Colt was abruptly awakened as he felt the warmth that engulfed him slowly deteriorate away as coldness was seeping into his room. He groaned as he lifted his head from the bedframe, pulling his forelegs closer as he hoisted his front body.

He groggily looked around the dark-filled room, trying to identify what caused the low temperatures, but was ineffective in discovering any cause. So he laid there confused for a few moments, silently waiting for his mind to fully awake.

However, before investigating further, he was thrown out of his recently awoken state as he heard the fundamental door close. Panic quickly arose as he grew worried about what provoked the commotion so early. 'I didn't oversleep, did I?' He worriedly thought to himself as he pushed his body away from the bed, staggering a bit as he advanced over to the door.

He opened the door, revealing the familiar open expanse to him. He obscured his eyes from the bonfire in the middle, not accustomed to the firm, solitary light source in the dark. He hurriedly glanced around the area, expecting to see the others, but was confounded when he couldn't notice anyone within the room.

"But..." he meekly said, feeling like something was missing. He let out a confined breath, trying to recollect his thoughts and make sense of the situation.

He was beginning to consider that he was hallucinating the coldness and the noise. Until he saw Castiel walking out from an unused room that they preserved. A sense of release rushed through him as he gathered that he didn't sleep for too long. However, it did nothing to explain the sudden cold draft that could still be felt lingering by the feet.

He was about to greet her but refrained as he noticed that she was walking further away from him, slowly advancing towards their equipment, taking her scarf and torch before hastily moving to the door. She opened it without hesitation and ran outside.

Colt stood in silence as he watched her warily depart the shelter, immediately questioning himself about what she was doing. He slowly advanced to the door, trying to see if she was taking a breather.

But before he could confirm his theory of the situation, he was caught off guard as he could hear whines echoing through the walls. He stopped his movement to the door and awkwardly stood open area, cautiously narrowing down the source of the sound until he found the origin of the groan. He found himself standing outside the room where Castiel had left. He carefully stared into the room depths, discerning a blue lump within the darkness, gently moving.

He squinted his eye into the room, soon remarking that the blue lump was actually Mace trying to stand up from the floor. Seeing him struggle provoked colt to make his presence known and immediately walk over and assist him.

"Mace, are you alright?" He worriedly said as he went over to catch him as he was losing his balance. Mace was surprised as he was caught before his legs gave out. He carefully looked up, seeing colt with a genuinely concerned look. Felling something that held him from falling when trying to stand was beyond what he expected in this situation.

"Thanks..." Mace meekly said as colt pushed him up on his legs and began to assist him out onto the open expanse, thoughtfully settling him on the bench near the fire. Colt could clearly notice the discomfort that Mace endured throughout their meagre walk. Convincing himself that something had occurred this morning since he knew that his injuries weren't as bad as yesterday. Even the abnormalities from the coldness and Castiel departing much earlier bothered him, and it only fueled his curiosity as he yearned for answers.

But before he started asking questions, he made sure that the glaceon calmed down and relaxed, and he would remain until Mace was competent on the bench, patiently waiting for him to soothe down. Mace's uneven breathing slowly came to a stable pace, and it finally urged Colt to ask what was happening.

"What's going on?" He asked after a while, desiring to get the answers to his long-awaited questions. Colt's eyes slowly meet Mace's, and he could see that Mace was strongly affected by what happened.

Mace was still undergoing the lingering effects of the headache caused by Zia, but he tried to gather enough energy to manifest the situation to Colt. The events in his head were still fresh, recalling every detail. Yet as he tried to express to Colt, nothing came out of his mouth. Instead, he could feel his throat stiffening up as he continued to retain the memories, remembering the words she dispatched towards him.

He was thrown out of his suspended condition after he felt another weight arranged beside him. He looked to the side, seeing Colt embracing him. He was caught off-guard by his actions, remaining distracted until he noticed that he was on the verge of tears.

While Mace recalled his experience, he unwittingly began to evoke memories of his past life, relating the events that previously unfolded back to his past life, inducing him to mourn over what's lost.

Colt was quick on regarding his sorrow, and without knowing what was provoking it, he inherently brought him into an embrace. He didn't need any words from Mace to understand that he was troubled. Mace was surprised by the hug but soon came to enjoy the sensation, feeling safe in his arms. He soon leaned into the embrace, crying onto Colt's mane.

Ever since Mace was left alone, he tried to stay strong and push away the sorrow. He didn't want to mourn over the past since there wasn't anything that could have been changed. Instead, he desired to forget his whole life and start a new one, but the anguish only grew more assertive since the incident. He didn't know that he yearned for communication with another Pokémon after being alone for a long time.

Mace was already soaked with sorrow, and Zia's words were the last thing Mace needed to hear for his emotion to take control. They hugged in silence as Mace finally discharged his pent-up feelings. Neither one exchanged any words.

As Mace's crying slowly quieted down into infrequent whines, Colt heard the main door open. He shifted his sight towards the door, seeing Castiel wearily panting as she entered through the entrance. Her coat was ruined by the snow and freezing weather, while the cloth around her neck was soaking.

He was relieved when he regarded her appearance but was thrown off by her sad expression. He refrained from greeting her as he ordinarily would and remained uncertain while staring at her.

Castiel tenderly staggered her way into the cave, showing signs of exhaustion which colt instantly noticed. She soon locked eyes with Colt, discerning his stare and worried expression. She was surprised to see Colt and Mace embracing each other, but she most likely knew why.

She made a small gesture to induce Colt over to her before walking into an empty room.

Colt was puzzled concerning why she didn't want to get closer to the fire. And alternately signal him over to her. He glanced at Mace, seeing how he was distracted by the fire even to notice Castiel's appearance.

"Sorry, but I'll have to go and talk with Castiel for a while," Colt said as he loosened his embrace around Mace, and squirmed out from his grasp. He stood up and wandered away from the fire, giving Mace a last comfort simper before leaving him alone.

He walked over to the room, carefully opening the door and seeing Castiel worriedly walking in circles around the room. "What's going on?" he worriedly asked as he walked into the room, interrupting Castiel's mental discussion.

She omitted a low sigh before explaining the events that unfolded. "When I informed Zia about Mace's appearance, she didn't fully support my decision. Instead, she insisted that he shouldn't be here and stated that I am senseless for disregarding others' safety. I tried to justify my actions, but she stormed out of the room unexpectedly, and I could tell that she was in a bitter mood, an-." Her speech increasing in speed

Colt saw how stressed she was and stopped her in her rant, "Castiel, Slow down, please", he worriedly told her, feeling that she would cease to function if she continued at this rate. Colt's anxious look didn't help with the absol as she felt crushed from the guilt, but she took a few breaths before slowly explaining the situation.

"So I had a gut feeling that something mischievous would happen after I told Zia that about Mace. So I didn't go to sleep, and instead, I sat and guarded his door from a distance. Soon seeing Zia sneak into the entry of his room."

She paused to recollect what she heard through the door ."I stalked outside the door, listening as she threatened him to leave this place, and after hearing that, I decided to interfere with them. I tried to protect Mace by telling Zia something like that she cant throw out Mace, but she eventually snapped on me and walked out from the cave."

Colt slowly understood the picture of what happened from her small rant with herself, Feeling a little uneasy about the situation. He knew that the sneasel would always be negative and start an argument over anything. But he didn't expect the sneasel to walk outside into the dead wasteland, and if she doesn't return within the next day, then there isn't much you could do to save her.

Colt being the optimistic one, tried to comfort her, "Hey, listen, you only tried to save Mace from being tormented by Zia, and while Zia may be gone, we still have Mace here." While Colt wouldn't outright tell her that he felt a little relieved that Zia was gone, He tried to remind Castiel that Mace was still here. In Colt's opinion, he would have chosen the more sensitive but shy Glaceon ten times over than the furious sneasel.

Castiel realised that she indeed did succeed in keeping the glaceon from harm and felt a little dignity in that, but she knew that this situation would make memories that would haunt her in the coming days. She arranged on a light smile to show Colt, who began to coax her back to the lobby so that she could sit near the fire and warm her body from the snow. She graciously accepted the gesture, and they began to walk toward the room's exit.

As they opened the door, they could see that their fourth and last member sat near the fire with Mace. Adien the mightyena. Still being in her worried state, Castiel instantly jumped to conclusions, recalling that she had never introduced them to each other or even told Adien about the newcomer. She prepared herself to intervene in what she assumed was happening, but as Castiel glanced over at the glaceon, she could see that he was showing a smiling.

Castiel's paranoia diminished as she eavesdropped on the conversation, hearing them having a friendly talk. She felt her shattered core slowly warming up from being broken by Zia. She continued to gaze at the two poor souls, who were destined to die in the wasteland if it weren't for hers and Colt's help. She was filled with pride and joy, and it soon motivated her that they could find some hope soon, and that they could survive as long as possible.

She began to walk out of the door and enter the lobby in a more cheerful mood. While approaching the two, the mightyena was the first one to notice their presence. "There you two are", She remarked as both Castiel and Colt walked closer to the fire. Feeling enthusiastic about the good news.

"It's amazing that you guys encountered another pokémon here," She said, completely lost for words as she would have never expected to see another pokémon's face again.

"Yeah, I found him unconscious in the snow around... 9 hours ago maybe, and luckily I was able to bring him back to the shelter before it was too late", Castiel stated as she leaned closer into the fire.

Adien gasped in astonishment as she wasn't aware of Mace's near-death. "Wow, you must be blessed to have had Castiel encounter you in the middle of nowhere." She said, feeling like one altered decision would have changed the future for this glaceon.

Mace felt a little uneasy from the engagement he received from the others as Aiden put him in the centre of attention. "Y-Yeah, I wouldn't be able to stay a-alive if Castiel wasn't there", Mace remarked.

"But no need to contemplate on the alternative paths", Colt stated as he tried to steer everyone's thoughts from the death of their new friend. He was attempting to keep the atmosphere at ease to comfort Mace. And speaking of Mace, he looked at him and remembered that he had yet to acquire any food to help him with his injuries.

"I'll be back", he said before standing up and walking away from the fire, over to a small room and peering inside to see their food supply. He took some berries and other edibles items they discovered during their search. And before he left, he took a couple of leaves on a small bench.

He took everything back to the group, distributing the food between everyone but intently giving Mace more food to help his recovery faster. Everyone voices their gratitude and soon begins to eat their food.

Mace grew less observant of his surroundings as he stared at the food, and as he was begging to eat his food, he soon felt something wet stick to his small gash near the shoulder. He grimaced at the feeling and looked to the side to see Colt holding a few leaves.

"Sorry, but we don't have any medical items, and this is the only available thing we have," Colt said as he began to lick a leaf and then carefully place it over a wound. He was soon finishing up the few visible wounds on Mace before taking a seat and eating his food.

Mace felt a little weird as he felt the leaves stick to his body, but he was grateful to be having some Bandage to comfort him. He meekly said thanks to the flareon, who returned a toothy smile.

Having not eaten for almost a day, Mace instantly began to eat his portion of the food, feeling his body gradually thrive with the nutrition with every swallow. His eating was a bit sloppy, but he didn't mind it as his mouth was filled with the fantastic taste of food. He would savour the taste of the few last bits as the group began to talk, having a friendly conversation with each other.

Smiles and laughter were brought from the group as they started telling stories of themself, forgetting their concerns and soon getting lost in their storytelling. Mace felt himself slowly grow the bond with his newfound friends and finally felt like he belongs in this pack. And with nothing gatekeeping him from getting closer, he felt comfort.

"And then, I accidentally ran into a tree without looking where I was running," said Aiden as she told her story of how she failed to beat her friend in a race. The group began to chuckle as Adien tried to demonstrate the event with her paws. "It hurt, but nothing serious happened", She added as she leaned back a bit.

"Haven't heard that one yet. It's a good gesture that your memory is still mending," Castiel said as she soothed herself down from her laugh. And with the end of the story, the silence grew within the group, only listening to the fire crackle. Castiel didn't mind the silence as she felt content with their time spent together. But a question was still being begged to be asked.

"Mace?"

The glaceon looked up from the fire and gave the absol a 'yeah?' to her as he waited for her to continue.

"Do you know someone else who is alive, or if there is another shelter that exists nearby?" She understood that Mace was an ice type and that the cold climate would somewhat familiarise him, but for him to survive in the wastelands without shelter and nutrition seemed impossible.

Time seemed to slow down as everyone awaited the answer that could change their path in life. The silence in the room began to shift into a tense ambience as everyone waited for Mace to reply to the question. Not being a fan of the attention, Mace began to sweatdrop as he reflected on his response.

...

"no"

Castiel felt a string of hope leave her as she listened to his short reply but concealed it behind a relaxed posture. "That's fine. After all, you are safe here, and with you on our team, we should be able to explore and uncover something." So she said, bringing up the group's spirit, and with everyone's fair share of cheers, they felt ready to endure.

Castiel stood up, announcing that she was going to bed as she felt like this day had drained all of her energy. Everyone else soon followed in pursuit as they stretched and gave each other a good night before leaving the expanse into their private rooms.

"Castiel, wait," Aiden said as she caught up to the absol, who turned her head to look at her. "Where is Zia? I haven't seen her all day."

"...I'll tell you later."