Spirits of the Earth

Salix arctica. One of Sionad's most sacred plants, worshipped for its ability to ward off the Arctic woolly bear. Or maybe it was worshipped for more spiritual reasons; its warding talents were a perk. Either way, he didn't much care. What mattered to him was that its berries held a toxin so lethal it could kill a person in ten seconds.

The problem was that it was a burden for it to be so valued, making it difficult for him to come here to the tundra and gather some of its berries for his various poisons.

He came every summer, the best time for it. The plant flourished during this season, its berries ripe and ready for picking, its leaves bright and fragrant. And it was only here, here in one of the coldest places on the planet, that he could find it.

Ryuu wrapped his furs closer around his body as he made his way through the settlement, looking for someone with the authority to escort him to the volcanic soil found off in the wasteland. The frosty air bit through his layers of clothes. He hated this damned place. The sooner he was through, the sooner he could leave. Already his face felt numb and tight.

Inhabitants were going about their business as if the cold were no burden to them at all. He caught snippets of conversations in their language, most of it boring. All they seemed to talk about was hunting, their next meal, and trades. It being summer, the trade route was open to them and they seemed to be having a lucky time with foreign travelers. Nothing but primitives, these people. Uneducated.

Up ahead stood a tent made of finer furs than all the rest. Smoke rose up out of its top, billowing into the foggy air. Someone of higher regard lived there, and it was where he was headed. He ignored everyone else, including their stares.

A distant voice resonated through his head. Familiar, yet alien in its presense.Cold . . . it said. So cold.

He shivered.

Zurna moved through the temporary village with a purpose. Traditionally she would stop to socialize with the other traders and browse the wares of the caravans, but not today. Today she needed to bargain her way into getting at least a month's worth of provisions out of one the wealthiest and loneliest men on the tundra, Marduk Shimon.

She marched her way up the hill to Shimon's elaborate tent, her rucksack clinking with her every step as her precious bottles of homemade cider were jostled.

'Please be in a good mood. Please be in a good mood,' her mind feverishly chanted as she entered the warmth and sanctuary of the luxurious fur tent.

"Zurna!" a voice simpered from her right.
"Marduk!" she replied as she turned to face the tall, robust man before her. "Today I come on business. Would you assist me?"
"Of course my sweet nymph!" he said pulling her close, "How may I serve you?"

Disentangling herself she thought 'By keeping your lecherous hands to yourself.'
"How much for a month's worth of food and supplies?" she asked, getting straight to the point.
"Your hand in marriage," he deadpanned this time touching her thigh in a show of fixing her wrap.
"Unlikely. Can I convince you to sell it to me for some mead?"
"Did you make it?"
"Of course."
"How much?"
"Half a bottle."
"I want a case. A case and nothing less or you can do your bargaining elsewhere."
"We cannot all have what we want Marduk. If I give you a case my family has nothing left to barter with. I will give you a full bottle, if that appeases you."
"Give me four bottles and we can call it a deal. That is the best I can give you without cheating myself. My supplies are the best you will ever get. Any lower a bargain and you insult me."

Zurna's heart beat fast and wild in her chest. 'I need those supplies' she thought desperately. 'What did mama always say? She smirked as an idea popped into her head. "My final offer before I take my business elsewhere. Two bottles of mead and a kiss."
"Agreed. I must say little Nali your bargaining skills have gotten much better," he said leaning in close with puckered lips.

Quickly before he had time to react she kissed his stubbly cheek and danced out of reach. "You get the bottles when I get the supplies," she stated.
"You drive a hard bargain Zurna Nali," he grumbled, "and a dirty one. What do you need the supplies for anyway?" he asked as he gathered her things.
"I am going to where the salix arctica grows. They say if you preform ritual before it for a week's time your prayers will be answered."
"What shall you pray for, a husband perhaps? You know you do not have to go all the way across the tundra when I am standing right here."
Looking around, Zurna noticed a line of customers forming. She could not remember them coming in and hoped they had not all heard her exchange with Marduk. Using the customers as her excuse, she grabbed her supplies, gave Shimon the mead, and hastily retreated. "You have other customers to take care of, I really must be going. Thank you Marduk!" she called as she exited the tent.

The line of people that gathered outside the tent grew as he approached . He didn't want to wait for them to finish whatever useless task they were up to; he wanted to get an escort and be gone. What they wanted wasn't important compared to what he needed. This particular poison he was going to make was one of crucial importance, especially since he planned on making another visit to Connlaoth soon.

Not bothering with the line, he simply walked up to the tent, pulled back the flap--and caught the word Salix arctica from inside.

While it wasn't uncommon for the plant to be spoken of this time of year, it still wasn't common enough for him to have overheard it so easily. He might have misheard over the noise of all the people, but that was unlikely.

The woman exchanged further words with the man inside, and when she turned to leave, Ryuu stepped back and waited for her to leave the tent. Once she was outside, he stepped in front of her, arms still folded. He put on his friendliest face.

"Excuse me," he said. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but did I hear you say Salix arctica? Would you happen to be heading that way?"

Zurna was in such a rush to leave, she did not see the figure in front of her until she had nearly run him over. In surprise, she wobbled about, trying to find her balance in the saturated, slush-covered earth.

'A rich foreigner,' she thought, eyeing the figure before her. 'Salix arctica? What does he want with that?' Slowly she nodded her head once, a soft "aye" escaping chapped lips. She could not even look him in the eye. 'Pull yourself together woman! You avoid Marduk's advances, only to get all dewy-eyed over some blueblood? No! Be assertive!'

With newly found confidence she stood up straight, shoulders back and chin raised meeting his eye. "What's it to you?" she queried. But, her rallied confidence was short-lived, won over by shyness. Without really waiting for an answer she moved to side-step him, a blush staining her pale cheeks red. 'Well, there goes being assertive,' she mocked herself as she attempted to flee.

She was shy. It was obvious, really: the diminished eye contact, the quiet voice. But she had confirmed what he'd already deduced himself.

So. She was on her way to the Salix arctica as well. What a lucky coincidence for him. If she was planning to go there, then she had to be a native. A native with the authority. Just what he needed.

As she made to move away, head low and cheeks even rosier than before, he stepped in front of her, hand held out and open as a sign of friendliness. "Please," he said, politeness etching his every syllable. "I happen to be headed there myself. But being a foreigner, I need an escort. Do I mind if I join you?"

'Escort? Join? I'm going to be with him for a month! Alone?' As her thoughts raced, Zurna felt herself begin to hyperventilate. 'He's a stranger, I don't know him. What if he's a murderer? Or worse, what if he is a slave-trader trying to trick me away from home only to trap me in the tundra?' Taking a deep breath she tried to clear her mind and think rationally. 'If he is out to hurt me, then let him see the family I come from. Twenty-five brothers must be good for something now.'

"A foreigner you say? You must be hungry. My family and I would be honored if you shared the fire in our hearth and food cooked on it. Perhaps then we can better discuss the possibility of travel," she offered gently clasping his gloved hand between both of hers before once more releasing it.

Yet even as she made the offer a new idea was forming. 'If i do this right, Atenteben and Birbyn? might be able use him as an excuse to convince father to let me go on my pilgrimage. Provided he passes the "test" of surviving an interaction with my brothers, I will have someone to "protect" me on the journey. He looks capable enough. Not that I need protecting, of course.'

"You do not have to feel obligated to come, of course. Not that I am saying I do not want to come. Or rather, I mean to say, uh..."

She mentally berated herself. 'Beautifully executed Zurna, now he's sure to think you are some uncultured gold-digging harlot. Congratulations!'

Of course it would come to something like this. All he wanted was a simple escort, and the girl had to turn it into one of the most complicated things. It wasn't like he was asking for her hand in marriage. Nevertheless, he had to keep up appearances. He didn't have the patience to go looking around for someone else, and the chance that this girl just happened to be looking to head for the same thing as he was too much of a coincidence to pass up.

Smiling as if he couldn't imagine anything more fine than going to see this stranger's family, he said, "No, no! I would love to see your family and share a meal with you. After all," he stuck his hands back into his pockets to keep them warm, "we only just met, and I think it wise we get to know each other a bit more before the long travel. Lead the way, ma chérie."

'Good he agrees. Let my brothers decide if we should trust him.'

"It's this way," she said pointing to the largest set of tents. "We live on the outskirts, so not much further. It's just easier for us that way." She began to trek that way not really paying attention to whether he followed or not. She was preoccupied with her thoughts. 'I don't understand why father won't let me go. My brothers have all gone, why can't I? Perhaps now, since I am not alone they will let me. She sighed heavily, her breath coming out in a big cloud around her. 'We will see.'

"Oh! How rude of me. I'm Zurna," ripping herself from her thoughts. A few feet in front of her was her family's tent. Three of her brothers, her parents, and one of her brother's wives were there, all gathered around the hearth inside. The main flap of the tent had been lifted to allow everyone to fit inside. 'Let's just hope this works, WITHOUT a fight,' she prayed.

He'd expected a primitive settlement, just like everything else around these parts, and he wasn't disappointed. Tents. Naturally. This one large, no doubt to accommodate for her excessive family numbers. People were already spilling out of it.

"And I'm Ryuu," he said, a bit more bitterly than he'd intended, though his voice was still laced with politeness. The idea of being around so many people did not appeal to him. Everyone looked . . . happy. Something intolerable to him.

It was only for a little while, however, and that soothed him.

 - - -

"Your family was very interesting," he said, now trekking the slopes with Zurna by his side. His hands rested in his pockets, soaking in the warmth his body provided. He couldn't see anything to his side, his hood enveloping his head, but he could hear his unwanted companion's heavy footfalls in the snow beside him. "Particularly your brothers."

Despicable human beings. Filthy, full of the false warmth that families exuded. Every moment in that tent had been loathsome, time-wasting nonsense. At least they were on their way now, him leading. All he needed her for was to show he wasn't breaking rules.

"That's one way of pointing it," she replied thinking of all the arguing that had taken place outside and out of Ryuu's earshot. Her brothers were simply insufferable in the way they had screamed and shouted like little children on reasons why she should not trust her travel companion. While they had pointed out some very true things, such as his sickly appearance, she was enraged by how rude and unsupportive they were. All of them, including Yotar, had made the journey alone and survived. She was not even asking to do that, yet still they refused her. It was her sheer stubbornness and determination that at last had won out, but even then just barely.

"When we stop for the night we will have to discuss the route. I have some concerns taking the quicker paths. There have been recent territory changes and new waterways which can make this more difficult than anticipated," she voiced to him before falling quiet once more. She was not liking this. He asked for an escort and then led the way. She knew these lands far better than any summer-timer. 'Just wait until he runs us into the nesting grounds. Like to see HIM get out of that mess,' she thought bitterly, remembering all too well the hostile nature of the matukyu that claimed the area as their own. As a child she and a friend had gotten lost in a blizzard and stumbled upon the sacred grounds after being chased there by the matukyu. She still had the scars to prove it too. 'Let's just hope that doesn't happen again.'

"Hm." Her voice was white noise to him. He needed no discussion; he knew where he was going. He'd traveled the path a few times, already had it etched into his mind. But she was a native, knowing more than he on the other tribes that lived here, not to mention the wildlife--if there was any. What animal decided to live in the godforsaken land would be an enemy to him. Her claims had some merit to them.

He kept walking, focusing on his steps in the deep snow. Bitter winds of snowchill bit against the skin of his face, making him recede further into the protection of his hood. Everything ahead of him lay white, desolate.

Perhaps he would end up needing the girl more than he'd anticipated. She could prove useful, if her words were true.

But he would worry about that when the time came. For now, he led the way.

Zurna was getting irritated with his superior attitude. 'He reminds me so much of Sonia. I would  bet everything I own that he is another arrogant noble just like her.' Despite her harsh thoughts she really was not that mad. If anything she was more concerned about the journey than her partner's aloof nature. 'He's going to get us both killed, if he continues on like this.'

Looking towards the horizon, Zurna watched the sun blink out of sight before dropping her pack gently to the cooling earth. Quickly she went about making a fire, all the while ignoring her companion. If he wanted food he could take care of it himself, the only thing she was sharing was the fire. Once her bedroll and things were arranged and food was cooking she left the safety of the fire to do her prayers. Normally they would have been done them by the fire but she did not like the disquieted feeling she got from Ryuu tonight. 'Maybe it's just the cold,' she thought not believing it for a second. 'Let him sulk. My life doesn't revolve around him.'

The cold increased as the sun started to head toward the horizon, until what had started as an already blistering cold became an unbearable freeze that sank deep into his bones, his many furs standing no chance against its assault. He gave a light shiver when the sun disappeared completely.

By now his legs didn't exist, numb, moving because they knew they had to. He hated this blasted cold, every time he came here. Deep down a part of him envied it. He related to this cold, something he felt every moment of his life in his forgotten heart, and wanted its power to effect those on the outside as well as the inside. Then they could be just like him.

A noise made him stop, and he turned to see Zurna preparing a fire and some food. While he wasn't hungry, the warmth of the fire drew him toward it. She was silent, brooding. Had his own silence really effected her so? People didn't normally talk in below freezing temperatures; it drained them of what little warmth they could maintain. But still, it wouldn't do for her to hold feelings of dislike so early into the journey, especially if he needed her later.

"Are you all right?" he asked with feigned concern when she returned from her prayers. "You seem upset."

The prayers and meditation grounded her, making Zurna feel a little bit better. Her aggravation was gone but the wariness she had been cultivating remained. She took it in stride, acknowledging it as a warning from the gods.

Returning to the camp, she was caught off guard by Ryuu's question and statement. Looking at him impassively she nodded her head once and softly replied, "Im fine. Thank you for asking." Ignoring him further she went about finishing dinner. It was simple fare, a thick stew with some hearty meat in it. She more played with it than actually ate as she contemplated the roads they should and should not take. It was cold by the time she finished it.

She cleaned up her utensils and supplies, stalling so she did not have to address Ryuu again. When she had nothing more to do but stare at his shivering form across the fire, she gave up and grabbed the map and her warmest fur blanket. She sat down next to Ryuu placing the neatly rolled fur bundle by the fire and unfurling the map.

The map itself did not have a single word on it only symbols. Different lines and drawings marked marshes, rivers, lakes, food trails, game migration paths, and most importantly to her, the location of the Salix arctica grounds. Pointing to the map she showed Ryuu their current location. "Normally, I would take the straight path here," she ran her across the map demonstrating what she was saying. "But the lake has swelled this summer due to how warm it has been. I fear the ice won't hold us if we try and cross. When we get to this point we will have to decide whether we should go one or go around it. My other more present concern is this," she informed him pointing to the picture of a horned beast with large teeth that bisected their desired path. "The matukyu have made their nesting grounds through the only way we can get to the holy grounds. Tomorrow will be the first day we travel through it. What do you know about them?"

For some reason she was still quiet. Even her answer bled silent wariness. There was nothing he could do if she continued to act this way, only try and worm his way back into her trust. He hadn't done anything to warrant this behaviour she showed toward him, had only kept his mouth shut in the cold.

Staring into the fire, watching the flames flick and dance, he didn't notice Zurna had risen until she sat next to him. He turned his head to look at her, peering out from under his hood with his austere eyes.

The map she held out held no importance to him, nothing but lines and symbols that made little sense, but he tried to appear interested in it. The information she told him was more useful to him that the paper. When she pointed to the image of a horned creature, he stared at it a moment before shaking his head. "Nothing at all," he said. "But this image alone makes them look terribly vicious."

'Nothing. He knows nothing. Why do foreigners always underestimate the tundra? Is it so hard to imagine that a frozen wasteland is going to be cold and dangerous!'

Zurna's right hand unconsciously raised and brushed against the skin at her left shoulder and neck juncture. Realizing what she was doing she quickly busied her hands with rolling the map up as she began telling Ryuu about the matukyu.

"The matukyu are a vicious breed only when they are disturbed during nesting season." 'And nesting season happens to be all-year-round on the tundra,' her mind cheerfully supplied. "They build their nests in the peat moss underneath the snow. From the surface it would only look like a very slight depression followed by a dome in the snow. It can easily be mistaken for a snowdrift.

"Disturbing a nest is a death sentence. The matukyu," she swallowed running her hand through her hair. "You won't see it until it's got you in its grasp, and that's if you are lucky. They can only be killed by short-ranged weapons because of the thickness of their white hides. Magic just bounces off them. However, getting close to one means being at perfect goring and gnawing range. The matukyu's limps are humanoid in appearance even though they prefer to move on all fours. They are strong enough to tear a man to pieces, and will do so if given the chance."

Memories flashed before her mind's eye of the enormous white beasts stained in crimson human blood. Shaking her head she continued, "They travel in herds. If you did manage to somehow kill one, you still have the rest to contend with. An encounter with them is next to impossible to survive. To date, there has been a small handful of people that have done so, of them only one is still alive today," she ended.

She stared into the flames not seeing them but past fires and horrors. Pulling her layers closer around her, she stood picking up the now warmed blanket bundle as she did. "Take this," she said offering the soft glossy pelt to Ryuu. "It will keep you warm tonight when the embers die. I won't be needing it." Part of her was loath to give it up, but her kind heart won out. The temporary gift she offered her companion was none other than the pelt of the very beast they had been discussing. Among the sionadyaki, the possession of the matukyu pelt was seen as a symbol of a great warrior. Only those who had slain one could carry it. The pelts alone were worth a fortune because of their defense properties; the rarity of their attainability just added to the value. Zurna recalled that many a trapper had come seeking to gain the elusive hide. None had succeeded.

Ryuu noticed the girl's unconscious movement at her neck, his eyes traveling there as her hands fumbled along the skin. They lingered there even after she'd brought her hands back down to busy with her map, the vulnerable skin bringing flashes of past memories of victims where such an area had proven a great spot for a knife's lashing. Red splashing across ivory.

It took a few minutes to realize she still spoke to him, words without meaning bouncing around until his mind's fingers grasped them and followed along.

He took the furs without a word. Their warmth spread from his fingers and up his arm. He'd not seen nor felt their like before. Light in weight, yet retaining warmth. Running his fingers over it, he found it to be extremely soft, softer than any animal he'd ever had the chance to hold. In the light of the flickering flames, he looked up to Zurna. "Thank you," he said. "It must have cost a fortune."

"You're welcome," she replied moving back to her own bedroll on the other side of the fire. She paused at his second comment. Staring once more at the flames she cryptically replied, "it cost me something." Looking over to him she bowed her head, wishing him a goodnight before returning her brooding gaze to the flames.

She would not sleep this night, nor any other for as long as they were traveling. Her time was meant to be spent meditating so that she was prepared when she entered the holy grounds. Sleep was considered a selfish luxury. She was required to make such a sacrifice. Others in the past had chosen food, fire, warm clothes, and shoes. Zurna had seen enough frostbite to know how dangerous that all way. She hoped that by sacrificing sleep over food she would fare better longer.

She let her mind go. Breathing in the crisp night air. On the exhale a flood of memories swamped her in a jumbled mess. In her mind she swam through a mass of colors, sounds, scents, and feelings. Memories from childhood surfaced first. Her brothers throwing a ball. Her first bow. Her first kill. From there the memories took a different road, they became darker, hinting at pasts best left forgotten. Again as she stared at the flames she saw a related memory flash scenes in her mind's eye. A boy ran through the snow laughing has he chased a young Zurna about. A little foot standing on a crushed pile of fragile periwinkle eggshells. A child's scream. Hot red liquid covering and melting pure white snow.

Zurna jolted, gasping softly as she was torn from the memories. Stretching, her back cracked protesting after the hours of complete rigidity it had endured through the cold night. Looking up she noted that the sun was just starting is ascent into the new day. 'One long night done. However many more to go.'

Her answer was cryptic, but he didn't care enough to pry further into the matter. Let her have her memories and secrets, whatever they might be. He sank further into his own sleep sack on which he sat, arms pulling the soft furs over him to stem off the cold. The licking tongues of fire in front of him warmed his face.

Through them, he saw Zurna. She sat rigid, staring into the flames as if they held an unrelenting trance over her. He saw emotions flashing behind her eyes. It was the expression of torment he last saw before falling into a light doze, and it was many hours later he awoke to her light gasp, his eyes opening to look at her.

Dark blue tinted the sky. Morning had come.

He sat up, rigid. The furs had provided more than adequate warmth, but the long walk in the cold still left his rested muscles stiff.

Had she slept at all?

"Something wrong?" he asked, holding back a curse as he lifted the furs from himself and his muscles screamed in protest.

"Hmm?" She looked to Ryuu blinking owlishly. Her mind took a moment before it caught up with what her ears had heard. "Oh, yeah. Just a little stiff." She continued stretching wincing when her shoulder gave a rather loud pop.

"Did you sleep well?" She watched his movements as she began to pack up camp, noticing how they appeared somewhat slow and stiff. 'The fur would have kept him warm but the walking yesterday must have worn him out. Foreigners!'

Today her prayers were conducted while she worked. They needed to get moving soon and she did not want to waste time. Reaching into her bag she pulled out a flask and offered it to her companion. "Drink some, it will help with the stiffness. The cold has a nasty way of settling in and making us uncomfortable," she said by way of explanation. "As soon as you're ready we can head off again."

He stretched, forcing the muscles in his body to obey. "Well enough," he replied. "The furs were very nice, thank you."

Once he was up and moving, the pain ebbed from his body. He was able to roll up his bed without any trouble, hanging it over his back with the rest of his stuff. At this point he realized he hadn't eaten anything, but that was normal. Sometimes he just wasn't hungry, and his body was forced against its will to move as he wanted it to. As an extra act of feigned courtesy, he folded Zurn'a furs for her and handed them over with a smile at the same time she handed to him a flask of something.

His eyes flicked to it, smile faltering. When he took it, he stared at it, suspicions aroused to an alarming level. Poison?

But he drove himself to calm down. There was no reason for Zurna to want to poison him.

He took a slow sip, the drink burning as it went down his throat. The moment it hit his stomach, a warmth spread from his middle all the way out to the end of his fingers and toes. His mind seemed to clear a little and his aches vanished.

"Thank you," he said, taking more sips of the drink before handing it back to her. "What is that, if you don't mind my asking?"

"It's tea made from the bark of the salix arctica. While the berries have the ability to take life, the bark has the capability to preserve life. It is the only antidote to the poison. We traditionally drink the bark tea as a cure-all for ills."

She noticed that he had not eaten but did not comment. 'The tea will help with that too. Manaia if he dies on me, I am not going to be pleased,' she thought critically taking in his sickly pallor. In the snow and the cold it was much more obvious how unwell he was. 'Maybe that is why he wants to go there. Maybe he hopes to heal and become healthy again.'

The sun's movement through the sky was the only way to see that time was indeed passing. The wind blew hard cutting to the bone, making even Zurna wince and pull her furs tighter about her. It seemed that Ryuu was not much of a talker so she did not push for conversation. She had bigger concerns than a silent traveling companion.

Zurna kept a wary out for trouble. Occasionally she would stop and examine tracks mapping in her mind what they were and their routes. The matukyu were one of the greatest predators on the tundra. Only humans were foolish enough to try and disturb them. The tracks were a sign to her of whether to expect trouble or not.

She froze looking down at the sight before her. The snow had been dug up in several places. Broken eggshells haphazardly littered the ground and a small trail of blood led off the right. A little foot standing on a crushed pile of fragile periwinkle eggshells. Her eyes followed the crimson trail until it fell on a still bulk in the distance.

"Don't move!" she called urgently to Ryuu. Not checking to see if he listened she carefully worked her way over the bloody bulk. At one point Zurna had spotted some human and horse tracks, now she knew what had happened to them. Both beast and man had been horribly gored. Blood saturated the ground, turning white snow to pink slush beneath her boots. In the man's hand was a blue egg.

Ignoring the dead man, Zurna reached forward and gently took the egg from him. Nervously she looked around her before burying it deep in the snow. Looking over to Ryuu she nodded slightly. "Welcome to matukyu territory. Watch your step or we'll bth end up like him," she informed him, pointing to the dead man. She briefly knelt down trying to wipe the blood on her arms and hands off. Unbeknownst to her, at some point she had wiped her bloody hand across her face and now sported bright red tattoos on her forehead and cheek.

Ah, yes. The bark. He should have recognized the flavor. Interesting that a plant with such fatal fruit also had the means by which to cure the ailment.

Now able to move without his body protesting, Ryuu helped with the rest of packing up their little settlement. Once they were on the move again, he made a point of following Zurna this time. She'd clearly not liked his having led the day before, and it was too early in the journey to have her grow suspicious of him.

The cold continued to cut through his thick furs, enveloping his skin with an uncomfortable blanket of icy air. Only a year had gone by since he'd been here, and still he found himself unhappy with the unexpected chill. No fat to speak of, his body was no built for extreme temperatures, particularly cold ones.

Zurna would stop on occasion and check something in the snow which he couldn't see. It grew bothersome after a while, but he stood by and waited each time, wrapping his arms about his body more closely and watching.

It was when they came across the patch of broken eggshells that he gained avid interest. The sight of the dark mark leading off into the snow lit his senses like nothing else could.

Blood.

He ignored her warning, pursuing her through the snow until they both stopped at the bloodied mess before them.

Something sparked in his mind, a mess of images all stained with crimson. Bodies lying before him, pools of red at his feet, screams filling his ears like hymns. This man had suffered, suffered terribly. The snow had turned into a bath of blood, marking the dead's last resting place.

Zurna was saying something to him, but it didn't matter. He found himself smiling. Here lay a beautiful sight, something to be appreciated. Just looking at it made his blood burn with fervent enchantment. He was no longer cold. How could he be, with this sight before him? It was as if the dead man's warmth, no longer existent in his cold, frozen body, was seeping into Ryuu's own veins, transferring over to him.

When he finally turned to look at Zurna, his heart skipped several beats upon seeing the paint of life smeared on her face. For a moment he saw himself reaching out to touch it, to feel its radiating warmth, but the vision passed.

Blinking, he said, "You've blood on your face."

Zurna found herself somewhat disturbed by his smile. The situation did not warrant one, and yet he smiled as if he were extremely amused by something. "Blood?" she repeated startled. Quickly she began trying to wipe it off. For the most part she succeeded but, in some places light dried smears of crimson stained pale white flesh.

"The nest is bigger than I expected. We better get moving or we'll be camping the night in the middle of it. That's something even I'm not crazy enough to do," she informed him. Zurna looked ahead of them trying to determine the safest path through the nest. The little egg domes were everywhere. It was as if the egg clutches were increasing. 'I thought thinks are supposed to appear larger when you are younger. This is for more extensive than my memory serves.' Some areas were so heavily populated that Zurna did not think they would even be able to jump over the nests.

"Watch your step. We break the eggs, we end up like him," she told Ryuu distractedly. "We need to find the quickest and safest route through here. We can worry about where we are and backtracking once we get out of this mess. If the matukyuu have already been here for him, then they will return soon. They are already on alert because he invaded and destroyed the nest."

Zurna did not tell him that their chances of survival were slimming rapidly. 'It might not even take destroying the nest to provoke them now. Just being here should be enough to get us killed. Manaia protect us!' Carefully, she began to pick her way through the snow. Each step was slow and meticulously taken. Her heart thumped heavily against her ribcage and her breath caught in her throat. The sound of the snow crunching underfoot was like an explosion in her ears. 'It sounds too much like crunching eggs. Oh Ansgar, help us! I am not going to survive the fear alone of this.' A faint rustling sound blew on the wind. Looking around, Zurna prayed it was just her imagination.

Funny, how the once warm, life-sustaining liquid that had flowed through the veins of the dead man now mottled a young girl's face, cold and dry. Moving with life and now forever still, wiped away carelessly with a sleeve. And not well, either, some of its crusty self still apparent. But he said nothing, merely nodding at her attempt and turning to face the nesting grounds they were to walk across.

He felt no fear for being close to what might cause his own death. Death held power over the weak, held power over him only when he faced it dead-on. This was nothing.

The clutches intrigued him. Such a cold place to raise young, to leave eggs unattended. How did the eggs survive without the warmth of their parent? Warm-blooded creatures needed warmth to live, needed warm blood.

Let the beasts come. Let them try to rip the life out of him like they had the man in the snow. They would find the situation considerably different.

Zurna's walk suggested tenseness, fear. As if walking on eggshells—a thought that made him smile for the irony. Hadn't even seen one of the beasts and already she would jump at any out-of-place sound.

"Why would that man invade these nests in the first place?" he asked. "The way you speak of these creatures, no one would venture so near. Are they valuable?"

Zurna froze, every muscle tensing as if to spring. Slowly like a hawk eying its prey she turned her head to face him. "Why, looking to steal some yourself?" she bit out at him. After a moment she was able to better collect herself.

"I'm sorry. I do not mean to snap. Yes the eggs are valuable, as is the matukyuu pelt. But, most highly prized of them all is the honor and fame granted to those who succeed in taming or killing an adult matukyuu. As I said before, there is only one who still lives today."

She shook her head, angrily pursing her lips. "I have no patience for people like him. I have seen firsthand the damage they can cause. " Zurna sighed, licking her chapped lips. "Listen, if you want to get yourself killed, fine. Go do it on your own time. I am not going to let you get me killed too. I have already been through this once, I am not doing it again." She took a step forward, coming very close to unknowingly crushing an egg underfoot. "Am I understood?"

Ryuu waited for Zurna to finish her rude accusations before speaking. While his smile lessened considerably, he kept a small one on his face. The girl couldn't help that she was an idiot—many stories had been told of lesser people hallucinating or losing their nerve in the vast tundra.

"I have no intention of taking any of the eggs," he told her, staring deep into her warm eyes with his cold ones. "And I find it terribly uncouth for you, Zurna, to accuse me of such a thing when I was merely curious about them. Do I look equipped to go around stealing the eggs of creatures that could kill the both of us in seconds?" He removed his hands from his pockets to gesture at his meagerly-stocked self. With just a bed roll and a small bag of trifle things for gathering berries from the salix artica, he thought his point quite clear.

Point settled and still smiling, he directed her attention to her feet where he had come to recognize signs of another nest. "And you might want to be careful where you step, else you'll be the one getting us killed."

Glory for killing an animal? The idea sickened him to the core. Inside he seethed. The man behind them had deserved to die had that been his intention.

A small black form, lifeless, eyes staring into another world. Dead. For nothing. Murdered.

"Let's keep going," he said brusquely, shoving past her into the snow, not caring at this point if she followed. He made sure to watch every step he made.

'I offended him,' she realized with surprise. 'I shouldn't have accused him. He is right, that was beyond rude. I should apologize, even if he won't listen to me now.' Picking her way quickly through the snow she fell into stride with her companion. For a while she kept silent, trying desperately to find the right words to say.

"I was wrong to accuse you," she began, at last breaking the silence. "I lashed out at you but, my hatred was not meant or you. Too mnay come here seeking the improbable, and far less equipped. I know firsthand the brutality of the matukyuu. I also find it no differnt than any human defending their homeland and their family. I do noot condone the slaughter that humans seek. I am sorry." Zurna lowered her head in shame and guilt.

Her mind flooded with memories of the matukyuu. Every story she had been told as a chold, every bod she had seen dragged into town, every footprint she had ever found, made itself known with great detail. On and on the tide went until that day played before her eyes. Even after all this time, her ears still rang with children's high-pitched shrieks and screams which not that long before had been sounds of laughter.

So deeply entrenched in memory lane, Zurna failed to notice the moving and breathing snowbanks. Slowly the pair was being surronded by the very beasts they were trying to avoid. She never noticed until she had been knocked to the ground that she was in trouble. Rolling she came to land in a push-up position over a large nest. She could not raise herself up, nor could she lower herself.

Cautiously, Zurna raised her head, brown eyes meeting firece yellow. ' The matukyuu!' The beast before her was a juvenile. He snuffed in her facebefore sweeping an arm back and knocing her over onto her side. Quickly she moved so that her knees were underneath her again. But, when she tried to raise up it growled at her. She lowered back down onto her knees and forearms.

From her current position she could not see Ryuu, but she could see the way the pack was circling them. A large ring circled the nest while three circled a smaller section to her right. 'Ryuu must be there. I hope he doesn't do something stupid. They haven't killed us yet. Something isn't right.'

The young male continued to headbutt her in the side and head. She refused to react, allowing herself to be pushed around. An elder male move a huge scar running across his face and side moved to attack Zurna but, the youngling placed a paw on her back and stood over her. 'He's protecting me? I know that face,' she thought recognizing the pack leader. 'I gave him that scar. Seems like he remembers that too.' If the situation had not been so serious she would have laughed. For now she tried to find a way to either get to Ryuu or warn him not to attack. 'As long as we do not provoke them, they will not harm us. They wouldn't keep us alive like this for no reason. Would they?'

He heard her come up beside him but did not acknowledge it, keeping his pace the same and his eyes ahead on the ground. It wasn't hard to notice the nests if one really concentrated, and he easily avoided stepping on them by going over or around.

Zurna's apology fell on deaf ears. He did not care if she was sorry, nor why she'd accused him. He doubted any person on the planet could have cared less than he did. She could go on thinking that he was upset by her accusations, go on feeling guilty, go on worrying over petty emotions. The only thing that had made him sour was . . . well, something he tried to block from his mind.

Why did it always have to crop up in unlikely places? The feeling of emptiness, of loss, of absolute hatred. Just because people decided to kill these matukyuu for glory.

A deep silence surrounded them, punctuated only by the sounds of the crunching snow beneath their feet. But then another noise, out-of-place in its shuffling, caught his attention. Still walking, his eyes darted around, taking in the moving white shapes amid the falling white element, like living hills of snow.

So. They'd been discovered despite their efforts.

Ryuu stopped. Zurna continued past him, apparently oblivious to her surroundings. Then she was on the ground, knocked down by one of the beasts that had loomed up out of its protective surroundings. More were appearing, three of them moving to surround him, others moving to surround his travel companion.

He stood there, frowning. His hand moved over the poisoned blade tucked within a hidden flap in his pocket. Not enough, really, but it would do if the need came. He had no want of hurting these animals. He and Zurna were, after all, on their territory. Something he could understand.

Moving slowly, Ryuu sat himself down in the snow, keeping his eyes on the biggest of those surrounding him, though making sure to not look it directly in the eye—just a little below. These creatures lived in a pack, and he knew more than many about the behavior required in a pack. Unless tundra animals lived by other rules.

Zurna felt the weight on her back shift away right before she had a furry face thrust in front of her own. A cold nose nudged her under the chin and throat, forcing her to raise her head and eventually her upper torso. Vibrant yellow eyes stared into her own muddy pair.

Then in her mind a series of blurry images and feelings began to form. First, she felt like she was drowning and gasping lungfuls of water. Her paws frantically flailed about trying to grab purchase in the freezing waters. 'Paws? I don't have paws.' From there she saw an image of herself, except it was a much younger her, diving in the water and reaching out to her "current" self. 'What is this? What is going on?' A feeling of fear blind-sided Zurna, making her wish to run. Small human hands picked her up and at last she broke the water's surface, coughing up the dreadful water. Moving as quickly as she could, she slid her way across the slick ice and curled up under her father's belly. Guiltily, she licked at the blood marring his side. Somehow she felt it was her fault.

Zurna blinked, once more seeing sulphureous eyes staring into her own. "It's you!" she exclaimed aloud. "These are your memories, your feelings I am experiencing." The male gave a snuffling bark and a sensation of warmth rushed through her.

She slowly looked over towards Ryuu to see what was happening with him. 'I wonder if he feels it too. Or is it just me. Manaia, he must think I am crazy!' The longer she stared at his kneeling form and was overcome with a primal hunger. The desire to attack him, to spill his blood, the devour him screamed in her mind. She inhaled sharply, trying to regain her control.

'This is not me. I do not wish to kill; this is not me. Get out of my head! This is not me!' Zurna struggled mentally with the age-old instincts that were overtaking her.

It took a few minutes for Ryuu to realize that the large animal he was facing was not the leader. It was big, yes. Much larger than he, with paws that could no doubt swat him across the snow feet away without so much as an effort, but not the leader. There were obvious signs pointing to this, what with the way the animal did not hold the attention of its other pack-mates.

Realizing this, Ryuu lifted his gaze to stare right into the creature's brown eyes—and was immediately flooded with a sense of anticipatory impatience. It made him shift where he sat, made him want to spring. But Ryuu resisted it, resisted the feeling of waiting for a command, a feeling he didn't understand.

Then it dawned on him. The matukyuu were empathetic beasts, capable of relaying feelings—if not more—to each other, and, in this case, to others able to pick up on those feelings and messages. This surprised him. He hadn't thought the matukyuu any more than simple tundra carnivores, common animals. He hadn't expected them to have intelligence such as this.

The particular one he now looked at seemed just as startled by his daring to look directly at it as he was by its intriguing ability. It snuffed loudly, its warm breath visible on the air, then growled at him, ears pulling back. Apparently it wasn't used to its prey showing signs of dominance. But there was no way Ryuu was going to show submission to a beast that wasn't even the pack leader.

Knowing that the creatures surrounding him would not attack without an order to do so, he turned his attention to Zurna, who, while enclosed by the matukyuu as well, did not seem to be having as much of an unwelcome as he would have expected. One of the animals, young by its smaller appearance, even seemed to be showing her signs of affection. Then she was looking at him at the same time as the juvenile, and a distant, fierce look crossed her features, a look that nearly mirrored the creature's.

Ha. Interesting. So she could pick up on their empathic abilities as well. And wasn't as good at controlling them by the looks of it.

Soon a new pair of eyes was on him, and these were eyes he immediately recognized as ones of power and authority: the pack leader, or alpha as some would call him. A jagged scar ran down one side of the animal's face.

Having made the mistake of looking the creature in the eye, Ryuu watched as it made its way toward him. A great male of a beast up close, the smell of its breath souring the air as it put its face near his. Ryuu did not make the mistake of making eye contact again, instead staring in a bored fashion down at the male's paws. He really wished something would happen—the animals go away or just kill him—he had business to be doing.

Stand! The voice was so loud, so unexpected, booming through his head like thunder, that Ryuu instantly did as it said. It was only as he stood on his two feet that he realized what had just happened.

The link through which the voice had come was much like the dusty, broken link of . . . of him, but not wholly the same, right next to it. The corridor he had shared in his mind with another was blocked, filled with air; an empty hall he would never tread through again. But it had been so much like it, so similar, that he had . . .

The alpha, in his own shock that Ryuu could sense, shook his head in surprise and growled again. Understand . . . me? he asked.

But Ryuu was through with his astonishment, now more silent than ever for having hard memories brought forward unexpectedly. Before he knew it, a large paw had him sprawling on his back in the snow. A furious furry face loomed over his, roaring its anger at his defiance. He frowned at its foul breath, making no other move.

Not scared? the beast asked, still growling, though its head was tilting to the side in hard-to-cover curiosity.

Ryuu glared at it. No. Never scared.

The animal sniffed him, its big, wet nose chilling the skin on his face. When it pulled back, a strange look on its face appeared, resembling a smile. Kill your friend. Then scared? It was hard deciphering its language, his mind automatically translating what it could of the primitive communication, but he thought he understood what it meant.

Not a friend. Not scared. What did he care if Zurna were killed, except that he'd be down an escort? She mattered little to him, if at all. Why attack us? he finally asked.

Zurna was able to snap herself back to attention as the pup's focus shifted from her to the pack alpha. With the brief reprieve from the battering of the savage desire to rip and tear tender flesh, she tried to quickly form some sort of mental barrier. In truth, she was not very well trained in the art but something was better than nothing.

When the next flash of feelings came, she was able to corral them into a separate place of her mind. This worked on everything but the underlying pack urges and instincts. The desire to kill Ryuu was still there, but lessened, muted. If these stronger emotions flared up strongly again, she would be in serious danger of losing herself to them.

Fear blazed through Zurna as she watched the alpha stare up at Ryuu. 'It is almost as if they are communicating.' She looked curiously down at her own matukyuu companion. 'Perhaps I am not the only one who understands?' Tentatively, she reached her hand out to the creature beside her. Her approach was very much akin to how one reaches out for an injured animal, slow and wary. Impatient, the juvenile made a snuffling sound and slammed his head up into the palm of her hand.

As soon as the pair touched, she was drowned in more images and senses. 'Stop!' she screamed both mentally and verbally. Looking the young creature in the eye, she stared him down. "Control," she spoke softer now. Whimpering slightly the pup rubbed his head against her hand and leg, lowering his gaze. Ahead of her the alpha gave a low growl.

Zurna laced her fingers gently but firmly, in the soft fur of her new companion's neck. Not resisting the grasp, the young matukyuu pulled her over to Ryuu and the alpha, always ensuring that he was between her and the alpha. As she carefully tread, Zurna began to observe her human travel companion. He seemed to have a confused and distant expression cross his face. 'This must be so disturbing for him. Manaia, it's disturbing enough for me!'

The partition in her mind gave a feeling of confusion and comfort. She smiled and patted the fur in her hand. "I remember you," she said addressing the alpha. Her eyes stared down at the snow by her feet, resisting the temptation to look up and meet the challenging stare. She knew well enough she would lose. Unconsciously, her hand raised to touch the scar that lay across her neck and collarbone. A sense of rage blistered flames of heat into her mind, causing her to stagger slightly where she stood. A youthful bark from beside her, helped to steady her again.

Projected in her mind was the image of her younger self covered in blood, a dagger buried in the chest of a dead matukyuu. The fact that this image was so much more controlled and clear led her to believe it was the elder pack leader and not the pup that was communicating with her now.

Guilt crept into Zurna's heart. 'That was not my fault. That was not my doing. I would not have killed her. That was never my intention. I was a child. I was afraid. My friend was dead and I was alone.' She raised her eyes to meet the alpha's in challenge. "Kill," she spoke lowly. "You want to, so what stops you?" Zurna dropped to her knees before the mammoth beast. "It is me that you hate. Kill!" She threw her arms out to her sides, throwing the cursed and familiar dagger to the side. Enraged by the familiar weapon and goaded by the easy prey, the alpha went to lunge at her but stopped short at the pup's intervention.

Standing between the two was juvenile. No matter what either the alpha or Zurna tried to do, he would not be moved. He bristled and growled, snapping his teeth warningly. Mine! he growled projecting images of a young human saving and protecting him. "Move!" she grumbled trying to shove the creature away. 'Let me die! Ryuu may live if they kill me. Better my life than his. Let a decade of regret fade and be healed. Let this end, Manaia please!'

The great animal seemed about to answer him, but then it turned its head, and so did Ryuu, to see Zurna approaching them with the younger matukyuu. While she might have made a friend of the juvenile for some unseen reason, she was not as lucky with the pack leader, whose rage at the sight of her was apparent without the need of empathetic communication.

Ryuu thought she might have been done for, the way the pack leader leaped at her. He felt bemusement upon seeing her furry friend jump in to help. Usually a traitorous act such as that against the alpha would lead to the death of the offending one by all of the pack, but there it stood, unchallenged. Close family, a son, perhaps?

Then he watched, expression chilling to cold, annoyed disbelief as Zurna prostrated herself before the pack leader and practically begged it to kill her. For one that had held such coolness most of their journey, she was showing considerable stupidity and drama. Unnecessary drama. He felt like he was watching a woman's romantic novel be played out, only he was not Zurna's lover and could care less if she died.

With everyone so distracted, Ryuu got back to his feet, brushing the snow from his clothes with his mittened hands. He had a plant to find, and if the pack was more interested in seeing Zurna dead, then fine by him.

But the pack leader, upon hearing his movement, turned to him and let out a terrible snarl of fury. Do not move! the matukyuu said, and Ryuu didn't really have a choice but to obey.

You want kill her, he responded indifferently. Then do. Won't stop you. Besides, she looked more than willing for it, kneeling out there in the snow like a ridiculous, over-dramatic actress, arms opened invitingly. He might even stay to watch if he could. Let me pass. Not here to bother you. Going to the sacred plant. Again he was avoiding eye contact, but he was feeling bolder, his gaze set on the beast's shoulders instead of its feet.

Zurna was getting angry. She was not afraid to die but, she could not stand the not knowing, the back and forth. 'Live or die, kill me or let me go! End this!' her mind raged, unknowingly let her thoughts project outward to reverberate in the minds of her captors.

The alpha's attention was diverted to Ryuu, providing her with the perfect opportunity to save them. Cautiously moving her hand back, she slipped it up her back and into the lowest pouch of her rucksack. She barely dared to breathe as her hand closed around the small cloth balls she was seeking. A single one of these homemade packets was enough to quickstart a fire. Zurna kept them as emergenciy precautions, should she ever get trappped away from home in a storm.

Loosely clutching six of these bundles, she slowly manuevered herself into a position poised for springing away if she needed to. As soon as the juvenile took a step away from her she raised her hand and slammed its contents into the ground. An high-pitched whining crack piggybacked a bright flash of light that temporily disorientated the matukyuu. Without the necessary fuel, the fire burned out quickly, leaving black ash in its place.

All around her the creatures surrounding her and Ryuu were shaking their heads and weaving on their feet. Some whimpered, pawing at their ears and snouts. Zurna could sympathsize. Her own head pounded from the other subconscious sharing her mind. 'Poor thing,' she pitied looking toward the young pup.

Kicking off the ground, Zurna was jerked back to her knees by a searing pain and a crushing pressure in her forearm. The alpha had latched onto her, threatening to break her arm in his giant maw. Without thinking, she slipped her other hand into his mouth, pressing her first two fingers onto the roof of his mouth and her thumb down on the bridge of his nose.

For a long moment she was sure she was about to lose her arm but, she refused to back down or release the pressure. At last he roughly let go, yowling indignantly. Warm blood coursed down her arm, dripping off her fingers, staining trampled white snow. Zurna was reminded of another time when a smaller self stood before a matukyuu. She was also drenched in blood that time too.

Retrieving her blade, she made her way through the nest. It would be a while before they would be up and moving as a pack again. She doubted they would follow her now, but she was not willing to gamble on that and stay to find out.

As she walked she could feel more than hear, the sorrow washing over the young male behind her. It tried to follow her, flopping about like a landed fish. Taking pity she turned back to it and knelt down. "I saved your life, now you have saved mine," she spoke, soothingly petting its head. Closeby the alpha growled menacingly in warning.

Zurna nodded her head to the alpha and moved away. "Stay!," she commanded. "You're going to get us both in trouble again." A smile and a giggle escaped her lips. 'We always get in trouble together don't we?' Sobering, she trudged back through the snow and out of the nest. 'We were closer than I thought. We almost made it without problems,' she mused, looking around for Ryuu.

He didn't quite know what had happened. One minute he'd been standing before the matukyuu leader, waiting for him to step aside or do something, and the next, there was a loud bang and a flash and all the creatures were writhing around, whimpering amongst themselves, some pawing at their faces and ears.

Puzzled, he glanced toward where the noise had come from and saw Zurna fighting off the alpha, who looked about ready to rip her arm off in its mouth.

So. She'd used a distraction. Maybe not completely necessary, seeing as he'd been about to get by anyway, but effective nonetheless.

Instead of going to help her, Ryuu started forward along the path they'd been traveling before having been ambushed, walking around the whining forms of the matukyuu as if they were mere rocks in his way.

He heard a yowl from the alpha behind him, but did not stop. His thoughts were on other things now that he was clear of danger, like how after so many years, a creature had pierced his thoughts with its own.

It was some few minutes of walking before he heard Zurna coming up behind him. While he didn't slow down, he didn't speed up, either, allowing her to come up beside him without interference.

"So," he said bluntly. "You're alive."

Spotting Ryuu up ahead, Zurna picked her way slowly through the snow. What strength she had gained early from her adrenaline rush was all but gone. She was cold, she was tired, and she was hurt. 'Maybe sacrificing sleep wasn't such a good idea.'

Her gaze did not leave the horizon as she pulled into stride with her companion. "So it would seem," she replied. "Although no thanks to you." Zurna motioned with her head towards her arm. She hissed as another flare of pain shot through it. "That's twice now," she muttered to herself, rolling up her sleeve to examine the wound.

Zurna's left arm was coated in blood. The skin was torn and jaggedly sliced from just above her elbow down to her wrist. Using her right hand, she pulled her sleeve up higher revealing the skin of her shoulder and part of her collarbone. Her fingers traced the pearly scar that ran up further across her neck juncture. 'Why is it always the left side?' She let off a quiet snort, letting the sleeve go and firmly gripping her forearm.

'I feel so tired. Maybe I can convince him to stop now. Although, I'm not sure I want to spend a night with him at my fire, not ever he left me like that. Maybe my brothers were right. Maybe I shouldn't trust him. Bah! They're dunderheads anyway, what do they know?' Zurna's eyes blinked slowly as exhaustion weighed her down. She looked down at her arm, watching the rivulets of blood seep through her fingers and bead their way down her arm onto the snow. 'Red snow. Blood snow. Dead snow,' she thought disjointedly.

Yes. No thanks to him. He'd been half-hoping that she'd die. And he wasn't a fool to give up an escape opportunity when he saw one.

Now clear of the nests of the matukyuu, Ryuu stopped treading on the snow as if it were made of glass. He knew where he was; somehow they had brought themselves to the old trail he'd used the past couple of years. Only a few days more and they would find themselves at the sacred ground of the salix artica. Then he could rid himself of the girl. The annoyance.

A familiar streak of crimson flashed to his left and his eyes were drawn to it without his even being aware of it. Blood painted Zurna's arm, flesh parted at rugged angles.

Before he could stop himself, Ryuu reached out and snatched the wounded limb with his hand, grip tight. It--the blood!--welled up by his hand, dripping down into the snow, warm as it breached his fingertips.

This was the relief that he'd needed! Upon having thoughts he preferred to have deep and hidden brought forward by his conversation with the matukyuu leader, Ryuu had found himself feeling that shadow looming up behind him, ready to grab him and drag him down into the place he never liked to visit, the place of shadows. He'd not recognized it, but now that he saw this, felt the heat of life in his hands as he watched it spill out, now he felt the release.

More. This wasn't enough. His fingers tightened, knuckles turning white from the strength in his grip. He slowly tipped the arm and its wound toward the ground so that the blood could freely fall into the snow, steam from its warmth rising in the air. A sick smile twisted his face.

Yes. Maybe this girl would serve a useful purpose after all.

Soft, pained cry tumbled past her chapped lips at Ryuu's cruel treatment of her wounded arm. Another bleating whimper escaped her as he tightened his grip and tears welled up in her eyes. Zurna made to shout angrily at him until she watched what he was doing. 'He's rolling the blood around? What in the name of of Manaia is he doing? He can't treat me like this. I won't let him get away with this.'

But, just as she gained up her courage and opened her mouth to speak, she caught the manic grin sliding across his face. 'I should have listened to my brothers.' Frightened now, Zurna tried to jerk her arm back from him. However, exhaustion, blood loss, and fear made her weak, she could no more pull her arm away from him then make the effort to bat away a fly. She clenched her fist tightly, causing more blood to pump out of the wound.

The accelerating beat of her heart only served to make the clotting blood flow more steadily once again. "You can let go of me," she stated more than demanded. "I can take care of it on my own, now." Zurna made attempts to let it go again. Her right came up to clutch desperately at her pendant 'Ansgar, give me strength!' she fervently prayed. "We should keep moving," she tried to distract. There is still some daylight left, we should take advantage of that."

'Foolish girl! How can you be so simple-minded to think about that when he looks like he wants to eat you alive? If you take him to the sacred grounds you will not be safe. If I don't take him I'm in a even more dangerous position. He needs me to get in and out of there. He can't kill me before that. Besides, look at him,' Zurna glared at him, feeling absolutely disgusted. 'He looks like he could keel over any second. I can take him. Right?'

Zurna's whimpers of pain only made the act more satisfying, more livening. He felt his own tensions leaving his body, channeled through the living trickle that continued to blot and steam in the snow. Though weakened from lack of food, the sight before him gave him such strength that his grip was like an iron shackle, her attempts to jerk her arm away useless. It helped that she was apparently weakened.

Her words were lost to him in those few seconds, until something in his mind pulled back sharply on the loosened reins. A voice, louder than usual, perked its head up once again. *Don't,* it said bluntly, and, feeling as if he'd been burned, he jerked his hand away . He stared at it, covered in another's blood, slightly confused—almost horrified.

It had been so much clearer than before. As if he had been right there, not just the hallucinations he usually had.

He looked to Zurna, noticing the look on her face.

All of this confusion was the blasted matukyuu's fault, reminding him of what he'd once had more vividly than anything else ever had.

Her arm was in his hand again, though this time he held it with less force. Instead, he allowed his powers to take hold of it, numbing the nerves to ease the pain she felt. It wouldn't do for her to die before they got to the salix artica, he now realized.

"You should wrap it to stop the bleeding," he said, voice tight with restriction.

As soon as he released her arm she pulled it in close, looking up at him in fear. Reluctantly, she allowed him to take her arm back, seeing the madness dim within his eyes. 'It's still there though. I see what really lies beneath your cold exterior. I wish I never had.'

Zurna gasped as she felt her arm take on a pins and needles deadweight feeling as the pain lessened. "What did you do? she asked not unkindly but in confused awe. Rubbing her arm, she noticed that she really could not stimulate the blood into getting rid of the feeling.

"Would you rather push-on or stop now?" Zurna still eyed him warily, as she removed a roll of bandages from her bag. 'Thank you mother!' With more haste than efficiency, she haphazardly wrapped herself up. While she would not admit it, not even to herself, she was terrified of causing another manic episode from her strange companion.

There was no point in acting like he'd done nothing out of the ordinary, but he wasn't going to acknowledge it, either. He continued to stare as she wrapped her arm, willing himself to not look to the blood pooled in the snow below. There lay an unexplainable fascination in watching her wind the bandages around the wound, the blood soaking through one layer after another until there were so many that it stemmed.

"I stifled the feeling in your arm," he said curtly, uncaring.

He couldn't stop thinking back to the voice. Clear enough that it still sat in his mind, ready for recall.

"And we should continue on. We're not far enough away from the nesting grounds."

'Stifled the feeling? Well thank you very much! Did I ask you to do that? Do you even know what you are doing? Men!' Zurna nodded her head in agreement, but seethed inside. 'Never pay attention do they? Always focused on their own agendas. You would let me die!'

The wind blew harshly sending shivers up and down her spine. Or at least that is what she tried to blame her shaking on. 'Next time, I'm listening to my family. I'll be lucky to make it home without doing anymore freakishness to me. Please manaia, make that happen!'

The further they trudged through the snow, they closer they got to their destination, and the more Zurna felt like she was walking towards something monumental. She did not know what it would be. But, she prayed it would be all she ever dreamed of. 'To worship on the sacred grounds, is to have your dream fulfilled. I ask for so little; I just hope it's true.'

He knew they were close when familiar plants started cropping up around them, only seen in this spot due to the nearby volcano providing warmth and richness to the soil. Some distance ahead he could make out the cap of the volcano through the foggy air.

And there was the shrine protecting the land further in, a statue of a bird-headed man with a fish's tail standing and looking out over the land with blank, cold eyes. The statue's left hand was outstretched, as if reaching out to receive something from an invisible someone, and on the hand Ryuu could make out dark stains.

This was the whole reason he'd needed Zurna. Only the blood of a local would allow one entry into the sacred ground where the salix artica grew.

When they reached the statue, he turned to Zurna, eyes driven to her injured arm where a small blotch of blood could be seen leaking through the tight bandages. Did she know what she needed to do? He did not want to say, for fear that the mere mention of blood would send his heart racing again.

"I'll stand away while you do it," he said, already walking away toward the other side of the large statue.

The statue loomed up in front of her, leaving her staring at it in awe. 'Manaia!' Zurna lowered her eyes before the visage. As she did her gaze was directed to rust colored stains. 'Blood of the innocent; blood of the believers; blood of the wishers.'

She was startled out of her reverie by her companion's words. 'Stand away?' Zurna nearly snorted at the thought that Ryuu did not want to see her preform the sacrifice. 'He practically rips my arm off to see the blood and now he cannot be bothered to watch.' Her moss eyes followed his figure as he moved away from her. 'For the better, I guess. The less time I am around him, the safer I am. Although, I would rather I know where he is at all times than not at all. He is just the type I would peg to backstab someone without breaking a sweat.'

Zurna began the long process of unwinding her bandages. The closer parts were so saturated in blood, they stuck to her skin, making it painful to remove them. She tried to keep silent, stealing glances at Ryuu. Every sound made her feel anxious. 'I wish I knew what he was thinking, what he is going to do.'

Yanking the last of the wrap off, Zurna winced at the dull stinging sensation that came from re-opening the wound. Warm, viscous blood oozed down her arm. Moving quickly she allowed it to pull down her arm and into the hand of her god. 'Manaia, accept my sacrifice. I give up the life's blood you yourself gifted me. Should you ask of it me, I will give all. May you find me worthy.'

Long tense moments passed. Zurna was sure she had failed and was going to die. Then a warm breeze began to playfully tug at her hair and clothes. Reaching her uninjured arm forward, she began to approach the shrine doors. When she made it passed where she guess the protective barriers were, and her hand rested on the door, she allowed herself to sigh in relief. 'It worked!' Tired she leaned against the door, waiting for Ryuu to join her. After all it would take both of them to simultaneously open the doors.

He passed the statue without glancing at the hand, coming to stand by Zurna and take a hold of the ornate door handle.

It made no sense to Ryuu why there sat a useless door that opened to the other side and not into a building or room. The old mages of the tundra had gone out of their way to make something trivial into a bothersome task.

With the effort of both he and Zurna, the door opened to reveal the same thing as what was behind them, only here also grew the salix artica. He could see the plant growing up out of the fertile soil, its red berries blistering bright, a color of promise and ripeness. There were clumps of the willow all over, some growing out of the cracks in the volcanic rocks, some making their way, roots and all, up walls of soil.

Not looking to Zurna, he made his way toward the plant with the brightest berries. He knelt down by it, slipping off his gloves and reaching in the pouch hanging to his side. Inside were several jars, which he removed and began placing the berries he picked into them.

He could feel the power emanating from the small fruit. Just one could kill a grown man when ingested. When fermented and used on the end of a blade, it had even more dire consequences. A simple nick. . . .

Entering the doorway felt like thousands of wispy hands brushing against her. Zurna could feel them on her face, through her hair, down her limbs, and across her abdomen. Her ears rang with voices whispering and singing in ancient and unheard tongues. 'To stand on sacred ground is to know the ancestor's embrace and partake in their wisdom. How blest are we.'

Reverently, Zurna knelt before the cause of her trying pilgrimage. She glanced curiously over at Ryuu. Knowing the danger of the berries and observing how many he was taking sent a cold chill racing up and down her spine despite the warmer air. She reached her hand out, letting it skim across leaf,, berry, and bark alike.

Zurna tugged a small amount of bark off and collected the sap that oozed out. Rubbing it against her wound, she watched indelight as the skin knit itself back together. A thin shiny scar was the only evidence that she had ever been bitten. Getting comfortable she fell into a meditative trance as she began to pray.

Words floated in and out of her head as Zurna inwardly searched for the quetion on her mind, her reason of her coming. Slowly a memory came to her as if through a thick, misty fog. Events from ten years ago bombarded her, making it difficult to focus on her heart's desire. 'Let it go. Let it fade. Let it die!'

Suddenly, the memory came to an abrupt stop. Within her mind she pictured herself standing in the middle of a snow plain. Before her stood a young boy. "Ezra!" she called happily, running up to embrace him. He disappeared when she came within arm's length of him. "Ezra?"

A disembodied voice began to circle her, echoing from all around. "You forgot me. You let me die. You lied. You killed me."

"No," she protested desperately. "I didn't mean to. It was an accident. I didn't know!"

"Traitor! Murderer! Deserter! Kins-" the harsh words were droned out and silenced by a soothing murmuring. Zurna awoke from her nightmare, feeling a residual warmth across her back as if she had been embraced from behind. She was breathing hard and her hands were clutching the Salix artica tightly as if it would save her from herself. 'What was that?'

The dream still flitted about in the corner of her mind, leaving her with a sense of anticipation and dread. Her thoughts circled around and around for reasons for this disturbance. 'I have not thought of Ezra in so long. Why does he haunt me now?' Zurna sent her thoughts fleeing as she searched for something else to think about. Harvesting more bark she quietly asked, "why do you collect the poison? What do you want with death?"

He was aware of Zurna kneeling next to him, but did not look too her, instead too focused on gathering what berries he could in slow, meticulous movements. Each berry he picked was gripped and spun between his fingers as he reveled in their feel, before placing them in his jars.

Funny, how a berry from a living, thriving plant that breathed could cause cold death to other living things.

When Zurna spoke, he waited a few moments before finally responding. What did he want with death? That wasn't something he could answer, not in a way she could understand. He couldn't tell her that he wanted death more than any other person. Animals strove to survive, to live; humans, aware of their own mortality, looked for ways--any ways they could--to prevent it. But he wanted it, almost embraced it.

Cowardice held him back.

"What business of it is yours?" he asked. "Coming from one that lives in a land of nothing but cold and death."

"Perhaps it isn't my business. But, I would hardly say my land is full of death. If that were the case I wouldn't be here. The Salix arctica," she said pointing at it, "would not grow here. This plant bears the capability of the gods. It can both give and take life. If my land was meant only for those seeking death, then why have you come? Why did you bother the journey at all? Surely you value your life more than that. If you didn't you could have just crushed one of the eggs and ended it right there. You could have a thousand ways before you even made it this far. Why bother?"

Zurna looked him over, moss-colored eyes, watching but not judging. Shaking her head she tore a small bit of bark and chewed on it. "Of all the things you take, you choose death over life. You collect the poison instead of the cure. Can you fault me for finding it odd?"

Finished with his harvesting, Ryuu closed up the jars and placed them back in his bag, then got to his feet and brushed what few leaves and dirt had gotten onto his furs.

"I didn't say your land was there for those seeking death," he said, though that wasn't far from the truth. He came seeking berries that brought death. There was no difference. "And I do not come here each year seeking my own death."

Mission completed, he glanced around. He had no need to be here further. No further need of the girl, of the land, of the cold.

"No fault in it at all," he said, not looking to her as he spoke. "It is natural to wonder such things. But, as you find it odd for me to seek a way to death, I find it odd for your seeking a way for extended life."

"I concede," she smiled bowing her head. "But, as you said, you do not seek to end your life. I do not seek to lengthen mine. I think my family lives long enough as it is." Zurna chuckled as she thought about her nearly century old parents.

"So this is it? You got what you came for and...you got what you came for," she sighed, flowing up onto her feet. For a moment Zurna just stared him, trying to work something out she did not understand. 'Guess I never will.'

Zurna placed her hands in prayer position and bowed to Ryuu. "May you take this peace with you on your journey through life, friend. Until we meet again," she bid him farewell. 'Strange, strange man. Manaia, may our paths never cross again. I don't think my heart could handle another encounter.' She shuddered, pulling her cloak tighter about herself.

All he could do was glare at Zurna as she bowed to him and spoke of peace. He had no peace to take with him. Never would have peace. Not until he was dead, and that wouldn't be for some time.

For a moment he felt the need to punish her for having even hinted at it, for mocking him by saying that he could have it when he so clearly could not.

But no. The voice hadn't been too long ago, the pull at his mind. He didn't want it to happen again so soon. He merely nodded at her, then wrapped his arms around himself and turned, leaving her behind in the place she considered a holy sanctuary.