[ chapter six ] join the whisperer ( part one )

THE LIGHT REFLECTED ITSELF INSTANTLY AS THE BEAM outlined a white-dressed figure that was crouching, covering himself with a snow jacket, reaching out for the carbons which its temperature now fully copied the burn out desires buried in many layers of snow. The smoke from the fire transformed, reshaping into white cobs — smooth on the outside, fluffy on the inside.

"What are those sounds that caress me so poignantly, that go straight to my soul and twine about my heart? Oh, Russia! What do you want from me? What is the mysterious, hidden bond between us?" The man spoke softly, yet his voice was so raspy and soothing.

He mockingly quoted a paragraph from Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls. 

Even though they couldn't see his facial expression, suppressed laughter could be heard at the ends of the sentences.

When the man turned to the cavalry on the snowmobile, both came to the realization that it was just a boy, probably in his earliest 20s yet he looked like a proper gentleman, like if an old wise soul was trapped inside a body of a youngster.

His round-shaped face showed a redness around his button-like nose. The reddish tones on his nose area were noted as the irritation during cold.

The lightened hair strands were hard and pointy as freshly ripped icicles, scraping his forehead, creating little scars. His extremely light blue eyes, their fierceness, and their color resembled carved lines from an ice hockey match on the frozen river that was bedazzled with ice flakes.

His gaze was cold but still held that youth in his face didn't have since it was overwhelmed with mysteries. The puck, a pupil, was as tiny as a dot on the ladybug's back.

His pinkish full lips that were slightly tinting purple in the middle, puckered; forming into a surprised expression.

The white uniform he had was perfectly clean, there were no specks of dirt or dust to be found, as if he wore it just for this occasion, meeting those who had his fate in their hands. The engine of the snowmobile stopped, but the light still brightened the place similar to the reflectors on a stadium. The man's knuckles were turning red as well but there were signs of bruises and smudged blood.

I slowly stepped down, feeling the snow melting under my boot. Just as I opened my mouth to address the man, a growl resonated through the forests. The snarling must be far away but it still gave me chills, even Mobius was startled, constantly looking around as if the released beast was hiding behind a tree.

"Did you hear that?" The man queried. His eyes widened even more, thinking that he was the only one who could hear the sound — losing his mind over it.

I nodded skeptically.

"We made a terrible mistake. I did. I made a terrible mistake," The man continued as if he was the only one who could talk and the others were muted. I wanted to listen to him, to understand his worries, why is he so stressed out.

"What mistake?" Mobius joined the debate, which was formerly only a monologue. His voice was settled down and he was ready to be helpful as he noticed that the fair-haired man's hands were shaking; either from the cold or because of something bad happening.

"This," He took a look around. The mountains were more beautiful during the daybreak. The rising sun was currently hiding behind sheep's backs, spreading its sun rays as the radiant star was waking up.

"I lied when I told them it was about research for the University. I planned this expedition as an act of revenge," the man explained and finally revealed his identity. He was the leader of the Dead mountain expedition — Igor Dyatlov.

"As revenge? What do you mean?" Mobius repeated, taking a slow glance at me because he didn't understand a single thing. His thoughts were puzzled, knowing that it was another trick of He who remains. He wanted to slow them down so He moved the pieces perfectly to make them meet up, eventually lose the time they could spend looking for their variants.

Dyatlov managed to rise one of his eyebrows in doubt, observing Mobius' reaction.

"Wise is the man who disdains no character, but with searching glance explores him to the root and cause of all," Dyatlov again casually quoted Gogol, believing it was his mantra, Dead Souls, observing the travels and adventures, buying and selling dead souls, yet the work was never completed, understood due to a death of the writer.

"Yeah, we go it, you love poetry," Mobius interrupted him, taking a subtle look at me as his mouth twitched thanks to a chuckle.

"No!" Dyatlov shook his head which made Mobius' laughter fade away. He blinked in disbelief, luckily, he had still the darkened goggles on. "No, I don't," Dyatlov added, to complete his response.

"Just... He told us that. He said that to me and my brothers," Dyatlov proceeded as his expression went completely blank, looking into the pile of snow, its snowflakes flew away as a breeze played with them.

"He?" Mobius took off the goggles, to see clearly because there was only one whose name couldn't be said at loud, because His name was forgotten or wasn't but others were too scared of their story being changed.

I made a gesture with my hand, lifting my palm, reaching out to Mobius, eventually stopping him from another questionnaire. He should've let Dyatlov speak, it seemed that the constant interrupting lowered his confidence. 

Igor Dyatlov was suddenly out of breath, giving himself space for a loud exhale.

"I was so lucky that I escaped, my brothers weren't. Being able to study normally was a relief but I couldn't escape the past. So I created this nonsense, an expedition, whatever you want to call it because I wanted to help my brothers out, make a change," Dyatlov explained as he had the chance. Mobius listened carefully as his mouth was shut, pressing lips together, not making a single sound.

"Bringing more people was my only chance to get people to know that everything is not what it seems. If one of us would possibly escape since the rest of us died or was assassinated, the one person, a survivor, could tell the authority what happened, be finally safe. But... The Forefather was prepared, he knew that I would come back one day," Dyatlov paused as shivers went down his spine and he felt the uneasiness in his stomach and eventually in his mouth.

It was because he was talking about someone who he hated so much.

"So you came to kill the Forefather, am I correct?" Mobius asked finally with a little empathy in his voice.

Dyatlov seemed to be frightened as his pupils were shrinking in terror, imitating the tiny stars that were leaving the heavens, fading away as the almost transparent dissolving sun rays touched them.

"I have no right to do that," Dyatlov stated. If he ever wanted to hurt him or eventually kill him, that would be his ending. He thought of that multiple times but his head told him not to, even if Forefather's death meant the freedom of his brothers — he was trained to kill others, not the one who created him, and most importantly gave him a home.

"We came here to exterminate the serum, to make sure that my brothers would remain human," Dyatlov declared, reshaping the sentence into breathing out. He remembered the times that he lived a normal life, pretending that his life was completed and not scattered, that his family still loved him yet the endless uncertainty about his future, made him crazy.

Igor Dyatlov was a lost cause.

"What serum?" I questioned, nevertheless, anyone could notice the gulp I made before asking; dry-swallowing the past. I saw a red splotch, a glittering speckle, on his snow-white shirt which was expanding, coloring the soft fabric as a wave.

The red smudge was perfectly covered with the khaki snow jacket as a camouflage.

"A Forefather's unsuccessful experiment. It relieves pain, indefinitely. Forever," Dyatlov responded, the tone of his voice was getting darker; similarly to his thoughts.

Seeing the red, definitely bloody splotch on the uniform and connecting it with the information, I knew that the man already had the serum in his veins. And the fact he wanted to protect his brother's remaining human, made it clear.

Without pain receptors, you couldn't tell if you had enough, or if you're exhausted. Not feeling pain could be useful yet it was one of the things that kept us human. Being able to feel pain was human. Therefore knowing that Dyatlov wanted to protect others from the serum being applied, his speech made it even emotional.

"Did you do it?" Mobius cross-examined him. As soon as he saw that I was looking away, locking eyes rather with the snow than with the man, he needed to step in.

"Not yet. Yes, we took the serum but... I don't know where it is right now yet I am sure we're not going to survive until dawn," Dyatlov smirked. He knew that the night is going to end in an hour because the sun already coming through. Dyatlov saw his people, the ones who took on the expedition, dying and that evoked long-lost memories from the brotherhood.

Igor all of a sudden sat down at the tree stump as if his legs couldn't hold him anymore; because of the invisible exhaustion that was pulling him down. He was so quiet that the sound of wheezing wind brought an eerie aura with it.

"There's something in the woods," Dyatlov uttered, lifting an index finger as a warning since he heard a weird noise around their area. "and it's killing my people," he added.

SOON AS THE DARKEST CLOUDS STARTED TO LEAVE THE SKIES and the snow was turning into the sweetest cotton candy, everything was making sense. The blood dripped down Nicholas' nose bridge as the snowflakes melted, turning itself into the sweaty avalanche when they stuck to the strands of his hair that were curlier than before.

With one heavy step came another, leaving the clothes to pile behind its pieces that could be used for those that were in need. It seemed like the group took a whole wardrobe with them, their past and future as if they knew they weren't coming back.

Nicholas' eyes were closing as a sudden wave of tiredness came across his mind. Nevertheless, the words that happened in the dream, the nightmare, were leaving him in fear.

His mind could easily translate that; the family dinner was reminding him of what he lost and the white room reflected the snowy mountains. But the unknown girl's voice and him being sick didn't sit right with him. His head turned into a circuit, a Perpetuum mobile since he constantly wanted to solve the mystery.

There were two mysteries to be solved; the nightmare and why is the beast killing innocent people, its origin.

What if all of this was connected?

All of a sudden, something bumped Nick so hard that he fell, making an angel in the snow. The first thing in his mind was staying alive, so he automatically recalled a dagger that could be finally useful. Normally he would hiss in pain, but falling to the snow was like falling to mattresses covered in the softest blanket.

A threatening frown appeared on his face, instantly as he saw the blue face of the encounter and the shiny blade of his golden dagger.

"Oh, it's you," Loki uttered as he exhaled and the knife reshaped into green glitters that descended upwards like fireworks. The sparks faded, revealing a smirk on Loki's pale lips.

Although Loki was known for being a lone wolf and he seemed to be proud of it, nevertheless, having someone by his side was appreciating and he was glad that he had finally found him. It was quite a relief to find him again in the snowfield labyrinth yet he still played with the thought, leaving this snowy madness.

"Long time no see," Nicholas responded as he was annoyed, seeing him widely smiling.

After that his mind sparkled with excitement so he reached out to him with his arm, to pull him back to his feet even faster. It took Nick a few minutes to get back to his feet but luckily he got used to the cold, and the heaviness relieved his legs. Also, it was quicker and purer due to Loki's hand naturally wandering to Nicholas' back similar to their arrival as he was picking him up from the snow grave.

Loki gasped as he noticed the red smudge on his forehead: "Why are you bleeding?"

He squeezed the boy's snow jacket, ignoring the fact that he still held the skull-ornamented dagger. The sharp blade was extremely near to his thigh.

The solicitousness tangled with concerns lit up in his eyes, having the courage to take off his hood which he did very carefully as if he was tearing flower's petals. The look he gave him, lightened his eyes. The red turned purple and then cornflower blue which whose tint faded away, seemed transparent, being almost colorless like ice.

"And why aren't you blue?" Nick pointed out as he was examining his facial structure. The blue tones didn't leave any residues, only coloring out his lips. Nicholas' ears tingled as they were finally exposed to the cold.

Loki's eyes widened, as blinding diamonds, in realization, studying the bare skin and the rosy knuckles on his hands.

"Huh, that's strange. You're cheekier than I remembered," Loki immediately shook his head, suppressing the cackle. He wanted to know what happened, therefore talking about himself and explaining why his jotun form didn't last that long seemed irrelevant at that moment.

"So what happened?" Loki queried as he perceived another red drip sliding, joining the bloody streamlet on his nose.

"Don't worry... Everything is okay," Nicholas vocalized. His reaction was quite delayed because he was thinking about many different things. He stepped aside, hiding the dagger behind his back as Loki expressed that he indeed cared about his safety — completing the test.

Loki breathed in as he wanted to say something but Nicholas stopped him with a subtle touch on his shoulder as a sign there's no need to ask.

"That's not my blood," Nick mentioned, wanting to laugh it away but the lady's unconscious body covered in blood was trapped inside of his mind. As soon as he said that he froze, noticing how the uneasiness filled his stomach.

"And who's blood is it then?" Loki asked full of worries since it meant that the boy, who seemed so innocent and weak to him, had to kill someone.

"Look; I would like to explain it more... yet I don't know what is real and what isn't," Nicholas declared, skeptically looking around as someone was watching them which was eventually possible as his inner voice was repeating the text he saw on the note.

Loki raised his eyebrows with left him with a curious yet so confused expression on his face. Watching the boy gazing in various directions, made him question his own sanity which wasn't good. If he stated there could be a potential danger, it could be true and he didn't want to spend any more minutes here.

Nicholas took a handful of snow as he started to go somewhere, cleaning up the blood that dried up quickly on his forehead.

The sudden tide of ice gave him a brain freeze, numbing his thoughts.

"I found a hideout in the cave nearby, maybe you could stay there and I would explore the mountains," Loki suggested as he was following the boy.

Even though the cold was killing Nicholas, he was so much quicker, seemed like he gained energy from the nap.

Nicholas wasn't responding; either the idea was lame or he didn't approve of the idea of staying hidden when there was a possible danger around them.

"How many minutes are left?" Nick questioned, ignoring his statement. Being somewhere alone wasn't the vibe he was looking for, he needed someone who would assure him that everything is going to be okay not someone who would most likely abandon him.

"Did you just ignore me?" Loki asked as he was stuttered by his decision, overshadowing his suggestion with a question that reminded him, he wants to get away from this madness just like him. He couldn't believe his ears. He didn't know why but his behavior hurt him.

It melted down the icy crust on his heart, crumbling into tiny bits of shaved ice for sure.

"No," Nicholas shook his head. "I'm sorry but... I just don't think that is a good idea. I saw something deadly in the woods, therefore I would rather welcome sticking together," he tried to explain it to him carefully as possible yet seeing him almost heartbroken made him rethink his idea.

"Don't worry, I completely understand. You need someone to kill the something you called 'deadly'," Loki smirked, bumping into his shoulder.

"What?" The boy was startled as he felt Loki's touch on his arm. He observed his reaction which radiated with playfulness and excitement as he was raising and lowering his eyebrows. "No!" Nick declared loudly.

"So... You want me to protect you, is that correct?" Loki continued with his series of guessing what was the idea behind sticking together. It was obvious that he was enjoying himself. Since Loki was the god of mischief, annoying others was even funnier.

"Not even close," Nicholas mumbled, trying to suppress the anger that was rising with every word the god of annoyance uttered.

Loki laughed it off. It got very quiet between them. Only the prince's laughter could be heard echoing in the forest. Nicholas was clutching his lips together, as he wanted to say something that was on his mind but he was so scared to do that.

SIX MINUTES PASSED as they were walking down the snowy path. Nick gasp all of a sudden which got Loki's attention.

"I just... I don't want to be alone, okay?" Nicholas almost whispered as his voice was getting thinner because that was one of the things he was always scared of and it came true.

He was alone and although he seemed futureproof, he was in fact futureless. Without anyone he knew, he felt like he was nothing.

Loki took a glimpse at Nick, realizing that he reminded him of someone — of himself. To see everything fall apart and still pretend that it's not a big deal for them, made him speechless. Nicholas expressed something that was on his mind all this time he appeared in the Time Variance Authority.

The truth was that he saw that could've happened to him if he didn't relocate thanks to the power of the space stone, the feeling of loneliness, having literally nothing made him silent. The sorrow and understanding blazed in his eyes, watering the withered, lifeless flower he saw in Nicholas.

I don't want to be alone either, Loki thought but couldn't say it at loud as a dumpling of unspoken truths formed in his throat.

"Twenty minutes," he declared as a late response to his question.

Nicholas chuckled as Loki purposely ignored him, referencing their previous debate. This confirmed that they were trapped in this snowstorm maze for several hours.

"We have exactly twenty minutes to stay alive and most importantly stick together," Loki stated since he wasn't so satisfied with his answer that sounded too hollow to him. "That isn't that bad," he murmured.

Instantly as he said that a bunch of snarls could be heard coming from the forest to their right. The mountains reflected the sound so it could be near to them or far away, either way, they needed to be careful, look after each other.

"Now I regret that I said something," Loki continued in his monologue. The sudden changes gave the impression of them being watched, similarly to a videogame. They were making choices that influenced their fate yet these choices weren't meaningful nor visible.

An unexplainable wheezing and heavy breaths captured their interest. The variants locked eyes with each other as they were trying to observe the terrain. They went along the river streamlet its water was still flowing underneath the glazed ice, noticing the surface being speckled with reddish fluid, blood.

Nicholas sprinted as he saw a boot sticking out from one of the piles, the peek he gave Loki was intertwined with confusion and pure horror.

They came across the body that was lying down, prepared to be buried as the blood was writing an epitaph in the snow.

The man was still breathing, trying to catch a breath. Nicholas gasped as he observed the man its eyebrows were ripped, revealing the secrets that were hidden beneath the skin. The stranger was gripping onto a leather case so tightly that his nails scratched the casing, bending the tips of his nails and eventually breaking them.

The man begged the variants for help; Nicholas didn't hang back and came near to him, kneeling beside his body, pressing the open wound on his stomach yet Loki stayed withdrawn, watching them from afar.

"Do you have any other wounds?" Nick questioned the man that was making an effort to keep his eyes open. The pain was consuming him, aiming at his memories to evoke something beautiful.

Nicholas bore down on the stomach with his bare hands around which started twirling bourns of dark matter flickering as a starry night.

The open gash managed to absorb the clouds of dimness as the man attempted to give him the leather case hiding the scattered ampules its blueish liquid drooled down.

Loki indeed saw that the man was handing something to the boy which made him extremely curious.

He sneaked to the man and took the casing that was covered in scratched maps, the liquid was artificial, beamed with purity, similarly to the color as the water was presented.

He smelled the liquid but scrunched his nose as it was smelling like a rotten corpse, evoking his gaging reflexes.

"I-" the man murmured. His chin was trembling as his lips were turning blue, trying to move his index finger upwards as his eyes were gazing into a void, noticing a pair of two white globes empty as holes were watching them.

"It's back," the man stated with broken English, underlining his Russian accent.

Nicholas froze as he heard the man's words. Shivers came down his spine as if someone poured freezing water on his nape, in fact, it was his sweat that froze as the terror overtook his body.

Nicholas looked in that direction the man was pointing. He squinted, realizing that there was in fact hiding a silhouette in the darkest corners of the forest.

The pressure on man's stomach loosened and the fog disappeared.

"Loki, put that down," Nicholas stated but he didn't listen. The prince was studying the blue substance in the ampules that spilled onto his hand and eventually dripped down to his shirt.

"Loki!" Nick addressed him, raising his voice as he knew that this wasn't good. Just as soon as the blue-tinted his uniform the beast hiding behind the tree growled in hunger.

author's note;

Not me teasing another story that I am planning to write one day. Hopefully, I will have a chance to write it sooner than I expected. 🥺 We're literally close to ending this brain freezing journey and the mysteries that surrounded the Dead Mountain, otherwise called the Dyatlov pass. ❄ Hope you like the first part of chapter six and be ready for the mad adventure continuation!

pst, i made this gif and i am obsessed 💜