Mal and Baghra had been sludging through the snow all day and night. They were lucky to not have run into an Grisha since the last attack and assumed they had gotten further away so that there was at least a day's distance between them. Mal was feeling exhausted. He couldn't sleep at night, thinking about Alina and the stag. Baghra seemed to sleep fine but Mal would lay awake at night, staring up at the stars in the sky and tossing and turning. It wasn't even that the climate and environment made his sleep unbearable, not that he enjoyed sleeping on the hard ground, but he was used to it, being in the army and all.

Baghra was still getting on his nerves and there had come times where he wanted to get up in the middle of his sleepless night and carry on without her, but he needed her. She was right, he was no match against the Grisha. at the attack, he could have easily been killed by that Heartrender if he hadn't of shot him in the neck. As much as he hated Baghra's coldness and snappy tone, Mal couldn't just leave her on her own, even though she'd probably survive fine out here. He was doing this for Alina and if she found of, he left that woman to die by the hands on Kirigan, she'd be furious.

Mal knelt on the snow, looking intently at the prints laid in front of him. they were getting close; he could feel it. he knew this feeling from the first time he found the stag.

"We're getting close" Mal said softly to Baghra who stood shivering.

"Well good, it's freezing out here" she grumbled and Mal huffed.

"Well then maybe you should have brought a blanket" he groaned and felt the whack of her cane on his side. He hissed and rubbed his side but refrained from making a remark. The sooner they found the stag, the sooner they could make a camp and he could keep Baghra from moaning every minute. They walked on, the snow crunching underneath their boots. The sun was setting and darkening the forest.

They came to a clearing and Mal sensed the stag was very close. He stopped abruptly, peering into the clearing. Small low crunches echoed against the trees and bushes, soft grunts following it. Mal stared at the darkness of the trees on the other side as something moved forward slowly, creeping out into the light of the middle of the clearing.

Bright white fur and tall antlers emerged from the trees, the subtle glow from the stag lighting up the middle of the clearing. Even though Mal had seen the stag before, it was still a shock to him as if this was the first time again. and Baghra was even more in shock. All these years of believing Morozova's stag was a legend, a fairy-tale, a myth had instantly blown up by the few seconds of the stag gracefully walking forward.

The stag came forward, it's nose to the ground sniffing softly, searching for food below the snow. It nudged the snow away, unearthing some grass and nibbled on it. Mal turned to Baghra and whispered.

"What now?".

"We need to capture it but not harm it, can you get close to it without it running?' she said and Mal nodded. He turned and gently dropped his rifle on the floor, not wanting to startle the stag. If it ran, their search would have been for nothing. Mal was about to step forward but Baghra called him back.

"Here" she threw a long piece of rope with a lasso at the end, ready to Mal to catch the stag so it wouldn't run. Mal's heart was beating fast, pounding inside his chest, his nerves greater than he ever had felt before. he took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a second and thought about Alina.

This is for you Alina

Mal's boots crunched the snow underneath and he stopped, his eyes flickering to the stag, scared he had made his presence aware, but the stag didn't budge. It stood gracefully eating the grass, it's eyes down and unaware of the tracker advancing. Mal started again, slowly and gently walking forward to not startle it. Not only would he be disappointed if the stag was to run but so would Baghra and he was sure he wouldn't hear the end of it.

He was now only inches from the stag and when he took another step closer, the stag lifted its head quickly, his dark black eyes staring into Mal, but it didn't run. It stood still for a moment and then quirked its head to the side. Mal slowly lifted the lasso, a tight grip on the end. There was a chance the stag would try and make a run if Mal put the lasso around it and he needed to not be pulled over in that chance.

The stag kept on staring and shuffled on its legs as if it was about to turn and bolt off. Mal took the chance and quickly flung the lasso over its head. Its antlers were so big however that the lasso got stuck just on its head and the stag tugged and whinnied, kicking its legs up. Mal tugged down on the rope, pulling its neck down to rein it in and the stag bucked and grunted.

"Help" Mal called for Baghra who rushed over with another rope, flinging it around its neck and tied it tightly into a knot. Baghra pulled on her end of the rope, keeping the stag under control which bucked and kicked out, hoping it escape the two.

"Easy, easy" Mal hushed and then realised that his own lasso was choking the stag. He quickly reached up to pull it off and release its death grip it had. The stag stopped kicking and bucking but still tugged at Baghra's leash and grunted, shaking its head ferociously. Mal held out his hands as a gentle gesture to show the stag they didn't mean harm and it slowly calmed down, only tugging every now and then as it leaned forward and sniffled Mal's hand. Baghra was still in shock that she was standing so close to the stag.

Suddenly, Mal chuckled, letting out a huff and grinned over at Baghra who furrowed her brows.

"What are you laughing about?" she snapped and Mal took a moment to catch his breath.

"We've got it, we got the stag" he breathed.

"And that's funny because…" Baghra didn't seem to understand what was going on.

"I just never thought this would actually come true, me and you standing here with it, in our hands" Mal rubbed his face with his hands, wiping the sweat he hadn't realised was there.

"Well, we have it and now we need to find a safe place where no one will find us" Baghra said and Mal nodded. He took his rope and made another leash, gently tying it around the stag's neck but not too tight to hurt it. it was important they didn't harm it as Alina needed to be the one to take its amplifier and kill it. the stag pulled against their gentle tugs as they moved to find camp.

Hey so I hope you like it, what do you think will happen next, let me know in the reviews.