The King's Remorse

Flash Freeze

What the hell is he doing here?

"Hi. Brook sent me to find you guys."

"Did she really?" Why'd she send Ice? He doesn't know his way around. He just got freed from the Amethyst Throne and had his memory wiped.

"I convinced her it was better if she stayed back to help those living in the White Tent Sea. They wouldn't like me since I guess I was friends with King Garonda XIV. I came to see how you were."

"Well I'm doing just splendidly. Ky thinks we should rest, but I don't want to stop looking for Wolf."

"Are you really going to find Wolf if you're sleeping on your feet?" Ice tilts his head slightly to the side.

"I'll be fine."

"Fine as in not dead or fine as in actually having the energy to search successfully for Wolf?" Ice adjusts his stance to shake one of his forepaws before setting it back onto the ground.

"Just fine, ok?" Please stop talking to me!

"How are you actually doing, Dove?"

"Leave me alone. I'm fine, alright?"

"Ok." Ice shrugs, sitting down and curling up. He doesn't sound convinced.

I lean back against the tree again and close my eyes, drifting off to sleep at a snail's pace. Dreamland swirls in my mind until it eventually claims it.

I wake up a short while later. A blanket of darkness covers the forest, and the eerie light from the moon casts a sickly glow on the forest floor. A shadow moves off in the distance. Through my groggy vision, it looks identical to Wolf. I jump to my feet to chase the shadow, but then I get a second look and it's just a bird fluttering through the trees.

Get ahold of yourself, Dove. How are you going to find Wolf if practically everything that moves looks like her? Get your mind straight! A bird isn't Wolf!

"Dove?"

"Huh?" I turn to the side and see Ice.

"Why am I asleep?" I frown. Is he alright? Ice's eyes are wide open and focusing on me.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah."

"Ok..."

"Why am I asleep?" he repeats.

"What do you mean by that?" Maybe I'm misunderstanding.

"I'm asleep," he says. "My eyes are open, but I can't open my eyelids. I'm awake but I'm always asleep, and I can't wake up. I've tried. I've tried. I've tried, Dove! I've tried and I can't wake up. I'm still held in that same stupor. The one that held me at the Amethyst Throne! The same one that the snake put me in. What am I supposed to do? I can't wake up. I'm here without being here. I'm dreaming in reality. Real events, but I can't wake up. What am I supposed to do, Dove? How do I wake up?" Ice turns to me, tears brimming in his eyes and a few rolling down his cheeks to form icicles on his jaw. I lift a hand, unsure of what to do, and it falls back to my lap, limp. What do I do?

"Please, Dove? Can you help me wake up? Please?"

"Yeah, ok," I reply. What the hell does he mean? I want to help, but how?

"You really mean it?"

"Of course." But how?

"Yeah?" Despite the tears falling from his eyes, Ice's face lights up slightly. Like an ember, burning out but still there.