Forever Forgotten: White Eyes

Chapter XlV- Puck

       It was dark. Puck didn't shiver as the cold wind surrounded him. A mountain was not a good place to be on a fall night...for normal people at least. You're special. His father had always told him that. You and your siblings have something that No One else has. And then you have something that none of your siblings have.
         It was true. Puck could never be cold. It wasn't possible for him.
         When he was younger he expected what every other kid had. Birthday parties, friends, school....but none of the Westen kids got that. They got a whole different life than they ever expected.
         Puck and his siblings were home schooled. However, none of their parents knew much about schooling so the kids were only taught the basics: how to spell, read, and do basic addition and subtraction. But now that their parents we gone, Puck didn't know if he'd ever learn anything else.
        "Puck are you coming?"
         Scara's voice brought him back to the mountains.
         Puck nodded.
         "How are you not cold!? It's like 20 degrees!"
        He shrugged. She couldn't  know the secret.
        "Stop chattering you two and pay attention." That was Neptune. "In case you haven't noticed, the foot prints lead into this cave."
        Puck caught a glimpse of a sign pointing to the cave:

           Boy Scout Nature Hike
Extremely amazing things await you!

         "Great" Scara sighed. "Now we have to go into a even colder cave." She turned to Neptune. "I still don't get how Puck isn't cold. He doesn't even look cold." She looked over her shoulder at him.
            Puck cast a sideways glance at Thunder, who hadn't spoke at all durning the trip. It was obvious that his wounds were still hurting him.
           Thunder glanced back at Puck and glared at him through his curly black hair, which because of the wind, was covering his face. Puck's hair was a wispy snow-white and blew in the wind as well, but he still wasn't cold.
           "Well here we go" cheered Scara enthusiastically, as if she was trying to cheer up the others. "We're off through the biggest cave in all of Jamma to rescue our dear leader, Herion, from the dark grasp of our greatest enemy: Venom, which is lead by the great and evil leader, Thor!!"
              Thunder and Puck flinched in unison.
               "Oh yeah" Scara clasped her hands over her mouth. "I'm sorry, I'm just excited because this is my first rescue mission."
It's ours too, Puck thought.
               Scara, seeing that her apology wasn't accepted, tried again. "I'm sure he wasn't that bad to you guys!"
             Thunder shrugged. "He wasn't bad at all." He looked at Puck. "We don't know what happened."
             Scara frowned and then cheered up again. "Well maybe you can find out when we get there!"
            "No one said we were talking to Thor" Neptune cut in. "He's dangerous."
             "How?" questioned Puck. "What has he done?"
            "He's gone through the town square and demanded that people obey and worship a new group of gods instead of Amber,Zios and Sarepia . He's also set fire to people's homes that refuse to believe these gods and has taken their money. People say that's just the beginning."
          Thunder and Puck looked at each other, startled. That wasn't like Thor at all! He had always been a caring, protective older brother to all three of the younger siblings. And gods!? They'd never held an important place in the Westen's lives. Why would Thor change now?
         They were about half way through the cave now. All travelers but Puck were shivering and tired. But they had to keep going. The fate of their leader was in Thor's hands, though Puck still couldn't believe Thor had gone evil.
Suddenly Puck gasped as he ran into the wall in front of him. We're they really already at the end of that huge cave?
"Puck!" Thunder gasped.
Scara ran over to him. "You alright?"
"Yeah." Puck rubbed his sore forehead. He could now see due to Neptune's torch light, they had come to a bend in the cave. The path sharply moved to the right. "I just...just ran into the wall."
"Well why'd you do that?" Thunder ran his fingers through Puck's shaggy white hair. Puck swatted Thunder's hand away. Only his dad could do that to him. Then he gulped, trying to swallow a lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. Unexpectedly, tears rushed down his face. His dad would never do that again.
"Come on," Thunder said, seeing Puck's tears. "I know it hurts but you gotta stay strong. We're almost there. I have a feeling."
Thunder was right. As soon as they turned the corner they were at the back of the cave. Neptune was waiting for them on.. What was that? Puck blinked back tears. Was that a step? It was.
"Holy Amber" Scara breathed as she looked up. Puck followed her gaze. He sucked in his breath. Towering above them were thousands...no millions of steps, a spiraling staircase with what seemed no end.
"Curse the Gods," Neptune breathed, breathless from the day long journey through the cave. "We gotta climb that!?"