Sorry I haven't been posting lately. This is going to be a very short chapter, but that's all that I managed in the last while. I'll try to get back up to speed in the next few weeks.

Sandy stopped his sled, looking around. He had been searching the mountains for hours, but Jack was nowhere to be found. Sandy considered floating up to get a look for Jack but decided against it. Flying was how Jack got lost in the first place.

A few hours earlier, Sandy had heard a cry and looked up to see Jack flying out of sight. He had tried flying after him but had been thrust back to the ground by the sleet.

He got back into his sled and crested a rise. Not for the first time, he wished that he could make any sort of noise. He could have called for Jack. He looked anxiously back at his sand dogs and his mouth dropped in surprise. His dream sand seemed to be melting. His creations were now standing in puddles of sand and even as he watched, more sand came flaking off, turning to normal sand as it fell. He would need to find shelter soon.

He twitched the reins on his sleigh and set off again. This time though, he noticed that the dog's paws were dragging on the ground. Why had this happened? Weather had never bothered him before. He slowly started trickling sand into his creation, noticing for the first time the effort it was taking him.

The steady dripping of water woke Jack. He tried to turn his head and groaned as his whole body throbbed in pain. There was a hurried rustling nearby and a young girl's face appeared above him. He tried to shuffle away a bit but the girl followed him.

"What sort of creature are you?" She poked his in the leg, making him yell and pull it back.

"What sort of question is that?" He panted, trying to think over his growing headache.

"well, you were flying through the air and you're not dead now. And you look like your made of snow."

"I'm a spirit. Who are you?"

She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I don't know. Who am I?" She scuffled around a bit like a dog. "Others use my name so much more than I that it has ceased to mean anything. They call me Valetta."

Jack sat bolt upright, then crashed back and crabbed awkwardly to the side as his battered limbs refused to obey him. "You're the spirit of health?"

"What? Who's that?" She tilted her head to the side and looked at him curiously.

Jack's jaw dropped. She must be the spirit of health but how does she not realize who she is? He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to figure out what to say.

"Can I have some water?" He would have to have some water to be able to revive himself.

She started. "Sure." Hopping up, she grabbed a bowl and left the cave. Jack took the chance to look around a bit.

There really wasn't much in the cave. There were a couple piles of straw that seemed to be used as beds. Jack was lying on one of them. Apart from those, there didn't seem to be much else of note. A few vents let shafts of light in along with the occasional snowflake.

One of those landed on Jack's hand… and melted. Jack frowned. Snow shouldn't melt at his touch. He's too cold for that. It was only then that he noticed that he had a fever.

"Here's some water!" Valetta had come back carrying a bucket of water. She dropped it by his head, letting some of it slosh over him. He gasped at the coldness of it.

She cocked her head at him. "You don't look so well."

Jack struggled to sit up and reach across for the bucket. "I might look better if you started healing me."

Valetta shook her head in confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Jack took a quick gulp of water. "You're a spirit. The spirit of health. You should have the power to heal people."

"That's crazy."

Jack took a moment to think. "Hasn't anyone ever walked through you? How-"

"I never see anyone up here."

"How old are you anyway?"

"I don't know. I think I might be about a thousand years. Why?"

"Normal people only live for about 80 years. You're a spirit." All of a sudden, Jack realized that he was much better. His fever was going down and as he watched, a cut on his arm started to scab over. He smiled to himself. Even if she didn't know who she was, she was still radiating health. She could still help them.

Hopefully I'll be able to post more soon. I'll try to tie up all the loose ends.