"That's better," Blanc whispered to himself as he was putting on the warmest clothes he had.
The only remaining thing he had to put on was the jaguar's pelt, a pelt which he took and placed over his upper body, allowing most of it to cover his back and protect him from the harsh wind.
He looked out of place due to the pelt, as it did not match the taiga he had just entered, but it did not matter.
Warmth mattered more than looks in such places.
However, Blanc did not realize that this look, though it made him visible and made him stick out like a dog flying in the sky, also made him look wild and dangerous.
Especially since the headless moose on the ground next to him still painted the snow between them crimson, bathing him in a sight many would fear witnessing.
But there was no time for any of that.
After he finished dressing properly for the new weather around him, he picked up the rope from his bag and went towards a tree a few feet away.
After passing the trunk of the tree two times and knotting it tightly, he dropped the rope on the rock path and signaled for the next one to start walking.
And the first to walk the path appeared to be Kael, who, as Blanc, had the rope tied around his basin, and a deep fear in his eyes.
"Kael," Blanc yelled as he took a seat on the dead moose, "Walk calmly, and watch me or the path, nowhere else, okay?"
To which Kael nodded as he began slowly walking on the path.
As he took step after step, doing what Blanc instructed.
Although scared, Kael's actions up to that point were flawless.
So it did not take long to get to the rock wall.
"Good job, Kael," Blanc said, looking down at him. "Do you think you can climb up, or should I come down to get you?"
"I'm freezing," Kael replied, shivering.
It was after the halfway point of the rock path that the cold of the taiga attacked Kael's skin.
Yet, maybe because of the situation he was in, he did not utter a single complaint until Blanc spoke to him.
"Should I come down and get you, then?" Blanc asked.
But Kael had already taken the rope in his arms and began climbing vertically towards his older brother.
His hands were freezing, sending sharp pain into his body every time he grabbed higher on the rope as he slowly climbed it.
He did not even realize that his foot slipped on a rock near the top, and his hand was too late to grab onto the rope.
Luckily for him, Blanc was there, as he stretched and grabbed him instead.
"I got you," Blanc grunted as he pulled Kael to the top.
"Th-thank you," Kael stuttered, realizing what had happened.
"No worries," Blanc replied, a smile on his face as he got to his feet and untied the knot around Kael's basin.
With a signal of his hand towards the corridor on the other side, the rope flew from Blanc's hands and fell towards the gap as it was being pulled by Celine, Miyanna, and Lune.
"You did good, Little Kael," Blanc said, turning towards his younger brother, who had already taken the lead on donning warmer clothes on him, "Good job."
Kael did not look convinced, as yet again, he found himself in a bad situation from which he had to be rescued by Blanc.
But he did not argue, "Thank you, Brother," he said, still in the process of getting dressed.
Next to come out of the corridor was Miyanna with the rope tied around her stomach.
"I will kill you, hubby!" she yelled as she took a step onto the path.
"As long as you get here, I don't mind," Blanc yelled, laughing, "But do not look down, my love, look at the path ahead."
"Fuck you!" she replied as her eyes, just for the slightest of moments, looked down into the gap.
She panicked, her eyes going wide, her steps larger, to the point that she was almost running on the path.
"Calm down," Blanc said, shocked at the sight.
But Miyanna ignored him, and once past the halfway point, she began ignoring the cold as well.
And only managed to speak once she was near the wall.
"Come and get me, hubby, I'm scared," Miyanna muttered.
"As my lady commands," he nodded.
And Blanc did not joke further. He grabbed the rope and began descending towards his wife, who was now near the rock wall.
"Here I am," he said, as he placed his foot back on the rock path, "Grab onto my back, and hold tightly."
"Y-yes, thank you," Miyanna replied, as she placed her hands around Blanc's neck and her feet coiled around his belly.
"Let's go," he muttered as he began ascending again.
However, it seemed Miyanna's threats from earlier were not unfounded, as perhaps due to fear, with each step Blanc took upward, which took them further away from the path, Miyanna's freezing cold hands tightened around his neck, making it harder and harder to breathe.
He tried to voice a complaint, but no words could leave his tightly shut throat.
So, he rushed with all the strength he had left towards the top, where he made Miyanna let go, gasping for air.
"Thank you, hubby," Miyanna hugged him tightly, "You saved me, I love you."
Blanc gasped as he watched her with teary eyes, "So… do I."
"Are you okay, brother?" Kael asked, seeing his older brother cling to life.
"Mhm, I'm fine," Blanc nodded, color returning to his face, "Miyanna, my love, untie yourself and send the rope back for the next one."
"Yeah," Miyanna nodded, beginning to do as she was instructed, "I should get dressed as well, I'm freezing."
With the rope being pulled back towards the corridor in the other Garden, with air back in Blanc's lungs, and with warm clothes on Miyanna and Kael's backs, they turned towards the path to await the next to come.