In the past few days Wilder had found herself falling farther and farther from her senses. More often then not she was wandering, half-confused, in a trance from the Spire's magic. She would sometimes wake up having no idea where she was and how she had gotten there. And she knew what it was - the Spire and its magic, too powerful for her to handle. At least, she thought it was. She had no idea and it was starting to scare her. So she had ran. Far away.

But this tunnel was cold. Freezing, really. Way too cold. Way too freezing. The magic was still nipping at her heels. She still felt it try to overcome her sometimes. But the cold kept her awake because she didn't want to die. Die. Like the mice she hunted. Death. Chaos. D̶̡͂e̷͓̊a̶̠̓t̸̙́ẖ̵͌.

No! She had to stay focused. It was too cold in here to wander off. It was too cold. She padded through the cave, the moisture soaking into her fur. She was freezing and shivering. Eventually it was too much. She could barely move anymore. So she staggered up against the wall, into the tiniest little dip in the ground, and curled up, trying to preserve the dry warmth and keep herself in control.

Wilder heard the sound from her little shelter and she raised her head, daring to be hopeful. She was still shivering, her tiny body damp from the moisture in the air and cold from the snow around her. She let out a pitiful meow to try and alert the stranger to her location. A tiny plea for help.

So close to unconsciousness was she that her magic filled her up. She didn't even know what she was doing, she had never cast this spell before, and she had certainly been unable to cast magic before without falling into her trances. But perhaps it was a last resort or her body using everything it could. A small blue flame or arcana appeared just outside of her shelter. Hopefully it would be in Felina's sight and would lead her to the place where the tiny kitten rested.

The kitten looked up at the sound of a voice and her big round eyes rested on another feline. Any other time she would have been over the moon at finding a new friend but now all she wanted to do was curl into herself and hope that things warmed up. She didn't shrink away as the bigger cat poked their head in and neither did she resist when they grabbed onto her scruff. She simply didn't know what they were doing.

But when she felt them tug, trying to pull her out of her tiny cave, she realized what they were trying to do. She yelped and tugged backwards, her claws scraping at bare rock. "No, it's really cold out there! I wanna be warm!" Eventually, she managed to get herself free and pushed herself against the wall, ears flattened and tail tucked under her. She didn't want to leave this cave! She just wanted to be warm!

She watched as the other feline backed out of the cave and had half a mind to try and call out for her. But she was gone before she could. She shivered again and curled into herself as tightly as she could. In her desperation for some kind of warmth a few little blue lights appeared around her, but it didn't do much to warm the little kitten. She was scared now, scared that she would die from this cold.

Death...death...she would die...no...ḓ̴́e̷̞͌ä̸̺́t̷̬̿h̵͎̐ ̸̲̉i̷̙͋s̷̟͂ ̶̳̈́a̶̢͘ ̶̻̊l̴̩̎i̵̲̍ĕ̷̩.

"I'm not going to die," she whispered to herself. She glanced at her wisps and narrowed her eyes. They hazed over as she stared harder and harder. "M̷̩̒a̷̧̿g̵̙̽i̶̩͛c̷̠͗.̴̭̄ ̸̺̚M̷̦̅u̷͚͒s̸̗̅ẗ̴̺́ ̷̧̏l̸̻͊e̸̼͐ä̵͕́r̴̮̔n̶͙͠ ̴̦͑m̵̯̅a̸͙͒ǵ̶̜ì̷̥c̴̭̚.̷̖̑ ̴̛͎A̷̳͛l̴̤͝ľ̶̯ ̸͈̀m̷͎͊á̶̡ḡ̵̥i̷͓̽c̸̗͝.̷͓̔ ̴̽ͅA̴͖͋l̵̺͊l̷͇̉ ̶̬͆m̷͓̕å̴̺g̴̠̃i̶̭͝c̷͈̄ ̶̩͠i̴͇͝s̴͔̍ ̸͍̕m̴̖͌i̶̓ͅn̸͖͌e̴̦͑.̵̙́" Her voice was hoarse, throaty, and she almost growled at her own spell. On steady, strong legs, she stood, now ignoring the cold as she turned and stepped right out of her den and turned in the opposite direction that the bobcat had disappeared. She wouldn't die. She wouldn't die. She would live.

D̵̬́e̸̳͆ạ̸̅t̶̰̎h̷͔͝ ̴̞͛i̷͉͒ś̷̫ ̶̪̓a̴͚͒ ̵͖͋l̴̬͗î̶̟e̴̢̿.

*exit