Chapter 56 - Statue in the Snow (part 2)

John and his seven year old son, Bryan, had ventured out of their small recluse village into the wild some couple weeks ago, in search of a rare medicinal plant that only sprouted once a year in small quantities. They lived in a geographical location that had only two seasons each year; summer which ranged from March till sometime around November and winter with the time range of November till February.

The rare plant they were actively searching for, known as the 'Summer ice plant', had a very short life cycle, sprouting during the last two weeks of summer and dying in the first two weeks of winter. They were plants of great significance as they could cure all the common illnesses and even some rare kinds that involved ability cells. It was most useful for elemental ability users; those with fire, ice, earth and wind and related abilities as well. It was also an essential ingredient in the making of a certain kind of elixir for awakening the stagnant cells of those who have been confirmed to have fire, snow, earth or wind ability cells. Usually, the cells awakened themselves, but it was also easy to find people having difficulties awakening their cells. That was the area where a plant like the Summer ice plant was most relevant. There were also cases of the plant supposedly helping to multiply ability cells of ability users and to further sum it up, the summer ice plant, unlike most plants of similar uses had very mild side effects. To ability users who generally and naturally had better physique than those without abilities, the side effects were basically non-existent. All these advantages, coupled with the rareness of the summer ice plant, ensured that it could and would be sold for astronomical prices.

John and Bryan, father and son, had ventured out on the quest for the summer ice plant after Bryan had brought a petal home by mistake the previous year. John had recognized it then and had decided to come to the same plains the next year for the plant. His expectation was to find the plant within the time bracket of early winter and late summer as that is the only time the plants could be found.

The estimated time of first snow had been accurate that year, making John elated and Bryan excited by extension. Of course, he did not understand much but he knew that anything that made father happy was good. So, he was excited as well. They arrived at the plain field just as the roar sounded and the snow began to fall.

Bryan was frightened by the loud roar that sent migrating birds flying faster in fear.

"What…..what was that, papa?" HR asked in fear as he hid behind his papa, gripping tightly to his pants. John smiled at his reaction and explained even as he did his best to hide his fear from his son.

"That is the 'Snow tiger', son. Snow tigers hibernate throughout summer and always wake up mere seconds before the first snow fall. Some tribes say that they are the reincarnation of some gods or demigods of ice and snow. Animal and Beast Scientists say that the snow tigers are usually hungry when they wake and so they roar out loud which usually coincides with the first fall of snow of the year. Their roars are so loud, it can reach up to a hundred kilometers. I bet the whole field heard it." John explained patiently as they moved forward in haste.

"Are they dangerous?" Bryan asked such a naïve question that John laughed out loud.

"All tigers are dangerous, but don't worry. The snow tigers will not start hunting until the snow has fallen for at least a week, which means that we have to find the summer ice plant and get out of here before that the end of seven days." John explained to his young seven year old son.

"But why do they sleep through all of summer?" Bryan asked an intelligent question this time, making John look at him in wonder. Children were so inquisitive, he remembered his elderly friends saying. They would ask all sorts of questions, some questions will seem and sound stupid and some questions will sound exceptionally intelligent. It is one of those uniqueness about little children. They said.

"I don't really know. Perhaps, they sleep through summer because their bodies cannot handle the heat of the summer sun and are only active during the winter because it is cold." John said after thinking for some time. The explanation he just gave sounded reasonable even to himself. Who knows, maybe he had just accurately guessed the right answer? And in fact, he was right, but it was not like he knew it was actually the right explanation. He just wished his son believed his bluff as he really did not want to break his son's illusion of him as a man that knew about everything.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief when his son believed and ran towards the front a little. John was not too worried. He had bought a small talisman that would automatically create protective bubble shields capable of blocking C-rank beasts. Up ahead, his son stopped and called out to him.

"Eh, Papa! Come and see this statue!" Bryan's young, childish voice resounded through the now snowy plain field.

"Statue? What's a statue doing here?" the papa asked as he hurried to his son's position and looked at the statue his son was pointing at. He gasped and exclaimed. " Oh my goodness!" this was no statue, this was a human. A real person buried under the snow. He looked wounded and was naked too. John was sure the guy was dead. He looked at his son and nudged him away from such an unholy sight.

"Come on, Bryan, he is dead!" He said. Bryan struggled out of his father's gentle grip, though.

"No, he is not dead. Look at his eyes, they are shaking. He is not dead yet. Papa, let's save him." Bryan argued. His father bent down and looked closely at the naked man's eyes and noticed the eyelids shaking. Damn, his son was right. This guy was still alive. That was quite something in John's own opinion.

Bryan had already started digging the snow out with the shovel his father bought for him. John quickly joined in. it seemed like te man was robbed, beaten and then, was left here to die. Normally, Jon would simply ignore such matters and go his own way. He knew that people in this sort of situation could be dangerous and there were insane risks to helping endangered people like these, but his son was here with him right now. He had always taught his son to be kind to others. If he did nothing, would he not seem like a hypocrite? That would lower his greatness in his son's mind instantly.

************

Wilson slowly woke up. He was lying on a soft grass bed. He had a splitting headache that felt like it was going to make his head explode. He had had another one of his crazy, un-understandable dreams. This time, he was riding a hovercar at high speed across some sort of driveway, being pursued by countless blue cars blaring sirens and new ones crossing him in an attempt to slow him down or better still, put his car out of service.

"Here, drink this!" Bryan handed a cup to Wilson as he sat up. He immediately looked up in a panic and saw a man and a young boy, both with dark brown hair and brownish skin tone. The voice was the man's but the cup was given by the boy.

Wilson unthinkingly, grabbed the cup, sniffed its nice smelling aroma that instantly relaxed his extra tense nerves and rapidly drank all its content up, without spilling more than two drops.

"Where am I?" Wilson asked after several minutes of silence and gathering his thoughts. These people did not seem dangerous and no one would do something as risky as leaving that little kid around if they were people who had bad intentions.

"Welcome to Sum-Ter village." The man said with a proud look on his face and Bryan, the little kid laughing in a childish manner, leaving Wilson confused. He did not understand.

'Why are they suddenly looking so happy?' Wilson asked himself.