Chapter 7 - To The Void We Go

"Frost, we've finished."
I jump as a warm hand lands on my shoulder. Placing my book down, The Myths and Legends of the Fey, I weakly smile up at Father Time.
"W-Well?" I ask. "Wh-What's the verdict?"
My heart sinks at Father Time's grim expression.
Oh no.
"They were streaming it, weren't they?"
Father Time nods and I sink in my seat.
"They weren't streaming it live, but it was being streamed into a private server called 'Sprite'. So, at least it wasn't being spread online but it's still worrying."
You're telling me.
I sink in my seat, shame, embarrassment, and guilt battling for dominance in my chest. How could I be so stupid? I should have noticed the signs! Her cold body, her heavy, limp weight, her unblinking eyes yet tracking every move and sound I made.
"Frost."
I flinch at Father Time's stern tone and I look up at him, chewing the inside of my cheek, willing the heat behind my eyes to go away. I don't need to start crying while he scolds me. My shoulders tense as the much taller being kneels next to the arm of the chair so that we are more eye-to-eye.
"Frost," Father Time says again, his tone a little more gentle. "You did nothing wrong. We saw that you were merely trying to help an animal that didn't belong in the part of the world that you were in. There is nothing wrong with that. None of us could have anticipated humans using the body of a once alive animal to maneuver around the forest. We still don't even know if they were even meaning to find you. But if they were, how would they know where to find you in the first place? It looked as though you chose a random spot at a random time to start picking berries. Have you ever visited that spot before?"
Biting my lip, I shrug.
"I'm not sure. I don't think I have. I merely chose that spot to land because it was clear of trees and I was hungry. I didn't know berries would be that close by."
Father Time nods.
"Which tells me, these humans weren't meaning to find you. They were probably using that fox's corpse to get closer to other wildlife without causing suspicion since they seemed to have covered the stench of death very well."
"We also were just able to pull up some footage from right before you landed," Ake says, walking over. "It looks like the fox was merely placed there to observe the blueberry bush to possibly see and track what animals ate from it. And instead, they caught themselves a little snow sprite instead."
A wet giggle escapes me as Father Time shoots his sibling a glare.
"Ake, this is serious."
The moon entity looks away, rubbing the back of his neck with a frown.
"I know that, Z, I was just trying to lighten the mood. Snowflake looked like he was gonna cry and I didn't want him to burn his face anymore."
Ducking my head, I stare at my lap and Father Time grasps my knee, squeezing it in comfort.
"It's okay to be upset, Frost," Cato says, joining the rest of us, wiping their hands on their handkerchief. "Especially after our meeting the other day. But you really couldn't have known what was going on inside that fox. So, don't be too hard on yourself, my dear."
Nodding, I sigh. Even though it doesn't make me feel any better, the three of them are right. And hindsight is always 20/20.
I rub my arms.
"But what are we going to do? What am I going to do? I was obviously in the footage, wasn't I?"
Cato frowns, eyes staring off at the opposite wall.
"Technically, yes. The thing is, everything the fox saw was in thermal vision," Cato says, clarifying at my confused look. So, you were technically shown, but all that is shown is your outline and just how cold you truly are."
"Which I'm sure will really freak all the humans out when they get around to watching the footage."
I stare down at my hands. I wonder just how much colder I am than the rest of my peers. My head tilts to the side.
"Do you think I'm going to end up on all those websites about ghost sightings and unknown creatures?"
Father Time chuckles as he squeezes my knee before he stands.
"Quite possible, Frostbite. But we're gonna have to tell the others about this, just so they can be on the lookout for any more animals that seem out of place."
Ugh, this is going to be so embarrassing but I know it needs to be done. I just don't want to have to move! I really like the location of my home.
"And the fox?" I ask, willing myself to not look over my shoulder.
Cato reaches over and smooths back my hair as I stare up at them in surprise.
"I think I shall keep a hold of her for a little while long, my dear. I know that you want to give her a proper send-off, but this is one of the first leads we have on humans possibly tracking and seeing us in over four hundred years."
"And these humans seem more of the 'talk later' types nowadays," Father Time says dryly, his face pinching. "So, we need to be as cautious as possible. I think we should go visit Vita and Mortem, see if we can catch them on some downtime and explain what happened."
I swallow dryly.
It has been a very long time since I have last seen Vita and Mortem. I've seen way more of Mortem in the last 200 years than I have Vita. There isn't a lot of life growing out in the wild during winter and I don't try to stick too close to human developments. All those buildings make it very hard to fly.
I once collided with a skyscraper building so hard that I broke through the glass sending myself, Wind, and snow into a large meeting causing papers to go flying around the room and people started screaming and shouting about every curse word known to mankind.
I had a concussion for days after that, a few of those days I don't even really remember. I just remember waking one morning and having a very angry Mother Nature and Memory Keeper standing in my bedroom. So now I try to avoid the skyscrapers and large cities as much as possible, mainly sending storms their way and not directly bringing them. I wasn't allowed to fly for almost three weeks so I try to avoid anything that will keep me grounded for long lengths of time.
Quietly, I allow Father Time to tug me to my feet and watch as he pulls out the hanging clock from inside his shirt and he twists the hands to say one o'clock. A large clock appears and Father Time motions for us to enter.
"Time to go visit your older siblings, Cato."
Cato merely beams as they replace their handkerchief into their pocket.
"Indeed so! Come along, everyone."