//------------------------------//
// XI: Returning 
// Story: Pohjola 
// by Professional Horse 
//------------------------------//

Twilight flew over the ridge and landed near the unmoving body of the rock giant. But nobody was there.

Twilight frowned. "Where are you? Peka? Anyone?" she called.

Silence.

She let out a frustrated grunt, spread her wings and looked up. She would go above the trees and find the group—

A black and orange bird soared overhead, far away, appearing to be little larger than a pine cone.

She shuddered, retracted her wings and looked down at the ground. The group hadn't even tried to cover their trails, so she followed the crumpled moss and the twisted saplings, briskly trotting forward.

Not much time had passed when she spotted the group. They saw her and stopped, and as she approached she asked "Where did you go?"

"Home," Peka said. "You can now come with us."

"Huh?" she said in confusion. "I mean why did you leave? You said you'd wait for me!"

"Yes, yet you still trust us enough to come with us. That proves you are trusting and determined. We may not trust you, but at least you trust us."

"What? You don't trust me? Even after I saved you from that giant? And lying and just leaving like that was rude!"

Peka took a step forward and lowered his head, bringing it closer to her eye-level. "Like I said, don't try to understand our customs, stranger. Now come with us or continue with your 'quest' if you so desire."

Her eyes shifted away from his gaze. "Fine, I'm coming with you."

Peka said nothing, turned around and continued walking forward. The rest of the group followed him, trying to stay some distance away from Twilight. They all remained silent.

After spending a while deep in thought, Twilight looked around, trying to find interesting things to entertain her. The endless, invariable labyrinth of trees surrounded her, its colours dulled by the cloudy sky, so she examined the moose instead. The male ones had various trinkets dangling from their large antlers, and the few females seemed to have bright paint under their black eyes. Their spears rested in brown sheaths hanging from their sides and had wooden shafts and flint spearheads. No ropes attached the sharp heads, for they had been skillfully carved to perfectly fit the tip of the shaft.

Hold on, wooden shafts?

"Erm, sorry to bother you," she said to the nearest moose, "but how did you get wood for those spears?"

The male moose stared at her for a moment before turning away and quickening his pace.

"Um... bye, I guess," she mumbled and trotted next to another moose. "Hey, can I... ask you something?"

He turned to look at her, glaring at her for a moment. "What is it, stranger?"

"Where did you get that wood from?" she asked and nodded towards the spear hanging on his side. "Doesn't Taapio protect these trees?"

"Taapio?" he said, impressed. "Ah, of course you know him. You see, every time we fell a tree, we present him a sacrifice."

She gasped. "A sacrifice?"

"Yes," he said with a raised eyebrow. "Why are you shocked? It is merely a single clay pot containing soup. Taapio seems to enjoy our gifts and lets us use wood for our crafts."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Phew, I was already thinking about something else. Thanks for explaining that."

So he doesn't even make his own food...

The moose nodded and she slowed down her pace. The taller moose didn't move at a faster pace than she did, but their lanky legs allowed them to cover a greater distance with each step.

A while passed and the moose begun chatting with each other. Peka remained silent, however, and no one dared to approach Twilight. Boredom crawled back into her mind, and she once again looked around her in curiosity.

One of the female moose, the one who had almost been crushed by the giant's fist, had two furry bags strapped to her back. She had ignored them before, but as she looked at them she noticed the small, unmoving limbs and the glitter of black eyes under the still eyelids.

The moose had two dead hares on her back.

Twilight quickly looked away, frowning. Why did the moose hunt?

Curiosity overwhelmed her, so she approached the moose and said "Hi there. Can we talk for a moment?"

She turned to look at her and smiled. "Sure, strange spirit. You may call me Aneli."

"I'm not a spirit," she said in frustration. "Just a regular pony."

"Regular? I've never seen a winged one before. Only horned ones, and even them a long time ago, when our tribe was closer to Kalevala."

Twilight wanted to ask many questions, but she focused and asked "Why did you kill two innocent hares, Aneli? Aren't moose herbivores?"

She furrowed her brow. "Herbi- what?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Plant eaters."

"Oh, we are! And can you please call us Hirvenlings? We are more than mindless animals, you know. Quite insulting when you compare us to our distant cousins!"

Twilight's eyes widened. "Sorry! I didn't know-"

Aneli waved dismissively with her hoof. "It's fine, no need to apologize. We hunt because there are many useful things you can get from a dead animal! You can make tools, trinkets, healing paste and even fertilizer out of bones, strings from tendons, waterskins and bags from skin and organs—"

Twilight stopped to retch and covered her mouth with her hoof.

Aneli stopped as well and gasped. "Oh dear! Are you alright?"

"Urgh... sorry, that was just so..." she mumbled in response.

The group had stopped and fallen silent. Peka approached them.

"The stranger is weak," he said to the others before focusing his gaze on Twilight. "And in this land, the weak perish. The strong must do what they can to survive. I do not know how things are in your 'civilized' land, but here survival is the highest priority. Perhaps that is why you do not understand us, stranger."

Twilight looked at distant trees. "Yes," she said silently.

Peka sighed. "I think you should abandon your quest and go home, whether it is in Kalevala or not. You will only find misery here."

"I'm not doing this for myself," Twilight said and looked at him. "I'm doing this for a friend. That is why I must endure. I'll adapt, don't worry."

"I doubt you will, but may gods guide you" he said and turned away. "Come on, everyone! I want us to be back at home before noon, and the sun peeking from behind the clouds is almost at its highest point!"

The group continued, but Twilight stood, unmoving.

I'm doing this for a friend.

She followed after them.