⧗ CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR ⧗
Dmitri awoke to empty arms. "Ksenia?"
At first, she wasn't immediately visible, and Dmitri had a brief moment of panic, scrambling out of the tangle of sleeping bag fabric, before he discovered Ksenia just outside the cave entrance, by the water. Carving up more arrows in the morning light.
He relaxed immediately. "Catch anything for breakfast?"
"No," Ksenia looked up and smiled at him. Her hair was a mess, but in what Dmitri thought was an attractive way, emblematic of last night's activities. She waved a stick back and forth. "Seems the fish don't like mornings either. I suspect we'll find something as we go along today. No need to hang around any longer than we have to."
Dmitri agreed, and set about packing their things. As he went, he asked, "How much longer do you think we have?"
"At this point, the Red Room can't be more than a day or two away," Ksenia said, squinting into the distance. "To put us out farther than a week's trip would risk potential runaway behavior. Not that it wouldn't get them killed. But it's just as possible civilians might find us. And that's a little harder to clean up."
"I can't believe there are settlements that close,"
"Maybe not, but even villagers will travel far for good hunting grounds," Ksenia replied, standing up and taking her backpack when he handed it over. "I'd rather not meet them myself."
"Can I have my knife back?" Dmitri asked, hand out.
Ksenia blinked, as if she'd forgotten she were holding it. "Oh, right. Of course."
He tucked it back into the sheath, and tucked it inside his coat. "I hope the others are doing okay. Hopefully they have more than we do."
"I'm sure they're fine," Ksenia waved her hand, and began leading the way forward. "If we're that close, we'll probably be running into them soon."
Soon, it turned out, would not be for a while yet. Dmitri wouldn't say he was thoroughly lost — his compass still indicating they were heading in a southerly direction — but he could hardly say if they were going in the right direction or not. Ksenia had traced maps in the dirt for him to study, but they were hardly cartological wonders. He should've done a better job memorizing them himself instead of relying on Ksenia's rather questionable drawing skills.
"Can't believe you're critiquing my skills as an artist," she huffed as they turned up a hill around the river. "It's not like they teach us to be Da Vinci."
Indeed, Dmitri couldn't say artistic skills were heavily taught at the Red Room. To sketch city streets or character profiles, sure. But wide ranging maps of endless barren wilderness was a bit difficult. Especially with so few landmarks. "I'm not critiquing you. I'm just hoping we don't get turned around."
"We won't," Ksenia sniffed, in that haughty way of hers that Dmitri had come to find endearing. "I have a natural sense of direction. Don't laugh!"
And on they went, that cloudy sky forever unchanging.
Dmitri had to battle not only with cold temperatures and an ever encroaching hunger, but the blisters on his feet as well. They developed after the first day and had only gotten worse from there. After a few started bursting, Dmitri grew worried the fluid would worsen the chilling effects of frostbite. So far, besides a little uncomfortable moistness, he had yet to see signs of trench foot.
The name alone sounded thoroughly unattractive, Dmitri didn't even want to think about how it might look or smell.
And then there were the thoughts to the previous night. Dmitri didn't think it was unreasonable that he had a difficult time not thinking about it. But what to say? Ksenia hadn't mentioned it yet. And now he feared it might be getting awkward the longer he waited.
A very mundane problem to be having while lost in Siberia.
"So," Dmitri began about a couple hours into their hike. Better late than never. "About last night."
"Oh?" Ksenia cut him a look over her shoulder. A teasing smile. Frightening, but also a relief. "Hoping for a round two?"
"Uh," Dmitri nearly tripped on a rock before catching himself. "N-no. I mean! Maybe. Yes. Not right away! Or anything. Just that — it was good. I liked it."
"I liked it, too," Ksenia smiled back at him. "Figured we'd make it worth it, since you don't want to risk it in the Red Room. Never know when a chance like that will pop up again. "You listened to me. And that will be rare. These things are all about give and take, Dmitri. That's what they say in class, right? We give our bodies over so that we can take back something even more valuable later. Sometimes I wonder if it's always going to… justify itself. If it makes up for what we'll be putting ourselves through. And I just — I wanted something. For myself. For us. No transaction. Something… something pure. So I'll always remember what it's like when it feels right."
"Yeah," Dmitri said, feeling utterly lame he had nothing to add to such a provoking thought. Conceptually, yes, he understood the need for such… transactions. Sex was just another type of currency they were taught to use. But after last night, Dmitri had come to understand that, just like words in a textbook, sex was not so easily described or defined. Some would be able to put it in a box and tuck it away where it doesn't affect them. Some won't. Some can't.
Because sex was currency, but it was also power. And with power, came control. And if they weren't careful, it could hurt.
At length, he said, "I think it'll be something I'll have to learn. To compartmentalize."
"I'm sure you will," Ksenia told him, a small tilt of her head. "I suppose we all have to. There's no getting around it. This may be the modern world, but I imagine it will still be a long time coming before it stops needing the world's oldest profession."
Dmitri tried to find the bright side to it. "And we'll be damn good at it."
Ksenia laughed, a clear ringing sound bouncing off the rocks and snow.
They continued further on, as morning turned to noon. They stopped briefly to rest, and it wasn't long after they had started again afterwards did Dmitri spot something.
It was no longer possible to walk along the river anymore, riding deep between a gorge, crossing large rocky outcroppings and low mountains. It was crossing along the ridge of one did he see movement in distance. At first, he thought it was animals, maybe deer, on the far side of the river, perhaps a couple miles away. Dots in a distant field. But as he squinted, he could see the creatures weren't deer - but bipedal. Girls.
"Hey, look!" He pointed them out to Ksenia, who came to a stop at his side. "That has to be the others!"
"It must be," Ksenia's brow furrowed, "There's no way we can reach them from here. The slope is too steep. And they probably couldn't hear us from this far away."
"Yeah," Dmitri frowned, judging the hill beneath them to be too risky to even attempt going down. Mostly shale and ice. Liable to break his neck. He looked back at the distant figures. He counted four in all; Oksana, Sabina, Rava, Annika. All of them, alive and well, it seemed. Somehow having found each other in the end.
"It's okay," Ksenia nudged him with her elbow, gesturing to move forward. "We'll catch up with them when we all get back to the Red Room. We're not missing anything."
"Right, right…" Dmitri muttered. Both groups were heading in the same general direction, so they must be going the right away after all. But they'd quickly lose sight of the other group as they continued along the mountain and the landscape blocked them from view.
There were trodden paths to follow now, skinny and nearly hidden beneath the ice. But enough that there was a relatively easy path to follow. It lead them along further and further until there came a fork in the road. One leading down, but northeast, away from their general heading; likely to turn around the steep terrain eventually, but a detour. The most straightforward path seemed to be straight ahead — climbing upwards.
"I think we should go this way," Ksenia said, pointing up a narrow path, going up instead of down. "I think I remember there being a shortcut. Faster going through than around, right?"
"Um, sure," Dmitri didn't remember enough of the maps to disagree. And if it was quicker this way, who was he to argue if it was a more difficult trek. At this point, he was sick and tired of the wilderness and wanted a hot meal and warm bed again.
The detour might be faster going down, but would it really save time compared to the straightforward route? In the end, Dmitri figured the difference would be negligible, maybe a day at the most. It would require extra hunting and rest, and they were alright for now, but he was afraid their luck would be running out soon. He was so sure they were going to run into a bear if they didn't get home soon enough.
Ksenia led the way up the steep mountain path, carefully picking her away around loose rocks, pebbles skittering down beneath Dmitri's feet. It was more arduous than he thought, Dmitri found, an hour in and the climb hadn't leveled out yet. They hadn't yet reached any peak, so they couldn't see what yet lay beyond.
The path weaved through some sheer walls and old ice floes, now frozen over. Their footsteps echoed like thunder off the tall rocky surfaces. Every now and then their movements would startle a bird or some small rodent from its hiding place. But they were very much alone here. Dmitri still kept an eye out for bears.
And then, just as he was coming close to call for another break and rest his tired calves, there came a bend in the path. A breeze cut through, growing stronger as they stepped out onto a cliff side, overlooking a great plain below. A few small hills before the land flattened out again. A stunning sight, but that's not what caught Dmitri's attention.
In the far distance, little more than a disturbance in the smooth horizon line, was the silhouette of that old Czar palace. The Red Room.
"There it is!" Dmitri almost shouted, that was the level of his glee. He could almost cry in relief at the sight of it, even as far away as it was. It had to be dozens of miles away, considering the height he was at to see it — but that was far closer and far more tangible than it had been since Dmitri was first dropped into Siberia days ago.
"Ksenia, look!" He called, when his joy wasn't immediately echoed. Dmitri looked around, surprised she wasn't there. "Ksenia? Where —?"
He never saw her coming.
One moment, Dmitri caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. Then a crack, followed by a terrible pain erupting at the back of his skull.
Dmitri hit the ground hard, stars in his eyes.
Tears sprung from the pain, but for a moment Dmitri felt utterly paralyzed. The breath had been knocked out of him, and something warm and wet dribbled down the back of his head and neck.
Dazed, he rolled back, the world swimming violently before him — his eyes struggling to focus on the figure before him.
Ksenia, standing above him, bloody rock in her hand and fire burning in her eyes.