𝐴 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑅𝑒𝑑 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑠

Lovely Lodge

The cold wind howled in his ear like a pack of hungry wolves. Its deadly bite nipped at his exposed skin whenever he was unfortunate enough to expose any of his flesh by letting his glove slip. It was like needles constantly trying to pierce his pale skin. The wind itself was so powerful that he was forced to slightly crouch and put his head down just to try and push through.

He had faced the toughest opponents the walls had to offer. But right now his enemies were the horde of billions of snowflakes that flooded the air. It was at this moment that he understood who was truly the strongest: Mother Nature. Still, he remained determined in his efforts to if not defeat her, at least endure her.

He had been robbed of all his enhanced senses. Snow had been falling for 12 continuous hours. Smothering all of the walls in a thick blanket of white powder that totalled over 40 centimeters. Because of this, he had no space to use his ghoul speed before being swallowed whole by the ground itself. His vision was also blinded by the monstrous blizzard that raged on. Whenever he did get a brief moment to look upward it was almost as if he had on a white blindfold. The temperature which had long since gone below 0 made his nose useless. He was sure the low temperature would immediately shatter his nails if he dared to sharpen them. His mouth had been encased in a thick layer of wool from a mask that provided protection. And all of the ultra-low sounds he was used to hearing were drowned out by the whistles of the wind.

The only sense he had left was his touch, and he used it to continue moving forward despite the blizzard trying to break him by all means possible. For the thing he clasped onto meant more to him than his own life.

Under his right arm, he held his dear lover close to him to try and give some of his body heat to her. They both had on thick wool coats, strong leather boots, snow pants, mittens, face masks, and even large hoods. He knew full well she was suffering just as much if not more than him, so he knew he had to push himself to get to their destination.

Historia: J-J-Joseph, W-We're gonna *shiver* make it!

A faint smile played on Joseph's lips beneath his face mask, admiring his wife's optimism. It helped provide just a small, yet well-needed warmth to his heart. The brief warmth immediately went away as they were thrashed by a huge gust of ice-cold wind. This one was so powerful, it snuck its way under their heavy-duty winter clothes. Both of them simultaneously lost the air in their lungs to a gasp for a second. Joseph instinctively pulled Historia closer and put both of his arms around her. The only silver lining was that at least the ice-cold blasts were now mainly hitting their backs so it aided them briefly in their march.

Joseph: I-I know we will *teeth chatter* Historia. W-We have to be close now.

Joseph lifted his head as the lashes from the wind and the snow pelted his brow. A puffy sigh of relief escaped his freezing lips as he finally spotted it in the distance: a small wooden lodge, not only their getaway spot but also their sanctuary. The white-haired young man reached deep within himself and pulled out all of the strength he could, while still clutching Historia. Together, they moved ahead through snow and half-buried tree stumps.

Their boots carved a narrow path of snow, leaving a trail of steps from two pairs of shoes behind them with extra flurries kicked up on the side. Finally, they reached the door, and Joseph nearly hit the hardened oak. As the young queen was glued to Joseph, she spoke with a shivering voice.

Historia: J-Joseph, please hurry.

Joseph: I'm on it.

His gloved hands delved into his coat pocket and pulled out a silver metal key. As fast as he could, he put it into the door's keyway and twisted it as a metallic click broke through the sounds of a bursting blizzard. Historia, summoning whatever strength the cold hadn't sapped from her, clutched the knob and pushed it forward with Joseph's help. The door swung open with both strength practically forcing the wooden and metal door to let them in. As soon as they were inside, Joseph and Historia swiftly locked the door and then collapsed onto the floor.