Sunset Valley I wish I didn't need you to explain

Time jumping here so these bbs can sleep

A small, thin smile graced his mouth. He hoped that she really did know. He was willing to do everything in his power to take care of her, particularly while she sifted through her emotions and outrage. What she had just done was more than just a vote of confidence for him, it meant that she trusted him enough to see her through things, and that meant something.
Ok, he said, looking about him carefully at the icy ground. The glacier was unfamiliar terrain for him. Though just beneath it, a river source led over to Whitebark Stream, he had never bothered to venture up here. Having only looked at it from below, he understood why Takiyok had led them here without needing any real provocation. It was very sheltered. If they were to be sought after from Sagtannet members, they would not be found here. A few times, his foot slipped out under him. He had grown up on a mountain, but it was a southern mountain. Her northern feet carried her better on such ice, but he was careful not to twist an ankle. There was little room for mistakes now, for they only had each other to rely on.
He nodded to her when at last they reached a small cavern. His feet were already tired. His back ached and cracked more than it should have for his age simply because of the stress he had been carrying up the mountain. She dropped. Taikon followed suit, curling into a protective ball beside her. His thoughts buzzed cruelly for some time. He replayed the conversations of the hours before in his mind obsessively without wanting to. He flipped over and adjusted many times over the next several hours before at last, sleep took him.

---

The dawn was cold. Damp. He shivered, yawning, staring out at the landscape before him and having to remember why he was there. He looked over to Takiyok in a panic, worried that somehow she had vanished. She hadn't. They were still here. He breathed in a long breath, putting his head on his paws and releasing in a heavy sigh.