Chapter Special Christmas : Bright Snowfall

The sun starts to rise above the trees on the horizon. The light beams reflect on the white layers which cover the leaves and the ground, making it shine like an infinity of tiny stars. The ground and the sky almost look like the reflection of one another, both being of an immaculate white. The clouds lazily move to the rhythm of the cold breeze, imitated by the naked branches of the trees. It is almost as if everything exists in a pure and white harmony. Some birds start to sing, calling for their partners to come back with food to last winters in their nest or in a hole in a tree trunk keeping them warm. Squirrels stay in their hideouts, protecting their provisions and quietly rolling into themselves to protect themselves from the cold. Other animals rest in their burrows to keep the cold wind away. The quiet symphony of the morning echoes through the forest and the empty sky, reaching out to remote locations.

Somewhere, in the forest, a chimney is spitting the dark smoke of wood logs burning. This place is nothing other than the Yi domain. The different buildings inside of the walls are covered in snow. The garden has disappeared under a thick layer of the white powder. The pound it surrounded is now frozen, but it's been years since the fish that inhabited it are gone. 

The main building stands tall and proud, on a higher ground and dominating the other building. Its highest point peaks above the trees which surround the domain. It is a temple. Some lights are on inside of this building. It is emitted from a large rectangle room with a table in the center and some furniture at the edges. There are no chairs around the table, as it is a lower table. Instead, it is surrounded by some pillows. On one of them, on his knee, sits a young boy. Sleeping on the table, only his gray hair is visible. The light projects some reflections on the silver looking tuft.

A hand gently touches his shoulder. The hand is sculpted by time and hard work, which left some scars and the marks of an elder skin. It belongs to an old man, very muscular for his age, whose hard and stern expression is softened once he sees the child. He slowly shakes the shoulder of the young boy. The young one slowly raises his head while yawning and his eyes are welcomed by the warm and kind smiles of the old man. With a soft laugh, the old man greets the young boy.

"- Good Morning, Kazuki. It seems that you slept there all night long.

- Oh, good morning Master Yi.. I was just so excited that I didn't want to lose too much time.. But I don't remember why I was excited.."

Kazuki looks around him. His eyes reflect the image of the candles which emits some light. It is still too dark, the sun is not high enough to light up the domain.

"- What time is it..?"

- Your usual waking up time. Is there something wrong ? Did you not sleep enough ?

- But it is still so dark..

- Of course. You forgot that we changed seasons some time ago ?

- Oh, right.. It's the snowfall season.. And today we are.. Oh it's the second day of the snowfall season !"

Kazuki immediately stands up. He puts on his Geta and runs outside.

"Kazuki, wait a bit."

But his student is already outside. Master Yi has no other choice than following him. Both of them are greeted by the cold wind. The kid runs towards the biggest tree of the domain. Yet, there is nothing at its root. He is disappointed by the empty space at the bottom of the tree. His Master comes to his left and puts his right arm around the young boy, to prevent him from freezing.

"- Master.. I thought it was today..

- No, Kazuki. It's tonight, while you sleep. Now let's go home. It is cold out there."

The old man leads Kazuki back to the temple. There, they each go to their respective bedrooms upstairs to put on fresh clothes. The old man put on a brown kimono while Kazuki chose his favorite gray kimono. The master gets back down to the kitchen in order to make breakfast while Kazuki takes more time to prepare himself and ties up his bedroom that he left messy last night. Once he is done, he joins his master in the kitchen. Together, they prepare a delicious meal composed of some eggs, some red hearts, which are tomatoes, and some spices from different regions. With that, Master Yi brews some tea made with plants from regions far away. It is considered as a luxury product in the nearby village, so the old man bought some to celebrate with his student the start of the snowfall seasons and soon the new Cycle. They get to the table and sit down with the plate and the drink. There, they eat and drink until they are full.

The whole morning, they play some board games. One in particular, Kazuki's favorite, is the Runed Stones. The Runed Stone is played on a board made out of squares carved into a wooden plank, or drawn on a piece of leather for easier transportation. It consists of colored stones with runes carved into them, which designates objects or places such as "sword", "forest" and so on. The runes can change depending on the region where it's played, but the rules are the same : each rune has a specificity to move on the board and the goal is to get in a position where the opponent can't fight back, as each rune has an advantage or a weakness against another rune. An advantage means that it can capture the opponent's rune from further away while a weakness means that it has to capture them in a specific way. It is not very simple but Kazuki seems to understand it pretty easily because the roles are like in the adventure books he reads and it seems logical to him.

They play until it is time for lunch. Master Yi gets back to the kitchen and starts cooking some fancy fish with some vegetables while Kazuki is preparing the table. The fish, cut in slices, slowly cook on top of the fire in the chimney with hooks while the sound of the knife cutting the vegetables reverbs in the hallway. The smells of the fish and the warmth of the chimney fill the air. The old man puts a pot with the vegetables and some species on top of the fire along with the fish slices. The smells get even better, reaching something that seems heavenly delicious to the young boy. Once it's done, they eat until they are full again. There is some left for dinner. For dessert, the old man bought some sweets from the village. Some little pastry, with various flavors. The master and the student enjoy the delightful treats. 

The clouds start to pour the white powder which makes the pure white outside into a shining mess. Each snowflake shines like a micro star. The master and the student go outside, wearing a black coat on their kimonos, and make a snowman. They make him a more tiny one, representing Kazuki. They are a master and his student too. Once the snowmen are finished, Kazuki makes a snowball and throws it at his Master. The old man looks at the young boy and laughs. They run and shoot snowballs at each other during the whole afternoon, loudly laughing until one of them is tired. Once they finish, they lay on the snow and move their arms and legs, making a snow angel. 

After some time, they return to the warmth of their home. They return inside the temple and Master Yi starts making dinner. They eat the leftovers of their lunch, and once they finish they play some board games again. After a moment, Kazuki ends up falling asleep. The old man strokes his head and puts his own coat on the young boy's shoulder, so he won't catch a cold. 

Once he is assured that Kazuki is sleeping, he puts the presents outside. In some beautiful boxes are some adventure books like he loves, a wooden sword and a dragon figure. There are other presents but they are for him alone to discover tomorrow. 

The next day, Kazuki wakes up, opens the door to see the presents outside and, excited, he runs to his master's bedroom to wake him up! 

"Master! Master! It's here!" 

Together, they bring the presents inside and open them together. The old man can't hold a warm smile as he watches the young boy opening the boxes with sparkles in his eyes. He doesn't have many presents outside of his birthday and this celebration, so it is always a time where he is happy to have some. Together they play and laugh. Silently, the old man thinks of three words :

"Merry Christmas, Kazuki."