sufficient without the aid of her back claws which she couldn't currently feel or move.

Niju used his larger claws to dig into the ice and haul himself onto the floe. His back legs were essentially dragging behind him as he reached for Aleu's scruff to pull her after him. If he were truly evil, he would say he helped her as a form of self preservation. But of course it was much deeper than that now. The fact seemed to be that together they were lucky, no matter where he was- as long as she was with him, he had a hope of survival.

Their breath came in shivering pants as they lay on the floe. Wordlessly they embraced, struggling to find what little warmth they could in one another. They shifted positions until they found one that felt a little warmer. It mostly consisted of him lying on top of her as their bellies warmed each other. Periodically they shifted positions until they could feel their back legs again. They ached, badly.

Niju could finally laugh at their fate. A few breathless chuckles came forth. Aleu followed suit as they finally had the dexterity to curl their bodies around each other. They were far from warm, but perhaps not fatally chilled. If they could just make it through the night…Luckily the sea was calm now.

"Niju…" Aleu's voice was a bit husky- but not weak and broken by the quake of her body any more. She wanted to say so many things now that his face touched hers. She could feel his breath warm her cheeks. "Have you…Have you ever had someone you couldn't live without?" She could feel his head shake.

"No. Not physically. Until now. This is…strangely physical, the actual meaning of that right now." He exhaled his exhaustion, but contentment. His chest felt strangely warm. His body had stopped quaking as well.

"If I close my eyes, will you be here in the morning?" She still felt a little dazed, like after the forest fire when they washed up on the river bank.

This time he pressed his broad jaw into hers but not out of a necessity for warmth- but general reassurance. A pack-mate's move of comfort.

"I don't have a choice, I can't stay away. Fate won't let me." He half joked.

In order to leave, he'd have to leave the ice floe, her warmth and something else that he couldn't see…but rather feel inside of himself. Sort of how he'd come to feel for Nava, but lacking the admiration aspect...But possessing something additional he couldn't currently identify.

"Hmm.." Aleu drifted.

He rest his cheek against hers, almost wanting to revel in the feel of her silky looking fur against his tongue. However, if he did that his saliva would evaporate and leave her colder. Plus he didn't want to change the way things were, on so many levels.

Aleu mumbled something against him as she drifted off, her paws tucked underneath herself. He let himself finally rest his eyes, but not before glancing once more at the lights over head. With their fur mostly dry, there was no risk of freezing while they slept, being adapted for the arctic, their fur could insulate them perfectly, so long as it was dry. Together they would face the dawn.

Aleu and Niju

Sunrise upon an Icefloe

Aleu was the first to stir, immediately followed by Niju. They had not slept for long, but the faintest orange glow of the dawn was visible in the cloudless sky. They could feel it softly warming their now completely dry fur. They huddled closer as it broke free of the horizon. Aleu yawned, nudged closer to Niju and drifted back to sleep. She was waiting for the mid afternoon- when the water was warmest to take action. He laid his head down again, knowing their survival was still precarious with no sight of a landfall. He felt the need to speak. He silently asked Nava to give him help, so the words didn't come out a jumbled mess.

"Aleu…I don't really know how to phrase this…So…I suppose..." He seemed to find clearer speech. "I thank you, halfbreed... I feared leaving the homelands, to live beyond tradition…The change it would bring… You showed up and… You made me accept my fate. I've spent my whole life trying to fight it. I've been trying change and control the design for so long." He spoke as if there was still sea water in his throat. Almost as if the words he spoke were causing him pain.

"Perhaps I am not in total control of my design, but rather just a part of it." He sounded a little distant, staring off into the sunrise.

Aleu could feel the frustration that boiled inside him, as always. He stressed the word "perhaps", as if there was still something that remained to be seen. That he might still be right after all this time and Nava might be wrong.

He never turned to look her in the eyes. "But I should have already known that well."

Aleu couldn't find anything to follow that statement. She didn't need to. She curled up tight and rested again.