"This is the last time I ever take any shortcut Ronaldo suggests," Lars muttered to himself as he stomped through the unfamiliar woods of Beach City, trying to get home after working late and missing the last bus to get home. Sadie would have offered him a ride, but her car was in the shop, and Lars was still pretty nervous about asking Jenny for rides in her car, let alone accept them (he'd do it in a heartbeat if he didn't collapse into a nervous wreck about it!)

So far, this detour ended up taking much longer than it would to have walked home the same way as the bus' route did, and the fact it was getting dark wasn't much of a help. At least it was fairly peaceful.

A little too peaceful.

Not only were these woods especially quiet, nothing seemed to be inhabiting them. Not a bird, squirrel, or even a fly. With all the foliage around, it was a surprise for it to feel so vacant.

Lars had enough of tripping on tree roots blindly in the dark, and decided to open his work bag. There was a couple of matches, and a really really old little lantern that he'd snatched from the lighthouse to spite Ronaldo. Lighting it up, it glowed like a beacon in the growing darkness.

Every so often, Lars had to check his phone, to see if his parents called him perhaps, but nothing. The reception was pretty bad out here anyway.

After some more walking and aimless wandering, wondering when he would finally get out of that grove of trees, Lars was pretty certain he was now lost and walking in circles. And he was pretty certain that he was going to kill Ronaldo once he got out of here.

'Rrrrrrr'

And Lars was instantly very certain that he was no longer alone.

Feeling like he was being watched, the teen warily backed up until he was against a tree, and stayed against it as he checked his phone again. The reception here was fine, so maybe he could call for help. But he didn't know if this was serious enough for him to call emergency services, or even just Steven's weird lady family who could probably find him in no time.

Am I just feeling things, or did the air just get a lot colder?, Lars thought to himself as he felt goosebumps rise on his skin. It shouldn't have been that cold, it was still late summer, and the nights were at least eighty degrees. He wasn't so lost that he got close to the mountains, did he?

Just as he was about to swallow his pride and call Steven to get some assistance out of the woods, he heard the rustling of foliage on the ground, and looked straight ahead.

And his blood froze, almost like the quickly freezing forest floor.

Standing right in front of him was a large dark shape, almost blending right in with the darkness of the forest had it not been for the lantern. And the fact there was two glowing white eyes and a large row of teeth.

Oh god, I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die, Lars was thinking to himself as he pressed up against the tree, trying to scramble up it backwards for dear life, but his body remained anchored in place. He let out a terrified shriek as the forest floor froze further when the creature stepped forward, no feet visible under its strangely cloaked figure.

In hope to scare it, Lars shined the lantern right in its face, and he saw its enormous dark shape of a nose. "G-Get away from me!", he choked at it, and it just took another step forward.

"D-Don't come any closer!", he shouted at it, "Hyaaaaa!", he screeched, swinging the lantern, and the creature stayed in place, not even recoiling.

'Rrrr?'

That growl made a small shiver go up Lars' spine, and he gripped tightly onto the lantern, "S-Stay right there. Don't. Move," he choked out, amazed he didn't wet his own pants out of fear by now.

The creature continued to stare at him, and Lars, thoroughly freaked out, and being the teenager he was, knew he had to get a picture of this thing before it killed him. Raising his cell phone up, using the lantern as a light, he snapped a photo of this terrifying giant shape.

Still keeping an eye on the unmoving monster, Lars texted the photo to Steven, "WHAT KIND OF GEM THING IS THIS? ALSO I'M LOST IN THE WOODS HELP ME1!1!"

Once the text sent, Lars quickly pocketed his phone away, and kept a nervous but watchful eye on the creature that still had not moved once Lars had told it to stay.

'Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr'

The growl left Lars unsettled, but he kept staring right into the creature's face, feeling his body frozen up a little. It stared right back at him with a blank, unreadable gaze.

"...Are you...going to eat me or something?", Lars dared to ask fearfully.

The monster made no answer.

"...I-I'll...take that as a no," Lars gave a terrified smile, and sank against the tree, looking up at the creature still.

Almost as if it was imitating Lars, it seemed to lower its body to the ground. The ring of frozen plants grew like a puddle as more of its mass touched the ground.

Lars shivered a little, and was kind of glad he brought a lantern. He opened the little latch on it, and held his hands to it, feeling the warmth on his palms.

'Rrrrrr?'

Lars looked up, and saw the creature staring down at him.

"What?", he asked, confused.

'Rrrrrrrr?', the creature's blocky hand lifted up, pointing a digit at the lantern.

"O-Oh? This? This is uh...a lantern. Ever seen one of 'em?", he asked awkwardly, a little more convinced this creature was not out to hurt him.

'...Rrrrr?', it pointed again, as if to ask what it was used for.

"It uh...makes it easier to see in the dark...and uh...it keeps you warm-"

At the word 'warm' the creature rose up to full height again, and slowly advanced over to Lars.

"WOAH!", Lars yelped, and tried to scramble over and away from the tree, but his limbs were not doing what his brain told them to, and he was left to cower in fear and terror of the unknown as this unidentifiable monster moved towards him.

Just as the plants by Lars' feet froze, the creature stopped, and its eyes peered down at the lantern. A hand slowly reached for it, and it stayed in place, a short distance away.

Lars was shivering as he was mere feet away from the large creature, still watching it carefully from his seat on the ground. It didn't even seem interested in him, rather, the lantern. When it raised its other hand up to the warm glow, he had somewhat of a guess as to what it was wanting.

"O-ohhhh," he muttered, "You must be pretty cold. No wonder everything you've been stepping on is freezing..."

'Rrrr.'

"Thaaat makes a little more sense," he sighed, "Well...I guess you can hang onto it if you want it. I don't need it."

Lars was pretty sure the monster smiled, the way its row of teeth turned up at the corners.

"Heh, you're not a bad thing are ya?", he snorted, giving a tiny smile back, lips chapped from the cold air.

Smiling still, the creatures hands reached down to take the lantern. Just as they were about to touch it, the light extinguished, drowning them in darkness.

Lars perked up, "Woah, uh, OK," and began patting his chilled hands around for his phone, using its light to find the other matches while the creature drew its hands away from the lantern, looking both confused and disappointed.

'Rrrr?'

"I guess you're so cold, the lantern couldn't stand it," Lars snickered softly, and lit it up again, the glow filling the area again, "There we go. You should...probably just keep your hands where they were and let yourself warm up a bit before you touch it again."

'Rrrrr', the creature seemed to agree.

Lars gave another soft chuckle, and settled back down in his spot. He was starting to shiver more, but he wasn't going to complain about it, not wanting to risk angering this creature if it did end up being a people eater. He was starting to grow tired for no reason, and he reached one of his hands out to the lantern, getting near the unnamed creature's own hand. He was too weary to notice the small flakes of ice growing on his skin.

"M-My friend will p-probably be here to get me s-soon," Lars looked up at the creature who stared at the lantern, and he closed his eyes, figuring he could rest them a bit, unaware how his own body was starting to freeze like the plant life dying underneath him.

After what seemed like only a minute, Lars suddenly felt the warmth of the lantern grow on his outstretched hand, and opened his eyes, seeing the creature turning itself around, and slowly moving back the way it came from.

"H-Hey, you forgot the lantern," Lars called out.

'Rrr,' the creature answered, giving an unreadable look back at him before it disappeared into the trees, every sign of it ever having been there gone as the ground inexplicably began to thaw, and the plant life revived itself.

Before Lars could even ask himself what he had just encountered, he heard Steven's voice calling out for him, and standing up, looked around the tree until he saw the boy hurry over, the three Gem ladies following behind with slight interest.

"Lars!", Steven smiled, rushing in for a hug, and as expected, Lars did not return it.

"Uh...hi," Lars mumbled.

"I'm so glad we found you and- oh wow, you're freezing!", Steven gasped, "Are you OK? Did that weird monster thing hurt you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lars mumbled, "And that thing didn't hurt me, nah. It sure was weird though."

"It definitely was," Pearl spoke up as she walked over, "Quite strange indeed."

"I showed the Gems the picture you sent me! They said they don't know what kind of gem it was."

"We don't even know if it was a gem, Steven," Garnet said, voice soft and stoic, "We've never seen anything like it from any planet or place on Earth."

"I bet it was some mutated land whale or something," Amethyst snickered, "Whatever it was, you got photog evidence, dude. Cash it in for big bucks."

Lars snickered, "I bet I could," then paused in thought as he followed the others to get out of the forest, "But maybe...this is gonna be one of those things I keep to myself..."

"Whatever you say," Steven smiled, assuring Lars he wouldn't tell anyone about this crazy encounter in the woods.

Meanwhile, farther off in the trees, unseen, the Groke retreated back to her home in the mountains where nobody ever visited, or seemed to know where she was nowadays. She'd been living long past any creature in these woods, and from what she guessed, on this planet. Every several years or so, she'd move from one lonely place to another, in the constant search for warmth and companionship, but it always was unfruitful.

When she had come across the boy with the bright glowing lamp, she thought this might be different. When he had offered her his lantern, she was ecstatic, that someone had reached out to her first this time. That was a rare occurrence.

The Groke could tell this boy was not an openly happy boy like the other people she'd met on chance. He was grumpy and angry, she could sense it. But he showed her kindness, offering her the lantern. He seemed lonely, but once he felt comfortable, he opened up a little.

Even when she herself had realized she was freezing him, the poor boy, his lips blue, he didn't even mind it. But she couldn't make the same grave mistakes she'd made in the past with unsuspecting travelers. She wasn't like that dreaded Lady of the Cold, she wasn't going to let that boy turn to ice!

And so sadly, she knew she had to do the right thing, and go away. Even if it meant she had lost a potential friend. She needed a friend who wouldn't freeze.

Still, the Groke was glad that for a short while, she had a companion she could relate to.

Even the coldest of exteriors could shelter the warmest of hearts.

So this was a silly little crossover I typed out quickly on a whim. I've been a big fan of Moomin ever since I was small, and I always felt a little sorry for the Groke, even if she was scary!

A quick little rundown of the Groke according to Wikipedia 'She appears as a ghost-like, hill-shaped body with two cold staring eyes and a wide row of white shiny teeth. Wherever she stands, the ground below her freezes and plants and grass die. She leaves a trace of ice and snow when she walks the ground. Anything she touches will freeze and on one instance she froze a campfire by sitting down on it. She seeks friendship and warmth, but she is declined by everyone and everything, leaving her in her cold cavern on top of the Lonely Mountains.'

Somehow that whole thing about seeking friendship and warmth but being rejected because of her scary exterior and behaviors makes me think about Lars.

Hope you enjoyed this! Please leave a review, kudos, fave, etc if you did!