Winters always seemed to give off the feeling of cold and rarely in an uproar to some foreigners. Its little jingle almost was a lullaby to some as they traveled through the snow that just seemed to pile up. Everything seemed so peaceful with its light blue sky and its white fluff of ice. However, it seemed Winters was always a strange and peculiar place. There were onlookers waiting for a glimpse of the rumored 'Tessie' and an old scientist said to be nuts somewhere. To the north you would find the Snow Wood Boarding House- an elite academy for almost all ages. Boys of green uniforms did their studies and gossiped, chattering within their dorm halls.

Today was no exception. It seemed different than the previous days though. The buzzing in the air was louder than typical, chattering at its ultimate height. It was all a blend of voices of different ranges and pitches who seemed to all be focused on just one topic rather than the multitude of fantastical discussions they usually had. Today was the day of just one conversation split among different social groups.

"Jeff!" a cheerful voice exclaimed. The blond stirred from his rest, sitting up from his bed. "Good morning, Tony," he replied as he reached for his glasses. Surprised he didn't feel them on their usual place. Tony gave a giggle. "I cleaned your glasses for you, buddy! Boy, your glasses get really dirty really quick!"

Handing them to their proper owner, Jeff placed them onto his face and adjusted it before muttering a "Thank you."

Sliding out of bed, he went over to the dresser beginning to find a clean uniform. "So, Jeff! Have you heard?"

"Heard what? I noticed that it's exceptionally loud today for starters. Hey.. Why are you awake so early today anyway?"

"Oh, that? Well, you should come out and listen to it! I'm sure you'll get your answer quicker than you can fix something right up!" Without answering the latter question, Tony bolted out the room with a grin and a hum. Opening his mouth to question his antics, he stopped when Tony had left and gave a sigh instead.

After changing, Jeff entered the hallway and closed the door behind him. There was the usual mass of faces chattering excessively about the news outside of the school. Examining the room, he looked for the familiar hat.

"Oh! Hey-oh, Jeff! You're Andonut's kid, right?" a student asked, leaning over him. He seemed to tower over the shorter Jeff. He must've been an upperclassman Jeff deduced. The blond readjusted his glasses as his voice shook when he replied a simple, "..Yeah."

The student continued to grin and gave the younger one some space. "Well, shucks! Nice to meet'cha, Jeffy boy! Can't say I come from such a marvelous lineage, but I'm here anywho. The name's Henry." He held a hand out to which Jeff stared at. It was quiet and Henry's eyes shifted elsewhere as his grin started to drop before Jeff took a stern hold of it and shook it before quickly letting go. Henry's head gave a little tilt before his smile reformed.

"So, erm..."

"Oh, yes?" Henry's eyes lit up as he started to lean forward once more.

"Why... Why are you here exactly?" Jeff blurted out. "I-I mean, you should be in a different hallway, right?"

Henry's answer came out with a melodious laugh. "Quick to think, I see!" He ruffled up the younger's hair before standing up straight and tall, raising a hand to his chin to stroke it as he thought of a way to form a proper response while the other winced. "I suppose you hear this ruckus right here, eh? Thought to hear it all out! Of course, I know perfectly well what they're all talking about- happened right in my very own hallway after all! But it's nice to hear everyone's thoughts on it if you ask me! Besides, I don't have anywhere to be going today. It's a Sunday, you know!"

Jeff nodded. "Pardon me, but what exactly happened?"

At that, Henry jumped. His voice suddenly had a tone of alertness to it that wasn't present in his previously jolly and seemingly carefree manner. "W-Wait a second- hold up now, you're saying you don't know?"

Gulping, Jeff slowly nodded once more. "Should I know already...?" Looking into the elder's eyes though, he already knew the answer. The cries of the other students became audible and clear now rather than distorted and mixed up into something incomprehensible. He could hear the shrieks of, "Did you hear?" and, "I can't believe it!" It didn't end there though. In that brief time period, he felt as if he heard tid bits of every single conversation.

"He's sooo gonna get it!" "Whaddaya' think about it all?" "Man, I don't know how he could've done it!" "He's gone completely insane!" "Gee, I hope he's okay..." "Makes you wonder what made him do it!" "Well, I heard from a guy that..." "Just you wait 'till the headmaster hears about this!" "Man, this is the most exciting thing I've heard just yet!" "Do you think he really did it?" "I bet he's just pulling some big prank! How much you wanna bet he's hiding away in his room?" It was enough to give him the idea it wasn't any good, but it was vague enough he didn't know exactly what had occurred.

It all seemed to die down to a sudden silence when Henry spoke again.

"Well... You see... How do I put this? A... A student had gone... missing."

"Missing?"

"Precisely! I don't think you would know too much about him. He's not really a talker. Boy can whip up a storm of curses though, lemme tell you! His name's Loid as far as I know! Nobody's seen him since last night. Completely vanished out of the blue sometime between late last night and this morning it looks like."

Something clicked in Jeff's mind.

"Wait, do you mean Loid Pilgrim?"

"Huh... Now that you mention it, yeah!" Henry's eyes grew wide. "You know of him?"

"Yes. Well... sort of. He came from Merrysville."

"Oh? From Eagleland?"

"He calls it America, but you're probably right."

There was a silence once more before Henry asked:

"Say, how do you know him anyway? He doesn't strike me of the type of guy to go parading into the lower-aged hallways or common rooms."

"Let's say he taught me all there is to know about rockets."

"Wait, you mean to tell me it was him who caused that incident with the mighty rocket blasted into the air?"

"I suppose you can say that."

"Well, if you somehow got on such friendly terms with him, do you got any idea where he headed off to?"

"Can't say I do," Jeff sighed. He knew one thing perfectly clear and it was that the runaway had a reason, and he was afraid to find out what it was if he ever crossed his path again.