"Aww, come on," Jack complained, tilting his head up to look at their next massive obstacle, shading his eyes from the sunlight. "How much longer are they gonna make us walk!?"

"Stop complainin'!" Merida said sharply, dismounting and grabbing her foot to bend her leg behind her, stretching. "They said they'd meet us at the bottom, lazy."

It was a few hours past midday; the pair had made it out of the capital and with Merida's direction, into the western mountains, to where they currently stood. One of the largest peaks, an enormous affair with huge, sloping hills at its base, and several craggy cliffs and crevices. It was thickly forested, with very dense undergrowth. Jack was loathe to begin such a difficult hike, but hopefully the Guardians would stay true to their word and arrive soon.

"Hey, you try being an amnesiac thief your whole life, see who's lazy then." He bent over to touch his toes and then walked over and untangled his staff from the saddle. "We're off, then?" he asked, when Merida didn't move.

The curly-haired girl pursed her lips a little and looked up at the mountain, which seemed to shift as the light from the moving clouds played over its wooded sides. "Sure, just..." She trailed off.

"What's wrong?" Jack tensed slightly, wondering if he was about to be the victim of some kind of bloody betrayal.

"Nothing!" She hesitated again. "A just wanted tae say somethin' where they can't hear." She didn't move from Angus' side, placing a hand on his muscled shoulder.

Jack was puzzled now. He leaned up against a tree while stretching out his own legs. "Okay. This had to wait until the last minute, because...?"

"Shut up. A' wanted to be sure ya weren't goin' tae desert me. Or kill me." Merida frowned and put her fists on her hips before continuing. "A' don't think we should stay here long."

Somewhat surprised, Jack thought her statement over again. He realized he didn't know what he was expecting when they would arrive. Stay there forever? It honestly sounded like a bore at best, and dangerous at worst. "You planning to run away?" he asked, jumping up to catch a branch above his head with both hands, stretching his arms while he kicked his feet gently.

"A' don't know if I belonged here in the first place, to be frank," she said, still frowning up at the mountain. Angus meandered away a few steps to drink from a small brook flowing downhill. "I don't like rules, and I don't like people that want me tae be one thing or another."

She sounded like she was genuinely opening up, and Jack traded an acidic remark for an empathetic one. "I get it," he said reasonably, pulling himself up to perch on the branch. "Sounds like you've been pretty cooped up your whole life. But if that's how you feel, why'd you come this far in the first place?"

Pulling herself back up onto her massive steed, Merida kicked her heels and Angus reluctantly left the stream and set off towards the mountains' foothills. Jack hopped from branch to branch in a casual fashion, keeping pace with the plodding horse. "Well," she said defensively, "look what ah can do now! Being a mage, that's somethin' you don't pass up easy. A' couldn't've done that mahself."

"No?"

"No, they've got tae do some stuff ferst, yu can't just go on yer merry way shootin' magic from yer fingertips like a witch. But after that..."

Jack climbed a few branches higher, searching for anyone eavesdropping in the woods. "You're home free."

"Exactly. Besides...that's one of the important things," she said, dropping her voice a bit. "I know they aren't lyin' about the prophecy, I know that much. Something led me all this way, something big. When you get tested, it's...well, you'll see. You can just tell. You can feel it. It's...destiny. It's fate."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

She had a shining gleam to her eyes when Jack looked back at her. The woods seemed to grow quiet, and Angus paused, tossing his head. The thief dropped back down to a branch at her level and played with the rough wood of his staff, looking off to the side.

"I'll be honest," he finally said. "I'm not one way or the other. I came here because Pitch caught my scent, and for whatever reason, he wants me, alive." He puffed out his cheeks and laughed slightly. "It's not a good feeling, you know? So I kind of liked the idea of protection, and someone teaching me the ropes of whatever new world I've been tossed into." He spread his hands. "I think you might be right. But I think the Guardians aren't going to be very willing to let us go easily."

"Exactly." She started moving again, and Jack took a thirty-foot bound from one tree to the next, catching the very top branches of a swaying spruce as the wind whistled briskly around him.

"But let's say we don't like what they want us to do, and we run away, what do we do after that?" he insisted, peering down at Merida.

She waved her hands nonchalantly. "Och, we can figure it out! All I know is, this won't be no permanent place for me to stay, ever."

Jack laughed and shrugged, jumping off the tree and letting himself fall straight down to the forest floor, landing in a puff of fallen leaves. "Okay. I'm down for that attitude. No promises to the Guardians, no promises to anyone until we figure out what's going on."

Angus suddenly reared and backed up a few paces, squealing. Merida yanked on his reins in alarm, and Jack whirled around as he heard the pounding of footsteps—no, paws. A lot of them. Heavy panting, and a few feral growls.

"Ohhh, great...Merida, we've got wolves!"

"Oh sh—!" She began to struggle with her bow on her back while trying to keep her mount in check at the same time. Jack hopped back up into a tree and craned his neck to search through the forest, spotting a moving pack of dappled fur coming in from the right. Five? Six? It was hard to count with the overcast light.

Jack leaped from his perch and landed on Angus' hindquarters, giving them a hearty slap. "Hi-yah!" he yelled. The huge horse screamed again and plunged forward, his huge hooves stirring up the dirt, and Jack crouched and clung to the saddlebags as they took off.

"Do somethin' about them!" she yelled over her shoulder. Jack sputtered, looking back and forth between the mountain ahead and the pursuing wolves.

"I've got nothing!" he yelled back. "You're the one with the magic!" Angus leaped over a fallen log and they both lifted roughly into the air and back down onto his back. Jack's bare feet slipped a bit on his coarse hide.

"You want me t'set the forest on fire!? Cause that's what'll happen, ya thimblehead!"

Jack looked back at the wolves sprinting after them, and his heart sank as he recognized them as dire wolves, massive, ferocious beasts that were once aggressively bred for war. Now they merely roamed the wilds, protecting territory and hunting in their overly vicious, bloodthirsty packs. They wouldn't be giving up the chase anytime soon. "Switch me!" he shouted.

Merida shook her head and managed to swing one leg out of the stirrup, balancing on the other while Jack quickly clambered up Angus' back and grabbed the reins. She grabbed the back of his cloak and pulled herself up to sit facing the wolves, spitting hair out of her face and grabbing for her arrows. Jack pulled his attention back to the path ahead and yelped as he dragged Angus to the side, narrowly avoiding a steep crevice and instead following a shaky upward path following the left side of the crevice. He heard Merida's bow snap and one of the wolves yipped and tumbled down the cliffside in a pile of fur, dust and rocks.

The horse's steady gallop suddenly faltered, making Merida scream sharply. Angus was wildly pawing at the dangerously narrow path, struggling not to tumble downwards, and the two of them clung for dear life as he scrambled back onto the ledge, soft dirt falling away under his hooves. Reaching back desperately, Jack felt Merida's hand scramble for a hold on something as she slipped. They clasped forearms and he heaved to pull her back to safety as they took off again. "I've got it!" she snapped.

"Yeah, sure!"

The wolves were growing louder now, and Jack could smell the nauseating stench of rotting meat and old feces. One of them snapped at their heels and Merida kicked at his head with a shout, making him stumble and fall behind the others.

A cascade of rocks up ahead caught Jack's eye, and he made out the figure of a man, half-sliding, half-falling down the cliffside, dragging one hand through the loose dirt as he made his way down to their level. The stranger made a wild movement with his arm, and behind them, the mountain rumbled as the wolves began to yelp and howl. Jack barely managed to look back in time to see a massive chunk of earth jut itself out from the cliff and crash into the ravenous dire wolves, sending them flying off the ravine.

The man somehow kept his footing on the nearly-vertical cliff above the ledge as Jack pulled up in front of him with difficulty. Angus was still tossing his head and neighing, his eyes rolling, but he ground to a halt, breathing heavily.

Unclenching his fingers from around the reins, Jack looked around at Merida, panting. "You alright?" he coughed.

"Never better." Merida sighed in relief and turned around with difficulty, spotting the stranger in front of them. "What took you so long?" she hollered.

"Me!?" He walked a few steps closer, grabbing onto a sturdy weed growing out of the cliff and putting his other hand on his hip. "I'd like to ask you the same thing! C'mon, we don't have all day."

He was very muscular and quite tall, with tousled silver hair swept back over his head, a bit of scruff around his jaw, and a few dark tattoos decorating his face and upper arms. Instantly recognizable as an Islander. He had a sleeveless dark green coat that extended all the way to his feet, and a pair of worn gray trousers. For some reason, he had no shoes, only some leather wrappings around his bare feet. No, not just for some reason. Jack realized he was an earth mage.

"Y'know, we took all day because we were walkin' all day," she said pointedly. She stood on Angus' back and stepped invasively over Jack's shoulder, planting one foot on the saddle and using the other to nudge him backwards. He hopped to his feet and scooted back out of the saddle, crouching on Angus' back. "An' if I remember right, that wasn't my fault!"

"I was busy, sheila." The man stomped his foot twice against the cliff wall, and it rumbled again. Angus tossed his head nervously as the dirt beside them began falling away, as though its texture had turned to soft sand. The hole grew wider and revealed a wide tunnel lined with greenery and small, vibrant plants. It finished forming, and Merida nudged their ride into the cool tunnel, away from the precarious fall beside them. The man followed behind at a leisurely pace, and with a gesture, he closed the tunnel behind them with another small rumble.

"So!" Jack sat on Angus' rear and held out a hand to him, leaning his staff up against his shoulder. "Name's Jack."

"I know." He did not make any move to shake.

Jack waved away his own welcoming gesture and peered down at...what he assumed was a Guardian. Despite him being tall, Jack sat a few feet above him since Merida's horse was an absolute monster. "Usually that means you tell me your name back," he prodded.

He rolled his eyes and walked a bit faster, so that he was keeping pace with Angus. "It's Aster."

"Ohhh." The name was familiar to Jack, though he'd never seen its owner before. "Riiight, the great Aster! I've heard of you here and there," he said amiably, crossing his legs and laying his staff on both his shoulders, draping his arms over each side. "To be honest, I thought you'd be a little nicer, from the way Traum talks about you." He thought he heard Merida snicker, but she was still facing straight ahead. He grinned a bit.

"Sorry to disappoint you. I thought you'd be older, considering your...reputation." Aster gave him a stink eye.

Jack barked out a laugh and held a hand to his chest, as though Aster had given him a fond compliment. "Aww, you did?" He leaned forward eagerly. "Wait, what have you heard? I wanna know now."

Aster shook his head and grumbled, walking faster. "Whatever, good job, Merida, you did your part."

"Why, thank yu. Let me tell ya, it's been no picnic."

Jack scoffed. "Ouch."

Aster made a fist and swept his forearm to the side, and up ahead of them, another hole collapsed into the earth, only this one was above their heads instead of a doorway. A slope of grass-covered dirt led upwards out of the tunnel, and Jack could make out a few fence posts and a building as they approached. "Pack up your horse and meet us in the kitchen, it's time to make dinner."

"Aye!" Aster jogged up the hill and vanished, and Angus plodded upwards out of the tunnel. The sun was turning golden-orange as it began to set, and its light fell across what looked like a sturdy fortress, built with thick wooden beams and stone walls. They had emerged in a wide courtyard of packed dirt, and across the way there was a stable, mostly unoccupied. Aster was just disappearing as he entered a huge doorway leading into the main body of the fortress. The walls were tall and thick, and many windows shone with both late afternoon sunlight and small lanterns filled with candles. Though the sun still shone, dark, silvery clouds still surrounded the mountain, and it began to snow softly, the tiny flakes resting for only a moment on the ground before melting away.

It looked like...home.

Slowly, Merida led Angus into the stables and hopped down, digging through his saddlebags for her belongings leftover from traveling. Jack slid down as well, leaning against the horse's huge, sweaty barrel chest and looking admiringly at the Guardians' hideout. "Wow."

"It's somethin' isn't it?" Merida agreed, sliding her bow into her quiver.

"It's something. I don't know, I'm more in shock that I'm here at all. I've been wondering what their place was like since...forever. You think they'd let me explore?"

She laughed briefly at that. "Maybe, if they don't keep us up to our noses with practice and lessons. We should do it anyway, though!"

"Deal. Mischief and break-ins will be afoot."

She snorted with laughter again and pulled off Angus' bridle, letting him wander to the nearest bin of food and chomp away. "Hey, wait, a'm not supposed t' get along with yu!" she teased.

"I can go back to being mean if you want," Jack chuckled, leaping over the fence. "But...I don't know, we're in this together now. It doesn't sound fun to be mean to a co-worker." He felt surprisingly sincere about what he'd just said.

"Co-worker!" The duke's daughter latched the gate shut and whirled around to face him, crossing her arms in dramatic indignation. "That's too cozy for me!"

"Star-crossed lovers?"

Merida made a face and gagged. "No."

He laughed and hitched his staff over his shoulder as he started to walk towards the main doors. "Okay, then. How about just friends?" he tried.

With an over-acted groan, she started to follow him, throwing her hands up in the air. "Ugh! I guess that's fine..."

To his surprise, his heart leapt a bit. They shared another raucous laugh, and she playfully elbowed him in the chest. He stumbled to the side, gasping. "Agh! She's defeated me...with a single blow...!" he choked, reaching to the sky like a devoted bard in the middle of an epic saga.

"Oh, shut up!" She dashed ahead, pulling open the doors. "Come on! I'm about to eat mah own foot off!"

"Okay, okay!" Jack dashed a few snowflakes off his shoulders before slipping inside, stepping onto a thick red rug that ran the length of a long foyer. The walls were stone, but they were covered in cloth banners and thick tapestries, giving the place a much warmer feel. Scarlet and gold and blue and ivory dominated everything he could see, and he also saw the recurring motif of a fancy letter "G" on the warm decorations. There was a large fireplace burning at the other end of the hall, wider than he was tall, with a thick, elaborately carved mantle, and above the roaring fire was a pair of huge, curved swords with bronzed scabbards and tassels hanging from the hilts. A messy pile of firewood lay bundled on its left, as though someone had freshly chopped several trees and simply dumped it all over the floor to be burned later. There were several pillars leading up to the incredibly tall ceiling, and as Jack slowly paced forward, taking in everything, he counted four more floors lining the hall, with oak railings circling higher and higher, surrounding a large cluster of huge lanterns hanging in the middle of hall; their glass panes flickered and glistened with light. There were shelves and shelves of thick leather-bound books, and a few tables covered with bizarre-looking metal trinkets and tools that he could never guess the purpose of. Where the ground wasn't covered in rugs, it was made of gray stone, and inlaid with huge wooden planks and metal engravings.

Quite simply, it was the fanciest place Jack had ever set foot in, and he was nothing short of absolutely blown away by it.

"Jack!" Merida yelled, already distant, and he managed to tear away his gaze and quickly follow after the fire mage, scooting down a hallway and making his way up a set of spiral stairs. He emerged into another long room, but this one had a lower ceiling and was instead mostly occupied by a broad wooden table with a woven runner decorating its length. One of the walls was almost entirely made of windows, and as Jack approached excitedly, he saw beyond the walls of the fortress, and realized that Aster had somehow gotten them to the very top of the mountain, as the entire range stretched before him and disappeared into soft gray and gold mist. The sun was still slowly descending in the sky, throwing wide squares of fuzzy sunlight over the room. At the back of the dining hall, beside another, smaller fireplace, there was a door left ajar, and the sound of pots and utensils rattling and muffled conversation could be heard from inside.

Jack ran alongside the table and approached the door. "Hellooo?" he called out, making sure he was in the right place. He heard an excited squeak, and before he could reach out to push the door open wider, it was yanked open, and he was face-to-face with...a fairy? She beamed and clapped her hands together, holding her fingers to her mouth.

"Jack!? Hi, Jack! Oh, I've heard a lot about you!" she said breathlessly. She was actually quite tiny; the only reason they were eye-to-eye was because of her buzzing wings, reminding him of some kind of insect. She was covered in bright green feathers, shining with purple and pink iridescence.

"Oh! Uh..." Jack blinked, distracted, but remembering to make an attempt at politeness. Her eyes were bright purple and practically glowing with admiration. "Y-yeah! That's my name. That's me."

She giggled and zipped back a little bit, affording him a look at the kitchen. Like everything else in the fortress so far, it was quite big, and currently, the large table in the middle was covered with vegetables and a half-chopped hunk of meat, and attended to by Aster, Merida, and the largest man Jack had ever seen, all huge muscles and large belly and long silver hair with a huge beard. He turned, and with an excited gasp, he put down his cleaver and wiped his hands on a cloth, laughing.

"Ah, give him some room to breathe, Tooth!" he said jovially. Jack's eyebrows lifted as he heard his strong Damaian accent, the same province he was from.

She flew back around the table, blushing. "Right, right! Sorry, North!"

The large man—North—stepped forward and spread his tattooed arms wide. "Jack Frost! Our speedy little thief!" he boomed. "What a surprise, that it was you all along!"

Jack made to wave his hand modestly, but then North scooped him up in a bone-crushing hug, and he laughed awkwardly while struggling to breathe. "Yep! You've got the right guy," he said in a strangled voice.

North let him down and patted his back enthusiastically, sending him forward a step. "Good, good! You have met Aster, of course!" With a bemused smile, Jack nodded to him. Aster shook his head and turned back to the hearth, stoking the coals around a deep-bellied iron pot. "And this is Tooth!" She gave a little wave with an excited smile, still hovering behind the table. "And me!" North finished, poking his own chest with his thumb. "And we are the Guardians!"

"Ohh, I see! Nice to meet everyone." Jack peered around North's belly to see Merida sneaking an apple from the preparations. "And who's that, with the bird's nest hair?" he questioned.

Merida, who was about to take a bite of the apple, changed her mind and lobbed it at him instead, and he caught it out of the air with a smug grin. "Aye, you're one to talk, mister blizzard!" she said scathingly. "Get over by the fire an' we can melt those icicles off yer head!"

"I thought that was your job."

She tossed her hands in the air and North spread his hands out in a peacemaking gesture, chuckling. "Now, now! We have our meal to finish, and testing to do!"

The dining room was now lit with the brilliant colors of a mountain sunset, and the group happily talked and bantered while they ate, and Jack thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each one of the Guardians. North was blunt, and upbeat, and everything seemed like a great adventure to him. Tooth—Tooth? He couldn't get over her name—was a multi-tasker in everything from her thoughts to her words to her hands. During the meal, she was writing up a long message that she explained, in a jumble of words, was going to one of the dukes in Rabanta. Aster, to Jack's amusement, seemed much happier when he wasn't talking to Jack. He joked with North, and he and Merida spent a minute coming up with the most ridiculous, vulgar insults they could put to words, much to Tooth's dismay. At some point during the evening, North put his large, calloused hand on Jack's shoulder, with a booming chuckle, and the thief felt an emotion swell in his chest, something he couldn't name.

Jack looked out the window, and his big grin faded from his face. He remembered what Merida had mentioned to him before the wolves attacked, and he felt his heart twist a little. He caught her gaze, and he could've sworn he saw some of the same melancholy as they looked at each other across the table.

Wasn't he allowed to belong somewhere like this? Even if he ended up being used by the Guardians, was it so bad if this is what they could give him? Not bribing him with money, or power, like most pompous dishrags that would want a well-skilled hire. But something more like...

Shaking his head, he mentally waved the thoughts aside. It wasn't the time or the place to get mushy and emotional.

I'm sure it'll all come together somehow.