Wilson's POV

I wasn't going to deny. I had honestly thought that after the whole episode with Webber being crippled, he and WX wouldn't be so aggressive towards each other. Especially given that the latter had seemed almost protective over him- despite the sharp way he showed it. Webber's confusion over WX's gentleness after he had been insane for some time only cemented this thought.

I was totally wrong though.

In fact, their arguments only got more ridiculous. For the moment, they weren't fighting, but WX had gone off again so he wasn't really there to argue with. Webber, on the other hand, was humming while working on preparing a volt goat, which it took WX and I's combined strengths to kill. The creature was a bit bigger than me, but Webber didn't even seem to notice the way it easily dwarfed him in size. His knife gleamed with blood but he paid no attention to it. It was kind of creepy if I had to be honest. I hesitated, then picked up my spear, which had been on the ground by my feet. Webber looked up at me, then went back to the goat. "Where are you going?" He asked. I squinted at him. "What?"

"Are you alright?" I asked. He didn't sound questioning. He sounded almost... sad.

"Yeah? Why do you ask?"

"Well, you sounded kind of sad or lost when you said that."

"It's nothing. We're just concentrating. Anyway, where are you going?"

Frowning slightly at the obvious distraction, I debated for a moment whether or not to continue to press the subject, but I really wasn't up to getting on his bad side so I went along with it. "I was going to check out that desert WX found. We've only seen the edge of it so who knows what new animals are in the rest of it."

"Okay."

I paused for a moment. There was something wrong. What could be going on in your mind now...? Or, I could just be seeing problems that aren't there. I'll talk to him about it again later when he's not busy.

"I'll be back soon."

"Good luck."

"I'm leaving I'm leaving for crying out loud stop chasing me you stupid mutts!"

The large, blue brute behind me only barked and snapped at me, missing but so close to hitting me I could feel the chill rising from its very fur as though the hound itself was carved out of ice. And knowing this world's physics that probably isn't far from the truth. "I wasn't going near your den! I had no plans on even going near any of you!" My patience wearing thin, I flipped around and cracked my spear against the animal's head, causing it to yelp and get flung back a few paces into its pack of friends. The others scrabbled to move around their injured comrade and leaped at me, their fangs bare but falling just short of actually biting my arm off. The ones who lunged forward slowly back away until they were beside the rest of the pack. The ringleader was back on its paws, taking slow steps towards me, watching the spear I held with a cautious eye.

I quickly shoved the spear in the back of my shirt to free my hands while still keeping it with me and lifted my hands, stretching my fingers apart and trying to appear harmless. "See? I just want to get out of here okay? I swear I won't touch your creepy bone hills. Oh- uh, oh dear, you probably want me for your creepy bone hills, don't you? Look, I'm not good for eating. I don't have a lot of meat on my bones, see?" I rolled up my shirt's sleeve to show my thinness. "Oh darn, it's such a shame killing me won't help very much, I guess you'll have to wait for another survivor?" Am I seriously trying to reason with a pack of bloodthirsty hounds?

Wow, okay, stooping down to a new level of crazy Wilson. Great job. Slowly backing away from the beasts, my spear fell to the ground, but I was too afraid to stop to pick it up. Once I had gotten a good five feet away from the spear, the leader bent its head to sniff at it, not taking its pupil-less gaze off of me for a second. It raised its bluish tinted nose and sniffed the air, fixed me with one last brutal glare, and let out a dismissive bark. Without another sound, the pack turned in unison and slunk back towards their dens. My chest was tight with panic and it was hard to catch my breath, but after a minute or so I was able to move again and picked up my spear, watching out for any more of the oddly colored hounds. We had fought with the hounds before, of course, but these ones with the cold blue fur seemed entirely different. They were much bigger than their black variants, and their fangs were shaped like ragged icicles instead of being smooth and pointed. Okay, note to self. Don't go near the bone hills in the desert. I thought, my heart pounding in my ears. I stared in the direction of the monsters before choosing to go another way. I wasn't going back yet, but I was definitely not going anywhere near those hounds.

Eventually, the sand began to disperse, revealing hard gray stone with yellowish speckles underneath it. Along with the sand, the heat began to vanish as well, leaving a chilling frosty feel to the air and bringing with it a bitter wind. Teeth already beginning to chatter, I wrapped my arms around myself, attempting to keep some of the heat from leaving my body. I need to get back, I thought, looking towards a mound of green. A hill. I believe I've seen that one before, actually.

I decided it was my best bet and made my way towards it. I was just a few yards to the hill before the world seemed to flip over and my legs shot out from under me, sending me to the rocky ground and pain shot of the base of my spine. I lay on the ground for a time, trying to gather the energy to move. After several minutes had passed, I dragged myself to a sitting position, feeling the ice I had slipped on clearly now as it had mostly melted due to my body heat and soaked into my shirt and pants. My spear was a few paces away, and I realized that if I had fallen in any more awkward position I could've fallen on its point and stabbed myself on pure accident. I crawled over to the weapon again and used it to stand up, realizing the icy water had numbed any pain I had previously felt. I took a deep breath then continued my way, albeit at a much slower pace.

By the time I finally got back home, WX was already back from who-knows-where, a small chunk of meat in his hand. At first, I thought everything was calm. Then, I noticed he and Webber were having a glare-off, watching each other in total silence, unnaturally still, with similar angry expressions. "Oh dear, what did I miss this time?" I asked, hoping to break the awkward silence. As if it was a cue, they both looked at me, and the tension disappeared.

"Oh, hey," Webber said, looking towards the empty fire pit.

"Why were you glaring at each other?" I pressed, exasperated.

"GIVE ME A REASON AND THAT'LL BE PART OF IT," WX huffed, and I rolled my eyes.

"Did you find anything?"

"Nope. It got way too cold before I could." I purposely, yet uneasily, left out the part about me getting chased by the blue brutes that were the hounds.

"Cold's right!" He exclaimed, his breath billowing out in a cloud. I laughed a little bit and started to set up the fire.

The next day it snowed.

WX seemed to be having a confusing time, trying to discover why rain seemed to affect him but snow, which was essentially its cold, powdery cousin, did not. Webber, on the other hand, appeared to be completely unable to decipher exactly what he was feeling. He flinched every time a snowflake landed on him, yet he still acted giddier than usual. Amusingly enough, I even caught him sticking his tongue out a couple times to catch the flakes in his mouth.

It was almost adorable to watch, actually. I wasn't going to say as much, in fear he would get mad or embarrassed, but I enjoyed seeing an almost cute side to the typically prickly spider boy. WX didn't look anywhere near as amused as I felt. In fact, he actually looked quite annoyed, as though he hated this new side of his rival for some odd reason. I frowned but didn't say anything.

"THIS IS ONLY GOING TO MAKE OUR SURVIVAL HARDER," WX commented, coming to stand beside me. "I HOPE YOU HAD PLANS FOR THIS."

"Haha, nope. I don't."

He deadpanned. "YOU'RE JOKING, RIGHT?"

"Well, I don't have a plan." My gaze shifted to Webber and I pointed at him. "He, however, might."

"YOU'RE SERIOUSLY GOING TO RELY ON THE HALF-BRED SEVEN-YEAR-OLD FOR OUR SURVIVAL." He rubbed the sides of his head, around where his temples would be if he were human. "YOU DO KNOW THIS IS LIFE OR DEATH, RIGHT?"

"Of course, but unless you have some magical ability to survive like he can I think he's our best bet."

We watched Webber in silence for a second as he pounced on a snowflake, smiling childishly as it landed on his forehead instead. "HE'S A PRETTY POOR BEST. WE ALMOST DESERVE TO DIE IF WE'RE RELYING ON THAT THING."

"Don't jinx us," I said, trying to make him smile again. It was always the oddest and most interesting thing when the arrogant robot smiled. But he was already looking away, holding out his hand and letting a couple white specks gather on it without melting before he closed it into a fist.

"I WASN'T JINXING US. I WAS TELLING THE TRUTH." he replied in almost a whisper, before stalking away to check on the fire.

I blinked, almost scared for a moment. What was he trying to say? I gulped and felt my breath get shaky, and suddenly I wasn't so sure I wanted to know.