It was on one cold day in the Western Realms when the Lightfoot Brothers retreated to a snowy field by a frozen lake to practice magic spells of all kinds.
The roads were mostly plowed, but the brothers had to trek through bumpy, snowy back roads to get to their destination. It was all worth the danger, though, as the fields were as gorgeous as they could be in a winter setting. Rolling hills, trees covered in snow and sparkling ice, lakes perfect for ice skating...it was immaculate.
And it was also a wonderful place for magic. Ian needed to brush up on some magic skills, and Barley knew the best place to practice them this time of the year. So he took him here.
They had all kinds of fun in the field all day, and their fun didn't stop once the sun set. Under the light of the double moons and shining stars, Ian ran through the deep snow casting fireworks into the air with his splinter staff. His older brother Barley helped him with newer spells he hadn't tried, like the armor spell or the loud voice spell.
After hours of brotherly bonding, they were finally worn out. Ian had fallen asleep in the warmth of Barley's van Guinevere II, and Barley was just about ready to drive back home.
Barley watches his baby brother sleeping on the bench in the back of the van lit by dim fairy lights. He's still in his winter clothes and he's snuggled with a blanket over him. The older Lightfoot smiles, knowing that the both of them are safe and sound and that nothing out here could hurt them.
But then he realizes something is missing...Ian's staff.
He walks out the back door, looking to see if the staff was sitting around anywhere.
He backtracks by following the trails they made in the snow, occasionally digging up a stick to see if that was it. Unfortunately, they were all just regular sticks.
But then he eventually finds it, sitting on the top of a hill looking over the frozen lake.
The burly elf trudges in the snow to the top of the hill and grabs it. But just as he starts to head back, he trips on a rock that had been buried in snow and starts tumbling down the other side toward the lake.
Barley pulls himself up from the snow, wipes it off his clothes, and feels around for his brother's staff, when he notices that the staff had fallen on the frozen lake, sitting near the middle.
"Oh, no," he whispers.
Surely the ice would be thick enough; it was as cold as Faldar's Horn out here.
The older Lightfoot stands up and steps his boot on the ice to see if he could get the staff without falling in. He then gets into the position to crawl, since he didn't want to risk slipping on the ice and breaking another limb.
The elf slowly but surely makes his way toward the staff, crawling and steering clear of any cracks.
When he finally gets there, he gets on his knees and picks it up, holding it close to his chest.
That's when he hears a crackling noise...
Barley gasps and stops dead in his tracks.
"I can do this...you can do this, Barley, just stay still..." he whispers.
The noises continue as he slowly turns around to walk out of the lake. And when he takes his first step...they get worse.
The elf's stomach drops, as he knows the inevitable will happen. He prepares for the shock...but it takes a while for the ice to break.
He takes another step, and the cracking still continues. But he doesn't fall in just yet. Maybe he'll be able to make this...
But this doesn't turn out to be true. Just as he makes one more step...the ice under him gives up, and he plunges into the icy water, letting go of the staff.
The water numbs him for a moment, causing him to lose a bit of a deep breath he'd already prepared. He tries to swim to the surface as fast as possible, but he couldn't get himself to move. He only keeps sinking further, due to the weight of his clothes.
To remedy this, he quickly takes off his gloves, followed by his coat and boots. After that, he swims to the top of the oppressively cold water and emerges with a deep gasp, probably loud enough for Ian to hear. He gets to breathe again, but he can't get himself to tread water properly. He was so cold and tired, and the hole that was made in the lake was larger than he thought it would be.
He could see his own breath, and each exhale clouds up his vision in front of him. He couldn't get himself to swim back, no matter how hard he tries.
"IAN!" he finally yells on the top of his lungs, just before he sinks back under. His limbs were getting much too numb to keep him above the surface.
He keeps struggling to swim back up, conserving as much air as he possibly could.
His only hope is Ian.
The younger elf had been lying awake on the bench a little after his older brother went to look for his staff. He was comfy in his warm clothes with the blanket and he had trouble getting up due to his comfiness. He doesn't know where Barley has gone. He was supposed to start driving back.
He wonders if there was some kind of animal outside trying to get to their van, and he was going to shoo it off. Or maybe-
Maybe he was in trouble. Big trouble.
Ian doesn't let that thought sink in his head for too long. Surely he's fine. He's Barley. He could get himself out of anything.
Or so he thought.
Ian's worries were interrupted when he heard his brother yelling his name from outside. He was in trouble.
The scrawny elf gasps and shoots up from the bench. He looks around for his staff, but it turns out he didn't bring it in the van with him.
Since he was already in all his clothes, he runs right out of the van.
"Barley? I'm coming for you, Barley!"
He begins running through the snowy fields, looking for any sign of his brother, when he hears noises coming from the lake. He turns around and sees something he feared...a giant hole in the ice, leading down to the icy water below.
"BARLEY!"
Ian sprints to the lake, trying to get to the hole without slipping straight in. He could see Barley's gloves and coat floating on the surface...but not Barley. The horror begins to sink in, as he realizes his brother was gone.
"No, no, BARLEY!" he yells again, tears falling down his cheeks.
Without thinking, he sinks both of his arms into the painfully chilly water, feeling around for his brother and hoping he hadn't sunk too far. But it was no use.
Ian was certain he was not going to lose his brother tonight.
He tries controlling his cold, panicky breaths and begins taking deep ones, preparing himself for what he was about to do next. He prepares for the coldness that's about to consume his body.
He finally holds his breath and jumps in, the cold water pushing onto him like thousands of razor blades. Trying to see under the murky lake water, he was relieved to find that his brother was right below him and conscious, flailing his limbs, desperately trying to swim up. His staff had sunk to the ground, which makes Ian think Barley had come here to get it, but ultimately fell in the lake.
Fighting against the cold, Ian propels himself downward and retrieves his staff. He then grabs his brother and gets a firm hold on him, helping him swim to the surface.
Both elves emerge together, gasping loudly to the point where they were nearly hyperventilating. Holding onto Barley's arm, Ian swims to a thicker part of the ice and pulls his brother onto it, followed by himself. They run together off the lake and start running back to the van, shivering and dripping water off their clothes and hair.
Ian feels as if there were icicles forming on his face, as he was running as fast as he could while trying to support Barley. Barley wasn't in the best state, as he was shivering worse than Ian and that he needed Ian's help to stay on his feet.
The older elf crashes on the floor by the bench once they get inside the van. Ian shuts the doors and starts up the van, cranking the warm air as high as he could. The AC wasn't anywhere near as strong as it was in the old van, but it was still enough. They needed anything they could to stay warm.
Barley was huddled up on the bench, shivering in his sopping wet clothes. Ian was terribly cold as well, but he wasn't in the water for as long as Barley was.
"It's okay, Bar, we're back in the van," Ian says, wrapping his arm around his brother, whose cheeks were redder than ever.
"I-Ian...where...wh-where are we..." the older elf struggles to say.
Ian wipes a tear out of his eye when he hears his mumbles.
He lifts up Barley's arms and takes off his soaked hoodie for him. He also takes off his beanie. Ian himself takes off his coat and hoodie, followed by his shoes and hat.
He then lifts up Barley and sits him on the bench. He grabs the large, thick blanket and wraps it around both him and his brother.
He then remembers the warmth spell he'd learned. He takes his staff off the floor and points it towards him and Barley, and recites "Calorus".
A warm light appears from the tip of the staff and suddenly, both brothers were warm and cozy, sitting next to each other.
Barley calms down soon after. Ian knew he'd have to get checked out for hypothermia, but this would help for now.
"I love you, bro..." Barley softly whispers, leaning his head on Ian's shoulder.
"I love you too, Barley."