Follow the Dragon Scales

When You're Lost in the Dark

"My hands are bloody cold!" Andy announced after just two hours of walking.

"Same man," Harmony admitted, tucking the map under her arm to rub her hands together. Her red knuckles were a testament to her chill. Shae laughed, snuggled deep in the layers of her own sweater as well as the thick jacket Harmony had given to her. She was hardly cold at all.

"Sucks to be you guys. We still have, like, I don't even know how long until we get there, but hours, I know that," Shae said, suddenly a little worried. "Andy, put your hood up. Do either of you happen to have gloves that you forgot about?"

They both checked their pockets. No luck.

"Check the pockets of the coat you're wearing Shae," Harmony said. "I think I may have stuck a pair in there a while back."

"Oh!" There they were. "Thank goodness," Shae said, handing the gloves over to Harmony. "I think you need them more than Andy because you need your hands to handle the map."

"Yeah. I'm not that cold," Andy said. "I can last a few more hours, I'm sure."

Not even he could tell if he was being sarcastic.

--

"I have decided that trees are my new favorite thing," Shae announced when they approached the cover of a snow-blanketed forest.

"Yeah," Andy agreed. "And, wind can go and suck my--"

"Please don't finish that sentence," Harmony interrupted loudly. "Did anybody randomly bring, like, lighter fluid and some matches? Because I would burn this whole forest down for just a hint of heat, not gonna lie."

"Psh. My hand's are turning purple, Harmony. I'd roll around in an open flame if I could," Andy responded.

"Sh-sh-shut up, you guys," Shae muttered. The bitter cold had finally worked its way through her layers and settled deep in her bones.  "P-please tell me we're nearly there, Harmony!" She begged.

"We ought to be just a few roads down from the entrance by now," Harmony replied after double-checking the map.

Suddenly, Harmony tripped forward. Now, this wouldn't have been a problem if she had had normal energy levels with a normal body temperature and normal nerve reactions, but that was not the case. Due to the lack of feeling in her toes, and the lack of coordination due to how tired and cold her brain was, this particular misstep was much more consequential. 

Snow gave way to an icy slope, pulling Shae down. Screaming and abruptly very-much awake, Shae was too disoriented to even attempt to halt her skid. 

At the top of the hill, Harmony and Andy gazed on in concern. Or, well, Harmony did. Andy was close to cracking a rip from holding a laugh in. 

He knew it wasn't funny. He knew it. But, his delirious, sleep-deprived brain was clearly not with the program. 

Shae, thankfully, came to a stop at the bottom of the hill. This is the good news. The bad news is that the thing that stopped her at the bottom of the hill was a rather large stream (or was it a rather small river?) flowing steadily, despite the harsh cold of it's surroundings. 

"Are you okay, Shae?" Harmony called down, followed by a similar question leaving Andy's mouth. 

"I-I'mmm r-r-rea-eally co-old," she stuttered out. 

"Can you climb back up?" Andy called. 

Shae tried to stand up, but her chilling, wet clothes shifted causing her to go through a new wave of frozen contact. She immediately sat back down, huddling, trying to escape her own clothes. "N-no."

"Alright," Harmony decided. "We'll try and make our way down as quick as possible. Then we'll figure out what to do next." 

So, Andy and Harmony slipped and skidded their way down to the river. They were nearly halfway down when things really started to go... downhill. (A/N: I know. I'm hilarious.) Harmony hit a real icy patch about halfway down the slope and fell. 

She skated right on down the hill, directly into the stinging water; effectively soaking the map straight through. 

Andy raced down the hill after that. Panic showed through his face when he realized what exactly had become of their directions. 

"¡Ay! ¡Dios mío! ¿Por qué no eras más cuidadosa?" He practically begged. "This is all your fault, Shae!"

"W-what?" Shae asked, still distracted by her cold clothes and the strange color her hands were starting to turn.

"If you hadn't suggested this stupid trip-- or, or if you had even just watched your step, then we wouldn't be here! Now you guys are probably gonna get hypothermia, and we're gonna be stuck and lost in these woods for who-knows-how-long!"

"A-andy!" Harmony repremanded. "You're lashing out because you're panicking. That's enough."

"Is it though?" he responded. "All she ever does is try and mess up things that don't need to be messed up! Everything we've both been involved in since I moved to Bellview has been messed up because of her meddling!!"

"I-I'm sorry, An--" Andy just shook his head, quiet out of the blue.

"Whatever. It's not like it matters anymore anyway."