𝙎𝘼𝙏𝙐𝙍𝙉 ✮ 𝘯. 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘧𝘧

{𝟎𝟓} - 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠

But that was easier said than done for others.

On one occasion, when she was a kid, Semna had asked Madame B if she could have a pet. It had only been her third month at the Academy, and as she was still getting used to her new life, little Semna had the most difficulty remembering the specifics of how she was to behave and speak to her superiors. On the day she asked this question, she had been out in the valley with the other girls, when she spotted a furry creature eyeing her from a small clearing in the woods. Semna could barely contain her excitement in the moment, and when they went back inside later on, and she began to think about the animal even more, her mind wandered elsewhere. And this was when she popped the question to Madame B.

The Madame had only scowled, upturning her lips in a way that showed off her ghastly front teeth. Semna remembered the woman grabbing a chunk of her hair and pushing her forward down the hallway, quietly muttering, "One day you will learn, ty glupaya devochka."

You stupid girl.

Of all the names she had been called by the woman in her lifetime, Semna had always thought about this one the most. It was mild compared to others, but something about it being the first of many had made it stick like glue to her brain. Perhaps it was the memory of how she had handled it—tucked into a ball that night, trying to muffle her own crying as she realized how brutal the place would truly be.

When Semna finally looked up, the moonlight had escaped her. She could seldom see the mouse anymore. She thought about crawling over to the mattress with what little strength she harbored, curling up and sleeping the week away. But when she heard the clanking again and flinched so hard she nearly dropped her newfound pet, she decided a night of no sleep could not harm her any further. Instead, she found herself drifting into an entirely different world.

With the mouse in hand, she stood up, letting her mind take charge over her midnight adventures. She and Natalia had done this dozens of times before when they were younger, when things at the Academy were worse than they ever were for the girls and they desperately hoped for a way out. She remembered them trekking through the hallways and instead of finding a window, like they often did now, they would find a vacant, pitch-black storage room. There they would imagine the most fantastical things: running through the woods together, seeing the oceans, every country they could get to, even going so far as to dream up their own house in a countryside somewhere distant. Semna could almost hear themselves now, clear as day:

"I wish we could run from here. Somewhere far away."

"Me too."

Semna's heart ached at the thought of her, but she forced herself to push it away. Now was not the time to become weak, not when a threat seemed to be approaching with fervor in the night. In the darkness, her imagination instead produced a spectacle that made her heart thrum against her chest.

In the Nowhere, there was...well, nothing. Nothing except for Semna and the sound of birds, creatures that she could not see, but only hear. The sun beat down through the evergreen leaves, ever in all its glory, dancing between branches and creating breathtaking silhouettes on the forest floor beneath her. With no snow anywhere around her, she envisioned a place of pure beauty, with everything she never got to do in the palm of her hand. She basked in the sunlight, almost feeling its heat on her skin; she picked up piles of leaves and threw them around her head; and, most notably, she danced without the feeling of another's eyes on her every move.

It would have been quite a sight to see, had the lights been on. Semna danced as if it was the only way of life she had ever known. Her ballet skills had perhaps never been so pristine as they were in the pitch darkness of the Russian cell block, but they were hers all the same. Her legs moved with fluidity, moving between air and surface, her arms following them with grace. She performed the routine she had practiced for over a decade, the same one they constantly ridiculed at the Academy for days on end even in her teenage years. And that, if nothing else, brought her the most comfort she had felt since the day they took her away.

Suddenly, the clanking rang out again. Semna fumbled mid-step, falling clumsily out of her fantasy. She furrowed her brows, having forgotten entirely what she was still doing up, until she heard it yet again. This time, her spine stiffened. Not only did she remember her mission, but the sound was much closer than it had been previously.

Much, much closer.

In one motion, Semna scooped up the mouse, and silently ran to collapse onto her mattress. Though a small amount of light had returned, she still had trouble seeing even a few feet in front of her, so where she intended to land in the middle of the mattress, she landed with a hard thump on the very end of it. She cringed.

The clanking rang out once again. It was not only closer, she thought, but it was right outside her cell.

A dark silhouette emerged in front of her in the hallway. Its head was down, but Semna was sure she had finally found the source of what was keeping her up. The figure was heavily built, and even from this distance, she could see how much it towered over her in height. The figure banged on the bars of the cell across the hall from her, though it had been empty since Semna had arrived.

Having noticed this, the figure turned, finally spotting Semna cowering in the corner. It approached, slamming its fist against the concrete wall in the process, seemingly trying to scare the girl; Semna remained still, though glad it was dark enough that it could not see her bulging eyes.

After a few moments of terrifying silence, she spoke. "Who are you?" She had tried to keep her voice strong, but it came out much more broken than intended.

The figure cocked its head at her. Slowly, Semna stood up, making her way to the bars to meet it, face to face. The closer she got, the more she could make out its features. She saw now that it was a man, with hair going down to his shoulders in a wavy heap. It was almost as long as hers, actually, and Semna found this quite unusual for a man. The guards at the Academy were not allowed their hair to grow past their ears, let alone their chin.

The man was also wearing some kind of uniform. His chest was covered by a black, muscle-like plate that extended to his stomach, and one of his arms was covered in metal, although for some reason, the other was completely void of it.

The man, finally opening his mouth to speak, flashed his metal hand at her before answering. Whether it was intended to be a threat or not, Semna did not know, but when she jumped back and recoiled, he smiled at her.

"I am the Winter Soldier."

A/n: I don't have much to say about this one hehe. Hopefully I will start wrapping up part one soon, though. :). Let me know what you think! (Like, comment, etc.)

-sk.