~Recap~

“Make sure it will only be till day and not late evening. And definitely not night.” Frederick warns as he gets done with packing tiffin.

Flaring an obeying smile, Azura answers, “Yes, Papa. I'll make sure of that!”

Frederick also smiles then and caresses the lady's cheek, “And mostly, take care of yourself, sweetie. It's great that you're now not afraid of woods but always stay alert. Call me if you need me, okay?”

“Will do, Dad.” Azura assures her Dad even though she knew that she wouldn't be in need of help.

Or maybe, she just thought because probably didn't know that something was yet to happen today in which she was definitely going to be in need of help. Help to save her from her forthcoming yelp.

______

After the short blissful and bickering session with her father, Azura finally bids her farewell from her home and hops into the woods until she is with Theo, ready to explore a new day with a new adventure.

“Here comes the ferocious foxy.” Theo comments

“Ferocious, we could say maybe. But, what does it tell you that I'm foxy?”

“It doesn't need to be told because your little whiny self growls that you're my foxy.” Concludes Theo mischievously and Azura raises her eyebrow in a skeptical way.

She then throws the lunchbox towards Theo unexpectedly which the man supposedly happens to catch so well. “Oh look, who's a good boy here?”

The man frowns, “What does that even mean?”

“Your habitat boy. Only a good puppy knows its owner's actions all the time just like you do mine.” Azura perks sarcastically.

“So, you're calling yourself my owner?” Theo asks in a wondering tone.

Flaring with a satisfied smirk, Azura perks, “What else does it sound like?”

Now a smirk appears on Theo's face as well and this was Azura's turn to frown. “So you literally just confirmed that you own me.”

The lady's face tints in red instantly upon realizing her words and hints given by Theo. She took a handful of snow from the ground and threw it at the man, hitting literally no ounce of him as he just kept laughing.

This prompts a playful chase between the duo as they clash here and there while making sure to not miss any bite of the delicious and warm food.

Soo after, their energetic lunch finishes and they take time to rest right on the fluffy surface of snow.

Or more like only Azura dozing off in comfort which Theo soon breaks with hussle and what seemed to be like some handle in his hands.

“Gosh, are you still not done? Has the cold clogged you or the warmth has wasped you?” Azura purrs in annoyance.

“None of that. Just this puppy is longing for a walk.”

Well, judging by his characteristics and the equipment he had with him, it definitely didn't seem to be only walking. “It was a nice joke and I would even laugh out loud but I'm more curious to know if why would a walk require these… Are these skiing kits?”

“What else does it seem like? I'm surprised that you even know what these are since foxes don't know about skii.” Theo chirps mockingly as Azura steadies up and snatches one of the kit pairs.

“For your kind of information, this foxy doesn't only know what these skiing kits are, it also knows how to ski itself very well.”

The man gives a challenging look. “I doubt.”

Azura was more than ready for the challenge. “I bet.”

What else then? Without wasting another moment, both Azura and Theo buckle up their kits and hop into the adventurous bits.

_______

“Man, I should have known that you weren't joking when you said you were really well at it.” Comes a tired voice, followed by constant huffing.

The lady also pauses on her steps as she gives a playful smile to the tired man behind. “And I should have known that you weren't going to last any longer.” The lady perked back but it sounded something entirely else that too in an appropriate way.

So she proceeds to switch the topic instantly. “Anyway, let's keep moving. We have to be speeding from here to the shores. Even during these hardening winters, the sun hits straight there and we can have a good warm up.”

“What? You're still thinking about just warming up? No way! I'm already done for the day, Azura.” Theo says while panting but the lady seems to have sped up already and soon disappeared also. He looks around to trace her but only finds wind blowing.

He sighs and begins moving slowly in search of her.

Meanwhile the said lady, Azura on the other hand, was speeding hastily with no care of what was going. Like literally no care that she didn't even realise that she was skiing alone only until now…

“Oh Theo! It's so fun swinging high and low. Follow the same track as mine, the snow is in flow–” She breaks as she glances behind but finds no one.

“Theo?” Azura asks as she clings her rod to balance and look around. It's not that she was scared. She was just surprised because of her capability of flowing in the woods.

Turning towards the back, Azura settled to flee back to Theo but some sound came unexpectedly which made her flinch. “W-what was that?” The lady mumbles to herself before the simple howling turns into growling.

“Oh, no, no. Oh dammit!” Azura curses to herself in fear while rushing ahead and away. She wasn't sure if what was actually behind her, neither did she want to make sure.

All she knew was something dangerous was chasing her and she better run for her life.

Only after a few minutes, the growling felt to have increased and Azura could feel her heart thumping inside her chest.

“Theo, Theo help!” She starts screaming unknowingly as she struggles to keep her track and balance as much as she can.

However, she unfortunately loses it when a little cliff comes ahead and she falls on another snowy surface.

“Ahh!” Scream Azura in pain when her knees hit a cold stone. Although her bones were fine because of the cozy clothes and snow layer, the pain was still intense and the fear was beyond it.

Which is why, despite the pain going through the vain, she hustles herself and buckles on her belt, only to discover that her kits were broken.

She crawls down and tries to fix them but it is no use. “No, no. Please. Not now.” After a few failed attempts, she gives up and throws the metallic parts furiously.

Picking up the rods which were still fine, she stands and prepares herself securely.

Her grip tightening and her alerted steps lightning. When she turns around, she finally sees herself around… Around a wolf. Again.