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Mitsu's heart was still pounding with adrenaline, blood quickly seeping down her face into her eye despite the pressure she held over the wound. "I-I-I d-don.." She couldn't get her words out, saying his name was about as clear as she was going to be in her panic.

Pulling her hand away from the slash across her forehead Mitsu reached for Shun and pulled him from the snow. Her whole body was trembling but she managed to pull him up as she stood with his arm over her shoulders. It was only then that she looked around and realized while it was dim...she could still see. Looking up Mitsu saw the thick ceiling of ice they had fallen through and what looked like mountains on either side of them. She would have lingered where she was but a blurry thought told her it would be best to keep moving.

Her steps were unsteady as she moved forward and the blood from her forehead was flowing freely down her face and onto her jacket now staining it a bright red. She could really only see clearly out of one eye and realized in a haze how hard it must have been for Shun to adjust.

She had just managed to bring her and Shun both around a high formation of rocks and the sight in front of her wasn't quite what she expected. Nestled under all the ice and snow in the middle of no where...was a town....more like a city. It was huge, the buildings tall and sturdy. How had it managed to get under here?

Moving forward Mitsu could actually see people in the distance but each step came with effort now. She was losing more blood than she thought and her body was becoming sluggish. Another step and she started to fall but a pair of hands had reached out of no where to grab her and Shun. Mitsu managed to look up and saw the blurry face of an older man before everything went black.

It was hard to say how much time had passed but when Mitsu woke up next she found herself in a bed covered with blankets. There was a throbbing pain in her head and when she tried to sit up she found that it only made her dizzy. Groaning she placed her hand against the bandages that now covered her forehead, her thoughts still foggy and lost.

"Shhh, screechheart." It was the voice of an elderly woman, a monster from the look of it by her size and the furry wolfish ears at the sides of her head. "Try not to move around too much, you're pretty banged up and have a fever to boot." She reached toward a bowl that sat on a nightstand by the bed and pulled out a cloth dripping with water. Ringing it out she held it toward Shun's forehead while trying to get him to lay back down.

"The little lady with you is resting in the next room. Took a bit of a bump to the head but I think she'll be alright."

It wasn't hard to distinguish the sound of the door opening and closing and the large footsteps that carried through the house that got closer and closer. If Shun looked up he would manage to see the doorway suddenly filled with the broad structure of a tall elderly man. Time hadn't really worn on him much physically but was only evident with the lines on his face and the very gray patches running through his hair and beard that mingled with black.

He said nothing but lifted up a small paper bag which the woman with Shun took gladly. "Thank you, dear. Would you mind peeking in on the little ghoul to see how she is doing for me?" The man gave a grunt as a reply and moved to the other room while the elderly woman went to work pouring some hot water she had in a kettle nearby into a large cup. Opening the bag she pulled out a small paper packet and poured what looked like powder into the cup and stirred it a few times before bringing it over to Shun. "Sip this slowly, screechheart. It should make you feel better."

In the other room Mitsu was trying very hard to piece together what had happened but her mind just wasn't working. Through the headache and loss of blood she couldn't focus. She tried again to open her eyes, her ears perking at the sound of footsteps. Large footsteps.

She turned her head a little too swiftly to the side, her vision swimming for a moment before the large man came into focus. He didn't say a word but his presence had Mitsu bringing the blankets up toward her face, her ears folding back against her skull. Watching him carefully she didn't speak either but instead waited for him to do or say something.

"Maybe in a bit, screechheart. Rest for now. I would like to see your fever come down a little more before you move around too much."

She sat back down in a chair beside the bed. Whether it was to simply tend to Shun, make sure he drank the bitter medicine, or make sure he stayed in bed had yet to be seen. Probably all of the above. "Oh, you're in Howling Crest. The better question is what brought you all the way out here. We're in a rather remote area and not many people know this city still exists. Visitors are a rarity."

For Mitsu the silence grew uncomfortable and she finally ventured to make a small noise, something like a greeting but it was muffled behind the blanket that covered her mouth. At the small sound the man ducked his head and entered the room and it was then that Mitsu could see the large wolfish ears at the top of his head. She stared at them as he drew closer, a large hand coming toward her to touch her head.

It was gentle but it still hurt making her flinch away but the man didn't linger. Instead he turned and picked up a small kit and opened it to pull out a fresh set of bandages and gaze. Oh wait....that was her kit. Mitsu watched him carefully and soon enough his hands were coming back toward her and she sank further back into the blankets trying to hide.

"Hold still." Came his gruff voice, and Mitsu did just that closing her eyes. Despite his size his touch was surprisingly gentle and he carefully unwrapped the bandage around her head and set it aside. When Mitsu opened her eyes she could see the old bandage was covered in blood and she started to reach up to touch her forehead but the man brushed her hand away as he cleaned the area and wrapped her head again. Once he was done he rose up from her bedside and moved back toward the door. "Stay." Was his only instruction as he left.

As he moved back to the room where his wife and Shun was he made a small grunt noise before disappearing, his footsteps fading to somewhere else in the house.

"Oh, it seems like she's awake." The woman said softly. "Drink you're medicine and I will check on her." How had that even been enough to inform her of anything?

"Oh, your fiance? Awfully young to be getting married." The woman waited patiently for Shun to finish his medicine, giving thought to what he had said. "So I'm guessing she had family or friends here? Some of the younger ones tend to leave when they get old enough but a lot come back after a few years."

At his question she nodded back in the direction her husband had disappeared to. "My husband was coming through the narrow pass there by where you fell. Its one of the few exits left that haven't been completely snowed in. He was bringing back some supplies when he heard a scream and saw you and the young lady sliding down the mountain. By the time he reached you the ghoul had managed to get you both to your feet but she wasn't moving too well. You both were in pretty bad shape so he brought you back here."

At the mention of his ghoul being up the woman sighed as he sat up quickly. "I swear you young people don't listen." She pressed a hand to his chest to get him to lay back down. "Stay here and I will see if she's able to move around to come see you."

"Oh hush, you all say you're fine but you don't have a lick of sense now stay put." The elderly woman said sternly with a nod. "I'll be right back."

Rising up the elderly woman took her leave of Shun's room and didn't go far until she entered the room where Mitsu was laying with the blankets still pulled up around her face. "Hello screechheart, how are you feeling?"

Mitsu had been in a daze wondering if the man was going to come back but instead was greeted with the slightly smaller form of a woman as she came in to check on her. Her presence wasn't nearly as intimidated but Mitsu still didn't answer as she stayed where she was. As her mind started to clear she realized Shun wasn't with her. Where was her reaper? She peeked up and around the room but didn't see him nearby, her face creasing with worry.

"Are you looking for the young man?" The woman asked.

When Mitsu nodded the woman smiled. "Don't worry, he's in the other room and he wants to see you. Do you think you can walk?"

Mitsu nodded though inwardly she wasn't sure. Slowly she pushed herself up feeling the dull ache across her forehead grow. Frowning she did her best to ignore it swinging her feet around to touch the floor. The woman was there to help her rise and mostly kept her up as she lead her into the other room. As soon as Mitsu saw Shun though she broke away from the woman and staggered to his bedside to check on him. She fell to her knees beside the bed, her hands reaching to touch Shun's face to see if he was okay.

"Careful screechheart." The woman soothed helping Mitsu up just enough so that she could sit on the edge of the bed instead of kneeling on the floor. "I'll leave you two for now so I can make you some food. I'm sure you're both hungry. I'll be back." She left them then and disappeared down the hall to somewhere else in the house.

To Shun's question Mitsu had nodded though when he touched the area around her bandage she flinched. There was a little bit of bruising visible and her face was even paler than it normally was but she seemed alert, at least for now.

Still feeling a touch of fever around his face Mitsu leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead. Instead of moving away, since her head was swimming, she rested her head beside his and wrapped her arms around his shoulders the best she could. While it had worked out in the end she still felt guilty for dragging him out in the middle of no where. He had not only gotten sick but had also gotten hurt.

"I'm s-sorry..." She uttered, speaking now that the woman was gone. "I should have t-taken you back to Raven's Nest."

"But you got sick and now you're hurt too and..." Her brain seemed to finally process what else Shun had said. They were in Howling Crest? They had actually made it? "W...we found it?"

She sat up then looking toward the window in the room. Even if she wasn't going to leave Shun she wanted to look, just a small peek in the mean time but as she got to her feet she got light headed, her legs shaking and taking her back down to the bed rather quickly. Groaning she placed a hand to her head, her forehead was throbbing. Having a look was going to have to wait.

"How did....we even get here?" Mitsu was still trying to piece together what she remembered. They were above the ice and then they broke through, they fell and....somewhere along the way she bumped her head and everything got fuzzy after that.

Turning her head slightly to look back at Shun Mitsu nodded and laid back pulling her feet up onto the bed. Snuggling in close she gently rested her head against his shoulder to rest for now.

A couple days passed while they recovered from their journey. In that time they learned that around fifty years prior Howling Crest had faced one of the worst storms it had ever had. The mountain range filled with snow and if it hadn't been for a group effort of reapers who had known ice magic the entire town probably would have been buried. Instead they now had the ceiling of thick ice above them and it had been there ever since. There were some weak points near the peeks which was why Shun and Mitsu had fallen through but for the most part there was no threat of it coming down any time soon. It still left them rather cut off from the world because of the elements which was probably why Howling Crest had fallen off the map. There were very few places to gain entry and with only a small hand full of people leaving at a time it wasn't widely talked about.

There were still a few questions that Mitsu had but mostly she knew they would be answered by looking around. She didn't talk to the elderly couple much but it didn't seem like the woman, who was named Jenna, minded and her husband Alister barely spoke as it was. For the most part they left the two be to come and go as they pleased only asking for small favors around the house while they stayed. Since they were both doing a little better, Jenna decided to send them on a run to the market.

"Here's a basket, Screechheart." She handed Mitsu the basket and held some seeds out for Shun to take. "I need two dozen eggs, bread, milk, and bacon but only get the bacon from Caelan. Everywhere else is too expensive." She instructed. "And you remember the directions to the market?"

Mitsu started to nod but then immediately shook her head. It was better not to assume she knew the way.