Jade Fern Grove along the path we lost our way

cameo!

Somewhere along the way, she'd fallen ill. She's had sniffles before, here and there throughout her short life — but nothing like this. Her entire body aches with illness, from her stinging nose and throat to her aching joints. Keen is in a miserable condition... and still very lost.
It's hard not to feel hopeless, ignorant as she is to just how close she is to home; hysterical, even. What drives her forward now is the kind of panic that just can't be shaken, an urgent dread. She needs to get home. She's not ready to die — and that's what will happen, isn't it? The idea won't leave her mind, warping her thoughts and bleeding the rationality from her. So when she hears something that sounds like her brother, she doesn't quite believe it's him at first. She doesn't believe she could be that lucky — but hope draws her to a halt anyway, bringing her ears to a perk as she sluggishly tries to focus on the sounds around her. She can't smell a thing through her stuffy nose, but she would recognize Merrit's voice anywhere. She listens closely, hoping to catch it again — but the next thing she hears is the voice of a stranger. She flinches, terrified and suddenly certain she'd misheard the first time, and bolts the opposite direction before she even has a chance to think it through.