Janco Falls in Love

It was bloody freezing! Bloody Commander sending me and Ari on this bloody stupid mission in the bloody coldest Military District! I had to be wearing at least three coats and layers and I was still going to freeze to death. At least I've still got Ari. The poor bugger. He has to put up with my bad mood. Ha ha! My breath came up in clouds of mist in the cold, snowy air. Sitting by the fire, I held my hands out in some hope of warming them.

'So, how are your balls doing? Mine, personally, are gonna drop off any second." I said to Ari.

"Oh, they're getting there." He grinned back, his teeth were chattering.

To lighten the dour mood, I started to sing our favourite drinking song. And Ari joined in too. By the end of the song, we were both laughing our arses off.

"So, how's Dilana doing?" I asked, slyly. Ever since Rand had died, about a year ago, Ari was expressing a lot of interest in Dilana.

"Same as she was the last time you asked; five minutes ago." He said wearily. I chuckled.

I'm gonna hit the sack, if you don't mind, and I'll take the second shift." I said, opening the flap of the tent. Ari nodded and huddled up; trying to keep warm. Yeah, tell me how that works out for you, I thought sarcastically. The tent was somewhat warmer than outside, but not much. Swaddling myself in the lousily thin blanket, I fell asleep.

************

I woke up to find Ari poking my arm; grunting, I got up and went out into the harsh chill outside. Sitting beside the glowing embers of the fire; I tried to get it lit again. Vowing to myself I would personally kill the Commander, for assigning us here, when we got back, I settled in my spot. Not long afterwards, I heard someone – wailing? I picked up my sword and ran to investigate. The snow crunching under my feet, bogged me down and the cool wind made my eyes water, needless to say; it took me a while to reach the source of the wailing. I came to a clearing in the forest, and I saw a figure huddled at the base of a large tree. I approached them, putting my sword away. As I came nearer to the person at the bottom of the tree, I saw it was a woman. She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Her dark, mahogany hair was one shade away from being black, was in wild waves around her face. She had pale white skin; almost as white as the snow surrounding us. Her eyes were the biggest asset of her beauty. Her eyes were an explosion of colour. She had an outer ring of deep blue; the inner was a tawny green with a small bit of hazel thrown in. My gaze drew down to her full lips which, due to the weather; were a ghastly shade of blue.

Don't worry," I told her, "I'll get you out of here and someplace warm."

She nodded. I moved towards her to pick her up but she held out a hand to stop me; with her other hand she pulled her middle finger and thumb to her lips and let out a piercing whistle.

"I had to call my dog. She's my companion, you know?" she whispered, her teeth chattering so hard.

I smiled, "Of course." And sat down next to her and waited for her dog to come. I took off one of my jumpers and put it on her. In turn, I received a small "Thanks."

"What's your name?" I Asked her.

"Lunah-bella. I'm from the Emerald Mountains. And you are?" she replied, shivering.

"I'm Janco, and I hail from MD-4. I said, impressively; trying to make her laugh. It worked; I was gifted with a small – but dazzling – smile. Footsteps approached us as a large black dog came trotting from the forest.

"Sasha." Lunah whispered, addressing the dog.

"May I?" I queried, holding my arms out to her. She nodded, and I scooped her up into my arms. As I did this; Sasha let out a low, but fierce growl.

"Over-protective much?" I muttered to myself.

"Shhh…Sasha, its okay." Lunah whispered, stroking the dog's ears. It let out a whine and then began to follow us. After a few minutes of trudging through the snow, Lunah fell asleep in my arms. She's pretty damn cute when she's sleeping, I thought to myself. By the time we returned to camp; dawn was beginning to creep through. I went to our tent, promptly kicked Ari out, and laid her down gently, swaddling her in the blanket.

"Who's that? She is beautiful. Ooh, DIBS!" Ari taunted me as soon as I stepped out of the tent.

"Hands off!" I growled; almost as fiercely as Sasha.

"Someone's touchy." Said Ari, "No, seriously. Who is she?"

"Her name is Lunah-bella. She's from the Emerald Mountains and so is her dog, Sasha." I replied through my teeth.

Ari frowned, "I haven't seen the dog."

"SNAKE PIT!" I yelled.