Although Glacia clearly enjoyed the extra attention, it seemed that having additional Pokemon in the den was scarcely more than a novelty to the young Eevee. As soon as Blizzard stood up and began making her way over to the storage area, Glacia followed at her heels, mewling cutely up at her mother.

Frost remained where he was; the storage side of the den was not spacious enough to warrant him going over there with them, and it was more likely he would get in the way. Blizzard's organization didn't follow the most coherent system, although she never had difficulties in finding whatever she was looking for, so he never felt much reason to complain. Unfortunately, remaining where he was meant that he had little else to occupy his attention, apart from Astrid.

The Absol's energy was visibly on the decline, and she was slowly settling down into a resting position, as opposed to sitting up. Their long trip here had sapped much of her energy and enthusiasm, and emerging from the caves had only temporarily revitalized her. Astrid's eyelids were drooping a little, and she looked like she was about to nod off at any moment.

This worked to Frost's benefit, because it kept her from bothering him with any questions or prying comments. As he always feared, once another Pokemon discovered that he had what amounted to a 'secret family', they were likely to question him on the subject, either prying into why he kept distant, or wondering excessively about his relationship status with his kit's mother. Astrid may subscribe to the oversimplified belief that a couple's relationship status could be summed up in a binary expression, but Frost disagreed, and he had no desire to try to justify himself to a Pokemon that insisted on such a rudimentary stance.

However, it occurred to him that he wouldn't be able to dodge the matter entirely for much longer. Not only had Astrid uncovered his 'secret', but by sheer coincidence, Blizzard was a mutual acquaintance, not only for the Absol, but for several of the other Pokemon Frost had recently come across. If she had truly been on a team, it was only logical that word would eventually get out to the other three surviving members that she now had a daughter, and sooner or later, it would come to light who the father was.

Ironically, Frost couldn't care less what A/C, Renard, or Thresher might think of him. The Scizor never took him seriously in the first place, A/C might have suspected why Frost had wanted to be dropped off at the snowy mountain, assuming she knew of Blizzard's den in the vicinity, and Renard, while the most intimidating of the three, was significantly older and wiser. It wouldn't even surprise Frost if Renard had fathered a kit or two at some point over the past two centuries, whether he raised them or not.

Rather, Frost was much more concerned by what Shadow and Leaf might think of the situation. They had lost both of their parents, and Shadow had taken on the burden of raising his younger brother, binding him to a responsibility that he was not necessarily ready for, but that he had accepted with minimal complaint. Neither of them were likely to happily accept the notion of Frost seemingly shirking his parental obligations for selfish reasons. That wasn't what Frost was doing, but it was easy for others to assume that, and justifying it often seemed like more trouble than it was worth.

The Glaceon sighed quietly, and looked over his shoulder to see whether Blizzard had finished taking inventory. As he might have expected, the female Glaceon was rummaging through another section of the her storage area, and Glacia was 'helping' by batting her paw at the open plastic drawer, or the loosened lid of the boxes, or her mother's tail. It was adorable, but Frost suspected that it was also extremely annoying for Blizzard, even if she showed no outward sign of being bothered.

"Glacia," Frost called out, and the Eevee perked up her ears, looking around in confusion before she spotted Frost and chirped in response. "Come over here," he said, gesturing towards himself.

"No!" the Eevee chirped, bounding over to her father and circling around him, her bushy tail swishing playfully. Frost blinked, internally debating whether Glacia had even the slightest idea of when to use her word, but decided that whether she did or not, it was just too adorable to hear her saying the word positively.

"You're so cute, sweetie," Frost murmured, patting the Eevee's head. Glacia purred and nudged against his paw, encouraging him to rub behind her ears, and he chuckled quietly. After a few moments, the Eevee yawned cutely, only to squeak and look back towards Blizzard with wide, innocent eyes, as if she had almost been caught misbehaving. Frost smirked slightly and lowered himself to the Eevee's level. "Aww, was that a yawn, Glacia? Are you feeling tired, cutie?" he asked, adopting a gentle, teasing tone.

Glacia squeaked indignantly, glancing over at Blizzard again before swatting Frost's nose, causing him to recoil in surprise. She giggled at his reaction, but yawned again, and her eyelids drooped. She stumbled slightly, and her eyes flew back open, accompanied by a surprised squeak. Despite her best efforts, it was becoming increasingly obvious that she was tiring out.

"Bliz?" Frost called, and the female Glaceon made an inquisitive 'hm' from the storage side of the room. "Our little girl's getting sleepy," Frost continued. Glacia made another indignant squeak, puffing up her cheeks and looking up at Frost as if he had just snitched on her.

"Oh, it is about time for her nap, isn't it?" Blizzard giggled, and walked over to the two, her eyes drifting towards Astrid, who had completely dozed off at some point in the past few minutes. "Heh, and she's not the only one who needed a nap, I see."

Glacia whined, her eyes widening innocently, as if desperately trying to convince her mother that she wasn't tired. Frost smirked a little, watching as Blizzard carefully undid the scarves from around the Eevee's neck and shoulders, before setting them off to the side.

"It was a pretty taxing journey here," he admitted. "Got lost half a dozen times, and we took an entirely different starting point from whenever I've had to go up or down the mountain, so I was of no help."

"Mm-hm," Blizzard murmured, stroking Glacia's fur gently before looking up at Frost again. "If you're experiencing travel fatigue, Frost, I'd recommend taking this opportunity to rest and recharge. Maybe you'd like to nap with Glacia this afternoon?"

"Um..." Frost hesitated, a little surprised by the suggestion. Blizzard had a point about him being drained by the trip, and with little else going on, it really was the ideal time to settle in and recharge. "It's okay if I do that?" he wondered blankly. Last time he had visited, Glacia had dozed off, but he had stayed awake to give Blizzard the chance to catch up on sleep.

Blizzard giggled quietly. "Of course. I usually take a quick power nap myself while she's dozing, and if you stay with her, it'll give me the chance to take care of a few things around here," she explained, gesturing to the main area of the den. Glacia whined softly, her eyelids drooping, but whenever her head bobbed, the motion jolted her back awake, and the Eevee was starting to get cranky.

"Okay, uh...are you going to be in the room the whole time?" Frost wondered, his eyes darting around the main area of the den uncertainly. "Like, what if she gets hungry?"

Blizzard giggled. "I've been gradually introducing some solid foods to her, mostly crushed berries," she explained. "She doesn't always take to them, but you shouldn't have any trouble. I have everything set up in my room."

Frost nodded, and took a few steps towards the right side of the den before pausing and giving Blizzard an uncertain look over his shoulder. Glacia stumbled alongside Frost, using his body to support her as she struggled to stay awake, and she gave a wail of protest when her father stopped walking. Blizzard rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Frost, it was implied that you may use my room," she said gently. "Glacia rarely sleeps anywhere else. Let her get comfortable, then make your own 'nest' around her."

Frost nodded and lightly nudged Glacia with his nose. The Eevee mumbled sleepily, but allowed herself to be guided by the male Glaceon into the curved side passage that opened up into a small, circular den room. It was a comfortably spacious side area, with more than enough room for two adult Pokemon to sleep with a chaste amount of space between them, and while two adults and a kit was a little more cramped, the occupants would still be comfortable.

Blizzard had set up the room to resemble a nest of sorts, with three or four small cushions strewn about, and a large blanket in the center, with a second blanket for bundling up with. A sealed plastic container sat nearby, filled with several small, ripe berries.

Glacia needed no further prodding, and she wandered into the center of the large blanket, using her small teeth to gnaw at the fabric briefly, and for no apparent reason, before laying down and resting her head on her forepaws, with her tail curled close to her body. She made a cute, contented murmur before dozing off.

Frost took a moment to simply admire how adorable his daughter looked when she was sleeping before walking over and curling his body around the Eevee protectively. As much as he would have preferred to slightly reduce the air temperature of the sleeping chamber, it was much wiser not to, and was part of the reason Blizzard kept two blankets in this room - an Ice-type's instinct to make the temperature cooler for sleeping comfort was potentially hazardous to the non-Ice-type that shared the space. Frost carefully pulled one of the scattered cushions nearer, and rested his head upon it. Wild Pokemon would probably consider this an unnatural sleeping posture, but Frost had grown up in a den with access to cushions, or living pillows in the form of his Eevee parents, and it amused him at times to notice that Shadow and Leaf had been raised in similar circumstances, considering their penchant to use one another as pillows.

The Glaceon took a slow, soothing breath, and almost immediately felt the fatigue of the long journey settling into his body, accelerating the sweet descent into sleep.


Dreams were fickle things. Many of them operated on their own logic, and the fallacies of that logic only became apparent once the dreamer awoke. Events that had played out as if they were reality faded away, leaving only a wistful feeling afterwards. Some dreams were even so realistic that the dreamer was unsure if it had been a dream at all.

And then there were eerie, ominous dreams that plagued one's unconscious mind with such intensity that even the reassurance that it had been a dream was not enough to assuage the dreamer's unease.

Before his eyes, Frost could make out the silhouette of another Pokemon, but the finer details were concealed behind a veil of whirling snow and ice. He squinted, straining to make out the opposing figure, but all he could see was its silhouette framed against the raging storm. It stood at roughly the same height as himself, and its body shimmered with an eerie white aura that confirmed its status as a quadruped. The only other feature he could make out against the storm was its eyes glowing pure-white, mirroring the aura outlining its body.

The raging storm was so intense that the entire around him seemed to be blanketed by a white mist, preventing him from confirming his current whereabouts. However, in the back of his mind, he felt that this had to be a dream, because he knew where he should be, and here was not that place. His body tensed, icy quills flaring outwards. The intensity of this snowstorm was nothing to him - what others would experience as unbearable cold was the ultimate comfort, and fueled his own body's strength. Whether this was a dream or not, he would not drop his guard so easily.

"Beautiful...it's so beautiful!" the opposing Pokemon purred, its voice sounding vaguely familiar, yet slightly distorted by the harsh gales swirling around its body. The glowing white eyes focused upon Frost, and he caught a glimpse of teeth, as if the figure was grinning smugly at him. "Such harsh, terrible power contained within something so breathtaking. Mm...how fitting of the element to resemble its mistress."

Frost narrowed his eyes, again scanning his surroundings. Only a dream would drop him into a situation with such little context, but this was unlike many of his previous dreams. Most battle scenarios were epic conflicts, either pitting him against numerous opponents at once, or some prestigious battle with a well-established adversary. Yet no matter how much he strained the limits of his vision, the icy fog was impenetrable. With a slight scowl, he turned his attention back to his prospective foe.

"Such a pity, Frost, that you carry only a mere fraction of this power," his opponent murmured, its voice carrying easily across the barren ice field, rising above the howling winds to reach his ears. "You've made such lamentable progress. Admiring the raw power and beauty of ice is thrilling on its own, but to truly embrace and command it is so much more...intoxicating. As it is...no one is going to take your pursuit of strength seriously, because you're not dedicated enough to becoming the master of your element and furthering your potential."

The whirling storm seemed to die down abruptly, and Frost braced himself as a gale of icy wind passed over his body, scattering snowflakes over his fur. With a growl, he shook the snow off and glared into the eyes of his opponent.

Coldness more intense than the most terrible Sinnoh winters gazed back at Frost. His stomach lurched, and he instinctively recoiled. The silhouetted quadruped snickered mockingly.

"Aww, do I intimidate you?" it sneered quietly, and in the absence of the howling winds, Frost could clearly identify its voice as that of a female, but the rest of its body remained veiled in shadow, to the point that he still could not identify its species. "Good. You instinctively recognize me as far stronger than you. Just like Lin, just like Renard, just like Blizzard, and just like that Scizor. Oh dear, that's quite the list already."

Frost scowled. "I would have beaten Thresher," he retorted.

"All talk. Actions speak louder. I expect you to start taking actions soon...or I will," the other Pokemon purred. "Oh, do give Bliz a nip from me; I love how she doesn't put up with your submissive crap. I'd tell you to grow a pair, but maybe that's your problem."

Another gust of wind swept through the snowy area, completely blocking the other Pokemon from Frost's view, until the icy mist seemed to swallow them up entirely, and Frost's vision filled with white.


A gentle touch upon the Glaceon's spine jolted him awake, and his fur bristled into icy needles before he could even register his surroundings. He growled, but hesitated when he felt a momentary sharp pain in his left ear, followed by a soft, familiar female voice gently shushing him, her paw stroking his back in what he interpreted as a soothing manner.

"Bliz?" Frost asked groggily. "What are you-?"

Blizzard shushed him again, supplementing the gentleness of her tone with a soothing lick to his bitten ear. "I apologize for startling you, but you must have been dreaming," she explained.

Frost blinked several times to clear the sleepiness from his eyes, and his gaze flitted around his surroundings. He was still within Blizzard's den, and Glacia was still napping beside him, although she was now cocooned within the second blanket, and her body was shaking slightly in her sleep.

"Wait, was I chilling the room?" Frost asked, his stomach churning unpleasantly at the thought. Even after consciously reminding himself not to let his control slip, it seemed the reminder had failed to stick once he was asleep, and the confrontational vibe of his dream had probably triggered his battle reflexes. Cold was comforting for an Ice-type, so it came as little surprise, but it didn't make him feel better.

"Only a little bit," Blizzard reassured him. "Nothing to worry about, and I've done it a few times myself. Bad dream?" she wondered, circling around so that she was within his line of vision, and she smiled fondly at Glacia before giving him a curious look.

"I don't even know," Frost sighed. Many of the details of his dream were already slipping from his recollection, like sand through a sieve. It was not a typical nightmare, nothing that would cause him to jolt awake, sweating and shaking, but it was not a soothing or comforting dream, either. It had been somewhat ominous, yet not directly threatening. It was like a snatch of a conversation without the context, or even knowing who he was talking with. The more he tried to figure it out, the more frustrating it seemed to become.

"Okay," Blizzard replied, sitting down and offering Frost another small smile. "You can go back to sleep if you want. I was only coming in to check in on you two. Glacia should be waking up in another minute or two."

Frost smirked slightly. "You've got her sleep schedule down to a science, don't you?" he asked, stretching his forelegs and sitting up.

"I pretty much should, at this point," Blizzard noted, smiling down at Glacia again, her eyes sparkling with fondness. "There are days and times when she can be unpredictable, but that's part of her charm. I try to keep her naps on a consistent schedule based on my observations, but it doesn't always work out perfectly. Either way, it's nice to get an opportunity to take care of other things while she naps. I don't like to keep her unattended, even if I'm still in the den."

As if on cue, Glacia stirred in her sleep, but after a few moments, she made a cute little murmur and continued dozing. Frost chuckled, stifling the sound with his paw.

"How long was I sleeping for?" he wondered after a few seconds.

"About an hour, give or take a few minutes. A power nap is probably best, so you'll still be able to sleep properly tonight," Blizzard replied, walking over to the container filled with berries and extracting two. She set them on the lid of the container, and carefully, but firmly, pressed down on them with a forepaw, crushing the fruit.

Frost observed the process in silence, as Blizzard moved the makeshift platter of crushed berry over to where Glacia was sleeping. She waited for a moment, and Glacia stirred again, her little Eevee nose sniffing the air, before she finally opened her eyes.

"Hey, there, sweetie," Blizzard murmured, leaning over and licking her daughter's cheek. Glacia whined a little, due to the blanket briefly restricting her movements, but after a few seconds of struggling, she wormed her way out of the shelter and nuzzled against Blizzard's face, giving her mother a few licks of her own.

"Hey, cutie," Frost said, his tail flicking. Glacia chirped, but further response was delayed by her yawning widely, concluding the action with an adorable squeak. Without further hesitation, the Eevee cozied up against Frost's leg, lifting her head up to lick affectionately at her father's neck and cheek, to the male Glaceon's delight. "Is that your apology for hugging Astrid first?" he asked playfully.

Blizzard rolled her eyes at the comment. "Here, Glacia, are you hungry?" she asked, nudging the plastic platter towards the Eevee again. Glacia squeaked and approached the crushed berries tentatively, her brown eyes darting around, as if checking to make sure there was no competition lurking in the shadows, and she sniffed at the fruit cautiously. Again, she paused and glanced around, even going as far as to curl her body around the platter, guarding the food with her bushy brown tail.

Frost was doing his utmost to keep from laughing at his kit's antics. Despite being an only child with no known reason to suspect her food was ever in danger of being sniped by a hypothetical thief, Glacia was still adorably protective of her rations. Even Blizzard was smiling fondly at the sight, watching as the Eevee nibbled at the berry pulp.

"How long have you been offering semi-solid foods to her?" Frost wondered.

"Just this past week or so," Blizzard replied. "She accepts it maybe one out of every three tries, but the ratio's been slowly improving. She's gotten to the point where I can give her two berries, but for some reason, she rejects second portions, even when she's still hungry, so I'd have to crush up both berries for one serving and hope she's willing to eat solids for that mealtime."

Frost chuckled. "So she's a very fickle eater. Cute, but I imagine quite frustrating."

"More frustrating than cute," Blizzard sighed. "Love her to death, but I just don't understand if there's a pattern or variable involved that'll let me judge ahead of time whether she'll be picky or not."

"Hmm, maybe with more time and observation something will come to light," Frost mused. "A week is probably not enough time to really judge how a transition is going. It's probably quite normal for a kit to have stubborn quirks. I can't really say, myself. Not enough exposure to kits, apart from her."

"Same," Blizzard nodded, turning her attention back to Glacia. "All finished, sweetie?" she asked, as the Eevee looked up from the remains of the berries, almost all of it having been consumed.

Glacia gave a little chirp in response and went over to where her mother was sitting, sniffing curiously at Blizzard's paws, possibly picking up on the scent of the crushed berries, but she soon sat down beside the female Glaceon, and began to nuzzle against her side. Frost observed this behaviors with mild interest. Even considering the Eevee's young age, it was abundantly clear that Glacia was a very affectionate, loving kit, and Frost suspected that this was another way the Eevee took after her mother.

"Out of idle curiosity, Bliz, what is the tentative plan for sleeping arrangements tonight, and for the duration of my visit?" Frost wondered. Blizzard gave him a piercing look, the type of expression that reminded him unpleasantly of how bizarrely intimidating he found her at times. It was the type of look she gave him whenever he was using an indirect or roundabout approach to something that otherwise was very straightforward.

"That's a question you should ask yourself before you ask me," Blizzard answered, after a short pause.

Frost was about to ask her what she meant, but stopped himself before his tongue could finish forming the words. Blizzard's questions and responses weren't typically difficult to interpret unless he was trying to be evasive in some way. The same thing had happened last time he had dropped by, when she had asked him why he was visiting. She may have responded to this question vaguely, but it was best if he took a few moments to consider her answer before reflexively questioning it.

"That's a question you should ask yourself before you ask me."

Frost frowned slightly. He had already forgotten whether he had phrased his question in a specific manner that might alter its meaning if turned back on him. He knew he had been asking about her plans for sleeping arrangements, but he wasn't sure why that would need to be asked of him before directing the question to the owner of the den. If he tried to literally ask himself what the plans were for the sleeping arrangements that night, his answer would be 'I don't know', and then he'd have to ask Blizzard the question anyway.

Maybe he was thinking about this the wrong way. He already knew he had something of a habit of approaching topics passively and indirectly when around Blizzard, and that she often refused to let those instances slide. She preferred a direct, honest approach most of the time. As accommodating as Blizzard was, she was very firm, sometimes to the point of stubborn, but Frost kind of liked that about her. It showed that she was strong, confident, and no-nonsense when the situation warranted such an approach.

So going back to his original question...he had definitely been asking about the plans regarding sleeping arrangements. Was that a passive, indirect approach? Not really. It was a legitimate question, because she had mentioned preparing sleeping space for him and Astrid earlier, and he was unsure how that was going because she had then let him nap in her private room. Was she extending that privilege for all instances of sleeping, or just when Glacia was napping?

Frost blinked, the gears in his brain starting to turn. Maybe he HAD been asking the question passively, because he had played off his reason for asking as little more than casual curiosity, and asked the question in a very general sense. In his head, he had thought this was a polite, respectful approach acknowledging the existence of boundaries and not making any assumptions that would force her to correct him. However, the more he thought about it, the more it occurred to him that this approach put the female Glaceon on the spot and downplayed their relationship to the point that he was insinuating that she fully intended to set his bedding up in the main room, away from where she and Glacia slept.

It didn't mean she DIDN'T plan to do that, but he probably should have asked the question more directly, to clear up his uncertainty without playing dumb about what he expected, or wanted, from her response.

"Okay...I'll try that question again," Frost said slowly, and Blizzard gave a slight nod. The male Glaceon took a breath, taking a moment to work out what he wanted to say in his head, and then quickly trying to determine if this was more direct than the previous attempt. "Is it all right for me to sleep in here during my visits? For old-time's sake?"

Blizzard sighed very quietly. "That was better, until you tried to justify the question prematurely, but...baby steps, I suppose."

"Gee, thanks, Bliz," Frost deadpanned. Blizzard smiled teasingly at him.

"I really don't get why you're so nervous around me, Frost," she said.

"I blame the nesting stage," Frost said bluntly. "You sometimes wanted to cuddle, and you sometimes wanted to rip my throat out if I so much as entered your personal space. And you were REALLY strict about your room's privacy once Glacia actually hatched."

"Granted, but that got toned down drastically by mid-February, so it's not like that was the state of things when you left," Blizzard pointed out.

Frost shrugged. "You haven't actually answered my improved inquiry," he noted.

Blizzard rolled her eyes, but smiled faintly. "Yes, Frost, it's fine if you share the sleeping space on subsequent visits. Your reason for dropping by is to bond with and interact with Glacia, and it's not practical to arbitrarily isolate you from her at night. And...I can admit I miss your company."

"Noted," Frost replied with a brief smirk. "So you'll want to cuddle, huh?"

The female Glaceon's cheeks flushed slightly. "I...would not be opposed," she murmured, but she made eye contact, her expression more serious. "I'm sure it goes without saying that there are certain rules and restrictions to be followed with a kit in the room. And yes, they apply even when she's sleeping."

Frost raised an eyebrow slowly. "What if she's not in the room?"

"Get out," Blizzard said bluntly. Frost stifled a chuckle with his paw, and after a moment, Blizzard relaxed and even smiled briefly, turning her attention back to Glacia. The Eevee was whining very softly, and nudging Blizzard's side. Upon getting her mother's attention, Glacia increased the volume of the whine, looking up at Blizzard expectantly. Blizzard sighed softly, even as she stroked Glacia's head fondly. "I know that look. Could you excuse us, Frost?"

"Of course," Frost answered, bobbing his head and exiting the room, making his way back to the central chamber of the den. Judging by the sky outside, it was approaching the early evening, confirming what Blizzard had said about the nap lasting for about an hour.

It took Frost a moment to realize that Astrid was not present. He even glanced around the den again to be sure that she hadn't relocated to one of the corners of the den. Over the course of their trip through Mt. Coronet's caves, whenever she and Frost stopped to rest, Astrid made a point of positioning herself either in a corner or, at the very least, with her back to a wall. This was a logical decision, considering the overly hostile cave inhabitants, as it reduced the number of angles that they could be attacked from. When this sort of positioning was not possible for whatever reason, Astrid would instead insist that they rest while facing one another, so that she could see anything coming from behind Frost, and vice versa. It had been a very effective system, although Frost assumed that Astrid only followed such a system when traveling through enclosed areas, such as caves, which might disrupt her predator senses.

The Glaceon peered outside the den, taking note of the paw prints leading away from the entrance. Snow was lightly falling around him, so the tracks hadn't been made too long ago, and it was unlikely that Astrid had wandered too far away. If he were to hazard a guess, the Absol had probably left to go hunt or gather food supplies, as she had offered to do earlier. Blizzard would likely have finished looking over her inventory during Frost's nap, and Astrid may have woken up before Blizzard had come in to check on him and Glacia, long enough to learn what she needed to get.

As Frost turned to go back inside, something glittering in a pile of snow caught his eye, and he paused, cocking his head at different angles to try and find the sweet spot where the sun reflected off the object again. Once he found the right angle, he walked over to the sparkling spot, and began idly pawing through the nearby snow. It took a few seconds, but his paw finally contacted something vaguely metallic, and he lifted the object from the snow.

At a cursory glance, it was a metal loop, similar to an overly large wrist watch, but as Frost brushed some of the errant snowflakes from the object, he discovered a familiar white, semi-transparent crystal embedded in the center of the loop, and he blinked several times, turning the loop over in his paws.

Now that he had the chance to really see it up close, he realized that the dark metal was aged and worn. The clasp that would secure the loop to one's arm or leg had degraded from constant use, and was so flimsy that it had finally broken completely.

As he turned it back over to inspect the crystal again, and after spotting the light blue cats-eye sigil in the center of the crystal, there was no denying that it was the same one that Astrid carried with her. What was more incredible to Frost was the sheer luck he had of coming across it. Small, glittering objects lost on the mountain stayed lost. Falling snow and shifting winds would bury the object, and unless someone had the fortune of literally stepping on it, the chances of recovery were next to nil. Retracing one's steps would do little good if you had no idea where it had been dropped, with so much ground to cover and so much snow to conceal the trail.

The feat was a little less impressive due to it having been dropped on the pathway to Blizzard's den. Sooner or later, she or Glacia would probably would stumbled across it, but that could have been weeks down the road, or longer.

Frowning slightly, Frost turned to go back into the den, taking Astrid's anklet inside with him. He handled it with wary caution, recalling what Astrid and Renard had said about this type of stone containing a lot of energy that made casual handling dangerous. He didn't want take it with him and venture out into the snow to find the Absol, nor did he consider it wise to leave it unattended in the den. Something said to be powerful and dangerous was not something he'd want Glacia getting ahold of. No, the best option for now was to wait for Astrid to return, and then see what could be done about its current condition.

Astrid had proven herself to be a competent and reliable ally during their journey through the caves, but he had yet to see how strong she really was as a battler. It was a detail that had nagged at Frost's mind for the past several days. He knew she had been trained by a human, but he knew so little about how human trainers and their Pokemon functioned as partners. He knew that it was said to be a beneficial relationship, but he had yet to see the results with his own eyes, and the last trainer he had fought against was an amateur with inexperienced Pokemon, like that Luxio back in Solaceon.

It might also give him the opportunity to ask for a demonstration of what this stone could actually do in the paws of a Pokemon capable of wielding it.