Siberia

After the snowfall, Siberia looked as pristine as a fairytale world, where every stain and impurity was buried beneath endless white. The ancient permafrost had already existed here tens of thousands of years ago, when humankind still lived on raw meat and blood.

A solitary black dot, insignificant against the boundless snowy wilderness, trudged along. The thick boots pressed into the unchanging frozen earth, and the vapor from Ji Ning’s breath crystallized on his eyelashes. He gripped the rope tightly, struggling to pull the sled behind him. The cold had numbed the pain in his shoulders. He swore that if he ever made it back to the academy, he would join the Alaskan Sled Dog Protection Society.

If there had been only a pitiful amount of supplies, Ji Ning might have enjoyed the leisurely snow scene as he pulled the sled. But the world allowed no such “ifs.” A familiar face was lying on the sled, calmly watching Ji Ning’s difficult trek. Her pale cheeks were adorned with gem-like ice-blue eyes, resembling the queen of this frozen realm.

“You’d better put on your goggles. If you go snow-blind, we’re both going to die here,” Catherine spoke slowly. The severe pain in her leg had dulled somewhat in the bitter cold, but when Ji Ning stopped, inertia caused her to frown despite herself.

Ji Ning glanced back at her, finally putting on the goggles that made him so uncomfortable, and pressed forward.

Three days prior—

Ji Ning had been wandering aimlessly when a letter bearing the academy’s crest appeared in his room. He wasn’t curious about how the letter arrived; after all, not every academy offered a course on “A Hundred Ways to Surprise Your Friends When Delivering Mail.”

Young Fawn,

Are you still troubled by those credits you failed to earn at the end of term? Are you considering black magic against your professors for want of credits, yet lacking the spell components? Worry no more! The Siberian Branch, out of care for all young fawns, hereby issues a special holiday assignment—one mission, three credits. Please assemble at Cedar Bar by January 3rd.

Siberian Branch, Fawn Academy

Even as he entered the bar, Ji Ning doubted whether these vodka-soaked uncles were truly staff from the Fawn Academy. But the atmosphere soon swept him up, and he drunkenly accepted the mission. Together with a group of similarly inebriated youths, he was bundled onto a plane.

When he awoke, all that greeted him was an endless expanse of ice and snow, and a map marked with their destination. One of the uncles, seeing him awake, handed him a bottle of vodka. “Warm yourself up; someone will pitch the tents soon.” The icy yet fiery liquor burned down his throat, making him cough violently, but it didn’t dampen his spirits. If someone else was setting up the tents, this mission must be another academy perk.

Unfortunately, Ji Ning’s plan to muddle through with the group fell apart the very next day.

A blizzard destroyed the camp; in the face of nature, everything was fragile. Ji Ning dug for five minutes before unearthing a hand—the owner of which had boasted just yesterday about passing the B-level tests for construction and detection magic. Ji Ning thought for a moment, then buried the hand again, murmuring a final farewell for the dead. “Brother, you may have had it coming, but I hope you make it to heaven’s roster.” He didn’t know why he had survived when so many had been buried by the storm.

He only remembered waking up half-buried in snow and crawling out to face the white-blanketed camp. His first instinct was to consult the SCP-CN-655 within him, but there was no response. He failed to notice that SCP-655 inside him had crystallized.

Lost in thought, wondering if Bear Grylls’ survival series had ever covered snowfields, he heard a faint sound from beneath the snow.

Following the noise, Ji Ning dug through the thick layers and found himself staring into Catherine’s eyes. The collapsed tent had formed a makeshift frame, creating a tiny snow den that allowed Catherine to keep her eyes open to the world, though her pride kept her silent.

“Well, isn’t this a coincidence?” Ji Ning was not one to hold grudges—well, mostly. He made a small jab before laboring to dig her out.

Catherine made no move at first, simply watching him clear the snow. Only when Ji Ning had removed all the covering from her lower body did she thank him in a hoarse whisper.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. As a successor to communism, helping international friends is my duty.” Ji Ning waved a hand and set off to search for supplies buried under the snow.

It took Ji Ning a long time to find a single backpack. Looking back to check Catherine’s progress, he saw she hadn’t moved.

“So, you plan to live on air, fairy untouched by the mortal world?” Ji Ning’s mouth twitched. He wondered if Catherine was frozen stupid. Even if they were waiting for rescue, they had to survive the present. A blizzard could strike at any time.

It was then that Catherine, for the first time, showed an expression befitting her age. Embarrassed, she spoke, “My left leg’s useless. Probably broken.”

“You could’ve said something,” Ji Ning sighed in exasperation, unable to fathom the logic of young women—her leg was broken, and she hadn’t said a word?

Catherine stayed silent, stubbornly indicating with her expression: you never asked.

“You’re free to go,” she said, turning away, her indifferent eyes betraying nothing, but her tightly clenched hands revealed her true thoughts.

“How can I sneak away now, after you’ve said that?” Ji Ning tossed the backpack at her. He privately grumbled about why Catherine couldn’t be as honest as another girl he’d once rescued. “Put it under yourself.” Then he ventured out into the blizzard, gathering every scrap of supplies he could find before deciding they needed to find shelter from the wind.

And so began the snowfield journey of Catherine and Ji Ning the “sled dog.”

“You should navigate by the sun, not just wander in circles by feel,” Catherine said, squinting up at the sky. She checked her watch and spoke in an unquestionable tone, “Head at two o’clock. The city’s to the north. Since we’re not waiting for rescue, we should move toward the city.”

“Fine.” Though Ji Ning wished he could kick Catherine off and run away alone, he kept pulling the sled.

Fawn Academy only taught etiquette in sophomore year, but it was a school that emphasized companionship above all. In the supernatural world, they were not solitary fighters.

Once they got back, Ji Ning decided Catherine owed him for the work of a sled dog.

The trek was silent but for the sound of the sled gliding over the snow.

Time passed. Eventually, fortune turned her gaze elsewhere: the sky grew grey, the wind sharpened.

“Hurry, we need to dig a snow cave,” Catherine’s tone lost its usual calm. She struggled down from the sled to help Ji Ning clear the snow, but when they reached the unyielding permafrost beneath, despair set in. Without tools, it was impossible to dig through the iron-hard ground.

Just as Ji Ning was pondering what pose he’d be found in, a sudden chill ran through him. He looked down at his glassy hands—SCP-CN-655’s power! He called out for SCP-CN-655, but nothing answered. There was no time to think; he emptied his mind of all distractions, focusing solely on the task—digging a cave.

Before the storm buried them, an extremely cramped snow cave, just large enough for two, was finally finished. To make room for Catherine’s injured leg, Ji Ning had to squat, hugging his knees, in the narrow shelter.

Inside, the world was silent, cut off from the storm. They exchanged glances, each quickly looking away.

“We have enough food for six days, but only enough fuel for minimal survival,” Catherine reported after rechecking their supplies.

“What counts as minimal survival?” Ji Ning asked.

“Food heating, melting snow for water, and keeping warm,” Catherine sighed. She now understood her temporary partner’s survival skills were lacking.

Ji Ning didn’t ask how much farther they had to go to see the city. They both knew the answer could destroy their remaining confidence.

“Why did you save me?”

“Isn’t that a funny question? Why not save you?” Ji Ning gave her an odd look, thinking maybe she was a little delirious from the cold.

“You could go farther alone.”

“Or maybe I’d die faster alone.”

“True. I suppose you skipped a lot of survival courses,” Catherine sighed again.

Ji Ning sighed as well. “How was I supposed to know I’d end up here? Besides, does online class even count as class?”

“I heard you brought a girl back to the academy after finals?” Gossip was a woman’s nature; even Catherine, usually so aloof, was not immune.

“Yes, but only because I had to.”

“So it’s true, what Aphra said, that she’s under some kind of curse?”

“Something like that.”

“Then why did you save her?” Catherine asked seriously.

“Of course I had to save her,” Ji Ning replied, puzzled. Was the girl really that addled by the cold?

“You didn’t even know her. Isn’t it strange to help someone like that?”

“Whether I know her or not doesn’t stop me from helping a girl in trouble. If it were you, could you just stand by and do nothing?”

Catherine fell silent. She felt that the boy before her belonged to a different world. In the world she grew up in, help like this was never a given.

Ji Ning said nothing more. He wondered, perhaps Catherine had never been loved by her family. Only those who had never known care would be so bewildered by another’s kindness. Things that should be natural had never appeared in their world, and so they were foreign.

Catherine suddenly felt a dull ache, like a child who had never owned a toy watching others, hand in hand with their parents, emerge from a department store, holding strange and wonderful things she could only observe from afar.

Ji Ning stared at the smooth white walls of the snow cave, feeling afraid. No one could remain calm in such circumstances, but he couldn’t show his fear. Even if he’d skipped many survival classes, he remembered what the teacher said on the first day: fear is the greatest obstacle to survival. Never show despair to your team—it’s contagious.

So Ji Ning forced himself to think of happier things, to anchor his will to live. He wanted to eat grilled chicken wings, to have Qin Mo feed him without lifting a finger, to experience a kiss and see if girls’ lips really tasted like strawberries, to take revenge on those bastards at the SCP Foundation, to solve Qin Mo’s troubles. He even missed home, though his parents gave all their love to his younger brother. Still, he wanted to see them again, to hug his little brother, who should be starting first grade by now. There was so much left to do—he had to survive. Maybe, when he got back, he could find out from Qin Mo whether girls’ lips really tasted like strawberries. She depended on him so much; perhaps she wouldn’t refuse? But wasn’t that a bit scummy? How could he think like that? Shame on you, Ji Ning! Still, trying it wasn’t a crime, was it? His thoughts ran wild.

Catherine ignored the odd smiles that occasionally flickered across Ji Ning’s face. Her own thoughts drifted far away, not toward the future, but to distant memories.

Such memories, far from fading with time, only grew brighter and clearer, like a bronze mirror polished to a greater shine.