In the night (1)

A brown jacket and a tight white shirt - those were the two clothes Sami touched upon waking up. He stroked the intricate fabric, wondered the details of its production - a fascinating craft. The red trousers hugging his legs emphasized their lack of muscles.

Lee had none too; there wasn't any harm in it.

On the left side of his waist was a gap fitting of his hand. Sami slid it inside, then out; the cotton pocket of his trousers. An enjoyable experience.

Sami gazed at the celling - dripping black rocks. The droplets crashed on the ground, twisting his patience thin. Helped by a few lumps of green and blue moss, stuck in any and every crack, the cave casted a bright sheen despite nighttime. It was enough to discern his body.

Something grazed his shoulder - Marmalade's. Her body was a broken pendulum, resting on Sami's shoulder. Unkept orange bangs fell on her scalp, a mass stuck between her head and a wall. Sami observed untamable knots colonizing it with interest. A human's sleeping face was idiot-looking, yet pretty - he remarked.

He noticed a coat, hanging around their shoulders. A wide, warm, and prickly red fur - he tucked his left arm in the corresponding sleeve for further armor against the cold. Beyond Marmalade was an awake Lee; she glanced, glared at him.

"Awake?" She whispered. It wasn't Japanese at all. While her golden hair curled around in rowdy loops, it wasn't enough to shatter the innate beauty - rather, it emphasized it.

"Yeah. Did the girl put than on for you?" Sami asked. Lee's yellow irises were shining.

"It's me! I put it on myself." A proud Lee inflated her chest while showing off her getup - a white shirt and a coat, with a shimmering neon green on the inside. Black stocking hugged her pair of legs to the toes.

Sami snickered. "You look ridiculous."

"Then, we both do." Lee blurted, before both chuckled. "I guess we do."

At Lee's feet, gray and green powder piled up. Sami realized its presence, together with the acrylic smell that rose from it. He coughed in reaction.

"Hey! Don't wake up the human." Lee shouted - well, a muffled one. Sami waved his hand in apology.

"The hell is that?" He asked, pointing at the pile. Burnt cylinders were scattered amidst the ash.

"Cigarettes. I don't understand how it works, but it's good." Lee began counting on her fingers. "Well, not the first time. Hmm, the second is no good either. I guess the fourth, yeah? It gets good from there one."

Sami raised a brow as he stood up in slow motion. Marmalade's light breathing remained steady - a nice sign. He had an urge to stretch his sore body; it was a new issue to deal with. After extending his arms forward, he spoke. "It could be dangerous. With a smell like that, I wouldn't go near it."

Lee mirrored his gesture - they stood at the same height. She gazed at the sleeping woman. "I don't believe the human world is that dangerous. For us."

"I believed that, also." Sami gritted his teeth. "Until our body became cold. It was awful."

Lee had a smirk. "Of course, because you passed out."

Sami walked a step forward, before slapping Lee's forehead, who did an exaggerated grunt of pain. "You're just too strong. Don't blame me."

The dark night could be seen beyond Lee, at the cave's entrance. Nothing seeped through, like the thickest of veils. An icy gust of wind hit his cheek - Sami shuddered.

"...Are you scared?" Lee tiptoed next to him. Sami remained silent - his hushed breathing helped the silence.

"I am." She spoke. "Not the monsters, or the humans, I don't care. It's our weakness." Lee took a step forward. At each one, the wind flung her hair in all directions; either it covered her face, or nothing at all. The figure of her back became smaller.

Lee sat down on the floor, where snow began pulling up again. Sighing, Sami walked up to her. His hands rested on her shoulders.

"I hate this color." The fiery gusts muffled Lee's voice.

"I'm the same." Sami' answered. They remained, engulfed in silence, peering at any discernable details. A bump of snow, a shaking leaf - anything that grabbed their interest.

Lee turned around; Sami, too. By squinting their eyes, the outlines of Marmalade's figure appeared. "I spoke with her."

Sami looked down at Lee. "When? You don't speak Japanese - or whatever she called their language."

Lee puffed her cheeks for an instant. "Right, but I understand it. I've used the method you taught me." She said.

"Oh, that's nice. Then?" Sami's interest shot up a level.

"Nothing. I'm just wondering if that's how friends are made." Lee furrowed her brows, thoughtful - Sami did the same in a different meaning.

"A friend?” The word sounded illogical. Lee used Japanese, a sign that she had no idea how to describe it - neither her nor Sami did.

"She was complaining about it. She said that everyone missed their friends, or that they were the biggest assholes on earth. And then - this annoyed me - she asked me about it." Lee ranted with both spite and warmth. Sami's silent clued her into continuing.

"About my friends. If they were good, or not." She paused. "Of course, I answered zero. We didn't have that in the white land. Then, she shot me a glance, like I was the most pitiful girl ever." Lee's rough words interrupted the wind's traffic for a second, before it resumed, stronger than ever.

"Why?" Like Lee, Sami failed to get the meaning of Marmalade's reaction.

"Right? It's weird - I don't know. I thought she was mocking me." Lee bit her lip; her wasn't much mad at Marmalade than her own lack of knowledge.

They turned back to the snow, raging outside in a white mist. Thanks the dim light of the cave moss, the spectacle became visible. Lee leaned forwards, trying to catch tiny snowflakes, a childlike behavior that threw her off-balance.

Sami caught the girl by the shoulders, keeping her frame steady. Though she threw a glare at him, her face in a petty pout - it was a wordless resistance.

The night was cold. Beautiful, in addition. Sami couldn't see past the thick mist at the entrance; yet the snow bewitched him. Lee was too, by the glimpses of faraway peaks, hiding being the untamable storm.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Why is the night black?" Lee's voice sounded as a plea. "Why?" Sami asked, resting his chin on her neck. The scent of ash irked his nose.

"It's so beautiful, yet the color ruins it." Lee sighed. Her fingernails dug through the mushy dirt.

"We're too accustomed to white, I think." Sami answered.

"That's the issue?" Lee eyed Sami's long hair, before pulling it like a rope.

He let out a light grunt, a tiny inconvenience. His expression demanded answers, not another act of violence.

"You're making me think too much. Let's sleep." Lee slid Sami's head off her, stood up, then stretched her back with a ninety-degree bend.

"You've got these body pains, too?" Sami asked, his fate lit up. He sat on the ground.

"I guess so." Lee laughed. As she began going back, orange waved back and forth in her vision. Short and coy bangs that carried a targeted kind of charm. It didn’t work out on Lee, however. Neither Sami.

"You two." Marmalade spoke. Her outfit - a impressive display of usefulness and design - shone when put next to Lee's. A revised act; an improvisation of bad taste. The gap was maddening. On the woman's face, neither chiseled nor plump, there was a boggle in her left eye.

"You see. Hmm..." Marmalade's awkwardness with strangers infected Lee, who, combined with her lack of language, made for a deaf conversation.

"There's no food left. And I'm hungry. Very." She made her point while twirling her orange bangs. "I was thinking - how about hunting? To get to know each other better, avoid starving to death, yeah?"

Marmalade pointed at the boundless dark. For Lee and the puzzled Sami, diving in this unknown ignited a fear they never acknowledged. The cold, striking and clawing at their skin - thinking about it made their blood freeze, if they had any.

"Are you not...interested?" In Marmalade's eyes, the two were reticent. Not because of fear or cowardness - with sufficient knowledge, the mountains were harmless for hunters at night - but rather, Marmalade's presence. She thought hers was unwelcoming, maybe.

"Sure" Sami stood up with confidence. "It's a good walk. Right, Lee?" He glanced at her, hoping for a backup to his lie. An act could get him this far, given a little support.

Lee, struck with choices, changed between states in seconds. Fear, then excitement. Finally, cowardice and laziness. Actually, her pride one-upped the else.

"Let's do it." She said with a cheerful tone. It, however, didn't fool anyone. Lee began regretting her decision.

A beam of light surged from Marmalade. She jumped at each available human interaction, no matter how shallow. To her, a lump of gold had been found.

Marmalade crouched down, taking out her backpack. After a slow rummage, a rope and some spray were sprawled on the ground. Sami frowned.

"Are we fine to go?" He asked.

"It's quite a kind weather outside, actually. Much better than these days, still." Marmalade words, a gospel without lies, made Lee and Sami reconsider. They turned to the night - a merciless blizzard was shoving snow in the air like cannonballs.

'This is kind?' The two shivered in unison.

********************************************

Amidst the black landscape were two lights. The moon, casting down a sliver stream of glisters on the roaring mountain. It gave the snow a refreshing coat of color for those attentive enough.

The other was a yellow mist, bordering on darker shades of red. A second passed - the cloud of light changed locations. It climbed at lilting pace towards an unknown end; like a desperate attempt the roach the highest peak, the ascension continued.

If one glared with precision, three figures would be visible under the thick fog - their outlines. Behind this cover, they were human-shaped bodies of gray.

A snowball came crashing into Marmalade's rear. However, as it crumbled into powder, the woman's indifference made the assailant rather pathetic. She brushed off the deposit, then resumed the climb by pulling on a multi-layered rope. Around her figure, a scarlet mist lit up the area and brought a cloud of warmth.

Lee and Sami, however, acted like feral cats against nature. While Sami chose to hide and avoid what he could, Lee's mad strikes cut the thin mountain air in thousands of slices. She tried to counter invisible threats by covering all angles - the bold strategy worked by giving her the most idiotic of behaviors. When her punches calmed down, using both hands, she rubbed them on her upper body. By trial and error, Lee found this propriety - when she did, she felt like a genius.

Sami imitated her. The frozen air was giving frostbite to his throat - his impression of the situation. Each breath he took turned into ice that shattered on the snow.

Around the two, the same mist clogged their vision at about two dozens of meters. They didn't know how Marmalade's fingers created it - its convenience made them welcome it.

"Hey! Can't you create a bigger fire?" Sami whispered to Lee who was a step higher than him. Faced with a steep wall, instead of using the natural grip, Lee punched four holes in the hard surface, deep enough to fit a hand. She grabbed the makeshift handles and darted upwards. Sami followed, albeit with difficulty.

Seeing how the wind muffled his sentence, he yelled it again. It caught her attention.

"What? Are you crazy? She'll be scared!" Lee screamed, pointing at the sky. From their view, because Marmalade stood a dozen meter above, she had a heavenly edge over them.

"Then why aren't you climbing faster?" Sami pointed out. Indeed, if Lee wanted to, not the mountain, but the entire range would collapse. Marmalade had led them to a rugged cliff, neither a challenge nor a bore. The right level of difficulty for a training hunter.

The issue was that, evidently, Sami and Lee weren't hunters at all. For Lee, the matter was simple. However, Sami's case irked the two.

"Because there's no way you'd climb this without help!" Lee bit her tongue. She hated carrying dead weight. "I want to talk to the human, be cooperative for once!"

"You two! The hell are you doing, bickering? Wasn't the whole point of this to talk." Marmalade's voice echoed from above. The absence of her face birthed an eerie atmosphere. Lee loathed it - she snapped.

With a rough pull, Sami's body rose, breaking the sound barrier. He lost his focus for an instant. When it came back, he saw Marmalade's tired eyes and a flat white field beyond her shoulder. On his right, Lee attempted to whistle.

"Are you done climbing? This part's a bit rough, right?" Marmalade nudged Sami's arm with her own. She wanted to create a connection - anything to break the ice. The irony of the location dawned on her.

"Well, it's fine." It was a lie; one of many that Sami had told. Next to him, Lee leaned forward with a whisper. "How is it? My throw? Not bad, huh?"

Sami's face battled against contorting. It lost. "Horrible. This new sensibility of mine is making it awful." He forced a hollow smile to appear. "Let's talk, right?

"Before that." Marmalade clapped her hands, taking a glance at their calves. "Can you move around just fine? The frostbite isn't a big problem, I'm just making sure."

Lee remained stuck in place, without an answer. The two dots Sami linked landed on the searing pain they experienced yesterday.

If so -

"It's all healed, don't worry. The clothes are helping"

- then Sami's words must be logical. Seeing the labeled 'orange girl' nod, he proved his gamble successful.

"Well, it's not really the clothes, but... Anyway. Our diner is about a kilometer ahead. " Marmalade spoke while turning around. Her feet were buried under the invasive snow.

As Lee and Sami saw Marmalade willing to take on the informant's role, all attempts at blending in crumbled on themselves.

Lee rushed through the snow, up to Marmalade's left side. "Okay - what's a kilometer, then?" She asked with pure wonder.

Their first question not only missed the mark for what Marmalade envisioned - it was a fantastic display of dumbness too. Puzzled, she remained cool. "Sorry?" Lee’s language wasn't something she could decrypt.

Lee didn't speak, keeping up the shining glare. The mist lit up her face in shades of orange and yellow. A bewitching combination, a strange, unavoidable pressure drew Marmalade to an answer. "You mean, a meter? It's a unity of measurement. They're standard everywhere - mostly. A meter is about-" Marmalade took a large stroke, leaving behind two shoe-shaped marks. "-this size. You see?"

Lee nodded with might. She thirsted on this knowledge, wished for hundreds of years. Marmalade found herself stunned at the accuracy of her guess. Maybe, a day was sufficient for a link to form between them. She didn't believe so - much less in her luck.

She yelled her first question over the hurling wind.

"Lee. Is she your sister, by the way? I've been wondering, but apart from your faces, you look nothing alike." Marmalade asked. She was right - in a way - Lee and Sami's hair color were flashy, too apart for any resemblance.

Sami frowned, titled his head. The concept of sister was foreign, to the point that after rummaging his brain for five second, not a clue brought him closer to finding out. Of course, he never admitted to it. In the end, he chose to nod.

“You’re lucky. When my sister was born, my parents killed her as she approached two. A useless child.” She spat at her feet.

Marmalade’s light words had a chill that neither sibling sensed. That is – she wasn’t the type to crack a joke.

“I see.” Sami didn’t know what to make of it. Lee remained silent, her figure hidden by the blizzard.

Then, Marmalade chuckled. She gazed at the sky, a galaxy of stars. Lee did. Sami, too. The scenery took the two away, faraway.