"We need to first tunnel to every other house, then widen the tunnel to allow accuses to everyone, how high is the snow?" Omnisun asked, making tea for everyone.
"About two and a half meters," Amber said, stirring honey in her cup, "seems the blizzard died down, but it's still coming down."
"Ok, so a 1 by 2 tunnel, should be large enough, do we have enough able bodies?"
"You bet your bottom dollar we do, only about a dozen though. It's a dozen, right?" She asked Crouton, whom nodded in reply.
Entaliv watched as the three created the plan to get everything back in business. He looked down at his tea, the subtle essence of the fruit making it so much better than simple hot water. He was frustrated that the moment between him and Omnisun was over. He would do anything to get back to it. But deep down, he knew this was for the best, the village needed this man, his friends needed this man, especially at a time like this.
"Wait wasn't Boba in the barn last night?" Omnisun asked as he got pulled a boot on.
"Yeah, he basically lives there."
"Well he has plenty of food at least- but we should work to get him out of there."
"I'll do it," Entaliv stated. They group paused to look at him.
"Are you sure?" asked," I mean me and Crouton could do-"
"It's alright, it's not like I have anything better to do, right?" He sniped, a bit of sarcasm laced his voice as he pulled a sweat shirt on and crawled into the tunnel. He found that in several parts of the tunnel a hole had been dug upwards to the outside world. He peeked his head out as he saw the falling snow, spotting the direction of the barn. How the hell had those two dug so fast? Sure one of them was a rabbit, but no normal furman or human could do this in a few hours!
Suddenly Entaliv was pushed over by Crouton who put a gauntleted hand up a side of the tunnel. After a flash, a burst of heat, and a bang, the wall of snow became a start of a new tunnel a meter deep. The rabbit man, with a now steaming gauntlet nodded towards the drake as he crawled back to the house.
Meanwhile Entaliv had to take a second to comprehend what he just saw. This entire time, the guy just had gauntlets that spit fire? Or was it just heat? Magic? Whatever it was, the drake knew now he had to be cautious about that one, not someone to make an enemy out of.
He started digging into the small tunnel Crouton had started for him, and after fifteen minutes and only getting a half meter deeper, it was obvious just how fucking inefficient this process was. His hands had become numb, he blew a small amount of flame on them to try and warm them up, when an obvious idea came to him.
~***~
An hour had passes from him blowing flames when he becalmed pooped out. His throat was dry, he felt light headed, how much farther was this thing? He must of been able to melt at least 100 meters of snow in this amount of time!
He was just so done at this point, he didn't fucking care, the numbness in his body on top of the anger of not getting with Omnisun, in a burst of steam he transformed back into a dragon, decimating most of the surrounding snow, just when he was about to roar in anguish, he saw he was now standing right in front of the barn doors.
...
Well ok then.
He felt like he should've been furious, but at this point he was numb. He turned into his drake form once again, further dissipating the surrounding snow, allowing for easy access to opening the barn door.
He quickly saw who this 'Boba' was.
In the middle of the barn sat an aged horned owl man, who had been whittling something, and now had his head swiveled 180 at Entaliv.
"Well cross my stars, glad you folks didn't forget 'bout ol' boba," he said, standing up and brushing the various wood shavings off his robes.
"Are you alr-"
"Yeah, come on of course I am, the question is are you? God boy you must've had to dig a skip and a hop, lemme make you some tea."
Not wanting to be rude, Entaliv found himself having a second cup of tea next to the chicken coop with an owl.
"So- you.... Hang out in this place often?" Entaliv asked in an effort to make conversation.
"Well, somebody has to make sure these guys are safe during a time like this."
"I... Don't think I've seen you before- do you not get out often?"
"No... Ah- I kind of avoid people, you know? Still gets lonely- kind of like what your kind does."
"My kind?" Entaliv asked, feeling like something offensive what about to be said.
"You know- being a dragon and all."
Entaliv shot up defensively, his tail winding back and forth,"How do you know?" He asked poisonously.
Boba did not flinch, but instead put his feathered hands up," Woah, buddy, calm yourself, we had a village meeting about a dragon nearby, send our leader, couple days later, you show up, and ya' don't exactly look like Our aunt down the lane, lot of the folks here know, wouldn't be surprised if everyone here knew, actually."
The drake took a moment to let that non chalantness sink in,"You all knew didn't do anything?"
The owl shrugged,"You didn't seem to mean any harm, guess everyone was just too polite to say anything, besides, it seems Omnisun's got the eyes for you."
"Eyes for me?" He chuckled.
"Yeah, I mean don't get me wrong, it still baffles me now, I mean he could have any pretty lass in this place, they all love him, but hey," Boba shrugged," heart wants what it wants I suppose."
"Unfortunately that heart is distracted," Entaliv sighed, thinking about how today had transpired so far.
"Oh... Someone else in the picture?"
"What? No! He's distracted with everything he does! His duties, day in and day out, doing the job of many all by himself! He barely had any time to himself during the weeks I've been her, and just when getting snowed in seems to be the one thing for him to slow down, his friends bust him out just to start working again!" The drake yelled as he stomped around the barn, rustling one of the cattle out of deep sleep.
"Trust me," the owl mumbled," folks here always have tried to take some weight of the guy's shoulders, but he just politely refuses! Some people just love working I guess."
"Boba, do you have a wife?"
"Once upon a time, I did," he admitted.
"So you know how it felt to be... Craving? But not receiving?"
"Well when she says no you just respect her-"
"No, no, I don't mean that, I mean when the both of you really want something, but one is just waiting for the other to admit they do, because like- I don't know- when you have time with them they're too damn nervous?"
"So Omnisun is nervous, but you want to respect his will until he gives you the okay sign?"
"I suppose... Yes."
"Well my man- or.... Dragon, I think I have the remedy for that- a love potion!"
"A love potion?" The drake asked suspiciously.
"Yep," Boba said plainly as he stood up to shuffle around in a crate,"made a batch awhile back, give him some swigs, he'll be up for anything."
"Anything?" Entaliv questioned, arching a brow.
"Okay well, not anything," Boba swiveled his head back to look at the drake and he continued to search the crate for the alleged love portion," it encourages him to do what he wants to do, it's more like liquid courage."