Well, it was a good run, but after twelve episodes, I decided to turn the storyline a bit. There's a big change coming for the end of this episode, one that takes a while to fully explain, so don't y'all fret. Also, you hear the first conversation between Zane and his own Harvey, and a quick check up on how poor ole' Friday's doin'.

Mostly though, this episode is about that aforementioned development, necessitated by a brief stay in a cave. Also, look a pair of folk ain't heard from in a little while to make an appearance, and please: Try not to get shot.

Joss owns Firefly and Serenity. I just steal from him. Don't blame me for shoddy merchandise ;)

Feedback? Please.

The Other Side

The blasting winds screamed and swirled, stripping away the meager heat his body could produce entirely too quickly for his liking. It wasn't the best idea to wander out into the blizzard. Especially weren't so good an idea when the night temperatures could hit a hundred below in the open.

Why anybody lived here baffled him rather entirely.

He'd once gone ten years without seeing snow. He was a spacer. He was used to temperatures bein' more or less the same. Not this wild up and down seasonal gou shi. This was brutality manifested. He pulled her silent, but doubtlessly alert form along behind him. She didn't exactly help him, but she hardly could be said to hinder, neither. He'd really rather have at least one full pair of eyes lookin' for a place to stick it out, maybe start a fire, but way she was now, it was a wildly optimistic desire.

"Too damn cold," he muttered through chattering teeth. Some might think it apt, bein' on a snowy planet this close to the Yule, but he still hated it. Take him someplace hot, and he was happy as a clam in the muck. Cold... whole different story. Once again, he pondered why he'd done something so damn-stubborn-stupid as runnin' off into a blizzard with a catatonic crazy woman. The only answer, enfuriatin' as it was, was 'cause it's the right damn thing to do. Like his mama always