Before the sky could even turn into a light blue color, Petra was already awake. Peter slept in one of the makeshift haybeds, saying that "it was a refreshing feeling" to sleep in something that wasn't luxurious, while Adrien spent the entire night remaking his potion again.
Once she woke up, she looked for the tallest house she could find and sat on its roof, pen and journal in hand to write. The lantern floating next to her was a good enough light and heat source before they would leave.
The only time she stopped to write was when the letter nearly fell from the pages of her notebook again, making her pick it up before it could fall down on the ground. She furrowed her brows before staring at the half torn paper flying from her hands, almost as if the winds wanted it to fly freely.
Her brows furrowed, and she crumpled the piece of paper in her hands. Stupid thing. It was all its fault that they were here, all its fault that she had to be in this situation. A dumb piece of paper was the reason she was in this dumb mission.
It was the paper's fault, not hers. She just had to do what she needed to do.
Her fingers itched, and she could feel her magic wanting to be released. Petra stood up and balled the paper in her palms. She needed something to calm her down, one that didn't involve dumb stars or summoning lamps by her side. She wanted to release a large portion of her magic, and maybe even destroy something in the process.
But before she could do anything dumb, she took a deep breath and sat down, placing the paper in her journal again. She couldn't destroy it. Not yet, at least. Not when they still needed it once they could get inside Alejandro's house.
Things would have been so much easier if it weren't for--
Petra narrowed her eyes. She placed her hands down the roof, tightening her grip on it. Still, she forced herself to calm down.
"You're done with your small potion-making, Adi?"
Footsteps echoed behind her as Adrien walked, stopping just when he was right behind her. Petra turned around, just in time to see Adrien sitting down. He shifted in his seat a little and brushed his light hair back.
"I guess I am," he answered as he turned to her. "And I think I've done it, now."
Her eyes slightly widened, and she raised a brow. "Really? How so?"
"I'm not sure, but..." He looked down and tapped his finger on the rooftop. "I made two of them. They have the same ingredients and process but I added a little something to the other."
Petra closed her journal, making it poof away once again. She tucked her hair behind her pointy ears--feeling strands of them cover her ears made her itch, and she was glad she could finally let them out.
"You sound... doubtful."
"Can you blame me?" He turned to her and sighed. "I'm... I'm not sure what it does, but I know it's dangerous. Maybe even fatal."
At the last bit, she felt her chest twinge. She flicked her eyes to Adrien's before immediately looking away.
Before she could say anything, however, Petra looked down. Some part of her body shook, or maybe pulled. It was almost like something was dragging her away, wanting her to be led out of Elderis.
She placed her hand on her chest and closed her eyes. There was a hum, one that was both loud and soft. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the endless snow, albeit wavy and blurry. There were voices, too. They sounded muffled, but she recognized one of them.
Allaine.
She shook her head and opened her eyes again, allowing her to see from her sight rather than from the person she marked on. "We need to leave."
Adrien furrowed his brows. "What's wrong?"
"The Black Feathers. They're catching up." She stood up and dusted the snow from her clothes. "Wake Peter up. And tell him to be quick."
If Adrien said something, then she didn't hear it. Petra jumped down from the house and landed on the snow with a small thump. She dusted any remaining snow from her clothes and wore her hood over her head again.
Her chest ached, and she was tempted to consult her star map once more. But she didn't want people to see her using magic. Not when they could report them to anyone--be it to the Black Feathers or maybe to Nuryyn's Army if they would be here.
After a while, Adrien and Peter both dashed towards her. Her brother yawned and scratched the back of his ear before asking, "Where are we heading to next?"
"Just north of here," Adrien replied. "Then, we'll stop for a short while so I can double check the map."
Petra crossed her arms and huffed. And maybe I can check the star map, too.
Fortunately, Peter didn't say a single word. He just nodded and let Adrien lead the both of them. Petra turned around, slightly glad that there was no sign of the Black Feathers behind them. Still, she couldn't suppress the growing feeling in her stomach, and it was even harder to ignore once they were able to leave Elderis.
By the time they managed to leave the small town, the snow started falling once again. Fortunately, it wasn't harsh. They were just enough to send winds and let snow fall from the sky, but they were bearable.
In front of her, Adrien stopped and sighed, fog forming in front of his face. "I think we can reach Alejandro's house easily. We might be able to make it in a day."
Next to him, Peter shook his head. He wrapped his arms around himself as his hands glowed orange. "A- Adi, it's getting cold. I- I think we should stop t- to rest."
"Where are we, anyway?" Petra asked as she looked around, surprised to see trees around her. "And how far have we been walking?"
Adrien pressed his hand in the air, making his map reappear. Despite the fact that everything was as white as snow, there were still a few details that stood out. First was the split in the middle, probably a ravine. Second was the lesser white and more grey on the right. Adrien scrolled the map and spread his palms, allowing it to zoom in.
"We're almost in the Burning Fields." He swiped the map away, making it disappear. "Like I said. We either don't stop and reach Alejandro's house in a day, maybe even less, or take stops and risk getting caught."
"I- I'll take the risk." Peter shook his head. He opened his mouth, though he knelt down before he continued. "Adi, p- please. I kn- know that you two are used to the Nuryyn's cold, b- but I'm not!"
"Peter--"
"I don't care if we risk getting caught! Adrien, I--"
"Peter!"
Before Peter could fall from the ground, Petra grabbed him by his shoulders. Unfortunately, his entire weight dragged them both downwards, making her kneel down on the snow next to him. Her brows furrowed as she stared at her brother's face.
His eyes were slowly closing, but she could still see that he was conscious. He reached out his hand, his shaking hand, and held her face. "P- Petra... I'm..."
"You're burning up." She placed a hand in his forehead. Even with her gloves, she could feel his hot skin. "A- Adi, he's heating up! He's--"
"Godsdamnit, Peter." Adi knelt down next to her and held his forehead. He furrowed his brows before snapping his fingers, making a flask appear in his hands. "Make him drink this. It'll warm his body up until we cross the other side."
Petra nodded and grabbed the flask from Adi's hands. Though once she grabbed it, she stopped in her tracks and stared at her own palms. They were shivering. Whether it was from the cold or something else, she didn't know.
"He's a super soldier meant for battle," Adrien muttered. "He's supposed to be used to the cold. Why did he pass out?"
"He said it was too cold for him."
"It shouldn't be too cold for him, his body temperature should be able to adjust to anything!"
"Adi, just stop it!"
Petra lowered her head and pressed it to Peter's chest, hiding any emotion that dared crawl on her lips. She took a sharp and cold breath, one that should be enough to stop her quivering lips.
Her hands tightened on the flask, and she could feel the glass breaking from her hold.
"Does the reason even matter right now?" She lifted her head, but she couldn't find herself meeting Adrien's gaze. "Let's just- let's just find a place to stay while Peter warms up. I don't know what's happening to him but..."
For a while, Adrien was silent. But then, a sigh left him as he nodded. "Alright, let's go."
Petra nodded. She opened the flask and gave the potion to her brother. The liquid felt warm, and it was probably enough to sooth the cold growing in his stomach. Once everything was done, Adrien placed his fingers on Peter's body.
And like what happened, he was gone in a flash of silver.
He stood up and dusted the snow from his body. "Let's be quick. I don't know how long I or Peter can last."
Petra nodded before following him behind. Her stomach twisted at the thought of Peter being in Adrien's pocket dimension. Was he going to be okay? What would happen to him if he would wake up inside Adrien's realm? Would he even find a way to call to them, or would Adrien not hear him?
Questions upon questions popped in her head, though they slowly stopped when she had to focus on walking. It was getting hard to maneuver around the forest, especially with the large trees serging only as roadblocks rather than protection from the winds.
Her ears flicked as she heard Adrien's voice, though she wasn't able to register what he said.
Petra lifted her head and turned to him. "Did you say something?"
"I said"--Adrien turned around, allowing her to see his furrowed brows and glare turning into widened eyes--"Look out!"
In one second, Petra was standing still. In the next, she felt someone push her out of the way, making her land on the even snowier grounds. Above her, she could feel Adrien's weight as both of his arms wrapped around her form. For a split second, she felt heat. Then, it disappeared.
Adrien sat up, allowing her to do the same. Her eyes managed to catch a glimpse of orange and red, perhaps fire, then the sound of a tree falling to the ground with a loud crash.
She couldn't see them, but she could feel it. Hiding behind the trees.
The Black Feathers.
Petra scoffed as she stood up and dusted her clothes. "How many are there?"
Adrien closed his eyes. "More than before." He opened them and scoffed, before standing right behind her. "Ten to fifteen, I'm assuming."
"That's a big range."
"It's hard to tell."
"What now?"
"Now." He summoned his map again before swiping it away. "I think we should split up."
"Are you crazy--"
"We'll distract them better that way. You can take down five people on your own, but ten? I doubt it."
"Adrien, you're a thinker, not a fighter. I don't think you can handle even two on your own!"
"Trust me, Petra!"
Petra furrowed her brows as Adrien met her eyes. She didn't know why, but she couldn't meet away his gaze. It was almost like something was forcing her to stare at them, forcing her to make eye contact with him.
She didn't trust him, and he didn't trust her either.
They both knew that.
Finally, she closed her eyes and turned away. "I'm sorry."
"You aren't."
"You're right. I'm not."
And with that, she ran off to the right, where she remembered seeing the crack in the middle of Adrien's map.
Not long after, she heard footsteps, running in the same direction as her. Petra slid her feet down the snowy grounds, sending a burst of fire to her left. With another turn, she crossed her hands together. Thin red strings appeared in her fingertips, and a familiar mark appeared on the rebel in front of her.
"Ah, it's you," she greeted. "Thank you for being my eyes and ears, even for a short while."
They scoffed before charging, though Petra twisted her hands. There was a sickening crack, and the once white snow below her turned red, before being blown away by the winds.
It wasn't long until she reached the end. At the same time, three more people ran towards her. Petra grabbed onto a tree branch and spun around, kicking one of them in the face, before landing on the branch.
Without turning around, she continued running. As soon as she saw the ravine, Petra jumped from the branch and grabbed onto the ledge, then hoisted herself up.
The other side didn't have a lot of trees, allowing her to see the snow falling gently on the ground. She sighed and turned around, just where she came from.
Adrien and Peter were still there, and she wasn't sure if they were alright.
Petra stood up and summoned her star map.
Then, she finally allowed it. She let a laugh leave her lips and press a hand on her eyes. It was hard to suppress in front of Adrien, but that didn't matter.
This was it, the fun was finally about to start. And she had front row seats.