Star Darlings; The Soldier

Lost... and Found

Jade skipped another piece of ice across the small, unfrozen part of the ocean. She counted 5 bounces before it sunk into the depths.

"Jade! Be careful out there!" Her mother called. "You never know what can happen!"

"Ok!" She called back, the warning already forgotten. It's not like a frozen over mountain had anything dangerous; she'd already grown used to the cold, and it's not like a polar bear would approach a Starling.

"Remember what happened-" her mother called again before being cut off.

"Yeah yeah the boy that ventured to the forbidden grounds and got bitten by a frostbite spider." She called back, skipping over to snatch another piece of ice. She'd been told that story all her life, though she never believed it. Proof please!

She'd been to those grounds MANY times before, and it looked like every other part of Polar Peak; bare, cold, and frozen over. Nothing of a secret cave or an evil spirit ready to turn any children into its servant.

Jade Crystal Everest (Though her brother called her JCE) was an example of an adventurous child. At the age of 8, she was already climbing the tops of Polar Peak, despite her mother's insistence that she should stay home and stay safe until some guy comes along and they marry her off. Yes, that is the plan for most parents with daughters. She had light greenish hair and eyes, similar to jades, hence her name. Her short hair was pulled back, showing her pretty cute face that everyone adored.

Jade was currently 11, though she is turning 12 in the next 2 months. Her brother, Julius, was already 20 and soon planned to go to the mainland, though the traders said there was a war going on.

Polar Peak, because of its harsh environment and isolation, was a few of the untouched parts of Starland in the war, though once the Skylars discover the vast amounts of oil under the mountain is shouldn't be long before the mountain was taken (Don't look at it USA, I know you want the oil but this a fanfic).

Jade was lucky enough to grow up here, away from the wars outside.

She skipped another piece of ice, this time bouncing 7 times before settling into the depths of the icy ocean.

An adult sea lion surfaced, gasping for air. It'd clearly swam a large distance. Jade smiled, approaching it with her hand outstretched, doing the trick her father taught her to calm certain animals.

Instead of coming over to sniff her hand, which always worked, it barked and dove back into the water.

"Huh?" She asked herself. "That trick always worked; what is it-"

The sea lion resurfaced again a minute later, only this time, it was dragging along a man out of the water with it.

"What trouble have you gotten into today?" Her brother asked, rubbing her head. "You dragged mother out to find a nearly drowned outsider!"

"He needed help!" Jade said stubbornly. "I can't just leave him there!"

"I know I know, my gemstone." Julius said.

The village healer popped her head out of the igloo. "Hey Jade." She said. "Where's your mother?"

"She went to do some chores." Julius said. "Is he ok?"

"Yes... by most standards." She said. "He looks a lot like a Wishling to be honest."

"How?"

"Don't know, but he is a handsome one." She said jokingly. "Bet all the women will go crazy over him, though I'm not sure how he can survive the winters."