Varian had never heard of a snowgeist and he wondered if they were native to Galcrest, or if they were present in any of the other Seven Kingdoms. Their names made it pretty obvious what their preferred habitat was, so maybe the other kingdoms were just too warm for them. Rapunzel had told him about the Vodniks she and Eugene had encountered on Kresten Loch all those years ago, but these didn't sound anything like them. And in the face of uncertainty, he always opted for preparedness. So he extended his staff before him, using the light the orbs gave off to scan the area around and in front of them for any sign of danger. Behind him, the others seemed to be feeling much the same way, Yong with a firecracker in one hand and an unlit match in the other. Hugo was walking with a more subtle gait than usual, his feet barely making any noise on the rocky, snow-covered path, with his hand hovering over his satchel. Even Ruddiger was keeping silent, crouched on Prometheus' back and scanning the towering cliffs rising up on either side of them. Only Prometheus didn't seem to care about the dangers of where they were. His hooves never wavered on the uncertain path, his head down as he followed them upwards.
They'd only been walking for maybe half an hour when they came across the first evidence of a recent avalanche. The path was packed down enough to pass, but a massive torrent of snow, ice and rocks appeared to have collapsed down the mountainside to their left, a stark reminder of the danger they were exposing themselves to. Varian moved slowly, guiding Prometheus past the collapse as best he could without losing his own footing. A cold wind suddenly howled down the pass towards them, making Varian halt in place as he tried to figure out of this was the snowgeists. But nothing materialised and he shivered, tightening his hood again.
'Hugo,' he murmured, careful to keep his voice from carrying. 'Have you travelled this pass before?'
'Few times,' Hugo replied just as quietly.
'How long does it usually take?'
'Couple of hours. But that was in summer. No avalanches or such then.'
'What about the snowgeists?' Yong whispered, voice shaking, 'What are they like?'
'Hard to say. Never seen one up close. Best idea is a sort of translucent person made of blue mist. 'Cept they look like rotting corpses on top of that.'
Yong squeaked with alarm, moving closer to both of them and Hugo grinned, ruffling his hair.
'Don't worry, Firecracker. We'll be fine. Just gotta keep your eyes peeled.'
The air was getting thinner as they continued to climb and Varian was finding it difficult to catch his breath. Yong was struggling even more and Varian finally called for a break, leaning heavily on his staff as he assessed the area. The cliffs around them weren't as steep now, but he could see the packed snow and ice clinging to the sides of them, just waiting for something to set them off. Up ahead there was a gap in the cliffs where a thundering waterfall was cascading, disappearing into a deep crevasse in the rock. Varian followed it upwards and realised with a start that he was staring straight at the end of a massive glacier, the melting ice pooling at its base before falling over the cliff. He'd never seen ice that blue before, Corona's winters nothing compared to this.
'Wow,' he breathed, his breath fogging before him.
'Don't really have time to stop and smell the roses, Goggles,' Hugo called lowly, pointing up at the sky that was steadily growing darker, snow-filled clouds looming ominously. Sunset was fast approaching and already the pass was shrouded in a deep shadow. If what the guards had said was true, they really didn't want to be caught out when the snow finally started falling.
'Okay, let's go.'
Unfortunately, they'd only made it another half an hour or so before their luck ran out and the first fat flakes fell before them.
'Fantastic,' Hugo sighed, pulling a small vial from his satchel and shaking it vigorously, producing a warm golden light. Varian lowered his goggles and forced himself to walk faster, pushing through the snow as it started to form drifts on the path ahead of them. They had to be getting close to the end of the pass by this point, but with the light failing and snow falling, it was now impossible to see the top of the slope. All he could do was keep his head down and march ever onward, hoping they didn't freeze to death before reaching Galcrest.
'Stop!' Hugo suddenly hissed, his voice sharp in the muffled silence of the snowfall.
Varian froze, looking back. Hugo's voice lacked his signature drawl, and he was staring off to the right of the path with a deep frown. Muttering a curse, he took off his glasses and wiped the snow from them, struggling to see.
'What is it?' Yong asked, his fear overcoming the exhaustion in his voice.
Varian heard it then, a high-pitched hissing, as if ice was scraping against stone. He looked up, expecting to see an avalanche barrelling towards him, but for the moment, the mountains were still. So what was making that noise?
'Do you see it?' Hugo asked, raising his free hand to point off the path. Varian moved closer, trying to make out what had caught his attention. It was nearly impossible to see more than a few feet thanks to the snow, but after a moment, he thought he saw a figure darting about amongst the rocks at the base of the cliff. A slightly glowing blue figure.
'Snowgeist?' he guessed and Hugo nodded grimly.
'They like to travel in groups so if we're seeing that one, there must be at least ten more around us that we can't see.'
'What do we do?' Yong squeaked, looking ready to light his firecracker.
'Shoulda finished that flamethrower,' Hugo muttered before drawing another vial from his satchel, this one a brilliant crimson. 'Gotta make ourselves as unappealing a target as we can. Heat and fire and such.'
Varian nodded, drawing a Flynnoleum orb and holding it at the ready.
'We've gotta keep moving,' Hugo finally added, 'We can't stay out here or we'll freeze.'
Varian took a deep breath and started forwards again, watching as another snowgeist appeared briefly to his left before vanishing again. Then another. And another. They were closing in. Then, the most ghastly shriek split the air, sounding like a woman wailing interspersed with cracking ice. It was Yong who reacted first, striking his match on Prometheus' saddle and lighting the firecracker just as three snowgeists lunged in at them. He tossed it right at the lead one's face and it shrieked and dissipated as the sparking fuse burned through it. Then it exploded, scattered the two others into the snow.
That was all it took for the rest of them to charge and Varian threw his Flynnoleum orb as hard as he could at another cluster of them. They were consumed immediately by the green flames, but seven more quickly took their place, forcing him to activate the Flynnoleum sphere on his staff. At once, the orb burst into flames and he swung it through them, their forms vanishing like smoke in the wind. He spun around, bringing his flaming staff up to stab at another snowgeist that was lunging for Hugo from above while he was distracted throwing his red vials that exploded into crackling flames.
'Watch the hair, Goggles!' Hugo barked, glaring at Varian.
'You're welcome!' Varian shot back.
Prometheus reared and brayed in fear as more snowgeists slashed at him from behind, his kicking hooves doing nothing as they passed straight through their forms. Varian lunged backwards, fending them off with his staff and throwing another two orbs back down the path. Those that weren't caught in the explosion had their silhouettes lit up and Varian cringed at the sight of them. They really did look like the withered corpses of people and he got a sudden feeling that he was looking at the ones who hadn't made it through the pass. And now, they were trying to force the same fate onto them.
Yong had lit a whole handful of firecrackers now, throwing them out in a line alongside the path to block off the snowgeists from their right side entirely. A loud crack split the ear right by Varian's head and he flinched back, expecting to feel the heat of another firecracker. Instead he turned and saw Hugo holding the smoking barrel of one of Ingvarr's signature firearm weapons. Whatever he had fired, it had exploded in a brilliant burst of flames, throwing the snowgeists back with furious shrieks.
'You're not the only one with some tricks, Hairstripe!' Hugo shouted at Varian's shocked look.
Varian tossed two more Flynnoleum orbs to the front, clearing the way as much as he could as he dragged Prometheus forwards. He was just starting to think that maybe they'd be able to make it when he realised that he was out of Flynnoleum orbs and the flame on his staff was starting to die down. He cursed, fumbling for his vial full of purple powder and blowing it towards the nearest snowgeists. A roaring wind ripped outwards as the powder left his hand, but it was nowhere near as effective as what his Flynnoleum had been. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted movement but he was a fraction of a second too slow as one of the snowgeists finally reached him. Despite its form seeming like it was made of mist, its clawed hands felt real enough as they cut through his jacket and under layers as if they weren't even there, slicing into his skin. At first he didn't even realise he'd been injured as Hugo fired on the monster, throwing it away from him, but as his eyes widened looking at Varian, he looked down and realised blood was starting to stain his jacket. He felt faint at the sight, but forced himself to look away, knowing to get distracted now would be a death sentence. Despite their efforts, every time they destroyed a cluster of snowgeists, even more would materialise to take their place. They tried to keep moving, but they were getting surrounded, forcing them to halt.
'Guys, get down!' Yong shouted, clambering up onto Prometheus' back with his cannister of black powder in his hand.
'Yong, wait!' Varian called back but he was already lighting a match and dropping it into the cannister's open top. He slammed the cap closed and threw it as hard as he could at the path ahead of them where it fell into the snow. The snowgeists barely glanced at it and Yong's face fell.
'That was supposed to ex-'
Fwoom!
A massive fireball detonated right in front of them and Varian had to clutch onto Prometheus' reins to keep him from turning and bolting. Shrapnel peppered them and Varian shielded himself as well as he could while the force of the explosion threw Yong clear off Prometheus' back into the snow.
'Nice one, Firecracker!' Hugo shouted, still firing his weapon.
Except Varian's attention was no longer on the snowgeists as a deep rumble shook the very air in the pass, making the snowgeists freeze in place. He looked up to the left where the shadowy form of the looming mountain was barely visible against the cloudy sky. And he could see that the mountain was moving.
'Avalanche!' he shouted, grabbing Prometheus' reins and hauling him up the path as fast as he could.
Hugo grabbed Yong out of the snow, hauling after them, but it was quickly becoming clear they'd never be able to outrun the wall of death that was starting to collapse towards them.
'Over there!' Hugo shouted, firing his weapon off to light a small cave opening in the side of the mountain right beneath where the avalanche was coming down.
There was no time to hesitate as Varian dragged Prometheus off the path and struggled through snowdrifts to reach the cave. Hugo charged ahead, still dragging Yong with him and they both clambered inside the cave.
'Come on, Goggles!' Hugo barked as Varian and Prometheus continued to struggle.
He made the mistake of looking up, gaping at the wall of snow that was falling towards them. They only had seconds. It was Ruddiger who acted, biting down hard on Prometheus' rump enough to draw blood, making the donkey bray and bolt, charging right past Varian and into the cave, the force on his reins throwing Varian to the ground. This was it. There was no more time. He was about to die. Then Hugo was there, grabbing his arms and dragging him into the cave just as the millions of tonnes of snow and ice came crashing down outside.
'Get down!' Varian screamed but his voice was lost to the roar of the avalanche. Even so, he grabbed Hugo and Yong, pressing them to the ground and shielding them as much as he could with his own body, the occasional stone and chunk of ice pelting his back. He didn't let go, clutching them in an iron grip as he waited for death. Only it never came. The cave was completely devoid of light save for the glow of his alchemy orbs on his staff and body and he could see Hugo and Yong's terrified faces right next to his, eyes clenched tightly shut. Prometheus was right in front of them with Ruddiger hiding in one of the saddle bags, only his tail visible. And they waited. And waited. Until finally, by some miracle, the roar of the avalanche ceased, the last few muffled thuds reaching them through the snow that pressed against the cave mouth. Only once everything was silent did Varian release Hugo and Yong, taking a deep breath as he looked back. The cave was completely sealed and he had no idea how many tonnes of snow stood between them and freedom. But that was a problem for another time. Right now, they were alive.
'Is everyone okay?' he asked shakily.
Yong was sniffling, tears falling down his pale face, but he nodded all the same. Hugo was rubbing his arm where Varian had been gripping it and followed suit, giving him a confident smirk.
'Good find on this cave, huh?' he commented.
Varian hesitated, realising now that they were out of immediate danger, that Hugo had just saved his life.
'Um... thanks,' he muttered and Hugo looked back at him.
'It was just luck,' Hugo replied with a shrug.
'Not the cave. You came back for me. So... thanks. I guess.'
Hugo's grin widened and he threw an arm over Varian's shoulder. 'Told you you could trust me! I'm a real hero! Truly noble. I should be knighted or something.'
'And now you've ruined it,' Varian snapped, throwing his arm off but Yong was grinning now, wiping his eyes.
He looked to Varian and exclaimed, 'Wait, Varian! You're bleeding!'
Varian looked down again, having completely forgotten about the injury the snowgeist gave him and he winced, though it still felt strangely numb.
'Jacket off,' Hugo demanded, 'Snowgeist scratches freeze if you don't look after them right.'
Varian shrugged off his jacket, immediately flinching at the cold, but at least in the sealed cave it was slightly warmer than outside. Still, he was grateful when Ruddiger raced over to bury himself in his chest. The sleeve over his arm was torn and soaked with blood but Varian didn't let himself look away, knowing he had to figure out how bad it was. With surprising care, Hugo rolled up his sleeve to expose the four parallel cuts and Varian blanched at the way his skin had gone blue around the edges like frostbite.
'You guys got a burner of some kind?' Hugo asked and Varian nodded.
'Yong, get that set up,' Hugo continued, 'Grab that pot and some snow as well. We need warm water.'
Varian reached for his injury to try to rub some warmth back into it but Hugo slapped his hand away with a stern glare. 'Nope. Don't do that. We need to warm it back up slowly. But in the meantime, we gotta get it bandaged up.'
He pulled a small role of bandages from his satchel as well as some kind of gooey green ointment and began to rub it into the bandage.
'Antiseptic,' he said to Varian's unasked question, 'Don't want it getting infected.'
Varian remained silent through his ministrations, letting him treat and bind the cut as Yong melted the snow into warm water. When he was satisfied it was at the right temperature, Hugo dipped a spare cloth into it and pressed it into Varian's bandage before wrapping his jacket back around him. He jumped at the sudden heat that was almost painful, but then the feeling in his arm started to return. Though with it came the pain which he wasn't a fan of.
'How do you know so much about these things?' Varian demanded, trying to take his mind off it.
'Winter can be hard in Ingvarr. Not like Galcrest hard, but hard enough. Gotta learn to get warm and stay warm.'
'Didn't you have somewhere to go?' Varian continued and Hugo was silent, turning back to the burner and water. Varian understood immediately. 'Oh, right. Um, sorry.'
'What're you sorry for?' Hugo asked, 'Ain't your problem. Life sucks. Sometimes, you don't get a nice warm home and a family. So you adapt. You survive. It is what it is. No point griping about it.'
Yong glanced at Varian, both of them unsure what to say. This was the first time Hugo had actually shared something willingly about himself, and it hadn't been what Varian was expecting.
'Um... I can make us a hot drink?' Yong suggested and Varian nodded, relieved he'd said something to break the tension.
'You know, I have a friend like you,' Varian tried, 'Eugene. He was an orphan in Corona. Grew up to be a thief and became the legendary Flynn Rider.'
Hugo glanced back with a raised eyebrow. 'The Flynn Rider? He's really a guy named Eugene?'
'Shocking, I know,' Varian replied, 'I actually named my Flynnoleum after him. I was a huge fan. But he turned his life around. Met Rapunzel and saved her. Brought her home. Now they're married and he lives in Corona's castle.'
'Ah, he went soft. Got it.'
'No!' Varian retorted, 'I'm just saying that life might suck now but it can always turn around. Maybe you just need a little help?'
'What, from you?' Hugo asked, his voice scathing, 'Nice try, Goggles. But that ain't how this works. We're only here to complete these trials and it just happens to be that we'll stand a better chance if we do it together. I ain't planning on getting married and settling down in a grand Coronan castle. That sorta thing doesn't happen to people like me. The only reason those blue-bloods stay in power is because they step on the lower classes to get above it all. That's just the way it is and if you can't see it, you're more naive than I thought you were.'
'That's not true!' Yong exclaimed, 'Varian said that the Coronan princess made him Royal Engineer for all his hard work!'
That seemed to take Hugo off-guard for the first time as he glanced at Varian in askance. He hadn't planned on letting the piece of information slip, but there was not taking it back now he supposed.
'Does that make me one of those blue-bloods you hate so much?' he asked quietly, 'Even if I earned that role?'
Hugo frowned for a brief moment before his smile was back and he waved away Varian's question.
'Engineers don't count. We're not afraid of getting our hands dirty. Sounds like your princess wanted someone else to do that job for her.'
Varian glared at him as he turned away, leaning back against the cave wall and closing his eyes. He supposed that's what he got when he tried to be nice. But at the same time, he couldn't help feeling an inkling of recognition. He'd once had that exact same attitude when Corona turned its back on him. He'd begged Rapunzel for help to save his father, but she broke her promise. Varian had turned bitter, even more bitter than Hugo, it sounded. He'd tried to kill Rapunzel and her family and destroy all of Corona in his rage. So even if he didn't think he deserved Hugo's anger hiding behind that arrogant smile, he could see where he was coming from.
He silently accepted the mug of tea Yong offered, watching as he offered one to Hugo.
'Ah, thanks, Firecracker,' Hugo said, still with that same air of confident smugness, as if he had the entire world all figured out.
'You're wrong about that, you know,' Varian said quietly and Hugo rolled his eyes as if unable to believe Varian was still going on about this.
'Oh, yeah? How's that?'
'I don't know how things are in Ingvarr, but in Corona, we don't think like that. Rapunzel and Eugene are my best friends. They were the first ones to ever believe in me. They saved my life. I owe them everything, but neither of them asked for anything in return. Because they care. Rapunzel walks barefoot through the city, saying hello to everyone she knows, and she knows everyone in the whole kingdom by name. She cares so much that she almost died fighting against Zhan Tiri to save us. So yeah, you're wrong. Because no matter how bad the world gets, there will always be people like Rapunzel and Eugene and Lance and everyone back home fighting to make it better.'
Hugo scoffed, his grin never wavering. 'Sure, Goggles. Whatever you say.'
After a few minutes, Yong retrieved his and Varian's bedrolls and blankets from Prometheus, spreading them out as much as he could in the tight space, and they slowly settled down, though Varian's mind was a while away from relaxing enough to rest. They should be safe enough in the cave from the snowgeists and the faint cold wind he could feel on his face was enough to convince him that they wouldn't suffocate. If they were lucky, they'd be able to dig their way out in the morning and reach Galcrest. But despite his attempts to try and stay focused on their current goal, he found himself looking back towards Hugo where he had pulled out his own bedroll to sleep. And he wondered if, deep down, he and Hugo were more similar than either of them cared to admit.
Hugo silently cursed Donella with every name under the sun. Of course she'd send him out to cosy up with the freaking Royal Engineer of Corona, and not mention his title to Hugo. All that talk of how those blue-bloods took advantage of people like him, only to find out that he was talking to one of them. He glanced at Varian out of the corner of his eye, slowly stroking that raccoon as if it was some kind of emotional support. He thought he'd hidden his surprise from those two pretty well but it didn't help the fact that he was actually surprised. Royal Engineer definitely sounded like some fancy, made up title that a ruler might bestow to garner support. But at the same time, Varian didn't strike him as being anything like that at all. He claimed to have grown up on a farm, son to a former knight from a kingdom that no longer existed. Didn't exactly scream "I have political strings I can pull". Hugo knew liars; he was an excellent one himself. And he knew Varian wasn't lying. And he definitely had the skills necessary for that sort of title. So was Corona really that different from Ingvarr? Did the rulers there actually look out for their people? Hugo shook his head, pushing those thoughts from his mind. Varian had to be the exception, but all blue-bloods were the same. It was in the nature of power.