Breaking the Ice

Chapter 23: Icicle.

Damien took Leonardos hand, Leonardo taking Parker's, Parker taking Elias' and Elias' freehand wrapping around Renee's waist. Renee pulled out the jar and map, opening it up. Guards were running towards them, grabbing a handful as they did she looked at the part of the map and threw it up.

All the 5 saw next was grey smoke, the smoke soon disappearing. They all held their eyes shut, until the sounds of birds in the distance made them open.

The Brazilian forest stood before them, trees everywhere and beautiful plants. Renee practically gawked at it all, amazed by everything there.

"Oh my.." She mumbled to herself, everyone else in awe of it all. Parker had other thoughts though.

"How the hell are we supposed to find the things here?!" He yelled in frustration, looking at all of them. "We just need to find three, then be on our way. Come on, let's find the berries first. They are supposed to be.." Renee looked at the map, pointing to writing that showed a waterfall. "There!"

"How do we get there?" Elias followed, looking down at the map. "We walk, we should be on this x mark since I imagined that place, and the map leads north."

"I guess we should start walking, hopefully it won't be too long." Damien spoke.

5 hours later.

"Ugh, how much longer?" Parker whined, feeling all sweaty and tired. "I don't know, it shouldn't be much longer.." Renee answered, just as tired herself. She ditched her cloak and rolled up her sleeves. "Hopefully we-" She paused when she heard water ahead, running up and pst trees.

"It's here!" She said happily, the rest of the 4 sighing in relief after catching up.

"It's beautiful.." Elias said, just staring at it all. "My gosh, this is breath taking.." Leonardo whispered to himself. Renee took out her book Fayette gave her, looking at the page with the berries on it.

"It says the berries have blue leaves, the berries themselves are red that blend into a purple on the other side." Renee showed them the page. "That's gotta be some weird tasting berries." Parker said, followed by a few chuckles from them.

"Alright, let's find it." Elias commanded, the 5 splitting up a bit. They all looked for a while, until Damien went behind the waterfall.

"I think I found it!" He yelled to all of them. "The red and purple ones with the blue leaves?" Elias asked as they all went over. "Yeah, it looks like the one in that witches book too."

The bush was very colorful, revealing the mystical berries on it. Elias reached over, taking out a dagger he had and cut a good amount off. "2 more items to go." He said as he put the berries in his satchel.

"Good, let's try and at least find those trees with the cool leaves on them before the sun goes down." Parker said, all 5 of them coming out from behind the waterfall.

Renee took the book back out, opening the book to the right page. "It says they are in the middle of the forest, somewhere around here." She pointed to a spot on the map that was surrounded by a circle. "Let's head now, it will probably be dark when we are done."

"Hopefully it doesn't take us 5 hours to get there." Leonardo said, sighing to himself. "Renee, can I get an icicle?" Parker asked.

"A what?"

"An icicle, it's soooo hot!" Parker complied, earning a laugh from Renee. She twirled her wrist a little, now handing over an icicle to Parker. He thanked her before licking it, Elias rolling his eyes.

After hours of walking and walking, they got to a place with large rocks, trees in the middle of the large area. As they walked through, Renee looked down at her map to make sure they were in the right space.

"Is this is?" Leonardo asked, eyeing everything. "It should be, the leaves are a burgundy color as what the book says."

"Is that it?" Parker said while pointing up, a beautiful brown tree with burgundy leaves not too far. "I think so!"

"How do we get up there?" Elias questioned, looking up at the leaves. The sky was becoming pink and orange, the sun going down.

"Well, we could climb." Damien speaks, raising his eyebrow. He was suddenly lifted up by a large ice mound, stumbling a little to catch his balance. Renee reached him up to the leaves, stopping till he got there. He then reached up, grabbing a couple before looking down.

"So, how the hell do I get down?" He yelled, looking confused. "Uhm.." Renee though, coming up with the safest option. An ice slide appeared. "Slide down!" She yelled.

Damien sat, before sliding down. He cheered happily, making the others laugh as he did so. Once he reached the bottom, him smiling self ran over and gave her the leaves. "Woo! That was fun!" He laughed like a child. Renee smiled, taking the leaves and putting them away.

"It's too late now to look for the flower, we should sleep." Leonardo announced, yawning a bit. "I guess, hopefully this forest floor is comfy enough." Parker follows, looking around for a good place to sleep.

"It sounds kind of far fetched, but I'm going to go look for a body of water. I have a little bit soap and I feel icky." Renee spoke, leaving them be. She purposely left ice tracks from her feet so she knew were to come back, going off.

Renee finished up putting back on her clothes, her wet hair present as she pushed it away and brushed her fingers through it.

She heard a bit of bushes tussling, her head turning in thought of an animal there. Elias emerged from the forest, he had been following her ice tracks. "Hey, mind if I borrow some soap?" He asked, walking over.

"Oh, sure." She would say, handing it over. "I'll be on my way back." She would say, starting to head off.

Elias began taking off his shirt, tossing it on the ground as he heard her foot steps become distant. He heard them slowly stop, knowing she stopped going any further.

Renee couldn't help herself when she stopped and looked at him, years of sexual frustration building. It started mildly when she was 16, but like any normal teen at that time she pushed it off.

Her cheeks turned red, staring at his bare torso. Elias smirked, turning his head and looking at her. Renee flinched, not realizing until then he knew. "Heh-uh.." She stuttered, starting to back up.

"Naughty, huh?" He teased, walking towards her. "You dare watch the prince I change without his permission?" He asked in a lustful tone, tilting her chin up so she was looking at him.

"That's-thats not what I meant.." She spoke nervously, Elias loving her reaction. "Someday, Renee. Someday you'll see and feel just how good I am. You also need to be punished soon, but not now. Don't push out love away." He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek, before turning around and walking off.

Renee quickly headed back, trying to forget about what just happened.

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