They found the stream in the early evening before the sun had made its descent and sat down by it to rest and fill their water again. It was hard to say if the oak tree would appear just where they were – or if it would even appear at all, which La found herself doubting more and more as the day went on – but it was a good place to rest for the night. Not that they were in need of much rest at the moment since they’d spent the warmest parts of the day under trees or various other shelters to hide from the sun, despite it being a mostly cloudy day,, but it was getting dark and La was hesitant to go too far if she couldn’t see everything around her. Besides, Snow wanted to watch the sunset and she wanted to make a plan in private. A plan that would help them hide from the circus guards beyond diving into bushes every time she spotted someone around on the path, a plan that would help them find Crow without having to use a fairy to do it, and a plan to keep them fed and warm throughout the upcoming cold months.

No problem, La, she thought dryly. That should be easy as anything.

Crouching down by the bank of the stream, she filled her water canteen and then paused before getting up to glance over at Snow. He had his own canteen in the water but was staring intently at the stream instead of pulling the full container out of the water.

“What is it?” she asked curiously. Insight into his mind was always interesting.

He laughed softly. “Is this really how water is?”

La stood, her knees briefly protesting at the movement, and sat back a few feet away where the ground was more dry. “Some water. This is a stream, sort of bubbling quietly along. Then you have rivers which I think are like streams but bigger and less bubbly. Ponds, and then lakes which are like big ponds. Some lakes are so big you can’t even see land on the other side.”

Snow’s head snapped to her. “Really? Water can get that big?”

“I haven’t even gotten to the ocean yet! I’ve never seen one, to be fair, but I’ve heard that you can sail for weeks or even months on the ocean without seeing a spot of land.”

“I want to see an ocean then!” Snow finally stood and joined her on the bank of the stream. “I want to see if it's all real. I did tell Flicka I’d bring her stories back, after all.”

La smiled faintly. “So you did. And anyway, I’d like to see it, too, so one of these days we’ll make a trip out there and see if all of the stories are true. But right now–”

“Right now, we need to find Crow,” Snow finished. He sighed. “I have a lot of questions, I know. I’m excited to see so much of the world and already it’s been so amazing but I’ve not forgotten about him for a second. I promise.”

She patted his shoulder. “Neither have I. We’re going to find a way to get to him, you know, and the three of us can wander and explore the world just like we always talked about.”

Snow didn’t respond but he did reach up and squeeze her hand for a moment before letting it fall back down to his side.

—-------

The sunset came and went, its deep colors lighting up the evening sky with majestic beauty, even through the thick clouds that blocked the sky. La watched it all with new eyes and found herself not only enjoying immensely the beauty of it all, but the fact that she was able to watch it for the first time in a very long time without the sounds of the circus surrounding her on every side and without someone yelling at her every two seconds to fetch this or do that.

“Why does the sunrise have so much brighter colors than the sunset?”

La looked away from the sky, now nearly entirely dark, and turned her eyes to Snow. He was easier to see in the dark than most, given the paleness of his skin. ‘Because the sunrise is making the sky light and the sunset is making it dark, I suppose,” she replied.

“Hm.”

Silence for several moments, then–

“The sunset is beautiful and I wish it could last so much longer, but the sunrise is my favorite.”

La had personally always been partial to the sunset because then she could hope to be stopping her work soon, unless they were doing a night show, but the sunrise brought waking and hauling things around and she didn’t care much for either of those. But Snow, having spent so much time in a dark cage, had always been fascinated by light. She couldn’t blame him. Nor could she even begin to imagine what such a cooped up life must have been like. So she didn’t voice her disagreement and instead pulled out her sack of food.

“Let’s get something to eat before we sleep. It’s too dark to look for anything tonight.”

She could barely perceive Snow’s head turning in her direction; the moon and stars were mostly covered by clouds so there wasn’t even much of that light to see by. “Is it?” he said. He sounded a little surprised.

“Yes,” she said firmly, and then yawned. “We can sleep behind some of those rocks so we’re hidden from the path.”

La almost found herself regretting that decision when it came time to try and actually get back there to sleep. Some of the rocks were slippery, several of them were sharp, and it clearly wasn’t made for humans to rest in. But she knew she couldn’t stay up all night and doubted Snow understood the concept of ‘keeping watch’, and after all they’d gone through she’d be damned if she let someone from the circus come and find them while they were sleeping. So they made it work. Snow was out like a light, curled up into a tiny ball, but she lay awake for a while and stared at the cloudy sky. She liked the night. It could be eerie, yet peaceful. Dark and dangerous, too, especially on nights like tonight when the stars were hidden and the moon barely visible, but other nights were so clear and calm and even bright. The night was unpredictable in its glory.

Like Crow, she realized. He could be so grim and scary but she remembered so many nights when the two of them had finished their work and they would sit together in a corner somewhere and talk for ages. She’d seen him loosen up around her and she’d seen his gentle side come out whenever he was with Snow.

Snow was asleep, she could hear it in his breathing, so she closed her eyes and allowed the tears to fall. No noise escaped her for fear of waking Snow, but it helped to let some of the pain go. If this fairy turned out to not be real, at what point did she tell him that she didn’t think they’d actually be able to get to Crow? The Wildlands were massive and dangerous and neither of them knew anything about fighting. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t try, of course, but she also couldn’t bring herself to knowingly lead Snow to his death.

Perhaps they’d just wait for the circus to move on and then return to Otis and the farm. Offer to work for them. But that would only be after she’d done everything in her power to save her dearest friend because she refused to give up on him so easily, no matter how terrible their odds.

—---------

La awoke to the feeling of a hand clamped over her mouth. Instinct jolted her into action and she lunged forward, prepared to grab her assailant and fight but she slipped back on the rocks and fell, hand still outstretched. The sky had cleared somewhat as she slept and by the light of the moon she saw that her hand was mere inches away from the throat of her attacker, only it wasn’t one of the circus guards like she had been expecting. It was someone very small who hovered above her on pale pink wings.

The fairy!

Slowly, the fairy removed her hand from La’s mouth and put a finger to her lips, motioning her to be quiet. She then went and repeated the same process with Snow, though his reaction was much calmer and he quietly rose to his feet when she motioned him to. Graceful, as always. La, on the other hand, struggled to remove herself from the bed of rocks and when she did manage to stand, found her body sore and aching from sleeping so uncomfortably.

“Quiet,” the fairy warned them. Her voice was deeper than La had expected from someone so small, yet it was also melodic. “There are enemies nearby. Follow me.”

And it was at that moment that La spotted the giant oak tree. It hadn’t been there before but it was just as Leah had described when she said that it had been gone when she went back to look for it later. A tree that could vanish and reappear at will. Now it was here and so was the fairy and maybe, just maybe, they would have a chance of succeeding after all. La reached out and grabbed Snow’s hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze. They still had no answers but this... this was hope. Oddly, Snow didn’t react.

As they approached the tree, the fairy began to whisper to it, too quietly for La to hear what she was saying. But she did hear a shout from the path and when she turned to look, she could see torches bobbing around from where she’d heard the voice. What madness was driving them to search to such lengths? She’d be the first to say that Snow was remarkable, both as a person and as a performer, but they were being hunted day and night now. This didn’t seem like an ordinary search party – or at least it didn’t seem that way to her but she hadn’t ever participated in one before. Snow wasn’t the first performer to try and run away but he was the most valuable. Perhaps that was why the hunt for him was so intense.

The fairy had only been whispering for a few seconds but with the torches so nearby, it felt like forever. At last a door inside of the great tree opened and the three of them stepped inside, darkness surrounding them as the door swung shut and blocked out what little light they had. A light flickered on the wall, then another, and another until the inside of the tree began to glow and La saw with amazement that, as large as the tree had been on the outside, it looked to be all that much larger on the inside.

“They can neither see nor hear us in here,” the fairy said, speaking now in a normal tone. “You’re safe, for now.”

“This is incredible,” La said. Her voice was still barely above a whisper but that was awe, not fear. Awe at the lanterns that lit the inside; small lanterns woven from vine and wood with bobbing lights within that could only have been created from magic and when she looked up, she saw the tree was quite hollow indeed and the lanterns went high up inside of the old oak in a sort of spiraled pattern. So high they were nearly out of view entirely. Books and scrolls were scattered about nearly every corner of the room yet somehow it added to the charm of it all, despite the clutter. There was furniture, too, made for the fairy size and elegantly carved – from what she could see of it that wasn’t buried under writings, anyway.

The fairy smiled thinly. “I haven’t had guests in a long time, if it isn’t already obvious. I’m Tina. Or at least that’s what I allow humans to call me; they can’t say my name in the language of the Fae.”

“La,” she replied. “And this is Snow. I don’t suppose our names are too much trouble to pronounce.”

Tina gave Snow a hard look. He had barely moved away from the doorway. “Can he not speak for himself?”

“He can, he’s just…” La paused and looked closer at her friend. Fear. She read it in his eyes. Fear of what? She reached out to lightly touch his arm and he started at the contact, then blinked several times. “Something wrong?”

He shook his head rapidly. “No, no, no.” Then he shut his lips tight and refused to say more.

Curious as she was, La didn’t press him for more. She instead turned her attention back to Tina, who harrumphed a little.

“Polite one, I see,” said the fairy. ‘No matter. We’ll talk again in the morning but for now, you should get some sleep. It should be a good deal more comfortable than rocks.” She snapped her fingers and the books and scrolls began flying through the room, some placing themselves neatly on nearby bookshelves and some flying straight up towards the top of the tree. Perhaps there were more shelves up there; it would make sense since Tina could fly. Another snap sent the furniture hurtling towards the walls where they landed with a crash in various piles. They were left with a good size blank space in the middle of the floor and one last snap brought blankets – several of them – down from the top of the tree.

“They’re small for humans so you might need a few. Rest well.” And with that, she unfurled her wings and disappeared to the top of the oak, and all of the lights went out as she left but for one gently flickering nearby. Just enough that La could still see Snow and she studied his face again, wondering at the stony expression that had replaced the fear. It wasn’t like him at all.

“Snow–”

“Go to sleep.” This time, it was she who started. That tone of voice wasn’t right; cold and emotionless, and as she reached for him he turned away and lay down, refusing to turn, to speak, or to move no matter what she said or did. At last she gave up and lay down as well, her back turned towards him.

Sleep didn’t come easily. Worry was winding its cold fingers into her but at last the warm room and soft blankets soothed her to sleep. She didn’t notice as Snow got up and wordlessly stood, staring at the door without moving for several hours before he finally lay back down and went to sleep.