Land in Sight
As soon as the news reaches our ears, our feet carry us faster to the front than our thoughts can digest what happened. I slip on a small puddle on the deck and catch hold of someone's clothes who's clearly in such as rush that he shouldn't mind the ripped off pocket. Pushed forward and to the side, I get swept along with the masses and eventually stumble my way to a place where I can see something other than matted hair and worn out clothes. There it is!
It's real! The land of ice and snow is right there! Right in front of us! Stretching across the horizon, the thin but clearly visible line of land is our destination. Butterflies flutter around in my stomach as a smile pulls up my mouth without asking for permission. I glance around. The newcomers stand there, mouth agape. The experienced ones lean back, some with a slight smile while looking at the recruits, some with a bitter frown staring at the land in front of us, and just a couple of them look back at the ocean behind us.
It takes another hour until we reach a place to get on land, but finally my feet touch the ground. It's a strange feeling after getting used to having gravity shift below one's feet for so long. A strange, but welcome feeling of stability. I fall to my knees and pat the ground affectionately.
"Time to unload!" My uncle yells, followed by a series of commands that are instantly followed. I try to help out where I can, but I feel more like an obstacle than anything else.
"Move, boy!" is one of the nicer comments I get to hear.
"Right away," is what I mumble back to all of them.
Even when my uncle comes around, slaps me on my back and says, "Cheer up, boy. What's got you so down?"
Then I look up at the land in front of us and back at my uncle. "I thought you said it was a land of snow and ice?". As far as I can see, mountains. That's it. High rocky mountains with some vegetation, but no snow, and no ice.
He looks surprised for a moment and then bursts out laughing. "It is. Well, mostly. But we just arrived at the outermost part of it. Here we still have some pleasant things like spring, summer, and fall. Once we cross those mountains, we'll see a bit of forest, and then nothing but snow and ice until we reach the majesty mountain."
"You make it sound like a day trip."
He grins, "Then it would be over all too soon, don't cha think?"
I do, but before I can give a reply, my uncle has already shifted his attention to a pair of guys about to drop a heavy box from the ship directly onto the unloading platform below.
"DROP THAT AND I SWEAR I'LL DUMP YOUR ASSES OUT IN THE SEA!"
This is going to be fun, I think to myself and continue my fruitless attempt to be to help. Thankfully, we finish with the unloading by late afternoon and the ship also gets done with the preparations to leave again. My uncle exchanges a few words with the captain before they set sail again, back towards our native land.
We assemble on the shore and stare after it in silence until it has disappeared from view. My uncle is the one who breaks it.
"Well then. Welcome to the North! First things first, I know you are all doomed to stay here for the next twelve months until the ship comes back to pick us up. But now, I am giving you the choice that you were denied until now: do you want to go further or not?"
I am confused. Is he joking? Glacing around, I confirm my suspicion that all the newcomers don't have any clue about what's going on either.
"What do you mean?" one man asks.
"We have an option?" another adds.
"Yes," my uncle goes on to explain, "those who want to go, will leave with me tomorrow. All the others will stay here for the next twelve months until the ship comes back. It's the place with the highest chance of survival."