The wind blew against Snowy's white fur. She looked at
her mother as she huddled up close. The blizzard was hard and painful. Snowy
looked off into the distance, hoping for the return of her father.
"Mom?" Snowy said, as she tried to hold her
paws firm in the snow. "When will Dad come back?"
Snowy's mother's face then became pale. She
let out a sigh. "Snowy-I, I don't know…" Then a tear slowly crept down her face.
"No!" Snowy was young, but she knew quite a
lot within just a few moments after birth. She began to sob and her mother gently
comforted her with her big paws cuddling up around Snowy.
The harsh wind of the blizzard blew snow onto
Snowy and her mother. They sat there in the cold.
"We must get going. We have to find some sort
of shelter. This wind is just too ruthless." Snowy's mother's emerald eyes blinked
as the snow fell on her fur.
She picked Snowy up in her mouth by the scruff
of her neck. Snowy peered back at where she had last seen her father leave;
and tears trickled down her snout.
After hours of searching, they finally reached
a small cavern.
"This must do for now," Snowy's mother said,
holding Snowy close to try to keep her warm.
"Mom, what's your name?" Snowy asked, eyes still
watery. "And Dad's?"
"What do you mean?" Snowy's mother said, "You
call me Mom."
"No, I mean, what do other Kougras call you?"
"Oh, my name is Clira and your father's… Miro,"
Snowy's mother said.
Snowy sighed and laid down; and let the exhaustion
of the day lull her to sleep.
The next morning; Snowy and her mother had to
search for a new shelter; the cave that they were in had formed a few holes
in the top because of the blizzard the night before. Snowy and Clira walked
out of the cave. They climbed down Terror Mountain and entered Happy Valley.
They were walking when suddenly Clira's foot broke through the ice, that they
did not know that they were walking on until then, her foot falling right into
the freezing water.
"Mom!" Snowy said, running over to Clira.
But before Snowy could reach her mother, a crack
quickly formed on the ice and Snowy was about to try to jump over the crack,
but as she lifted one of her paws and prepared to leap; the ice parted rapidly
and Snowy was parted from her mother, drifting off into the lake on an ice raft.
Snowy whimpered; hoping someone would hear, but nobody did. Snowy looked around;
seeing a close-by part of land; part of Happy Valley. The ice that Snowy was
on wasn't headed for the part of land, though, so she thought, I'll paddle
over there with my front paws! Snowy slowly dipped one of her paws into
the water; quickly pulling it out, the water was much too cold.
As she drifted off into the ocean, she could
sense that Happy Valley was near her, but it was out of sight.
***
After eight months on the ice raft; Snowy learned to survive by catching Kois
in the water. Catching Kois provided Snowy with exercise, as it was a challenge
because she was young. Another type of exercise was swimming. It was very cold
at first, but Snowy soon adapted to the chilly liquid and learned to like the
cold climate. She still was too young to swim all the way to shore, besides,
the shore was no longer anywhere to be seen, and there also were the dangers
of Jetsams and other sea Neopians.
As the days went by, Snowy was more skilled
at catching Kois, and stronger at swimming. Soon Snowy could see shore. She
playfully wagged her tail.
As it neared night, the waves of the ocean pushed
the ice raft around and Snowy huddled down, ears back and tail rapped around
her. The water splashed Snowy on the face; she shook it off and stared at the
water. It was like a storm in the sea. She looked around frantically as the
ice started to break. Snowy perked up her ears at the sight of something. Snowy
thought, Is it-it-could that be…HAPPY VALLEY?!? The ice raft was pushed by the
waves. It was close to Happy Valley, so Snowy swiftly, but cautiously, leapt
off of the ice as it shattered; driving itself to the edge of the valley, and
Snowy landed on the cold ground.
Snowy then walked along, looking for her mother.
Snowy sniffed the air searching for her mother's scent. She continued walking
toward the scent of her mother. Snowy thought, Mom couldn't have been trapped
in the ice and been destroyed, could she??? This is a new scent of Mother leading
over to the mountain, not an old one. After a while of searching, Snowy
reached the foot of Terror Mountain. She stared up at the gigantic mountain.
Then she dug her claws into the icy dirt of the mountain and began to climb.
Snowy still wasn't full-grown, and had never climbed before; she had only ever
been carried down the mountain, because she was too young at the time and she
was not able to go down by herself. As Snowy climbed the mountain, one of her
paws slipped, but she quickly stuck her paw back onto the icy slope.
When Snowy climbed all the way to the top of
the mountain, she panted and rested for a little while. Then she continued walking
toward her mother's scent.
Snowy was searching for a while, then she saw
her mother. "Mom!!!" Snowy called as she hurried over to Clira.
"Snowy??" Clira looked at Snowy and ran over
to her. They hugged. "But-there was the ice-and you were even younger than you
are now. What happened?"
Snowy told her mother about what happened when
she was away, then Snowy said, "Your foot was in the ice at Happy Valley…"
Clira said, "I was in there for a while, and
I finally pulled my foot out of the water. I searched for you but I couldn't
find you. I thought that you were…" Clira didn't have to finish her sentence,
because Snowy nodded and Clira knew that she understood.
***
It had been three years, now, and Snowy was fully grown. She looked over at
her mother and gave a hearty smile. She trotted over to the peak of Terror Mountain
and sniffed at the territory.
Snowy's ears perked up. "Mother!??!?" The sun
was hot and gleamed on Snowy's face, making her squint.
"Yes??" Clira asked.
"I can smell a Monocerous and the scent seems
to be getting stronger! We have to get out of here!!!!" Snowy looked over at
her mother and motioned to go to the right.
They could hear loud growling coming from behind
them. They began to run…very fast. The sound of the Monocerous' feet pounding
on the floor came closer and closer until they could see the Monocerous.
"Just keep running! I'll hold it off!" Clira
said and stopped in her tracks; turning around to face the Monocerous.
"No!! I will not leave you here!" Snowy said,
and she stopped too and turned around.
"We will both die, then! Just go!!"
The Monocerous was drawing closer, still growling.
"I will not and can not leave you here, Mother!"
Snowy said.
"It's too fast for us to outrun, and it's too
strong for us to defeat; if only one of us stays, then the other one can live.
Keep running!" Clira said.
"No!! If it will be that way then I will stay
and fight the Monocerous!"
"Keep running, Snowy!"
The Monocerous was coming much closer and was
just about to reach Snowy and Clira. Snowy had to think as fast as she could.
"Umm-well, you go behind that tree, and I'll
go behind that tree, and we'll just keep running until we meet up again at the
cave!" Snowy said.
Clira nodded and they both leapt behind the
trees and continued to run. The Monocerous stood confused for a moment; then
it turned towards Clira and began chasing her.
Snowy looked over at the Monocerous and then
she looked at her mother. "MOM!! NOOO!!! The Monocerous is chasing you!"
"I'll never make it, now! Just keep running!!!
We can't fight it!!!!!!!!" Clira said.
"No! I won't leave you here!!!"
"Snowy; I love you and I always will. I will
be fine. Please go! Run Snow-" But then Clira couldn't finish her sentence because
the Monocerous reached her and slashed her.
"NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Snowy swiftly approached
her mother.
Just then the Monocerous turned toward Snowy
and rammed full into her with its horns.
***
After being unconscious for a few hours, Snowy woke up in a cave. Clira was
standing in front of her.
Snowy stood up. "Mother! You're alive!!!" Snowy
embraced her mother.
Clira smiled.
"I'm so glad that we both made it out of that
Monocerous' reach. I don't understand, what happened??" Snowy said.
"I stalled him with snow," Clira said. "What
happened was, the Monocerous rammed into you, but then I had just thought of
it; I quickly threw snow into the Monocerous' eyes and then burrowed us under
the snow," Clira said.
Then Snowy laughed. "I can't believe that we
didn't think of that before!!! But anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something."
Snowy said.
"Yes?"
"Well, I'm older now; and I think that it's
time for me to go on my own."
"Okay. But don't you want some lunch first?"
Snowy was about to walk away after Clira had
said, 'okay', but then she stopped walking and turned to her mother. "I am sort
of hungry."
They ate their lunch and when they were finished;
Snowy hugged her mother goodbye and left the cave.
Snowy set off and headed toward the peak of
Terror Mountain. Her paws swiftly moved across the partially wet snow-filled
ground. As she walked along the plains, the snow suddenly started to cave in.
Snowy slowly sunk into the snow. "HELP!!! HELP!"
she whimpered and soon her legs were completely embedded.
She tried to break free but she was trapped.
Then she fell even deeper into the snow and then it completely caved in. Snowy
found herself under pounds and pounds of snow. She began to dig, but the snow
was too thick. There Snowy was; in the snow, she lost all hope. Then she knew
that she couldn't give up; she wouldn't give in and die in the snow,
she loved snow, and she wouldn't let herself get destroyed by something she
loved. She started to dig again. Her paws scratched through the snow rapidly.
She formed a little area, allowing her head to move slightly and her legs to
have a little more room. She continued to dig; but it was exhausting; and she
was running out of air.
Snowy scratched at the snow but reached part
of a rock that had embedded itself into the mountain; so she turned to the right
and started digging again. At first her paws were swiftly scratching at the
snow of the mountain; but after a while, she became tired and had lost most
of her air. She frantically breathed in all of the air she could find; but she
only had enough room to move her paws and head. As she looked up, wanting to
dig her way out, she gave a big sigh and then laid there.
Suddenly, Snowy heard digging. After a while
she could see who was digging her out, a white Kougra.
He then reached for her paw, "Grab my paw."
Snowy lifted her paw and grabbed the other Kougra's
paw.
Once he had pulled her out of the snow; she
shook it off. Her warmth then came back and she could begin to move again. Joy
filled her heart at the thought of this wonderful Kougra who had saved her life.
Then Snowy said, "Who are you?" to the other
white Kougra.
The old rugged Kougra smiled and said, "Snowy,
I'm your dad... Miro."
"WHAT????" Then Snowy suddenly realised why
he was somewhat familiar. "But-but-my father; he died in a blizzard a long time
ago."
"Well, that blizzard was pretty harsh, and I
hoped that you and your mother…" He paused for a minute, then continued, "I
hoped that you and your mother would survive. I was so worried, as I was walking
along looking for shelter for us; and the blizzard began. I immediately headed
back toward you and your mother; but the blizzard was too thick, and a tree
fell on my leg. I laid there trapped; but when the blizzard ended, I was able
to pull my leg out from under the tree. Then I searched for you two; but I couldn't
find you. The blizzard had swept away your scent from where you had gone."
"DAD!!" Snowy cried and she hugged her dad.
"We should go visit Mom, and tell her that you're alive!!"
"Yes, let's go. Where is she, anyway?"
"It's over that way." Snowy pointed her nose
into the direction of where her mother's cave was. "Follow me."
Snowy's dad nodded and they walked along toward
the cave. Once they reached the cave, Clira was inside and she was lying down;
still awake, resting.
Immediately. Clira stood up when she saw Snowy
and Miro. "MIRO??!" Clira ran over to Snowy and Miro. "I thought that you were…"
Then Miro told Clira the story of what had happened
during the blizzard.
"Oh, I'm just so happy that you're alive and
okay!!!" Clira embraced Miro.
Snowy gave a happy sigh. "I'll leave some other
time, but for the next few months, I want to catch up on things with Dad." Then
Snowy turned to her father. "So, how did you find me under the snow?"
"I saw you from far away, and when I came up
to you it took quite a while to dig. That snow was thick," Miro said.
They chatted the afternoon away, then Snowy
slept happily in the cave that night.
The End |