I sighed. This was going to be along night!

"Go away! We need to rest! Not everyone has endless stamina!" I called down to him. Despair looked up with what (for a half skeleton-like horse) I could call a cute look. Awwww…Makes me want to hug you! I smiled at him. I settled back against the tree, ready to sleep, having already said goodnight to my friend. I hardly had the time to close my eyes when the banging started anew. Nepakang stared with a "you-better-take-care-of-it-or-you'll-get-the-time-of-your-life" kind of expression.

I abandoned my cozy little cocoon I had made myself to jump down in the freezing snow. As soon as my feet made contact with the ground, I regretted it. .GOD! I glared ice picks at Despair who came to nudge me happily. I sighed again. Who was I kidding? I couldn't stay angry with this little sweetie forever. I walked away from the tree so Nep could get some sleep while I tried to figure out a way to get Despair to go back to it's owner. "Alright, so how am I supposed to do this?" The horse in question was prancing around me like crazy. "Can't sit still, wan you?" He answered with a small neigh and positioned himself sideways from me, presenting his back.

I stared at him, refusing to believe what he was suggesting. He can't be serious. As if to confirm my thought, Despair gave a little nod towards his saddle. My fangirl mind was going crazy and hopping in circles, squealing. My "serious" mind was scowling sternly at the other telling it how irresponsible it was. During my internal turmoil, Despair started prancing again impatiently. Girl, this is a one chance only. Who's going to find out anyway? Before I could ponder on that question, I was already settled in the over-sized saddle. Quite comfy…Though it's going to be a little loose for me…

My crazy grin etched itself on my face again. This was going to be awesome. A night ride under the moon, in the snow, on a horse of legend. Oh yeah!

I felt Despair's powerful hooves hammer the ground in excitement. "All right. Let's have some fun!" I held on to his misty-green flame mane and leaned forward. He lunged into the powder snow, shooting the delicate cold elements in waves everywhere. His ears were perked up, neck arched powerfully, and hinds were kicking madly at the unseen ground. My hair flew about like crazy, wind fingering through my deep brown (almost black) locks. I had never felt so free! The power, the speed, the cold biting at my clothes: euphoria.

We dashed across the few trees, onto a small expanse. Nothing to block our road here! The stars danced above our heads and the snow sparkled under the moon's gaze. Despair was as euphoric as I was (isn't it better to be euphoric together than alone?). We kept going, on and on. His hooves beat their powerful rhythm to the snow. For such a big horse, he seemed to be weightless here.

The mountains loomed over us, covered in their great white mantle. The world of the night opened its arms to us. Quiet, omniscient, charismatic.

For how long we rode, I cannot say, because then, we were timeless, eternal.

Eventually, we knew we had to stop. Without having me ask him, Despair brought me back to the tree Nep was sleeping in. I slid off his back, pat his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for that, love. We'll have to do that again some time" He nickered softly and nuzzled my shoulder. I watched him walk back with, almost, a sad look on his face. I chuckled. Don't you worry, that was too fun to be our last!

I climbed up the tree and settled into my cocoon, now cold, for the small hour (or hours hopefully) of sleep I could have. Nep was snoozing quietly, undisturbed. Sleep claimed me quickly, even though I saw the light of day peek over the mountains.

Despair arrived at a trot to the cave the riders were staying. Death was up, outside, and looking out for him. As he saw his horse come up joyfully, he let out a chuckle. "And where did you go off to, eh?". Despair nickered softly and let him rub his forehead. The three other riders and their mounts came out and readied for the day's ride.

Death was about to mount, when he realized the seat under his hand was a little warm, though just barely. He frowned slightly under his mask, and looked at Despair, who was looking ahead at his equine partners. "Something wrong, brother?" asked War. Death schooled his expression, "Nothing of concern" and mounted.

I woke up to the cold impact of snow against my face, and the raucous laughter of my dear friend. "Ha ha ha ha ha! Too bad we don't have any cameras any more, because that was a keeper!"

I lifted my head towards Nep, still in the tree. Oh god…I probably slept for thirty minutes…tops… She grabbed her stuff she had hung up, and jumped down to me. "All right, let's get moving! We need to find breakfast on the road too"

I groaned, but eventually got up (under the encouragements of my friend's snowballs). My body wasn't sore, I was pretty resistant in that aspect. But I do miss my sleep!

We had the luck of finding a few winter berries, and digging up certain edible roots (though they're better cooked than raw). We picked the road nearest to the mountain tops, to have a view on the lower valleys. We quickly managed to spot the riders, lower on the mountain side. They didn't progress as much as I had expected them to (which was good). "If they keep moving at this pace, we could probably go hunting along the way, no?" I suggested to Nep. "Sure, but you're going. I'll keep a watch on them in case they take an unexpected turn or something." I nodded and stepped off the trail, tracking any hints of wildlife we could take for our screaming stomachs.

I stringed my bow, set an arrow to it, and started the hunt.

A/N: I had so much fun writing the night ride! How I wish I could actually do that!

I hope you guys like it! And thanks for the previous encouragements!