"So… just jump in again?" asked Kat
Minor shrugged "I really don't know. You know more about this scene then I do. If it worked last time I'd say the chances are good, but I cannot be sure" said Minor
Kat frowned and looked over at the surroundings. The snow seemed to be untouched by the inky corruption of the Nightmare, but that might just be on the surface. *I'm not sure if I want to risk jumping into a whole pile of the stuff hidden under a bit of snow…*
*But the fact that it is snowing instead of raining might imply this is the real deal. As creepy as the ink might be, it seems like it can't change anything it can't touch and I doubt it somehow managed to reach the cloud covering…*
*Though maybe I should fly up and check?* Kat glanced at the sky in question before letting her frown deepen. *Then again, there is just as much of a chance that the sky is fake, and the rain just pours down anyway.*
*Am I hesitating too much? Would the me of a year ago hesitate like this? Hell would the me of two months ago hesitate like this?* A traitorous dissenting voice whispered into Kat's thoughts. *You didn't have two friends lives on the line.*
And Kat knew that to be the truth. Kat grit her teeth, and gazed down at the snow. *Now I kinda want to jump in to spite myself, but that's foolish. I may have lost at least some of my uncaring attitude, but I will not lose my rationality.*
*Still… it does seem like the best idea we have.* "I think we should go for it" said Kat making sure she was entirely calm before suggesting it.
"I think so as well" said Minor. *Huh, I didn't think she'd have such a snappy reply.*
Taking one last breath, Kat dived down. She was tempted to dive head first into what looked to be fluffy snow, however for the safety of herself and Minor, Kat kept herself falling legs down. She also tucked in her wings. If the ice was weak enough to let her legs pass through but tough enough to stop her wings that would be horrible.
When Kat's feet finally touched the snow, it was softer than she expected. She continued to fall down without stopping as if there was nothing at all between her and the ground she was surely approaching.
After around five seconds of falling, Kat suddenly felt herself getting locked in place. Though, that wasn't quite right, her arms and legs were free to move, but she had stopped. *Strange. I didn't feel anything stop me… but I'm not falling either.*
Kat looked down, and found Minor hugged against her chest, though she seemed fine. Kat frowned and pushed herself up into a sitting position to try and get a better understanding of her surroundings.
However, as her head rose, at about the halfway point the snow broke away, showing her a completely clear sunny sky. Kat sucked in a breath of fresh air she didn't know she needed and started to shift.
As she did so the snow fell off her legs, allowing them to break free of their icy confines. At this point, Minor also shook off the remnants of the snow, though she had been mostly protected by Kat's wings when she wrapped them around herself.
"Well, if we weren't sure about the whole Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring I sure am now" said Kat
Minor nodded "Yes, it seems so. I wonder if backtracking will become a theme, or if it was specific just for Autumn" said Minor
"It was the same for Summer actually. That pond I found, I had to turn around and go the direction I'd just come from when I reached a crossroads" said Kat
Minor seemed to frown at this "I wonder what it means. This is the most central scene to Major at the moment, or at least, I think it has to be. The fact that it is modelled after our garden is no surprise,
"And the fact that there is nobody else here is also no surprise. Major loved the garden and chose to retreat there whenever she was overwhelmed, so this all makes so much sense for her. The backtracking though… I feel like that has to be important…
"I'm just not sure in what way. Will the next to be moving forward instead? A duality of Major's inability to give up on the past, while still having hopes for the future? Will we be forced to backtrack more instead? I don't exactly know what that would mean" said Minor
Kat stroked her chine with her tail as she said "Could it be related to you? I mean, you're well, not quite death, um, self-sacrifice at least, is a major thing for Major. It's the whole heart of this issue, so maybe it's related to that"
Minor seemed to consider this "That… well, it makes some amount of sense. I'm not quite willing to say that you've solved this, but I could believe it to be true"
Kat smirked "And with your power can't you make it so?" said Kat in a joking manner
Minor giggled but shook her head "I could not change such a core belief of Major's even if I wanted to. As much as I claim the mind to be my domain, much of it is still very much Major's. It's like… um… hmm…
"It's like, you might be the owner of the store, but I'm the store manager. I run the day to day operations, know where everything is, and know a few tricks to keep the generator from short circuiting. But at the end of the day, that one safe at the back labelled 'property of owner do not touch' is not mine to toy with as I wish"
"That… is a strangely believable analogy" said Kat
Minor shrugged "It's a hobby"
Kat narrowed her eyes "I don't remember you spouting too many of those. I seem to recall quite a few poorly thought out analogies" said Kat
Minor gained a slight red tint in her cheeks to match her ears, and turned away slightly. "Look, I'm not all that good at remembering most of them… when I'm embarrassed…" Kat kept looking at Minor "or panicking" Kat's gaze continued "Or nervous… Look I don't get a lot of practice"
Kat hugged Minor to her chest, as she did so Minor let out a small squeak "Yeah, I know"
Despite the words, Minor felt that familiar warmth, and snuggled into Kat's embrace happily. For her part Kat stroked Minor's hair as she looked out at the scenery taking it in properly.
As she'd noted before the sky was extremely clear, with not a cloud in the sky. There was snow coating the ground, and if the nearby was anything to go off of, it was around Kat's knee height in depth.
There were trees nearby, but these ones were much more spread out and looked like Christmas trees, as opposed to the sprawling interlocking brambles of the Autumn section. They all had a thin coating of snow on them, but it looked like the slightest breeze would remove the snow in question.
Examining the area further revealed nothing. It was strange, Kat could see as far as her eyes would allow in a few places where no trees blocked her eyeline, but the sheer scope of what she could see was so radically different from the maze and the forest that she was somewhat surprised that nothing sprung out at her.
*So what does this mean?* Kat asked herself as she continued to stroke Minor's hair. The kitsune's tails had curled around Kat, and while they didn't make it very far around her waist, the feeling of them brushing against her side was comforting.
*I don't see a maze to complete, or a terror to outrun. The area is completely silent, with not even the wind stirring… actually maybe that is something to note. The complete lack of sound.* Kat strained her ears, but they could uncover nothing else, only the faintest of whistling from the wind between the trees if it could even be called that.
Kat needed to supply said ears with a rather large amount of energy to even get that much. "So Minor" said Kat "I can see pretty far around us, and the area is very open. No mazes, no endless jungles. Is that a good sign?"
Minor hugged Kat harder and spoke into the demon's chest instead of looking up. Kat continued to stroke Minor's hair to show this didn't bother her. Her still enhanced hearing made up for the muffling of Minor's voice. "It sounds good… but I don't know if it is or not. I don't know how much I can read into things yet.. This might just be how Major sees the garden. I don't really believe that to be true, but I don't have a better answer sorry"