As He Led Her Through The Snow

As he led her through the snow, he held her hand.

His dusky blue eyes, ever intricate and complex and wonderful behind his silver-rimmed glasses, had been more serious than usual as he pulled her aside after she had finished with her last customer.

"Kira, come with me. I need to tell you something," he had said with a quiet insistence. Then he had taken her hand and led her out of the tent and into the woods.

Alin never held Kira's hand. It was always Kira who instigated physical contact with him - leaning on his shoulder as he read, leaping onto him suddenly for a surprise piggyback ride, braiding his soft, soft, silver hair. It wasn't that he didn't want the contact, she knew; she was just the one who always took the initiative. It was always her, and never him, but here they were- walking through the snow, Alin almost protectively holding Kira's hand.

This was the thought that circled through Kira's mind as she broke the silence.

"Hey, A, where're we going?"

"Someplace far, and quiet."

Kira glanced up at the reds and oranges brushing the tips of the pines surrounding them.

"'Kay, well, how far, exactly? It's gonna get really cold really fast."

"I'll know when we get there."

Kira frowned at the non-answer, and they carried on in silence. The only audible sound was the crunching of their boots. Kira looked down at Tress, who padded gracefully about a foot to her left, her feline paws better suited to the silent snowscape.

"Do you know what he's planning?"

The tressym let out a little mrrow, which Kira took to mean she was as clueless as her owner. Kira gave a small, cloudy sigh, and on they trekked through the rapidly-darkening forest.

An hour had passed. The town must have been at least three miles away. Whatever Alin had to tell her better be important.

"Alin, is this far enough for you?" Kira asked, making sure to emphasize her impatience.

"Nearly."

Kira let out a long, extravagant groan.

Another hour passed, and Kira was beginning to doubt Alin had the same definition of "nearly" as she did.

"Y'know, if you wanted to confess how you're hopelessly in love with me, the tent would have sufficed."

He didn't answer. [Bread.] Was that what he was doing?! [Bread, bread, bread, bread.] There was no doubt he was an extremely attractive man, they were around each other nearly 24/7, and they'd even been mistaken for lovers in the past. But actually... [Bread.] Kira didn't know how to feel about that. And that wasn't even factoring in how little she actually knew about this man. Over the past five years, she'd somehow spilled her entire life story to him, yet all she really knew about his past was that he came from some distant family of rich nobles no one had ever heard of. Yet they had been living in the same tent for something like four years! Heck, they slept in the same bed! What were they doing? What was she doing? [Bread], too many thoughts...

"Alin, you're kinda scaring me." In reply, he squeezed her gloved hand harder- "And now we're running, okay." Kira let out a nervous laugh as he pulled her along. "You're really not helping. Can you talk to me? Please?" On they ran, suddenly turning off the path and weaving through the increasingly suffocating pines. "Alin?"

Eventually, they slowed and came to a stop in a spacious clearing. Kira had lost all sense of direction. The new moon above gave the faintest of light as she let go of Alin's hand. Tress stood nearby, tawny wings poised for whatever strange and terrible thing that was surely about to occur.