Ice part 4

She set off back north the next day, shaking herself to get rid of any lingering doubts, and marched up the open path. The open grassland was still so much greener and more verdant than the March that she knew best, and for some time she was tempted to linger in the camps of the Pasu along her trail, but convinced herself to move on.
The movement helped to fill the cracks in her self confidence, if only temporarily, until she arrived again in Muon. It was early in the afternoon, but she'd been walking most of the day on minimum food. As always, she hesitated before entering the crowds, the odd dual nature of the city only making her even more confused.
Instinctively she scanned the faces, looking for a threat or… she didn't really know. But coming out of one of the larger building on the square was an otter she recognized. Keluri turned and saw her, worked his way towards her through the crowd. She rocked slightly, ready to take a step back and away, but didn't. His broken camouflage was gone, but though his clothes were obviously casual, it had the look of good make and care.
"What're you doing here in the north?" He asked pleasantly. "I thought you were headed in the other direction."
"Things didn't go well." She said shortly.
"Oh." Keluri tilted his head slightly, and then looked around the crowd. "Do you want to get something to eat? It's just that I'm hungry." Ice shrugged and followed him to a small cafe situated on the edge of the square, sitting on one of the moderately uncomfortable chairs scattered through a small area just outside.
"I've been walking much of the day." She said, as a way of making conversation.
"Did you see anything interesting?" Keluri asked back, and while she tracked the uniformed waiter from table to table answered meaningless questions absently.
Their order consisted of a large flaky pastry (for her) and a cup of tea for Keluri.  "So what happened in the south?" Keluri asked at last, leaning back in his chair. At the memory of the official dismissal Ice tightened her lips.
"Let's just say it's part of the reason I'm here again." She said at last.
"Really?" Keluri said, looking more interested now. The waiter came back with a small tray of food and drinks, setting the tea and pastry down carefully before bustling off. Ice ignored him entirely. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." He took the cup carefully with several fingers and sipped at the visibly steaming tea.
Ice eyed the drink with distaste and took a small bite of her croissant. The dry pastry didn't appeal to her much more than the hot tea did, but she was hungry enough to eat it. "I was stupid. That's all." Keluri's gaze focused on her.
"Really?" He tilted his head a little. She glared at the unoffending pastry and poked it to dislodge a outer flakes.
"I'm going back to where I started." She admitted, not any more willing to relate her failure than she had been the reasons for her journey in the first place. In Acre, she had decided against telling him about the Cold. With the reception she'd received there, she was glad of it.
"Can I assume that's north?" Keluri's eyes sparked a little at the mention of her journey. She looked at him a little oddly for his interest.
"Very far north." Ice cautioned. "Further than most people tend to go." That was all she knew about the place she first remembered. She'd been far enough that without the Cold's guidance she would never have found Adele, let alone any other human habitation.
Keluri looked around the table, then skeptically at the small leather pack she'd found somewhere or another. She didn't really remember; it didn't really matter. "What do you have in your pack? It can't be much, and it's a miracle you made it this far." Ice turned to look at the meager contents of the pack, just a few small rolls and obviously edible roots, some small camping gear.
"I tend to agree with you. But once we're in the north, there won't be anything to eat anyway." She knew well enough that her equipment was not good enough for a travel to the Wintermarch. Then again, she'd survived it before.
The otter just blinked at her response and took another sip of tea. "I can help you with your trip, but first I have to finish something here. If you want you can hep, but I think you need to talk to Jason first." This offer surprised her more than anything. She'd met him once before, and now he was offering to help her to the back of beyond before he even knew why she was going there.
Then she considered the rest of his statement. "Who's Jason?" She asked.
"Jason is the leader of the Ace's Guild," which she remembered from their first conversation. "A fox Pasu." Keluri went on. "As a test of my ability, we're taking on a bounty. As far as I know, there's a lot of money involved, and not very many people at the moment. If you can fight, you're welcome to come along, just so long as Jason approves."
Ice took another bit of her pastry and thought about this. She knew Keluri had gone to join the Ace's guild, and then there was this thing about being able to fight. "Well, I don't think I'm that good at waving a sword around." She said, which was an understatement. She'd never even held a rapier like the one Keluri had slung at his waist. "But I did kill a Marchbeast a while ago." She remembered the scouring of ice that had obscured the huge monster and left not even blood.
At this information the otter's eyes widened and he choked on his tea. "WH- WHAT? You're on the team. Jeez, that's crazy." Ice smiled slightly at his reaction and went on without replying to his astonishment.
She tapped her chin with a finger and added, "I don't know how well it will work further south, but…" Then she shrugged. "It's worth a try." She really didn't know if the snow and ice that was so plentiful in the north would come so easily where grass still grew.
Keluri, meanwhile, had recovered from his shock at her killing of the Marchbeast, and was wiping drops of fragrant tea off his shirt. "Well, I'd be happy to escort you once this job is done. Aren't you going to eat? It's on me, so don't be shy." He added this as an afterthought, and Ice nodded in thanks. She finished the pastry as well, but it was mostly politeness. His comment had struck home the fact that she was once again among society, and once again it was either try to draw on her double's funds or sleep in the street.
Keluri paid the waiter with a small pile of silver coins and stood. "I was just about to go find someplace to stay the night." He began little nervously. "This may seem…tactless, but if you're willing to help me find a place to bunk 'till tomorrow…" He trailed off without quite asking the question, and Ice took several moments to evaluate her answer before replying.
At last she shrugged. "I don't see how you think I could help, but if you want I'll look around." She knew nothing of Muon, and even now he probably could navigate better than she could. Ice didn't bother considering the other possibilities.
At her answer Keluri's face lit up. "Great! It'd be cheaper if we rented a single room with two beds, instead of separate rooms. I'm not pressuring you, and I know that it's kinda weird, but it's cheaper that way." Before Ice could think of a reply to THAT statement,
She turned to Keluri and nodded. She didn't believe there was any threat here, though she hadn't paid all that much attention to his reassurances. "If you want to come north with me, then I suppose you're welcome to." She added.
"What about the proposition?" He was almost oblivious to the slight awkwardness of the situation, but she had no better ideas. Ice shook her head at him and smiled slightly.
"I would be sleeping in the open otherwise," She said at last. "Might as well find an actual bed." She gave him a warning look, but didn't add anything. A part of her confidence streamed from the fact that she knew she could take care of herself, and a part of it was just that Keluri did not seem the type to lure girls away.
"That's nice." Keluri replied distractedly, looking up at the evening sun, and then back at her. "We probably should have started looking earlier. Anyway, let's go…" She stood and took a few steps towards the Naraka residences before she even realized where she was going. Not betraying a wave of turmoil that swept over her, she looked back at Keluri. "Where are we going?" She asked. He just looked at her for a moment before replying.
"The nicer part of town is that way," He pointed, "Unless you want to sleep in the slums…"
"No, I'm fine." She said hurriedly, and followed him towards an area still filled with people.

The inn was neither good nor bad, but a comfortable place in between. Ice let Keluri get a room, hanging back, fighting with herself. It wasn't staying with him that upset her, at least not as much as her own dependence on someone else. For now, though, there was little harm in it if she was going to help him with this thing with the Ace's guild.
Keluri opened the door to the room and bowed her in. "Your suite, princess." He said theatrically. She didn't reply, just raised her eyebrow at his comment and suppressed a smile. Coming in behind her, the otter shook his head, smiling at his joke. "Anyway, you choose which bed you want. I think the bathroom is that way," He pointed to a glass door, sanded so it was mostly opaque. "If the person at the reception wasn't lying, there's a shower in there."
Ice sat down on the left hand bed and curled her feet up underneath her, shedding her shoes as she did so. She gave the bathroom barely a glance before turning back to Keluri. "You said you wanted to come north with me. Why?" She wanted to know why he was helping her so much, when this was the second time they'd met. Keluri shut the door behind him, thinking about his answer.
"Well," He began, putting his bag down on the other bed, "You were going alone. That's dangerous, especially in the north. Truthfully, I haven't been that far north yet. But i think it's more that I feel obligated to help you for some reason…"
She froze in place, stared down at the floor for a long moment. How could she admit that throughout her time in Acre, she'd met no one she could remember, besides him? She looked up, opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again. Finally she decided to address his first comment. She didn't know how to answer the second. "The north is my place." She said. It wouldn't be nearly as dangerous for her as it was for others. "And I did not expect to stop here…" This was as close as she could come to speaking of his declaration.
Keluri sat down on the bed across from hers and looked directly into her eyes. "I respect that. It's just that you have been traveling with almost no supplies, and you are unsure of your ability to fight." She opened her mouth to protest that, but he continued to talk, raising his voice slightly.
"If you want to, you can walk out that door in the morning, and hit the road, but you'll be doing it without me or any protection other than the clothes on your back and your skill. If you do wait, and decide to pass on the job that I have to do, you'll have my protection in the north. I know nothing of what lies up there, and I'd recommend hiring a guide. The third option is that you can come with me, do the job, and get a cut of the bounty. If you don't get some, I'll share my portion, and you can buy some proper gear. I don't want to pressure you into anything, Ice. I have no idea what you wish to accomplish in the north. I'm offering you my services for free, and if you take my offer, you have my sword to watch your back and keep you safe."
Ice sat through this silently, still frozen, unable to formulate an answer. Something in her felt like she should speak, but how? Keluri turned around and started looking through his bag. "I'll let you think. Right now, I need to get this dirt out of my fur." He extracted a towel from his pack and removed his shirt, revealing well defined muscles covered with a sleek coat of dark fur. There was also a thick wrapping of white bandage along his left arm.
"If you want to, you can wash up before me. You'll have hot water then." She just shook her head, finally moving.
"I'm not all that frond of warm water, thanks." She said, the corner of her mouth curling up at one side. Keluri smiled and stood.
"Right," he said. "I should have guessed. Anyway, I'll be in the bathroom, so if you need me you can knock, come in, or whatever you want to do." He sauntered into the washroom, humming a tune she didn't recognize.
She looked after him for a moment and shook her head, leaning back on her elbows on the bed. Then she fell back onto the pillow and closed her eyes. The bathroom door opened a crack and Keluri peeked out. "If someone knocks on the door, come and get me. Don't answer it, let me do that." She opened her eyes and looked over towards the bathroom door, not bothering to move.
"I might." She said. "Are you expecting someone?" Ignoring her question, he retreated from the crack of open door.
"Don't forget, I do have my knives." He called, and closed the door. She looked after him, suppressing an only slightly incredulous grin. She really didn't think anyone who was going to bother them would be worried about a couple of knives, though she was sure he could use them well enough. "Good for you." She said at last. There wasn't a response but the sound running water, and the glass fogging up.
Some unknown amount of time later (she was drifting into sleep) Keluri emerged from the washroom, a thick cloud of fog following him. The white towel was wrapped around his waist, and the bandage had gone, revealing a strange silvery mark, shining on the fur still wet from the shower.
The steam was thick enough to make her cough slightly, and choke the life out of the air. Without really thinking, Ice turned over and made a shooing motion at the heavy cloud, freezing it into droplets that fell like an odd rain. Where they hit the floor they broke with a sound like crystal, but several of them DID land on the otter. "What was that for?" He asked, shielding his head with an up stretched arm.
"It was smothering." She said, with a note of apology in her voice. Keluri rubbed the top of his head.
"Just tell me before you do something like that. Or open the window." He walked over to his pack and rummaged through it. "Are you going to wash up? If you don't have soap, you can use mine." Ice grabbed her pack and stood, stretching.
"One of the very few things I do have, actually." She said, moving towards the bathroom. She didn't even really remember where it'd come from, but it was her's and not something she was borrowing from Keluri. His kindness  struck a bitter chord with her, something she could not accept all at once.
The room inside was filled with more steam that had barely begun to dissipate. Ice helped it along with another wave of her hand, careless of the shards that fell around her.
Water cascaded around her, luke warm and comfortable. When she'd finished washing up (it didn't take that long) she dug through her own pack for something to wear as a nightgown.
All she ended up with was another set of clothes, but the tunics were nearly knee-length on her, and would do well enough. So Ice shrugged into that, gathered her things, and stepped back out into the main room. She slung the bag to the foot of the bed and plopped down onto hers, willing to leave things at that.
Keluri puzzled her more than did the rest of the world put together, but hopefully she wouldn't let him see that. The thing wasn't that she was worried about him, more like the opposite. She propped her back against the headboard and turned to face the otter, who was eyeing her with an expression she didn't recognize.
"So… Ice… Where are you from?" His voice was inquisitive, it was probably meant to be a simple question. With the questions she'd been asking herself lately, it was anything but simple. It took her a moment to gather her answer, and even then it wasn't very satisfactory.
"I... I suppose I am from some nameless place in the north, beyond where sane people go." She looked down and away, closed her eyes for a moment. "But part of the reason I am going back there is to know; is that true? Is any of me?" She needed to know if anything she'd done was real, if any part of her existed beyond the Cold's strange influence. The worst would be if some part of her really DID belong to the girl those in Adele had originally mistaken her for, because then she would be that person, and not even have a chance to find herself.
Keluri sat up from where he'd been lying on his bed, frowning in concern. He'd gotten a pair of pants on, at least, but a part of her still wondered about the mark of silver on his arm.
"Are you doubting where you came from?" He asked her, sounding anxious. Ice laughed hollowly.
"What is there to believe of it? I woke in the Wintermarch knowing nothing. I certainly wasn't born there." She let out a deep breath and fixed her gaze on a part of the bedspread facing away from Keluri, least he see the cracks of herself reflected in her eyes.
Keluri got up and came over to her, sitting down beside her. "I'm not sure what's worse, not knowing where you came from, or knowing the place you came from too well." He pulled a kerchief from  one of the several pockets on his shorts and laid it cautiously on her bed. "I was born in Escorus, and never left until earlier this week. I want to help you, if you'll let me. Stay with me, and I'll find what you want. Together, if you want." Ice felt some of her desperation ease, a couple of the cracks in her persona mend slightly.
"Together." She said meditatively. She looked over at Keluri finally, met his dark gaze with a smile so faint it was barely visible. She nodded, just a little, and said, "That sounds… right." And it did. She didn't know why, or how it could possibly, but it did.
Keluri wrapped his arms around her, a warmth that nearly engulfed her slight frame. "I'll be there for you, always." He said gently. Ice'd stiffened at his hug at first, but she didn't want to push him away, either. Slowly she raised her arms and returned his embrace, a smile lifting her lips though she couldn't think of anything to say in reply.
He held her tightly, close to him, so that she could feel the thrumming of his heart below her cheek. Soft fur brushed against her arms, and she was WARM for the first time in her remembrance. Keluri put his cheek against her head and murmured something like a lullaby, in a language she didn't know. The soft voice followed her into her dreams, as sleep stole irresistibly over her.