Chapter 7

About ten minutes later, I was nearly finished getting my stuff on when Dan came up to lecture me again. "What exactly do you plan to do when you get up there?" he more or less demanded.

"Yori is trying to contact Frost to come and pick me up as soon as we get up the mountain. From there Frost will take me to the village," I explained.

"I still think this is a crazy idea," Dan grumbled. "What do you think you are trying to prove? We should be trying to get home not fight a battle that we have no part in. Why is this so important?"

"I already told you. They helped me, and if there's something I can do to repay them, I'm already on board." I replied defiantly, tensing as I did so, as if trying to validate my answer.

"But this is a dangerous way to do it. You could be hurt or worse. I can't let you do this." Dan shook his head.

I finally turned to him, my patience depleted. "Listen, Dan, You are not my father, so please stop trying. I've gotten this far without a decent one, and I don't need you trying to fill in the space. If you'll excuse me now, I have somewhere to go," I snapped, maybe a shade to coolly.

"I may not be your father, but if he was here he would-"

"No father ever wanted me!" I snapped. "Whoever my father was didn't care about me, and neither did the one that replaced him. I've given up wanting a father or any other kind of family since none have wanted me. I don't know what idea you have floating around in your head, but whatever it is, it needs to stop."

"The same could be said of you. You are barely sixteen years old, a child at best. You have no business going about trying to play hero. This is not our fight or our home. You don't even know these people, and yet you are willing to die for them. How does any of this make sense?" he questioned in the same tone I had used on him.

"And what happens when it does become a problem for us? Those things destroyed an entire village killing who knows how many people. Do you think they'll hesitate with us if they get the chance? These people have saved my life on more than one occasion, and I am not about to sit and hide in a cave while they're homes are destroyed," I fumed as I grabbed my bow.

I tried to walk past him, but he grabbed my arm to stop me. "You are not going out there. I refuse to let you," he growled in a fatherly tone.

I pushed him aside ignoring him. "You have no say in the matter, Dan."

"Like hell I don't. You are my responsibility. I'd give you a good swat right now if you were one of my kids."

"Well I'm not one of your kids. I don't know what delusion you're living in, but I am not your responsibility. I am old enough to make my own decisions."

"What do you know of being on your own or making big decisions? You're just a teenager and a real stupid one at that. Do you have a death wish?"

"You're the only one looking for a way off, Dan. I won't stop you from leaving, but I have nothing to go back to. If I go back, the authorities will find me and take me back to my foster parents. After that, I'll be back on the streets. At least here, whether I live or die, I'll have done something for a purpose. I don't expect you to understand it, but don't get in my way," I growled at him.

"That's not going to happen," he said and tried to take the bow from my hands. I tugged back on it before swinging out at him. I hadn't actually expected to hit him, but my fist made contact with his face causing his lip to bleed. He immediately released the bow and put one had to his mouth.

"Dan, I-"

"Don't," he said dejectedly, raising a hand up. "You think you're ready to be an adult, be my guest. Just don't come crying to me when you land on your face," he warned as he turned away from me.

I wanted to immediately apologize for what I had done, but he obviously didn't want to hear it, and I wasn't sure I sincerely would have meant it. I clenched my fist angrily before stomping off to meet Yori. It was times like this I did understand that man. He was trying so hard to be a fatherly figure, but he couldn't seem to understand that I didn't want one. I had been doing just fine and wasn't interested in the position to suddenly be filled. There was simply no use at this point.

Putting my anger to the back of my mind as best I could, I met Yori Yoi at the entrance of the cave, and he allowed me to ride on his back up to the top of the mountain.

"Frost will be here soon." Yori Yoi assured me, sensing my worried eyes that scanned the deserted landscape. "Stay here and wait for him. I must go back to Dan as I'm even worse than you in the snow." He took flight then, his last words lost in the howling gale.

I didn't have to wait long before I saw the familiar figure of Frost flying over the snow, coming clearer every second. This time wasn't so terrifying, but that didn't make him seem any smaller, which still put me on edge. Now I knew what a bug felt like just before it got squashed by a gigantic foot.

"You're Jaden, correct?" Frost asked when he landed, giving me his full undivided attention at that moment.

"Yeah, but why couldn't we have met up in the caves? Wouldn't that have been easier?" I asked, shivering in the cold air.

"It's faster this way. Hop on," he explained as he lowered himself down to my height, beckoning me on.

Using one of the spikes on his back and his arm as a step, I pulled myself up on his back so I was sitting between his shoulders. "Okay, let's go," I said. Without another word he stood up and lifted us into the air with a single motion of his wings.

We had put some distance between us and the cliff when he asked, "What exactly is your plan when we get there?"

"My only plan is to get there. We'll find out what they plan from there," I replied.

"So he was right about you humans. You only make plans as you go. It's a wonder your species has survived this long," he noted, not maliciously but more like absently as he continued moving onwards.

"In defense of my species, not all of us are like me. Most people prefer to have plans before attempting something like this. Hell, most people wouldn't do something like this even if they had a plan."

"Then why are you doing this? Surely you have some better reason," he queried, intrigued.

"I have no home, no one that will really miss me anymore, so I figure I may as well spend what's left of my more than likely short life doing something more productive than sit in a cave," I answered.

"You sound like Yori Yoi. I think you two were made for each other." There was something akin to amusement in Frost's voice now, a hidden smile as if I had surprised him.

"What do you mean?" I asked blankly.

"He's already told you about the history of our kind, so you already know about the Guardians. Each one that joined the Guardians was bonded with a dragon, some of them from birth. You two may have already bonded without knowing it," he explained.

"How do you know those details?" I asked since Yori Yoi had said nothing about that.

"Who do you think introduced the history to him? He is only sixteen years old, still young for a dragon. I taught him everything he knows." A hint of pride seemed to shine through in his voice as he said that, and I felt my respect towards the white dragon grow.

"Wow, that's-look down there!" I nearly yelled when I saw several figures running through the snow. Two of them looked like Ta-Matoran while the other must have been a Toa since he was taller than the others.

"That must be Kopaka," Frost observed.

"What are those things following them?" I asked pointing to three other figures that were following them.

"Those must be Rahkshi, the sons of Makuta. We probably shouldn't-what are you doing?" he asked as I loaded an arrow, craning his neck around to see what I was doing.

"Those things destroyed Ta-Koro," I replied resolutely. "They're hunting those poor Ta-matoran. If we don't stop them, there's no telling what they'll do," I explained as I took aim. I had never tried to make a shot like this before, so this was going to be a real test of my skills. I carefully centered my sight on the lead Rahkshi and pulled back. After doing my best to adjust for wind, distance and movement I let the arrow loose, watching the arrow fly with a rush of satisfaction in my blood.

That is until they stopped chasing the matoran and changed targets, us. "Evasive maneuvers would be good!" I yelled as what looked like a stream of sizzling energy came flying straight at us.

Frost swerved wildly trying to avoid being hit as I loaded another arrow on to the bow. Doing my best to aim on the moving dragon I shot out at the Rahkshi several more times, each one of them only seeming to aggravate them even more. I managed one more shot before two of the Rahkshi broke off to resume their chase while the third stayed to keep shooting at us. I fired another before Frost had to maneuver around again, twisting and diving at horrendously scary speeds. But this time, he over estimated how far he had to go and ended up sending us hurtling towards the ground.

Luckily I'd hit a massive snowdrift and ended rolling down the hill, all the while trying to keep my arms in and cover my face so as not to cause anything more than minimal injury. Vague memories of sledding trips back home began to come to mind. Most of time I would end up doing exactly what I was doing now since I always had such little control over my sled.

A spell of dizziness immediately greeted me as I rolled to a stop. Not far away, my bow with one arrow still left in the quiver lay pathetically in the snow. Reaching out, I made a desperate lunge for both, only to fall short and grasp the arrow alone by its fletching. I was about to grab the bow as well when a sharp stab in my skull yanked me up, turning me face to face with one of the Rahkshi. I froze as it stared at me with beady eyes, pausing only for a second before emitting a loud, screeching hiss. The mask that had been covering its face parted to reveal a worm like creature with two flapping jaws.

I screamed in terror at the sight of it before driving the arrow into its face several times, jabbing with all my might. It screamed before falling motionless to the ground. I crumpled over in the snow, scrambling away on hand and knees, terrified of the thing and what I had just done. I had never killed anyone or anything before, and here I had just done it without a second thought. I knew it was for my own protection, a self-defense mechanism that was ingrained too far in my brain to comprehend, but that still didn't seem to justify it in my mind.

I looked back at the body that now lay in the snow and nearly jumped when another hand found its way to my shoulder. I turned around, poised to drive the arrow into the face of another Rahkshi if need be only to find the Toa I had seen running in the snow. He looked at me, a hint of fear in one eye. The emotion in the other was indiscernible since it was less of an eye and more of a telescopic lens.

"Are you alright?" he asked, voice level and in control.

"I'm fine. But who are you?" I mustered with my bravest voice, throwing some false bravado in for good measure.

"You don't remember me as you were unconscious the last time I saw you," he observed stoically. "I'm Toa Kopaka, guardian of ice."

"Unconscious? When was this?" I questioned.

"The last time you were up here. But that's not important. What did you think you were doing? You could have gotten yourself hurt, or worse. Didn't you learn your lesson from last time?" he chided, sounding more like a scolding mother hen than a fearsome 'guardian'.

"Okay, so I offer assistance and I get scolded. What kind of thanks is that?" I grumbled irritably.

"That wasn't assistance. All you did was distract them for a few seconds. Barely enough time to do anything. Those other two still came after us, and you nearly got killed by the third. Now, what were you thinking?" he asked again, glowering this time.

"I was thinking you could use some help, Mr. Ungrateful. As you can see, I'm just fine. I even took out one of them by myself." I countered, planting my hands on my hips in traditional confrontation position.

"That's right, and you were so scared afterwards that you were about to do the same thing to me," he pointed out, telescopic lens in one eye zooming in on me, looking for something.

"I was not," I lied. "I was merely being defensive in case another one came by."

"You just keep trying to convince yourself of that," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

"Speaking of which, where are the other two?" I asked remembering the pair that had gone after him and the two matoran.

"They're frozen," He said pointing to the now frozen lake at the bottom of the hill. In the middle of the lake I glimpsed a frozen arm reaching out as if about to grab hold of something.

"I see." I said, trying to cover up how impressed I was. "Well, um, nice work Toa Kopaka."

"Hmph," he muttered in response before turning down to the lake, clearly headed for the matoran. I made to follow him as Frost came up beside me.

"Jaden, are you alright? I'm sorry about that," he apologized.

"It wasn't your fault," I told him. "There's not much that could have been done to prevent it. Besides, it brought back some good Hatcher's Pass moments," I confessed.

"Hatcher's Pass?" Frost asked blankly.

"It's a sledding hill where I used to live. Very fun, but very dangerous," I explained.

"I see," he nodded sagely, but muttered, "You humans truly are strange creatures. It's a miracle your people have survived as long as you have."

"I've been thinking the same thing," Kopaka added from in front of us.

I glared into his back wishing I could hurt him. For someone who supposedly helped me the day before, he was really annoying. In fact, he kind of reminded me of Dan except he wasn't afraid to voice his opinion on a matter and didn't seem to take crap from anyone else. Dan wasn't afraid either, but if you said something hurtful to him, he seemed to close up for awhile.

I learned that the two matoran were Jaller and Takua, the Captain of the Guard at Ta-Koro and the Chronicler; they were on a quest to find the rightful owner of a Mask of Light. It all sounded kind of strange to me, and I didn't quite understand why they were going to all this trouble for a mask, but if this is what they were trying to do, then there was a chance I could be helpful.

"I should get you three out of here soon. There's no telling if there will be more of those things," Frost suggested.

"Good idea. It's better than whatever she had planned," Kopaka grumped.

"You know what? I have been taking all kinds of crap from you since I've come up here. I've helped you, and I don't appreciate the rude remarks I've been getting. Now, shut up before something unpleasant happens," I threatened.

"Your threats don't mean much, but if you want to be helpful I won't stop you. Just don't do something so stupid in the future as to charge into things you don't understand," he said, turning to leave. I promptly stuck my tongue out at him in response. I knew it was childish, but it felt really good at the time.

"Well, we should get going. Does the crab have to come?" I asked looking down at the thing that had followed the two.

"Of course Pewku is coming. We can't just leave her behind," the one called Takua said, looking scandalized that I had even suggested it.

"Well, let's go then. We're not getting anywhere by just standing here," I said turning to Frost.

"So where are we going?" Frost asked as he let them mount his back. Jaller took the gold mask in his hands, and after looking through it for a moment pointed in the desired direction. "You're headed towards the Onu-Koro tunnels," Frost noted. "I'll drop you three off there. It might be good for you to get out of the cold, Jaden," he added to me before taking off.

AN: This will be the last update for awhile. I leave for Texas at the end of the week and more than likely won't have any internet use while there. I'll try to get in another update when I get back, but there are no guarantees.