Disclaimer: Nope, not mine, Yes I wish it were.

Willow was beginning to hope that Rivers recovery would take longer than originally planned. As selfish as it sounded. This insane and ancient quest, that had somehow felled the "universe incarnate" was scaring her. She turned to the woman lying beside her. Not even a day now, and they could depart Yekon had said. River had regained her strength, for the most part. But was on a strict diet of the thick tea that Yekon brewed. Whatever it was worked, as every time she drank it was as though her eyes began to glisten, her skin pulsed and the ends of her hair would glow.

"Willow?" River's voiced croaked, it always croaked in the morning. The damage to her throat wasn't permanent but it was lasting, and only through the strict intake of the tea would it eventually heal successfully.

"I'm here, sorry, did I wake you?" The pair were on the large lounge bed that Yekon had constructed for them in Yekon's small room. Willows fingers trailed through River's curls, soothing her, and her eyelids fluttered.

"No, no it wasn't you, it's alright." Rivers fingers pressed against her temple, massaging away. Another nightmare then. Willow was now getting much better at deciphering her peer, not that she knew what she dreamt about. But if it was a nightmare, she would eventually awake, rub her temples and breathe the images away.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Willow probed, hoping to at last garner some insight into this infernal woman.

"Honestly sweetie I'm fine, I promise." And with her final word, she rose to get herself a cup of Yekon's seemingly magical brew.

Willow found herself fearing Yekon's appearance that morning. The old Mesapate had become a comfort to her, but the foreboding sense of fate that emanated from this supposed adventure was less than appealing, and Yekon had clearly felt that the time had come to begin the journey.

"The time is upon us, our journey begins today, there are provisions we must take, each of which I have prepared for you." Yekon was about to continue before Willow decided that enough was enough. No more secrets, not from Yekon, not from River. Becoming increasingly fearful and similarly annoyed that she didn't even know what she was risking her life for, as Yekon had remained strangely tight lipped since their last conversation, Willow interrupted Yekon.

"Before I step foot outside of this house, I want to know exactly what's going on and I mean exactly, I currently don't have a clue where we are going, why we are going and what we are going to do. And I'm not leaving till I am satisfied." Whilst trying to appear confident, Willow's words had tumbled out in a rush, causing her to sound more like a petulant child than anything. To add to this image, she promptly dropped to the floor and sat down. Resolutely deciding that she would not move another inch until the answers had been provided. River realizing that they were going nowhere, slowly lowered herself beside Willow, and looked at Yekon expectantly.

"We are to mimic the quest of the three princes, as the Day, which would be River, the Night which would be you Willow, and the Seer which is of course myself." Yekon paused for a moment, moving over to the fire, staring in it as though searching for answers, or as River seemed to discern, searching for a way out.

"Long have I known this day would come, that this trio would be reformed and have to proceed out. The princes, the princes should have succeeded, but they were foolish, they believed that they were in control, they succumbed to temptation and did not respect the ancient power that lies beneath the ground. As legend tells they searched for the heart of the mountain, depending on who you hear, they either succeeded or they were punished, although the latter is the closest of the two. The heart of the mountain is the key to life on Motapotia. It is what lingers in the air, in the water and in the earth, it is what gives us longevity and health, and was causes the mountaintops to glow. There was once an ancient practice, to harness the energy provided by the heart to better oneself. The living snow, as you have called it, radiates this power. By capturing it as a sliver of ice, and wearing it like a token, the energy could radiate on the body". Yekon pulled out a crystal looking necklace, similar to what she described.

"The problem being that the power from the heart comes through the earth, which causes the crests to glow, it does not seep back in through the air. As such the token loses its potency, and cannot recharge. The Mesapate would then have to find themselves a new token, so on and so forth. The brothers called for a new way, if they could bring the heart up and out of the mountain, they could use it, without having to go through the ice and snow, they could give everyone a sliver of the heart and ensure the survival of our race. This however, was a selfish notion."

Yekon stopped again, moving away from the fire to the bench, where they began to finely chop dried herbs, which Yekon then began placing in small cotton bags.

"If they wanted to provide for their people, how was it selfish?" Willow asked, wondering how engaging on such a dangerous quest for such a purpose could be considered wrong.
"Because they neglected all the other life that lives and breathes on this planet." Answered River, "they forgot the small and the insignificant, placing themselves higher up the foodchain, and the rest were well below notice." A shadow darted over her eyes as River remember Enob, and his prejudiced ways.

"Unfortunately, such is all too often the way of my kind," Yekon mused. "The princes did indeed reach the chasm, they succeeded further, entering the final layered system before the heart, it was here that they perished, alone and afraid. The sun lost his fire, the night lost his shroud. And the seer lost his sight. The price is high for such a crime." The cutting of Yekon's knife echoed a steady rhythm through the room that helped to center Willow as her heart beat faster.

"Then why would we repeat their selfish act." She asked, If Yekon condemned them, then why on earth would we follow up and 'fail' like our predecessors. Willow had heard so much but still felt incredibly unsure, as if there was something everyone else knew that she didn't. River's face was too calm for her liking, as she turned to glare at her, River only laughed.

"Of course, we aren't going to follow in their footsteps, yes, it's to the same place but obviously there is a different plan, to fix or right whatever wrong they did." River explained, observing Willow with a raised eyebrow in mocking gest. Willow was however still not content.

"So then, would you please explain what we are actually going for then?" She asked, her voice clearly displaying her exasperation as her hands wildly gestured in annoyance.

"When the princes entered the final layer, it set off what you would call the security system or protocol, this offsets the heart of the mountain, the only way for it to be reset, is for the trio that is considered worthy, those with honorable intentions to restore the heart of the mountain, can go down and reset it back in its place, thus restoring the energies that have begun to drain in this world, leaving it open to corruption and malice." Yekon finished, their eyes drifted to the fire, closing for a moment as they muttered a prayer, and then turned back to the other two.

"So basically, we go in, fix the heart, get out?" Yekon nodded.

"Then on earth did you not say this earlier?" Willow said, before moving to grab one of the backpacks that Yekon had set out for them.

"These contain the supplies we will need to continue our journey, you will notice there is food, and the elixir that I have been supplying you with, you must continue to drink this, River you especially. There is also a crystalline amulet similar to mine, you may wear these, being the night and day will bypass your humanoid systems, so rather than burning you up they will help to restore your health, you are children of prophecy and the gods are understanding of this. However, once the heart is reset you will need to remove them, the charged energy in that room will be too powerful for you to handle." Yekon turned to pick up their own bag, as well as a large walking stick engraved with swirls and decorated with various trinkets and charms.

"This will protect us from any Mesapate that comes our way, have faith dear children, this destiny will be fulfilled." Yekon finished, before proceeding out of the door, Willow tailed on after River, reluctant to leave this haven of safety that she had gotten to know.

AN. It's been a while I know but here is the new chapter, I'm going to be looking at updating weekly from now on so that will be a bit more reliable. Any scenes you would like to see let me know, and I'll see what I can work in, if not it can go in a collection of one shots that I am considering adding later.