omg this freaking chapter. Like 3800 words at least. Anyone here an AoT fan? While I was writing this chapter I just kept internally screaming 'Peeeeeeetraaaaaaaaaaaaa!' Because, that's totally where I got Ptera's name from...

Adjusting to being with Lon'qu was more difficult than I had anticipated. After our first night together, there was general awkwardness when we were alone, which wasn't much of the day actually. For the most part, our schedules didn't change much: I would practice riding Ptera during the morning, in the afternoon I practiced combat with Basilio's men and had even began to try different weapons. I wasn't having much success with other weapons, but I had fun learning archery. During the late afternoon I was by myself meditating in the snowy forests, then I would eat dinner and retire to my room for the night. I had talked with Lon'qu about us sharing a room, and after the both of us tripping over our words for several minutes he finally was able to tell me that sharing a room with me on a regular basis would be nice.

Lon'qu still hadn't gotten me a ring, and I wasn't really about to ask him about it either. I figured that he'd propose when he was good and ready. Besides, our relationship was enough as it was, I didn't need some silly bit of metal in order to know that Lon'qu was serious about his feelings.

Eventually I decided it was time to go back to Ylisstol. For about a month, it had been just Lon'qu and I there, and I figured there had to be something interesting going on back at the castle. I told Lon'qu I planned on returning, and he smiled and said he'd pack his belongings as well. We decided we were going to bring our wyverns as opposed to horses, so we saddled them up with gear meant for a long journey. We were maybe an hour away from our departure when a Ylissean messenger arrived with a frantic message.

"Lady Emmeryn has fallen ill! The doctors say that within a week she could die!"

I was shocked and stared at the messenger.

"She's ill? How could this have happened?"

The messenger shook his head.

"I'm not sure, all I know is that the sickness has been going around the city, but until Lady Emmeryn caught it there had been no serious cases. The worst part is..."

The messenger ducked his head.

"We've tried giving her the best medicine available, the same medicine we're giving the others who have fallen ill, but for some reason the medicine isn't making her any better."

I bit my lip.

'This is serious, a pathogen or virus that is resistant to medicines? This is how the Bubonic Plague started...'

"Chrom has asked you return to Ylisstol as soon as possible, he thinks that you being there might help Emmeryn."

I started to nod my head, but something stopped me.

'Wait a minute...'

"The medicine that Emmerynn's been given... It's all from local Ylissean herbs, right?"

The messenger nodded, not sure where my train of thought was going.

"Okay... Hang on..."

I went to Ptera and quickly flipped through one of the books I was bringing back to Ylisstol.

'Where was it... No... Here!'

I brought the book back to the messenger and pointed at a picture.

"Allouros Evarris, a plant native to the high mountains of Ferox. It's said to be one of the most potent medicinal herbs on the entire continent."

The messenger shook his head.

"Also the rarest and most difficult to find. The mountain where it grows is almost constantly a blizzard and no one has successfully harvested it for over ten years."

I stomped my foot.

"I know that, but if someone could bring the herbs to the healers in Ylisstol, we could save Emmeryn!"

Lon'qu came to my side.

"Sane, I know you try to save everyone, but as far as anyone knows those herbs are extinct. It would be best if we just go to Ylisstol to be with Emmeryn."

I glared at him.

"Then you can go to Emmeryn, and tell her I'm looking for those herbs."

He was taken aback by the harshness of my words, and looked away from me. I turned my gaze to the messenger.

"Thank you for bringing me this news. I have a message I need you to pass on to Chrom if you can. Tell him that I've gone into the Feroxi mountains to look for herbs that can heal Emmeryn. I'll return as soon as I can."

The messenger nodded.

"Yes milady, right away."

The messenger hopped on a horse and rode away. Instantly, my mind began spinning.

'It takes about a day and a half to get to Ferox by horse, when the weather is good anyway. So if he was told that Emmeryn has a week, by now she only has about five days... It would take almost a day on wyvern just to reach the mountains where this herb supposedly grows...'

I started taking my belongings off of Ptera.

"Sane, you're not going to let anyone deter you, are you?"

I shook my head.

"No, I'm going to do everything in my power to save Emmeryn."

Lon'qu began taking his belongings off Lazsar as well.

"Then I'm going with you. You're crazy if you think you're going to do this by yourself."

"I wasn't planning on doing this by myself anyway."

"You're a devious woman Sane."

"Isn't that one of the things you like so much about me?"

Basilio donated four of his best men to help us in finding the herbs, and in case we couldn't find any, he had his healers begin concocting the strongest brew they could. I looked at maps and cross-referenced them with all the book entries on Allouros Evarris I could find. Based on the books, there were three areas where the herb would most likely be found. I made sure everyone in the group knew what the herb looked like, and gave them a copy of a map with directions and where to look.

"Alright, each of you knows where you're going. If we leave now, we should make it to the mountains by midday, we'll spend a few hours looking and leave with enough time to make it back to Ferox by nightfall. As much as it hurts to say this..."

I took a deep breath.

"We can't stay and look for the herbs all night, the temperature would freeze us and our wyverns."

The men nodded. For most of the journey we would be flying together, it wouldn't be until we were at the actual mountains themselves we would split up. We would split into two-man groups, or in my case a one man-one woman group. Lon'qu of course refused to let me go with anyone other than him.

I was determined to find that herb. So determined that I felt like I was practically burning. My blood was rushing through me, fending off the cold. Lon'qu seemed equally as determined as me in his search. There was plant life everywhere on the mountain, buried under the snow and hidden between the nooks and crannies of the mountain. Some of the plants I recognized as healing herbs, so I picked them even though they weren't exactly what I was looking for. I could tell that Lon'qu was more focused on me than looking for the Allouros Evarris, but I wasn't focused on myself, so it was good someone else was.

"Sane, stop..."

I suddenly felt Lon'qu wrap his arms around me and pull our bodies together.

"What are you doing..?" I mumbled.

Unbeknownst to me, tears had been streaming down my face and when I spoke, my voice was distorted.

"Sane, I know this is tough but.."

"No."

I gently pushed away from Lon'qu.

"I tried so hard to save Emmeryn, and now she's going to die from some stupid little bug..."

I brushed away my tears. Doing that made it obvious how cold and tender my face was.

"This is utter crap! It's... It's..!"

I was interrupted by a sudden roar from Ptera.

"What the..?"

Lon'qu and I rushed over to where we heard her roar and stopped dead in our tracks. Lon'qu's wyvern had it's teeth around her neck and was trying to furiously slash her with its sharp claws.

"PTERA!"

When she heard me call out to her, Ptera tried to look my way, but Lazsar's large body blocked her. Even though Ptera had the distinct size advantage, she had no training in real fighting, where as Lon'qu's wyvern did. Ptera was barely able to scratch her attacker and was having large gashes torn into her. I reached for my tome and flipped it open.

"Sane, what are you..!?"

"Hey *bugger*! Why don't you chew on this!"

I launched a ball of fire magic at Lazsar, not strong enough to kill him, but it was enough to make him stop and rethink his life. He leapt away from Ptera and glared at me accusingly. Ptera laid on the ground, gasping for breath. Thankfully, either because of wyvern physiology or the extreme cold, Ptera wasn't bleeding as heavily as I would've thought due to the deep gashes in her. I tried to approach her, but Lon'qu held me back.

"No Sane, something obviously pissed off my wyvern, and you pegging him with a fireball certainly didn't improve his mood. If you get any closer her might attack you."

"Well what am I supposed to do? Leave Ptera right there to die?"

"No... Let me go to her."

Lon'qu slowly walked over to Ptera. She looked at him with murder in her eyes as he approached, but didn't growl or hiss at him in warning. His own wyvern was also glaring as Lon'qu approached.

"Alright Ptera... Let's see what's wrong..."

Not caring about Lon'qu's warning, I also slowly approached Ptera. His wyvern stared at me and seemed to be sizing me up.

"Easy girl... Don't move too quickly..."

Lon'qu's wyvern suddenly jumped into the air and swung its heavy tail at me. I tried to duck out of the way, but the cold slowed my reflexes and I was hit in the chest. The air rushed out of my lungs and I staggered backwards. I lost my footing in the ice and found myself tumbling down a steep slope. I heard Lon'qu scream my name, followed by another enraged cry from Ptera. I tried to grab onto something to stop my fall, but everything was moving too quickly for me to do anything except draw my arms to my face in some hopeless attempt to protect myself.

Eventually, I stopped tumbling and came to a stop. Everything hurt, and I didn't have the energy to move. All I could do was open my eyes and weakly look around. The pain was so intense that it seemed to blur the entire world around me. I closed my eyes and lay on the cold ground. I was vaguely aware that I was crying again, but considering the amount of pain I was in I didn't think it was all that embarrassing.

"SANE!"

I heard muffled sounds, like rocks shifting and feet moving towards me.

"SANE! Say something!"

I made a strange noise, what I had intended to be an 'I'm fine' but ended up sounding like Satan himself having an awful time in the loo.

"Shit..!"

Next came the sound of someone moving through shrubbery, which I suppose I must've fallen into. I tried opening my eyes again. It was definitely some type of plant I was in, but what exactly it was I had no idea.

"Sane, talk..." Lon'qu practically wheezed.

"Wordsssan suff..." Came my reply.

"Worssan eaaah green..."

"Oh thank God you're alive!"

I couldn't see him, but I could feel the shrubbery around me moving and assumed Lon'qu was working his way towards me.

"I can't tell if this is a blessing or curse... Don't move Sane."

He was arranging the shrubbery I had fallen into for whatever reason. It was tangling in my cloak and Lon'qu was having trouble undoing it. I felt a tugging pain in my skin and hissed.

"*Heck* you doing..?"

"I'm sorry, the thorns are dug in pretty good."

There was a roar from one of the wyverns and I flinched.

"Thorns..?"

Another tug.

"You fell in a brier patch of some kind. I think if this wasn't here you would've broken your neck."

"Oh..."

'Goddammit...'

Lon'qu I guess cleared enough of the thorns away that he felt he could lift me up and out of the shrubbery. It was painful and made me cry out, but I figured it was something that had to be done. Lon'qu carried me to a rocky wall and propped me against it.

"Let me take a look at you."

He carefully pulled off my cloak and started lifting and poking at my arms and torso. I wasn't wearing a shirt that had long sleeves, so without the cloak I was very uncomfortable.

"What are the wyverns doing..?" I asked.

I was trying not to wince and jerk back from what he was doing, but from all the cuts and the fall nearly everything was so painful I felt on the verge of tears.

"I... Don't know. After you got knocked back Ptera went after Lazsar. You should've seen her... I don't think he stands much of a chance at this rate..."

To prove his point, one of the wyverns cried out in what sounded like a victory cheer and fell silent.

"What do you think set them off?"

I tried to focus my eyes on Lon'qu, but no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get his face into focus.

"Oh Gods... Lon'qu, I think something's wrong..."

He stopped what he was doing and looked at me.

"What's the matter Sane? Are you having trouble breathing? Try to move your arms and legs."

"No, it's not that... Lon'qu, I can't see you... Your face is all out of focus..."

Lon'qu chuckled and shook his head.

"I thought something was wrong..." He said slowly.

"Your glasses decided to run away Sane... It's fine... "

I put a hand up to my face and tried to feel my glasses. I couldn't feel them, but my cheeks were damp.

"Oh Gods... I'm crying like a little baby..." I mumbled.

Lon'qu pulled my hands away and pulled a cloth out of his pocket. I thought he was going to hand it to me, but instead he took a vial of liquid out of his other pocket, poured it on the cloth, and pressed it to my cheeks and face. I hissed in pain when he did.

"Ow!"

He frowned.

"Sorry. The thorns tore your face up. You're bleeding, not crying."

"Oh *bugger* me..!"

Lon'qu kissed my forehead, one of the only places that wasn't cut by the fall or thorns.

"It's too cold for that..."

Lon'qu left my side and looked around the thorns where I had fallen. He was over there for several minutes rooting around before he came back to me with something in his hands.

"These things must be made of fine steel. Hardly a scratch on them."

He set the glasses on my face and smiled.

"Wait here, I'm going to see what the wyverns are doing. If it's safe I'll get you. If not..."

He looked up over the ridge I had tumbled down and frowned.

"As much as it sucks, if they're still fighting we're going to have to wait until one of them kills the other."

I nodded, shocked into silence.

Lon'qu skillfully climbed up the ridge. It didn't take him long to make it to the top and he quickly disappeared. As soon as he was out of sight I tried to stand up. My ribs hurt like hell, my legs were shaky, but the worst thing was my right arm was almost completely unresponsive.

'Dammit! Did I break it?'

I squeezed my arm in various places. Although it was just as painful as my ribs, it didn't really feel like a broken bone.

'Not like I know what a broken bone feels like anyway.'

If I focused enough, I could almost wiggle my fingers, but in order to move the entire arm I had to move it with my left one. I could still feel the skin and muscles thankfully, which I took as a good sign. Knowing that with my arm the way it was I wouldn't be able to stubbornly follow Lon'qu up the ridge, I decided to look around the area where I had fallen. Something about the thorns was making something go off in my brain, but I couldn't figure out what. Until I saw a familiar looking plant smack dab in the middle.

"Allouros Evarris..."

'It's...'

I moved to the very edge of the thorns and looked for a path through. The thorn bushes were just over knee length, and very sharp. I figured that they could easily cut me through my pants, but against all logic decided to begin carefully walking through them in order to get the Allouros Evarris inside. I winced and bit my lip with each step, but I would do anything to get those herbs for Emmeryn. When I finally got to it, I took as much of it as I could carry and made my way out of the thorns. Lon'qu of course, managed to climb back down the ridge right as I was getting out of the thorns. He was shooting daggers at me with his eyes, but he stopped when he saw the mass of plants in my hands.

"Is that the..?"

"Yeah. Allouros Evarris. It still exists."

He smiled and took the plants from me to look at them.

"They look just like your everyday weeds..."

"Well... Sometimes surprising things come in plain packages."

I looked up over the ridge and frowned.

"What's... Going on up there?"

Lon'qu sighed and gently placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Ptera is... Alive, right now. She's having a lot of trouble breathing and her left wing is torn all to hell. She's not going to be able to fly for a while. Maybe not ever again. I've put some vulnerary on some of her bigger wounds, but there's some she won't let me get to."

I nodded.

"What about your wyvern..?"

Lon'qu wrung his hands nervously.

"My wyvern is... No longer with us... Ptera took a lot of offense to him attacking you."

I looked up at the sky. Although we still had time before it was fully dark, the sky was beginning to darken and soon it would get dangerous to be in the mountains.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked with concern.

Lon'qu looked at the sky.

"Hopefully the others will look for us, if not it's going to be a rough night. There's bears and wolves in these mountains. With Ptera and you wounded, they're going to be drawn to all that blood."

'Oh great, the only way this could get better is if it was that time...'

"But with all the dead trees and wood around, we should be able to build a nice enough fire that they won't bother us."

I nodded.

Lon'qu gave me back the herbs and started climbing back up the ledge. He looked back at me and stopped mid-climb.

"Sane?"

I went over to the ridge and tried to climb up, but found it was very impossible without my right arm.

"Um... I might need a little help."

Lon'qu climbed down and picked up my arm.

"Is it broken Sane?"

I shook my head.

"I don't think so, but I can't move it at any rate."

I wiggled my fingers.

"Those stupid things work, but damned if the rest of my arm works."

Lon'qu frowned.

"This is going from bad to worse... I think Ptera had some extra roping on her saddle, I'll get it and we can bind your arm. That way it's at least out of the way."

I nodded.

"That's smart. If my arm's tucked up or something I should be able to move around easier too. Since it won't be swaying in the breeze."

By the time Lon'qu had restrained my arm and assisted me up the ridge, it was almost completely dark. Ptera was thankfully moving and seemed very concerned about my injured state. She started licking me and breathing heavily on me as soon as Lon'qu and I were a safe distance away from the ridge. I assumed she was doing it in an attempt to keep me warm, since the temperature was steadily dropping. I went with Lon'qu to gather some wood we could pile together for a fire. I couldn't carry much with one arm, but when it comes to hauling wood, three arms are still better than two.

Once we had a nice pile going, I lit a fire with my tome and together, Lon'qu, Ptera and I snuggled together to keep warm. I was worried about spending the night in the wilderness. We hadn't had a proper dinner, only some snack rations that we had packed. I don't know where the body of Lon'qu's wyvern had gone. Either Ptera had eaten it, or she had kicked it aside somewhere none of us would see it. I felt weird snuggling Lon'qu with Ptera watching us. Even though she was just a wyvern, she had an air of sentience about her and I almost felt like she was judging us.

'Like how dogs do that thing where they just stare at you...'

My body pain had faded away slowly, leaving in its wake an extreme tiredness. I was worried about what would happen if we weren't found soon, and also how Emmeryn was fairing. We were in a race against time, a race that I wasn't ready to lose. My uneasy thoughts prevented me from falling asleep right away, but once Lon'qu fell asleep and began snoring lightly for some reason it acted as a sort of metronome and I was soon drifting off to sleep also.