Disclaimer- I don't own Disney or DreamWorks.

Jack

Why couldn't I have Flynn? Or Abraham? They both had super awesome weapons. And seemed energetic. The only one that seemed less boring than Wolfgang was Nadia. She had a real Granny vibe going on.

The first thing Wolfgang did was set up a diet. Guardians didn't even eat! I tried to explain this to him, but he said to just follow his directions. During this conversation, the other pairs had gone off through the doors, all in different directions.

Finally Wolfgang stopped talking and led me downstairs. "This is royal guard training. We pick up fatally wounded soldiers, homeless, and fostered teens with nowhere to go. They undertake rehabilitation and intense training. Then the generals select where each soldier goes. The winter army, summer army, autumn army, and spring army. There's maybe two hundred in each."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I said, stopping. "Why do we need armies?"

"Do you know a better way to fight a war?" Then he continued walking.

I followed. What else could I do? He opened one of the doors. Looking up, I saw the doors were directly below the elevator stone thing.

I stepped in the room and gasped. We had somehow stepped onto a mountain. Last time I checked, we were underground.

Wolfgang smirked at my expression. "King Ninad created this place. We just built around it." He walked in. "I spent my whole life here. That's the winter general's training. To survive the cold for a full year, without help. After the trial, the place grew on me."

"What happens if you don't survive?"

"You don't become general. My big sister Wanda failed."

I looked at him, horrified. He noticed my expression.

"It is not uncommon. Winter training is the toughest one. It's to enhance your senses and survival instinct. To notice every detail, and to use every detail to your advance. Out here, a raw mouse can mean life or death."

"You ate raw mouse?"

He turned to me and smiled. "Follow me."

We hiked. He looked out into the horizon.

"My daughter's out there somewhere. Her trial ends in a month."

"Is she alive?"

He shrugged. "We usually don't know in till the one year mark. Then her body is teleported back to the starting point, alive or dead."

"Starting point?"

"Where we're heading."

"The trial must be really hard for you."

He turned to me and smiled. "It is. But Alice is tough. She'll make it."

He pointed. "There's the starting point." In the distance an igloo stood. It was surprisingly big, made out of giant ice cubes the size of boulders. A faded light was visible from the outside.

I could sense it was below freezing, but of course that didn't bother me. It didn't seem to bother Wolfgang either, even though all he had on was pants that looked like they were made from burlap and a brown jacket that left him bare-chested. He was hiking in brown dress shoes. Amazing.

The igloo entrance was a blue curtain. Wolfgang pushed it aside for me and I strode in. in the center of the igloo a fire burned. Surrounding it in a circle were blue and white sitting cushions. On one wall a selection of weapons shined, polished and ready to be used. On another wall photos filled every space. Animal firs hung from the ceiling and acted as carpet.

Wolfgang walked over to the weapons wall and opened a drawer that was camouflaged into the wall. He pulled out white pajamas with blue hemming. "Put these on." He said shoving them into my arms. I waited for him to grant me some privacy, but he just stared at me.

"Um, are you going to turn away?"

He laughed. "Pride is a weakness, king. And we're going to get rid of all of it. Now change. And if you blush, you're going to undress and redress again."

Man this guy was a moron. I was really uncomfortable, but I did what he said. I had to redress three times before he was satisfied. It was embarrassing.

He nodded. Then he pointed to my staff. "This your weapon?"

"It controls my powers."

"May I?"

Without waiting for an answer he scooped up my staff and began twirling and hitting. He was good, I'll admit. He looked at it thoughtfully. Then he hung it on the wall.

"What are you doing?"

"You don't need it anymore."

"What?"

"To use your power. You don't need the staff. And we're focusing on power today."

He walked outside and gestured for me to follow.

We walked a little ways up, where the wind was blowing a little harder. Wolfgang told me to stay then walked a couple yards away. Then he turned and yelled. "Use your powers and hit me with everything you've got."

"Are you crazy?!" I yelled back.

He raised his eyebrows. "I thought I told you before to just do as I say. Now come on, chicken. Hit me!"

I sighed and wiggled my fingers. How was I supposed to do this without my staff? I went on a whim and shoved my hands toward Wolfgang. Surprisingly, an eight foot wall of snow rose and rushed to Wolfgang. I watched wide eyed as he simply took his spear and twirled in a circle so fast it blew the snow around him.

"That all you got!"

I narrowed my eyes. I raised my hands and a huge snowball formed. I threw it with no hesitation this time so that it would fall from straight above him. He didn't even look up. He just raised his spear, point up. As soon as the snowball touched the point, snow exploded everywhere.

I gaped at him. "How is that possible?!"

He looked me right in the eye. "My spear deflects winter magic. Only the most powerful magic cold deflect it. All of the general's weapons are like that. When you can defeat this," he said swiping the spear at me, "Then your power training is complete." He smiled at me coldly. "Still don't like me, chicken?"

Not really.