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The Chronicles of Terror Mountain: Part Two


by deathxwisher

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Icky gazed in wonder at the magnificence of Terror Mountain. Its sheer vastness astounded him. The Snowickle looked at the sign in front of him. It read: Happy Valley. Happy, indeed, Icky thought, looking at all the happy Neopets playing in the snow.

      He started to walk around, laughing for the first time since... since too long ago. The snow was so cold, and yet, Icky felt right at home, as if this was where he was meant to be. Where he belonged.

      The snow was falling fast, and he was soon covered in light, fluffy snow. He shook it all off and tried to catch some snowflakes on his tongue. Icky succeeded in catching two, but they quickly melted inside his mouth. Icky laughed again. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop laughing, and soon some passing Neopets started to laugh too.

      A Blumaroo and Bruce collapsed in giggles, and a Korbat fell onto the snow laughing. Neopians who were playing Snow Wars collapsed in fits of laughter too, momentarily lowering their snowballs. The owner of the Slushie Shop, a Snow Eyrie, chuckled merrily. The Snow Eyrie beckoned towards the Snowickle. Icky approached, still laughing, and the shopkeeper gave him a Green Apple Slushie for free. Icky tried to smile to thank him, but the Snowickle was laughing too hard to possibly smile any wider. The Snow Eyrie shook his head, showing that he understood what Icky meant.

      Who said laughter wasn’t contagious?

     ---

      Slurping his Green Apple Slushie with his Mootix, Icky decided to wander around Terror Mountain after his laughing mishap (although not really a disaster). He first visited the Wintery Petpets shop, to see if there really were other petpets like him. Choruses of “hello’s” by the petpets greeted him as Icky entered. Icky greeted them back, and smiled brightly. The shopkeeper, a Christmas Bruce, was busy singing to brighten up the mood of the shop, but he still greeted Icky with a smile.

      “Where are you from?” a Fir asked.

      “Are you from Terror Mountain?” a Candychan asked at the same time.

      “I’m from Sakhmet,” Icky replied, not used to so much (good) attention. “Nope, do I look like I’m from Terror Mountain?”

      “Yes! Of course!” the Candychan exclaimed. “You’re obviously a winter petpet!”

      “Really?” Icky widened his eyes. He knew that he had felt like he belonged in Terror Mountain!

      “You know,” the Fir said. “If you ever get bored, you could always stop by the store every week to chat with us. I have a feeling we’re not leaving anytime soon.”

      “I’d love that!” the Snowickle said. “Call me Icky, by the way.”

      “Icky?” the Candychan said. “Erm... okay.”

      Suddenly, the door to the shop blasted open and a Snow Faerie came in. Her wings were a beautiful shade of white and blue, and she was wearing a long, fur coat that matched her wings. Her eyes sparkled and stood out against her dark blue hair.

      “Hello, Taelia!” the shopkeeper greeted.

      “Hello,” Taelia said. “Sorry about the door, I’m in a rush right now. I just got the ingredients from a Neopian, and I’m just visiting to say ‘hello’ to the petpets.”

      The petpets all chattered, chirped, and grunted to get Taelia’s attention. Amazingly, Taelia got to everyone, except for Icky. When she reached Icky, she was surprised.

      “What’s this?” Taelia asked. “A new petpet?”

      “Oh, no,” the shopkeeper said. “That’s just a petpet who happened to walk into the door.”

      “The Snowickle doesn’t have a Neopet to take care of it?” Taelia asked, concerned.

      “I guess not,” the Christmas Bruce said.

      “Aww,” Taelia said, hugging Icky. “If you want, you can go live with me!”

      Icky nodded his head up and down furiously, hoping the faerie wasn’t joking.

      “That’s settled, then!” Taelia said. “I’ll go introduce him to his new home. Good-bye, everyone!”

      The petpets jumped up and down and created a racket to signify saying “good-bye” to Taelia.

      “See you later!” the shopkeeper said, returning to his singing.

      As Taelia exited the shop, Icky was absolutely brimming with happiness. I’m so glad I left Sakhmet! Icky thought. I miss the Grarrl shopkeeper, though.

      “Okay, my home’s on the very top of Terror Mountain,” Taelia said. “So we will be traveling through this Icy Tunnel. I’m going to fly, so I’ll pick you up so that we can go faster, okay?”

      Icky nodded his assent, and Taelia whisked through the Icy Tunnel with her newfound Snowickle. As they emerged, Icky gazed around, amazed once more. The view from the mountaintop was stunning. He swore he could even see a bit of sand of the Lost Desert to his right!

      “Like it up here?” Taelia asked.

      Icky nodded.

      “I think it’s breathtaking up here too,” Taelia said. “It’s one of the reasons why I chose to live here.”

      Through the snow, Icky could make out a sort of palace-igloo. It was made out of packed snow, yet it was elegantly built. Icky suspected that Taelia’s snow faerie magic had some help in building it too.

      “Well,” Taelia said. “Here we are! I hope you like it.”

      Taelia put Icky down and opened the door. There was so much space in the igloo! It didn’t look that big from the outside, but looks were quite deceiving! In the igloo, there were a couple rooms just for storing items Taelia gets from Neopets, two room to sleep in, another room for toys to play with for any petpets who came over, and more!

      “I host ‘Snow Faerie Quests’,” Taelia explained. “It’s where I ask some kind Neopians to get me some items because I don’t like venturing out too much, and I give them one of my items in return. I’m less known than Jhudora or Illusen, but that’s pretty much a good thing. I can’t even imagine what they have to deal with, with all those questers out there! And I thought I had a lot...”

      Icky listened intently; wanting to know everything he could about his owner and savior. When Taelia stopped talking, Icky nudged her on.

      “Oh! You curious little Snowickle!” Taelia laughed. “I guess I’m a sort of enchantress. You can read the Neopedia to find out more.”

      The Snowickle laughed, a curious tinkling sound. Shameless plug for TNT! Icky thought.

      “You can go explore, if you want,” Taelia said. “I’ll be running my quests, so if you need anything, just ask me. Oh, and your room is over there.”

      The Snow Faerie pointed to a big room with many petpet toys in it. The Snowickle happily obliged, and began to nibble on his 2/3 Green Pepper Omelette with his petpetpet while wandering.

      There were so many rooms that Icky didn’t have any clue where to start. Just looking at all the rooms made him feel a bit tired... In fact, it was almost dark... Icky unwittingly closed his eyes and curled up. Sleep was too hard to avoid when needed most.

      Later, Taelia found Icky curled up in the middle of a rug. She carried Icky to his room and put him on the bed; making sure that all his needs would be satisfied. She stoked the fireplace and added more logs. Then, she tiptoed out of the room and continued giving out quests to the rush of people who wanted to help her out. Little did she know that it was mainly for the prizes. Best not to break her generous heart, though.

     ---

      And so the days pleasantly passed with Icky wandering around the igloo (it is quite large, you know!), and Taelia taking care of her quests. One day, on a whim, the Snowickle wanted to go explore Terror Mountain itself. He walked over to Taelia and pointed his head towards the door. Taelia understood immediately what Icky was trying to say.

      “Oh, of course!” the Snow Faerie said. “I’ll be fine here! Maybe you could go down to the Ice Caves and see if there’s anything that interests you. You could watch some experienced Neopets fight in the Icy Arena, if you want.”

      Icky smiled and ran out the door, eager to explore. He decided to do what Taelia suggested, and went down the Icy Tunnel to the Ice Caves. There, he saw some Bruces sliding down snow slopes, an Aisha making a giant snowball, and a Mynci made out of snow! The Snowickle went straight for the Icy Arena, where a giant Grarrl was fighting with a Kacheek.

      Icky watched, spellbound, as the two Neopets cleverly evaded and attacked each other. Icky found himself cheering for the Grarrl, as the Grarrl reminded him of the kind shopkeeper in the Lost Desert. The Grarrl won, but the Kacheek graciously accepted defeat.

      Everyday, Icky would go down to the Icy Arena to watch strong Neopets fight and return before the sun set to Taelia. He even made some snow petpets to practice his punches and kicks on! He found a perfect cave where he could practice in peace. He visited the Wintery Petpets shop every week to talk to the Fir and Candychan. Gradually, with Taelia’s delicious food and his training, the small Snowickle grew to a big one.

      Then, one day, Taelia asked Icky for a big favor that he didn’t refuse.

To be continued...

 
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Other Episodes


» The Chronicles of Terror Mountain: Part One
» The Chronicles of Terror Mountain: Part Three



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