As the captain walked towards the center of the field, Alyana watched him, sighing softly to herself at the anger and frustration that radiated off of him. It was perfectly visible in his face and audible in his voice as he looked back in Tendral's direction and ordered the taller man to drop his gear. She wished the man luck, in her mind at least, though she didn't expect that it would be much of a contest. She'd watched their sparring sessions before, the ones between Tendral and the captain. Their rivalry was well-known, and just as well-known was the fact that Aladar was always a step ahead of Tendral.

Then the match began, with the gathered soldiers cheering on their chosen fighter. Most seemed to be on the side of the captain, likely trying to stay in his good graces after his display of strength and authority mere moments before. Ali was silent, as usual, her eyes glued to the match and a smirk tugging at the edges of her lips. She rested her elbows on her knees, leaning forward comfortably.

The two were almost evenly matched; it was only when the captain drew his second sword from the sheath on his back when Tendral began to struggle. Dirty move... she thought with a chuckle to herself, her eyes darting around the small crowd to see their reaction to the captain's change in strategy. It wasn't long before Aladar landed a solid hit on Tendral's side and the taller man admitted defeat, sinking to his knees in the snow.

When the two men had regained their composure, sheathing their swords and stepping away from the field of disturbed snow, some of the more enthusiastic soldiers stepped up in pairs to spar, the general morale of the group seeming to have improved with their captain's mood. Aladar himself wore a broad grin on his red face as he came to the edge of the field, plopping down a few feet from Alyana.

She looked over at him with a smile, trying not to look too long. He seemed much more relaxed, and in a better mood by far after the sparring match. No doubt, that had something to do with the fact that he'd won... She wondered if Tendral had let him win, looking up as the taller soldier approached and sat beside the captain with a sour expression. Nah.

"You think?" she said with a nervous laugh, having hoped that he wouldn't suggest such a thing. She really didn't want to... Yet that had to be a better option than sitting here trying not to stare at her captain, for the gods' sakes... Why was he so...

She cut off her thoughts by looking over at him again, grinning as she rose stiffly to her feet. "Fine," she scoffed slightly, turning towards the field and looking over the soldiers to find one roughly her height. It didn't take long, she spotted a rather lean man who was only about an inch taller than her. Someone she could probably beat. Hopefully... or at least make it a close enough fight that the captain wouldn't laugh at her...

Yeah, no, she was going to lose. She knew that before she even walked up to the guy.

Within moments, brief introductions were made; though she'd met the man before, she'd never heard his name. Adan, as it turned out, was... really, really good at sparring. Alyana was out of breath almost immediately, every ounce of her energy and momentum wasted trying to block his attacks. He was merciless, or as merciless as one could be while sparring. Ali's expression changed from confidence to panic within the first five seconds.

Adan didn't hold back, either; he managed to land a solid blow with the flat of his sword at the side of her thigh, and she went down in the snow for a moment before scrambling to her feet again and still trying her absolute best. Even though her entire body hurt, her head felt like it was going to explode with every sound of clashing metal, and she moved with a slight limp now from a rapidly forming bruise on her leg. The two went back and forth for another minute, before Adan shamelessly swept Ali's feet out from under her and pressed the point of his sword to her chest when she fell.

"Alright, alright!" she wheezed out, panting heavily and staring up at him with a mildly horrified expression.

"You fight like a girl," Adan smirked, laughing and not even seeming out of breath as he offering to help her up.

She waved him away with a scowl, sitting up and resting her elbows on her knees again as she waited to be able to breathe normally again. Eventually, she rose shakily to her feet, grabbing her sword from where it had ended up a few feet away from her. She slid it into its sheath again as she stumbled back to where the captain and Tendral waited. She sat in her place again, staring blankly ahead for a moment with a stunned expression before flopping back and sprawling on the snow, her chest still heaving as she fought for breath.

She sent a halfhearted glare in Aladar's direction, wrinkling her nose at him as she lifted one of her hands to point accusingly at him. "You," she grumbled between breaths, wincing. "You did this. I don't like you anymore."

Aladar watched as Allen made his way out towards the rest of the men sparring. He let out a soft huff, glancing over at Tendral. “What do you think? I’ll give him one match before he doesn’t last.” It wasn’t said in derogatory, just an observation, mostly based off the fact that the soldier had been pretty drunk the night before and was most likely still dealing with the after effects. And it was always good sport to make a few bets. Aladar pointed out a few of the other pairs sparring, laying out his bets, Tendral only muttering his responses, clearly still pouting over the dirty move the Captain had pulled. Would Aladar ever admit to it? No.

His brown eyes fell back to Allen near the tail end of the soldier’s fight, in time to see his feet swept out from under him. The Captain let out a slightly amused snort, only to have a hand waved under his nose, clenching and unclenching. The man huffed, reaching into his belt pouch and pulling out the coins, letting them clink into the hand which proudly accepted them. Clearly Tendral had bet that Allen wouldn’t make it through one match, and it gave him some of his good match back that the soldier had failed, simply for the fact that he beat Aladar at least in one bet.

Not that it phased the Captain’s good mood in the slightest, instead looking to the soldier that approached before flopping in the snow and falling back. The man was about to speak when he caught the glare and began to laugh. It wasn’t an uncontrolled laugh, but a deep one that came from the chest as he looked to Tendral. “Do you hear this? Apparently I’m turning my own men against me.”

“I wonder why,” the soldier grumbled, rolling one of the coins between his fingers and staring at it for a moment before lifting his gaze to glare at the Captain as well. “Might have to do with you being a bloody cheating ass.”

Aladar was hard pressed to keep it together, snorting as he looked away, shaking his head. “You both better mind yourselves or I’ll have you both stripped to your jocks standing in the snow,” he threatened, though there wasn’t even a hint of seriousness. Rather, he was still struggling to keep himself together, finding a good deal of humor in the whole situation. However, he sobered up fast enough as he remembered he actually had things he needed to do and let out a sigh, heaving himself up.

~

It was a few days later and the camp was buzzing, morale once again high. And for good reason. Today was the day that all the letters were coming in from the soldiers’ families and sweethearts. Aladar had kept busy mostly since he started the sparring matches, running between his higher officials, working with the other Captains, and working on paperwork. He spent some time greeting the soldiers here and again, and one of the days he did eat lunch with the rest of them.

Stepping out of his tent at the commotion, the Captain started towards the horses that were being tied down as the messengers collected their bags of letters that would be handed out. Tendral was already with the growing group of men, this being the one day that Aladar gave him off. He always did on letter day. Though today was special for the man too considering this was the day that he got to hear from home, specifically his sister.

Joining the large amount of soldiers, he waited patiently for his name to be called out, striding forward to take the letter handed to him. His eyes lightened at the name, his grin widening as he turned, startig to make his way back through the crowd. Glancing up, it was then that he noticed Allen, one of the only ones not waiting with anyone else, not even holding a letter. Clutching his letter, he strode towards the soldier he had started to befriend and crack through his shell. As he neared, he slipped the letter into his coat, the name Naomi just barely visible as he did so.

She wasn't usually this bitter on the day that the letters came. Usually, she tried to distract herself, find something to do. It felt easier than watching everyone else eagerly open their letters, reading messages from their loved ones... If her family even knew where she was, the letters she received would not be kind ones. It would be even worse if her husband managed to contact her...

No, she didn't want to hear from the ones she'd left behind. It seemed that she was perhaps the only one in this company who felt that way... Today, she had nothing to do, no reason to escape from the camp and avoid the festive, happy mood. So she watched from a distance, her expression as neutral as she could manage. She watched as Adan, who had become a frequent sparring partner of hers, received his letters and eagerly read the message from his wife. Another soldier waved his letter around, announcing to everyone within earshot that his son had been born.

The memories brought up by that excited announcement proved to be too much for her to handle, and she rose to her feet, sighing quietly to herself as she started to walk towards the main tent. She could attempt to straighten up her belongings, at least, maybe polish her sword or something, anything to get away from here...

Just before she stepped into the tent and out of sight, movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she turned to see the captain approaching. She offered him a smile that she really didn't feel, and it was clear to see that it didn't reach her eyes. "Good morning, Captain," she said, catching sight of his letter as he hid it away in his coat for the time being. "An exciting day, isn't it? I haven't seen them so happy in weeks."

She shifted her weight somewhat awkwardly, unsure as to why he had come to her. Would he ask if she had received her mail? What should she say? She'd have to lie, come up with some excuse as to why she didn't get any letter, but she was sure he had seen the defeated look on her face mere moments prior, the fact that she hadn't even hoped to be among the ones who heard from home.

The truth was that no one cared. She knew no one from home cared; even if they knew where she was, they would have stopped sending letters as soon as she refused to come back home. They didn't understand the things that her husband put her through, the pain he caused... All they saw was that he was begrudgingly taking care of them, financially. And they saw that when she left, they had to actually work and build lives for themselves for once.

She straightened, blinking slightly as she pulled herself out of her thoughts and looked at her captain again. Her pitiful attempt to smile had not faded, and she shrugged, deciding to offer an excuse before he even asked if she'd received her letter.

"Guess there wasn't anything for me this time," she said, feigning indifference as she glanced past him towards the crowd. "Maybe next time."

“Yes, it seems to be a fine morning indeed,” he greeted with a dip of his head. “It is something the camp has been needing for sure.” Aladar looked over the soldier who seemed almost uncertain and awkward over the whole thing, the smile offered him anything but genuine. He did not take it as any kind of offense though, instead letting the silence reign for a few moments as he seemed to get lost in his thoughts.

When Allen did speak again, the Captain noted the attempt to act as though everything was alright. Not that the soldier didn’t feign it well, Aladar had just seen how despondent he had looked before, hence why he had come over. A lot of good news had been floating around about families. Perhaps Allen didn’t have one? The Captain could barely imagine how hard that would be, having a wonderful mother, sister, and brother-in-law. And possibly a nephew on the way. His father had died a few years back, though that was a wound that had since healed over. But to have none of them?

“Perhaps next time you will indeed find some good correspondence,” he agreed, though something told him that would never be the case. The rest were thrilled, and even the very few who hadn’t gotten something this time around were almost certain they would in the next batch and were celebrating the various good news of friends. Allen seemed to be starting to make friends, but he also seemed to be bothered by the general concept.

Brown eyes scanned around, the man picking up some of the thrilled words here and there. Turning back to the man he gestured towards the side with his head. “Most everyone has the day off, including some of the border guards. Perhaps you would care to join me while I take a walk around and do a double check of everything myself.” Normally, he too would have retreated to his tent to read his sister’s letter. But there would be time for that later that night. His men were more important in this moment.

He gestured Allen after him towards the farther borders, away from everyone else in the camp. Away for the happy news about family, shouts, cheers; away from it all to a quiet area where perhaps the man could find some peace? Honestly, Aladar really wasn’t sure what to do for the man, but whatever needed to be done seemed as though it needed to be done away from the hub-bub.

“What brought you to the army, Allen?” Aladar decided to inquire as they moved away, hand resting on the hilt of his side sword by habit. His gaze was pinned ahead, his bearing almost regal in nature with the way he stood straight, arms suddenly shifting back to link behind his back as his chin lifted. He had taken this walk with many other soldiers for various reasons. There were times he and Tendral did when they needed air, others when some of his soldiers were suffering from memories and needed an ear or just a silent support. And he expected this to help Allen as well, making an attempt at some small talk.

It was a relief, in a way, when the captain seemed to take her word for it after she dismissed her lack of mail. She knew that he didn't fully believe her, she wasn't that lucky and to be honest she considered herself to be truly terrible at concealing her inner thoughts. It was a wonder that her lies hadn't been discovered yet... She supposed she was at least somewhat lucky. Lucky and desperate, that was what she was.

For a moment, the captain was silent, turning back towards the crowd of men, and Alyana briefly considered disappearing into the tent. There was a hidden flask among her belongings that she'd tried to forget about, but now its existence tugged on her discouraged spirit, a temptation she struggled to resist. She knew she wouldn't really disrespect the captain like that; besides, she had admittedly begun to enjoy his company... He seemed to be in an encouraging mood most of the time, and tried his best to make sure that all of his men were cared for. She'd noticed that he was paying extra attention to her lately, she wasn't oblivious. She wondered if it was because of that one time, or if she just seemed like she needed encouragement.

Which... she supposed was true. She'd been particularly depressed in recent days, lost in her own mind. Maybe she needed the extra attention and encouragement...

Yet she still felt so alone and hidden. She felt overwhelmed by the things she couldn't tell him, the things she couldn't tell anyone...

The captain spoke again, interrupting her thoughts as she looked back at him. With a faint smile, she nodded her agreement to his suggestion. It would be nice to get away from here for a while, to get some fresh air and have some time to think. And while she couldn't exactly tell the captain exactly what was bothering her, it would be nice to have someone to talk to about other things.

"That sounds like a good idea, sir," she said, falling in step behind him. When the trail away from the camp widened slightly, she walked beside him, though careful to avoid walking ahead of him. She glanced sideways at him occasionally, and as she did so she noticed the look on his face. Intense concentration, yet gentle and regal... The look of a leader, on such a handsome face. His arms linked behind him as he walked, confident on the path he'd clearly traveled countless times before.

After a few minutes, the excited chaos of the soldiers could no longer be heard, and the soft sounds of nature surrounded them. Though no birds, Ali noted with a faint frown. Songbirds were mostly absent at this time of year anyways, but she couldn't even hear the occasional caw of a crow. It was eerily silent, all of it, and as she walked beside the captain, it felt as if the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She pushed the eerie feeling aside as Aladar spoke, looking over at him when he asked why she'd joined the army.

For a moment, she was silent, thinking of a valid excuse that wasn't a true lie. "An escape," she finally said with a sheepish grin and a shrug. "Things weren't going well at home... The army seemed to be a better alternative." The look in her eyes said enough, there was pain there. A wound that had not healed.

They continued to walk in silence for a while, eventually reaching a carved stone that marked where the trail met the border. The soldier and her captain walked along the border from there, and to Ali's eyes, nothing seemed amiss. Quiet, though. Still no birds, no tracks from wildlife in the snow... She made no comment about it to the captain, thinking that she was overreacting because she didn't often patrol the borders. Perhaps the almost oppressive silence was normal out here, far from their camp.

She stopped suddenly, crouching down in the snow. "Captain," she said softly, resting her gloved hand beside the obvious print of a boot in the fresh powder. "Someone's been here, has there been a patrol recently?"

The concept familiarity breeds contempt was painfully true in this situation. Perhaps Aladar was too familiar with the path they were walking, to the point where he was practically in contempt of his usual careful observation. Rather, he was comfortable and being rather oblivious to any actual signs of what was going on. Of course, usually the scouts were around, except today was letter day.

His gaze shifted from ahead of them to Allen when he finally broke the silence again to explain why he was in the army. His eyes showed all too well just how much pain his home life had put him through and Aladar nodded thoughtfully. “I am sorry to hear that. There are a few soldiers here who can relate, I am sure. Though I admit many of them have at least a sweetheart at home. Tendral for example. He came from a bad situation, you may care to talk to him sometime. The man likes to growl but he very rarely bites.”

Brown eyes creased lightly with kindness before he went back to looking ahead, hoping that the man may find some comfort knowing there were others he could talk to. The Captain could offer encouragement and advice, even have compassion, but this one thing he could not understand from personal experience. His family had encouraged him every step of the way.

When Allen came to a stop, Aladar halted too, looking to where he was crouched. The Captain immediately squatted down as well, a gloved finger gingerly brushing at the actual print. His eyes widened just a tad and he straightened up quickly, hand falling to his hilt. “We need to get back, NOW.” The urgency was clear in his voice as he grabbed Allen’s bicep to start pulling him back towards camp. “That is not a boot print from one of our soldiers.”

If only it had been that simple and they just got back to camp. But it wasn’t. Far from it.

A group of Rithnarian soldiers surged from the trees, coming full speed towards the two. Aladar already has his back sword out, preferring the heavier and larger blade. “Allen! Get back to camp for help!” The command was for two reasons. One, it would be best to have someone get back to give the others a warning. Two, last he had seen, Allen was a weak fighter.

At first it seemed as though Aladar was actually holding his own against the small group, pulling out his other sword as well. It was all instinct at this point, one of his swords finding its mark in a soldier’s chest before he was struggling with holding the others off. They were good fighters, but the Captain managed to take down another, larger blade slicing upward across his body before he crumbled. But the timing was just a little off, long enough for one of the two remaining to get his sword into an opening and slicing across the side of the Captain’s thigh.

The pain and attack were unexpected, sending the man sprawling back with a howl, barely managing to lift his blade in time to deflect what would have been a lethal blow. In the heat of the fight, he lost track of Allen, laser focused with adrenaline as he was forced to roll to the side to avoid another stab downwards, his left leg bleeding profusely onto the white powdery ground. His right leg kicked out as he went on full defensive, struggling to keep his own while on his back.

For a brief moment, all was calm, still in the afternoon sunlight. The captain stopped when she did, stepping over to the clear boot print and squatting down beside her to examine it closer. His gloved hand reached out, feeling the design of the boot from the shape of the track, and she glanced over at his face to see what he was thinking.

The change in his expression was drastic and almost immediate, as he recognized that the shape of the boot was not that of the Haverndinian soldiers. In a moment, he'd stood again, pulling her up as well. Her eyes widened in shock and fear, mostly because of his response, as she still didn't know that they were in fact in immediate danger based on the age of the bootprint in the snow. Either way, the urgency and worry in Aladar's voice was enough to convince her, and she hurried after him, practically sprinting in the deep snow as he pulled her after him by her arm. "Are they here?" she asked almost frantically, looking behind them for a moment.

Almost before she finished speaking, her question was answered, as four men emerged from the forest ahead of them. She and the captain had walked right past them, Ali realized, her eyes wide in horror as she immediately drew her sword. Four men... each and every one of them towering over the captain and herself. Each heavily armored and bearing the Rithnarian crest. For a moment, she was frozen in place, realizing that she was not surrounded by allies like in a proper battle. No, it was just her and the captain here, alone and separated from the others. Outnumbered. Outmatched.

An ambush.

Luckily, Ali managed to pull herself together after a second, using her small size as an advantage against a soldier that came for her by dodging quickly to one side, aiming to disable his sword arm with a slice of her blade. He countered, and the forest echoed with the sounds of fighting.

The captain shouted at her, commanding her to run to the camp and bring reinforcements, and she immediately did as he asked, starting to sprint along the path away from him. Away from the three soldiers still attacking him. Away from the one soldier that tore after her, clearly not intending to let her escape. But in a split-second decision that would likely save both of their lives, she turned back, meeting her pursuer mid-stride and fighting her way back to her captain's side. He was an excellent fighter, but not against three or four opponents, all of which had a size advantage.

Or, perhaps she was wrong, she thought as she saw him kill one of the men out of the corner of her eye. Perhaps she had just disobeyed his orders for no reason... A second later, his howl of pain told her that she had been right in staying, and she was distracted from the soldier she fought for a moment, her frantic pale blue eyes darting around the small clearing until she spotted him on the ground clutching his leg with one hand and still clinging desperately to his sword with the other.

She dodged another blow from her opponent, letting out a fierce, notably feminine cry as she lunged towards him, aiming a final thrust of her sword under his poorly protected jaw. The soldier gave a choking cry, before slumping to the side as Alyana pulled away, blood dripping from the tip of her blade onto the fresh snow that was already stained with Aladar's blood.

Panting slightly, she was at her captain's side in a moment, fending off the final opponent. At one point, she physically placed herself between Aladar and the enemy, fire in her eyes as she fought quite well. It wasn't long before silence fell, Alyana's sword sinking into the last Rithnarian's chest as the man fell limp.

For a moment, she was still ready to fight, turning in a circle with her sword held tightly in her hand, her eyes resembling those of a cornered animal. Then, finally satisfied that there were no enemies remaining, she turned to the captain, her teeth clenched as she saw the wound on his leg. "Can you walk?" she asked, her eyes still wide and frightened. "I-I can try to help you, here." She reached out to grab his arm, trying to pull it over her shoulders and help him to his feet. She was shaking, adrenaline still rushing through her body, but her frame was not as strongly built as Aladar's, and she could not support his full weight if he couldn't put any weight on his injured leg. They needed to get back to the camp, and one look at the captain told her that she couldn't leave him here. The temperature was dropping rapidly, and he was losing blood. If she couldn't get him back to the camp quickly, they'd have to stay here until someone found them. She'd try to stop the bleeding and tend his wound as well as she could.

Aladar was focused. He had to be, every ounce of energy strength and attention going into keeping himself alive, fighting to keep breath in his lungs. He needed to get to his feet or at least somehow onto his feet. He had to. Somewhere in the chaotic hazy struggle, he could have sworn he heard a female yell. But there was no certainty when his leg was in such pain, even with the adrenaline, his heart pounding in his ears.

And then there was no one to fight, a body placed between himself and his attacker. Allen, he recognized the soldier almost immediately and relaxed back some in the snow with a heavy groan. He was going to have to reprimand the soldier for not listening... that thought still managed to flash through his mind as his eyes closed, his chest heaving with a pained breath.

“Allen...” The soldier’s name was said to get his attention, about the same time he was asked if he could walk. He accepted the arm offered him with a heavy groan. “Don’t know soldier...” he managed between gritted teeth, referring to if he could get up. He needed to see how bad the damage was... but they also needed to get back to camp. They had wandered rather far to begin with, though there were many long periods of silence during their walk. Now... now that length was painfully obvious.

Somehow, he managed with the help of the soldier to get onto his good leg, standing for a moment just trying to silently suffer the pain that all the movement had caused. It was also very quickly discovered in just the process of helping him up that Allen, while sharing his height, did NOT share his strength. Nonetheless, they needed to get back... if night would fall it would get a whole lot colder.

The man tried to take a step, doing his best to evenly distribute his weight between himself and Allen. However, that quickly proved to be a failure as the slightest pressure caused him to tank with a mix between a sharp inhale and groan, almost causing them both to hit the ground, though somehow he managed to shift his weight back onto the good leg without the catastrophe. Though it brought up a good point about making it back.

“Here... bring me... over to one... of the trees... I think we... can manage that... far.” Talking between his teeth was not fun, wincing constantly at even the slightest shift. “Put... put me by the base... and then... go get someone...” His body gave a shudder as he realized for the first time that snow had gotten under his coat and in his armor, melting to be wet against his body. That was not good. Not good at all.

It was slow even getting to the tree that wasn’t that far, unable to stop the groans and sharp breaths, on multiple occasions nearly dragging Allen down to the ground. But they managed, the short journey painful before he was finally allowed to rest against the tree. His head feel back against the trunk, face contorting for a moment. His hair too was damp from the roll in the snow and he was already getting miserably cold on top of the agonizing pain in his lower thigh.

“I’m... I’m not going to... make it back there tonight.” His chest was heaving from the exertion and overall misery he was already sinking into. The tent cots were not comfortable, but they were MUCH better than this. His body was now shivering as he tried to crane his neck to get a look at the wound. It couldn’t be too bad to the extent of extreme recovery, unless it got an infection, which was now a possibility.

She could see the pain on his face, and the sheer amount of blood staining the snow beneath his leg was concerning. She bit her lip anxiously, knowing as she pulled his arm over her shoulder that she wasn't going to be able to provide the support he needed. "You can," she said, tried to encourage him the way he encouraged her. "You have to... sir." She let out a soft grunt of effort, helping to pull him to his feet.

She noticed almost immediately that he was not able to put any weight on his leg. When he tried to take a step and his injured leg buckled under him, she braced against him as well as she could, trying to keep him upright as he almost sank to his knees in the snow. This... wasn't going to work. He couldn't make it back to the camp. And they were too far away for her to get help and find him again before nightfall... He wouldn't stand a chance out here at night, alone and wounded, in a bitter Haverndin winter.

Which meant that she wasn't going back to the camp, either.

This was her fault, somehow. He'd brought her out here because she looked depressed. And why was she depressed? Because she didn't get a letter from her family, the people she didn't want to hear from anyways? What a petty thing, and it had gotten them both into this situation where she was out here alone with her wounded captain... The only thing she had left to do was to make sure he didn't freeze to death out here... Then maybe she wouldn't be a complete failure.

Ah, yes, Ali, think of yourself while your superior officer is bleeding profusely. Very selfless of you.

He spoke again, with halting words that clearly portrayed the amout of pain he was in. She nodded in response, scanning over the nearby trees to find one wide enough for him to lean his back against. Spotting a suitable place, she started in that direction, pausing often to let him rest. He was shaking, she felt every tremor in his muscles as he shivered from the cold. The fact that he was already shivering was a very bad sign.

She lowered to her knees, trying to lower him to sit against the tree trunk without hurting him. As she did, she caught sight of the wound itself, and she winced visibly. It didn't look good... She was pretty sure that she wasn't supposed to see the muscle like that? And he was still bleeding heavily; she glanced back over the path they had traveled. Her clear footsteps, staggering slightly under his weight a few times, beside his dragging, limping tracks through the snow, with a thick and bright red trail of blood alongside them.

He spoke again, his voice shaky, and she looked down at him with clenched teeth, not sure what to say. "Captain, with all due respect... I won't make it there and find you again before night falls. You know how cold it'll get, there's no way you'll make it out here on your own. I'm staying, sir."

She had to get him warm... With him being soaking wet from snow under his armor, that would be easier said than done. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to think as she looked over the bodies of the Rithnarians. Each bore a thick animal pelt coat over their shoulders, and she moved quickly to gather them, shamelessly plundering the still-warm bodies. She returned to where the captain lay with an armload of what was essentially blankets, dropping them beside him before kneeling down in the snow.

"Your armor, sir... Can you take it off? Just the outer layer, and we'll use these to keep you warm..." She was trying to do a hundred things at once, at least in her mind. She needed to get him warm, she needed to at least try to stop the bleeding from his leg... But in the cold, it already appeared to be slowing, so her main focus was beating the hypothermia that was sure to set in soon.

Sighing and clenching her teeth again in a vain attempt to stop her hands from shaking, she leaned closer to him, trying to help undo the buckles on his armor that would be more difficult for him to reach in his current position. When she was able to loosen the last of the buckles, she helped him take it off, leaving only the mostly dry layer of padding underneath.

Then, eyeing the darkening sky, she gave him a nervous smile, draping the furs over him.

"Is that any warmer?" she said quietly, hopefully. The temperature was dropping fast, and she soon found herself shivering as well, crossing her arms in front of her and sitting down in the snow a few feet away.