January 21, 2024, 10:40 PM
Thought this would be a fun twist, let me know if the powerplay isn't okay!
She'd meant to cover a dozen miles, perhaps two, before she came up with some kind of explanation for @Ponyboy. It would have to be a lie. But for a time Anathema was too panicked to think about it, too focused on the difficulties of navigating through the thick fog draped over the land. She guided her friend toward the coast as quickly as he would come, unaware of how much ground they were truly covering; unaware of what was brewing above.Until it came down upon them. The snows began innocently, a feathery dusting falling all around them. Anathema was used to this by now. She kept close to Ponyboy, their flanks brushing every so often.
But the snowfall thickened. The wind picked up. They still weren't so far from Brecheliant then, but Ana had started to grow afraid.
We should find shelter,She'd told her friend through chattering teeth. But looking around, it seemed hopeless. Nothing ahead was visible but a blur of white and grey. The storm pushed them on.
Days passed before the storm began to let up, but even then, the fog remained thick. Ana woke in the huge hollowed out log which had served as their shelter the night before and dug through the snow piled at the entrance to peer outside. It was calm. She let out a breath and glanced to Ponyboy.
She still had not explained the reason for their flight.
I don't know where we are,A lie. Anathema had been all over the flatlands. She knew this place. But she hoped that Ponyboy did not. If she could just get him to the coast — well, then he would never be able to find his way back. Then he would never be able to leave her.
Not on bonfire nights
January 24, 2024, 04:19 PM
100% okay :)
He followed, tongue-tied. Unable to breach the topic, he remained silent as they wandered, and eventually he became too tired to ask, anyway. When he looked back over his shoulder, the plateau in the distance grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared altogether, hidden by trees and clouds and the rolling hills they had passed over. The lands grew flat and plain, and the caldera was so far behind them that even the expanse of the flatlands revealed nothing.
Every now and again he would say her name softly; he received no answer and no explanation. Eventually, he stopped saying it- and only thought it in his mind.
Why haven't we stopped yet?
Aren't we far enough?
What was chasing you- and whose blood is that?
His busy thoughts kept him quiet, compliant with her silent order to keep going forward. Snowflakes fell, and the sky grew grey. When the wind picked up, he lowered his head and fought on against it, squinting to keep the fluttering snowflakes out of his eyes. He pulled his lips tight, and finally glanced toward Anathema when she spoke. A quiet nod was all he gave, as he glanced toward the sky and saw no sign that the storm would break soon.
Hope grew thin as they bunkered down together, and Ponyboy remained quiet. He worried what his mother must be thinking- but he wasn't willing to bring it up. He felt paralyzed- fearing what Anathema might have to say, but hungering for the answer all the same.
Anathema was the first to break through the snowy wall that had settled, locking them into quiet but insulated darkness for the night. He blinked against the streaming light as it filtered in, and carefully gathered his paws beneath himself- willing to go out into the open, but Anathema's confession gave him reason to pause.
"We'll find our way back," He said softly. "We've been gone too long, and I didn't get time to explain to Mom..." He said. He didn't want to aim for the ocean anymore- not when they were potentially lost.
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