Disclaimer: I own no one beside Stephanie, Nathaniel and their kitty kit Binx. Oh, and I own you too, but I'd rather not discuss that at the moment.

It was dreadfully cold as wind blew the pearly white snowflakes around Nathaniel and Stephanie on that awful winter's night. The children had both been trekking around Ireland; they had no idea where exactly they were, looking for a place to call home after they had escaped the old orphanage. Stephanie had brought her cat, Binx, along with her.

"Nat, this is getting ridiculous," Stephanie told her friend through chattering teeth. "It's blistering cold outside and I need my jacket desperately. I think Binx is getting frostbitten, too." She hugged the shivering black cat closer.

"Well, where is your jacket?" Nathaniel looked back at her with an annoyed look on his face.

"You told me to leave it at the orphanage! You said they would identify me easily with it on!" Stephanie was getting angry.

"Hey, you shouldn't have worn it all the dang time, Stephanie. No one would recognize you if you hadn't."

"It was the only thing I had!" At this moment Binx meowed. "Besides Binx, of course. Other than that I had nothing!"

"Oh, so I don't exist anymore? I don't count?" Nathanial looked hurt and furious at the same time. His icy grey eyes helped this effect come to be.

Stephanie stopped and just looked at her angry friend. She looked at Nathaniel as if to say 'sorry'. However, no matter how much she wanted to say it out loud, Stephanie couldn't do it without crying. She never liked crying. Without the ability to say anything, she just looked at the snowy ground and walked on.

Hours went by and both the children were silent as the grave. They had nothing to say anyway. Who would at a time like this? It was freezing outside and the wind would knock the air out of their lungs if they tried to speak any further.

After an estimated three hours of walking around, frozen as an ice lolly, Stephanie stopped abruptly and doubled over, breathing very heavily. Her breath came out in short, harsh gasps. "Nate…" she said with much difficulty. "I can't keep…doing this…"

Nathaniel quit walking and turned to his hurting friend. "Why, what's wrong?"

"I don't know." Stephanie shook her head. "My chest just…hurts when I…breathe." Binx meowed softly and rubbed his head against Stephanie's chin.

"You sound awful, too." Nathaniel became worried quickly. "Maybe we should rest somewhere…." He looked around for anywhere to hide themselves for a while. Everything was covered in snow, as if to hide from the freezing children. Suddenly an enormous gust of wind came through and blew the snow away from a nearby bush. "Ooh, what luck! Come on, Stephanie, we'll rest there." Stephanie just nodded.

Nathaniel grabbed his friend's hand gently and guided her to the bush. He felt that Stephanie didn't need to make a big effort to walk, if she was hurting so badly. Binx jumped from his owner's arms and followed. Stephanie started having a small coughing fit as they walked.

To Stephanie it seemed to take forever for her to reach the bush, which was discovered to be covered in frozen strawberries. When she sat down behind it, or in front of it, she couldn't tell, she grabbed one and started thawing it off with her hands.

"Great! We found food!" Nathaniel exclaimed. He pulled several strawberries off of the bush and started to thaw them of, just as his friend was doing. Both children kept this behavior up until they could no longer find any ripe strawberries. They would've given some to Binx, but he was strictly a carnivore.

Stephanie sat against the strawberry bush and sighed. "I'm still cold. And I think I might be sick." She coughed.

"As am I. And yes, you most likely do have a cold, maybe even worse. But it'll pass with time."

"How much time?"

"We never know, Steph," Nathaniel said, sighing heavily. His rosy cheeks inflated very slightly when he did so. Everything about him was rosy. His cheeks, his hair, even his personality. He was so delightful most of the time and very bouncy when excited. Nathaniel was just one of those kids.

Nathaniel yawned. "I'm tired. I have no clue how long I'll be able to sleep in this blistering cold, but it's worth a try. What about you, Steph?" He waited for an answer, but none came. "Steph?"

Stephanie had already fallen into a deep slumber and was breathing softly through her mouth.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Artemis Fowl II was staring at the snow falling outside of his bedroom window. He didn't feel the need to be on the computer, or do anything else for that matter.

The just-turned-fourteen-year-old boy genius heaved a heavy sigh. He never thought he would be this bored in his life. I mean, he could rob a high security art museum of its most valuable masterpiece if he wanted to. The thing was, he just didn't want to. Something he did feel like doing, however, was gently banging his forehead against the window and whine in an obnoxious, high-pitched voice. So he did.

Heh heh.

Butler entered Artemis' room to check on his principle. "Erm, Artemis?"

Artemis stopped his childish behavior and turned to Butler sluggishly. "Yes…?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Other than the slight headache in my forehead that I have just required, yes, I'm just fine."

Butler wasn't convinced. It wasn't like the boy to be so…bored. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"Yes, Butler, yes, I am just fine. I'm just very bored, that's all." Artemis turned his bored self back to the frosty bedroom window. He stared at the white snow that lay across the manor grounds. The snow was not the only thing in the front yard of Fowl Manor, however. A silhouette of a person walked unsteadily through the pearly white snow, almost blown over by the furious winds. It looked as if it was crying for help, or calling out for a certain someone. The figure staggered for a few more seconds, then fell to its knees in what looked like exhaustion.

Artemis turned to his bodyguard, quickly this time. "Butler! Someone is on the grounds. Bring this mystery person to me at once. I wish to know what he, or she, is doing…" Artemis steepled his fingers in the familiar way he did.

Butler nodded. "Yessir." The large manservant charged out of Artemis' room, rushed down the dimly lit hallway, stomped down the stairs leading to the foyer and reached the front door in two long strides. He opened the door and spotted the intruder at once. The intruder raised its head, looked at Butler, and let out a high-pitched scream.

A/N: Yes, I know, very bad ending to the chapter. I just wanted to update this as soon as possible. Excitement and junk:D