The Cold North

"After the jug broke, immediately there is light in the world, there is darkness too, when there is light, the raven disappeared"

-origin of light (Inuit legend)

I left Smoke in the nursery, she is too small to come with me on a mission. Port nova is located beyond the river in the north, to go there you have to cross on a boat from pine harbor. As the sun getting higher we arrived at Pine harbor, far across the river a tall white mountains rose over the glowing water. We get into the boat, heading to port nova. Jean is alone on the deck looking at the waters, the boat is rocking over the wave. The wind is quite strong, i take a parka from my bag and slowly warped it on Jean's back. "Oh it's you, thanks!" She looked a bit of surprise then calmed, after thanking see back gazing at the waters. "That's Fang's homeland you know!" Pointing at the white towering mountains. Fang howls a bit, by my side. Jean smiles as he gives Fang a glance, "It's beautiful, but Sergeant hates the cold!" She smiling seeing her grizzly bear, that apparently looks like it's going to hibernate anytime now. Purring Sergeant snorting towards Fang as a "piss off" warning. "Wow, he is really take on a mood swing!" I chuckled. We spent the whole time talking about everything, about my mom, my new sister. Then she also tell about her father, how her mother divorced her father, her mother family is quite rich and loaded. Her mother hates the hilly billies south side and refuse to stay on the bent hills, not long after she was born. She went back to the Capitol and drifted away in relationships, until her mother family decided to asked for divorcement. She was brought up by her mother family, when she was 8 years old, her mother remarried into a more wealthy family of a 'noble blood', she was given to her father in the bent hills. She has a step brother of the same mother, in the capitol. Her mother's family mansions is a big riverside castle like building, she use to play on the docks by the river. Her mother use to take her to the riverside on the afternoon. Seeing the waters, really males her sad. I stand next to her, i was an expert listener. My many days as a listener to my mother bed side really pays off. Somehow she lean her head to my shoulder, my heart beats really fast. As i realized that i had a feeling for her, the sun goes down. A rise in temperature we were forced to get below the deck to our cabin. We arrives at port nova at night, a soldier guide our team to the lodgings, it was a barracks with six sets of beds. I turn on the heaters, Jean's nose is red, i think as her affinity with the fire elements somehow the cold has some effects to her body. I was doing fine, her bear is really struggling with the coldness, and now curling near the heater with Fang, and the other companions. Jean bunk is next to me, Dean drop dead like a log after washing his face, his hands and feet with warm water, as he get into the thick blanket. I think he gets a sea sick, and wont admitted it, i saw him a couple of time pale faced on the boat. Grey and Shawn is talking about the mountain's animals that can be founded, Shawn said he really want to give a high grade zero nites. As his aunt is expecting a baby girl in a couple of months. Grey is about making money, he plans to save up money as he wanted to buy a parcel of land west of Rogan, near the outskirts by the river, near the bridge to the western outpost. After washing and cleaning i tugged myself to bed, because i like to sleep in the dark. Facing the heater to left is too bright for me, i rolled my body to face the other side. Our eyes meet, Jean is looking right at me. "I cant sleep" as i read her lips moving but without a sound. I smiled and lips back "let us gaze then" she giggles. We were making weird faces, until she falls a sleep. Then i close my eyes and went down too.

At 8 in the morning we are gathered up in the port nova commander tent for a briefing. The Captain is explaining to us, the mission is to retrieve a missing Polar bear family that the country has laid so many time and funds to do a captives breeding, that never succeed, but using the north as wild breeding grounds they have been able to do a good job of 10 cubs in this last years. But a mother with two cubs is detected leaving the north tundra towards the headwind mountains, heading to the Agra jungle's mountain range, in the eastern empire territorial. Our duty is to retrieve the assets, alive in possible ways. But if the risk is too high a sanction culling will be performed on the spot, by approval of the Port nova command center. We hike from the North port nova gate, the mountains is quite steppe and slippery. Our companion is really struggling, Fang is leading the way. He has the natural advantage in this environment, the journey really drains our stamina. Dean with his big build is having trouble breathing, Shawn and Grey is exchanging throwing a couple balls of snow balls here and there. Jean what worries me, the tough girl looks very vulnerable at the moments. "Are you okay Jean? Do you need rest?" I asked. "What for? I feel great!!" She smiles blowing a breath to her palm and rubs it harshly. "Alright!" It's 16.00 in the afternoon the temperature is slowly dropping, the location of the sightings is still 4 miles of full hike, i decided to seeks shelter. In the north side of the mountains we found a cave, after making a fire we open our preserved dinner over some hot tea. Jean paired with me back to back and Grey paired with Shawn, Dean cuddles with his Pit bull near the fire. The companions excepts for Dean's is curling together over the fire, the cave is getting warmer. We were discussing something, when then something was heard after the sun goes down, a sets of howl echoing through the mountains range. Fang got up and runs towards the mouth of the cave, looking back to me he asked "can i Cass?" I give a go ahead, leaving from my sights. I can hear the wolves talking as they singing with the howls. At least three packs lived on the headwind mountain range, the nearest one is near the foot hills to the northern tundra. One over the next mountain peak, the farthest near the border to the Agra forest.

I woke up before dawn, next to me is Jean, looking at her, my heart skips a beat. She looks really beautiful in her sleeps. I am suppressing hard calming my feelings than walk out of the cave. Fang was there, he was gazing at the northern lights. It was very beautiful, soon the reddish sunrise. When suddenly someone came and embrace my left arm, it was Jean. "Cheater! Why don't you two woke me up to see this!" She smiles. I continued watching the sunrise, five minutes later Shawn and Grey sits besides us. The whole sunrise show ends at 7 o'clock. Dean woke up, we have a hard time waking up the Sarge, the bear is hibernating hard. We hike farther into the mountains, reaching the last locations we looks for a clues. On one of the cave, Fang picks up a faint scents of the polar bears. A few traces leads the conclusions that the three bears is heading down towards the Agra forest. This is now a race against time, we speed up to the next ridge. Fang caught a fresh scents, we trails it to the nearest ravine crossing, when we heard a distress sound of a cub. One of the cub has fallen to the edge of a cliff. The mother is moving agitate in the top edge of the cliff, sensing our team approaching she is trying to fend us off. Our team companions move forward in unison and intimidates the mother polar bear, and it was working. The polar bear is avoiding by protecting the cub beside her to the nearest tree lines. We went over to the edge of the cliff, setup our climbing gear and went down to get the cub. After we get the cub, the best approach is to held the cub as a hostage to rile up the mother, so she would come to follow us back towards the tundra. The trip down hill was not easier than we thought. It was slippery and stepped. We went around a couple of weak steppes, in risks of an avalanches. It was nearly dark when we reach the mountain foothills leading to the tundra, the mother and the other cub is trailing us not far behind, the hostage cub is making a distress noise all the time. We release the cub guiding it to the tundra areas as her mother and siblings follow it and went into the forest, we continued to monitored them for a couple of hours. We camped outsides, it was freezing cold. After we make sure that, the polar bears enters the inner part of the forest and did not come back to the mountains. We break camp and go towards the northern out post down the mountain cliffs, its easier than to cuts through the mountain. Along the ways we hunted down a couple of snow foxes, a couple vials of High grades zero nites was obtained. The quality of the animals is really top grades. The hare population is quite high, we also eats meat for lunch. A pack of Arctic Wolf was in sightings, but seeing the size of Fang and he spreads a really bad intimidating vibes, something like 'if you are trying to enter our camps and you are dead' kind of looks, the pack really intimidated. They went away an hour later, we continues walking to the outpost, Shawn's companion sense a nest above the tree lines, it was a snow owls nest. We wait until night falls, when the owls when hunting we found 10 eggs on the nest, we take 4 of them as in the preservation laws rule allowed us to. Then setting camps not far from there, the wolves is permanently fended off by Fang. A couple of foxes, trying to get into our tent, but meet their demise and given us a couple more of high and mid grade harvest. We cooked the meat of the foxes, we break camp at sunrise. Dean, Shawn and Grey is hunting over on the tree lines, i was with Jean talking while going down off to a mountain wall, we was looking for a cave, since two days camping on the open has make us like a zombie sleep deprivation frozen food compiler. On a lush bush we found a quite large opening like a cave, going inside i found the cave is large enough for us to sleeps in it. I was preparing fire, Jean is opening the sleeping bags. Halves of the equipment was on Dean's backpack, Grey came in and give us some hunted hares for dinner. Saying he spotted about a pack of Arctic wolves, the three of them was trying to trapped a few to be culled. I asked Fang to watch their backs, the sarge is accompanying Jean to clear the bush on the mouth of the cave. I was preparing the hare meat for cooking, when i heard a vibration, a very strong quake happened. The sarge pushing Jean inside the cave, an avalanche completely shuts the cave mouth. "Jean, where are you? Are you okay?", the light outside is blocked luckily i have made a fire, she cough. I came over and brings her near the fire, she cries as she lost the connection to sarge. I sent a neural linked to Fang, he replied the cave is shutdown in a pile of thick snow, even my scents are completely gone. The outpost is about 4 miles away, we were stalling a bit to effectively hunts for today is the last day. The rest of the team went hastily to the outpost to seek for help, Fang stay on the front of the cave to watch the situations. After the teams left to get helped, through Fang's eyes i witness something. A big creature, out of this world. It was a giant reptile with wings and there is two of them fighting. It looks like the avalanche was cause by them. Their heights is about 9 feet tall, one is red in colors the other was green. I ordered Fang to take covers on the tree lines to watch more. Jean is unconscious after the shock, after a whole our fighting the two giant lizards flew away towards the north towards the sea. Jean woke up crying in my arms, the shocked of companion loss is quite hard putting a mental stress on a mind. (Imagine losing one of your hand) After Jean calmed down, i quickly cooked the hare that i have been preparing and put off the fire. As my concern is the oxygen to breath in this shut in cave is getting thinner. Jean is holding me, i hold her, we are in complete dark now "Jean are you hurts?" I was worried, and she is too quiet. "I'm okay, but sarge is not" she said, i take a deep breath and hold her tight. After waiting for two hours more a sound of snow mobile approaching, the rescue came and 20 men dug us out if the cave. We was brought to the outpost, they setup a barracks with six bunked bed like the one on port nova, looks like it was a standard shape guess room for a team. With Jean resting, the four people of our team was debriefed, the mission was a success with a loss of a single companion, rather than a compiler it was a slight collateral damages. I was totally shutting up on the event that only me and Fang witnessed. I went back to the lodging, to find Jean is still crying curling up to Fang near the heater. I was surprise since Fang has cut off this event from my neural link. "She needs to be on her own" Fang said. Dean, Grey and Shawn, pat my backs and left towards the outpost mess hall. I slowly moves to her side, when she sees me, she hugs me. Fang put down his head and lays on the floor. "Cass promised me, now I'm alone, don't left me!" She cried. "Okay" i answered softly, a moment of silence, "Cass.." she called. "Yes Jean" i answered, "do you love me?" My heart skipped a beat, caught of guard. "Excuse me what??" I confirmed the questions. "You heard it, please answered!" She said. "Well no, um i mean yes, but are you serious?" She looked me with a sharp looks. "Okay then yes!" I said it, and she avert her eyes back to the fires. "Then starting now, you should always stay with me!" I don't answered that as it goes without saying. It was a mandatory one way decisions, i was coerced into silence, speechless.

"I guess, Jean and me are a couple now~♡"

Note: As much considerations to animals rights, the "slave" words will have to go, i have taken the liberty of changing it into "companion" from this chapter. As it wasn't bad enough killing it to get something out of them. So that is it then.