It's Always Winter Here (DragonSong)

[DragonSong]

She considered that amoment, then voiced hesitantly, "As soon as we can?"

Her hand moved unconsciously to touch the pendant around her neck. "I don't trust Lorian to just...leave us with a fake-trapped box and have that be it."

[Marakai Trin]

Gaelio blinked, and nodded slowly. He sat up, settling Bay in his lap. "Well...we could leave today, if you wanted. All we've got left to do is pack up the sled."

He glanced around the room. "Maybe the cookware and the stuff from the bed. I'll leave the spit here, I can just make another one, I suppose."

Gaelio glanced back to her, smiling gently. "So...today? It's early yet. Or tomorrow morning, if you want one more night in a soft bed. I'll leave that decision to you, though. I can have everything ready in just a couple minutes."

[DragonSong]

Josie sighed and pulled Bay onto her lap. "The sooner the better, really," she murmured. "Here- let me make a sling or something for Bay and I can help you pack."

[Marakai Trin]

Gaelio gave a single nod, and stood. "Sounds like a plan...I'll start putting some of the dishes together. Bowls and such..."

He turned toward the small pile of assorted bowls and plates, stacking them together and binding them with a strip of leather. Then he moved toward his cookpot, and looked inside it.

"Still gotta clean this...I'll be right back."

He set the dishes on the table, and then unhooked the hanging pot from the spit. He carried it to the door, and  then outside.

He sighed as went around the side of the house. He hated to waste food, but he had no way to store stew...so he dumped it in the snow behind the house, and then refilled it with clean snow. He used his power to condense it into ice, and willed it to circle around the inside, effectively scraping it clean.

He dumped it one more time, and stepped back in to place the dishes he'd collected inside.

[DragonSong]

"Right." She nodded and held a squirming Bay to her chest. She managed to use a few scraps of the leftover sheet material to bind the child to her chest, keeping him cradled sort of diagonally with his head near her shoulder.

The pup was not happy about this arrangement. He obviously wanted to continue playing.

"What can I do?" Josie asked once she'd managed to calm him somewhat and moved toward Gaelio to help.

[Marakai Trin]

"Hmm..." he mused, glancing around for a moment. His eyes landed on the bed, and he nodded towards it. "We'll need the blankets and sheets, and the pillow. We'll leave the mattress for someone else, if they stumble across this place." He looked around some more, and tilted his head as he thought.

"....I honestly can't think of anything else. Can you? You've got the only personal thing I care about, other than my sword and my bow."

[DragonSong]

She shrugged. "I don't really carry anything personal with me." She took a breath, then let it out slowly. "Alright. I'll gather up the bedding then?"

[Marakai Trin]

Gaelio nodded. "If you'd like. I can help you fold them if you want, they're pretty big." He set the cookpot, filled with dishes, on the sled before moving towards the bed again.

He stood on the opposite side, and grabbed two corners. "Here - grab the other end and I'll walk to you."

[DragonSong]

"You know, just because I've got a baby strapped to me doesn't mean I'm completely useless," Josie chuckled. Regardless, she took the two corners of the blanket and held them up, quieting Bay with a soft kiss to his head.

[Marakai Trin]

He let out a laugh as he began moving toward her. "I never said you were. I'm just trying to help, that's all...I'm just used to doing everything by myself so...not helping is just odd." He shrugged a little, and met her with his pair of corners, holding them up for her to take him.

"It'll just take a little adjustment, I suppose." He offered a small smile as he said this.

[DragonSong]

"Yeah, I know what you mean." She smiled a bit and folded up the blanket, moving to place it on the sled.

"Alright. How do we tie all this down?"

[Marakai Trin]

Gaelio thought for a moment, arms crossed over his chest, fingers drumming on one arm.

"Hmm...I've got that rope and hook outside that I hang  meat with. It should be plenty long enough, and it may come in handy later. Give me a moment, and I'll pull it down."

He turned to step outside again, closing the door behind him as he went. The knot where the rope and hook were tied to the house was just next to the door anyway, and he merely had to untie the knot and allow the weight of the hook to pull the rope free from the pulley.

He picked the length of rope up out of the snow, cooling it over his arm and dusting the snow off of it as necessary. He then walked back inside the house.

"This should do. I just need to hook one end to the sled, like so -," he did this, putting the hook through one of the skids the sled was based on, "- and wrap it around the pile, and tie it down on the other side."

He pulled the knot tight, and then pushed on the pile of assorted supplied. It barely moved at all - it should hold firmly enough for them to get out of the mountains.

"We will need to find another form of transport for this stuff once we get out of the snow, though...a sled won't do much good over grass and stone. I suppose much of it can be carried, but it's something we'll have to think about."

[DragonSong]

Josie nodded as she watched him tie the supplies down. "I suppose we could trade the skids for wheels, yes? Like a small wagon?"

She shrugged. "I'd suggest horses, but they tend not to like my kind very much." Bay wriggled, trying to escape the sling across her chest, and she rocked absently from side to side in an effort to entertain and quiet him.

[Marakai Trin]

"Yes but....where to trade? South of here is Connlaoth, so we'd be forced to trade somewhere there, unless you wanted to head into the tundra...in which case, we could keep the sled anyway, but it would be just as cold."

He sighed, and sat on the bare mattress, thinking for a moment. He wasn't well known at all in Connlaoth, but one slip up could mean trouble for all three of them. Maybe.....

"The only giveaway I have is my eyes. I suppose...I could tie a cloth over my face to hide them. You're not obviously a skin changer unless you change forms, so...perhaps you could do the dealings until we cross the southern mountains."

[DragonSong]

Josie nodded slowly. "That might work. Are you sure you're okay with that?"

[Marakai Trin]

Gaelio glanced at her, and chuckled, the sound slightly bitter. "...No. I'm not okay with it, but what choice is there, really? If I had the choice, we wouldn't go into Connlaoth at all, but...to avoid that, we would have to follow the entire mountain range, either to the east or the west. And neither will be easy travel."

He stood again, and looked over the sled. It was long enough to accommodate wheels, he supposed. And he could likely figure out a way to modify the base of it to put in axles...

He raised his hand to his chin while he thought, planning in advance so hopefully they wouldn't have to waste time trying to figure it out later. He worked out how to remove the skids long before, so that wasn't a problem, and he could carve grooves into the base to accommodate axles...

"....it should be easy enough to convert it over, though. I think I can do that myself, actually."

He glanced at Josie again, and smiled. "Well, all that's left to do is get there and find out. Are you ready to go?"

[DragonSong]

She took a breath and forced a small smile. "Yeah. Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

Bay made a small, complaining sound and she shushed him, stroking the top of his head and bouncing in place slightly. She smiled wryly and muttered, "To be honest, I'll be glad to get this little one out of the cold."

[Marakai Trin]

"Trust me - I share that sentiment. You, as well. Here." He picked up one of the two cloaks Gerad had given him for Josie and Bay, making sure to pick the larger of the two. "Wrap yourself and Bay up good. You shouldn't honestly need it for long...once we get down to the plains, it should be much more comfortable."

He held the cloak out to her, smiling a bit. "It should be plenty big enough for you to carry Bay like that, and him share in it too. Unless you'd rather I carried him, and you drag the sled behind." His lips curled into a smirk with that comment.

[DragonSong]

She snorted. "I'm sure you think you're getting the more difficult job, but trust me that is not the case," she muttered, giving her son a playful sort of glare.

As though sensing the meaning of her words, Bay responded with the biggest smile, the very picture of innocence as he cooed and reached to play with the amulet again.

[Marakai Trin]

He let out a laugh as he picked up the strap to the sled. "Well, if you decide to trade, be my guest. We'll see which job is more difficult once we run out of snow!" He laughed again and opened the door to the cabin, dragging the sled outside with the grating sound of wood scraping against more wood.

Once outside, pulling the sled became much easier, though he stopped. The reason for this was in part to wait for Josephine and Bay. The other part was for him to turn, looking at his cabin for what very well could be the last time.

And he honestly hoped it was the last time. There was a world before them, and he intended to see it.