[PRP][PLOT] Their Frozen Fate (Katya & Lailah:Sword)

[Doof]

Wandering the halls of Telrunya city's castle, Katya found herself reflecting on how things had changed for the squires over the past few months, and not in any slow or subtle way. Certainly, it was not as though such things were dramatically announced or officially established, but it wasn't hard to notice the dramatic increase in their freedoms, where they could go, what they could do. Where before they had to get used to being cooped up in the castle, or occasionally being let out into the city under supervision, they were now permitted to teleport out or take wing over the isle, almost at their own leisure.

She remembered when excursions of importance involved gathering the group together, and having one of the instructors travel with them to the objective, always supervising and ready to intervene should something start to go wrong. Now, they had a set of missions which they were expected to perform on their own, without any true assistance from their mentors. Tansa had been helpful enough to give some background knowledge and the locations of their quests, but as for practical advice on how to go about it, well... Katya figured she would be on her own for that.

But perhaps not in this case. Supposedly, she, along with the other squires, were supposed to reach an ancient battleground in the mountains, where they were each to retrieve a fallen warrior's sword, ostensibly to use as a protective talisman against some sort of dangerous mystical force. It would have certainly been much easier for them to go out together and pool their efforts to gain these items, but some had already left while the weather was less than ideal, and now, as the clouds parted and warmth returned to the isle, Katya was one of the few yet to make the journey, and she did not relish the idea of traveling by herself to the mountain heights, let alone the concept of being isolated in the middle of what was once a great battleground.

So much did the idea vex her that she found herself before the dormitory of her blood angel comrade, and the only pae that might be as frightening as Master Hania. She took a deep breath and knocked on the heavy wooden door, praying to all the Guardians that Lailah wasn't sleeping, or otherwise occupied. "Lailah?" She was practically squeaking from nervousness. "Remember what you said about the swords back while the storm was still going? Well, the skies are clear now. Just thought, you know. We could finally get onto that trip to the mountains." The demon fidgeted in place, subconsciously backing a step or two away from the doorway. Was she asking because she genuinely wanted to build bonds with the dangerous angel? Probably not. More than likely, she was worried about ambushes or the like, and Lailah was perhaps the single greatest asset she had to ward something like that off.  

[Teigra]

Grumbling to herself and glaring at her arm as if it belonged to someone else, the crimson-haired angel wrapped it up, protecting it from the lingering cold once more. It still ached from time to time, though the wounds that could be seen had been healed as soon as she'd returned to the City from her last expedition. She attributed this to the cold and hoped it would clear itself up when the weather grew warmer again. Couldn't have this inconvenience holding her back.

Her golden eyes flicked towards the knock at the door and the timid voice beyond. The swords? Right, she hadn't retrieved that item for the trial yet. Something about the idea of heading up into the mountains during a blizzard had seemed like a particularly stupid idea at the time. But, now that the unseasonable weather was beginning to lessen in intensity...probably best to get this out of the way. She was ready to put another of these tasks behind her.

Crossing to the door, she paused before opening it suddenly without warning. She kept her expression neutral, looking the demon on the other side up and down. "Alright. Get ready." Lailah turned to get her pack and few belongings from her sleeping area, a hint of a grin touching her expression once she was facing away. Alright, mountains, eh? Even with the improving weather, it was still going to be cold as a heretic's heart out there. She'd have to be sure to bring a good warm cloak, her daggers of course...
 

[Doof]

Katya found herself taking yet another step back as the angel looked her up and down impassively. The fact that Lailah was impossible to read put her even more on edge than before, and the shortness of her reply didn't help the tension. With a nervous gulp, she watched her comrade turn to get her things without any further discussion.

"Right, well I'll just, uh." Katya nervously backed up, in the direction of her own room. "I'll just get my things." Once sure that Lailah wasn't expecting anything out of her, she skittered away. Was it really such a good idea to have invited Lailah out on this one?

It didn't take long for Katya to gather her things. In truth, she had already packed her flight bag the night before, as well as some of the equipment she figured she needed to unearth the sword from Guardians knew how many feet of snow and ice. Amongst other things she had an ice pick, a couple small faggots of wood, rations of jerky and bread, a folded bedroll and some heavy canvas for a tent or lean-to. When she reappeared outside Lailah's doorway not three minutes later, she was carrying all of it in a tightly packed bundle on her back. She was also now wearing her skin-tight white flight suit that protected her against the cold but was form-fitting enough to be streamlined.

Except for her flight suit, it was obvious that the little demon had never used that stuff- it was all unmarked and brand new, as though she had just gone out and picked them up the day before. Perhaps she had. And perhaps that explained the unusual enthusiasm- she had no idea what she was getting into.

"I'm ready! And I know the way to the mountains quite well, too. We can set off any time." Sure, they probably had to check in with one of the instructors to let them know where they were going, and they needed to go get her favorite bow and quiver from the armoury, the usual stuff, but at least most of the things she actually needed to think about bringing were already on her back.  

[Teigra]

Only when she heard the little demon skitter away did Lailah's thoughts on preparation pause as she chuckled to herself. Too easy. Alright, back to business...what else did she need?

By the time Katya returned, Lailah had also gathered most of her things. She'd dressed in a few layers, though, contrasting with Katya's flight suit, her clothes were all of a darker nature. For once, she wasn't trying to avoid detection with her clothing choice, but instead to keep warm. The dark colors would hopefully absorb more warmth from the light during the day, keeping her more comfortable in the high altitude. She wore a special cloak over it all, meant to keep her wings warm while on the ground, but with slits cut to allow her to wear the cloak even in flight if she wished, though her wings would remain exposed at that point. Better than nothing.

It was not the same cloak she'd worn on her last mission that had kept her covered on so many nights of staking out the trail from the Tree. That one had been...damaged, and she never had been able to get all the blood stains out of that.

Her pack contained rations, a canteen, basic survival gear in case of emergency, a bedroll, and a couple of blankets. Honestly, most of that had remained packed from her stakeout, with only the addition of fresh rations really. Her blades were strapped to her thighs within reach, and she had the hood of the cloak down for the moment. She intended to travel light, though she had no illusions of this being an easy trip either. Afterall, she didn't expect to just fly there, find a sword waiting to be picked up, then leave again. If only it were that easy.

"We're good then?" Lailah started to head for the door, then paused, looking Katya and her suit over with a trace of amusement, as well as her pack. "Hmm...don't we look spiffy?" Then she frowned, raising an eyebrow. "Where's your bow?"
 

[Doof]

"I... Um." Katya shifted uncomfortably. "It's not my bow. Never has been. I still need to requisition it from the armoury, I figured I could do that on our way out." For some reason, that fact slightly embarrassed the demon, the fact that 'her' weapon was not really her weapon. Maybe she needed to find a way to acquire it for herself.

Katya coughed. "Well if you're ready too, then I guess we'd better get going." She turned and started down the hall, leading Lailah out of the dormitories and downstairs. A brief stop at the armoury allowed Katya to pick up her favourite bow, and a chance encounter with Archmage Tansa on the way to the courtyard allowed Katya to let at least one of the instructors know where they were headed. The whole time, there was little conversation between the two squires, except for a comment from Katya about the weather. She was already doing her best not to stare at Lailah's forearm, seeing as how the blood angel was doing her best to keep it from looking too conspicuous.

When they finally reached the courtyard, the red demon did a final check to make sure her pack was tightly strapped to her back and not liable to shift in flight. She looked to the skies, at what few clouds remained, and could already guess the nature of the air and wind above, her wings flexing in anticipation. "Well Lailah, are you ready?"

Just standing there, Katya seemed to wobble from the weight hanging from her back, which gave the appearance that she would have serious trouble flying. With a couple of powerful flaps from her huge wings, however, she was airborne and already starting to climb, and it seemed that she was much more capable of carrying that weight on wing than on foot. She easily cleared the battlements and wheeled northward, setting off towards the grey mountains in the distance.  

[Teigra]

Lailah could only stare in disbelief at the admission. "You're still using rental equipment? Oh for Guardians' sake, what are we going to do with you...?" she muttered, mostly to herself at this point as the demon had shied away. Shaking her head sadly, Lailah followed after. How could one expect to fight with a weapon they didn't own and trust as an extension of themselves? Sure, she understood the possibility of having to use what's at hand in a pinch, but...all the time?

At first, the angel was quiet, following in retrieving the rental equipment (ugh), but then there was the stop to talk to Tansa...so by the time they got to the courtyard, she was fidgeting and ready to go already. It felt like they were wasting daylight hours. "Ready," she answered, quickly spreading her wings and noting the demon's wobble. She'd expected to make serious distance with only a few flaps of her wings...but she'd forgotten about her comrade's aerial skills. The demon's takeoff sent an unexpected crosswind in her direction, and Lailah fell back in the effort to compensate and keep rising, though Katya had already soared above her.

Eyes narrowing, she attempted to cover for her momentary loss of balance and trail after the brightly colored demon. Perhaps she hadn't spent as much time on her flight skills...she thought she managed well enough, and compared to the other Squires, it seemed true. Until she got to Katya. Darned little one made them all look like baby birds on their first flight in comparison. More than a bit irritated by this truth, Lailah had to admit, there was little she could do about it at this moment, except try to keep up.

Well, she could keep up, even if she couldn't pull some of the trickier maneuvers the little one could do. Maybe she just had to try a little harder...that's all. Flapping to gain altitude, Lailah rose until she could clear the battlements, then shifted her trajectory to follow after Katya, chilling breeze fanning her feathers. It wasn't freezing...yet, but the cold was always a cause for concern at higher altitudes. The pair made their way from the castle, away from the City, and began the gradual descent towards the Isle and the mountains that lay on its northern portion. The tallest tips of the mountain were shrouded in fog...or was that a continuing blizzard? Snow and clouds kept most from trying to venture up to them, but hopefully, they would find what they needed at a lower altitude, further down the mountain. That was the plan at least, however that may change depending on what they actually found.
 

[Doof]

The flight was uneventful, with the mostly-clear skies still a bit chilly but not nearly as much as when she'd encountered the winged faun some days ago. A slight headwind slowed their progress, and Katya wasn't sure how long they'd been airborne; hours maybe, before she definitively identified the ancient battleground from the terrain features marked on the crude map she had drawn onto a piece of cloth that was now wrapped around her forearm.

Katya took the lead in circling down towards their landing site, but there was nothing complicated about the touchdown. The area was quite flat and free of vegetation, with the only unexpected issue arising when the extra weight of her pack caused the normally-lightweight demon to sink up to her thighs in the fresh powder upon landing, eliciting a squeak from her as her wings flapped reflexively, while she extricated herself from the snow.

The mountainside was steep enough on the way over, but the site of the battle itself was a flat, wide plain on the lee side of the mountain from the wind, completely snowed over. Barren and desolate, there wasn't any sign of the battle she could make out. What did stand out, however, were the holes where the other squires, presumably, had made attempts at gaining a sword for their protection. As she approached, however, she was disappointed to find that they had all filled up quite quickly with snow or begun to collapse in on themselves.

"Well we might be here a while." Katya let her bags slip from her aching shoulders and stretched, gasping softly as relief came to her sore muscles. "It almost looks like some fresh powder fell since the last squires came through here, I can't see a thing under this snow. I'll have to clear it down to the ice, and hopefully smooth the surface enough to be able to see in." The little demon had a small spade with her, that she drew from her bundle and began to start poking at the snow with. "Lailah, how about you unpack and set our tent in case we have to spend the night, and I'll start to dig here..." As Katya turned to face her angel comrade, she saw the look she was being given as a result of her suggestion, and quickly backpedaled. "Orrrr, I could do both and you could, uh, scout the perimeter. I guess." She gulped, set down the spade and unbuckled the heavy canvas she had brought with her.

Setting up the tent didn't take long, although the posts and pegs had to be driven deep into the snow to take, and even then Katya'd had to pack the snow around it quite a bit, with little confidence it wouldn't blow away with a strong enough wind. Luckily they were on the lee side, and the wind there was fairly weak. After roughly tossing most of her things in there, she immediately set to the task of trying to clear enough snow to be able to see into the ice layer beneath. In her white flight suit, she must have been an interesting sight against the snow, a red head, wings and tail floating around a brilliant white background.

Despite the cold, and the efforts of her exertions, she began to hum a pleasant,uplifting tune to herself, letting her mind wander away from the monotony of her task, assured that the watchful eyes of her companion would keep trouble at bay. She imagined herself an archaeologist like in the tales, unearthing ancient artefacts from long lost civilizations, and in the midst of this fantasy, smiled to herself.  

[Teigra]

Arriving at the ancient battle site, Lailah was suddenly glad that Katya had retained the lead for the trip. It allowed her to learn from the other's mistake upon landing. As she descended, Lailah added a few extra flaps to slow her landing, only sinking in the snow to her ankles, easily shaken free. She looked much less silly than the squeaking demon, raising an arm to protect herself from the snow whipped up by the other's efforts to escape the drift.

After landing, Lailah's first action was to hurriedly tuck her chilled wings beneath her cloak. Damn this cold...she felt chilled through from the flight, and it wasn't likely they'd be able to get out of here any time soon either. Wings safely beneath her cloak, she pulled it tightly around her to lock as much body heat in as possible.

On instinct, she'd started scoping out the area before they'd even landed. It was very open here, very exposed...on the plus side, that also meant if anything tried to sneak up on them, they were likely to see it long before it got too close. Of course, if they had to spend the night here...

As if on cue, she turned at Katya's suggestion that she set up the tent. It wasn't so much the idea itself as the fact that the little demon was thinking of giving her orders that caused her eyes to narrow at the other. She didn't even have to say anything before Katya immediately started to backpedal, and honestly it was more of an effort not to smirk as Lailah only answered with a 'hmph.' As if she'd plan to stay here without checking the place out first anyway.

Dropping her pack next to a single, scraggly tree sticking out of the snow, Lailah slipped her hands towards her blades, the contact reassuring, then slipped out to mark the edges of their new 'camp'. The clearing where they'd landed was fairly open, as she'd already observed, but best to make sure there weren't any surprises waiting for them to relax their guard up here. She left Katya' to deal with the tent for now, keeping within hearing distance while keeping an eye out for potential threats.
 

[Doof]

Although the onngoing, persistant cloud upon the heights did a good job of providing shade from the midday sun when the pair arrived, by mid afternoon it had set enough to peek under the clouds and reflect off the snow. Bright light and bitter cold dominated the rest of the day, and though it was getting cooler, Katya's broad, dark wings were spread out over the snow. There was enough sun to warm them, and not enough wind to cool them, but the most important thing was that they gave her eyes some shade from the brilliant white snow and blinding sun while she cleared a hole down to the ice.

Hopefully, with enough snow cleared, she might be able to perceive objects trapped a short distance under the ice, and hopefully a sword might be amongst those objects. That was quite a bit of 'hopefully' but Katya figured that if the rest of the squires had been able to manage, then so could she. She dug, cleared and shoveled until the sky turned red and the sun began to slip away, before resigning herself to the fact that she would not finish her task while the sun was still up.

Although Katya had cleared a large circle of snow, large enough to lie down in with her wings outstretched, it was by now too dark to determine if there was anything under the ice. As she'd feared, they would have to stay on the chilly mountainside overnight. "Lailah." She called out breathlessly, hoping that the squire on guard wasn''t very far away. With no response, however, the demon got up, and began to shuffle back toward the tent. Rising to her feet let a breeze hit her face, and she winced as it caught some sweat on her brow, making it bitingly cold. She had done her best not to overexert herself, and her flight suit was excellent at wicking sweat away, but it seemed she hadn't been completely successful. Still, it didnt seem to have wet her suit enough to put her at risk from the cold, so she wiped her brow and trudged toward her crude shelter. The actual retrieval of their swords would have to wait until the next day.

Unsure of where the angel had gone, Katya decided to light a fire in the failing light. It would help Lailah find camp, and it would help chase away the piercing cold that was causing her wings great discomfort. She knew she only had two faggots of wood,so she unbundled one and set it on her bedroll whilst she took a flat piece of bark from her pack and set it on the snow, then drew an oily rag from a leather pouch strapped to the side of her flight bag. She coiled it on the bark and got to work with her flint. It took a few attempts but the oil caught, and she wasted no time building a small cone of sticks around the flame. She set aside the rest of the sticks to keep the fire going for longer, not aiming to have anything larger than a small light and fire going long enough for Lailah to return. Sitting still, alone on the darkening mountainside, the demon finally noticed her stomach grumbling and finally took a moment to eat, carefully taking small bites out of one of her hard loaves of bread, and nibbling on the jerky she had brought with her.  

[Teigra]

Lailah's scouting hadn't turned up much of interest, neither dangerous nor particularly helpful, to be honest. She'd returned and watched Katya's efforts from a distance as well as taking a cursory look at the tent she'd set up for the night. Kinda' small, but...she supposed it'd do if they had to use it.

She really should pitch in and do something, but...Katya seemed to have a handle on the whole 'digging' thing. Besides, Lailah was having enough trouble keeping warm up here; she didn't particularly want to start rooting about in the snow. And just sitting here was getting boring. Perhaps her own efforts could go towards keeping warm and their later camping, as it didn't seem this would be a short trip after all. Maybe some dinner...

Okay, hunting didn't go so well. Darkness was falling soon and Lailah had barely seen any signs of life on this side of the mountain, let alone finding anything to kill that would have made a decent dinner. Firewood wasn't exactly plentiful either, but she'd had SOME more luck with that. If only a little. Unfortunately, due to the snowfall, what she had gathered was also pretty damp. She wasn't sure how much luck they'd have in getting it to catch light, but it was better than nothing. At least the effort had helped her keep warm.

A pale glow in the distance was her marker and she remembered that the little one had at least had the foresight to bring some firewood with her. Enough to start at least, it seemed. Maybe they could get some of this to dry out and be useful, she hoped. She was not looking forward to a long night in the freezing cold. Her forearm started to ache at the thought of it.

As she neared, she noted that Katya was already tucking into her rations. Looks like that'd be all they'd have for dinner tonight. Dropping the wood near the fire where it could hopefully start drying out, she crossed to her pack to retrieve her own rations. "The hunting here sucks," she commented simply, grabbing some dried jerky and a bit of bread for herself before flopping down by the small fire.
 

[Doof]

By the time Lailah arrived, Katya had wrapped her wings around her protectively and had her back to the tent. The fire was small, pitiful perhaps, but the wood they had was certainly limited enough for her to not consider throwing more on immediately. When Lailah sat, and placed the wood she'd gathered by the fire, the exhausted demon only managed a nod and a "Mm." in acknowledgement to her comment about the poor hunting on the mountain. Part of her did want some fresh meat, but for the most part she just wanted to lie down. Katya did at least retain enough sense to realize she'd have to eat something if she wanted to have the strength to continue digging the next day. She got through half her little loaf of bread and a couple strips of jerky before she put the rest away and warmed herself by their meagre fire.

She was originally going to volunteer for first watch, but the way her eyes were already drifting closed, she figured even Lailah would see the wisdom of keeping lookout for the first few hours while Katya recovered some energy. Something began to happen that rendered that thought moot, however, and it would elicit a quiet curse from the usually polite demon. Flecks of snow began to fall, sparse at first but then thicker, heavier and faster. The wind was picking up as well, and she shuffled in between it and their struggling fire. Standing watch at all might be impossible with the weather turning this way. It also meant that a lot of the work she'd done that day might have been erased by the morning.

Katya made a depressed face as she watched the snow fall around them. It was too late and too dark to attempt a flight back to the City, which meant hunkering down and waiting for the snow to pass. "I don't know about you, but I'm done. Finished. I don't think it's going to be possible to keep watch in this."

She decided to settle in for the night and stopped feeding the fire to let it die down. She attempted some small-talk briefly before deciding that perhaps if she'd wanted to do that, she should have invited some other squire to accompany her on this quest. The stars were well hidden behind a veil of cloud, but the demon guessed it wasn't very long after what might have been dinnertime back at the castle. With her fatigue, however, and nothing else to do, she looked back at the tent they were going to share...

Share...

The demon's head fell into her hands. She was going to have to spend an entire night with the one individual responsible for most of the injuries she'd ever sustained- something that was a fact, mind, not an overstatement. She decided to play off the motion as exhaustion, rubbing her face and eyes before stretching out into a yawn. At length, Katya looked over at her companion and smiled sleepily. "I'm going to turn in. "

"Well, Lailah, I'll try to keep my wings folded and off your side of the tent." She said with trepidation, then after a moment of thought, added; "Thanks for watching out for me today. Goodnight." Though spoken quietly, the little squire was quite sincere with that last sentence. She slipped under the tent, praying it would hold up against the snowfall and not be completely buried come morning, wrapping herself up and curling up on her bedroll.  

[Teigra]

The attempts at small talk were painful at best. In response, most of what Lailah gave were single word answers, maybe a short sentence...worst case, a nod or a grunt, either negative or affirmative depending on the question. It was a relief for both of them, she thought, when Katya simply stopped trying and let the silence take over again. Lailah finished up her bit of bread and dried meat, sipping at some water from her canteen. Plenty of snow up here to melt, she supposed, as long as they had the small fire. Still, it was time to let it die down for the night. She'd absorbed as much heat as she was going to get, she figured, eyeing the softly glowing coals that grew dimmer and dimmer.

Katya's voice broke the silence that had fallen between them, and Lailah looked up, golden eyes reflecting the dying firelight. After a moment, she merely nodded, pulling her cloak more tightly around herself, then waving a hand dismissively. "Go on. I'll keep watch for a while." The snow was falling more thickly now, but she just pulled her hood up over her head to shield her eyes. After a moment, she shrugged beneath the cloak. "No prob'. Night."

As bad as the cold was, there were things she was avoiding more for personal reasons. This whole...'socializing' thing still felt completely foreign to the angel. She tried. She'd at least made an effort to respond to the small talk earlier. It'd still felt uncomfortable though, apparently for them both. Apparently, the Guardians wished for her to learn to do this, to learn to cooperate with her comrades...but was it enough to learn to work with them? Or did she also have to be comfortable in doing so? She wasn't sure both were possible.

The realization hadn't escaped her from what Katya had said before vanishing into the tent. Her side of the tent. They'd be sharing what was essentially supposed to be space for one between them. She'd have hesitated if it was supposed to be a two-Pae tent, even as cold as it was out here on the mountain side. She didn't get close to other Pae; emotionally OR physically. In fact, many other Pae, including her comrades like Katya, seemed to be afraid of her more often than not. Lailah was okay with that.

The idea of pulling down those barriers...maybe it scared her more than she'd like to admit, even to herself.

I don't get it. What is it I'm supposed to do...? She curled in on herself, arms wrapped around her legs beneath the cloak, chin resting on her knees. The cold was bad, but she'd rather stay out here as long as she could, rather than go inside. Course, the later it got, the worse the weather was getting. Large snowflakes were blowing beneath her hood now, into her eyes. She kept trying to blink them away, but the stinging cold was distracting, and it was getting harder to see at any distance the thicker the snow got. Her arm had started to ache dully, and with noticeable irritation, she glared up at the snow whirling from the sky. "Seriously? Come on..."

It was hopeless, she couldn't see a damn thing out here and she was likely to freeze before morning at this rate. The coals had gone cold and dark. Grumbling curses under her breath, Lailah snagged her pack, shaking the accumulating snow from it, then ducked inside the tent in surrender.

She huddled as close to the flap as possible, sparing a glance towards her comrade before noting that she seemed to be asleep already. She'd seemed pretty worn out earlier; Lailah had noted her eyelids fluttering closed even when she'd been trying to make small talk. She hadn't meant to leave the little one doing all the digging...this was supposed to be a task for each of them after all. It was just...the cold and the snow...and digging was so boring...

The angel sat there, one knee drawn up to her chest, the other folded beneath, as compact as she could make herself, staring out at the falling snow. That's about all she could see, at least. So, one more day out here...hopefully they could complete their quest tomorrow and get off this damnable mountain and away from this freezing cold. There were still the ever-present risks that she'd need to keep an eye out for, but maybe instead of attempting to hunt for dinner or firewood, well...she could lend a hand here in camp if it'd get them out of here sooner. Well, not much else to be done tonight...she needed rest.

Lailah unpacked her bedroll from her bag, spreading it out on her side of the tent. She shoved her pack into the corner out of the way, moving to the bedroll and away from the flap. Before settling in, she dug into the pack again, pulling out one of the blankets and wrapping herself in it for another layer of warmth. Then, she hesitated, looking at the second blanket she'd packed.

A glance towards her companion. Then, back to the blanket.

Katya had done basically all of the digging today. And set up the tent. What had Lailah contributed? Some damp firewood?

After a cursory glance to make sure the demon was asleep, Lailah pulled out the second blanket, shook it out, then draped it over the sleeping Squire. She didn't like owing anyone anything. And if the other got herself sick or something from the cold, that'd just be another burden on Lailah.

Yeah, that.

Silently, Lailah closed her pack and curled up in her own bedroll, dully-throbbing forearm cradled against her chest beneath the blanket layers. Once it warmed up, it'd stop hurting again...then she could drift off to sleep...
 

[Doof]

It was neither sunlight nor the sounds of day that awoke Katya the next morning. Their tent was half-buried under snow, and miraculously still upright, but that didn't let much light filter in. As for the sounds of day? It wasn't exactly as if there were birds chirping in the trees outside the tent.

No, what got Katya up was a feathered wing flopping heavily onto her face.

Her eyes snapped open and she almost leapt up, but being trapped in her bedroll and blanket turned out to be a blessing as she realized the wing belonged to Lailah, forestalling any further sudden movements. She lay still, doing her best not to wake her sleeping comrade, while at the same time trying to figure out how exactly to pull herself out of the tent without causing too much commotion. For several minutes she waited to see whether or not Lailah would roll over again,but the angel kept snoring away, mostly on her side of the tent.
Snoring. Katya didn't know why she was surprised, but the demon had always assumed that the other squire slept like she lived the rest of her life- silently, perhaps dreaming of glory in battle. She reflected on those thoughts as long as she could before restlessness took her over. She had to get up and get to work, or they'd be stuck for another night. Then again, she had no idea just how violently the blood angel would react to being suddenly awoken, and even though Katya couldn't see her hands, she assumed there was a good chance at least one of them was wrapped around her weapons.

Katya very gently and very carefully prised the wing off her face, fighting away a sneeze from the feathers brushing against her. She squirmed free of her bedroll and peeled away her blanket- blankets? For a moment, confusion hung over her as she wondered where the second one had come from, followed by a disbelieving look over at the sleeping angel beside her. Had Lailah really..? Her eyes went back to the blanket that had been stacked on top of her own- it matched the one that Lailah was wearing over herself. Katya's expression softened, with a small smile tugging on her mouth. Whatever Lailah's motives for letting her have another blanket, the thought brought Katya more warmth than the blanket itself did. She said nothing, pausing to drape the spare blanket over the angel's body, then her own over the wayward wing. Then, after staring at the unusual sight for a moment, she began to quietly move, hugging the side of the tent as she shuffled outside. After digging the half-loaf of bread she hadn't finished out of her bag, Katya slipped out into the day. The light hit hard- the sun was still low in the sky and its brilliance reflected off the snow. Once again, the demon found herself shielding her eyes, a hand before her face and a wing before that. While her eyes adjusted she began to nibble on her bread, and quietly began to shove away snow that had accumulated on the side of the tent with a booted foot.

After scoffing down the rest of her bread, Katya leaned into the tent, took hold of her spade and ice pick, and returned to what was left of the hole she'd cleared. The snow was still thinner, but she had a lot of lost work to recover, preferably while it was still morning.  

[Teigra]

The movement hadn't woken her, at least not initially, nor any other noise. Perhaps it was the following silence that had done it instead. Most likely, it was the fact that her arm had shifted to lay outside the blankets and was swiftly growing cold, and therefore, starting to ache again. The angel stirred, groaned, then tensed, unaware of where she was. Warily, she opened one eye, then the other...then calmed a bit, seeing her surroundings. Right...mountain...camping. Then, she realized she was alone in the tent, sprawled out, and covered with their collection of blankets...and cursed under her breath, tense again.

Dammit all, she'd hoped to be first to wake. Guardians only knew what she might have done in her sleep or what Katya had seen or thought upon waking, or...ugh. Shifting, Lailah curled in on herself, drawing the warm blankets around her and tucking her spread wing down against her back again. Well, too late to worry about it now. Whatever was done was done. Ugh, if she hadn't been so tired from the long flight yesterday, maybe she wouldn't have slept so hard. She didn't always sleep so soundly. In fact, being in the field like this, she reprimanded herself for not keeping more alert through the night. If they'd been attacked...

Weakness. There was no room for it within the Order. She cringed, retreating further into the blankets. Dammit, more ground to make up today. Just...a little longer before emerging from the warmth...

Wasn't that just further weakness though? She glanced down at the blankets, the ones her companion had apparently taken care to leave with her this morning...

Without a sound, Lailah shoved the blankets away and wriggled free from her bedroll. Another ration of bread and jerky were pulled from her pack, as well as her canteen, then she emerged into the sunlight, blinking rapidly and shielding her eyes until they adjusted.

Katya was already at work nearby, a reminder that Lailah was still slacking. Dammit. Breakfast was going to be a quick matter today, and as soon as she finished, she'd have to find a spot and start digging. At least, odds were better if they were both searching different places.
 

[Doof]

Thankfully, the fresh powder was light and easy to dig out. She might have had a reputation for frailty in combat, but the little one exhibited extraordinary resilience and endurance when it came to being out in the elements and putting forth sustained physical effort. Perhaps all those laps Hania made her do for being consistently late to his classes might have started to pay off. It could even have been less than an hour before Katya had cleared out her hole to the same size it had been the night before. That suited Katya just fine, because she was well aware that the hard part was just about to start. With a rough, almost (but not quite) opaque layer of ice underfoot, the red demon began to scan the few square yards of solid ice she had revealed.

That's when she saw it- a dark shape, suspended in the packed ice. She untied the cloth from her forearm and wrapped it around her gloved hand, brushing away at the dusting on snow still on the ice, but she still couldn't see very clearly what lay beneath the surface. With a resigned sigh, she reached behind her and grabbed her ice pick. She took a moment to steady herself before raising the pick high and driving down into the ice, carving out... a very small gouge. Katya exhaled wearily. She could use some help about now.

The demon lifted her head and peered around for Lailah, but the only thing she spotted on the frozen mountainside was their campsite. Either the angel was off scouting again or perhaps investigating one of the other holes. Her traveling companion could easily avoid being seen if she wished, and rather than waste her breath on a call for help (which would likely have gone unanswered even if Lailah was in earshot) Katya merely shrugged in resignation, raised the ice pick, tightened her grip on the tool and struck the ice again.

And again. And many times more.

It took much doing, and quite a lot of energy, but she had almost reached the dark form under the ice. Feeling ambitious, the demon struck somewhat laterally against the side of the hole she'd made, succeeding in dislodging a very large piece of ice. She lifted that away, then repeated, cracking away another chunk. Grinning at her handiwork, she bent down again to try and get a better look at what was under the glistening surface. She squinted down with the midday sun behind her and managed to focus on it.

It was a face, framed by a mangled helmet with lifeless eyes staring straight into hers.

When Katya recovered from the shock that suddenly overtook her, she realized her ice pick was no longer in her hands, and she was no longer standing over her hole. She'd skittered backwards four or five steps and hurled the pick against the ice, from where it had glanced away and half buried itself into the nearby snow bank. The demon bounced in place, shaking herself out of a sudden chill that had nothing to do with the cold air and made a perturbed whining noise. She glanced back at the hole she'd dug and shuddered.

"Lailah!" She called plaintively. "Lailah!" The little demon glanced around nervously, her wings subconsciously wrapped around her body, hoping for the angel to appear. She looked back at her hole and blinked, tentatively edging forward. There, preserved under the ice, was the body of an angel... Or a demon? She hadn't stared long enough to determine. A warrior who'd lived-and died- hundreds of years before she'd been born, lay as he'd fallen centuries ago, forever a ghastly reflection of his final moments. The concept creeped Katya the hell out.

Nonetheless she advanced back into her hole and stared down at the body encased in ice, hugging her arms around her and kneeling before the fallen soldier. He was actually a demon, clad in armour that was well worn, and looked almost as though it was stamped out- very simple, and probably designed for quantity rather than quality. Although well preserved, time had still taken its toll on this individual- Katya couldn't tell how old he was, or even what had killed him. Perhaps if she dug him out she could tell, but the unsettled demon had no intention of doing so.