The path beyond their home was not large but it was wide enough that they could walk in pairs which they naturally aligned themselves to pairings they tended to have.  Leeteuk led with Eleanara near him, while Spencer and Kharin took the middle and bringing up the rear was the trio of Kyuhyun, Siwon and Summer.  Siwon had little trouble seeing over everyone due to his height and in the back, Summer could keep an eye on all the elementalists and the usage of their abilities.  Kyuhyun lightened the mood by singing softly, one of the songs they had learned in the monastery.

                From the start, their destination of the pass to even begin the long trek down the mountain seemed very far away.  Initially, they were only able to see a white wall ahead of them which was the top of the valley where the pass began that allowed travelers down the mountain.  Leeteuk frequently referenced the map he had been given to familiarize himself with the terrain and to help ensure they didn’t get lost, though the path was easy enough to follow at present.  He was trying to memorize it as best he could in case anything happened to it and now was probably the best time before they had any real work to focus on.  Whenever he rolled it open though, Eleanara drifted closer to see too, to his amusement.

               She was curious for one, and it was warmer near him.  It never actually got warm in the valley and it had only been getting colder the closer they got to their first destination.  Naturally susceptible to the cold, Eleanara grabbed at any excuse to put her closer to the warmth of another person.  The fact that it put her closer to Leeteuk was just an added bonus and she couldn’t quite keep the smile from tugging at her lips.

                Leeteuk looked down at her as she looked over the map too and nudged her softly.  “Look,” he pointed when he had her attention, noticing the smile lingering on her face.  “See?” he prompted, dropping one side of the map so she could view it better.  “Abom’s Pass is where we’re heading.”

                Eleanara followed his hand to see a steep rise ahead of them with snow banked all around it.  She shivered preemptively and nervously looked down at her clothes.  “Do you think we have enough layers?”

                “I imagine,” he assured her.  “Yoogin did have us bring another coat after all.”  He shrugged but reached out to squeeze her shoulder reassuringly.  “If nothing else, Kyuhyun can keep us warm with his fire.”

                Behind them, Kyuhyun laughed, “Let me know if you find out how to manage that while moving.”

                “We’ll figure something out,” Leeteuk assured them forcefully.  Somehow, he was positive they’d manage.  If they couldn’t survive a regular mountain, how would they ever survive Enrhyll?

                Along with the rest, Eleanara steeled herself for the cold ahead.  She had an ability to make them all immune to it but she didn’t know how long it would last or how much it would cost her in terms of use…  Unfortunately, it wasn’t one that she’d practiced extensively during their training sessions in the brief time they’d had before setting out and she lamented that fact now.  While they walked, she wrapped a barrier around her person, feeling the invisible form shift when she directed it to repel the cold as opposed to physical force.  If it was anything like the standard barrier she could summon at will, likely it would last just as long but she needed to find out for sure so she paid close attention, waiting for the moment the barrier would wane.

               Those behind her were oblivious to her efforts, the barrier invisible unless they were trying to feel for it, like Summer could.  The neutralizer peered at Eleanara speculatively when she first established it, but left her otherwise alone.  It was still in effect when the group called a break about an hour later as determined by the position of the sun.  As they stopped and set their packs down to grab a bite to eat, Leeteuk moved closer and looked around speculatively.

                “Testing?” he queried aware of the temperature difference when he stood next to her, eyes curious as he flicked his bangs away with a gloved hand.

                Suddenly nervous, Eleanara ducked her head.  “I can block the cold but I don’t know how long the ability lasts.”  Unconsciously, she wrung her hands and was startled when Leeteuk reached down to still them.

                “It’s okay,” he assured her with a warm smile.  “We’re all of us nervous.”  Comfortingly, he pulled her into his warm embrace, amused at her surprise.

                Slowly, she relaxed and nodded slightly.  “You’re right,” she said, reluctantly pushing herself away.  “Thank you,” she bowed, backing up and nearly tripping over Siwon who was seated, along with the rest, digging one of the rations out of his bag.

                “Careful,” he laughed, reaching up to catch her hand and steady her before she toppled over.  “I know I’m not that hard to see,” he joked, a wry grin on his face.

                “Sorry!” Eleanara cringed, flushing in embarrassment as she righted herself and with considerably more care, took a seat between Kharin and Kyuhyun.  Both of them looked confused when they felt the absence of cold near her.

                Khyuhyun reached out and waved his hand around her where the barrier was still active.  “How are you able to keep the cold out?” he asked, a mixture of annoyance and honest curiosity.

                Eleanara shrank back, looking up briefly when she felt the power waning and then cringed as it went out completely.  A shiver caught her when the cold hit her again and she took a deep breath.  “I’m testing my barrier against the cold instead of a physical force,” she answered, looking at him sideways out of the corner of her eye before she started fishing for one of her rations.

                “How long did you have it up for before it went down,” Kharin asked from her other side, already halfway done with hers.

                Eleanara shifted her gaze over to the other woman and shrugged.  “It seems about an hour, unless I am mistaken.  I don’t think it would be difficult to sustain…I’m just not sure…” she trailed off, not quite certain how to put it.

                “Not sure of what?” Kyuhyun prompted, leaning around in front of her.  The cold didn’t affect him as much as the others, due to the nature of his element, but that wasn’t to say that he liked it.

                At his query, she shrank back further and murmured, “Not sure about covering the rest of you…”

                “Humph,” he grunted.  “Can’t be that hard.”  Kyuhyun was certain of his statement, based on his own interactions with his element.

                “And how would you know, Marcus?” Summer called him on it.  “Have you even tried sustaining any of your abilities for a prolonged period of time?”

                “I-“ he began but then stopped and frowned in thought.  Come to think of it, the only ability he had maintained for any length of time was a small flare meant to provide light rather than do any damage.  The problem with his abilities was that they all gave off heat, which had the potential to be problematic, particularly in close quarters.  Eleanara’s didn’t unless she focused specifically for that purpose.

                “It’s harder than it looks,” Kharin assured him.  “Especially when you’re thinking large scale or multiples for any length of time.”  Through the use of her darkness abilities, she had begun to understand the draw on a person’s strength when trying to do more than just one thing at a time.

                “I’m still figuring it out,” Eleanara assured him and the rest with a glance around.

                “Eh…one thing at a time,” Eunhyuk stated with a wink, partially obscured by his blond bangs hanging in his face.  “Let’s get there first.  Then we can wonder about your anti-cold barrier.” 

                “O-okay,” Eleanara nodded, self-consciously pulling her pack closer to her.  Finally, she found the travel rations and started to nibble on one.  It wasn’t particularly tasty, consisting of tough bread filled with what appeared to be dried meat and possibly dried vegetables…  There was no sauce or anything fresh to help reduce the risk of it spoiling but with it being colder where they were going, she really had no fear that would happen.  Except for inside the barrier…  Upon that realization, she sighed and took another bite.

                In the mutual silence of the camp, they were all abruptly distracted by Eunhyuk sending a teasing wind through them, ruffling their hair, startling Eleanara and annoying Kyuhyun when the wind sent his bangs into his eyes.  Summer stopped it before it could play with hers and the sender flinched but laughed anyway, making her shake her head, a smile on her lips.  By the time they were ready to set out again, Kyuhyun had resorted to flicking sparks at Siwon and Eunhyuk, who were dousing or fanning them away easily.  An errant spark was carried to Leeteuk and he swatted it away with his hand, surprised when the tiny ember burned the glove more than he expected.

                It seemed for an instant that he was going to frown but then he just laughed and stood up, finishing his ration and hauling his pack up.  He did frown when he saw Eleanara had only eaten half her ration before she put the other bit away and then got up with the rest of them.  He would have to address that later...  “Time to head out,” Leeteuk remarked as he settled his pack and glanced around at the rest of the group approvingly.

                Eunhyuk stepped up to assist a struggling Eleanara, the pack almost as large as her.  Fortunately, the way they were designed, the weight was settled predominantly at the waist where a belt helped to keep it secure when all the straps were properly attached.  Once the pack was settled, he gave her a nudge to get her going.  She laughed and caught up to Leeteuk while the rest fell in line behind.  Despite the circumstances of their leaving, there was a general air of excitement about them as they started their adventure again.  Unobtrusively, Eleanara put her barrier back up, grateful for the immediate lack of cold.  She figured it was about an hour per barrier but she wanted to make sure and she took another glance at the sun to confirm the passage of time.

                By midafternoon, the trail transitioned from cleared ground to snow, getting deeper on either side of them the closer they got to the pass.  Surprisingly, it started getting dark earlier than they were accustomed with wall of the valley casting them in shadow sooner, and Leeteuk called a stop when they reached the top of the pass.  Eleanara and Kyuhyun were both using a light and flare ability to allow them to see before they arrived.  Her barrier had waned again a couple hours ago, but the one she put up had lasted about an hour like the first one.  She was fairly certain of the timing now but having kept it down she was shivering by the time they stopped.  She hadn’t thought it fair to keep putting up the barrier when no one else had one either.  Constant movement kept most of them decently warm but few of the others tended to be cold as often as she was.

                Under the influence of the colder weather, they were a bit subdued and sought shelter in an embankment away from the howling winds of the pass that carried the threat of fresh snow.  There wasn’t much debris to be found but they had enough to get a fire started and Kyuhyun was able to sustain it long after the fuel burned away.  They all brought out another bite of rations for dinner and melted snow in the pot that Siwon had been designated to carry.  He could have summoned water but the effect would have been the same.  Carefully, they refilled their hard leather water skins and slaked their thirst with warm water before they let Marcus heat it up to just short of boiling for the purpose of warming cold hands.  Each carried a tin cup with them and with their gloves on, the container wasn’t too hot to hold to.

                As they ate and tried to warm up, the extra coat came out quickly and the group pressed together for the shared warmth, wondering if this was how it was going to be for the next few days…or however long it took them to get off the mountain.  Summer, Siwon and Kyuhyun seemed to have an edge against the worst of the cold, courtesy of their abilities, and it gave them a degree of immunity the rest did not share.  While Leeteuk, Eunhyuk and Kharin were cold, as denoted by the shivers that gripped them from time to time, Eleanara she just couldn’t seem to get warm.  Even with the layers she had on, the wind bit into her keenly.  She blamed her size since she was the smallest among them, but even with that excuse, she just wasn’t good with the cold.  Whatever the reason, she simply couldn’t stop shivering so she quietly she sat between Kyuhyun, who seemed to be the warmest of the group, and Kharin, keeping her eyes steadfastly on the steaming cup in front of her.

               Kharin noticed Eleanara’s single-minded determination and though she wasn’t close enough to feel it, she could tell the smaller woman was shivering under the added layers.  With a sigh, she slid closer to her and smiled reassuringly.  Behind her, she smacked Kyuhyun’s shoulder with the back of her hand and glanced down at Eleanara.

               Kyuhyun looked at her in confusion at first before he rolled his eyes when he realized what she intended.  Awkwardly, he shifted over so that she was sandwiched between them and both could feel her shivering.  He looked at Kharin as if to say, ‘Happy now?’

               She gave him an amused smile and nodded, nudging Eleanara and prompting her to take a bite of her ration.  She could see Leeteuk watching her too, as he watched all of them, but Eleanara was typically the slowest to eat in their group.  Eunhyuk and Siwon had apparently raced to see who could finish their food first and were helping to clear a space to lie down for the night.   Kharin didn’t miss the fact that the smaller woman had pulled out the other half of her ration from earlier instead of a new one like she should have been on already.  “You need to stop daydreaming, Nara,” she chided with a smile.

               “Sorry,” Eleanara apologized, taking another bite and following that with a swallow of water that was nearly too hot.  It made the food easier to get down though and warmed her from the inside out, even if she did feel as if she scalded her tongue.

                Leeteuk paced around the perimeter with the others watching him curiously.  He had finished his ration already and seemed focused on something, pausing to squat and place a hand on the ground every so often.  Finally, he stopped and regarded them evenly.  “So who wants to take first watch?” he asked, shuffling over to dig in his pack for a small travel sized hourglass.  It would be easy enough to dole out watch duty in one hour increments among them with the last person pulling a slightly longer shift.  They could rotate out on the following days so everyone would be able to get seven hours of sleep for the most part.  He waited to hear if anyone would volunteer.  He didn’t expect it, but to his surprise, Kharin did.

                “I’ll do it,” she offered, looking between the others.  “What?  It’s only about an hour a piece if we share,” she commented to their general consternation.  Easily, she had followed his train of thought and it was really one of the better ideas in her opinion.

                “Thank you, Kharin,” he nodded appreciatively.  “I will take second watch unless I have any other takers.”

                Not to be outdone by Kharin, the next set of watchers was figured easily.  Summer agreed to take second followed by Marcus with Spencer after, Andrew next and Eleanara and Denys taking the final shifts.  Each pulled out the sleeping roll attached to the bottom of the packs and both Denys and Kharin had large waterproofed blankets to spread on the ground so the melted snow wouldn’t soak them through while they slept.  At least it wasn’t snowing…  While the rest were getting settled, Eleanara who had finally finished the rest of her ration from earlier, was busy looking around, searching for something suitable.  At last, she settled on her water skin which was at least circular in nature and grabbed a small hand towel that was stuffed in her pack.  Carefully, she concentrated and tapped on the skin seven times methodically, visualizing what she wanted her ability to do.

                “What are you doing?” Kharin asked when she looked over her shoulder to see what the light elementalist was doing.

                Eleanara jerked in surprise and her world spun for a second as she felt the draw of imbuing the water skin with seven charges of light in a row.  She steadied herself quickly by placing a hand on the snow covered ground next to her and shook her head, hoping that Kharin hadn’t noticed the lapse.  “Light,” she whispered over the skin and then quickly covered it with the towel so only a small part was visible, emitting a pure beam of light.  “I didn’t want to give us away, but I thought it might be nice to have if you heard something,” she explained softly, pointing the beam outwards to illuminate the path across the way.

                Kharin laughed and pat Eleanara on the shoulder.  “Well done,” she thanked, taking the covered skin and giving her a hand up before she hugged her firmly, looking down in concern when she felt the small frame still trembling.  “Now go get warm,” she urged seriously, pushing her gently towards the rest of the group who were lying down, already getting comfortable bundled in their sleeping rolls and curled up on top of the blankets.  Siwon was on the outside at the far end with Summer beside him, Kyuhyun next to her, Eunhyuk after that and Leeteuk bringing up the end on the other side.

                “Be careful, Kharin,” Eleanara whispered over her shoulder as she hurried to where there was a bit of space next to Leeteuk.  Quickly, she snagged her sleeping roll and curled up back to back with Leeteuk, suspecting that the others had spread out a bit more than necessary since they lacked their normal beds.  Vainly, she tried to go to sleep, but the cold was a presence she couldn’t dismiss and it simply wouldn’t go away.  She was fairly certain the others had fallen asleep by the time she finally called up a null cold barrier that at least allowed her to fall asleep, unaware that anyone else had been keeping an eye on her. 

                She was awakened by a gentle shake on her shoulder and she opened achy eyes to see Kyuhyun, illuminated dimly by the light enchanted canteen that had been turned enough to allow him to see, peering down at her in a mixture of amusement and concern.  “Are you that cold?” he asked, shaking his head as she continued to shiver and her teeth rattled slightly of their own accord.

                “S-s-sorry,” Eleanara whispered, curling in on herself further.

                “Dummy,” he chided.  “I’m not mad at you.”  He reached over her and nudged Leeteuk.  “Teuk.  Teuk.  Wake up,” he urged despite Eleanara’s silent protest otherwise.

                “Hmm?” Leeteuk murmured, coming to consciousness slowly.  “My turn?” he asked.

                “No.  Not yet,” Kyuhyun remarked, “but Eleanara’s fit to wake the rest with her teeth chattering.  Put her on the inside or something.”

                “I’m okay,” she objected, looking between the kneeling Kyuhyun and the laying Leeteuk, both of whom eyed her skeptically.  She managed to keep her teeth from chattering on that statement but failed miserably on the following word.  “R-r-really.”

                Both of them laughed softly at her attempt at a brave front and Kyuhyun gave Leeteuk a hand up, his sleeping roll coming with him, before they shifted Eleanara over, picking her up by her sleeping roll and setting her closer to Spencer.  “Slide over,” Leeteuk urged as he stepped out of his sleeping roll and slid into the extra space in hers.

                “Tch,” Kyuhyun smirked but waved at them as he returned to his watch.  He was about halfway done so it wouldn’t be long now before he was waking Eunhyuk up anyway.  A glance back showed that his sleeping replacement had curled closer to the warm spot that had been vacated briefly so he was pressing up close to Eleanara too.  Good.  That should about do it.

                Leeteuk hid his amusement when he felt her stiffen at his attempt to help her warm up.  “You can’t tell me that you don’t feel warmer,” he stated matter-of-factly, his arms encircling her loosely.  Behind her, he could see Eunhyuk roll closer to the spot he had vacated a moment ago.

                Mortified that she merited such concern, her embarrassment quickly fled in the face of the warmth that surrounded her, both physical and emotional.  It was gratifying to her but she was still self-conscious of her inability to take care of herself so she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

                Leeteuk cracked open a sleepy eye and looked down at her in brief confusion.  “Don’t be,” he finally told her as he took a deep breath and shifted subtly to get more comfortable.   “We all have things we need help with,” he comforted, resting his cheek against the top of her head gently.  “And we’ve all got each other, right?”

                Slowly, she nodded once.  “Yes.  We do.”

                The warmth in her voice was not lost on him and he smiled.  “Not so bad now then aye?  Sleep.  Our turns will come soon enough,” he urged, closing his eyes to set the example.  Eleanara heard what he said and would have done so, but she was unable to look away from his face in such an unguarded moment.  In the very dim light, she could just make out the line of his light brown hair against his forehead and then his dimples appeared when he smiled gently.  “Sleep,” he reiterated, cracking open one eye to make sure she did this time, an amused smile on his face.

                Immediately, Eleanara squeaked softly and ducked her head under his chin, a warm flush spreading over her face and neck.  Oh dear…  She took a deep breath and almost as soon as she closed her eyes, she was asleep, surrounded by the warmth and silent strength of her friends.

                The watch changed easily throughout the night, each member being replaced as they had agreed, leaving an empty space open for only a short period of time.  When Siwon’s watch came to an end, he woke her with an amused grin on his face.  “Looks like someone slept well,” he spoke quietly, winking at her once.

                Abashed, Eleanara realized she was settled neatly between Leeteuk and Kyuhyun, both of whom had their top arms resting over body.  A glance down the line showed she wasn’t the only one with a limb draped across her as Summer curled near Kyuhyun and both Eunhyuk and Kharin had drawn closer during the night.  Personally, she was mildly embarrassed but oh it felt good to be warm.  It was very hard to make herself get out of the comfort they provided.  Awkwardly, she climbed out of her sleeping roll as carefully as she could, cringing when both sleepers stirred.  Siwon helped her to stand and then stole Leeteuk’s extra sleeping roll to curl up on the outside, nudging him to get him to move over so that he could fit on the waterproof blanket.  Before he turned over to take a nap, he spoke quietly, “It’s been all clear.  Happy watching.”

                “Of course,” she forced herself to laugh, feeling the cold begin to bite already when she flipped the hourglass over to start measuring her time.  Immediately, she called a barrier to block out the cold and went to inspect her water skin; it was still glowing.  She was happy to see her plan had worked and that she could store charges.  The light spell she had lasted about as long as the barrier so if she was right, it should run out during Leeteuk’s watch.  If it wasn’t already starting to get lighter in the sky, she would have added another charge, but she doubted they would need it.  Carefully, she unwrapped the skin enough to allow her to reach the stopper but was gifted with only a cold trickle of ice water.  The rest had frozen during the night...  She sighed and took a mouthful of clean snow, annoyed when the cold made her jaw ache.

                Really, she didn’t actually need the light anymore, but it wasn’t true dawn yet so she kept it up for now.  She had already spent the energy to set them up and it wasn’t as if she would get it back if she cancelled it out early.  The next to last shift went by slowly, with nothing happening, which she figured she should be grateful for if nothing else.  She watched the others sleeping, smiling at the unguarded expressions on their faces.  Leeteuk and Kharin lost the slightly worried and serious look they tended to carry and for once, Kyuhyun wasn’t smirking or appearing as if he had something planned.  Eunhyuk, Siwon and Summer all appeared on the verge of smiling though and it was with an effort that Eleanara pulled her attention away from the group and focused on the scenery again.

                Inside her barrier, she drew in the snow with her gloved finger, figuring what it might take to maintain a larger version of her barrier so that everyone could be moderately warm on the rest of their journey down.  Individual barriers would be harder and more costly but maybe if she just expanded this one…  With a start, she realized it was time for her to switch with Denys when her barrier went down.  She glanced at the hourglass to confirm and nodded to herself, seeing the sands had stopped falling.  Hesitantly, she moved over to wake him, pausing when she saw that he was sleeping so peacefully…  With an apologetic sigh, she moved around to his head and gently shook his shoulder.  “Teuk.  Time to switch,” she whispered.

                “Mmm,” he sighed, coming around slowly as before.  Sleepy chestnut eyes opened to look up at her and he nodded in agreement, bangs falling into his face again.  Eleanara reached down to slide them away and he smiled wryly.  “Give me a hand would you?” he asked, reaching out.

                Eleanara complied as he turned slightly and crawled out from her sleeping roll, taking the hand she offered in turn.  “It’s been quiet,” she assured him, nodding at the horizon that was lightening further.

                “Good,” he murmured.  “I’ve got it from here,” he assured her confidently, patting her shoulder.  Smoothly, he moved away, stretching his arms upward as he walked, and stopped at the edge of the path.  He raised a mound of earth from the ground, brushed off the snow and sat down to keep his watch in relative comfort.  After a few moments, he became aware that Eleanara hadn’t gone back to the sleeping roll as he had suggested.  A glance back showed her with a ration in one hand, kneeling in the snow and drawing thoughtfully with her free one.  Quietly, he moved over to her and stifled a laugh when she nearly choked on a bite of food as he settled down beside her, an arm over her shoulder. 

                “Easy,” he laughed as she struggled to get the bit of food down, starting to fall backwards when she lost her balance.  Quickly, he shifted to support her before she got very far and he raised his brow at her in amusement, dimples appearing easily when he smiled.  “What are we going to do with you?” he shook his head with a smile and steadied her again.  She shrugged uncertainly and glanced back down at her stick figure drawing.  “Now let’s see what you’ve been working on,” he suggested, leaning closer.

                “It’s just an idea,” she hurriedly defended herself, mildly embarrassed by her drawing.  Among other things, that was not her forte.

                Leeteuk examined it speculatively for a moment before he thought out loud, “You’re trying to expand the dimensions of it aren’t you?”  Eleanara nodded.  “Won’t that be hard for you?” he asked uncertainly, concern in his eyes.

                “It’s harder if I try individual barriers,” she evaded the question and he didn’t miss her lapse.  “I haven’t tried it yet.  I just know that it’s cold now and we’ve avoided most of the wind.  I can’t help but wonder if it’ll be harder on the trail,” she ended softly.

                Leeteuk reached down and lifted her head up.  “Just be careful, alright?  We all have our limits,” he reminded her evenly.  None of them had found them yet, but they had skirted exhaustion a time or two in using their abilities.

                “Alright,” she agreed with a determined nod.  Somehow, she would make this work.