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An inch of snow had fallen several hours previous, and now the pair were walking through the still-falling snow in search of a place to sleep for the night.

"I cannot make a fire," Isa told the girl wrapped up in his heavy cloak and shivering on his back. "This substance... It's cold and wet. The wood will be wet because of it."

Rage nodded her head against the side of his head, peeking out from under the hood of the large cloak. "So where are we going to go?" she asked, her teeth chattering lightly.

"I hope to find a cave, or somewhere where the trees are thick enough to keep the ground bare."

It was getting late in the day and already the air seemed to be getting colder. By now, the young woman who had ventured out nearly two hours prior was so turned around that she was no longer entirely sure which way was 'back.' The only thing that she had to cover herself was a rather thin velvet dress that was a deep green so dark that it almost appeared black. The style of the dress may have been a little unusual, but she rather liked the way it looked personally, though at the moment she was really wishing that she had worn something warmer. The dress was tight fitting around her body and the neck came down into a 'V' just above her chest, though the dress fanned out a bit at her hips and as it hung down to her feet and the sleeves did the same near her elbows. Over that she only had a simple hooded cloak of the same material and color that tied around her neck and nearly dragged the ground behind her. Due to the cold, she was wearing soft soled leather boots, though they were pretty much hidden by the dress and still didn't keep her feet all that warm.

She had gone out earlier in the day with the simple intention of tracking down her horse since it had managed to get out and make a run for it. Unfortunately, the trip had taken much longer than she had anticipated and she was now lost and almost numb from the cold, and there was still no sign of the horse. By now the beast could have just turned around and gone home for all she knew if the wolves hadn't gotten to her first.

She was ready to give up the search and try to find her way back. Not only was it freezing outside, but it was growing dark, and as much as she loved the night she did not want to be stranded out here until morning. She raised her large emerald green eyes to the sky again to check the time again and then sighed. Before she had time to look down again her foot caught on an upturned branch and as she stumbled the ground gave way beneath her and she realized a little too late that she had just walked up to the edge of a sudden drop that she probably wouldn't have seen even if she was looking where she was going; the ground appeared to just keep going if one simply looked straight ahead due to the angle of the small cliff. She let out a short scream as she felt herself falling. She probably went about six feet before she hit the ground again and flipped over, only to begin a painful roll down the hill beneath the drop. She only stopped about midway down the embankment when she hit a tree. She winced as she tried to push herself up while shoving her long satin hair out of her face and making a sad attempt at unraveling herself from her cloak.

As soon as she had managed to untangle herself she looked herself over only to find that she had scraped her palm open, though that seemed to be the only visible mark on her. Once she started trying to stand up she quickly realized that she had hurt herself a little more than she thought when her ankle gave out beneath her. She yelped as she collapsed back to the snow again and then placed her good hand on her sore ankle.

Isa's long ears twitched upon hearing a scream not too far away. "Did you hear that?" Rage asked him quietly, eyes wide. Isa nodded quietly, his body shifting into a silvery dragon, Rage on his back like one would ride a horse.

He took off through the snow, leaping easily over the small cliff, though staying at a distance once the source of the noise was within his sight. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, remaining where he was as he considered the next course of action.

Rage kept her hands on the silver reigns that Isa wore in this form, just barely peeking out from behind his neck at the injured girl in the snow.

The young woman was about ready to try to get to her feet again, though the sound of something tromping through the snow caught her attention before she could move. Her eyes shot up again when she caught a glimpse of something silvery looking diving over the edge of the little cliff that she had fallen over. Her eyes widened at the sight of the unfamiliar creature and she tried to back up, though she only found that she had nowhere to go other than to press herself against the tree trunk that she had collided with earlier.

This was the first time that she had ever seen a dragon before so it took her a moment to even realize what she was looking at, and even at that she wasn't entirely sure. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears as she stared at it, half wondering if the thing was going to try to eat her. To be honest she had no idea what to expect from something like this.

It was only after realizing that the creature wasn't advancing that she started to look it over and noticed the reins that it was wearing. Slowly her eyes trailed back over the reins and she caught sight of the young girl on the dragon's back. That comforted her a little, though she was still shaken. Her breath came out in small clouds in front of her face and her jaw was quivering, however the majority of her shaking was mostly just from the cold. She tried not to make a sound as of yet, mostly because she still wasn't entirely sure about this creature getting any closer to her, girl or no girl.

"What are we going to do...?" Rage whispered into Isa's ear.

"I smell blood," came the deep, quiet growl of a reply. "She's hurt."

"Are we going to help her?" she asked, glancing back up to look at the girl against the tree trunk.

"There's no reason not to, she has no way to defend herself should an animal, creature, or man attack her," Isa said, taking a slow step forward. A large branch hidden by the snow snapped loudly underneath his foot, unable to support his weight. Rage listened to Isa and nodded, watching the girl from her place on his back.

He continued to approach, staying slow and steady in an attempt not to frighten the injured girl. Finally, the end of his nose was only about a foot away from her hand and he exhaled through his nostrils, a large, warm cloud mist rising up.

Silver reptilian eyes looked the girl in the eyes, Rage's green eyes peering over Isa's lowered head at the girl as well. They both seemed equally curious, though the dragon seemed to hold more concern for the injury.

She watched in dead silence as the girl whispered something to the dragon, though of course she was incapable of hearing what either of them were saying. Had she been able to concentrate a bit better she might have been able to pick up on what they were saying through their thoughts, though at the moment she was too cold and frightened to worry that much about what they were saying.

As soon as the dragon started to move toward her she pressed her back a little more firmly to the tree and her eyes went back to the dragon's head again. She stared at it's eyes, afraid to so much as move while it approached her, though once it had gotten close enough to breathe on her she instinctively jerked her hand back to her chest while closing her fist over the small injury she had received from whatever had decided to stab her hand.

She let out a shaky breath and closed her emerald eyes for a few seconds to gather her composure before she opened them again and looked again at the dragons eyes. Slowly...very slowly, she moved her hand away from her chest again and opened her fist to show the silvery creature the bleeding cuts on her hand. None of the cuts were that serious, though they were stinging something awful. She seemed to have at least gathered that the dragon meant her no harm after taking another good look at it's eyes.

"....I...i-i-it....i-i-isn't...s-serious...." he stammered quietly through her chattering teeth as she lowered her hand again. As soon as she spoke it registered to her a little more how sore the cold air was making her throat, and using her voice caused her to cough lightly. She was already near exhaustion as her body wasn't quite so used to this much activity in one day. An hour or more of chasing after an escaped horse and then walking around in the middle of nowhere with no idea where to go next most certainly wasn't on her usual schedule, especially not in this weather.

The dragon stood up fully, adjusting his wings a bit, letting Rage know to get off of him. She hopped off and stood next to him, tilting her head to the side a little in her curiosity. Isa changed back into his humanoid form, crouching in front of the girl, blinking and twitching his ears at her a little bit.

Gently taking her hand in his, he picked up a little snow in his other hand and pressed it against the cuts on her hand to wash away the salt of her sweat that caused the stinging pain. "Are you hurt worse?" he asked, looking her in the eyes again.

She watched as the dragon straightened up and then moved it's wings. Her eyes trailed back to the girl momentarily as she slipped off of the creature's back. As soon as she noticed another form of movement from the dragon she looked at it again, only to stare in wide-eyed surprise as it changed into a man or...well something close enough.

She allowed him to take her hand though when he placed the snow in her palm she gasped, mostly from the unexpected cold. Unfortunately, her hands were already so cold they were turning red and burning a little so the added ice wasn't that noticeable after a couple of seconds. At least the stinging subsided for now.

When she heard him ask if she was hurt anywhere else she turned her head enough that she could look at her sore ankle and nodded weakly, "...I b-believe....I...t-twisted my a-ankle..." she all but whispered in the same quiet voice. She could probably still walk on it if she really forced herself up, but it hurt pretty badly and didn't seem to want to support her weight so she could imagine that if she could figure out which way was home she would quite literally be stumbling all the way there.

He took her by the other hand and tugged gently. "Stand," he instructed.

She looked down to his hand when reached for hers and then shifted positions slightly so that she could get up with his help. She wobbled a little as she got to her feet and cringed when she put a little too much pressure on her sore ankle before she was steady enough to lift her foot up a little. She looked at the dragon again a little curiously before she mumbled a quiet "Thank you."

Taking each of her wrists, he turned around, pulling her onto his back, his body changing back into that of a dragon. Rage climbed up onto his back behind the injured girl, wrapped her arms around the girl's waist, along with the warm cloaks to share the warmth with her.

"Where do you belong?" the dragon asked, his voice much deeper and more of a growl.

She was a little startled when he pulled her onto his back and changed back into a dragon, mainly because she hadn't really expected any further help from him. She turned her head back to look at the girl when she climbed on behind her and smiled weakly when she wrapped her up in the the robes she wore as well. She was just about to thank her when she heard the dragon asking her where she belonged.

She was silent for a moment as if trying to figure out what he had asked or trying to decide how to answer and then finally described the village to him. She wasn't very comfortable being carried back like this, but the towns folk already thought her very strange, why not add to it? She took a hold of the reins with her unharmed hand, just to be safe. There was no telling how bumpy this ride was going to be.

Rage shook her head a little and took the reigns from the girl. No one would hold them but Rage, as they were only there for her.

Isa's movements were heavy, and though rugged, but almost graceful at the same time. Though he was heavy, he knew how to carry himself well. The way he maneuvered through the forest was like a mixture between a horse and a salamander. After several hours, a village was visible a few yards past the trees, with fields spreading out behind it. His pace slowed, becoming cautious, as though having to force himself to go forward.

"What's wrong?" Rage asked quietly, a worried expression falling over her features.

"There are men here," he said, bowing down on his front legs to make it easier for the girls to get off of his back. He moved his wings, waiting for them to both dismount. Rage slide off his back and took the strange girl's hands in an offer to help her down.

She blinked when the girl took the reins from her and glanced back at her with a questioning look in her eyes. She didn't understand why she wasn't to hold the reins as she wasn't trying to steer or anything. The dragon wasn't wearing a saddle and she had never ridden anything other than a horse, so now she was left wondering what exactly she was supposed to hold onto or if she was to just hope that his wings would keep her from sliding off. She didn't complain, however, she just turned back to the front and sat there nervously waiting for him to begin moving.

Once he got moving she was relieved to see that his movements were not too bad, though a there was a time or two that she thought she was slipping and she started to grab the reins but instead put her hands to either side of his neck to hold on.

When they reached the village again she tilted her head curiously at the dragon's comment about there being men here. Of course there were men. When he knelt and moved his wings she looked at them curiously before she felt the girl slide off of the dragon's back. She glanced over to her for a moment and then reached out to take her hands before she slipped off of his back as well, trying to land on her good foot, though she still stumbled a little and had to put her hands on the girl's shoulders to balance herself. She let her other foot rest lightly on the ground while keeping most of her weight on the other foot as she glanced back to see what the dragon was doing.

Isa changed back into a 'man', pulling his hair back with a silver cord. He stepped over to rage, unhooking the lighter of the two cloaks from around her neck and taking it, putting it over himself and pulling the hood up.

Sweeping the injured girl up off the snowy ground, he held her in his arms and began walking to the village. "Rage, stay here," he told her, glancing back with a twitch of his nearly completely hidden ears.

"Alright," Rage replied with a sigh. She really wanted to go with him, she'd never been in a village before.

The young woman gasped quietly when she was lifted off the ground and absently latched onto the 'man's' shoulders. She had never been too fond of being carried, mainly because she shied away from the possibility of being dropped. She didn't particularly think that he was going to drop her, but still she felt better while hanging on.

Her eyes wandered back to the girl again when he spoke to her. So that was Rage? It seemed like an odd name, but then...what name didn't if you thought about it long enough. After Rage had responded she looked back to the one carrying her again and sighed softly. She opened her mouth to speak and then seemed to change her mind and closed it. To her it seemed rather cold to have the girl wait here, though it wasn't all that much warmer while walking. She could tell that Rage was cold even with all of the layers she was wearing.

Finally she talked herself into asking the question she had started to ask a moment before. "...Do the two of you...h-have anywhere to s-stay?" she asked softly. "...I-if not....wh-why don't you let her come? It's c-cold out here..."

"We stay together," he told her, taking her to the house she had described to him and Rage. Gently setting her down on her feet, he took several steps backwards. "Men are violent beings... It's best if we don't stay..." He turned and began walking back towards the woods where Rage was waiting for him.

She nodded slightly in understanding when he said that they stayed together. She had assumed as much after seeing them. She didn't bother to look around much as he carried her back to her house. Her home wasn't all that far once back in the village, she had a bit more distance between her residence and the other houses in the village. Over all, she preferred to keep her distance from the people and they equally seemed to like to give her a wide berth as well unless they needed something from her.

Once he sat her down on her feet again she placed her hand on her door frame to keep herself steady and then watched as he started to back up. She sighed softly again, "...I am not a man," she said softly. She shook her head when he began walking away and then called after him again, "Wait! ...I...I would like to thank you somehow. If...if either of you need anything, you can let me know," she told him. "...And my name is Hana," she added, just because she felt a little awkward having all of this help from him when neither of them knew the other's name.