Morning broke with a roll of thunder that shook the earth and the trees but did nothing to shake the stunned silence from the throat of the boy as he watched his sister Valeriya disappear. Sigmarr wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there staring at the horizon. Watching blood red tones blossom over blue-tainted snow, chasing the stars from the sky and taking his family with it. His mother, Raisa was gone, vanished again into some fit of madness he was powerless to save her from. Gone also was his sister Valeriya. She'd gone to go and find their mother and bring her back and as much as he wanted to believe her he knew in his heart he'd probably never see either of them again. Rain was beginning to fall and still he sat before he just got up and started walking. Things had been looking up. Raisa had returned, he was getting along better with Kassander, Virgil and the rest of the family was coming to visit. Now it was like the ground had been pulled right out from under him. What was he supposed to do now? He told Val he'd stay and look after things at her bequest. Black pyres pierced the sky as the boy paused to peer at the remnants of the great fire that had happened well before his birth. He turned and froze. Fear pierced the veil of his broken heart and gave urgency to his numb limbs. A grizzly bear was rutting around a decaying log and it turned to look at the pup, rising onto it's hind legs with a snarl. Bears and wolves were natural enemies?. and this one charged. Sigmarr could do nothing. Could only stare at the black beast charging him and the screaming red seeping across the sky. "Talk" "You" Think

"Told you, we're lost." Baldur did his best to ignore the spirit of his lover. He knew she was right about that last turn they took but he was so confident that he remembered how to get back to the serpent plains he kept right on his track. Dam. Baldur paused and shook out his coat. It was probably time to find some shelter. It was raining, icy, freezing rain that teased the possibility of spring before crushing it completely. Though Linne? didn't seem to be bothered. She pranced right along next to him not the least bit perturbed by the rain. Apparently being a ghost had it's advantages. "Well darling, which way would you suggest." Linne? snorted and shot him a look. "I told you which way when I thought I knew where we were. Now I have no clue." Baldur sighed and kept on walking. He doubted there'd be any shelter this far out. A sudden growl caught his attention, sent adrenaline through is body like lightning as he turned to see a bear charging down a young boy. And the boy wasn't moving ?. shit? Baldur did what he often did in such dire and extremely important circumstances. He did something stupid. Defenses flared along his form as he charged, ears pinned, hackles raised as open maw landed a solid bite on the bears rear end. The beast let out a roar and twisted around to get at him. Baldur shuffled and shifted trying to keep his own hind end out of reach. "BALDUR! What are you doing? Let go!" "No way! I like my ass in one piece!" "Technically your ass is in two pieces but-" "NOT HELPING."