Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Morning Frost woke suddenly in a cold sweat. Escaping the visions and voices screaming at him for his failures as a detective. Frost picked up his notebook from the nightstand. He quickly flicked through the notes of the last investigation he had done. The details were laughing at him around the last case on what happened to a clown named Chuckles.

They had been found in their caravan with a single bullet in their head but no gun. He wasn’t sure what the situation would be. Could it have been a suicide? But there was no gun for him to have pulled. Could it have been a murder? But according to Frost's interviews, no one had been seen entering or exiting Chuckle’s caravan, there was no DNA of anyone else in Chuckle’s caravan, and he had not been a happy man in life, so suicide was not out of the question.

Frost spent so many hours meticulously collecting evidence and details from the crime scene. Mapping out every possible situation. He stayed up late most nights to piece together the puzzle. Still, to his boss, it wasn’t enough. Morning Frost took less time to solve a crime than everyone else, but he was far more accurate. His boss believed the case did not need as much time as Frost was giving it, so he was moved off the investigation by Mr Witch and Mr Light.

Frost was still convinced he was missing was a key detail, the gun. Finding the gun would show fingerprints to find out if it was a murder or suicide, and who may have done it.

After what happened with the case, Frost had taken time off to find himself again. He was being haunted by the case. The lack of answers, the way the body laid as he opened the door, the blood, and how close he was to solving the case all screamed at him that he was a failure.

Morning Frost finally put down his notes after he lost count of how many times he had flicked through his notes on the evidence. As he opened the window next to him, the sun had just started to rise. He wandered out of the room he was renting and made his way down to the tavern.

As he made it to the bar in the tavern to get some breakfast, as it was an important meal, he spotted two men who seemed to be what was left of the dinner crowd. They clung to their drink of choice. A tall, lanky bugbear hunched over a mug of questionably dark liquid, which was most certainly some type of alcohol, but Frost was unsure of what kind. Sitting next to him was a humanoid that was shorter than the bugbear but was much taller than Frost and had a pink tone to his skin. He was dressed in a conductor's uniform that seemed slightly baggier than what he needed. He had untamed hair that had small embers on the ends and a large beard. He was grasping a glass of whiskey.

Frost found himself ordering what the tavern had labelled “You get what you get free meals with your stay” To wait for his meal, Frost found a small table in the corner to set up in. Frost tried to mediate but was interrupted by the two men at the bar breaking out in loud laughs. With his sharp Tabaxi hearing, he couldn’t help overhearing the two talk to each other.

“Torbek was wondering if Gideon could help him.” The bugbear groaned

The red guy at the bar replied “Yeah sure, if I can do it, I’ll help you, Tobek.”

“Tobek needs help with getting to his very real girlfriend, Clementine, but Tobek has no job to pay for the Witchlight Express. Tobek guesses that you work on that train, can you help me see my very real girlfriend, Clementine? Tobek will work for his spot on the train.” Tobek pleaded.

“You know what, Tobek, it’s your lucky day. I have had some workers call out and need help, and I have space in the rooms for you to bunk in. I can put you in a room with Miss Twig Toadspring and her pet, Pigtunia. I’ll need to put you with the guest of the Witchlight Express, as you are not a worker but working for your spot on the train”

“Thank you so much, Gideon! Tobek is very happy to work for you,” Tobek croaked as he hugged Gideon. “Just get to the platform at 12 o’clock today”, Gideon yelled out. Tobek wandered out of the tavern, leaving his drink, while Gideon stayed seated at the bar.

Frost’s meal had come out with a letter addressed to him. The meal was a poor excuse for food. The eggs were rubbery yet wet, and the bacon was raw in one spot and burnt in another. Frost poked at his meal, trying to convince himself it was edible.

“Hey, are you going to eat that?” Gideon asked.

Frost replied, “I don’t think someone could physically eat that.”

“Easy, watch me,” Gideon said as he picked up the plate and shovelled it into his mouth.

“Thanks for that, my name's Gideon.”

“Morning Frost”

“So, Morning Frost, can I take this empty seat next to you?”

“Go ahead, Gideon.”

Frost noticed that peaking out from the pink man's long hair was small horns. He also had large manacles clutched to his arms that had chains loosely hanging near him. man now sitting in front of him and went to open the letter addressed to him. He noted the handwriting was familiar, but couldn’t figure out where he recognised it. He carefully read the letter, and it said.

To Morning Frost

Your presence is requested as soon as possible in regards to the case of Chuckles. We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause to your time off, but you will be compensated in future.
Kind Regards,

Mr Witch and Mr Light

Frost looked up and realised that the man in front of him could help him get back to hopefully solve the case of Chuckles. He went to grab a bag of a few gold coins from his coat and went to ask the man in front of him.

“I don’t mean to be a bother, Gideon, but from your outfit I was wondering if you know where to get a ticket for a train?”

“Do I know where to get a ticket? I am where you can get a ticket.” Gideon laughed at Frost.

“Would 20 gold pieces be enough for a room?”

“Most definitely enough, I’ll put you in our last first-class room”

“Oh no, Gideon, I don’t mean to be a bother, a basic room is fine.”

“No, no, no, I insist you take it. You're paying for a ticket, might as well get you the best room.”

“Do you usually not have people pay for rooms?”

“Usually they pay, but for our off-season, I like to give rooms to those who will work for it. Well, I should be off Frost, just get to the platform at 12 o’clock and we will be off from Agwe to wherever you may need.” Gideon said as he got out of the seat across from Morning Frost.

“Well, I’ll be off, cya later, Frost” Gideon then walked out the door, leaving Frost alone. Frost wandered up to the front desk to inform them that he would move out of the room. The Bullywug and the front desk could not care in the slightest as Frost made his way back upstairs to pack up his small amount of belongings to get ready for his train ride on the Witchlight Express.

Chapter Text

After carefully clearing his room in the tavern, he left with only a singular briefcase. He started to walk his way down to the front desk to return the key. He made it a few steps into the corridor before being blocked by a small Owlbear. The creature was sitting atop the stairs, occupying any space that would have allowed anyone to walk down the stairs. Frost found him perplexed at the sight, as he hadn’t seen any Owlbear in cities and towns.

Then a small voice echoed from the bottom of the stairs, “Come here, Hootise, you're ok, the stairs are safe. I’ll give you some rat snacks if you're good and come down the stairs.” The small Owlbear began to cautiously place its paw on each step, slowly descending the stairs.

Frost continued to the front desk, patiently walking behind the Owlbear. Once the Owlbear made it down, Frost tried slipping around the bear to then kick a short green goblin.

“I’m terribly sorry, sir, I didn’t mean to kick you.” Frost sheepishly said.

“Oh, no problem at all. The names Gricko GrimGrin, and there is my daughter, Hootise.” Gricko replied while pointing towards the Owlbear that was twice his size.

“My name is Morning Frost, nice to meet you, Gricko and your daughter.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, MF.”

Frost had to stop himself from physically cringing or facepalming at the use of MF. Frost was unsure if the goblin had an understanding of the use of the word Mother Fucker to reply. Usually Frost was use to Murderers calling him a “Mother Fucker” when they can been caught by him but Gricko was being friendly which threw him off.

“Soo MF, what brings you to this place? Hootise and I were staying the night to be able to catch the Witchlight Express later today.”

“Well, Gricko, it seems we are here for similar reasons. My vacation has been cut short, and I’ll be taking the Witchlight Express back home.”

“Ooo, why has your vacation been cut short?”

“My bosses have called me back regarding a case I had been working on”

“Oh ho, are you a Detective MF?”

“Yes, I’m Detective Morning Frost”

“Wow, Hootise, we’re talking to a detective. What cases have you been working on? I hear the illegal beast trade has been getting worse in recent years.”

“I work specifically on murder cases, so I don’t have much knowledge on the illegal beast trade.”

“Oh, that’s a shame, it’s a big issue no one really talks about.”

“Well, Gricko, I hope that there is something people can do to help fix this issue.”

“Hopefully, MF, my daughter was rescued from the illegal trade. I couldn’t leave this little Owlbear alone with no parent, so I-”

“Gricko, I recommend maybe not finishing that sentence in case it incriminates you.”

“Yeah, you're right, MF.”

“Also, Gricko, could you please not call me MF?”

“Ok, Frosty.”

Frosty figured that Frosty was at least better than MF, so Frost decided to leave that issue alone. Frost spotted the Bullywug at the front desk from earlier. He also spotted a clock on the wall which showed the time as 10:30 in the morning.

“So sorry to cut this short, Gricko, but I need to sign out to get ready to board the Witchlight Express. I'll see you later at the station.”

“Cya soon Frosty, say bye Hootise”, Gricko had tried to grab the left paw of Hootise to make her mimic waving. Morning Frost started to walk over to the Bullywug at the front desk to give the key to his room back.

“Here is the key for the room I rented. Thank you kindly for the accommodation.”

The Bullywug didn’t look up at Frost and simply grunted in response to Frost. Frost then started to walk towards the large wooden door to leave the Tavern. Frost looked at some of the grooves in the wood before grabbing the brass door handle and turning it. He had pushed open the door to see the sight of a small brownie flying after a small pig. Both of them suddenly smashed into Frost, leaving them in a pile out front of the Tavern.

“Pigtunia, are you ok? The small brownie said after hitting the ground. The pig just sat up, looking at the Brownie. “Sorry for hitting you, come on, Pigtunia, we’re going to be late for the train!”

“Excuse me, Miss?”

“Yes?”

“Perchance is the train you're going on the Witchlight Express?”

“Yes, that’s the train, Mr.”

“My name is Morning Frost, and your name?”

“My name’s Twig Toadspring, and this here is Pigtunia.”

“Well, Twig Toadspring, from when I last checked, the train leaves in an hour and a half until it leaves the station, and the walk is half an hour. Meaning you're not late, so no need to worry or rush.”

“Thank you, Morning Frost, I think the toads may have made me confuse the time.”

“The toads?”

“Oh, I licked some toads earlier.”

“Sure…”

“Well, thank you, sir, I’ll be off. Come on, Pigtunia, we have more time for toad catching!”

Just as quickly as Twig and Pigtunia had crashed into Frost, both of them had left just as quickly. Frost slowly started his way towards the station. Savouring the time he would have to walk on dirt. He took the time to stop at each interesting flower or tree, noting the beauty of each flora. He watched birds chipping and flying and spotted some mountains in the distance.

The mountains were tall but had been cut off by large grey clouds. Frost figured there would be a high likelihood of snow on the mountain. Suddenly, a long finger tapped on the shoulder of Frost. He turned around quickly to see the same lanky Bugbear as before. Frost watched as the bugbear opened his mouth.

“Excuse Torbek, but Torbek was wondering if you knew where the train station for the Witchlight Express which Torbek would be catching to see Torbek’s very real Girlfriend, Clementine. Also, Tobek is sorry for not introducing Torbek. Tobek’s name is Torbek.”

“Hello Torbek, I can help you. Would you care to follow me to the train station so I can show you where it is?”

“Torbek would be most grateful if you… Torbek just realised Torbek forgot to ask for your name.”

“That’s ok, Torbek, my name is Morning Frost.”

“Torbek would be most grateful if Morning Frost showed him where the train station is.”

Frost took note that the disgusting smell of vomit, booze and rubbish was coming off Torbek. He also looked at the clothing that Torbek was wearing, which was full of holes and had questionable stains. Just before Frost was about to ask about walking to the station, he heard the familiar voice of the goblin he had met earlier.

“Hi Frosty!”

“Hello, Gricko and Hootise”

“Umm, Torbek is wondering if we are still heading to the train station, Morning Frost.”

“Yes, Torbek, we will be leaving soon. Would you like to join us on the walk to the Witchlight Express, Gricko and Hootise?”

“Ok”, Gricko said monotony.

“Torbek is happy to meet new people.”

“Ok”

“Torbek’s name is Torbek.”

“Ok”

The four of them slowly started to wander north towards the station. Gricko rode on Hootise while Tobek and Gricko were having a conversation in Goblin. Frost started tuning out the conversation happening near him to clear his mind as they walked.