Reach, clamp, swing, and land, quick like a bunny, up the tree, hope no one starts calling me squirrel, only one here, safe, it's the woods, don't be jittery. There.

The tall pine tree had been tackled in less than 20 seconds, a new record for a tree I wasn't used to. On this planet at least.

I rest my back against the rough bark, feeling it through my long sleeved shirt, but not feeling the cold. Useful trick of being able to control temperature; you don't get cold. Ever. Unless of course you get injected with some of that stupid potion as you are trying to escape jail and are forced to…I tell myself to stop. No matter how much I hate Bird Boy, I have to live with him.

I stare out over the trees, unfamiliar pines, watching snow drift down. It still weirds me out, knowing that back home, snow would mean a war, and here people just throw it at each other, never wondering what causes it. I wonder though. Is it a person? Or could all that science Enna blabs on about be true? I don't really care though. All I know is that people go sledding and make snowmen and throw it at each other. Earthlings are such weirdoes.

Speaking of snowballs, out of nowhere one slams into the back of my head. I think it might have been an ice ball, judging by the pain, but I'm too busy screaming at whoever threw it to investigate. Maybe I do need to work on managing my anger.

After I've calmed down a bit, and stopped my fingers from glowing, I notice that no one is there. Just snow, drifting down as peacefully as ever. I'm starting to think that some bird landed on a branch and knocked it onto my head when another one slams into my leg and I'm falling out of my tree.

There is a brief sensation of falling, hair flying up and making me nervous, and then I've landed in a huge heap of powder.

I drag myself out from under two feet of snow, not an easy feat, but by the end everything is just melting into a huge puddle as my hands burst into fiery life. "Come out come out wherever you are." Whoever was chucking snowballs at me is going to be really sorry in about five seconds, because they have got me mad, to that special place where my eyes start reflecting the fire that flows over my fingers. They'd better hope they're faster than me.

I stalk through the trees, searching for an inconsistency in the slow moving snow. I find one. A great gust of wind rushes pat as yet another snowball slams into my face. For a second I panic, Sasha rocketing through my head, but I know it's not her. If it was her, the snowballs would be knives, and the one that flies past me now wouldn't miss as I dodge.

I chase a shadow through the woods, a shape that moves too quickly for me to see and throws a snowball every once in a while. For some reason I can't catch up. Actually I know the reason, it's because this person can fly. Now who do I know with wings?

"Talon!" I scream at the blur. Not only has he stalked me when I know he's there, which is creepy enough mind you, now he's followed me into the middle of some random forest. And he's chucking snowballs at me, and flying away on those founding awful wings before I can catch up with him. "Go to the sixth you Kreet!" I scream after the teasing blur. "And leave me alone while you're at it!"

I expect him to make a cheeky remark, probably something about how hot he is, but instead he just slows down. Then he zooms toward me, flying over me as I duck. I straighten up, ready to burn him until he's black, and find the anger disappear as quickly as it came, just like it usually does. "You're not Crow."

We both stand, taking the other in. I see his eyes flit over my flame red hair, cut at a diagonal over my right eye, green eyes, the outfit I made myself. I stare at the white hair, blue eyes, the great curved stick in his fingers and land on bare feet. So, there's a random guy in the forest who can fly, was throwing things at me, and has bare feet in the middle of the winter. I close my eyes for a moment and wonder just how strange my life is going to get.

"What are you?" I look up at the sound of his voice, slightly musical, like wind through trees. I ponder the question for a second, what are you, and remember how I've burst into flames a couple of times.

"I'm an alien," I answer, truthfully if you're going on technicals. "You?"

"I'm a guardian. So don't lie."

He's insane as well, I think, but quickly chastise myself, thinking of Wisp. "I'm not lying. I come from another planet." Seeing the look on his face, I quickly add, "Take me to your leader."

He laughs, picking up the sarcasm that drenched the statement. "Jack Frost, nice to meet you." He almost extends a hand, but puts it back down, probably remembering the flames.

I roll my eyes to the white sky. Another person I've managed to scare. I don't mind it really, but it makes it harder when they at least try to be nice. "Emily Swiftfoot, enkindler extraordinaire."

He scrunches up his nose at the unfamiliar word, and I quickly answer the question about to leave his lips. "It means I can do this." And I sent a tendril of flame spinning around his face, which looks delightfully terrified. I smile at the fear I've induced.

He recovers quickly. "Well then, I'm not the only one who can do magic." I raise a brow, waiting for him to show me, and show me he does as a flower of frost twists into a rose, floating on a current of icy wind.

"Ah, you from around here?" I ask, mind skipping to an unappetizing situation.

"No."

I close my eyes for a minute, trying to ready myself for the questions. "By around here, I mean the whole planet."

Surprisingly there's only one question, I single flake where I expected a flurry. "So you weren't kidding about the alien thing?"

"Nope. If you want to be technical."

There's silence for a few moments. People can never get past the being from another planet thing. "Yeah, I'm from around here. Technically."

"Oh please, I'm still a human being, just the same as…" I think back to white hair and the frosty rose. "Actually, I'm not sure if you are a human." Then again, I wasn't sure if I was either. Who could say that when some of their friends had tails?

"I'm a human, same as you."

"Not sure than. I'll keep that in mind when you grow some wings." Out of all the strange animal parts I'd seen attached to a human, wings were still the worst. And my f… enemy had them.

We sit in another silence, and I notice that the curved stick he carries seems to be the source of his power. Not just the way he conveys his power, but the actually source. I can see that backfiring in a pinch, but decide not to say anything. Finally he breaks the stillness. "What are you doing here?"

I'm about to answer that it's none of his beeswax why I like forests, but then realize he means why I'm here in a bigger way. He also takes that moment to position his stick in a rather more defensive way. "Do you work with Pitch?"

"Who?"

"Pitch black?" I'm still blank. "The boogeyman?"

"Well, the last time I checked the boogeyman didn't exist, but I've seen stranger." That was the biggest truth I'd ever spoken.

"Oh. Good." He lowers the stick, and I find the muscles that I didn't even know I was holding tense relaxing. "Bye then." He spins up into the air on a winter wind and is gone. But I notice the rose that lies in the snow, and can't help but wonder if I'll be seeing him again as I dash of to see the real Rose, hoping she won't sick Zane on me. I really hate getting dumped in lakes.