snow angels.  Some of the many entertaining and wondrous things that children could craft from snow. 

Freezing, slippery, and energy draining. Words that adults would use to describe the difficulties that snow brings.

For Rowan, he witnessed both hardships and pleasure that snow bought each time it fell. For him, he always found it enjoyable when snow covered the land.

Rowan remembered a time where freshly fallen snow once blanketed the castle when he was eight years old. A snowstorm had just passed while he stayed in the castle with his father at the time. The knights were tasked with clearing up the snow from the castle grounds. Rowan had decided to help out at first, but when his eyes laid upon the fresh snow, an idea popped into his head that he just needed to act upon.

Rowan did what any child would do when they saw snow.

He made a snowball and chucked it at someone.

Some people would have called the action impulsive. His mom would have scolded him for doing so. However, it turned out the person that Rowan threw the snowball at was Vice Captain Gonz. When the snow ball hit, the man stopped shoveling and slowly turned around.

Rowan knew at that moment he was in trouble and deeply regretted his actions.

Just as he was wondering if he should apologize, the vice captain scooped up his own handful of snow and threw it at Rowan.

As it turned out, snow that wasn’t shaped into a ball was not the best for throwing as it had hit a nearby knight who was helping to shovel the snow. That, or the vice captain's aim was just horrible. The struck knight froze, then retaliated with his own snowball while calling for reinforcements from other nearby knights. 

The situation quickly devolved from there as a massive snowball fight involving all the knights occurred. Even some of the castle staff such as maids and castle guards also joined in.

The castle grounds could have almost been mistaken for a warzone with all the snow flying around and bodies piling up from the hits.

Even the King had somehow gotten word and joined in at one point.

A snowball fight involving novice and intermediate class warriors was no small matter as the snowballs crafted for ammunition were faster, larger and harder than anything a child could make. Rowan had witnessed knights making snowballs that were as large as their bodies in a matter of seconds. It was the envy of every child.

Rowan had started off throwing snowballs at anyone he could, but his small  body was an easy target and no match for trained knights. He lost count how many times his body was buried under a pile of snow throughout the snowball fight. That didn’t stop the boy from digging himself out and aiming a snowball at the closest person.

However, all good things must come to an end as his father had gotten wind of their actions. The snowball fight was swiftly brought to a conclusion and all members involved were all punished, the king included. 

This was one of Rowan's fondest memories of snow. A memory that pops up everytime he sees snowflake fluttering downwards to the earth. He would have loved to have such a fight again, even the punishment that came with it.

Unfortunately Rowan didn’t even know if he could get back the capital again, much less out of the forest.

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Thwack!

An arrow successfully lodged itself into the center of the target.

The snowfall had not changed his routine as he continued practicing with the bow and arrow. 

Once the boy grew tired of practicing, he would carry out the exchange with the Mother Tree seed. Once that was finished, he would either continue practicing or go to sleep. Those were the only three actions that Rowan carried out every day. 

All actions were tailored to his self growth. If there were other actions that could have made him stronger, but Rowan would have done them. He was getting more accustomed to his new arms by the day, but he was not there yet. When Rowan felt he was more comfortable with his archery skills and arms, then he would alter his bow and arrow task, but until then he would just keep practicing the basic shooting form.

The snow actually made it better for Rowan as the cold temperature froze the soil of the target mound. Before, the mound would collapse at least once a day from Rowan’s arrows driving themselves into the dirt and him pulling them out to reuse them. The cold had made the mound more rigid, thanks to the freezing properties of snow. It did damage the arrows a bit as a tradeoff, but there wasn’t anything that Rowan could have done about it.

Rowan’s body still felt the cold, but the feeling was muted down. It felt as if he was out on a late autumn day while arms barely registered the cold. 

One would think since his body did not worry about the cold as much, then sleeping above ground would have been fine.

That would be wrong.

 Just because his body did not mind the cold as much did not mean he was immune to it. His body still shivered from the drop in temperature. The den helped him avoid the cold winter winds and allowed him to sleep better. Not to mention that there was a possibility the tent could have been blown away or collapse from the weight of the snow. Rowan praised himself inwardly for thinking ahead this time.

The Mother Tree seed continued to function normally which he was also thankful for. The mana exchange continued without a problem so Rowan assumed the Mother Tree seed would be fine with winter.

Everyday he continued to practice with his bow and arrow as winter continued.

Draw.

Aim. 

Release.

Those words became a personal mantra at that point. 

Time passed quickly and soon the snow melted. Rowan barely registered the seasonal change as he just focused on training himself.

 Since there was no calendar, Rowan had to count the seasons instead.

Just like that, five winters came and went.

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