Nick – Dìonadair, Highland lynx
Stephen – Amara, African lioness
Connor – Natalya, meerkat
"Do you believe the Aurora really is windows to other worlds, Cutter?"
Nick glanced up at his errant student, who had his nose almost touching the glass of their cabin window, Natalya perched atop his head as they looked eagerly out at the sky as if hoping to see the famous Aurora Borealis. "No," he replied shortly.
"It's complete nonsense, superstitious bollocks from the time of the Magisterium," Dìonadair sniffed as she wove between Nick's ankles, watching him as he unpacked their equipment.
Recently, Connor had been expanding the range of the ADD. He and Natalya never admitted just how they did it, but everyone had a rather bad feeling it involved hacking satellites and other such precocious technological feats only a Temple could pull off. He had found a recurring pattern of anomalies in a remote part of Svalbard, which meant a field trip for the team. Half of it, anyways. Abby, Sarah, Becker, Jenny, and that irritating copper Quinn were all back in London, protecting the home front as it were, whilst Stephen, Connor, and Nick spent a week in what had to be the smallest cabin known to mankind. It was some sort of hunting outpost, apparently, really only meant for one, close enough to the vicinity of the recurring anomalies that they could hike without much effort.
"You know, you could give a hand here," Nick said dryly as Connor kept up his vigil at the window.
"You told us not to touch anything because we're clumsy enough without the cold helping us along," protested Natalya, lifting her pointy little muzzle.
Dìonadair laughed softly as she sorted herself out a prime spot in front of the small fireplace. "You did tell them that."
He jabbed a finger at his dæmon. "You – not helping. Where's Stephen and Amara?"
Connor still had his nose to the glass, his breath forming a foggy patch on the cold glass, and absentmindedly replied, "Outside, checking the firewood. He wants to make sure we have enough. And seeing if there's a good enough signal to radio back, let them know we got here."
Nick grunted acknowledgement and sat down in front of the fireplace, scrubbing his hands together for warmth. Even with the fire going, he could see his breath. Dìonadair purred as she sprang up onto his lap, nuzzling beneath his chin like a kitten searching for pets. "Just like being home again, isn't it?" she purred, referring to the many winters they spent trudging to school with numbed feet through the snows of the Scottish Highlands.
"Don't remind me," he muttered, and she laughed.
"Suppose the Aurora did show other worlds, though," Connor interjected after a moment of quiet. "How d'you think could see them from so far away? I mean, I s'pose the witches could when they flew, but how'd everybody else see? I don't think they had telescopes that good."
Nick rolled his eyes in exasperation. It was going to be a long week, though part of it was his own doing. In honesty, he and Stephen could've probably handled the expedition fine with just the two of them, but Nick wasn't quite so comfortable with his former friend just yet. The truth about the affair had hurt, no matter that it was almost a decade ago and at the time, he couldn't pick Stephen Hart out of a class if he tried. The very foundation of their friendship had been altered by the affair, and it'd be some time still before they ever got back to a semblance of camaraderie, though it wouldn't ever be the same as it was before. Nick had insisted that Connor come along to handle the equipment, make adjustments as needed in the unpredictable weather of Svalbard, but he knew that he wanted the young man to be delegator, a buffer between himself and Stephen.
Right on cue, the door of the cabin opened with a gust of frigid air, and the Mighty Hunter trudged in, shaking snow out of his hair as Amara padded in behind him, miniscule icicles frosting her fur. "Christ, it's cold outside," he laughed as he tugged off his gloves.
"And you've managed to bring most of the outside inside," Connor whinged, looking at the snow that man and dæmon had trekked in from outside. "And I'll have to clean it up, I just know it."
"You are the youngest, Temple. Shite rolls downhill," Stephen chortled, chucking his snow-damp gloves in the geek's face; Natalya stuck out a small pink tongue as Amara sat down and began licking her paws to melt the ice crystals that'd built up between her paw pads. "The radio signal's fairly decent, so I managed to get hold of the base, told them we were out here. Said we ought to get a good view of the Aurora tonight, too."
Connor perked up at that. "The Aurora? We'll be able to see the Aurora?" he asked excitedly.
"Yes, we will. And there's a pretty good spot just up the rise there, if you're up to a short hike. What do you say, Cutter?"
Nick, who'd so far occupied himself fiddling with one of the handhelds, muttered a hasty, "Fine," without turning to look at the lab tech, though through Dìonadair's eyes he could see the injured expression crossing Stephen's face and Amara lying her ears back, drooping slightly.
But then Connor's voice broke into what could have become a very uncomfortable silence. "Stephen, mate, do you think that the Aurora's actually a window to the other worlds? Cutter says it's rubbish, but the Magisterium was pretty damn convinced back in the day, and there've been plenty of studies, but none of them ever came out conclusive an'..."
Wearily, the professor shook his head and pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead. He was beginning to regret bringing Connor along. Dìonadair licked his knuckles. "You asked for him, you got him," she reminded.
"Still not helping," he grumbled back.
Once it got late enough, they made the short hike up to the ridge Stephen pointed out to them. It wasn't far from their cabin, and they could easily be there and back before it went completely dark. It was also a decent vantage point to survey the place where the anomalies had been repeatedly appearing. Or rather, Stephen and Nick made surveyed. Connor mostly just giggled hysterically as Natalya bounced around in the snow like a hyperactive child, falling over himself from laughing too hard.
"Silly arse," Nick muttered, though not unkindly. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth seeing the student's antics.
Stephen was had one eye on Connor as well, and he couldn't keep from grinning either. "Come off it. It's good to let loose every now and again," said Amara blithely before using one frying-pan sized paw to sweep a small draught of snow over Natalya's head as she passed. The smaller dæmon let out a muffled squeal before popping her head out of the snow like a gopher. Stephen laughed at the ludicrous sight, cut off as Connor sat up and flung a handful of snow at him. Narrowing his eyes at the student, he scooped up a handful of snow, packed it into a ball, and chucked it at the geek. The snowball hit Connor square in the face, making the younger man sputter in shock and indignity at the cold.
Nick watched, bemused and entertained as the two started throwing snow at each other like children as Amara chased Natalya 'round and 'round, though somehow the roles were reversed when Natalya managed to get around behind Amara and begin nipping sharply at her tail. He simply watched, though. He hadn't played in the snow like that since he was a wee bairn and Dìonadair still changed shape, and he would've felt ridiculous even attempting it now. Seeing the telltale shimmer of light begin tracing across the sky, he placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled sharply for their attention. "Oi! Children! You're going to miss the lightshow," he said loudly.
Getting to their feet, they made their way up to the very crest of the ridge, sitting down on the hard-packed snow and ice with their legs dangling over the lip. For a moment, the sky was empty of any light other than that of the stars, but then...
The Aurora seemed to flare into existence all at once, great streamers of vertical light lacing their way across the skies, shimmering and shivering and rippling as their hues shifted from rosy pink to spring green and sky blue and a thousand other subtle shades in between, with teal and violet where they overlapped, tinged with gold at the bottom edges. The curtains of light seemed to dance their way over the skies, long ribbons of luminance undulating gently across the stars.
Nick held Dìonadair to his chest tightly, staring up at the magnificent sight. They might or might not be windows to other worlds, but they were undeniably beautiful either way, and for once, he couldn't fault Connor for his enthusiasm about seeing the Lights of the North. When he glanced across at his two companions, he saw matching looks of awe on both faces. What surprised him more, though, was the fact that Natalya, rather than perched on Connor's shoulder or in his lap, was atop Amara's head, resting her pointed muzzle between the rounded ears. Nick glanced down and saw that Connor and Stephen both had a hand resting on the ice between them, their fingertips just overlapping.
Throat suddenly tight, the professor turned his gaze upwards once more, holding Dìonadair a little closer to his chest. She pressed claws gently into his arm, just pricking his skin beneath his parka, as if to remind him that she was still there, he wasn't alone even though he certainly felt it at that moment.
You asked for him, you got him. And more.
The Northern Lights danced on overhead, their ever-shifting hues watching them all dispassionately from the skies.