Wolfgang set out. Laden with a heavy fur blanket willow cut for him, that seemed to be more of a coat on his giant frame. Willow gave him her spear as well.
"I know ya like usin' yer fists but trust me on this one,"
Wolfgang hefted the spear, running a finger along the mottled wood, "Is amazing craft! Where get?"
"Willy made it."
"Puny man made this? Is beautiful!" He chuckled and nudged her, "Is good for something after all."
Willow smiled, "He can't use em, but boy can he make em."
Wolfgang slid the spear into his leotard and looked around the camp, "Is Witch girl and WendyWex going to be okay?"
"We've got the fire, and Willy made another spear," Willow patted his enormous bicep, which was about as high as she could reach, "We'll be in more shit if ya don't come home with food."
Willow was not wrong. The husk of the Beefalo had been cut so deep that the white of bone was visible across the carcass. The legs and head were far too tough to eat, and it would only be so long before they hit an organ. By Wex's estimates, they had two days left, provided Wolfgang didn't eat it all in an hour.
Wolfgang gave a strange salute, shouldered his cloak, and walked. The icy wind was already nipping at him as he left the comfort of the camp, but the fire in his muscles kept it at bay. His cowl flailed as a gust of wind tore through the tree-line, and then he disappeared. Willow sat back down beside the fire, keeping an eye on the flames and her friend.
Wendy had fallen asleep in Wolfgang's arms. Willow didn't know much about medicine, but she hoped they were this tired because they were healing. If it were something worse, Willow didn't know if she'd be able to do anything. She could stitch up cuts and lay ice on bruises, but an infection was beyond her.
She looked into the fire and tried not to think about it.
Wolfgang pushed through the trees with ease. They were simple pine, made brittle by the biting cold. Nettles and fallen leaves crunched underfoot. It was now that Wolfgang had to confront the fact that he was no tracker. He was used to the farming life or opulence, and in either case, the beasts were easy to find.
He surveyed the darkened woods. It was still midday, but the sun hid itself behind a thick blanket of frozen clouds. Wolfgang could hear nothing over the howling wind. He kept moving, plodding vaguely in the direction Willow had sent him.
"Beef-elo! Where are beef-elo! Beefy beefy beef!" Wolfgang called, cupping his hands to magnify his already booming voice.
Snow fell from the tree above, smashing a pile of white powder atop Wolfgang's head. Wolfgang's muscles tightened, and then relaxed. He began to chuckle, shaking the snow from his head.
"Silly wolfgang. What good is muscle if cannot find thing to use on?"
Wolfgang tilted his weight forwards and began to run. First jogging, then sprinting, then galloping through the undergrowth. He tore plants asunder as he crashed through at a breakneck pace. Snow was flung high, smashing into the trees and covering the bushes. His tiny hazel eyes searching the darkness for something that wasn't snow or foliage.
After half an hour, he had to slow down. He leaned against a tree, his enormous chest fighting for the icey air. His cheeks were red with exertion, but at least he felt warm. His breath steamed out in front of him, almost obscuring his vision. Then he heard it, in the distance. A deep, throaty bellow. Wolfgang had found what he was looking for.
Wendy woke up.
"Is… Is Wolfgang gone?"
"Yeah," Willow replied, running a hand over the fire, "S'just you and me fer now."
"I don't like that."
"Y'don't seem ta like much."
"What is there to like? What point is there to liking anything?"
"Jesus girl, the world ain't that bad," Willow said, gesturing to the fire, "Y've got food in yer belly, there's a beautiful fire in front've ya, and y've got all yer organs in the right places. That's cause enough to be happy in my book."
"Then why aren't you?"
"What?"
"Happy, I mean."
"I am happy!" Willow said, irritation creeping into her voice.
"No you're not," Wendy replied, looking at the ground, "You're not doing anything happy people're supposed to do."
"Oh yeah? And what's that?"
"Well..." Wendy said, squinting her eyes as she thought it over, "you're not… Well, you're not smiling. You're not laughing. You're not jumping."
"Jumpin'?"
"You know, jumping for joy."
There was a moment of silence as Wendy struggled to come up with some other reasons.
"Have ya ever been happy?" Willow asked, now watching Wendy's face.
"I suppose."
"Ya suppose? How can ya not know if y've ever been happy?"
"I don't know."
"Hang on, with Wolfgang, jus' before, y'were smiling. Weren'tcha happy then?"
"Was I?"
"Yeah!" Willow said, standing up, "How've ya already forgotten? It just happened! 'I suppose', of course y've been happy! Ya literally just were!"
"But it didn't feel like happiness."
"How the hell d'ya know that?"
"Because in the books mommy used to read, the characters would feel tingly and bubbly," Wendy shook her head, "I don't feel any of that."
Willow sat back down on the log with a Fwump, "Well… Have ya felt anythin' since ya got here? Asides the nothin'? So… I had a mate, he couldn't feel nothin'. Ended up stabbin' his gal in the stomach. Y'anythin' like that?"
"Did she deserve it?"
"I dunno. Probably not."
"Well, that's not nice."
"S'also not the point of that story."
Wendy glared at Willow, "I have felt stuff. I don't like you."
"What? I'm delightful!"
Wendy continued, her glare hardening, "I don't like the snow, I don't like the sun, I don't like this old man body, I don't like here."
"Yeah, gonna haveta agree on that last one. Last two actually, ol' Willy's body is no hotrod."
"Hot-what?"
"Hotrod? S'a really hot stick a metal. They're pretty."
"You're weird."
"HAH! Don't think y'can be throwin' stones in that department!"
Willow poked the fire a bit more, before hurling on another log. The sun had risen now, and if she squinted, she could figure out where it was behind the thick blanket of cloud. Judging by the position, she'd guess it to be about midday, maybe a bit earlier. She reckoned that Wolfgang would be back before dusk, if not earlier…
"I'm scared of life."
"S'a wha? Sorry?"
Wendy looked at the ground, silent.
"Y're scared of… Is that why ya keep goin' on about all that deppressin' crap?"
Wendy nodded.
"Jeez girl, life's nothin' ta be afraid of. S'like a rollercoaster. Y'can throw up the whole way through, but if you take the good with the bad, y'have a great time," Willow rubbed some ash from her hair, "Asides, I reckon of the two options, I'd rather life. Wouldn't you?"
Wendy was very quiet. So quiet for so long that Willow wondered if she'd dozed off. She knew better this time.
"I ain't gonna say life's the best thing ever, but what makes ya sure death's so good?"
"I don't know," Wendy's voice was so quiet, so strained, that Willow could hear the thudding of Wendy's heart.
"Ah geez, lemme…" Willow stood up and shuffled over onto Wendy's log. She wrapped one arm around her slender frame and pulled her tight, "Hey, s'okay. Yer safe here. Big sis Willow's gotcha."
Willow pulled tighter, wrapping Wendy against her chest. Her thin arms clutched Wendy as the front of her blouse stained with tears. Willow rocked back and forth, saying nothing as Wendy continued to cry against her.
