Chapter 3 – Icy Welcome
"Oh my fucking God!! It's so cold…" Reno said, shivering. Upon arriving at the Great Glacier about half an hour ago, Reno had complained at least 10 times about the weather.
"What do you expect?" said Rihanna, she was also shivering; even though she had the sense to have put on extra layers before they set out.
"Yeah but, this is just unnecessary." Reno said in a whiny voice. Rihanna sighed. It looked like Reno was in was of those moods.
They treaded carefully through the thick snow, until they got to a small cabin. Reno looked at Rihanna and nodded; together they stepped inside.
The cabin was small and dark inside. If it wasn't for the walls keeping the icy wind off them, it would be just as cold inside as it was out. Reno wiped the melting snow and water off his face, and brushed away the stray locks of his saturated, fiery hair.
"Now what?" he asked her. Rihanna sat down on the hard floor and opened the bag she had been carrying on her back. She pulled out the paper that Tseng had given them so they wouldn't forget the details of the mission. He couldn't quite trust Rihanna wasn't as forgetful as Reno yet.
"Well, there's nothing specific." She said, reading the paper, "We just have to check the area." She got up and looked out of the window. "Up there, look."
"What?" Reno stepped forwards and looked to where his sister was pointing. There was an old, slightly crumbly looking cave a little way uphill.
"If we head up there, keeping an eye out on the way up…then we can plan where we go after that. There might be something in that cave." Rihanna suggested.
"Yeah, sure." Reno said casually. He was still shivering.
"You okay?" she asked, concerned with his less-than-enthusiastic attitude.
"Yeah." He shuddered, "Me and cold just don't go together, that's all."
Neither of them could see a thing ahead of them as they headed uphill. The snow was falling heavy around them, making it difficult to move very fast. Their tracks were being covered behind them as fast as they were making them. They didn't say a word until they got to the cave entrance above them.
"Reno?" Rihanna gasped, wiping the snow out of her eyes. Reno was leaning against the cave wall, breathing very heavily. His face was as white as the snow around them.
"I'm alright. I just can't stand the cold…" he panted.
"Okay…" Rihanna wasn't so sure. She remembered all the events from a few months ago. She hadn't been overly convinced since yesterday that Reno was ready for a mission that sounded this dangerous. Especially with just her as back up if something bad were to happen to him.
"Don't look so worried." Reno said, smiling weakly. He lowered himself to the floor. "You reckon we can stay in here for a while?" he said, looking up at her.
"We'll stay until the snow dies down a little." Rihanna said, giving in to Reno's never-quavering stare.
It must have been a good few hours they were sitting, waiting for the snow to thin. Rihanna wasn't sure; her watch had stopped working a while ago. Reno was sitting beside her, huddling up to try and warm himself. His eyes were half closed, so she wasn't sure if he was asleep or not. She poked him.
"Huh?" he jerked awake.
"You alright?" she asked.
"Yeah…" he said groggily.
"Reno…are you sure you're ready to do something like this?" she decided to get her worries off her chest.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Like I said, it's just the cold."
"You sure?"
"Yes. Honestly, you're as bad as Elena."
Rihanna laughed. She knew only to worry when Reno's sense of humour vanished again. She looked at him; he had settled back down beside her, his eyes completely closed. Sometimes, she felt like she was the older one. Maybe Reno's maturity was somewhere else in his personality.
"You've made her much happier, you know." Reno's voice came from below her.
"Huh, why?"
"Elena. She was getting a bit pissed off with being the only female Turk. I think it's mainly me that put her off actually." He looked up and grinned. "I think she's happy to have you around."
Rihanna looked ahead at the dripping icicles all around the cave. The light from outside was making interesting shadows and reflections on them, causing her to stare absently into the depths of frozen water.
"I think the snow is thinning now." Said Reno. She looked outside the cave; should they go now, or maybe chance leaving it a while? Maybe the snow will have stopped then.
"I wouldn't go out there yet if I were you." Came a bright voice from above them.
