Saa'be

reveal

They stumble blindly through the night, his hand in hers so they don't get lost, sleep in a mountain cave huddled close for warmth and wake to blinding sunlight on the crusted, crystalline white of the Ice Peaks.

They are both grey with ash, the smell of the fire still lingering in their clothes and hair. When the Double looks out over the remains of the Ji'ambii village, smoke still wisps towards the sky in a black plume, the charcoal remains of shelters dark against the glittering azure of the peaks around them. They ran as long and as far as their desperate legs could carry them before collapsing but the Double clearly doesn't think it's far enough as they set out early, sticking to the slate-colored scree of the mountains for camouflage. They see Conglomerate ships hovering over the remains, carrion eaters buzzing on artificial wings as they wait for their ground squadrons to bring back anything unspoiled by fire.

They leave behind the gravesites of two of their comrades, neither looking back for fear it will break their tenuous resolve.

It's feeling like it has all gone wrong. Yes, they never intended to crash on the Plains, no, they didn't anticipate becoming hunted fugitives on their own world. But it always felt like there was some hope as long as they stayed together. The Conglomerate was the common enemy and even when they first squabbled, they were all on each other's side, protecting each other from a common aggressor. But now, after bias led to not one, but two betrayals, they are two against all odds, the Conglomerate hunting them, no way of reaching aid. The Recruit always hoped that the Double would get them through, still wants to believe that, but isn't sure of the strength of his faith now that they are alone in the barren, icy wastes of the Mountains.

The Double is more subdued than in the past, her own energy flagging. He can see the way she carries Silasn and Qi'alle's deaths with her, stones wrapped around her heart, her once vibrant eyes sunken, bruises of vivid twilight colors under her eyes. She is trying to struggle onwards for him, trying to have faith, trying still to be the capable leader but she carries so much weight inside of her that her exhaustion is beginning to take its ultimate toll. There is only so far someone can go on will alone without acknowledging all of the past hurts affecting their future.

They climb for hours in the harsh suns, her fairer skin burning faster than his, blisters forming on the backs of their ankles, toes numbed from the persistent chill. They wind sleeves over their fingers when they can, unwrapping them again when they have to climb hand over hand to scale the worst rocky bits of the heights. The Ice Peaks have been crossed by many intrepid explorers in the past, trained mountaineers who pit themselves against the elements for the natural thrill that comes from conquering monoliths of nature. Most hikers take five days on a clear run to cross the peaks to the archipelagos beyond, at the farthest reaches of this continent. They have none of those mountaineer's pieces of equipment and this is a journey about survival, not glory.

By the end of the first day, they are both silent and bloodied and battered from scrambling to cross the highest mountain range on their planet. The Double seemed in no mood to talk at first, then they'd tried to keep each other's spirits up, then the altitude had stolen breath from heaving lungs. When they find another cave to shelter in, they are both beyond fatigue.

The Double manages to light a fire using the sparks from the short sword, blowing on old leaves from the back of the cave. Its warmth is meager at best and neither of them have more than two layers of fabric swathing their frames, both already in the early stages of frostbite. They eat small portions from an emergency pack the Double picked up on their flight from the village despite the void in each of their stomachs, knowing they have so much farther to go if they want to survive this ordeal. The Double swigs water from their canteen, hands it over to him and then fills it with snow to melt over the fire when he is done. They're quiet after that, both knowing they need to rest, but both preoccupied with their own thoughts, the future so uncertain, the recent past so tragic.