Jack POV

THUMP.

THUMP.

SWOOSH.

I cussed in Russian as I hit the ground on my back, with my eyes still closed. I heard Ben groan beside me and Aqua calling our names. And yes, Russian. I somehow learned some words whenever I hear North get irritated or angry -- most of the time, with his elves.

My staff rolled away from its holder that I carried on my back and my hands were searching for it blindly until I had finally gripped it -- firm. My fingernails scraped dirt when I tried to move.

"Jack? Ben? A little help?" I heard Aqua said.

My eyelids flutter open, revealing a very dull looking sky. I don't even need to flinch at the sight of the sky like I usually do -- because it was not as bright. I can't seem to spot the bright sun rays -- or maybe there are sun rays -- probably that its too dim for me to see. That's how dull the sky is.

Ben stood up and help out his hand to help me. Blinking twice to get rid of the starry vision-- effect of the fall -- I took Ben's hand with my vacant one. He lifted me up and a few seconds later we were laughing our stomachs out.

Aqua was hanging upside down on a tree branch in front of our eyes, looking helpless and defeated. I laughed because of two reasons:

One, he looks like a hobo with his dark blue hair all messy and soggy.

Two, his funny looking belly button is showing. His belly button is the bulgy type, so I can't help but imagine how Alaine would poke it from time to-

Okay, no.

"Stop laughing and help me,"

Just as I was about to reach out to him he wriggled and fell down, head first. Dried leaves stuck to his soggy hair, dirt matted one side of his face. We laughed again, this time featuring Aqua's groan. He somehow managed to get up by himself when we finally stopped laughing.

I feel weird. I'd expected this trip to be nerve wrecking and serious, but we managed to pull off a laughing session not once, but twice.

I'd never realised how creepy our location is until Aqua looked around and shuddered.

The three of us was on a clear spot surrounded by dark trees and rotted vines hanging down from each branch. The shrubs had no leaves, its stems had decayed like somebody had been putting it on fire. I poked the decayed stems with my staff, a few frosts trailed on it before it turns to ash. Sensitive much?

Speaking of fire, I instantly thought of Jade. How she's holding on right now, I don't know. I'd checked on her before we left, and I noticed that her skin was getting a tad paler. How I wanted to wrap her into my arms that time - but guess what? They didn't allow me to.

She also didn't know where we were going. She didn't know she had the Hyreaoti. And she didn't know why I'm not going to be next to her at her desperate moments. She's an independent person, North once said. And she wasn't the type to admit defeat without a last battle. That's Jade. Its part of the reason why I love her.

She was sleeping when I came for a brief moment. I said I wanted to give a goodbye hug or somewhat. I only managed to tuck her hair behind her ear as they fell across her face pale face. And that, even, gave a mere effect. She shivered. Did I mention how I wanted to wrap her into my arms at that moment?

Cupid said that if I do, she'll get weaker. She can't defuse her internal flame to appear normal anymore. She needs the flowing fire energy to move. My ice-cold skin couldn't touch hers -- even when there's a layer clothing between our skin, how ridiculous is that?! -- as I may reduce the energy she's trying to maintain.

It had only been a day, less, maybe, and its that bad.

"Ben, these dirt on my face," Aqua leaned his face towards Ben who held out an open palm.

His hands tremble slightly as the dirt was lifted off Aqua's face and into his hand. He was like an earth magnet, not a speck of dirt on Aqua was left after Ben pulled them off. I was dazed. I had seen Ben use his powers in front of me a couple of times, and every time I see him do it was like watching an elephant talk.

There's no such thing as talking elephants so don't look it up on your internet browser by the time you finished reading. That was a metaphor, Jack Frost style. Unless there are such as talking elephants that I may not ever heard of?

Ben saw my amazement and gave me a grin.

"He can do more, Jack. An earthquake, even," Aqua laughed, passing me on his way to the creepy shrubs.

"Right. So where do we go?" I followed behind Aqua who peered behind the shrubs. He then pointed at an almost-invisible trail of withered grass and cracked earth.

"There." He said and started to step over the shrub but Ben pulled him back by his shoulder. "How can you be so sure?" Ben hissed, glancing at the creepy looking pathway.

"The trail is right in front of your eyes, Ben!" Irritated and in pain, Aqua pried Ben's gripping hand on his shoulder.

They continued to argue when I scouted the area. So much for their argument, I found another trail. It was almost the same as before, with withered grass and cracked earth, but with a bonus -- specks of what I think it is , snow.

"The trail is in front of my eyes, too." I called out to them. They fell silent and scrambled towards me, peeking over the clear path that has no shrubs blocking it.

Ben stepped away and scouted the clearing next, his boots kicking some dirt chunks. I was still scrutinizing the path that I found until I realised Ben had stopped walking. Me and Aqua turned to him and saw him push a rotted log away.

We watched in silence as he rubbed his palms together and walked towards a shrub-less way. He stopped midway and turned to us slowly. "There's a path here too." He said, kicking a big leaf that covered the sight of the pathway. From afar I could see a similar path, withered grass and cracked earth -- this time, not specks of snow, but small puddles of water.

"Are those the only paths?" I asked wearily.

Ben scouted for another round before nodding at me. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. Aqua shook his head, muttering about how complicated the journey is -- finally .

How are we going to proceed if there are too many options? I can't risk splitting up, one of could -- or maybe more -- could get hurt. Or die.

Plus none of us had ever been here before.

Too risky.

"Lets split--"

"NO!" Me and Ben disagreed immediately, shooting a glare towards Aqua's defeated expression.

"Okay," Aqua said, raising his hands above his head. "You guys are the bosses."

"But then what?"

I thought I heard a low growl. Instantly, our heads shot up towards the first path we had found and turned pale as we faced a big brown bear at the size of a car. We froze, not making a move -- at all. Our chest rised and fell in a minimum movement.

I resisted the urge to jump on a nearest tree and attack the bear from above, but against my better judgement, I decided I wouldn't even consider the plan. The bear's brown eyes narrowed as it studied us, and because of standing still for too long the end of my toes are getting cramps.

"Easy," I whispered as Aqua's left foot shuffled on the ground uneasily. The bear's ears twitched at his movement and beside me, I heard Aqua laugh nervously.

The bear's teeth bared and its growl was louder this time, making me suck in a ragged breath. Both my hands are now sweaty and I fear that my staff would slip from my fingers right at this moment. The bear's presence gave a more eerie surrounding at the clearing, much, much eerie than in a horror movie, I have to admit.

Its sharp gaze rested on me, and it blinked twice, cocking his head slightly to the side. My eyes widened in surprise as a voice enter my head.

Separate... Split up...

"WHOA, what. Was. That." Aqua said, his mouth forming an O. Ben had took his surrendering step backwards, gripping his sling bag strap like its his life.

Trust.. Not much time...

Trust... Go...

Split... Separate...

The bear then suddenly went into the shrubs and was out of sight just as a distant roar could be heard.

"Do you trust that bear?" Ben said with his eyes wide open in astonishment. "We need to split up?"

"I told you we need to separate," Aqua muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Its still a crazy idea, by the way,"

"So?" I asked confirmation from them, glancing at the paths. They don't look safe enough. But since the voice told us to trust it and literally go on our own ways... Though its undoubtedly dangerous, I needed to trust it. I just have to. I want to know what's out there.

"You're now hesitant, no need to worry, for the bears and the eagles will protect your glory." Ben chanted the familiar line, looking down on his notebook. Yes, the elf's clues. The poem. Bears. Makes sense, enough.

"Don't kill me if I say I trust that animal. I mean, it spoke to me! In my head!" Aqua raised his hands to his head, patting it. I sighed, giving him an okay-we-believe-your-obvious-statement nod.

"Listen, if one of us... dies... I just want to say that I'm sorry, in case you blamed it on me. I... had only fallen in love with one girl, just one, and it leads to all this... tragedy. I'm just so sorry if I--"

"I volunteered myself. I wouldn't blame you. Besides, I owe Jade." Ben gave a reassuring smile, tightening the strap on his shoulder.

"Well, Jack. At least we die trying." Aqua held out his pale hands to me and I took it doubtlessly. An ice dagger slipped from between our hands just like how it had happened a few months ago when I had first met this obnoxious Aqua.

I shook my hands with Ben next, and he patted my shoulder. He was always like a brother to me, and it would be horrible if he wouldn't make it to the end of the journey. My mind flashed back to where I had first met Ben. How his first appearance made me respect him. He was a gentleman, and I'm happy Breeze found him.

I heard another distant and wild roar and that time, I knew we needed to get going. Before splitting up, Ben gave each of us a copy of the poem which he had frantically wrote in 5 minutes time.

"I'd see both of you in about three days," I joked dryly, making my way to the path with snow as Aqua and Ben chose theirs.

"Good luuuuuck!" Aqua waved to both me and Ben before disappearing into the puddle path, soaking up the water in the puddle in his hands. Ben gave me a farewell smile before going to the path the bear had taken earlier, his boots crunching on the dry dirt. I made my way into my path next as soon as I hear Ben's footsteps were getting distant.

Yep. This is it.

**

There were specks of snow on the beginning, but as I walked farther, the trees on the sides of the path were getting thicker and greener, the snow on the path were also getting thicker.

My staff were leaving trails of unmeltable ice from the starting of the path, I'm going to make sure I wouldn't get lost in case I need to turn back.

I was on my super frost mode as I walked through the path, snow turned to trails of frost as I stepped on it. The gaps between the trees revealed an unpleasant view, it was dark, and it looks like something will come out -- surprisingly -- and stab me to death.

I shake that thought off and laughed consciously. There's no way.

My feet stopped on its tracks as -- I thought -- I heard a low hum coming from my back. I spun my head to find, in fact, no one behind me. The humming, also, had stopped. My eyes narrowed into slits as I studied my surroundings, my staff raised to attack any incoming surprise threats.

I found no one and nothing sneaking up on me, so I continued walking, my guard up. Goose bumps raised on my skin all of a sudden, and I have this weird feeling that someone is -- creepily -- watching my every move.

Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I looked down on the frost trailing around my pale feet. Then, feeling -- or thinking that I was -- light-weighted, I sprinted forwards, taking big leaps on the snow.

My inner Jack Frost was begging for me to do it. The cold air fanned my face and I could feel freedom again. The trees on my sides were blurred, and I could see nothing but the whiteness of the snow.

I leaped and as my feet hit the ground, frost trailed on the snow. My hand held out to the path in front of me, conjuring ice, fit for a Guardian to glide on. I shifted my weight from my left foot to the right, over and over again.

The ice felt comfortably warm under my bare feet as I glided through the snowy woods, and I used my staff as my tool to transfer ice to the trunks of the pine trees at my side. With a touch, ice cracked on the rough surface.

I laughed as I made a big leap before landing on the ice back again, cracking it with intricate frost patterns. My focus was only to the ground, paying no mind to the trees.

My mouth was agape in awe as I saw snow covered hills on the end of the path. It seems a heck farther, but it also seems like the path ended right there just for the snowy hills. The view was too beautiful to miss, so I started to slow down.

Well, I attempted to.

The ice in front of me wouldn't stop expanding itself on the ground and up to the tree trunks. Icy blue light shone from my staff towards the ice -- but I realised that the ice wasn't conjured by me anymore. My unmoved feet won't stop gliding itself, though I made no steps to glide anymore.

The ice was more like waves -- it was flowing forwards but it dragged me along with it. Since I found no other way but to leap off the ice, I tried.

I jumped but slipped and fell on the ice that was expanding by itself. I tried to do it over and over again, but the result was the same. I slipped and fall.

Then, I tried hooking my staff on a nearby tree trunk. Thanks to the unnecessary ice that had expanded up to the trunk, my staff slipped off. Also, I tried doing it multiple times. Still the same result.

Last but not least, I punched the ice using the end of my staff, trying to hold myself from moving, but it won't break. I tried digging my staff onto the snow, but the snow was dragged along, no matter how deep I dig.

I cussed as the moving ice steered me to a slope in the middle of the path. The slope was far too wide and it would be impossible to jump over it. Frantically, I tried doing all the solutions I could think of, hooking my staff of a branch, but the branch was too high.

Trying to pick up any wind, but the air was still, no wind. Not even a breeze.

"Very dumb!" I muttered to myself, punching the end of my staff into the ice. My heart leaped a little as I saw a crack, but like an ultimate healer, the ice crack mended together in a matter of seconds.

I could practically hear the thumpa thumpa of my heart beating frantically and the blood rush around my head as I neared the slope. Bad news is, slope looks hella deep.

The ground was completely covered in ice, not a chance for me to attempt another leap of life to safety.

Thanks for letting me live for more than 300 years. I felt death before, but I won't want to feel it again.

I clutched my staff and sling bag on my hands as we fell into the steep slope in a tragedy, along with the ice that sabotaged my fun time and turned it into death.

I wanted to break into pieces of glowing ice if I ever hit myself on the ground from a high distant, instead of turning into separate bloody pieces of a Guardian I had once been.

Who the hell would dare to kill a Guardian and created a never ending treadmill of ice on the pathway I was supposed to take safely.

But then again, this journey isn't safe. I've been warned.

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Hey guys! Sorry for the late update. I ran out of ideas and I had to collect ideas from my friends in order to get this book running. Plus, a page from this chapter had been deleted, so its a massive pain rewriting it all. I hate rewriting.

Dedicated this chapter for the oh-so-amazing @100starryskies !

She writes a Jack Frost fanfiction called Blood Speckled Snow, which is, of course, awesome ^^ So if you need another Jack Frost story to read that has good literature, plot and all those stuff, go check the book out! Trust me, its a good book *thumbs up* . I'll leave a link to Blood Speckled Snow at the External link! (: