Sea-blue eyes blinked into the whiteness of something she had never dreamed of experiencing first-hand. Ayelet moved from one paw to the other, flinching as the cars that came whizzing by left light trails in her eyes. The coldness that permeated her paws and fur was like an unshakable embrace, and she pressed herself to the brick wall worriedly, wondering if something had happened to Mazin.

At that exact moment, however, the scraggly male rabbit decided to show himself from behind a large, dirty snowbank, his ears perking in surprise.

"You weren't going to wait inside?" he teased, hopping over to his friend. "I almost went inside the hotel to look for you!"

The small cat just laughed, her voice bright and suddenly unafraid.

"I was afraid I'd spend all of winter cooped up inside," she admitted, staring back into the twinkling flaxen eyes of her companion and winking sweetly. "It was just my luck that the human left for a vacation, so I sneaked out."

Mazin grinned boyishly.

"Someone up there was looking out for us, I bet," he laughed. "Where are we headed?"

"...I have no idea."

But it was alright, she decided. Because tonight, the night was clear and lovely and where the snow clouds did not cover, the moon was out. It was brilliant and pristine and everything she had ever dreamed about. Nothing would be able to mess it up. The apartment key hung around her neck and glittered brilliant gold, the gate back into the warmth of the world she had always known.

But tonight, she wanted to be free.