Tom Paris woke to the sound of birds singing. He opened his eyes and sat up, wrapping his cloak tighter around himself as the cold wind blew. He stared at the cold ashes of the campfire, and shook his head. It was time to move on.
He picked up a small rock and tossed it at his companion's head. Chakotay sat up, mumbling.
"Time to wake up, Chakotay," Paris said, smiling.
Chakotay stared at him, "You threw something at me."
"It was a small rock. A pebble at most."
Chakotay snorted, "Didn't feel like one."
He rubbed the back of his head as Paris gathered his things. Chakotay yawned and followed suit. The two of them then went to their horses. They then turned onto the path they had been traveling for three days.
"The town should be up ahead," Chakotay mentioned, "We can have breakfast there."
An hour later, the two entered the town. The crisp air seemed to have gotten colder as they made their way to an inn. The daily activity was almost nil thanks to the winter air, but something caught Paris' eye.
A vendor was arguing with a dark haired woman. Obviously over prices, and Paris decided to listen. He brought his horse to a stop as he watched and listened to the woman. She drew an evil appearing sword, and pointed it at the vendor's throat.
"I suggest you give it to me before you have an extra hole to breathe out of!"
Paris smiled as he saw the vendor flee. The woman took the animal skin flask and turned around. Paris caught his breath. She looked at him for only a moment, but to him it was an eternity. Her dark eyes pierced his soul if not his heart. She sheethed her weapon, sneered at him then walked away.
"Lovely, but deadly, her kind," a voice brought Paris out of his thoughts.
"Hmmm?" Paris turned to see Chakotay smiling at him.
"The woman you were staring at. Her kind are known for being violent. I've heard of one killing a human just for asking her to dance. I suggest you stay away from her."
Paris shook his head, and headed toward the inn. Chakotay followed.
The inn was not crowded, and the two easily found a table. They ordered their meal when a waitress arrived. Paris stared around the room as Chakotay sipped his drink.
"If you're looking for Tuvok, he won't be here until tomorrow," Chakotay said.
Paris turned back around, "I know that, Chakotay."
Their food arrived and they began eating. At that moment, the door to the inn opened letting a cold breeze enter the room. Everyone's attention turned to the new arrival. When they saw who it was, they quickly turned back to their meals. All, but one.
Paris watched in awe as the dark figure walked across the room to a seat at the bar. He barely ate his own meal as he watched her take a sip of wine.
"Your food's getting cold, Tom," Chakotay said.
Paris didn't hear him, for all his attention was focused on the exotic female at the bar.
Chakotay finally turned around, and saw the woman he had said was dangerous. He looked back at Paris, and saw that the blue eyes were glazed over.
Damn boy's daydreaming, Chakotay thought, shaking his head.
He grabbed Paris' shoulder and shook him. Paris blinked and stared at Chakotay.
"Pay attention," he told Paris, "She'll kill you if you even look at her funny."
Paris sneered, "You should quit listening to those stories, Chakotay. You don't even know if any of them are true."
"Enough to keep me from persuing one of her kind. They're dangerous."
Paris glared at him, "They won't stop me. I'll prove to you that she's not dangerous."
Before Chakotay could stop him, Paris stood up and went over to the bar. The ranger shook his head and took a sip of wine. He hoped the woman would go easy on Paris.
Paris sat down beside her, "Hello."
She stared at him, her glare a warning, "What do you want, human?"
Paris was taken aback by the tone of her voice. It was full of anger, but he could detect a hint of loneliness. He felt his heart ache, but it only made him more determained.
"I'm Tom Paris," he answered, "And yours?"
She snarled at him, "If you are trying to hit on me, I suggest you stop before I kill you."
Paris stared at her in shock. Was Chakotay right or was she trying to live up to those stories? He decided to try again.
"I just want to know your name," he said softly.
She glared at him, "It's B'Elanna Torres. Now go away!"
Paris left the bar, but he wasn't about to give up. He had a feeling he would see her again.
"I see she didn't kill you," Chakotay said as he finished his meal, "You must have impressed her."
Paris sat down, barely taking his eyes off Torres, "No she didn't. She gave me her name."
Chakotay's eyes widened, "Now, I'm impressed!"
Paris slowly turned to his food as he ran her name over in his mind.
A beautiful name for a beautiful woman, he thought as he ate his food.
~~
The next morning was colder. Snow began to fall and a strong breeze blew through the town. The sky was grey and not an animal or bird stirred.
Tom Paris woke to the window shutters banging against the wall. He sat up, turned around, and closed them. He locked them then got out of bed, now fully awake. He got dressed and went down stairs for breakfast. He was not surprised to see Chakotay already sitting at a table. He sat down across from Chakotay, who was sipping a glass of juice.
"You're up earlier than usual," Chakotay said, "Shutters wake you?
Paris smiled, "How'd you guess?"
"Shutters woke me," came the answer.
"So when's Tuvok supposed to arrive?"
Chakotay took another sip of the juice, "When he gets here, Tom. That's when."
Paris shrugged and stared around the room. It was empty, except for him, Chakotay, and a lone figure sitting in a corner booth. He had a feeling that the loner was Tuvok. He had heard Tuvok liked to travel alone or in the company of a certain Lady Janeway, who had been his friend for years.
He looked over at the corner, and saw a dark face underneath a brown hood. Paris nudged Chakotay and pointed at the stranger, "Is that him?"
Chakotay stared at the figure in the corner. The dark face under the hood was indeed familiar. He smiled and nodded.
"Good. Let's go," Paris said as he got to his feet. Chakotay followed.
The two went over to the dark corner, and sat down in front of the figure.
"Tuvok?" Chakotay asked.
The figure nodded and said, "She said that you were to come alone. Why is he here?"
"He insisted. He can be very stubborn, and he can also be of help."
Tuvok stared at Paris. He knew Paris was a good fighter and could definitely be of help. He just hoped that Tom's youthfulness didn't get in the way.
"All right," Tuvok said at last.
"What is this about anyway?" Paris asked, growing impatient.
"Lady Janeway needs your help," Tuvok answered, "She's being held captive in her own castle. I escaped by using a secret tunnel under the castle."
"And some magic," Chakotay added, smiling.
Tuvok just raised an eyebrow, "I use it only as a last resort. It is quite draining even for me."
"Where's the castle?" Paris asked impatiently.
Tuvok didn't look at Paris, but answered the question, "Two and a half days journey from here. We must hurry if we are to succeed."
Chakotay nodded, "When ever you're ready, Tuvok."
"It is best if we leave now. I will be outside."
He stood then and headed for the door. Chakotay stared at Paris, "When are you going to keep your mouth shut, Paris?"
Tom glared at him, "If I hadn't you and Tuvok would have yakked all day about his magical abilities."
Chakotay sneered, "Tuvok is an old friend and mentor, Tom. He once tried to teach me his kind of magic, but I thought mine was better. I was a youth then, and didn't know any better. Now, I know I could have learned both types of magic. You could learn something from him as well."
"Like how to be stuffy?"
Chakotay refrained from hitting Paris, though it took some doing. He then stood up and headed for the door. Paris followed after a moment.
The snow was falling harder when the three left town. They had bought supplies for the nearly three day journey. Chakotay, thouhg believed it might be longer with the constant snowfall.
The three traveled for an hour when they heard the sounds of fighting. They rode faster to see what was going on and if they could help. They stopped quickly when they came up on the fighters.
Two tall muscular warriors were fighting the much smaller B'Elanna. She seemed to be holding her own, but Paris believed that it was an unfair fight.
"She needs help," Paris said, drawing his sword.
"She's doing fine, Tom," Chakotay said, half warning.
Paris glared at him, "I'm just going to even the odds."
"Paris!" Chakotay called, but Paris was already heading toward the fighting. He looked over to Tuvok, who shrugged.
"He's young, Chakotay," Tuvok said, "He will want to engage in every fight we come across."
Chakotay shook his head, "He's not that battle hungry. He's interested in that woman there. He's trying to impress her."
"Interesting," Tuvok said, raising an eyebrow.
Paris sliced his sword into one of the warrior's side. He screamed and turned to stare at his attacker. Paris yanked the weapon out of the giant's side, causing him to yell again. Paris took another swing, but it was blocked.
"You are asking for trouble," the warrior growled.
"I believe you are asking for trouble," Paris corrected as he tried another attack.
B'Elanna turned around to see Paris fighting the other warrior. A thought of him following her came into her mind. This angered her, and she took it out on the one she was fighting. She kicked the warrior in the stomach. He dropped to one knee, and she raised her sword then brought it down crashing into the giant's skull. She then turned to see Paris run his sword through the remaining warrior.
Paris caught his breath before he turned his attention to B'Elanna. He saw her staring at him, her arms folded. He smiled at her, and for a brief moment, he thought he saw a smile reflected in her dark eyes. Her mouth, though was curled in a snarl.
"Thanks for you help, Paris," B'Elanna said, "Can you tel lme why you are following me?"
Paris sheethed his sword and went over to her. He looked into her eyes and answered, "I'm not following you, B'Elanna. It just so happens that this road is the only one that leads to our destination."
B'Elanna looked to her right and saw Chakotay and Tuvok waiting. She looked back at Paris and nodded.
"All right, I believe you," she sighed and continued, "Since we are going in the same direction, I might as well join you. Saves me the touble of having to run into you again."
Paris smiled, "Good. Maybe we won't run into any more of them."
B'Elanna growled, "You think I need protecting!?"
Paris stared at her in surprise, "No. Of course not. I just believe in safety in numbers. If you don't..."
Torres snarled, "I'll come along, but I can take care of myself. Remember that, Paris!"
Paris watched as she climbed onto her horse. She stared at him and his heart stopped. He caught his breath, shook his head, and went to his own horse.
"So did you impress her, Tommy?" Chakotay asked, smiling.
Paris glared at him, "She didn't kill me, did she? She coming with us."
Chakotay looked at Torres, who was waiting for them. He then looked at Tuvok, whose face was expressionless.
"All right. She cane join us. We could use her fighting skills anyway. Let's go"
~~
The quartet had traveled for several hourse before they stopped to rest. Chakotay started a fire as the rest went into the packs for food.
Torres decided to break the silence, "So, where are you heading?"
"Wyvern," Tuvok answered, "Lady Janeway is being held prisoner in her own castle."
Torres stared at Tuvok, "Janeway? By who?"
"By the Renderians. I believe someone on the inside planned it."
"One of her own?" Chakotay saked, stunned.
Tuvok nodded and took a sip of water from his waterskin. He continued after a moment, "I have an idea who it is. I want to stop him before he decides to conquer the rest of the continent."
"Ambitious, isn't he?" Paris remarked, taking a bite of fruit.
"Yes, very ambitious," came the answer.
The group finished their meals in silence. Paris looked at Torres the whole time he was eating. Luckily for him, she was staring at the fire. He caught his breath as he watched the flames dance in her dark eyes. Torres felt eyes on her. She looked away from the fire and into the eyes of Paris. She was caught off guard by the flames dancing in his eyes, but she quickly regained herself to sneer at him. She then looked back at the fire.
Night fell quickly bringing with it a cold chill. Chakotay fed the fire more sticks, but the falling snow made finding sticks harder. The wind made the fire flicker, and thr group gathered their blankets tighter around themselves.
"I never liked winter," Paris griped between chattering teeth, "I think it gets colder ever winter."
Chakotay smiled, "That's just your imagination, Tom. It was pretty mile last year."
Paris glanced at him, but said nothing. He inched closer to the fire for warmth. He looked up from the flames to see Torres staring at him. He smiled at her, but she averted her eyes to the flames. Wondering how long she was looking at him, he lied down and went to sleep.
Torres watched him as he gathered his blanket around him and closed his eyes. She could see him shiver under the blanket when a strong breeze blew around them. She shivered as well and brought her blanket tighter around her. She yanwed and decided to sleep as well. She lied down near the fire and drifted off to sleep.
~~
Morning brought more snow and cold winds. Paris woke to someone coughing and sneezing. He opened his eyes and saw Torres tring to stop herself from sneezing. He sat up as Torres sneezed.
"You alright?" He asked.
Torres looked at him and wiped her nose, "I'm fine, Paris. It' nothing."
He went over to her, and put his blanket around her. She stared at him surprised.
"What about you?"
Paris smiled, "I've lived through worse. My cloak's enough for me."
To prove his point, he wrapped his cloak tighter around himself. He then picked up some snow and threw it at Chakotay.
Chakotay sat up almost instantly. He heard laughter before him. He looked up to see Paris and Torres trying to hide their smiles.
"Thanks, Paris," Chakotay grumbled.
"No problem, Chakotay," Paris said before he burst into laughter.
Tuvok sat up to see Chakotay brush snow out of his hair. He looked to his left and saw Paris smiling. He then looked back at the ranger and asked, "Do you enjoy being awakened like that?"
"No, but I'm a deep sleeper. He tried shaking me awake once, but it surprised me and I hit him. He's been throwing things at me ever since. As long as he doesn't throw a boulder at me, I don't care."
Tuvok watched at Paris and Torres went into their packs for something to eat.
"There are better ways to wake one up," he said.
Chakotay shrugged, "We have enough things to argue over without adding the proper way to wake me to them."
An hour later, the group was back on the road. Tuvok took the lead, followed by Chakotay, Torres then Paris. Paris kept his eyes on Torres. He was concerned that she was getting a cold, and he wanted to be near her if she needed help. He let her keep his blanket which she wrapped tighter around her when another breeze blew. He shivered underneath his cloak, but he forced his thoughts onto other things.
Looks like Chakotaty was wrong after all, Paris thought as he watched Torres, She's not dangerous at all. Not unless provoked.
Paris smiled as he pictured how the fight between her and those warriors got started. Obviously, they deserved it if not from provoking her then from making the fight unfair.
He noticed that he was falling behind. He made his horse pick up the pace to try to catch up to the group. He saw Torres turn around in her saddle, and look at him as he finally caught up to the group.
"I was falling behind," Paris said unnecessarily.
"Quit daydreaming then," Torres said.
She then turned back around, missing the shocked expression on Paris' face.
"Sorry," he mumbled.

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