The Innocent Recluse - Ch. 12

Chapter 12: Wherein The Aforementioned Friends Adapt To A New Way Of Life

-L-

"Ye-E-ah...ouch."

He winced as she caught a particularly nasty knot, pressing with her knuckles and rolling it out.

-W-

"I didn't even know wings could get this bad."

Winter didn't let up on massaging Len for a second.

-L-

"Wings that weren't there when I woke up yesterday, I think, are allowed."

He glanced up, concerned.

"Besides, you should probably grab a glass of water, lean over the sink and breathe it to keep your gills wet."

-W-

"...That is one of the strangest things I have ever-- aaaaaargh!-- okay, okay, I'll do it."

Winter ducked into the bathroom for a moment, hoping the tap water in the building was not too chlorinated.

-L-

It was hard, and she swallowed initially through habit, but then drew in a mouthful, steeled herself, and breathed it; water instantly wet the fur of her throat, but oxygen somehow filled her lungs.

-W-

...This is going to be hard to get used to.

Several "breaths" later, the glass was empty, and Winter returned to check on Len.

-L-

He was in the process of stripping out the minibar under the television, cramming the food into a bag, then casting a quick spell.

"It'll forget we should be paying now."

-W-

Winter tilted her head to one side.

"...Where did you get the bag?"

-L-

"I, er, stole it."

-W-

"Oh, Len, you big kleptomaniac."

It was impossible to tell if Winter was playfully scolding Len or simply being affectionate.

-L-

He glanced up at her, playfully crestfallen.

"It would be useful to carry food in rather than just conjure it.  Never trust conjured food."

He put on a very serious face, pointing at her.

"It is evil."

-W-

Winter blinked.

"...I guess I'll take your word for it on that one.  I've never tried it myself."

-L-

"Trust me."

-W-

"All right, I will."

Winter decided not to ask what sort of experience had given Len that opinion.

-L-

After stuffing the bag full of food, Len headed for the door, bowing extravagantly.

"Ladies first."

-W-

Len... sometimes I wonder how the hell you think.

Winter stepped past Len and proceeded outside.

-L-

"Well, I am slightly insane," Len agreed.

-W-

Boy, he can say that ag-- wait a sec.  I'm pretty sure I didn't say that out loud.

Now Winter was even less sure how Len's mind worked.

-L-

The cheetah whistled merrily to himself as they strolled down the corridor.

-W-

Being somewhat of a musician herself, Winter instinctively began listening to Len's melody and mentally decoding its notes.

...Hmm... what exactly is that melody?

-L-

Len continued.

-W-

Alright.  Got it.

Winter instinctively took out her flute and used it to echo Len's melody.  When she finished, she felt the same surge of energy that always accompanied a successfully cast spell, and a portal suddenly ripped itself open in front of the two of them.

The landscape on the other side of the portal was covered in pure white snow, and cold air could be felt blowing out of it.  Winter was sure she saw a cabin in the distance.

The fawn was as surprised as anyone else.  "Len... wh-where did you learn that melody?"

-L-

"Can't remember.  I know a lot of spells now I didn't before the whole jar incident.  It's all fuzzy and the wrong way round and...messed up."

He winced, rubbing his temple, dispelling a headache, and strolled straight through.

-W-

Huh?  He was in a jar for the past ten years, buried and isolated from the whole world... where would he have learned anything?

Winter shuddered a bit at her own thoughts, before stepping into the portal after Len.

-L-

There was something she was missing, something Len wasn't telling her or more likely didn't remember.  Something had happened to him whilst trapped in the jar.

-W-

But what?  What could possibly... maybe I should think about that later.

It was COLD on the other side of the portal.  Where had they been dropped off?

-L-

Len shuddered deeply, fur standing briefly on end.

"Where the hell are we?"

-W-

"I was hoping you would know."

Winter continued straight, eyes focused on the cabin up ahead.

-L-

Len hissed, before pausing.

"...Winter stay still.  STILL!"

Confused, she obeyed, then heard it.  A dull yet promising creak.

Len kicked horizontally with his foot gently, clearing away a small patch of snow, to reveal the black water stirring beneath a thin sheet of ice beneath their feet.

-W-

"Wh-?"

Winter backed up and looked at the ice Len had exposed.

"I don't fancy catching hypothermia.  We'll have to find another way across."

-L-

"...That could be tough."

Len gestured vaguely with his hand, and a radius of around ten feet, including the area around the odd little hut, all the snow was brushed back.

It was all ice; they were dead centre in an ice field.

-W-

Winter couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by this revelation.

Where in the world ARE we?

She took her flute halfway out of its pouch, then put it back.

-L-

Len took a half-step forwards, there was another creak, and he pulled his foot back.

"...If I try to take off, likely I'll go through.  Well, damn-mother.  I mean, mother-damn."

He held his head in his hands briefly as if he was in pain, then looked up.

-W-

Winter couldn't keep her eyes off the ice.  She opted not to try to correct Len.

"All we really need is a small patch of stable ground that you could use as a platform to get off the ground.  Then you could pick me up and fly me across."

-L-

Len shook his head.

"Risk yet I moving can't..."

Len moved his jaw carefully, he couldn't even put words in the right order now.  What was wrong with him?

-W-

Winter blinked.

"Len?  Are you feeling okay?"

-L-

"Fine, soon be yeah I'll.  Hopefully."

-W-

Winter wasn't sure whether to take that as a yes or a no.  She didn't speak, but took out her flute and played a few test notes on it.

-L-

Len tried to speak again, but then thought better of it, looking quite distressed.

-W-

...I think I've got it.

Winter played a specific melody, and finished it off by flourishing her flute upwards in Len's direction like a conductor's baton.

Immediately, both of them began to feel warmer.

-L-

She was melting the snow around them, with heat.

Len blanched.

"Ice the melt that'll but, Win-"

The ice cracked.

-W-

Winter managed to shove Len to a more stable portion of the ice just in time, but she herself was not so lucky.  She fell through with a splash, somehow managing to tread water.

-L-

Then almost all feeling began to flee her as the brain-numbing, frigidly cold temperature smashed its way right through to her bones.

-W-

No... NO... it can't end like this...

Winter struggled with everything she had to avoid going under, but the temperature was too overpowering and taking out her flute again would take too long.

Finally she blacked out.  For quite some time, she had no idea whether she was alive or dead.

-L-

But then, she dimly realized, somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind, if she could be contemplating this, then she must be alive, somehow.

Time ceased to have any meaning; but when her eyelids fluttered open infinitesimally, she found she was wrapped in a pair of trembling arms, in Len's lap, for some meager warmth.