It had been hours of them walking in the dark, blindly searching the forest for a place to hide.
The moon was hidden behind a large cloud and the stars could barely provide them any relief from the tall trees that were condensed all around them.
The distant sound of an owl could be heard as the leaves crunched beneath their feet.
They shivered, rubbing their hands against their arms in a futile attempt at staying warm.
It felt like it had been so long since their encounter with the village.
So long since they had a proper rest, and even longer since they had been running around in the sun, playing amongst their people.
It felt like a bad dream to be honest.
One that neither could wake up from.
It was quiet, save for the crunching of the leaves and occasional twigs beneath their feet.
An occasional sob broke the silence every so often.
Ruffnut.
Tuffnut could only do so much to comfort her.
Guilt overwhelmed him.
A memory of them as children flashed before his eyes.
His smile beaming at his sister as he exclaimed to her how he was going to follow Loki, proudly holding a book in the air, thrusting it into her arms.
Her eyes full of wonder as he opened the book and turned the pages, excitedly explaining the lore of the God he had begun to love.
His sister standing proudly, exclaiming how she would follow Loki too, vowing to be by her brother's side no matter what.
They pinky promised and hugged it out.
The rest of their journey filled with antics in the name of their God.
Laughter. There was so much laughter.
Now, he didn't know if she would ever laugh again.
This was all his fault and he had to fix it. He had too.
Guilt overwhelmed him as he looked over at her.
The moon began to shine, showering them in it's luminescent light, revealing all of her features to him.
She looked so worn and cold…so lost and helpless.
It was all his fault.
Shaking, Tuffnut blew a breath of icy air.
His lungs felt so cold.
They weren't dressed for the weather and he knew that they were in for worse.
Berks' nights were famous for this after all.
It was only a matter of time before they froze to death.
He had to find them someplace safe soon.
Hours passed and soon the sun began to rise on the Horizon.
They had walked all night and were exhausted from the stress and anxiety of the entire suituaton.
Soon the village would be up and the hunt for them would begin.
They had to hide so that they could sneak back into the village, gather materials, steal a boat, and leave.
Determination to protect one another was the only thing keeping them going and right as they felt as though their legs would give out, they tripped, and fell.
Downhill into a shield.
"A Shield? What's this doing here?"
A small shield, bearing the initials H.H.H. was stuck in between two walls.
It clearly had been there for quite awhile as pieces of it began to crumble from the impact of the Thorston twins' faces landing on it.
Making his their way under the shield and standing up, Ruffnut began
"Is this…a Cove?"