The hills seemed to stretch infinitely. In all directions they saw more and more of them in changing sizes, bearing on their backs the occasional patch of bushes.

Shirisha's legs burned. Even when they had fought against the dense thicket the terrain was flat, and descending from the mountain was all downhill. Now she strained herself upward constantly with no breaks, not to mention that the slopes were slowly slickening with snow.

At one point just as she reached a peak, her legs gave way beneath her and she tumbled over, rolling through the snow past Sang. At first she was irked, pulling clumps of snow out of her hair and feeling patches of wet cold on her skin. Though upon further thought, she found it was actually quite fun, and certainly faster than trying to steady oneself walking down. Shortly afterwards Sang noticed her do this intentionally, and gave her a short stare of disapproval.

"What?" she objected, "We can cover more ground this way!"

Sang only muttered something about orientation and escaping targets, things embedded into his mind.

Eventually as they hiked bushes and vegetation became more frequent, and trees began to enter the landscape. Winds also strengthened heavily, adding yet another layer of struggle. As soon as one clambered to the peak of a hill with their legs sore and burning, they were met immediately with a chilly blast to their body, only to press forward and repeat the process over and over again.

Shirisha was shivering hard, but she did not complain, trusting that Sang had a plan in mind on where they could stop. She hoped it was soon though, because it looked like the wind was even getting to Sang, who she had never seen even slightly shiver before.

It took several more hills until he saw what he was looking for. A dense cluster on top of a hill, large enough and close enough together to protect them. He pointed and shouted, and though Shirisha could only hear half of it over the wind, she knew what he meant.

After what seemed like an eternity of resisting the elements, Sang strode into the cluster, Shirisha stumbling after him. As Shirisha sat against a tree trying to warm up, she noticed that when not covered by snow the earth was soft, and by the looks of it quite fertile. The trees blocked most of the wind, all for a few stray drafts every now and then. She did not stay down for long before helping Sang start a fire, and subsequently a spit with whatever they could find.

Back at the lake, Sang had some foresight to find food before they departed. He found a long sturdy stick, and used his dagger to make a coil of lash from vines. He had tied his dagger to the end of the stick with it to form a spear, and then waded waist deep into the freezing water. Shirisha could not fathom how he could tolerate it for a few seconds, much less stand unmoving for several minutes with his weapon primed. Eventually he skewered a fish, and shortly thereafter a second, before coming out and beginning the rest of the day's journey.

He had used his makeshift spear as an occasional support while they trekked over the many hills, and now was using the end to clean the fish. Its shining scales came off in layers as its eyes stared into oblivion, reflecting the beginnings of flame.

As the fish were roasting over the fire, Sang suddenly had a look in his eye, the same look he had when he first saw the footprints. He stood up, and walked behind a tree slightly obscured by the fire's light. He observed thoughtfully, and deftly beckoned Shirisha with one hand. She came, and what she saw made her eyes widen. In the soft dirt there was an imprint of a human body. It was a slight one, but Shirisha could still see it clear as fresh springwater. It seemed despite the snowfall, Sang had still been able to track their target as the prints became newer, meaning they drew closer. And at the look of this print, they were very, very close.

"How long?" Shirisha asked.

"Little more than a day," Sang replied, never taking his eyes off the print, "and we already know we are faster. They must be growing tired if they rested here, and the weather is surely working against them." He turned surely and looked at Shirisha with his steeled gaze. "If we make haste tomorrow, we will catch them before sunset."