Althea panicked.

Her legs pumped hard as she beat the ground at her frantic pace, Fear lighting a fire in her quivering form. All the weight of her loneliness and terrors spilled outwards, like a dam that just gave way.

She didn't know how long she'd been running, how far she'd traveled away from the terrible scene. A faint smell of blood reached her nose. Scenes of horror flashed across her mind. The mad scramble for weapons, the clash of steel. The sight of spilled wine, running with something crimson. The Command to flee from her Brother. The endless night that came afterward, the cold endless night.

"Stop"

A tree branch slapped her face as she spun in surprise to the voice in her ear. Speaking in a gentle tongue and motherly tones. she spat a small clump of moss from between her teeth. Whirling about looking for the cause of the sound.

She placed a hand to her head, shivering as her flooded senses drained of the fearful mire.

"That voice," she said aloud. "Mother?-" she scolded herself. Mother couldn't hear her. She was lost, thousands of miles from her home. Yet her small heart clung to the lessons of her distant loved ones.

A half-forgotten smile appeared in her mind, blessed reassurance, like a ray of sunlight piercing the darkest clouds. Peace of mind showered Althea's mind as she closed her eyes and felt the Old song wash over her.

"Too the Garden, To the garden. We shall find them-We will find them, Wa--waiting for us. Old ones, New ones, Many faces.

Chil-ldren of the Heavens All. In the sadness, they are with us. We can see the Ages Past.

To the morrow' To the Morrow, the Sun is shining. Dawn is breaking, raise your head. The gods are smiling once more. "

She finished her simple strange song and restored her calm, the sight of her smiling mother faded from view, gathering the melting scenes of horror with her and melting back into the faint mist of dreams.

Althea opened her eyes and looked around. The air was quiet, the forest still. A moment of silent eerie beauty presided over the minute.

A distant yell touched her ear, and she turned and caught her breath. She remembered now, pulling herself up she ran for the sound, following her fresh tracks back to the source.

In the stars above and unseen, the Leopard slipped away as the great Winter Bird to its place

Returning to the scene of the crash, her heart skipped as the scene sprang out at her.

Scattered wood fragments, the twisted frame. One man cradling his brother trying to contain the spout of red staining the snow around him. The sound of animals baying and gagging on their leads. The sound of a lone man shouting between whispered prayers.

She felt the rush of fear once again inside her, paralyzing like cold water, images of red flowers and stains taunted her as she forced her way closer. it was all too much and she was briefly lost to it. Regaining her senses, the horrid smell of vomit joined the fray as she tried to get closer, to help in what little way she could before finally blacking out.

Tolan watched as the trembling form of the pale woman crumpled under herself after a series of violent shakes and vomiting. He tried to ignore his indifference towards her.

"Should've just stayed the winter" he cried bitterly. Holding the plank of wood jutting from his brother's stomach, like the spear of some unseen enemy, holding it still so it would drive itself deeper.

His prayers were fast and harsh, more desperate pleas than anything, as he tried to stop the tide of clod lapping at his hands.

"Warmth, I need warmth." he knew that to help he needed to be warm, thoughts of starting a fire, building shelter. All piled into his mind as he set Vir's body down and started to frantically hunt for his ax. He found a small hatchet, the copper blade flashing fiery rose gold in the sunlight.

Snatching it up he went to work, taking branches and building shelter over top of his brother. He dragged the collapsed woman as well, using the leaves to shield them from everything around them, Separating them from the cold tragedy around them. He spotted the goats each struggling, he sorted the dead from the living and put his hatchet through the heads of one near dead, throwing its lead aside for a cord to aid himself with. Binding the branches, collecting various lengths of rope and cords. grabbing an old shirt to use as bandages to bind the wounds.

In his fervor, he tried to find healing herbs, something to stuff with the bandages to work as medicine. He thought of pine needles, scooping handfuls of them into the ragged pouch as he rushed to press them into the open wound on Vir's chest.

As he did he spied the scattered fronds of something, dashed across the snow-white abyssal plane, collected them, and threw them in with the bandages because they looked like pine needles. He'd always been told pine needle oil was good for cuts and bruises. Maybe they'd help Vir get better.

Sensing his desperation he forced himself to tend to the lady instead, she was unmarked aside from a large bruise across her face, but otherwise, she was untouched by the accident.

Right, of course, she was, she'd been riding with him, not Vir. That meant he could ignore her and focus on binding Vir's wounds.

He threw up the shelter in a rush, a simple pile of branches proper up by a long stick. He built it over top of Vir as best he could to shield him from the harsh winds and cold. When he finished, he knelt and began applying what frantic aid he could.

He pressed the wadded rag full of gathered leaves and herbs into his brother's side, the was a faint groan as he did. Tolan gave a ragged sigh of relief and then steadied himself. He would need to close the wound, he gripped the wooden plank embedded in Vir's side.

"Vir, This will Hurt, But I'll make it quick," Tolan reassured. there was no answer, Tolan braced himself, and ripped the invader from his brother's chest.

A small fountain of blood exploded across Tolan's face when he did so, like a dam bursting, he plunged his rag and pine needles into the tide in an attempt to plug it up and prevent any more life from escaping him. Tolan's breath was ragged, not from the effort, but simply because he could feel his own emotions starting to dwindle, the waning left him exhausted. His thoughts were starting to blur and turn cloudy as he fought to remain focused.

"More, I need more medicine, bandages, Help. I need help."

He began to frantically look about once more, seeing if there was any way to call for help.

"A fire, I could use Fire," he muttered and tried to stand. His legs buckled and he could move beyond kneeling at his brothers' side.

"Can't leave the Lady out there, she'll freeze, I can't leave her there." He tried to stand again, shakily, pulling himself more than walking as he exited the crude shelter and began searching once again. He found her, lying in the snow, the foul smell of vomit close to her. Tolan took hold and dragged her towards the small bramble patch he'd created to shield Vir.

He placed her next to him and started on his next urgent task, as he prepared to wait for Vir's hopeful recovery, or more likely death.