AN: I'm sorry, everyone! The computer industry is a slave-driver and if I don't catch up to the new technology released, it would threaten to leave me behind probably jobless. Gotta learn the new things they release in the market. Every freakin year.
Also, no negative reviews about my last chapter? I was hesitant to post that because I'm not from a winter country and I haven't seen actual snow at all. I might have gotten simple facts wrong. Feel free to correct.
Guest Reviewer: Feel free to PM me if you've got storyline ideas. I would gladly incorporate it if I have the time and the materials to build. Just keep in mind that I can't put them all even if I want to. One can only allot so much time in writing.
.oOo.
Amanda made a bed out of the blankets they got from the last pod. She chose a corner well away from the reach of the wind. A little hollow on the cave floor. The bed fitted almost perfectly in it as if the hollow was especially shaped for their makeshift bed. Sarek started making and piling up bricks on the entrance of the cave to ward off the cold.
Being a cave-woman was not at all demoralizing as she expected. Food supply was low. But they got by with what they can forage. In fact, they lived relatively less cold in it, protected by the dangerous downfall of the temperature outside. It was very different than waking up sleeping outside in the snow, bivouacked against some hollow than waking up inside the cave.
During the evenings, the fire would cackle merrily, casting dancing shadows on the roof of the cave. Sarek slept beside her to keep her from cold. To keep each other from cold, she corrected. She couldn't stop the faint blush that covered her face when she thought about that first night.
Sarek turned back behind him. "Are you alright? Your face has changed colour."
She snapped out of her reverie. "I'm fine. You don't have to stop on my account," said Amanda.
"Understood," he turned back to his front and marched again at a steady pace.
Gathering food in the new environment kept their morale up for quite some time. But as the days began to go longer, they brought in fewer and fewer finds. That was why it was quite some good news when Sarek told her he found a tree still full of nut-like fruits. Winter might have frozen the branches and the nuts themselves, but it was still there. They packed their bags and she accompanied Sarek in getting more. He found it yesterday but was not able to carry everything home.
"I'm coming!" she hurried forward when she saw Sarek gaining considerable distance and turning back to look at her again.
He stopped. "If your complexion does not change, perhaps we should rest for twelve minutes," he said without looking back.
"Why do you suddenly think that's a good idea? You never were a fan of wasting time," said Amanda finally catching up with him.
"Circumstances have changed. The shelter is now nearer in an event of a storm."
"It's alright. We don't have to stop," replied Amanda. She was glad he didn't know anything about blushing.
When they arrived at the tree, Amanda saw for herself the nuts, coated with clean transparent ice that made it look like hanging jewels on the branches. But there were considerably fewer nuts on it. It was not like how Sarek described it.
"This is most unusual. Yesterday the tree still had a large amount of fruit on its branches."
Just then, they saw a Rikki-tikki-like creature, but only bigger, and with more developed teeth come forward to snatch another one of the precious walnut-like fruit and scurry away.
It did not scurry too far to avoid being followed. They saw it enter a hollow of a big tree. When they looked in, there were piles and piles of nuts.
"I'm guessing it's not the only squirrel around here," said Amanda.
"No, It was not." the muscles around his mouth tightened when he stooped down and saw what was inside. But he finally stood up straight, with his face impassive as ever. "Let us go and pick the remaining."
She got into business and dropped to her knees. "Don't worry," she said. "There's still nuts that dropped off from the branch." She proceeded to feel the snow to look for bumps.
Amanda looked at Sarek curiously. It would have been easy for him to stretch his hands and get the nuts from inside the hollow. But here they were groping for left-overs on the ground. And even though they could barely find a couple of walnuts on the floor, still he did not steal. He methodically bent down to forage the fruits, and never once did he even offer one wistful glance at the squirrel's hollow. It was simply not his.
They headed back home at the first sign of the sun waning.
"I'm glad we didn't steal from the squirrels," she said as they walked back to their home cave.
"It was not a squirrel," replied Sarek.
"No. It wasn't," replied Amanda. "But I'm glad you're you." Caring more about technicality than stealing food for his hungry stomach.
Sarek held the walnut fruit in his hand and made a gentle squeeze. The nut made a cracking sound, louder than what Amanda would call comfortable or normal. Then he gave her the piece.
The walnuts appeared heavy, but when they cracked one open, there was only a little meat inside about the size of a single pea, but shaped like an ellipse. One nut could hardly constitute as energy for all the work that they do, but it does provide relief from hunger, and it was already better than collecting flowers and licking the nectar at the bottom.
The meat inside could not compensate for the energy she would have to spend trying to crack it open. If Sarek didn't do it for her, she would be in serious trouble.
She held the nut-meat in her hands and looked at it for some considerable second. The nut was so small but she took her time to bite a small piece of it and savour the taste, making it stay longer in her mouth as much as possible.
.oOo.
Amanda dreamt of going into a garden full of nuts. There was a fountain in the middle. The branches of the nuts were all over the place. She sat at the edge of the fountain, and right in front of her, a branch stooped down. She picked one and swelled in gratitude that for once, finding food was so easy. Only she couldn't open it. When she tried to open one, she found that it still had a shell covering and she needed to open up another layer. She tried to crack that open too only to find the same thing. She was really hungry and the only thing in her mind was to get at the fruit at the centre of it. When it was apparent that there was no end to the shell, she lay on the grass and tears started flowing from her face.
"Woman, why are you crying?" said a voice.
She looked up to find Sarek. He was wearing a robe that flowed down to his toes, with embroidered patterns and curling letters she couldn't recognize. He looked so peaceful and clean. His hands were not the hands of a man in hard labour. It was back to being the hands of an aristocrat. "The nut won't open. There are too many shells. I thought I had cracked it open then there is always another. I'm never going to reach the heart."
Sarek stepped towards her and sat next to her.
"You do not have to open it. I give it to you freely," replied Sarek. He ran a thumb to brush her cheek. Amanda closed her eyes to revel in it. She placed her hands over one of his that was touching her face.
"Your hands are warm."
When she opened her eyes again, his blue eyes gazed back at her. Inquisitive - searching. As if he was trying to find something in her eyes. He tilted his head and gave her a smile, peaking at the tip of his mouth.
She woke up to find herself very hungry. The nuts were making her hungrier instead of the opposite. It almost seemed like an obsession instead of a craving. Which was not a bad thing if you think it's just the body wanting to survive. Not overindulge. There was no danger of over-indulgence in their current food supply. She looked wistfully over to their supply of nuts and pursed her lips. They had their share. It was only to be eaten now during an emergency.
Seeing that there was still a big supply of the tree barks, she decided to cook one for herself, but not after casting a sideways glance at Sarek. She saw the lines of a hard person who was probably used to being alert even in sleep. It must have come with the job. Politicians are always ready for signs of murder or bloodbath. But his face was more peaceful now.
She built a fire out of their wood supply and laid a pan over it. She tried to keep herself from making any sound. But the more she tried to move forward with her cooking, the more she realized it was close to impossible. Sarek finally opened his eyes when one of the cooking utensils made a clanging noise.
"I'm sorry for waking you up," whispered Amanda. Sarek got up with one foot, as if he was never asleep and proceeded to go further into the cave.
Amanda ate the tree barks with guilt. She could have moved a little further. How could she be such an inconsiderate ass?
He was gone for a while before Amanda started to worry. She knew he just went to find a quiet place to meditate but there was also a possibility that may have gotten in trouble and needed some help. The light came slowly through the exposed part of the entrance then the snow came steadily bellowing with it, sending flakes to where she sat. One whiff from the wind pushed her back deeper into the cave. It was too dangerous to go outside. She needed to get away from the entrance. She decided to follow him deep into the cave.
Mindful that any voice inside the cave could trigger some fallen rocks, she whispered as loudly as she could.
"Sarek?"
She could smell the air getting musty as she went deeper. The air was damp and cold. There was a shiny thin line on the wall of the cave. At first, she thought it was another object trapped among two fissures. But when she looked closer, she found that it was as much part of the rock, smooth and blended in it like a layer of clay with different colours. Only it wasn't clay. It was hard stones. She followed the line further until it became wider and wider.
She saw Sarek at last. His back was turned. He was looking up to the roof, where a considerable amount of light was falling on the gemstones embedded in the rock.
"What are those shiny things?" said Amanda.
Sarek ran his hand towards the walls of the cave. "Opals." He picked up one loose opal rock from the ground.
Amanda pursed her lips. "If they were nuts, I would have been happier," she muttered.
She went forward, tracing the shining walls with her fingers, when all of a sudden she stepped on some loose pebbles, then down and down she went. She fell. It was like going inside Alice's rabbit hole. Only, it was a slope of pebbles she was falling into, not directly down. It was a generous slope, but not enough to keep her from falling from gravity. And the little pebbles slid right where her boots landed. It was not at all solid. Then suddenly, the falling stopped.
"Amanda! Are you alright?" Sarek was almost shouting.
"Ugh, I think I just stepped on dragonette droppings."
"Amanda."
"I'm fine. No broken bones. Some few gashes" shouted Amanda back.
"Can you see anything?" asked Sarek.
Amanda looked around her. There was a wide-open space in front of her. Stalactites and stalagmites stocked the roof and the floor on the edges. It contained a different glow. It looked so fragile too, as one little push with her hands could topple it all down. On the floor of the cave was a wide bed of yellow bush overgrowth. It was basked in soft sunlight.
"There are a lot of bushes with yellow flowers in here. So many of them. It grew here because sunlight could get in on the far side up the left of the roof." Amanda touched one strand of the bush. Delicate grainy flowers fell to her hands.
"Yes, I had deduced as much. It is fortunate that you have light. If your environment there has none, it would affect our survival greatly."
"I'm thinking of exploring the exit light on the end of the bushes. There may be another way out."
"Please do no such thing. There is a possibility that this plant may be poisonous," there was a slight soft urgency in his voice. "There is also a big probability that it is full of creatures who consider this cave as their home."
"Can you climb up?" she heard Sarek speak again.
Amanda tried to climb. But the small pebbles rolled down where she stepped with her foot.
"I can't. The pebbles get brushed down."
"Acknowledged. Stay in your current position."
"It's not like I can move to a different location," she muttered.
They used two ropes for the climb for the sake of redundancy. Sarek tied the ropes on his end to a steady rock fissure. He signalled that the ropes were secure, then she began her ascent.
Suddenly, there was the sound of falling rocks and he heard Amanda yelp.
"Sarek, a large rock hit my left leg. I can't use it," said Amanda. She was hanging for her life now. Unable to go up, but not willing to go down. No. Going down was not an option. She held on more firmly to the rope. It started to swing.
She wasn't long before she heard the sound of an abrupt tear and snap. She yelped when her balance went berserk but it steadied back again after the initial chaos.
"Are you alright?" he spoke from above.
"I think I am. The rope broke."
There was only one holding her aloft now. There was a gnawing disturbing sound of a rope slowly breaking in tension. That rope finally broke too. Amanda found herself sliding down for the second time.
"Amanda!" there was a breaking in his voice, as if he was going to shout but stopped himself just in time.
"I'm alright," she called out. "It's like landing on cotton. Except there are rocks with the cotton, so I guess that changes things."
"Stay where you are. I will find more durable vines."
"Be careful!" she called back. But she heard no more reply.
.oOo.
Sarek hurried forward outside the cave after he verified that Amanda was safely placed, albeit injured. He widely looked around him in attempts to find a vine for a makeshift rope. But this part of the forest was ill-suited for such a thing. He will have to travel further out in order to get this desired supply.
Sarek hurried forward after he verified that Amanda was safely placed, albeit injured. He widely looked around him in attempts to find a vine for a makeshift rope. But this part of the forest was ill-suited to acquire such a resource. He will have to travel further South to the wetter regions.
"Amanda, I will have to leave you."
"What do you mean?"
"I need vines with sufficient tension that can bear your weight. I shall lower the food supply. It shall be sufficient to sustain you for three days."
"And you?"
"I will forage what I can on the way."
"No!"
"There is no time to argue this."
"I'm fine. You won't be if I take all the food."
"You will not be also. If I do not get back in time."
"I will be fine, Sarek."
"I insist on this."
The last time she heard Sarek's voice was when he lowered the remaining food to her all opened and ready. Amanda ate it slowly, fighting back a range of emotions she no longer had the energy in identifying.
.oOo.
When Sarek was hiking, he noticed that there was something strangely different. The plain was silent as is as should be. But he seems to get an uncomfortable feeling that it wasn't supposed to be.
There was no more singing. Annoying as it may have been, he has acclimated to the human propensity to soothe discomfort through producing other sounds she insists she calls music. Even though he was hard-pressed to call it as such.
But with Amanda gone, he was also free to stride to his full potential. He never had to lessen his pace for her short human legs. Once again he was left to wonder how humans could be satisfied with how little their bodies can achieve.
This made him remember his particular human that he was endeavouring to get back. And it made his pace quicker. It is not certain that any predator could not smell Amanda in. The bone knitter was with her, upon Sarek's insistence, as he pointed out that she was more vulnerable because she did not know any martial arts. Amanda was not convinced, but even if she wanted to, she could not pull the basket back up. His hope that the band of predators have all been hibernating just like the rest and the game of kill or be killed would be temporarily slowed down for the winter as every one of the battles the cold.
It was a necessary omission. He doubted his martial arts could fight a horde of tiny predators. But he could certainly use fire to his advantage. Fast and strong he may seem now, but he found himself strangely vulnerable with her gone. She was his ally. His friend. His t'hy'la. He made his pace quicker. He was going to get her back. And he was not going to let her be in danger again.
.oOo.
Amanda could hear a faint dripping of water from somewhere. She followed it until she reached a pool, waved the tricorder with it, which Sarek also left behind, the arrogant ass.
The water had some bacteria Amanda was not familiar with, but the tricorder also declared it safe to drink. Every now and then some noise would stir inside the cave and she would become hopeful and call out his name. But there would be no reply except the steady drip-drip of the stalactites to the stalagmites.
She wondered once again if Sarek managed to not get himself killed on his way to find durable vines. If only she was with him, then she could see his body just a few steps ahead, perfectly fine.
What if he couldn't find the vines durable enough to hold her weight? What if she was stuck here? Perhaps forever. Her predictions would have gotten more and more unpleasant had she not noticed a peppermint smell coming from her hand. She noticed that she had been absentmindedly pulverizing the yellow plant in her fingers, and it was now emitting a minty smell on her fingers. She moved her fingers close to her nose.
Then she got the idea of brandishing the tricorder on the yellow plants. Just as she thought. It was edible even when raw. A herb that also contained anti-bacterial properties. She took a few on her hands, made sure from the tricorder that it didn't contain any harmful bacteria, then put it into her mouth. The taste was minty and reminded her of a whiff of honey.
She washed it on the pool and made a dinner out of it. But not before feeling a big weight of guilt at letting Sarek go without any food when there was an abundance here. If only she thought of this sooner, Sarek need not hike on an empty stomach. She tried to comfort herself that Sarek was not as weak as she thinks he is. But was he really? He is not the type of person to admit that he's in discomfort and bleeding. But before she could go further with her analysis, she finally heard the familiar voice that sparked fireworks at the first utterance of the syllables.
"Amanda."
For a moment, she was tongue-tied by this revelation of her body. But she managed to dismiss its reaction as simply relief at being found again.
"Amanda," he repeated. "Are you sufficiently prepared to climb back up?"
"Yes."
"Is your injured leg sufficiently healed?"
"Yes."
But when Amanda looked up again from the hole to which she fell from she spoke again, "Sarek, this part is too dangerous. Rocks fall off. I think it's not solid enough."
"Then we will attempt to protect your head during the climb, we can -"
"Sarek, Sarek, listen to me."
"What are you suggesting? That I leave you here and labour for survival on my own?"
"No. I wouldn't want that."
"It would not be an amenable option to me also."
"At the end of the bushes. There's a light. I'm going to follow this light. See if there's a way out that way."
"Provide me with a description of the climb on the other exit."
"Well, the rocks are solid. There's no danger of any falling debris. But - "
"But?"
"But I think this rock is mossy."
"A fall from that slope will lead to your - "
"Death," Amanda finished. "But so will a rock hitting my head on this other way."
He took a long time to respond. "I concede."
Amanda closed her eyes. "Alright."
"I will attempt to locate the opening on the other side of the cave. I will lower the rope from there," said Sarek.
Amanda looked up at the opening where the sun could get in. The climb up to the top was steep. It was almost a 90 degree straight. It was mossy, and a slip with this damp moss could go way down. It was probably a good idea to wait for Sarek.
She was packing the last vestiges of her belongings and as much of the herb she can carry, when she saw a shadow fell across the light.
"Amanda. Can you hear me?"
"Yes, Sarek, I can hear you," replied Amanda.
They planned her second climb more carefully. Sarek checked every possible weak point in the vines he had chosen, making sure each one of them was reinforced. Three lines of thick rope lowered down. She took the rope in her hand to examine it closer. They will still go with redundancy. One rope breaks, there will be two more to carry her weight. Each rope was thick because it was made up of six other thin ones all intertwined to make it stronger.
The first step she took she felt the soles slipping. But her boots had spikes so it was going to stick better at the very least. As Amanda steadily climbed higher, each heave up was a step closer to salvation.
Amanda looked behind her. The floor of the cave looked far. She must now have been near a third of the length. It was surprising how she got far in just a short time.
"Hold the rope firmly. I shall attempt to pull you up," came Sarek's reply.
There was a nervous whoosh in her stomach when another swing imbalance went through the rope. She felt as if the next swing would shake her off. The rope started to pull up. She used her good leg to not let her body get dragged along the rocks. It took half her strength to half-drag her body.
"Don't put too much friction, Sarek. The vines might not take it. Please go slower," she finally called. It was too fast. Any faster and she felt she might accidentally lose her grip.
Sarek was torn. He could feel Amanda's fear and discomfort through the bond. To go slower would mean more taxing on her expended energy to hold on to the rope. But to go faster would mean she may abruptly fall again. He reluctantly lowered his pace. A balancing act. "Is this speed more amenable to your comfort?"
"Bearable than the last," she groaned.
Sarek pulled meter after meter of the rope, and still, Amanda did not appear. He did not want to spend another agonizing second of Amanda dangling on a rope might suddenly snap. He wanted to pull faster but the knowledge that it might injure her further kept his hand.
Sarek pulled in trepidation as he waited and waited on the entrance for Amanda to appear. When her hand finally appeared among the top of the rocks, he quickly pulled out her hand As if the ground would swallow her back in if he did not get a hold of her.
Amanda felt dizzy from the rough climb that what happened next became blurry and fuzzy. Sarek grabbed her hand and pulled it to engulf her into a tight embrace. He did not waste any time pulling her into his arms. He gripped her firmly as if any loose grip on his part would result in her being dragged away back to oblivion. Her knees shook and fatigue overcame her. Amanda fell to his chest panting. It fell to Sarek to support her weight so she would not collapse to the ground.
Then all of a sudden, he heard Amanda gasp behind him. "Well, would you look at that."
Sarek turned behind him to see what she wanted looked at. The place was full of overgrown branches and twigs. Their leaves were bare, but on the other hand, there were nuts in it. The lovely walnuts that Amanda seem to be longing for. It was her version of Winter Wonderland. It was like a hidden abandoned orchard at the backyard of a house, with the twigs and fallen branches all over the ground and no one to clean it up. Secret from everyone except a few. There was a certain sense of quietness in the place, that when she stepped on a twig, she could hear it crack it loud and clear.
Sarek held the nearest branch. There was ice everywhere that seem to stick out like porcupine needles but he found one walnut inside it, cracked it open with one of his hands, then offered it to her.
"I believe you asked for this."