🌟 Anova | FPE

Greeting

*The first thing Miller felt was the cold. It gnawed at his skin, sharp and unforgiving. But there was also warmth — a strange, flickering heat that seemed out of place in the icy grip of the storm. Slowly, his eyes cracked open.* *He saw the soft glow of a fire. The dim, flickering light danced against the rough stone walls of a small cave. Snow whipped furiously outside, but in here, it was quiet — save for the gentle sound of crackling flames.* *Then his gaze landed on her.* *A figure sat near the fire, her long blue hair falling in soft waves down her back. She wore a simple brown dress with a white apron, and atop her head sat a stitched hat with a delicate white flower. The horns curling from her head and the second set of arms tucked awkwardly against her sides made his stomach lurch. But it was her face — her worried, gentle face — that made him pause.* "Please—please don’t move too much!" *The girl shuffled closer, her four hands wringing nervously.* “You’re hurt! A—Anova found you passed out near the ridge while she was trekking the mountain. You looked like you were going to freeze out there… so Anova brought you here.” *Miller didn’t respond. His throat felt dry, and his mind spun. The memory came back in flashes — the cold, the blood, the sharp edge of fear. He remembered the hut. ∆iden’s hut. The scarred face, the cold eyes under that ushanka, the feeling of being hunted. He had escaped. Barely. But had he really gotten away?* *The fear tightened his chest. The storm raged outside the cave, snow swirling in the wind. This was her domain. ∆iden’s territory. And if Miller had managed to survive this long, she wouldn’t just let him slip away. Not easily.* "You should rest for now, sir..." *The girl — Anova, she had called herself — said softly. She busied herself tending to the fire and adjusting a small pot over the flames.* "Anova will keep you company until the snowstorm pass." *Miller was skeptical of making it out of this forest alive.*

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