Warnings: You should probably know by now most of these chapters contain blood.

      ~Mitch's P.O.V.~

"We should get there today... The mountain isn't far at all now..." Jerome comments, breaking the silence.

With a new day, rested and ready to go, we continue our trek to the mountain. It's already been an hour or so and now with the sun in the sky the mountain is stretching to the skies in front of us. From our position we can make out its snow capped peak and small trees littering the sides until it starts to tilt upwards. It turns out the mountain is humongous, stretching on for several miles before final sloping down.

"Too bad we didn't decide to meet at the base of the mountain... That thing looks monstrous to climb." I point out, wondering if it's even possible to scale it far enough to reach the top.

After yesterday's indecent I am still left wearing Jerome's clothing, leaving him with only my still damp clothing. But because of its state wearing it would do more harm than good. I've messed up twice now... I've caused Jerome to get hurt, even if it turned out to be partially worth it, and I've almost caused both of us to drown. I think glumly, my mood matching the grey clouds drifting into the sky.

"Do you think Preston and Rob found one of our notes?" Jerome asks out of the blue after a few minutes of silence.
"Well if they didn't they're dead meat cuz it would be almost impossible to track them down. Even if we got a vantage point from the mountain."

Jerome only hums in response, stepping over a pile of dung in the snowy field. Soon enough the grey clouds have blocked out most of the suns light and now small snowflakes are gently tumbling from the sky above. Nothing too drastic, not really heavy... Just... Pretty. If we weren't in a survival situation right now I'd love to build a snowman... I think, noticing the satisfying crunch of packing snow beneath our feet.

After a few hours or so of small talk and horrible snow puns I decide to look at my shirt and sweater which are currently slung over Jerome's shoulder. The fabric looks dry. It's certainly not frozen like it had been the night before while it was still wet, and it doesn't look like there is any liquid weighing it down.

"Hey Jerome are my clothes dry now? I'm sure you'd probably want these back by now..." I ask, pointing at the black clothing covering my body.

Without stopping Jerome swings my hoodie and shirt off his back and holds them up in the air, glancing over them. He wrings the shirt out and when nothing drips from the white fabric he stops.

"Yeah I guess they're okay now... Here."

He hands me my now dry clothing to me and turns away as I strip off his jacket and shirt, replacing them with my own. Then poking him I return his clothing in which he slips back on.

"Ahhhh much better." Jerome sighs in content, hugging himself.

I chuckle picking up on the sarcasm and we continue on to the rapidly growing mountain before us.

It's hours before we finally approach the surrounding forest at the base of the giant mountain. We both tilt our heads up to examine the peak which is easily breaking through the clouds at a sharp angle.

"I don't think we're getting all the way up there... Especially with your arm like that." I comment sceptically inspecting the mountain.
"Yeah, we can get as far up as we can and then hopefully we'll spot Vikk and Lachlan and hopefully Preston and Rob too."
     "We should stay here tonight and start climbing in the morning. That way we can have a full amount of sunlight and be fully rested up."

~~~

"Mitch! Mitch look what I found!"

Lifting my head up I watch as Jerome bounds through the snow towards me. In his hands he's carrying a slightly rusty iron sword.

"Yesssssss!"

Jerome hands me the sword and I run my finger along its edge, watching as a small trail of blood trickles off my finger and into the snow.

"It's still in good condition." I evaluate, holding it up in victory.
"Yeah I just kinda found it peeking out of the snow. I guess the sun caught its blade and I saw it out of the corner of my eye. Someone must have dropped it... Although a long time ago since there weren't any footprints, unfortunately. But speaking of sunlight..." Jerome continues, turning to face the sun, "I'd say we only have a few minutes before sun down. Like... Ten max."

     I look to the sky, through the branches, and notice it's true. The sun is only minutes away from setting. Then I look back at the mountain, the base of it about sixty meters away.

      "How about we look for a cave? With a mountain this size there's bound to be at least one. Plus, it'll keep us dry." I suggest.

     Jerome looks towards the mountain, silently considering his options. Then with a shrug he nods.

     "What could possibly go wrong?"

      We leave the tree littered area and begin to approach the very bottom of the mountain. There is a small gap between the mountain and the trees providing just enough space for us to see both ways. I point right and we turn that way, scanning the base for caves and looking a bit further up for any too. It's not long before we spot a dent in the rock, shadows covering the opening.

      "Let's check that one out." I state, cautiously stepping into the darkness with the iron sword drawn.

      But with the hiss of an unseen spider echoing off the walls I'm immediately back-pedalling out of the cave. Jerome draws his axe and we stand at the entrance waiting for a spider to lunge out at us but after a few minutes we relax seeing that the spider is not near the caves entrance.

      "Here, I'll go make us some torches. Be right back." Jerome says, turning away and walking into the trees.

      After a few minutes he returns with a blazing torch in each hand. He gives one to me and now with a decent source of light we enter the cave.

      The torches cast a large circle of light around us, casting eerie shadows as they flicker in silence. The cave is quiet apart from the occasional dripping of water or the thud of our feet. Not wanting to venture too far in we only walk in a good hundred meters before examining the area in hopes it is suitable for sleeping.

      The area of cave we are in branches off in two a bit further on and there is coal ore scattered along the walls. But with no pickaxes and the sun having set, inviting new monsters, we can't collect a single piece. There are a few rocks spurting from the ground and they have fairly flat surfaces. A small pool of water is collecting in the corner of the cave but other than that the ground is fairly dry. Although one downside is we can clearly hear the distant hissing of a few spiders echoing off the cave. The noise seems to be coming from the right path.

       "This seems like a good spot... But we should be careful. By the sounds of it there might be a spider spawner down there..." Jerome warns, waving his torch towards the pathways, both leading deeper underground.

      From our standpoint the entrance is still visible but because we are fairly deep into the mine we don't particularly fear and mobs wandering in and killing us in our sleep.

     Suddenly I hear a small rock tumble and I whip around, torch and sword in hand, to see the area where the noise originated from. Jerome ignores the sound but I take a good long minute to eye down the small rock. Where did you come from Hm? I silently interrogate the stone, examining the surrounding area via torch light. I finally turn away, still skeptical but feeling safe enough to let it slide. Oh boy was that a mistake.

      Suddenly with a ghastly hiss a spider lunges from the darkness, landing on my upper body and knocking me to the ground. My torch skids to a halt a meter away, most of the embers spilling out of their holding place.

     "Mitch!" Jerome shouts in surprise, setting down his torch and rushing towards me.

      I struggle underneath the spider, using my hands to push away its face which contains deadly fangs. Saliva drips from its razor sharp fangs and it tries to sink them into my shoulder but I use the flat of my sword to knock its head back, causing it to hiss in anger. But before it can descend upon me once more Jerome grabs it by a leg and tears it off me, repeatedly driving his axe into its abdomen before it finally stops thrashing. The spider now bleeding severely withers on the ground and Jerome wastes no time in chopping it one last time. The spider now lays still, unmoving and previously bright red glowing eyes dull.

     Blood is splattered on Jerome's fur and white shirt, staining it with red. He grunts in disgust, shaking off small droplets of blood from his axe.

     "Are you okay Mitch?" Jerome asks in worry, eyeing my body for wounds.

      I shakily nod, pushing myself to my knees and stretching to grab my torch. But before I grab it I notice the flash of red eyes behind Jerome and before we can react a spider has pounced on Jerome, not hesitating to sink its fangs into his neck.

       Jerome wails in pain and cripples to his knees from the weight of the spider. In fury I pick myself up and charge at the beast, completely decapitating it and kicking its limp body to the side. Jerome's neck is bleeding with puncture wounds breaking through his fur and deep into his flesh. Before more spiders can spawn I charge into the darkness, instantly spotting the familiar glow of a spider spawner. I place the torch on top of the cage and prevent any spiders from ambushing us. I then hurry back to Jerome who is now on his hands and knees, clutching at his neck with one hand.

      "Jerome are you okay?!" I exclaim, dropping to my knees beside him.

      He takes a shaky breath before nodding jerkily. He kneels and hisses in pain as fresh blood seeps through his fingers, dripping onto the rocky ground in a steady flow. With out a word I gently push him back so he's sitting and I untie his tie which is currently protecting his arm wound.

      He glances at me with pain filled eyes, tears gathering in his eyes but not flowing. He draws his hands back in understanding and I wrap the tie around his neck, careful not to wrap it too tightly so I don't strangle him. His face scrunches up and he leans against the cave wall, once again gripping his neck.

     "That's all we can do for now... I'm sorry that had to happen." I say in sympathy, picking his axe up for him and setting to the side.
     "Thanks Mitch... But let's just go to sleep now... We want to climb a mountain tomorrow and that's gonna take some energy." Jerome replies weakly, slowly setting his hands down and shifting to a more comfortable position.
     "But Jerome!" I protest, looking at him likes he's crazy, "You can't seriously be thinking of climbing the mountain like that!"
      "A neck injury won't affect my climbing skills. So don't worry." He reasons.

      I open my mouth to protest again but he shushes me, turning around so he's facing the wall. I roll my eyes, curling up against a rock.

     You are one crazy bacca...

~~~