Ghost sat in the window of her and Vinny's room, watching the snow fall. Her spouse couldn't figure out why she loved it so much. He utterly hated the endless miles of whiteness. She could get lost in it for hours, like it put her in a trance. Truthfully, it was just a distraction while she thought. Kind of like how some people need a fan as white noise when they work or sleep.

Vinny wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her cheek, "Wha'cha thinkin', love?"

She sighed dramatically, "Are we making a mistake staying here? Should we... Be going with them?"

"They said they'd come get us when they can." He murmured.

Ghost looked up at him, her silver eyes dwelling in his, "What if they can't? What if they... Don't? I- I've never been without Mike since I was seventeen."

"If you wanna go with 'em, then we'll go. You know, I'll support you no matter what you decide to do." He replied.

"I don't want you to support me!" She whined, "I want you to tell me what you want! What you think!"

"Um," He stared for a moment, unsure of how to reply, "Okay... I, uh, I think it's for the best if we go with them. Chris really ain't a fighter, he's a healer, an' uh, I worry 'bout them going out there, just them."

She wrapped her arms around herself, glancing back out the glass. "It was Hell when it was just him and I. If there were more of us, somehow, I think it would've been easier. I don't want to make the mistake of waiting too long again."

"Then I guess we better get packin'." He placed a small peck on her temple as he gazed out on the white abis, "Josh won't come though."

"That's his choice, unfortunately." She muttered.

In life, we reach many, many forks in the road. There's a risky path and a safe path, always. Sometimes, though, the safe path can lead us off a cliff without us realizing it. Maybe when the others reach the end of their destination, they will be able to find a way to come back for Josh and Ryan-Ashley. There was a feeling in the pit of Ghost's stomach that they'd never be able to turn back. She had an unfortunate habit of being right about these things.

| | |

The morning, what you could consider it to be anyways, slowly rose. Before it even made it's way here, Chris and Kuza were up to pack. By this point neither of them had much left that they wanted. They figured most things, like books, they could get again when they reached their destination. Provided they do reach it, of course.

Chris glanced over at his mate while he accounted for all his things. He was carefully folding the clothes he'd be bringing with him, which wasn't too much. Being shirtless, it was easy to see the abuse he'd done to himself the night before. It was a lot worse than the previous time Chris had witnessed him harm himself. Cuts ran down his ribs and gashes repeated themselves down his arms.

Kuza tensed up when he felt Chris touch him. He was still a little on edge where his mate was concerned. His natural instinct was to push his hand way. He actually had to resist a much more violent reaction. Truthfully, he wasn't that mad at Chris. The situation pressing them had put him in a mood.

"I'm-" Chris huffed once he'd gotten batted away a second time, "Stop it. I'm just trying to help you."

He spun around dramatically, barking, "I don't need your help!"

He grabbed Kuza's arm, right over his open wounds. The angered submissive suppressed a cry to feel bare skin press into his cuts. It stung like Hell. Chris lessened his grip some, running his other hand over the side of his arm in a calming fashion.

"I know you're angry, but you can't go out into Sullen infested lands with open wounds. They'll smell your blood. Please, just let me heal you. It's what I'm here for." He softly said.

Kuza released a sigh as his response. He couldn't deny logic. Chris was right, even if he didn't want to admit it. He closed his eyes and allowed his mate to use his ability. It wasn't something you could see but you could feel it. The magic flowered through one into the other, unintentionally strengthening their bond. His cuts started to pull closed slowly until they melded together.

Chris relaxed his arm by his side. He gave his mate a bit of a chill when he placed his palms on his ribcage. Kuza opened his eyes, managing to look directly into Chris' the second he did. Those honey irises captivated him. In that moment, he was able to let go of some of his rage. He didn't fight his dominant as he used his Arcadia to heal his damage.

Kuza leaned forward, tilting his head. He glanced at Chris' lips, then up to his eyes before they slipped shut. They melted into a kiss so delicate, it could make angels cry. Maybe they'd be crying for the fact that two evil creatures had found a love so pure. Yes, I dared to say pure, because a truly perfect love has flaws. The two lost ones were both full of too much pride to admit they'd fallen in deep.

"Thank you." Kuza whispered as they parted.

"The pleasure's all mine." He smirked.

He playfully his his chest, "Do you always have to be such a smart ass?"

Chris chuckled, "Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood a bit. Are you sure you're ready to do this? Again?"

"I wasn't ready the first time and I wasn't ready this time, but we don't have any other choice. Even though this is the second time I'm doing this, I still feel like a baby bird that his mom just shoved him out of the chest and said "well fuck, kid, I hope you figure your shit out before you hit the ground"."

"Welcome to being an adult." He laughed, "There's some things in life I don't think you can ever be ready for."

Kuza sighed, "Yeah, trial by error. We should finish packing."

Chris dragged his palms down his sides, then reluctantly pulled back. Their relationship had become somewhat bipolar. One minute they're fighting, the next they're kissing on each other. The kinks would work themselves out eventually, Chris figured. It's hard to maintain a perfect relationship under these circumstances.

After a few more minutes had passed and they'd returned to packing, there was a knock at the door. Chris, being closer to it, was the one to answer. Upon seeing Ghost, he stepped out of the way to let her in. He highly doubted she was here to see him anyways. The truth of the matter, she'd popped in to speak with both of them.

"I hope you're not here to guilt me into not leaving." Kuza joked.

"The opposite, actually. Vin and I were talking last night and... We'd like to go with you guys, if you're okay with it." She said.

Chris glanced to his mate with concern, then looked to her. "What made you change your mind?"

"I don't want to say it, but..." She sighed as she lowered her voice, "I think Josh is being an idiot staying here. If he wants to be dumb like that, let him, but we're not going to."

"That's my girl." Kuza grinned, "We're leaving in an hour. You think you can be packed by then?"

"Yeah, most my stuff is still packed from before. And Vinny, he doesn't have a whole lot that's going to make the trip. I adore him but, he needs to get rid of a lot of junk. His single days are over." She said.

"Spoken like a true woman." He chuckled.

"Don't get me wrong. I love his quirks and he's the sweetest man I've ever met, but he's still a man child." Ghost replied, "I better get to work, though."

She slipped out the door and headed back down the hall. Neither knew if they'd put any effort forth to tell Josh or Ryan-Ashley they were now on their own, but they figured it'd have to come out sooner or later. Besides, that seemed like something Ghost should be handling, not them. It was her and Vinny's decision to change their minds. Chris and Kuza both knew that despite the risks they were about to face, their friends were smart to join them.

| | |

Little bit of a shorter chapter but I've had a little bit of writers block on this story. I know the long term plan for it but I'd like to have a few smaller adventures before then. So, what would you guys like to see happen on their journey?

Also, I have two new stories up! The Crow. Sequel "Qrow." is on this account, and I have a new collab on scrantondailkittens called "Motionless in White Urban Legdends Collection" (or something like that) It's going to have a lot of amazing guest writers like ghosts_kitten, dxvilsnight, howsyourcoffeejesus, splittheworld, and a ton more amazing people I can't think of off the top of my head.