You had no idea how long you two had been walking, but you knew that you were freezing and that the sun was starting to set. Both you and Cavalry, as you’d mentally taken to calling him, had been covering your tracks as you walked with branches dragging behind you, which you both knew would likely do nothing to throw off the god-like beings that would likely be hunting you, but you still tried. Just as predicted, your shoes did nothing to help your feet stay warm, the opposite in fact, as the saturated fabric made it impossible to keep the cold out. You’d spent a large portion of the walk following Cavalry, looking down at his equestrian boots with envy; they probably weren’t much better, but they at least didn’t seem to be waterlogged.
“There’s a house up ahead.” Cavalry said, rousing you from your nearly lethargic state as you walked, or drudged, mindlessly. “A-a house?” You parroted, teeth chattering together. He looked back at you, eyebrows knitted together with worry as he saw the pitiful state you were in. Gone was the quasi-rebellion leader, replaced now with a fragile quaking girl who looked close to passing out. He reached a hand out as you stumbled a bit, catching your arm before you could fall to your knees in the deep powder. “Just hold out a bit longer, yeah?” He said, moving your arm over his neck as he helped you walk. The house looked occupied, judging from the smoke from the chimney, a wooden fence beside it containing farm animals and a small barn. Once closer he leaned you against a post, once probably holding a light fixture of some sort, but was now a simple barren post. He knocked on the door and stepped back, hoping someone would answer. Your eyes scanned the tree line you’d emerged from, terrified of what might be lurking. The sun wasn’t set, you still had a while before it was twilight, but you still couldn’t help the paranoia that crept up your spine.
A small older lady opened the door, seemingly shocked at someone being all the way out here, wherever here may be. Cavalry spoke to her, but was cut off by her quickly asking what you assumed was a question. It wasn’t a language you were familiar with, making your heart sink. Where were you? Just how far had you been taken from your home? Cavalry answered her, slowly, stumbling through whatever language it was. You were thankful that he somehow knew enough to get by, you assumed it was thanks to his time in the service that he spoke different languages. The older lady waved over someone from inside the house, a small boy appearing next to her, thankfully able to further translate for the two of you and the older lady. You were not mentally coherent enough to really keep up, instead flexing your fingers and toes to try and keep the feeling in them, hoping you didn’t cause some sort of irreversible damage to yourself by wandering in the snow in little to nothing.
“They have a smoke house outback we can stay in,” Cavalry said as he approached you, moving to slip you under his arm again, “The good news is it’s fully furnished.” He stood up, taking you with him, the small boy standing by to help.
You couldn’t help but let out a laugh that evolved into a short series of coughs, “Furnished? Th- That’s the last thing- the last thing I care about right now.” The old lady spoke to you from the doorway, or rather Cavalry and the boy, as you had no idea what she was saying.
You looked at Cavalry, awaiting a translation, but instead he just replied back to her and helped you to the smoke house, the young boy rushing in ahead and getting a fire going. Your companion helped you sit on an ottoman as the fire slowly started to build, thankful to be out of the cold, although you felt vulnerable staying in one place. A roof and four walls likely wouldn’t stop Kars from being able to find you. You sat in front of the fire, slowly regaining feeling in your toes having peeled off your slush-covered flats, body still quivering, unable to shake the biting cold that worked its way into your bones. You weren’t sure where your companion had went, likely spinning a tale as to why you and he were wandering in the cold. As if on queue, he came, holding a bundle of firewood as he held the door for the small old lady with his foot, a pile of clothing in her arms. Cavalry placed the firewood down, the woman approaching you, motioning for you to follow her. You did as you were told, joints clicking as you stood up, following her to the back of the room, a small door revealing a bathroom.
