[center][h1]Snowy Mountain - The Journey Down[/h1]

[@LordVoldemort][@Solace][@FrostedCaramel][@LetMeDoStuff][@HecateProxy][@Ambra][@Aquanthe][@wolverbells][@QT][@SheriffLlama][/center]

[color=Gray]The first rays of sunlight peered over the horizon, reflecting limitlessly off of the snow capped mountains and illuminating its faces is bright light.  Set up on the face of the mountain, the camp began to wake to the unexpected clarity of day slowly.  Veteran guides and soldiers emerged from their cabins worse for wear from the previous night's activities and set about their daily chores.  Remnants of the bonfire were cleared away and scattered tankards collected to be returned to the main cabin, ready for the cadets' first brew of the day; they would need to recover from any lasting effects of their long hike and the late night as quickly as possible before they began their long journey down.

Toward the edge of the camp where posts marked a dangerous cliff edge one of the older guides was staring down the mountain face with experience eyes, brow creased in thought as he looked up and down the gleaming white surface.  A veteran approached him, holding a tankard of steaming tea in each hand and passed one to the older man who grunted gratefully, taking a tentative sip lest the heat burn his chilled lip, and sighed as the warmth immediately blossomed in his chest and gut.  The newcomer nodded towards the remains of the bonfire while gesturing at the cabins with his tankard.[/color]

"Looks like the kids enjoyed their first taste of adulthood." [color=Gray]The comment was made with little nuance, an observation rather than a joke or dig at the still sleeping cadets.  In reply the older man grunted, turning his gaze back to the valleys far below.[/color]  "Although I heard some of them were from Shiganshina.  Can't really say anyone who came through that can be called a kid, really." [color=Gray] A distracted murmur of agreement from the guide had the man sighing.  He gently pushed the older man's shoulder to gain his full attention, raising an eyebrow as he asked where the old man's attention was.

For a moment the guide seemed reluctant to answer but clearly decided that he should voice his thoughts and knelt into the snow, scooping up a handful in his gloved hand and standing back up so that he could hold the white powder clearly at eye level.  Blowing on it gently they watched as the snow drifted away, barely stuck together and easily picked up by the very slight wind casting around the camp.[/color]

"Wrong type of snow and with this heat..." [color=Gray]He tilted his head back to gesture at the sun as it continued it slow ascent, barely begun for the day but already the temperature on the mountain was noticeably higher than the previous day.  Even in the absence of the blizzards that had besieged them the sudden shift was unusual.  Frowning, the veteran shuffled the snow around with his foot, observing how it moved and understanding the older man's concern; he had been at the camp for some time but the guides had been living in the mountains for generations and knew better than anyone what signs to look for to the point it had become instinctual.[/color]

"We were going to send guides part way down with them anyway, to look for any bodies from yesterday.  I'll send some more, just in case."

[color=Gray]Their attention was caught by signs of life from within the cadets' cabins, the young would-be soldiers eventually rising from their beds to begin the day.  Nodding agreement to each other, the two men walked back to the camp and set about making preparations for the journey back down.[/color]

[hr]

[centre][h2][color=7ea7d8]Lauren Jones[/color][/h2][/centre]

[color=Gray]She had been awake for a good time before the first rays of light shone through the small windows of the cabin, everyone else seemingly still asleep around her.  It had been difficult to sleep, having returned to her own bed for the night somewhat reluctantly.  Dreams and nightmares had assailed her equally, often twisting together or veering from one to another violently with little to no warning.  Although nothing like just after Shiganshina it had cause her to wake several times during the night, leaving her to lie there in the darkness and stare at nothing until a restless sleep drew her back in its tenuous embrace.

The last episode had been particularly dark, closer to a rerun of the worst of the nightmares that had haunted her and pushed her to drink and she been tempted to sneak outside and see if there was anymore of the wine available.  Knowing that there was some, a release, up on that mountaintop hadn't helped her ignore the cravings scratching at her willpower, especially since she had had a taste of it without drowning herself in drink.  Her second tankard had been disposed of secretly by Mora without her noticing, for which Lauren was grateful.

She glanced over towards where her friend's bed was although there was still very little within the cabin so it was difficult to see the other girl's form.  It had still felt awkward when they had all headed to bed the previous night and she didn't know how to breach the barrier not set between them.  Of course, it had always been there but only she had been able to see it, feel it; built of her complex muddy of emotions entangling her amorous feelings for her friend along with the guilt and self-loathing that had pursued her the last two years.  Now Mora could see the same wall and it would take time for them to break it down.

Shaking away the feelings that depressed her down into hiding in the bed, Lauren forced herself to peel the heavy quilts away and slide slowly out and onto the floor.  Her muscles ached from the exertions of the climb yesterday, adding to the sense of lethargy plaguing her from the little disturbed sleep she'd had, and cried in protest with every move but she could no longer stay wallowing in thoughts threatening to cause a repeat of her outburst the previous night.  She found her spare boots from her pack, taking care not to make much noise, and wrapped her coat from the previous day around her form before sliding slowly and quietly out of the cabin door and into the cold.

Except it wasn't that cold.  At least it was warmer than she had expected, the bright sun blinding her for a moment after the cabin's gloom but simultaneously warming her face and coat with its rays.  The guides and veterans were bustling about, finishing up their clean up operation around the bonfire and there was the sound of pots and other metal clanging from the main cabin, suggesting that breakfast was being prepared.  Choosing to ignore those promising sounds for now she walked across the main square and past the bonfire, nodding a mute greeting to any of the older men who spoke to her, and past two grizzled looking men who were walking away from her destination.

Now she was only separated from the cliff edge by wood posts sunk deep into the ground with frozen rope hung to warn those approaching of the imminent danger they were in.  Although not her intention, she edged forwards and glanced down the face, imagining just stepping off the edge and falling to an inevitable death.  For the first time Mora appeared in her head as a warning, not to guilt her but as a positive message, a [i]reason[/i] not to contemplate an early end.  A message of hope.

Her momentary temptation of suicide over, she stepped back and instead reached into coat pocket, finding the reason she had primarily come to the cliff edge.  The unmarked bottle in her hand, the same one she handed to Mora to reveal her guilty secret, gleamed bright in the light, the shine glinting up at her as if attempting to increase the value of the object and prevent her from doing what she had planned.  Steeling herself against those feelings holding her back, trying to drag her down and destroy the small progress she had made, Lauren turned towards the cliff edge and hurled the small bottle over it.

She watched it disappear, only the glint from its polished surface allowing her to see it distance, until finally that too blended into the bright white blanket covering the mountain surface.  Vanished from her sight forever, she turned away from the cliff edge and its dangerous allures and headed back to the girl's cabin to change, feeling a small flame of pride burning within her chest.  It was a small step but it was one she had made herself, without burdening someone else, and that made it all the more worthwhile.[/color]