A Season of Red & Grey

II: Ashen Snow

The snow fell peacefully in the forest as Natalia rushed through it. The icy air burned her lungs as she ducked under branches and vaulted over boulders and large roots. She slid down an ice-coated hill and face planted when her foot caught on a root.

"Blood and ashes-" she cursed, holding her now scratched face. Natalia brushed herself off, before frantically unclasping her jacket to check that the vial hadn't broken and was spilling its contents. Thankfully, the vial had suffered minimal damage, much to Natalia's relief.

Time slowed as a warning shot echoed through the forest. Natalia's eyes widened as the sound registered in her mind. She hoisted herself up onto the lowest branch of a nearby tree, flattening herself against the rough bark. Pulling up her hood Natalia took out her gun as a slightly older girl ran into her sightline. Natalia lowered her already half-cocked gun. Sighing, she slid out of the tree and sauntered over to the girl, who flinched upon hearing Natalia's approach. Natalia jumped up to try and ruffle the other's hair. The taller girl frowned, looking down at Natalia's smiling, dirty, and slightly red face.

"What happened to you, squirt? Run into the queen's guards or something?"

"I tripped." Natalia pouted as her companion burst into laughter, the harsh sound a stark contrast to the silence of the forest before the two met up.

"It's not funny, Alleria."

"Of course it's not." Alleria said, wiping a tear from her eye before bending down to place a swift, chaste kiss on Natalia's cold cheek. The duo walked in silence both hyper-aware of their surroundings and the other's demeanor, but neither dared to break the foreboding silence again. Too much was riding on this job.

Entering into the frontmost room of the underground market filled with only a few assorted buyers and vendors, Natalia was almost plowed over by a waif of a boy.

"Tali!"

"Logan!" She laughed as she snaked her arms around her younger brother, who was already shivering from the minuscule amount of cold air that drafted into the room from the front entrance.

"Back inside, Lo. Don't want you getting sick again, now do we?" Logan pouted, pushing up the wiry frames of his too-big glasses before dragging Natalia behind him deeper into the market.

Logan dragged Natalia to the centre room where the leader of the underground market was holed up. He skittered away to the trio's stand when the foreboding door opened. Natalia stepped into the dimly lit room, squinting to see if the person she was supposed to meet was inside. The eerie amber light sent shivers down Natalia's spine as she walked deeper into the room. A bulky figure sat at a desk, his silhouette illuminated from the back by an amber glow while a blue light surrounded him from the monitor he faced.

"Did you get it?"

"Wow, not even an 'are you okay Natalia' ?" Natalia scoffed, unzipping her jacket to reveal the vial that was slightly cracked from her fall earlier. The chair turned around, the amber light falling fully on a weathered face as the monitor, which showed the market, flickered off. The man's stoic facade slowly shifted into a tight smile as he spied the vial in Natalia's hand.

"Well done Natalia."

"Thanks, Ekon. Now, about Logan's treatment." Ekon's eyes darkened to a coal-black, the smile vanishing as if it had never been. Natalia clutched the vial a little harder than before as she stepped back slightly.

"There is a treatment, right?" Fear laced Natalia's voice. Everything she ever did was for Logan, for him to get better.

"Natalia, we... we're working on it." Ekon sighed, standing up from his chair and moving toward the female. Natalia stepped back, hugging the precious pink liquid to her rapidly rising and falling chest.

"You said there was a treatment." She choked out. Ekon sighed, wrenching the vial from Natalia's numb fingers.

"I said there might be a treatment option. It was never a yes." He said, shoving Natalia out the door to where Alleria was casually leaning against the wall. She bolted off of the wall to catch Natalia as she stumbled back from the force of Ekon's shove, her eyes glassy. Alleria wrapped her arm around Natalia's diminishing frame as she folded into herself.

"How am I gonna tell Logan?" she whispered, shaking in Alleria's strong grip.

"Tell me what?" Natalia froze when she heard her brother's voice. She slowly lifted her head, forcing herself to meet Logan's wide eyes. The two stared at each other for a bit before Logan crashed into both Natalia and Alleria's embrace, shaking violently from the sobs he was trying to keep inside.

Alleria gently led the siblings to the stall the trio had rented for the time being, closing it up as she ushered the two inside. Alleria lit a lamp, giving the cramped vendor's quarters behind the stall a warm glow while Natalia and Logan wrapped themselves in blankets Natalia and Alleria had purchased back after the first job the duo had ever done together. Logan was asleep almost as soon as the blanket touched his shoulders.

"We'll figure this out Tali, I know we will." Alleria spoke softly, wrapping herself around Natalia.

"Thanks Alleria." Natalia sighed, sinking into Alleria's embrace, and already plotting how to get Logan his treatment.

She would get him his treatment, even if she died in the process.