Kris wandered through the dense fog, unsure of where he was going. He saw the blurry outline of what seemed to be a dead tree straight up ahead and as he got closer, a bright green light could be seen shining softly underneath the withered branches. Once he reached the source of the light, he was amazed by what he was seeing.

The ground which he had thought was ice, was in fact made of greenish rocks, similar to a mossy stone, but it was partly transparent and shone more brilliantly. The hot spring was glowing in a soft green light and the water was so clear that he could actually see a column of bubble rapidly rising from a small crack at the very bottom of the spring.

The werewolf who was in awe of what he was seeing, bent down and dipped his fingers in the transparent water. The water was warm and rippled gently as he dragged his fingers across the surface. Kris could actually felt the steam rising from the surface, yet he wondered how was it possible to create this thick sea of fog with this water temperature?

"Mystifying, is it?"

Kris flinched as an unknown voice startled him. He looked around, but the thick fog was making it difficult for him to see.

"Who are you?! Show yourself!"

"Relax. There's no need to feel alarm for I am the spirit of this mountain."

The werewolf glanced around.

"Spirit of the mountain?"

"That's right. My master is the one who is providing you and your friends the hospitality on this mountain."

For some reason, he felt that the voice was telling the truth. However, he could not be so sure unless he knew who he was speaking to.

"Show yourself and then I'll take your words true!"

There was a moment of silent and Kris waited patiently. He was thinking the the voice had fled away when something cold landed on his bare shoulder. He turned towards it out of reflex and almost sequel when he saw a tiny fluffy owl perching on his shoulder. It crooked his head and Kris turned away to restrained himself from looking at those adorable round eyes. How he hated himself for having such embarrassing weakness for cute things.

"Are you feeling alright?"

The owl asked as Kris took deep breaths.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You should get into the hot spring. It'll help clear your mind."

Kris took the advice and set the blanket aside before sliding into the warm water. The owl hopped off on to the blanket while Kris found a protruding stone for him to sit on. The water was awfully soothing and he felt as if his body was laying underneath the warmth of the sun. He turned to the owl while it pecked the underside of its wing.

"Aren't you coming in?"

The owl paused and looked at him before he chuckled.

"You're a funny one. Even though I'm a spirit, I can still melt."

Kris was puzzled by the owl's words.

"Melt?"

"Haven't you notice? I'm made out of snow, so of course I'll melt if things get too wet or hot."

So that explained why he felt so cold when the owl landed on his shoulder.

"Does that mean you'll die if you melt?"

"Well, no. Since I'm a spirit, I don't die unless my life force ran out. I can always reform if I melt, but I prefer to stay dry."

Kris nodded as he let his head sank beneath the surface. For some reason, the water kind of hurt his eyes a little. He re-emerged quickly and blinked several times to rid the dryness away from his eyes. Curious, he the back of his hand.

"The water is kind of, how should I put it... a bit salty?"

"Of course it is since it's pure mineral water. The green rock around here is a kind of mineral. That's way this place was named Evergreen since a third of the mountain is made out of green mineral."

Amazing. He never knew such place could exist.

"However, you shouldn't drink the water."

Kris looked at the owl who chuckled nervously.

"My master has this habit of mixing strange items he made into the spring. The fog around here is the result of his 'experiments'. He said it helps the recovery process