Men of Ice

1. Ice and Fire

[15 Years Ago]

Summer time on the Antarctic Peninsula. Here, the sun never sets, and the land is engulfed in perpetual sunlight. The tide washes up over the rocky shores of the village. Despite the frigid temperatures, humanity has still found a way to thrive. The air is filled with the salt from the sea and the laughter of children playing, as the adults work hard to make this land livable.

"Papa! Can I go to see what Nano is doing?" The boy was already dressing himself for the snow before his father could answer. Putting on multiple layers before pulling the heavy jacket over it all.

"Ivan, you know Nano is busy tending to the flock" His father remained focused on his work. He made the clothes needed to keep everyone warm. Not a physically demanding task, but arguably the most important of all tasks.

"I won't get in the way! I promise!!"

"That's what you said last time, yet somehow, you managed to get the village overrun with those birds." He stopped for a moment, laughing to himself on the inside. "I cleaned up so many feathers that day".

"That won't happen this time! I'm stronger now!" The 10 year old puffed out his chest, attempting to make himself look bigger.

"Is that so?" He turned to face his son, watching him flex and grunt. He chuckled and gave him a smile. "Very well then, just make sure to be back here when the bell rings for dinner".

Ivan pumped his fist in excitement, turning to run out the shelter.

"Ivan!" His father stopped him before he could leave.

"Yes papa?"

"Your mask?" He handed his son a mask. It was custom made to fit Ivan's face. The outside made of hard wood, painted to look like that of a juvenile emperor penguin. The eye slits were narrow, designed to stop snow blindness. With all of the snow and ice, the sun rays bounce off of the surface and cause permanent blindness, making eyewear needed. The inside of the mask was lined with downy feathers to keep the face warm. It all strapped around the back of the head, as well as being hooked to the interior of the hood; preventing all cold air from getting in.

Ivan quickly put the mask on and hooked it in place before running outside. On the shore he could see a merchant ship from Argentina. Without the trading with Argentina and Chile, the villages here would surely die.

He made his way to the outskirts of the village until he saw the sea of black.

Penguins! Nano was a herdsman. One might call him a shepherd, but he doesn't keep sheep. He's in charge of the penguins, their feathers save everyone from freezing during the sub-zero winters.

Ivan pushed through the flock until he was next to Nano. The 13 year old was taller than him. His mask was painted to look like an adult emperor. Every mask in the village is painted to represent one's role, Nano being a penguin herdsman.

"I see you've come to bother me again." He had a cold voice, always serious in everything he did. Appropriate for the land that surrounds them. His parents said that Nano had always been that way since birth. Never stopped Ivan from being his friend.

"C'mon Nano, you know you enjoy my company" Ivan laughed as he messed with the penguins.

"All you do is distract me from my work" Nano kept an eye on Ivan, ready to stop any runaway penguins this time.

Ivan turned his head back towards Nano. "All you do is stare at penguins all day, and the sun never even sets! Let's do something fun instead!"

Nano smiled and chuckled. "Alright, what did you have in mind?"

[Present Day]

"Nano! Can you hear me!?" It was difficult for him to hear anything over the ringing in his ears. Opening his eyes, it was a blurry mess of black and white. The smell of smoke pierced his nostrils. It was strangely warm, hot even; a feeling almost unknown to anyone in the polar desert.

"Don't die on me, you're tougher than that, c'mon". The man wrapped his arms up under Nano's and over his shoulders, dragging him away from the burning village. Looking up at the blurry figure, he couldn't quite see who it was, but his voice was familiar.

"Ivan?" He tried to get up, only to be met by a shooting pain in the back of his skull. The man caught him as Nano immediately fell back down, noticing the small pool of blood frozen in the snow.

"Yeah, it's me. What happened here!?" Ivan looked around at what used to a be a small village. Shelters collapsed and burnt to the ground, bodies everywhere, all dead. On the ground lay the remains of the Emperador flag, the flag of their tribe and all of their villages.

"We were attacked. We tried to fight back, but we were outnumbered. They killed everyone, the women and children too." Nano's vision started to clear up, he could see the destruction left behind, the death with the silence that it brings to a once busy village.

"Not everyone." He let out a small chuckle as he tended to Nano's head wound. "You'll be ok, as long as we find shelter before winter. There should be an outpost not too far from here."

"How can you laugh in a time like this?"

"Because my best friend is still alive." On the back of Ivan's jacket was strapped a small sled for one person. He pulled it off and lifted Nano onto it before pulling him. With Ivan were 2 others, both sailors.

"Ivan. We've checked everyone else.. No other survivors." They noticed Nano on the sled as they finished up a temporary shelter. "This should do for now. We should eat and rest up, then we can head out when the sun rises again." Being almost winter time, the sun is up for a shorter and shorter amount of time with each day; eventually not rising at all until the end of winter. "I'm Noah by the way, and this is my wife, Emily". The couple had dug a snow trench, big enough to fit a few people. "This should be good enough for us to get by". The trench is one of the most basic survival shelters taught to all children who live in this climate. It's dug to fit as many people as possible in a small space, then the top is covered with a sheet, or anything you can put up there. If done right, this trench can provide more than enough warmth, even on the coldest nights. Nano had never needed to dig a trench for shelter, so tonight he'll learn if it really works or not.

"You guys stay in the trench for now. I'll stay up here and make something for us to eat. I think I can go through the scraps and get something cooking." Noah handed a heavy sheet for the group to cover the top of the trench with. He then turned to look through the rubble left behind from the attack.

"Let me help you". Nano stood up, but a sharp pain in his head was enough to cause him to stumble back onto the sled. His vision blurred again as he could feel and see the throbbing pain. Ivan carefully laid Nano back down.

"You need to rest. At least for a little while. You can't get home if you're dead." Ivan laughed to himself before lowering him into the trench with the help of Emily. "We'll talk about plans in the morning."