Jack, not Jackson

Chapter 8: Sightseeing.

Frost carefully morphs back into his human form. Trying to brush the frost of his clothes and hair but to no avail.

"Guess our little journey is at an end Forest."
Jack says softly to the air.
A bird nearby chips twice and falls silent.
"Yeah. I'll miss you too."

And before Jack can change his mind, he walks briskly down the hill and onto the winding path that leads to this new town. Just another place, he tries to tell himself, don't get attached. Knowing he'd lost the ability to find home a long long time ago.

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The first day, Frost spends wandering the town apparently called Hogsmeade (weird right?). He flits from shadow to shadow and tries to keep his head down, afraid someone will be curious why there's a barefoot teen wandering the streets when it's getting so cold.

He manages to stay out of sight until dark, when he knows he's alone he wanders around a bit, looking for a place close by to sleep out of sight. The feeling in his chest, hands, and skull tell him he's definitely in the right place.

Lost in thought, Jack mutters to himself about how odd times are right now and how old he's become. Getting tired of looking, he heads to the edge of the town.
As he adjusts the chain around his neck he looks up at the moon. Upon doing so, Jack sees a hill with a rickety old dilapidated building sitting on top.
It looks drafty, cold, and like it could fall if you so much as sneezed.
Perfect.

Over the next few days, as the light snows that follow him start to dust the ground, Jack wanders the town. Taking caution to not be seen, he tries to learn where he is and why he's been drawn there but it isn't until that weekend that he realizes just how different the place he's landed himself is this time around.

Frost is so focused on his task of staying out of view that he doesn't realize how weird a place Hogsmeade really is. The people here carry twigs and some have really crappy looking brooms.

Weird looking shops with weirder names serve odd customers. Like, seriously a group of three kids giggling together on the street were wearing graduation gowns and eating some kind of candy.

Normal looking enough candy until one kid eats one and opens his mouth, roaring like a big cat. The other two giggle and fight over who's next.
Frost is so caught up in watching the kids that he forgets he's supposed to keep moving, blending with the shadows.

"Can I help you?"
A voice as old as Jack should sound says from directly behind him.
Jack jumps about a foot-and-a-half in the air as he whirls around.
Too startled to speak at first, Frost just stares at the old man, taking in the half moon glasses, long white hair and beard, and odd flowing robes.

After a slightly awkward silence Jacks brain fills him back into the present and he realizes that the man had asked him something.
"Oh, I'm just.."
Frost trails off. There's no way to end that sentence and keep some facade of sanity.

"Oh don't mind me I'm just sneaking about this weird town after trekking through the forest for two weeks and wanted to watch the people because an evil necklace I pulled from some old bog water told me that this general area is where I feel I need to be at the moment, though that could change. "
Yeah, that would go well.

"Sightseeing?"
The old man offers him an escape and Frost takes it, albeit slightly suspicious.
"Yeah, I've never been here before and I wanted to get an outsiders view before other people's opinions cloud mine."

The white hair man regards Frost curiously, as if searching him.
Frost fights the urge to back away and raise his stick in defense.
"Come with me, I'll buy you a butterbeer."
Jack's only thought was, "a what?"
but he trails after the man anyway.