Ice & Cream

Slurpy City

Jack gave his beloved home one last look from the very same place where he had last seen Jane. The rising sun was throwing its light at all the ice up and above, producing that familiar crowd of rainbows. The way all those colors clashed with the white of the snow was giving him a strong nostalgia for his home.

Already. “Sprinkle, I fear that, perhaps, I may be too young to embark on a voyage such as this.”

Sprinkle didn’t hesitate a second. “No such thing, kid. If you’re old enough to run and eat by yourself, you’re old enough to travel. If you’re old enough to write and read and do math, you’re old enough to travel by your lonesome. If you’re old enough to hold a sword, heh, then you’re old enough to defend yourself, aren’t you?”

Jack smiled, encouraged, “I suppose that makes sense.”

With a longing breath, he nodded and turned his back on his hometown. “Though I hope there will seldom be a need to do much defending.”

“Ha!” Sprinkle followed Jack’s lead, “you can always hope, kid.”

Sprinkle followed Jack closely, so all he just made sure to stay under the shadows. They were easy to find under the ample cover provided by the enormous rock formations.

The path to Slurpee city ran across the mountain-side. On its right was a wall of snow by day, and ice by night, and on its left was nothing but a wide opening through which any traveler could see the vast landscape beyond. The floor was mostly packed with snow-covered rock formations that could nearly be described as artistic, and this was especially true when it came to the small valleys of natural ice structures. When it came to the rocks, and the ice structures, some were as small as a rodent while others were as large as a building. Some were curved like a wave while others stood like shattered towers. Most did a little bit of both.

“So how long in the sun until the ice-cream starts to melt, Sprinkle?” Jack questioned.

“I’ll melt first, kid,” Sprinkle noted, “and it depends on the heat. It’s pretty cloudless at this height so I better not stay too long. But then again, it’s pretty cold, ya know?”

Jack smiled, glancing at his breath in front of him. That was something to consider. He was really used to the cold so he wondered how he would fare in warm weather.

“I see,” Jack nodded, “and may I also ask. I mean no offense, but what exactly are you, Sprinkle?”

“You may ask,” Sprinkle replied, and threw Jack a teasing smirk, “but I may not answer.”

“Why the secrecy?” Jack asked. “I know you are a Sweetum, but we know so little about you.”

“A decision was made by my people a long time ago, kid. I wanna respect it, is all.”

“Your people?”

Sprinkle smiled at him knowingly, and Jack looked ahead in response.

“That is fair, Sprinkle. I will not pry, then.”

“You’re a good kid, Jack. Have you planned on what you’re gonna say to your parents ‘bout all this?”

“Yes,” Jack replied simply. “Fairly certain that determination alone will serve. It is genuine, and so they will respect it. However, I wish to talk to them alone. We will first find grandmother’s friend, and you shall stay with him while I go and meet my parents.”

“You sure about that? I could help a bunch.”

“If I cannot do so on my own. Truth be told, I might not see them for a long time, so I would like--”

“Yeah, ok,” Sprinkle interrupted impatiently, “whatever you say, kid.”

Jack frowned a bit, not looking all that forward to talking with his parents about the issue. He was thinking of how to make the conversation easier, and he was coming up very short on ideas.

During their day-long hike across the half-icy, half-snowy terrain, having met with no unexpected dangers, Jack replayed the conversation in his mind time and time again. But it was impossible to predict how his parents would react to his wishes to travel on foot all the way to Cookie City. Or rather, how they could ever react well enough.

Maybe I could first propose to fight for the war, Jack considered, and then I would tell them my real purpose.

His mind paused for a second, helpless, man… What am I supposed to say when fighting in the war is the only thing that is more dangerous than what I wish to do?

Jack let out a helpless breath. Maybe I should just… go. Not actually talk with them. I could just tell Sprinkle that I did, and then we will simply leave.

Or he could lie to his parents. The problem with that was the lack of any believable lie. There was no reason, invented or not, to justify the need to climb down the mountain.

Fooling his parents felt wrong, though. And just leaving without saying anything felt worse. Like betrayal. But they could keep Jack from going, and that would… That would be even worse. Far worse.

Conflicted beyond belief, Jack looked aside at the sea of clouds that hid the land he had never stepped foot upon. A land embroiled in war and strife.

That didn’t help, so Jack looked down and breathed out his concern.

“Something wrong, kid?”

“Hm? No, Sprinkle,” he said, fearing his adventure would end before it ever began. “Not yet.”

While Ice-Cream city made its buildings out of hardened snow and colored with magic, Slurpee City made its buildings out of ice. They were agglomerated vertically, set up to be tall and thin like mountains. The greatest thing about the city was the slides. They connected large building to large building, square to square, street to street. They went from rooftop to lower rooftop, or straight to the ground.

Jack loved the slides.

Slurpee City was as colorful as ice cream city but in a very different way. Though the buildings were made of ice, they were reinforced with the liquefied milky substance that was magically enhanced to flow and glow and otherwise keep the ice sturdy, durable, and frozen. This substance flowed across the walls of every building, at varying speeds, providing those inside with even more privacy all the while illuminating the streets with a myriad of neon-like colorful lights. This was particularly pretty when the sun was out.

It was also of note that Slurpee City was twice or three times the size of Ice-Cream city. It was just as old, after all.

Jack knew the city, and his way around it, so it didn’t take long to find the place where his grandmother’s friend was staying. Knocking on the door, he smiled and greeted the old man as soon as the door opened.

“Hello, sir! A pleasure to meet you. My name is Jack O’Creams. I am about to go on a journey, and my grandmother told me to visit you. Anna?”

About as old as his grandmother, the old man stood leaning on a cane and squinted his eyes down at them. His hair was grizzly and fading, and his skin wrinkly and pale. He seemed immediately taken by curiosity, engaged by the sight of Sprinkle.

Smiling, he welcomed them into his home. “Ah, Anna. I believe I met you, little Jack, many years ago. Come inside, you two. Come inside.”

Jack followed him to his living room, which was a very short distance from the entrance. He awkwardly closed the door behind him before following properly, and by the time he got there, the old man had already sat down at an armchair in front of a fire.

Smiling pleasantly still, he beckoned at them towards the other chairs in the room. “Take a seat, make yourselves comfortable. And tell me what happened that she reawakened you, Sprinkle.”

Jack looked to the side as Sprinkle smirked in amusement. “Funny story, Tommy. You want it long or short?”

The old man chuckled. “My patience is long, Sprinkle, but memory runs short these days. Just tell it right?”

Sprinkle laughed curtly and then explained the whole thing from the start. His summary of the parts he hadn’t seen was apt enough that Jack didn’t need to correct.

At the end of it, the old man turned a telling gaze towards Jack, and slowly tapped on his cane, thoughtfully. “This is much unexpected. You seem to be a courageous boy, Jack O’Creams.”

Jack couldn’t help but laugh nervously. He threw most of it to the side so as not to offend. “We shall definitely find out… haha….”

“Oh, right, where are my manners?” the old man suddenly asked, and then bowed his head in greeting. “I am Thomas, Thomas Merriethirsty. The fourth.”

“Or is it third?” he asked, glancing doubtfully at the ceiling. After a few seconds of thinking, he shrugged and faced down at him again. “Oh well, my son knows which he is, that is all that matters, nowadays.” He giggled.

Jack chuckled with the funny old Thomas. “But well? Do you have any assistance you can provide me, Mr. Merriethirsty?”

“Hm? Why, yes, I would hope so. I will pay a tram fare that will take you to Soda City. It has already been robbed of its stone, but I hear it still remains very safe and well defended. You will find someone else you can trust there, your grandmother has made many friends across the continent.” He paused there, for some reason. Jack was familiar with such moments because of his grandfather. “Yes. I will also give you the address. They will make sure that you can begin your descent with the best of preparations.”

“Thank you, that sounds wonderful.”

“How ‘bout some food?!” Sprinkle protested.

“Sprinkle!” Jack heeded, embarrassed.

“What? I’m hungry,” he stated.

The old man giggled again, amused. “Stay for dinner, by all means! I know my daughter in law will be more than happy to receive you both. We will see about getting you some supplies in the meantime, does that sound good?”

“Thank you very much,” Jack said, joyful. “I would like to ask if I can leave Sprinkle with you for a short while. I plan to find my parents and tell them about all of this.”

“Hey, I’m not some crummy animal pet,” Sprinkle complained, a bit offended, and he was about to rant something else when Thomas interrupted him.

“Of course not, you are a guest,” he said with a small giggle, “a guest who is welcome to stay while his friend takes care of his private business.”

Sprinkle opened his mouth for a second, but thinking of nothing to say, he shut it and sulked.

“I did not mean anything by it, Sprinkle, you know that,” Jack assured.

“Yeah yeah, just think about what you say, humpf.”

Jack smiled, happy not to upset him. “I sure will. Thank you,” he said to Thomas.

Leaving Thomas’s home, Jack wasted not a moment. He marched at a quick pace towards one of the main parks, and once he got there, he found an empty bench and promptly sat on it.

With his hands on his knees, tense, Jack chewed on his lower lip.

He started counting the time.