Bievenue dans le Niege [Black Heart - Cody and Cassadee]

Waffle Island.

A light sheet of snow covered the island as Cody stepped off the ferry, not like that was a surprise at all. Forget-Me-Not Valley, his current home, was pretty much in the same state. Snow was covering everything and sometimes you would see a snowman. Part of him was tempted to make his own, but he didn't yet. Just couldn't think of the right person to ask. Zack was out of the question, he was far to serious of a man to partake in such childish gimmicks. Celeste had been busy lately with all the winter colds and flus going around. Maybe he'd ask Alisa. Sure, she was his boss--but she was the most outgoing of everyone he knew. He'd do that, once he got back. For now he was visiting Waffle Island for the first time.

A mountain was beckoning him here. Most people would call him insane if they knew he was going to climb it in the middle of winter, but he could care less. He was a soldier afterall, and lately he hadn't had any challenges. From that grew a burning desire to do something outlandish. Climbing a mountain was just that.

Looking up in the sky he scanned the area to see if he could find this so called 'Mt. Gelato.' By doing so he ended up bumping into someone. "Sorry," he apologized noticing the short girl with black hair. "Got a little distracted there."

Huh... it seems like someone new is here... That's quite a surprise... Cassadee mused in her thoughts, nibbling on her homemade oatmeal-raisin cookie. I wonder who it's going to be this time... Hopefully someone nice. She looked up as she walked forward, pulling her hat down again with one hand. She looked longingly at the snowmen decorating the empty space. Ever since she was little, she'd always wanted to make one, but she'd been to afraid to ask someone to make one with her. It was no fun on her own; she knew that much from experience. The light snow was pushed aside by her boots as she wandered aimlessly.

Then, the new person entered Cassadee's thoughts. She wondered what that person would be like. Hopefully they'd be kind to her. Although, it wasn't like she had many friends to begin with. She was the person that no one really talked to. I'm the one who always spends the holidays alone... she thought sadly, looking up at the sky. She was so occupied by her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed someone bump into her. Cassadee was sure she'd jumped five miles into the air. The person quickly apologized, saying that they hadn't seen her.

"It's not a problem..." she replied quietly. She quickly inspects the boy. "... Are you new around here? I... I mean, you're a new face... you know?" The boy did look new. He was staring up at Mt. Gelato as if it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "I'm sorry. My name is Cassadee." Extending a hand, she continued politely, yet quietly, "It's nice that we have a new person in town."

After a startled jump into the air, the girl was probably focused on something as well or wasn't expecting to be bumped, the girl took notice of him. Turning towards him, her big blue eyes gazed upon him scanning for what he was looking at. With a quick motion of his head towards Gelato Mountain, she seemed to get the hint that he was looking towards it. The sweet smell of oatmeal-raisn cookies tickled Cody's nose, it was a pleasant smell to him. Every word the girl spoke he took in earnestly, for they were polite--but quiet. Reminded him a bit of Celeste, but maybe not as bad. If he had bumped into her--well, Celeste would literally have a heart attack.

"Nah," Cody awnsered rather casually, ignoring his temptation to sound formal. He saved that kind of thing for the army and if someome else was polite didn't mean he had to be. Running his fingers through his short wavey hair he explained, "I actually live in the valley--at the inn. I just wanted to check this island out, you know? Curiosity killed the cat, but they didn't say if it was the bad kind of kill. Maybe just anticipation it could be."

"Ah, really?" Cassadee asked excitedly, forgetting to be quiet. The boy who'd bumped into her had told her that he was from the valley. "I went there once on a field trip. It's very pretty. You're lucky to live there." Then a thought struck her like lightning. She asked, reverting to her quiet self "Oh... but then, why are you here? I know you're curious... but isn't it a bit..." She paused, searching her head for a good word. Her vocabulary wasn't the best; after all, she had failed High School English. "For lack of a kinder word... boring here?" Gesturing towards the shops she continued, "It's just like Forget-Me-Not Valley... Not that I don't love it here, after all, it is my home."

She quickly realized that he was most likely trying to get somewhere. "Ah, I'm sorry," she apologized quietly, bowing. "Did you need help finding anything? No offense, but you look... lost. Or dazed, or whatever you'd like to say." Smiling gently, she offered, "I can help, if you'd like..."

For a moment the girl seemed bubbly, excited to hear that he was from the valley. This didn't last for long and she reverted back to her timid behavior. It made him think of her as a kludge, a jumbled mess of thoughts that he couldn't really get. Complicated in other words. Neitherless, Cody couldn't help but smile at her excited behavior or think that she should do that more. He took in each of her words as she talked and almost said 'boring' when she was looking for a word. The smile returned to his lips when she said what he was thinking.

"My awnser is that," he said pointing east towards the mountain. "Yeah," taking a deep breath dreamily, while combing his fingers through his short brown hair he began to explain his plans for the day. "I plan on climbing that mountain today, despite the fact that it's probably covered in many feet of snow. Forget-Me-Not Valley doesn't have that."

"Oh," he said realizing he had yet to tell Cassadee his name. This was unusual because he normally was one to say hisown as someone else said theirs. He must have been distracted by the conversation. "I'm Cody."

So he was planning to climb the mountain... Not many people nowadays actually wanted to do so. Casadee chanced a smile at Cody. "If you plan to climb the mountain... You may want to wait until summer. It gets warm enough that you probably won't die." She grimaced at her bluntness. "Ah... sorry. I'm not good at talking to people. If I'm too blunt, please tell me." She looked out over the sea longingly once again and sighed. "Well, I'm rude. Welcome to Waffle Island. I hope your stay will be a good one. She bowed to him kindly.

"Um... do you need any help finding places? This town did get somewhat bigger... Oh, but I'm probably not the person to do that... Perhaps the Town Hall?" She fidgeted with her fingers and gloves. "Or... I don't think the mayor would mind if I gave you a tour... That is, if you'd like." She thought that this new boy was nice. He was a whole lot nicer than some of the other people she'd met in the past. So, she tried a tiny smile for good effect.

At first it seemed as if Cassadee didn't know what to make out of Cody's ambition to climb Mt. Gelato. At first she smiled a bit, but then bluntly stated that he probably should wait till summer. "Nah," he shrugged. "It'd be too easy for me then." He wasn't just any normal guy, but a soldier. Years of training at military school tested him on more difficult challenges than this. Over the years he had learned to love that kind of thing. "Besides I've climbed bigger in snow storms before."

Even though Cassadee seemed friendly, she seemed rather lonely as she looked out at the sea. Cody thought she was the kind of girl that would be easy to get along with, so why did she look this way? It confused him. In her deep blue eyes he noticed that loneliness though and he couldn't help feel a bit bad for the girl.

"That'd be nice," Cody admitted to Cassadee's suggestion. Best to know the area before embarking on any adventure and getting shown around by a local would help. She had a sweet smile and he felt like he couldn't turn her down. "Where to first?"

Cassadee drew back, surprised. "I'm very impressed. You've already climbed mountains in snow storms, and I'm still struggling to get good grades..." She looked down in shame, but perked up when he accepted her offer of a tour. "Oh, really? Okay then... Um... where to start..." She looked around and decided to start with the beginning.

"Well, this store right here is On the Hook. It's more or less just a fish store..." She then turned to Cody and said, "Follow me, please." She lead him past the Tailor's, the General Store, and the Meringue Clinic. Finally, she stopped at the Sundae Inn. "Well... I guess this is the end of our tour..." she sighed, almost sadly. She was slightly upset, figuring that he'd probably hear about her from the others, about her suicide problems and her tragic past and he'd never want to talk to her again. "This building... it's the Sundae Inn. Um... I guess you could say that it's a Bed & Breakfast kind of place... It's a nice place to stay. The food's pretty good and it's lively if you'd like to meet some locals. But... be careful. Some of them are a little bit... touchy, I guess you could say."

Turning to look out to the sea again, she quietly said, "Well, I guess I'd better be going... I've got to get home... and feed my dog, you know?" She turns around and gives Cody another small, timid smile. "It was nice meeting you... Cody. I hope you have a good time here." Walking away, she turns once to wave at him before rushing home.

Maybe this winter won't be so bad...

A chuckle emerged from Cody's look as he saw the surprised expression on Cassadee's face. A ting of sadness bothered him when she complained about having bad grades, but instead of saying that's okay, he decided to go with something else. "I know what you mean," Cody announced remembering his years in military school. "Thoughout all my time at military school I can't remember ever getting better than a 'C' on a test, especially math. Sports are my forté."

Patiently, Cody followed Cassadee at a steady pace throughout her little tour of the town. Occasionally he made a comment like, "Looks like I won't be spending a lot of time there--I'm allergic to seafood," or "Everything seems so much closer together than in the Valley." Something seemed to be bothering his personal tour guide as she led him through the small town, like she was worried that he was judging her. Now, Cody wasn't that shallow of a person. Knowing how difficult life was he could understand how she could be worried. People were unpredictable. Just a fact, but so true in many ways. But if you got to know them you could understand them better to a point that they aren't so predictable.

Almost as quickly he had met her, so did the tour she led him on. Disapointed be the sudden dismissal of Cassadee, he smiled friendly. "Nice meeting you too," he said. "Thanks for taking time to show me around, that was very... generous of you to do so. If you come to the valley it's my turn to show you around."

Before the blue eyed girl left beyond the horizon she waved to him, and Cody being Cody waved back.