It was well past noon, and after an infuriatingly long break, the three of them were on their way again.
Frostnova watched in disinterest as Fredrich's breaths formed faint clouds of steam in the air. At Andrey's suggestion, she had slowed her pace somewhat. And for once, the researcher was keeping up with her steps. If only barely.
It would have to do for now.
Frostnova let out a quiet laugh at the irony. It had been Fredrich driving the two of them forward, to leave the camp as quick as possible. And now?
Fredrich had apparently heard her, for he turned to look at her.
"Just thinking of something." Frostnova replied. Hm, she shouldn't have been so obvious.
"Were you?" Andrey asked.
"Fredrich's barely keeping up now; seems all the rush when we left the camp was just for show." Frostnova kept her amusement contained, continuing with a light smile. "Ironic, isn't it?"
"While laughing at his expense doesn't quite sit well with me, you're not wrong. Then again, most likely he's simply used to a slower pace." Andrey defended.
"I know." Frostnova schooled her features and continued forwards, putting on a short burst of speed and rushing ahead of Fredrich. As expected, he picked up his speed, if only slightly.
Sparing a glance behind her, Frostnova found him still lagging a dozen or so meters behind. Embarrassing, for a self-proclaimed spy.
So absorbed in this little game of catch-up was Frostnova that she almost failed to notice the dozen or so brown specks in the distance.
"Looks like there's a group of people there... oh, you've already seen them."
"They look like villagers. Probably here to hunt." Frostnova commented.
"There's stuff to hunt this far north?"
"Fish under the ice sometimes, yes." Frostnova knelt down on the slope of the hill. "There's a hunting party ahead. Fredrich, stop."
Fredrich slowed down his steps, stopping and crouching down a few steps away from Frostnova.
"We should just kill them," He panted, "would save time."
"With that endurance, you couldn't catch a mouse, let alone a dozen fully grown Ursus." Frostnova shot back.
"The rats back in Leithanien are… surprisingly hard to kill."
"That's irrelevant."
"Focus, F-Yelena." Andrey chastised.
Her true name sent a shiver of warmth through her. "Mhm."
Admittedly, she was… unreasonably distrustful of Fredrich.
Perhaps it was because he was uninfected, and a spy?
Shaking her head, Frostnova continued. "Whether we can or cannot, catching and killing all of them will take time. Not to mention the additional problems we create if their friends decide to hunt us down."
"Then?" Fredrich asked.
"We wait."
"That would waste hours."
"If you want to kill them, go try." Frostnova motioned in the direction of the villagers.
Frostnova peeked over the hill, then crouched back down. He stayed motionless for a few long minutes, before eventually letting out a long sigh and splaying out along the hillside.
From Frostnova's perspective, it almost seemed like he was making snow angels. Heh, it had been a while since she had made those…
"So… we just step onto the ice and get on our way, right?" Anne asked. The group had paused by the edge of the lake, returning to their formation.
"Not so fast." Walking back from a cart, Petrova carried three pairs of boots in his hands.
"These are?" Accepting a pair, Levina inspected them for a moment. The boots were built of leather, insulative fur lining the outside. The sole beneath was metal, small, sharp spikes extending below.
A kick from these could deal some serious damage.
"They're ice boots. Spikes on the bottom help grip onto the ice." Petrova explained, slipping on his own pair.
"I see." That made sense. Levina put on her own pair. Their original boots would've worked well enough, but it wouldn't do to deny the Yetis' hospitality. The boots were a size too large, but they worked.
Tentatively, Levina stepped onto the ice, a quiet "crunch" beneath her as the spikes entered the ice.
"They work." She said, turning back to Petrova. "Thank you."
"Well, of course they work. Why would we give you useless stuff?"
Now that he said it, he wasn't wrong. Levina felt somewhat stupid for doubting him in the first place…
Equipment ready, the Yetis and researchers began to cross the frozen lake.
"Frostnova?" Fredrich tentatively began, walking up to her side.
Frostnova made a noise of acknowledgement, eyes still staring into the far distance.
Spurred on by the lack of resistance, Fredrich continued. "Would you mind sharing information on some of your abilities?"
Frostnova turned around to face Fredrich. "Yes, I would mind."
"Why?"
Frostnova huffed. "Because you're a spy. If you know, your superiors know. And if your superiors know, your entire organization knows. I don't trust a spy organization to avoid trading away all my secrets."
Pausing for a moment, she added on: "Not that you need them anyways. This is a temporary alliance."
"What about simple information, like attack types or general descriptions?"
"You know them already. If you don't, then you haven't been looking hard enough."
Fredrich sighed. "Very well."
A few minutes later, he turned to face her again. "What about an exchange of information, then?"
"What information?"
"A general description of your abilities, for an overview of my organization."
"Don't you already know that, Andrey?" Frostnova asked.
"It's quite a few decades out of date. If you're willing, I think we should agree."
Begrudgingly, Frostnova nodded. "Deal. Go ahead."
"As per the Remnant Doctrine, all spies have consolidated themselves into countless cells. These range from small, three-man squads whose goals are to simply disrupt public order and weaken the regime, to large organizations like my Fifth Cell who attempt to resurrect His Majesty, amongst other things.
"While I am not aware of the organizational details of other cells, the Fifth Cell largely relies on attaining financial and military power. Among are ranks are many noble –" Frostnova's face twisted in revulsion – "houses once favored by His Majesty, though again their names are unknown to me."
"What have you done in the past?" Frostnova asked.
"I can't tell you that."
"Tell her. She can be trusted, and I, too, must understand recent events." Andrey ordered.
"Ah, very well then, sir. We –" Fredrich made to begin, only to be prodded in the back by Frostnova.
"Walk faster."
Fredrich picked up the pace, before continuing. "As I was saying, we have attained multiple successes in the recent past. For example, we once wiped out a regiment of the Twin Empresses' forces with cyanide –"
"Which is to say, they poisoned 800 innocent men." Andrey snarked.
Frostnova arched an eyebrow. That was a lot.
"– Additionally, we have managed to infiltrate most of the bureaus of the Twin Empresses' forces."
"Not bad." Andrey commented.
"What of recent events?"
"There have been no major events as of late, sir. I have heard rumors of an attempt to resurrect his Majesty through the bloodline of two boys, but it will take a long time for those plans to come to fruition."
"That's enough information. Frostnova, you?"
Frostnova let out a sigh, and began the long process of describing her Arts…
Petrova led the group as they walked forwards through the snow-covered ice. As they passed another one of the occasional snowdrifts, Levina turned towards him.
"Would you mind explaining how the Yetis work, Petrova?"
Huh… well, he supposed it couldn't hurt. "Sure. What do you want to know?"
"Where do the Yetis come from?"
Ah, that question. "The Yetis were formed by Patriot, from children he rescued from the mines."
Levina narrowed her eyes. "Child soldiers?"
"We don't stoop that low. No, we were full-grown when he formed the Yetis." Petrova defended. As strict as Patriot was sometimes, he was still a skilled and fair leader.
Levina breathed a sigh of relief. "And you are all Infected, yes?"
"Yep, staying in the mines does that to you."
She was silent for a long while before she asked another question. "So, you survived by raiding Ursus Army convoys… brave. How large were your forces, if you were able to do that?"
'Were,' huh. It looked like she had guessed that something had happened to most of them. "Yes, we numbered around fifty before a rather disastrous defense of a certain valley."
"We did win that battle, though." Petrova gave a bittersweet smile.
That was why they needed Frostnova, Levina realized. Given her combat ability, it wasn't unrealistic to say that she could take on a poorly defended convoy on her own. The other Yetis, while well-trained, were poorly equipped. Attacking a convoy without Frostnova would inevitably result in heavy losses, and eventually running out of manpower through a war of attrition.
Or at least, that was the logical way of viewing it. More directly, Frostnova was their leader, and the Yetis wanted her back. Given she was Infected too, that also put a timer on how long she could survive without treatment…
Petrova gave her a quizzical look.
Whoops. "Sorry. I lost myself in thought for a bit there. Should we continue?"
"Yeah, sure. We might want to wait for the others, though." Levina looked back, finding the two of them had – yet again – outpaced the rest of the group.
"Alright." She replied absentmindedly, already in the process of thinking up more questions to ask.
It was growing dark, and Frostnova eventually decided that it was time to stop their trek. Fredrich looked like he was about to launch into a prolonged tirade against her, though she was confident that with Andrey present nothing of the sort could happen.
At least, as long as Andrey was able to keep this façade up. She had faith in him, however.
Fredrich took the opportunity to begin making food, starting some form of portable fire. Unfolding a pot-shaped object, he lumped in some melted snow and dehydrated rations, and began waiting for the snow to melt.
"Now's a good time to write your message, by the way." Andrey reminded.
"Mhm." Pulling out a scrap of fabric, Frostnova began to write; occasionally looking up at what Fredrich was doing.
"Impressive, if unnecessary." Andrey commented as he watched the various things Fredrich had set up. "It's a lot of extra engineering for what amounts to a portable pot on a stove."
"I have to admit, it is helpful." Frostnova commented. "Pots are often quite hard to transport."
"How much time do we have left until we reach the town?"
Finishing the message, Frostnova tossed it into the air, encasing it in a pillar of ice as it drifted down.
Pulling out the map that Fredrich had given her, she studied it for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "By the map… twelve days."
The small camp had already been set up, and the Yetis and researchers warmed themselves around a small heater the researchers had set up. Looking up, Petrova watched the twin moons in the sky for a moment, before turning his gaze back down to earth.
The researchers and the Yetis had meshed admirably well. Any misgivings or concerns had largely been swept away by the necessity of finding Fredrich and Frostnova.
Speaking of which, it was about time he checked their progress. Looking at the map he held in his hands, he marked their location with a small cross, then inspected the remaining path.
Turning to the others, he spoke. "Ten days left. We're on track."
Far away from the Yetis, Frostnova stared at the collapsed remnants of her third tent. "Andrey, I think propping it up with ice is a far simpler solution."
"Nope. We're doing this properly."
AN: Yes, Andrey's spies are now just a bunch of terrorists. They're relatively competent terrorists, but they're still terrorists. Also, given the lack of any numerical information on Leithanien's military, and my own utter lack of military knowledge, I'm using whatever information on modern militaries I can find on Google for scale. Feel free to leave a review if I get something wrong.
