𝓒𝓱𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓮𝓻𝔂 | Red Velvet x Fem!Reader

♠ Reunion ♠

You felt someone lightly shaking you.

"Y/N. Y/N, the next station is coming up." You heard Red Velvet whisper softly.

"Hhhhnng...." You lifted your head groggily, and staggered to your feet, wincing at a sharp pain in the side of your face; the memory of last night was flooding back, and you frankly weren't too happy about it. But you brushed it off, getting up onto Fructose. Chea fell into step next to you, and you watched Red Velvet get onto Batik, Chiffon sticking his head out of the cookie's backpack. The horse didn't even flinch; he was healing well. He looked at you.

"We leave at the blare of the horn. That means it's close to the next station. We're near Wolford; Madeleine and Almond are probably going to catch the next train here and turn the city upside down searching, so we need to beeline east. Then we can reach Hankala, and then after that be out of the border. ...You get all that?" He added. You nodded. The plan you'd spent time intricately planning with him last night before you left Water's Wake was gone, but you were grateful for the fact he made another.

The train's horn blared, and you felt like your eardrums would explode. That definitely woke you up. Red Velvet brought Batik to the edge of the train car, and, with only a glance back at you and a quick nod, jumped off and landed on the tracks behind the train. Chea jumped down after, and Fructose hopped off, much less gracefully.

The traintracks were neat; a stretch of endless pebbles and track, lined by forest. You'd guess it would be prettier at any other time of year. Cold numbed the wound on your cheek, and snow fell in small flurries, a delicate sheet of white blanketed on the ground. It would definitely get worse later, so you were lucky that the woods were thick enough to block most of it out. It was a pine forest, too. Mostly evergreens.

Red Velvet made sure the coast was clear, and started into the woods, making up a trail as he went. You followed him, Fructose quickly catching up.

"So... any set plan?"

"There's an easy-to-access ravine between Wolford and Hankala. We'll shelter there for a few days at least, because there's probably going to be some bad snow coming. We'll be there by noon."

You raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?"

He shuffled in the saddle a bit awkwardly, tightening his grip on the reins. "Personal experience."

You decided not to push on it. Probably memories you didn't want to unearth right now. He was most likely stressed and nervous, judging from the unusually alert look in his eyes.

Maybe it was the boredom that came with these kinds of trips, or maybe time was moving faster, but noon came quickly. And so did the ravine.

It was... well, it was hard to describe. It was a rocky split in the ground, and Red Velvet smiled, leading Batik to the edge.

"Well, this is it. There's that rock.... The pathway should be right around here." He started tracing the edge, and you followed, until, sure enough, there it was. A pathway down. You went down after Red Velvet, and stared in awe.

Pale beams of winter light shown down. It was much bigger then you'd thought; there were several large, sheltered divets in the walls of the ravine, and as you followed Red Velvet to a spot he claimed was the best for keeping safe from weather, you noticed more and more. Moss intricately traced the rocks, creeping under to survive the season. Dull vines hung from the edge above, and the rocks themselves were a pale brown. Though, you didn't know if that was the lighting.

You finally made it to the spot he was looking for. Red Velvet hopped down, and led Batik over to the edge of the area. This one was a bit more of a cave then a divet; rocks formed short walls around it. The space itself was a large oval shape, and you set up the tents. It had become a sort of practice now; you did the tents while Red Velvet dealt with getting the horses settled.