“Hey you!”

A sudden shout interrupted our conversation. Looking towards it I saw the elven child which Charr took care of.

“Rina, what are you…” A panicked voice followed behind her, but she just continued to walk towards us, wearing a stoic but also worried expression on her face.

“Make up with Chaa, he’s also sorry! He shouldn’t have to be excluded like this! You’re unfair!”

A paw came from behind, trying to grab her, but only grabbed the air as she sidestepped it. Then she continued on, only stopping when she was next to us.

“Don’t be so mean to him! He doesn’t want to be alone! He! He…” Just as sudden as she appeared her expression changed, her eyes wetting as if she was ready to burst into tears.

“My, my.” The old woman spoke up, reacting much sooner than Narva and I who where stunned by the sudden development. Reaching out she gently patted the child’s head. “It’s going to be fine.”

“They…”

“They will make up. And afterwards they will go back to playing with each other happily.” Saying so she stood up and lifted the child. With a pinch in her cheek she continued, “how about we leave them some room so that they talk. And in the meantime, we two will play with each other.”

“But!”

“This is something that they will have to solve between themselves. Now, I believe I should have something that should interest you in my bag.”

Saying this she left, though she sent a gaze towards each of us that stood still before doing so. And with their absence we began to stare at each other, no one wanting to breach the ice.

“So?” Eventually however the silence had been broken as Narva spoke out, her voice filled with a lingering bitterness. “Do you have anything to say?”

But when only silence followed her question, she raised her voice once more.

“If not then how about…” She stopped as I placed my hand on her shoulder. As she looked at me, I could see the anger in her face, but also disappointment. Though none of these emotions were directed at me.

“It’s okay.” Whatever happened when I left them had created a cliff between the two. And even though I was thankful for her aid she didn’t have to stand up for me and ruin their relationship even further. “We need to talk about it sometime. I don’t want to have to fight while our group is in,” I stopped for a moment as I thought about the correct word, “discord.”

My own cold voice came as a surprise, even to me. But after I thought about it for a moment, I couldn’t see it in a positive light any longer. While he may have been the one to ask me to join them, even multiple times, his actions were only for those he cared about. Not out of any feeling of companionship.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have acted like that.”

But did it mean that his actions were wrong? My own actions were the same. Maybe, if Narva asked me for it, I would have left with her, leaving them alone to fight for themselves. Or if Homura didn’t ask me to stay, then this place wouldn’t feel like it did right now, instead I would only notice a constant sense of discomfort that would cause me to leave sooner or later.

Ever since I accepted the black flame, the anger, other emotions began to rise with it. Darker emotions, that rested alongside it. At the same time however it made me even more grateful for all that I received from these two.

And while that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t condemn him for his actions, for Homura’s sake I would have to accept his apology. As she wouldn’t want this to separate the group even further than it already was.

“It’s okay. Let’s forget about it.”

Narva looked at me, unsatisfied, but she didn’t say anything else. And in response to my words Charr seemingly decided to follow along as he spoke his next words.

“How is she?”

“Her fever worsened again.”

He sighed. “She just didn’t listen to us. Instead she stepped out to follow after you.” Eventually, after suppressing his unwillingness to do so, he continued, his voice weak and unfocused. “You better take care of her.”

Then he stepped away, leaving us three alone as he walked after the old woman and Rina.

“Damn, why did you just accept that? He only said that he shouldn’t have treated you like that, not that he regrets doing so.” Narva raised her voice, though her words weren’t much of a question. “There is no way that’s enough.”

Her words elicited a smile from me. “Thank you. For worrying about me. But its fine now, just let it be.”

“Maybe for you, but I won’t just stand it. The next time he does something like that…”

I could only shake my head at her words as I felt gratitude for her anger.

Time passed as we rested inside the mountain. A short exploration showed that it looked just like the last one inside. Any signs of previous cultures lost to time. The passages at the bottom collapsed, leaving only one leading outside intact. And down below a gigantic chamber in which the light gathered.

As the light of the second day rose, we once more faced a problem that appeared prior. Just as we no longer had to face the cold, for a moment at least, stomachs began to grumble. And the little we had left would barely last for another week, even if we rationed.

But with fatigue and wounds piled up we couldn’t just move on to look for something. Especially as Homura was still out cold, with the remnants of her fever. And even then, our surroundings seemed bleak, as nothing grew inside the snow, and any monster was made of snow or ice. All until we remembered the other thing we found.

In the end, after ruminating any other option, we decided to split up for now. And in the light of the midday sun I faced the group that stepped out of the mountain, led by Narva.

“I should be the one to go.”

Narva, however, refuted my words. “You stay here and defend the others. We are only going to collect the rest of that wyvern corpse. These snow beasts haven’t even come since the storm left. We should be back by tomorrow morning at the latest.”

Her words were right, but I still had an odd sense of foreboding. “Take care.”

“Will do.” She stepped away, towards the assembled group. And while weaving she left towards the first mountain.