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 immediately 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 me 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 me from wandering too close to the edge of the lake, or one of the smaller islands, he also was faster than me. So occasionally he could pull me a bit, as to give me further momentum.

"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 memory," he said.

Oh. So this was something 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. Sometimes I wasn't very observant it seemed.

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 me 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 me. 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 mere thought of skating from Lumen to Telmik or something 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 time 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 become 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 some 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 me. 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 me. Enough to bring me closer to him. It wasn't the first time he and I got very close, since in the beginning I had needed help just to stand up, but it was the first time in at least an hour or two that he got so close that he held me by my waist and not a hand. "We'll have many winters, Renn," he said gently.

"Threaten me 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 me properly as to lift me up and help me 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 me something very adorable.

He didn't want this moment to end either.

I had expected him to hold me the entire lap, but instead Vim pushed me forward. I wobbled a little, since I was surprised he had done so, and grumbled at him as he skated up next to me. 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.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"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 remembered 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 me, 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 me 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 come back into view.

Once it did… I slowed. So much so that Vim zoomed 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 came back, approaching me… 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 disappointment that he hadn't been about to wrap me 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 come to hate your berry smoothies, having drank them so much, but even years later you still indulge in them happily. Which means 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 some simpleton or something, I blushed and nodded. "I probably could, yes," I admitted.

"Hm…" he nodded and glanced down at my feet, which made me a little self-conscious in how I was moving them. I tried not to become 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 me 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 remembered many doing it farther north, near my home and where Elaine lives, but even those ones didn't do it to this degree every winter.

"Come on Renn. You're going to make me 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 me. "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 time before I was forced off the ice, as to fully dedicate the feeling to memory.

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 some broken pieces to slide away along the ice. He huffed a bit, causing a white haze to come from him. "Careful Renn. Go to the fire, I'll meet 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 me skate past.

"Mine?" I asked, laughing at him. How was he going to blame me for this?

"You were planning on grabbing onto me hadn't you? You should have seen yourself, you looked like some 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? Me? "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 me, a few feet from me, and I skated alongside him… feeling weird as I did.

He was swimming. Under the ice. Beneath me. 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 moment was ending, but knew I'd have more in the future… even if not immediately.

This was better than a kiss, somehow. Almost.

Some ice cracked nearby, and I giggled as I watched Vim sink deeper. He had likely not meant 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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