|minor suicidal thoughts|
("!!!" Indicate the start end end if it.)

|self worth includes, please read at your own risk. |

          After paying a good meal within a reasonable price, the two have shifted their legs elsewhere, which most likely, is forth the place they were meant to go. Quietly in solitude, they walked upon these winter-scarred pathways with a closeted twinkle; hushed from the satisfaction of the earlier nosh they've consumed.

          Frigid Westwinds soon became evident and had picked up intensity from then on, the skies clouded of a murky painting — concealing the heavenly sightings from beyond those levitating and atmosphere-loving aerosols. Residences and inhabitants of this island knew too well what it would bring in the near future, and Marshall had a share of a hypothetical assumption and agreed it would snow the area very soon.

          "We have to speed this process," quotes the Dally exasperatedly before looking around the area to fathom this obstacle. Though it seems luck was working in their favor as his eyes lit up with keenness and delight, he hooked his paw onto Everest's arms and swept her as if he was the embodiment of gale.

         Upon this seeming impulsive reaction, she could only blink away in confusion as she allowed everything to fall into place. Finally managing to comprehend the sequence of events rushing forth her face, she managed to picture herself on a ledge of a trolley, with Marshall by her side as he firmly, yet carefully held her arm to refrain her from slipping off the vehicle.

         It was an intimate view, she must say, her heartbeat thumped loudly at the distance they are in, though Marshall seemed to have no awareness about it as Everest's arms were still linked with his. With this situation, she's blank-minded and couldn't think of any key to squirm out of this situation. "On the bright side, I won't fall off the cart?" She convinces herself for the better, on the contrary, she was unable to shake off the thought and kept tapping her mind like a knock.

          "When was the last time anyone held me this way — enough to unsettle me?" a question directed to her, meant to be passed onto her, though she was unable to answer that herself, and it baffles her at the foreignness of it all. Mentally, she took note of it to ponder more about it in the future.

          In the meantime, she amused herself by the sight that panned in her view. Every towering perennial plant had a trace of frostbites, and every glance she took had effortlessly caught her breath ahold for a short while. Despite the rushing air that dashed past them, the pinecones that seek refuge from these had emitted a distinct lemony and sweet scent, yet had a surprising sharp undertone that oddly conflated well with these passive seeming descriptions. Indeed, was the scenery that beholds in front of her was breathtaking. 

          "Had it always been this pretty?" Questions of the Husky, directed only to Marshall himself. He looked over to her and one look seemed to have unveiled a long list of what he ought feels about all of this, about her question. His beam was as refreshing as the morning sun behind the icicle-topped trees with a warm coffee on a table by a window.

          She could only giggle at the sight of this, and he did too. They don't know why and what was the reason for this sudden result, but here they are, laughing ear to ear with eyes carved in a way that it's unreasonably infectious; lids were pushed concave-wise, and the lips were matrixed the opposite of it. 

          A loud announcement from the conductor had disrupted them from that, and as it ends, they blinked their eyes rapidly to find both of themselves look away from each other. Oh, how fast did that moment close.

          Marshall gestured her to hop off of the vehicle, still assisting her from departing the trolley. Once she was certainly safe within the hands of the ground itself, he had let go of her and left her to collect herself.

          A puff of delicate white smoke had escaped her system. She thought to herself quietly "Well, that was quite a moment." as she still was in the gist of recollecting herself and retrieving her head that's dipped within the freezing wind, she had realized the Dally's presence to be gone. On the verge of cursing his name for leading her to a wild goose chase — leaving her isolated and clueless in the midst of a foreign land, she had caught a glimpse of his figure and held those inner profanities within her. For now at least.

          Walking slowly forth his profile that has his back faced towards her, the weather had turned quite cold and immediately froze up the charts. It began to snow on the land that they stood on. It doesn't matter, to Marshall at the very least. He could only stay stationarily in place. Eyes were pinpointed at the setting that's in front of him, which was almost a ghost town at this point. There were only a few people that probably inhabited it, which they could only assume at the leftover campfires and oil lamps that soon would extinguish due to time and nature.

          Everest couldn't guess correctly if this was the place he longed to travel. There was a sense of feeling astray and alienation at witnessing all this. His face gave off a convoluted expression — his nose was slightly scrunched, his orbs yelled of concealed agony, his body were stiff and a subconscious outward appearance she noticed were how his claws are somewhat clenched like a ball — his claws piercing the now white soil.

          He could've stayed like that for years, but upon feeling her occupancy near his radar, he had snapped out of the trance that he was in. Quietly, he was glad about her presence, feasibly he would remain frozen in a continuous moving time if it were to happen she's not here.

          Giving out an odd loud sigh as his way to break tension "Come," he tells her, as they motioned forth wherever.

          "So.. This is it, right?" Double checks Everest, making sure they were on the right track, knowing he was uncertain as well. He affirmed they were, though his tone gave away the truth, and the truth was what she knows and what she's feeling as of the moment.

          But as they slowly ventured into a more enclosed part of the desolated town, trees started caving in with a grim filter on everything — the trees were tainted with a dull green, as if it were painted with rotting oil, and the expanse grew a little dimmer as they slowly strayed away from the entrance of it. "This.. Place oddly looks the same after all these years." He breathily remarks, which the Husky luckily caught on to. Those few words from him gave reassurance to her, but it wasn't enough to conceal her worry for the dally that still wore that somber expression.

          It was a grim sight that she had only seen when she risked Chase's life, and she realized too how comparable it was. That night, his true emotions were only upstaged by his fiery anger, when in reality, he was in deep pain to know that his best friend was suffering the consequences of her actions. These two situations may be different, but both showed clear signs of despondency at the retrospection of something she's not aware of.

          At this point, it was not only Marshall in such a contrite mood, but she was heavily impacted by his glooming aura. She wasn't taken aback at how contagious his emotions were; if he were to make everyone laugh along with his bright grin, he too can easily cast a large shadow.

          "I can't believe how it's been four years already. Yet it feels so raw." He says out loud in a way that has the spirit of confusion and frustration. 

           Everest was about to solace Marshall from his agony, but what came next was a display of obscenity that he yelled to the thick and freezing atmosphere. He wasn't looking at the Husky nor at the barks, but a piercing glower towards the voidful expanse. 

          Of course, this surprised her to an extent she assumed that these unpleasant expressions were meant for her, or at least someone else, but upon unearthing an interrelation between his current situation and her past, she had pictured herself in that same role — her yelling four-letter words at the same wintry atmosphere. It was odd and hurting to realize they were both cursing themselves for something.

           "M-marshall—" she croaked, carefully talking as she was in the verge of her dams breaking into pieces. "Don't cry," she tells herself repeatedly "This is all about him; him trying to heal his wounds." She then knelt beside him and rubbed his back comfortingly, in hope that it would ground him back to Earth and make him realize that he's not alone.

          "I'm such a horrible person, Everest. I've left my mother die in the hands of the spiteful fire, and I just stupidly watched her, helplessly. If it was her? Despite being clueless, she'd save me in a heartbeat."

          "But you are young. It's natural to be taken aback by the stressful event, and freeze. It's part of how we are built adrenaline-wise — fight, flight, freeze."

—— !!! ——

          "But I was a f*cking ungrateful pup, Everest. I took my mom for granted, and instead of demanding of a better meal, I could of helped from the distress. She was only young, who lost the father of three pups, and was left alone to foster them. I was so stupid and should've been thankful I survived among the litter. I just should've f*cking died in the cold and never met Horatio in the first place!" 

—— !!! ——

          Those sentiments and guilt he had bottled up for years had poured out in a go within a blink of an eye. He was unaware of how much he had said and how little of a secret he left unsaid for the spine of his dignity and shell. All of those years of work were gone in a snap, just because of that rushing offense he remembers clearly that he committed — solely for his selfish needs.

          As for the Husky herself, she was only in utter shock, not of his wicked past, but at how he courageously confided with her despite only having to share a short amount of days to grow together compared to his colleagues. She could only imagine how hard it must be to shatter out of that bright figure he always upfronts in everyone else. He was expected to be the brightest out of everyone with an optimistic view. But in reality, he could only think so lowly of himself.

         She always knew everyone's got a different background from what they want others to see, but she can only be bomb-shelled at the severity of it, knowing that she'll always be unaware of its true austerity.

         Marshall's knees weakened as he was gradually weighted down by his past and daunting thoughts, he couldn't help but finally cry in anguish and break bit by bit, those bandages he had wrapped himself — built from hardship, guilt, and insecurity that had been worn over the years, leaving a clear trace of rot and former youth. Having a feeling of being naked in front of millions of eyes, embarrassing in normal circumstances, but when at the state of being so low, you couldn't see those who look down at you as you could only look down on yourself within the pit you've dug unknowingly.

          In quiet, yet burdening solitude he lays, for the first time in a while, he had someone who was able to cry with him, and for the first time, had he shared his burden with someone who knows what it feels like to be in his situation — genuinely. Accompanied with the ever-growing coldness of the environment, he was crying in the arms that are very alive, someone not fabricated with cloth and industry, but someone that's gotten a steady heartbeat.

          There are about a thousand words in the English language alone, along with its embellishments and laws; there are so many ways how you could execute the same thought, it be inspiring or in simplicity. But sometimes, getting to the point could open a dozen doors for your reality, and the words he least expected to be heard "Keep crying,"

          An unusual response indeed in the midst of this. He expected "Everything will be alright," or "Don't cry; it's over." But of all the words she could have said, it was that. Two common words, though despite that, it created uniqueness, impact, and comfort simultaneously during all this. He was embarrassed though that he's still continuously breaking down — eyes all puffy and bloodshot red, cheeks all damp with bitter tears, and to top it all off, him displaying his ugly crying, but what else is there to lose, if everything that's been in that glass bottle's out? All he could do, for the sake of his sanity, is to cry, just like what she had quietly said.