It took hours to dig themselves out of the cave and climb up to the safe ground again. The path was as good as gone. Tsubasa tried to handle the map in the flurry.
"We must get over the ridge and try to descend to the valley from that direction", he shouted over the wind which was now howling fiercely around them. "Let's hope the hill is not so steep there!"
Climbing in the avalanched snow was difficult and they were in a constant fear it to make it move again for a minor jolt. The whipping snow hurt their faces and made their eyelids bleed, despite the hoods. When finally on the safe side, Kiti was near to fall on her knees. She couldn't remember the last time she had feared that much.
There were no snowdrifts on this side of the ridge. The wind had blew all of them away, leaving only a couple of inches of hard-packed snow on the gently sloping ground. Tsubasa directed them swiftly towards the tree line which loomed through the storm.
"It's about ten kilometres to the valley. Don't know if we can make it before dark but..." he stopped abruptly and lifted his head, listening.
"A helicopter! Who on earth is crazy enough to fly in this weather?" He snatched his hood off his head and listened the approaching noise. A tiny voice was mocking in his head: "Three blind mice, see how they run..." I know what they felt there in the middle of the floor, he thought.
There was no place to hide. They couldn't dig into the hard snow and the nearest bushes were far down the hill.
"What the hell are you doing?! Having a nap?" Kyoya roared when Kiti all of a sudden took her sleeping mat and spread it on the snow.
"Let's toboggan, guys! Sit on your ass and lift your legs!" She thumped herself on the mat and ushered the boys behind her. The sound of the helicopter neared fast, but their own speed increased even faster. The first stunted shrubs zipped swiftly by.
"Lean left!" Kiti shrieked when a big rock appeared out of the blue – or white – in front of them. She thrust her heel on the snow, making it whirl on their faces. The mat tacked but the speed didn't decrease.
"To the right! Now left! Left!"
They zigzagged between the bushes until a soft drift gave way under them, making them roll topsy-turvy into the undergrowth. With their eyes and ears full of snow they dived into the drift and stayed listening how the copter hovered somewhere above them, near the place where they had got over the ridge. They followed its wobbling movements until it turned to south and disappeared.
Kyoya gathered himself from the drift. He tried to remove the snow from his clothes and cursed when the cold drops run down his back.
"I don't think they saw us." Tsubasa said and turned to Kiti. "You still have the bey?"
She fumbled on her coat and swallowed.
Where is it?! Oh my God if I've dropped it...
Kyoya grabbed annoyed her collar.
"Do I have to find it for you?!"
The answer was an enormous handful of snow slapped on his face.
"Calm down, both of you!" Tsubasa stepped quickly between them. "If you are going to fight, do it later! We must get out of here, it's darkening already!"
With a sullen look Kiti pulled her sleeping mat out of the drift.
"So you still got it?" Tsubasa required. She nodded without looking at him. Kyoya stood a few steps away, breathing heavily. The falling snow was turning into rain.
"Let's go."
Determinedly the Eagle turned and headed towards the valley.
The darkness had fallen long ago when the tired and soaked trio neared the village. It didn't snow anymore, it poured, and they were wet to their skins. Freezing and hungry they entered the cold cottage by the light of Tsubasa's flashlight.
Kiti knelt by the fireplace and fished – literally – the tinderbox out of her pocket. She piled quickly some wood and kindling and sparked.
"You can't make it burn that way." Kyoya's annoyed voice came from the darkness behind her. "You have built it totally upside down."
Kiti's hands stopped in the middle of the movement. She arose on her feet. Slowly.
Tsubasa swallowed when he saw her focus her burning gaze on Kyoya's face, as muddy and scratched as her own.
"Lissen, manebug.", she hissed between her teeth. "I have lived my whole life in a place where it's below zero the best part of the year." She took a step closer and clenched her fist. "And now you are trying to teach me how to build a fire!?"
She wasn't as tall as he, her voice wasn't but a whisper, but the devilish glow in her mismatched eyes made even the Lion think twice before answering. Tsubasa tried desperately think how to prevent the situation turn into a fistfight. One more word and they would be on each others throats, unless...
He felt his hand touch something metallic on the floor beside his pack. The mess kit. He lifted it as high as he could and let it drop on the floor with a hellish clatter. Kiti blinked. Kyoya grunted and turned away. The spell was broken, and in couple of minutes a blazing fire was sparkling in the fireplace.
The atmosphere in the cottage was more than ominous. They had undressed their soaked garments without a single thought to the modesty and spread them to dry as best they could. Wrapped in her sleeping bag Kiti huddled by the fire again. She was so mad she wasn't even hungry anymore. Everything irritated her. Despite the fact they'd got what they'd came for, despite the fact they were all safe and almost warm again (well, safe at least at the moment), despite the fact Tsubasa was preparing something to eat for them all...
Why I'm feeling like this? This kind of anger shouldn't appear until next week. Or is my system so confused of all these circumstances that... and do I have any necessities with me? The hell I do!
She bent her head on her knees to hold back a roar.
Tsubasa stirred the stew, watching secretly the boiling girl. He could clearly sense the red-glowing aura of rage around her and took care to stay at respectful distance.
"I'd only like to know if this has something to do with Bluewolf", he thought. "Or only with Kyoya and the circumstances?" The look the girl had had in her eyes reminded him too much the one he had once seen in his own eyes, not so long ago.
"She seems to manage it quite neatly, anyhow. Is it because it's just pure rage not poisoned with fear or despair like mine? Or is she already familiar with it?"
There were too many unanswered questions concerning Bluewolf, too. He would have liked to have a closer look on the bey but decided to wait for a better moment. Their way back to the civilization worried him. In this weather they could be sure nobody but a ranger of special forces would near the village, but on the other hand it prevented them to leave it. And when the storm ceased, how soon the assailants would be on them again?
When the stew was ready he handed a bowl to Kyoya who took it without a word. Kiti didn't even stir when he put another bowl beside her.
"What a team!" he thought grumpily and sat on the floor to eat his share.
Kiti lifted her head with a jerk.
Did I fall asleep? What time it is?
The anger had disappeared, making room for an infernal hunger. She noticed the cooled bowl beside her.
Good old Tsubasa!
She looked gratefully towards her sensei who was investigating the map by flashlight. The boys had already eaten, Kyoya was bandaging his feet again.
I should check if I have any dry clothes left. And put that darned bey to some safe pocket. And re-braid my hair. She pulled absent-mindedly a thistle off her braid-tip. Where the heck did I catch that? And where is my comb?
The last clean shirt felt luxurious. She sighed contently and tried to resolve the best place to keep the bey on their way back. Somehow the pockets didn't feel safe enough. She was pondering if she should give it to Tsubasa when a muffled sound near the fireplace caught her attention. Tsubasa had poked the fire and was now sitting by it, plucking his hair. Kiti hadn't understood the word but was pretty sure she guessed the meaning of it. Kyoya lifted his head.
"What now?"
"Nothing. These damned thistles!" A tuft of hair got loose with the next pull.
Kyoya smiled spitefully.
"Need a scissors, Pocahontas? Or a knife to scalp?"
The answer was very similar than the beginning of the whole discussion. Kiti looked at them for a moment. Another little devil (maybe a cousin for the first one) was whispering in her mind. She took her comb.
"Let me help." She stepped softly to the fireplace and sat behind the astonished Eagle.
"This is easier if you see what you are doing."
Tsubasa's hands were stopped halfway in the air. He felt how capable fingers started to pull the thistles off one after another, caressing his hair and scalp. Kiti continued her chatter.
"But you have a whole plantation of them here! You really dived deep to that drift."
She straightened her back even more when she felt Kyoya's sharp eyes on her back.
Glare as much you want, sourpuss, this is a change I won't miss!
She had wanted to do this for a long time. The silvery hair in her hands was like silk spun out of moonlight. She touched the metal clip with her fingertips.
"I need to take this off."
"I'll take it." Tsubasa snatched quickly the clip and hide it in his pocket.
"It looks great. Where have you got it?"
"Just an ancestral." His tone didn't invite to ask for more. Kiti understood the hint and focused on her work, quietly humming.
Tsubasa dared hardly to breath. The touch of her hands in his hair was something... He couldn't describe it by words but he knew he wouldn't mind if it continued half the eternity. Not even the pinching of the biggest knots could disturb the heavenly feeling. He closed his eyes and let his muscles to relax.
When the last of the thistles was picked and threw into fire Kiti stood up.
"You put that clip back yourself?"
"Yes. Thanks."
He looked the girl who stood there in her oddly shaped dress of a sleeping bag. He would have liked to ask her to sit beside him again. Very close.
"My pleasure." She smiled and tip-toed to her corner.
Kyoya was already asleep, his face turned to the wall.
A/N: Yep, she's a naughty one. But hey, who of us would have said "No" to such an opportunity? ;-)