Pretend this is real for a while

R E M I Gliding easily through the frosty air, Remi was understandably distracted. The Woodlands did not hold the fondest memories for him. Out of the corner of his sharp eyes he constantly thought he saw lantern-light below glistening warmly on the snow. The shadows from the trees stretched long but even that didn't stop Remi's mind from thinking he saw the pale face of his mother somewhere below. Vai's whistle snapped his mind back to attention, and a quick glance towards her indicated the direction she was looking. Gliding smoothly and soundlessly the hawk circled lower, his eyes snapping back and forth to try and detect movement. A blur of brown caught his attention and swiftly the hawk dove. He wouldn't try to take on the deer by himself again as he had once absurdly tried to do, but perhaps he could flush it back towards Vai. With a loud screech Remi dropped into the trees, wings fanning wide. But instead of seeing the deer, all the alchemist saw was the glow of a lantern nestled in the snow. Forgetting that he'd been flying, Remi fell stupidly towards the snow landing in a bit of a heap. Opening his beak to pant slightly, Remi closed his eyes to try and corral his beating heart back into some semblance of a normal rhythm. If there had been a deer here, he'd surely scared it away by now.

vervain Vervain smiled as she watched the hawk swoop into a seamless dive, perfectly executed even in the Deepfrost chill. In truth she was a bit jealous of Remi and his ability to fly, to feel so close to the winds. Her own magic in that element had waned since their arrival in this place - Vai didn't even feel in tune with it as she had done once. It was those thoughts that drifted through her mind as she jogged towards the edge of the Woodland, the going getting easier once she was amongst the foliage. From there she slowed to a creep, all too aware of the volume of her footsteps on the frozen, curled leaves and brittle twigs. So when a deer went bolting by out of the blue, close enough to grab if Vai had wanted, she was a little perturbed. No Remi either, but hunting instinct had kicked in before she could realise that properly, and Vervain unleashed an arrow after the fleeing creature. It flew a little wide and pranged off a nearby tree, drawing a curse from her lips, and she spun around in anticipation of a hawk (or a lion) in pursuit. When none came, she frowned. "Remi?" she called, crunching her way back the deer had come, eyes peeled for any sign of him. She'd heard his screech - that turned out to be the only way to track him, in the end. Spotting the heap of feathers on the snowy forest floor, her eyes widened and she picked up her pace to lean down beside him. "Shit - are you okay? Did you get snagged by something again?"

R E M I Awkwardly as Vai neared, Remi shifted. Doing so on the ground was strange indeed, and rather than the graceful practiced landings that Remi was used to, he found himself in a tangle of limbs on the strange snow-less ground. Still panting slightly he looked around with confusion, seeing neither the lantern nor anything else to indicate foul play. Rubbing at his eyes with a mittened-hand, he finally caught his breath as he looked up at Vai with wide and devastated eyes. "I thought I saw it again. A lantern. I thought that she—" Rocking back onto his heels, Remi let himself full sit down on the ground, ignoring the way the chill of the earth immediately chilled him. "Ludo found me again. Only this time he took the form of someone else. My friend, the fox? Who fell from my roof? He told me there was a way through the barrier and Vai, I almost followed him again." Groaning, Remi rubbed at his eyes again this time with both hands. Again Remi looked around as if to reassure himself that the only light around them was caused by the obscured sun, and not a magical lantern. "I feel like I am going mad. "

vervain Vervain shuffled back a few feet as Remi shifted, blinking at the sudden sight of him all jumbled up on the ground, mittens and all. Carefully sinking down to sit beside him as he spoke, she frowned in concern. What he had to say was... worrying, even she had to admit that. She had seen his mother with that lantern, seen it with her own two eyes, but this was... Ludo was tormenting Remi and it might well be driving him to madness. "It's just us here," she said softly, slipping an arm around him to draw him close against her side. "It could have been a trick of the light, or the memory of this place... or Ludo." She couldn't lie to him, after all. Frowning out into the cold forest, Vai let out a long sigh and reached up to smooth a hand through Remi's curls. As she did she felt a familiar tingling warmth in her fingertips, frowning - he wasn't injured, so what exactly was she healing?

R E M I Remi wanted to look around to verify that Vai was right—that it was just the two of them—but fear paralyzed him. What if it wasn't. Or worse, what if this time it was only Remi who could see the lantern-light? What if he really was going mad? So instead, he closed his eyes and buried his face against Vai's shoulder inhaling the familiar scent of her. Her hand in his air was not an unusual sensation and while Vai's presence almost always had a soothing effect on him, this was different. Remi felt the anxiety and terror in his mind slowly begin to dissipate, as if Vai's touch was a beacon through the fog. Not realizing he'd clenched his muscles quite as much as he had, Remi felt himself relax into her embrace. Taking a deep breath—one of those that feels like it fills you all the way up—Remi released it feeling as though he was breathing out all that had plagued him so totally a moment ago. "Thank you." Remi whispered, thinking that it was nothing more than her simple presence that had calmed him. Leaning back with a tentative smile, his pale gaze flickered over her shoulder slightly, eyes growing wide. Turn around He mouthed, a smile playing on his lips. And if she did, there would be the deer that he'd spooked earlier.

vervain Thank you...? For what? Vervain smiled softly as Remi leaned into her embrace, the huntress kissing his hair and rubbing at his back to try and generate some warmth between them - it was freezing on the ground here. As he sat back a touch she watched him carefully as if to make sure he was alright, only for him to glance over her shoulder. Slowly, Vai turned, her own smile growing into a near victorious grin. Looks like their luck was on the turn. The afternoon passed in a blur after that point - they successfully hunted the deer, and following that managed to chop down enough of the spindly trees to keep for logs that would hopefully dry out in time for LongNight. Having lashed the logs together and finding it a lot easier to drag a deer through the snow than just along the ground, Vai was helping to haul everything back towards her home. "How you holding up?" she panted. "You need any of these logs for your house, by the way?"

R E M I Creating a quick harness using his magic (convenient, that), Remi as a lion found the pulling more slow going that Vai was. He could pull a great deal more, but of course his paws sunk into the snow up to his elbows and sometimes up to his stomach. Though his weight was distributed better than Vai's would have been, still lions were not particularly meant for the snow. As she spoke, Remi glanced up, golden eyes watchful and wary (a lion in the woodlands afterall), but he shook his head gently, sending his mane in all directions and releasing all the snow which had built up in it. Roaring a no, he made a mental note to tell her about the chemical he'd created that he could coat substances with to make them burn. Then again without anyone else to really worry about, Remi's need for heating and wood was relatively low given that he could simply shift forms and eliminate a good portion of the heat he'd need to generate. As they neared Vai's home, Remi shifted back, the harness falling awkwardly off of his body. "I wonder how everyone else is fairing. I do not remember it ever being this cold back in Northaven, and there are many without your particular skillset." Nibbling his lip he thought of the Delphine's of the world who'd always been taken care of, and wondered how they were getting by. "We might be able to store extra wood in the Temple during the LongNight...or even just encourage the loners to congrate there?

vervain Vai smiled to herself at his roared no, glancing sidelong at the maned feline plodding through the snow beside her. When they neared her home and he shifted back, she reached over to help him out of the harness now that he wouldn't need it any longer. "Hm... you make a good point," she murmured, frowning gently and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Maybe it would be better if I spent LongNight in the Rathskeller rather than the house? We could stockpile food and fuel there as well as the Temple. And it's underground, so unlikely to make much noise." She smiled across at him. "And that way you wouldn't have to worry as much about Dev," she added with a chuckle, stepping forward to open the door. "We can leave the logs here for now, if we're going to take them to the Rathskeller later anyway," she said. "Let's make some warmer clothes for you out of this deer."

R E M I Remi snorted in response to this. Normally he wasn't quite so awkward about sex, but thinking of Vai and Devrum was like thinking about one's parents having sex. It just wasn't right and filled the back of Remi's throat with a bit of nervous laughter as he grinned. "Now that you have hired Jigano and with two barstaff, it might actually be a rather nice time." He said with a shrug. "If we are to be cooped up for a week, it might be easier to pass the time. Safer too?" Stepping inside, Remi shed his outer clothing and boots, immediately going to the fire to breath life back into it. "Honestly I cannot really imagine what it will be like. A week of darkness where it is unsafe to be outside?" The alchemist's voice sounded skeptical even though he thought that the note on the board Vai had mentioned probably was genuine. Yes there seemed to be reasonably dangerous things about, but an entire week? Dampening the squeaks and creaks in a house to remain unnoticed?

VAI The huntress "My thoughts exactly," Vervain agreed as they headed into the little house with the deer. She clicked the door shut and shed her outer layers too as Remi went to tend the fire. "If we are meant to remain as quiet as possible, what better place to be than underground? I imagine it would be a lot warmer there, too." She smiled as the plan began to form in her mind, and she crossed the room to sit down beside Remi so she could warm up before they worked on getting him some warmer clothes. Smiling, Vai nodded to him. "It's like nothing I've ever experienced," she agreed. "But I know a lot of the natives are making the same preparations as the notice board mentioned, and... well, if it is a prank, it's a very elaborate one, no?"

R E M I "I wonder if I will have an angry bear on my doorstep for suggesting this." Remi said with a wry smile, fanning the flames with a wink. "He might have been looking forward to a week of hibernation with you after all." Considering her words, Remi stifled a sigh and merely nodded. If it was a prank surely someone like Rory would have mentioned it already. He couldn't imagine the blue-eyed man being capable of this sort of humour-less malice. "Almost as elaborate as the preparations we apparently need to be making. Should we place a notice then? Inviting all to the Rathskeller? "

VAI The huntress "In fairness, you might end up with an angry bear on your doorstep regardless, if Devrum's mood is anything to go by." Vai smiled across to the alchemist and shrugged. "Besides, I think if he was going to hibernate he would have done so already. I thought he would, almost, when the snows came..." Apparently for all of his bestial instincts, though, the urge to sleep through the winter wasn't strong for Devrum. She nodded at his suggestion, enjoying the way the flames leapt eagerly in response to his fanning, and she held out a hand so she could defrost her fingertips. "Yes, I'll place a notice when we move the firewood to the Rathskeller. At least this way anyone who would otherwise be alone might have somewhere safe to wait out the night."

R E M I "It really is strange what sort of instincts linger and which do not. I do not know if it is based on what shape you spend the most time in, or if it is random, or..." Shrugging Remi glanced towards the fire. For his part he'd found that he often bristled or otherwise forgot that his arms were not wings, or had the urge to smooth his feathers when he was nervous even when he did not have any. That Devrum didn't want to hibernate wasn't so strange, but Remi wouldn't have been surprised if he had. "Do you think we should prepare any fortifications? Did the notice say anything else? Is it just being out in the streets that is dangerous, or should be worry about something trying to come in?"

VAI The huntress "I suppose that I never gave it too much thought. Interesting, though... maybe it's something we can look into one day. After this LongNight business and the snow clears, of course." Vai rubbed her hands together as they began to tingle against the warmth of the fire. "Fortifications? Not in the Rathskeller, I don't think... apart from perhaps the back door, which leads right out onto the street." Nibbling at her bottom lip and tucking a stray curl behind her ear, she cast her mind back to what the notice had said. "It mentioned fixing any creaks in floorboards, and that it's important to stay quiet," she said. "Apparently LongNight is more than just a period of the season where the sun doesn't rise. Things come out in the dark, and it's advised to stay inside and to not draw attention to oneself. I don't imagine empty buildings will be targeted, if that's the case..."