The skeletal form of the jackal, Winter, ambled closer and closer to the gate he had ordered to raise. He shivered and quivered. The freezing cold took hold of him like a searing bear trap.

He took a step, then another, and soon he had set foot in the grounds of Gardenton. He cringed at the sight of entire blocks and streets buried in meters-deep snow, and walls coated in foot-thick ice.

Finally. Somewhere close to home, he thought.

~***~

Stripe returned to consciousness beside a small fire. He found himself laid down on a marble floor under a domed roof. The raging storm outside was muffled by the walls of the grand structure.

Looking around, he found himself to be in a small clearing surrounded by small trees and shrubs growing in mounds of mulch. Pale wooden bookshelves littered the landscape. Metaphor was sitting contemplatively by the fire, poking it with a stick. The herbal folk split themselves to two groups. One was utterly afraid of the other, shivering in both fear and cold, and casting occasional glances. The other group felt united in spirit, unlike the other that were held together by the loose bonds of fear. They stood vigilantly, alert and ready.

He tried to rise, but found himself unable. Stiff bandages wrapped him like a mummy. The off-white cloth was stained yellow, the color of his blood.

Metaphor noticed him shifting. "You're awake. Don't move too much. I don't want to have your frostbite wounds bleeding like crazy."

Stripe attempted to reply, but there was some bandages that prevented his mouth from opening fully.

"Shush. Shush. Better rest up, Stripe. You're a lucky one. You managed to reach the door before you completely froze."

"B-but I w-went the oth-ther way," Stripe managed, swallowing the shock. "I r-ran a-away fr-rom the librrary."

"... Lucky you, Stripe. You have guardian angel."

"I think I saw Buddy in the storm."

~***~

Hero squinted his eyes to catch a glimpse of the beast in the veil of snow. The cyborg locust shone itself like a living constellation in the night, but as Hero had whittled its constitution, the lights that indicated its state of health faded and soon the insect was no longer visible in the dark. It struck Hero like an assassin in the dead of night, whittling him down. The roaring gale masked its steps and icy wind masked its scent.

Hero stood his ground. His blade was wreathed in passionate flames, and blood dripped from the numerous wounds inflicted upon his body. Hero struggled to keep his senses keen in the raging storm and his hold unshaking against the hidden foe. The snow beneath his feet was stained with blood of both red and green. Gratuitous amounts of black oil was splashed unto the wet snow from the wounds he made on the cyborg locust.

The insect readied to strike Hero for the last time, but it made a critical mistake. For it came toward Hero in the windward side, its scent was carried to the keen nose of Hero. It tried to ram its barbed steel arms into him, but he was quick enough to parry the blow with his claymore.

His feet slid back in force the insect exerted upon him. The blade sunk into the metal carapace of the locust, and lime blood and black oil spilled into the snow. The insect screamed a warcry that was audible even in the muffling blizzard. It raised one of its arms to stab Hero at the side.

Hero stifled his scream of pain. He raised his sword and struck the wild beast with a blow that blew an entire chunk of the insect's arm. Fluid quickly flowed out the arteries of the broken arm, but was quickly sealed by air-activated sealant and frost.

The locust went to a murderous rage and rammed the staggering Hero with a might that would demolish walls. Hero was hooked onto the hooks that was attached to the insect's face as it plowed through snow and pounding Hero to several walls. Glass shards, ice spears, and pieces of concrete lodged themselves onto his flesh.

Hero's claymore morphed into a smaller blade, a dagger. He began slicing up the locust with the steaming-hot knife as it led him farther and farther from the settlement.

The wounds on the insect had sapped much of the strength from the creature, and in a last ditch effort to win against this fight, the beast rammed Hero. Having seen the move before, Hero jumped to the side, and let the beast slide into the veil of snow behind him.

His blade lengthened as he ran into the veil to finish the beast, but instead of a beast, he encountered a great chasm. It was so wide that a three-storey building on its side acts as a bridge and so deep that the bottom was hidden behind a cover of foggy shadows. The tracks on the snow indicate that the locust had fallen down the great cliff.

Hero turned to return to town, but he took a misstep and slipped on some ice. He fell backwards into the chasm, but he fortunately managed to grab on some electrical cables that was attached to the cliff face.

He attempted to climb the icy wires, but the earth that held the wire was weak and was beginning to break under the strain of his weight.

Climbing higher, Hero reached for a ledge that was barely in his reach, but alas! In the last second, the wires that he held onto gave away. The ledge he was reaching for was suddenly very far away as he began to plummet down to the bottom of the chasm, but before he could truly start falling, he felt a metal hand grab his arm, straining to pull him up the cliff.

"Thank you, friend," Hero said. He tried to see the visage of his savior, but the shadow and snow was obscuring.

"G-glad to be of help, Hero." He heard a familiar childish voice.

But the metal-handed person's strength and grip was inadequate for pulling him up. Little by little, Hero began slipping from the person's grip until he was finally lost hold of.

"Hero!" He plummeted like a heavy stone, headfirst. The shadows of the cliffs began to envelop him as he neared the shadowy floor.

Thud. Hero slammed onto the chasm's rocky floor.

END OF ACT 1

A/N: After this chapter, we're halfway through my buffer. May decrease in update frequency.