Holding onto Vim's hand, I focused on the way he moved his legs and feet.
Vim wasn't really stepping… it was as if he was sliding them. Shuffling his feet, more than not.
Mimicking him again, I imdiately felt the difference. Not only did I speed up a little more, but I no longer felt like I was going to go the wrong way if I wasn't careful.
Laughing happily, I pulled a little on Vim as to get closer to him. I kept sliding away a bit every so often, on accident.
I was already able to skate around on my own, without Vim's help, but I vastly enjoyed the feeling of him being there. Not only did he keep from wandering too close to the edge of the lake, or one of the smaller islands, he also was faster than . So occasionally he could pull a bit, as to give further montum.
"Why don't more people do this, Vim!? It's great!" I shouted.
"They used to. I don't know why it's fallen out of mory," he said.
Oh. So this was sothing people used to do? Made sense. The shoes were intricate, but honestly not too complex. I bet even I could make a rough version if I had to.
Sliding past a stick, that stuck out of the ice at a dangerous angle, I squeezed Vim's hand harder and pulled myself even closer to him. Sotis I wasn't very observant it seed.
The world was flying past, most of it either a white blur or a dark green one thanks to the trees, and I couldn't help but get teary eyed again.
How lovely. I had no words to describe how wonderful this was. There was a strange feeling of freedom in sliding around on the ice, even though I was confined to this lake. I knew, from experience, that sliding into the ground only made face plant. Plus walking on the blades on normal ground was nearly impossible, to the point I didn't even want to attempt it.
And although the lake was large enough that it took Vim and I many minutes to circle all around it, the thing still felt impossibly small thanks to how quickly one could slide from one side to the other. To the point that it annoyed . I kind of wished we had found a bigger lake, or maybe one connected to large rivers, so we could do this forever.
It was too bad we couldn't travel like this. The re thought of skating from Lun to Telmik or sothing would have been wonderful.
Yet, even though this lake was now my world, I still felt utterly free. As if I was now a bird, free to fly wherever I wanted to.
There was no other way to explain the feeling in my chest. Freedom. Utter freedom.
"Our fire's getting small again," I said as we neared it. It was ti Vim once again went to add wood to it. He did so every so often, to keep it warm and strong.
"Hm. We'll be done in a little bit anyway, so it's fine," Vim said.
"Huh? Why?" I asked, a little shocked. Sure the snow was starting to really fall, and the wind was picking up, but still!
"You've beco a wonderful skater very quickly Renn, but skating at night is dangerous. Too dangerous," he said.
Frowning at that, I knew better than to argue.
I could clearly see how. Not only were there so parts of the ice that was thin, and at risk of being fallen through, there were spots that were dangerous in other ways. Like the little islands, or logs and sticks that were sticking out. Running into one of them could really hurt . And even on a clear night, without snow and storms, I wasn't sure if I could see clearly enough in the dark as to avoid such dangerous things.
"I don't want this to end…" I mumbled regretfully.
Vim tugged on . Enough to bring closer to him. It wasn't the first ti he and I got very close, since in the beginning I had needed help just to stand up, but it was the first ti in at least an hour or two that he got so close that he held by my waist and not a hand. "We'll have many winters, Renn," he said gently.
"Threaten like that and I'll make us move far north where it's always winter," I teased him.
He laughed, and angled us away from the fire. I was going to ask why, since I had figured he had grabbed onto properly as to lift up and help off the lake and ice, but instead we headed back out into the lake. Towards its center.
"Vim?"
"One last lap," he said.
Oh…? I smirked at that, since his tone told sothing very adorable.
He didn't want this mont to end either.
I had expected him to hold the entire lap, but instead Vim pushed forward. I wobbled a little, since I was surprised he had done so, and grumbled at him as he skated up next to . We were no longer together.
"Vim?" I asked again, upset he had separated us. I had been enjoying that.
"Let's race," he said.
I blinked and felt a smirk plant itself on my face as I glanced ahead. "Okay," I said, though knew there was no chance I'd ever win.
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"Around the lake. Stay close to the center, watch out for that bundle of sticks and logs near that one island," Vim warned with a point to it.
I nodded. I rembered the section he was talking about.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Yeah!" I happily started to pick up my speed, leaving him behind.
Vim of course kept pace with , but I enjoyed pushing myself to go even faster. At one point I even stopped trying to go faster, since I worried about turning at the higher speed. Vim kept near the whole way, as we rounded islands and stayed away from the logs and sticks. At this faster speed it didn't take long at all for us to round back towards our section of the lake, and for our campfire to co back into view.
Once it did… I slowed. So much so that Vim zood past at first, only to slow and turn back around.
I slowed so much that I had to start actively swishing my feet, as to stop myself from coming to a complete stop.
Vim ca back, approaching … but then going still. I frowned at him, and was about to run into him… until I realized he was moving too. He was going backwards.
"What the…? How are you doing that?" I asked, a little annoyed. I had nearly opened my arms as to skate right into his, and was now a little upset I wasn't able to.
"What's wrong Renn? You were doing good," he asked gently.
Sighing at him, I did my best to put aside my disappointnt that he hadn't been about to wrap in a hug. "I love this," I told him honestly.
"Hm… I can tell."
Grabbing my own hands, I twirled my fingers a little as we slowly approached our fire. I tried my best to not go any faster, as to stay out here on the ice as long as possible. "I really don't want this to end," I admitted.
He smiled knowingly and nodded. "Yes. I've actually been wondering if one day you'd co to hate your berry smoothies, having drank them so much, but even years later you still indulge in them happily. Which ans you could probably do this every day for years and still be happy with it, can't you?" he asked.
Feeling a little called out, as if I was so simpleton or sothing, I blushed and nodded. "I probably could, yes," I admitted.
"Hm…" he nodded and glanced down at my feet, which made a little self-conscious in how I was moving them. I tried not to beco stiff as he studied my skating.
Really. How was he skating backwards like that…? I wanted to try that too.
For a few minutes we skated in silence, as I realized how he was likely doing what he was doing. But I wasn't confident enough to try it, at least not without Vim holding onto for support.
"Could we stay here a few days, Vim?" I asked carefully.
Vim didn't answer at first, but then nodded. "As long as the storm isn't bad. It's dangerous to do this during storms, Renn. The water and ice shifts and breaks during them," he said.
Oh… right…
I glanced up, and grimaced at the very dark sky above us. And not just because night was coming in fast. There were terribly dark clouds up there.
Sighing at the world, I wondered how long we'd be up north here. Maybe I'd be lucky and we'd happen upon another lake like this? How often did lakes freeze over like this, anyway? I rembered many doing it farther north, near my ho and where Elaine lives, but even those ones didn't do it to this degree every winter.
"Co on Renn. You're going to make feel horrible if you keep looking like that. You're supposed to be having fun," Vim said.
"I'm not going to cry, Vim. I'm actually very happy. But that's the problem!" I groaned.
He laughed at . "Yes, so happy that you're angry," he teased.
"I am! Why can't the whole world be covered in ice?" I asked.
"It once was you know," he said.
"Really…?" I startled at that. No way, right?
He nodded. "But let's be glad it's not. You may be alright skating everywhere forever, but the world would be very dreary if it was frozen like that. Though I think I'd rather be frozen than on fire, I suppose," Vim said as he pondered it.
Great he was basically talking about the end of the world stuff found in all the different religions…
Sighing at him, I picked up my pace a little. As to catch him. I wanted to hug and cling to him one last ti before I was forced off the ice, as to fully dedicate the feeling to mory.
Before I could though, Vim startled, and then with a sharp motion went to the left. My left. I jumped in shock, nearly falling, and then heard a loud crash and splash.
Skidding to a stop, I barely stayed upright as I hurriedly turned back around. "Vim!?" I shouted, unable to believe it
He was gone!
Skating over to a huge hole, I groaned and kept my distance. A Vim sized hole was now in the ice, and there were these huge white cracks all over around it. I stayed a distance away from them, since I knew better than to think Vim actually needed help.
If anything my falling in would just make it worse, so I skated a bit farther away as I worried for him. I couldn't see him through the ice, but that was because of how dark the lake beneath it was. We were in a spot where it was really deep, and knowing Vim he had likely sunk quite a bit and…
Then a new crack rang out. I turned a bit, and found myself staring at a head. Vim's head had poked out from the ice nearby, causing so broken pieces to slide away along the ice. He huffed a bit, causing a white haze to co from him. "Careful Renn. Go to the fire, I'll et you there," he said, sounding suddenly tired.
"Jeez Vim, you were doing so good too!" I said happily, skating nearby. He looked absolutely ridiculous with his head poking out from the ice!
"It's your fault," he grumbled as he watched skate past.
"Mine?" I asked, laughing at him. How was he going to bla for this?
"You were planning on grabbing onto hadn't you? You should have seen yourself, you looked like so pervert. I was going to laugh and catch you but this happened instead," he said.
Laughing at him, I wondered just what kind of expression had been on my face. Pervert? ? "I was only going to hug you," I said, but Vim sunk back into the lake before I could say more.
Watching the spot where he'd just been, I was able to see him now. At least, partially. Through the ice I watched him swim past , a few feet from , and I skated alongside him… feeling weird as I did.
He was swimming. Under the ice. Beneath . And I was skating above him.
How weird!
How utterly wonderful.
I blinked teary eyes as we hurried back to our campfire. I was sad that this mont was ending, but knew I'd have more in the future… even if not imdiately.
This was better than a kiss, sohow. Almost.
So ice cracked nearby, and I giggled as I watched Vim sink deeper. He had likely not ant to hit his head on the ice.
"You're hilarious, Vim," I teased him as we neared the campfire. One that was not very big at all.
Vim would need to warm up, fast. Not because he was at risk of getting sick or anything… but instead so that I could hug and cling to him through the night.
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