Tarvo rested his forehead on Karin's and shut his eyes. He was tired, but not sick. All this emotion was wearing him out.

They both slept until the afternoon and Karin's fever broke and she slowly woke up. "Hmm...?"

Tarvo's forehead was still resting on Karin's when she woke, his arms wrapped around her waist. He breathed deep and evenly.

Karin's eyes widened and she blushed seeing the position they were in and she froze, unsure what to do.

Tarvo, unaware that Karin had woken, was having quite the nightmare. He saw his father and his sisters. His sisters were screaming while his father beat the youngest first. The eldest, Sharie, threw herself in front of the youngest, Mandia, telling, pleading him to beat her instead. The middle aged girl, Tracien, was pulling on Sharie's arm, telling her to get away.
Tarvo frowned in his sleep. It was so vivid and truly horrible. He woke with a start, his eyes wide and terrified. He gasped for air, not realizing that he was holding his breath while sleeping. He saw Karin awake and tried to smile, but couldn't.

Karin looked at him worriedly. "Tarvo? What is it? What's wrong?"

He shut his eyes and tried to breathe normally. "Just a dream. Nothing more."

Karin looked at him sympathetically and hugged him tightly, stroking his back. "Was it about your father?" She asked softly.

He nodded, hugging her back. “My sisters too. Sharie, Tracien and Mandia. They were all a part of it.” He buried his face in the hug. “It was awful.”

Karin felt tears prick her eyes hearing his pain and she hugged him tightly. She paused a moment then said. "... We need to get them back..."

Tarvo couldn’t do anything. His fears had showed in his dreams and he knew that getting them back was the best option. “We can’t just yet. I can’t do anything like this.”

Karin pulled away only a little to look at him. "Then we'll just have to get to the point where we can do something."

Tarvo didn’t meet her gaze. “Give me a day and I think I will be at some resolve with myself. I may be able to get them tomorrow. Our best chance is to watch the village. See what they do in a day now. They will listen to me. They always do.”

Karin nodded slowly and let him go, sitting back. She took the blanket and folded it back up and then gave him a kind smile. "Thank you..."

He gave a rough smile. “You’re welcome.” He sat up and started poking the embers to restart the fire. He felt slightly cold. Chilled to the bone with fear, he thought.

Karin looked at him sadly and wrapped the blanket around him. "I really appreciate you taking care of me... no one's ever cared for me while I was sick..."

He smiled, but not so forcefully this time. “First time for everything,” he said, a little too sarcastically for his liking. “Don’t think about it too much. Compared to my sisters, I’m a peasant at that stuff. They’re like goddesses.”

Karin chuckled softly. "Well, I'll take the peasant any day." She hugged him tightly then stood up and stretched. "I feel so much better."

Tarvo smiled. “The peasant isn’t good if you’re dying though.” He started placing wood on the growing fire. “This will keep us warm until the sun comes through.

Karin gave a small frown at his first comment but then nodded. "Alright." She said as she leaned back against the wall where she sat.

Tarvo shut his eyes briefly. He didn’t want to look out the wooden window. He opened his eyes and stared at the fire momentarily. This is what he felt like when his father was hurting someone.

Karin looked over at him and put a hand on his. "We'll get them tomorrow. Right?" She gave him a small reassuring smile.

He looked at her hand on his then up to her face. “Right.” He forced a smile to give back to her. He hated being like this. He was often too easily read.

Karin gave him a sympathetic smile and squeezed his hand before sitting back down.

Tarvo sat for a while, then stood and walked over to the window. He wanted to help his sisters but he wasn’t sure if they were even in danger and he would be endangering Karin if he brought them here. But he couldn’t leave them alone.