Change in Life

Chapter 16. White Dust

Blake never asked Jade what was discussed during their conversation. Being told that she wanted it to be a private affair, even though her mother was comfortable with him being there, it gave him the subtle hint that the words spoken were of him. He felt elated to know the first thing Jade wanted to ask her mother was about him, and was almost tempted to wheedle it out of her. They were still friends after all, much to his joy. Surely some things could be shared? After a week of fighting this urge though, he soon forgot all about it and their normal lives returned.

Nothing but cold winds blew through the fields now. Their substantial winter coats had finished coming through just in the nick of time, but Jade and Blake still felt the chills of a savage winter. The sky was thick with bleak grey clouds nearly every night and day. All the creatures that usually frequented the fields and woods ran to their homes to avoid the freezing night much sooner than before; prey became harder to find. The need to match their food's instincts and hide in much more sheltered parts of the woods - even better yet, their den - against the frost was there, but they had to catch whatever they could find if their hunger was to remain satisfied, even if it was only partially.

They got to the crest of a hill as they journeyed the fields and sat for a quick rest. The pair looked over the ever-stretching view of fields and woodland. The green of the few pines and redwoods near the treeline were the only things with color. The grasses were dull and listless, showing equal signs desperation and willfully succumbing to the elements and many of the non-evergreens had lost their bloom. The foxes were shivering. With each other's warm bodies leaning against the other, they found mild relief, but hunting like this was impossible. The cold winter had arrived and the only way to feel warm without another body was to get the heart pumping.

This was the kind of weather Blake generally liked. But he had never experienced it like this. He felt no enjoyment from it. 'Why don't we go home Jade?' he uttered, teeth almost chattering. 'We both know that there isn't anything out. All our prey are doing the right thing by going to their warm homes. We should do the same.'

'If you're thinking of raiding the stash, think again!' she snapped, letting her fangs glance passed her lips subtly. 'We only go there when we're about to die of hunger. We have to continue.'

As of late Jade had been hotheaded. Blake had noticed this a few times and had learned to simply let these outburst slip. He took it personally to begin with, but after a couple of outbursts like this, he blamed the cold and famine. 

Over the last few nights, Jade's mother's echoing conversation resonated but five words: 'don't take him for granted'. Her feverish upbeat pitch to just spill all she had been holding back from Blake were halted abruptly after her pleasant sleep in his burrow. She had planned on speaking openly that night when he returned to her den. However, she remembered Blake already had a withdrawn personality. He blatantly showed this when he couldn't come to her face after their little tiff - or straight forward one-sided attack if you want to look at it that way - and tell her he wanted to be friends again. She had to finish the making-up process.

And as such, Jade was torn as to how Blake would soak up this information she had, and it infuriated her. He flustered whenever she playfully teased him. He would probably go comatose from blood loss of the brain if she told him outright that she liked him in a more interment way. So Jade had to hold onto her feelings resentfully a little while longer so she could figure out how to deal with him and help him through it without chasing him away.

It worried her that he wasn't truly a fox from a mental perspective yet. It had been a few months now. Although, subsequently, she didn't precisely know just how long the shift would take once the transformation took place either. There were still traces of man holding steadfast. If winter did not break him...