Unseen | Caramel Arrow Cookie x Affogato Cookie

It Comes

Caramel Arrow's eyes squinted against the cold wind. Much colder than a usual Dark Cacao Kingdom day. The day was beginning to grow late now. She managed to subdue the rage that built up between the Peanut and Milk tribes, for now. She, at least, delayed any violent altercations for now, which was good. The leader of the Milk Tribe allowed her to stay at their village, which she appreciated. The weather was very poor, so she was worrying about a snowstorm, just as Affogato had stressed about. She had been sitting still in the village for a little over half an hour now, and she was beginning to double guess herself. No storms were showing, and she was thinking about departing back to the citadel soon. She'd hate for there to be no storm and have Affogato worry about her. She stood on the outskirts of the village, facing north, where the citadel was waiting for her. Where Affogato was waiting for her.

She heard footsteps behind her and glanced back. The leader of the Milk Tribe stopped beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you going to go?"

"I don't know." She said, looking back into the snowy landscape. “The weather hasn’t changed much for a while, but it’s still consistently cold.”

“You don’t want to stay if no storm comes, hm?”

“Correct.” She nodded. “But if I go and a storm were to happen..”

The leader nodded. “I will leave it up to you. But if I were to give you advice, it’d be to stay here. Better safe than sorry, you know?”

The leader left her alone. Better safe than sorry was right, and a month ago she would’ve stayed without question. But Affogato was waiting for her, and she didn’t want him to worry and fret over her safety. “Gh..” She looked back at the village, then back into the windy air. She couldn’t hesitate again. She had to make a choice. She was going to go. The last time she hesitated to do something, her father had died. She wouldn’t make that mistake again. She started trekking through the windy snow. She had to get back to Affogato.

…

The wind wasn’t going to falter, that was for sure. It kept on breezing through, powerful and freezing. It bit at her face, her cheeks. She put her arm over her eyes so she could open them to see better. The snow was pretty thick. She powered through, though, determined to make it back to the citadel, even if a little colder than she bargained for. Time ticked and time passed. It was a pretty long trip back.

In the back of her mind, the thought of being caught in a snowstorm plagued it. She had to hurry to make sure that that possibility never happens. As long as this weather kept persisting as it had all day, she would be fine. God, it was much easier to get to the villages than going back. The wind had pushed her towards the tribes before, now it was pushing against her on her way back. She probably had taken more time going only about halfway back than she had the whole time going to the villages.

There was a sound in the distance.

“Oh god.” Caramel Arrow glanced around her as she walked forward. She hoped it wasn't what she thought she heard. If it was, she would have to be prepared for the worst. With a bit of haste, she started walking faster, resisting the wind and snow more to get back to the safety of the citadel as fast as she could. Perhaps it was just paranoia. She hoped it was just paranoia.

Then, that loud roar sounded in the distance again.

She startled, looking back. It was louder this time, like it was coming closer. “A snow lion’s cry.” She whispered to herself.

Wide eyed, she looked back in front of her. A swirl of white snow blew past her face. The storm stared her in the face. The beginning of a blizzard. Snow immediately pelted onto her body. “Grh!” She shielded her face from the powerful snow that hit her. Just her luck. She wished she stayed. But she was so far forward that there was no turning back. Holy shit, it was cold. The wind bit even more at her skin, the sharp pieces of snow throwing themselves at her uniform. She shuddered, not giving up. She kept walking, slowly but surely, making sure that her legs didn’t get swept off the floor. Her world was now encapsulated in a white shower of snow. She could barely see in front of her. The only thing keeping her on her path was the footprints that she had left going to the villages. She grunted and panted as she walked through the snow. Each step was excruciating and tough.