Children of Ender (Temporary Hiatus!)

Chapter 1 - Vacation!

Jesse was kind of regretting picking a vacation spot so far away. Especially considering there weren't any mine-cart tracks going into the village from their town. Or any town, for that matter.

So right now, she was stuck shivering her arse off on a horse with Petra's teeth chattering together right next to her ear. Lukas was probably the smartest out of them all right now, considering he was mushed between Axel and Olivia on their own horse and seemed as warm as freshly baked bread. Not that she minded getting to ride with her friends. It was a mini-adventure in its own way, and Jesse absolutely loved snow, but she really, really hated when she got this cold.

Jesse pushed herself backwards, trying to steal some of Petra's body heat, though the other girl didn't seem to have much of her own.

"You're not doing us any favors by attempting to hide in my jacket, Jess." Petra mumbled into the collar of her shirt. She looked a bit like a turtle at the moment, having shoved half her face down into her undershirt to try and warm some part of her up.

"Sorry, but it was worth a try...we've got another half hour until we actually get to the village-"Jesse stated sadly, pulling her own jacket tighter and shoving her hands into her pockets, letting Petra lead the horse for now.

"Remind me again why you decided it was a good idea to go there in the first place?" Petra asked, sounding rather annoyed.

"It sounded like it would be fun! I didn't know we'd have to ride for such a long time-"

There was a loud snort, and Jesse and Petra both jumped, looking over their shoulders at the other group behind them. Olivia was, of course, the one who was finding this oh so lovely situation funny. Axel and Lukas both looked confused.

"I'm sorry, but you're totally lying there Jesse." Olivia had a knowing grin on her face. "You just wanted an excuse to snuggle up to one of us for a while."

"W-What-?" Jesse stammered out, puffing up and feeling her face heat up just a small bit, "I did not!" She was of course, lying. Ever since Reuben died, Jesse had become the most affectionate one in the group.

Petra chuckled lightly at that, which made Jesse blush even more.

"Oh, Olivia, you should've started teasing her earlier- she's warm as a furnace now!"

"Petra!" Jesse grumbled and huffed.

The whole group laughed, and the cold seemed to ease up just a bit.

After the last half hour of their journey passed, they finally arrived into town. It was quaint, with the small wooden houses all lined up in neat, straight rows, standing tall and proud. The roofs were covered in thick blankets of snow, the only things peeking out the tops were grey blotches, which could easily be identified as chimneys. Actually, everything else in the town seemed covered completely in snow.

And yet the residents there were running about and squealing happily, enjoying the cold weather. In the center of town was a large well, with water inside that somehow wasn't frozen, and around that well were stalls. It seemed this central area was where some villagers had set up a sort of small, festive market place. They had all kinds of different trinkets selling, and the people behind the booths were calling and attempting to get the group to come over and inspect their wares. However, they rode on, eager to get inside the cabin as quickly as possible and settle in.

The horses were starting to give up about half way up the hill, so one person had to hop off and tug them on. This person ended up being Jesse, who was sure that her toes were freezing off at this point. Once the others got off, she hurried to usher the horses into the stables and run inside, nearly smacking into the door on the way in.