Summary: Rhea looks out over the parapets at Camp Dragonhead, despair, defeat and anger swelling within her breast. Haurchefant finds her and leads her to a warm hearth to help her find hope once more. Together, they find so much more.

Author's Note: WoL x Haurchefant | OC Work w/ MSQ References

How could everything have gone so wrong?

Rhea looked out across the night-blanketed Coerthan wilderness, her eyes directed north. Though only the Steel Vigil could be seen from Camp Dragonhead, and not Ishgard herself, she knew the area and the sight well. In her mind's eye, she pictured the gleaming city beyond the vast chasm of the Sea of Clouds.

Ishgard.

She had not thought of returning home like this.

So much had happened, even since she last stood in the biting cold of her homeland. It was overwhelming and never had she felt so powerless. Clothed in a simple fur coat and warm boots, courtesy of Lord Haurchefant, Rhea was so numb that even the cold cutting through did not touch her. She was empty of the Mother's Light, driven from the home and family she had found outside of Ishgard's walls, and nary a hope that the others could have survived.

But she had to have hope. It was all there was left.

Her mind turned to their arrival at Camp Dragonhead. Rhea had almost cried in relief when she had seen Haurchefant sitting behind his desk when they arrived. She would have, too, had she not been by that point already far too numb to be able to express any emotion. She wondered what she looked like, especially to him. Did she look the husk she felt she was?

The news she received from him following their arrival only added to the despair in her breast. Though she was right that he would offer them refuge, matters at home were just as filled with despair, to say the least. Another attack by the Horde had descended upon the city and some few wyverns had broken through to the city proper. Though they were repelled, Ishgard had locked itself down and made ready its defenses under a state of alert. Haurchefant made it clear though that while asylum would unlikely be granted until the threat of the Dravanian's imminent attacks diminished, they would ever be welcome at Camp Dragonhead and any who sought to find them there would receive no aid from House Fortemps. It was more than generous and, on top of it, he gave them another small silver lining: Tataru had escaped the raid on the Rising Stones and had been escorted to Coerthas by Lady Yugiri. Rhea wished she could feel happiness but the numbing cold seeped deeper into her.

Coming back from the memory, she knew the path was clear as she looked out over the frozen wastes of her once-verdant homeland. Here, back home, it was up to Rhea to do what she must to save the Scions, rebuild and welcome the dawn to the lands once more. They had done it once before and they would do it again. How she was going to do that, however, was beyond her knowing in that moment. At least last time, her and Alphinaud had the others. Who was left but they three and the Domans, now? A heavy sigh left her parted lips, creating a fog of breath in front of her as the memories of reuniting with Tataru and Yugiri disappeared.

"Have faith, my dear Rhea..." a warm and familiar voice spoke to her from behind. She closed her eyes at the sound. It was both comforting and disorienting, thanks to the complicated nature of things with the holder of the voice. Taking a breath of the cold air, she turned to find Haurchefant standing there. "House Fortemps will not forsake you and most certainly, neither will I. You have made allies here. Halone will not so easily forsake one of her own."

Rhea had not thought Hydaelyn, the one who chose her, would have forsaken her either, yet there she was, powerless to do anything and devoid of Her blessing. What had she done wrong to make Hydaelyn turn her back upon her as she had? She'd the strength to speak to Minfilia yet not even a whisper from the Mother had brushed her own ears. Still, Haurchefant's words were a small balm to her heart. His steadfast, warm and welcoming presence gave her comfort she could scarce describe.

Yet as she stood there, staring at the fair silver-haired Knight, a torrent of emotion welled up inside her. His warmth and kindness blasted through the ice around her empty heart, melting all traces of it away. Emotions she had blocked out with the chilling numbness that had been sustaining her from the depths of madness came rushing into the void. All of her anger, her despair, her frustration and her hopelessness rose to the surface. Before she realized what she was doing, the space between them was closed and her arms wrapped around him as her head pressed under his chin against the icy metal of his armor. The dam had broken and there upon the frozen parapets of the Camp Dragonhead's walls, Rhea wept for the first time in longer than she could remember.

Startled though he was at first by her sudden approach, Haurchefant wasted no time in wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. Resting his head upon hers, he simply held her. By a mercy, though all of Coerthas was on high alert with the Dravanian attacks, this section of the wall was vacant of soldiers for the time. She would have wondered if Haurchefant had made it so to give her space had the cataclysm of her emotions not been wracking her violently.

Haurchefant let her cry as long she needed, until finally he pulled back and looked down into her tear soaked eyes. It would not be long before someone came and it would not do for Rhea to be seen in such a state. In her distress and the light of the moon, her silvery eyes looked nearly black with the storm that resided within them. Reaching up with a gloved hand, the soft leather brushed away some of her tears. "Come, we should retreat inside. You have enough problems that you do not need to catch your death by this cold. I promise, you are safe here," he said, trying to give her a reassuring smile.

Rhea looked at him for a long moment before nodding softly, then wiped the remaining tears and followed him back down from the wall. It was not to the headquarters or intercessory he took her, however, but to his private quarters above the hall where he commanded out of. Just as he did with those on the wall, he knew it would not do for her companions to see her in such a state - for her morale, as much as theirs.

So it was Rhea walked into the refuge Haurchefant offered. Yet as she looked into the great hearth which warmed the space, her thoughts turned to the events which brought her there once more. A deep shiver ran down her spine as she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to steel herself from the cold that tried to ice over her heart once more and cast her further into despair.

So this was what Darkness winning felt like.

Inspirational Soundtrack Song: Fear Not This Night - Malukah (from Guild Wars 2)