we built this city on broken glass

There was something decidedly.....satisfying in taking his girlfriend on that black sand beach and beneath those northern lights that danced above. Even despite the reason they had returned to his country Frost could so hardly deny the feeling of home that came from being within that place and the simple pleasure it brought him. How very right it felt to be back within that land he had always belonged. That very energy so turned upon Nadya herself in those moments that followed. The snowy-haired man more than willing to show her exactly what he could do with those northern lights glowing above. It was only later, with both their bodies hot and breaths uneven that the equine so allowed but some off his affinity for warmth to drop, if only to feel that cool night air on his too-hot skin, that fire providing a a heated backdrop all the same. Frost shifted once Nadya was asleep, adding several more logs to that fire to keep it burning for most of the evening, his own affinity for warmth, after all, inclined to turn off when he himself slept. The stallion assuring Nadya slept on that side of the tent closer to the fire. Frost lingered for several moments outside if only to allow his violet gaze to rest on those lights again. How many years it had been since he had last them. His gaze turned briefly to that horizon then before making his own way back into that tent to pull the blankets over them both.

It was several hours later that the roll of Nadya's figure against his own stirred the stallion into wakefulness. Those very mutters of five more minutes prompting that fleeting simper to his own lips. Frost almost assured such words were perhaps his girlfriends most favoured. He readily returned that press of her lips to his own and yet, it seemed neither was wholly content to talk to much that morning. Frost as content to pack as quietly as Nadya herself, each resigned to their own thoughts in that moment, though such silence was hardly uncomfortable in any sense. His own mind had already turned to that day ahead and those plans that needed to be undertaken . How many things could....go wrong- and how vast those consequences if that did. Frost momentarily inclined to consider how much he near desired Alexander in those moments if only for the Hunter's keen instincts for battle and more so- his ability for strategy. His Hunter companion still something of a veritable sore point after how that battle with Xerxes had ended. Frost content to shake such thoughts from his mind as he finished packing, that equipment returned to the pack saddle before he allowed that shift to over take him once more. His slender, human figure replaced with that towering war horse once more. Nadya, today, quick to settle within that saddle before they started off once more. Frost wholly content to trot for several miles if only to loosen the stiffness from his own limbs before settling back to walk for the hours that lay ahead.

That terrain had slowly become only more desolate, the frost that littered the ground giving way, eventually, to a light blanket of snow before those flakes begun to fall from the sky. The temperature plummeting the further they pressed onto that ice field. That looming structure within the distance drawing closer with each stride. Frost already aware of the scents that lingered within the air, nadya, even in her human form, sure to begin to scent them soon in turn. Those voices and indeed the sound of horses eventually carried upon the wind and yet...therein lay the first of their problems. The ground for miles around that place was flat and open- entirely by design if only so the army could see any other army approaching in turn. A lone rider in anything less than Hunter garb would prove an oddity- one sure to be spotted by that gatekeeper quickly. Frost's hooves content to slow to a halt upon the outskirts. They had, likely, already been seen and yet from this distance it would be near impossible for anyone to truly identify them. Frost counting upon that alone as he paused beside several large boulders.

"Yes, that is it. They will see us coming well before we are close enough to retaliate though and even then, they will not open the gates. At least not for someone they do not recognise. For one of their own, however, those gates should open with little problem. I will make you look like a Hunter, you need only play the part for a few minutes at best. We will have to leave our our supplies here for now, they will slow me down far to much if we need to run. Providing all is well, however, there will be food inside."

Frost waited only so long as it took for Nadya to swing from the saddle and undo those straps before tucking it into those rocks and the only true landmark for miles. The stallion allowing his affinity for those illusions to take over them both in that moment, Nadya's outfit shifted and changed to appear as that navy blue riders uniform complete with jacket and pants and riding boots. That standard issue saddle and bridle so illusioned onto himself. Frost paused once more then to allow Nadya to climb back up and onto his back.

"The Hunters here are surrounded by Were's so often they should not realise you are a Were in turn, their sense are so used to them, but until we are safely inside try not to engage anyone in long conversation. Once we are out of sight I should be able to shift back and we should both merely blend in to the rest of the Werehorses. Are you ready?"

Nadya did not truly look ready and yet they could hardly linger any longer then they already had. Frost so avoiding his girlfriend that direction on how to hold her hands to at least make it appear as if those reins she held were real before he broke into that trot once more. Frost, this time, heading directly for those front gates he had fled from so many years before. A near curious.....emotion turning within himself and yet he so hardly knew quite what it was. At least not yet. The equine slowing back to a walk as they came before those towering gates. Hmm. they had been made of wood when he had left. Someone, it seemed, had replaced them with steel. Steel lined with silver in turn. That- would prove more difficult. The appearance of someone above those gates prompted his own attention upward. That guard looking down at the pair before waving his hand. The mere sight of Nadya's uniform, it seemed, enough to gain them entry. Those giant gates rolling to the side then as Frost stepped forward and into that bustling main area. Hunters moved in near every direction. That interior near akin to a small town with the activity that swelled around them. The sound of horses hooves onto that hard ground equally as prevalent as they were ridden or led past in all directions. Frost and Nadya passing several tied outside that one and only bar that complex had. Frost merely continuing to walk determinedly through, the stallion seeking an entirely different part of that complex.

The sound of near pounding hooves so briefly draw the equines attention, one horse, several feet away, was upon its hind legs. Two Hunters attempting to hold the rope tied to its halter as it swung its head near wildly, those shouts echoing in all directions and yet those other horses simply passed by. After all- they were surely used to seeing it. Frost's own violet gaze readily spying the source of the distress. Another Hunter, several feet away, attempting to restrain a foal. That rearing mare almost certainly its Mother. Though what they were doing or why he hardly knew.

"Don't look, Naja."

They could hardly afford to have that cover broken now and yet he knew readily how Nadya might respond to seeing a Mother and Child in distress. Helping them, however, would bring attention to them. Frost determined to continue to head for another set of gates ahead. At least until the sound of someone calling out to them forced him to stop once more. The man whom came towards them leading a buckskin colt behind him. The Hunter decidedly...young. At least he hardly appeared more then twenty one or so. "I haven't seen you around before, did you just transfer here?" He lent easily forward then, resting one hand on Frost's neck as if the stallion was no more than a piece of furniture to be lent on- while he flirted with his girlfriend. Great. "Bloody big horse. Not many women can handle something that size- good to know." Was that supposed to be a joke? Frost could hardly help the fashion in which his ears pinned backward, his tail lashing up against his flanks- smacking into the Hunter man as he did. The hunter offering him a withering look before his attention turned fully back to Nadya. "There's party on tonight at B Block, you should come, meet a few people, how long are you here for? I reckon we could- what the fuck is your problem!?" Frosts own form had shifted sideways, forcing the Hunter to lose his balance against him, his ears layered even further back within his mane in that moment as the Hunter turned on him, his words cuts off mid sentence- his irritation at Frost clear as he raised one hand to smack across the stallions shoulder. "Stand goddamn still, christ. Now where were we?"

How difficult it was not to turn on the man. Frost very near forced to grit his teeth, his tail lashing in irritation once more and yet attacking the damn fool would get Nadya and himself into trouble well before they had even started. Frost reaching for Nadya's mind then.

"Tell him your transfer is only short and your on patrol duty tonight so you can't go to the party. Tell him whatever he wants to hear but don't make him suspicious of you or give him a reason not to like you- damned fool though he is."

FrosT