Note: Written for a 1-hour-challenge back in December of '09 for a mailing list I briefly belonged to, based on (I believe) the prompt of 'star'. This was what my mind conjured up after it debated for 15 minutes on whether or not I even wanted to try. So... 45 minutes worth of thought and writing produced this. After finding it again on my old laptop I decided to post it. Only one word was changed from its original form.
*~*~ Home Star ~*~*
Eyelids raised in spite of the heavy ice formation weighing on eyelashes; blue eyes blurrily took in the darkened yet too bright surroundings with a weary sigh. Back pressed against stone that he could no longer feel, he tilted his head back to rest against the surface and allowed his weary gaze to travel up into the heavy silence.
The snow had been falling for half a day now, and Vin, competent tracker that he was, was horribly lost. He felt so turned around that no longer was he certain of up or down, let alone in which direction North lay. The only thing he was certain of was that he was going to die out here.
Had circumstances been better, he wouldn't have been out here at all. The weather had shifted quickly, out of nowhere seemingly, but he'd known it was coming for days. That it was simply a matter of time before nature demonstrated forcefully her might. Bad timing being what it was though, a child had gone missing and impending weather or not, he could hardly sit in town and do nothing.
So out he'd come, following instinct and sign, both of which led him away from the other searchers and into rougher terrain. There'd been too little time, too few people, and the rest of the boys had been gone and weren't due back for hours. He couldn't have waited.
Even now, with his limbs frozen cold and feeling at once weightless and heavy, he knew he couldn't have waited. But it sure would have been nice if some of the others had been there. Maybe then they would have found the girl faster. Maybe then the kidnapper wouldn't have been able to frighten off the horses. Maybe then they'd have been back to town by the time the snowstorm hit. Vin looked down at the dark head resting on his arm and sighed once more.
Maybe then he wouldn't have failed.
Look to the stars, a familiar voice sounded in his mind, they'll lead you home. The problem now was the only stars visible were currently falling around him, burying him in their beauty and stealing from him all strength and warmth.
With a sound born of pain and utter fatigue, Vin hauled himself to his feet. One hand gripping the rock for balance as the other held tightly to the little girl. He couldn't leave the girl on the ground; Vin knew he'd never of had the ability to lean back down and get her. Hoisting her up as musch as shaky muscles would allow, Vin began slow forward motion through the near knee-deep snow.
Nothing told him he was headed in the right direction. Nothing even hinted that there was a right direction anymore, but still he moved on. If it was truly his time to die, then he was going to make death work for it. He wasn't going to sit and wait for the last of his life to be leeched away from both him and the child.
The scenery around him didn't change from one step to the next, and though hours drifted by nothing spoke of familiarity. Of home. And finally muscles gave, their limit reached, dropping him to his knees. His grip on the girl never released, whether by will or simply being frozen in place, and Vin bowed his head in defeat over her. Words of apology in his mind, unable to be passed through a throat that had all but closed up, he raised eyes one last time toward the sky but the journey halted midway.
He blinked, mind unable to process what he thought he saw. In the distance, glowing invitingly, lay a light brighter than any cold, distant star. It glimmered warmly, and dulled mental processes finally made sense of what eyes saw.
It was the home star.