11-19-2018, 04:11 PM
It was a good thing that the Fey folk decided to offer them some relief, because there was not much warmth to be found between them. Valdis. She was as cold as he was and they shivered together for a moment before the wind went suddenly balmy. The icicles that had started to form in his mane and from his nose melted away. It circulated around them playfully, teasing feeling back into his limbs and soothing the frost from his lungs.
It was a taste of comfort that was torn away as quickly as it had come. It began as a glittering cascade of crystals drifting between them and the sun, catching the light like a handful of scattered diamond dust. It was pretty for all of five seconds. The flakes grew fatter and thicker until all the world was cloaked in white, obscuring everything beyond the girl who stood beside him. The now-violent gale was doing its best to weave witch knots into their hair as they looked at each other. Tana felt his confidence slipping.
What was he, without his gifts? He hadn't realized just how much the fire that roared within him meant, until it was gone. It was a loss as powerful as anything he'd ever felt, and that was saying quite a bit. Tana without fire, without flight... he wasn't anything special. Let alone a hero. The realization struck him hard, shivering there in the middle of nowhere. He might have lost himself if it weren't for Valdis' taking charge. To stay here would be certain death. To move on made death only a possibility.
Nodding mutely he took the offered length of golden hair in his mouth. To the right, very well. He could just make out the gleam of her mane and the outline of her face through the blanketing snow. It was already beginning to collect on their backs. If he didn't think about it too hard he could almost pretend the light weight was really his wings folded against his flanks. The hair between his teeth tugged forward, pulling him in stumbling steps westward.
Plunging into the torrent they walked single file, finding their way by touch on the hardened path. Patches of ice and drifts of snow added to the treachery the low visibility conditions created, and he slipped more than once. They made it further in this way than he wanted to acknowledge before he had to admit that he was in the better position. Valdis was acting like a windbreak, splitting the air current around them. It wasn't fair.
He dug into the packed snow, muscles coiled to push him forward with a longer stride. Against the wind it felt like more work than it should have been, but within a few paces he was able to trade his mouthful of tail for the tips of her mane. Shoulder to shoulder, the wind was noticeably stronger. Still, it felt better to be sharing the brunt of nature with his stranger-friend. Whatever trials were thrown at them, he was determined that he would carry his weight, and help her with hers as best he could.
It was a taste of comfort that was torn away as quickly as it had come. It began as a glittering cascade of crystals drifting between them and the sun, catching the light like a handful of scattered diamond dust. It was pretty for all of five seconds. The flakes grew fatter and thicker until all the world was cloaked in white, obscuring everything beyond the girl who stood beside him. The now-violent gale was doing its best to weave witch knots into their hair as they looked at each other. Tana felt his confidence slipping.
What was he, without his gifts? He hadn't realized just how much the fire that roared within him meant, until it was gone. It was a loss as powerful as anything he'd ever felt, and that was saying quite a bit. Tana without fire, without flight... he wasn't anything special. Let alone a hero. The realization struck him hard, shivering there in the middle of nowhere. He might have lost himself if it weren't for Valdis' taking charge. To stay here would be certain death. To move on made death only a possibility.
Nodding mutely he took the offered length of golden hair in his mouth. To the right, very well. He could just make out the gleam of her mane and the outline of her face through the blanketing snow. It was already beginning to collect on their backs. If he didn't think about it too hard he could almost pretend the light weight was really his wings folded against his flanks. The hair between his teeth tugged forward, pulling him in stumbling steps westward.
Plunging into the torrent they walked single file, finding their way by touch on the hardened path. Patches of ice and drifts of snow added to the treachery the low visibility conditions created, and he slipped more than once. They made it further in this way than he wanted to acknowledge before he had to admit that he was in the better position. Valdis was acting like a windbreak, splitting the air current around them. It wasn't fair.
He dug into the packed snow, muscles coiled to push him forward with a longer stride. Against the wind it felt like more work than it should have been, but within a few paces he was able to trade his mouthful of tail for the tips of her mane. Shoulder to shoulder, the wind was noticeably stronger. Still, it felt better to be sharing the brunt of nature with his stranger-friend. Whatever trials were thrown at them, he was determined that he would carry his weight, and help her with hers as best he could.