An icy, cruel wind tore past the small figure struggling through the blizzard to find help for Lloyd. Kaia wrapped her arms tightly around her chest as she struggled through the blinding snow and the stinging wind that was doing everything in its power to keep her from plunging forward. Only one thought filled the young girl's mind. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other.

Though the snowstorm's chill did not affect her body, she struggled to push through the high drifts of fresh-fallen snow that seemed to weigh her feet down and block her way. The snow was falling and the wind blowing so hard that she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. But one thought—one singular thought—kept her from giving up. Gotta find help for Lloyd. Gotta find help for Lloyd. She closed her eyes against the wind, gritting her teeth with determination. But in the whiteness of the storm, what she did not realize was that she was heading straight for a cliff!

Suddenly she stepped out, and she tumbled forward as her foot met nothing but air. The girl screamed as she careened uncontrollably down a ridge. Her right arm hit a sharp rock, and a sudden pain shot through it as she landed in a tall bluff of snow. She tried to get to her feet but fell as her right arm ached painfully. When she looked down at it, she gasped in horror as she saw that blood trickled from a large abrasion created when her arm hit the rock. The wound wasn't deep, but the sheer pain was enough to cripple her in the middle of the blizzard.

But she couldn't stop now! Lloyd needed help, and she was the only one who could find it! But as her arm continued to bleed, she started feeling weak and sleepy. No! I have to get up! she thought. I've gotta…get help…for Lloyd. Her eyelids suddenly drooped, and then everything around her faded to black. As she lost consciousness, the snow began to pile onto her thin little body, and the storm moved in to claim a new victim.

Dev struggled desperately through the whirling wind as he made his way back to the small hut in which he lived. He had gotten caught in the storm a few days ago when he went to check his traps and was just now making his way back. But as he battled the wind and snow, he was suddenly startled to see a small patch of red liquid on a snowdrift on a cliff below him.

Red was a color that did not belong in snow.

He quickly yet carefully skidded down the cliff and then spotted a small drift of snow rapidly forming over a small, frail body. It only took him two seconds to realize that that body belonged to a person. Hoping that he hadn't stumbled upon a frozen victim, he raced over to where the small figure lay. The figure, he soon discovered, was of a small girl, most likely not more than ten years old. What this child could have been thinking coming out here in the middle of the blizzard he had no clue about. When he rolled her over, he let out a small yelp as he realized what that red patch was. This girl had somehow been wounded—possibly from falling over the cliff—and now sported a bright red abrasion on her right arm. After inspecting it twice, Dev decided that the wound looked worse than it really was. But he would have to hurry. This girl was running out of time, and even his own powers had their limits.

It was a good thing that he never left the hut without his first-aid kit. Within moments, he had whipped out a thick cloth bandage and wrapped the girl's right arm in it. He was on the verge of picking her up and taking her back with him when a soft moan startled him. The girl suddenly opened her eyes and looked up at him weakly. At first, it seemed that she was experiencing some confusion as to where she was. Then the look on her face changed as she seemed to realize something.

"You've—you've gotta help me!" she stammered. "He's in great danger—"

"Whoa, hold up!" Dev interrupted. "Slow down and relax. You've been through a lot, and you need to rest."

"But I can't!" the girl protested. "Lloyd's in trouble! You've just gotta come back and help him!" She then grunted and pushed herself out of the snow. No matter what had possessed her to come out here in the middle of a snowstorm, she clearly seemed determined to enlist Dev's help for this Lloyd, whoever he was. But Dev shook his head to himself. He couldn't risk this girl's safety or his own in this kind of weather. Before he could explain this to the girl, however, she grabbed his arm and tried desperately to pull him back towards the cliff. She was surprisingly strong for a ten-year-old, but Dev was stronger. He dug his heels into the snow so she couldn't drag him anywhere. But she didn't seem to care, for she just kept on pulling. Dev's frustration quickly rose, and he finally yelled at her, "Don't you get it?! Whoever Lloyd is, he's not worth your life—or mine! We need to seek shelter now!"

"No! No!" she protested. "We've got to help him! We've just got to!"

"I can't do that!" Dev replied. "I'm sorry, but I won't risk either of our lives to save some random person. I'm sure that he can help himself." He yanked his arm out of her grasp and turned to leave. And that would have been the end of that if he had not then heard her plead, "But he's my brother!"

Dev suddenly froze in his tracks. Brother? This Lloyd is her brother? He slowly turned around and noticed for the first time the many tears that had frozen on her face as she stood there, shaking with silent sobs. And at that moment, his heart melted.

"All right." he finally said. "Take me to him."

Several moments later, the young man found himself at a small cave on the top of a snowy hill in the forest. He was a little nervous that this cave might be some dangerous creature's home, but the only other inhabitants were a large cat-like black dragon and a boy about his own age, shivering profusely on the cave floor. One look told Dev exactly why this girl's plea had been so urgent.

"Okay." he told the girl. "I think I know what to do. But you're going to have to do everything I say, got it?"

The girl nodded frantically in response before he continued, "There's a small pot in my pack. Take it outside, fill it with snow, and then bring it back in here. I'll stoke the fire and then melt the snow for water."

She immediately raced over and began rummaging through his pack before finding the requested pot and running outside with it. He then stirred the fire up and pulled a small leather pouch out of his pack. I hoped to save this for an emergency, he thought to himself, but I guess this does qualify. The girl appeared a moment later, pot filled with snow to the brim. He smiled slightly at her urgency to help her brother—Lloyd, wasn't it?—and took the pot from her. She then flopped onto the ground, rocking back and forth incessantly in impatience. Dev turned back to the task at hand. Within minutes, all the snow had melted, and the water was boiling—which was great; you can't exactly make tea without it.

"Oh, hurry, hurry, please, please hurry!" the girl panted breathlessly over and over again, clearly very distressed over Lloyd's condition. As soon as the water looked hot enough, Dev opened the pouch. A scent like that of stars and fireflies and moonlight in its purity suddenly came wafting out, and as Dev breathed it in, he suddenly felt much calmer—as he always did around this herb. The look on the girl's face made him think that she was a lot calmer than before, but the frantic twinkle in her eyes made it clear that she was still worried about her brother. Quick as a wink, Dev turned the pouch over, and the dried gold-and-green leaves fell into the water instantly. As the tea brewed, Dev heard Lloyd suddenly cry out as his body jerked uncontrollably—almost as if he was battling some unknown darkness, and the darkness had the upper hand.

"Hurry!" the girl cried out even more frantically than before. "He's getting worse!"

"Hate to break it to you, kid," Dev immediately replied, "but you simply cannot rush tea."

It seemed like ages before the tea was finally ready. "Do you have something to put this into?" Dev asked the girl. She nodded and snatched what looked like a birch bark cup out of a nearby corner. Dev was about to take the cup from her when he realized that she now held it directly over the pot. Realizing what she was about to do, he suddenly cried out, "No! Don't do tha—" Too late! The girl had already plunged her hands as well as the cup into the pot. When she drew the dripping cup out again, her hands were tinted a bright burning red. But to Dev's surprise, she did not cry out in pain as he would've had his hands been burned like that. He was even more surprised when the skin of her hands regained its previous whitish-pink tone instantly. Could her burns really have healed that fast? he wondered to himself. More to the point, does this mean she has some sort of accelerated healing factor?

His question quickly faded away as he remembered the task at hand. Cautiously, he took the cup from her and emptied some of it back into the pot so it wouldn't spill all over Lloyd. No need to put him in any more misery than he already had. Then Dev blew on the cup, knowing that his powers would cool the tea instantly. Sure enough, he could feel the tea in its cup suddenly cool from boiling hot to medium warm.

Turning to the girl, he said, "Hold Lloyd's head while I give him this." She did as commanded, and soon Lloyd stopped jerking and drank every last drop of the tea. The girl set Lloyd's head down gently before she and Dev both sat back on their heels and waited for something to happen.

Nothing happened.

The girl's eyes suddenly welled with tears. "Why isn't it working?" she whispered to herself. Then she turned to Dev and shrieked, "Tell me—why isn't it working?!"

"I…" Dev stammered. "I don't know!"

"But it has to work!" the girl cried. "It has to!"

Okay, this kid was definitely desperate. He could see it in her eyes. But how was he to answer her plea? As he fished for a suitable answer, he noticed that the sun had already gone down. And despite the anxiety written all over the girl's face, she was clearly trying to battle her sleepiness as her eyelids drooped suddenly and she let out a noisy yawn. Dev finally managed to stammer, "We'll give the tea time, and see how he is in the morning."

The girl opened her mouth as if to protest but suddenly slumped over onto the cave floor with exhaustion. Dev did his best to make her comfortable and then lay down in a distant corner of the cave, his mind racing as he thought about how quickly the winds of change had come to the island.

He had not told the girl that the question of why the tea wasn't taking effect yet wasn't the real problem.

The real problem was whether Lloyd would last through the night.

Dev's sound sleep was interrupted by a shrill cry of panic. The girl had woken early and was now kneeling beside her unconscious brother. "It's Lloyd!" she shrieked. "He's not moving!"

Thinking the worst, Dev bolted to his feet and skidded over to where Lloyd lay unmoving. He immediately plopped down beside the two and frantically felt for Lloyd's pulse. The girl's eyes swarmed with tears as she exclaimed, "He's not—he can't be—"

Dev let out a silent sigh of relief as he felt a slight throbbing under his fingers. "No, he's alive." he answered. Then Dev's face fell as he said, "But his pulse is very weak."

"Wha—" the girl stammered. "What does that mean?"

Dev hesitated. Should he really tell her what he was thinking? He didn't want to make matters any worse than they already were. But the pleading look in the girl's eyes told him that she needed to hear this.

"I don't think…" he stammered, "that there's anything we can do to help him."

At the look on the girl's face then, he immediately regretted saying that.

"NO!" Kaia cried out as this teenager she'd found pronounced Lloyd's fate. "No, that can't be right! THAT CAN'T BE TRUE!"

But the teen's expression did not waver. Hot tears poured down Kaia's cheeks as she locked her arms around Lloyd protectively, fearing that if she let go, he would slip away from her. Sobs shook her frail, worn, exhausted body as she just lay there with Lloyd in her arms. "Why?!" she mouthed silently. "Why?!"

Behind her, Toothless let out a sorrowful moan as he realized the full impact of the teen's words. Kaia's cheeks flushed warm as she realized just how cold Lloyd's body was. She caught a glimpse of his face, white with pallor, and sobbed even more. To her dismay, his heartbeat seemed to grow slower and slower until she could barely feel it at all.

I can't let this happen! she thought to herself. I have to do something! I've just gotta do something! But what?

And then she fell back on an old habit of hers for whenever she was in great anguish and sorrow. She began to sing softly to Lloyd, though she knew he could not hear her. The song was one that she didn't remember where or who she'd learned it from but seemed as if she'd always known it. And yet it seemed appropriate for this dark and troubled time.

In the dark of the night

Stars give a light warm and tender,

And a song someone sings

I once again do remember.

"I will hold you safe and warm

E'en amidst this swirling storm.

Love's pure light will shine so bright

It drives away the night."

As the girl began to hum a few wordless bars, Dev suddenly noticed that there were streams of golden light surrounding her and the motionless Lloyd. A golden aura was beginning to form around the two, and Dev wondered what in all the realms was going on when the girl repeated the previous line.

"I will hold you safe and warm

E'en amidst this swirling storm.

Love's pure light will shine so bright

It drives away the night."

Then she sang a new verse. And as she did, a change came over Lloyd. His skin regained its natural tone, and the pulse throbbing under Dev's fingers grew stronger by the second.

In the hour darkness comes,

Light and love come together!

Fear must flee from its ray—

Love-light that glows like an ember.

And a song someone sings

I once again do remember.

The glow around Kaia then faded unseen, and Kaia's voice suddenly cracked as her heartbroken sobs returned. She closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to witness Lloyd's final hour. And then, something happened. The sound of her sorrowful crying was suddenly pierced by a soft voice saying, "Kaia?" Her eyes suddenly flew open, and she saw that Lloyd was gazing weakly up at her, the milkiness of his eyes giving way to clear, pure green. Then she gasped as he softly continued, "I didn't know you had…such a beautiful voice."

Kaia's heart quelled with joy as she cried out, "LLOYD!" and gave him the biggest hug in her entire life. Dev let go of Lloyd's wrist and grinned as Kaia held Lloyd tightly, crying into his shoulder all the while. The Green Ninja, weak and exhausted though he was, didn't seem to mind that his right shoulder was being rapidly soaked from Kaia's tears of mixed joy and sorrow.

"I thought I lost you!" she sobbed.

"Lost me?" Lloyd exclaimed. "No, Kaia, you saved me—again!"

"But I thought—" she stammered. "I thought—" Then she gave up trying to tell him what she had thought and simply exclaimed, "I'm just glad you're okay!" Toothless then got to his feet and let out a happy rumble, prancing around the cave in joy. He then turned and licked Lloyd's face in excitement. "Okay, Toothless. I'm glad to see you too." Lloyd exclaimed as he attempted to keep Toothless from smothering him with licks. It was then that he noticed Dev sitting there beside him and Kaia. "Kaia, who's this?"

Kaia suddenly realized that in her panic over Lloyd's condition, she had completely forgotten to ask the teen's name! Fortunately, he was already one step ahead of her. "Name's Dev." he exclaimed. "I stumbled upon Kaia here after I got stranded in the storm and was trying to get back to where I live."

Lloyd nodded in understanding as he realized why Kaia would have been out there in the first place. Then he noticed Kaia's bandaged arm. "Kaia, what happened to your arm?!" he cried in alarm.

"Nothing serious." Kaia exclaimed. But somehow Lloyd was not convinced. "Nothing serious?!" he replied in shock. "How can a bandaged arm not be serious?!"

"You needed help, Lloyd!" Kaia protested. "I couldn't just let you lose your life! I had to go out there!"

"Whoa, easy, you two." Dev interrupted. "Cool your jets, both of you! You're both alive and unharmed, and that is that! Seriously, there's no need to panic over what's already in the past!"

Both then fell silent as they mulled over Dev's words. Then Kaia realized there was one question she still had. "Lloyd, when you were…ill before, you called me 'Harumi.' Why is that?"

Lloyd hesitated as he tried to formulate a suitable answer. His memory of the past few days was rather blurred from his illness. "You…" he stammered. "You look like someone I knew in the past—a girl about my age named Harumi."

The name once again sounded familiar, but Kaia still couldn't pinpoint why. "Was she a friend of yours?" she asked, intrigued.

"Not…exactly." Lloyd answered mostly to himself. Kaia silently nodded as she realized what Lloyd meant. Apparently, that story had not ended well.

"So," Dev interrupted again, "what are you going to do now? Hate to say it, but you can't stay here forever. Even if that storm lets up, neither one of you is in any condition to take any more risks. And no offense, but I doubt the dragon can help if one or both of you gets into trouble."

Lloyd gave a slight nod. Dev did have a point. Kaia seemed to think so too, as the next thing she said was, "Well, that's a difficult question. We, well…we don't really have any place to go."

"Do the two of you have a home?" Dev asked. "A family?"

Lloyd nodded yes at the same time as Kaia shook her head no. Then something unexpected happened. Dev suddenly scrunched up his face in confusion and asked, "So which is it? Do you two have a home or don't you?"

Lloyd suddenly realized that perhaps Dev didn't know about how the two had adopted each other. "I have a home and a family," he clarified, "but Kaia doesn't—I think."

The answer confused Dev even more. "But Kaia told me you two were siblings! Wouldn't you both come from the same place?"

Now it was Lloyd's turn to be confused. Then he let out a laugh (which then turned into a cough) as he realized what Dev was thinking. "Kaia and I aren't actually siblings—not biologically, that is. We actually are adopted siblings."

Kaia's face then flushed with embarrassment as she realized Dev's mistake. "Sorry I didn't tell you about that. I was too worried about Lloyd to tell you that we adopted each other just a few days ago."

"It's all right, Kaia." Dev comforted. "I honestly think that it took a lot of courage for the two of you to adopt each other. Being a sibling takes a lot of sacrifice—trust me, I know."

The three fell silent again for a few moments. Then Dev spoke up. "I know! Why don't we wait for the storm to clear up a bit, and then I can take you to my home? I know how to get there from here."

"That's a great idea!" Lloyd choked out before breaking into an unexpected coughing fit.

"First things first, though." Dev replied. "I suggest the both of you get some rest before we go anywhere."

"Best idea I heard all day." Lloyd exclaimed—before the three of them laughed (although Lloyd's laughter was cut short by more coughing). With that settled, Lloyd, still frail from his illness, crawled over to Toothless and laid his head on the dragon's side again before falling back into a peaceful, healing sleep. Dev laid down as well, and Kaia laid down just a few feet away from Lloyd, wanting to be there in case he needed help. As her eyelids drooped, she grinned as she saw Lloyd smile in his sleep. Whatever dreams he was having now, she guessed that they were wonderful ones. And the thought of it brought her great comfort as she too dropped off to sleep.