"What are we going to do Stella?" Onyx asked his aunt as they trailed through the snowy forest together.

"Finding her would be a good start." said Astella.

"That is if there's even a 'her' left to find."

"Onyx don't talk like that! That's all you've been doing!"

"Because it's true Stella! Don't you understand what is at risk!?"

"I do Onyx, do you? We are talking about your sister's life. Now we are not going to get anywhere by bickering! Gwenny could be dying right now! And we lost the boy a while ago. They could both be in trouble. Now let's go!"


Arthur continued to wander through the snowy desert. He had been separated from Astella and her nephew a while ago, looking for Hazel -if she was even alive- however he was scared of what he would see if he found her. And he was right.

The beaten little red head was half buried in the snow as she lay in a wide ditch, left for dead.

"Hazel!" Arthur squeaked as he slid down into the snowy pit and then ran towards her. Her hair was cut much shorter than it used to be, she had tons of scars and bloody marks and minor stab wounds on her abdomen and she was paler than normal. But she was still alive. He touched her face and it, though barely, still gave off heat. "Hazel are you ok!?" he asked loudly. The redhead didn't open her eyes or answer. Until she finally did.

"K-k-kill me. P-please." she squeaked as the tears pushes their way out of her eyes. There was no recovery from this and if there was, it would probably take many slow months. Hazel didn't want to wait that long. All she wanted now was to be put out of her misery.

"Oh Hazel," the boy said out of melancholy as he moved the damp wavy red fringe out of her eyes. "Why did they do this to you?" All that came out of the girl's mouth was a painful moan and a heart wrenching cry, followed by shivering. That was Arthur's que to gently grab her and pull her out of the snow. Her hair was dripping wet and her face was drenched, like the rest of her shaking body. "It's ok Hazel. You're gonna be ok."

"I-its c….old.." she forced out with what seemed to be every speck of energy she had.

"You're cold?"

"Ye…." She couldn't even finish.

"Ok. Ok hold on." he said as he slipped off his signature oversized red tunic. He had to admit he was met with a bit of a chill from the cold air, but this was nothing compared to how cold she must be. And besides, he had a shirt over a long sleeve on, he should be fine. He covered Hazel's tiny and shaking form with it from her shoulders to her feet. He didn't know what to do now though. If he left to go get help, she could die. If he didn't leave to get help, she could die. The boy felt her face once again. She felt cold. Dead almost. She obviously wasn't getting any warmer. Arthur sighed in order to blow the embarrassment out of him at what he was about to do. But Hazel was on the bridge of death and now wasn't the time for his low opinion on the opposite sex. And besides, she chased him around all those months ago, pinning him into hugs and nuzzles. He slid his hands under the red fabric and grabbed her underarms, sitting her up and leaning her against him to try and heat her up, holding her the way a child in the future would cuddle a teddy bear. Hazel whimpered when she felt her hurting limbs move. However she felt something warm touching and wrapping around her. She didn't know what it was nor did she care, all she knew was that it was warm and it felt nice. She continued to shiver and quietly moan. Her wounds were stinging and burning as if they had been set on fire. A few minutes went by until the blonde checked up on the hypothermic girl.

"Hazel?" the tween asked as he gently shook her, only to receive no answer. Something was wrong. Her mouth was closed. Her chest wasn't rising. She wasn't breathing. "Hazel!" he exclaimed as he shook her once more. "Hazel, wake up!" But no answer came. "Snap out of it!"

The little pesky and determined squirrel who had chased him around and around that one day, the squirrel who he ran away from and made her cry (though that was a bit dramatic), the girl who had been his first ever friend of his age, the girl who had even shared a kiss with him, the girl with a nasty tempered attitude yet heart of gold was now slowly dying in his embrace. "Oh Hazel please….get up." This time the redhead -well, brown head now- slowly fluttered her eyes open, but for a mere amount of seconds. She started to shiver again, which meant she was still alive, just very cold.

"There you are!" screamed the voice of the eldest Leodegrance son as he entered the scene to find his sister bleeding and broken in the boy's arms. The blonde grew a bit embarrassed and slowly let go of Hazel, lying her hurting and tired head in his lap. Astella ran in after her nephew and gasped as she covered her mouth.

"Have mercy!" the woman shrieked as she ran to her niece. "Onyx what happened!?"

"I told you! He cut her and beat her and then pushed her off the side!"

"Is she…." Arthur asked as Astella felt Hazel's flat chest for a heartbeat.

"Thank Heavens no. Just out cold," she said in a shaky voice as a tear slid out of her eye. "Oh, I think it's a concussion! Onyx come here!"

As soon as she called his name, Onyx rushed over to his poor sister who was still wrapped in the red tunic. He bent down and put one arm under the crook of her legs and the other under her back.

"Careful now Onyx." a concerned Astella said as she helped the boy pick up his sister. Hazel moaned in pain while being lifted, and only continued to do so over and over again. Since she was very small and light, Onyx was able to carry her all the way without any trouble as Astella and the small blonde trailed behind. However he had to be careful. If he stepped too hard or shifted too fast, Hazel would let out another moan. Arthur managed to glance up at the girl's face. All the spunk and liveliness had been drained out and replaced with a blank and frozen visage. Absolutely nothing like the confident little rascal he knew.

Onyx and Astella brought the battered girl back to the castle to be healed by several nurses. They wouldn't have done such a thing especially at such a ridiculous hour if the girl's condition was not so horrible. If not properly cared for, she could have indeed died, however it wasn't really certain that she was going to survive. She had her wounds wiped, broken limbs splinted and was wrapped in a lot of blankets in order to just get her temperature back to normal. Then she was put in Stella and Onyx's room to sleep with them in case she woke up.


Arthur dropped the precious sword that he couldn't care less about right now on the ground as he slowly strolled over to his little bed that had been made for his size. He collapsed on the small bed that felt better than ever as he let out a large sigh.

"Oh….," he moaned. "What a night."

"One of many you'll have in the future no doubt," said the bubbly voice of Merlin as he sparked himself into the room. "But I must say my boy, you did a good job."

"Merlin! Where have you been!? I needed your help! I was waiting for you! Why didn't you show up?" the boy said, waking up again.

"Let me ask you something: Did you defeat Cameron?"

"I guess so."

"Is the Eye of Leodegrance in the right hands?"

"Well sure."

"Are both the children alright?"

"Well one more than the other."

"You see? You saved the life of an heir, but more important than that, you saved a life. Oh and that reminds me," He paused as he reached behind his back and pulled out Arthur's large baggy red cloak out of what seemed to be thin air and handed it to him. "I think this is yours. It needed a bit of a wash after touching Miss Hazel's wounds but it's good as new now."

"Will she be ok?"

"Broken arm, broken leg topped off with a concussion. She'll wake up in a couple of days if not weeks. Once she's able to stand she'll need crutches for a while. All and all she's pretty banged up, but it's nothing time and plenty of rest can't fix."

"How long will that take?"

"Well based on her injuries a full recovery should take around two to three months."

"Months!?"

"That's just healing. And just if she wakes up. I don't know how long it'll take for her to fully be able to walk again or even stand."

"This is gonna kill her."

"I wouldn't say that but it'll definitely hit her pretty hard. Telling a stubborn lone wolf tomboy that she has to be carried everywhere she goes for two months is just asking for it."

"Asking for what?"

"Go make her mad and you'll find out."

"Oh…..right." the boy said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Oh well, I best let you sleep. It's nearly four in the morning and the sun's almost up."

"Goodnight."