I felt my heart sink at the response I received; the girl couldn't even manage a proper greeting, only stammer out a single word.

'Cold.'

She didn't need to speak anything else. I didn't want her to, as it was painfully clear just how difficult even the simplest of things were for her. For a brief moment I wondered if I might've come too late, if she would collapse and leave me before I could get her warmed back up, but I was quick to block such thoughts from my mind. Paternal instincts were quick to kick in, even if she was far from being a foal, and as she began to take stiff, tentative steps towards, I was quick to follow up with the action.

Stepping sideways until my side brushed up against her own, I came to stand parallel to her at her left. The cold which gripped her leaked through my thick coat, scraping at my side like icy fingers. That alone was nearly enough to make me shiver, so I couldn't even begin to imagine how she must be feeling. Like something close to death, I imagined.

'I'm so cold.'

Normally I would have reserved such closeness to those I called family, my brothers and sisters in arms and the like in fear of causing discomfort, but this was different. Her gentle proclamation was all the reassurance needed to know she wouldn't care. Carefully, as though her frozen frame might crumble, I laid my head over her neck so that it pressed into the right side while my mane draped over the left. "It's alright," I spoke tenderly, reassuringly. There were countless things I wanted to ask, like why she was here, if anything ailed her beyond the extreme cold that had settled in her being, if there was anything more I could do... But first and foremost, she needed to warm herself. "Focus on warming up; we've got you. You're safe now."

Soon enough, Merlin had gathered a small collection of twigs and small branches, piling them as well as possible against the wind. It wouldn't last long, but at least it could be started while he went to fetch more. An audible grunt could be heard from Suli as she made her way out of the tangle of mane and runes and dropped to the ground, her lips twitching back in clear displeasure at the cold of the snow beneath her clawed feet. If the situation had been any different, I might have cracked a chuckle at the way she stepped much too high through it. Parting her jaws, the little green exhaled a jet of flame strong enough to start a strong, steady fire before she, too, took to the skies to assist her brother in gathering more kindling, building the fire up and up before it was a roaring, crackling blaze.

And I continued to stand by her side, unmoving, relishing in the heat myself and waiting patiently for the frozen stranger to thaw.