forum Alone in the snow || closed (2/2)||

Started October 31, 2022 by @FallenSinAza

tune

Rawya had zoned out for most of the conversation. When Kira asked for suggestions, his face scrunched up as he thought. "We could…"
He trailed off with a frown. He's usually good at thinking of ideas but it's hard with so little to work with. "I don't know," he said finally in a small voice, tugging his too-small sleeves down his arms, trying to cover as much of himself as he can. Damn this cold!

"Rawya, here take my cloak," Ezra slipped off his cloak, exposing his arms to the cold, "You need to stay warm, the sun will be up soon and I'll try to steal some extra blankets and food,"

Rawya's frown deepens as Ezra offers his cloak. Ezra needs it as much as he does. But any more warmth would be so nice… He reaches for the cloak a bit guiltily and drapes it around himself. "T-thanks," he stutters, wishing his teeth didn't chatter quite so much.
The prospect of extra blankets is a nice one. Food, too. His stomach is so seldom full that to actually be full is something of a distant memory.

(Ezra can only make two phases of himself, they follow 3 seconds after him and after the previous phase. As of right now he can only phase twice. His phases are only black figures with red glowing tints and outlines.)
"I'll phase as much as possible, we'll survive,"
Another cold winter is ahead of us, I think this one will be worse than last time.. Ezra glanced out of the tent and up the mountain, into the forest. That's when he saw, the burning red eyes. "Look at that, the eyes are there again.." His voice trailed as we watch the pair disappear

Franklyn curled up tighter, feeling worse. Usually, he tried to keep everybody warm, but right now, he couldn't even keep himself from shivering.
He'd go when Ezra went, though. At the very least he could be a distraction, or something.
He looked where Ezra was looking, but he couldn't see anything, his eyesight blurry in his sickness.

Rawya turned when Ezra mentioned the eyes, but by the time he looked, they were gone. He bites his lip when he sees Franklyn shivering and thinks for a minute before reaching up to take the cloak off. He holds it out to Franklyn. "You have it. You're colder than I am."

"I'm going to look for more blankets, I can't stand this any longer," He whispers to the others. Ezra slowly got up and stepped out into the snow. "Stay here,"

Franklyn shook his head gently at the offer. "You hold onto it."
He stood shakily when Ezra stood up. "Coming with you." Squaring his shoulders, he followed Ezra out.

Rawya waves after them as they leave and wraps himself with the cloak again. He's relieved Franklyn refused the cloak (and feels guilty for feeling relieved) and he sits on the ground and traces something in the cold, frozen dirt. It looks like it could be someone's face. He needs something to distract himself, he decides. And he knows just what to do.
"Once," Rawya starts, then stops and coughs. After a moment, he continues. "Once there was a land where it was all warm and sunny and never, ever cold…"

Kira tugged a smile onto her face, and moved a little closer, her exposed knees reddening as they slid across the invading snow. She wrapped an arm around the younger child and tacked on her little piece to the story.

"And in that land, there were four very brave kids." She peered down at Rawya, with an uncertain yet genuine smile on her face. "They'll be back quick for sure. There's no need for worry. I think." She gulped and stared at the entrance of the tent. Please come back safe, you two. A thought she didn't want to have, but one she couldn't help.

(thanks! I can breathe through my nose again now, so that's a plus!)

Rawya looks back up at Kira, leaning into her a bit. "Are you sure?" If she were sure, her smile wouldn't be a little shaky the way it was and she wouldn't have gulped like that. She's not sure.
A minute of silence passes as he thinks. He has to keep the story going. Distraction is better than actually thinking about problems and scary things. "… And the kids had everything they could ever need." He fiddles with the edge of the cloak as he continues the story. "And never had to worry again. Never."

Ezra silently walked with Franklyn to the small building where they keep supplies, he approached the window to glance inside, Good, everything we need. Ezra examined the rusted lock, a few good strikes and the pins would give, making it look like it just broke due to the storm. "Franklyn," he whispered, "I need something made of metal,"

Franklyn did his best to cover their tracks in the snow, smoothing it behind them. He kept an eye out for any of their captors as Ezra did his snooping. He had always admired Ezra's cool head under pressure, and this moment was no exception.
When Ezra asked for metal, he looked around. "How big? And would a rock work instead?"

"Yes that could work," Ezra ripped a small bit of his shirt and covered the lock, Can't have it making noise..

Franklyn looked around and found a decent sized rock with a pointy spot on it. He went over and yanked it out of the snow and dirt, carrying it back to Ezra.

Ezra took the rock from him, "Thank you," He took a deep breath and stepped back, "Watch my back,"

Franklyn stepped away from the shed, his eyes scanning every corner someone could walk around. He glanced over his shoulder at Ezra every few seconds, but years of living like this had taught him how to split his attention and focus on multiple directions at once.
With their captors, you never knew when he fist or a backhand was going to come swinging out of nowhere, and Franklyn had gotten used to dodging anything that looked hostile. They all had, really.

Ezra glanced around and froze, Zion's eyes were right on them. Zion leaned on the railing and rested his head on his hand. Ezra was shaking with fear, "W-What is he doing there.. Why are we still standing here.. He should have attacked us already..!" Ezra clinged onto Franklyn's arm.

Zion smiled and started walking around the wall doing his rounds, leaving them be.

Franklyn looked over to where Ezra was staring, wide-eyed, but there was nobody there, and the snow was undisturbed.
He glanced down at Ezra, who was clearly afraid, clinging onto his arm, and gently shook him.
"Ezra? There's nobody there, I was watching. You're ok. We're alright. Break the lock and let's get back to the tent before somebody actually sees us."
He had a bad feeling. If Ezra was hallucinating seeing people, that was a bad sign.

Ezra was still shaking, "Y-Yeah, nothing's there.." He took another deep breath and phased. He lunged at the lock and hit it with the rock, his phases following close behind
Ting! Ting! Ting!
Thump
"We're in,"

Franklyn nodded at him, still facing away from him. "Get what we need and let's go." He was feeling woozy again, and his heart was thumping too hard in his chest. But Ezra needed him to keep an eye out, and Franklyn wasn't going to let him get caught.
He backed up towards the door of the shed slowly, nudging Ezra inside.

Ezra crept inside, "Perfect, everything we need." He grabbed blankets and bread, he noticed matches and grabbed some, "We might need these.."

Franklyn just listened as Ezra grabbed stuff. He noted that the wind seemed to be picking up, which was good and bad. Good, because it would keep their captors in their tents, huddled up where they'd be warm. Bad, because it would make the kids' tent colder.
"Can you carry it all? I can help." he said quietly.

"I've got it, let's go back," He grabbed it all and ran back to the tent. Ezra's limbs where purple and hair frozen.

Franklyn closed the doors and put the lock back on, doing his best to make it look like it had broken in the wind or something. He followed Ezra back, sweeping away their tracks and making sure nobody could follow them back.
He ducked into the tent and immediately collapsed to his knees, his head spinning and his heart pounding. His stomach threatened to empty itself, but there was nothing in it.
He looked up after a moment and noticed that Ezra had started to get really cold. Franklyn wanted to warm him up, but he couldn't. His powers wouldn't generate heat right now.