Hannah Meets Hannah: Part Three

     "Okay, let's go," said Hannah. "It's an easy cave from what I saw. We'll go until we reach a fork, then we can mark our path."

     "Smart idea," commented Armin, who had been pretty quiet lately.

     "It's a skill the old explorers used a long time ago," added Slushie Jewel. "It's quite common, actually, but still smart." He didn't dare to insult Hannah in front of his sister. He'd be in big trouble if he did that.

     Hannah Jewel nodded. "Let's go. Lead the way, Hannah!"

     Hannah smiled and ran ahead of the others. The Red Usul, Yellow Bori, and Ice Bori followed close behind, trying not to get lost. They picked up every piece of gold along the way and put it wherever they could. They knew that they wouldn't be able to hold as much gold as they wanted, but it would be close to every piece in the caves. They had made sure that they made extra room for the gold.

     "Stop!" whispered Hannah. "I thought I heard something."

     The rest of the group looked around, hearing nothing. But, indeed, after a few seconds they heard a soft thump. They looked around, but nothing was there. A louder thump was heard, causing the cave to shake slightly. The group looked around some more. Still nothing. One final THUMP was heard nearby, causing the cave to shake violently. The group looked behind them to see a giant snow beast standing there. He let out a roar, causing Hannah Jewel and Slushie Jewel to be knocked to the ground. Hannah and Armin stood their ground.

     "Ready, Armin?" asked Hannah. Armin nodded in reply before Hannah jumped up into the beast's head. She covered its eyes, causing him to scream wildly. Armin ran up and began scratching him. Slushie Jewel smiled and joined him as Hannah Jewel ran behind him. She tugged on his tail, causing him to let out a screech of pain. He threw off the four and ran away.

     "That was too easy!" cheered Hannah Jewel. "Great job, team!"

     Hannah smiled as the area began to shake. "I wouldn't say that," she said. "It feels like the cave's going to collapse!"

     The group all screamed as a large snowball fell from the ceiling and barely missed them. They ran for the entrance, but a large snowball fell in their way. They were trapped inside the cave.

     "Oh, great!" sighed Armin. "Now what?"

     Slushie Jewel looked at his claws and began digging into the snowball. Armin joined in, followed by Hannah and Hannah Jewel.

     "It's not working!" Slushie Jewel shouted. "We're stuck…"

     "We're not stuck, Slushie Jewel," said Hannah Jewel. "We're just in a little situation. We'll get out. For now, let's light a fire and eat some dinner."

     "Well, I AM pretty hungry," sighed Slushie Jewel.

     "Wait!" Hannah suddenly exclaimed. "Where's the map?"

     "Didn't you bring it?" asked Armin.

     "I thought you had it," replied Hannah.

     "Great, we're in an Ice Cave without a map," sighed Hannah Jewel.

     "We'll worry about that later," said Slushie Jewel. "Let's eat."

     The group lit a fire and cooked some hot dogs. They drank hot chocolate afterwards. After telling stories around the fire, they got out some blankets, lay down in the cold, soft snow, and went to sleep. Hannah Jewel didn't sleep as well as the others, though. She was disturbed by a horrible nightmare…

      Hannah Jewel ran down what seemed like an endless cave. She passed the same markings over and over again, attempting to escape from the snow beast chasing her. After what seemed like hours, she felt herself being lifted. She shrieked in fright as she realized that she was in the clutches of the snow beast.

     "NO!" Hannah Jewel yelled. "HELP! SOMEBODY, HELP!"

     Nobody came soon enough. The snow beast stomped off to the top of a cave. After letting out a mighty roar, it threw the Usul off the side.

     "No…" mumbled Hannah Jewel in her sleep. "NO!"

     "Sis!" called Slushie Jewel. "Sis, what's wrong?"

     Hannah Jewel let out a yelp as Slushie Jewel began shaking her. She was breathing rapidly, but it slowed down into slow gasps. "It was just a dream," Hannah Jewel sighed. "A nightmare, actually."

     "What happened in your nightmare?" asked Slushie Jewel.

     "I'll tell you in the morning," replied Hannah Jewel. "Go back to sleep."

     Slushie Jewel sighed and laid back down. "What is wrong with her?" he whispered as he closed his eyes.

     The next morning, Hannah Jewel woke up to the sound of the others talking. She got up and smiled. "Good morning," she sang in a voice of gold.

     "Good morning, sleepy-head," laughed Slushie Jewel. "So, tell me about that nightmare."

     Hannah Jewel sighed heavily. "Okay, I was running through the caves when a snow beast started chasing me. He caught up to me, picked me up, and threw me off the summit of the mountain. The end."

     "Freaky," said Hannah in a spooky voice. She laughed softly. "Sounds like something that almost happened to me once. Don't ask what happened right now. Right now, we need to be thinking of ways to get out of here."

     "When she's right, she's right," said Hannah Jewel. "We can draw out plans in the snow."

     "Or we can just move on and see what's ahead," suggested Armin.

     "I like Armin's idea better," said Hannah. "Come on!" She ran ahead, followed by the two Bori and the Red Usul.

     Later on, they heard a low rumbling. They jumped at the sudden sound as a snow beast appeared out of nowhere. He roared monstrously before reached down to grab something. That something was Hannah Jewel.

     The Red Usul let out a shriek as she was lifted up into the air. "Hey! What are you doing?" She began struggling. "Let me go! Guys, help!"

     Hannah growled and jumped at the large snow beast. The beast reacted by swatting Hannah away into the wall. It then used its other hand to lift her into the air.

     "Hannah!" shouted Armin.

     "Put us down!" shrieked Hannah.

     The snow beast laughed as he ran off with the two Usuls in his clutches.

     "No!" called Slushie Jewel. "Great, he got away with my sister and my sister's new friend." He sighed. "Come on, Armin, let's go! We've got to find them!"

     "You're right!" exclaimed Armin. "We must be strong to rescue them! Let's go!" He jumped down from the rock he was standing on. "He went that way!" He pointed to a long tunnel. He ran over to the wall and scratched a symbol. "If we get lost, we can come back. Come on! We're going after that snow beast to rescue the two Hannahs!"

     Slushie Jewel nodded and followed Armin down the winding caves. They turned left, right, left again, and then took another left, marking their path as they went. They continued on until they reached a dead end.

     "What now?" asked Slushie Jewel.

     "Wait!" Armin said suddenly. "Listen!"

     Slushie Jewel and Armin put their ears to the wall to hear some screams. "Ow!" came Hannah Jewel's voice. "Cut that out! That hurts!"

     "Let us go!" Hannah shouted.

     "They're behind this wall," said Armin. "On three, we rip it apart. One… two… three!" Both ran at the wall. On contact, the wall was shattered to pieces. Once the smoke cleared, the two Bori saw the two Usuls tied to poles.

     "Hannah Jewel!" shouted Slushie Jewel.

     "Slushie Jewel!" exclaimed Hannah Jewel. "Glad you're here! Help us down!"

     Slushie Jewel and Armin untied the ropes holding Hannah Jewel and Hannah. They dropped to the ground and smiled. "Thanks," sighed Hannah. "Let's get out of here. That Snow Beast will be back soon enough." She ran to the cave's entrance, but was stopped by a large, hairy figure. That figure was another Snow Beast.

     "You no go nowhere!" he roared. "You stay here for dinner!"

     "D… d… dinner?" stuttered Hannah Jewel.

     "Great, we have to be the food of some illiterate creeps," sighed Hannah.

     "You no food," replied the Snow Beast. "We give you food!"

     As if on cue, some Snow Beasts carrying plates of food circled the room. The group gasped in awe as the feast was placed before them. There were jellies of all types, pizzas, and just about every other food anybody could think of.

     "Wow!" Slushie Jewel gasped. "Why are you doing this for us?"

     "That would be my job to explain," said a Snow Beast right behind them. It was the same Snow Beast that had kidnapped Hannah and Hannah Jewel. "See, we Snow Beasts love to play tricks on visitors to the Ice Caves. We pretend to be evil, kidnap somebody in their group, and lead them here. Afterwards, we feed them a HUGE feast. Funny, huh?"

     Hannah forced a laugh. "Yeah, funny," she said through gritted teeth.

     "I didn't upset you, did I?" asked the Snow Beast.

     "Just scared us," replied Hannah Jewel before she bit into a slice of Turkey and Cranberry Pizza. "But it's okay. We forgive you."

     "Good," said the Snow Beast. "Now you must die."

To be continued…