🅃🄾🅆🄰🅁🄳 🅃🄷🄴 🅂🅄🄽 - H&S

Newt was tired and he was cold. He knew that was likely how the others were feeling, too, but they kept walking anyway. He didn’t know much about the world beyond his country’s borders, but he knew that they didn’t often experience blizzards or even snow where the others were from. It was probably a rare occurrence. Did that mean that none of them knew how to survive this? Newt cast a look at some of the guards, noting the hard creases in their expressions. They were just as miserable as the rest of them, though they were at least allowed to put their hands in their pockets. How many of them would get frostbite if they didn’t stop and find someplace to warm up?
“Hey!” he shouted above the wind, eyes narrowed as another gust of snow threatened to blow him off his feet. “We’re going to all die if you don’t find somewhere to stop!” At worst, that would earn him a beating and he’d be dragged through the snow. At best, it would save them all. It was all Newt could do.

Zuko watched the prisoners carefully, making sure that none of them were planning on running. It was hard to tell, but based on the way the masked one kept looking around, he had a feeling that if any of them were going to run, it would be him. Well... Zuko would just have to keep an eye on him in case it happened. If it came down to it, Zuko was fairly certain he’d be able to catch him. His hands weren’t bound, for one, which would allow him a little bit more balance. He glanced at the others as well, gaze landing on Varian. The other boy was right in front of him, minding the prisoners with the same intensity Zuko was. It was hard to tell which way was forward and which way was backwards, but… they hadn’t turned, so they had to be going the same direction, right? He tried to quell the doubts in his head, even as he heard one of the prisoners shout. He couldn’t make out his words, but if he were trying to stir rebellion…
“Shut up!” Zuko barked, pulling his arms close to his chest in an attempt to banish the cold.

Noah glanced at Ronan, heart thudding in his chest as he realized how low the visibility was getting because of the storm. They needed to find shelter, soon. Blizzards were survivable, but only if you knew what you were doing. Only if you had a way to hide from the snow and the wind. The last thing any of them needed was to fall victim to frostbite or hypothermia, and they wouldn’t have much of an opportunity to find shelter unless they acted soon. He pressed just a little closer to Ronan, wanting to keep him within eyeshot. With how poor the visibility was, he could easily imagine losing his best friend in an unexpected gust. It wasn’t a risk he wanted to take. Besides, the closer he was to Ronan, the further away he was from any of the guards.

Nico froze as Newt’s shout reached his ears. He knew the boy was right, but that didn’t mean he wanted to admit it. Like it or not, they were going to die unless they found a place to stop. The storm was already making it hard to see, and with how quickly it was erasing their footprints behind them… he shuddered. It would be too easy for them to get lost. With how treacherous the mountains were even at the best of times… getting lost could mean the end for them. No going home, no bringing the prisoners back, nothing. He didn’t think it was just a ploy for them to set the prisoners free. He could feel the severity of the blizzard as it continued to bluster around them.
“Juuzou,” Nico said, calling out the name of his friend as he sped up just enough to catch up with him. “Maybe… maybe we should stop for today. Find someplace to stay until the blizzard passes. I mean… no use in us bringing back dead prisoners, right?”

Wylan was less used to the cold than he assumed some of his companions were. He had been born on the other side of the border. He had been raised where winter meant rain, not snow. There was no reason for him to get acclimated to blizzards. He had been caught by surprise the first time a storm had swept across the city once he found himself as part of Kelsier’s crew. He had bundled up in as many blankets as he could, letting himself weather the stares and laughter from the others. He was weak to the cold, but they likely weren’t equipped to deal with heat swells and fires. Their climate was different, and almost certainly no more well-rounded than Wylan’s.
At least they were travelling in a fairly tight clump. It made it easier to pretend that the body heat he could feel wafting from the others was enough to survive on. He could see his breath fogging the air, and he wanted nothing more than to curl up somewhere cozy and listen to Kelsier’s impossible plans.
Without thinking, Wylan pushed his bound wrists closer to Spook. It wasn’t the same as holding hands, but it was the closest he could come to it now.

Hunter stayed near the middle, eyes narrowed as he tried to keep himself moving forward. It was hard to think, with it being so cold… he wished he had more layers, but all he had was his cape. Why had he thought that a cape would be heavy enough? He cursed under his breath, grateful that the howling wind took away the sound. He didn’t want the others questioning why he thought it was appropriate to comport himself like that when they were on a mission. Some of them had dirtier mouths than he did, but Belos had raised him properly. He wasn’t supposed to swear. It was a sign of a poor vocabulary. Right now, though, he didn’t think he gave a shit about vocabulary. He just wanted to get out of the snow. He glanced back at Kenma, wondering if the other boy had any idea of what to do. While they were all very capable people, Kenma was the most logical. If anyone was going to know what to do here, it was him. Or the prisoners, but Hunter did his best not to entertain that thought. The prisoners weren’t going to help unless they were untied, and untying them was absolutely unthinkable. They would have the advantage in a snowstorm, and it would be easy enough for them to leave their guards behind. It wasn’t a risk worth taking.

Hinata breathed out, shivering slightly as he pressed closer to the others in the group. He heard Newt, but he had to be honest – he didn’t think that was going to work. It would work if their enemies were nice, but they really weren’t. They had targeted the only other kids on the battlefield, and now they were headed… well, he didn’t know where, but he had a feeling it wasn’t anywhere nice. If anyone had a chance of making it by running, it was probably Hinata. The thing was… he didn’t want to leave any of his friends behind. He couldn’t imagine what horrors were planned for them, and he wouldn’t leave his friends to suffer that kind of fate alone. Besides, running in this cold was just as likely to get him killed as it was to take him to freedom.
He glanced back at one of the guards – Not-So-Scary-With-Cool-Hair – and tried to figure out what the plan was. Surely they couldn’t be hoping to keep walking through the whole storm? This was just the start of it. It was only going to get worse.

Newt glanced back at Sal, slowing just enough that he could walk beside his friend. Were they friends? It was hard to tell. He couldn’t remember anything from his life before, only what had happened after he’d woken up in a training facility and told he was going to be fighting in the war. He hadn’t even known there was a war on. He hadn’t know what the sides stood for. As time went on and he learned more, he became increasingly grateful he had been chosen by the side he had. He couldn’t imagine fighting for world domination. As time went on, though… the thing was, he could see himself reflected in his captors. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be fighting a war against other kids when he hadn’t even been given the chance to talk to anyone from the other side. What made them so different? It wasn’t like it was their war to fight. Still, as long as they saw each other as mortal enemies, they would be in danger. Newt and the others knew how to survive a snow storm. Their captors most certainly didn’t.

Zuko turned as the prisoner closest to him started speaking as well. The one he had anticipated might try to run, if the situation called for it. Running now was a foolish idea, but Zuko couldn’t be too sure how intelligent his prisoners were. As far as he was aware, they were all idiots. They hadn’t given any indication otherwise, though Zuko was inclined to believe they were likely reckless, not stupid. He could understand that, at least. He could be reckless, but he wasn’t as stupid as other people acted like he was. He may not have thought ahead as often as he should have, but he was still plenty intelligent enough to fight. He had managed to help capture these prisoners, hadn’t he?
“Where do you think we’re going to get shelter?!” Zuko shot back, lifting a hand to try to cut the intensity of the wind as it blew over them. “Just keep moving forward!”

Noah didn’t know exactly what Ronan was planning, but he did know that if any of the guards saw him trying to get out of the rope, they would all likely be in trouble. Noah hadn’t quite been able to get a gauge on how cruel the guards were. They were making them walk through this storm, which wasn’t very kind, but Noah had a feeling that had more to do with ignorance than it did outright malicious intent. That said, they had still captured them. They were still leading them somewhere that was probably unpleasant. Nobody took prisoners anywhere nice. Especially since he had heard one of the guards say something to another about ‘evidence.’ Noah lifted his bound hands to rub at his cheek. He didn’t like the idea of being evidence. He snuck just a little bit closer to Ronan, trying to block the sightline of the nearest guard. If the only thing he could do was provide Ronan some cover, he would gladly do it.

Stopping was sounding more tempting by the minute. Nico knew that the prisoners might be lying to get out of their restraints, but where could they possibly go now? The wind was howling louder and louder, and Nico was slowly coming to terms with the fact that if they didn’t stop now, they were going to end up turned around with no way to know where they were. The mountains were dangerous enough even without the storm. If they had the storm to contend with as well… he shuddered at the thought.
“I think the prisoner has a point,” Nico told Juuzou, his voice practically a shout as he tried to be heard over the wind. He didn’t necessarily want the prisoners to know what he and Juuzou were discussing, but he had a feeling that even Juuzou wouldn’t know what he was saying if he spoke any quieter. “I… don’t know,” he managed after a moment, looking around for any sign of somewhere to stop. “If one of the prisoners has an idea… that might be worth looking into! We can… ask?”

Wylan wasn’t sure they were all going to survive this experience. He hadn’t been convinced when they were taken prisoner, and he was even less certain now that they had to wade through a blizzard that was as likely as not to kill them. Wylan may not have been in a colder climate for very long, but he had learned how to survive minor snow storms. Even he knew that they weren’t going to make it for very long if they kept walking. Would he have been as foolish as these guards if he had never made his way Northwards to escape his father and volunteer to fight for the side he truly believed in? His wrists were burning, the friction of the rope against them making the windburn that much worse.
“We’ll be okay,” Wylan whispered to Spook, trying to give the other boy some reassurance. “Even if they don’t let us stop, we just… keep walking. And as long as we have each other, we’ll be okay.”

Hunter knew that he wasn’t one of the most skilled on their team. He also knew that meant he was a likely target if one of the prisoners decided to break through. He, Varian, and Kenma were the weak spots. They all had something to add to the team, of course, or else they wouldn’t be there. They just… weren’t as good at fighting. Kenma was the mastermind behind all of their strategy and Varian was the only reason their technology was as advanced as it was. Hunter knew he played a role, too, but he didn’t think his position was as easily definable as the others. If he had to be honest with himself, he would classify himself as the weakest link in their team. But he was useful. He would be okay as long as he could stay useful. He kept an eye on the other prisoners, keeping his eyes peeled for motion when he heard a voice behind him.
“Kenma,” he replied, slowing down just enough for the other boy to catch up to him. “What… where do you think there’s going to be shelter out here? I mean…” he gestured with his staff for emphasis, eyeing the barren, white landscape. “I don’t disagree, but… how?”

Nobody would call Hinata Shōyō quiet. It just wasn’t a skill in his wheelhouse. If you were looking for someone in their little group who would be good at spying and eavesdropping, the right person would likely be either Spook or Wylan. Still, since he was the closest to Not-So-Scary-With-Cool-Hair and Scary-With-Cool-Hair, he was the most likely to be able to overhear what they were saying. He could see some of the other guards talking a little further up in the group, but he wasn’t close enough to hear them. He lagged just a little bit, pretending there was a rock in his shoe as he tried to get close enough to the two guards to hear what they were saying. He wasn’t sure they could plan an escape plan with guards as competent as Angry, Edgy, and Smiley, but they could still do something if they knew their enemy’s strategy, right?

Newt didn’t want to risk putting any more of them in danger, but the truth was they were all going to die if something wasn’t done soon. He hated that Sal had started shouting, too, though he understood why. The more of them that spoke up, the more likely it was that they were going to be noticed. Then more likely it was that they might be listened to. They hadn’t had enough time together to plot anything, and there was no way that they would be able to come up with a plan on the fly this quickly that all of them were in on. If only one or two of them spoke – especially two of them walking so close together – this could get dangerous very fast. If they started questioning Newt and Sal for inciting rebellion, then Newt would do his best to take the fall for it. Sal had family to go back to. What did Newt have? He pushed the thought away. He had Tommy, and Minho, and… no, he couldn’t think about that now.
He turned, standing his ground as well as he glared at the guard who had yelled, then at the guard with a blue streak in his hair. He didn’t want to incur their wrath, but if it would save the others…

Zuko glanced at Varian, grateful for the backup. Stopping felt like an incredibly bad idea, though he didn’t see how their prisoners could use it as an escape attempt. They were still surrounded, and if they got themselves cornered in a cave or something, they’d be even less likely to be able to fight their way out. It just… didn’t make sense. Zuko took in a breath, nodding at Varian for a long moment before he approached the two idiots who were making a stand.
“Like I’m supposed to believe you have any better idea?” Zuko asked, eyes flashing as he looked the boy with the blue pigtails in the eye. “If you see somewhere to pull aside and take shelter, feel free to point it out. Right now, there’s nowhere like that, and we’re going to be wasting time trying to make shelter appear. The fastest way out of this is to keep going. You won’t question me again, understand?”

Noah didn’t want to look at Ronan’s wrists. He knew they were probably raw and painful, and as much as he wanted to help, he knew that drawing attention to Ronan’s wrists would only alert the guards that there was something strange going on. He didn’t know that Ronan was planning on attacking one of them, but he did have a feeling his friend was up to something other than just loosening his restraints. If he had known the truth… he might have insisted that Ronan try to free him, too. He may not have been very good at fighting, but surely the two of them together would be more effective than just Ronan…
He stopped, eyes widening as he realized the two in front of them had stopped, too. He hadn’t been listening to what Newt and Sal were saying. Maybe he should have been, but he was preoccupied with making sure that Ronan wasn’t going to get himself noticed and eventually killed. He was about to say something to Ronan when he heard footsteps breaking through the whirling of the wind in his ears.
“Ronan!” Noah hissed, almost backing into his friend when he realized the deadliest of the guards was right in front of him. He hoped his friend had enough time to hide the evidence that he was trying to get the restraints off.
“Uh… hi…”

Nico knew that unless they figured out how to find shelter, they might have a full scale riot on their hands. That was about the last thing he wanted to deal with… It had been difficult enough capturing the prisoners the first time. If they had to fight them again in the snow… he didn’t know if they were going to win, particularly since the prisoners had more experience in the snow than he or any of the other guards did. He bit his lip, giving Juuzou a small nod as he went to interrogate the smudgy boy. He wasn’t sure who he would have picked. Not the two who had stopped walking, certainly. And probably not the boy who seemed about ready to fight them any time they so much as looked in his direction.
The unrest in the group was growing. Nico let his hand rest on his sword, both a comforting gesture to him and a reminder to the prisoners that he was skilled with the blade and unafraid to use it if he needed.

Wylan glanced at Spook, desperately wanting to believe him. He didn’t know how much longer they could survive in this cold, and he doubted the guards were going to listen to them when it came to finding shelter. Newt and Sal were raising a fuss about it up ahead of them, but he had a feeling that was just going to anger the guards more rather than make them find some place for them to stay. His wrists were burning where the rope was rubbing against them, his skin already turning red from windburn. It was cold and the wind was burning more fiercely than Wylan remembered it ever doing before.
“We’ll be okay,” he echoed, lightly bumping his shoulder against Spook’s. He may not have known the other boy long, but he trusted him implicitly. He had proven through struggle that he was worth that trust. If he said they were going to be okay… then Wylan was going to do everything he could to believe it.

Hunter had a lot of respect for everyone who had been placed in their little team. They may not have been adults, but they were more confident than a lot of the fully adult battalions. Even Kenma and Varian, who Hunter knew doubted themselves, were some of the most impressive people he had ever met. Hunter had to wonder sometimes how he had been chosen. It probably had something to do with being Belos’ nephew. He doubted he would have even been considered if it weren’t for that connection. He tried not to let it get to him, but it was hard to avoid thinking about it.
“So what do you think?” Hunter asked, pulling his cloak tighter around him as though that would block out the wind that felt like it might cut him to his core. It was colder than he had ever experienced before. Somehow, he doubted that there was anybody who had experience surviving cold like this. “It’s not like they can just make shelter appear out of thin air if there’s nowhere around for us to stay!” He followed Kenma’s gaze, frowning just a bit as he realized that one of the prisoners was now within earshot. “They might know how to survive, but doesn’t that just mean they know how to get us killed?”

Hinata drew just a little bit closer, frowning as he listened to them speak. He thought Not-So-Scary-With-Cool-Hair was probably the more reasonable of the two, but that didn’t really mean anything. He could be reasonable while still being an enemy. Just because he was willing to recognize that they knew how to survive a blizzard didn’t mean he would be willing to let them take the reins on this one. And even if he did, he had five friends with him who probably wouldn’t be so willing to let their prisoners provide their expertise.
“I’ve faced blizzards before,” he announced, trying to keep his voice low enough that it would carry back to both of the Cool Hair guards but not to anyone else. “They’re right. We need to find shelter.” He was silent for another couple of seconds before he crossed his arms and another thought occurred to him.
“We don’t live here, here, you know. We’re not all mountain dwelling hermits.”

Zuko could tell that Sal was trying to protect the other boy – he didn’t know what that meant. Were they close? Did the other boy have something to hide, or did the boy with the blue pigtails just think the other boy was at risk because he had shouted first? It was hard to tell. The only thing that was truly clear was that they were both trying to protect each other, and neither one thought that Zuko was anything other than bad news.
“It’s not about feeling leaderly!” Zuko retorted, though he wasn’t sure ‘leaderly’ was even a word. He had never been particularly good with languages, though he tried to sound as polished and refined as his family expected. “It’s about getting through this in one piece!”
The thing was, they had a common goal here. Sal had a point, too. The other side was familiar with blizzards. They probably all knew how to deal with one. Their parents had probably taken them aside and told them how to survive a blizzard in much the same way Ursa had taught Zuko how to survive a hurricane.
“How do you propose we find shelter, then?” Zuko asked, arms crossing as he looked at the other boy. The hardness in his tone made it seem like more of a challenge than it was. He was being genuine, even if he wasn’t certain he trusted the prisoner’s answer. He was cold. He wanted to know how to make it through this (mostly) unscathed.

Newt saw the way Sal edged in front of him. He didn’t like that. Of the two of them, he had a feeling that Sal was the more vulnerable. He might have been more of a target because he had shouted first, but it was a lot easier to hurt Sal than it was to hurt Newt. First and foremost, Newt didn’t have to worry about anyone taking his face. The guards didn’t seem cruel, per se, but if the angry guard thought that taking Sal’s face would make him talk, then Newt had no doubt he would do it.
“Look for depressions in the snow,” Newt replied, trying to pull attention back towards himself. He knew that Sal would probably have a better explanation of it, as he remembered surviving more blizzards, but that didn’t mean that Newt couldn’t at least try to protect him, too. He had seen the way the guard had looked between them. Hew as deciding which of them to be more wary of. Probably trying to figure out which of them would be easiest to take advantage of.
The other guard was a problem, too. Newt eyed him, trying to figure out what he was thinking. If Zuko confronting them was just a ploy to hide whatever cruelty the other guard was planning. He was just a kid, but that didn’t mean anything. He was the enemy.

Nico eyed Juuzou’s approach of the prisoners for a few moments, watching to make sure they didn’t try to pull anything. He doubted they would be quite that stupid, but desperate people did foolish things. Nico knew that one from experience. He also knew that Juuzou would be able to handle it if he did find himself in a scrape, but having backup was never a bad thing. Nico was self sufficient. He could fight as many people as he needed to and still come out the other side, but something about having the other boys to watch his back had made him feel just a little safer. He hoped Juuzou felt the same way.
He wasn’t worried about the prisoner that Juuzou was speaking to. That one seemed shy and scared, and he hadn’t done anything to indicate that he might try to escape. He had avoided Nico’s attention (which was possibly a ploy in and of itself). Either way, he was unlikely to try anything with Juuzou’s full attention on him. It was the other boy that Nico was going to keep an eye on. The one who had stopped what he was doing as soon as Juuzou had approached. Nico edged slightly closer, a nonverbal signal to the boy that he was watching.

Noah was terrified of Ronan getting caught. He knew his friend was careful, and he knew it was unlikely, but just because it wasn’t probable didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen. If the guard in front of him decided to check on Ronan’s restraints, what would he see? Would he be able to tell that Ronan had been working as hard as he could to get out of the restraints? Would he punish him? Noah repressed the shudder that ran through him at the thought.
“Hi,” he said instead, turning his gaze just enough to look at his captor. He wasn’t sure what he expected. He knew that they were all going to be questioned eventually, and he had a feeling torture would be involved if they didn’t cooperate, but he hadn’t anticipated any of that to begin before they got wherever they were going. Perhaps their captors were beginning to realize that they weren’t going to get where they were going until they found a way to let the storm pass them by.
“You don’t mess with a storm,” Noah said after a moment, staring at his feet. “You get out of its way.The snow isn’t yet deep enough that shelter will be impossible to find.”

If Wylan were perfectly honest with himself, he was fairly certain they were going to die. He didn’t know how to survive a blizzard himself (not well, at least), but he could recognize the experience of those hew as traveling with. He could recognize that they were capable enough to get them somewhere where they could survive the night. That wasn’t going to happen if they kept walking.
“Maybe they’ll listen to the others,” Wylan whispered under his breath, just loud enough for Spook to hear him if the wind didn’t steal the words away. Thankfully, the maelstrom remained quiet enough for him to speak. “Maybe we won’t die here.” Although… he had to admit, if he had to die next to someone, Spook was a pretty fantastic pick.

Hinata didn’t know he was being tricked. He might realize it eventually, when it became clear that Kenma was getting information out of him, but even then it wasn’t likely he would mind. It was information that the guards needed if any of them were going to survive the storm. Hinata wasn’t sure he cared how that information spread as long as it resulted in his friends staying alive just a few days longer. He didn’t know what would happen when they got where they were going, but for now… they hadn’t been separated. And there was always going to be strength in numbers.
“You can see it,” Hinata replied calmly, a small smile pressing at his lips. “It’s not super obvious if you don’t know what you’re looking for, but some parts of mountains are more likely to have caves than others. If you know what you’re looking for, then it’s much easier. Why? Are you planning on finding us shelter? Because that sorta seems like the only way we’re all gonna survive this, and I don’t wanna tell you what to do or anything, but…”

There was no denying that Kenma was a genius of some sort. Hunter was well regarded in his own right, but even he found Kenma well above average. He had gotten the prisoner to speak to them. To give them valuable information (which could, of course, be a trap, but it was still something to try. It was more than they had just moments before). He had done so without any form of coercion, and the prisoner was freely giving information as though they were old friends. Although, Hunter reflected, that probably had about as much to do with the prisoner’s disposition as it did with Kenma’s skill.
It felt wrong to trust them. It felt inherently wrong to believe that they might be the way they survived the night. But if that was the only option… Hunter grit his teeth, standing guard and keeping pace with Kenma and the boy. He needed to be ready to interfere at any disturbance, even a hair out of place.

Sal was right. Newt didn’t want him putting himself in danger, but he couldn’t undo it now. The best they could hope for was that the guard would actually be willing to listen. It didn’t seem like he wanted to at the moment, but if all of them refused to keep going… well, if they did nothing they would die. If they did something and raised a ruckus about it, then they might die. It was a risk Newt was willing to take. He hated risking the rest of them like this, but if he and Sal did nothing, then all of them would die anyway.
Still, the way Sal was going about it seemed… well, more likely to anger the guards than it was make them listen. He had never heard such fire in Sal’s tone before, but perhaps it was a good thing he was getting angry. If that was the only way to get their voices heard… he hesitated, glancing over at the shorter guard as he spoke up.
“We’re not stalling,” Newt said after a moment, leveling his gaze up to meet Varian’s. “We don’t have any idea where we are, do you really think we have some sort of elaborate trap set up?” He was trying to sound reasonable about it, but it was hard to think with the wind cutting through him like he was nothing.
“We need each other,” Newt returned, just loud enough to be heard over the wind. “We don’t know where we are. We need you to help us get out of here. You need us alive for… well, whatever you captured us for, and we can help you stay alive through the blizzard.”

Zuko glanced over at Varian for a long second, uncertain whether to side with him and shut down the prisoners, or to listen to them and try to find shelter. He tried to look at the others, but the wind and the snow had grown so thick that he could barely see the others just in front of him. They needed to get out of the wind as quickly as possible. Was it possible the others had wandered terribly far from them, or were they just out of sight? He tried to breathe, then glanced back at the one who had spoken back.
“Fine,” he said after a moment, glancing at Varian and gesturing at his weapon to make sure that Varian was ready in case the prisoner tried anything.
“If you try to run,” Zuko informed Sal, “You will be dead before you make it five steps.” He raised his sword, eyes flashing as he cut through Sal’s bonds.
“Find us all shelter.”

Nico could tell that there was something else in the boy’s eyes. None of them were beaten down (in truth, he hoped he never saw them truly beaten down), but Ronan seemed the most likely to try something. Although… some of the ones near Varian and Zuko seemed ready to start something as well.
Capturing other kids was a double edged sword. On one hand, it was proof that the other side had no moral high ground. On the other hand, it meant that they were likely to be as serious about this war as Nico and the others were. They had been told that this was the only way. They had never been given a chance to think for themselves… Nico shook his head, staring at the ground for a long moment before he let his gaze rest on Ronan once again.
There was something he was missing… something that was going on with the boy that he wasn’t seeing. Who had convinced him to join this war? What had he been told to make him believe it? Nico had only just begun to see through the lies he’d been told. He knew enough to know that the war was more complicated than they believed it. He didn’t know enough to truly question his side.
There.
“You’ll injure yourself,” Nico told him, voice as quiet as he could get it while still being heard over the wind. “If you’re going to try to escape, at least do it in a way that won’t cause you more pain.”

Noah knew that the guard wouldn’t be able to hear him if he was much further away, but that didn’t mean he liked the way the guard was pressing close to him, walking close enough that he could be easily attacked or tackled to the ground. Noah didn’t trust the guard not to attack him merely for saying the wrong thing. What was the right thing to say here? Nervously, Noah edged a pace away.
“I’m not the best at it,” Noah admitted, rubbing at his arm. “But I know the way my parents did it, and I’m sure there are some in our group who have actually done it before without help… it’s possible.”
If Juuzou made Noah do it, then he would do his best. But he knew he wouldn’t be the best. He was as like to get them more lost as he was to find a suitable shelter.

Wylan could sense tension brewing in the guards and his friends. Friends? He didn’t know whether they were friends or not. He trusted them all with his life and more, because they’d been in this together for months, but… he didn’t know if they were friends. Even if they weren’t, he found he hated the thought of any of them hurt.
He swallowed, trying to cross his arms in spite of the rope tied between them. He could feel the way the guards were pressing in, see the panic on the faces of the others that were nearest him. He couldn’t see much beyond Spook, but he saw enough to know.
“No matter what?” Wylan asked, voice smaller than he meant it to be. He found it difficult to believe that things would be okay, especially with the raising voices he heard ahead of him and Spook. Was that Sal or one of the guards? He shuddered, trying to press just a little bit closer to his friend.

Hunter found he could scarcely hear what Kenma was saying, though he was only a few paces in front of him. His heart was pounding, his eyes wide as he realized the danger they were in. If they got separated in this blizzard… he didn’t have to know anything about surviving a storm to know that they wouldn’t live if they were on their own. Hunter had always preferred to work alone, to prove himself as an individual instead of as part of a group. He had wanted to be in charge, to show that he was special. That he was worth something. He was the least important of their little group. If any of them died here… well, none of them were going to prove themselves.
Hunter edged closer, eyes narrowing just a little as he tried to get back within earshot of Kenma and the short, ginger prisoner. If Kenma was able to trick answers out of him, then maybe they would be able to survive this. They should have turned aside earlier, found shelter before the wind had picked up the way it had. They shouldn’t have gotten themselves into a position where they needed to rely on the prisoners for their own survival.

Hinata could feel the cold getting to him. He was more used to it than he figured some of the others were, but he still didn’t like it. He shuddered, brown eyes lifting to meet Kenma’s as he considered his words. He couldn’t say for the others that they could help find shelter, but if it got them all somewhere safe… would they be okay with it?
“It is possible to find shelter,” he returned, voice barely understandable through the shivering in his voice. “This is the kind of cold that can kill you if you stay out in it for too long.” Hinata was painfully aware of the fact that his hands and the hands of most of the others were exposed. If they were to stay out for too long, they were likely to develop frostbite. He breathed out, eying Hunter carefully to make sure he didn’t get himself too surrounded by enemy guards.
It was hard to think of Kenma as an enemy. He really did seem like he was trying to help, even if he was only doing it to save his own people. Saving his people would mean saving their prisoners as well. At least they could be united in this.

Newt hesitated, eyes wide as he watched the guard slice through Sal’s restraints. He hadn’t expected that, but he was even more worried now. If Sal couldn’t find shelter, what would the guard do to him? Would Sal be blamed? Based on what the shorter guard was saying… it seemed he would.
“It’s not that Sal is the only one who can do it!” Newt shouted, hoping to stop the guards from blaming Sal. “It’s not an exact science, we just… have more practice than you do!” There was a note of desperation in his tone – he couldn’t see the rest of the group very well. He didn’t know how much time they had before there was no chance of finding shelter. Before they would lose each other for good. They should have spoken up sooner, but Newt had hoped the guards would have some good sense…

Zuko’s eyes narrowed just a bit as he looked Sal. He didn’t know the other boy. He couldn’t draw parallels between the two of them. He couldn’t afford to. In Sal’s position, what would he do? If the others on his side were the same, if he was still fighting side by side with Nico and Juuzou and Varian and Hunter and Kenma… no, he didn’t know what he would do. He wouldn’t want to leave, but if it meant he could get home… he shifted uncomfortably. He wouldn’t leave, if he were in Sal’s shoes. He knew leaving was the smart thing to do, but for some reason he believed Sal. Besides, he barely knew where they were, and he had been this way before. There was no way any of them had their bearings. It would be incredibly foolish to try to leave. And if one or two of them died on the way… they could still prove their point when they brought the prisoners home.
“Just help us find shelter,” he said after a moment, watching his tone carefully. He didn’t want to get into an argument now, not when they both needed each other. “And uh…” he hesitated, glancing at Varian as he tried to figure out whether to keep speaking or to keep his thought to himself. “If you need help, just tell me what to do. I’d rather none of us die, and… and we’re all going to, if we can’t find somewhere to weather the storm.” He didn’t like having to rely on an enemy for help, but if it allowed them all to keep their lives… he would do whatever it took.

“No,” Nico replied, crossing his arms as he looked at Ronan. He glanced behind him, eyes narrowing as he realized one of the other prisoners was untied. He could barely see him through the snow, and anything he and Zuko were saying to each other was snatched away by the wind. Whatever was going on… it seemed Zuko had it under control. Maybe they wouldn’t need to question Noah. While it was annoying that Zuko had taken such a decision into his own hands without consulting any of them… it might save their lives. If they had to let one prisoner free to save all of them, then it was a small price to pay. Although… he had to wonder how they were going to get the prisoner back in ropes. ‘Oh, yeah, you saved all of our lives, but we still have to chain you up and take you to our parents who will probably torture and then kill you…’ it shifted in Nico’s stomach, harsh and uncomfortable.
“I’m just saying, you’re no good to anyone, especially yourself if you’ve injured your wrists that badly.” If they were on the same side, Nico would have spent more time coming up with better ways for him to slip from his restraints. As it was, if he continued how he was going, the injured wrists would make it easier to catch him and chain him up again. He should be grateful for Ronan’s stupidity. Instead, it just sat in a harsh knot in his chest. This was wrong. He just didn’t know which part.

Noah swallowed, unsure how to answer that. He wanted to say he knew for sure that they could find something, but with the storm as bad as it was… he didn’t know. He stared at the ground, then at Ronan. He couldn’t hear what the guard was saying to his friend, but he had a feeling it wasn’t good. He wanted to hate the guards, but he couldn’t summon any hate. The best he could do was fear.
“It would be almost impossible without being able to feel the ground and the area around us,” Noah admitted, shuddering against the snow. “It’s not certain we could find something with the snow as heavy as it is, but we can at least start looking for a place to stop that might have shelter. We can’t verify that it’s actually shelter unless we can feel it, though. And it’s not… it’s not something you can just do, because if you put your hand in the wrong spot, you could be risking an avalanche, and that’s… probably worse.”

Wylan wasn’t sure he believed Spook, no matter how much he wanted to. He narrowed his eyes, trying to see ahead of him. Trying to figure out how they were going to survive this. A flash of blue moving slightly ahead of the guards surprised him – he couldn’t see much, but given the way Sal was moving, it seemed like he was free. Wylan’s eyes widened and he nudged Spook gently, trying not to alert any of the guards in case they hadn’t noticed yet. He dipped his head, hoping Spook saw the same thing he did. Hoping that maybe, just maybe, Sal would be able to save them all.
“Yes,” he added, trying to finagle his hands so they rested closer to his heart. He wished they were closer to Spook’s heart instead, but… he would never be able to have that. He would have to be content with warming himself. Besides, he needed to seem to the guards like he was unperturbed, so they wouldn’t notice Sal.

Hinata frowned, shuddering against the cold as he looked at Kenma, then gave a slow nod. He didn’t know if it was dangerous to give away secrets like this to an enemy, but if he didn’t… he didn’t want to think of his friends dying here. He couldn’t conceptualize his own death, but the thought of Wylan and Spook falling and dragging each other down, each of them curling in on each other… the thought of Ronan doing everything he could to keep Noah warm even at the expense of himself… no, he couldn’t let his friends die. He just couldn’t.
“There’ll be like… a little divot in the ground. It’s hard to spot, but if you find one, it usually means there’s a crevice that doesn’t have any snow. And if you’re lucky, it’ll be a whole cave.”

Hunter’s eyes widened, just enough to be barely noticeable. He glanced at Kenma, clearly impressed that the other boy had managed to eke out something so useful from the prisoner. If they could find shelter, then they would all survive this. Of course…
“It could be a trap,” Hunter yelled, not caring if the prisoner could hear him. His main concern was making sure Kenma heard him over the wind, which seemed more and more unlikely the louder it howled. “If he thinks that sacrificing himself and the others will keep his side safe… we should… we should try to find a way to check what he’s saying is true!”

Newt’s eyes narrowed a little as he watched the other guard. He seemed scared, which was never a good sign. Scared guards took drastic measures, and Newt wasn’t sure he wanted to deal with the aftermath of whatever was going to happen here. He just had to hope that Sal would find some sort of shelter. It was a lot of pressure to put on the other boy, but of their group, he and Sal were the best in a crisis. Not that the others were bad, but… there was probably a reason they had been the ones to speak out. Newt felt his heart hammering in his chest, but he didn’t let that impact his physical demeanor. He had to remain calm. If Sal found shelter, they would need someone to keep their head and get everyone inside. And make sure that their captors didn’t leave anyone behind in the snow to die. He couldn’t panic now. Especially since there was now a chance they could survive this.

Zuko hesitated, unsure why the other boy was so willing to give his name. If they knew his name, it would be that much easier to track down where he was from and figure out how he had ended up as a soldier. Wasn’t that the point? To prove that the other side didn’t have the moral high ground they thought they did? If they could prove that, then anyone who was siding with the others on the basis of them not using child soldiers would be forced to reconsider their position. But this… this wasn’t the time to worry about that. Was that why the boy had given his name? There was no way that Zuko could trust him, even if they were working together in the moment.
Slowly, Zuko began to follow the boy, making sure to keep him within eyeshot. It was hard with how much the wind was picking up, but he was determined not to let him go. He kept glancing behind him as well, making sure not to lose the others. If the boy… if Sal was leading him into a trap, it would be best to make sure the others could see where he had gone so they wouldn’t all fall for it.
“Zuko,” he said after a moment, prodding at a pile of snow with one of his swords. It didn’t give way into a cave like he had hoped. In truth, he didn’t know what Sal was looking for, just that there had to be signs of shelter somewhere.
“Can I... can I help?” he asked awkwardly, unsure how to navigate such an unfamiliar situation.
“What are you looking for?” Zuko added sharply after a moment, trying to keep in mind what his father would have said. What would make him seem strong. What would make him someone who deserved to be followed, not someone who deserved to be shunted aside.

Nico bit his lip, trying to stop himself from shaking as much as he was. He really, really didn’t want to die here, but there wasn’t anything he could do. The most he could do was make sure that all of them stayed together. That included keeping an eye on the boy with the shaved head to make sure he didn’t make a break for it. He couldn’t help but feeling that making a break for it here with the weather like it was would be incredibly stupid, but he wasn’t going to antagonize the prisoner any further.
“I never said we were allies,” Nico replied, voice hard as he tried to stop himself from trembling. The wind was cutting through even his coat, and he was forced to admit that they wouldn’t make it much longer unless they found a way to take shelter. It seemed that both Juuzou and Zuko already had a solution to that. Cutting the prisoners free, while quite possibly dangerous, was also one of the only ways they could guarantee their own survival. Nico just had to make sure this prisoner stayed tied up. He seemed like he had the most experience fighting, anyway.
“If you get your hands infected, one of us is going to have to figure out how to make the infection go down. We don’t have those kinds of resources.”

“It would probably be a very bad idea to run, anyway. It’s easier to stay warm when you have other people around,” Noah replied, though the threat was still worming its way under his skin. He didn’t want to die just because the guard had decided that he might know something about how to find shelter. He did know something about how to find shelter, but knowing how to do something in theory and actually doing it in practice were two very different things. He took a deep breath, gaze latching on where Juuzou’s hand had wrapped around his wrist. The knife the guard was holding made him uneasy, but it was something he was just going to have to get past if he wanted to survive this. He had a feeling doing nothing was just as likely to get him killed as running was.
“If we can look for anywhere it seems the snow is at a different level than the rest of it…” Noah murmured, moving forward. He could see Sal up ahead of him, looking in a different area. Instinct told him it would be safer if he could join his friend, but logic kept him where he was. There was too much ground to cover for them all to be looking in the same areas. “We should uh… start this way. Closer to the mountain, where there might be caves.” He tilted his head, pointing the guard in the opposite direction of Sal.

“We’ll be okay…” The words were a lot easier to echo than they were to believe, but Wylan had to have hope. He had to keep himself hopeful, because if he wasn’t… if he lost his way now, if he started to believe that they were going to die…
It was nice to have Spook there beside him. Nice to have someone to lean against, even though they couldn’t hold each other up. Nice to have someone to remind him that he wasn’t alone, even though this was quite possibly the worst day of his life. Although… he had been through things he never wanted to repeat. Maybe this was just the second-worst day of his life.
“Maybe they’ll find shelter,” Wylan whispered to Spook, letting a bit more of his weight sag against him. If they weren’t careful, they might both go down. Wylan wasn’t sure either of them would get back up if that happened. “Maybe… maybe we won’t even have to worry about being okay.”

Hinata glanced at Hunter, frowning a little at the warning the other guard gave the nice guard. He had thought the nicknames he had given them in his head would hold up, but considering he was currently surrounded by both Scary With Cool Hair and Not So Scary With Cool Hair, it was getting harder to keep them apart in his mind. He shrugged the thought off, instead focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. He had to admit he agreed with the guard who had spoken to him. They weren’t going to last long unless they did something, and no matter how much he squinted at the ground in front of him, he couldn’t see where he was going. He could barely see his friends, though he heard the familiar cadence of voices ahead of him. He had no idea what they were saying, or what was really going on. He just kept trudging forward, keeping an eye out for anything that might be shelter.

Hunter’s eyes narrowed, but he gave a firm nod. He didn’t like that Kenma was so close to the prisoner. He didn’t like the way the prisoner was looking at him. He didn’t like anything about this situation, especially not that the prisoners had grown up with weather like this. If anyone knew how to survive it, it would be them. If anyone knew how to make sure people they didn’t like didn’t survive it… he didn’t think it wise to trust anything they said. He had spent most of his life with a target on his back, though, so he didn’t like trusting anybody. Learning to trust the others on his side had been difficult enough. For now, he just had to hope he didn’t lose them to the weather. It seemed to be getting worse, though Hunter hadn’t even imagined that possible. No matter whether or not the prisoners were lying, they were right. If they didn’t find shelter, all of them would die.

Newt could tell there was a difference between the two guards. The angry one had seemed harder at the beginning, but it seemed the shorter one was the more likely to stab them. It had always been interesting to Newt that the more familiar someone was with a weapon, the less likely they were to end up stabbing you with it. He edged slightly away from the shorter guard, trying to keep an eye on Sal. He didn’t know what the guard was doing, letting him look for shelter, but he couldn’t help feeling grateful for it. It was the only chance they had at surviving this.
It was cold enough that he couldn’t feel his fingers anymore. He didn’t are look down, afraid to see them turning white instead of the red the cold caused. He couldn’t remember how long it took frostbite to set in, which… probably wasn’t a good thing. That was a fact he had known, at some point. Newt breathed out slowly, pushing forward as best he could. He may not have been untied like Sal was, but he could still look for any sign of shelter his friend might have missed. He didn’t think Sal would miss anything, but having two sets of experienced eyes was better than having none at all.

Zuko had never seen much use in a last name. Some people he knew had one, others didn’t. If he had to be honest, the fact that Sal hadn’t given a last name just meant he probably didn’t have one.
He wasn’t really thinking much about that, though. He was mostly thinking that it was odd Sal had even bothered to give his name and ask Zuko’s in return. He thought it was even stranger that he went through with the expected niceties. This wasn’t a place for niceties. This was a place where they were all going to die if they didn’t rely on each other.
“It’s not nice to meet me,” Zuko said suddenly, letting the wind carry his voice back over to Sal. “You don’t have to lie about that, I did take you prisoner.” It wasn’t so much that he thought Sal was lying, it was just that there was no point to them pretending this was a normal situation. It wasn’t normal. In Zuko’s opinion, that was sort of the point. He didn’t want the prisoners to be polite. If they were… he already had conflicted thoughts about turning them over to his father. He didn’t need any more.
“Gotcha,” he added, turning his full attention to searching for something that could be considered a disturbance in the snow. His eyes weren’t trained to find such discrepancies, but he hoped Sal would be able to find something. If not… he didn’t want to die carrying his father’s shame.

Nico pursed his lips but kept his mouth shut. There was nothing he had to say to Ronan. He didn’t want to deal with a prisoner with busted wrists, but he didn’t want the prisoner to have to deal with it either. He was so tired of causing people pain. He was so tired of being in pain himself. Clearly, though, he hadn’t chosen the right prisoner to show those feelings to. If Ronan wanted to wreck his wrists just to get free, fine. Nico wasn’t going to stop him, especially if he didn’t realize how stupid the idea was in the first place.
He let his gaze drift over to Juuzou. He couldn’t say he liked the idea of untying any of the prisoners, but he knew they needed to survive. He also knew they had defeated the prisoners once. It wouldn’t be terribly difficult to do it again, especially with them suffering from the cold. Nico, Juuzou, and Zuko may have been struggling with the cold as well, but they had all trained in extreme situations. They made a good team, especially if they had Kenma and Hunter’s strategies. Varian… well, if they had a way to make fire, Varian would be very useful. In this situation though, Nico was just grateful for one more set of hands to keep the prisoners in line. And though he had a hard time admitting it about anyone, he liked Varian. He was grateful he was there. He was one of only a handful of people Nico trusted.
“Back off,” Nico barked, stepping close enough to Ronan to force him away from Juuzou. “What’s happening here is none of your concern.”

Ronan’s words were enough to give Noah courage. He took in a deep breath, turning to his friend just enough to give him a small half-smile. He was cowardly by nature, but maybe he didn’t have to be cowardly now. Maybe he could just… trust that his friends had his back. There was the added pressure that they might all die if he didn’t find the kind of shelter he knew in theory how to find, but at least he could trust that none of them would blame him for it. Somehow, that seemed inadequate consolation.
“Thank you,” Noah murmured, fingers frozen as they grabbed the end of the rope Juuzou was offering. He did find it odd that Juuzou was more worried about Noah falling than he was about himself, especially given which of them was familiar with the environment, but Noah wasn’t going to question it.
Slowly, Noah began to make his way away from the group. He didn’t want to go so far that he lost sight of them, but he figured if there was shelter anywhere within eyeshot, one of them would have already found it. He had no doubt that all of them had their eyes peeled for shelter. If they wanted to find some, they would have to look in places they hadn’t yet looked. Even if that meant being forced to venture away from the only thing that promised any safety whatsoever.

Wylan needed to stop thinking about falling. The more he considered that it was a possibility, the harder it was to stay on his feet. He nudged Spook’s shoulder with his own, trying to remind him that he was there. That whatever happened, they would face it together. That was what they were doing here, wasn’t it? Keeping each other alive.
“I promise,” Wylan whispered, the words leaving his lips before he could think them through. He didn’t generally like to make promises he couldn’t keep, but he hadn’t allowed himself to consider this one before he made it. Hew thought, maybe, that if he made the promise, he would be forced to keep it no matter how impossible it seemed. They were going to survive this. Whatever else happened, neither of them was going to go down until there was some sort of shelter.
“I promise as long as you promise me, too.”

Hunter hated the situation in front of them. He didn’t like that the prisoners were being let loose. He especially didn’t like that they were relying on the prisoners to find them shelter. It would be so easy for any of them to betray them. If any of them decided that their individual lives didn’t matter in the face of this war, they could kill them all just as easily as they could save them. It just depended how much the prisoners wanted to survive. How likely they thought it was that they’d be able to either escape or be rescued.
“We should stay back just a little,” Hunter called to Kenma, hoping the other boy understood what he was saying.

“You don’t trust us!” Hinata said suddenly, eyes narrowed at Hunter. It shouldn’t have been a revelations ut he had figured they would at least trust them to find shelter. “You know, it’s not very good when a team wants two different things,” he added, directing his gaze at Kenma this time. “I mean… some of your team seems to think that letting a few of us go is a good way to survive. But you don’t seem to think that, because… well, I don’t know why, but I’m still tied up, so you don’t think that. And you,” he added, pointing a freezing cold finger at Hunter, “don’t think we should be let loose at all even though we’re saving your sorry butts!”

Newt knew they didn’t have very many options, but that didn’t mean he was willing to just believe that their captors weren’t going to kill them as soon as they were done being useful. He knew they were being kept as prisoners instead of killed for a reason (he doubted it was because they were kids, but it was interesting that their unit had been singled out. Maybe it was because they were seen as one of the easiest units to beat). What sort of information did their captors think they had?
“I can’t hurt you, you know,” he told the guard, watching as Sal and the angry guard ventured just a little bit further away. He didn’t want to lose them.
“I’m tied up and my hands are too frozen to even try to get out. And I’m not stupid enough to run. So… you could be useful and try to look for shelter, too.”

“Better,” Zuko replied, eyes narrowing. He knew it had been a rhetorical question, but it made him feel just a little bit better to actually answer. He needed to make sure that they didn’t get too comfortable with each other. They were on different sides of a war, and letting Sal out of his restraints wasn’t an offer of friendship. It was just the only thing he could do to save himself and his friends. He tried to tell himself that he didn’t care whether the prisoners lived or died, but it simply wasn’t the truth. They were people, too. They didn’t deserve to die, especially not because of the group of them. Sometimes Zuko thought he hadn’t been made for war. Not the way his father was. Not the way Azula was.
“Is this something?” Zuko called, kicking at a small divet in the ground. It didn’t appear to be anything other than a change in how the snow rested, but that was what they were looking for, right? He didn’t feel comfortable investigating it himself… of the two of them, Sal was much less likely to cause an avalanche by touching the wrong thing.

“It’s not a matter of cowardice,” Nico replied, not flinching back from Ronan. He had been around people who were taller and stronger than him for most of his life. It would take more than Ronan to frighten him, though he had to admit that the boy clearly had practice being intimidating.
“Your friend is going to help us find somewhere to go to keep us all safe. We’re just making sure he won’t run off. He seems to have more common sense than you do, at least. I wouldn’t trust you not to run off if you were free.” He glanced pointedly at Ronan’s mangled wrists. He had made it very clear that he was trying to get away, even if running in the middle of a blizzard was a terrible idea. “Besides. It’s not like we’re going to purposefully hurt any of you until we’re back on our side. We don’t have the authority to make those kinds of decisions unless we absolutely have to.” It was a risk admitting that to Ronan, but it was true. With any luck, the other boy would even believe it.

Noah let out a harsh breath, glancing behind him as Ronan’s shout cut through the wind. He didn’t want to scare Ronan, but he hadn’t asked to be chosen by the guard. He would just have to find them a way out of this. He would have to find shelter, and maybe they’d all be okay. Maybe.
“Disturbances in the snow,” Noah replied quietly, pulling his arms close to his chest as though that might stop the way the cold cut through him sharper than any knife. He had experienced cold before, of course, but this felt… different. Harsher. Like if he didn’t get out of the cold as soon as possible, he would never get out at all. He had never understood the impulse to lay in the snow and pretend its weight was a blanket, but he thought he might get it now.
“More than that,” he added, teeth chattering, “anything that looks like it might be snow falling into an open space. We… we won’t see many clearly open cave entrances anymore unless they’re really big, but if we can find even a small cavern…” he shrugged a little, hoping Juuzou understood. There was no ideal situation here. Finding a big cave would be nothing short of a miracle.

Wylan wasn’t sure he believed Spook’s smile any more than he believed his own. Nonetheless, he understood the promise that lay behind it. They weren’t going to die here. No matter what else happened, this wasn’t the end for them. He forced a small smile of his own, trying to hold Spook’s gaze. Trying not to stumble and bring them both down. He trusted the others with them to find shelter, if there was any, but he didn’t trust that there actually would be shelter to find. They were in the middle of the mountains. Any caves were either occupied or buried deep.
“Right,” he echoed, giving a firm not. There was no giving up. Not now. Not when he could still potentially save Spook. “Together. We’ll look together.”

It was obvious enough that they were all going to die if they didn’t listen to the prisoners, but that didn’t mean that Hunter had to like it. There was a reason they had taken these people prisoner. They were dangerous, first and foremost, but if any of them got lost… there was a point their side needed to prove. He may not have known all of the details (Belos didn’t like to tell him absolutely everything, and as frustrating as that was, Hunter understood why), but he knew enough. They had been sent to capture this group in particular. They were crafty, and they had been chosen by their side for a reason, especially if they were willing to break their own flimsy moral code to use this specific group. Hunter didn’t trust what they might do if they got even an ounce of freedom. Nervously, he edged a little bit closer to Kenma and Hinata. While Hinata didn’t seem like the best fighter of the group they had apprehended, he didn’t want to underestimate him or leave Kenma in a vulnerable position.

“I suppose not,” Hinata agreed, lips pursing. “I don’t trust you at all, but that’s because you kidnapped us. Or… took us prisoner. Is there really a difference between those two things?” He shrugged just a bit, then turned his attention towards Hunter. He didn’t like the idea that the guards were surrounding him. He wasn’t the best fighter, and though he was fast, he was also fairly certain he was half frozen. It would take a while for him to warm back up and get up to full speed.
“I just…” he broke off, mildly frustrated by the fact his words didn’t seem to be working for him. He didn’t know what he wanted to say. He just knew that he wanted an excuse to be out of these ropes - they seemed to be burning even more as the wind dipped at his exposed skin. And he thought the more people that were helping to find shelter, the better.
“I think you’re relying on us to help you, but you won’t even rely on all of us. Which makes our chances of surviving that much smaller!”

Newt’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Varian. The snow was only growing thicker, and they weren’t going to be able to last long if there wasn’t any sign of shelter soon. The last thing he needed was to have drawn this guard’s negative attention. Would he decide that Newt wasn’t worth saving? Although he would have willingly sacrifice himself to save his friends, he didn’t want it to come to that.
“We can safely get close to things that look like they might be shelter. Your friend would have just gotten himself killed if that had been a cave,” he explained, gesturing to Zuko. “That doesn’t mean you can’t at least keep your eye out for something that might be shelter!”

Zuko didn’t anticipate any world in which they could be anything other than enemies. They were on opposite sides of a war that they were both supposed to believe in. Zuko believed in it. He let out a breath, trying to spot something like what he had seen.
“Thanks,” he managed, staring at the spot that wasn’t anything at all. Looking at it now, he found it hard to believe he had thought it might be a cave. If it had been and he’d fallen through… he might not be alive. He could have gotten buried, and looking at Sal… he found it difficult to believe that he other kid woulda have been strong enough to dig him out. He probably wouldn’t have wanted to, anyway.
“I’ll be more careful,” he added, trying to shake the feeling of being reprimanded. It hadn’t really been a reprimand, just advice. He was allowed to take advice from someone who knew what they ere doing, even if they were enemies. For now, though… for now, they couldn’t afford to be enemies. If they thought of each other as enemies, they would all die.
“Are… are they more likely to be closer to the mountain ledge or… or hidden beneath us? Would it… help to find piles of rocks or something?”

“Yeah, well we’re not targeting him to hurt him,” Nico replied, rolling his eyes as he tried to curl his arms further across his chest like he might be able to trap some of the rapidly waning heat. He didn’t know a person could feel this cold and still survive. It had to be some sort of miracle, but the kind you wanted to experience exactly never.
“He was chosen because he was the least likely to attack or run away. Do you think that’s inaccurate?” Nico turned back to look at Ronan, frustration burning in his eyes as he realized the other boy had stopped walking. Of all the childish, immature things to do…
“Do you really think I won’t hesitate to leave you behind if it saves my life?” Nico hissed, approaching Ronan with his sword out. “Because I can make a pretty good case that leaving you behind was necessary, and I won’t even think twice about it.”
Nico cast a quick glance behind him, making sure the others were still in sight. If Ronan didn’t budge before they faded out of view, Nico was going to leave him. Consequences be damned.

“Exactly,” Noah replied, doing his best to stop himself from shivering. He didn’t know how much longer any of them were going to make it. He was grateful he could at least hug himself without his tied hands getting in the way, but that wasn’t going to do more than keep him slightly warmer for a few extra minutes.
“I… don’t know where to start looking,” Noah admitted, voice ragged as he attempted to call over the wind. He looked over at Ronan, giving him a frozen thumbs up to prove he was alright. Well… alright wasn’t a perfect word fo it, but he was at least alive. It looked like Ronan had stopped, though Noah couldn’t tell why. Hopefully it didn’t mean he was hurt. Hopefully he would start moving soon.
“I think…” Noah hurried forward, eyes wide as he spotted a sort of divot in the ground. He glanced at Juuzou, pointing at it before he rushed forward. He was careful to stop a few feet away, then glanced back at Juuzou.
“Do you have anything long and vaguely stick-like?” Noah called, doing his best to battle the wind with his quiet voice. “We can test if this is a cave or just… just somewhere the snow fell strangely. I don’t want anyone to fall in by testing it differently. We could also… throw a heavy-ish rock at it. If you have something like that.”
Noah was fairly certain half of his words were lost to the wind, but he figured it was worth it to try anyway.

Wylan had no way of knowing what was on Spook’s mind. He had no way of knowing that Spook had ever been part of the side Wylan had been raised in. He had no way of knowing that Spook was still loyal to that side. If he had… would he have held on as fiercely?
It didn’t matter. What mattered was that in spite of everything, they were still together. There was nothing that could tear them apart right now. They were going to survive this together, because what other option did they have? Either they both lived, or they both died. Wylan didn’t want to live in a world with no Spook. He also didn’t want to live in a world where Spook was hurt by the people Wylan had spent so much of his life trying to escape.
He could hear shouts fighting with the wind, but they were getting quieter. Was that just Wylan fading into weakness, or were his friends actually getting further away?
“Come on,” he whispered to Spook, pressing forward as best he could. “We’re going to make it through. We’re going to.” He found he didn’t care if it was a lie, if a lie was the only thing that could keep them alive.

Hunter didn’t like the way the ginger boy was babbling. He didn’t like the way he didn’t seem to care that he was a prisoner and Kenma was a guard. He didn’t like much about the situation, actually. It seemed to him like Kenma was in danger from the boy whether he was tied up or not. He seemed the type to do something reckless because he thought it would help his friends.
He also didn’t like how far away everyone else seemed to be. Nico had stopped moving and Zuko was wandering further off with one of the prisoners. It felt like a trap. He didn’t know how a trap like this would work, but he knew he would protect the other members of his team with everything he had. If he wasn’t special, they were, and he wasn’t going to let his side lose an advantage like that. He… wasn’t going to let any of his friends die.

“I don’t know, I’m not you!” Hinata replied, his voice sharpened by the chill. While not always the most patient person, he usually had more patience than this.
“I would accept help when it was offered to me, if I were you,” Hinata managed after a long moment, hugging his arms to his chest and bouncing up and down like he might be able to work up enough of a sweat to warm himself up. He didn’t consider that the sweat would make things worse when it, too, froze.
“But I guess… you guys have already accepted at least a little bit of help, so at least you might not die from completely stubbornness.”
Hinata’s tongue wasn’t nearly so sharp usually. Later, he would feel bad for the accusation and hardness in his tone. Now, he wanted nothing more than for his friends to survive. The biggest obstacle to that was the boys who had them all tied up.

“I wasn’t saying you were stupid,” Newt replied, trying to keep his tone even. It wasn’t easy - he was just as angry as Varian was - but in order for them to all survive, someone needed to stay calm and keep their wits about them. It was hard, knowing that they had captured them and were taking them somewhere likely to be killed or tortured for information they may or may not have. It was hard not to be angry knowing that his friends were in more danger than he was. They had childhoods, friends and family that could be threatened to get them to talk.
“But taking you out would be very, very stupid,” he added, glancing back at some of the other guards. He couldn’t see them all, and many of them weren’t looking at Newt or Varian. “For one, I would just as likely stumble after you if I tried to push you. Secondly, my hands are tied so I highly doubt I could even begin to take you. Thirdly, your friends will undoubtedly catch me. Killing you would be killing myself, and I don’t exactly have a death wish.”

“Right,” Zuko called back, shivering against the wind and watching every step he took. If it was possible for a cave to be under them without realizing it… they could all step into one and die without even knowing it had been there. Suddenly the mountain seemed a lot more perilous than it had been before. He glanced at Sal, silently cursing the fact that the first disturbance in the snow hadn’t been a cave. It might have killed him if it had been one, but at least the others would be safe. This… this pointless wandering through ground that could open up and swallow them at any moment… it was pointless. And infuriating.
He kicked at the snow, wishing it would just open up beneath him. Not because he had a death wish or anything, but because anything would be better than nothing. He glanced back up, watching curiously as Sal started to undo his hair. It wasn’t something that Zuko could do, but he had to admit its as a good idea. If the rules about honor allowed him… Zuko might have tried the very same thing. Any shelter from the wind was better than no shelter at all. He grunted, pushing forward and attempting to poke at the ground with his foot as gently as he could manage.
“Do you see anything that might be shelter?” he called ahead, irritation seeping into his voice.

“Do you ever get tired of running your mouth?” Nico snapped, whirling on Ronan. “You will die out here if we leave you alone. Most of us are half-dead already, but you won’t get your head out of your ass for long enough to realize that being a pain in the butt right now is going to get everyone else killed! I don’t have time to deal with you being childish! Your friend is helping us find somewhere to stay. If we don’t find that, we’re all going to die! And I’m not sacrificing my own life just so you can feel a little bit better about yourself! So either you get your ass in gear and come with us, or I leave you to [oops!]ing die here, get it? I will feel no shame for doing that, especially if it means I don’t get separated from the others! Especially if it means a few more of them survive the night!” He set his jaw, dark eyes burning as he glared at Ronan. He watched him for a long second, then unsheathed his sword, levering it towards the other boy.
“Either you start walking, or you die. This isn’t a [oops!]ing negotiation.”

The chances of it actually being anything were slim to none. They had already found a number of marks in the snow that had turned out to just be marks. There was no point in Noah getting his hopes up only to find that it was another bunch of nothing. Juuzou at least seemed determined to find something. Although Noah knew the others had as much a stake in surviving this as he did, he found he was grateful that they hadn’t considered dropping any of the prisoners as dead weight. He glanced behind him, searching for Ronan. Panic spiked through him as he realized he couldn’t see him through the snow blowing forcefully in every direction, but he didn’t have time to worry about it. Maybe the guards would let him come back out and look for his best friend once they had found somewhere to crash.
Relief flooded his expression almost immediately as Juuzou’s knife flew, tearing through the snow and causing a great deal of it to crumble down into the hollow inside. Whether or not it would be big enough to fit all of them was another issue. For now, at least, they had somewhere to spend the night. Noah glanced at Juuzou, heart pounding.
“It’s… probably best if I go first,” Noah shouted, hoping Juuzou could hear him. He could barely hear himself over the desperate beating of his heart. “I can make sure there’s nothing inside, and… and make sure there’s a safe path for everyone to walk on without caving in the entrance even more!”

“I’m staying,” Wylan promised, though he could feel his eyes threatening to close with each step he took. The cold felt… well, it felt warm. Wasn’t that funny? Part of him just wanted to sink into it and let it hold him like Spook did when they were alone and they both had nightmares. It would be warm and comfortable and he would never have to worry about cold or the war ever again…
No. No, he couldn’t give in. He wouldn’t leave Spook alone. He wouldn’t leave him to fend for himself in a world that seemed desperate to tear them both down.
“I… wait, Spook look!” His eyes widened as he realized Noah was beginning to step… into the ground. “I think they found something!”

The shouts from ahead of them were growing louder. While Hunter didn’t know exactly what it meant, he was aware that it was either a very good thing or a very bad thing. He didn’t have enough context to know which it was, so he didn’t want to startle Kenma by telling him there was danger when there might be. He forced himself forward, trying to catch a better glimpse of the people in front of them. He was beginning to lose them in the cold and blinding winds. He had lost track of Nico, but if anyone could find his way back to the group, it was Nico. Or maybe Zuko. They were both survivors. And they were very good at tracking people down.
“Hurry up!” Hunter snapped t the prisoner, catching Kenma’s gaze for just a moment. “If you don’t shut your mouth, we’re all going to get left behind.”

Hinata glared at the meaner of the two guards, wishing his hands weren’t tied so he could flip him off. It was probably childish, but Hinata didn’t care. He was trying to look out for his life and the lives of his friends, and the guard was just being an ass for no reason. He forced himself to breathe, then quickened his pace just a little bit. As much as he wanted to convince the calm guard to untie him so he could help his family, there was no point in being untied if there as no family at all left to save. He needed to be sure to keep them in sight, and right now… he could barely see any of them at all.
He could hear their voices, though. With as much persistence as he had, Hinata forced himself forward.

Newt wasn’t so sure he liked the boy who had been left behind to guard him. He didn’t blame him for the way he was acting, of course, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed being treated like he was causing problems on purpose. He didn’t like being treated like this entire blizzard was his fault. He was trying to get them out of it, same as the rest of them were. It was the guards’ fault that they had ended up stuck in the blizzard in the first place, but Newt didn’t dare give voice to that thought. He didn’t want to give the guard any more reason to be aggravated with him.
“We’re not going to die,” he whispered, eyes wide as glanced back to look at the group directly behind them. “We’re not going to die!” Newt repeated, louder this time. “They found something!”

Zuko didn’t flinch at Sal’s words, though they did stir up a spark of annoyance in him. He let out a huff of breath, watching it cloud up in front of him before he shook his head and began to move on, looking for something else that might betray the entrance to a cave or some other form of shelter.
“I was asking you because you know what we’re looking for, genius,” he hissed, though the words were quiet enough that he wouldn’t be surprised if they were inaudible to their target. He wasn’t sure if he cared whether or not Sal heard. Starting an argument between the two of them seemed like a foolish idea, but it was hard to tell what was foolish and what wasn’t when his thoughts were being tampered thus by the desperate clawing of the wind.
“Fine,” he said, voice louder as he thought through Sal’s idea. He didn’t like letting the prisoner go free to wander and make trouble, but he also knew that if he didn’t, they might all die. “But stay within eyeshot.” It was for practical reasons as much as it was for control - if one of them got separated, it was likely they would never find the group again.

Nico watched as Ronan’s spit turned to ice almost the moment it hit the snow-covered ground. He wasn’t terribly offended. He knew he likely would have done something similar in Ronan’s position. He certainly wouldn’t have enjoyed being dragged around to who knew where. That didn’t take away from the importance of their mission, nor did it soften Nico’s conviction that they needed to keep the group within sight or they really would die. He made sure to quicken his pace, just barely keeping an eye on Ronan as he walked. They needed to get back to the others. He didn’t care if Ronan hated him for it as long as he lived long enough to hate him. It wasn’t that he cared if Ronan himself lived, it was that Ronan’s survival meant that at least some of his friends had managed it as well.

Noah looked back at Juuzou, then gave a sharp nod. He was afraid to enter the cave (there could be any number of beast lurking inside), but he knew that it would be better for him to go in than for the guard. It was possible the guard would cause some sort of avalanche or other disaster if he didn’t handle the situation correctly. If he didn’t navigate the cave with the care needed to make sure it was safe. Noah knew they would all enter regardless of whether it was safe (it was almost certainly safer than anywhere else they could go), but he wanted to check things out before they all stumbled in and got themselves into danger they weren’t prepared for it.
“Hello?” Noah called softly into the empty cave, eyes wide as he looked around, trying to figure out if there are any signs of life. There were stalactites hanging from the ceiling, stalagmites raising off the floor. There may not be very many comfortable places to sit or lay, but comfort wasn’t the goal. Survival was. He looked around, making sure there was nothing else out of the ordinary. There was little signs of other life - there was a splotch on the ground that could have meant bat droppings, but no bones or footprints or anything else that might indicate a larger predator. As far as Noah could tell, this was the safest place for them all to be.

Wylan had been holding onto Spook as tightly as he dared, barely managing to put one foot in front of the other as they kept walking. They were going to die, until all of the sudden there was a chance. He felt Spook liven up at his words, sparking back to consciousness as though the cold had no grip on him anymore. Wylan understood that - he too felt as though he could walk another hundred miles if only because there was a chance at safety now. There was a cave, and even though he wasn’t entirely certain it was the safest place in the world, he knew they were less likely to freeze to death where the wind and the snow couldn’t get them. The cold would still be there, but… maybe they could build a fire. If they could find something to burn.
He stumbled after Spook, not daring to question the sudden appearance of safety. He was just grateful that it meant he and his friend might survive the night.

Hinata found he wished that the rude guard didn’t have such an impact on the nice one. The talking had helped him forget about the cold boring into his bones and tearing his thoughts to shreds. He hugged his arms close to his chest, not daring to do anything but put one foot in front of the other. He knew they were a decent ways behind everyone else, and he wanted to catch up before they lost any of them… it was already hard to see them in the snow, and… was that…?
“Your friend looks like he has something to tell you,” he muttered, the words muffled as his teeth chattered against the chill.

Hunter was about ready to snap at the prisoner for speaking again, but his words made him reconsider. He glanced at Kenma, then in the direction the prisoner had been looking. He was right. There was a shape, waving them forward. He had seen Juuzou untie one of the prisoners, but from the way the form was moving… it was Juuzou. Nobody else moved with that much grace and power. He bit his lip, then sent one more glance towards Kenma. He hoped his intent was clear enough in his eyes - he was going to go see what Juuzou wanted so long as Kenma stood his ground against the prisoner.
Message (hopefully) conveyed, Hunter surged forward, hoping to reach Juuzou as soon as possible in case the message was urgent.

Newt blinked, stunned by the laugh that issued from Varian’s lips. He knew that relief could do strange things to a person, but he hadn’t actually thought the guard to ve the kind of person who laughed. He seemed far too serious for that, like he was the kind of person who believed himself above things like that just because he wanted to prove himself. Perhaps it was an unfair judgement.
Nonetheless, Newt found his own voice matching Varian’s exuberance. He didn’t know where the extra burst of energy came from. Perhaps it was just the fact that, despite everything, they weren’t going to die. Despite the fear that settled deep in his bones, despite the cold that threatened to tear them all to pieces, they were going to live. They had found a cave.
“We’re not going to die,” he repeated, a smile crossing his own features. He approached the guard shakily, wanting to make sure he didn’t lose him as he began to make his way towards the cave. Despite the tied hands, it was hard to distinguish between prisoner and guard when their lives were both so at risk. For now, they could just be people, surviving together.

Zuko glanced back at Sal, eyes narrowed as he watched the boy move slightly out of sight. It wasn’t his fault, of course, but Zuko wanted to keep him in sight. It wasn’t that he thought he was going to run away and gather enemy forces to ambush him, but he didn’t trust any of the prisoners left alone. More than that, it was that if any of them got lost, he knew the other prisoners would make it their problem. Zuko knew he would rebel if the situation were reversed and any of his team disappeared. He wouldn’t accept any explanation that it was an accident. Maybe Sal knew that… Zuko’s eyes narrowed as he moved a bit closer to the prisoner, trying to look around and cover more ground while still keeping the boy in sight. He was far enough away from Juuzou that he didn’t see the hand waving or hear the shouts from the others. He was too focused on finding shelter himself and making sure Sal didn’t get himself lost.

Nico rolled his eyes a little as Ronan pressed ahead of him. He was used to keeping up with people who were taller than him, and it didn’t matter to him how quickly Ronan walked. If his goal was to irritate Nico, he was going to have to try a little bit harder. He didn’t mind the distance between them, actually. It would prevent him from stopping the prisoner if he did something stupid, but it also meant that the prisoner couldn’t direct his stupid actions at Nico. He followed behind, making sure to keep close enough that he could rush forward if Ronan decided to bolt.
It was so cold… a shudder ran through Nico as he moved forward, threatening to almost knock him off his feet. He wouldn’t be much good to his friends if this continued…

Noah stepped forward, grateful for the reprieve from the wind. It wasn’t warm by any means, but it was warmer. He gave a small smile, hugging his arms across his chest as he stepped in. The howl of the wind was echoing through the cave, made almost louder by the shape of the cavern. It was dark, of course, but Noah’s eyes adjusted quickly.
The ground was more stable than Noah had expected as he stepped further into the cave. He could hear the soft sound of running water as he pressed further in, eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out where it was coming from. There was only so far he could go before it grew too dim for him to see, but he had already seen enough. If there was something alive in here, it could maul them. That was a risk they were going to have to take. It would be a lot easier to fight a bear than it would be to fight the chill. With that in mind, Noah set to work making the entrance as smooth as possible for the others. The last thing he needed was for one of the guards to slip and blame it on him.

Wylan breathed out, trying to keep putting one foot in front of the other. He felt himself almost stumble as Spook pulled him forward, but he wouldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t become a burden. He would keep moving forward no matter how hard it was, no matter how often his legs threatened to collapse under him. They were going to live. There was safety, right in front of them, Noah leading the way. It didn’t matter if the guards weren’t happy with how fast they were moving towards shelter. It didn’t matter, because the two of them were going to survive. Wylan tried to squeeze Spook’s hand, but he was fairly certain he lacked the strength to do even that. He had to hope that Spook got the sentiment in other ways.

Hunter stumbled forward, the wind buffeting him from this way and that. It didn’t seem to matter which way he faced, the wind still pulled at him. It didn’t seem possible for it to be coming from every direction, but something about the shape of the rocks around them seemed to direct it into some sort of cycling maelstrom.
“They… what?” Hunter called, eyes widening as h processed what Juuzou had said. A cave? It didn’t seem possible… a cave was… well, it was hope. It was a chance to escape the endless wind and snow. He pulled his cloak tighter around him, glancing back at Kenma and the prisoner to make sure they were still within eyeshot. His eyes narrowed as he looked around, trying to make sure he could see everyone. He didn’t see Nico or the bald prisoner, and he thought he saw Zuko’s distinctive ponytail in the distance, but it was hard to tell. If they didn’t make it into the cave quickly, at least one of them was going to be lost.
“Where is it?” he called, squinting as he tried to catch sight of any difference in the landscape. It all just looked white.

Hinata tried to stay close to Kenma, though hew as slightly unnerved by the guard’s silence. He had been nice enough when Hinata had been asking questions, but there was something about him that Hinata couldn’t read. He was usually good at reading people, but the cold cutting through his bones made it more difficult. He felt his body shaking and he wished, not for the first time, that he had just a little more body mass. He had a feeling more muscle would help keep the cold at bay, though he had no solid proof of that. Perhaps it was because some of his captors didn’t seem as bothered by the cold. Maybe it was that Ronan still seemed just as fierce and ready to fight. Or maybe that was just how Ronan acted anyway… shaking the thought away, Hinata tried to pick up his feet so they didn’t lose the rest of the group.
“What… what do you think they’re saying?” Hinata asked, glancing at Kenma and tilting his head towards the almost-obscured forms of Juuzou and Hunter. It was hard to believe they were as close as they were with how much the snow cut short the visibility.

Newt hesitated, eyes widening just a little as Varian so easily dropped from the stern, cruel guard, to the same desperate child Newt felt he was, himself. They were both just trying to survive. They were both too young to be fighting this war, no matter how old they felt. Newt knew he would have been drafted into the actual troops soon if he were a normal person living a normal life. But for whatever reason, he had been taken from his family before that was legal. For whatever reason, he was here. And he wanted desperately to survive this long enough to find his family and return home. Home. All he wanted was to figure out where that was.
Wordlessly, Newt found himself following Varian. For now, it didn’t matter if they were enemies. They were both just trying to survive.

Zuko glanced back at Sal, not sure why, exactly, he trusted the prisoner. Maybe it was because he didn’t have any other choice. Maybe it was because, like it or not, Sal knew more about surviving here than Zuko was. Besides, once they found shelter, the prisoners would all be tied back up again and they could pretend like this digression had never occurred. They could go right back to the way things were supposed to be.
He was about to poke gently at another divot in the ground when he looked up and saw more of the group clumping together than they had before. A chill ran down his spine and he straightened up, eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out what was happening. Something was wrong. Something… he squinted, trying to make out more of what was happening in spite of the snow whirling around them, trying to blind them all and cut them apart. It was like the wind was a player in this war as well, tearing them apart and leaving both sides in tatters.
“Sal!” Zuko called, trying to be heard over the wind. “We’re going back! Now!” He thought he could see something approaching through the snow, but it was hard to tell… he could see a black smudge moving through the blinding white, but he wasn’t confident he could tell what it was.

Nico was starting to feel his height catching up to him. His legs were too short to easily clear the building snow, and it was becoming harder and harder to put one foot in front of the other and fight the snow that was dragging at his pant legs. He couldn’t feel his feet… annoyed, Nico forced himself forward. This wasn’t going to be how he died. He wasn’t going to be left behind just because this prisoner decided to be difficult. He wasn’t going to lose his friends, he wasn’t going to die here, alone and scared… he forced his legs to move faster, even if he wasn’t entirely certain he would be able to catch up. As long as they could still see the others. As long as they kept moving forward… they were going to be fine. They were going to be just fine. Nico may not have been prone to optimism, but he had to believe they would survive this.
“Keep moving,” he ordered Ronan over the wind, but he wasn’t sure the other prisoner would be able to hear him. He wasn’t sure if the words were more for the other boy or for himself.

Noah could hear voices weaving through the wind, but he couldn’t tell how much of it was his imagination and how much was the guard telling the others where he was. What they had found. Fear struck through him as he realized how easy it would be for the guard to gather only his friends and leave the others to die… but that didn’t make sense. If the guards had been ordered to kill Noah and his friends, they would already be dead. They were keeping them alive for a reason, which meant… which meant they all had to make it through this. The guards couldn’t leave them to die, because there had to be some reason they were being kept alive. Noah locked his thoughts on that, repeating it over and over to himself as he stumbled deeper into the cave, looking for any sign of life. Any sign that this would be more dangerous than staying out in the cold. For now… it seemed as though they were alone. Almost without thinking, Noah sunk to his knees, curling in on himself in a desperate attempt to protect the heat his heart desperately tried to pump through his body.

Wylan blinked, trying to make his mind believe what his eyes were seeing. It wasn’t as easy as he wanted it to be. He forced himself to keep breathing, forced himself to keep moving forward because that was the only way they were going to survive.
“I see it,” he whispered, tightening his grip on Spook. He just had to keep moving. Just had to keep walking forward. They were going to be okay, they were going to make it… he felt the cold bite at his lips as he opened them to speak again. He didn’t know how they hadn’t all already frozen to death… he forced himself to keep moving forward.
“We’re almost there,” he managed, voice hoarse from shouting over the cold. “Almost… just a little further.”

Hunter have a sharp nod as Juuzou explained, then glanced back at Kenma and Hinata. He could only see them because of the prisoner’s obnoxious red hair cutting through the blinding white of the storm. If it had only been Kenma… Hunter shook the thought away. If it were only Kenma, he wouldn’t lose his friend. But the hypothetical didn’t even matter, because it wasn’t only Kenma. The prisoner and his bright red hair were like a beacon. It was a good thing nobody was looking for them…
“Will do!” Hunter shouted over the wind, but as he watched Juuzou leap towards what he thought was another one of their team, he could only be partially certain he’d been heard. Not that it mattered… he was going to get them to safety no matter what happened. Even the obnoxious prisoner.
He forced himself to breathe as he pushed back against the wind in the direction of Kenma and the prisoner. He tried to pull his cape tighter around him, but found it made little difference against the cold. He hissed a curse under his breath, focused instead on making it back to Kenma as quickly as he could.

Hinata frowned, biting the inside of his lip as he tried to figure out what it was that could have drawn Hunter away. The mean guard had seemed pretty determined not to leave Hinata alone with the nicer guard. Did that mean he thought that Kenma was a weaker fighter? Though not used to thinking strategically, Hinata decided to file that information away for later. Maybe he could bring it up to Sal or Newt or someone else who was more used to thinking things through when it came to strategy. Hinata just acted on instinct - it often put him in danger, but it was also quite effective.
It took all of his strength not to run forward now and make sure they couldn’t be left behind. He didn’t think the guards would take kindly to him doing that, though… they might see it as fleeing, even if he was only trying to help. They clearly didn’t know him well enough if they thought he was just going to abandon his team like that… he pushed the thought away, instead focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. He didn’t want to lose track of the rest of the group (though it seemed the meaner guard was turning back around - was that a good sign?).