[Survey] Arc Survey 019 - Aru

It was a chilly winter night. The sun had gone down not long ago, the last rays shining a pink and purple color before the snow started falling in a flurry of snowflakes, soon enough blanketing the whole backdrop in a glittering white cape of snow and ice. A house could be seen peeking out through the trees within the forest, the smoke rising from the chimney a beacon of warmth within the frozen woodland.

Within the house, Aru could be seen cuddled up beneath a blanket in the window seat closest to the fireplace, a cup of hot chocolate slowly letting out a wisp of steam and getting drained gulp by gulp while they read a book beneath the flickering light of the fire warming the living room. Every other light turned off except for some small light bulbs hung around the ceiling and around the top of the fireplace.

The xero let out a sigh and looked out of the window for what seemed like the thousand time that night, thinking back towards the conversation they had with their friend earlier during the day with a contemplative hum. Aru wasn’t completely sure they understood the festivities that the people in the town seemed to celebrate each year during this month, but they would do their best to join, wanting to experience the amount of fun and joy that everyone around seemed to have.

They wanted to join in on the experience of the cookies and gingerbread houses getting decorated every which way, some delicate looking with soft wintery colors to others being creative explosions of color, all of them beautiful in their own way and showing parts of each xero that they might not show often enough.

Aru also looked at the huge mountains always so full of snow, where others would roll down just to end up covered in a huge layer of snow at the base of the mountain, dizzy from all of the spins but still breathless from all the laughter and fun they had. They watched how others would just grab some snow to form it into a ball in their paws to start a snowball fight with those close by, and how, instead of getting mad, they would reciprocate and throw one back, hitting them right in the fur and then enjoying themselves for hours until it started to get dark and it was time for everyone to go home.

They wanted to experience they joy of skating on top of the surface of the frozen lakes that could be found in the midst of hundreds of snow-laden pine trees, slipping around and quite possibly falling, most likely ending up with dozens of purpling bruises by the end of the day but breathless with laughter and a smile that wouldn’t leave their face no matter what.

Aru had never lived in a place quite like where he was now, unsure of the festivities and traditions but still willing to join in and give them a try, the fear of messing up nowhere in sight in the face of everyone's joy at the festival going around.