The cold didn't seep in right away. Zephyr felt the rapids dragging her along for what felt like an eternity, but the cold didn't hurt. Not yet. The initial crash into the water had felt as though every bone in her body turned to powder. Zephyr struggled against the current, her limbs pushing out in every direction as she tried and tried to find the surface. Her lungs screamed for air. In her hysteria she almost laughed at the pain, at the lack of air and her utter powerlessness under the water.
Pain exploded in her side as she crashed against a rock jutting up. Up. Toward the surface. Zephyr felt as though the earth had righted itself as she finally gained purchase of which direction she was facing. She fought with all of her waning strength upward, toward what looked like more endless gray and churning water.
As her head broke the surface, Zephyr gasped in as much air as her lungs could hold. She was pulled under once again, and this time the cold smashing into her, threatening to pull that precious air from her lips. Not allowing herself to give in, Zephyr fought for the surface once more. Once her head was above the water, she tried pulling air in toward her but she was too exhausted to do anything but flail her limbs in an attempt to stay afloat as the river pulled her downstream.
Everything was flying past, giant snowflakes stinging as they smacked into her face. The bone-deep chill of both the water and the air caused an ache in her entire body that made Zephyr want to cry out in agony. She desperately scanned her surroundings for the riverbank. Something behind her caught in her vision, a flash of black against the unending gray pressing in on her from all directions.
Someone else was in the water. Zephyr's mind immediately went back to Kade and her body seized up in fear. The water again overtook her and she was pulled under, this time without the benefit of a last gasp for air. Water entered her mouth and began to flood her lungs. Zephyr wildly reached for the surface.
Arms surrounded her waist and yanked her small body upwards. Zephyr didn't have a thought to spare for fear anymore as her head broke the surface and she began to choke as air fought its way into her body. She vomited, water spilling from her as someone pulled her along, fighting the current every second of the way. Zephyr felt the sting of tears as she recognized the determined set of Jasper's jaw, the fierceness of his night-dark eyes as he fought to save her. She began to pump her arms and legs in an attempt to help. Her attempts were feeble, but she felt Jasper's arm tighten around her waist in assurance.
The riverbank was now visible through the snowstorm. They were going to make it. Zephyr felt a renewed burst of energy at the sight and began to push against the water with all that she had. They were close, so close, when suddenly Jasper's arm loosened and then disappeared from around her. Zephyr turned her head, barely above the water, to see blood smeared across the right side of his face, a gash opened at his hairline where it had just smashed against one of the rocks jutting from the water. Zephyr reached out to grab for him, just barely able to latch onto the hood of his cloak before he was pulled under and away from her. She pulled him toward her and wrapped her arms around his midsection this time, but he was so much bigger than her. She could feel her strength giving out, all but completely gone, but they were so close. So close.
The last few lengths to the riverbank felt like leagues. As soon as Zephyr's foot collided with solid earth she let out a ragged sob. Her arms and legs were on fire, the rest of her numb from a chill she thought would live with her for the rest of her life. She dragged Jasper out of the water, moving him mere inches at a time. Dropping to her knees next to him, she swiped at her eyes before taking his face in her hands. She pulled one had away, blood from his wound covering her fingers. The deep red stood out starkly from everything else in her world at that moment.
Zephyr had no training in healing, but she seemed to recall reading about not letting someone fall asleep if they'd suffered a head wound. Jasper was thankfully still awake, still breathing, but he seemed barely on the edge of unconsciousness, as though he could tip over into it any second.
"Jasper, please, I need you to stay with me." Her voice shook as strongly as her hands did as she tore a section of her cloak to press against his wound. Her other hand rested softly against his cheek. "I don't know what to do, you have to help me." Zephyr knew she would do anything to keep him alive, even if it meant dragging him miles to find any sort of shelter, but her words seemed to awaken something in him.
Trying to sit, Jasper let out a moan and fell back to the ground. As he did, his arm bumped roughly against Zephyr's side. She let out a yelp as pain flared. That rock she had slammed into had done more damage than she'd realized. But her danger didn't seem as immediate as Jasper's. His blood was quickly soaking the cloth she had pressed to his head.
"We have to find shelter," Zephyr said softly, pulling him up into a sitting position as gently as she could. Jasper only nodded, his face a mask of pain. She pulled his arm around her shoulders, wincing as the both slowly tried to stand. Once they made it to their feet Zephyr attempted to take stock of their surroundings. Despair threatened to settle over her as she realized just how dire their situation was.
They had no food, no supplies. Their clothing was soaked and the temperature was still dropping. Night was approaching and the moonlight would be invisible through the storm. Zephyr felt a sob rising and squeezed her eyes closed, a ragged breath escaping through her lips.
"If we head back toward the cliffs," Jasper began. "We might be able to find a cave back there." His voice was so weak. That scared Zephyr more than anything. But she felt him begin to tug her back in the direction they had come, and that gesture gave her a glimmer of hope. They could make it. If they could just find shelter, then they could worry about getting dry and food and everything else.
~
They walked, and walked and walked. Their progress was achingly slow, as Jasper couldn't go far without having to sit. Zephyr watched as they did this for what had to be the twentieth time. Each time her heart broke as he sat, his head clutched in his hands, his breathing harsh. He was obviously in pain and needed to rest, but they couldn't stop. After a few more moments Zephyr helped him back to his feet. They had left words behind what felt like hours ago. They had no energy for speech, for thoughts, only for trudging forward.
The snow had slowed, but night was now fully upon them and it was still so gut-wrenchingly cold. Zephyr could feel her eyelids growing heavy and fought to stay away. Each step forward felt like a step into an endless abyss of discomfort and pain. She closed her eyes, for just a moment, but was pulled away from the edges of sleep when Jasper let out what sounded almost like a sob. Her eyes flew to him, but he was looking off to their left, toward what looked like a shallow opening in the face of the cliff they had been walking along for hours.
They tried to hurry to the opening, but it still felt like a lifetime before they were in the small cave and huddled on the cold floor. After several minutes of shivering together, Jasper spoke up.
"We have to make a fire." Zephyr hadn't a clue as to how to do such a thing, so she said nothing as she waited for him to continue. "I'm going to go back out to find some wood." She began to protest but he put a hand on her arm and gave it a small squeeze.
"I'll be okay. My head hurts like I took the beating of a lifetime, but the bleeding seems to have stopped, and we absolutely have to get warm. There were some trees that we passed close by, I'll be able to find a few branches. We don't need a big fire, just something to help us dry off." His hand slid down her arm to her hand. His fingers were so cold against her own. She gave him a small nod, still too chilled to form words.
"I'll come back, I promise." With that, Jasper let go of her hand and stepped back out into the night.
Zephyr sat, her back against the cave wall and her arms around her knees, her mind empty of everything but thoughts of how cold she was and how scared she was that something would happen to Jasper. He couldn't have been gone for more than a few minutes, but they were the longest minutes of her life as she waited for him to return. When he did, his arms were weight down with limbs and smaller branches, his face drawn in pain. Zephyr rushed to help him, taking as much in her own arms as he would allow. They sat the kindling on the floor of the cave and Zephyr stepped back to let Jasper work on getting a fire going. At first she was afraid it wouldn't work, but eventually a small flame appeared. It soon engulfed the whole pile. Zephyr wanted to cry in relief as the first wisps of heat washed over her body.
Jasper began removing his wet layers, and Zephyr felt a blush heat her cheeks as he took off his undershirt and laid it out with the rest of his clothes to dry. Zephyr supposed she should follow his example. She began removing her wet things. The lighting from the fire was scant, and Zephyr just kept reminding herself that it was no different that going for a swim in smallclothes, something she had done many times back home, as she quickly pulled her trousers off. She couldn't bring herself to remove her own tunic, but it was thin and was already beginning to dry out. She laid the rest of her wet clothing out next to Jasper's and quickly sat back down against the cave wall. Her tunic covered everything important, and for star's sake, she still had her underthings on, but Zephyr felt uncomfortably exposed with her legs laying out before her. She pulled her knees back up under her chin.
Jasper seemed to be searching for anything else to look at but her. The way he stared down the fire one would have thought it had grown legs and was about to run away. They sat opposite one another, the firelight flickering off every surface as a wind made a light howling in the entry of the cave. The snow seemed to have finally stopped, faint moonlight seeping through the clouds to light the forest outside. Zephyr could barely make out the sound of the river somewhere nearby. She couldn't suppress a shiver at the sound. Jasper coughed.
"We would be warmer if we sat together." His eyes met hers for a moment before dropping away in embarrassment. "I mean, we don't have to. It would just be warmer. But we don't have to." Zephyr felt a pang at how unsure he sounded with her now. As though he were afraid she would take what he was saying the wrong way. She hated that he thought she would assume he was doing anything other than trying to protect her.
As she stood, Jasper's eyes again met her own. They stayed on her face as she made her way around the fire to where he sat. Zephyr slowly seated herself, scooting as close as she could. After a long moment, Jasper lifted his arm and wrapped it around her. He was right, this was much warmer.
They were silent for a long time, and Zephyr could feel sleep tugging at her. But she didn't want to leave the awkwardness lingering between them.
"Thank you," she whispered, pressing her body a little closer to his. "For saving me. Again." She almost laughed at how many times she had said and thought this since meeting Jasper.
He was silent for a long time. Zephyr almost nodded off again before she heard his voice, barely more than a whisper itself.
"Thank you, for saving me." His arms tightened almost imperceptibly around her. Zephyr felt a small smile tug at the corners of her mouth. As she finally allowed herself to slip further towards sleep, she thought of how they were probably going to go on saving each other.