#hopeinthecold

Gerda pauses by a streetlight, looking up at it for a moment, before she wakes herself up, blinking sleepily at the bright sky overhead. This place was only getting stranger and stranger. One moment, she had been walking through snowy forests, and the next, she was here. Wherever here was. She tries to stop herself from panicking, thinking only of how it will feel when she finds her way to Kay. This is just another obstacle I will overcome. Certainly Bae must have wandered to find them a place to rest for the night, or to find a place to graze and would return. Still... 

After a moment, she takes a few steps away from the streetlight, shyly tapping a stranger's shoulder who happened to be passing her at that moment. 

Gerda crosses through the snowy pines, glancing down as the pale moonlight makes the snow glitter at her feet. She no longer knew where she was in this icy wilderness, but she had to keep going. Her hand is pressed to Bae's cheek, and she was able to feel the warmth through her mittens. She was glad he's here. Otherwise she didn't know how else she would have been able to endure the long winter nights. Particularly now that the snow was on the ground. Those were the times she missed Kay the most, so much she could feel the ache down to the very core of her. All she could see was him teaching her how to ice skate, or having snowball fights, sitting next to a roaring fire and reading to one another– 

Her thoughts are broken as the caribou beside her quickens his pace to a trot, his head held parallel to the ground and tail pointed upwards. Gerda had quickly learned this was what Bae did when he was alarmed. "What is it, Bae?" The girl whispers to the caribou, moving to his side in case they needed to make a quick getaway. After all, a lone young woman and a caribou wouldn't do much good against a strong predator. 

Carefully, Gerda continues to lead Bae through the woods with her, watching the trees for any sign of movement. Luckily, the snow illuminated the woods more this time of year, and it would be easier to see someone approaching. Suddenly, Bae rears away from her, and runs away into the woods, leaving a startled Gerda in his wake. 

"Bae!" 

Gerda found herself in a strange city. So many lights, the smell of warm bread and cigarette smoke floating through the frosty air. And she felt so utterly out of place among the ladies and gentlemen who were dressed in nice clothing, and here she was, ribbons in her brown hair, a long braid in the front of her hair, and clearly from the country. Is this what people were wearing in the big cities now? 

Her feet stop in their tracks as she sees a flower shop through the misty air. Bare feet lead her to the window front as she raises on her tiptoes to look at them closer. At the sight of the roses, however, she feels a lump form in her throat, turning away quickly, and almost runs into a nearby person. The tall man curses at her in another language, a language she didn't know, and she feels her chest tighten in anger at his rudeness. "Sorry. I didn't see you there, Sir." She quickly says, trying to hide the fact that her eyes were growing misty at the memories that rushed through her mind. Kay.