Traveling with Annie was difficult. Nunu and Willump were used to avoiding towns and caravans, as most people were at best wary and at worst openly hostile of the yeti, they were used to roughing it in the wilderness. No, traveling with Annie was difficult because she wasn't as used to surviving on her own as they were. Traveling with his mom, Nunu learned how to travel light with the caravan, and from other elders how to hunt and trap game for food. Annie had lived a (somewhat) sheltered life. She had told him that her father did the hunting, while she mostly stayed at home. She hadn't shared the fact that she played up her innocence to leech off sympathetic families, so never learned even after finding herself on her own. He didn't need to know that.

They were traveling along the river. This time not by ice skating or ice rafting. The wagon they had found a few days back was becoming too beat up to ford the river properly, so it was hitched to the back of Willump while the yeti walked along the riverbank. Willump was carrying both kids, Nunu riding atop his head while Annie sat in his arms. The yeti didn't mind them, he was all too happy to let them ride aboard. If they needed to travel at night, they would sleep in the wagon while he pulled.

A chill ran over the trees and down through the river. Annie shivered and curled further into Willump's warm fur. She cupped her hands around her mouth and blew a small puff of fire into them. The warmth spread, and she rubbed it onto her arms.

Nunu noticed and leaned down onto Willump's head. "We need to get you some warmer clothes. Those won't do once we reach Freljord."

Annie looked down at her purple dress and knee socks, and then frowned. He had a point. If what she heard about Freljord was true, then that place was literally all ice during the winter. Nothing but endless blue and white ice. She wouldn't want to get sick again after just recovering. And she definitely didn't want to become an Annie-cicle. Her fire magic couldn't keep her warm forever.

"We should head into a town, see if we can't trade anymore of these goods for warmer clothes." Nunu said.

"What about the furs we already have. Why can't I just wrap myself in those?" Annie wanted to argue. She really hated heading into towns, there was always the fear of rumors spreading too far. One town ran her out before she could even step through the gate, the story of a child witch scared all of the villagers and they didn't want to risk letting her stay within their walls.

"That's just furs. They aren't tailored to wear." He rolled his eyes, obviously you can't drape fur over yourself and call it a day. Specially tailored winter wear will keep Annie much warmer than layers of mismatched cloth and leather. "There should be a lumber town up this way!"

"Oh yeah? How do you know that?"

"Cause of the logs." Nunu pointed up the river. There was fork in the river, where one branch was dammed off specially to allow water through but no logs. And there was many many logs floating in the water. The logs would bounced off the dam and floated down the correct channel. Creating an endless supply of logs for the town further downstream to pick up. It was more practical to use the river to transport than to have horse drawn carts.

Nunu watched them carefully. Noting the direction the water flowed. Willump and come to a stop and was angling to let the kids off of him. Nunu hopped off and was followed by Annie. The little girl was looking down the river. She brushed her fingers and gasped at how cold it was. Fire engulfed her hand and the water steamed off of it. This water was freezing! They'd have to figure out a different way across. The wagon wouldn't do any longer. Annie looked around. Maybe they could just walk along the side. She noticed that the far end was flanked by steep cliffside, so that wouldn't do. The side they were on was also becoming rockier. They'd have to head back into the forest and travel through there. The river was too risky to travel by for now.

Nunu jumped from the river bank onto a passing log.

"Hey careful!" Annie wanted to scold him. If he fell in he'd catch pneumonia, her dad always warned her not to stay out in the rain or cold too long or else. There was also the danger of getting stuck underneath too many logs. He'd drown if that happened.

"What!?" He called back, the log already drifting farther down the river.

"I said be CAREFUL!" Annie wanted to say a word no kid her age should say. She turned to Willump help her reel in Nunu's adventurous nature. While the yeti could be just as playful and carefree, it at least knew when to be responsible.

At least it should know! Annie saw Willump gathering enough logs to join his friend, ditching the wagon entirely. The wagon that had all the goods worth trading. Annie stifled her frustration and ran over to the cart, they should at least take some of the goods. Willump jumped and the logs bobbed in the water, struggling to keep the big guy afloat. The yeti laughed and hopped to a different log, chasing after the kid like it was a simple game of tag.

"C'mon Annie, catch up! It'll be just like the story with the frog! Crossing impossible rivers to find its family!"

Annie grabbed an arm full of furs and jumped onto a log. It began tipping and she yelped and jumped to the next one. Then the next one And the next one. Her free arm pinwheeled around, trying to keep her balance. She was scared she'd almost fall in when the log was stabilized when ice formed around it. Ice captured the nearest set of logs, tethering them together and creating a makeshift raft. Annie breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Nunu using his magic.

He smiled at her and laughed. "Hey slowpoke."

She huffed and pushed the furs into his arms. The furs fell into his lap as he doubled over backwards. "Lay these out, I don't want to sit on the cold ice." She crossed her arms, and made it a point that he should listen to her or else he'd find the ice melting beneath his feet.

His brows furrowed at her unexpected rudeness. He took the largest pelt and rolled it out, deciding that it would be more comfortable if it was placed over the largest log at the center of the raft. As he smoothed out any wrinkles, Annie came and sat at the center. She was brushing any dirt off Tibbers that might have gotten on him from her mad dash to follow after him. Nunu saw that she was making a point of not paying any attention to him, and if he couldn't notice that, the small heat wave coming off of her was more transparent.

Willump came paddling by with his own raft, the logs only held together by his extra arms. He was half soaked from the waist down, having struggled with getting his together. Nunu's raft was larger, so Willump tried to climb aboard. The raft tilted wildly and Annie yelped. She fell onto her stomach and glared at Willump. The big guy sheepishly let go and stayed on his own log. The raft tilted back to a stable position, but Annie kept her death grip on the fur pelt tight.

Nunu looked uncomfortable, glancing back to Willump and an annoyed Annie. "Um…"

"The town's coming up." Annie said cutting him off. She sat back up and brushed the wrinkles out of her dress. "Willump should hide before we gets too close."

"R-right." Nunu looked over to his friend and the yeti paddled off. Angling himself to the closest river bank. "He'll stay close enough to the city's edge. We can meet him when we decide to leave."

"Great." Annie said, eyes still on the town ahead.

…

Nunu didn't know how to handle the silent treatment. He still didn't know what he did wrong. Annie was staying barely in talking distance as they wandered the small market square together. The place turned out to be a cross road for trade, but only for a few fringe towns at the edge of civilization. There was a wide variety of goods for sale, but nothing extravagant. The most expensive thing Nunu saw was from a traveling merchant heading through the town coming all the way from Piltover. They were selling some expertly crafted hunting rifles. This far north, rifles and guns were still very much new technology. The concept of blackpowder was known, but everyone had doubts about the actual usefulness of it. At the outrageous prices the merchant was asking for, people will be carrying those doubts for a long time.

"Looking for anything kid?" A merchant asked. This wasn't the one selling the guns. A older woman that wore her age on her face. Her hair was held up in a bun and was greying at the temples.

"Yes, we're looking for a tailor. We got furs that we need to turn into a set of traveling cloths." Nunu said.

"We?" The woman looked over to see Annie hovering nearby, she was eyeing the guns with a mixed sense of fascination. Anything that burned she was curious about. The gun merchant was showing off sparklers, hand held fireworks that were 'safe' for kids. The woman nodded, noticing that compared to Nunu, the girl was underdressed for the cold weather. She had pelts wrapped around her tightly and she suppressed a shiver when a cool breeze came through the square. "I have some coats you could look at. I'll trade them for the furs themselves, so you kids don't have to wait in the cold for me to craft them."

"Thanks!" Nunu turned to Annie and called her over. She gave him the side eye, eventually walking over when she was done looking at the fireworks.

The woman waved them inside her large cart. It doubled as her shop, the adjoining tent would triple the size the cart would provide on its own. The place also had some torches inside, providing warmth for any who'd come inside. All around Nunu and Annie hung leathers and pelts. Rolled up in elaborate displays. Next to the displays were tunics and cloaks, patterns and designs the shop owner could create after the customer choose their preferred fur. Annie continued further into the tent, brushing pass Nunu without saying anything, trying to find something that wasn't too large for her.

"She looks quite upset." The woman mused, she smiled knowingly at Nunu as the kid rubbed the back of his head.

"Uh, yeah, I don't know why though." Nunu glanced back at Annie, she was feeling a pelt between her fingers, the bushy fur engulfing the little digits. "I should apologize, mom said to always apologize if you did something wrong."

"That is true, but if you don't know what you did wrong, then the apology is hollow of meaning. You end up saying sorry just to say sorry." The woman pat Nunu on the head. "Think about it first, and maybe get her a gift while you're at it. That always cheers me up after a fight with my wife."

"She likes sweets…" Nunu mused.

"The cart next to mine is my brother's. He's a candy maker, tell him his sister Ajanna said you can get anything you wanted, pay him a visit while I help your girlfriend."

"Thank- whu, she's not my- she's a-"

Ajanna smiled sweetly. "A girl that is only a friend. I understand."

Nunu blushed and hurried to the cart. Running off in one direction before turning around to head off in the other.

Ajanna walked over to Annie and knelt down to her. She held out a leather for Annie to see. "How about this? The pelt is a soft beige, it will match the young boy's yellow coat."

"I don't want to match." Annie pouted. She purposefully looked at something black. She adjusted the furs wrapped around her, holding them tight against her bare arms. "All this stuff is too big for me."

"I have some coats your size further back." Ajanna held her hand out, but Annie refused to take it. Taking no offense, she walked further into the shop. Here there was coats for kids, not many shops made clothes for kids, especially in the more rural towns. It was too expensive to keep making a new set of clothing each time a kid outgrew their current ones. Most shops would make something large for everyone to wear, or use excess fabric that a tailor could adjust as the kid grew.

Annie was drawn to a blue coat hanging off to the side, it had an inner lining of white fur like Nunu's cloak. It even had a hood so Annie could keep her head warm. It was quite lovely. Annie walked closer to it and the shop owner followed close by. She felt the material between her fingers, it was incredibly soft to the touch. There was even wool packed between the inner and outer layer, insulation against the cold.

"That one is falling out of fashion, so I can sell it to you for a discount."

"We only have the furs to trade." Annie looked down at the fur around herself. She got mad again at Nunu and Willump for ditching their cart. If they brought that along they would no doubt have more to trade for.

"That's quite alright." Ajanna said. She removed the blue coat from the display. Allowing Annie to hold it up to see if it would fit. "I can't leave a young girl to freeze in the winter. Besides, you underestimate that fur you're holding. That is some quality wolf pelt you've got."

Annie looked down at the fur. It looked just like normal wolf furs to her.

"Fair trade, I give you the coat for… let's say the pelt, and an ear."

"An ear?" Annie stepped back confused.

"An ear open to an apology, from a friend." Ajanna smiled. "The little boy you're with will figure out what he did wrong eventually. So for the coat, you give me the furs and promise that you'll hear him out when he comes back."

Annie shrugged off the furs and gently folded them into a neat square. She handed them over but Ajanna didn't take them until Annie promised she would hear Nunu out.

…

Annie stepped outside the tent. Her new coat fit perfectly, the blue contrasted against her red hair nicely (way better than she thought it would), and the white fur lining was much warmer and was better protection against the cold than the furs pelts. Maybe it's cause this was tailor made to be worn. The kind shop owner even threw in a pair of gloves for her. Annie rubbed her hands together, the wool mittens warming at her touch. She shuffled her feet, waiting patiently for Nunu to come back.

She looked back at Ajanna, probably the only adult besides her father that she liked. The old woman waved her goodbye, before someone caught her eye. Annie turned around, following her gaze to see Nunu coming back. In his arms was a large bag of chocolate goods.

Annie was about to scold him for wasting what little money they had, when she remembered they didn't have any money and the furs they had, she traded for the coat. Nunu held the out the bag for Annie to take. His head bowed a little, as his foot dug a little circle in the dirt.

"Sometimes, I forget... Willump and I traveled alone together for so long now that sometimes we can do reckless things, things that can upset others, just cause we think it could be fun. You probably didn't think it was fun chasing after me an Willump across those logs. And you were scared of falling in, and didn't like me teasing you for being too slow… I'm sorry for making you to worry."

Annie took the bag, and glanced over to Ajanna, she tugged her ear, silently reminding Annie what she promised. Annie nodded and turned back to Nunu. "Apology accepted."

Nunu raised his head and smiled.

"I'm not sharing any of this, just so you know." Annie too a bite of chocolate. Enjoying the sweet and bitter taste. She'd promised to listen to him, she made no promise about sharing.

"Aww but-"

Annie blew a raspberry at him and ran off. Nunu gave chase, not actually upset about the chocolate, only happy his friend was no longer mad at him.