Ivy Gates || PJM || Ivy Book One || ✔

21.

JIMIN

I led the ponies out of the cage before we could mount, as the door was just slightly too low. Bee was behind the second pony, as I wanted to make sure it was one hundred percent clear before bringing her out of the safety of the cage.

The snow by the wall was covered with footprints, and it was easy to tell that some creatures had been pacing outside, trying to find a way in. I recognised a few of the prints, and looked around the area carefully, before allowing Bee to come out.

I could instantly tell she was worried by the prints, and maybe in an effort to ease her nerves by proving I knew what I was doing, I decided to tell her about each print.

"This one," I said, pointing at an enormous paw print, "Is a mountain lion. They are solo hunters, and have huge canines, like prehistoric saber-tooth cats," By the look on her face, it wasn't helping her nerves, "They only come out at night," I said, "And are big, but they are slow, and fairly stupid,"

"These are wolf tracks," I said, pointing at another familiar print, "A small pack by the looks of it. They can cause some worry, but the tracks are old, you can see because the snow has filled them in. They must have just been passing by,"

"What about these?" She asked pointing to another track that I hadn't seen before. I moved to her, and my eyes widened.

They were horse tracks, and that was something to worry about. I had read in books that horses used to be loved by humankind. They used to help work the fields, and pull carriages. They used to ride fast in races, and put on spectacular shows where they'd do tricks on them, or jump huge posts.

But that was not the type of animal I had grown to know - and fear. Horses were one of the animals hit hard by the radiation, and their mutation was huge. They grew a little taller, from what I could tell in the books; maybe a few hands taller than Hobi, and they had a similar look. But that was all that was the same.

Horses had become carnivorous. Their teeth were razor sharp, and long, and instead of hooves like ponies, they had stumpy, clawed feet that they used expertly to slash prey to prevent them from running. They were fast; so fast that it was very difficult to out run them. They had very strong noses, and could scent prey from a great distance. Once they had your scent, throwing them off your trail was difficult.

I didn't want to alarm Bee; the calmer she was, the safer she was. Not to mention that I was hoping to hear her laugh at some point in the day.

"I'm not completely sure," I lied, "But either way, we have to get going," 

As before, I placed my hands on her hips, wishing that I could feel the swell on my hands while she was unclothed, and lifted her into the saddle. I swung up easily behind her and like the day before, wrapped my arm around her waist so she wouldn't fall off.

The feeling of her body in my arms calmed me, and I spurred Hobi into a canter. We wouldn't have to travel very far for the next safe house, but I wanted to get there before we saw any horses.

And the sooner I got to sleep with her in my arms again, the better.

---

BEE

Jimin seemed a little shaken after looking at the prints. I wasn't sure if it was because he really didn't know what they belonged to, or if he did know, and was lying to me.

But we were soon on our way again, and the thought of the prints quickly left my mind when I felt his arm snake around my body and hold me like he did yesterday.

However, this time was different. Instead of just holding me up, it felt like he was holding me to his body, as I could feel a lot more warmth than before. I appreciated it, though, as it was bitter cold out; the air rushing to our faces because of the speed we were travelling did not help, and without even thinking about it, I leaned more into his warmth.

"Bee, look," I heard Jimin speak, and turned my head. Running alongside us, was a group of animals, maybe the size of a large dog, "Rabbits,"

I couldn't help but smile as I saw the creatures jumping about and running with us, their long ears twitching as they communicated with each other. Apart from the kittens in the garden of the Generals house, I had never seen such playful animals; it was really as if they were racing us.

I looked up at the General, wonder on my face, and he smiled at me, "Rabbits are friendly," He said, "They like to play and make a nuisance of themselves,"

"They're cute!" I laughed as they jumped and bounced beside us. After a few more moments of them running with us, they turned and went a different direction, leaning me a little disappointed. They really lifted my mood.

"Thank you," I heard Jimin say from behind me, and look at him in confusion, "For letting me hear that again,"

I felt myself blushing and turned away, back to facing the direction that we were going.

"I didn't think I'd see something so cute out here," I muttered, lifting one hand to press into my burning face.

"I just hope that they're all we encounter out here," I heard him mumble, before he touched his heels to the ponys flank, spurring him to run faster. 

---

AN: SURPRISE! TRIPLE UPDATE XD