Frost Bitten (BxB)

Chapter Eleven

(Joseph's POV)

There was a massive blizzard raging on Glacida when we finally touched down. Snow was flying everywhere, trees were swaying almost violently against the wind...but leave it to Jox to look unfazed as we stepped off of Teiken's ship, those blue eyes searching the area before us. And sure, having lived on Glacida as long as I have, I was pretty much used to the cold, frigid temperature...yet when I stepped off of the ship, my teeth immediately began chattering pretty freaking hard. The air was so cold that it was actually hard for me to even breathe.

Even Delkele looked like his balls were about to fall right off, and he was should have been just as used to Glacida's temperatures as I was.

"So where are Vextian's ships?" Jox asked as he turned around and crossed his arms over his chest.

Teiken, who also, weirdly enough, looked fine as he adjusted his weight, pointing towards a crystal-like forest. "From the overview I was able to get, they should be on the other side of this forest. At least, the few that Vextian kept here in case any Glacics came back to retaliate."

I shivered and tightened my windbreaker around myself, nodding to myself before I began to transverse forward. "Well? Let's get this done before my balls shrivel up and fall off."

I ignored all the curious glances that were thrown my way, and continued forward into the forest, the crystal-like leaves of the trees making almost a...song as the wind tossed them to and fro. It was honestly kind of eerie listening to it, and as we walked forward into the forest...it got louder as well.

Snow buckled under our footfalls, but our footprints were immediately covered by those pure white flakes that rained from the greyed sky above. As I walked, I hoped that at least one of us could take us back to Teiken's ship, because I sure as heck didn't know how large this forest was and I sure as crap didn't want to get lost in here. If we got lost, Jox and Teiken probably would be fine, but Delkele and I would probably end up dying from hypothermia, or something. Hell, I'm pretty sure that my lips were turning blue at this point.

I jumped when I heard a twig snap somewhere beside us, and for a moment, I wondered if it was just the wind tossing branches around...however, a blade suddenly whirled past my face, slamming into the tree that was right next to me.

I held my breath and immediately whipped out my pistol, whirling around for cover as gunfire sounded around us. My heart began pounding in my chest, my breath heavy as Delkele hid behind the tree next to me, the barbarian man jolting as a bullet slammed against the side of his tree, causing bark to split off and fall to the snow below.

This was bad. We weren't even five minutes into the damn forest, and already we were being ambushed. I wasn't sure how, considering Teiken had a cloaking device on his ship, but then again, I couldn't be underestimating the enemy.

I turned round the trunk, lifting my pistol to shoot a few rounds out towards any flash of color I seen. "Dammit," I cursed as a bullet flew past my face, causing me to duck back into cover.

"We need to get out of here," Delkele commented over the wind, the man's eyes going wide before he yanked Jox against him, a few bullets raining down where the Glacic had been standing.

"T-Thanks." Of course I would have to be blind not to see the massive blush that dashed across those pale cheeks, but at the moment I really did not care for we were literally being surrounded by the enemy.

There was no time for them to be ogling one another.

I glanced up at the tree I was hiding behind, my eyes scanning for any possible branches I could pull myself up on. Maybe if I had an aerial view, I could pick off some of these bastards. And perfect, there was one just above my head, maybe two feet above me as I turned around and backed up just slightly, careful to not expose myself in the view of the enemy. I was already stabbed once, I sure as hell did not want to get shot on top of that.

With a little head start, I ran and jumped up, grabbing the branch as my feet slammed against the trunk of the tree, the position allowing me to pull myself up on the branch. Of course, I still couldn't really see anything from this height, and the wind was absolutely atrocious as I climbed higher and higher, until I was at a point where I could see the individuals hiding behind a bush not too far from us.

Feeling a small grin form on my lips, I pulled my assault rifle off of my shoulder and looked down the line of sight, honing in on the small grey Tronian that raised above the bush to shoot at Delkele and Jox. My finger tapped the trigger, and down he fell, alerting his companion, who's frantic green eyes began nervously glancing up into the trees.

I lifted the assault rifle again and shot the other one, cursing when she moved right when I pulled the trigger. Ok, so she wanted to play hard to get. Moving out of the way of my shot, how dare she. But, I had experience with those playing hard to get, and he was the reason I was freezing my balls off in a tree right now. So that bastard needed to stay still so that I could take her out of the equation.

I looked into the scope once again waiting for the opportune moment to shoot her...but then I heard something next to me and when I turned I nearly fell off of the damn tree when I saw one of them flying next to me, their dark eyes glittering in anger as they raised their own weapon, ready to shoot. But thank goodness I wasn't without backup, for a shot sounded from behind me, slamming right into the Tronian. I glanced behind me and nodded my head towards Jox, who nodded back and shot towards the enemy on the ground.

Gunfire flew back and forth, and honestly I was beginning to wonder if there was ever going to be an end to them, considering it seemed like they just kept on coming. But eventually the gunfire died down, and soon, all was quiet again.

Well, as quiet as it could get with the wind practically howling in anger.

Shivering, I pursed my lips and glanced down at Delkele and Jox, seeing that they had come to the same conclusion as I had, both of them glancing at one another before moving from behind the tree. My eyes then scanned the land and there Teiken was as well, slowly coming out of his hiding place, his gun held tightly in his hand.

Well, I guess we beat them then. Good. Because I really wanted to get out of this freaking tree. Like I was surprised I hadn't been blown right off of the branch I was on, considering the wind had only gotten stronger during this little firefight, and I was really starting to feel the effects of the cold weather.

I pulled my assault rifle back over my shoulder and carefully climbed out of the tree to reconvene with everyone, my teeth chattering as Delkele, Jox and Teiken made their way over to me.

"I'm under the assumption that, that was everyone?" Delkele asked, though, it sounded more like a statement than a question.

Jox nodded anyway and holstered his gun, nibbling at his bottom lip as those light blue eyes scanned the area. "I am still worried about how they caught on to our presence so quickly." He glanced at Teiken. "Doesn't your ship have a cloaking mechanism?"

Teiken nodded, a disturbed frown on his dark face. "One of them must have somehow spotted us in the sky. The Tronians are known to be rather intelligent creatures. I just pray that we got all of them, else we will have another problem on our hands."

"Whatever the case, we need to get this ship and fast, because I don't know how much longer I can be exposed to this weather," I spoke up, my teeth now chattering.

Teiken nodded and looked at the other men. "Then let's get going."