Chapter Seven
The ice palace was even more beautiful on the inside than it was on the outside. Walking into the throne room was like walking through a prism. Light refracted off the thousands of crystalline facets, making the icy walls glitter and shine. The high, pointed ceiling seemed to be made of spun sugar. Rainbows hung like delicate cobwebs in the crisp air. Here and there in little niches cut into the glistening walls, intricately detailed ice sculptures added to the splendor of the marvelous hall. The sight was breathtaking.
"How was this amazing palace constructed," Schwarzwald Kurt whispered reverently.
"Bobby," Scott said simply, his voice echoing slightly in the vast space. "It took him almost a year to finish, and he still adds to it now and then."
The tall boy led them to the foot of a steep staircase. Like everything else in the palace it was made entirely of ice.
"My Lady," Scott announced, "I have brought the newcomers as you requested."
Kurt could feel himself flushing as he looked up through his hood to see the striking woman with the snow-white hair smiling down at them from her icy throne. His golden eyes widened and his tongue felt as thick and useless as wet clay in his mouth. Never had he encountered a woman whose very presence had affected him this suddenly, and so strongly. He had to remind himself to breathe.
"I bid you welcome, travelers from the outside world," the woman said in a deep, gentle voice. "I am Ororo, Mistress of the Storm, and leader of this small community of outcasts. What brings you to the Island of the Misfits?"
Through pure strength of will, Kurt forced himself to shake out of his stupor and take a step forward.
"I assure you, meine Dame, we are here purely by accident," he said with a deep, courtly bow. "We were under attack by the Abominable Snowman and fleeing a deadly avalanche. My companions and I crashed upon your shores." He looked to Rudolph, Hermie, and the Jamies, who were starting to sag on their feet. "We are weary and seek only temporary shelter and perhaps some food."
The Mistress of the Storm looked thoughtful, her mocha brow creasing. "Your party is large and our island small," she said after a long pause. "We have neither the room nor the resources to--"
Before their faces had a chance to fall, the Storm Mistress was cut off by a small sound, almost like an inverted pop! It was soon followed by another. And then, another.
"What is happening?" she asked in confusion, turning her crystal gaze to the Jamies. Jamie I had a relieved look on his face.
"My multiples are starting to reintegrate themselves, or whatever it is they do," Jamie VI said.
"Pretty soon there'll only be one of us left," Jamie III added, just before he, too, vanished with a muffled pop!
Ororo of the Storm straightened in her throne. "Then there are people in the outside world who have developed powers as well?" she asked in amazement.
Jamie II shrugged. "Well I haven't met too many," he said. "Just Rudolph and Schwarzwald Kurt. I don't think Hermie or Yukon Cornelius have any unique powers." pop!
The elf and the prospector glanced at each other, then shook their heads.
"I'm just a prospector, not a misfit." said Yukon. "But, if you could perhaps tell me where I could find a gold vein somewhere in those hills outside--or silver...!!!"
Ororo shook her snowy head. "I am afraid that I, like the children, have not left this island since my initial arrival when I was little more than a child myself. I cannot help you in your search," she informed him. Yukon slumped his shoulders, muttering to himself, as Ororo shifted her crystal gaze to Kurt. Hermie's small face scrunched up in annoyance as her eyes simply skipped over him as though he wasn't there.
"I can't teleport or duplicate myself or walk through walls, and my nose may not shine like a ruby light bulb," Hermie said, "but I feel I am a Misfit too."
Ororo turned to him, her expression aloof. Undaunted, Hermie pressed on. "I'm different from all the other elves just because it is my fondest dream to become a dentist. Because of this, I've been teased and ridiculed to the point where I was forced to quit my job at Santa's Workshop and run away. If that's not the definition of being a misfit, I don't know what is."
Storm Mistress frowned, rising to her full, imperious height. "Are you asking leave to remain with us, then?" she asked.
"Well," Rudolph shrugged meekly. "Maybe. If you don't mind, that is."
"And you," she asked, turning on Schwarzwald Kurt. "What do you ask?"
Kurt reached up and pulled back his fur-lined hood, regarding the regally beautiful Storm Mistress with luminescent, yellow eyes. Her own eyes widened and her jaw set as she strove to hold in her startled reaction. Kurt's heart clenched for one apprehensive moment, but it started beating again in a rush of relief when he saw there was no fear in her crystal eyes, only intrigue. He worked to suppress a grin, suddenly grateful for his dark coloring as he felt a flush rise in his face, all the way up to his pointed ears.
"Meine Dame," he said, lowering his head in a brief, polite nod. "I cannot speak for die Kinder. Their lives are their own. But, as for myself..." He sighed, tearing his eyes away from her striking face and acknowledging the true call of his heart. "Although I admire this sanctuary where Misfits can grow up without the fear and hatred I have had to face in my life, I have learned from long, difficult experience that you cannot expect the world to accept you if you hide from it. I would not ask to remain here. I have an important role in the world outside. I ask only to stay the night. In the morning, I plan to leave this island."
Jamie and Rudolph gasped their denial. Yukon just nodded his understanding. Ororo's expression was suddenly unreadable.
"That is good to hear," the Storm Mistress said stiffly. "Because you and your companions do not belong here on the Island of the Misfits."
Jamie, Hermie, and Rudolph exclaimed as one, "What!! Why?!"
"Because as Schwarzwald Kurt has said, you all have important roles in the outside world. If you did not, you would have appeared here on your own and individually, as everyone else did."
"But that's not fair!" Hermie whined. "Where else can I go?"
"Yeah!" Rudolph added. "Nobody outside wants us!"
The bright eyes of the Storm Mistress flashed dangerously. The boys cringed.
"I can offer you shelter for the night," she said, her gaze fixed on Kurt. Only Yukon seemed to notice the current that passed unconsciously between their locked eyes as she spoke. "But that is all. In the morning, you all must leave." Her voice was firm and allowed for no argument. Slowly, Hermie, Rudolph, and the remaining Jamie nodded their heads.
"We thank you for your kind generosity, meine Dame," Kurt assured her with a small smile.
"Good," the Storm Mistress said curtly. "Scott will show you to your temporary quarters. Your meal will be delivered to you there."
"Come along," Scott ordered, coming out of his stiff "attention" stance and marching back the way they had come. Kurt bowed a final time before turning to follow the tall boy, his tail lashing behind him as it mirrored his turbulent emotions.
The Storm Mistress watched him go with curious eyes. She had never met anyone like this Schwarzwald Kurt before. There was something about the way he had smiled at her, something about his bearing...the warmth and self-confidence in his eyes... She couldn't understand it, but for some reason, the thought of his departure in the morning suddenly upset her deeply.
Striding quickly from the throne room, she ran to her balcony and called upon the winds to lift her into the sky. She watched the small group from afar as Scott led them to a small cottage on the outskirts of the Misfits' home village. The whole time, she never took her eyes from Schwarzwald Kurt.
Schwarzwald Kurt perched on the roof of the small cottage, watching the lights of the Aurora Borealis play in the star-dusted sky of night. Below him, his companions slept, exhausted from their day of adventures. But, despite his own exhaustion, Kurt could not sleep. His mind was too full for that peace to claim him.
His thoughts were disturbed by a sudden breeze from behind him. Turning quickly, he came face to face with the very cause of his sleeplessness. The Storm Mistress herself was standing on the roof beside him, her dark face warmed by a slight smile.
"G--Guten Abend, meine Dame," Kurt managed to stammer before his tongue once again transformed into clay. The Storm Mistress' smile widened.
"Where are you from?" she asked, her deep voice soft. "Do all the people there look as you do?"
Kurt lowered his head, his tail swaying slowly behind him. "Nein," he said. "I have never met another who looked like me." He looked up at her with a slightly wry smile. "And as my name suggests, I am from the Schwarzwald. That is a large forest in a distant country known as Germany."
"Ah," the Storm Mistress nodded. "I, myself am from a distant land. However, I came here so long ago I can barely remember anything apart from the searing heat."
Kurt looked around at the frozen landscape that spread out before them. "This must have come as quite a shock, then," he observed.
Storm smiled. "It was, at first. But the cold does not affect me. Nor does the heat. I control the elements, they do not control me."
Kurt grabbed his swaying tail and rubbed the tingling tip between his two mittened hands, struggling to warm it. "That must be nice," he commented. "As for me, if I do not stay bundled as I am, I would risk frostbite. Still, I spent much of my childhood in the Bavarian Alps, so I am used to snow."
Storm nodded, and the two sat in companionable silence for a while. When that silence had gone on long enough to become slightly uncomfortable, Storm shifted her crystal gaze back to Kurt.
"I liked what you said before," she admitted softly. "About how we shouldn't hide." She sighed. "You don't know how much I would give to get away from this place."
Kurt looked at her. "Then why don't you?" he asked. "Leave this island. Come with us. Together we can prove ourselves the world. We can show those who would persecute us out of ignorance that they have nothing to fear from Misfits."
Ororo sighed deeply and shook her head, her eyes fixed on the shifting colors of the Aurora Borealis. "I can't," she said. "I care for the children far too much to abandon them like that."
Kurt quickly shook his head. "No, no, you misunderstand me!" he said. "I would never suggest you should abandon the children. They should come as well!"
Ororo sighed again. "It would still be impossible, I'm afraid. Our island is enchanted, an enchantment that will only be broken once the world is ready to accept us as we are. Although that day may never come, we must stay here in hopes that it will."
Kurt tilted his head. "What kind of enchantment?" he asked.
"Time moves far more slowly here than it does in the outside world. What seems mere hours on this island could be days or even months out there. The time difference is uncertain and constantly changing. That makes it dangerous for us to leave. Besides, this is our home. We are safe here. Most of the children don't want to leave."
Kurt straightened. "Wait a minute, do you mean that while we've been here, months could have passed where we came from?"
Ororo nodded, her eyes pained. "I'm afraid so."
"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Kurt demanded, suddenly angry. "I was meaning to return Rudolph and Jamie to their homes. By now, they must have been given up for dead by their loved ones!"
The Storm Mistress hung her head, ashamed of what she had to say. "I meant to," she said. "I would have. But, somehow, I couldn't."
"Why?" Kurt demanded.
Storm looked to him, her eyes confused and filled with shame as she admitted the bare truth. "Because I didn't want you to go."
Kurt stared at her for a long moment, his jaw dropping ever so slightly in wordless astonishment.
"Wha--what did you say?"
Storm stood; aloof, reserved, and regal once more. "You were tired and obviously needed rest and food. I would have been negligent in my duties as a leader and a host had I not--"
Kurt interrupted her, his heart hammering in his ears as a sudden realization pierced the fog that had temporarily enshrouded his brain.
"No," he said, a mischievous gleam growing in his yellow eyes. "That wasn't quite it."
Ororo turned to him with an indignant look. When she caught the gleam in his eyes, however, she returned it with a mirroring smile.
"Kurt," she asked, an unmistakably playful tone to her voice, "have you ever wanted to fly?"
Kurt grinned, unable to mask his delight at her offer. "My lady, I have always envied the birds above all other creatures."
"Then take my hand," Ororo smiled. "Since you are so set on leaving in the morning, we only have this moment for me to show you around the island."
Kurt's broad grin warmed as he took her slender hand in his furry mitten. "What do I do?" he asked.
"Just hold tight to my hand, my friend," she said with a laugh. "And prepare to be swept off your feet."
Ororo's eyes whitened as she summoned a powerful wind to support them. The two new friends laughed like playful children as they rose gracefully from the roof and flew off into the star-dusted sky.
Rudolph shot up with a gasp, his blanket falling from his back to pool on the cold, wooden floor. He could swear he had heard a growl in the distance. The Wolverine was looking for him. He could feel it in his spine.
The young deer turned his head, looking at his sleeping companions. To his surprise, one of the cots was empty--the cot belonging to Schwarzwald Kurt.
Filled with a sudden panic, he nudged at Jamie with his glowing nose, desperate for his friend to wake up. Finally, Jamie gave a soft, cranky groan.
"Whaist?" he slurred, rolling over to face the anxious deer.
"Schwarzwald Kurt is gone," Rudolph whispered quickly, his large eyes darting around the small room. "And I think I heard a roar. Do you think he's in trouble?"
Jamie yawned hugely. "Kurt's on the roof keeping watch," he said, snuggling back into his blankets and closing his eyes. "If there's any trouble, I'm sure he'd call us."
Rudolph shivered. "Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure I'm sure. Now go back to sleep, 'K?"
Rudolph nodded and tried to settle himself back onto his blanket. However, each time he closed his eyes he was met with an image of the fearsome Wolverine, drawn to his glowing nose by a ravenous hunger, attacking his friends, killing them to get to him...
Rudolph stood again and started pacing the room. He couldn't stay here. He couldn't continue to put his friends at risk just because of his stupid nose. He would be better off on his own. That way, if the Wolverine or the Abominable attacked him again, only he would be hurt.
With these dark thoughts swirling through his young mind, Rudolph decided on a course of action. He would leave. He would float away on whatever remained of their iceberg and live his life alone as a freakish, red-nosed hermit. It was the only way to make sure his friends were not hurt on his account.
With a silent sob and a final glance around the cabin, Rudolph quietly nudged the door open and stepped out into the night. Keeping to the shadows, he slunk along the side of the cottage, then made a mad dash through the snow, praying Schwarzwald Kurt wouldn't see him.
Schwarzwald Kurt, however, was at that moment flying high over the Storm Mistress' ice palace, and his eyes were only for her.