Permafrost

Chapter One

He exhaled and pushed his fingers even deeper into the pockets of his sweater, feeling the wind bounce around him and welcoming him with a fond brush of his hair. It wasn't really chilly, though the wind danced with the leaves and made the lake ripple with laughter, but everybody else was quivering and shrugging into themselves, and he didn't want to stand out.

Clenching his fists together, he stared down at the ground. He wasn't looking forward to this new school. The building in front of him looked gloomy and gray, stretching high into the sky as if it wanted people to get lost inside of its massive form forever. The gray clouds above growled menacingly, curling protectively over the top of the towers protruding from the castle, while lightning snapped at everybody else down below.

But he also had to be here. Dream had said so. He didn't really know why his guardian persisted for him to get into this school, other than the fact that Dream had something really important to do, and he would be better off socializing with peers his age.

Purpled scoffed and kicked the ground. Dream knew better than anyone why he never left the cave unless he had a mission to do. So he felt like he was the only one in a wooden sailboat, rolling on the frisky waves that promised to one day get him and swallow him whole.

He wasn't afraid of the cold. In fact, the chilly air around him almost felt warm. But the imaginary black water all around him made him shiver and have goosebumps crawl all over his skin. The imaginary black hole that he was always surrounded by, while he walked on a thread between sanity and losing himself.

He decided to finally listen to the adult ahead of the group.

"—nd don't expect the teachers to be nice about the grades. They are harsh, especially if you guys are part of one of the Seasons. To find out if you are, there will be a few tests."

Purpled flinched and stared at the man with wide eyes. His heartbeat spiked up, and he forced himself to swallow. Okay, okay, this will be fine. I'll just have to do what I've been doing for some time; pretend.

"So let's go!"

The small group of kids began to slowly amble after the man, throwing glances everywhere and toying with their fingers as their feet shuffled through the short grass. A few murmured to each other, already finding connections in the first fifteen minutes of being together, but for the majority of the group, they just stuck to themselves, unsure of the world, and unsure of themselves.

As he followed the new students, he thought about his eyes. They were unique, like what every Season had; brilliant blue, shining green, deep aqua, laid-back red, bickering orange, or a vibrant purple. The eye color didn't matter, any Season could have whichever color, or even one of both. Purple, though, was definitely the most rare in the spectrum. Red or orange could be mistaken for brown or hazel, while green and blue are relatively normal eye colors, but purple was a hard one to hide.

There was a reason why he was named Purpled Bedwars. And it wasn't because his parents just loved the color.

With his quick purple eyes, he watched the wooden door that the adult stood in front of. It gleamed, like it was waxed every day to somewhat ease the angles of the castle, but it looked out of place and uncomfortable, like it knew it didn't belong.

The adult took out a key card from his pocket and swiped it onto the pad. The blank blue screen flashed green before slowly opening the grand doors, allowing a cheery yellow light from inside to spill onto the scraggly ground. Without much beckoning, the new students entered the building.

The SMP Boarding School.

When Purpled stepped onto the shiny wooden planks of the school's flooring, a loud booming voice filled the air.