I began walking by the side of the temple, away from the giant hole leading to the garden. The day was getting darker, as the evening was soon approaching. I began to walk to the front of the ruined temple when I heard a distant voice. "HEY!" It yelled. I turned around to see Thimble sprinting from the exit. I gasped. He looked unscathed. "Your...alive!?!?" I yelled. he ran up to me. He began to feel around his body. "Oh no! What if I'm a ghost!" Thimble shrieked. I sighed heavily. He was definitely alive. "How'd you survive the fall?" Thimble stopped panicking. "The Grim reaper, I fell on him, he cushioned my fall, and then I wandered back to you." Thimble replied. I looked at him in disbelief. "Kid, you have some of the most luck I've ever seen." I replied. Thimble smiled. "I'm a luck magnet!" Thimble shouted. He giggled like a small child. I smiled. This helped relieve some of the guilt of letting the kid die. "Wow, that's a cool sword." He breathed, as he walked over behind me, and looked at the sword attached to my back. "Souvenir." I replied. He cocked his eyebrow. " Well we going to show it to that guy back in town?" Thimble asked. I looked at him. "No, I need this sword." I responded. Thimble looked at me confused. "What do you need it for?" Thimble asked. "To kill Kirem." I replied. Thimble's smile disappeared, as his face went straightforward. "What?" He asked. I began walking towards the water, looking up as I watched the sun approach evening. "Z! You can't be serious!" He yelled as he ran after me. "When am I not serious." I replied to him. He froze, pondered it, and kept going. "Yeah...true! But I thought you wanted to avoid war!?!?" Thimble cried. I shrugged. "Plans change." I replied, before getting to a river blocking my path. Thimble smiled. "Naw, I knew you were a good person! Your gonna save Estern!" Thimble cheered. I frowned, I was far from a hero, like the snake said. I studied the river, it was annoyingly in the way. It would take a lot of walking to go around it. I tried to study my options. "You think this Kirem guy, is this hideous monster? With like, claws, wings, and tentacles!?!?" Thimble yelled excited. "Shut up!" I yelled, trying to focus. He stopped abruptly. We couldn't swim across, it was clear, swimming was difficult for the kid. Thimble slowly crept up to me. "How big do you think Kirem is?" He whispered in my ear. I glared at him. He slowly slid back. Perhaps swimming was our only option, I was not feeling the extra walking. "Z! What if Kirem can eat my soul!?!?" Thimble yelled. "THIMBLE!!! I am trying to find a way across, an your yapping is not helping at all!" I yelled. "I CAN HELP!!" A third voice chirped in from beside us. Thimble and I looked over to see that bush thing again. "Look! It's Snargle!" Thimble yelled. At first I groaned, seeing it again, before realizing what it meant. "HEY! bush thing! Help us!" I yelled. The bush wiggled. "Uhm....ya gotta say the magic word." It whispered. I cocked my eyebrow. "Please!" Thimble yelled. I looked over to him and sighed. "...Please, I guess." I sighed. The bush wiggled. "What do ya need friend?" It asked. "We need across this river." I calmly replied. "Sure thing! Just say the magic word again!" It asked. I removed my pistol from Thimble's waist. "GET US ACROSS DAMN IT!" I yelled. Suddenly we appeared on the other side of the river. "Finally..." I sighed. "Uh...Z...You should of asked it to just teleport us to Kirem's castle." Thimble remarked. I froze. That...would of been smarter. I looked across to find the bush, but to no avail. "Why....why didn't you say anything...?" I muttered, feeling idiotic. Thimble shrugged. "You were mad....and I don't like to bug you when your mad..." Thimble muttered. "Oh, so asking me questions about Kirem is not bugging!?!?" I yelled back. Thimble stood up tall. "Hey! Those were important!" Thimble yelled back. I just sighed. This kid had been back for like five minutes, and was already giving me a migraine. "Whatever... let's get going..." I sighed. He nodded and we began walking. We walked for about two hours before reaching a small set of trees in a field, where we stopped for the night. It was much colder than the cave we slept in. Thimble shivered all night. I was used to the cold harsh nights. In the morning, We had a feast. We ate the last amount of food we had stolen from the ship. I kept thinking back to what ever happened to that ship. Some lucky soul might have found it. Now we were out of food. We would need steal some food. I'm sure it's all right, considering I'm saving this land regardless. We walked for another two hours until a town came into view.

We entered the town casually, Thimble's stomach rumbled.

"Uh...Z...I'm peckish." Thimble remarked. I smirked.

"Suck it up." I replied. He pouted and nodded as we walked through town. We saw a food vendor selling some fruits like apples and watermelon. I stopped Thimble.

"Look, that vendor just left his post." I announced. Thimble nodded.

"I guess we wait until he gets back to pay him?" Thimble asked. I glared.

"Shut it you idiot. Besides, we have no cash, obviously we're gonna rob em." I replied. He looked disheartened at the statement, but he didn't fight back and slowly nodded. We approached the stand of delectibles swiftly. I won't lie, those watermelons made my mouth drool a little.

We swiftly nabbed some watermelons and apples and hid behind a building as we began our feast. Thimble's face lit up with bliss as he munched on the watermelon piece I had handed him. As we enjoyed our meal I overheard them talk about Kirem.

"The castle is through the EverWinter grove. Monster's have taken it over recently, shame, my kids loved being able to make snowmen in the summer." A man said. I smirked heavily and stood up.

"Thimble finish up your meal, we're heading to the ever winter forest." I announced. Thimble blinked.

"Won't it be cold?" Thimble asked. I smirked.

"Well, time to rob again."

..............................

The shop owner squirmed lots once I tied him up. Thimble looked at all the clothes with sparkles in his eyes.

"Z! It's all so great!" Thimble yelled. He looked at a green cape attached to the window and stared at it as his hand went to his hair slowly. He looked distraught. I walked over to him.

"You wanna cape?" I asked, a bit unimpressed admittingly. He looked to his hand.

"Yeah...It'd be cool... but...I don't really...like the colour.." Thimble replied. I leaned against a clothes rack.

"Your scared of the colour green? Look kid, I uh...bet you'd rock the colour...just face your fear...and wear the damn thing." I advised. Thimble sighed before sighing.

"O...okay! I'll do it." He replied. He took the cape and dawned it, smiling largely. It was too long for him and pooled on the floor. I sighed. He got a brown winter coat and put it on his torso. I grabbed a black cloak and grabbed some mitts.

"Okay, let's get going!" I said trying to drown out the muffled crying of the shopkeeper.

..........................................

A few hours later after walking through a mostly empty and peaceful plains, we reached an astounding sight. there was a forest, and the trees were covered in snow. clouds covered the forest and snow sprinkled over it. Thimble's eyes lit up, it was warm where we stood, and the fact that snow was right over there astounded.

"WOAH!" Thimble yelled. He looked over to the snow.

"Let's build a snowman!?" Thimble yelled. I glared at him.

"No." I barked back. Saddened he looked away.

"We have to save Estern anyways." I replied. He still looked sad.

"And...and there's monsters in the forest." I added. He sighed and looked away sullen.

As we neared the snowy forest, the temperature began to dramatically change.

"I'm betting this forest is magic. No scientific explanation for such a huge and drastic climate change that's constant." Thimble said. I rose an eyebrow. That, was almost a smart comment by the kid. Soon, our feet met snow. Thimble visibly tried to hide his joy for the snow, to no avail as he grinned. The trees had frozen crystals lining the tree's, it was a pretty sight. Back at home, everything was very grim to the eyes. Sure there was war here, but it was still better then home.

Our feet marched through the snow as a snow flake landed in my hair. The wind picked up a bit as we headed under the frozen trees. Thimble's cape fluttered a bit as we did. The forest was indeed, very serene.

We pressed on through the area, some slimes wiggled by, slowed by the cold temperature. I spied a scarecrow in the snow, covered in frost. I pondered how it had even got there. We walked through the snowy area for a long while before Thimble spoke up.

"Think we'll fight any more big red snakes on our journey?" Thimble asked. I chuckled.

"I doubt it." I replied as he came upon a clearing from the forest. The sky even seemed to get darker as we emerged. The EverWinter forest was now mostly trekked through. Grey grass laid before us as a trail led up a cliff. I walked before I realized something. I never had once told Thimble about the snake encounter. I was about to ask him how he knew I fought a snake when he stopped.

"Look!" He shouted. I turned my attention. The snow flakes that had dared wondered over to the great castle in the distant had turned dark, almost as if they were corrupted by the dark presence of the castle.

"That looks evil enough to be Kirem's castle."

Thimble sweated a little. We stepped out of the snowy domain and the heat hit us. The air became suddenly much more intense. The wind was more threatening, even every breath I took seemed worse. Thimble seemed visibly shaken by the change.

"We're really doing this?" Thimble asked. I nodded. Explosions rattled in the distance as flames appeared from the top of the castle. Thimble looked at it wide eyed.

"What!?" He asked. I smirked.

"Looks like Kirem's under siege." I replied. Thimble looked at me worried.

"Oh?" He stammered. I grinned boldly.

"So, we sneak in the back while Kirem's goons are occupied with whoever is attacking them right now." I replied. Thimble gulped and nodded.

We climbed the cliff as the blackened snowflakes fluttered around us. The unsettled ground felt ready to give away from the pressure.

Many strange demonic creatures circled the blackened skies as we continued. Thimble and I made it to the front of the castle, a hole blown into the front entrance. We turned and headed beside the castle. Screams and explosions echoed from behind the might walls. Thimble looked exceedingly nervous.

We made it to the back of the castle where we found a blonde knight who was guarding the entrance. He had turned towards us. I simply chucked a rock at his face, which knocked him out. Sometimes the simplest means of ridding an enemy is the most amusing. We entered through the back.