DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters

Please R & R^^

If the start of this chapter seems a bit hurried, that's because I really wanted to start writing it today. But my mum really wanted (read: forced) me to clean up my attic. So 9 garbage bags, 4 pretty big spiders, 1 weird unknown dead bug that made me scream and a nearly collapsed closet later, I can FINALLY start writing. Now I just have to find a way to get the dust out of my lungs…

Something stirred against him, startling him awake. Cold. Why wasn't he in bed? And why was it so dark? Was it still night or something? But he didn't feel like he had slept that short. With a yawn, he looked around, finally remembering where they were and why they were here. And the thing stirring against him had been Ruka, softly trying to wake him. Now, his silver-haired angel smiled at him. "Good morning, Rei."

"Good morning." Seems like the others had awoken just moments ago too. "What time is it?"

"Eight o'clock, so we're a little early. But since we have to travel over a mountain today, we'd better save as much time as possible," Shin said.

"Oh, the one with the eternal storms," Rei remembered from their research. Those storms were the main reason why it would take rather long to get over that mountain. Flying would be impossible, due to the hard wind.

After a really short breakfast, they all had only a few of the eatable leafs left in their pockets, they walked on through the caves, Shin leading the way. "Light!" Gai suddenly noticed. Rei immediately looked up, and indeed the cave was close to ending. Like it was agreed on beforehand, they all fastened their pace towards it. After the slightly moldy air inside the caved, the fresh morning wind outside felt even better that usual. Enjoying the sun would have to wait, though.

They were standing at the foot of the mountain, and already they were in a thick mist. The sound of the wind blowing, a little way up the path, was disturbingly loud. "We'd better hold hands, not to lose each other," Yuda warned. "It sound like tough weather up there."

None of them disagreed on that, and Rei was quite happy to now have a reason to hold hands with Ruka. On his other side was Yuda, and then Shin. Gai and Goh were next to Ruka. This time, Goh went first, since there was only one path, so they didn't need to know the way. Besides, despite the strong wind, Goh was strong enough to pull them all forward.

The further they got, the harder it got to see where they were going. The mist was like some thick, grey cloth around them, making it difficult to even see each other. That wouldn't have been such a problem, if only the wind wouldn't be blowing them nearly off the path. Rei was pretty sure they were walking right next to a ravine right now, but he couldn't even look far enough to see his own feet. Not that would ever let it show, but he felt so scared. Still, he just couldn't worry Ruka right now.

They had wandered on for some hours, when suddenly the wind became so strong, Rei felt himself being thrown aside by it. Ruka's hand slipped, just as Yuda's. And he could hear Shin and Yuda screaming. In a flash he realized he had been right about the ravine.

Without thinking, he ran down into the direction of Shin's panicked voice. Yuda was here somewhere to, but he was still save. At the second Rei knew he ran past Yuda, the mountain suddenly stopped, and the ravine began. "Shin!" Rei yelled.

"Rei, help! Please!" Shin sounded not too far away yet, and Rei flew down as fast as he could, suddenly bumping into something warm and soft. "Rei?"

"Hold on!" Not knowing how faraway the ground was, Rei made a full turn back up. The wind almost blew him out of course, the mist was so thick he could only see grey, but he just hoped he was going in the right direction. Above him, he suddenly heard someone yelling his name. "Ruka, we're here!" He yelled back.

"Can you see anything?"

"No!" Not making his beloved worry was one thing, but it would be stupid not to tell him that. Honestly, Rei didn't even know for sure if he was even flying up. Another strong gust of wind, and he knew he was getting way too close to the rocky wall of the ravine. "Ruka!"

"Rei, watch out!" Shin screamed.

At the second Rei looked around, it was already too late. With a crash, he hit the wall, the sharp rocks cutting his body. He heard a loud thump, and felt Shin going limp in his arms. "Shin?" No response. Realizing they were falling down, he flapped his wings, hoping desperately to gain some height. He already knew it was useless. When another strong gust of wind threw him against the rocks again, he felt one of them piercing more than just his skin. "Ruka!" He screamed as loud as he could, making his lungs burn. All he knew that if he would let go of Shin now, his friend would be as good as dead.

It wasn't until he felt strong arms embracing him, that he felt a small flicker of hope. "Ruka?" he asked softly.

"It's me. Just hold on for a little longer," his beloved tried to comfort him.

Ruka felt how strangely limp Shin's body was. Rei was obviously still conscious, but something about him felt a bit off. As fast as he could, he flew back to the path, and their friends. "Yuda, you have to help!" Carefully, he sat Rei down, kneeling beside him. The purple-haired angel still felt a bit wobbly, so Ruka kept an arm around his slim shoulders. Rei carefully laid Shin down on the ground. "I… I think he h-hit his head," he mumbled.

From this close, Ruka could just see Rei and Shin, and also Yuda, Gai and Goh, when they kneeled next to them. Ruka noticed briefly how pale Rei seemed, but his attention was back at Shin when Yuda carefully kissed him on his forehead, healing the concussion. Shin woke almost immediately, and Rei slumped against Ruka with a shaky but relieved sigh. "Shin? You're… okay?" he mumbled, his voice faltering.

"Y-yes, thanks to you for catching me." Shin looked at Rei, and all color went from his face. "Rei!"

Ruka looked at Rei's ghostly pale face, but Rei looked down, at where Shin was staring at. His face went even paler, for as far as that was possible, and his breathing hitched. "Ah… I hadn't… n-noticed… that… y-yet…" he whispered faintly. Ruka finally followed his gaze, and he nearly gasped. Some sharp rock had went right through Rei's abdomen, leaving him with a mess of blood and ripped off flesh where his intestines were supposed to be. With a breathless sound, Rei closed his eyes. Ruka didn't know if his beloved had lost consciousness, but the other option was a lot worse.

"Yuda!" Ruka nearly yelled, even though the red-haired angel sat right in front of him. Yuda had already kneeled next to Rei, and carefully placed his lips on the wound. Terribly slowly, it healed. "Rei?" Ruka asked worriedly. "Rei, please say something."

"Ouch," Rei groaned, blinking a few times, before opening his eyes. "That… didn't feel pleasant."

Speechless at that dry response, Ruka just hugged him tightly, so grateful to have Rei's frail, beautiful body healthy again. His angel was still trembling, though. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked concerned.

"Y-yeah. I just… If you hadn't caught us…" Rei looked at the ground, with an almost guilt look on his face. "Then I would have failed again."

"It's not like it's a daily thing having to catch me," Shin said softly, immediately understanding what Rei meant. "And besides, though you got hurt both of the times you saved me, I'd be dead twice now if it wasn't for you. So why are you so hard on yourself?"

"Because…" Rei sighed. "I don't know. I guess I'd just like to do something well, instead of making others save me."

"Sorry, but I won't jump into that ravine again to give you another chance," Shin said with a smirk. Shall we move on now? We can talk during the nights, but it isn't wise to stay in places like this for longer than necessary."

Rei nodded, allowing Ruka to help him to his feet, while Yuda did the same for Shin. They all got back into their former positions, holding hands, and started walking on. After some time, Rei felt they were on a path again. It did feel slightly more safe, and the wind had laid down a bit, but he still hoped they'd be off this mountain soon.

Finally, the path didn't went downwards anymore, though the mist stayed. Suddenly, Rei realized they were walking into some big, black hole. "The ice caves," he realized.

"Huh?" Yuda asked."

"They're right at the foot of the mountain," Shin explained. "That mountain path we just walked, ends into a ravine. There's a huge rocky wall in front of us, stretching out for miles in both ways. "And those caves are the only way to get out of it towards where we're heading."

"And that's where we'll have to spend the night?" Gai nagged. "In a frozen cave?"

"No one said this would be easy and comfortable," Goh commented.

Slowly, they walked in. "This should be the safest s-spot," Shin said, some minutes later. "Let's r-rest here." He wasn't the only one who was shivering, due to the intense cold. As they sat down against a wall, they automatically cuddled as close to each other as possible, desperate to share all warmth available.

Rei snuggled softly against Ruka, making his angel groan a bit, almost inaudibly. "It's so cold," Rei mumbled.

"I know," Ruka mumbled back, embracing his slender angel.

"Did anyone think about bringing food?" Yuda suddenly asked.

The silence that followed answered that question. "Damn," Ruka commented.

Rei didn't really care, he wasn't that hungry anyway, but it still worried him a bit. Considering what they would have to face in these caves, they shouldn't weaken even a bit. But right now, he didn't want to worry about that. He just wanted to sleep. Exhausted, he laid his head on Ruka's shoulder and closed his eyes. Faintly, he felt his beloved calling his name, softly. "Mmh," he sighed.

"Rei?" A bit worried, Ruka watched the beautiful angel in his arms. Rei's face was bit pale, and he seemed barely awake. Of course he was tired, after what had happened, but was he really all right?

"He's fine," Yuda said softly, and Ruka noticed his friend was holding Shin in the same way that he held Rei. So it was indeed due to their almost-fall into that ravine, that they were so exhausted. Well, no wonder really. They had both gotten hurt, though Rei had took a bigger blow than Shin. At least they were both healed.

"Ruka?" Rei whispered suddenly, opening his eyes a bit.

"Yes?"

"You're… soft," Rei mumbled, his eyes slipping shut again. "Keep… holding… me." His breathing evened out as he fell asleep.

They'll get even more trouble in the next chapter *evil smile*

Will update soon^^