[se] red lips and rosy cheeks

Alys

Alys wasn’t sure what drew her to the tundra that day, only that it called to her in a way she didn’t quite understand. It was a bitterly cold day, grey and frigid and brittle, as though the slightest breeze might snap the icy landscape in two. Snow had fallen the night before, blanketing the land in a fresh layer of white that threatened to overwhelm and smother. And through it all, Alys traipsed, Tal and Boreal close behind.

She wore the warmest clothing she owned: thick, fur-lined breeches over an underlayer of wool; several layers of shirts and a heavy jacket; a scarf that wrapped snuggly about her neck. Still, despite being out in the elements, the Seer had dressed equally for movement as she did for warmth. As they walked carefully through the snow, her dark eyes flickered this way and that. She held her strung bow in her hands, and arrow nocked and ready. She was well aware of the dangers the tundra held, and she wanted to be prepared for anything.

Still, she didn’t want their trip - the purpose of which still eluded her, even now, as they wandered through the snow - to be silent and dismal. So despite the strange call that drew her further and further into the Hollow Forest, she did her best to offer conversation. ”Thanks again for coming with me,” she told Tal, casting a quick smile over her shoulder at her friend. ”I really appreciate it.”

Oh, I had a dream that you couldn't hear me screaming
Trying to tell you everything but it wouldn't stop you leaving

Alys hadn't been able to explain why she wanted to head outside the Citadel's protective dome in the deadliest of Halo's seasons, and Tal had only asked once. They'd both grown up with Caido's weird shit and sometimes you just had to go somewhere and hope that whatever you found when you got there wasn't a rampaging monster.

Even if it ended up being a rampaging monster a lot.

Which made him all the more willing to accompany his friend out into the eyeball-freezing temperatures, not wanting her to end up facing some giant ice-breathing snow crocodile on her own.

Boreal, of course, was just happy to be out hunting, and she padded silently through the snow a little ways parallel to their course, nose in the snow and pushing up a hump of it ahead of her as she shouldered her way forward, looking for the scent of snowshoe hares or ningo to chase.

Tal was wrapped up in a heavy coat, scarf, and hat, with his Goggles pulled down to protect his eyes. His Frostbite Cuff was hidden beneath his layers but he was too cautious not to take precautions - just in case. It was why he kept one hand on the hilt of his Dagger as they walked, and scowled out at the landscape expecting trouble at any moment. Alys's warm voice - so out of place in the frigid white, icy black, and lifeless grey of the forest - drew his attention back to her and his scowl lightened behind his scarf as he lengthened his stride to catch up to her so they could walk side-by-side. "Nah, it's nothin'," he assured her, gruff but sincere. "Least it's now an' not durin' LongNight. Goin' outside the dome on LongNight never ends well," he added darkly before making an effort to lighten the mood again. "Got any plans for it?"

Alys

A rampaging monster was certainly not on Alys's list of things to see today, but even she would have to admit that a giant ice-breathing snow crocodile would be a sight. Still, despite the itch in the back of her mind that suggested that something was going to happen today, she hoped that their trip into the tundra would be uneventful. She wouldn't have come out at all if not for that gut feeling. She'd learned long ago to rely on her intuition, even when her cards were less than helpful. Sometimes, you just know things, and there's no real explanation for how or why.

Boreal hunted alongside them, digging her head into the snow, on the lookout for unlucky ningo or snowshoe hares. It used to make Alys uncomfortable, her friend's aptitude for hunting, but ever since the hunting trip with Noah and Deimos, Alys had grown more accustomed to it. Now she almost relished her growing ability to track game and take it down cleanly.

The pair of friends walked side-by-side, eyes flickering over the frozen tundra, on the lookout for danger even as they talked. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind," she said, glancing at her friend. His dark tone suggested that perhaps he had personal experience with LongNight and its horrors. For her part, she'd been fortunate to have never had anything of note happen to her during it. "But no, no plans for me." After all, the only people she'd make plans with had their own lives to live. And while she was fine with that - really, she was! - it did make her feel a little lonely at times. "What about you?"

Oh, I had a dream that you couldn't hear me screaming
Trying to tell you everything but it wouldn't stop you leaving

Her reassurance was enough for Tal, and the courier nodded, hopeful that she'd stay out of the trouble that had claimed the lives of others in years past. Sharp eyes, hidden behind his Goggles, continued to cast around them as they spoke. He trusted Boreal's instincts for trouble even more than his own, and she was relaxed at the moment - but she was also easily distracted and he preferred not to take chances this close to LongNight.

"Huh, I figured..." he started and then trailed off, glancing over to Alys with surprise at the news that she didn't have plans. He'd just sort of assumed that she would, and hearing that she didn't left him feeling a little awkward and tongue-tied. "Well, uh. I usually spend one night drinkin' with S--someone." He caught himself, dragging out the sibilant 'ess' in a hissing stutter that was definitely smooth and not at all suspicious. "An' I'll probably have dinner with my sisters a couple times. But, uh..." He cleared his throat and reached up to rub the back of his neck, even if he mostly just mussed his scarf. "Well. Y'know, I got my new place set up--" Given that Alys had helped with that, she definitely knew, and Tal winced behind his warm winter coverings. "--So, y'know, you're welcome t'come over an' spend a day or two with me... if y'want," he added hurriedly, trying to make it clear with a wave of his hand that if she didn't 'want', that was okay too.

Alys

Alys blushed as her friend expressed surprise that she didn't have plans. Gods, he must really think her more interesting than she was. She had all of two friends, and she hadn't wanted to interfere with their LongNight plans, so she'd kept quiet about her own lack thereof. Hotaru had been around less and less of late, spending much of her time in King's End with her new beau; and Alys had simply assumed that Tal would have plans of his own.

She raised a brow at Tal's stutter, but didn't press him; he was entitled to his secrets, after all. His offer, however, was welcome, and she shot a grateful smile towards the courier. "That would be nice," she said shyly. "I was really just going to stay in at the Academy, but I'd much rather some company. Thank you." She might not be sure exactly what they'd do for a day or two, but anything would be better than spending the entire LongNight period alone.

As they walked, she adjusted their path slightly, angling towards a thicker patch of trees in the distance, following her intuition as it called her ever onwards. There was an urgency to her pace now, alongside a growing sense of unease. She absently fingered the arrow nocked on the string. Something was coming. She just didn't know what.

Oh, I had a dream that you couldn't hear me screaming
Trying to tell you everything but it wouldn't stop you leaving

As far as Tal was concerned, Alys was one of the most interesting people in Halo. She was part of the Academy, had her fortune-telling business, and as far as he knew was still doing scribing on the side. Plus she had a good sense of humor and always seemed willing to help out; or at least, to help him out, which also made her one of the best people in Halo. People should have been knocking on her door for LongNight plans!

Well, fuck 'em. Their loss was his gain, and he perked up brightly when she accepted his awkward invitation. "Yeah! It'll be fun," he assured her, even as a nervously scrabbling part of his brain started trying to figure out food and entertainment from his impulsive offer. She was his friend and he knew she wouldn't be expecting much with how recently he'd moved in to his new place, but he still wanted to impress her if he could.

He followed her path on light feet, trusting her to know wherever she needed to be. At first he was too busy watching the forest around them to pay attention to their destination, but as she sped up and picked a straight line he looked over at her with a mixture of curiosity and concern. "So, uh... what'd y'do last year for LongNight?" What he wanted to ask was "what's goin' on?", but she'd already said she didn't know, so he reached for something to keep the conversation going instead.

Alys

Alys could practically feel the questions rolling off of Tal. What were they doing? Where were they going? She wasn't sure, but she was certain they were getting closer. There was a certain desperation in the back of her mind, but she was somehow detached from it, as though it didn't quite belong to her. But that was puzzling, so she simply pressed on, dark eyes studying the surroundings, on edge and not quite sure why.

"Oh," she said of the LongNight before, startled momentarily out of her strange trance. "It was the last LongNight I spent with my family." She thought for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice had softened almost imperceptibly. "We didn't part on good terms, but LongNight last year... it was nice."

It was then that a metallic scent hit her nose, and she stopped in her tracks, frozen. They'd made it to the copse of trees, and the urgency in the back of her mind was stronger now. Whatever had called her here was just beyond the treeline, but whatever it was... "Careful," she warned Tal, her voice low. She crept forward, trying to make as little noise as possible, and peered through the trees into a small clearing.

The scene before them was not particularly reassuring. Blood spattered the snow in irregular intervals, leading to a pile of white on the other side of the clearing. At first, Alys thought it was a snowdrift, but then she realized that it wasn't snow that she saw - it was fur. The hair at the back of her neck stood on end. Ursur.

Strangely, though, the form wasn't moving. It wasn't particularly large for an ursur. Maybe it was young, or old, or just weak. Either way, the strange siren song that had led them here called Alys forth. With her bow drawn and pointed at that pile of fur, she said a little prayer to any god that was listening and took a step into the clearing.

Oh, I had a dream that you couldn't hear me screaming
Trying to tell you everything but it wouldn't stop you leaving

He knew she didn't get along with her family, but he never knew quite what to say about it. His own parents had been loving, if a little distant, but they had both been dead for years now. He and his sisters argued and fought sometimes, but they were still close and he couldn't imagine life without them, or being on bad terms with any of them for more than a few days. He cleared his throat awkwardly, but luckily Caido saved him from having to come up with some impractical platitudes in the moment.

He caught the scent the same time Alys did, and the courier straightened imperceptibly as survival instincts kicked in. He hadn't spent six years of solo runs on the Tundra without having good instincts when it came to danger, and the last several years had only honed them sharper. Alys was in the lead on this adventure, but Tal ghosted close behind her, boots silent over the crust of the snow.

Red. White. White on white. And the familiar musk of the great tusked bears of Halo. Pale eyes swept the clearing as Boreal's instincts bled into his own, the dragon perched in one of the metal trees above him and overlooking the clearing. Blood: overwhelming and fresh, burning copper in their shared sinuses. Fur: each strand picked out in uncanny clarity by the dragon's superior vision, ruffling slightly in a light breeze. Creaking: of footsteps on snow, too light to break the crust but deafeningly loud in scaly ears when all also around them was silence.

Alys, stepping out into the open to approach the motionless creature.

Tal shook off the intoxicating sharing of senses and began to pace around the outside of the clearing, intending to get around to the other side of the beast. Ursur weren't known for laying traps, so it was probably safe, but just in case Boreal was crouched and ready to streak down upon anything that lurched towards Alys without warning.

Alys

Fortunately for Alys, Tal, and Boreal, the pile of fur continued to lay motionless on the snow. As Alys crept closer, it became clear why. The ursur had been fatally wounded by something that appeared much larger and stronger than it; she lay in a heap, eyes glazed over, preserved in a moment in time, as though she had only just died. Later, Alys would wonder how she knew that it was a female ursur when she hadn't investigated further, but in that moment, she knew only that the ursur had been a female, and that she had been protecting something precious to her.

It was usually difficult to get upset over the loss of an ursur. They were not known for being friendly beasts, and one too many hunters had never returned to the Citadel after an ursur attack. But Alys felt pity for the creature all the same, and her pity turned to horror as she crept around the motionless ursur to find an array of cubs splayed out in the snow. They, too, were dead, and somehow this was too much for Alys to bear. Her heart ached for their loss in a way that wasn't entirely her own, and she felt a tear freeze on her cheek as she took in the scene. "It doesn't seem fair," she told Tal, aware that she was being absurd but unable to explain why she was so affected. "They were just cubs."

It was then that a soft mewling sound made her jump and look around, and there in the snow, covered in blood but miraculously alive, was the clear runt of the litter. It had been nestled in its mother's fur, but had crept out upon hearing Alys's voice, stumbling a little over its paws as it came hesitantly nearer. Alys lowered her bow, loosening her hold on the arrow. Perhaps a more hardened hunter would have put the poor thing out of its misery - after all, there was no way it would survive out here on its own, not at that age, and not when it was that small - but Alys couldn't do it.

Instead, she found herself kneeling in the snow without a second thought, reaching out a hand towards the little ursur cub, and as its nose just brushed across her fingertips -

A cacophony of sights, sounds, smells, memories that were not her own rushed into Alys's mind. She gasped, jerking her hand away from the ursur and falling backwards into the snow. She knew, suddenly, that it had been a male ursur that had caused the carnage that surrounded them - later, upon researching further, she would find that males often killed cubs that were not their own - just as she was keenly aware of a pang of hunger that was not hers and a bone-aching chill that was out of place in her warm Deepfrost clothes.

She also realized that it was possible that the bigger, meaner male was still around.

The cub seemed to be as dazed as Alys, but as the seer shook herself and clambered to her feet, so, too, did the ursur. She pressed through the snow to Alys's feet, where she stood on her hind legs to brace her forepaws against the seer's legs in a clear request to be picked up. Alys complied readily, unzipping her parka to tuck the cub in, where she could get warm.

Now that she'd found the cub, the urge to explore the tundra was suddenly and irrevocably gone, and she was instead filled with the need to get somewhere warm and safe. "Well, this is why we came out here," Alys told Tal hurriedly, zipping her parka up around the cub and doing her best to keep hold of her bow at the same time. She wouldn't be able to fight easily now, not carrying Sascha (where the name came from, she couldn't say - it was just suddenly there in her mind, as though it had always been there). "But we should go. There's a big male somewhere, and I'd rather not tangle with him just now."

Oh, I had a dream that you couldn't hear me screaming
Trying to tell you everything but it wouldn't stop you leaving

Death assaulted the dragon's senses, and by extension her companion's. Death, but also... something else. It was enough to keep Tal on his toes, Dagger drawn as he came around the other side of the bear and saw its glazed eyes.

Saw the cubs nearby, cold and still.

He didn't relax fully, not with Boreal still tense and watchful above, scenting something still warm amid the carnage, but he didn't protest as Alys moved nearer. He didn't feel the same pain that she did, too inured to the casual death that stalked Halo, especially in Deepfrost. He recognized it in his gentler friend, however, and all he said was a quiet: "Yeah..." as she mourned a creature that might well have killed and eaten one of his neighbors in previous seasons.

The sound of something not Alys had the courier tensing, but the tiny bundle of fur that toddled away from the larger corpse towards her was no threat, even to the seer. He exhaled a tight breath, a scowl tugging at his features beneath his scarf as he contemplated what needed to be done with reluctance. He'd kill a full-grown bear in defense or for food to get his people through the dying season, but was quietly as reluctant as Alys to slaughter a baby. But it was better than letting it starve and freeze to death, slow and painful...

Assuming whatever killed its mom didn't come back to finish the job. He and Sah and Remi had found a manticore out here last season, and that memory raised all his hackles as he glanced down for tracks--

Alys's gasp drew his attention back to her with a worried: "Are you okay?" as she fell back. He took a protective step towards her, but she was already getting up and the ursur was acting heart-rendingly like a puppy and fuck, what were they supposed to do with it now?

A conundrum solved when Alys picked it up and tucked it into her jacket, an act which had Halo-bred Tal stifling a yelp and stumbling forward to try and stop her. "Don't--!" Losing body heat in Deepfrost out on the Tundra was swiftly lethal and for a panicked moment he was afraid his friend had lost her damned mind. Too late to stop the inevitable, he could only watch in helpless confusion as she tucked the bear into her coat while Boreal sent a reassuring croon down through the trees to her perplexed human.

"Y'can't-- I mean, it's an ursur!" he tried helplessly, but Alys's sudden insight stopped him in his tracks and he furrowed his brow. "Wait... how d'you know that?"

Alys

It's an ursur! Tal protested, watching with dismay as Alys quickly moved to zip the cub up in her parka. "Her name is Sascha, and she's mine now," Alys told him calmly, the ursur in question poking her head out the top of the parka to stare petulantly at the courier. "Down, please," she added to the bear cub, who obediently tucked herself back into a ball inside Alys's coat. "And I don't... know, exactly? I think she told me? But not with words, with - feelings, or images? I can't - I don't -" She huffed in frustration. She wasn't normally lost for words, but she wasn't sure how to describe the bond that she and Sascha now clearly shared. It was one thing to take it in stride and another to explain it to someone else. Hopefully Tal would figure it out - he had a companion, after all.

Now she did, too.

Which would be something to marvel at, once they were back in civilization. Alys stuck the arrow she still carried into her quiver and slung her bow over her shoulder, hoisting Sascha higher with one arm. Their shared body heat was soothing, but Alys could feel the frigid wind sneaking in through the places where her parka had stretched to cover them both. She wasn't oblivious to the fact that they needed to get back to somewhere warm, fast.

Fortunately, they didn't encounter the male ursur as they hurried back the way they'd come, plowing through the snow at a faster pace in an effort to escape a potentially deadly encounter. When she felt like they had put a sizeable distance between themselves and the dead ursur, and when the alarm bells she could feel in Sascha's mind started to calm, Alys turned her attention back to conversation. "This is strange," she told her friend. "It's different and new, but at the same time, it's like she's always been there. In my head, I mean."

Oh, I had a dream that you couldn't hear me screaming
Trying to tell you everything but it wouldn't stop you leaving

Tal blinked at the matter-of-fact tone in Alys's voice as she cuddled the early stages of a ruthless, man-eating predator to her bosom. He stared right back at the cub, scowling beneath his scarf as he tried to figure out why in actual hail the seer would do something so daft--

Oh.

Her attempt to explain made quite a lot of sense, actually, and things clicked into place pretty quick the moment he heard that the bear was communicating with feelings and images. Tal heaved a heavy sigh and gave a glum nod. "Yeah... sounds about right," he reassured Alys as she trailed off in uncertainty. "Y'get used to it."

Boreal huffed softly from her perch, reminding her human to get a hustle on when he paused to look longingly back at the carcass. It was good meat, and nothing to walk away from in Deepfrost. There were hungry people in the Citadel who could use it... And he and Boreal could probably tackle an ursur by themselves if the male came back...

But one look at Alys revealed the shiver as she got a better hold on her new companion and the courier sighed to himself and shook his head. "Y'get too cold, y'tell me," he said gruffly. "Don't go bein' a martyr. It won't help her if y'end up sick or frostbit gettin' her home." With that, he let her set the pace. She moved quickly in spite of her burden, and Tal trailed a little bit behind her, watching their backs while Boreal flew from tree to tree overhead, occasionally dislodging a load of snow from a skeletal metal branch.

When Alys turned back to him he snorted, glancing fondly up at his own companion. "Yeah. S'like a missin' piece y'didn't even know was missin' just slipped back into place, right? I figure I could learn t'live without just about anythin' or anyone else... but not her." His voice softened, taking on a rare vulnerability at the admission while high above the dragon crooned gently to the man below.

Alys

Alys wasn't quite sure why Tal sounded so glum, but perhaps it had to do with the fact that ursurs were not exactly known for being sweet and cuddly. Still, she couldn't help but cuddle the cub closer at the courier's tone, instinctively sending calming vibes through their bond. Sascha mewled pitifully, a muffled sound from beneath Alys's parka, almost as though assuring Tal that she meant no harm.

If Tal had suggested taking the meat from the mother ursur, Alys probably would have declined, even if not for the shiver that coursed through her at the next gust of wind. That was Sascha's mother, after all, and the poor cub had been traumatized enough without seeing her mother carved into bits and pieces for Halovians to eat. Fortunately, the courier didn't voice his opinions on the matter, and the four of them began the long trek back to the Citadel.

When the danger had passed and they'd drawn nearer to home, Alys felt comfortable enough to slow down and enjoy the remainder of their outing. It was still cold, of course, particularly when the wind blew, but their rapid pace had worked up a bit of a sweat - enough to keep her from freezing, at any rate. "Yeah," Alys agreed softly, meeting Tal's vulnerability with her own. "It's almost impossible to imagine not having her now, even though we just met." She'd always heard stories about companions and wondered what it would be like to have one, but she'd never imagined such a strong bond so quickly.

Oh, I had a dream that you couldn't hear me screaming
Trying to tell you everything but it wouldn't stop you leaving

He'd be happy for Alys and Sascha when they were safely inside the Citadel's gates again. Until then, the cub couldn't help putting Alys at risk and it made Tal's palms itch inside his gloves as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that the cub was also his friend's companion now, and just as important to protect as the seer herself.

Unfortunately, he wasn't great at dealing with change, but he was trying to get better. By the time they slowed their pace and had a chance to talk again he had started to come to terms with the new state of affairs, and the reminder of how important his own bond with Boreal was had softened the rough edges from his attitude. When Alys revealed the immediate depth of her own connection to Sascha, Tal reached over to squeeze her hand, finding a tentative, wry smile beneath his scarf. "Well, guess it'll be th'four o' us for LongNight this year," he offered, echoed by an enthusiastic rumble from Boreal, who was always happy to have new friends!

Their return was uneventful after that, and soon enough Sascha was introduced to her new home and family as the Citadel's gates closed safely behind them, shutting out the worst of Deepfrost's ravages once more.

~Fin~