git along lil doggie | xov + buffolak

[august vance d7b [Bella]]

⤜ x o v - ♥ - t h a o ⟶

The wintry forest had answered her with a breeze in the snow-covered branches, nothing to add except to make her feel more cold. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.

If she had just left her wooden house back home, the air might have felt fresh, but instead it was so dry it whipped the moisture right off her tongue. Suddenly J and Marcus felt even further away, but she kept walking, determined to find something that could help Juno.

She wasn’t feeling too hot herself, either. As her knuckles grew numb, her thoughts strayed to the warm winter clothes her family had made back home out of rabbit skins. How hard could it be to make something like that? She had killed animals before—maybe this forest would give her something furry.

Didn’t hurt to ask.

She picked up one of the pine cones scattered on the forest floor. Niam always said it was good to give something back when you asked. Flexing her fingers to regain some warmth, she plucked the spines off one by one and walked in a broad circle, letting the pine nuts fall behind her.

”Hello, forest spirits, if you are listening— I need something to stay warm. Would you grant me an animal to skin? I offer in exchange this gift of spreading your seeds.”

Talking to the woods had felt easier back home, but maybe this was the equivalent of making polite conversation with a stranger. Not hostile, but not intimate, either. Niam used to say there was a way to hear their response if you knew what to listen for. Xov wondered if her mother was watching back home, picking apart out loud what she was doing wrong.

Close by, the sound of a twig snapping made her suddenly alert. Heartbeat growing louder in her eardrums, her hands gripped the cold handle of the pike.

”Stay back—I know how to use this now,” she muttered, half to herself, thinking of what she'd done to Vali's foot.

”Ahh!”

She had faced the wrong way. Something knocked into her knees from behind, sending her ass-backwards into the snow. She scrambled to her knees, went to grab her weapon, but—”Oh.”

Xov froze, bewildered, as her mind registered the tiny four-legged being that was now giving its horned head a shake, looking just as stunned as she was. It looked like a miniature furry cow. A grumpy one.

Was this the small animal the woods sent her to make a coat out of? And if so, why did it have so much… personality?

”Um, hello,” she managed.

It watched her with a half-frustrated, half-expectant look as if to say, ”Excuse me. You were in my way.” She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to explain herself. But as she lifted herself off the ground and began to brush herself off, she said, ”Sorry. I was just about to get go— Hey!”

It’d rammed into the crooks of her knees again, knocking her back into the snow. She stared at it, open-mouthed.

”What was that for?”

The tiny ruminant stared back, blowing rhythmic puffs of steam through an upturned nose.

It was probably one of those freaky muttations the Capitol made—here to act all cute and then kill her in her sleep. She only became more convinced of this when it turned around three times and flopped onto her lap with a grunt. She gave it a sideways look before--carefully—placing a hand on its head. Its black fur was soft and wooly, the weight of its little body a welcome warmth. It nuzzled her hand like a needy puppy, letting out a nasally lowing sound.

The Gamemakers knew her weakness, then. Or maybe this was the forest answering for her trade?

”You’re just a baby, aren’t you? What, you want to come with me?”

The icy tendrils wrapped around her heart began to thaw and unravel as the little guy snuggled further into her. She sighed.

”Okay,” she said, resigned. ”You win. But the moment I catch your nose in my food, we’re through! You understand?”

The blank, stubborn expression she got in return told her this thing had no intention of listening. Selective hearing, maybe. She’d gotten herself in too deep already.

”I’ll call you… Angus. Gus for short. Yeah?”

[xov scavenges the charred cabin]
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