<4> Over the course of several long minutes, Vinnia's body shifted little by little as more moans escaped her lips. Finally, her eyes slowly fluttered open to look up at her burly brother as he patiently looked out over the hill. "Ar... Artaan?" "That's my name," he echoed quietly, though he did not look at her. "How are you feeling?" "Awful," she admitted and shifted a bit to see where he was looking. The haze in her eye did not fully clear, but she seemed coherent enough to recognize where they were. Her pale blue face lost the blue tinge in it as she looked back to her brother again. "Why... why are we up here?" "Because..." Artaan started, but paused for a long moment as he seemed to search for an answer. "... father just might wring your neck if he found out where you've been." It took Vinnia a few moments to process his words, but once she did a few thoughts clicked in her mind. "You... you are shparing me of hish wrath?" Artaan nodded slowly into the distance. "... Why?" The hunter's glowing eyes finally turned to look down at his sister, his expression saddening considerably. Her dress was a mess beyond repair, and her flowing hair was tangled and soaked with ale in kind. She reeked of the herb she had been smoking as well, and what makeup remained had been smeared into nothingness. "Vinnia... I am your brother, and I have loved you since you first entered this world. I did everything I could to watch out for you while we grew together, and will continue to do so as long as I am capable. This, however... is frankly the lowest you have been, and it hurts to think... think of what could have happened to you." His gaze turned sharply away from her, though he could only bite back a hint of tears so much. "By all rights, yes, I should subject you to our father's wrath... but deep down, I am dearly, *dearly* hoping you understand that tonight... that you placed yourself in an unsafe and horrible environment, and you were saved by a mixture of luck and a friend who cared about you." Vinnia did not immediately respond. Her own eyes drifted lower and lower until she stared at the inside of the sidecar. Her intoxicated mind struggled to process everything he had said, but she hadn't missed a single word. Her glowing eyes slowly filled with tears, and quietly she began to sob wordlessly in the sidecar. Artaan immediately turned a sympathetic eye back to his mess of a sister. Without a word, his muscular form dismounted and reached down to scoop her back into his arms. Vinnia leaned hard into his chest as her sobs grew a bit louder, oblivious to the fact that Artaan had begun walking further into the woods. Their journey was short, however, as they entered a small clearing where a large, deep, natural pool of water stood; a place where the siblings used to swim in their childhood. "Shhhh," Artaan whispered softly as he carefully attempted to stand Vinnia upright, though she made no effort to take control of her legs to keep her aloft. "Everything will be alright, but you need to get cleaned up," he explained gently. "I will wait behind a tree, okay?" The distraught draenei had tears streaming slowly down her soft cheeks, but not a word left her lips amidst the sadness. She made no effort to keep herself standing as Artaan attempted to prop her up again. Her body was practically limp as she succumbed to her defeat, and in the process of trying to upright her the sullied garment relinquished its meager grasp upon her body. The violet straps slipped from her shoulders to send her naked chest tumbling out into the open. Artaan's cheeks flushed darkly as he attempted to grip her differently, but the shifting only let the garment descend even further until it was naught but a heap of cloth on the ground. "Well... it is what it is," he sighed with resignation. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen Vinnia naked before, though it had been over a decade since they were so young to not care. The modest hunter took the meager win and gently took her back into his arms before carefully lowering her into the chilling waters. Vinnia didn't even flinch as the water's icy chill ran from her hooves almost all the way up to her neck, though the difference in temperature did seem to bring a halt to her tears. The sharp jabs of cold sobriety attempted to retake her addled mind, and little by little consciousness made a chilling return. It wasn't until a soft splash reached her ears that her eyes blinked much more quickly than before, and a turn of her head revealed a gently-shivering Artaan submerged to his dark-streaked chest in the water a few feet away from her. "Y-you will freeze," was all she could think to say. The hunter shrugged half-heartedly. "Nature is cold. I have endured much worse on longer hunts." Vinnia nodded in slow understanding, and Artaan could almost see her brain rebooting in her eyes, finally. "I can't stand it," she confessed with a soft laugh. "I much prefer warmth. Sunlight. Fire." "Spoken like a true fire mage," he returned with a chuckle of his own. "Perhaps you could make us a hot spring, then?" The mage laughed a bit harder at this. "I couldn't make a cooking fire right now if I wanted," she admitted with a groan. Her hands reached up to rub the tears and makeup from her face. "Seriously... why did you get in?" "Needed to wash my arm, and I didn't want you to slip," he rumbled, though after another pause he added, "And... well, if I were in your place, I think I would have felt better to know I was not alone in my current state."