The thing about death is you never see it coming, or so say the living. Vikari, however, had. It wasn't a black-robed reaper come to cut him at the seams, severing life from limb, nor a seraph appearing to lead him over some divine threshold—no, death, for him, had been dread gathering in his gut like swollen stormclouds, the ground grumbling ominously, and sudden, sharp clarity as he looked up and saw the boulders descending upon him. There was resistance. Then death.

Or so he'd thought.

Pressure on all sides brought him back to consciousness, striking out with force that turned out to be unnecessary, he realized, as the rocks had somehow crumbled into fine dust. Strange. And even stranger still, where he should have suffered debilitating injuries at the very least, he was entirely unscathed. Vikari wasn't a religious man, couldn't name a single god if he tried, but something was at play here that he didn't understand. The rational side of his brain wanted to discard the notion. But the intellectual in him clung to it, embedding it in the shadows of his mind. For now, it could remain there, close enough to reach for but otherwise ignored.

Following a light shake, which served only to spur him into motion, Vikari ventured from the cave and came to an immediate halt. His ear flicked in annoyance. Instead of a frozen lake, the cliffs overlooked snow-capped trees, and he was noticing now that neither of the scents that went into the cave with him were evident here now. Callum? he tested, futility and doubt thick in his voice. No answer—not that it surprised him at this point. Vikari hadn't solidified his legacy as All-father by being dense; as such, his mind was rapidly organizing the information being digested by his senses.

...Which only yielded so much. Now or later, it didn't matter when, he'd have to brave the unknowable beyond if he wanted to a clearer picture on where he'd ended up and how. Clinging to the mountainside like a child afraid to lose his mother's warmth didn't suit him anyway—he'd been cold all his life—and considering the cave had killed him, or tried to, once already, he didn't fancy giving it the opportunity to finish what it had started. That left him one option: Move forward.

Nose to the frigid wind, Vikari set a careful clip forward.

---

Roisin had never been a nomad, in fact she preferred sticking close to her home. Removed from everyone and everything familiar however and she was left to wander aimlessly without purpose, a red ghost amidst a sea of white  The blood had been cleaned away by the snow and her vigorous hygiene measures, but she feared the scent of iron and death clung to her like a perfume. She missed the scent of the northern woodlands that claimed her as their own. Here she felt like an invasive species, unwanted and entirely too vulnerable to extinction.

Roaming further south she found herself surrounded by more trees and rocks. The covering of snow seemed to grow thinner the further she ventured. When the first blades of emerald broke through the banal blanket if white she breathed a sigh of relief. Her sharp eyes spotted an equally bewildered stranger bumbling around near a unique formation of rocks. He offered a brief reprieve from the shattered memories and stench of blood that longed to brand her a monster. Without the caution that her former life demanded she approached him, still maintaining a respectable distance lest he reveal himself to be a danger.

You look lost, she stated, merely telling him what she observed in the blandest of tones. There wasn't much that could spark her spirits lately perhaps the trauma of her ordeal was dampening her emotions with perpetual numbness. Even her ruby red gaze was glassy and distant.

---

Bewildered and bumbling were descriptions Vikari would take equal offense to, so perhaps it worked in the red woman's favor that his second chance at living didn't also grant him otherworldly abilities, mindreading being the one most applicable here. Instead, his ire clouded the air around his muzzle in a disdainful snort for an entirely different reason. How discerning. Laden with false gratitude, his reply was borderline sneering.

Then he looked away, chiding himself, and determined that being intentionally abrasive would do him no favors. Even someone seemingly prone to rhetorical statements was better than the alternative—puzzling things out for himself. Besides, with her initial observation being so unhelpful, the probability was low that anything else she said would be any more so. Nothing to lose in that case... or so he hoped.

Glancing back her way, he expelled another breath, softer this time, Forgive me. I don't mean to be rude. You could say I'm still a bit disoriented, he explained in an effort to excuse his behavior. Vikari elected to not point out that she didn't exactly appear found, far as those red eyes were from reaching an emotion, which he felt was in his best interest if he wanted an ally. Can you tell me where this is? I seem to have taken a wrong turn somewhere.

---

Some clarity seemed to return to the bloody depths of her eyes when he addressed her so rudely. The words were like thorns burrowing into her skin, and she felt a little spark fire up within her. How witty, she fired back, layering her words with sarcasm just as he had done. She didn't really care if he was annoyed by her presence because she stubbornly decided that he would have to suffer it. It was better than listening to her own thoughts. His apologies came quick and she tilted her head, wondering which reaction was more genuine. It didn't matter. This was an odd place which she suspected was of the fae’s design and its connection to that forest was no mistake.  You’ll have to try harder to ruffle my fur, she brushed off his apologies with a shake of her head . After what her own father had said to her, she had hardened her heart.

A wrong turn where? Roisin asked, trying to puzzle out if there was a way back home nearby. If they came from the same area then perhaps she could go back. But go back to what? There wasn't anything waiting for her back home. The man she loved wasn't interested in committing to her and she had wasted too much of her life fighting a losing battle trying to win her father's love.  I think it's the Elfame, world of the fae, she informed him of her suspicions, knowing how mad that sounded and not caring. He’d asked a question and she’d answered. If he wasn't satisfied then that was his problem. He could use his own brain to reach a conclusion. But you could also be a very realistic figment of my imagination. I haven't decided yet, she added after a moment of consideration. Nothing seemed real to her about this place.