Oblivious to the thought process of her friend, Eleanara took Leeteuk’s proffered hand once more and they resumed walking, albeit a bit more slowly than they had before.  They kept an eye on the setting sun too, aware they would need to stop before full dark set in.  Both Eleanara and Kyuhyun could light the way but it was dangerous to walk a mountain path in reduced light; a misstep may spell disaster.  Eleanara began to get nervous as she felt the end of the next hour approaching and her grip tightened reflexively again.  If her last reaction had her blacking out, however briefly, she was concerned what this one would do.  She didn’t want to be a burden but they could all feel the temperature continuing to fall, despite the continued presence of the barrier, and it wasn’t quite dusk yet.

                Leeteuk pulled her closer to him when he picked up on her tension, equally aware the hour was coming to a close.  “You could let it fall,” he suggested softly, his eyes glancing down at her quickly and then facing forward.

                Briefly, Eleanara thought about it and while it would have been a relief of sorts, she couldn’t let herself go that path yet.  Slowly, she shook her head, taking in their surroundings and watching the way the increased snowfall bent around the barrier.  It seemed as if the mountain was against them now for the snow had increased, cutting their visibility drastically.  “Unless you want to stop early, it is better that I try than get us all lost in the snow by lack of action.”  She sighed and chewed her lip, taking strength from his hand tightening on hers.  When she looked up to meet his gaze, she was surprised to see a smile of quiet pride on his face.

                “I think you may be right on this one.  This time,” he added with a wink, feeling a slight twinge of guilt.

                Catching the snippet of conversation, Siwon reached out to smack Leeteuk’s shoulder with a warning glance.  The latter shook his head and motioned to Eleanara with his eyes.  ‘Her choice,’ he mouthed stubbornly.  Siwon frowned and then rolled his eyes, glancing back at the rear guard who was watching the exchange with some interest.  He waved back at them so they wouldn’t be worried and then took a deep breath, moving closer to Eleanara in preparation.

                Eleanara smiled wanly and meticulously, she counted back to this morning, marking each barrier off in her mind.  Overall, she had cast and sustained seven large barriers today, not counting the two personal ones earlier.  This would make eight…  The timing alarm in the back of her mind went off and she took another deep breath.  “Here goes nothing.”  She closed her eyes and reached to sustain the barrier just this once more.  She was aware of the power answering and inexplicably, awareness fled entirely.

                Prepared for the reaction, Leeteuk and Siwon both caught her before she could fall very far.  As one, they exchanged glances.  She was so light…  “Hold up!” they called ahead while Kharin and Eunhyuk moved closer, uncertain.  “She’s reached her limit,” Leeteuk explained as the others from the front moved close enough to hear.

                “Dummy,” Kyuhyun muttered, frowning at her unconscious body.

                “I prompted it,” Leeteuk maintained, focusing on Kyuhyun.

                “What?  Why?!” Kharin demanded, coming around Siwon again with Eunhyuk stopping short next to the taller man.

                “She needs to learn her limits.  As we all do,” Leeteuk stated calmly, meeting Kharin’s angry gaze evenly.  The warning that had been Eleanara’s was blatantly clear.  “Better she learn it here, at the beginning of the journey than out there.”  He gestured to the vast expanse of unknown space they had yet to traverse, gradually growing dark and shadowed.

                Slowly, Kharin unbent as she looked between the composed Leeteuk and the sleeping Eleanara.  Mutely, she nodded in agreement and though she didn’t like it, she did back down this time.  “I just hope you know what you’re doing,” she murmured as she fell back to the rear again, a confused Eunhyuk caught in the middle.

                “So do I,” Leeteuk whispered to himself while he observed Eleanara sleeping, still slumped between him and Siwon.

                “She’s just sleeping, right?” Eunhyuk asked uncertainly, looking at her pale complexion.  He looked back at Kharin who still fumed slightly and then back at Leeteuk.

                “It’s okay.  She just exhausted herself,” he assured him before returning his gaze to her unconscious form.  “We’ll keep moving until it gets dark,” he insisted, moving to pick her unresisting body up.

                Siwon forestalled him.  “I’ll take her for now,” he assured the other man.  “You’ve helped her most of the day already,” he laughed, scooping the light frame into his arms easily.  He looked ahead to Kyuhyun and Summer and nodded.  Leeteuk mirrored the motion and with a resigned sigh, the front of the party moved forward again.

                “Maybe we can get to full dark before we have to stop again,” Kyuhyun muttered, annoyed.  Before the sheltered hour was up, he used a flare to help guide the way and when the barrier at last fell, they were all blasted by the full force of the snowy wind.  Grudgingly, even he was forced to admit that the barrier had been very useful; not the least of which was because it helped to keep the snow directly out of their eyes.  His flare was plenty bright, but he had to keep squinting around the snow that perpetually flew into his eyes.  At last, he paused, reaching out a hand to stall Summer as she plodded doggedly forward, one foot after the other.  “We can’t keep moving forward in this weather,” he admitted heavily, waiting for the rest to catch up.

                Leeteuk was the first to come into range, as they had all fallen back since the barrier had fallen.  He paused and turned to wait for the others, sighing quietly when Siwon appeared from the snow with Eleanara still cradled in his arms.  Not too much further beyond him were Kharin and Eunhyuk, carrying the pack between them.  They nearly bumped into the stalled party as their hoods were pulled down far enough to mostly keep the snow out of their eyes.  “Time for a break?” Eunhyuk asked hopefully as he set down his side of the pack, while Kharin quickly followed suit.

                “We’ll stop here for the night,” Leeteuk agreed, looking to Kyuhyun.  “A little more light, please?” he asked softly, facing the mountain he was determined to use to their advantage.

                “Tch.  Not a problem,” Kyuhyun smirked, casting a brighter flare above them, enough to illuminate most of the wall in the immediate area and a fair distance up.

                “Careful,” Summer warned, still standing near him.  “There’s a lot of snow above us,” she cautioned softly, keeping an eye upwards to make sure the intense heat didn’t start something drastic.  As it was, snow turned to rain in the immediate vicinity and evaporated completely when too close to the flare.

                Leeteuk ignored it for now and focused on his own task at hand.  Carefully, he raised rock walls from the ground nearest the mountainside and when he had brought them higher than the tallest of their group and deeper than any of their members when laying down, he brought a roof over the top to protect them from the falling snow.  Slowly, he raised a gentle barrier at the base to keep snow from piling up on them as best as possible.  He didn’t want to close them off completely but they needed the breaker from the wind.  After a brief moment of inspection, he nodded to himself.  It would work for now.  He looked at the others and they were regarding him with no small amount of surprise.  “What?” he asked, completely unphased.  “It’s better than a tent,” he shrugged, shucking off his pack to pull out the waterproof blanket.

                Kharin quickly followed his example and set her blanket down inside next to his.  “Nice work, Teuk,” she smiled, glancing at the interior.  Even just standing there, after being in the wind, the rock face provided a most welcome barrier.

                As an example, Leeteuk set his pack along the back, indicating that there was space for all of theirs to fit inside and he gestured for them to join him out of the cold wind.  Siwon stepped up and handed Eleanara over gently, allowing him to shed his pack and step inside without having to worry about the raised lip.  Eunhyuk hauled Eleanara’s pack in after them and settled it next to Leeteuk’s while he dropped his own in line with the rest.  Abruptly, he plopped down and dug out a ration, watching as the others followed at their own pace.

                Because Kyuhyun had not dampened the flare after everything had been set up, Summer did it for him, to his consternation.  “Stop playing with fire,” she muttered, heading in and settling down next to Siwon who was looking over Eleanara with Leeteuk.

                “How’s she doing?” Kharin asked, leaning over Eunhyuk’s lap for a better view.  He seemed uncertain how to react and then just used her as a prop to lean on, to her amusement.

                “Sleeping,” Leeteuk and Siwon answered at the same time with a wry smile.  Leeteuk removed his glove and placed a warm hand against her cheek.  “She still feels cold though,” he sighed, reaching for her pack.

                Almost reluctantly, Kyuhyun moved closer at that point, bringing the flare with him.  The temperature around them rose a couple degrees automatically.  Leeteuk paused what he was doing to look back at the fire elementalist before he nodded in acknowledgement.  Kyuhyun made a dismissive gesture but a smile pulled at his mouth.  He did mention, “If you feel like making a platform later, I figured out how she charged light to an item.  I think anyway,” he added, still a bit unsure.  He hadn’t actually done it himself, but he figured he understood the theory.

                “I’ll do that,” Leeteuk assured him, reaching to retrieve Eleanara’s sleeping roll awkwardly.  Siwon helped him instead and just grabbed the whole pack so it would be easier to remove from the bottom.  He grabbed the sleeping roll and then retrieved one of the rations which he set down carefully before replacing the bag and fishing a ration bar out of his own.

                While the rest were settling down, Leeteuk attended to Eleanara, feeling semi-responsible for her predicament.  At that moment, he would have given much to have even a fraction of her ability to heal.  Instead, he had to use standard methods and hope that she wasn’t too far gone in sleep just yet.  “Eleanara,” he spoke quietly, cradling her with one arm and using his free one to smooth her wind-blown hair out.  The hood had fallen back to reveal the golden locks, shimmering playfully in the firelight.  Carefully, he shook her with the arm propping her up and her eyes twitched, though closed.  “Wake up, Nara,” he crooned, running his fingers along her cheek with care.

                “Mmm…” she finally sighed, coming around slowly as she curled closer to his body instinctively.  The reaction made the others laugh since he hadn’t expected it and it helped to bring her to consciousness at the startling sound.  “Huh?” she blinked sleepy eyes and then realized she was lying against someone’s chest.  “Ummm…” she murmured nervously, realizing almost instantly it was Leeteuk for which she was both thrilled and horrified.  “Sorry- Thank you…  Sorry?” she didn’t quite know what to settle on as she sat up awkwardly and tried to figure out how to get off his lap without placing a hand somewhere it didn’t belong; all the while the rest of the group was laughing, a forced but welcome sound.  She squeaked when Kyuhyun hooked his hands under her arms and hauled her backwards to set her between him and Leeteuk, a position she wasn’t sure how she felt about.

                “Dummy,” he shook his head and took another bite of his ration which was nearly finished.  He laughed when her stomach responded to the sight of food and he nodded his head over to her other side.

                Leeteuk was just finishing composing himself when Siwon handed him the ration he had pulled out for Eleanara.  “Here,” he grinned, an impish smile on his face.

                Graciously, Leeteuk accepted the food and then turned to give it to Eleanara.  “Welcome back to consciousness,” he stated, relief evident in his voice.

                Eleanara took the food and nibbled on it before she looked around at the faces reclining in the shelter… shelter?  When had that happened?  Immediately, she forced herself to focus and addressed them all, “I’m sorry to have been a burden to you today.”

                “Eleanara,” Kharin chided, taking offense to her self-deprecation.

                “Well, we did have to stop three times,” Kyuhyun recalled, looking at her with a sidelong glance.

                “Stop that,” Summer grumbled.  “You appreciated it as much as the rest of us,” she added, leaning forward to pierce him with her glare.  He failed to comment after that.

                Eunhyuk leaned forward and waved to get her attention.  “It’s not as if we got very far after your barrier went down anyway.  It is what let us move along as fast as we did.”  He gave her a thumbs up sign and grinned, “So thanks.”

                Siwon’s chuckle drew their attention, “And it’s not as if you’re particularly heavy.”  Eleanara colored as she realized he must have carried her at some point.

                “Honestly I think her pack is heavier than she is,” Kharin laughed, nudging Eunhyuk in the ribs playfully.

                “And when did you carry her?” he asked pointedly, a mischievous grin on his face.

                Kharin seemed about to retort when Leeteuk directed a question at Siwon.  “Do you think you could provide us with water this evening?”

                “Gladly,” he answered, reaching a long arm around to snag the pot dangling from his pack.  It was easier to retrieve that way.  Theatrically, he waved his hand over the empty pot and in the blink of an eye, water sloshed within the container.  “Tada!” he grinned, handing off the filled container to Leeteuk who handed it over to Kyuhyun as the ‘first’ in line.

                Hardly bashful, he drained about a quarter of it despite the raised brows.  Awkwardly, he handed it off to Eleanara as she hurried to set the ration down and then took the pot with both hands, drinking carefully.  She was nearly the exact opposite of Kyuhyun, taking just enough to wash the food down and wet .  “Thank you,” she murmured, acknowledging both Siwon for calling it and Kyuhyun for handing it off.  The former smiled graciously and the latter seemed mildly abashed.  Eleanara was fairly oblivious to their reactions since she was passing the container to Leeteuk and she dearly didn’t want to spill it on him.  The exchange happened without mishap and when it got back to Siwon, he refilled it and passed it down the line after taking his share.

                They all agreed that Siwon’s water had a pure taste very much like fresh melted snow, but a bit cooler on the palate that was not unpleasant at all.  Hesitant to break the pleasant mood, Leeteuk nevertheless stood up and looked around, careful not to jostle Eleanara in his effort to stand up.  “Did we wish to take a watch again or would you prefer I close us off for the night?” he gestured towards the opening in their shelter.

                “It would probably be better to keep a watch,” Kharin sighed, rather enjoying the thought of not needing one.  At the annoyed looks that came her way, primarily from Kyuhyun, she added, “It’s better if we don’t lose what little awareness we have just managed to establish.  We don’t know what’s out here.”  Her gaze turned thoughtful as she looked into the dark beyond the ball of fire that still lit their enclosure.

                As if in answer to the silent question, something in the distance rumbled and though they all looked at each other, none of them could tell if it was from a creature or the mountain itself.  Kharin shrugged uncertainly and that decided the rest.  They opted for a pattern very like the one they had the first night but everyone rotated and despite her protests otherwise, Eleanara was given the tail end of the watch until she was able to sustain the barriers all day or they got out of the snow as they unanimously agreed she needed the rest.  With the new pattern, Leeteuk took first watch and the rest followed thereafter with Kharin, Kyuhyun, etc.

                While the others were settling down for their rest, Leeteuk knelt in front of Eleanara, looking at her over the low barrier, and asked, “Do you think you’re up for another watch light?”  He offered her an oblong piece of rock that wasn’t too heavy but would be easy to wrap and point.

                Eleanara took the rock and had to think about it before she could answer.  “I think so.  Maybe…”   She gave a smile that verged on cringing.

                “Whatever you can manage would be most appreciated,” he assured her, an uncertain glance out the shelter an indicator of his concern.

                “Do you think something’s out there?” she asked quietly, her voice barely more than a whisper.

                Leeteuk nodded slowly.  “I know there’s something out there, but I don’t know if it’s dangerous to us or not.”  Testing, he placed a hand on the ground and closed his eyes.  Eleanara copied him but she couldn’t tell any difference.  When he opened his eyes he had to laugh and he shook his head.  “I was listening through the earth.  I don’t think she’ll talk to you quite so clearly,” he reached out a hand to ruffle her hair initially and then stopped simply to smooth it down.  “The light?” he asked when she seemed distracted.

                “Oh…”  Eleanara shook her head and berated herself for the slip.  She focused on the rock in her hands and took a deep breath.  In measured increments, she tapped out the number of charges she wanted to bestow and took another deep breath.  It was a good possibility that she would black out again, but hopefully not for a prolonged period of time.  Quietly, she cast the charges and felt the power answer and leave, rushing to the object she intended to store it in.  All of a sudden, her sight blurred before her and she dropped the brightly lit rock into her lap, flailing to catch herself as her equilibrium seemed to vanish.

                Leeteuk reached out to support her, noticing Kyuhyun reflexively moving to catch her, but pausing seeing she didn’t need it.  Siwon nudged Leeteuk firmly.  “Stop pushing her, Teuk.  That nap wasn’t nearly enough,” he chided softly, looking at her dazed expression in concern while he reached around to brush a strand of hair from her face.  She felt Leeteuk let go reluctantly and tried to focus on him.

                “I… I’m good,” she murmured quietly, fervently denying she was anything but.

                Kyuhyun sighed, “Dummy.  Just rest already.”  Before she knew what he was doing, he gently but firmly pulled her from Leeteuk and against his body where he then laid down with her cradled in the hollow he created.  She was asleep almost before she closed her eyes.

                Siwon stifled a laugh and reached down to retrieve the watch light she had made for them.  “Just keep an eye out,” he winked, though there was a certain alertness to him that made Leeteuk think he felt something too.  Perhaps he could listen through the snow as he did through the earth.  A curious glance over at Eunhyuk showed him sleeping but the thought occurred to him that maybe he could listen through the wind.  He would have to ask them about it later.  Once more, he looked back at the resting Eleanara, apologetic and proud at the same time.  He did not favor pushing her like he was, but he would have to be the one that did that for the rest of them as well.  It was the only way they were going to grow.

                While sleeping rolls were laid over paired bodies, Leeteuk pulled up a rock chair and sat down, calmly wrapping the lit stone so that he could point a beam of light if need be.  Kyuhyun’s flare finally wore down and belatedly he realized he had said he would make that platform for the fire but perhaps it was just as well.  At least the watch light he could cover and help to hide their presence.  His thoughts were many and he had already come to the conclusion that if they had time, then they would all mature into greater power, but… with the world already at war, he doubted they would be given the chance to grow.  A change would have to be forced.  Absently, he played with the makeup of the earth in front of him, watching as the snow rose and fell with the rippling of rock beneath.

                It was nearing the end of his watch and the others were still sleeping peacefully when a whisper of sound traveled to him through the earth.  Curious, he placed a hand to the ground to listen better and in reaction, tore the wrap off the watch light, flooding the area with illumination.  Immediately, four massive snow wolves pulled up short on either side of him, yipping in distress and temporarily blinded.  Leeteuk screamed a warning and flung himself into the shelter with the rest of the sleepers who were coming to their senses.  In a panic, he used his power to close off the front of the shelter, cringing when the impact of massive bodies reverberated in the walls.

                By that time, the rest of the group was getting to their feet and Kharin asked, “What is it?”  Her eyes were alarmed and wild in the light from the rock Eleanara had charged.

                “What’s wrong?” Kyuhyun demanded in the same breath, reaching out to grasp the arm of Leeteuk who gasped, taking great gulps of air.

                “Snow wolves… I think,” he murmured, still staring at the wall as more impacts sounded.

                “Can’t be,” Siwon shook his head in denial.  “There’s no way they’re that large…”

                A scratching sound alerted them to something new and they were chilled when they all realized it was from the creatures outside digging.  “Can they dig through rock?” Eunhyuk asked into the relative quiet, moving closer to Kharin who reached for him in turn, seeking some sort of reassurance.

                “Looks like it,” Summer frowned, alarm evident in her voice as she backed away from where the dirt under where the front of the shelter had been began to give way.  Siwon grabbed her and pulled her back, letting them all see the earth shift in front of them.

                Quickly, Leeteuk shored it up and held the light higher, making sure he didn’t miss anything.  The sound of the wolves growling outside was frightening in the relative quiet they were able to maintain.  Of them all, only Eleanara had remained unaffected, lost in sleep.  Mindfully, Siwon reached down and picked her up, holding her close so that she wouldn’t get stepped on.  Leeteuk continued to repair the damage inflicted on the structure, flinching when another body crashed against the outside.  All of a sudden, the sound just stopped and they held their collective breaths.

                Into the quiet, Summer asked, “Is it over?”  The query was met by an ear splitting howl torn from four different throats.  The reverberations echoed in the shelter and made the rock wall begin to vibrate and shake.  One of the howls died out but the other three continued while the group within crouched and covered their ears as best they could, Siwon having the most difficulty.  While they were distracted, the fourth creature threw itself against the shaky structure, denting the wall inward with the force of its momentum.

                Eunhyuk and Kharin screamed as it came from their side, the wall beginning to give, and they pressed against those behind them.  Immediately, Leeteuk was there, pushing the wall back out to the anger of the wolf on the other side.  “This is not good,” he murmured tensely, feeling the strength of the shelter wavering just a bit.  Just as quickly as the howling had started, it stopped and they felt a moment of relief before a new rumble started.  Leeteuk was the only one to truly appreciate the magnitude of what they now faced.  “And that’s worse.”  His frown was severe as they all felt the ground beneath them begin to shake and thunder from above come tearing at them.  “It’s an avalanche,” he warned, unsure if he would be able to sustain the shelter.

                The ground beneath them began to shift with the increased rumbling and they all backed against the rock face that had been solid enough just a moment before.  “Oh come on!” Eunhyuk cried, trying to brace himself against the walls to keep from sliding forward.  Siwon had no such luxury and he, along with Kyuhyun, Summer and Leeteuk, ended up against the ‘face’ of the shelter.

                “Brace yourselves!” Leeteuk warned, conforming the rest of the shelter to his will, maintaining one solid structure even as it shifted.  As he struggled to maintain what he had built, the ground suddenly dropped out from under them and they were lifted upward and then flung against the back wall painfully before being dropped to the floor again.

                 A collective scream came from all of them, fear stricken faces illuminated by the watch light that bounced around as Leeteuk fiercely fought to maintain the integrity of their shelter…the only barrier they had between them and the flowing, hungry mountain of snow carrying them away.  The face of the shelter cracked, a spider web of fissures spreading across the surface as they hit something, the occupants thrown forward at the impact.  The wall held but the shelter continued rolling over, the persons within unable to stop it.  Carefully, Leeteuk made the shelter smaller in an attempt to keep them from being thrown about too badly and melded his limbs with the fracturing structure, desperate to keep it whole.  Already, he could see blood smearing several of them in the flashes of light provided and he knew it would get worse before this was over.

                He lost track of how long they fell…how many times he had to repair the wall around them… how much strength it took to hold onto consciousness.  He had never imagined he would have to test his own limits quite so soon.  It helped when he didn’t keep his eyes open to see the damage done; when he just felt what he had to repair, whispered to him through the rock.  While he was better able to cushion his own person, there was little he could do to help the others, or prevent them from crashing into him.  Soon, even concern for them had to be pushed back as he was forced to concentrate harder and harder on keeping the structure whole.  If it failed, they were all doomed…  Abruptly, he sensed them in freefall again and he tensed, waiting for the moment of impact.  The shelter met something hard and everyone was flung to his side where he was pinned beneath several bodies and at the same time, he felt the impact side failing.  With a scream of defiance, he threw the last of his strength into making sure it didn’t crumple and then everything went dark.