A golem and a girl sat behind some boulders and trees between the back area of Boulder’s Point and the edge of the Black Forest. A peculiar sight that would no doubt catch the attention of anyone who saw them, had the pair not taken great care to find a spot where no prying eyes would find their little meeting.

“Hmm, these are delicious, Mr. Bouldy!” said Amber, biting on another biscuit as the brim of her straw hat bobbed along with her head.

The stone construct smiled tenderly at his new friend, happy to see the expression of delight on her crumb-covered face.

“Are you sure you don’t want one?” the girl asked, offering the cookie in her left hand while taking another bite from the one in her right. “I mean… assuming you can even eat food. Can you? I have no idea.”

Bouldy closed his eyes into a smile and pushed the cookie jar slightly closer to the adventurer with the tip of his finger. “Friend.”

“Where did you even get these from?” the young birdwatcher continued, reaching into the glass jar for another biscuit. “I know there’s a baker from town that makes pastries for the cra—” Her gaze dropped for a second, looking contrite. “For your friend Balthazar, but I wouldn’t imagine he would just be fine with a whole jar of these delicious butter cookies disappearing.” Amber’s eyes widened, and she stopped chewing, staring up at the golem with a panicked expression. “You didn’t tell him about me, did you?!”

Bouldy kept his friendly smile and shook his head slowly. “Friend.”

“Right… I hope not,” the adventurer said with a sigh of relief, returning to her nibbling of the biscuit. “I don’t mean to make you lie to your friend or anything—I don’t like hiding the truth from Madame Ruby either—but we’d both probably get in so much trouble if they found out we’ve been talking like this.”

“Friend?” the rock guardian asked.

“Hmm?” Amber said, looking up at the golem. “Are you asking me why we’d get in trouble? Well, it’s… complicated. I’m not sure how much of it you get, but right now your friend and my friends don’t really see eye to eye. They don’t agree with each other’s methods, you understand? Balthazar doesn’t see that we’re all on the same side, that the Birdwatchers are not his enemy. And my group… Well, Madame Ruby isn’t too sure your friend can be trusted.”

“Friend…” Bouldy muttered with a heavy tone.

“No, no, no, please!” the girl quickly said, waving both hands in front of herself and sending crumbs flying everywhere. “I didn’t mean to offend! I’m sure Balthazar is a great guy! Crab! Friend! Whatever! Everything I’ve seen of him so far tells me he’s good. It’s just that… My mentor does not trust easily. I’m sure that in time, she will come around and will see that your friend can be trusted.”

A timid smile reappeared on the golem’s face, and he cast his gaze past the tall boulder he was sitting next to. After a moment of staring off into the distance, Bouldy stretched his rocky arm out to point past the wall of stones serving as their cover.

“Friend,” he said, looking down at the girl with his finger pointing toward something off in the distance.

Amber put one cookie in her mouth and the other back in the jar before crawling closer to the wall of boulders, holding her straw hat back as she peeked through a gap. On the other side, she saw the living statue was pointing toward the entrance of the Semla Dungeon.

“What is it?” she asked, shifting her gaze back up to her stone friend. “I know you guys went in there, but I don’t know what happened inside. Did something happen there, is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

Bouldy lowered his arm and sat with his head slightly dropped, his eyes looking pensive.

“Friend…”

The birdwatcher looked at him for a few seconds, unblinking.

“I don’t know what you’re saying. Did Balthazar find something? Did he do something? Was he…” She paused and stared emptily at her giant friend for a moment before crawling back to her spot and sighing. “You know, maybe it’s best if you don’t tell me about it. If you did, I couldn’t hide it from Madame Ruby, and I don’t want to use you like that, Mr. Bouldy.”

The girl smiled earnestly at the golem, who looked down at her and returned the smile.

“Friend.”

Peeking over his rocky shoulder, Pebbles let out a chipper chirp.

“Cre-cree!”

Amber took another butter biscuit from the jar and bit half of it off.

“For now, I just want to keep enjoying these nice cookies with you, friends.”

***

A crab and a baker sat on a step outside a bazaar, laughing and chatting. An unusual sight anywhere else, but near Boulder’s Point it was just another sunny morning like any other—with some fresh snow added to the scenery as a bonus.

“Hmm, these are perfect, Madeleine!” said Balthazar, chewing with delight.

The girl giggled with joy at the sight of her crustacean friend, the corners of his mouth covered in soft golden-white frosting, a cinnamon roll in each extended pincer, and another already halfway down his gullet.

“So glad you enjoy them,” the baker said, taking a delicate bite from her own pastry. “I wasn’t sure you’d like the citrus flavor. I always use orange and a pinch of spice for my cinnamon rolls in the winter. People up in town love the warming feeling they give inside.”

“You’re kidding me?” the merchant said through mouth smacks, barely pausing to chew. “This is exactly what I needed! I’ve been feeling terribly cold, shivers all over. Even more so after yesterday’s snowfall.”

Madeleine paused and looked at the crab with a slightly intrigued expression.

“Is that normal? I had no idea that crabs felt cold the same way we do.”

Balthazar swallowed with a big gulp, his eyes turning watery for a moment before he spoke again.

“I don’t know, but I don’t remember ever feeling this bothered by the cold in past winters. Maybe this year is colder than the others?”

The baker tapped her nose idly with a finger while thinking.

“No, I don’t think it’s that. Last season was way colder. By this point in the year, we had already seen a handful of snowstorms. I remember because I had to go down to Joshua’s farm to get lumber, since all the stock in town had run out from everyone needing to light their fires earlier.”

The crab shrugged while shoving another cinnamon roll into his mouth. “Then I dunno. I’m just cold, I guess.”

“Maybe you’re just getting old,” Madeleine said, the corners of her mouth curled with cheekiness.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Balthazar froze mid-chewing, turning a pointed glare at the baker. “You take that back, young woman…”

Madeleine laughed heartily at the crab’s totally serious attempt at threatening her, causing him to drop the act and go back to chewing after a quick roll of his eyes.

“I don’t even know how old you are!” the girl said as her laughter subsided.

“Me neither,” the crustacean mumbled, crumbs tumbling from his mouth parts. “Until a couple of seasons ago, I didn’t even know what a calendar was.”

“Not even a little bit of an idea?” Madeleine asked. “How many winters do you think you’ve seen, for example?”

Balthazar shrugged. “A lot. Seriously, when you are a crab whose only concerns are to catch fish to eat and to find a good spot to sunbathe, all these human concepts of time, months, years, and all that are pretty unimportant.”

The young woman stared at her half-eaten cinnamon roll while nodding quietly.

“Sounds kind of nice, to be honest,” she said. “Just enjoying life in nature, without worrying about schedules… about what other people do… about money.”

The crab nodded along in agreement with her words—until the very last one.

“Hey now, hold on,” he said, snapping his eyestalks toward her. “Let’s not go that far! Some things are worth being sapient for.”

Once again, the young baker chuckled, shaking her head lightly at her peculiar friend as she threw her strawberry blonde braid over her shoulder and took another bite of her pastry.

“You silly crab.”

Balthazar threw his shell back as he swallowed another mouthful of sweetness, when yet another breeze of cold air made him shiver.

“Brr! Can we take this inside now? I’m so cold.”

“Oh, about that…” the baker said, grabbing the round blue box that had been sitting next to her on the step. “I got this for you. Hopefully it will help keep you warmer.”

The crab wiped his mouth on the back of his pincer and looked with slight surprise at the carton box Madeleine was holding out for him.

“For me?” he asked. “What is it?”

“Well, the way it’s supposed to work is you open the box and find out, mister merchant!” the girl said with a smile and a playful wink.

Balthazar carefully lifted the lid of the round box with both pincers, eyestalks curved down to peek inside.

As he fully removed the carton cover, the crab found a piece of fluffy blue clothing inside—a knit wool cap.

“It’s a winter hat!” exclaimed the baker with a proud smile. “I’ve noticed how you’ve been complaining about the cold, and I wanted to get you something nice to help. There weren’t a lot of options.” She waved her hands around, pointing loosely at the crab. “Not like I could get you a coat, or gloves, so, you know… I figured a hat would be the better option.”

The awestruck crustacean took the light blue wool hat from its box with both pincers, using the same delicate care of someone picking up a freshly baked éclair from the tray. Raising the knitted piece of clothing to the light, the crab admired its simple yet charming make.

It was made of light blue wool and wider than most hats that had passed by his pincers—a piece clearly made with something bigger than a human head in mind. Knitted with a ribbed pattern, the texture was even softer to the touch than its comfortable appearance made it seem, like a welcoming blanket tempting a retreat into its warmth on a winter morning. At its tip was a fluffy little puffball, also light blue, bobbing playfully with every movement of the hat. Balthazar found it equal parts silly and delightful.

“You… You made this for me?” the touched crab said, his glistening eyes admiring his friend’s gift. “Is this why you said you needed needles the other day?”

Madeleine smiled at Balthazar with her head slightly tilted to the side.

“Yes. I found an old ball of blue yarn in my mom’s things. From when she was still… you know. My grandma taught her how to knit when she was little, but she never really had time for it. I only knew a little, but after my mother passed, my grandmother took the time to teach me knitting properly.” The young woman paused and let out a heartfelt sigh. “She said I was already a better baker than her, so she wanted to at least feel she still had something to teach me.”

The crab took his eyes off the hat and focused on his friend. “Your grandmother, how is she?”

Madeleine gave a half shrug and smiled.

“Oh, you know, old but still feisty. Her age doesn’t let her do much anymore, but she likes to take care of her place and have her little daily routine. I try to look after her as much as I can.” She paused again. “Which is also part of why I was hesitant about your offer to have my kitchen down here. As thankful as I am, and as much as I treasure you all, I still can’t fully move out of Ardville. I already feel bad enough for the months I was away in Beatrix’s lair, and after seeing my grandma’s face after I came back, after she thought she would not get to see me again, I… I can’t put her through anything like that again. I’m happy to come down here every day, but part of my heart lives up there in that town too. I hope you understand, Balthazar.”

The crab simply nodded quietly. He did not fully understand it. He never had parents, let alone grandparents. He had always been alone, without a concept of family that would let him relate to the girl’s sentiment. But enough had changed in his life in the recent past that he understood the bond she felt. Even if they did not share his blood, Balthazar knew he could never split apart from his found family either.

“So it’s an extra special hat,” the merchant said, trying to break the icy silence in an already cold morning. “You made it with the yarn your mother left you.”

Madeleine looked up for a moment, pondering. “I suppose you could say that.”

Balthazar slipped his monocle onto his eye and admired the piece of knitted attire some more.

[Winter Hat of Inner Warmth]

[Equipment - Headgear]

[+10 warmth]

Huh. Where do all of these questionable attributes keep coming from? It’s like the system is just making up stuff as it goes.

“I tried to make it a little extra elastic around the brim in hopes it would fit well around the top of your shell,” the girl said. “I never knitted anything for a crab, and I didn’t exactly have your measurements, but I hope it fits. Want to try it on?”

The baker stood up and took the hat. Gently, she slid it onto the crab’s shell until the brim was nice and snug around his chitin. With a smile, she gave the little pom-pom at the top a flick and sat back down.

“There, perfect fit!”

Balthazar twisted his eyestalks backward to look at his new hat. Surprisingly, he found that it looked good on him. Even more surprising was how he no longer felt cold and shivering despite still being outside.

“Thank you, Madeleine,” the crab said with an earnest smile. “I love it.”

“You’re very welcome, my crabby friend,” the girl replied. “Now, go on, tell me about your adventure inside the mountain! Rye told me something about a fountain of… whipped cream? That can’t be right, can it?”

Balthazar’s eyestalks jumped. “Oooh, yes, that’s right! I wanted to discuss that with you.”

The two friends chatted and ate more cinnamon rolls for a while longer—or at least the crab did, the baker never went beyond her first one—until Balthazar invited his guest in so they could check the work being done around back.

John and Mason moved around the empty field, the carpenter holding a stack of thick iron spikes which he was handing to the stonecutter as he drove a mallet into each one, sticking them to the ground. As he did, the retired craftsman tied a long piece of thread around it, coming from the previous spike, forming a frame marking where each section of the build would be.

“Hey, where’s Bouldy?” the merchant asked Henrietta upon noticing the absence of a giant made of stone in his backyard.

“Don’t know,” the toad said, sitting on one of the working tables while sipping on a cup of lemonade through a straw. “They said Bouldy’s heavy lifting wasn’t going to be needed just yet so he could go take a break if he wanted, which he did.”

Balthazar cocked an eyestalk. “Since when does Bouldy take breaks?!”

After accepting that his friend was probably just off picking flowers or collecting rocks somewhere nearby and would return soon enough, the crab carried on discussing his plans with Madeleine, until it was finally time for the baker to leave.

Standing by the edge of the main road outside his territory, Balthazar waved the girl goodbye and watched until he saw her make it back safely inside the town gates.

As he turned around, the crab placed both claws behind his back and contemplated the horizon, the mild breeze blowing across the vast plains in front of him making the puffball atop his new hat bounce back and forth. He relished the warm feeling that hugged him from the inside and shielded him from the winter cold.

He felt so content that his mind could not help but consider the possibility of something coming to ruin his nice moment soon.

“Hmm, odd,” Balthazar muttered to himself. “Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen a single bird flying around here since I came back.”

Feeling like his day was now definitely going too well, the crab pondered what could possibly explain the avian absence.

After a while, he simply shrugged, unable to come to a definitive conclusion, but deciding to just take the wins where he could.

Maybe the birds had just migrated somewhere else warmer for the season.

“Yes, I’m sure this is perfectly normal.”