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Hayes' boots squeaked on the already packed snow as he made use of the trail Nikki had blazed. He couldn't see her, just where she had vanished, and he placed his feet carefully in spots he knew to be stable, i.e. where she had gone before.

He reached the end of Nikki's footprints and, bracing one hand against his knee, offered the other to the fallen girl, or at least the spot where the girl had fallen.

"..I was going to say this looked like a good spot for snowshoes," he called, whether she let him help her up or no. Despite raising his voice to be heard over the wind that bayed like a pack of Houndoom, he managed to sound mildly apologetic - as if his partner's tumble into the snow might be his fault (but not really.)

Not one to oppose a lady's wishes, Hayes pulled his hand back, though not out of easy reach. Most of his face wasn't visible, but his eyes were creased with concern - or, possibly, amusement - as he watched Nikki flounder in the powdery bank.

A minute passed, during which the air amazingly failed to turn blue from profanity.

Hayes felt compelled to say something at this point.

"You sure?"

The Rocket didn't press the issue. Instead he straightened up, wrestled out of his pack, and balanced it on the tops of his boots while he unhooked his snowshoes from the side. Leaning the pack against the sapling, he stepped into the snowshoes and tightened the straps.

He only made sidelong glances at what he was doing, since his attention was mostly on Nikki and her ridiculous winter gymnastics. By the time she hauled herself up next to him, out of breath and out of sorts, he'd straightened up and was pulling his gloves back on.

Silence would be sass, so Hayes just slung his pack over his shoulders and aimed a thumb in the direction of the peak.

"I'm ready when you are."

Hayes took the opportunity to eat a bar of trail mix.

Once Nikki got her snowshoes on, he stuffed the wrapper in his pocket and followed silently in her wake, using his trekking poles to help him maneuver up the slope and avoid the deceptively shallow-looking dips. It would be fruitless to strike up a conversation, absurd to even inquire about the weather. Especially to inquire about the weather.

As so often happens, it had gotten worse.

Halfway up the mountain visibility had decreased to the point that Nikki's form was a blurry shape sliced through with white, and Hayes was feeling for the next step with his poles like a blind man. The snowfall had stayed thick and steady, leaving a powdery cap on his shoulders and hood, but the wind keened, a wailing dirge of increasing clarity and pitch.

It was almost like singing.

They'd be lucky to find each other if one of them got lost. Hayes was doing his best not to let that happen, but he could barely see five feet in front of him, and was beginning to perspire inside his layers.

This was moving past his danger threshold. It would have been a good idea to bring out the leading rope half an hour ago. As it was, the Rocket came close to stumbling into Nikki when she stopped, but managed to avoid her and come down heavily on one of his poles, awkward but upright.

He was gesturing towards a scraggly clump of pines making one last stand at the treeline - possible shelter - when the scream stilled his hands. Instinctively Hayes looked upward, seeing nothing through the falling snow.

"--- the --- was that?" He had to shout, and the wind still stole half his words.

For a split second it looked to Hayes like Nikki was taking his suggestion to wait out the storm, or at the very least rest and regroup. But she made a beeline past the coppice.

Hayes' patience, worn thinner than he realized by sleep debt, the cold hike and getting smacked with a jacket, went with her.

The blond made a wordless sound of ire and started after her. Being taller by half a foot, his strides were longer, and he pushed himself to close the distance. Complaints from his muscles were ignored as he reached out to grab her by the shoulder, her pack, whatever offered purchase, and pull her around to face him.

"Hr phm FRMFPH-" Hayes started at the same time Nikki began shouting. Instead of waiting for her to finish, he pulled his face mask down to be better heard and raised his voice above hers.

"Are you CRAZY? You're going to get the both of us killed and no, you can't!" He made a sharp movement that twisted her backpack strap once around his hand and yanked. "You don't even know if that was it, you're just running off blind like a damn idiot!"