For once, when Em'brel awoke she was greeted with the smell of someone cooking breakfast. Sparing a glance over to the bed, she could see S'haar holding Jack in much the same way that Em'brel had once held her prized toys as a much younger child. It was the kind of grip that spoke of someone clinging to security and hope in the face of fear and doubt.

Turning away from the scene before her, Em'brel wondered who was cooking while they were all sleeping. Not that she was particularly concerned, Angela was more than capable of protecting everyone in the ship. She was just curious.

Walking out into the common room, she witnessed the tiny form of Angela waving her arms around like a mad wizard deftly controlling the robotic arms which were currently scrambling eggs, buttering toast, flipping ham slices, setting the table, and pouring a couple of glasses of water, all at the same time. Em'brel knew it was all for show. The avatar was the illusion, and the insect-like robotic arms were her best friend's real body, but she appreciated the effort and attention to detail Angela always put into making her family feel a little more comfortable in her presence.

The younger argu'n sat down at the table with her head cocked to the side and her legs swinging under her as she put on her best innocent expression and asked, "Soooo, whatcha makin?"

Angela gave one last flic of her arms as if to say, 'Carry on without me!' Then turned to address her favorite protege. "Well, I wasn't sure how long you'd sleep after a day and a night and another half a day of labor, so I wanted something that I could make at a moment's notice. Today I'm serving a traditional eggs and toast breakfast. It's not as flashy as some of the meals we've put together, but it should be just what you need to finish recovering from overexerting yourselves."

This last part was addressed to S'haar, who was currently dragging her protesting limbs out of the room to join the two women at the table. Angela was surprised to note that while the two argu'n were definitely hungry, they weren't nearly as hungry as she thought 16 hours of sleep would have left them. It must have something to do with their cold-blooded physiology. Still, the two women dug into their meal with eager abandon, wolfing everything down in their usual brutally efficient manner.

After they'd eaten enough to slow down the feeding frenzy a little, Angela broached a subject that had been on her mind for a while. She hadn't been able to find a good time to bring up until now. "So you've obviously experienced these deep freezes before. How do your villages get through it without a 'dragon' to give you an early warning?"

S'haar looked as though she wasn't pleased to speak about the subject, but she understood that Angela's question wasn't just about satisfying idle curiosity. "Well, the specifics vary, but most villages have an emergency location designed with this exact situation in mind. In our case, there is a massive stone building in the center of town. The inside walls of which are covered with layer after layer of skins and hides. All year long, every adult is required to donate either materials or labor for its upkeep. The building is filled with firewood, which is rotated out periodically so that only the driest and best burning wood is kept in storage."

A shadow passed over S'haar's face as she continued. "In the event of a deep freeze, a cry is sent out, each household is expected to warn the three homes closest to them before making for the shelter. If the freeze drops the temperature too fast, many of the older members of the village will never make the journey safely, and others might be seriously injured or even lose limbs due to frostbite."

S'haar swallowed something down in her throat that had nothing to do with the breakfast she was eating before continuing her explanation. "As people arrive, they fill the building. The first to arrive are placed in the center, and everyone else is seated in a spiral pattern designed to fill the building. Several spots are designated to contain vented fireplaces to warm the entire area. The idea is to wait out the cold."

The weariness that S'haar exhibited as she continued was palpable to the other two women in the room. "Most villagers go into a semi sleep-like state in which they are only passingly aware of what's going on. If given food, they'll eat, though they don't need to eat as much or as often as usual, and if given a bucket, they'll expel waste. Other than that, the whole thing passes for them as if it were some fever dream. The guard is tasked with staying awake in shifts to tend the fires and the villagers. Some of the wealthier families may have servants to care for them in the place of the guard."

Darkness came over S'haars face as she continued. "If the freeze lasts long enough for us to run out of supplies, we begin to ration the firewood and food. It's rare, but there have been times during particularly long deep freezes when the people on the outermost edge were left untended, resulting in many casualties. Obviously, the wealthiest members of the village live closest to the shelter, and the poorer you are, the further away you live."

Em'brel nodded, though her voice was small and quiet as if she was ashamed of what she had to say. "That is also why being a noble's servant is such a sought after position. It offers significantly better chances of survival for yourself and your family in the event of a particularly bad deep freeze."

Angela took all this in stoically. She had many half thought out theories and ideas, but now wasn't the time or place for such things. "Well, thankfully, our camp should be alright this time, but this is definitely something we'll need to plan for in the future. If I have any say in the matter, there will be a significant decrease in deep freeze related deaths in the future!"

-

Jack was nearing the summit of the mountain. He was exhausted after the long ordeal of the climb, but Jack shoved that concern to the back of his mind for now. Through a series of mistakes and mishaps similar to his first near tumble, he'd finally figured out the secret to this place. The only real danger in this place was self-doubt. There were no loose rocks or slippery handholds until you feared there were. His earlier anger, born of frustration, had helped him make a lot of progress without any doubt, but eventually, his passion passed, and now the only thing keeping him on this mountain was sheer mental discipline. This activity was exhausting in an entirely different way than rock climbing usually was, but he was finally nearing his goal.

Jack lifted himself over the final ledge up onto the summit of the mountain. There he was greeted with... nothing. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, maybe a shaft of light to lift him out of this place, or perhaps a wormhole that would bring him home. At one point, Jack had even entertained the idea that he might be greeted by an oversized raven at the summit that would fly him out of here like it was all some sort of video game. But there were none of those things. The summit was empty.

Jack sat down to think.

-

S'haar was getting antsy couped up inside. Usually, when waiting out a deep freeze, she'd either be in a sleep stupor or in charge of taking care of a large number of people. Either way, the time had always seemed to pass quickly.

It wasn't that she minded staying at home with her new family. Some of her fondest memories ever were of the random dinnertime conversations they often shared or of just sitting around watching movies together.

The problem was that she couldn't leave the house. Somehow that made everything harder to endure. What would typically be a relaxing evening of sitting around relaxing was instead a stressful experience as she obsessed over all the work that wasn't getting done.

She'd watched a movie with Em'brel. This one was simply titled 'Legend.' The main characters were a little immature for S'har's taste, but the film was saturated with the otherworldly feeling of a dream. Angela had excitedly told the two women that the villain was played by someone named 'Tim Curry.' Apparently, he was one of her all-time favorite human actors. She even shared an old human joke about the man. "You can judge a man based on what movie he first thinks of when he hears the name, Tim Curry." It hadn't made much sense to S'haar, but she assumed it was just one of those private jokes Angela and Jack had always laughed at.

Angela also designed a new outfit that should allow safe but short travel through the deep freeze. However, it was going to be a while before it was ready. In the meantime, she was keeping track of the workers.

Apparently, Lon'thul was currently regaling the rest with stories his father had told him when he was younger. Angela assured S'haar that if anything started going wrong, S'haar would be the first she'd tell.

With nothing to do and a lot of time to do it in, S'haar found herself back at Jack's side. She was having another one-sided conversation with Jack, but this time her words meandered at the whims of her thoughts. S'haar spoke of people she'd known, things she'd done, hopes and fears of her childhood, and even some of her thoughts and impressions the first time she'd met Jack. Time flew by, but S'haar continued talking long into the night.

-

Jack had spent the better part of what he thought must be a day exploring every inch of the summit. He was beginning to believe that he'd climbed this monstrosity for nothing and would have to climb back down again. The very idea was enough to sap the last of his will to keep going, and he laid down in the snow.

It was an interesting experience lying in snow but not feeling the cold. Initially, the cold had bitten at any exposed skin, but sometime during the climb, Jack had just forgotten about the cold, and it hadn't bothered him since. If Jack wasn't so desperate to get back to the people waiting for him, he could spend lifetimes exploring the rules of the world he currently found himself in.

He was just feeling the stirrings to get up and finally do something when he heard S'haar's voice. As much as Jack looked forward to listening to S'haar's voice, it wasn't what the voice said that held his attention this time. It was where the voice was coming from.

It took jack a bit of time to follow the voice around the summit until he hit a bit of a snag. The voice was coming from just off one of the ledges. This particular ledge was a sheer drop that fell further than Jack could comfortably look down at first glance. He eventually crawled on his stomach to look over to the shelf, and his stomach fell out from under him as he looked down the cliff. It just kept going down. There was no way to climb down at this spot, but the voice was definitely coming from the void just beyond the last bit of rock platform. He stretched his hand out in an attempt to feel...anything...but his hands were met by nothing but air.

Jack carefully pulled himself away from the ledge and spent some more time in thought.

-

Em'brel was in the kitchen. She usually loved cooking, but something about being cut off from everyone, and everything just made it hard to ignore all the things that had been weighing her down recently. Without something forcing her to keep moving forward, all her doubts and fears came rushing back and weighed her down.

Eventually, she simply gave up and slouched down in a chair. Angela appeared beside her, and Em'brel feared that the AI would launch into some cheerful banter that she just didn't have the energy for. Instead, Angela sat in her own smaller chair, looked at her friend, and asked, "Want to talk about it?"

Em'brel thought for a moment. She wanted to cry, scream, laugh, and more, but instead, she just shook her head 'no.'

Angela nodded. "That's fine. Want me to leave you alone for a bit?"

Em'brel thought again. She was ashamed of breaking down like this, but she was afraid of being left alone too. She shook her head 'no.'

Angela simply nodded again. "Alright, one last question. We can sit in silence, or I can play some different music for you if you'd like."

Em'brel considered the offer. Most of the music Angela had shown her up till now had been bright and bubbly. It was fun to move and sing to, but right now, that's not what she needed. On the other hand, Angela seemed to have a pretty good feel for her emotional state right now, and Em'brel trusted her. She nodded her head 'yes' this time.

Angela smiled and leaned back in her floating chair. "Alright, a while back, Jack and I visited a small island on a planet far from here. He listened to this song while sitting on the sandy beach as a gentle breeze blew through the nearby reeds during the sunset. He told me the song always takes him right back to that same place. You've never been there before, but maybe it'll take you to your own relaxing place. It's called 'Run' by the group 'Collective Soul.'

As the notes softly cut through the still night air, Em'brel knew her faith hadn't been misplaced. She sat back and let the music wash over her and just let herself feel.

-

Jack had tried everything he could think of, which admittedly didn't amount to much. Sitting and thinking wasn't getting him anywhere, so he crawled up to the ledge and reached out as far as he safely could for a second time. That predictably achieved nothing. Next, he tried throwing handfuls of snow over the cliff, hoping some sort of 'Last Crusade' invisible bridge might appear. Again, nothing. He wasn't surprised at that. The scene had always bugged him because it only worked with a fixed perspective. Though he had to admit, if it was possible anywhere, it would be in this place.

That essentially left Jack debating the merits of clicking his heels together and saying 'there's no place like home' over and over.

With a shake of his head, Jack realized that this was all getting him nowhere. He walked right up to the ledge and looked down. The wind howled as the mountain cut it's passage, reminding Jack just how alone he was up on this cliff in the middle of nowhere. The wind kicked up small flurries of snow all around him and flung them over the edge of the cliff. It was both beautiful and terrifying. His heart was beating so loud he was afraid it might start an avalanche.

Jack started to back away from the cliff, away from S'haar's voice, then stopped. He stood in place and laughed at himself for a moment.

S'haar was calmly talking about such mundane everyday subjects, and Jack was looking over a cliff that seemed to have no bottom, telling himself that what he was thinking now was nothing short of crazy. It was a weird dichotomy of feelings. A large part of Jack wanted to just sit back down in the snow and listen to S'haar talk for a while longer, but he knew that he might never have the courage to do what needed to be done if he did that. Instead, Jack stood at the cliff's side and stared into the void of space S'haar's voice seemed to be coming through.

He was frozen in place. Unwilling to take a step back, unable to commit to what he more certain than ever needed to be done. Jack tried telling himself he would act on the count of three multiple times. At three, he'd feel his muscles tense, but his body refused to budge.

Listening to S'haar's voice Jack could picture her as she spoke. He could imagine the emotions in her voice playing across her face. Closing his eyes, Jack could see her in front of him. She was bravely facing everything that came her way, overcoming challenges that would have broken a lesser person several times over. Jack knew she'd find her way in life with or without him... and yet...

With his eyes still held tightly closed, Jack braced himself, whispered a prayer to whatever gods or daemons might be listening, and leaped into the void.