Though the coldness kept her sane, and although that same coldness froze whatever tears might have left her eyes when hearing the story, she was still hurt.
Deep down, a pressure built in her chest.
For she did many things to keep her own kind safe, even if that meant putting her own life at risk.
But the fools choose their path as if they knew better.
"This is the result of your greed," Allegra turned to face the chiefs, "And the result of generations of half assed prophecies and destinies that you kept whispering into their ears as if being the only truth in this world."
"Calm your tongue, daughter," muttered Georn before his daughter could say something that would anger the rest.
"I will not," she shook her head, "The Chiefs refused to hear my pleas countless times by now, and now that they see the truth with their own eyes, they don't believe it, finally realizing it might be too late."
"We get it, Allegra, enough," Leilani said, her mind full of worry and anger towards her own son.
But Allegra didn't relent, "No, Leilani, you need to hear this for your own good beca-"
"ENOUGH!" Leilani yelled, interrupting Allegra, "What's for my own good is knowing my son and clan are safe. Feel free to give me lessons after we rescue the rest. Until then, shut the fuck up."
"How dare you?" Allegra muttered, her cold eyes wide open, "Your son is in danger firstly because he is a hot-headed fool, secondly because of you all, so how can you tell me to shut-"
A punch from Leilani sent Allegra flying ten feet in the air, but Allegra was quick to react.
As she fell, the fur on her back lengthened, overtaking her body.
By the time her feet touched the ground, all that remained was the crystal white eyed bear.
And she wasn't the only one.
"You are not worthy of hitting my Chiefess," muttered Nataly as she too, turned into her Spirit Bear form.
Before long, two large Spirit Bears stood before Leilani.
"Enough playing around," the Chiefess of the Megaloceros, Ulia, spoke, walking between the two, together with Georn.
"There are more important things to solve than offer life lessons, Allegra," Georn sighed, before turning to face Leilani. "Chiefess of the Eagle Clan, you, too, act just as hot-headed as your son. I will overlook the actions you took today because of the worry you hold for your son, but next time you touch the Chiefess of my Clan, and my own daughter, I will rip those wings of yours and use them as decoration."
"And here I thought you would say something more neutral," Ulia sighed, shaking her head in disbelief.
She was a young woman, no less than forty.
Her wide antlers spanned over a foot in length, even in her human form. A feat that showed the highest lineage between their clan, as well as the strength she and her lineage held.
"I am neutral," Georn replied calmly, "Just a warning to an old friend."
Leilani took a step back, lowering her hands as a sign of forfeit, "So be it."
Allegra and Nataly gave up as well on the quarreling, turning back to their human forms.
"I will remember that punch," Allegra muttered under her breath as she watched the ground.
The coldness remained, yet the pressure in her chest kept on building more and more.
The fools chose their paths, but now she was about to risk her life again to save them.
It will be a while before she can dream again.
She turned towards all present, opening her mouth.
But Georn intervened before Allegra could say something that would enrage the already panicking Chiefs even more.
"Daughter," he said, looking at her with intended coldness in his eyes.
She shook her head before speaking, "I won't say anything else besides this. You have made your mistakes, and they have made theirs. Now it's time we try and fix this before..."
She looked up towards the sky, and the eyes of all the rest followed, as in the distance, between the clouds, a red eye watched them with heavy intent.
"Before we lose too many of our young," she finished.
To which all nodded, though not all were pleased with the delay or happy with the Forest Mother watching their failure from the sky.
They knew punishment would follow, but that was not important right now.
After a bit of planning, they all ran towards the Gardens in human form, only turning into their beast forms after killing a few soldiers who stood guard at its entrance.
Once inside, Allegra took the lead, taking the group in the opposite direction from where she thought Blanc and their group might be.
They followed the smell of their clansmen as they rushed through the rainforest at great speed, killing every beast or soldier that stood between them and their friends and family.
And not an hour after entering, at the great speed they ran at, without caring about the exhaustion or the aching muscles in their bodies, they arrived at the weirdest of places.
The rainforest suddenly ended, and in front of them stood hundreds of feet of nothingness with a gap half a mile deep.
On the other side of the giant gap stood a different climate; giant white trees grew as far as the eye could see, with green moss covering their roots.
There was no way to get across such a large gap.
But the scent of the Metamorphs came from that other side.
So there must be a way across, they all thought as they ran along the edge until they saw three hardwood bridges, and another climate, one covered by heavy snow and pines.
A taiga.
They did not linger on the taiga for too long, however, as screams from the bridges drew their attention as they got closer and closer.
Heavily armored soldiers were gathering on the bridge they had to cross.
But it did not matter how many there were.
As Allegra and the rest got closer to the bridge, she jumped in the air, turning into her human form.
Just in time for her eyes to begin shining a bright white light, as she muttered, "Jump."
The light traveled fast, touching the faces of the soldiers, and one by one, as if she could control the strings of their souls, they walked off the bridge, falling into the gap.
"Such hatred," a voice rumbled from the other side of the bridge as the loud, wet thumps of the soldiers who jumped reached the ears of all present, "Your barbarism knows no end."