Truthfully, Eld was no less scared than Etsu. The only thing that let him move was his desire to get away--and get *her* away--from the monstrously powerful man who'd decided without any of the hesitation he'd had before that what he wanted from him was to kill him outright. As much as he'd prefer her to be out of danger, if she hadn't been there he might not have been able to move...

Eld continued to tear through the forest with impunity, crashing through branches and bushes and not avoiding anything that wouldn't actually slow him down, even if it hurt him to pass through. Small cuts and bruises were nothing to what he potentially faced if he couldn't get away.

He didn't dare look back to see where Illorex was, because that would have caused him to slow down, and he wasn't going to do that until he had some way to be sure he was no longer around or, more likely, he was too exhausted to continue.

He is distant, now . . .

Fortunately for Eld, Illorex was easy to sense. He was so abhorrently strong that Eld would be able to sense him for miles. It was one of the few perks of the Fragment Soul. He'd a few of Death's own boons: the abilities to sense powerful amounts of Qi, powerful diminishes in Qi, and sense death coming for a person moments before they actually passed. This worked for him, currently. Illorex had stopped moving, and was still most likely close to the path.

Etsu was somewhat cut up. She didn't know by what anymore. Was it the branches and barbs they brushed by as Eld ran, or was it the debris that bereaved them moments earlier. Etsu didn't know. She wasn't going to guess, either.

". . . k-kichigai . . ." Etsu began, personally out of breath, ". . . we wir-rr die if fight him . . ."

She wasn't one to give up easily, but there was no approaching this man. Someone like Toushikyo, maybe. Etsu could even hold her own against him, powerless as she was. But Illorex? No. She'd never seen that amount of power used at once, and she hoped to never see it again.

"Y-Yeah..." Now that he was further away from the mass of Qi that surrounded Illorex, he could better sense his location. He was still back near the road, evidently not following them...or perhaps he was just hesitating. Regardless, it would at least serve as a chance for him to catch his breath.

He sank down against a tree, sitting and gasping for air; he'd covered a fair amount of ground in his sprint. He was also still holding Etsu, though if she moved to stand or otherwise put a little distance between them he wouldn't stop her. At the very least, however, she'd feel him shaking slightly before she moved.

Once he caught his breath enough, Eld decided to fill in the some of the gaps. "What happened? Why were we on the road?" he asked; Etsu hadn't been carrying him or anything, so how did he get there when he'd been (presumably) asleep?

The girl slid out of Eld's arms once he'd sat down. She situated herself to sit next to him. He could give himself a rest that way, not having to carry her like that.

"You were . . . out. I do not know what wrong, but you just . . . for-row . . ."

Etsu took the time to catch Eld up on all that happened. She paused often to think about wording. Some of her broken common when she told stories was incomprehensible even to Eld. They no doubt encountered this language barrier, though she tried her best to make sure it wasn't too terrible.

It started with morning snow. Etsu woke before Eld, long before Eld, to find snow gathering in Hillcrest. Figuring it was too early to see snow like this, she inquired to the Tsukimonos, who were mostly confused, but said that freak mid-autumn snows like this were not completely out of the question--only that it happened once ever ten to twenty years. She didn't quite grasp the length of time they were talking about, but they managed to convey the concept well enough.

So she decided to crawl back into bed with Eld again--except she couldn't muster sleep at all. She tossed and turned, and was surprised that she didn't wake Eld in the process. He was still sound asleep. The fact that it was snowing simply bothered her, and she couldn't get over it. She'd barely seen snow at all in Cizok even in winter.

Etsu left the clinic, not thinking to dress warmer, and soon found that it was below freezing out. She only had her sleeveless blue vest and black skirt to count for clothes, and was instantly regretting going outside--but didn't take the time to return inside. The side of the clinic seemed so off. Ice crept up it from the ground. She started into the village, and saw it on every structure: ice reaching like vines up structures, even almost completely encasing one farmhouse.

She investigated the overtaken house. The door was frozen shut, and the webs of ice reaching up its sides had all but claimed the windows. She could hear voices inside. Etsu pushed upon the door, softly at first. It didn't work. She called to the people inside.

As expected, they were trapped. There were three of them, a mother and her two children. Etsu assured them that they'd be all right, and kicked the door with all the might she had. It took two kicks to break the door down, frozen as it was. The family within was scared at first, but she assured them that she'd get them to help. Etsu helped them to the Tsukimonos, who immediately began work on treating their fevers. Etsu volunteered to check the rest of the village--and still without having the mind to throw on a coat, herself, took off into the village.

Fortunately, that was the only house so bad off. She checked on the Vaerbonds and Takamines, both of whom were having trouble keeping up with the heat. Etsu insisted that they retire to the clinic if it got too bad.

When she was leaving Mayako's, she heard voices in the forest. She hid within a collection of brush and listened closely. They didn't talk much, and she couldn't quite see them in the progressively worsening blizzard, but the longer she listened, the more she recognized their voices: Toushikyo and Illorex. Panic immediately struck her. In the crisis of a potential blizzard, the last thing they needed were a pair of Memories. There was another realization that worried her, too. It came late, but was extremely sullen for her:

Remains of spiritual power was gone: Etsu couldn't feel even Illorex's presence from afar.

Etsu immediately returned to the clinic to wake Eld. He awoke, but not to her liking. He simply stared blankly--not at her, just simply ahead, as if he weren't there in his head at all. She tried to wake him, frantic and shaking, riddled with fear and cold. She was soft with him at first, then took to shouting at him--and when that didn't work, she slapped him. Light at first. Then harder. Then she actually punched him (all of which Etsu apologized for, now; Eld probably still had a bit of stinging in his cheek from the latter one, after all). None of it worked.

Fighting was no longer an option. Getting the hell out of Hillcrest became their only choice. Like a zombie, Eld followed her. He was dazed, and seemed to show emotional reactions sometimes, but far from what she'd expect, and never when she expected them.

She'd decided to get to Galaens as quickly as possible. Eld was vulnerable and she knew she wasn't strong enough to protect him from Toushikyo and Illorex both. It was on the path to Galaens, however, that they were stopped by Illorex himself, and they were both nearly killed . . .

Etsu's recount of events helped clear up some things, and made others even more of a mystery. "The blizzard must be Toushikyo's doing," he said. Etsu may or may not have already come to that conclusion herself; she'd fought Toushikyo and his powers before, but she wasn't at Eld's fight with Oboreru--she hadn't seen the kind of scale Memories were capable of using their powers on when they put their minds to it. As for his behavior while he was "dreaming," it sounded almost like what Illorex could do to people, except that Etsu said he seemed still vaguely aware--and he followed her, which wasn't something one of those people would do, he was sure. But as to why he saw what he did, and how he could function while he was seeing it, he had no answers yet.

He shivered. Now that they'd stopped moving he was feeling the full effect of the cold. For once he envied Kageko; her world would be as comfortable as it always was. "You did a good job, warning everyone like you did and saving that family," he said warmly. Etsu handled herself well in a crisis even without him. Mostly. "But...even if we hadn't run into Illorex, I doubt we'd have made it to Galaens like this." Neither of them was dressed for the cold; Etsu was in a sleeveless vest and a skirt, and Eld himself was still in his pajamas. With the walk to the city what it was, there was a good chance they'd have froze to death before they made it.

"Besides...even if we leave, Toushikyo might decide to hurt someone anyway." Illorex, at least, seemed largely focused on him; he clearly wasn't worried about collateral damage, but he also doubted he'd just start hurting random people. But Toushikyo (who was in the fact the one who ordered Illorex to use his abilities on some of his neighbors the first time they'd run into them) was much more inclined to involve others. He might even try and destroy the village like his brother...

Akizets...am I going to have to kill your other brother too? That would be no way to repay her, but Toushikyo wasn't going to back down without a fight, that much he knew.

He stood up. "Come on; let's try to sneak back home and change." Whether they ran or fought, they'd need warmer clothes if they were going to be outside for very long.

Fortunately, Eld didn't seem that peeved that she hit him. It was for a good cause and all--and besides, she kissed where she hit him once she realized it was no use, and whispered a thousand apologies before coaxing him out of the house to escape from Hillcrest. When Etsu informed Eld of the hitting part, she was actually kind of worried that he'd be put off by it. Incidentally, he seemed most put off by the fact that she tried to leave like this, without much consideration for the potential threat to Hillcrest posed by Toushikyo. Of course, Eld being "put off" by something was a completely relative reaction: Eld was a mild person, so him seeming put off was infinitely friendlier than someone like, say, Sarah. Really, it seemed more like disappointment than anything else.

"S-sou ka . . ." Etsu whispered.

She hadn't thought that far ahead, regrettably. Etsu was freezing, personally, and sitting by Eld as she was, he'd feel exactly how cold she was. Her shivering was compounded upon fear, however, enough that she didn't know for which reason she was trembling the most.

Etsu stood a moment after Eld did. She nodded to him. As much as she didn't want to return to Hillcrest with Toushikyo and Illorex there, he was probably right. They'd probably freeze to death out here in these clothes. She'd just have to insist they leave as soon as they were properly dressed. Without another word, Etsu took to following behind Eld--though at a noticeably slower pace than she was usually capable of. When she wasn't injured or recovering from injury, Etsu was a phenomenally capable girl; she had extremely strong joints and mildly strong arms and legs, at least for her body type. When she had the opportunity to exercise regularly, she could have probably outpaced and outran Eld without much difficulty.

Except in the cold. In the cold, everything seemed to slow for her. Reaction time, strength, speed, mood--everything. Truth be told, Etsu absolutely hated the cold, and all with good reason. It stressed her out, depressed her, chilled her body, and made her limbs not work as well as they should.

But cold as she was, Etsu--with her arms over her chest in a shivering way-- followed behind.

Slowly, Eld led Etsu through the woods around the village. Their frozen limbs didn't allow for terribly quick movement, and keeping out of sight of the Memories was more important than quick movement anyway. Fortunately, finding their way wasn't a problem, as while his sixth sense wasn't sharp enough to pinpoint individual people, he could still sense the mass of spirits that composed the main part of Hillcrest.

After about twenty minutes of careful walking, they emerged from the woods behind his house, near the hill he often climbed. Now slick with snow, climbing it was far more dangerous than the view was worth.

It was another several minutes of surveying the area before Eld was satisfied that neither of the Memories were around. It seemed strange that they wouldn't watch his home, but then it occurred to him that every time he'd encountered them had been outside--they probably didn't actually know where he lived yet. The only Memory who had was...well, nothing more than a memory now...

Wordlessly, he motioned for Etsu to follow him to the backdoor that led directly into the house, and from their to his room. His parents were no doubt busy in the clinic, treating the family she helped, as well as anyone else who'd fallen ill due to the sudden blizzard.

Grabbing some clothes (and having helped Etsu with picking warmer clothes, since she wasn't used to dressing for it), he retreated to a corner to get dressed, his back to Etsu and the rest of the room. Ordinarily they'd dress in separate rooms, but the urgency of the situation, at least for Eld, overrode any sense of embarrassment that would normally occur. So long as they had their backs to each other, it wouldn't be a problem.

Besides, then they could still talk. "Should we contact Scott, and tell him what's going on?" Eld asked, keeping his voice as low as he could and still be audible. Despite his powers, he was not officially a Reaper, and even though he'd have to be the one to contact him he deferred to Etsu's judgment in most matters relating to them.

Etsu followed Eld back to Hillcrest, however slowly. She was freezing cold by the time they got to Eld's house, and the confines of his house regrettably did not warm them too much. Literally all of Hillcrest was not prepared for this onset of cold, especially how utterly low it was. Elsewhere, the Tsukimonos were not only busy trying to battle their patients' fevers, but they were trying to keep them warm.

Etsu stood in one corner and Eld in the other. She pulled her skirt down and kicked it away, quickly unzipped her vest, tossed it away, and even quicker pulled off her sleeveless undershirt.

"Hai," she replied on the topic of Scott--but only when they were dressed and prepared for this.

It'd happened before like this, when panic struck them and Etsu wasn't quite prepared for it. She dressed in the corner back then, too, with her back to Eld, and she had no qualms about this then. She had no qualms about it now, either. In truly urgent situations, embarrassment was the last of her concerns--even if Eld were to turn around and she weren't facing the corner to dress, it wouldn't bother her a damn until the threat was neutralized. Of all things, the girl had a terrifying work ethic. Nothing came before the job.

Unfortunately, there was little she could do. Unless they were fighting Toushikyo and could get in close without him killing her, there wasn't much she could do without a ranged weapon of some sort. Her naginata was still on the path to Galaens, left behind when she was hit in the belly by it. Thinking on this, Etsu recalled how cold Toushikyo was to the touch--how he was able to freeze her naginata simply by grasping it.

In little more than her underwear, Etsu stood and thought it over. She thought little of it when she turned to face Eld. Now that she was thinking about it, it was probably best to save getting dressed until she knew what range of movement she was going to need. Eld helped her pick out some clothes, but she doubted his tactical choices.

"Er-rd-kun, do you have . . ." Etsu trailed off. She didn't know the word for it in Common. Once she had Eld's attention, she tapped her knuckles and ran her fingertips across them, trying to indicate some sort of bulk just below them. "Fushimitaru?"

"Fushimitaru?" Eld repeated, turning so he could talk to her and figure out what she meant. He blushed slightly at the sight of Etsu in her underwear, but otherwise didn't react; they had more important issues. At least since she intentionally got his attention he probably wasn't going to be hit for it later. He was still only in boxers save for the undershirt he'd thrown on himself.

"Oh, do you mean gloves?" he asked, noticing she was gesturing at her hands. He walked over to his closet and rummaged through it for a minute before procuring two pairs, one for him, and an older, smaller set for Etsu. Even if that wasn't what fushimitaru meant, it was still something they'd want.

"Here." He tossed her the smaller pair. Neither pair was particularly heavy, as it very rarely got this cold naturally in Hillcrest, but that was as much an advantage as not. Too bulky gloves would make it impossible to handle a weapon properly.

Which was the essential problem with dressing for warmth--they needed to balance warmth with mobility, since they'd be fighting. Or at least he would; Etsu wasn't going to be able to do much unless they retrieved her naginata, though if nothing else they could double back to the hill and get her a spear from where the hidden storage at the base of it.

He chose their clothes with fighting in mind, relying on layers more than any single heavy and bulky article of clothing. If Etsu wasn't happy with what they had on hand, though, they could always trade something to Scott for a suitable outfit, he figured.

Well . . . that was part of it, but not quite what she was trying to get at . . .

Oh well. Etsu doubted Eld had anything like metal knuckles, like she was asking for, anyways. She didn't know how expansive Hillcrest's weapons cache was, but Eld probably didn't have anything obscure like that in his house, that was for sure.

Etsu took the gloves and bowed her head in appreciation.

Without dressing just yet, she fiddled with them. They weren't fighting gloves, which limited things a bit, but she could make do. Maybe. Wearing one glove at first, she tapped her knuckles with her ungloved hand. Well, it wasn't so bad. It hampered how well she could hit with her knuckles, but in the best case scenario, she wouldn't be going for the face. Throats were extremely bare and easy to hit after all. She pulled the other glove on and opened her hands up tight, closed them just as tight, and stared in thought for a moment.

Without further warning, she leaned forward on one foot and lifted her partly closed hands before her face. Etsu threw a jab. Then another, with her other hand, and finally a right hook. She recoiled back to a relaxed stance with her fists before her face. In all truth, she looked trained. A martial artist's brand of fast. Her jabs were quick and her hook was pretty strong. She straightened up and looked at her hands again. Then, she ran her fingers down her right arm, tensed and held out as if frozen in mid-punch. To maximize potential power in her arm, she'd need minimal clothing about her arms. Something light, if anything at all.

Etsu walked by Eld. She bent over (still not thinking much about her state of undress), and pulled open his clothes drawers. She routed through until she found his black zip-up jacket, which she--without a word--took out and tossed upon his bed. Then, she routed through for another moment 'til she found a black vest. It looked like some sort of formal vest, probably something Mai made for him, but it'd do for added warmth. This she tossed upon his bed as well.

Still without saying much on the subject, she tapped on her wrists, rolled her hands, and made sure they were okay for this brand of self-abuse. Fighting bare handed-- her brand of it --was extremely taxing on the body. Quick. Very quick. It almost made it look like a trained, tried, and true martial artist, but the truth was, she was relying so much on her joints, strong as they were, to gift her speedy jabs and strong hooks. It was doubly as taxing as wielding a spear.

Etsu returned to the corner, where she pulled on a pair of black slacks. They probably came from the suit she wore awhile back. She pulled on the thick socks Eld gave her, and the boots, too. The rest was as follows: her white sleeveless shirt, the button-down she was fond of, Eld's vest, and then that everyday jacket of his that she kind of swam in.

This'd work perfectly.

Although momentarily distracted by Etsu's shadowboxing (in her underwear, no less), Eld quickly resumed putting together his own outfit. He put on a black, long sleeved t-shirt and some long underwear over his undershirt and boxers--followed by the green sweater from the previous day and his black jeans. Finally, he put on something he rarely wore, and hesitated to put on going into battle: the black kimono Mizuki had made for him. But it was the best garment available, and he was certain she wouldn't mind so long as he survived.

He stretched a little to test his movements, but it was largely unnecessary; almost all his clothing was loose fitting, so he didn't need to worry about it being terribly restrictive.

Turning, he saw that Etsu was fully dressed as well. "I know you won't listen if I tell you not to fight, but...please be careful. Without your powers, or even a weapon, you're a lot more vulnerable than I am." Were it anyone else he'd have outright tied them down to prevent them from being in danger if it was necessary; but Etsu was level headed and competent, even when at a severe disadvantage. He trusted her more than perhaps anyone else.

"We can't double back and get your naginata with Illorex in that area, but we can get a spear from the weapons stash if you want."

Once she was done dressing, Etsu turned to look to Eld. She was a bit surprised, but didn't think too much of it. Were the situation much different, she'd have been visibly taken aback, maybe even a bit embarrassed by the thoughts she had by seeing him in a kimono. They were shrugged off as quick as they came, though. For urgency's sake.

There was no way Eld was going to get Etsu to not fight, as well. He could have tied her to the bed, and she'd get herself out, stalk him down, do all she could to help him through the fight, and then smack him really hard for doing something so improper and vulgar to her.

If it was the same kind of spear they used to fish with back when they still fished together (or when Eld stayed on the shore and watched Etsu fish, rather), then Etsu highly doubted their usefulness. She'd need half a dozen of the things if she wanted to be remotely useful with them.

Etsu shook her head. It might be an unnecessary risk, anyways. At best, she'd just be given a one time use weapon, and it'd put the enemy, whoever the enemy was, on guard much more than she'd prefer if she happened to miss her mark. Unarmed, she didn't seem like much of a threat, but if she threw a spear at someone--with Etsu unarmed after the fact or not, that someone was going to be on their A game if they survived.

She went over to Eld's dresser again and plucked the case holding the glasses she was given. Now was as good a time as any to contact Scott. Etsu removed the glasses from the case and moved towards Eld, to slip them on him--whether he liked it or not. Scott requested he wear the things last time, after all.

"It feels like we should switch outfits," Eld noted with amusement. Etsu was dressed much like he would normally be, and he was in traditional Cizokian garb. But that was a bit beside the point at the moment.

He leaned down slightly to let Etsu place the glasses on him. At least was during the day, so it didn't feel quite so silly putting them on, even if he was inside. Once he had them on and put his finger one the one spot, he started speaking.

"Scott?" he asked quietly; he didn't want to be heard in general, but he definitely didn't want someone overhearing him talking to someone he couldn't see. Which, when talking to Kageko, he already did occasionally. "Can you hear me? We've got a bit of a situation here."

Etsu didn't get the joke, but didn't think too much of it. Once she'd given Eld the glasses, she started to pace before his door. She was antsy. The longer they took here, the less time they were spending running away from Hillcrest. Sure, they were prepared for a fight, but Etsu would have much rather left than stayed.

Unlike last time, it didn't take long for a voice to respond to Eld. "Mm? Who's this?"

Scott Thompson didn't seem too surprised to hear someone communicating with him. The way these devices worked, it was either a Reaper or an enemy. Either way, it was his job to be civil and calm. In the case it was a Voleur d'âme, Scott needed to be as reasonable as possible to get some information out of him, her, or it. If he could, he could get the jump on them--possibly keep them talking, staying in one place and the like, long enough to get an ambush set up. Playing the nice guy, whether he was being genuinely benevolent or conspiring to put someone in the grave, was one of his greatest specialties.

"Whoooooa, Tsukimono," Scott whistled, answering his own question, "Not too shabby. You're no specialist, but you'd make a damn fine Reaper."

Eld had opened his mouth to reply to Scott's question, but then he answered himself before he could, and confused Eld a bit with his comment. "That's, uh, great. Look, Etsu and I are kind of in trouble."

He didn't wait for Scott to ask this time; he just went in to a recount of what he knew. "There's two Memories nearby--one's causing a massive blizzard, the other has more Qi than anyone I've met." Which was probably technically not true, but the one exception to that occurred before he could sense spiritual energy.

"Any help you could give us would be greatly appreciated." He wasn't sure exactly what Scott could offer other than advice, though; he'd already mentioned that he had no help to send for at least a week.