Goldire

Chapter 6

Bruce woke up to the sound of festive music. He was in a dark wooden room, but light creeped in through a hole under the door. He got up, and went though it. On the other side was a large group of people, all laughing, playing games, or just enjoying themselves. A man in a red jacket walked up to him.

"Finally woke up I see." He said. "We found you washed up on the shore, and decided to help you." He stopped for a moment. "Oh, i forgot to intrusive myself. I'm Steven. This is my tavern, where everyone can enjoy themselves and have fun. Here, let me get you a drink."
"No thank you." Said Bruce. Where were his friends? He thought. He went to the front door of the tavern. Outside was a quaint beach, with a bridge leading across the small river that surrounded them. On the other side, was the cold and icy world of Antarctica. Everything over there was frozen. But what was odd, is that he wasn't. The river frozen, and him, but he was quite warm; he didn't feel cold at all.

He walked back in, and asked the bartender about where his friends might be. "Well, we found you not too long ago, so your friends can't be far. But if you're going out to find them, you need to be careful. Here, we have a rule that you need to be in a group of at least four people, otherwise you could freeze." Simone nearby asked for a drink, and the bartender happily turned around and got him one. Bruce got up, and someone walked up to him.

"We were planning on leaving too, would you want to join us?" The man asked. Behind him, was a small group, all wearing short sleeves and T-shirts. Bruce wasn't sure. This place was weird, everyone wasn't acknowledging the ice cold land surrounding them. They just laughed and played games. "Sure," said Bruce. They seemed to know what they were doing, even if they seemed ill-prepared.

They walked out of the tavern, and across the bridge. A wave of cold hit him, and he began to shiver. The others didn't seem to notice, though. They just continued walking, laughing and telling jokes. After about five minutes, Bruce was freezing. He felt nauseous, and was trailing behind the group. He squeezed himself, hoping to get warmer; but it only made him colder. Then, he felt a flicker of warmth from his side. He opened his eyes to see a woman from the group walking next to him.

"Don't let the cold separate you." She said. "It sounds absurd, but in this case, laughter is the best medicine. The ice like to grow on you when you drift away, so just try to stay together." She sped up to rejoin the group, and Bruce felt cold again. He thought, then also sped up. Once he got close, he felt the warmth again. It was... nice. He joined them in their games and jokes, but deep in his mind, he kept thinking about his friends.

***

Veya, Anthony, Benny, Seth, Anden, Brine, Jiq and Will were lost in this snowscape. They were all freezing, but tried to ignore it. Will had a compass, and they were walking south. As they were walking, Anthony tried to tell a joke to lighten the mood. Benny gave him a death glare, and Seth said, "not the time for that." Anthony's grin faded, and the coldness around them worsened. In the distance, they heard laughing and shouting. Anden looked up, and began changing his course to walk towards it. To their surprise, they saw a group of people in T-shirts and shorts. They were even more surprised by who they saw in the group.

"Bruce!" Shouted Anden, as he ran up to him. "Anden!" He returned the gratitude, and hugged him, happy to see he was ok. Anden was cold, but he quickly warmed up as he entered the group. "What are you doing?" Asked Jiq. "Looking for you guys." Said Bruce. "Is everyone ok?"
"Yeah everyone is fine." Said Brine. "Are you?"
"I'm alright." Bruce walked up to them, noticing that they were cold. "Just try to have fun." He said. "It makes you less cold." Anthony was the first one to do so, as he ran to the group, and told his favorite joke. They all laughed, and immediately the rest of them felt warmer. The rest of the group joined, and they began walking back to the tavern. Whenever anyone felt cold, the others cheered them up to keep the warm.