Moments later, Finn knocked at the door of a neighboring house. From head to toe, he and Lena were garbed in chunky layers of fur, with boots, gloves, and hats, and both carried backpacks with a map and other supplies within. 

The door swung open and a stout man looked up at Finn, and down at Lena.

"You two again," said Pacu, twisting the tip of his braided beard that hid more than half of his face, leaving only his red ample nose and his hickory brown eyes uncovered. "What do you want?"

"Yurie sent us," Finn said confidently. He was less intimidated by Pacu's appearance since he had seen his doting personality earlier. "She said that you go hunting regularly, and she told us about the methods of passing the hazardous mountain valleys."

"Did she now? And how does that bring you two to my doorstep?"

"We'd appreciate a ride to the mountains." Finn's hands searched the backpack until he withdrew the map and pointed at the mountains of Thrake. "This is where we need to go."

"I don't hunt there."

"Is it possible that you could take us there? Or get us close to it?"

"Don't think so."

Pacu was about to shut the door, but Finn's hand pushed against it. "Wait!"

"What?" Pacu rolled his eyes.

"Something is up there, and you are our only chance to get to it."

"You're wasting your time. There is nothing up there."

"But there is! Trust us."

"Trust you? I don't know you." He sighed. "Look, kid, even if I wanted to help you, no one has ever been there."

Lena's gleaming large eyes gazed up at Pacu, and with her soft voice she said, "Wouldn't you like to be the first?"

He made a smacking sound while rolling his eyes again. "I'm doing this for Yurie, not for you." His overdone exhale made his long, broom-like mustache flutter. "Wait here, I'll grab my stuff."

Pacu went inside and left the two standing in front of his door. Finn looked stupefied. "How come whenever I ask someone for something I get denied, but as soon as you say anything at all, everyone is on board."

Lena made a verbal shrug and smiled in satisfaction, "Maybe because I'm adorable."

"I can be adorable, too. It doesn't make people do stuff for me."

"Okay, maybe because I'm nice."

Finn held his chin in his fingers and smirked at her, "No. That can't be it."

Her elbow gave him a playful shove and he took it back.

"What are you two giggling at?" asked Pacu when he was equipped and set to go.

"Nothing," said Finn, suppressing laughter.

"Come with me," ordered Pacu and locked the door. Around his house, they walked to his fenced backyard, where animals resided in the snow. They had short beige hair, walked on four hooves, and had amiable snouts, embellished with glorious ramifications of bones.

"We have similar animals on Kepler," mentioned Finn, "but we don't ride them. I suppose, ours are much smaller, but we don't really ride animals anyway."

"Kepler, you say? Many years ago, I was good friends with someone from Kepler."

Lena was speechless with a smile of cosmic proportions. She stepped on the lowest plank of the wooden fence and bent forward. Pacu, still talking to Finn, noticed her and opened the gate of the enclosure. He made clicking sounds with his tongue to call over his brute. Lena, as if hypnotized, followed with distance.

"Lena, was it?" said Pacu and she nodded with a grin and her gaze fixed on those crown-like antlers. "Come, come. Pet it."

A hesitant step forward brought her closer. She stretched out her arm, her eyes constantly switching between the animal and its proud owner. Unknowing what may happen next, she touched its antlers. Firm and rigid, yet so full of life.

Her bravery astounded Finn. She had never seen anything like it, nonetheless, she put her fullest trust in its innocuous semblance. Finn was convinced that if their roles were reversed, if he were the one from Pluviam and had to take her place, he would have pinched his eyes at the least. He would have looked away, assuming he found the courage to even come close to that thing. 

But Lena was unlike Finn. Her eyes could not look away. They were wonderstruck and twinkled from admiration and veneration.

Its front legs folded and its head bowed at Lena, mirroring her reverence.

Pacu observed with contentment. "Majestic creatures, aren't they?" Still speechless, she could only offer him another nod. "This beauty is called Chione."

"Chione," Lena echoed in a whisper and pet its long hair along the neck.

"She'll carry you to the mountain. Be good to her."

"I will," Lena said, bewitched by her own reflection in Chione's huge black eyes. "I promise."

"Now to you—uh—what was your name? Wait—" Pacu paused and pondered.

Finn was irked that Pacu had forgotten his name, "It's Finn."

"Right, I remember now. Finn. You're a bit tall for my female tarandros. Grab a saddle from the shed, you'll ride my beloved Heroya."

When Finn was the last to ascend his mount, it huffed and wrenched its head, trying impulsively to win control over the reins in Finn's strained hand.

"Don't take it personally!" laughed Pacu. "Heroya doesn't like being ridden by anyone but me. They all don't. I'm surprised that Chione is so relaxed with Lena on her back."

"I'm not surprised. Everyone loves her. After all, she's adorable and nice," Finn joked, and still, she had to quickly hide her blushing cheeks. "He's not moving!" he cried when Pacu walked ahead.

"Heroya!" Pacu hollered. "Behave yourself."

The stubborn mount began to tramp without rhythm, soon catching up with the others.

They had traveled for only half an hour when Heroya started floundering until he refused to continue all together. Finn tried to impel him and get him back on the path by pulling the reins but was repulsed by a sudden thrust. Head first, Finn landed in a snowbank.

Finn knew too well that his head had taken the same shade of a freshly picked apple.

"How much longer will I have to bear this piece of—"

"Careful, Finn." Pacu halted. "He understands you more than you think." Heroya stomped his hoof. "We have a long way ahead; if I were you, I wouldn't make him angry."

"Could you give him the same advice?" Finn mumbled, vexed.

On a narrow path, Lena and Pacu waited side by side, overlooking the village and sea beneath them. Sun had set; the cloudy sky was dim, but not dark yet. Lena turned around, holding a carrot that was meant  to be consumed by her on their hike.

"Heroya," she said, her voice carefree and alluring, "want a treat?"

As he trotted towards her, she broke one bite off the carrot for herself and offered him the rest. Heroya let Lena pet him, and with delight he enjoyed the delicacy.

"Stop bonding with my mount," Finn brushed off the snow from his shoulders and hat. Some fell down his neck and melted on his skin. His shoulders tensed up but he refused to display his minor irritation through a grimace. 

"I'm impressed!" Pacu said to Lena, "He's loving you."

Doubled up about Finn's lack of skill, Pacu proposed to him the idea of sacrificing one of his carrots as well. Heroya followed Chione after that, letting Finn sit on top.

The path's width decreased until it ended near a lone fir and a frozen lake in sight. Distant mountain chains stretched across the horizon, and behind it the sky was dark. Pacu's village had disappeared behind the curved landscape and fields of unblemished white powder. He got off his mount and led it on foot.

"From here we'll have to walk until we've crossed the lake."

"Will it support our weight?" asked Finn when the ice beneath his feet crunched menacingly.

"Of course," said Pacu, walking ahead. "The ice has held up my weight for decades. And that should prove enough," he cackled while patting his large, round belly.

A feeling of worry overcame Lena, but she wanted not to admit her unease and followed Finn with puny steps. The goosebumps on her body were no longer formed by the blizzardy wind, but rather from the thought of water, so deadly and voraciously, pulling and pushing beneath her. Her nose felt stiff and sharp, and feeling a sting from breathing the biting air was something she was experiencing for the first time.

She held on tightly to the reins and dared not look at the ice. Keeping her head straight and taut, she looked ever past the shoreline, into the distance and beyond, at the black cliff on the mountain face and the grey clouds it wore like a wig.

All three were walking apart, Finn in the middle. He stopped to turn and saw Lena left behind. With patience, he waited and allowed her to catch up.

"Everything okay?" he asked, having noticed her impassive gape.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Finn simpered as he walked alongside her.

"What?" she asked, annoyed by his irrational smile.

"Nothing. I just think it's funny."

"What is?"

"I believe you've been caught lying."

Her nose had been red from the low temperatures, but now her cheeks matched the tones. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on. You're obviously scared."

"No, I'm not."

"Another lie?"

Lena gave no answer.

Finn ceased his walk, allowing the gap between Pacu and them to grow larger. "Listen, there is nothing wrong with being scared. Fear is what makes us human."

"I'm not scared. Can you just drop it?"

"I will drop it. I don't mean to trouble you, but if there is something on your mind, you know you can talk to me. Right?"

"It's the water, Finn" she disclosed with a sigh. "I don't like it."

"I know," he placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a look of sympathy. "But it can't harm you. It's locked away below the ice and has no power to grab you."

Fog crawled onto the icy surface, consuming more than the shore, and Pacu within.

Embarrassed, Lena meant to walk away, but slipped and was predestined to hit her head. Like an arrow from a bow, Finn was quick enough to seize her arm, though was drawn by her fall and lost his own balance. He pulled her closer and, with his back bashing the ground, cracked the ice. 

Lena landed on top of him. Her hands stuck flat to the numbingly frigid ice, side by side with Finn's blushing cheeks, his hands held her waist, and their eyes interlocked prolonged. A hair could have scarcely fit between Finn's nose and hers. 

His lips felt her warm breath, meanwhile, he was holding his own breath unreasoned as pumping heat conquered his freezing body. The thick layer of ice beneath them may have survived their collision, but the ice around Finn's heart had melted at last. It had vanished at a quick instant, from the tension and fever between them.

"I've got you," Finn said, out of his breath.

Having found the resemblance of Kepler in her eyes once more, Finn felt it impossible to let either one look the other way. He thought it necessary to glaze at every highlight and every shadow cradled by her iris. He treasured that moment—that feeling.