+Mimic+

Chapter 5.

Nevada's paw crunched on the wind-packed snow, he looked back, dark blue-green eyes landing on his small group, Jay in the lead as he had been the whole way, and Rio, who was sitting at the back of the pack, looking around warily. Something had spooked her, he knew it, but whether it was simply the fact they were a day's travel into the Kingdom of Diviana's he didn't know. The wind was roaring in their ears, blowing snow wildly all around them and it had picked up half a day from the border and had driven Nevada to move faster. He knew that no soul would be outside during a blizzard, it was their opportunity to get as close to the palace as quickly as they were.

Nevada strained his eyes to see as far out as he could, there was a single tower half a kilometre away, it had two spires in it's roof and Nevada let out a breath, it immediatly frosted, sending a cloud out in front of him. He turned to the fleet and pointed to a nearby mound cluster of rocks.

"We'll stop here for the rest of the night!" He shouted, the wind whipped at his voice so it was barely a whisper by the time it reached Rio. They all nodded, and followed Nevada as he trudged through the snow, not bothering about tracks, Nevada knew the blizzard would have covered them by morning, and he had a feeling it wouldn't last much past dawn. The walked into the large cluster of rocks and Nevada spied a small opening, without hesitation he squeezed through, there was a large cave behind it, the rocks had blocked all the snow and it must have been deep enough to retain some sort of warmth. He thanked the Rascals and poked his head out, motioning for the rest to follow him in, to no surprise it was Rio's paws that landed on the semi-warm stone of the cave first. He smiled warmly at her, but it was as if he didn't exist for Rio just stared blankly at her paws and walked to the back of the cave. Her ears flickered back and forth every now and again, as though she could hear something very far away.

"What is it Rio?" He asked, nudging her with his paw. Her head snapped up and she looked at him as though she was coming out of a trance.

"Sorry?" She asked, smiling, and Nevada felt warmed at the sight of her expression.

"I only asked," he smiled, "what is wrong." Her expression darkened slightly and she looked down, as though there was something in this small hidden cave of warmth that would hurt her.

"Well," She murmured, looking at her paws sadly, "I was just thinking, well I was thinking about how hard it must have been for you, you know, when you were taken. That's how you know about this place, isn't it?" She'd said it quietly but Nevada still felt Arrow, the dark brown kelpie who'd been passing them, stiffen. He felt his own muscles tense as he felt eyes land on him.

"What?" Hen asked, he turned and found all six of them looking at him. Hen's green eyes were curious, "what do you mean, taken?" Nevada clicked his tongue irritably, looking at the dimly lit ceiling, which wasn't too far above his own head.

"Please," Nevada replied, fighting to keep his tone even, and looked down, meeting her eyes again, "Don't ask questions you don't need to know the answers to." He forced his fur to settle, it wouldn't do to take on his mysterious persona, he knew that, there was no way this crowd would buy that, best to be cold. Yes, cold, that was how he would dig himself out of Rio's hole. He glanced at her, and saw the briefest flash of fear in her eyes, but it was replaced with anger.

"We will just as easily leave you right here in this cave," Jay was speaking now, and Nevada saw the fire of suspicion now dancing in his eyes, "I for one, will not follow you into a death trap if there is a major secret, like the kidnapping of a prince, held from this fleet."

Nevada did his best to send all the fury he could muster at the large dog, he squared his shoulders slightly and narrowed his eyes.

"There is nothing you need to worry about, you're a soldier, and don't need to hear unspoken whispers from your Generals pup hood." He made sure not to let any of the rising fear and hurt show in his gaze as he pointed his fury at Jay. It was getting harder to push back at those memories the closer they got to the Divianas palace and Nevada knew it was affecting his restraint.