"Stop it, Crow," La mumbled, waving her hand vaguely in front of her face. She was tired. She wanted to stay asleep. Couldn't he leave her alone for just five more minutes? Crow poked her in the nose again -- and then loudly squawked right into her ear. Her eyes flew open and she found herself face to face with a very curious chicken, probably wondering how she had gotten into its loft and, most importantly, if she was going to feed it.

Right. She wasn't at the circus anymore.

The night before, she and Snow had walked for hours in the rain until both of their feet ached and they were shivering so hard they could barely keep going. Luck had been with them, though, and she had found this small barn before the sun came up and they'd burrowed themselves in hay up in the loft. Even Snow's curiosity had failed him then, so tired were they, but now she looked over to him and he was already awake, staring at the chicken with intense interest. She sensed a lot of questions were on the way.

She was right. Before she even had a chance to say good morning, he opened his mouth and started to speak. "What is that? Where are we? It's very bright, the sun must be up. Can we go see it? I'm hungry."

La pushed her body up further to peer over the bales of hay to look outside. The door hadn't been shut when they found the place. It was probably sometime in the late afternoon or evening, she guessed, so the sun wasn't so bright now as it would have been earlier in the day. But for Snow, it would seem as if it was the brightest thing on earth.

"This is a chicken," she said, only half paying attention to it as it pecked around her fingers. Crazy bird. "We're in someone's barn but I don't know where exactly... Anyway, I'll check first to be sure it's safe, and then yes, we can go out and find something to eat."

She would have preferred to wait until night fell to go anywhere but she was hungry, too, and it was harder for her to figure out where they were if everything was dark. The last thing she wanted to do was accidentally go in the wrong direction and wander straight back to the circus.

"They can't have gone much further, surely."

La's heart sank in her chest. That hadn't been Snow speaking, nor her. No, someone was outside the barn -- multiple someones, by the sound of approaching footsteps. She sank back down behind the haybales and met Snow's panicked gaze with one of her own, though he knew better than to make a sound. She pointed at the pile of hay they'd slept in and made a motion with her hands like she was throwing it over him. He understood. Quickly he crawled back into the hay and she began frantically covering him with it, concealing every scrap of skin and cloth and praying he wouldn't sneeze as the voices outside grew ever closer. There was no time to make sure he was completely concealed. La dove into the next pile of hay and tried to cover herself the best she could, too, but she couldn't even see how well she'd done. All she could do was hope that there was no scrap of skirt or hair or skin sticking out somewhere that she couldn't see.

Underneath the hay, the voices outside became muffled though she kept trying to listen to what was going on. Were they inside yet? Was Snow okay? She couldn't feel him moving. Most of all, now that she was separated from the one person distracting her from thinking too much, she began to feel afraid. Afraid they'd find her. Kill her. Make Snow watch, even, and then drag him back to the Master.

"Bawk?" said the chicken questioningly, picking at the hay in front of her face and uncovering her eye. "Bawk bawk?"

Voices then, and not of the chicken. Voices in the barn -- they had to have been, because they suddenly got a whole lot louder and she was able to pick out what they were saying. Unable to risk moving, La gave the unfortunate bird a glare that said 'if I get out of this alive I'm going to wring your neck and eat you for dinner.'

"Bawk!" the chicken screeched and flapped away as quickly as it could. Still, La didn't allow herself to relax. Surely the loft would be an obvious place for them to look, it was only a matter of time... Trying to distract herself, she strained her ears to listen in on their conversation.

"Ugh," said one. "I hate barns. I don't care how much you clean them, they smell terrible."

"Oh stop your complaining," said another -- the same one that spoken earlier outside when she had first heard them coming. "Just look around, will ya? Check up the ladder."

Don't move, don't move, don't move, don't even breathe...

Every footstep creaking up the ladder sank her heart lower and lower. And then abruptly, the sound stopped.

"Hey!" said the voice of whoever was on the ladder. "What are you doing here? Get out!"

"I'm here 'cause this is my barn." This was a new voice. La held her breath, barely daring to hope. "You be trespassin' on my property. You git out."

"This is an investigation, we need to look aro--"

"Get. Out. Do ye want me to call my seven sons? They're just inside th' house and they ain't gonna be too happy to see ye here."

'Please let that threat be enough to convince them to leave'. That thought ran over and over in her mind. She wasn't sure how she'd explain to him that there were two people buried in his hay, but it had to be a better outcome than being dragged back to the circus. The seven sons were a little concerning but that was a problem for the future, not for the now.

With no small amount of grumbling and crouching, the trespassing men left the barn and La felt the burden on her heart lighten with each step they took away from here. She wasn't sure how many men there had been though there were at least two or three by the sound of it, but they must have been no match for this farmer and his seven sons. She smiled a little. It was good to know that the fear the Master ruled by wasn't omnipotent.

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Though the men were now gone, La remained very still underneath the hay. Maybe the farmer would leave the barn and they could slip out unnoticed--

"You kin come out, now. They ain't lookin' fer you no more."

Startled, La jumped to her feet and peered over the side of the loft. Snow followed her example and stared at the farmer with even more surprise than she did. "You knew we were here?" she cried out, amazed.

The farmer, a man of considerable bulk and very little fat, grinned up at them. "A-yep. Saw ye there this mornin', let ya sleep. Ain't the first time we've had people come through and sleep in our barn, though it do be the first time someone sent an army after'im."

"An army?"

"A-yep, well, four fightin' men is a lot in these parts anyway."

"But you have seven fighting sons, don't you?"

His grin grew even wider. "Seven daughters, actually. Formidable lasses all, though, and more frightinin' even than sons. Didn't think that'd idea would scare'im all off though. Come on down, we'll get ye somethin' t' eat."

La hesitated. He seemed kind and she wanted so badly to trust him, but what if it was all a ruse? A trap? Her better judgment told her that wasn't so and he could have easily let the men take them if he didn't care, but she couldn't help but be suspicious. Especially because she now had to protect Snow...

...who didn't seem to want much in the way of protecting. "All right!" he said cheerfully and slid down the ladder before she had the chance to move and try to stop him. "My name is Snow. I like your chickens."

Well. So much for that. Shaking her head, La followed him down the ladder at a slower pace. Once on the ground, she suddenly understood why the circus men hadn't questioned the farmer too much; if he looked big from up on the loft, he was practically a giant now and towered two heads over Snow and even more over her. He could squash them both under his fists like bugs and barely even notice they were there. She flinched, waiting for the moment he would strike, but all he did was guffaw loudly.

"You met'em, ay? Bessie seemed to be right interested in ya up in the loft all morning, but you slept right through it. Must've been mighty tired, you two. Mighty tired indeed." With a gentleness she wouldn't have thought a man like him could have, he reached down and picked up the chicken -- the one La had offended earlier with her stare -- and pet its head as it nestled into his giant arm. "Was supposed to be food," he said fondly, "but I got too attached to'em all."

Food. La's stomach started to rumble at the very thought of it. She hadn't eaten in hours, nor had Snow, and despite what the farmer said, little miss Bessie was starting to look more and more like dinner every second. The farmer must have either heard her stomach rumble or caught her murderous stare at the chicken because he gently set Bessie down and shooed her away, then motioned the two of them to follow.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go 'n git that food."

La followed quietly and was halfway across the barnyard when she realized Snow was no longer following. "Snow?" she asked, turning around. He was standing at the very edge of the barn and staring up, open-mouthed.

Right. The sun. In her hungry state of mind, she had completely forgotten about it, but now she could only imagine what it would be like for him to see it for the first time. Or really even to see very much of the outside world at all -- the storm the night before had made it so they could barely see a foot in front of them, much less anything else. La turned to glance at the farmer who had stopped not far away and was waiting, a small smile on his friendly face, but when she hesitated he motioned her to go back to him. So she did.

"Snow," she said softly, taking one of his hands in hers. "Come on, step out into the sun. Just for a moment." He couldn't be in it long, she knew that, but she also couldn't bring herself to ruin this moment for him. He said nothing as he followed her outside but the tear trickling down his face told her all she needed to know.

He just kept staring up, squinting a little, and after a few moments, he seemed to finally find his voice. "It's... huge. The sky! And so bright, I..." Again his voice trailed off, leaving him lost for words.

'It's all right. It's beautiful, isn't it?" She turned to look up with him and noticed the sky as she had never noticed it before. It was beautiful. But she was so used to seeing it that she had never taken the time to allow herself to be amazed at it, and now she was wondering how it must be to see such a thing for the first time -- the colors, the brightness, the absolute vastness of it all. And not only was the sky new for him but the grass, the trees, the birds, everything.

La smiled thinly. What a pity they didn't have the time to properly appreciate everything but the constant threat of capture was hanging over their heads, especially now. If it hadn't been for the farmer...

She turned her eyes away from the sky to glance at him and her smile grew as she saw that the large man had joined them in staring up at the sky, a look of pure bliss on his face. Despite her initial distrust of him, La found herself liking him more and more. Surely he had no idea why they were doing this, delaying not only their meal but his just to stop and stare at clouds and birds and anything else that was above them, yet he made no complaint and joined them in their wonderous staring.

La was sure that he must think them very strange indeed, but if he did he didn't say so.

"Snow," she whispered softly after some time, "we need to go in."

He didn't look away. "I could stare at the sky forever."

"Forever wouldn't be very long, then. Your skin won't be able to handle the sun for long. Come on." She took his hand, trying to coax him to follow her and after a reluctant moment, he did so. But she noticed that he kept glancing up to the sky and all around him, trying to take in everything.

Once she was certain that he would follow them, even as distracted as he was, La picked up the pace and fell in step with their host. "I'm afraid I never got your name," she said apologetically. "You have been so kind but I don't even know who you are."

"My friends call me Otis." He looked at her, eyes twinkling. "Ya both can, too, iffin ya want."

It was impossible not to smile when talking to such a man. "Thank you for your generosity, Otis. My name is La and this is Snow."

"Is he...?"

"Just a friend," she said quickly. "Nothing more. I care for him, though, like he was my own brother."

Though she spoke of Snow, her thoughts turned to Crow and some of the joy in her heart faded into sorrow. Was he all right? Would she ever be able to see him again? If that was the last time she ever saw him, a brief meeting where neither of them even had time for a real conversation, La knew she'd never forgive herself. More even than that, she would never forgive the Master. This was his fault -- every horrible thing they had ever gone through had always been his fault.

"Careful now, don't ye be trippin' o'er the step." The amusement in the farmer's tone brought her back to the real world and she barely caught herself from tripping over his front step. She hadn't even noticed they were so close to the house! And, judging by the fact that he ran straight into her and would have knocked them both over had Otis not neatly caught them, Snow hadn't noticed either.

They all stared at each other for a moment and then burst out laughing.

"Let's go in," Otis finally said once he had gotten his merriment under control. "I'll introduce ye to me family -- I know they'll be right delighted to have company., a-yep they will."

And with that, he swung open the door and went inside.