[501st Joint Fighter Wing's Base, Afternoon]
"A Neuroi has been spotted on the Yana River!" The Neuroi radar blinked as Minna-Dietline Wilcke, the Commander of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, reported to the other girls in the calm evening. It has been a while since the radar captured any Neuroi nearby, and so the other Witches are caught off-guard. Not to mention, winter is approaching, as the cold temperature not only caused some of the well-renowned 'passivist' such as Fransesca Lucchini and Erica Hartmann to slack on either the couch or their rooms, but also other Witches as well. Both Minna and Sakamoto Mio have been reminding (and scolding) all of them for being lazy, and the Neuroi attack sort of act as an wake up call alarm to the Unit.
Yana river is located on the North-East of Yakutsk, a region on Orussia, where it is said to be extremely cold. As a result, Minna decided to send Sanya , an Orussia Witch, who is familiar with the territory, together with her close partner Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen. Both witches has been working together lots of times and have excellent chemistry with each other, and so it didn't take long for them to agree on the order. There is little to no information on the spotted Neuroi besides the size though, so even when both Witches approaches the Neuroi at a high speed, they still have to proceed with caution.
[Orussia, Evening]
"It's still so cold even when you are used to it. Especially when you need to fly at a high speed under this weather" Eila shivered as they stopped at the designated location. Sanya didn't really respond as she just replied to Eila with a soft smile at what her partner's complains. She tried to concentrate to spot on the Neuroi, it should be nearby their location. Since the Neuroi is small-sized, both of them decided to fly low and scans through the river bed to scout on the Neuroi to get a better sight of it, flying on the trees for cover. After a while, they saw a fast moving, box-shaped Neuroi hovering through the river. Both Eila and Sanya decided to initiate the attack, escaping the shallow trees and approaching the river to get a clear, unobstructed shot to the Neuroi. They launched a sudden attack with Eila's machine gun, although it seems that the Neuroi had spotted them before they attack and accelerated as well. The unexpected burst of speed resulted in the bullets missing their target and their ambush is obviously a failure as they began a high-speed chase with the Neuroi. "Not on this cold weather!" Eila grumbled more as she desperately tried to shoot at the Neuroi accurately. With its small size, a few shots will be enough to break its core but it kept dodging her bullets with minimal movement, which when combined with its speed, makes it a very difficult target to hit..
The Neuroi finally counter attacked by shooting its red beam towards both Eila and Sanya, although to their surprise the Neuroi's beam keep travelled vertically after a certain point. Was it to anticipate them to fly up to avoid it? Eila thought as she keep on dodging the beams. With the small size the impact of a single beam fired by the Neuroi won't be that devastating but both of them make sure to avoid every single beam fired, and unable to fly higher because of the bounce effect. Still on the chase, both of them made a perfect combination on offense, with Eila's machine gun fire rate complemented by Sanya's high-impact Fliegerhammer. They just need to make the enemy stop somehow, and the plan Eila had in mind is to keep luring the Neuroi into Sanya's locking point. However, the Neuroi's erratic movement made baiting difficult, not to mention they had to keep dodging on the beams.
Sanya suddenly fired her rocket launcher even though the Neuroi is still moving at a high speed, which surprised Eila. Did Sanya missed the tempo? Or she pressed on it by accident? She didn't normally do this. The rockets travels low before it hits the cold river surface, hitting on the newly-formed ice to create an explosion beneath the Neuroi. The explosion slows down the Neuroi and exposing the core at once, with Eila wasting no time shooting the core, breaking it into pieces. Both of them sighed in relief as their mission is more or less done. "Let's return to the base, mission accomplished!" Eila hugged Sanya with a wide happy grin. "Wait a second, something is still around the area. There are still beam noises. Could it be that there is another Neuroi hiding, trying to ambush us?"
A quick scan revealed that there were no results, but the noise is getting louder and louder. It was until they noticed the bright beam of light from above. It was a large, red volume of concentrated beam approaching them at a high speed. "That couldn't be… the accumulated Neuroi's laser brought down by its mass!?" Eila panicked as both Sanya and her tried to combine their shields but due to Eila's shield being not as durable, the combined shield was not strong enough to block the entire beam. The beam eventually pieced through their combined shield and the impact threw both witches away into the cold river below.
[Riverbed, Evening]
Eila opened her eyes as she finally regained her senses, finding herself stranded on the riverside. "O..ouch, that really hurt. I should still be around the area, and it feels even colder with my clothes wet like this.." Eila tried to get up as she started looking around. The first thing she noticed is that her Striker unit has been detached from her , possibly force eject because of the impact. And where is Sanya? Eila eventually found the Striker unit not far from her stranded area, but she has yet to see any traces of Sanya around. She collected her Striker unit as she heard a familiar humming. Those voices belong to Sanya! Sanya likes to sing, and Eila is the one who love to listen to her singing the most, so she couldn't be mistaken in recognising the familiar voice.
Not far from there, Eila could see Sanya's Striker Unit is hanging nicely on the top of a tree branch, on the direction of where the singing voice comes from. Over there, Sanya sat on top of a branch, singing to pass the time as she was waiting for Eila to wake up. Upon seeing Eila approaching her, Sanya let a soft smile and waved at her. Eila is glad that Sanya is alright as she let a relieved sigh, apparently both of them are just magically exhausted. "So you finally woke up, Eila-san." Sanya said as she took her Striker unit and get down the tree. Looking closer at both of their Striker unit, it seems that they did take some damage from the impact, but the units are not totalled yet. Eila tried to equip hers as the engine won't start, due to the damage and the fact that Eila ran out of magic power. "So much for hoping to be able to fly back.", she grumbled as neither Sanya nor her could repair it.
*Hach-!* Suddenly, Eila sneezed. Both of them may be used to cold weather, but it is still too cold, especially for Eila. Not to mention, their clothes are still wet. At this rate, they are going to catch a cold, or even worse! Sanya started to walk away from the riverbed which made Eila wondering, "Sanya, where are you going? You can't walk aimlessly in a place like this. Perhaps she is familiar in the area because she used to fly around here? It is Orussia after all. But this area is too secluded, and the nation is too big. Eila was thinking as she followed Sanya aimlessly, until Sanya replied, "When I was singing on top of the tree back then I saw a cave not far from here. I was already planning to go there together as soon as you wake up." Eila sighed in relief until Sanya said, "I couldn't carry you, anyway." chuckling softly as she added a last retort. "Are you saying that I'm heavy? That's rude!" Eila pouted a little as she still followed Eila, who gave her rare smile throughout the walk.
Both Sanya and Eila entered the poorly lit cave. There were little sunlight on the area due to the cold winter. Yet, the cave is windproof and thus it is relatively less cold. Seeing that they are in a cave on Orussia, Eila couldn't help to feel uncomfortable and clarified to Sanya. "T..this is not a bear's den, right? I dont want to get eaten by bears." Sanya chuckled hearing that. They were both fighting the enemy of humanity and now Eila is afraid of bears. "Don't worry, they are all hibernating at this kind of season," Sanya replied as she smiled softly. Eila sighed in relief as she heard that, adding, "I kind of understand them. I would want to hibernate too in this kind of weather." Sanya chuckles as she replied, "But since we need to return to our base, let's try to establish a connection. With our Striker unit detached like this, they must have lost our position and we need to inform them that we are still alive."
Surprisingly, Sanya's Striker unit could still activate, even though it is just barely working. Both of them waited as the Striker unit is trying to send signals out on the base, only to get no response. Both of them sighed in disappointment. Perhaps, the receiver of the Striker unit is broken, or the signals are not received by any of the base around. Time eventually passed as despite the sun barely seen from the cave, night time further reduces the visibility of their shelter. "Let's just rest for the day, it has been a long one alright. We can try again tomorrow. Besides, night time at a place like this is dangerous." Eila requested Sanya as she tried to make the cave more comfortable for them to rest. Both of them decided to take turns in sleeping, with Eila sleeping first while Sanya in the morning. Both of them are used to it anyway, it is their usual routine with Sanya, a nocturnal witch, always returned back to their room when Eila just woke up.
Both of them had finished eating the dinner with the fish they caught at the river, as it gets deeper into the night. The temperature drops further down as most of the water surface is almost freezing. "Can't believe we were floating on this cold river for some while and survived. It would have been a different story if we are not Witches.." Eila shivered from the thought. She should be sleeping after her dinner, yet she couldn't, which made Sanya worried. "Why aren't you sleeping?" Sanya asked. "You should be tired after such a long day. No worries, I'll be here to keep you safe while you sleep." Truth to be told, Eila wanted to sleep badly, but somehow she really couldn't. "It's too cold, I guess. I am not used to sleeping outside in a weather like this. Back in Suomus I always use a heater and a blanket if it gets this cold during winter." Hearing that, Sanya got closer to Eila and suddenly gave her a hug. "To warm you up." she whispered as she hugged tighter. Eila blushed as her body temperature rises from the embarrassment; she could actually say that Sanya has warmed her up in many ways more than one. … Although it just lasted for a while.
Regardless, it is still very cold, as Eila still shivered a bit. Sanya noticed that and asked Eila, "Are you still cold? Do you want to wear my clothes as an extra layer to warm you up? I'm more used to the cold anyway." Sanya is indeed born in Orussia, but it doesn't mean that she is exposed to this cold of weather every time. Not to mention, just this morning they are in their base, fully equipped with heater every winter. She will not be okay with just wearing her inner wear! "Don't be silly. I don't want you to feel cold because of me." Eila refuses and tried her best to resist the cold weather. Seeing Eila's reaction, Sanya didn't reply as she adjust her seating position. Still hugging Eila tight, Sanya bring her face closer to Eila's ears, whispering "More area of contact is always better, so…". After finished her sentence, Sanya wrapped her legs against Eila's hips and locked her out of sudden. It does feel warmer, but what is this weird feeling I'm experiencing? Not to mention, her face is close… really close. Eila's heart is thumping madly as she wrapped her legs back on Sanya's hips, feeling their thighs touching each other's sides.
Sanya tightened her hug, "Just sleep, Eila-san. I am sure nothing will happen, I'm the one on night patrol. I'll watch you over as you sleep and keep you warm." Sanya continued to cuddle on Eila until the long haired girl fell asleep. Seeing Eila's sleeping face made Sanya smile, she didn't really get a whole day together with Eila that much anyway. She could say that Eila is the one who always made her smile, and she has smiled more often that she would be in a week. Surprisingly, despite being a night Witch, Sanya fell asleep not too long after she told Eila that she would stay awake. Perhaps it is because she feel so comfortable and relaxing while hugging.
[The Day After, Morning]
"Look at them. We were worried about their condition and now they are just acting lovey-dovey." Another girl's voice can be heard in the cave as it is getting a bit brighter, which means that morning has arrived. Eila opened her eyes slowly after hearing a familiar voice as she woke up first. Ah, it is morning already? And whose voice was that? There shouldn't be anyone else inside the cave, and the voice sounded like.. Standing in front of Eila were Minna and Heidemarie. They had come to fetch both of them. Apparently, the SOS signal Sanya's striker unit sent the night before pinpointed their location to the base, but the distance and the extreme night temperature caused them to delay their arrival. "N-no, it isn't what it looks like.." Eila blushed as Sanya was still hugging her tight, and she didn't want to wake her partner up. Both of the Karsland Witches, looking at them in that intimate position, just chuckled, not buying the excuse at all. Eila blushed after seeing their reaction as Sanya snuggled her once again, eventually opening her eyes. "It's so noisy, Eila. What happened?" Sanya said as she let go of the hug, rubbing her eyes. "Oh... " Sanya didn't continue her words as she blushes when she noticed both Minna and Heidemarie were looking at them. Too embarrassed to continue, Sanya just spoke softly, "Let's… just get back to base."