Toivo ducked under the weight of the moonbeams, unwilling to meet the moon's gaze. Luna wasn't looking down on him with approval tonight. Her glow was bright with disappointment.

Shaking his fur out, he sunk his fangs deeper into the neck of the hare he carried. Though he wasn't hungry, he knew he needed to keep Lexi's strength up as they travelled deeper into the cold.

At least, that was the reasoning he told himself. In reality, he'd risen restless and tired of failing to sleep, in need to unleash his frustrations. The prey had been his safest option. Sinking his fangs into an unsuspecting animal should have provided some sort of relief. Yet the blood that wrapped his tongue in a bitter metallic taste provided nothing but a reminder of the new power that thrummed inside him.

With every step he took, the events would play again. The sounds of the hunters. The fear of discovery. The will, so strong and deep, for them to go away, to not find them, to allow Lexi to be safe from their claws. The sensation that followed - as if dark tendrils were reaching out, revelling in their freedom as they inflicted the terror they longed for.

Now, those tendrils were balled up inside again, and a part of him ached to release them once more. It was stifling to hold this power inside. It wasn't made to be cooped up.

He shook his head, trying to dislodge the thoughts. He was sure he remembered Lexi commenting on a similar sensation about her lightning, back when she was first gifted her Thunder Pelt. Over time, she'd grown used to it, and had gotten quite good at keeping the power inside.

But this darkness felt far more brutal than simple electricity.

As he approached the hole, Toivo scanned his surroundings, ears alert and nose tentatively sniffing the air. Though he was fairly sure the hunters wouldn't return, he wasn't taking any chances. Thankfully, their portion of the woods remained solitary, and he deemed it safe to set the hare down and nudge aside their leafy protection.

Moonlight streaked through the widened gap, revealing glittering gold beneath. Lexi was still deep in sleep, her chest rising and falling steadily, her breathing deep and content. No dark dreams disturbed her rest. She didn't find herself trapped in night's cloak the moment she shut her eyes.

Sighing, Toivo pulled the leaves across again, obscuring her from view. He'd wait until dawn before he woke her. It was more important that she held on to that peaceful sleep.

He sat down beside the hole, gazing out at the forest. Something comfortable settled over him, like a warm blanket, filled with familiar scents. The nightly forest truly was beautiful. Only scuffles in the undergrowth and the occasional hoot of some nearby bird of night disturbed the silvery peace.

Tilting his head back, he stared at the stars. There was Clerassi, the snake - easy to spot due to its weaving line of compacted specs. It represented resilience, he remembered Lexi telling him once, made up of Starrnyx heroes that had been highly resilient in their lifetimes. Narrowing his eyes, he scanned the sky, trying to remember where she had pointed out the others - they always seemed like a disorganised jumble to him, until she jabbed her claw at the shapes and suddenly they were crystal-clear.

For a long time he remained there. A new sense of calm slowed his heart - he hadn't realised how fast it had been racing until its beats became more steady. His love for the night had gone nowhere. After a while of searching, he finally made out the formation of a single fork shape - Nethropiade's antlers. Lexi's favourite constellation. The stag representing strength: something neither of them had possessed and yet wished for all the same.

Eventually, the stars began to fade, slipping back into the darkness to escape the orange light that displaced them. As the sun poked its piercing eye above the horizon, a pale amber smudge bringing soft heat along with it, he finally stretched out his stiff limbs and rose to his paws.

Another quick glance around, and he swept the leaves fully aside. They wouldn't be needing the covering anymore. Lexi stirred as soon as he did so, squinting in the increasing light as she released a groaning sigh.

"It's morning already?" she asked, blinking rapidly.

"Yeah." He lifted the hare briefly for her to see before setting it down again. "I got you something to eat. Come up."

It took her a few moments, but she unfolded from her curled position and leaped out of the hole. She glanced at him, frowning, before training her gaze on the hare. "Did you not sleep last night?"

"I did. I just woke up a bit early." Not entirely true, but enough to avoid lying. If the middle of the night could be classed as early.

She nudged his shoulder. "Go on then. You get first bite."

He shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

"I insist." Her eyes flashed stern, but they still held a playfulness. Nodding reluctantly, he dipped his head and bit into the hare's leg, before retracting and letting her eat.

It was strange how ordinary she was acting. If anything, there was a happiness in her swishing tail and something joyful whenever she looked up at him. He'd expected some sort of awkwardness, or at least an aspect of solemnity. But it was almost as if Lexi had completely forgotten about the fearful events of the previous evening.

"Listen," he said after a moment. The plan hadn't been to bring it up, but this normality felt too uncomfortable. "About last night..."

The way her eyes sparkled as she looked up at his words made him hesitate. As soon as she met his eyes, the glimmer faded. Shuffling his paws, he continued. "I... I'm sorry. I'm trying to get a hold on it, I really am."

She touched her snout briefly to his forepaw. "It's fine, it really is. Power is a tricky thing to get a grip on, especially one so mysterious as yours. I still get a little nervous whenever I let my lightning out." Her smile lasted barely a second before she turned away.

Her words should have been comforting, yet her tone dampened the effect. Did she sound... disappointed? It was hard to tell. But at least he'd found the awkward feeling he'd expected.

Shifting his gaze from her shining Pelt, he opened his snout, then closed it again, debating what to say. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks," he settled with.

The time it took for her to eat dragged by, as if time had turned to sludge. When she eventually lifted her head and nodded to him, he sprang forward, energy bunching up in his muscles like a tensed coil. It took more effort than it would have been to run to hold himself back and drop to her pace.

It wasn't long before she turned to him again, shattering his silent shield. "Is there... anything else you remember last night?" Her tone was casual, but the same glimmer she'd seen before now shone in her eyes again.

Dipping his head, he met those eyes. "I just remember you comforting me." He butted his head into her shoulder. "Thank you for that. You're such a great friend. I... I really don't know what I'd do without you."

As she butted him back, the ordinary nature of it didn't feel quite so oppressive anymore. The glimmer was gone, but so was the downhearted tone. "We'll get through this," she told him. "Together."

Together. He wrapped that word around the power inside and held it tight. Everything about that word held what was most precious. Not this Shadow power. Not even their heroic journey to Vendett. Simply the two of them, struggling on against the world. Together.

"Always," he added.

They travelled on northwards, flanks pressed together, walking in step with each other. The cold fear that had clenched Toivo's chest eased as he let himself relax beside her. It was gradually replaced by a more physical chill, one that swept through his fur and pinched at his bones.

When the breeze first began to nip, he welcomed it. This was a much-needed escape from the intense heat that had begun pummelling Borealton lately, as Sylvera reached towards the height of summer. A mild winter day, that was as cold as he seemed to get. He started to wonder whether the icy nature of the Frigyce region had been embellished by his neighbours.

But then it dived deeper. Biting winds. They cut through his fur like frozen claws, slicing away the thick coat as if it were nothing. The very air seemed to hang with icicles, and it prodded him with every step he took. As the trees became more scarce, he felt Lexi begin to shiver beside him. It wasn't long before their bodies tremored in sync.

The trees had vanished altogether when the ground suddenly curved upwards beneath them. Lexi's paws quivered as she staggered, coming to a halt, but he pressed himself tighter against her and forced them both up the hill. They panted. Toivo's rapid breath emerged in misty clouds hanging with icy droplets.

Only when they reached the crest of the hill did he allow them to stop. Lexi doubled over, her shakes worryingly violent as she bent her head down against the wind. It was bordering on a gale up here. Trying and failing to prevent his own shivering, Toivo lifted his head up and narrowed his eyes, blinking the flying dust away.

His gasp left him breathless.

A settlement sprawled benath them - shacks of similar rough construction to Briar's lonely hut, yet these were tightly packed together, six or seven wobbly lines standing like soldiers in the wind. They must be enchanted in some way, Toivo thought. There was no way such ramshackle buildings could stand against storms like this without magic. He was sure that even his own perfect house would stagger under the weight of these frosty gales.

Yet not even the sorry sight of the outpost cowering in the cold could steal away the joy he felt at the sight of it. A few wolves, as white as the brightest snow, weaved among the tight streets, and he prayed that one of them was the wolf they searched for.

"Lexi," he called. His voice was buffetted by the wind, but he forced the words to stay as rigid as the houses below. "Lexi, I think we've found Vendett."

Slowly, she rose her head, and he heard a similar gasp escape her. Not an awe-filled gasp. Simply a gasp of relief.

She turned to him, her pants adding an extra breeze that caressed his snout. "Let's go find Konrad."