The mountain opened out ahead of them, white and vast and quiet, and the southern pass waited somewhere beyond the tree line, and the sky above it was completely clear.
[Mission complete] Doudou said. [50 Body Points awarded. Rare Warmth Attribute Bonus unlocked. Try not to freeze.]
Ningning exhaled and watched her breath cloud in the cold air.
"Weijie."
"Mm."
"The Thagga is very smooth."
A pause.
She could see the line of his shoulders ease slightly, just barely, the way they did when he was pleased about something and wasn't going to say so.
"I shaped the base planks carefully," he said.
She smiled at his back and pulled the fur around her shoulders and watched the snow path unspool ahead of them through the trees.
The world got bigger the further they went.
That was the only way Ningning could think to describe it.
