"It's cold…"
"It's always cold."
"I'm hungry…"
"I am too."
"I wanna go home…"
"…"
Her feet were blistered from the ungodly tundra, and the vast sea of grey and white was making her nauseous from near snow blindness. Her arms were sore from carrying her seven year old brother mile after mile, their eyes swollen from countless tears and heartache - but if you asked them the real reason, they would say it is from the wind.
It really doesn't take long for everything you have to be destroyed.
There weren't any others.
There wasn't more family awaiting them.
All there was left was... nothing.
However, even nothing is still something. It was her philosophy after all, and she would be a hypocrite if she said otherwise. Her only reason to not give up was the hope that there was something just a few more steps ahead; one more mile, or one more day's travel, to reach some form of sanctuary.
"I want mama…"
The wind was so loud she barely heard her brother, even when he was so close.
Sakura could not help but ignore what her brother said. She missed them too, but they were dead. They were not coming back, they were not waiting for them at the end of the journey, and they sure as hell weren't there to help them. They were gone. That's all there was to say about that, but she couldn't even bring herself to tell her brother that. Even she knew that would be too harsh, and even then, he probably wouldn't understand what death is, yet.
They had a little food, but hardly enough for a teenager and a child. Some dried deer meet and a little bread that would last about three days, if they're lucky. There was plenty of "water" but she knew that eating snow would cause more problems than they need - blisters in their mouths, a drop in body temperature, and many worse things that could, or would, resolve in death.
As she hit upon the thought of dropping temperature once again, she realized that it was getting late. The tundra was unforgiving, but even more so if you were unlucky enough to be outside in it after dark.
Quickly, she dropped on her knees and began to dig in the snow. Her uncovered hands were sticking to the ice crystals that clung unto the top of the snow, and if she did not hurry, her palms would begin to bleed and make it even harder than it needed to be. Her brother understood the importance of shelter and began to dig alongside her.
"Sak'ra, maybe we should build an igloo." He halfheartedly joked.
Taking it seriously, Sakura gave her brother a stern look, "Not enough time, Kizashi."
The wind had picked up even more by now, and the snow drift around them was making the temperature drop dramatically. The burrow was small, but it was enough to fit both of them inside snugly. Soon enough, the hole entering the burrow would close, blocked from the drifting snow, and would entrap their body heat inside. It wouldn't be extremely warm, but it would be enough to keep them alive, and from falling into hypothermia.
The wind howled and screamed, but was muffled a decent amount; enough, at least, where it wouldn't keep them from getting much needed rest. Sakura reached in her parka and pulled out a few pieces of near-frozen meat.
"Here." She nudged the food to her brother, who took it greedily. Sakura chose not to eat, to try to conserve some food. She knew it was a risky move, but it was still in the hope that there was a place of shelter or sanctuary somewhere near.
After Kizashi finished eating, he drifted into sleep, but Sakura stayed awake lying next to him. She flinched when she heard the cry of something in the distance, holding her breath and anxiously waiting for the sound to go away.
A mountain lion perhaps? Although, I've never heard any lion that sounded like that..
After the sound died away, she allowed herself to calm down, and succumbed to a dreamless sleep filled with the shrieks of the unknown.