---Reutsa’s perspective---

  My feet crunch through the snow as I walk away from tonight’s camp, a wooden bowl of hot water in each hand and one of those pouches the old woman gave us as a parting gift dangling from my left.

  Making my way through the eery, leafless, dead looking trees with the frozen white powder I still haven’t fully got used to covering the ground, I arrive at the edge of a blufftop.

  Looking out over the otherworldly moonlit landscape, I see a tall woman with a head of curly hair.

  “Hey boss…” I call to her.

  Bwey turns and smiles at me in a way that doesn’t touch her eyes.

  “Hey, Tsatsa… What’s up?” she asks, wearily, eyes flicking to my hands.

  I hold up the steaming bowls and explain “The girls and I just tried some of the herby stuff that one eyed medicine woman gave us when we left… Pretty good shit! Strikes a fire in your belly and warms you up from the inside!… Perfect for keeping awake on watch!… Thought you might like to try some?”

  Her mouth twists as she asks “You’re sure it’s not poison(?)”

  I shrug and point out “Kzetel had some last night and he’s still kicking(!) That’d be the slowest acting poison I’d ever heard of(!)”

  She gives a wonderful little giggle at that but still says “I… probably shouldn’t…”

  Knowing exactly how to stoke this girl’s fire, I don’t contradict her. Instead, I agree “Yeah… Might be a bit strong for you…” looking away like it’s no big deal.

  Her eyes immediately snap to my face and I spend the next five heartbeats trying to pretend I haven’t noticed while she works out whether she’d rather let me manipulate her or let the challenge go unanswered(!)

  Finally, she points to a fallen tree and says “Gimme the fucking drink, Reutsa!” her voice fairly evenly split between humour and annoyance.

  “Sure thing, boss…” I smile, walking over to the seat with her.

  She reaches down and dusts the cold, powdered water from enough of the horizontal trunk for us to sit on.

  I come down next to her with enough space between us to balance the steaming bowls.

  I take a large pinch of the blend from the pouch to sprinkle into the right one and dip my finger to stir it until it’s mixed evenly into the hot water.

  That done, I gesture for her to take the drink as I repeat the process for the one on the left.

  As I stir mine, I watch her bring it to her lips and sip.

  “Ugh!” she winces “Well… that’s gotta be the strongest drink I’ve ever tasted!... It’s…That mintiness makes for a really strange combination with the bitterness of the ephedra!… And what’s that floral note?”

  “Zgrizeh says it’s called ‘yarrow’…*sip*… Makes your tongue go a bit numb…” I explain, my eyes fixed on the side of her face as she looks North to the starry horizon.

  “Well… just the taste has already woken me up, never mind whatever it does to me later(!)” she chuckles.

  “Mmm!” I agree.

  We sit in silence for a while, me just watching her as she sips from her bowl.

  Eventually, she turns her face to me and flatly asks “What?”

  I manage to restrain myself from telling her I was just captivated by her beauty (not the time to initiate a conversation like that… even if she’d probably think I was just joking), instead saying “I’m… We’re worried about you, Bwey!… I just wanted to check you were doing alright…?”

  She gives a shivering chuckle (that I don’t think can be blamed on the cold) and answers “Am I doing alright?… Well, let’s assess, shall we(?) My brother is missing and might be dead, I don’t think the paleskins actually murdered him but I’m still not sure, even if I knew for certain that they didn’t… proving that to our people would be another matter, we’re stuck up here a year’s travel from a home we can’t go back to, we’ve got four Moons of bleak, desolate, ashy water on the soil and freezing cold temperatures before Spring comes and it’s up to me to hold things together until Ksem gets back… if he gets back at all!… So no… I’d say I’m actually pretty far from ‘alright’, Tsatsa!” almost in tears by the end.

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  I reach out to put a comforting hand on her shoulder and say “Boss… I get that it’s overwhelming… I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now but… I don’t know if isolating yourself like you have been is the best thing for you?”

  She half sobs half chuckles and gestures out at the landscape below us to say “You’re probably right… Guess some part of me is still just hoping that he’s going to walk out of the woods down there with that grumpy girl and explain that they got lost(!) Hoping that we can walk back to the plains with me teasing him about that and him teasing me about my overreaction(!)… I know it’s stupid…”

  “I don’t think it’s ever stupid to hope… I don’t think there’s much chance they managed to spend more than half a Moon lost inside the Basin (when it’s all so well marked and the girl’s lived here her whole life) but I’m sure they’re alive and I’m sure we’ll see your brother again by Spring at the latest!”

  She turns her face to me and gives a sad smile, saying “Thanks, Tsatsa… I think I needed to hear that…”

  Ignoring my screaming selfcontrol, I place my bowl down on the log at my right hip and turn back to the beautiful woman, opening my arms to invite a cuddle.

  She hesitates for a heartstopping moment before giggling, placing down her own drink on her left, scooting closer and embracing me.

  I pat her back, trying very hard to ignore how intoxicatingly amazing she smells as I hold her warm, slender body in my arms.

  She needs a friend more than anything else right now.

  So do I…

  Over the course of less than a Moon last year, the strikingly exotic face I’d always been proud of suddenly became a curse!

  After my mother’s people slaughtered their way through our homeland, I found myself with very few friends among our people… I can’t jeopardise my best remaining friendship over a crush I’m almost certain won’t be returned…

  She begins pulling away and, even though every fibre of my being cries out for me not to let her, I release my arms.

  She withdraws her head from my shoulder but then… stops…

  She brings her face close enough to mine that I can feel her foggy breath against my mouth, she just stares at me… her beautiful brown eyes searching my black ones for several heartbeats while I sit, frozen in fear.

  All at once, her lips meet mine in a way that, very quickly, becomes obvious was not an accident.

  Her lips burn as they wrestle with mine, her hands scorching my body wherever they contact and her smell filling my nose.

  As she pulls my entire body close in to her, I become aware that we’re both standing… though I don’t remember the decision to get off the log?

  Her eyes are closed as she kisses me but mine are wide open, watching her…

  I’m still feverishly trying to work out if I might have misunderstood the situation somehow, if I might be dreaming… because the alternative is that Bwey, daughter of Tses, is kissing and embracing me like a lover right now!

  Finally, our lips part, she tilts her forehead to rest it against mine and, eyes still closed, breathes “I’m sorry, Tsatsa… I shouldn’t’ve sprung that on you like that… I just couldn’t help myself… I needed the comfort…”

  Also out of breath, I answer “It’s…err… it’s no problem, boss… If you…uhm… ever need more comfort, I’ll be happy to provide it(!)” trying to sound suave and confident but completely betrayed by the unsurety of my tone!

  She giggles and draws back up to a height that puts my eyes just below the level of her lips as she smiles “You better be sure, Tsatsa(!) I’ll hold you to that(!)”

  I give an emphatic nod and the wonderful woman squeezes me closer to her, kissing my forehead while my heart pounds at double speed in my chest!

  She draws up her hand to run her fingernails over the shaven side of my head over my right ear and smiles, leaning down to whisper in my left “I think more ‘comfort’ than this will have to wait for a night when we have a little more privacy(!)” flicking her eyes back in the direction of the paleskin’s wayside shelter we’re camped at.

  The tiny disappointment I feel at the delay is utterly engulfed by the overwhelming joy of learning my unrequited crush is not as unrequited as I thought!

  I nod, swallowing hard.

  She releases me from the embrace but catches my left hand, holding it in her right as we sit back down on the log.

  I pick my brew back up and take another sip (much as I don’t actually need any more stimulation right now(!))

  She does the same, still squeezing my hand in hers between us.

  Eventually, she lets out a breathy chuckle and says “You know what, Tsatsa?… I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about… Ksem’s about the cleverest person I know and that girl he’s with (despite her grumpy personality(!)) seems like a more or less ideal survival partner to make up his shortfalls! I bet they’re doing just fine right now!”

  ---Raala’s perspective---

  I grasp my spear tightly in both hands, turning back and forth to make sure it’s always pointed at whichever of the monsters comes nearest to us in this whipping snow.

  The glow from the embers of our charcoal fire reflects off of nine pairs of eyes over nines sets of sharp, bonecrushing teeth.

  The one I’ve already struck lies wheezing and dying on the snow as the others circle us, calling out with cruel, mocking laughter!

  In the corner of my eye, I see one start to charge me on my left, only for a *fwoom* to come from behind my head and for a sickeningly wet *thuck* to sound as the beast falls to the ground.

  Their laughter raises in intensity as the hyenas close in around us.

  I scream as my spear thrusts forward!

  Bwey and Reutsa | |