Who:  Terra Branford, Irvine Kinneas, Selphie Tilmitt, Vincent Valentine.
Where: Out on the Northern Continent, freezing cold man.
Why:  Terra has a minor... accident.
Date of Log:  8/29/00




The night was fairly restless for Irvine, the cold waking him up every few hours and forcing him to take a few more of those little pills Kadowaki had given him for the trip. Fevers spiked and released, spiked and released. Finally, as dawn settled across the land, though the blizzard raged on through most of the morning and left everything still semi-dark, he gave up attempting to sleep and sat in a chair near the window, watching the flurry of snow and wind sweep past, rattling the shutters and the doorway. Kinda nice, actually, peaceful. He wished Selphie was there to see it. Of course, in his weary state, he wished he were just plain back at Garden. Eventually, he just fell asleep in that chair, and that's likely where Terra found him whenever she woke up and started getting around.

There was not much sleep for Terra, either. This, however, wasn't quite the product of illness or disease - it was a mixture of itching remaining from that damn glop, and a generally low amount of needed_sleep. Some Espers spend a great deal of time living through their memories of the distant and aeonic past -- she's not quite an Esper, and she also doesn't have much in the way of memories she likes. Either way, she was up and about fairly early, although before she did anything else she spent a good deal of time writing in one of the two notebooks she'd brought along, wrapped up in a piece of plastic sheeting and kept in a plastic bag. Just in case. Figuring that the time is right to come and bother poor sickish Irvine, she tiptoes up near the chair and clears her throat rather loudly.

Irvine starts, blinking rapidly as he realizes Terra is standing right next to his chair. Hey, he hadn't meant to fall asleep, though it was kinda nice. He even feels a little better, or so he's got himself convinced at the moment. Reaching up to rub at one of his eyes he asks, "How long have I been asleep?"

Terra fishes that chronometer thing - it's too fancy to really be a 'watch' and too small to be a 'clock', plus chronometer sounds Spiffy - and checks it.. "Don't worry, it's not that late. Only.. half past eight, a little more." She had wanted to get started at eight, but, well. "The wind's pretty bad, but I think we can make it across to the general store at least." She smiles, confidently. "Oh, do you want some breakfast? The innkeeper left a note, said if he wasn't up when we were to cook some eggs if we liked." She didn't like, really, but such is life.

Irvine isn't all that hungry, but that's mostly because the cold leaves him numb to these little needs. Taking a deep breath and then releasing it, he nods. "I guess we better get going unless you wanna eat right away." At the mention of winds, he glances out the window to see how the storm's progressing. It's not as bad as it had been, luckily. Still, he said something about the landscape changing and that's what's bothering the cowboy.

Terra says, "I'm fine," rather vaguely - food is irrelevant, and besides, she'd loaded up on smoked_fishy_treats last night. She turns and goes over to where the Sacred Boots of Kinneas are, lifting them up with shocking lack of reverence for their mystical powers, and brings them on over so as to save some time for the cowboy. Is she being cloying, maternal, or just thoughtful? Yes, to all. Then she plops down on the floor and starts pulling her warm woolen socks on with brisk efficency.

Irvine would normally be somewhat suspicious of such an offering, but today he's not really in the mood to care. "Thank you," is mumbled out as he slips them on, then rises to his feet to reclaim the duster and hat he left near the hearth to dry. Mmm, they're both warm when he puts them on, which is really nice since his body's decided it's got the chills. Time for meds, and thusly he does reach back into the duster pocket to pull out the little vial and swallow two more pills. He's gonna run out of them before they get back, *sigh*. In all, he's got himself ready to go fairly quickly.

Terra slips into her boots and laces them up, before straightening up with just her legs and gathering up her parka and assorted other extra insulators. Including the earmuffs. She clumps over towards the door, although she's aiming for her pack and not the exit as YET, reaching into one of the outside pockets and producing what's pretty clearly an Ugly Thrift Shop Style scarf. Actually two, it turns out, although they look to be made by the same hand or machine - one gets handed over to Irvine, of course.

Irvine doesn't bother arguing with Terra about the scarf, instead he just wraps it around his throat, leaving the remnants of it tucked underneath the duster. It might be ugly, but it's functional and he knows he's sick, no use in denying it now, so this might keep it from getting worse. He has to get back to Garden, after all, and Selphie will kick him for doing this while sick. Then force him to stay in bed and eat chicken soup till he sprouts feathers. He mumbles another thank you, and then, "We ready?"

Terra nods again, briskly (such briskness! - it comes from not being around a lot of people) and hoists her backpack up and onto her back. "Oh!" she says, abruptly, before turning her head and smiling weakly. "The list is in the main part.. um... I don't want to have to fiddle with it again, can you get it out?" To be helpful, she crouches down so the top's closer to Irvy-reachable level. "It's the small pad," she adds helpfully.

"Sure," Irvine replies succinctly, his mood still somewhat cranky thanks to the illness. He's usually a lot more social then this. He jerks open the appropriate pouch to find the aforementioned list, in the notepad it's written on. Closing everything up and securing it afterwards, he holds it out to Terra. "This it?"

Terra nods, smiling again, and taking it to tuck in a pocket. Then she puts on the earmuffs and takes a deep breath, wrapping that scarf around her nose and mouth (not wanting to get MORE freezer burn on her poor little face) and going over to the door, putting a hand on the knob for it and glancing over her shoulder, saying in a slightly muffled tone, "Ready?" Ah, mutual reinforcement.

"Ready," Irvine responds, also grabbing at the scarf to pull it up over his mouth. He's not really ready, or looking forward to this, but what can you do?

Fwooooo! The door opens, and practically slams against the side of the wall - there's a nice big soft thing there, though, to prevent it from actually doing so. And there's a drift of snow about twelve, fourteen inches deep, and darkness outside. So, brave explorer Terra steps over it and out into the cold and only slightly illuminated snow.

And off they go into the wild snowy yonder. Irvine braces himself against the wind, crunching through the deep snow. He's kinda grateful for being tall at the moment, too. It's easier to trek through this stuff that way. He follows Terra to wherever her destination is, really hoping this blizzard lets up soon, it'll be difficult to navagate through to get home.

Terra finds a trail! Or at least, a flatter place in the ground, which she follows, on the assumption that it's a path to some building. The visibility is, oh, ten feet - Terra's somewhat more visible than most things, since she's got that Bright Green Hair. However, the vague shapes could be buildings, could be trees, could be giant mutated Mesmerises!

Thank goodness for the green hair acting as a Terra Beacon. Irvine uses that as a guide to keep her in sight, though the snow is blinding almost, especially as it's tossed about in that high wind. He's got to keep a hand on his hat too, for fear of losing it and never finding it again and he'll need it for the trip home.

Maybe he can get some string for it at the shop - such a thing might look goofy, but without the hat, what is Irvine but a sleazy hustler? (Or alternately, a Selphie-slave.) One of the shapes begins to resolve itself, and finally - at least judging by Terra's pausing and pushing at something - seems to be a building. The regularity of the dark shape seems to help with this impression, as does the fact that the door finally opens! ....although the windows may be shuttered, the shop does seem to be at least technically open. And there's a... six year old girl in a pink snowsuit sitting behind the counter.

A Selphie-slave seems to be the appropriate moniker for Irvine as of late. Eager to get out of the snow storm, he waits till Terra's cleared the door way and enters afterwards, tugging at the door to get it closed again, having to actually shoulder it back into place thanks to the brisk and high winds outside.

The girl says "We'come to our storrre," in an almost painfully cute way - Terra gives her the list, and she hops off her stool and goes to bother her grandfather. Some of the more light or easily transported goods - spices, medicines, and such - get heaped into the backpack, which it's pretty clear was chosen for the deliberate purpose of carrying all this stuff. (There's an opportunity to refill that med-bottle, if Irvine should so choose - there's enough spare cash to get extra, too, so the infirmary won't get shortchanged.) The entire operation takes a half-hour or so, and finally, there's a promise to run a sledge down to Garden once the stuff can be scraped together - after the blizzard ends, and a couple of days after that, the old man says. Then, once more, the brave greenhaired girl heads out into the wintry blast...!

Seeing as Terra had asked Irvine to shoulder a pack when they first started out, he does, in fact, keep said promise, though the weight of it is far more then he thought it would be. Damn cold, he knows it's weakening him and that really bugs the hell out of him. And then, it's back outside they both go. Gah, it's cold. Using her hair as a beacon-guide, he follows Terra out into the frosty world beyond the safety of the store. Time to go home. Just think of it that way, cowboy.

Terra is still carrying most of the weight -- what she gave Irvine amounts to a duffel bag with a little harness thing on it, while Terra has the full-on Death Pack with aluminum frame and suchlike. However, Irvine does get his share of weight, probably about one pound for every two Terra hefts, and given the less efficent harness/frame setup for him, it probably feels about equivalent.

As she heads out towards the inn again - figuring to wait the blizzard out in there, since it was well stocked and warm and with a friendly manager - she treads over some toys which had been carelessly left outside. The doll is frozen solid and just feels like a rock, that's not a problem. It's the same with the bulldozer, although that makes her slow down and look at the ground. And she doesn't see where she's stepping, which is what makes her step on the toy frisbee... Thud. With a weak little laugh, she starts to get up, and makes it to her feet before slipping again, this time on the ice that underlaid the snow that's been blown off by the wind, and falling over anew, this time starting to slide -- Somewhere. Look for the green patch! Quickly!

Through the blinding snow, Irvine does, in fact, see Terra start to slide. He's not at first concerned, thinking she'll get to her feet easily enough. However... as she starts to disappear from his view, he shouts, something totally blotted out by the loud howl of the blizzard winds. Despite the cold, and the pack weighing him down, he crunches forward against the freezing winds, trying to dive after Terra.

Terra doesn't panic, at least not yet - she realizes what's going on, and figures that she'll be fine once the little hillock stops and she can at least be somewhere steady. And indeed, the slope downwards starts to slow and then level out.... Once, unfortunately, her momentum carries her over the little upward thing on the slope, she does start to panic. To her credit, her actions are fairly together, mostly trying to scrabble at the ice and try and get a handhold on something, but managing to rip up her fingernails more than anything else - the pack is still quite firmly attached to her, although with all the scrabbling and flailing she's getting it looser and looser. The green of her hair is starting to get muted by the snow and detritus at that level, unfortunately, which may make certain people lose track of her location.

The green beacon has disappeared. Dammit. Irvine curses to himself and starts in that general direction, trying to stay on his feet as he stumbles almost blindly down the hill where he last saw Terra drifting. He can't even hear her falling, thanks to the howling, bitterly cold winds stinging his face with bits of ice and powdery snow. "Terra!" he shouts aloud, though it'd be nothing more then a faint voice on the winds at this point. "Terra!" he continues to shout, in some sort of hope she'll reply. Oh for Hyne's sake. This is just lovely.

There's a faint crying sound, like SOME kind of response at least - or maybe just an unusually Terra-like sound of wind - but it only lasts a few seconds, and sounds quite remote. And after that? Nothing but the snow and the wind.
Down on her way to the bottom of the hill, Terra manages to get her sword out, and tries to lift it up enough to bury the point in the ground and give herself somewhere to cling to, the slope getting VERY steep and frightening at this point. Unfortunately for her, this doesn't quite work, but it does manage to make her flip over and onto one side, losing the weapon and going off of the 'center' of the sliding path, banging into some rocks and decelerating for a little bit, until the rocky patch ends and she continues on down. The pack got seperated from her, at least - but now she's at least somewhat stunned, and devoid of weaponry as well.

Moving down at a slower pace, mostly because he doesn't want to slip and share Terra's fate on the way down, Irvine continues downward, somehow able to withstand the steep, slippery path, finding the slide trail that took Terra further downwards. He can't hear her, and she's not responding to him that he can tell, so he saves his hoarse voice for later, when he might need it. The sword is found and he snatches it up, sighing. This doesn't look good, and she seemed to try to be hooking it into the ground to stop or slow her descent. Didn't work, if it was ticking up out of the snow with no Terra attached to it. He continues to follow the slide path, feeling that eventually it will take him to wherever the green haired girl has been deposited.
Following the trail downwards, Irvine is at least a few minutes behind Terra, seeing as he's moving much slower then she is, trying really hard not to slip and end up tumbling down after her. As soon as he reaches the proverbial 'bottom', or at least a stopping point, he calls out for Terra again, his voice hoarse, and muffled by the blizzard winds, but he has to try. Otherwise, he starts digging around in the snow, hoping to find her. She was moving fast enough she could have impacted and been thrown in nearly any direction.

There is fortunately a guide for Irvine's explorations - the pack which she was seperated from did not move too far away from her, and it landed at a skewed angle, providing a nice artificial silhouette against the sparsely-forested hillocks. The wind murmurs and groans through the trees, rising in intensity and falling down to near-stillness over the course of a minute or so.
Some consolation might be taken in the slightly less intense snowfall and the lightening sky - it's still gray and dismal, but it's not quite as much as it was back up at the top of the slope, and it may be an indication that it's starting to sputter out or move away from the area.

"Terra!" then echos over the growing stillness as Irvine continues with his search. The biting winds cease to annoy him, and since his vision's no longer blurred, he actually spots the snow covered pack, thinking at first it's Terra. Realizing she's not attached to it, he sighs and glances around, finding her not far from it, finally, encased in a rather large snow drift. "Terra?" he asks a little softer, brushing the snow away from her body, trying to get a reaction, to see if she's alive. Last thing he needs is to explain to everyone that the girl he was supposed to protect died slipping down a slope of ice and snow. Not to mention he kinda likes her and it would hurt to lose her.

Terra coughs weakly, which is doubtless a good sign - it implies not just life, but consciousness! Or at least something near to it. She had been making some progress at digging herself out of the drift, although unfortunately this had stopped when she'd run low on air in the smallish pocket she'd formed by half-curling on impact. "Irvine?" she says, weakly, the muffler half-off of her face and her eyes half-closed. A few small shakes of the head and she blinks, slowly, squinting upwards with difficulty - her eyes want to produce tears, which doesn't help in the freezing cold. "..what..?" Okay, she's confused, but she's at least able to recognize an Irvine-shaped object.

A cough does mean life, and Irvine is relieved to hear it. He brushes at the snow on her face, then starts trying to help her out of the snow drift itself, a hand against her shoulder, "Come on, let's get you out of there. You ok? Anything broken, bruised, lost, cut off, yadda yadda," he quips, trying to put some humor into the situation. It's gonna be interesting getting back up that steep hill, but at least the blizzard has ceased its bothersome interference. He coughs off to the side too, breath released into the air in a white puff of mist. As the adrenaline of Terra's fall wears off, he can't help but feel his own weariness returning. What postively bad timing.

Terra says, with dull horror, "I.. I can't feel my leg," and scrabbles a bit to sit up, before letting out a -shriek- of pain. Okay. That's where the leg went. Said leg's shoe had gotten knocked off during some mix of rock-smashing and flailing to try and control her slide, leaving only a woolen sock between it and the environment. And that sock, although performing admirably, has gotten quite wet by now due to the relative warmth of Terra and the cold of the snow. At least it hasn't frozen, at least not much. "Oh God," she gasps, biting down -hard- on her lower lip - not quite drawing blood but coming close.

Ah, crap. Irvine stops trying to haul her to her feet for now, seeing as broken legs do, in fact, suck, he's done it once or twice himself. Setting her sitting in the snow again, he sighs, crouching down in the white stuff himself as if it were a chair. Though he wants to get a look at her leg, it's not a good idea to do it out here in the cold. Blue eyes glance up now, scanning around for anything or anywhere that resembles a spot they could take shelter in. Aloud he muses, "Well, we're not going anywhere for the moment then. Need to find shelter so I can look at your leg."

Terra finally relaxes, slowly, although she looks rather deathly when the various pale-factors on her are combined - natural pallor, cold, and now agonizing pain in the left shin. Agh. She'd gotten a fracture or two when she was younger and has had other broken bones from... accidents... when she was in Vector, but this is something essential. She could move with an arm in a sling; it's not so easy with a broken leg. "I'm sorry," she says, squeezing her eyes shut and burying her face in her hands, taking fast, deep breaths to try and distract herself from the pain, voice tight and frightened. "I, I, I sh-should've watched where I was going," she adds, with a little more of the vaguely panicky tone in it. She's not losing it, but there's some tendencies in that direction.

Reaching out to fix Terra's earmuffs, and ruffle her hair, Irvine shrugs his shoulders, keeping his cool for this. He doesn't lose it very often, and he's not being made to snipe anyone at the moment, so it's fairly easy to do so. "Don't be sorry, hon. Let's not even bother concentrating on that. Gotta get you to shelter, ok?" Hmm, he does spot something about twenty yards away, set into the hillside. A cave opening of some sort. The snow swirls around it, but there's not enough of it to block the entrance entirely. "Hey, I think I see something. Mind letting me carry you if you can't walk?" It's not as if he hasn't done it before.

Terra shakes her head a little, shivering now that she's out of the surprisingly insulating snow, wrapping her arms around her thin chest and looking down at the ground. "Juh-just be careful, all right?" she says, trying to divine some kind of further injury to her leg - other than that searing painful jolt, it's still numb, and not just in the slightly-dampened way the whole of her body is, in a rather disturbingly deadened way. "I c-can make a fire when we get there," she adds, rather vaguely - she has flints or matches in that parka, presumably.

"Sounds good to me, provided we can find some good kindling in there, or something," Irvine says, lifting Terra with a hand against her back, and the other in the crook of her knees, though he tries not to let them bend too much, uncertain how badly broken her leg is. The packs are left behind for now, as is her sword. He'll fetch them after he's made sure she's in the shelter. Besides, might have to do a make shift splint on that leg, the pack might have something in there for it. Glancing down at her he asks, "Ok?" before going anywhere, just in case.

Terra tenses, but nods slightly, eyes squeezing shut and a few tears moistening the emerald lashes. It hurts like a bastard, of course it's not okay! But she is aware of the entire 'freezing to death' problem, and getting in shelter - and not being in such pain, too - will help her in getting herself together enough to provide heat and warmth. And kindling? Well. It's a good thing Terra hadn't brought along her supply of stocked magic today, since that would impair her ability to do... Things.

Irvine crunches through the snow drifts as carefully as he can. He doesn't want to jerk Terra around, fully knowing it's gotta hurt, but unable to do so on a constant basis. The ground beneath is rocky and unstable, and maneuvering across it is tricky. Luckily, he closes the distance with relative speed, despite his nagging weakness, and aching body. The fever is returning with a vengence, and he sighs mostly to himself over it.
The cave is small, enough for two, maybe three people. It seems someone else has been her before too, a firepit charcoal black toward the entrance, left there so smoke could billow outward rather then in. In one corner is even a few items left behind, blankets, though worn and somewhat thin. And under them some meager rations of kindling someone had collected at one point during his or her stay here.

Terra is a little tense shivering kitten - well, all right, only in terms of comparison - by the time she's within the cave. She doesn't even notice, her eyes are so tightly shut, and her lips are pressed into thin lines. Finally, though, iota by iota, she starts to relax. Her eyes open with a struggle to get past the iced-over tears, hands clutching weakly over at Irvine's duster. "....." The lack of snowfall is good. The darkness is actually kind of comforting, too.

Irvine kneels down to set Terra as carefully to the ground as possible. As soon as she's released, he sighs, leaning against the opposite wall of the little cave to catch his wheezing breath. It's also time to take a couple more of those little pills and he does so without thinking about it. "I think we'll be ok here for now. Lemme catch my breath and I'll go get the packs."

Terra huddles around herself as best she can, folding her arms up again and shivering rather forcefully. "Uh huh," she says, distant and tight with the agony of her leg, distracted by that, the cold, and the feeling of isolation and stupidity. She slipped and fell down a MOUNTAIN! That's got to be some kind of World Spastic Record. And she had thought she was well-coordinated too, shows what -she- knows.

Irvine isn't aware of Terra's embarassment for the moment. He's just concentrating on getting himself steeled for the trip back out into the cold. After a moment, he forces himself to his feet, nodding to Terra, "I'll be right back." And disappears out into the freezing temperatures to retrieve the packs. A few minutes later, the crunchcrunch of his boots through the snow is heard and he ducks back into the cave, dropping the packs near to Terra. Crouching down again, he sighs, "Well, better have a look at that leg, unless you wanna try starting a fire first."

Terra says, rather feebly, "Puh-put some kindling together.." She's not going to go crawling over to get it, that's for sure. She lets one arm escape her tight grasping of herself, straightening it out and laying it on her thigh with visible effort, the fingers trembling slightly. Clearly she wants to start the fire first, so she can try and get some warmth in the little cavern, and maybe even thaw out a bit, think more clearly, maybe even be able to think at all.

Irvine nods, tossing the blankets aside to get at the kindling underneath it. It may only last a few hours, but it's something. He'll probably have to go out hunting for more later if they want to stay warm, which is something he's not looking forward to. Setting what's there in the charpit toward the mouth of the little cave, he glances at Terra, "Is there flint and tinder or matches or something?" Fire magic would be nice too, but he's not assuming she's junctioned at the moment.

Terra kind of waves her hand at it, taking a deep breath and trying to clear her mind and use the, erm, Force to work this - even if she's clumsy, she can still do this, she hasn't forgotten, she couldn't forget - and with a sort of flourish, a reddish hazy blob-like thing about the size of a softball goes off and into the kindling, which bursts into flame! Fwoosh. "...." Okay, so she's not going to get all wordy about how she did that.

Irvine doesn't ask either, nor is he about to. Magic is something that makes him queasy, and it's better to just assume she's junctioned to one of the GFs then wonder about other possibilities. Sitting back again, he takes a moment to relax, letting his pounding head get a break. Luckily, the cave is small enough that it'll warm up fairly quickly, and the smoke billows out the mouth of the cave, rather then in to suffocate them. Someone placed it properly. Closing his eyes, he says, "Well, soon as things warm up, let's look at your leg." He sounds weary, and there's a slight wheezing to his hoarse voice. This hasn't been easy on him.

Terra stays quiet for a long moment, breath still kind of harsh and rapid. "It hurts," she mumbles, squeezing her eyes closed and bringing her hands up to press against her face, hoping to at least dull the pain somehow. The leg? All of her? Why, yes. Although the leg got a double ration of Hurt. ".....yuh-you ought to head back," she says after another interval, still breathing rather roughly. "If you luh-leave some wood, I'll be fuh-fine here, and they n-need the things in the pack back at Garden..."

"Absolutely not. I'm not leaving you here alone," Irvine replies. Even if he'd entertain the thought in the slightest, it's hard to say he'd make it in his condition. "I have a commlink, I'll see if I can reach someone at Garden and alert them to our predicament."

Terra stays silent after that, clutching herself tightly and shivering in misery. Yes, she knows that this is her fault - or if it was the result of an accident, it was an AVOIDABLE one - and that she's dragged Irvine into it as well. "...d-do you think it'll work? The mountains..." She trails off there, to shiver, but the basic idea was probably gotten across. Radio and mountains tend not to work well together.

Irvine shrugs, patting his duster pocket to make sure the little commlink unit is still there. It is, of course. "Couldn't hurt to try. I heard Squall the other day... back at the Inn." That was extremely staticked, but he still -heard- it. Scooting over toward Terra, he sits beside her now, a little extra warmth couldn't hurt. "Getting any warmer over there?" He's trying to be humorous.

Terra says, not getting the humor at all, "A little." And the fire is quite merry, even if it is going through the kindling pretty quickly. She doesn't lean towards Irvine at the moment, since that's the side the busted leg is on, but she does manage a weak ghost of a smile for a moment.

Irvine has noticed how quickly it's going through the kindling, and really should get up to search around for something more. Unfortunately, he's too tired really to move much even. It is getting steadily warmer, however, so he leans forward, "Better look at that leg of yours, might need a splint." Hopefully there's -something- in the packs that'd function as a splint. Hopefully. The fever spots have begun to recede from his cheeks as the medicines work through his system.
Terra slumps slightly and lets her head hang forwards, forcing herself to be relaxed - paradoxical though that may sound - and making a vaguely affirmative sound. She indicates the left leg, since it might not have been completely clear which one it was and she doesn't want to have to correct Irvine, before taking off her earmuffs with a little furtive grab. It's warm enough that she doesn't need them, and they'll just get sweaty.

Nodding, Irvine rubs at one eye before moving toward the left leg, which is right next to him since he's on Terra's left side. Having to pull off whatever clothing is in his way, he tries to do so without causing any undo pain to Terra, but doubtless won't be totally successful in this endeavor, not with fingers half numbed from the cold. (And they haven't had time to completely unthaw either. Anything that cannot be removed easily is gonna get cut with a pocket knife he pulls out of the pocket of his duster.

Terra undoes the clasp of the rather thick pants and lifts up her hips, pushing herself upwards and against the wall using her good leg as a support. There are repeated little groans as she does this, and sweat that has nothing to do with the heat of the room starts to drip down her face, but she endures it with relatively stoic disposition. Since this makes the task of Irvine basically one of holding her leg steady to avoid further rippings, tearings, and assorted nastiness and then sliding her pants down (not something that should fall outside of his experience) it should be manageable if not much fun for either of them.

Irvine helps Terra out of the snowpants. Usually this sort of thing is fun, but under these circumstances, it holds no such joy. It's done slower then he normally would manage under normal circumstances. Mostly he's just trying to hold the leg steady, knowing Terra's in pain just by the expressions on her face. He even winces occasionally in sympathy. "Are there any splints or anything close to it in those packs somewhere?"

Terra says, between clenched teeth, "Some - stuff in the pack - bandages, I know - at least.." Then she slowly, achingly, agonizingly slides back down to rest her butt back on the stone floor. The break is fairly clean, as far as could be told, and there are no splinters or fragments poking out - it's just broken, not seriously messed up. The wool sock is probably pretty iced over, but is thawing gradually, like everything else.

Irvine doesn't try to pull the wool sock off yet, let it thaw thoroughly first. Instead, he reaches for the bigger of the packs, pulling it open to rifle through the contents for anything that might work as a splint. He's no doctor, but he does have enough knowledge to know that he's not about to try setting the bone himself, and a splint should keep it still and such. He also glances around for a bottle of pain killers. Terra's probably gonna need them. Scratch that, from the expressions he's seen, she'll definately need them.

Yep! Splinting materials are present, in the form of thin and rigid-looking light metal plates. Those plus bandages ought to help out, and any tearings or bleeding inside of the wound can be helped with a potion or two, maybe. Terra lets out a little whimper, bringing up one hand and biting on her index finger, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. She should've put some spikes on her shoes! Or used a staff to poke where she was going! Something!

Irvine still is rather unaware of Terra's inner conflicts over the situation. He's not one to worry about it. 'What if's are useless in these times. It happened, it can't be changed, time to move on to plan B, or C... or D. Whatever. Handing a few potions to Terra, as well as the bottle of pain killers, he sets out to fit the splint onto Terra's leg. However, he does have the decency to wait until she's gotten a chance to use what he gave her. This isn't gonna be painless, after all.

Terra eyes them, dully, the small high-impact plastic vials and the little bottle of painkillers blurring a little as she focuses. From what she knows of medicine, she'd much rather have a syringe of some kind of opiate - perhaps the soothing heroin in the patent-medicines. But, whatever these are, she opens the bottle and shakes a... largish number of pills into one hand, before picking out two or three and tossing them down. The potions get their tops tugged off with the teeth, and pours them down her throat to wash down the happy little reds - and after a minute or so, relaxes, visibly. She's still not happy, but isn't in agony any more.

Irvine watches her down the pills and potions, and finally sets forward with the splint, placing the metal around the sides before bandaging it up. Again he takes his time with it, not so much trying to be careful, but keep his hands steady. He pauses one in a coughing fit, that deathly rattle growing more noticable as microbes begin to prolifferate in his aveoli. But, as soon as he finally gets that under control, he finishes up the splint on Terra's leg and scoots back against the wall, closing his eyes for a second to rest.

Terra hears that cough get more pronounced, and considers things for a long moment. Mostly the SEARING AGONY in her leg which is dulling into a low throb. But also, if she could help out Irvine with this illness... she's never tried doing something like this before, mostly because of not having much in the way of 'healer' background. "Irvine..?" she says, after a while. "Um.. do you want me to try something that might help that...?" She's being extra tentative, partly because this is something that may alarm Irvine, and partly because, well, she's gotten doped up but good.

Terra says, "....it's just something I know how to do," and looks over, with great uncertainty. She realizes belatedly that, even if not for the same reasons, most of the 'magic' which is generally around and known is probably distrusted thanks to various sorceresses of the past. And, well, she can see that Irvine might assume that of her -- although an upside to this occurs to her, namely the plausibility of this as an explanation. But.. writing some cover story in a report is one thing, but does she want to lie directly to someone she at least wants to be friendly with?

Irvine closes his eyes again, taking the hat off so he can rest his head against the cave wall. "Is it magic?" He asks, fully believing the answer will be yes. "If so, just do it I guess, one of us has to be in some sort of shape to get both of us out." Finally, he just gives in. Too weary at this point to fight the idea of it. If it works, so much the better for them both.

Terra hangs her head at that. "....." After a long moment of awkward silence, with the shame and guilt of this - even if it's utterly unjustified, she can hear the edginess and the dislike in Irvine's voice - she says, quietly, "Please, um, I haven't done this in a long time.. umm.." She makes a vague beckoning gesture; c'mere, you, she's going to do Laying On Of Hands.

Irvine leans forward at this point, having no idea what Terra's gonna do to him. He tenses visibly, really not wanting to feel theh aura of magic around him. Though he remembers Rinoa briefly, and the Cura spell she'd cast on him, and how he felt genuinely horrid for his reaction to it. So, for Terra's sake he tries not to grimace or otherwise be outwardly upset. He just holds still, eyes closed in anticipation of... whatever it is.

Terra reaches over, hands quite steady now - mm, soothing narcotics - and lays her hands on Irvine's throat. Uh oh, strangle time! Actually, not. She just runs her fingers over the sore and aching area for a couple of seconds, a bit randomly, and then inhales and closes her eyes. She focuses, the presumably-oogy feel of magic gathering in her hands - although it's not quite the same as the usual para-magic, it's doubtful that Irvine will like it - and lets it out. "There," she says, drawing her hands back and looking down at the floor guiltily.

Indeed, the feeling makes Irvine rather nauseous. He keeps his eyes closed, trying once to swallow while Terra's hands are on his throat. Slowly he feels the illness receed, lungs and sinuses clearing as if the spell had run through them with a vacuum cleaner. In its wake, just a dull throbbing at the temples remains, and a slight chest ache to remind him that she's merely set the illness back, not healed it. She's granted him some time. Blinking his eyes open finally, he breathes in deeply, glad that he -can- breathe now. "Thank you Te-- what's wrong?" He tilts his head to the side, wondering if she's ok or if that spell took too much out of her.

Terra looks away slightly and hugs herself loosely, staying quiet for a beat before saying, quietly, "I.. you... you seemed..." She trails off. Inhale, exhale. "...you don't like magic, I mean. I guess. I mean, I don't know...." Yes, she's floundering now. "...it.. I'm sorry," she finishes, turning herself away more sharply. Argh, and she can't even run and hide.

"That's my personal problem, Terra, not yours," Irvine sighs, resting against the cavern wall again to consider how he's upset a magic user -again-. Turning his head to look at Terra, he sighs. "I'm sorry, it's not you, ok? It's me. I got pushed into junctioning too soon, I've had a problem with it since then. If you chose to junction, that's fine for you." Of course, he's making assumptions here. Then, as an added afterthought, he mutters, "By the way, thank you. I feel a lot better now."

Terra says, mutedly, "Oh." That sounded like a 'well, sorry I don't like you' kind of thing - but she's got quite the internal identification with magic use, so anyone who dislikes it strongly is probably going to dislike her. Or so she thinks. Sneef. "I...." She trails off. Junctioning. This reminds her of something else, tangentally related, probably brought up in part by the happy drugs she's now got percolating in her. "...I was wondering... is it true that.. um... it eats away at your memories?" Junctioning, not magic.

Memories? Er, why do you think he's so damned afraid to Junction? He's a memory packrat, after all. Nodding, he's not gonna lie to Terra about it. "They do. It's why I don't like junctioning. I prefer to hold onto my memories. Selphie and I knew one another as children, and she remembers almost none of it unless I remind her." As for magic, he doesn't hate Rinoa, or dislike her. It's the same for Terra, well would be if he knew the truth about her.

Terra ohs, quietly. ... "....what makes it happen? Do you know?" She looks over now, curiously. She wants to know. She wants it to happen quickly and at the greatest possible rate. She doesn't want to remember her childhood, as the occasional pleasant notes are not in any way worth the fear and the terror and the pain and, later, the hellish interval underneath Kefka's mental compulsion.

Taking a deep breath, it's so very nice to be able to, you see, Irvine shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know for certain. I junctioned briefly, and I don't think it stole much from me. The others had been doing it far longer, and have greater memory loss. I guess it depends on the Guardian Force, and the individual." Sounds good to him, in theory. How much it stands up to reality, however, is beyond his sphere of knowledge.

Terra stays silent for a long moment, and realizes she might not even have this effect - after all, she isn't exactly... Normal. "Oh," she says faintly. And 'Guardian Force' takes a minute to register. Mm. "....hey..." she says after another interval of silence, looking over towards the cowboy and reasonably able-bodied type, "Did you ever know your parents..?" She's getting wistful. It's the drugs!

Irvine blinks and glances at Terra as she asks. "No," is the immediate response. He thought she knew, but honestly how could she? He never told her. "I was orphaned at two, I think. My foster parents raised me." Well, for about five years and then he happily ran off to Galbadia Garden. He sometimes wonders who his real parents were, especially with the mystery of the little objects left to him. A legacy he'd never understand. "Why do you ask?"

Terra says, quietly, "I never knew my parents.... I was a little younger than that when my mother was killed, and..." She sighs, heavily, and continues, "And my father was captured and put away. He died... I never got to see him again, though, even though he was kept alive for quite a few years..." And her mother didn't 'die', she was killed. The distinction may be modest, but it's important, especially for her. "...they were.." She doesn't finish that statement, though, cutting off rather abruptly in fact.

"They were what?" Irvine asks, not realizing he's prying. It's a casual conversational type of question. Yet, as soon as it's flown out of his mouth, he kinda wishes he hadn't asked. Glancing again at Terra, he worries a little. Not knowing her past, he only knows now that she seems distraught over what's happened to her. So, solemnly he adds, "I'm sorry about your parents, Terra. At least I don't remember how mine died."

Terra says, vaguely, deliberately not coming out and saying anything clearly - out of simple fear for her life, this time, she can't afford to risk scaring Irvine off - "It... it was when the first Magitech facility was built... and.... my parents, they had just.. gotten caught up in it...." Let Irvine draw what inferences he will from that.

Irvine knows next to nothing about Magitek, or how it's used. Well, he knows Espers are used as fuel and... Espers. Um. Nah. Perhaps it's just the drugs. Terra's confused is all, she's not a GF. Surely he'd have known by now. Right? Right. Besides, he's starting to think they're not so bad. Shiva's got a heavy hand in that. Still, it's a rather tragic way for one to lose her parents, and Irvine can't help but feel a little sorry for Terra. Reaching up, he touches one of her cheeks, brushing green hair away that might have been left there in its deshelved state. "Come on, Terra, that was awhile ago. I'm sure your parents would be proud of who you are today. It's tragic they died that way, but we're all doing something now to try to stop Magitek from being used anymore." See, Selphie's teaching him one thing at least, how to cheer folks up. Or at least try to.

Terra blushes slightly, and lets out a faint sigh before saying, mutedly, "I know my father is, she told me...." She? Or did she lose a syllable there? ...ohboy, fun. Either way, she blinks again, sitting up a bit and then looking around, the drugs still kind of settling into place. She's probably going to take a nap soon, whether she likes it or not.

Irvine doesn't ask who 'she' is. He figures it's either 'he' or she's talking about someone else entirely and it's none of his business. He tilts his head as she suddenly sits up, concerned all over again. "You ok?"

Terra yawns, jaw-crackingly wide - her teeth are neat and even, and her tongue is pink - before murmuring "Uh-huh.." And then she lifts up a hand and points it at the stones that form the hearth-place, flicking more of that red-hazy-stuff at them - rocks don't burn, but they can hold heat pretty well, and she's not even thinking 'Irvine can go get more fuel'. She's barely thinking. "'m sleepy... I wish I could see my father.." Her eyelids droop again, feeling like they're weighted in lead.

Irvine tugs on Terra to rest against him. Least he can do for her, in return for the cure spell holding the cold at bay, is to let her use him as a pillow. He's not gonna be able to sleep right away now. He even reaches into his pocket to pull out the little comlink unit and don the earpeice. "Get some rest then, while you sleep I'll try to contact someone at Garden."

Terra does a little half-snuggle up to the warm body there - the fact that it's the claimed Irvine doesn't even register; heck, she's not even really aware he's MALE at this point - and lets her eyes stay shut, drifting into a dreamless sort of hazy half-sleep. Her mouth stays half-open thanks to the limpness induced by the happy_meds, but she doesn't drool either. Just stays there, quiet and fragile-looking.

Irvine wraps an arm around Terra, without really thinking about it. With him, it's an instinct. The fact that this isn't Selphie hasn't registered either, he's merely helping out a friend, not considering her any sort of romantic potential. As soon as she seems to be sleeping, or at least deep in a dozing mode, he speaks into the commlink. "Hey, anyone awake out there?"

[CCOM 4500] IRVINE: Hey, anyone<static> there?

Terra shifts again, closer, enjoying this quasi-affection. It's... actually the first time she's ever really been HELD like this, since the crowded conditions from whenever four of her fellow anti-Kefkaites shared a tent wasn't really, well, THAT kind of affection, and the flickering little penlight of her consciousness kinda likes it. Otherwise, she just remains dozy, the water on her exposed woolen sock evaporating in the increased warmth from the toastified stones.

Irvine closes his eyes, letting his head drift back against the cavern wall. No answer that he can hear. He sighs softly, trying not to be too loud or move too much for fear of waking up Terra. He pats her arm gently as she shifts, though, briefly flicking his gaze down toward her without moving his head. It's kinda cute to see her like that, though the thought doesn't really register with him. Actually, it makes him suddenly think of Selphie. So again he tries into the commlink, "Hey, is anyone out there. Hello? If someone can hear me, please respond."

[CCOM 4500] IRVINE: <static> out there. Hello? If someone can<static> please respond.

[CCOM 4500] VINCENT: <static> this<static> you hear me? What<static> status?

Terra opens and closes her mouth slightly, a couple of times; either a dream or a stray neural firing, either way. She normally doesn't sleep much, but she probably took a good deal more of that happy painkiller than she -needed- to; low body weight, after all. However, it wasn't a fatal dose, she's just dopey at the moment. And she's not exactly going to be able to do much besides sleep, as it is.

[CCOM 4500] IRVINE: Stuck<static> our status. Blizzard<static> Terra took a tumble down a steep<static> broke her leg<static> the<static>

Irvine sighs in relief to hear Vincent's voice over the commlink. He insinctively reaches down to stroke Terra's green hair. He's not even looking at his hand as he does so. He's too busy containing his joy. If Vincent were standing right in front of him, he'd almost kiss him. Almost. Not quite... Selphie, on the other hand... Well, then, into the commlink, "Stuck is our status. Blizzard struck hard. Terra took a tumble down a steep slope, broke her leg in the fall."

Terra has quite soft hair - of course, it's still rather damp, but that's not too bad a thing. A wash with clean pure water is somewhat conditioning, after all, and snowmelt isn't that dirty around here. "Mmf," she says, or rather murmurs, staying still otherwise. She'd probably be doing some kind of return-hug or the like if she wasn't in opiate country. And Vincent! Vincent, our savior. Boy, it'd suck if he got injured or otherwise impaired.

[CCOM 4500] VINCENT: Irvine, can you give us<static> landmarks<static> which to find<static>

Oiy, landmarks. Irvine struggles to remember the area around them. Where they had fallen, and had the snowfall covered up Terra's slide pattern she'd left down the slope? He'd used that to find her. Thinking about it, he says into the commlink, "Landmarks are sparse, it's snow country here. We were just outside of the town when Terra fell. She fell a rather good distance too, I used the slide trail to follow her, dunno if it's covered yet but you might look for it."

[CCOM 4500] IRVINE: Landmarks are sparse, it's snow<static> We were just<static> of<static> town<static> Terra<static> She<static> too, I<static> the<static> trail<static> follow her, dunno<static> covered yet but you might<static> for it.

Terra lost a shoe, too, but that's probably not going to be that helpful. She squirms slightly closer, letting her cheek slide down the leather of the duster and making a faint sound, face expressionless and sleepy. On this close an inspection, it's pretty clear - as if it wouldn't be before, but this would dispel all doubt - she's a natural green, not just a dedicated and regular dyer. Possibly, once she wakes up, they could make a signal fire?

Irvine sighs as he glances toward the mouth of the cavern. All he can see is snow and white out there. As much as he hates to, he'll have to move Terra in order to head out there and glance around. Shaking her shoulder he murmurs, "Terra... hey. I gotta go outside. Will you be ok in here?"

[CCOM 4500] VINCENT: Repeat. We can't<static> out your response.

[CCOM 4500] IRVINE: <static> going out to look<static>

Terra stirs slightly, eyes fluttering slightly, and she says "Mmm?" in a vaguely attentive, 'I'm awake, really' kind of way. She blinks, slowly, and says with somewhat more coherence (and a kind of little-girl quality to her voice) "I wanna lay down..." She doesn't seem afraid, at least. Drugs are great for that.

[CCOM 4500] VINCENT: Hold your position. We<static> to move<static> and<static> to<static> there.

Irvine moves and as he does so, grabs the blankets that'd been tossed off to the corner, wadding them together to form a makeshift pillow. This he leaves under Terra's head. "Then lie down for now, Terra. I'll be right back." Rising to his feet now, he starts out of the cavern, just enough to stand outside and glance around. Damn it's -cold- out here. Into the comlink, he then says, "Ok. Holding. Outside I see... Hmmm, large sign. No lettering on this side of it. Looks like several paths from here..."

[CCOM 4500] IRVINE: Ok.<static> Outside I see... Hmmm,<static> lettering<static> this side<static> it. Looks like<static> paths from here...

[CCOM 4500] VINCENT: All right. I repeat. Hold<static> are<static> into<static> to establish better reception there.

[CCOM 4500] VINCENT: *In the background you can hear Selphie going.......*

[CCOM 4500] VINCENT: <static> Let's<static> then!<static>

[CCOM 4500] IRVINE: <static> need to kick<static> butt<static> this.

Terra makes a very pleased sound as her head rests on the half-disintegrated blankets, feeling like it's the most heavenly pillow in the world - but then, she feels like she's wrapped in warm cotton fluff anyway. And the cold probably is enhanced by the relative warmth of the cave.

[CCOM 4500] VINCENT: *It is of course, about an hour, maybe two later, that Vincent and Selphie would enter the small Icicle Inn on chocobo, complete with a few SeeD to aid in the possible rescue. That is, depending on what is discovered, provided this close range = better reception theory works. So. Standing in open space, still astride the chocobo, Vincent speaks.* "Irvine. Can you hear me?"

[CCOM 4500] IRVINE: Yes, actually. Wow, less static.

After the initial conversation with Vincent, Irvine drifts back into the cavern to wait, sitting beside Terra's drugged and sleepy form. A few hours pass without word, though the gunman is constantly listening and waiting, looking at Terra occasionally to make sure she's doing ok. Eventually, he nods off without realizing it. He didn't -mean- to, he just kinda... did.

[CCOM 4500] VINCENT: Good. Now give us your location, (Yaaaay! Hi~i Irvy!) as best as you can describe it. We're on the (Woo hoo!) southeast outskirts of Icicle Inn. *I believe you can guess which part of the transmission belongs to which.*

[CCOM 4500] IRVINE: Yeah... I believe we're below the town, in the glacier area. I can see a sign way up the hill, and there're several paths around here. Problem is getting Terra out of here, her leg's busted up pretty good. Oh, tell Sefie hi.

Terra is, thus, in a very literal and technical definition of the term, sleeping with Irvine. However, well, this may just lead to their deaths by Selphie. Either way, Terra stays calm and peaceful and quiet and numb. Wow. She -did- take too much of those pills. At least it's kept her from hurting herself more.

[CCOM 4500] VINCENT: She heard. *there is a certain dry tone of voice with Vincent's words* Tell us what the sign says. We'll find out what the townspeople can tell us about your location. Is there any space we can safely lower a team from the Ragnarok to get you?

Irvine sits up suddenly as he's jerked awake by the commlink. He blinks a few times, saying, "Yes, actually. Wow, less static." into the commlink. Rising to his feet, he wanders on outside, figuring Terra is fine by herself for the moment. "Yeah... I believe we're below the town, in the glacier area. I can see a sign way up the hill, and there're several paths around here. Problem is getting Terra out of here, her leg's busted up pretty good. Oh, tell Sefie hi."

[CCOM 4500] IRVINE: I can't tell what the sign says, Captain. I can only see the back of it from here. It's up the hill aways too, probably closer to where you guys are at, we're not far outside of the actual town, I don't think. The slope is extremely slippery, don't ask me how I got down here without falling and breaking a leg too.

Terra makes a muffled sound as she hears Irvine get up and move around - her druggedness is wearing off, gradually, although it's still clear that she's pretty damn stoned. Wow. Oh, like, -wow-. "Huh....?" She blinks, looking up at the ceiling of the cave. Her head hurts, she notices, abstractly.

[CCOM 4500] VINCENT: All right. We'll ask for more informat... *his voice is for a minute directed away from the mike* Are you all right? *in the background, Selphie is distinctly heard to be going "Waaaah!" and "Owie~." Then Vincent's voice is turned back to the mike* Irvine, is there any open space for the Ragnarok to lower a team to?

Irvine is outside at the moment, and has not heard Terra awaken. He's still talking into the commlink. "I can't tell what the sign says, Captain. I can only see the back of it from here. It's up the hill aways too, probably closer to where you guys are at, we're not far outside of the actual town, I don't think. The slope is extremely slippery, don't ask me how I got down here without falling and breaking a leg too." He pauses a moment, waiting for a response, and he blinks. "Um, yeah. The valley area down here is fine for lowering in a team, but I wouldn't land, snow's thick and I have no idea what's under it. Um... what is Sefie up to?"

[CCOM 4500] IRVINE: Um, yeah. The valley area down here is fine for lowering in a team, but I wouldn't land, snow's thick and I have no idea what's under it. Um... what is Sefie up to

Terra sits up, rubbing her eyes. Oh, the fire's gone out - and the rocks are cold, too. A concentration moment and little toss of energy, and those rocks start glowing quite nicely again, restoring the warmth to the room. She looks down at her leg, and then groans - she'd hoped THAT part was just a bad dream.

[CCOM 4500] VINCENT: Selphie is fine. She just had a minor accident. *pause* I am going to put her on for a few minutes while I see to a few matters.

Irvine reaches up to tug at his ponytail, coughing off to the side so it doesn't get heard in the mic, or so he hopes. After that, he grins real wide and says, "Ok. Hey, Sefie. Missed you, Darlin'."

[CCOM 4500] IRVINE: *brief coughing, distant sounding as if he really didn't want it heard. Then...* Ok. Hey, Sefie. Missed you Darlin'.

[CCOM 4500] VINCENT: A distant 'Gimmie!', then, "Irvy! Irvy, Irvy! How many times do I have to -tell- you, -you- are not a damsel! So stop being in distress! --Missed you too~oo. Is Terra okay? Tell her I said hi!" The emotions that match the words are fairly obvious.

[CCOM 4500] IRVINE: I am -not- in distress, Darlin'. Just not about to abandon Terra either. She's ok, just busted her leg when she fell.

Terra says, raising her voice, "Irvine?" Not nervous or frightened yet, just a little worried - although there are many good reasons why Irvy wouldn't be there. The one that occurs to her immediately is that, well, maybe he had to go to the little cowpoke's room. Which she could use a visit to herself, but, well. She's not going to get up and tromp off into the snow.

Irvine turns as he hears his name, realizing Terra's woken up. The fact that she sounds a little worried gives him impetus to slip back into the cavern to check on her. "Hey, right here, you ok? Oh, Vincent and Sefie are here, they're coming after us." Then, as an afterthought, "How's the leg?"

Terra says, after another one of those shockingly wide yawns, "It's not that bad...." As in, the agony isn't stabbingly intense, and she can actually think/act/talk clearly without drugs. For now.

Irvine nods to Terra, smiling at her reassuringly. He really -is- glad she's ok. He'd been mega concerned about her earlier. However, he sighs at something he nears, sounding exasperated suddenly as he talks over the commlink again. "I am -not- in distress, Darlin'. Just not about to abandon Terra either. She's ok, just busted her leg when she fell." Aside to Terra, he mutters, "Selphie says hi."

Terra smiles wanly. "Tell her I'd done some more work on the script..." Not recently, but still, it's been something she'd brought along to work on. If they'd been cooped up longer, it might have actually gotten worked on... Or burnt for heat, depending on a lot of factors. And it's nice to have Faerie Princess dreams.