Thieves
Chapter 8 - Cold Water

"Wake up, Sis," the fox opened his eyes to the darkness of the room as Jack shook him awake. He felt tired despite the mass of sleep he'd already had that day, and pressed his face back into the pillow with a grunt.

"Get up. We gotta go," said Jack as he shook him again and crawled over him out of the bed to get dressed.

Sis sighed and stood. He run his paws through his face while Jack had pulled up his pants and were about to light a candle. Sis just had to readjust his clothes from last night's activities.

Jack reached into his bag, "Here," he said and passed a brown, rolled up bundle over to the fox, "it's the best I could get, with my limited options, yesterday."

The fox rolled the bundle out into a thick, woven pullover, "Did you steal it?"

"What does 'limited options' say you?" he answered, "Now get ready. I wanna go."

"I told you that I'm not gonna get a thief," he objected, the top still in his paw.

Jack shrugged his shoulders, "It's either that," he pointed to the pullover, "or freezing in the night air. Your choice."

With no further words, Sis pulled it on, while Jack got the rope from his backpack. "We'll see if we can get something more suitable for you to wear, when we're in St. Curson," jack said, "Now get here." He opened the window and let the rope down the outer wall then helped the fox out and held the rope for him to climb down.

The air outside was freezing, but at least it didn't snow and the moon provided just enough light to see where one was going. Inside the window, Sis saw Jack blew out the candle and stuffing it into the backpack. "Here, fetch," he whispered into the dark before he let the pack fall down for the fox.

The next thing Jack did, was to take the small table, turn it around and then he looped the rope through the metal ring attached to it and around the leg of the table. The table leg was placed behind the corner of the window and fixed with the rope, Jack held taut. He then used the construction to climb out of the window himself and let himself down on it. When his feet reached the floor, he slowly let the rope come lose, which caused the table to sink to the floor and the loop to open enough to let the table's leg slip out of it. The result was only a quiet rumble as the furniture landed, a sound no one might have heard.

"Couldn't you have just used the front door?" the fox asked with a tone that indicated how unnecessary he found the action.

"I could," replied Jack and rolled up the rope, "But this way it's cooler."

Sis shook his head, "Where do we go?"

"Here," Jack took off right into the town.

"Just like that? Shouldn't we go around it?" the fox asked still not willing to take too much risk onto his newly gained freedom.

"It's in the middle of the night," Jack assured him, "There ain't no one around, likely not even guards." This turned out to be just the case. The town was very small and wiped out at night.

He'd not been in a settlement for quite some time now, and the current situation he was in, didn't made him want to be in one right now. He cautiously sharpened his senses to make out every potential enemy, who want to take away his freedom. But the only thing moving in the town was the shimmer of a lantern several streets away. Whoever this was couldn't see them for sure, but the overall situation still made him uncomfortable. To the little fox's luck, the end of the town soon came into view.

"Isn't this romantic?" Jack announced in an over-poetic voice, "At night, under the stars... just you and me... alone... all to ourselves?" he took an unmeasured big step closer to the fox. "Doesn't that remind you of the last evening?" he mocked, while he reached his arm out to lay him over the fox's shoulders, but Sis quickly took a step to the side.

"Yeah," he replied, "I can't think of anything better, than to freeze my tail off in a winter's night with only you to chew my ear off."

Jack laughed, "So ya don't wanna talk about last night?"

"What's there to talk about?"

"No regrets? No confused feelings?" he asked only half mocking this time.

"No," the fox said firmly, "And now stop that."

To that, Jack drew out a cigarette and lit it, "I mean it," he said more serious, "If you feel weird, or anything, you can talk to me. We're friends now, ain't we?"

"I said NO!"

"Alright, foxy," he said lifting his hands.

"And I told you to not call me that."

He couldn't else but to tease him some more, "But it fits. You're so cute when you're angry."

"I'm gonna show you just how angry I am!"

"Daaaaaw, "Jack squealed, holding his hands over his heart and making an amused face expression.

"You're about to taste my fist, human," the little fox threatened angrily, clenching his paw.

"I'd rather taste something else."

"What the hell is wrong with you, man? Seriously. You're crazy!"

"Crazy for youhuuuu," he sang.

Sis pushed at the man and shoved him off of the path, it only earned him a laughter, "Haha! You're the funniest guy I've ever traveled with."

Something told the fox, that the human was telling him something, with all of this. But he wasn't sure whether he wanted to know it or not. But thankfully Jack eased off with his mocking after that.

They walked for quite a while, before the first sunrays were glowing over the horizon. It was still cold from the night, but the pullover helped to keep the fox warm. At least more than the simple shirt he'd worn alone.

Both of them walked in relative silence for some time, until Jack came up with something out of nowhere.

"So.... What's it like in the slave camp?"

The question struck him as quite inappropriate, but then again, it did really fit to Jack. "Why do you want to know?" Sis demanded a reason before going into such details.

"Eh, y'know," he answered, "Since the thing with you being a killer is out already, I thought why not take the time to get to know you a bit better. I mean it's not like we've got anything else to do but walking, right?"

This was actually pretty near to what Jack had in mind. He knew the fox has got quite a story to tell, every slave did. And he hoped to understand the fox better. He hoped he'd find a way to get to talk to him on a more serious base and despite that, he really just wanted to know more about his past.

"There's not much to tell. It's a slave camp: you get caught, you get imprisoned, if you're lucky you survive it and then you're sold to the next best plantation, farm or factory to work your ass of," Jack heard the slightest bit of pain in his tone, at the final words.

"It's pretty hard, isn't it?"

"Pha," he scowled, "It's hell! One half of the day you're working, the other one you're taught how to behave properly: 'yes master' 'of cause master' 'it's me a pleasure, master'," he spit on the ground. "If you don't spurt, you'll get beaten, right where the customers won't see it. You're together with all races, any gender, old and young, it's all the same. They even got some classes, where they teach the babies how to speak."

"Even babies?!" Jack asked shocked. He knew many slave traders wouldn't hold back to make a good deal out of a kid's life, if it'd bring them some coin, but that it had gotten such an industrial dimension, and that under the hand of the administrations....

"'specially the babies," Sis answered, his voice growing more angry by the minute, "They bring the most money. Many camps already have 'breeding units'," he spat the word out, "Eesonon's got one too."

"Were you..." he couldn't get the sentence finished.

"No. I refused to do it."

"You had a choice?" Jack asked.

Sis sighed, "You'd be surprised how many slaves just care a shit 'bout everyone else and do gratefully participate into this."

"How did you manage to get through all of that?" Jack asked with respect for how much the little creature had endured.

"Like everyone else did. Shut up and obey," the fox's tone grew angrier.

"Have you ever tried to escape from the camp?"

"Often," he spat the word.

"What happened?"

"I got caught!" Sis almost yelled at him.

Jack felt, that he was getting to the edge of what the fox was ready to tell him. His tone grew angrier and his answers got shorter. He had already gotten a lot out of the fox and he hoped he could continue their conversation, but he changed the topic to a less painful theme for the fox, before he would shut down.

"You said you were traveling north, with a group. Where did you come from?"

It seemed to help, Sis' voice calmed down, "I lived in a small village, deep in the big Hepares forests. We were all foxes there."

"Why did you leave?" Jack asked.

"We got attacked by slavers," he said, his expression souring again, "I wasn't in the village when it happened, I had no clue. When I returned everything was destroyed. Some people had been enslaved, some had been killed. Only a few survived...." he glanced to the side, "My sister hadn't," he paused. "I had to raise her alone, since our mother died by her birth. They burned the house she stayed in. She was only three...."

So much for less painful themes.

"I'm sorry, Sis," Jack offered.

"Yeah, yeah," he said somewhat sadly and looked for the horizon. "Sun's up now. How 'bout breakfast?"

"Sure," the human replied.

---

They stayed mostly silent during their meal. Breakfast was kept briefly, each of them got a piece of bread and the smaller sausage, Jack had stolen, was shared between them. As the sun rose higher into the sky it grew only mildly warmer, but at least they could see where they were heading now. So they continued.

They held silence for a long while, the crunching snow under their feet was the only sound, until Sis spoke again, "So, I've told you my story," he glanced his way, "Now it's your turn. Where are you from?" Jack seemed to consider the question for a moment.

"Ok," he said finally, "It's only fair. Actually there isn't much to tell. And my story isn't nearly as heart tearing as yours."

Sis looked straight forward, "Don't make fun of that," he stated firmly. "And now go on, before I lose my interest again."

"Alright. So, I don't know where I was born, thought it must be somewhere in Kriisch, that's far north, no slavery there. However, my parents exposed me and I never knew them. I was raised by my adoptive father, he was a deer. He had an elder son, just a few years older than me, he raised us both alone. That's probably why I'm not into slavery. It feels just wrong when you were raised by a short one. Although... he wasn't a particular small deer."

"So you had a good childhood?" Sis asked.

"Mostly," he replied, "He was a good father. And I came along fairly good with my 'brother'," he accentuated the last word and had to chuckle.

Sis looked at him again, "Then, why did you become a thief?"

"Oh, that's a story for another time," he chuckled again. "Let's just say, after a certain incident, with one of my family's member," he had to chuckle again, "I had to leave and live on my own."

The conversation died down again after that, but they made good speed. Soon, maybe an hour before dusk, the Triva et Eesgahlom, the river that divided the lands of Eesgahlom, which they were currently traveling, and the lands of Sortan, came into view. To the right of the river, the street followed the stream a bit before it ended in the trading post Eesom that Jack had mentioned. To the left the forest, that had bordered the way for some time now, continued. Jack took off to the left.

"Where are you going?" asked Sis, staying where he was.

Jack stopped, "I told ya we can't go through Eesom."

"And how are we supposed to get over the river? Can't we just sneak through there? I thought you were a decent thief." Sis looked down to the stream, it wasn't a particular big river, but too big to jump over and too deep to walk through. Swimming in these temperatures would certainly be a death sentence. The surface, however, was frozen, but still not thick enough to support them, not even the much lighter fox alone.

"There's only one small bridge over the river," Jack answered, "And the river's a land border, so there are guards at the watch house. And you have to pay a paths duty. And on top of that all, you're still a wanted criminal. Besides that, I've still got some unlawful acquired goods with me. I guess you're smart enough to not take that risk." Then Jack took off into the forest and called after the fox, "So, ya comin'?"

Sis looked over to the trading post again. It really consisted only of two or three buildings, from what he could see from here, and everyone was illuminated. The bridge seemed to be lighted too, so the fox had to grant his human companion right and followed him.

Jack only went deep enough into the grove to bee unseen from the street, before he approached the river and drew his knife to cut a hole into the ice. The hard surface gave away easy under the blade and as Jack pushed the ice floe under the remaining ice, Sis saw that the layer was barely an inch thick - far too thin to get safely to the other side.

The human refilled the water skins and broadly washed his face with a wet palm. As he went to get something out of his bag, Sis lowered to the water hole and took a few sips. The water was ice cold but glass clear and clean. At the bottom Sis saw rounded river stones forming the riverside. He wetted his paws and drew his fingers over his eyes and rubbed his snout and nose clean. The cold water shoved away the tiring feeling in his mind.

The fox shook his head to get rid of the last drops hanging on his whiskers and turned to Jack, who had pulled out the remnants of the bread and was about to slice the larger of the sausages up for a quick meal.

"We'll get somethin' warm when we're at the bothy and can start a fire," said Jack.

Sis nodded and accepted his share. They ate quickly so that they could find a way over the river whilst it was still bright enough to see. Eventually Jack found a trunk from a fallen tree spanning over the frozen river.

"Ah, this should do," said the human as he gave the log a few kicks to see whether it would hold in place, but the frozen ground and the rocky riverbank provided a solid grip. He stepped onto the log and took a proving step forward. The snow, frozen over from the wetness of the river, cracked and crunched but the tree seemed strong enough. The frozen snow, that covered the log, made it difficult to keep in balance, but Jack managed. When he reached the other side he jumped to the ground and addressed the fox, who was next in line, "The ice's slippery, you'd better watch out. If you're taking a dip here, this will probably be your last winter."

Sis saw the human lit a cigarette as he waited for him. He felt instantly the slippery surface as he stepped onto the log. His pads were made for solid ground, not for ice. The crispy surface of half-snow half-ice made it a bit easier than pure ice, but it was tricky. Even his claws didn't provide him much grip, the ice layer wasn't very thick and pretty loosely so he just scraped it off, and the log was completely frozen so his claws couldn't dug in.

He managed to come halfway across the river before a particularly misplaced step send him shaking. He tried to regain balance with his tail and arms, but the sudden motion let him slip again and he fell.

He landed, back first, on the ice and sent it shattering, with a loud crack. The last things he felt was a hard knock on the back of his head and then the masses of freezing cold water surrounding him.

"Shit!" Jack spat his cigarette to the ground when he saw how the fox got dragged under the ice. He saw the fox struggle only for a second before he launched down the river to get ahead of him. Fortunately the small creek hadn't much of a current, so he made it ahead of the dunked fox and went for the river.

The ice broke easily, under his feet, as he stepped hip deep into the cold water. The icy temperature stung in his legs. He crushed the last bits of ice with his hands aside and, as the now limp fox body drifted by, reached for him and got a hold on his neck.

He pulled his head over the water surface and reached an arm around his chest, then started to retreat for the shore. Sis was lifted from the cold floods and Jack felt the little creature shiver badly. He was barely conscious anymore, and once he reached the shore the fox had almost stopped to shiver, his eyes closed.

Jack placed the body carefully into the snow, "Hey, Sis! Come on, foxy," he spoke to him as he rubbed over his cheeks to get him awake. No answer.

The shivering had stopped. Jack put a hand over the fox's chest and drew his ear near to catch a breath from Sis. He couldn't feel a pulse, but he felt a soft weak puff of warm air against his ear.

The backpack, Jack still wore on his back, was thrown beside him and he began to undress the fox. He placed the soaked clothes next to the backpack and wrung the wet fur of his legs, arms, tail, ears, chest and back to get him as dry as possible. If he could get him dry and warm soon enough, he might survive this. He went for the backpack and tried to open it, but the stinging cold in his fingers made it hard to unbuckle the clasp. He pulled the blanket out and stuffed the wet fox's clothes into the rucksack.

Sis' body was quickly wrapped into the blanket. Jack looped it around his midsection, then tucked his legs and paws together, wrapped the blanket around him once more and formed, with the remaining piece, a hood to protect the fox's head.

A look at his surroundings was depressing. To go to Eesom was impossible and it was the only place near. Staying here, without shelter and a fire, meant death for the fox, and probably himself too. The bothy was still some distance away, but it was their only chance.

Weakened from the water, his legs almost gave in as he lifted the wrapped up fox. Moving his legs would keep them warm, so he started. If he took the way through the edge of the forest, he could make it faster and be protected from the wind.

"Good thing you're so light," he said to the unconscious fox in his arms as he stumbled through the forest. His body was already tired from the long day of walking, but he had to keep going. Occasionally he checked the fox for signs of life and thankfully he was still breathing, albeit slow and weak.

When he finally made it to the bothy, exhausted, tired and still with wet pants, it was dark. He shoved the door open, stepped inside and took a glance around.

"At least we've got some damn luck once," he grunted as his view fell upon three pelts lying in the empty shack. And the bothy still held some firewood too.

He placed the fox carefully on the ground, checking his vitals again. His breath has gotten steadier, but he was still cold and wet. First thing now was to get the fire stated. Jack placed a few logs in the fireplace and added some crusts and sticks underneath it then went for the bundle of straw in his backpack.... "Shit," he spat as he noticed that the fox's wet clothes had soaked through the whole pack, and so the straw was wet too. He looked around the small room for something that would start the fire.
In the end he drew his hunting knife and took one of the pelts. The leather wouldn't do, but the hair should be enough to ignite the sticks and crust, so he scraped the blade over the hide until he had a ball of lose hair. The burning fur smelled awful but it was necessary, and soon the flames grew.

Next thing was to get the fox dry and warm for the night. One of the pelts was placed directly next to the fire, the fox on top. Jack felt Sis' hands and they had regained some warmth, but he was still not over the worst. He used the blanket and tried to rub his fur dry. It didn't do much, since the blanket itself was already soaked, but better than nothing.

By now, the fire had fully started to burn and Jack added two more logs. He took off his jacket and wrapped the fox in it, then added the second pelt to cover his legs. Now he took the rope and hammer from his backpack and searched his bag for two nails. The rope was spanned through the room and he hung the blanket and Sis' clothes over it to dry. Finally he took off his own, still wet, pants and hung them over the provisionally clothesline. Another log was added to the growing fire and he sat himself on the third pelt, right in front of the fire to warm up his legs.