He awoke sometime in the night, shivering. The snow had proved itself better, piles of it going as high as three feet. Titan was strong, but the tundra of Skyrim proved stronger still, and thus they were forced to make a stop for the night. Riil didn't complain; this always meant that Fandreigh could read to him more. Sure, the man did seem a bit moody today, but Riil just shrugged it off as him being tired. He seemed to be a lot of that lately.
Aside from one of the two guards that the noblewomen had brought – of who was fighting both sleep and the cold – there was no one else awake. M'koteg snored loudly in his sleep, a sound Riil had become accustomed to. The fire in the middle of their little camp had fizzled down to a simple glow, hissing every so often as snow hit the still hot coals. Someone – he was sure it was Del-Rah or Braizer – was mumbling in their sleep. Having a bad dream, maybe?
His blanket was starting to grow wet and soaked the more he waited; seeping through to his clothes and making him shiver and shake. Standing and disposing of the blanket, Riil clasped his hands onto his shoulders and shuffled his way across their little campsite. The guard stirred as his feet crunched on the fresh snow, though he wasn't questioned. In the darkness, the pale moon covered by sheets of clouds and dying trees and full pines overhead, Riil managed to find his objective; Fandreigh sleeping on some sort of bedding that took the ground away from him, curled haphazardly in his covers and shivering still. Any snow that'd once been near him had obviously been pushed or melted away as so it wouldn't be anywhere near him, the ground dried to a crisp though slowly gaining dampness from the falling snow. How typical.
Kicking any sort of snow off of his boots – however wet they now were – Riil quietly scurried to the sleeping Imperial. Trying his best not to wake him, the boy carefully went through the task of trying to pull some of his tucked-away blankets from him for warmth. He was sure Fandreigh would have a fit if he awoke freezing in the morning. He'd almost managed to slip under without a problem, when Fandreigh began stirring. Before he had much of a chance to slip away, a hand grabbed him roughly by the collar of his shirt, making him squeak and curl up. Not that the man would do anything of malicious intent to him just for waking him up, but it would be better safe than sorry.
"Atariil?" the Imperial finally croaked, and the elf peeked up at him to see Fandreigh squinting down at him.
Riil quickly nodded, and after a brief grunt, Fandreigh released his shirt, arm falling to the cold sod to wrap partly around him. None the less, Riil quickly took the opportunity and shuffled up to him, flush against the man's side. The blanket was tossed over him, and warmth engulfed him as he was tucked in. Riil instantly buried his face into the man's side, as a means of a pillow.
"Next time, just try waking me up," he could hear Fandreigh rumble, but by then, he was already being lulled to sleep.
Riil awoke again to a fury of motion. He sat groggily, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes as he tried to figure out what was going on. Dawn had seemed to break long ago, birds singing amongst the trees almost merrily. Snow was still falling, but not as badly as the night prior. The flakes where smaller now, though they still fell in abundance. White fluffy clouds hung lowly overhead, and for a moment Riil almost expected them to fall from the sky in a white sheet that smothered everything. If not for the dread that would accompany it, it actually sounded quite delightful.
"Alright kid, time to get up and get moving. Got a long day ahead of us."
Riil almost jumped at the voice, nearly right behind him, and would have squeaked and made a sort of humorous scene, however a pair of hands lifted him up from under his shoulders before he could do so. He expected to be placed on his feet; however he just kept going until he was on another's shoulders. M'koteg took a half glance at the boy as he settled himself, using the man's head as a pillow. The Orc snorted in amusement.
"Looks like you had a good night's sleep," Ko commented as he held onto the boy's feet and started moving around again. Riil merely grunted, still trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.
At some point, as they moved, Riil realized that he'd been handed an apple for breakfast, though he knew not by whom. He merely listened to everyone bustling around, and the occasional greeting or shout as Ko did his best to work with the boy on his shoulders. Riil never complained, of course, and simply ate his apple in peace. The noblewomen, who stood amongst the commotion to make sure everything was running smoothly – that's what he assumed, at least – had noticed him once and smiled. He barely managed a smile back.
Riil was eventually placed on Braizer's paint mare, which stood more calmly than Titan – who'd been tied to a tree at the edge of their camp as so he wouldn't spook – as everyone moved. Whereas usually she was used for quick traveling by Braizer or the usual pack horse, the mare now simply held a few items on her pack alongside her saddle. Compared to Titan – whom Riil was sure, was her son, if Del's stories of home were true – the paint, whose name he couldn't recall, was calm and patient. She didn't spook too easily, and was often let into smaller towns to be tied outside of inns because she could stand people more. Made sense, considering who she belonged to.
Finishing up his own part of the apple, the boy partly stood and leaned towards the mare's head. As he suspected, she merely turned her small head partly to see what he was doing. Realizing that he was trying to offer her the rest of the apple, the mare snorted and reached around as best she could. They met half way, and Riil giggled as she snorted on his hand before taking it. She crunched it down easily, bits falling to the white ground to be left to rot. Too bad it seemed nothing but pines could grow here, otherwise Riil might have planted a few apple seeds before they left.
"You look comfortable," came a snort as Riil sat back down. The boy only jumped slightly, though seemed less amused when he realized that it was Braizer doing the joking. The Argonian grabbed a part of the mare's harness as she finished eating the apple she'd been given. "Did you sleep much last night?" Braizer went on. "Doesn't look like it." Riil shrugged.
"I only got up a couple times this time," he said, "but that was because I got cold."
"Is that why you were with Fandreigh when everyone started to get up?" Braizer asked with amusement in his voice. Riil mocked pouted at that.
"Yes," he still admitted, though trying to keep some sort of smile from his face.
Having to assume that Fandreigh didn't like children – or other people in general – much before they'd 'adopted' Riil, seeing him act like some sort of caregiver to someone besides himself would have been really amusing. Riil never really cared much, though. Fandreigh always let him have books or would read to him whenever they had the chance to stop for rest, which was always nice. Riil could read for himself, though considering he'd often read for himself since he learned how to read, this was much nicer.
