LOCATION: NORTHERN ICE GLACIER, EISMITTE
TIME: 14:42

▬▬

JIMIN FROWNS IN confusion, muttering the instructions over and over. the group has given up on standing and are now all assuming the same position as yoongi. "glacier's hem? as in the edge of a glacier?" he tilts his head.

they are surrounded by shades of blue and white. besides them, there is no living thing as far as the eyes can see. a slight chilly fog fills the air around them. they are sat in a circle, the papyrus in their midst.

"seems like it." aaliyah shrugs lightly. she leans her chin her open palm, heaving a sigh. "what does achroite even mean?" hoseok leans forward, clasping his hands in front of him.

"colourless." yoongi mumbles. his head is tilting forward, eyes shut. it never fails to take anyone by surprise whenever he suddenly speaks up. "the agency i used to work for once created an ad campaign for a jeweller." he explains.

"wait so it's a colourless stone? how the hell are we meant to find a transparent gem stuck in pounds of white ice?" jeongguk's face doesn't hide his incredulity. jimin tilts his head slightly to the side, seeing his point.

"so we're supposed to find this stone before atro. doesn't that mean we're working on a time limit?" seokjin looks up. "more importantly, it means we might have to fight." taehyung points out. "this is sounding more and more like mission impossible to me." hoseok throws his head forward.

"we don't even have a clue what glacier we're looking for. it's all sheets of ice for like thousands of miles." thanda glances behind her. "i can try to sense it." jasmin offers with a slight shrug. seolhyun focuses her attention on the youngest. "psychometry?" she asks.

jasmin nods, lips pressing together in a thin line. "jas, that means constantly having to press your palms against freezing ice at every major point we get to." nohemi states, head leaning to the side.

"i know but it's the only way we'll make any headway. there's a lot of ground to cover and no hints on where to even start. and it'll be fun to find out what stories these glaciers have to tell." she finishes with a giggle.

"rumi can help too." kamaria twists the ring on her pinky slowly. "who's rumi?" hoseok watches her movement carefully. "she's my arctic wolf. although she'd prefer it if i said i was her witch."

"you have an arctic wolf? that is so cool!" taehyung gasps, clapping his hands together in excitement. "you're one odd fellow." seolhyun remarks, regarding him curiously. "i get that a lot."

it is silent for a while. the sun is shining but it barely makes any impact on the temperature of the place. it might as well be a cold sun. everyone seems to be deep in thought, making plans of survival.

"the odds are not looking to be in our favour." aaliyah pinches the bridge of her nose. "let's not focus on the negative." nohemi urges. "nohemi's right." seokjin nods his agreement and she smiles gratefully at him. "well, i say we focus on getting our asses on the way." thanda leans forward, pressing on her knees as she gets on her feet.

"yes. the sooner we find this stone, the faster we can get out of this damn place." hoseok follows suit. "and the lesser the chances of us having to fight the henchmen of a villain with powers." jimin adds, standing as well. "who still says henchmen?" jeongguk sniggers. "everyone but you apparently." aaliyah sounds slightly defensive.

taehyung glances at her with slight amusement as he gets on his feet. everyone stands up except yoongi. hoseok leans down and taps him lightly. "get up, yoongi. we're leaving." he says softly. the older man groans but gets on his feet anyway.

seokjin glances around. "okay, so which way are we going? because everything looks the same to me." he asks. jimin sucks in a breath, looking around before pointing. "i believe we're on the north side. and since a hem is usually at the bottom, i think we should go south."

seolhyun's brow arches at his sense of deduction. "how are you certain we're on the north side?" she queries. thanda shuts her spell book and looks up. "he's right. i just cast a location spell. couldn't find the stone but we're definitely in northern eismitte."

"well then. we have a human compass on our team." jeongguk tilts his head. nohemi smiles. "i'm starting to see why we were chosen." she mumbles. "was he brought to be a pain in everyone's ass? because he's doing a bang up job of it." thanda remarks, nodding her chin in jeongguk's direction. the others press their lips together in an attempt to suppress their laughter but jeongguk doesn't appear to be affected by the comment.

"are we going or not?" yoongi grunts out after a moment, lifting his head to glare at no one in particular. "right!" jasmin claps her hands together. "to the south!" she points excitedly.

"really wish i could feel her strange enthusiasm, especially in this frigid weather." hoseok tucks his hands into the pockets of his winter coat that seems to repel the icy air. jasmin's lips curves up in an adorable smile before she hops ahead of the others. jeongguk simply shakes his head at her, unable to believe just how much energy she has.

the party of twelve moves slowly, jasmin walking ahead with kamaria who seems to have her eyes closed. "this has been fun so far." jeongguk's comment comes out in a dry tone. "it's a good thing we haven't run into the other side, there's barely any room for cover out here." taehyung remarks, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

a gasp leaves jimin's lips when he slips on a small chunk of ice he didn't notice quickly. hoseok catches him in time. "are you okay?" he asks. jimin starts to nod but his eyes go wide as he catches a glimpse of something in the distance behind the older man.

hoseok's brows dip in a concerned frown. "what?" he queries softly. the blond lifts a shaky hand, pointing behind him. twisting around, hoseok's eyes round almost comically when he sees what has the younger man so frightened. "uh, guys?" he calls everyone's attention.

"does anyone here happen to be a polar bear whisperer?"

☬☬☬

this is kind of a mess bc i haven't edited it yet oop