Winterpeak Island

Our friendly crew waited on top of the ship, sailing through a darker part of the ocean. It had grey clouds and a large amount of snow falling. "Looks like we're at Winterpeak Island. The weather's fine so we should be able to go through it without trouble." She was looking down at her wristwatch. It could point them north and south. "So, who's ready?" she turned, and looked at others, her eyes squiggly and a drop of sweat slipping down her face.

Everybody hugged themselves. Ayuka was the only person on the ship who didn't have problems in a cold environment. Tim, Ralphie, Yumiko, and Kou were shaking on the spot, their teeth-rattling, and the ice was practically growing from their skins. "H... How are you... not... not... c-cold...? It's... f-freeeeezing..." Claimed Yumiko.

They were chilling in place with cold currents of wind passing their ship, and the snowfall didn't stop. "Jeez, you guys look like morons." She claimed, smiling and stretching on the spot. "Y-You're the one... to... to talk... You're practically... naked..." Tim added. Ayuka was dressed in a black t-shirt and wearing jeans. "It's not *that* cold. I think it's pretty soothing."

She rotated around, but all she noticed was their faces being disturbed. "You know... whoever designed you... is crazy..." Tim finished.

Ayuka stepped on the forecastle and grabbed the spyglass. "I think we should stop here for some answers. Maybe some people can give us some kind description involving "la Isleta Cortada", it could come in handy." She suggested, but others didn't feel like spending their next day on an island filled with ice and snow. "How about... we just... drop you here... and the rest of us... move... ahead? How does that sound?" Tim said, but Ayuka faced him with one of her brows raised.

"And how would you plan on navigating through the sea without me? Not one of you has the talent to sail properly without me or Codey. And since Codey's not here, you'd lose your only half-navigator." They looked at each other. "We should really start looking for a talented navigator. I guess we could stay here for a day, but I'm not spending more time here than one day. Maybe we can find a *real* navigator, not like you or Codey." Yumiko's disbelief infuriated Ayuka, making her shout out loud.

"At least give us some praise! If it weren't for the two of us, we wouldn't even come to help you, Yumiko!" she crossed her arms, holding the spyglass below her hand. "Well, there's not much we can do but stop. Let's not forget that the weather's getting worse the longer we're in here. Maybe we should stop here for a day." Tim accepted Ralphie's advice and then sighed. "Fine... We'll dock the ship somewhere and then we can see what to do from there. I've gotta do this always, huh? Okay, captain's orders; dock the ship!"

Their ship sailed out into the distance and reached the snow-covered docks, made out of stone. They dropped their anchor and stepped and gazed over. "Whoa," Kou called, fascinated, "It's amazing."

The entire island was covered in snow, and the buildings were constructed out of cobblestone. Because the day was covered by thick snow and clouds, the yellow lights kept shining from buildings.

The most outstanding part was a ginormous mountain in the far back of the town. The town had linear streets, with several stairs leading to upper levels. Far in the back stood a giant building resembling a castle. It had an opened field of stone out in the front, and stairs looping up to it. "I guess this is Winterpeak Island, and we must have arrived in the main city." Explained Ayuka, remaining in her short clothes.

"Let's go ask around." She turned around, and at that moment she saw everybody dressed in thick and warm clothes. They wore fluffy jackets, boots, and gloves. "Could you please put on something warmer? You're making me uncomfortable." Tim begged.

She became bored. "You're such babies. Fine, don't go running off somewhere like you usually do." She entered the ship's interior while the others unboarded the ship. "Hold on, Tim. Can't you just warm yourself up with your fire powers?" questioned Yumiko. He looked at her, still shivering a little. "Yeah, I could, but Ayuka won't let me create fire. She says it's going to worsen my arm's condition." He explained. Yumiko sighed.

"I thought from the inside out, not outside in." Tim became embarrassed and smiled awkwardly. "Oh, no. I was able to do that before, but for some reason, I can't do it anymore. Maybe it has something involving the development of my ability." Yumiko shrugged with her arms, cocked her head to the side, and exhaled. "You still have your left arm free. Just use that one to create a flame, maybe that way we can all warm up at least a little."

Tim acted innocent and perplexed. "You do know that keeping the fire constantly flaring in my hand drains my stamina much quicker than if I just shoot it out for a second or a few. Besides, the wind here is too strong, so it would most likely keep blowing it out." His explanation did interrupt her. "Oh, you're kidding? Your ability can burn down an entire island, but it can't keep up a single fire to burn?" Tim just nodded slowly. "Pretty much, yeah."

She slapped her own forehead. "I guess we'll be freezing our bums out here for an entire day." But then Ralphie sang to her, wiggling his bottom. "Oh, Yumiko-swan! I can warm you up if you would like!" she became unamused, and felt Ralphie's pink hearts slowly flying toward her. "No, thanks. I'll just freeze to death." She walked on ahead of everybody else, leaving Ralphie in the snow, behind others, dancing left and right in a hurricane of hearts.

"All right, I'm done!" Ayuka came vaulting over the ship's fence and dropped down on the snowy docks. She wore a long grey jacket, a short black skirt, slip-on Padding socks, a white beanie, and a white scarf wrapped around her neck that hung down her torso. Her white hair was dropped and slipped from under the beanie. "I guess a skirt and socks are better than shorts," Tim claimed, looking at her legs. "Well, I wouldn't advise you to look at my legs all day," Ayuka spoke, crossing her arms in front. "How about we start asking around?"

Ralphie then came spinning around Ayuka in a vortex of hearts. "Ayuka-swan! That short skirt looks so well on you!" he sang. She rolled her eyes to follow his movements, but then turned around, spun, stretched her leg in the air, and rammed her instep into Ralphie's face. "Stop doing that, you pervert!" Ralphie was kicked in the air and toward the freezing water.

Tim raised his eyebrow. "You said not to look at your legs, and then you raise in the air at the most convenient angle for everybody to see it." Ayuka blushed from embarrassment, calmed down, coughed into her fist, and became serious. "I did it for protection." She explained, hearing Ralphie swimming up to the docks, extremely cold. "It's so... so... so cold down there! I do not... recommend!" Ralphie stuttered.

"Guys, shouldn't we like start asking around if somebody could tell us more about "la Isleta Cortada" and the WPDA? We don't know much about them yet, but their location and even its location isn't enough to go on about." Yumiko suggested, and Kou looked at her. "Well, we're going to be here for the whole day to wait for the snowstorm to pass, but you do have a point, Blue." Claimed Kou, but instantly her face sped in front of Kou, nearly touching his.

She had a scary look on her face, and Kou's brows were twitching. "If you call me 'Blue' one more time, I'm going to slice off your both legs, and arms on top of that. Got it?!" Kou blinked multiple times, swallowed his saliva, and slowly nodded. "Y-Yes, ma'am."

Yumiko backed away, crossed her arms, and looked away, closing her eyes. "Good, then let's go." Yumiko led the way, others following her. "Why are all the girls on this ship scary? I didn't even insult them... I think..." Tim stepped next to Kou and tapped his shoulder. "Oh, trust me. There are girls much scarier than that, but not as crazy as these two." He pointed his thumb back at Ayuka whose eyes whitened, and she shared a furious face. "What'd you say?!" at that moment, Tim flinched and backed away. "Um... nothing! Hurry up, Kou! We'll most likely be dead, but worth a dash!" he pulled Kou behind him and ran after Yumiko.

To be continued...