She was not afraid, though. The darkness had become her friend.
She watched the sky in frigid silence, each breath a puff of smoke dissipating in front of her face. No clouds marred the view, and as the darkness rolled in to claim the world, stars came out, one by one, until the entire vault of the sky was filled with those tiny, bright specks. Some were brighter than others, some she could only see when she did not look exactly at them, and as the world darkened further, the Milky Way split the sky in half. Her golden eyes were pained and wide, fixated on the brightest star she could find. "Rissa," she whispered, the first time Aiyana had spoken that name since she had lost her sister's trail.. since Ice, Fenru and Jessie had come back with the news that she was dead.
Losing Torrel had been.. hard, but she had managed. She had had Rissa, her exuberant joy, her brilliant eyes, her self-centered, arrogant ways, her utterly adorable face when she slept, their adventures, her incessant babbling to fill Aiyana's silence.. but most of all, she had been unconditionally loved, by her equal, her partner in crime, her fellow adventurer. The loss of Torrel had only solidified their bond, and she had thought it unbreakable, that they would conquer the world together and be queens of Mount Dire.
Instead, Rissa had been taken across the Serpent — and killed.
Aiyana drew a shaking breath, and blinked the tears from her eyes. Her heart was thundering in her chest as she stared out across the snowy vista. She had never before been alone with the sky... and perhaps her courage would've waned and she returned to the comfort of her trees, if not for the memory of her dear, beloved sister. "For you," she whispered, and stepped past the last tree. Paw by paw she made it out onto the snowy field, until the trees were nothing but black lines on the horizon. There, far out, she stopped, and tilted her black head back to peer up into the vast sky. She knew that she was loved still, that her mother's heart would never cease beating with love for her, but it was not the same. Nothing would ever be the same, nothing would ever be Rissa's love, the love of the one she had been born alongside.
Her sister was dead, and she was alone in the world, and it felt like someone had torn a hole in her heart.
Note to self: Mumford and Sons - I gave you all