Hoard: Part One

      The trip involved a sail on the fastest boat I could afford to a port in Neopia Central. I usually left two weeks before the month of Celebrating started; in this way, I could have a few days for the journey and a week or so in a place slightly warmer than Terror Mountain before I had to bundle up in five layers of clothing. Being a Mynci, and a blue one at that, I didn't have a thick enough coat of fur to keep me warm in the mountains. I don't understand why my family enjoys living in perpetual snow so much. To each his own, I guess.

      I had already spent my week in Neopia Central, busying myself with getting plenty of new winter clothes and steaming hot cups of borovan that I could take on the go. I was hitching a ride with a strange little Green Grundo that had agreed to take me to the mountain on some weird little spaceship he had. I guessed it was some alien technology from the Virtupets Space Station. All I knew was that it brought me there far, far too fast for my liking. I shivered, thanked him, and took my first step in the disgusting slush.

      I couldn't deny the cheerfulness of the valley. Bruces were skating, Poogles were racing up and down from the top of the mountain, and I could see an assortment of pets making Tuskaninny-angels in the snow. I actually liked the valley. The snowfall wasn't too strong and I could catch them on my tongue; there were plenty of stores to window shop in and I could see a stand selling hot chocolate a few paces away. I immediately decided that that was my next destination and started running, mindless to anything else, when suddenly my face was sticking to a cold, solid, icy mass of, well, ice.

      My tongue had somehow gotten stuck to this massive block of ice, and I scrabbled at it, desperately trying to break free. I could feel terror engulf me as hard, strong, icy paws pushed back. What kind of monster had attacked me, and why was nobody else in this valley going to help me?! After a few minutes of frantic struggling, my tongue got unstuck and I flopped back into a snowdrift. The bit that had been stuck felt raw and frostbitten; I suspected some of it had peeled off. Standing up and angrily brushing the snow off, I looked around for my attacker. A lump of color and ice had fallen in a similar drift and, looking both ways, I dashed across the snow to investigate.

      The lump sat up and rubbed its head, groaning softly. On closer inspection I could see that it wasn't some random and malicious lump of ice but a (rather rare) Ice Bori. He was wrapped up in all sorts of colourful coats. Wouldn't that make him melt? I didn't ask, instead offering a paw to help him up. I was sure it was just an accident.

      "Sorry about that," he said, taking my paw sheepishly. "I wasn't paying attention. Again. I tend to bump into people, but you're the first one to actually get stuck to me."

      "Well, you're the first person I've ever gotten stuck to," I said, trying to warm my hand up without him noticing. He seemed friendly enough; maybe he could keep me company while I spent the holidays with my crazy family. "My name is Winnie, and I'm here to visit my family. Who are you?"

      "I'm Alan," he said, smile broad and sparkling. The Tooth Faerie would be proud. "And I live in the Ice Caves. I don't... Well, I live by myself. Where's your family?" Without waiting for my response, he headed straight for the Slushie Shop, and I rushed to keep up with his long strides. I had never understood why a slushie was a perfect thing for a cold winter's day, and honestly believed hot chocolate was a more suitable treat. But the building was warm, and if Alan felt like treating, well, I wasn't going to argue with it.

      Alan walked up to the Striped Eyrie behind the counter, greeting her like an old friend. I elected to find an empty table, and found a two seat booth near the back of the small store. Everywhere else was filled, so I sat in the small wooden chair, tracing the table's snowflake design and watching Alan order. He came back with a small raspberry slushie for me, which I approved of, and a marshmallow slushie for himself, which was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. How can you drink marshmallows? How can marshmallows even be turned into a frozen, icy drink? I decided I wouldn't think too much about it, instead enjoying my own frozen delight.

      He had sucked half of the sticky slushie up his straw before we started talking about anything. I was drinking mine very slowly, trying to prevent brain freeze. I had to admit it was a very good treat, despite the cold outside. I'm a sucker for anything raspberry.

      "So, I'm guessing you don't live here, right?" I wasn't sure if his first clue was the multiple layers of clothing, since most regulars at Terror Mountain adapted and grew thicker fur coats, or if it was the fact I was a Mynci, a species that hardly ever lived outside of the confines of the Mystery Island beaches.

      "Some family does. I come here every year to spend the holidays and most of winter with them. I just got here today, and to be honest, I already miss the beaches. My meeting with you is probably the most interesting thing that's happened on my arrival here, ever."

      He chuckled and nodded, as if he could possibly know my other adventures. I had almost fallen off the cliff where people play Cliffhanger once, but that is an entirely different story and was definitely not exciting at the time. "I can imagine that getting stuck to a Neopet would be a rather interesting arrival. What do you usually do with your family?"

      "I like to stay inside! They live here all year long so their blood is thick enough to tolerate snowball fights and stuff but mine isn't! I hate it, I just want to go home and play volleyball..."

      Alan frowned a little and slurped some more. "It sounds like they're just trying to have fun with you."

      "I guess. But I think they need to reevaluate their idea of fun." We had both finished our slushies and agreed that it was time to be getting on. My family was probably wondering where I was, though a quick ride on the ski lift would get us there in no time. As we headed that way, I realized that Alan had offered no information on where he lived (besides it being the ice caves) or anything about any family. I decided I would question him later of Neomail.

      "Thanks for the slushie." I wasn't sure how best to say goodbye, though I quickly saw that I wouldn't have to, as he climbed into the lift with me. We were bolted in and began our ascent up the mountain, neither of us quite knowing what to say.

      "I, um, figured I should escort you. Don't want you sticking to any more walls of ice." Or falling off any more cliffs, thought, deciding that now wasn't the best time to tell him about that. "Plus I was wondering where you lived... I don't have many friends in the caves, and I get lonely."

      "You, not have any friends?" I was genuinely surprised. Alan seemed so friendly and outgoing and generous in his slushie purchases. How could he not have friends? "Impossible."

      "But, sadly, the truth," he sighed. "Strike one is living in the Ice Caves. Right away, that makes me a suspicious and isolated being. Strike two is my solid ice body. Nobody wants to be around someone who constantly gives off cold instead of heat."

      "And strike three?"

      He pondered that for a minute. "Well, I guess that's it."

      "That's a silly reason to not have friends. I don't mind either of the two strikes you mentioned!" I pulled.

      He smiled and peered over the edge of the lift, gulping nervously. "Well, you're the only one, then. It's nice to have a friend. Did I tell you I'm afraid of heights?" For whatever reason that was the funniest thing to us at the time, and we laughed about that and many other things for the rest of our ride up.

      We had no idea that soon, we wouldn't be laughing at anything...

To be continued...