Prior—
When Laris disappeared, we stayed in that temporary camp for a week to look for him, or wait. However, there were no signs of him, nor did he come back. It was as if he'd never been there and I almost believed it, if not for the many things he left behind. Even his lingering scent would have disappeared in about half a day, so what could have possibly used to track him down? There was no other Lycan in the group.
Looking back, that might have been the first and possibly the last time I see the Lycan-kind in a positive light—they can sniff out where people I'm looking for are—useful.
Laris had been mapping out our route back but it was left half-done. I considered going back to Faerie Valley to consult my sister and Savella, but Obrecht wouldn't even let me take a step towards the valley's direction. Well, that was aside my own reluctance to return, of course. Even accidentally stepping towards Faerie Valley Obrecht would be blocking my way with a sweet, innocent smile on his face.
I never knew a smile could be so overbearing...it was so adorable; I wanted to tease him more so I may have 'accidentally' did it a few more times.
We could simply camp out, however, winter would demand a lot from our bodies. It really wasn't ideal to stay outside in the cold and even sleep out for long-term. I was afraid of us developing frostbite. Aside from this, Laris' disappearance troubles me and there was no way to inform, nor ask for aide.
"Is there no way for us to send a letter or a telegram to them in the nearest town," Obrecht had asked at the time.
"The nearest town..." I wiped off the creases in the map, gently pressing it over a crate-turned-table. "Do we head South then? There aren't even ang villages or towns near the forest of Jurell."
"Then let's do that."
"...Wouldn't we get caught? Isn't this Sorcerers' Nation?"
"Wouldn't it be the last place they'd expect us in? I don't think anyone knows our faces yet."
"...Tukare and I look too alike."
"We can always find a way to disguise you. You're temperaments are completely different."
"...How are our temperaments different?" I raised my brow at him.
"You're more lovable." He grins foolishly.
"...Alright", I said. And that, my friends, was how I was solidly won over by a very valid, very unbiased, vert fool-proof argumentative solution and reasoning.
"....?" A slight flinching shiver comes and go. Then, I felt a cold wetness on my nose, and looked up to find that it was lightly snowing again. "Obrecht, it's your first winter on the Surface, right?"
"Mm, it is."
"...I'm sorry we never got to appreciate it properly." We could have been staying in a warm home and making steaming food that felt comfortable to eat during cold days. We would watch winter pass by while feeling cozy and relaxed. Yet, here we are in the wilderness with not even a roof above our heads.
The things I could not offer him get stuck in my throat.
"But I'm appreciating it right now. How can I not appreciate anything with you here?" He stuck his tongue out like a child. "As long as you're within my reach and my sight, anything is fine. Even this wilderness in winter feels amazing with only you by my side."
For a moment there, I almost heard his thoughts say, 'I'm so happy it's just you and me now', but it could have been just my imagination, right?
Like magic, the knotted feeling in my throat disappears and becomes fuel for the growing heat on my cheeks.
"...I hope that doesn't include going to the bathroom." I say, half-seriously, and yet he flashes me a cheeky grin. He neither agrees, nor denies. "Are you not afraid of freezing, come nearer to the fire", I asked him as he stared up at the sky. "...What are you sticking your tongue out for", I laugh.
"Catching snow flakes?" He catches a snowflake land on the tip of his tongue as I giggle at his childishness. A single flake falls and abruptly melts on his tongue. The eyebrows on his forehead nearly meet as he solemnly tries to tell the taste.
"Pft—What does it take like? Any interesting flavor?"
"Why don't you try it, Vid? It's interesting!"
There really is no way for me to say no if he looks me so eagerly like that. So I smile and stick my tongue out a little, slightly embarrassed.
"...Like this?" I stare cross-eyed at my own exposed tongue, preoccupied.
"Yes." Something twinkled in Obrecht's eyes; something I completely missed, as he leaned in—not to catch snow flakes, but to catch my frightened tongue.
"Mmph..." His kisses are tender, but his tongue was hair-rising. It chased after me, deeper and deeper. Very soon, I puffed hot breath on Obrecht's face, breathless.
"Did you manage to taste it?" He asks me this but I know he's teasing.
"...Sweet", I mumble expressionlessly, and yet my beet red face betrays me.
Obrecht and I had been confident in our plan to Sorcerers' Nation, however, that confidence was short-lived.
As we travelled Southward, eventually, the weather grew warmer and warmer until our winter-wear became too lethal to wear. It took thirty-five days to arrive at the nearest town and yet, we weren't aware it was a fortress city—what we thought was an extension of a mountain near a village, was actually a fortress protecting a small city.
I briefly stare at the map that didn't even have a legend, nor a compass, unhappy.
Whoever drew this map was so irresponsible!
In some unknown part of the Western Forest, Laris sneezed.
The fortress was the type that without the war, had evolved into something that controlled the flow of immigration from the North to South and vice versa through a toll fee. I can see now how Sorcerers' Nation makes most of their money, added to the fact that they promote tourism as their best local industry.
"...What now?" I whisper to my lover beside me.
We hid among the branches of a tree, a distance away from the fortress; all the while eyeing the group of people lining up to enter and leave the city. There were guards checking each person's identity and collecting toll fees. There were a lot more people entering than leaving at first glance.
I back flipped downwards and land gracefully on my feet, bending to a squat before standing upright. Obrecht lands after me and asks, "Is everything in the Laris' storage stone?"
I nod.
"Have you looked over what else is inside it?" I shake my head at his question, handing it to him without his prompt. He takes it and searches around with his mind's eye. He stills for a moment, then takes something out.
Curious, I squat with my chin on my knees to stare at what seems to be a chest.
"...Clothes?" I mutter as Obrecht pushed it open. Were these perhaps Letitia's clothes? But there were a few male's clothes, with a variation of kinds, status and ethnicity.
"Disguises, maybe?" Obrecht's hands shuffle a few garbs and tunics around.
"...Maybe it's their contingency plan of sort."
He pauses, and gently pulls out a two-piece dress from the bottom.