Chapter 217: A Weird Girl
Rising up to his feet, Nolan walked towards the barricaded entrance, but not without his dagger ready in his hands.
Cautiously, he used one hand to punch open the barrier, and the instant the rock fell, he slashed forward with all of his energy.
VROOOOOOOOM!
The sound of the air being sliced into two rang out powerfully, but Nolan's dagger attack met with nothing but air—there was nothing in front of him.
With a cautious eye, he scanned the surroundings and was slightly shocked.
Right now, the world before him was a world of pure white snow, with the pine trees having been covered by snow. Even the rocks nearby had been totally covered, and in the air, small gentle flakes of snow could be seen raining down to the ground from the sky in twos and threes.
It was an incredibly beautiful sight, even though the forest no doubt held its own dangers.
[A beautiful morning it is...] the system said to Nolan, who couldn't help but nod.
The sight of snow gave him a nostalgic feeling of being back on Earth, and the memory of that day. But he soon shook his head off, gaining back his concentration.
Turning behind him, the cave was now illuminated, and the darkness banished by the golden sunlight that shone on the face of the girl.
Nolan could feel a bit of twitching from her, and he headed back to the cave, kneeling beside her.
Calmly, he watched as her eyelids fluttered, her fingers twitching slightly, and then she opened her eyes.
They were forest green eyes, with an enchanting depth, like the lushes of an emerald forest, faintly shimmering with a crystalline clarity.
At the side of her irises, specks of gold and subtle hints of jade color could be seen, making her eyes sparkle as if they held a world within them.
The eyelids blinked for a while before slowly settling on Nolan's face, looking blankly at him for a moment before her gaze slowly drifted outside where the world of white snow could be seen, along with the golden light that illuminated the remaining flakes of snow, retaining an otherworldly yet calming sight.
Slowly, the girl rose up to her feet, but she suddenly dashed outside the cave with the speed of a cockroach being chased for its life.
Immediately, she reached the foot of the cave. She gently stretched out her legs to feel the snow.
Her feet hurriedly retreated from the coldness of the snow, but they soon stepped back on it, and after a few seconds of hesitation, she fully stepped outside.
The sun illuminated her figure, mostly covered by her long green hair.
Nolan rose up to his feet, standing a few feet behind her when he noticed she wasn't trying to run.
but he soon noticed her suddenly opening her mouth, drawing in her hands behind her, and then she shut her eyes with her upper lip leaning forward.
The pose was like that of a person screaming into the distance, except no words came out of her lips.
No sound was made.
He watched with furrowed eyebrows when the girl stopped, then raised her hand to her throat, touching it blankly for some time before, once more, she got into the screaming pose, but no sound came out again.
Then she touched her mouth, and a frown covered her face.
"You've lost your voice?" Nolan asked, easily sensing what she was trying to do.
The girl was probably trying to call on something but couldn't, and then she touched her throat with a frown, meaning that even she was surprised she couldn't speak.
That must mean she had lost her voice already.
[Well, there goes her only advantage...] the system said mockingly, but Nolan didn't pay attention to that as he studied the girl, who kept looking at the distance, faint worry in her eyes.
"If you're trying to call on that big dragon of yours, then you don't have to. It's already dead..." Nolan probed, and he saw the girl turn her attention to him, her green eyes lit in shock and disbelief, but eventually, the shock on her face faded away, and she turned her gaze to the side.
Even though her facial expression returned back to normal, Nolan felt a strange coldness radiating from her eyes.
A deadly and incredibly chilling coldness.
[Well, at least she can hear you...] the system said to him, drawing his mind from it, and he watched as the girl slowly moved back into the cave and then sat down, with her back on the wall, blankly looking outside.
The scene was awkward for Nolan, who didn't know what to do.
He didn't have much knowledge about kids, but he did know that she had just lost her companion and would probably need some time to recuperate from that.
But Nolan also knew he had to leave this place and explore outside.
He also wanted his answers from her, but she couldn't speak, so how was it even possible for her to answer?
Unless she could write—something Nolan wasn't sure she was capable of doing.
"Hey, can you hear me?" he said as he walked to her side and sat down before her.
Her eyes were blank, and she made no move to look at him even after he sat before her, only staring into the distance blankly.
"Hey?"
"Hey, you okay?" Nolan asked but still got no reply, and he couldn't help but wave his hand in front of her face.
Only then was he able to grab her attention as those golden-green eyes turned to look at him.
"I'm sorry for your loss, and I know you're sad."
'At least I expect you to be, even though you're not crying at all and you seem as cold as ice...'
"But we have to move out, and I need some information from you to better help us in this situation of ours..."
[I have a feeling this would be a good exchange where one will look and is an idiot]