Labyrinth of Snow and Ice

4

The fox did nothing, only kept staring at her. As Feyre touched its soft fur, its nose twitched, but it didn't bite or run away. Instead, it leaned into her touch and poked her hand with its face.A thought crossed Feyre's mind that its pelt would be at least enough to get her and her family some new jackets, or at least a real bed. But she couldn't bear the thought of abandoning and betraying this lonely creature.

Feyre tried to speak to it, but the sound caught dry in her throat. She hadn't used her voice in a long time, for there was never anyone to talk to. But now, she had someone to care for, something that needed her. Feyre cleared her throat and tried again.

"You're beautiful", she told the fox.

"Seeing that your fur and eyes are like the night sky, I think you should be called Nyx, don't you?"

The fox only blinked at her, then reached up and licked her cheek. Feyre smiled.

"Nyx it is then."

She got up and gestured for him to follow her. He obeyed, surprisingly, and even let out a small sound of agreement. That day, Feyre came back home with deer skin and meat, and a friend. Nyx was the only one she had to express her thoughts and opinions to. He became like the little brother she wished she had. She even painted him in a corner of the cabin. Feyre only had red, blue, and yellow paint, so her version of Nyx was slightly more colorful than the real fox.

Over the years, whenever she saw a hunter coming back from the woods with a fox over their shoulder, she would internally cringe. She would forever have a soft spot in her heart for foxes, an inconvenience since her occupation was now a hunter. Feyre was nineteen now, a ten year difference from when her life came crashing down on her. She didn't know it yet, but those years of hardship would forge her into something great, which would change the lives of many people, including her family.

Feyre sets off into the woods with Nyx early in the morning, just like they've done so many times before. She had packed extra food for her and her fox, along with even more arrows. Because today was the Winter Solstice, the day where the most hunting was able to be done. It was also Feyre's birthday, a time of new beginnings. This would be the fifth time that she and Nyx spent a birthday together, as Feyre liked to think that their birthdays were the same.

Neither her sisters nor her father had even looked at her when she walked out of their cabin this morning, much less acknowledged the day of her birth. But Feyre was used to it, and besides, who needed family when you had the best hunting partner anyone could ever ask for. It was them against this cruel world, and they would face it together.

Feyre smiled down at her fox, then wrapped her coat a little tighter around her before walking straight into that dark labyrinth of snow and ice.