Icy Earth

Chapter One - Miles Below

Revenna rubbed her hands together, blowing warm air against her gloves. Her breath fogged in the space before her, as it always did. Sliding her hands into the pockets of her oversized coat, she made her way down the hall, the flickering lights on the ceiling above her casting down a silvery glow.

She inhaled the biting cold of the air, pale blue eyes scanning over the plaques on each door she passed. School Room No. 15 kept blinking through her mind. Sure, school was out for the day, but she wanted to check and see if her teacher, Dr.Childs, had left any books behind. Revenna adored reading. Well, enjoyed what she could get of it. At such a young age, her reading skills were already quite good thanks to her parents, but there was still always something too hard for her to understand.

Thankfully, School Room door plaques were not one of those things. Finding the door she needed, she pulled to a stop and reached up, standing on tiptoe to reach the handle, before sliding the door open. She lost her balance, stumbled slightly, then righted herself. Adjusting a bit of her light gold hair, she looked up toward the overly tall bookshelf. Maybe it was just tall to her though since Dr.Childs always seemed just fine to reach and grab books from it.

Still, Revenna had her own ways. Making her way toward the shelf, she was surprised to hear a throat clearing behind her. Expecting the worst, she looked over her shoulder, then released a foggy sigh of relief when she saw that it was only Marco.

He was standing in the doorway, his red hair tousled as it always was, that butter yellow scarf of his pulled up to his nose. Marco stood only a few inches taller than Revenna, but he still seemed like the shortest boy in class, maybe in the whole city. Perhaps that had something to do with his meek personality or how skinny he was.

"Hi, Marco," Revenna waved. "What's up?"

"I was actually coming here to read," Marco said, "but it looks like you beat me to it." A little late, he realized it was a good idea to wave to her. "Hi, Venna."

Revenna offered a shrug and a smile. "No rules against two people reading," she said.

"Well, actually," Marco began, "there is a rule about being in the School Rooms without a teacher."

Striding over, Revenna shushed him, placing one gloved hand over the spot on his scarf where his mouth was. "Shh," she urged. "If the door's unlocked, the books are fair game." Pulling back, she turned back toward the bookshelf, her hair swishing. "Now come here, I need help reaching the top shelf. Dr.Childs keeps the best ones up there."

Gulping, Marco nodded and made his way after her. He looked up at the tall, metal shelf. The paint was peeling and it'd gone from a pretty blue to some gross green color with patches of blurry gray. "How are we gonna reach it?"

Revenna rolled her eyes. Lifting one foot, she said, "Give me a boost, Dummy."

Marco nodded, quickly dropping to a knee and forming a cup with his hands. "Alright, got it," he announced.

Nodding, Revenna stepped into his hands, then used the lip of one shelf to haul herself up. Even with Marco's help, her short arms couldn't reach the very tippy top.

"Stand up," she hissed, grasping at the air. "I've almost got it."

Though he was hesitant, Marco nodded and shakily pushed himself to his feet. His relief was indescribable when the cry that came from Revenna was one of triumph and not fear.

"Got it!" She grinned down at him, waving a book. Then, without even waiting for him to set her down, she jumped from his cupped palms.

Marco winced as she landed, stumbled, then tripped over the untied laces of her old boots. He moved to help her s she landed on her face, but she sprung right back up before he could.