The wind and snow were like an inferno as the group trudged through the endless snowy terrain. Kyon shook inside of his coat, the coat that was supposed to keep him warm. Hell, he had to stare at the floor just to take a breath. They had been walking for a good thirty minutes now and they still hadn't made contact with anyone else or even seen any signs pointing them to the base of the mountain. How was it possible that they had gotten lost on a track that took no more than ten minutes to climb? And where had the storm come from? Kyon's breath rattled with cynical laughter as he stared at the coat ahead of him. Who else could make them lost on a remote mountain by a blizzard of snow? Damnit Haruhi, what had you gotten us into this time? He kept on shuffling and nearly toppled over Haruhi's still form.
"Watch it!" Came a far-off yell from the hood. Haruhi was angry, but the way her face was flushed and her lips were turning white didn't exactly make her very threatening. Kyon peered over her and spotted the two forms ahead had stopped too, their heads now close. Clarke's fur hood turned back to the group and waved. Kyon pulled the cord that connected Koizumi and Mikuru to him and they stood in a tight circle, at last able to face each other. No one looked well as they stood there in the snow. They looked scared. Clarke's hood was covered tiny crystals and glistened in the semi-light that managed to pierce the blizzard.
"Okay, I've got some bad news!" He bellowed over the wind, "Yuki and I can't find any trace of a way back and this blizzard isn't showing any signs of slowing down!" Kyon's heart sunk. What did he mean they couldn't find a way back? Didn't they have some kind of built-in GPS? Clarke pulled out a knife and shakily opened the frozen blade.
"Miss Suzumiya, permission to cut myself loose and search for the base of the cliff on my own? We're not going to get anywhere as a group and we won't last long if this snow keeps up." Of course, Clarke knew exactly what she was going to say. She would protest half-heartedly, but he would over-ride the orders with reason. She was just a girl, scared and lost. She would agree to anything as long as it made her feel that they had a purpose.
"Just don't get yourself killed or you'll have to face the punishment." Haruhi pouted beneath her hood and Clarke managed a shaky laugh.
"Yes ma'am!" He twisted and swiftly snapped the cords connecting him to Yuki and Haruhi, tying the loose ends together in a tight knot. He leaned in and closed the knife.
"Try to stay here and keep in a group. Stay as warm as you can. I'm going to find help and I'll be back as soon as I can. Just wait for me, 'kay?" He gave one last energetic smile before turning and disappearing into the blizzard. The group of five huddled around a tree in a tight circle and listened to the wind whip at them with malice. Within seconds, Alistair Clarke was lost to the wilderness.
"I'm afraid we'll start to freeze if we stay here any longer!" Koizumi politely calls to the group. They all nod with a sense of dread. They had waited for an hour and Clarke hadn't returned. Had he gotten lost too? Haruhi ushers everyone to their feet and Nagato turns slowly, as if taking her bearings, before leading the way once more. The only thing that had changed since the beginning of the storm was the missing person. Haruhi shudders once again as she looks toward Nagato in the lead, as Nagato shows an expression that looks to be wondering whether or not she has taken the wrong path down the mountain somehow.
Whatever, Kyon began to dictate to his mind, this matter will have to be left at that for now. This is not some wonderland. So long as we grasp our rough bearings, we should naturally reach the base of the mountain as we head downward along the slope. The problem is that we can't get to that point for some reason, talk about weird.
"We have no choice, let's dig a hole in the snow and set up camp. We'll keep going when the storm
dies down." Ready as always, Haruhi kneels and begins to shovel snow with her gloves, Mikuru timidly following suit with her mittens.
"Wait." Kyon called Haruhi off as he headed over to Nagato, who seemed to be brushing the snow aside too.
"Just what is going on Nagato? We're on a mountain with Haruhi and this storm comes out of nowhere just like that?" The young girl with a poker face, with her short hair stiffened from the freezing air, lifts her head slowly.
"An incomprehensible event has occurred." She quietly says. Those dark irises look at Kyon in earnest.
"If the dimensional coordinates that I recognize are correct, our current whereabouts should have exceeded the point of origin."
"What and what?" Once again, Nagato says something extremely important as if it's nothing special. "If that is so, shouldn't we have landed in the midst of human life by now?" But even after all that walking, he cursed his over-active brain, we fail to run into the lift cables or even any cabin!
"An event that is beyond the control of my dimensional manipulation abilities has occurred."
Hearing the chilling voice of Nagato, he takes a deep breath. Words vanish from the edge of his
mouth just as how a snowflake evaporates in an instant upon contacting the tip of the tongue.
Event beyond Nagato's abilities to control? Are the strange premonitions directed at this?
"Who could've done it this time around?" Nagato falls into silence, without blinking her eyes as the snowflakes dance wildly and blow straight at her.
In their haste to hit the slopes, the entire group neglected bringing a watch, besides Clarke, or even a phone, so keeping time accurately is out of the question. Koizumi only knew that they left the villa at approximately three o'clock in the afternoon. They had been out for a while, so it must have been around 5 o' clock now. No matter how hard and fast they clawed at the thick snow and ice, it wouldn't give way. The sky is nothing but a uniform grey. Not even the sun shone on them now. This all seemed vaguely familiar to Kyon. Could it be that –?
"Ah!" Haruhi suddenly exclaims. The whole group jumped to the point that their hearts were about to give up.
"Oi!" Kyon scorns like a panicked parent, "Don't go around scaring people like that! What are you doing shouting out of the blue like that for?"
"Kyon, look at that!" Haruhi points her fingertip, and utterly fearless over the strong winds-
A dim glow is ahead.
"What is that?"
Koizumi's height gives him the advantage and he peers through the snow. Due to the tempest, the glow fades in and out, but the source remains consistent. It is similar to the dim glows of the fireflies after they mate.
"That light's coming from a window!" Haruhi's tone is filled with a sense of exhilaration. "There must be a house over there! Let's go and take a look. We will freeze to death if we stay
any longer." Although... a house? Can there be a house in such a desolate place?
"Over here! Mikuru, Koizumi! Everyone, keep following me!" Haruhi becomes a human ploughing machine, and valiantly opens a path for us up front. Frigidity, anxiety and exhaustion make Mikuru's petite body tremble. Koizumi follows Haruhi while holding her, calling his analysis on the situation as the snow trembles before Haruhi.
"This is definitely an artificial light. However, I am very certain that there was no light coming from this direction before, since I have been monitoring the situation nearby."
"..."
Nagato, Kyon and Mikuru utter no word, as they stare at the back of Haruhi, who is using her skis to shovel the heavy powder away.
"Hurry up! Kyon, Yuki! Don't get left behind!" There remains no other alternative. Rather than having their frozen corpse becoming the news headline a century later, Kyon decides he would gamble on this seemingly slim chance of survival. Even if it's a trap set in advance, a thought more chilling than the snow and wind races through Kyon's mind as they plough endlessly to the light, we have no choice at this point.
"It's a mansion! And a big one..."