Chapter Text
With the arrival of winter, the familiar hills and meadows had turned into endless drifts of deep snow. All life had vanished from the island, leaving this year’s two winter sentinels alone with blocks of ice and a mountain of responsibilities. Usually, the guard duty was performed solely by Saparata, who had volunteered for the job himself. Being face to face with nature seemed like a wonderful decision. And in truth, it was. He wasn’t dragged into the hustle and bustle among the gems, and he didn’t have to partner with anyone on patrols.
Everything remained that way until one of his closest gems—Fluixon—volunteered to help him with this year’s winter patrol. Of course, Saps wasn’t opposed to having a partner, on the contrary, he was all for it. All those years of solitude had been slowly driving him mad. And Fluixon’s company was pleasant for him, in the non-winter months, he often visited him, even though the charoite gem usually had a lot of work. They always found time to spend together.
However, he was a little worried about his friend, considering that he really did have a lot of work all year round, going without sleep in the winter wasn’t the best idea. Other gems go into hibernation during the winter, since the sun’s energy isn’t enough to sustain their vitality. But Sapara didn’t need that. Hundreds of years ago, he discovered that even the small amount of energy the sun provides during the cold season was enough for his body. But Flux wasn’t blessed with that ability. He needed sunlight to avoid feeling like a cracked stone.
Still, Sensei had given the gem permission to keep Saps company this winter. The winter sentinel wasn’t sure how Fluixon had managed to persuade Sensei to agree to this. But that probably wasn’t all that important. Now he needed to tell his friend about the guard’s work, his duties, and demonstrate in practice how to more easily destroy ice floes and perform other guard duties.
“All right, to start with, you need to grab an ice pick—there’s probably one lying around in the smithy,” the snow gemstone began his briefing. “You can’t cut through ice with a regular sword. You also need to use the serrated side of the ice pick, the other side is essentially useless for a guard’s work,” Saparata held his ice pick, demonstrating its proper use.
“Is that all? I thought it would be harder,” Fluixon said confidently, crossing his arms over his chest.
“It sounds easy in theory, but it’s actually harder in practice. Let’s see how easily you can do it,” he laughed, leaning on the handle of his ice pick. “I bet I’m going to do it faster and better than you,” Saparata laughed even harder, as if he’d just heard the funniest joke of his life. “Okay, okay, we’ll see how you’re going to ‘destroy’ me,” he said sarcastically. He picked up the ice pick and gestured for his partner to follow him.
“You know, actually these ice floes are kind of just like us. I mean, they can’t really talk or have their own minds. But they were made just like gemstones—or something like that. I don’t really remember what Sensei said,” he began, fastening his ice pick to his belt as he spoke.
“Just like us?” charoite gemstone asked in surprise, looking intently at his companion.
“Yep, and I’ve heard Sensei calling them ‘Sinners,’ but I don’t know why,” he glanced at Flux and then somewhere further down the corridor. Back then, he hadn’t paid much attention to Sensei’s words, but now he was genuinely curious to find out what they meant.
“Sinners? Interesting... Did he call them that just once?” Saparata nodded, pausing for a second. “Mhm, just once. I think he said it by accident—or at least it seems that way. He never really told me much about ice floes,” he continued walking. “The smithy should be the corridor to the left. “Grab an ice pick, I’ll wait for you on the frozen lake. Let’s see how you put your knowledge into practice,” Saparata laughed. Flux nodded in response, and they went their separate ways.
They’re both standing at the edge of an ice floe. Saps is gesturing wildly with his hands, trying to explain to Fluixon how to hold the ice pick properly. “All right, hold it tight with both hands, and strike the top of the ice floe with the serrated part of the blade. It should break into two pieces and sink underwater.” He took Flux’s hands, guiding them to the angle at which the blade should be held. “That’s it, good. Try breaking this piece of ice, it’s the smallest of them all,” he let go of his friend’s hands, smiling gently.
Fluixon nodded and walked to the edge of the ice floe,
tapping it. Crack. The ice floe split in two, the gem flinched and nearly fell off it, but his partner pulled him back by the hand just in time.
“For a first try, that’s actually not bad. But later we’ll need to combine running, strikes, and jumps from the ice floes. We need to use our time more efficiently,” he let go of the sapphire gem’s hand. “You’ve got to be kidding… Why break these ice floes at all? They’ll all melt in the spring anyway,” said Flux, when suddenly a shriek sounded behind him, he flinched again at the unexpected noise and looked back.
“There’s your living example—they make those noises almost around the clock. It might wake up the other gems, and believe me, you don’t want to become the enemy of literally everyone just because you disturbed their sleep. Especially Schpood—he really gets angry when something disturbs his sleep...” He sighed and pulled out his ice pick. “I’ll handle this, you stay here,” he ordered, then ran toward the ice floe.
Everything about his movements was graceful, down to the last detail. Confident, steady steps that allowed him to reach his target in a matter of seconds. It took him about twenty seconds to reach the top of the ice floe and strike it. Saparata immediately jumped aside, landing gracefully on the nearest rock.
It was... truly impressive. Fluixon couldn't take his eyes off his partner. Every one of his movements was flawless, the strike was timed perfectly to give Saps time to jump off the ice floe. In fact, he paid more attention to Saparata than to the actual process of performing the task. He often looked at his friend instead of watching the process of doing any given task, which often led to difficulties in understanding what he was supposed to do in the first place.
A few seconds later, the winter guard reappeared before him, reattaching the ice pick to his belt. He smiled proudly, as if he’d just climbed a whole mountain. “Hey, you can stop staring at me for just a second.”
Flux immediately looked away, pretending nothing had happened. “I wasn’t staring, just watching. It wasn't bad, I guess. But if I was a winter guard like you, I could do the same,” he said defiantly, trying to hide the fact that he really had been staring. Saparata laughed, taking his hand.
“All right, Mr. ‘I Could Do the Same,’ it’s time for us to head back. We need to check if everything’s okay, especially with Sensei—he often falls asleep out of the blue and ends up bumping into the columns in the hallways...” Fluixon looked at his companion in surprise. “Does he really do that? Does he sleepwalk? I’m honestly not surprised, given his love for ‘meditations,’ ” Saps chuckled, still holding the gemstone by the hand. It wasn’t that either of them minded it, in fact, physical contact with each other was something pleasant for both of them.
“Something like that. If it happens, it’s better to just cover him with a blanket and wait until he wakes up.” Saparata felt a light touch on his uniform and looked up.
“Oh, I wasn’t expecting snow today. I think we should hurry before it gets too deep...”
“As you say,” the gem replied, following Saps. They walked for about ten minutes before going inside. Saparata went to check on the other gems, leaving Fluixon alone with his thoughts.