It has now been five years since I was reborn into this weird world and everyone started acting rather strange around me. The only one that treated me like a baby was Mother Doe aka Primula. I was certainly not expecting this whole little venture to last for as long as it has and would have preferred it to stop right at that festival thingy and let me awaken in the hospital, but now I'm growing bigger and learning more about these people. My sister was sent, recently, to Grimliss' zone of rule, wherever it may be, for some discipline or something. I don't know. My 'parents' refused to tell me no matter how much I asked them to explain it to me, having fun undoing all of her plans. I mean, sure, they were a threat to everyone else who went near them and quite a few ended up in intensive care, but that's because none of them know what a book was nor how to read them. My aunt and uncle would come to visit occasionally every year but never really came to talk to me or see how I was doing.
My mother has been homeschooling me as well as private teachers, but they've been noticing, with every 'test' they perform, that my intelligence far surpasses what they were expecting for a fawn my age. Like putting a square in a square hole is that difficult and putting buildings blocks together in a manner that allows them to serve as stairs or a make-shift bridge would be that difficult as well.
Today is special, however. Today, I'm being escorted by Maninim to my first day of 'magic' school where I'll learn about spirits and 'frost' as well as the other things. I can almost hear the Harry Potter theme in my head while I walk. The streets are as cold as always and the deer are as strange as ever, but my personal bodyguards make me feel special...disregard who I am and from where I hail.
"Here you are, Prince. Right in front of the school," the sergeant said.
Stelimus stepped forward and looked around. There was a very large and empty space between all of the enormous buildings. The only structure present was a wooden fence and its gate.
"...Where's the school?"
"What do you mean? This is the school."
"This empty hole is a school? What's the town hall, a hole?"
"No. My prince--"
"Stop calling me that."
"I'm sorry but that is your title. I must say it despite your protests."
Stelimus groaned loudly and dropped my head in defeat. "Fine."
"Schools for reindeer are performed outside in the snow. It is the best way for the young fawns to be better connected to the frost and spirits."
"But what about math? History?"
"It is done outside as well, but you are to be home schooled for any basic teachings, such as reading, writing, math, and history."
"Then what am I doing here? Why don't you teach me? I recall you saying you would teach me how to fight and how to use magic and spirit fires when I was older."
Maninim's eyes widened. "You remember that? How?"
"I have a very good memory."
"But you were barely a day old!"
"Time flies when you're having fun."
"That doesn't even make sense!" he complained.
The fawn looked away from the sergeant and straight forward, mentally sighing loudly when he witnessed what he was to learn in. "So why am I not learning everything at home?"
"Your mother and father stated that you must become closer to the people and make friends with the youngest generation and learn the most basic of frost manipulation and spirit magic as you can." He looked towards Stelimus who was already pouting. "It's your first day at school. There is no need to be upset. Plus, the teacher is rather...'new' and will certainly help you and the other students to get closer to the spirits that live within the tundra."
"...Fine. Am I on my own from here or do I go with one or two of these guards?" Stelimus wondered.
"I take the guards. We need to patrol the eastern walls. You will stay here on your own and get better acquainted with the populace."
Stelimus started tapping his chin in thought. "This is because my appearance has changed over the years and you want them to think that I'm just a random reindeer who has gone there to learn about school and all the other things fawns my age do. Plus, if I'm 'anonymous', there won't be any brown nosing by the teacher who would most certainly give me a 'perfect' score just so that he or she doesn't end up getting put into a dungeon or a brig or whatever prison complex we have."
Stelimus was right about his appearance having changed over the years. His body was mostly just white, like a living snow ball or fuzzy arctic rabbit. Now his body was becoming much leaner and his appearance changed drastically. His eyes were now a cyan blue and his body was still white but many strands and veins of light-electric-blue ice was growing over his coat. He was even fashioning the back of his head to try and get a hairstyle, but it was failing miserably. His nails were still pure white but the tips were becoming blue and contrasted with the white the higher the blue went. He didn't really like this change as it made him feel like a woman painting her nails.
The sergeant pulled a gate open. "The entrance is here," he said. The screeching was horrendously loud, but only Stelimus reacted.
"Mind putting some oil on there? I feel like I've just gone through a sugar rush."
"Yes, sir," the sergeant replied.
Stelimus rolled his eyes and walked away. He stopped for a minute and looked behind him to see Maninim overseeing his soldiers forming a line. When the reindeer turned around to see the prince, he waved a foreleg then started shouting at the guards to start moving forward.
"It's like watching a World War two movie," Stelimus thought out loud.
The fawn struggled to walk through the huge piles of snow, often nearly plunging into them like a German U-Boat. The further he went, the shinier the snow became. By now he had become used to the snow sparkling occasionally throughout the year, but this one had a different sheen than what he was used to. After falling again into a pile of yet more snow, Stelimus cursed loudly and struggled to get out of the piles, swiping away the snow stuck on his face and coat. A ghostly woo in the wind sent shivers down his spine, something he didn't think he'd ever get in this snowy apocalypse. At first, the fawn just took it as the blizzard's wind, but a steady stream of some sort of icy film started to pour all around and in front of him. There was something behind him and he was too scared to turn.
"Come on, man. You don't believe in ghosts and gods. This shouldn't be scaring you...even though one of your uncles is a 'zombie' of sorts… Turn around!"
The tiny fawn jumped a short distance in the air then twisted his body to face whatever was behind him. He was certain there was nothing, but he came face-to-face with some sort of horse-shaped creature staring him in the face. It looked exactly like a ghost and had no hind legs, but its eyes were a bright blue and staring directly into Stelimus' soul. He couldn't help himself to the point that he yelled in terror and started to gallop away. Unfortunately, the creature gave chase and caught him in mere moments, using its forelegs to grab the fawn and fly away with it.
"Let go of me!" Stelimus yelled.
He was soon face-planted into the snow where other fawns waited patiently. The fawn jumped back onto his forelegs and his head darted around to all the fawns around him.
"You kidnap fawns? Why? If you want to eat me you'll have to do better than that!" Stelimus shouted as he stood on his hind legs and put himself in a boxer's position.
"What's wrong with you? You've never seen a windigo?" a fawn asked.
"Huh?"
"Your parents never told you about my kind? But we're the first spirits your kind encountered in the tundra," a ghostly voice asked.
The windigo was right in front of Stelimus again and staring at him again. Its voice was female in tone and had a ghostly echo to it. It sounded like the cold winds of winter were speaking directly to Stelimus.
"I've never even seen you before! Why are you here?"
The windigo floated upwards and towards a rectangular mound of snow. It then landed and placed its forelegs onto the surface. It came to Stelimus' 'astute' observational skills that the mound of snow was supposed to be a desk of some sort.
"Since it seems your knowledge of spirits is severely lacking, I believe the best thing to do is review our kind to you all. I will also mix in a bit of frost magic to keep it enticing to those of you who already know about most of the spirits."
A dark-brown furred fawn lift its foreleg and started to bounce with eagerness. "I have a question."
"Yes?"
"Why is a windigo teaching us? I thought you were...you know," he trailed off."
The windigo just chuckled, creeping Stelimus out. "While it is true that most of my kind are no more than mere beasts, some of us have existed long enough and absorbed enough energy to acquire a better understanding of existence. As such, I have spoken with your king and have taken up the position of teacher for basic things such as spirits and frost magic as I'm the most adept and qualified for it. There are still some things I won't know or understand so it's also an opportunity for you to teach me as well."
"How do you already speak our language?" Stelimus wondered.
"I spent a year with your people when they summoned me. I learned how to speak your language in that time."
"I see..."
"Now then, how about I start with what the windigos feed on?" Her voice became more sinister and her eyes gleamed mischievously.
Stelimus could only gulp in horror.