"So you're the one who's causing all of this trouble…"
Brulant stirred, his body feeling like it had been hit with a ton of bricks, and he began to immediately shiver. He let out a quick wave of heat, causing the surrounding snow to melt just enough to create a small crater around him. After his mind finally caught up to him, he sat bolt upright and took in the situation. He was mostly fine, the snow having softened the landing, and Frost was lying next to him, a burn in the front of his hoodie, but no serious burn marks underneath. Brulant stared at him for a moment, then felt guilty at having been the one to cause that burn. He should have known better. Frost is a winter spirit. Fire and heat hurt him much more than any normal human, and even then, the ball of heat he sent would have at least given a small external burn on a human. And he really did not need to add in that bit of electricity at the end...
"Hey, are you listening to me? Sheesh. Kids these days," the voice that had initially roused him spoke beside him, and Brulant turned to be face-to-face with none other than Old Man Winter.
"What do you want, Old Man?" Brulant asked, not even trying to suppress his irritated tone. He did not like Old Man Winter. The guy was bitter and hated everything, and had no idea how to have fun.
"You need to learn to respect your elders," Old Man Winter tossed back easily, not even caring what kind of insults went between the two anymore. They have this fight every time they meet. The kid was too high strung, letting his emotions get the better of him far too easily, and it frustrated and terrified the old man. Brulant had true, raw power behind his belt, and he could pack a serious punch if he wanted to. Old Man Winter could only counter what Brulant can bring up with a long, enduring winter. That was actually the only real difference between the two. Old Man Winter was old, obviously by his title, and he had been around since before the Vikings began ransacking the Americas, or whatever those blasted continents are called now. He could produce a winter that could last months without end. Just snowstorm after snowstorm. Not enough to kill, but just enough to leave a lasting impression. Even when the snow had all melted into the streams and oceans, the people of the world would keep telling tales of how they survived this winter, or walked home through that snowstorm. It made Old Man Winter proud, in a way. But he never meant to kill, just endure. The casualties he could not help. Humans are just fragile creatures. But Jack Brulant, the quirky kid who took the place of his old rival, was the exact opposite. Brulant was impatient, always jumped the gun, took advantage of any situation, whether it be good or bad, and caused trouble wherever he went in his terrain. He had a short attention span, and spawned randomly, constantly clashing with the other elemental spirits. He was everything Old Man Winter was not.
"Look," Brulant finally said after a minute of silence, not having paid attention to the insult thrown at him, "I have something important to do, if you don't mind," Brulant glanced over at Frost, who had not yet moved from his prone position in the snow, a few feet to the side. "Now can you please crawl back to whatever ice cave you came from?" But Old Man Winter followed his gaze and suddenly remembered why he had come in the first place.
"He needs to go," Old Man Winter said flatly.
"What, afraid of a little competition? How do you even know who he is? You don't," Brulant teased, then stopped as he noticed the wind pick up around him and a deadly chill tossed around Brulant's hair.
"I can feel that I am not the only Spirit of Winter on this Earth, and I can feel that Mother Nature is upset at him. He is not supposed to be here. He feels wrong," Old Man Winter let his tone become bitter as he spoke to Brulant.
"Hey, maybe he's your replacement. I thought that was what you wanted?" Brulant said, waving his hand in the air, causing the surrounding air to heat up. Being in the middle of the North Pole was not good for Brulant, and he could feel his energy being sapped away from him, being overwhelmed by the extreme cold.
"I do want to retire, you are correct, and I am aware that you are the one who was to help pick out a new spirit for the job, but," Old Man Winter stared at Frost again, his expression softening a bit at seeing such a young soul, and wondering if he had a family waiting for him to never come home, "He does not belong here. The winds are tugging at him, causing a disruption in the atmosphere, and creating deadly storms across the Earth. They are beyond my control, and you seem to have your hands full, so I needed to take the situation I could control into my own hands."
"We are taking care of it just fine, thank you," Brulant said, his fighting spirit having been sucked out sometime during the fight, knowing that everything Old Man Winter was saying was correct. He liked having another him here, but it was dangerous. He could feel the tension on the Earth, like a great strain has been put on it, and it could snap at any time. Brulant stared at Frost, thanking everything that he was unconscious for this whole discussion, otherwise he might have taken measures into his own hands, the conversation giving him more of a reason to risk his life with the potion. And what of Frost's own dimension? Would another winter spirit move in, or would the Earth slowly fall back into its cycle of Ice Age to create new life, like it did every time all of the winter spirits died with none to replace them? Winter has a harsh element, and if it not properly controlled, then it will consume everything and kill all life. Brulant shivered, not just from the cold, and knew that he needed to get Frost back to his dimension in one piece, not wanting that fate to happen to anyone.
"I see you have finally seen what I have," Old Man Winter stated, staring at Frost as well.
"You know," Old Man Winter started after a minute of thoughtful silence between the two, "There is a prophecy… Oh, do not give me that look! Back in my day, prophecies were taken seriously. They are what predicted and shaped human lives, and most were correct in the end, whether being fulfilled word for word or vaguely. But, if you will listen to an old man's words, the prophecy, or, what it later become, a tale, tells of two worlds, connected by a single entity. It goes on to say that the one thinks as three, and together they will…shall… my memory is fuzzy on specifics, but, when the world is in turmoil, the one that is three will have to work together to save… the Earth? I do not believe that is what it said, but it sounds like it would fit well with the rest of it."
"Why… why are you telling me this? This does not seem to help with our current situation at all," Brulant stated, listening, but losing patience quickly.
"But you missed the part where the one is three. It seems that some of what the tale said is true. There are two of you, and the world is in turmoil."
"But why would you believe that this prophecy or whatever would apply to this situation at all? Most prophecies and stories are made by crazy people, so what makes this one so special?" Brulant could t believe a word of what Old Man Winter was saying. The guy had been around for so long, and he has heard so much over his time on Earth, that he must be losing, if not his memory, than his mind. But Brulant let his thoughts subside when he noticed the almost pitying, melancholic expression Old Man Winter now wore as he regarded Frost.
"It is because the tale is known as "The Death of Jack Frost". I have always been one to enjoy a good story, and this one was specifically spectacular, as it told of the, at the time, improbable. But, once I met you, the story seemed to nag at the back of my mind. Your name was too similar, but it was only a story, after all," Old Man Winter shrugged, "Take it as you will, but tell me one thing before I leave you with your thoughts. I want to know if my suspicions are correct." Brulant met Old Man Winter's eyes and he was almost afraid of what the question would be. Old Man Winter tore his eyes away and stared down at Frost and his thoughts became troubled.
"What is this boy's name?"