"Agreed." Gabriel said shivering under his jacket, "It's a good thing we left Luna and Josh at The Hideout."

"You said it." Hazel said, "But Chancellor Nevermore should've given us a map, I can barely see a thing under this much snow."

All of a sudden, the gems on her dagger suddenly started to glow.

"What in the world?" Hazel said pulling her dagger out.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked staring at Hazel's dagger.

The four of them stared at Hazel's dagger in curiosity before the gems blinked furiously and a holographic map appeared.

"What in the world?" Hazel repeated gazing at her dagger.

On cue a purple line appeared on the map.

"So, what do we do now?" Gabriel asked.

"We walk?" Hazel said questioningly.

"Lead the way then Hazel." Gabriel said smiling.

"Looks like we're heading North." Hazel said looking at the map, "Which means more snow."

"Great." Rachel said a hint of sarcasm in her voice, "Just great."

"Let's go then." Ace said rolling his eyes.

As they started walking the silence gave Hazel a chance to relive some old memories from her childhood.

She remembered how excited she was nine years ago about seeing her parents and celebrating her birthday and Christmas with them. Only to have Matthew tell her they were never coming back.

'Snap out of it Hazel.' She thought to herself, 'They've been gone for years, so stop wishing they're still here.'

"Hazel looks miserable." Rachel commented as she and the boys followed her.

'I hope I can help her.' Gabriel thought sighing, "Guys, I'm going to need your help."

"Why don't you just ask Hazel?" Ace asked as the backed away a little.

"It's about Hazel." Gabriel answered.

"You three coming or not!?" Hazel asked shouting.

"Coming!" Gabriel exclaimed before whispering to the twins, "Act normal."

"What were the three of you talking about?" Hazel asked as Gabriel and the twins reached her.

"Um - about - uh - what village are we going to - yeah, that's it." Rachel stuttered earning her a glare from Gabriel.

"Well, the four of us can stop at Water Leaf Village for the night." Hazel said checking the map.

"Water Leaf?" Ace asked, "Isn't that place near a volcano?"

"Yeah, so it means two things." Hazel said smiling a little, "One it'll be warm and two there'll be hot springs."

"And the people there love Monster Hunters so it won't be much trouble in asking them for a place to stay." Gabriel said.

"We're almost there." Hazel said checking the map again.

Fifteen minutes later they were in a village completely littered with hot springs.

"Welcome to Water Leaf Village, guys." Hazel said sheeting her dagger.

"Hello there." A man with black hair said, "Are you four Monster Hunters by any chance?"

"Yes sir." Rachel said smiling, "My name's Rachel Oliviero," she then gestured to Ace, "And this is my brother Ace," before gesturing to Hazel and Gabriel, "And these are my friends, Hazel Abernathy and Gabriel Pasi."

"Nice to meet you four." The man said, "Vincent Shade, Chief of Water Leaf Village."

"It's a pleasure sir." Gabriel said bowing slightly.

Vincent smiled before he showed them a small wooden house before showing them the inside, "You four are free to stay here if you'd like."

"It's wonderful sir." Hazel said smiling.

"And feel free to ask around about whichever monster you’re hunting." Vincent said before leaving the house.

"So, what should we do for now guys?" Rachel asked sitting on a nearby arm chair.

"I'm going to go on a walk." Hazel said placing her bag on the table, "Dad told me this place looked amazing when its near Christmas."

"Hey Rachel, you wanna hang out?" Ace asked, "Go for a swim maybe?"

"Sure." Rachel said before pointing to some hot springs nearby, "How about those?"

"Sounds good to me." Ace said before turning to Gabriel, "How about you Gab?'

"I think I'll just keep Hazel some company." Gabriel said before glancing at Hazel who was staring off into space.

"Guess it's just you and me sis." Ace said smiling at his younger sister.

"The two of you better get going then." Hazel said looking at them as she folded her arms.

Then minutes later the twins left the wooden house for the hot springs.

"You wanna play Chess, Gab?" Hazel asked.

"You brought your Chess set?" Gabriel asked.

"Course I did." Hazel replied, "So you wanna play?"

"Oh, you are so on." Gabriel said as they seated themselves on opposite sides of the table where the Chess set lay.

About twenty minutes later Chess pieces were zooming left to right and occasionally falling to the floor.

"And I win." Gabriel said knocking down the black king with his rook.

"Good game." Hazel said as she started to clean up.

"Hazel are you okay?" Gabriel asked hesitantly.

"Of course, I am." Hazel said picking up a white pawn, "Why'd you ask?"

"Well, your playing seemed a bit off." Gabriel said as Hazel tucked her Chess set in her backpack, "We played for only twenty minutes and you seemed a bit distracted."

"I just have a lot on my mind right now." Hazel said softly, "Maybe a bit of walking would clear my head."

"Can I tag along?" Gabriel asked.

"Sure." Hazel said opening the door, "Come on."

Ten minutes past since the two of them left the wooden house, but they've been too busy marveling the beauty of the village to have checked the time.

"I still can't believe how magical this place looks like." Hazel said dreamily looking at all the colorful fairy lights.

"Did you hear that?" Gabriel asked.

"If it's crying, then yes." Hazel said before pointing to an ancient looking oak tree, "From over there."

"You have your dagger?" Gabriel asked.

"Obviously, because I don't just leave my weapon lying around." Hazel snapped remembering that Gabriel left his bow at the house.

"Now what do we do now?" Gabriel asked, "We only have one weapon and if we get the twins then it'll probably get away."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"How about I go see what it is and you get the twins." Hazel suggested.

"I am not leaving you here." Gabriel hissed.

"Fine." Hazel said gripping her dagger.

"You first." Gabriel said as he pushed Hazel behind the tree.

"Not funny Gab." Hazel said standing up before noticing the little girl, "Hey it's alright."

"Is everything alright Hazel?" Gabriel asked as he joined her.

The first thing Gabriel saw when he went behind the tree was a little girl who had white skin, black hair, and soft blue eyes, she looked no older than six or seven years old.

Once Gabriel walked a little closer, he could see claw marks on the girl's arms and her clothes were drenched in blood.

"P-please d-don't hurt me." The girl stuttered backing away.

"It's alright." Hazel said letting go of her dagger, "We're not here to hurt you, we just want to help, that's all."

"W-who are y-you?" The girl asked still stuttering.

"Hazel Abernathy." Hazel said before gesturing to Gabriel, "And this is my friend Gabriel Pasi."

"Hazel look at the claw marks." Gabriel whispered.

"Brinetalons." Hazel said quietly before Gabriel nodded slightly.

As Hazel started to walk towards the girl, she recognized fear in the girl's eyes. Hazel felt a stab of sympathy towards her as she reached the girl, kneeling down a gentle smile plastered on her face.

"Hazel be careful." Gabriel whispered.

"Don't worry about him." Hazel said laughing slightly, "He's just being excessively cautious."

The girl looked at Hazel from head to toe before she suddenly burst out crying.

"Shh, it’s alright." Hazel said soothingly as she hugged the girl, "No one’s going to hurt you."

"Didn't quite catch your name." Gabriel said crouching beside Hazel.

"Jessica Shade." The girl said.

"Come on, we'll take you to Vincent Shade." Hazel said standing up, "You two are relatives, right?"

Jessica nodded as she and Gabriel stood up.

"Come on, I think his house is nearby." Gabriel said as they made their way back to the village.

"Jessica what were you doing behind that oak tree?" Hazel asked leading Jessica by the hand.

"I was playing outside with my friends when we heard something." Jessica said, "They ran away before I went to see what it was but something attacked me before I got a good luck.

Fifteen minutes later they were seated with Vincent Shade and his wife.

"So, you’re telling me that our daughter got attacked by a Brinetalon." Vincent said after Gabriel and Hazel told him and Mrs. Shade what happened.

"Yes sir." Gabriel said nodding.

"How is that even possible?" Vincent asked.

"It's completely normal for Brinetalons to be nesting in hot areas." Hazel said, "Especially now that it's winter."

"Hunters I suppose it's time for you to get some rest." Mrs. Shade said after standing up, "You'll be needing your rest for tomorrow."

"She's right." Gabriel said standing up, "Let's go Hazel."

"Alright then." Hazel said standing up.

"Thank you for helping our daughter." Vincent said before Gabriel and Hazel left the house.

"So, what do you think about this place?" Gabriel asked, "If you set the fact that it had to be cut short due to a Brinetalon aside."

"It's amazing." Hazel said smiling before she opened the door to the house they were staying in for the night.

Just as Hazel opened the door the Oliviero twins quickly rushed to their friends.

"We heard what happened, are you two okay?" Rachel said as she hugged them.

"Rachel let them explain before you crush them." Ace said worry on his face.

"Can we change first?" Hazel asked as Rachel released them from her grip.

Five minutes later the four of them were sitting around the table with piping hot tea.

"So you two found Mr. Shane's daughter wounded from a Brinetalon while you two were walking?" Ace asked after the two explained what had happened.

"Yep." Hazel said taking another sip of tea, "Not really much of a surprise though, the only reason their skin is red is because they love warming up near lava."

Gabriel stared at her with furrowed brows, "What?"

"My mom told me stories about them." Hazel said, "Before she - "

Hazel stopped herself before wiping away a few stray tears.

"Maybe you should get some sleep Hazel." Rachel suggested, "You've had a pretty rough day."

"Yeah, I think I will." Hazel said standing up, "Night guys."

"Night." Gabriel and the twins said as Hazel entered the room she would be sharing with Rachel.

"Get yourself together Hazel." she told herself, "They're dead for God's sake."

"I'm worried about her." Ace said as they heard the door close.

"Gab when we were walking you said you needed our help with Hazel." Rachel said, "Could you tell us more?"

"Remember when Chancellor Nevermore said if he could have a word with me?" Gabriel asked grabbing his backpack from the floor.

"Yes." Ace replied.

"Well, he wanted me to give this to Hazel on her birthday if we were still on the mission." Gabriel said as he pulled out the wooden box from his bag.

"I'm completely speechless." Ace said staring at the box.

"Amazing craftsmanship." Rachel said examining the wooden box.

"Hazel's parents made this for her." Gabriel said.

Once Gabriel said those words, he gently stuffed the wooden box carefully into his backpack and looked at the twins.

"You really want to help her, don't you?" Ace said looking at Gabriel carefully.

"She's my best friend." Gabriel said softly, "Of course I wanna help her."

Both twins looked at Gabriel then each other before smiling.

"We're in." They said turning to him again.

"Thanks guys." Gabriel said smiling.

"Hazel's our friend too." Ace said folding his arms, "And we don't like seeing our friends upset."

"Now that, that's settled let's go to bed." Rachel said yawning, "We've got a long day tomorrow."

"Night sis." Ace said before Rachel entered her and Hazel's room.

"What were the three of you talking about?" Hazel asked as she saw Rachel come in.

"Nothing important." Rachel said laying down on her bed.

"If it's not important then why won't you tell me?" Hazel asked sitting up from her bed.

"Fine, you win Hazel." Rachel sighed, "We were talking about your birthday."

"Why?" Hazel asked, "I already told you I don't wanna celebrate it."

"I know Hazel but we're your friends and your birthday could be any day now." Rachel said.

"I don't want to celebrate it; how many times do I have to say that?" Hazel said before standing up, "I'm going for a walk." she then picked her dagger up and put her boots on.

"Can you at least tell me, how long until your birthday?" Rachel asked.

"My birthday's only four days away." Hazel said leaving the room.

*

"Are you sure there's no other way?" Ace asked as they sat on their beds.

"It's really the only plan I've got at the moment." Gabriel sighed.

"Gabriel, apart from Hazel being your friend why do you wanna help her?" Ace asked laying down.

"Because someone as amazing as Hazel deserves a birthday." Gabriel said before he saw Ace giving him a smug look, "And what's with that look?"

"You like her, don't you?" Ace said smugly.

"What are you - do you know - I don't like her!" Gabriel said nearly shouting.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Ace said looking very amused.

"I'm going to take a walk." Gabriel said grabbing his bow, putting his shoes on and making his way to the door.

"Hey Gab." Ace called before Gabriel was out of sight.

"What?" Gabriel asked annoyed.

"You and Hazel would make an adorable couple." Ace said, "And do you mind if I tell Rachel?"

"Do what you want, just leave me out of it." Gabriel said before slamming the door, fuming.

*

"Why do people get so worked up about romance." Gabriel said as he stopped outside, "It's revolting."

"Hazel what were you thinking? Celebrating your birthday after everything that's happened." A voice said from behind the house.

Gabriel slowly crept behind the house, arrow nocked only to see Hazel furiously pacing back and forth. Gabriel knowing better than to bother Hazel while doing this slowly backed away, letting his arrow disappear.

"I know you're there Gab." Hazel said as she stopped, "Just come out and save me the trouble of tackling your butt over here."

"Sorry if I bothered you." Gabriel said walking up to her.

"So, what were you yelling about?" Hazel asked.

"W-what are you talking about?" Gabriel asked stuttering a little.

"I heard you yelling a while ago, something about not liking someone." Hazel said.

"Ugh, Ace thought I had a crush on some girl." Gabriel said as he reached her.

"Well, if you do wanna have a crush on someone, I'll be here to cheer you up if you breakup or get rejected." Hazel said throwing her dagger in the air and catching it one handed.

"Why would you do that?" Gabriel asked.

Hazel stood still after he asked this question.

'Because I love you.' Hazel thought before a voice in her mind said, "You can't tell him."

"Cause you’re my friend Gab." Hazel said faking a smile.

"You really are full of surprises Hazel Abernathy." Gabriel said smiling.

"That's me alright." Hazel sighed sheeting her dagger, "We should get to bed, there's a long day ahead of us."

"Yeah, come on." Gabriel said as they walked to the front door.

The two entered the house in sweet silence.

"Night Hazel." Gabriel said as they entered their rooms.

'You can't tell him Hazel.' she thought to herself as she laid down, 'He can never know.