6 Chapter 6: Are we there yet?

I continue to fly towards the Farfrozen at a leisurely pace. Thankfully after the prison, there weren't any major hindrances. Just a few lairs and a couple of ghosts just going about their afterlives. Usually, flying to the Farfrozen is about an hour and a half to two-hour-long journey when going quickly or in the specter speeder. The mixture of on-foot and drifting is taking an astronomical amount of time. The only thing that it is good for is getting on my nerves and helping to clot the animal bites.

For ordinary ghosts or humans, these wounds would have already clotted and been on the way to healing. Unfortunately for me, I am neither of those. Blood and ectoplasm don't work well together and prolong the process. The ectoplasm leeks out, and in this case, joins the zone's atmosphere, while the blood doesn't have enough other cells to cling on to so it can create a clot. Leaving me bleeding for longer amounts of time.

As I get closer, I can feel the temperature start to plummet. The cold feels amazing on my skin. Taking away some of my discomforts and helping me to relax, but not all the way. I begrudgingly leave my comfortable position of floating on my back with my arms folded behind my head to enter my bag. Once I find the bottle, I pop a couple of Motrin into my mouth and hesitate before taking out the first aid kit. Now that I have finally gotten a reasonable distance away from the prison and into a peaceful area, it should be safe to treat the wounds, but I have to question whether it is worth it? My clothes are stuck to me, courtesy of the dried blood and ectoplasm. My thought breaks off, what is a good word for the hybrid bodily fluid?

Blood-plasm?

Ecto-blood?

I think I like ecto-blood, so let's continue with that. If I were to pry my clothes off to treat the wounds, I could not only cause myself more pain but also spill some more ecto-blood or reopen the few smaller bites that had managed to clot. Not to mention waste the supplies that I have with me when I inevitably mess up treating myself. With so many odds against me, I decided to forgo treating myself, reset my previous position, and continue on my way. Sometime after the bandage inquiry, I managed to float off to sleep.

I awoke buried in snow.

I could feel snowflakes falling into my eyes as I blinked away from sleep. I shift beneath the blanket of white and attempt to break free from the snow. Unfortunately, the weight of the blanket keeps me pinned beneath, unable to move. Usually, the snow in the zone has little effect on me in ghost form, making it so I can barely feel the cold. It seems human skin doesn't hold up as well against the overwhelming cold. I can feel the bite of the cold to my extremities, making it challenging to put strength into my movements. All while my core continues to be lulled back to sleep in this desolate, far away frozen wasteland.

I fight my urge to sleep as I push against the snow. I push and push with all of my might to escape to the surface. Finally, my hands dig into the snow, making it loose and collapse on top of me. I keep clawing through it until my hand reaches the surface. Now having a hole to work with, I force my hands up into it, force the snow away, and rush my way out. I stager as I attempt to get out of the hole. My body is working against me as my movements are accompanied by shivering. Once I am out, I look around, trying to find anything familiar, but I can see a bunch of snow and ice. No sign of Frostbite or any of the other residents of the Farfrozen.

Thankfully by the time I got out, it had managed to finish snowing, leaving me with fresh powdery snow all around me. Meaning I don't have to worry about finding my way back to my starting point if I have to turn around and come back for some reason. So I start to trek back to what I hope is civilization and don't turn back. It doesn't take long for me to dive into my bag and pull out my sweatshirt. Hoping to throw off some of the cold and possible late-set hypothermia. As I go along, I can't help but think, ' take that, Hanzel and Gretel, at least I can be self-reliant' as im off to find Frostbite, who I plan to ask to receive help from, ' following food to get you back home how ridiculous.'

I keep going until I come across a cave. I hesitate for a moment before making my way inside. Once stepping in, I feel an immediate temperature change. The frozen feeling was lessening with every step forward. With the growing warmth of the cave, I take caution as I get deeper inward. As I walk by I pass what looks like old bones and pieces of animal carcasses. The bodies are half-eaten and ripped to shreds. The possibility of it being inhabited is increasing in the back of my mind. Once I get all the way in I, find a bunch of furs and other decorations along with dying embers in the middle of the ground.

Along the walls is a written language I am unable to recognize. The language is carved into the wall, the lines of the characters are straight and a bit jagged. The possibilities are endless; before me could be an unknown story, a legend, or a piece of history. I run my hands along the walls trying to figure out what the language is. I have a feeling I have seen it before, but I just can't remember where. As I inspect the walls, a vibration runs through the cave. I am still immediately waiting for something else to happen.

Near the entrance of the cave, I can hear footsteps going

'Thump'

silence,

'Thump'

An echo follows each step after each one is a vibration that shakes the whole cave. With each tremor, the objects in the cave shift, flying into the air and changing position. The dying embers start blinking in and out of existence. The low flickering light flashes, casting a shadow onto the walls. Creating a shadow of the being coming towards me. This doesn't look like any yeti that I have ever seen. Whatever this is has less fur and more skin showing. Oh my god, what is that? OH MY GOD, WHAT IS THAT!

They keep walking, coming closer with a 'thump,' silence, 'thump .'It comes closer and into the light. Its body is a shocking blue as if made of ice and made of pure muscle. Its chest and back and its arms and legs are covered in thick black coarse hair. With large horns sticking out of their head and clawed hands, it stocked forward. The light of the embers flash across its face and illuminate its mouth, and shows off its large sharp teeth.

All of them are sharp and on display. Yet, even with all of its startling features mixed in are some humanoid features. Its face and body structure resemble that of a man as well as its hair.

The reason for the silence between footsteps is evident once you get a look at them. The being has to be at least twelve feet tall. Hardley even fitting inside of the large cave. With every step, the embers on the ground grow weaker. I look at them, and the color is starting to wane. As soon as they make it to me in the main center of the cave, the light gives out, leaving both of us in darkness. I stand there, shocked, unable to move. I plaster myself against the wall trying to make myself as small as possible. Hopefully, whatever this is doesn't do well in dark places.

I move against the wall in silence, trying not to step on anything or give myself away. The other being is moving around the now cramped cave fumbling around looking for something. Soon enough, I hear a banging sound. It happens a couple of times in quick succession, and sparks soon emerge and fly into the air. A couple more strikes later, the embers have reignited, and another starts to burn.

I look towards the not yeti, and thankfully they have their back to me. Now able to see, I rush down the side of the cave, trying to make it farther down towards the entrance. I get halfway there when I hear a bang from behind me. I whip my head around to the noise and see the angry face of the being before me. I start to run, no longer needing caution, and rush outside. While running behind me, you can find the large being rushing towards me. Every step they take throws me off balance making me stumble.

I get out of the cave no problem and follow my own footsteps back to my previous location. It doesn't take long for them to catch up to me. Once they got out of the cave, they were able to follow me easily. It takes about ten steps of mine to make one of his. I reach into myself and try to access my core. I try to force the transformation, and rings appear around my waist. I keep pushing, trying to let the energy pass over me, but it stops short. Once the rings disappear, a jolt of pain runs through me, creating a rebound and giving me backlash.

I grit my teeth through the pain and keep moving forward. Beside me, I hear a crash and am then pelted by some snow. I turn my head and see an almost comical sight. They are running after me, hunched over with their arms out. Every once in a while, they smack their hand into the ground as if they are trying to squish me like a bug. I start to run side to side in a zig-zag, hoping that will create some distance between the two of us. It lasts for a while, but it doesn't take long for the larger being to get sick of our game of cat and mouse.

The sound of footsteps falling onto snow suddenly stops, and a dark shadow casts its self overhead. I look towards the sky, and I see a big blue body coming crashing down on top of me. I try to speed up, but on my own, I won't make it in time. Once more, I prod at my core and try to bring that energy out. Nothing happens, not even another backlash, no feeling whatsoever. I feel something starting to touch me. It's too late Im about to become a flat Danny. I squeeze my eyes shut and hope for the best.

The great flattening never comes.

I reopen my eyes and look down. They went through me. I am intangible. Not wasting any time, I keep running through them and rush away. "URRGGHH," they scream in a bass voice, " THOU HITHER TO THEE!" I can't help but to gape as I process his words. They didn't speak in English or any other modern-sounding language. While not a perfect match for this being, person (?) speaks in an older version of the language the yetis in the Farfrozen.

I contemplate for a moment on whether or not I should answer. Before I can answer, thumping,g footsteps start back up again. In the end, I answer for the sake of manners. It takes a moment to formulate what I want to say but I eventually go with, " what do thou wish to speak to thine about?" Ugh, Danny, that was pretty bad. Those language lessons are so going to need to be upped. I listened for an answer, but there was no immediate reply.

I try my hand at communication again but with a more modern vocabulary, "So uh… not to be rude, but who, uh what are you, if you don't mind me asking?" I change up my running pattern and go back to running in a straight line. I almost got done waiting for a reply when they answered in broken speech, " THOU FOOD! THEE NOT FOOD." Do they eat people?! This has to be some kind of miscommunication. Well, at least I got an answer. That's better than what I expected. 'What I would give to have a translater right now, I swear,' I say under my breath. Let's try this again, " Me Danny, I'm uh, me halfa, who you?" I call out. Immediately they start grumbling incoherently before yelling, " THEE BIRGER, THEE JÖTUNN. THEE BIG, THOU SMALL, THOU ARE THEES' FOOD."

What is a Jötunn? Have I never heard of them before? Are they a type of ghost? Or are they something else? " Bugger," I start questioningly, is that how you say their name? " Just wondering, but may I know your pronouns?" Quite proceeds after the question along with a slowing of footsteps. I turn around and look at their face. It's scrunched up in confusion, probably from the lack of old language. I decide to continue, " Are Thou Male or Female?"

"HUUGHH," they scream out in anguish, " BIRGER MAN, BIRGER NOT WOMAN!" He throws his hands up in exasperation. It seems he is just as annoyed by the language barrier as I am. " THOU FOOD, FOR THEE STOP! LET THEE DEVORE THOU!" I let out a yelp as his hand came down and barely missed me.

Talking can't help me out of this situation. There is not much more I can do like this. All of this running has me tired, I hurt all over, and my feet can't keep me going like this. So I reach into my core once more as my last resort. If I could just fly, then I would have a chance. Once I get a hold of my core, a shiver runs through my body. As if energy has come over me all at once and supercharged me. I speed up again and press hard into the snow. Then on my last step, I set my knees and kick up.

Hoping to fly

I go up, and up then I start to fall. It takes a second, but I can feel the ectoplasm in the air under me.

Keeping me airborne. I stay up just out of reach of the Jötunn in my own little patch of safety. From so far up, I can see just about everything. I take a look around, inspecting the ground, hoping to find anything familiar. I just barely noticed it. The home of Frostbite and the Yeti. Near the middle of the island.

The Farfrozen.