So this is Christmas [ota]
Raven had to get away from all the celebrating and all the joy everyone else seemed to be feeling in the village. And she couldn't stay in her room, with all the reminders of her husband that brought on and the knowledge that others in other rooms were waking up to presents under trees and in stockings.
Only there was the little problem that she couldn't actually leave the village. So that left her only one option-- the woods.
Bundled up in a winter coat, gloves, and boots, she trudged out of the village and into the forest in search of a silent refuge to get away from anyone and everyone. The snow and sleet hit her face as she reached a clearing, the trees no longer sheltering her from the wind. What she found was a lake. She'd been to it before, during the summer, but now with some white snow peppering the ground and trees, it seemed a lot more serene. She sat on a rock and stared out onto the water. It wasn't frozen yet, only the edges covered in the beginnings of some ice. Arms wrapping around her shins, she brought her knees up so that she could rest her chin on them watching her breath in the air and the wind picking up to blow it away.
Her hand started to idly run over her ring finger, feeling the ring through her gloves that she still wore. Sighing, she tugged off the gloves, staring at the beautiful ring against her blue flesh. Slipping it off, she turned it over in her hands. Maybe she should stop wearing it? It was a painful reminder. But then she didn't want to part with it either... just like she didn't want to part with any of Rory's things.
She kept turning it over in her hand, lost in thought, when a particularly strong gust of wind hit her and the ring slipped out of her fingers. Raven watched in horror as the ring fell, hitting the rock she was sitting on and it bounced high and then hit the water with a tiny splash. Gasping, she rushed to the edge of the water. It was just out of reach, so she couldn't simply reach into the freezing water and grab it. Cursing under her breath, she scanned the area around her and managed to find a stick, hoping she'd be able to knock it closer for her to reach.
Hands shaking in a combination of the cold and fear of losing the ring, she only managed to knock it further away. Raven couldn't help the tears that started to blind her vision when she realized her attempts were only making it worse. She couldn't lose it, she couldn't. Rubbing her eyes, she fought a threatening sob.
Raven looked around her, feeling utterly helpless because there didn't seem to be anything around that might help her get the ring that she could only just barely see in the now cloudy water.
Out of options, she chose the only one she had left in her mind and jumped into the frigid water after it. The cold hit her like a wall, but she pushed through it. The water went up to her waist, but she had to get to her knees so that it came up nearly to her head as she fished around the ground, her winter jacket quickly growing water logged and heavy. But no matter where her hand went it didn't seem to close around a ring. Tears falling freely now, Raven began to scream out in frustration and anger as she continued to frantically grab at the lake bed. But to no avail. All she got for her trouble was murky water where she couldn't see anything and her entire body shivering with cold. She could handle the cold better than most with her thick blue skin, but it only went so far. But she didn't get out of the water as the cold got to be too much. She was still reaching down with numb fingers, hoping against hope that she'd find the ring, splashing around her and crying. She didn't care if she got hypothermia-- she had to find it!