(A/N I was down with Writer's Block for weeks. I hope it isn't fatal, but it seems to be spreading fast. If anyone has a cure, please tell me!)

It was noon, and sunlight was scattered by the dense forest to land directly on Amber's face.

Tear tracks glittered in the sudden light, only to disappear as she forged through the trees.

To an observer, it would have been obvious that Amber was exhausted and sleep-deprived. She was stumbling over rocks she would usually avoid, and hadn't eaten for nearly a day.

Amber, frankly, didn't care.

Physical pain was bearable, easily ignored.

Easily cured.

The lingering, throbbong pain in her head - the pain causing the tears - wasn't even possible to ignore. Every step she took, she saw something that reminded her of Ermelinda.

The bushes that they had stripped of berries.

The clearing they landed in after a trip to the mines.

She would have given up long before

If it wasn't for one thing.

One fact.

A fall from that height wasn't fatal.