Delicate, innocent, pure white snowflakes fluttered down from the clouds, landing on Adam's shoulders and the back of his horse. It had become steadily lighter but the blanket of clouds blocked out the sun, meaning that he had no way of knowing how many hours had passed. His hands had gloves and his furry hood was up and he was wearing thick boots but he was still shivering violently. His arms shook as he brushed the snow off from his shoulders, the horse warm underneath him from the steady trot they were doing.
The consistent snowfall dropped the temperature down several degrees and Adam's breath was steaming in the air. He had to be getting close to the border now, surely. He couldn't stand this cold, his fingers and toes were completely numb and they ached when he tried to move them. He urged his horse faster. He had to get out of here. He had to... to get out... of here...
Thump.
The Team had been invited to breakfast with Queen Anne and they sat around a table in the back of the ground level of the house, served a variety of hot foods which were sitting on the large table. They had only been seated for several minutes before Jason went upstairs to wake Adam up. The rest didn't start the meal, instead waiting for the two to return.
"Weather's looking pretty good today," Anne mentioned when there was a lull in the conversation, looking out the window. "I'd wager that the snow will clear off in a few hours but it's not too heavy to do some outside stuff."
"We should probably think about heading back in a few days as well," Ty said regretfully.
"But not today, so who cares," Mitch reasoned, eyeing some of the hot bacon.
There was another lull in the conversation and Seto glanced towards the door. "Jason and Adam are taking a while," he muttered.
"Adam can be a heavy sleeper," Jerome said, but his voice died off slightly.
"Maybe I should..." Ian started, beginning to stand up but the door to the dining area crashed open and a worried Jason stood there.
"Adam's gone," he said. "His room's empty, his saddle and his horse is gone and no one's seen him today."
"This is because he was always cold, wasn't it?" Ty asked with a huff but his voice carried a trace of worry. "He should have just told us and we would have left without question."
Jason gave a tiny shrug but Anne was frowning. Something in Ty's words had stirred a memory but she couldn't quite snatch at it.
"Ty," she said, interrupting the conversation that had suddenly sprung up. "What did you say before?"
"Uhhh.... He should have just told us?" Ty said, his eyebrows creased in confusion.
"No no, before that."
"This is because he was always cold?"
Her eyes widened a little and she gave each of them a quick glance. "How long has this been going on for?" she asked, seeming to dread the answer.
"You mean, how long as he been cold for?" Mitch asked. "Only since we got into the snow country."
"This is the first time?"
"Oh, and when Adam and I went to Lord Rob's territory," Quentin said, "on the edge of the snow country. But not before that."
"Did he huddle next to the fire but couldn't get warm?" she asked.
Mitch glanced at his friends. "Yeah, how did you know that?"
The Queen's only answer was a swear and rapidly telling them to follow her while she sprinted from the room. More than a little worried by her sudden movements, the Team quickly followed as she sprinted to the stables, barely pausing to grab her jumper while calling orders to the warriors who were working nearby.
"Wait, Anne, what's happening?" Ty asked as she threw her saddle over her horse.
"Your friend's life is in danger," she said, pausing in her movements and facing them. "If we don't find him within the next few hours, he will be dead."
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Seto asked, a sick feeling in his stomach.
"Being caught alone in the snow is bad enough," Anne said, "but with the way he reacts to snow, he's got almost no chance. The best way to find him is to split up. Go in groups, one of my men will guide you. If you find him, bring him straight to Aramis, he will be able to look after him."
Mitch glanced over his shoulder and saw that a dozen other warriors were saddling their horses quickly, all dressed in the grey-white jumpers, carrying packs. "Guys, let's go," he said urgently, moving over to saddle his own horse. "We don't have a lot of time."
"Everyone meet back here in three hours," Anne said to her men.
They rode out in groups of three, their hoods up over their faces, riding at a canter to the south, standing up in their stirrups to call out Adam's name every now and then. Mitch and Ty rode with Queen Anne, the groups splitting up in different directions. The light snow made the chance of finding any tracks impossible and the minutes ticked by, stretching out into one hour, going into the second. Ty stood up in his stirrups for the hundredth time and cupped his gloved hands to his mouth.
"Adam!" he called, his voice echoing thinly around the barren landscape, no reply coming back.
"He will still be alive, right?" Mitch asked Anne worriedly.
"I don't know," came her quiet voice.
"But what if-"
"Shh." Something soft had come from the distance and Anne focused on the direction, dropping her hood from her head. Mitch and Ty copied her movements, listening. The sound came again, shrill and high, but the three instantly clapped their heels to their horses' sides and galloped in the direction of the distant whinny. The snow flew up behind the hooves of their horses and a dark spot blurred by the snowfall grew larger and they slid to a stop beside the horse sniffing nervously at a figure lying on the ground.
"Adam!" Ty and Mitch simultaneously said, both jumping down from their horses. Ty took off his glove and pressed his hand to Adam's neck, feeling for a pulse. For one horrible moment, he couldn't find it, but then it thumped weakly against his fingertips.
"He's still alive," Ty said. Anne swiftly got down from her own horse and also felt Adam's pulse while Mitch held the fretting horse, patting its nose gently. "We'll have to move fast to get back, his pulse is weak."
"He doesn't have that time, you need to get him out of the snow country now."
The urgency in Anne's voice made both of their stomachs grow a sick feeling. "You don't mean he's dying... right?" Mitch asked. "I mean, it's just snow."
"If he's not dying now, he will be in a few minutes," Anne said. Ty helped her to heave the unconscious Adam up and onto his horse, then she took the reins from Mitch as he mounted his own horse. She swiftly tied the pack she had carried to his horse and pointed in the distance to a mountain top. "Head towards there, that's the fastest way out. Don't slow down until he starts to stir and whatever happens, do not bring him back. I'll tell your friends where you've gone."
Ty nodded and with a glance to Mitch, clapped his feet to his horse and the two were off, the snow flying up behind them, Anne holding onto the reins of Adam's horse while her own pawed the ground behind her. She was quickly lost in the snow. Ty and Mitch didn't speak, the thudding of the horses' hooves on the snow making any attempt at conversation difficult. They travelled fast, eating up the distance to home, heading straight for the mountain Anne pointed out. After a tense two hours (Adam's pulse was getting weaker and weaker), the snow started to melt around them and it dissolved, allowing tuffs of brown grass to show until it was gone altogether, and a tentatively warm breeze drifted through their hair and the grass started to show green shoots.
The trees were growing multiple young leaves when Adam finally stirred, making a sound of annoyance, like he had been woken up from a great dream. The two Generals slowed their horses and stopped in the shade of a young tree, gently helped him down from Ty's horse. He blinked several times and put one hand to his head, the other resting on his propped up knee as the other two sat beside him.
"Are you okay?" Mitch asked almost instantly.
Adam nodded a bit. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."
"Your heart was slowing down," Ty said, watching Adam carefully. "You were dying."
Adam frowned. "Wait, what? Why?"
Ty and Mitch glanced at each other. "I thought you would know that," Mitch said but Adam shook his head.
"I've... never been that bad in the snow country," he admitted, looking down at his hands. They were warm now but shaking slightly. "It's just in the last few months that I've suddenly been constantly cold in the snow and unable to be warm, no matter what I do."
Mitch frowned. "Could it be because you've climatised?" he suggested but Ty instantly dispelled the idea.
"Ian's been out of the tundra for longer than Adam and he doesn't have the same reaction," he pointed out. "Besides, we're fine with it and the tundra is much colder than the snow country in some parts."
"Quentin suggested that I was getting sick but..."
"Sickness doesn't make you pass out and almost die only when you're surrounded by snow," Ty said.
The three were silent as if waiting for some amazing revelation to appear out of nowhere but nothing came. Mitch took the pack from his saddle and handed out some of the food and water that were inside. Adam didn't realise how thirsty he was until he started to drink.
"We'll head home and the others should join us in a few days," Mitch said. "At least we got the treaty signed before all this happened."
"Yeah, good timing Adam," Ty mumbled with half a sandwich in his mouth.
"Thanks," Adam said dryly.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
It's just a passing thing, right? Nothing more than that.
(Well, the very fact that I'm saying that should suggest that it's really, really not.)