Permafrost Hollows end of the journey; first of the trials

their conversation was becoming tedious. why did she have so many questions? none of them were about his flower, or about anything else interesting. instead, this strange woman was pestering with difficult to answer questions about home and his parents and—

the blackbird inhaled, his eyes searching in either direction for a familiar face. when none appeared, only then did he open his mouth to respond. wanna go? alsek asked, assuming that she was here to take him back. had his parents awoken? they would probably be angry that he'd wandered so far...

he bit at the inside of his cheek. know arty? aside from his parents, and germanicus, and chubu, and kaori.. artyom was the only leader alsek knew of. surely, if this woman was from home, she would know their main name.