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Piles of unbroken snow lay ahead for miles, glittering under the feeble light of day. Winding trees stretched overhead, leafless and lifeless, the lines of their bark like old, wrinkled faces. Remnants of autumn, in the form of brown, papery leaves waved loosely on thin, spidery branches overhead. Between the wandering oak trees, there was no sun rising yet, so little light was coming through. In this quaint little forest lay only one path, rarely trodden upon till this one winter morning.
A squirrel scurried out of a gray tree, lucklessly scanning the area for some remnants of food. Then, a quick series of thumping and whirring, and the squirrel scurried away again, disturbed and frightened by the heavy sound. The remaining creatures outside also fled away from the scene of the incoming sound. Few creatures lived in the forest that made such a loud approach.
Two figures sped ahead, one shrouded in dark, one in flowy scarlet, both dragging a strange, loud contraption behind them. Both skidded to a halt abruptly, and dropped to the ground with two abrupt thumps.
“I think we need to be more discreet,” Inej hissed through her teeth, clutching her side. “We don’t know who could be waiting for us in here.”
“Do you see how thin these trees are?” Nina hissed back, hands on knees. “How can people hide in here? No one even knows this fucking forest exists–”
“--Which does not negate the fact that there could be Grisha hidden, Fabrikators hidden as trees-”
“You think jogging in the dead of the night whilst dragging a cantankerous machine is a discreet endeavor?”
Inej simply put her head between her knees and continued breathing heavily. Nina started feeling an abrupt painful bubbling in her stomach that made it feel as though her blood was quite literally boiling. She began rummaging in the bag, probing hopelessly for some solid snacks that one of them might have sneakily packed. Nina, most closely resembling a deflating balloon, slid down onto the snow with her arms and legs akimbo and let out a long pfffffffffffffffffttt of exhaustion.
“We need to get going,” Inej checked her timepiece to see that it was near 4am. “We’re expected at 11 with the package-”
“-It’s three hours’ walk to Reb Harbor. We’ll be there far ahead of schedule.” Nina pulled out a shawl and wrapped it around her. “There’s no good in going on right now when there’s a chance to rest. Kaz is tactless, but even he knows his ‘investments’ need energy during travel.” She shuffled around, curling up in a small hole in the snow. “You can share my shawl,” she added unexpectedly.
Inej paused. “It’s fine. I find it difficult to sleep in the woods anyway. You rest, I’ll keep watch for us.”
Nina hesitated, tempted to insist, before she shrugged and turned away. “You can borrow some of my shawl when you’re tired.”
The moments after that went by in silence. The exhaustion overcame, and Nina found herself lulling into sleep. Inej blinked hard, almost light-headed with the exertion it took to stay awake. She picked herself up forcefully, pulling Nina and the machine behind a cluster of trees so close they almost seemed attached. Inej carefully put Nina against the trees, dropped their bag, and sat down. Her eyes began to feel heavy and she lay down, and then all became black.
Something had shifted in the atmosphere. Nina stirred, slowly becoming more alert, although she kept her eyes shut. She felt a slight pressure on her thighs. There was no sound around, not even the rustling of breeze or a shuffle of movement. With an unplaceable feeling of uneasiness, she opened her eyes only to see a bright blinding light, then a series of colored spots in the air, flickering here and there. For a few moments she was frozen with panic, fearful that they had been ambushed before she shook her head and the spots began to fade. The panic subsided. She looked around, taking in her surroundings. Streaks of orange ran across the dark trees, and the whole forest seemed to glimmer with the golden streaks of the dawn sun. Placing a hand close to her eyes, Nina could see it hung low on the horizon, barely above the surface. There was an strange aura in the atmosphere, with the solitude of the forest mixed with the peacefulness of the dawn.
Inej was fast asleep on her lap, curled up. Her clothes were a little skewed, her hair coming out of its tight coil, and there was a calmness on her face that seemed rather unnatural. Nina carefully moved her shawl so that it covered Inej instead of her. The sun rose a little more, and a small streak of light fell across her face, as she began to stir. Inej blinked, startled by the light.
“It’s just the sun,” Nina reassured her. “Still morning.”
Inej sat up slightly, a little dizzy, “What time is it now? Kaz will kill us if-”
Nina examined her pocket watch. “7 o’clock.”
Inej lay back down again with a sigh of annoyance. “We’ll just sit here for a few moments I think, and then we need to get moving again.”
Silence fell between them again. Nina looked down at Inej’s hair, a little unkempt. It seemed fluffy, not as smooth as it usually appeared, glittering a little under the sunlight. Almost instinctively, Nina placed her fingers on the crown of her head. Timidly, she began to stroke her hair a little, moving her fingers softly between the tangles of her hair. Nina paused for a moment, worried Inej might be uncomfortable. Inej didn’t say anything, but after a few moments of stillness, she made a small motion with her hand to tell Nina to carry on.
No words passed between them, but there was an unspoken intimacy between them then, a confession of love without words or a kiss. Streaks of sunlight fell over them both, the snow around them glittering with iridescence.
Silently, Inej stood up and began checking their bags. There was now an awkwardness between them, neither of them knowing how to respond. Nina heaved her satchel onto her shoulders, and with some effort she and Inej heaved the machine back onto the path. Inej scanned the area, scouting for enemies. Nina tapped her leg nervously while waiting, a little unnerved over Inej’s silence.
Inej returned, and then spoke hesitantly, “Let’s get moving. If we get going now we should be able to make it before eleven.”
“Yes,” Nina agreed automatically, avoiding eye contact.
They both hesitated for a few moments. In a moment of boldness, or simply in an attempt to break the awkwardness, Nina held Inej’s hand. The sun, rising slowly, basked them both in sunlight.
“You don’t mind, do you?” Nina asked anxiously.
“No.” Inej straightened up. “No, I don’t mind. I rather enjoyed it.” A little smile crossed both of their faces. They set off, heading out of the forest and trekking through the snow, hopeful for their future together.