Winter Sound

Chapter 9: Plums & Stars

Since the target that Winter was pursuing was unimportant unlike many others he was made to track, the man had plenty of free time to spend with Anya as he spent many lazy days in the cottage whenever he wasn't working. In the meanwhile, Anya would hunt wild game for her meals and even for money from Volya or she would also go into the town to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables for the house. However, as Winter's mission was drawing to a close, he knew in the back of his mind that he had to do something special for Anya in order to repay her for all of her kindness towards him over the past year or two that they had been together. But he also wanted to show how much he cared for her by remembering a few details of her personal life that she had told him on occasion once she trusted him fully so he could show that he was always paying attention and listening to what she said, no matter what.

Therefore, one morning before the Sun had even risen over the horizon, Winter woke up out of the bed first and got dressed in civilian clothing before he pressed a gentle hand on Anya's shoulder. Shaking her back and forth with the gentleness of touching an item of fragile glass, Winter lowered his head by her ear as he huskily whispered, "Anya...Anya..." Fluttering her azure eyes open and snorting lightly as the male soldier couldn't resist a chuckle from the young woman's childlike cuteness, Anya met Winter's silver-blue gaze as she rubbed her eyes and yawned through her mouth before she asked, "Mm, hmm?...Y...Y-Yes, hon?"

"Time to get up, sleepyhead." Winter replied as he patted Anya's thigh lovingly with a small grin as she was still under her blanket before the redhead asked sleepily, "O...Ok...Bu...But w-where are we going?" Despite being asked a simple question, Winter elected not to answer truthfully as he made up a white lie to cover up his true intentions while he shrugged, "You'll see when we get there."

"Winter..." Anya pressed on as she tried to read the thoughts of her boyfriend with her arms crossed over her chest before Winter wagged his index finger in front of her face as he chastised, "Ah, ah, ah...No reading my mind to find out; it's a surprise and you'll spoil it if you read my mind."

"Well, can you at least tell me a little something about the surprise?" Anya asked as she grabbed some leggings from one of her wooden drawers as she pulled them up her legs before she grabbed her boots and tied them securely onto her feet. Then, fixing her hair into a loose braided bun, Anya turned back to Winter as she grabbed her two hunting rifles and her satchel as she went downstairs to restock the storage item with more items before returning to the bedroom while the handsome male grabbed his storage backpack and admitted, "Well, we may be gone for a day or two, but it's hard to tell."

"A day or two?" Anya asked as she looked at Winter in surprise with wide eyes and a gasp emitting from her lips before she continued her interrogation as she feared for the safety of her beloved, "But what about your mission? Won't you have to be back in time for that? If you don't, your master will be pissed off and he might-"

"My master won't do anything to us as long as I'm alive...Besides, he extended the mission because he has suspicion that the target is hiding something even if they're still considered unimportant." Winter revealed as he looked Anya in the eyes to reiterate his pledge while he finished getting ready too before he held his gloved left hand out to the redhead as she grasped the covered metal with her own gloved right hand.

Making their rounds down the stairs and out of the cottage, Vixie was released into the woods to be free to hunt and run around unsupervised while Anya was away before the redhead and her raven-haired boyfriend trekked as far as they could go on foot to a nearby shop as Winter spoke inside with the owner, which gave Anya plenty of time to wait outside and keep a close watch. After a few moments of silence in the cold and ivory scenery, Winter came back outside the shop, holding the redhead's hand as he led her to a wooden shed at the back of the shop.