"Aster, I cannot keep your pace. Please slow to a reasonable speed." North huffed a hundred feet behind Aster. Aster had scouted ahead for the trail and when he picked up on one, he became determined not to lose it.

"Mate, I think I found him. This looks like Jack's footprints. It looks like he was shuffling through the leaves here," Aster pointed to a small upheaved pile of dirt, "And he tripped over here…" Aster whispered to himself as he examined the patch of ground. He looked up to see a bush right where Jack would have fallen and noticed something small and blue waving in the wind. "North, commere. I think you're gonna wanna see this." Aster picked the piece of blue cloth from the bush, his hand getting caught on a few prickers on the way out, and held out the cloth to North. North gingerly took it from Aster's hand and examined it.

"Is Jack's hoodie. Same color, same material. We are heading in right direction. Jack must be close!" But Aster was shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, but the trail is at least a few hours old, if not more. It's hard to determine in the leaves. But that doesn't mean we stop, it just gives us more reason to hurry up." Aster hurried ahead of North again, determined to catch back up on the trail.

"Aster," North had stopped where Aster had left him, "What if…what if Jack does not want to come back?" North's head was bowed, staring at the ground, his cheeks rosy from the cold and constant flush of emotions roiling in his stomach. Aster sighed and turned back to his friend.

"North, we both know he's not in his right state of mind right now. He has a nasty fever, I'm sure, and it's causing him to not see reality. Now, the longer we wait here, the farther away he will get." Aster turned back around and searched through the leaves, delicately turning over a few to spot the trail in the mud beneath. North still did not move from his spot. Aster, noticing this, sighed.

"Now what?"

"Aster, what if he won't come home? What if he truly believes this is where he belongs? Who are we to stop him?" Aster rubbed his temples and walked back over to North.

"North, you are his legal guardian and I am his godfather, right? We both have legal custody of the kid until he's eighteen whether he likes it or not and nothing he says or does is going to change that. I want him at home and well before we have any discussion about what he does and doesn't want. He cannot make decisions for himself yet, so it's up to us to do it for him and this is the best we can do for him right now. Find him and keep him safe." Aster over-pronounced the last sentence, hoping to get his point across to North. It made perfect sense, and he did not understand why North would be arguing at all when Jack was out there in the cold by himself.

"Aster, this is what Jack has wanted since the accid-"

"No, North. You are not allowed to go there right now, alright? He became wonky after it, I understand, and we have been dealing with it ever since in the best way we could. But, that does not mean that we do not want what is best for him, and freezing to death in the cold is not the best for him. Now, please, let's move. I'm having no further talk about it." Aster then turned and followed the trail further into the woods. North pulled out his pocket watch and opened it, his stomach twisting when he saw the picture inside. It was of his family, Jack, his mother and father, and North. It had been taken when Jack was eight, a few months before they were killed in a car accident. It was the only time North had taken a photo of them together. North closed the watch and followed after Aster, his fingers and heart numb.

"I heard you! I know you're out there!" Jack yelled into the forest. He had been hearing leaves crunching behind him and had stopped, but when he looked around the forest, he had seen nothing. Jack went to yell again, but was silenced by a low growl from directly in front of him, in the trees. Jack held out his staff and pointed it to the offending shadow in the trees. Another growl emanated through the forest and Jack readied his position to fight. He watched the shadow as it moved closer, predator to prey, and flinched when a coyote jumped out of the shadows, right in front of Jack. He held his staff out, waving it around trying to scare it off, but to no luck. The coyote circled Jack, watching him warily, keeping just out of reach of the staff. Jack felt a cold sweat roll down his cheek just as he tripped over something on the ground. The coyote leaped for Jack and Jack rolled out of the way just in time. He swung his staff blindly and hit the coyote's head, but that only made it more aggressive. Jack looked around for something, anything he could use, and heard small whimpering sounds coming from a small cave a few feet away. Cubs. She was attacking because of her cubs. And Jack was a threat. Jack tried pushing himself from the ground, but lacked the strength as the coyote made another leap for Jack. It landed and bit Jack on the arm and began to thrash around, pulling and biting at the limb, until Jack faintly heard something loud off in the distance. The coyote went limp and fell on Jack, something wet soaking into his hoodie, not where the coyote had bit him.

"Boy, what are you doing out here?" Someone yelled from a distance, then grew steadily louder as they approached. "Kid, what are you doing out here. Are you- oh. We need to get you looked at. I'm taking you back to m-" but Jack was out before they could finish their sentence.