Isaiah could not understand how these trees stood so brilliantly and beautifully against the backdrop of the harsh winter that they had all been enduring. There was something beautiful, even in the way that it was all so unnatural. Maybe Isaiah should have been more wary of what he saw, maybe he should not have looked at it with the awe that he did. Isaiah had been through so much already, he had endured so very much - maybe it was his turn to take a moment of childlike wonder. If Isaiah could only slow down, if he could just take some time, if he could just *breathe,* maybe it would all work out. Maybe if he just had that *second* where the world was still and quiet the rest might settle too.

He finally had to tear his focus away from the snow itself and focus instead on the trees again. Before they had taken him to an entirely different world it seemed - would it be the same? He had to know. Maybe he should have been more cautious - he'd been born in Mythris, but he knew most weren't. What if these tunnels took him somewhere else and he couldn't make it back to his family? Isaiah took a deep breath, counted it out as he held it, and then exhaled - counting his siblings with each heartbeat to help measure how long he exhaled.

It didn't take him long to hear the footsteps of another, and the dappled boy stopped his progress to look around. Hello? He called out curiously - wanting to handle things head on rather than skirt around like an insect cowering in the shadows.