Chapter 4... Dire straits.
#4 of Frozen
Little short one for you. Hope I keep writing them fast enough to keep up the pace.
As she trudged along, Jenna Tried to wrap her mind around what had happened. It seemed now, almost like a dream. The chance that she would just happen upon Khyth's body was so remote, let alone, the fact that he had been in such good condition. She knew it wasn't a dream, but it all happened so quickly. In a matters of days, she had made such a wonderful discovery, only to have it swept away as quick as waking. Perhaps that was why it seemed like only a figment her imagination. She could see the black lifeless eye looking up at her, as though it were right in front of her. She was sure that she would be haunted for the rest of her life by that, not because it had frightened her, but because she had lost it. She stopped and looked back. she had little idea how far she had walked, and the realization that she no longer had any idea where the site was, only drove her further into her desperation. None the less, she continued on, following the coast towards the forest, where god willing, she would at least find her tent. That notion seemed more and more ridiculous as she traveled, and she began to wonder what she would be able to do in the event that she did find herself in such a fix. She did know a few tricks to making shelter of foliage and such, which would surely be her only option, unless she was lucky enough to find an unoccupied cave, or den. The sun hung low in the sky, as she began to make out the black line of trees in the distance. The moon shone brightly off to the other side of horizon, ensuring that even with nightfall, she would have some measure of light to see by. The sun had slipped behind the hills as she reached the tree line. Only a faint pattern of oranges and purples lingered on the horizon. Jenna made her way along the edge of the forest until the last light of the fallen sun had faded. She cursed to herself, knowing that she would have to make it without her tent. She hadn't had high hopes of finding it, but the fulfillment of the inevitable came as no comfort. Tired, cold, and hungry, Jenna began to look close by, for shelter. The wind had died down to almost nothing, and the weather was back to normal, not that it was in any way preferable. The forest was dense, and had a good deal of undergrowth, which made travel difficult, only adding to Jenna's despair. She kept a positive mindset, mostly by not thinking about how much of a fix she was in. Trudging along, she eventually found a spot that looked as good as any. Two trees had collapsed at a V, leaving a void where they met, that had been hollowed out by wildlife as a temporary shelter. The depression wasn't terribly deep, and it was obvious that it hadn't been occupied recently. Jenna unceremoniously sat herself down into the spot, and packed her arms and legs close to her body, anticipating a long, miserable night at best. she dug around in her pack, and took out almost all of her remaining food stock. She knew that if she were to have even a ghost of a chance of making it through the night, she would need all the energy she could get. She shivered constantly as she gulped down her meal, and pulled any loose brush she could around in front of her. The night fall only brought colder temperatures, and Jenna could feel her legs and back going numb. Even now, she managed to hold off the nagging thought, that she was going to die. She looked out around her at the world, which now, seemed so peaceful. Before long her shivering subsided, and she knew she was fading out. Her last thoughts before she slipped from consciousness, were of the stallion. She saw him out on the ice plain, just wandering around. Then everything went dark.