The Hoarfrost rose, armored plates pushing the snow to give the giant ship room to move. They plowed forward, eventually breaking into the sunlight once more. Rarely was there more than a single ship patrolling an area, but they found another city to sell their goods in just to be safe.

Jed and Solomon hopped into the large truck loaded with stolen goods. Vox pressed a button and the large bay door opened. It hit the ground, making a ramp.

Jed leaned out the window. “Keep safe kid.”

“No promises,” Vox called back as he watched them drive away. He closed the door and walked back down the halls to the common area.

Ari and Cath were chatting when Vox entered. He set himself down in a chair and sighed.

“So what do you do around here when they’re gone,” Cath said.

“Whatever we want,” Ari said.

Cath rolled her eyes. “Not particularly helpful.” She turned to Vox. “So what do you like doing.”

“It’s not around here, but I usually go camping outside, Jed took me out all the time when I was a kid.”

“Sleeping outside doesn’t seem like it would be that exciting,” Cath said.

Vox stood up. “I won’t have you besmirching my activities without trying them, come on.”

“Wait, right now?” Cath said.

“Do you have anywhere better to be?”

Cath looked down, defeated.

Ari laughed. “You were just complaining about having nothing to do. Go with him, maybe you like it. You might even get to see a real tree.”

Cath stuck her tongue out at Ari and they both laughed.

Vox rushed off down the corridor. Minutes later he ran back into the room and threw a suit at Cath.

Cath picked up suit and stared at it, then looked back up at him. “Are you always this impulsive?”

“Always, come on.” He tossed his pack over his shoulder and walked out without bother to wait until she followed. He could hear footsteps following him and he grinned triumphantly.

Vox tied the packs into the back of the snowdart and climbed on top. He turned to look back at Cath. “Are you coming?”

She hesitated then climbed on.

“You’re going to want to hold on,” he said. She hesitantly wrapped her arms around him and he slammed the throttle. Almost immediately he felt her arms squeezing him tighter as the vehicle shot forward across the icy white.

He stopped the snowdart at the base of a small mountain, then got off and unhooked the packs. He looked back at Cath, were her hands shaking? He passed a pack to Cath and started hiking up the mountain.

The climb started easy, but gentle inclines gave way to craggy cliffs the higher the climbed. Vox clambered over the latest cliff and held his hand out for Cath to grab on to. He hoisted her up and they lay down to catch their breath.

“I hate being so short,” Cath said. She eyed him up and down. “This isn’t even fair.”

Vox laughed. “Come on, we’re almost to the top.”

The peak was relatively flat, snow dusted evergreens decorated the landscape around them. Their suits would keep them warm, but Jed had always taught him that it wasn’t camping without a campfire.

It wasn’t long before they had a small fire crackling between them. Cath stared out into the blackness. “It’s like we’re floating.”

Vox gave her a big smile. “It feels like the only time I can think is here.”

“I can see why, it’s quite.” Cath looked him directly in the eyes. “Thank you.”

Vox shrugged. The fire popped and sparks jumped up, slowly drifting into the air until the motes of light vanished into the night.

“So how long do you think Solomon and Jed will be gone?” Cath said.

“They’ll be back in a few days, we don’t know too many people here. You aren’t worried they’ll come back while we’re gone are you?”

Cath shook her head. “I’m just curious. To be honest I’m surprised you are able to sell your goods at all.”

“Selling is easy. Most places are more worried about the crime within their walls than the one’s outside of them. Selling quickly or at a profit is the hard part. We have an arrangement with a few trusted buyers in a few cities.”

She leaned forward, clearly eager to hear more. Apparently the life of a pirate suited her. “So what cities do you normally sell to?”

“The cities farthest away from established trade routes are the best. Cybren and Vei are the main places we sell. The mountains and rough terrain make trade harder and they’re happy for the business.”

Cath nodded. “Do you ever run into other crews?”

“We used to,” Vox said. “Most of the other ships give us a wide berth now. The Hoarfrost is kind of a legend out here.”

Cath gave him a skeptical look.

“We hunted all the pirates away from the places we roam. My father didn’t like their methods. Too reckless, too many lives lost. Now the other pirates are afraid of us.”

“So that’s why the ARM never noticed you. One ship is easier to pass over than dozens.”

He had never thought about it that way, but running into the ARM was a rare occurrence.

“How do you contact your sellers if there’s no signal out here?”

“The Hoarfrost has an internal antenna. Normally we are running jammers to keep people from picking up on us though.”

Cath’s eyes widened, but only for the briefest of moments. “So when you radio in you drop the jammers.”

Vox laughed. “Of course.”

Cath merely nodded at this.

There was silence for a long time. He stared into the fire, breathing in the familiar scent of woodsmoke. He went to his pack and pulled out a small bag. “Find us some long sticks, I’m going to show you something amazing.”

She looked confused but left to gather some regardless. Vox picked out the thinnest ones before whittling the tips with his knife. “This tradition goes back hundreds of years, Jed showed it to me the first time we went out together. I was seven at the time.”

He pulled out two marshmallows from his pack with a flourish and stuck them onto the sticks. He smiled as he handed her one.

“How are you doing that?” Cath said after he pulled his third marshmallow from the flame.

“Doing what?”

She pointed to his marshmallow. “It’s perfect.”

He grinned at her. “I do have over a decade of practice.”

She glared at her marshmallow. “I’d be happy if just one of mine wouldn’t end up burnt.”

He laughed as he slid his off of the stick and onto the chocolate and crackers. “You’ll get there,” he said, taking a bite. He yawned and leaned back to lie on the ground, staring up at the sky for a long time until he eventually fell to sleep.

Next Chapter: Into Nothingness