Into Another World (kotlc/mlb au)

Chapter 10

Adrien heard snow crunching under his feet and knew there was no turning back.

And Ladybug wasn't kidding. In fact, he was certain she'd been under-explaining the cold of the Snow Drifts.

"How are we supposed to find the Black Swan?" Sophie shivered. "I can't see anything that's more than two feet away."

"Joys of blizzards," Ladybug called back.

"This feels worse than a blizzard," Adrien held out his arms to shield himself from the snowflakes hitting his face.

It had to have been nearly an hour and they hadn't found anything. Frost covered his nose and he could barely see anymore.

"I'm surprised we haven't seen any bodies yet," Keefe blurted.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"I'm just saying, you'd think there'd be bodies in here," he went on. "Since it's so cold that people would be freezing."

"You mean like us?" Sophie raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly like us," Keefe grinned, his lips already starting to turn blue.

"How are you joking like that?" Ladybug snapped. "We could die, you know!"

Keefe rolled his eyes a little. "Someone's a little ray of sunshine."

Ladybug shook her head and trudged forward.

"It's stressful circumstances, probably why she's even more tense," Adrien guessed.

"That would make sense," Keefe agreed.
The foursome kept walking on, and the temperatures only dropped.

"Alright, who's up for sharing body heat?" Keefe said. "Come on, Ladybug, I know you want to."

"No, I'm fine," she insisted.

"You're freezing, I know it."

"I just said I'm fi—gah!"

Adrien saw Ladybug plummet into the snow, and then the cold blue face of a victim from years before.

"Oh my gosh," he jumped back, then noticed the knife frozen in pale fingers, dripping with fresh red liquid.

On the ground, Ladybug was grabbing her leg, hissing a little.

"That's going to freeze quickly," Adrien figured. "We need to wrap it up."

He knelt down and ripped off a piece of his cloak.

"You don't have to do this," she said.

"And we can't have you dying on us," he argued, making sure the fabric was snug against her leg. "We'll find the Black Swan and hope they can patch it up."

Ladybug checked the tightness of the makeshift bandage. "I... uh... thank you."

She quickly stood up. "We need to keep moving or we'll be like this corpse."

"She's taking the situation weirdly," Sophie whispered.

"I don't think she's used to being around other people this long," Adrien guessed.

"She was around Rena and Carapace for months and seemed fine," Keefe said. "She's just acting weird around... oh."

He gave Adrien a knowing smirk. "She acts weird around you. Interesting..."

"Nothing interesting," Adrien rolled his eyes a little and went faster to keep up with Ladybug.

"What's Keefe babbling about now?" she asked.