Chapter 21

Serious Training, Both Body and Heart

Soul looked over at Cosmos and Zero. The fog had dissipated, and they were practicing together with their elemental powers. Cosmos shot a fireball at Zero, but he just bumped it back with his fan. Cosmos growled and kicked it back at him, but he kept knocking it back to him. Then, Cosmos shot three more fireballs with it, and Zero had to duck to avoid them all. Cosmos quickly raised an inferno around him, and when it went away he was gone.

Zero looked around, remembering back when he did this at home. He stood still and listened closely, and then he quickly ducked as Cosmos tried to punch his head with a flaming fist. His fan sliced the air and caused a mini tornado to knock the Dark Chao backwards. He quickly stood back up and shot his own fiery tornado at him, but Zero quickly countered with a swing of his fan.

Cosmos was getting angry that he couldn't find a way past Zero's defense. But he yelled to Zero, "Why aren't you attacking me? I hope you aren't going easy on me!"

Zero grinned at him and held his fan up to his face. "Oh, you want attack?" He laughed and swung his fan fiercely, and a huge gust of wind knocked Cosmos off of his feet. Then, Zero flew on it and rushed towards him. Cosmos ducked and weaved to avoid his fan cutting through the air. It was a flurry of action as they moved across the garden, guarding and countering each other.

Soul shook his head. "Man, talk about 'dedicated'; ever since we came here, Cosmos has been bent on training to beat Black." He sighed and muttered to himself, "Like that will ever happen…"

He looked over at Aeon looking up at the fruit on one of the trees by the lake. She was frowning and trying to think of a way to get the fruit. She looked over at Zero and Cosmos fighting and sighed. She wouldn't be getting any help from them anytime soon. She turned back to the tree and looked at her options. First, she grabbed the trunk and tried to climb it. She ended up slipping down and hitting her butt hard.

As she rubbed her rear end, she thought of something else. She picked up her hands and shot a water ball at the fruit. It hit one, and it wiggled on its stem. But it didn't fall down. Aeon tried again, but to no avail. Finally, she shot a torrent of water at the fruit. It snapped off of its stem and flew up into the air. She gasped and yelled, "Watch out, Soul!"

Soul looked up and yelped before jumping back as the fruit smacked into where he was standing a moment ago. It had stuck into the ground, and when Soul tried to pull it out it took a lot of effort. He handed it to Aeon when she came over with her eyes down. The Orange Chao said, "Sorry, Soul…"

Soul smiled and patted her on the head. "It's okay, Aeon. It was an accident!"

Aeon smiled and nodded. "Okay!" She skipped off to sit under the tree and take a bite of the fruit. Soul chuckled and shook his head again. "So naïve and carefree…" He sat down and began to relax. He knew it was going to be a long visit here, so he might as well get used to it.

With Frost…

Frost looked from a tree at the group of Chao and cursed under her breath. "Not them! What are they doing here?" She wanted to call Snake and yell at him and ask what in the world he was doing, but she couldn't risk it in the open, even though she was in the very back of the garden. She sat on the branch and sighed. "At least they can't possibly know…"

She looked at the fruit beside her, but she had made an oath to not eat or drink in this garden. Her stomach rumbled loudly, but she ignored it and continued to watch Cosmos and them. She was so absorbed in watching the two boys' fight that she didn't notice the extra weight on the branch. She only knew someone was there when she heard, "Frost?"

She whirled around, but all she saw was a shadow sitting with his back against the trunk. Without feet…

"Sn –" She looked around discreetly and hissed, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm spying. What else?" He waved a hand at her. "I should be asking what you are still doing here. We should return to Eggman's base and tell him –"

"Eggman, Shmegman!" Frost glared at him. "I ain't going nowhere near that big buffoon! Besides, I'm still investigating!"

"But Frost –"

"I don't want to hear it!" She turned her back to him and crossed her arms. "You go back to your job so I can go back to mine!"

Snake stared at her for a while, watching her sweep her eyes across the garden. He was quiet for a while, making Frost a bit uneasy with him studying her. She could feel his eyes on the back of her head, and it was a really weird feeling. He finally said something that made her freeze.

"You pity him, don't you?"

She didn't move, but after a moment she replied, "Pity who?" She heard him sigh in aggravation and say, "You know who I mean, Frost. You feel sorry for him."

Frost turned to glare at him and spat, "I pity no one but myself! That's why I took this job! I'm only in this for what I get!"

Snake stared at her for a moment, examining the anger in her eyes. He said slowly, "No matter what you say, Frost, I know you have a heart. It may be frozen under your icy shell, but its still there."

Frost was quiet, staring at him with a bit of rage still clinging on. He stared back at her, daring her to say something. In the end, though, she just turned away and continued to look at the garden. (I love that Linkin Park song!) She heard him whisper, "You're trying to hide it. I can tell."

She didn't reply, and he sighed and asked, "But why? Do you want others to think badly of you?" As she didn't answer, he ventured to say, "Or maybe you're afraid of what you've never had…

"Love."

Frost quickly turned and argued, "I'm not –" She stopped as she couldn't see Snake anywhere. He had disappeared like he usually does. She scoffed and looked back at the garden, her mind running at the speed of sound. What he had said…was she really afraid? She didn't know. She didn't understand her own motives now, the ones she had stuck to all her life. Since the day she had met Snake. Since even before that. Since she could remember. 'Help yourself, even if it comes from someone else's pocket.' What did that mean anymore?

She held her head and scrunched her face. So many memories, so many voices…

"Who are you, Spiky?" Frost glared at the Chao who had stood before her on her way from the store. The black, footless Chao pointed at her hands and said, "I think you have something that you didn't buy." Frost put her hands behind her back and said, "So what?"

…

"Who's 'Dr. Robotnik'?" Frost asked, scrunching her face up. Snake looked at her and said, "He's a man who creates robots to try to take over the world. Any more stupid questions?" Frost glared at him and mumbled, "What kind of old man spends his time messing with pieces of junk?" She glanced at the two robot guards they took out to get through the front gate.

…

"So you can freeze things?" Snake asked with a frown. Frost glared at him and answered, "Yeah, so what?" She glowered at him as if daring him to make fun of her. Instead, he nodded and muttered, "That will be quite useful…" He looked as if he was thinking of something of importance that he had just remembered. He stared at her for a while, still thinking, before he shook his head and said, "Come on."

…

They heard a squeak, and they both turned to see a small Chao huddled up in a corner. It was a green Chao child who must have hidden when he heard them break in the house. He looked at them with fear and covered his head with his arms. He had rings on both hands. Frost just turned away from the kid and said, "Well, let's grab what we can and…" Snake, though, walked over to the Chao, and Frost stopped and looked back at him. "What are you doing?" Snake looked down at the kid and said, mostly to himself, "The people must have abandoned him when we came…"

…

Frost groaned and muttered, "Why now? Why remember now?!" She shook her head and tried to clear it, but the memories kept coming. They went back all the way when she was a little kid…

"Get away from me!" The kid stepped away from the small blue Chao on the ground. A cat stood frozen in ice a couple of feet away, its claws out and an icy snarl on its face. The Chao looked up at the kid and gurgled, "John!" But the kid yelled, "Get away!" He threw something at her, and she ducked and sniffled. The kid kept throwing things at her, and she started to run out of the house with her hands over her head. She tripped a couple of times, but she stood right back up and kept running, the tears that streamed down her face freezing into little balls that followed her as she ran from her only home. She kept crying, "John, John, John!"

"Stop it! Stop it!" His voice and her crying chanted in her head, as if taunting her. 'Get away from me!' 'John!' 'Get away!' She stood up and shook her head trying to get it out of her mind, but then her foot slipped. She gasped as she fell out of the tree…

She had her eyes closed, but she could feel strong arms catch her swiftly. She felt dizzy, and her stomach was twisted in knots and threatening to make her lose what little food she had. But when she opened her eyes she could see Black clearly. His eyes stared at her; she looked frightened, as if she had seen something horrible, with a couple of tears that had broken free from the confines of her eyes, and her heart was pounding through her ribcage. Her breathing was fast and ragged.

She clenched her teeth and struggled in his grip, but he held on tightly. She finally pushed him away, and he stumbled back slightly as she fell down. Still panting, she held her head and curled into a ball on the ground. For the first time in what seemed to be forever, she shed tears that weren't fake. They froze as soon as they left her eyes, falling to the ground like snow before melting again. Each shuddered breath seemed like ice in her lungs, making her feel colder than she ever felt before.

Black stood over her, as still as stone, watching her break down. He heard her whispering, "John…John…"

He looked down at himself for a moment, staring at his hands wet with her tears, before he closed his eyes, and shadows engulfed him. He disappeared, leaving Frost alone on the ground in a pool of her own tears.

Watching her…

Snake looked away from the blue Chao. He knew he shouldn't have said that, but he also knew it would help her as well. Although, looking at her now was like stabbing knives into his heart, and it was pretty hard to believe that at the moment. But, he knew she could recover quickly, like she had so many times before. He didn't know what had made her the way she was, but he hoped she would now choose the right path. Hopefully, she would quit working for Eggman and go to have a happier life. She would forget about everything and find someone who would love her forever.

If only he and his brother could do the same.

…

Sniff…SO SAD!!! I seriously had tears well up in my eyes…and I'm writing this! I couldn't help it, but I needed to clear up a few things about Frost's past. I'm really starting to like her character; I'm getting into writing about her more than the others, excluding Black. He's awesome to try to explain his complicated-ness, just like Frost! I like doing hard (headed) people.

Anyways, we didn't get into Cosmos and the others too much, but that's because Cosmos is just training his butt off! Will he ever stand a chance against Black? Will he finish his training in the Shadow Clan Garden, or will he stomp out in frustration? And will Jade ever get to them in time? Find out (maybe) in the next (dramatic) episode of 'The Chao Chronicles: The Supernovas'!

Ja ne!