As Kaisa started to stuff her things in the car, Raven was filled with a lot of emotions. None of them were joy, most were anger.
The girl on the other hand couldn't be happier.
K- I haven't been outside the walls in a while, it will be fun to take a break!
J- yeah! That's the spirit!
Johanna looked at the bird while Kaisa excitedly got in the car. The bird knew what that meant and hopped in the front seat, as they set off in that so promised trip.
The first minutes were fun-filled with games, talking and playing, until Kaisa fell asleep and the car fell in deep silence, as they distanced themselves from civilization, until Johanna was driving in the dark, with a barely visible road covered in snow.
J- I have to ask you a thing…
R- Oh boy.
J- Do you really like Kaisa, or are you just staying with her because of the comfort?
Raven stared silently at the ground, then took a deep breath.
R- Why you ask?
J- Is because… well… she likes you a lot…
R- I know… she expresses that frequently.
J- Yeah… But is not like, friends…. You see, she never met her dad… and I know that doesn't seem to affect her but i-
R- You are not implying that I should act like her father right?
J- I'm not... is just that I think Kaisa does, like, she values your opinion, she gives you gifts on father's day… and I know that's weird.
R- Yeah… It is.
J- But she loves you and… I don't want you lying to her.
Raven looked away.
J- So my question is, do you like her?
R- This question is point-
J- Say it!
Johanna tried pressuring Raven, however there were no results.
R- this is ridiculous.
J- I just need to know… want to know a truth? I have been fired. I haven't been working overtime, I have been drinking, the job was killing me!
R- Wait so we are not going… back?
J- No! I can't fucking afford your laziness anymore! –she said as tears began running down her face. – And honestly you get on my nerves a lot, but Kaisa loves you, for some reason, so you either can move to the next family, or start to be a constructive member of this one!
Raven stared awkwardly at the ground… thinking.
They drove silently trough the night as Kaisa slept.
J- I know you hate me, and I'm not telling you to love me or anything. It's just that we never got to talk… in private…
R- For a reason...
J- And, yes, we hate each other… that's clear… but all I'm asking is for you to be there for Kaisa ok? To be caring, to… help her….
R- …Yeah… I like her. Also I AM crying its just that my feathers are covering it…
Johanna smirked at him as she parked the car in the plains so she could get some sleep. She reclined the seat and got herself a blanket, while handing a smaller one to Raven.
And the night passed, the two woke up with snowballs being thrown at the car, as they got up they could see Kaisa with a smile on her face and a small fire going on.
J- How did…
R- Witchcraft… -he said as he let out a yawn.
J- Yeah… We still have that.
They walked outside to see that the flame was indeed not warming up or melting the snow.
K- Good morning everyone.
R- Uhu… Food?
J- I left in the car-
Before she could finish the sentence he was already looking inside coming back with some plastic bags filled with cookies.
R- Food.
He opened the bags as they shared the food as equally as they could, and for a while they just ate in silence in the snowy endless white plains… until they weren't alone.
They heard the snow crackle… getting closer.
K- Trolls?
J- likely… but….
R- Daylight, not trolls.
K- This is not good…
They all got closer to the fire as the soft fog dissolved in the wind. Two antlers… similar to deer's antlers but not exact. The fog continued to dissolve, revealing a white furred creature that slowly approached them.
They of course backed away in response.
It was clear he didn't want to put up a fight, but also was extremely evident he considered that his territory.
K- it's a deerfox…
The animal slowly sniffed the bag. Kaisa slowly approached him with her palm. The deerfox immediately recognized that as a threat and raised his head in response, trying to appear bigger.
R- We doing this thing?
The deerfox temporarily got up in two legs to look as big as possible.
R- Aw, that's cute. – Raven said ironically as he shifted sizes and quickly grabbed one of the antlers with his claws, making the creature collapse to the ground on it's side.
The deerfox whined as he tried to bite and take Raven's claws off his anthers, which only made him more convinced that it would go nowhere. He slammed his face again, this time, he could hear the anther crack. So he did it again, and it finally snapped, as the creature ran off into the distance.
R- That escalated quickly…
He shifted sizes again and handed Kaisa the broken anther.
R- sorry for that.
K- You kidding? That was awesome!
J- Should we do something about that?
R- He won't come back.
They quickly finished eating and stopped the small fire so the light won't attract anything else.
J- Now, since…. I stood awake all night… I will sleep… and we will go at night…. I guess…..
Johanna slowly walked twards the car and closed the doors while getting under a blanket.
K- This is so cool… -she said as she looked at the anther.
R- take it as a gift.
K- wait really?
R- Yeah.
K- You never gave me a gift.
Kaisa smiled as she looked at Raven.
K- Can I give you a hug?
R- What?
K- A hug!
Kaisa said as she left the antler on a rock and opened her arms, grabbing the bird as it tried to fly away.
K- You are so warm…. Like a very feathery pillow…
R- Thanks? Just…
K- What are we going to do today?
R- Huh?
K- Yeah, I'm bored, what you want to do?
R- I want to stay away.
K- Come on, we are on a brand new place, so much possibilities…
R- Like the one where we stay inside.
K- What inside?
Raven quickly realized where he was, so he limited himself to awkwardly stare in response. He looked away, as Kaisa appreciated the new gift that her friend gave her.
As she said, Raven never gave anyone gifts. Maybe it was lack of care, or just willing ignorance. Kaisa always wondered what would his gift be, and apparently it was a broken antler from a creature that was beaten up in front of her eyes.
She looked around the landscape, mostly white plains, nothing too exiting.
K- How about a snowball fight?
R- you know how I feel about snow in my feathers.
K- How about… snow sculptures?
Raven was about to make another denial, when his conversation with Johanna the night before clicked. He felt… guilty.
R- Fine. But don't get any snow on me.
Kaisa smiled and started to put snow together to make a wall, while Raven watched and said something slightly motivational every 20 minutes.
K- You are not really helping you know?
R- I am giving off moral support. –he said while walking up to Kaisa and giving her the antler – this can make for a good flag pole.
K- Yeah-
Kaisa stopped talking the moment they started hearing footsteps in the snow, and they weren't human. They got together and entered the unfinished walls of the fort, peeking over them.
It appears that the deerfox had returned with some friends.
R- We need to get outta here.
K- we make a run for it?
R- Yeah….
They mentally counted to three and ran to the car, the deerfoxes immediately noticed and started chancing them.
As they both entered and locked the car, making Johanna wake up almost instantly in shock.
J- What the f-
R- No time to explain, start the car! -Johanna looked outside with her half awake brain, immediately noticing the cause for the confusion, and stepped on the gas, going trough the middle of the pack and running over the leg of one.
J- What was that!?
R- Don't stop now!
The car easily outran the creatures as they were left behind.
J- What was THAT!?
R- Deerfoxes! And they are pissed!
They kept driving for about an hour, before something got stuck on the car's wheel, forcing them to stop.
R- Fuck.
J- Can you… Not swear in front of Kaisa?
R- Ok. Intercourse.
J- For….
Johanna just grunted in anger and stopped the car, everyone got down and looked under the wheels to find what was stuck. They found surprisingly a metal box.
R- This trip keeps getting worse.
K- Don't be like that, we still can fix it… right?
J- Well, yes, it should get out pretty easily. –Johanna said as she tried moving the box- Uh, any of you happened to have brought something that can help us?
K- I know you brought the butter since we wouldn't have any, so we can use it to make it slippery an-
R- I have the tools to take the wheel out and put it back in.
J- Why did you brought-
R- Because I knew you wouldn't.- he went silent as the tension began to scale.
K- Well, I suppose I should get the tools…
R- On my bag.
Kaisa opened the door and looked into raven's bag, which was a large black backpack filled with all the kinds of stuff he deemed useful bringing, including a large pile of coins and paperclips, and a toolbox.
They spent a good portion of their day getting the box out, and when they finally did, they had to camp. Kaisa lit up a small fire as the sun was setting and Raven opened a bag of chips.
K- It was a cool day.
J- Yeah…. Literally.
R- Couldn't you make an actually warm fire?
Kaisa shrugged. Raven was starting to shiver so in response Kaisa took off her coat and offered him, by extending her arm in his direction.
R- No I'm fine.
Kaisa took of her coat and wrapped raven in it.
R- thanks.
After a few minutes they went back into the car and slept.