Wilson's POV

"He'll never be able to do it! What are you going to do about it, huh Wildumb?"

"That's not even a creative insult!"

A splash of cold snow, instantly numbing any skin it got into contact to.

"Fight back, you weakling!"

"How? With his tiny little chicken arms?"

Laughter.

A chilly wind ran through my hair, jostling me from the deepness of my thoughts. The sun had not yet to rise, but something felt different. Something about.. the air. Uncertainly, with a hint of fear and concern, I found myself looking at my immediate area, trying to figure out exactly where it was coming from. "Do you feel that, WX?" I called to the robot, half-aware as always during this time of day. He snapped from his own thoughts and turned his eyeless gaze to me.

"FEEL WHAT?"

"That crackling tension in the air..."

There was a pause, machinery humming softly against the silent black night before replying. "IT IS ELECTRICAL," he said thoughtfully. "AND YET, NATURAL AT THE SAME TIME. PERHAPS LIGHTNING, OR A STORM."

Thundersnow? That might be an interesting sight, although I'm not particularly fond encountering it now.

"I HOPE IT IS NOT," he ended, nestling a bit more into the bark of the tree he leaned against. "BUT THE KID SPOKE OF SPRING'S ARRIVAL. MAYBE HE'S ACTUALLY CORRECT ABOUT SOMETHING FOR ONCE IN HIS LIFE."

His gaze shifted slightly to the kid in question, bundled into one of the weirdest sleeping positions I had ever seen. He looked more like a heap of black fur than a person.

"It's been winter for what feels like way too long. I hope spring is soon."

The robot said nothing, probably thinking about rain by the expression on his face.

The sky was beginning to turn paler, milky fingers of light stretching across the nearly black expanse. I stood, stretching, and brushed myself off. "I guess it doesn't matter. As long as we're able to get to that Moose before Spring's end."

"YOU SPEAK OF KILLING THE GIANTS, YET YOU DARED NOT TO HUNT THE DEERCLOPS?" WX pointed out, standing as well.

"That was... different." I grimaced. The last thing I wanted, to be honest, was to fight the Deerclops. It was infinitely more terrifying than the Bearger and, according to the book, much more powerful. Fighting the Goose first for her precious down feathers would probably be the smartest course of action.

I chose to ignore that after Spring and the Moose was Summer and the Dragonfly. I preferred not to think about fighting the Dragonfly.

Finally, a ray of light hit me in the face, bringing with it a wind that was far from bitter. I looked around, eyeing the trees around me and watching in wonder as the snow clinging to their branches all Winter began to drip off of their needles. I nearly exclaimed in excitement, but I was abruptly cut off by a rather ungraceful sound of annoyance as a cascade of droplets showered WX, sneaking into his frame and causing sparks to explode from him. He looked frustrated already.

Not to help matters any, the water also woke up someone that would make him even more frustrated.

He stretched and yawned, blinking up at the sky with a loud sniff. "Oi, smells like Spring. Is it Spring?" Webber glanced at WX, a sly smirk coming to his face. "You probably deserve that."

He was returned with an intense glare, as though the robot was daring him to continue.

"You know, I'm rather hungry," I intervened before they could start yet another fight. "Maybe we can go to the rabbit holes and get something to eat. Would you be alright with cleaning the animals if we hunt them, Webber?"

The spider boy shrugged as he stood, stretching once more. "Of course. Would hate to see one of you puke because we refuse to."

I beckoned for WX to follow me, in hopes that it would distract him from the argument. It partially did, given that he still shot a few glares behind him, but credit where credit is due, he followed without verbal protest.

The sun had fully risen by the time we reached the savanna. The air was lighter and fresher than I ever remembered seeing it, and the distant birch forest disappeared into a sea of green. WX scanned the area before huffing. "THEY HAVE HIDDEN AWAY FOR BREEDING SEASON," he said with a scowl, pacing to the nearest collapsed set and peering inside of it. He kicked the mound of earth at the entrance and turned to face me. "WHAT BRIGHT IDEA DO YOU HAVE NOW, SCIENTIST?"

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking." I waved him away. It would really suck not being able to stock up on rabbit meat before Summer arrived, but it could prove useful as a catalyst to exploring new food sources... "Perhaps we could try the desert again?" I suggested, but he was already shaking his head.

"LET THE GOATS REPRODUCE. THE LAST THING WE WOULD WANT IS TO DESTROY THEIR HERD COMPLETELY."

"Well, what bright ideas do you have?"

He pointed to the birch forest on the other side of the savanna with his spear. "NUTS, BERRIES, PIGS. ALL WOULD MAKE A SUSTAINABLE SOURCE OF FOOD."

"Pigs?" I grimaced at the thought of eating a pig. Surely they would have touch and stringy meat, and the thought of eating something that was able to produce cognitive thought patterns enough to at least speak in broken English...

"ARE YOU AFRAID TO FIGHT THEM?"

"I'm afraid to eat them. It feels... wrong to."

He scoffed. "THEY ARE JUST ANIMALS, WILSON. DESIGNED TO BE SLAUGHTERED AND EATEN."

"Well, I'm not going to. I don't care what you eat but I'll stick to things that don't talk to me, thank you."

He made a face eerily similar to one rolling their eyes. "FINE. I SUPPOSE WE CAN KILL A COUPLE OF BUZZARDS AT LEAST SO WE HAVE SOMETHING WITH SUSTENANCE." He hoisted his spear over his shoulder. Most of the walk to the desert was in silence, except for a low grumbling noise slowly growing louder and closer.

And the rain started to pour.

WX tried so hard not to react to it, that it was almost comical. His facial expressions voiced his unspoken frustration and anger as sparks flew from him. The suffocating heat of the desert washed over us as we broke out into the wide, sandy expanse. Almost instantly, he held out his arm as a signal to stop, and pointed ahead with his other hand. "THE VOLT GOATS ARE ENRAGED."

"What? Are you kidding me?" I pushed slightly past him and looked towards the herd myself. Several of them looked rabid- their blue fur was spiked up erratically and their eyes glowed with hatred. Lastly, their mouths were contorted into snarls as they apparently confronted some unknown enemy.

I took an alarmed step backward.

"I BLAME THE KID," he decided aloud.

I snorted with amusement and glanced at him in the corner of my eye. "Why?" I laughed.

He shrugged. "NEED TO BLAME SOMEONE. ALRIGHT. THROW DOWN THE BAIT AND LET'S DO SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE. UNLESS, OF COURSE, YOU DO NOT WANT TO, AND YOU WOULD PREFER TO STAND HERE UNTIL YOU BECOME PART OF THE DESERT. EITHER IS FINE WITH ME."

I elbowed him. "Shut up you love us." I dug through my bag and tossed a stale morsel that most likely belonged to a rabbit at one point onto the ground and waited for the vultures to take the bait.

…

We got home just as the sun was setting. We both dragged two limp corpses behind us, the birds' muddy feathers making small furrows in the ground as we walked. It was still raining, except now it was accompanied by periodic flashes of lightning.

WX's steps were beginning to falter, as though the rain was beginning to get to him.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I paused for him to catch up for the fourth time.

"I AM FINE. JUST NEED TO GET DRY," his words sounded a bit slurred as well. I frowned in concern, but he waved it away. "I WILL BE OKAY WHEN IT STOPS RAINING."

"Alright... just maki-" My words were cut off as a particularly loud lighting flash sent me tumbling to my feet, muddying my clothes and ripping the flesh of the birds I held. It looked like lightning had struck right next to me...

Slightly in panic, I looked up to make sure WX was alright, but he seemed unharmed. In fact, he was standing much taller than he was previously, examining his hands curiously as tiny bolts of lightning jumped across his frame. He was glowing.

"Are you alright!?"

"SYSTEM OVERLOAD..." he replied softly. "I NEVER EXPECTED THIS TO HAVE MADE IT INTO MY DESIGN." He clenched and released his fists, as though testing them out. "I AM MORE THAN ALRIGHT." He took a shaky step forward, as though trying to get his bearings again.

"Were you struck?"

"IT APPEARS SO."

I shakily got to my feet and rested my hand on his shoulder. I could feel his entire body buzzing. "How does it feel?"

"INVIGORATING," he said simply. "LIKE I COULD OUTRUN DEATH."

I took a step back again, nodding. "That may come in useful." And as if to echo my words, in the far distance, echoing through the pines, I heard the faintest noise- a loud and angry honk. I looked in the direction of it, glaring into the woods. Who knows if any of us have any other undiscovered powers or abilities. We're only getting stronger by the day.

Come at us, Moose. We're ready for you.