A Snowed-In Cave

Nike

"Uh...who're you?" I asked. I glanced at Jullien, hoping he could explain what she was to me.

Jullien

"McKenna," she replied, edging closer to the fire until she's right next to the flames.

"I believe, correct me if I'm wrong," I began, keeping my eyes on her as I spoke. "That she is a fire elemental. They don't tend to come around humans, or even non-humans, often... so I'm not certain."

As I finished speaking, McKenna gave a small nod.

"I am."

Nike

"Um...alright," I said with a slow nod. "So elementals are a thing in this world, too. Okay."

If I were lying passed out somewhere and dreaming right now, was I in danger?

Jullien

I offered Nike a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, you can basically say that almost anything you've heard of before exists here, or has existed at some point in time."

McKenna glanced away from the fire as I spoke. Her eyes settled on the entrance to the cave and a frown fell on her lips.

"What are you two?" she asked. "Can you walk in that?"

Nike

Almost anything I've heard of existed here.

I'm pretty sure that's what he'd said. It sounded crazy and I might've been verging on a mental shutdown, but I was fairly certain that was what he'd just said. I was about to ask him for clarification when the girl, McKenna, spoke.

"Uh, I'm a human..." I answered. "I have powers over earth and water, though..."

So...anything I've heard of existed here. Just...anything. Okay.

Jullien

"And I'm a were-lion," I offered.

McKenna considered our answers for a moment as she shoved her hands into the fire. I flinched, but watched curiously as she held them in place, unharmed.

"If one if you were to carry me," she said slowly. "I'd be willing to keep you warm while searching for better shelter."

Nike

"Really?" I asked. "Uh, carrying you wouldn't...hurt, would it?"

I noticed Jullien flinch when the girl stuck her hands in the fire. For me, seeing something like that was perfectly normal. One of the most normal things I'd seen all day, actually.

Jullien

McKenna seemed to think it over for a moment before she gave a small shrug of her shoulders.

"I haven't been carried often, so I can't quite remember. I heard that I'm..." she paused for a minute, seeming to try and recall a word. "Hot?"

It matched up with what I'd heard before. Fire elementals tended to have higher body temperatures, just as some water elementals who were born in cold regions and specialized in ice tended to have lower body temperatures.

"I don't know if that would be a problem..." she continued thoughtfully.

Nike

"It might be," I said. "Uh, I could try carrying you in part of my cloak. As long as you're not hot enough to burn through it, anyway." I offered a section of my cloak for her to climb on.

Jullien

"I think it will work," McKenna answered as she walked over to climb up on the cloak. "I'm wearing clothes after all."

I kept myself from questioning her about the clothes. Where the heck did they make clothes that small, anyways? Well... maybe she got them from witches. Wait... wouldn't that mean that the clothes not burning doesn't mean anything at all?

I watched anxiously as she settled herself on the cloak, breathing a sigh of relief as nothing happened.

"Seems that it will work," McKenna declared cheerily. "Would you two like to go?"

Nike

"Where are we going, anyway?" I asked.

I was glad she wasn't burning my cloak. I'd known she was wearing a dress, but I'd thought it was like...magic or something.

Jullien

McKenna seemed to think about the answer for a moment before she spoke.

"Well, there was this place with a fire not long ago," she said slowly. "The fire was gone so I left and ended up here. That place should still be there. It's a better place for you two, isn't it?"

I hesitated, trying to piece together what she said. It seemed rather simple to guess that she was talking about the ski lodge. A few days ago the kitchen had caught fire when a cook passed out on the job. There'd been a huge commotion about it.

"So about straight down the mountain," I mused. "I think it'd be around a twenty minute walk, taking the snow into consideration."

As I spoke I turned my eyes to the entrance to the cave. The storm was still going, however it wasn't as bad as it had been.

Nike

"Do you know what place she's talking about?" I asked Jullien.

Jullien

I nodded, pulling up the mountain in my mind. My family had made sure that we at least had a limited knowledge of the slopes before we came.

"Yeah, it's a ski lodge at the base of the run."

Nike

"Oh, alright. I didn't know this was a ski place."

Jullien

Oh, right, that whole having come here from entirely different place thing, instead of coming here to ski. That would take a bit of getting used to.

"Yeah, it's the best around," I told her. "My family and I came up here for a vacation, it's our favorite spot. The lodge is run by a family of witches."

That said, I turned my mind to the trip, hesitating for a moment before speaking up once again.

"Also, it might be easier if I shift. I don't think I could travel easily like this, seeing as I have no shoes and my clothes aren't really fitting for the weather," I paused, hesitating for a moment. "And.. if.. um... walking gets hard for you... I could... um... carry... and...yeah."

Nike

"Uh, thanks for the offer, but I think I'll be fine." I smiled. "IISO agents are hardy people."

Turning slightly red because I'd even made the offer, I nodded, turning my face away.

"That's good," I replied. "Then... um... we should get going, then."

"Agreed," McKenna said cheerily. "The sooner we are there, the sooner I'll be close to a better fire!"

And the closer we'll be to a nice warm building instead of a cave, I thought to myself as I concentrated, returning to my lion form and padding to the entrance of the cave. I glanced at the other two to check on them before completely exiting into the snow.

Nike

I turned some snow into water, then waved an arm to get it to jump onto the fire and put it out. Best not to leave fires unattended, even if they are in the middle of a cave. Now that that was done, I walked out of the cave mouth to follow Jullien.

Jullien

The wind wasn't as bad as it was earlier when I'd taken shelter in the cave. Wanting to take advantage of the little elemental, I waited to make sure that Nike was even with me before I continued walking.

Curiously enough, the air was pretty warm as long as you were close to the girl. Snow that fell near her seemed to turn more into water drops. It was like having your own personal living space heater.

Nike

"How far is it to the lodge?" I asked Jullien.

Having McKenna with me was nice. I felt a lot warmer near her.

Jullien

I thought back to the estimate of time I'd made earlier. Pausing to release my lion form, I continued to walk as I spoke.

"I originally thought it would take around twenty minutes to walk down to the lodge," I told Nike. "But as easy as it is to travel with her, I think it's more likely to take less time, although how much less I couldn't be certain."

Nike

"Alright, good to know."

((FF?))

((Sure!))

Jullien

A short time later the lodge came into view. I had shifted back to my lion form for the majority of the trip in order to keep myself warm, but now shifted back. The lodge was a simple building that held around ten rooms for guests. I could easily see lights shining out from the windows.

"That's it there," I said, pointing towards the building.

"Mmm, there's a warm feeling coming from in there," McKenna added happily. "There's a fire."

Nike

"Good," I said. "It'll be nice to sit near it."