Lady Flame's Search

      It was tough out there for a little lady like herself. Lady Flame’s loyal knight, Ser Daffodil, had asked her not to go alone, but, as she pointed out, she wouldn’t be alone. As everyone seemed ready and willing to forget, this little lady had a whole retinue to accompany her. A whole army and set of royal advisors, even. 

     Plus, she wasn’t wandering- she had a plan and a route, and a specific goal- recruit more for her retinue! As always, she was hoping for more generals, but those seemed to be harder to come by, and she knew she wasn’t the only one recruiting the coveted Arctic Specimens. There was another bot collecting them for his herd, and she wanted to beat him to it before the specimen herds migrate back North. 

     Lady Flame knew she was small- it was part of her charm afterall, but she never let that stop her. Thankfully, though, General Snowmelt was large enough to carry her. The snow got deep in the tundra, deeper than she was tall, but the specimens were built for gliding over the crusty snow as easy as skates on ice. In total she was bringing 4 members of her retinue with her: General Snowmelt, General Rime, General Blizzard, and Major Tom. All four of them were built for the wintery tundra, and she was sure she would be able to count on them to help her bring them all to victory. 

     The sun was bright despite the lack of warmth from its light. Lady Flame squinted against the glare, surveying the flat landscape. Outside of a few stunted trees and bushes, there was nothing to break up the scenery, and she could see the curve of the horizon laid out before them. She patted General Snowmelt’s side, giving him the order to start forward. They set off, her generals beside her and Major Tom in the lead, acting as a tracker. 

     It wasn’t easy tracking Arctic Specimens, but it wasn’t very hard, if you knew the tricks. As a gaskit native to the icy plains, Major Tom excelled at navigating through the ice and snow, and picking up traces that evaded Lady Flame’s notice. 

     It’s not that she was helpless though; Oh no, not at all! The little lady had done her research; she had watched instructional videos, browsed through books- any bit of information she could get her hands on about how the predecessors tracked and hunted. She cherished the little information specifically about the Arctic Specimens. Of course, she didn’t want to hurt them, just recruit them to her cause- serving her! 

     It was some time before either her or Major Tom were able to pick up on any tracks. For a time, Lady Flame was concerned that they had missed the window, that the specimens had already started their migration back north. She knew the time was coming soon, but not this soon! Thankfully, though, the Major gave a funny little whistling noise- the signal he had picked up on their tracks. Far, far in the distance, Lady Flame could see small lumps against the horizon, moving ever so slightly. Excited by their discovery, she urged her party onwards, reciting her diplomatic speeches in her head, ready to recruit some much needed reinforcements.